2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Board 126: Work in Progress: Investigating Faculty Development Experiences in the Context of a Teaching-focused Book Club

Presented at Faculty Development Division (FDD) Poster Session

This Research Work-in-Progress paper investigates STEM faculty's perceived effect of participating in a teaching-focused book club at a very high research activity university. Due to the intensive nature of faculty professional careers, teaching often takes a backseat to research. Faculty also lack time to attend workshops on teaching and learning. Book clubs are an alternative to support faculty development.

A teaching-focused book club was designed to create a social forum where STEM faculty members could share and innovate their teaching practices. The book club was facilitated by the Engineering School Learning and Teaching Hub facilitated the book club, and consisted of three virtual sessions during the Fall 2022 term. The book selected by the facilitators was the second edition of a teaching-focused book entitled “Small Teaching: Everyday lessons from the Science of Learning”. 'Small Teaching' includes small and practical interventions for faculty to use in their classroom backed by research in learning. The three book club sessions were structured around the three sections of the book (knowledge, understanding, and inspiration). Seven STEM faculty members joined to discuss the book readings in relation to their teaching experiences. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a subset of book club participants (n=4) at the beginning of the following semester to understand how a book club experience can influence faculty teaching. The interview data is being analyzed using an inductive-deductive thematic analysis.

Preliminary results indicate that the material and the dynamic of discussions, which allows participants to share their experiences, are critical to the book club design. The book club participants reflected on improvements related to faculty-students communication and student feedback; and appreciated connecting with other instructors who shared the goal of improving student learning by reflecting on their teaching practices. The emergent findings advance an argument for alternative approaches to faculty development focusing on STEM teaching. The rest of the paper will describe the book club design, theoretical framework, identified themes, implications, and the next steps of this research project and future book clubs. The preference to present this WIP is Poster format.

Authors

Marcus Melo de Lyra http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4309-6826 The Ohio State University [biography]

Marcus is a second-year Ph.D. student in the Engineering Education Department (EED) at The Ohio State University. His research interests include teaching faculty development and early-career faculty experiences. Before joining the EESD program, Marcus earned his BS in Civil Engineering at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte and his MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Federal University of Campina Grande in Brazil.
Dr. Medha Dalal http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5705-1800 Arizona State University [biography]

Medha Dalal’s career as an engineering education researcher focuses on addressing complex engineering education challenges by building capacity for stakeholders at the grassroots, while also informing policy. She is an assistant research professor and associate director of scholarly initiatives at the learning and teaching hub in the Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. She has a Ph.D. in Engineering Education, a master’s in computer science, and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. Her research at the cross-roads of engineering, education, and technology seeks to transform and democratize engineering education by exploring ways of thinking, identifying effective professional development approaches, and uncovering pedagogical techniques to enhance students’ engineering curiosity, engagement, and learning.
Dr. Kristen Peña http://orcid.org/https://0009-0004-8260-914X Arizona State University [biography]

In her role as Program Manager, Learning Initiatives for the Fulton Schools of Engineering (FSE) Learning and Teaching Hub (LTH), Kristen Peña plans, develops, and supports a variety of faculty professional learning initiatives, including workshops, quick-reference guides, and other learning opportunities for engineering instructional staff and faculty.

Kristen has worked in higher education since 2014 in various roles supporting student development, faculty-directed programs, and entrepreneurial experiential learning. Kristen is a first-generation student and received her Doctor of Education degree in Leadership and Innovation from ASU. Her research interests include engineering faculty professional development, faculty-student interactions, first-generation college students, and retaining students in STEM fields.
Mrs. Jennifer Hadley Perkins http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1730-8306 Arizona State University [biography]

Hadley Perkins is a third-year Ph.D. Student in the Engineering Education Systems & Design Program at Arizona State University. Her research interests include Graduate Students’ Teaching Formation, Faculty Development & Mentorship, Curriculum Design, and Virtual instruction. She earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kansas in 1997. She attended Wichita State University for graduate study, earning a Secondary Mathematics Teaching Certification in 2008 and an MS in Mechanical Engineering in 2018. Ms. Perkins is a former Assistant Engineering Educator in the Engineering Technology Department of Wichita State University. She has also taught Secondary Mathematics courses in both public and private school settings.

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