2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Graduate students are well-trained in the mechanisms and practices of research. But even as faculty-to-be, they are rarely prepared for the pedagogical skills they will need in these roles. Further, the epistemology of this population is under-studied, particularly in terms of their views toward learning and teaching.
This work is developed to provide better foundational knowledge understanding the epistemological beliefs of PreService Faculty (PSF), which we define as engineering graduate students intent on pursuing a faculty position after their degree. This foundational literature will inform the field as to the views of PSF towards what it means to learn engineering or how this can be facilitated. Through the lens of epistemological beliefs, we examine PSF understanding of the process for learning and the form of knowledge, once learned.
Epistemological beliefs are deeply held, rarely consciously known, and highly influential on every action in teaching. As such, understanding PSF epistemological beliefs around learning engineering will help in determining how to provide opportunities to develop or refine those beliefs, as well as providing more tailored professional development opportunities for these PSF. Moreover, engineering as a discipline brings its own unique characteristics (such as a strong focus upon the impact of knowledge or the emphasis on discovering a physical reality) which poses a need for more discipline-specific training when compared to the ones available in other STEM/ed counterparts. Given these facts, this work asks the question: “What do PSF consider to be the phenomenon of ‘Learning Engineering’?”
This work used a modified descriptive phenomenological inquiry, drawn from Husserlian traditions, alongside detailed analytic procedures to develop a preliminary model describing how PSF view the phenomenon of ‘Learning Engineering.’
Findings include the views that even though the conceptual basis of engineering is important, this is treated as a given fact and not focused upon by PSF. More important to the process of learning engineering are elements such as: the development of self-assessment skills, personal metacognition, and the process of learning “what engineering actually is.”
Implications from this work suggest avenues of focus for PSF professional development and pedagogical excellence, such as a clear description of how to connect a concept to its application, strategies for facilitating the development of student metacognition, and guiding learners in taking autonomy for their own learning. These can be infused into PD workshops, opportunities, or leveraged by PSF mentors. Additionally, the focus on a need for an application of knowledge provides a unique opportunity: teach the PSF how to teach using effective methods. This can be particularly impactful from a faculty mentor, who can provide opportunities for apprentice-teaching (blinded for review) to develop the pedagogical skills only facilitated through the acts of teaching.