An innovative graduate course in engineering education research: How well does it meet course goals?

Abstract

This Innovative Practice, Full Paper describes a graduate course we developed to introduce students to the field of engineering education research (EER). The 3-credit course – EER 601: Foundations of Engineering Education Research – is the first required course of a brand new EER graduate program at the University of Michigan. The graduate program is part of a unique initiative that includes five tenured/tenure-track EER faculty who are embedded in traditional engineering departments. The primary area of scholarship for these faculty is EER, but they teach courses in and support the goals and mission of both their home engineering departments and the EER program. EER 601 is designed as a required course for students in the EER program, for other students supported by the EER faculty, and for interested students across the university. In this paper, we provide details of the course content, assignments, structure, and logistics for EER 601. We also present several sources of evidence to demonstrate how the course achieved two key course goals. Finally, we describe revisions we plan to make to the course.