Engineering Faculty Teaching Styles and Attitudes toward Student-Centered and Technology-Enabled Teaching Strategies

摘要

This paper presents results of a survey assessing learning preferences and teaching strategies of engineering faculty. Of particular interest were questions pertaining to technology implementations and to professional development. The survey pointed to lack of interest in educational activities and low use of innovative instructional methods and instructional technologies, particularly among junior engineering faculty. Results of a recent national faculty survey are reviewed to provide the context for discussion. Professional development of engineering faculty, long an area of concern, becomes more urgent as accumulated applied engineering and teaching experience is being lost through impending retirements. Ironically, with faculty renewal, there is a risk of the dominant culture in engineering departments becoming even less responsive to students' needs. Such concerns have been highlighted before and this study confirms them.