2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The benefits of Evidence-Based Instructional Practices (EBIPs) are well-supported in the existing literature and have been demonstrated to play an impactful role in meeting course learning outcomes (CLOs) and improving student retention rates. Despite these benefits, a majority of engineering faculty have remained stagnant in their transition to the adoption of innovative pedagogical devices. There are several global factors which prevent instructors from embracing non-traditional styles of teaching (i.e., time, preparation, student resistance, etc.) which have been explored at a surface level. Therefore, an ethnographic approach is taken to understand the contextual barriers which stand in the way of successful EBIP-implementation. Approximately 70 instructors have been invited to share their personal experience and perceptions around non-traditional modes of teaching over a series of semi-structured interviews. Specifically, participants were prompted to reflect on contextual barriers and affordances that impact their decision-making processes around active student engagement in the classroom. The recorded conversations are transcribed and examined through a qualitative coding analysis through utilization of the MAXQDA software to explore relations between emergent themes. The project also consists of a mentoring component in which participating faculty are continuously engaged in the innovative and development processes tied to EBIP-implementation in the classroom. This collaborative development has created a supportive space in which faculty are encouraged to test out new EBIPs in their courses and reflect on the challenges and successes they encounter. In response to participant feedback, members of the research team provide appropriate scaffolding for instructors in the form of active-learning exercises or hands-on demonstrations which circumnavigate local barriers faced by engineering faculty. Qualitative data is collected through field notes and video recordings of conversations, which are transcribed to discern emerging themes uncovered by various coding methods. The two primary outcomes of this study are to (1) develop a conceptual model that is predictive of the decision-making processes performed by engineering faculty, and (2) a collection of case study examples which highlight contextual barriers to EBIP-implementation. As a secondary byproduct of this research, an online archive of active-learning materials, and supplementary content, is to be made available to engineering instructors as a teaching resource. To this extent, the research team has explored the specifics of resource-related barriers and aspects of engineering department cultures which inhibit optimal student engagement.