Education Practice - Linking Research and Education

This research area is more an underlying philosophy than a specific set of projects. This work seeks to facilitate links between research on engineering learning and teaching practice, as well as research on design and design practice. Past projects have included “Research-to-Practice” Workshops, design expertise “continuums” (tools that allow educators to visualize growth toward design expertise as a means for addressing teaching and/or learning challenges), and developing resources for educators (based on research characterizing the instructional challenges of engineering educators).

One project was led by Jennifer Turns and her research group at the University of Washington. They developed a research informed web site called “NEXT: Narratives supporting EXcellent Teaching” - to help engineering educators resolve their teaching challenges. This particular project was funded by the National Science Foundation (Engineering Education Programs).