Preparing engineering faculty of the future: the NSF Engineering Education Scholars Workshop

Graduate students who plan a career in academia may be somewhat prepared for the rigors of hands-on research once they receive their Ph.D.'s, but they are typically unprepared to meet their teaching and advising/mentoring responsibilities and to set up their own research program. These responsibilities are critical to effective education of their students and to their own success in the academic community. The NSF Engineering Scholars Education Workshop addresses these concerns by helping participants make the transition from graduate student to professor. The week-long workshop is intended to provide new and future faculty members with the information they need to survive and flourish as academics. In terms of teaching and learning, there is a wealth of published material which new faculty members simply do not have time to read. Some of the more important and theoretical information, especially from the field of cognitive psychology, is not always readily applied to learning and teaching situations. Furthermore, becoming an effective teacher takes time and experience, and the trial and error process that one goes through is painful to both the students and the teacher. The opposite situation occurs for setting up research programs: there is very little literature on the subject and learning on the job is often inefficient and awkward. The workshop described here provides concrete ideas, strategies and examples for effective practices in learning and teaching, as well as advice for setting up a successful research program.