2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

From Body of Knowledge to Modular Implementation: A Faculty Learning Community Model for Graduate Chemical Engineering Reform

Presented at GSD Session 6: Discipline-Specific and Interdisciplinary Courses

Graduate STEM education remains largely grounded in a uniform, “one-size-fits-all” structure that prioritizes research depth over pedagogical adaptability. The University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering, supported by an NSF Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) award, is addressing this gap through a modularized, one-credit curriculum and a personalized learning model (PLM) for graduate chemical engineering. This paper presents a case study of how a Faculty Learning Community (FLC) transformed a collaboratively developed body of knowledge (BOK) into a functioning modular curriculum. In this paper, we address the following research question: How can an FLC serve as a mechanism for implementing modular, personalized graduate curricula? Specifically, what mechanisms promote faculty adoption of this educational innovation?

Throughout the 2024–2025 academic year, faculty teaching the core chemical engineering courses: Thermodynamics, Kinetics, Transport, Safety and Ethics, and Mathematical Methods met monthly to interpret the BOK, identify implementation barriers, and co-design three-level, one-credit modules aligned with foundational, graduate, and specialized learning outcomes. Guided by educational research frameworks and supported by external evaluators, the FLC employed diffusion of innovation theory and Vygotsky's scaffolding principles to refine its instructional design iteratively. Monthly meeting themes evolved from analysis and planning to process mapping, learning on just-in-time teaching, and developing “day-to-day” module blueprints for the Fall 2025 pilot launch.

Early findings show that the FLC model effectively built community, fostered ownership, and lowered resistance to change while highlighting structural barriers, particularly in assessment alignment and inter-faculty coordination. Faculty surveys indicated high support for innovation but underscored the need for continued peer and administrative backing. The paper concludes by presenting the FLC’s replicable structure, facilitation practices, and assessment tools, positioning this approach as a scalable framework for translating conceptual curriculum redesign into sustainable instructional practice.

This case study paper contributes to ongoing national dialogue on reimagining graduate education by demonstrating how collaborative faculty learning structures can operationalize systemic reform, increase pedagogical flexibility, and advance personalized learning within and beyond engineering disciplines.

Authors

Dr. Mary E. Besterfield-Sacre University of Pittsburgh [biography]

Dr. Mary Besterfield-Sacre is Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Nickolas A. DeCecco Professor in Industrial Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. She is the Founding Director for the Engineering Education Research Center (EERC).
Dr. April Dukes http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6626-9331 University of Pittsburgh [biography]

Dr. April Dukes is the Faculty and Future Faculty Program Director for the Engineering Educational Research Center (EERC) and the Institutional Co-leader for Pitt-CIRTL at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Dukes' current research and professional development efforts focus on two critical areas shaping the future of higher education. She serves as Senior Staff on a major National Science Foundation (NSF) project to create and validate a Personalized Learning Model (PLM) for STEM graduate education. This work is dedicated to increasing inclusivity by replacing "one-size-fits-all" training with flexible, student-centered pathways tailored to individual backgrounds and career goals. Additionally, she leads research into effective strategies for implementing the ethical and responsible use of generative AI in teaching, learning, and faculty professional development.
Prof. Susan K Fullerton Shirey University of Pittsburgh [biography]

Susan Fullerton is an Associate Professor, Bicentennial Board of Visitors Faculty Fellow, and Vice Chair for Graduate Education in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. She earned her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at Penn State in 2009, and joined the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame as a Research Assistant Professor. In 2015 she established the Nanoionics and Electronics Lab at Pitt as an Assistant Professor, and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2020. Fullerton’s work has been recognized by an NSF CAREER award, an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, a Marion Milligan Mason award for women in the chemical sciences from AAAS, and a Ralph E. Powe Jr. Faculty Award from ORAU. For her teaching, Fullerton was awarded the 2018 James Pommersheim Award for Excellence in Teaching in Chemical Engineering at Pitt. For more information: http://fullertonlab.pitt.edu/
Dr. Gary Lichtenstein Quality Evaluation Designs [biography]

Gary Lichtenstein, Ed.D., is founder and principal of Quality Evaluation Designs, specializing in education research and program evaluation.
Dr. Götz Veser University of Pittsburgh
Ms. Abigail T Stephan http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4418-6586 Clemson University [biography]

Dr. Abigail (Abby) Stephan is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and an affiliated faculty member at the Institute for Engaged Aging at Clemson University in South Carolina. Her research explores a) the influence of intergenerational relationships in family, community, and educational contexts on learning, development, and well-being across the lifespan and b) examines social and psychological factors that promote healthy aging. In addition to taking an ecological, systems-oriented perspective, her work often employs a mixed methods design and is interdisciplinary, drawing from gerontology and aging studies, family and community science, developmental psychology, youth development, education, anthropology, and sociology. She earned her Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) credential to further the translation of research to applied settings.

Beyond research, Dr. Stephan is committed to advancing the development, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-based educational opportunities that support learners across the lifespan. Two primary avenues for this work include a) creating resources and fostering mentorship opportunities to ensure high-quality training exists for current and future professionals in the field of gerontology and b) promoting lifelong learning through engaging and fulfilling learning experiences for older adults.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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