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Engineering Education Program Area

The Engineering Education (EngEd) Program Area* is driven by a team of faculty committed to advancing human-centered, interdisciplinary, creative, and inclusive teaching and learning through mentorship, evaluation, scholarship, and more.

*EngEd is a field of concentration for faculty. Thayer is not yet offering curricular or concentration options in EngEd for students.

EngEd Program Area Lead: Vicki May

On This Page

Support for Teaching and Learning

The EngEd Program Area supports teaching and learning through:

  • Course Development: In addition to advising faculty on the development of new courses, we are also developing a human-centered engineering pathway designed to help first-year students apply mathematics to solving engineering problems.
  • Curriculum Review: We are reviewing both curriculum and outcomes as part of an ongoing effort to make continual improvements.
  • Instructor Resources: We are developing and sharing resources for instructors such as syllabus templates, outreach opportunities, tips for developing courses, and more.
  • Teaching Mentorship: We are developing an approach to mentor faculty, especially new members, in the art of teaching.
  • Teaching Conversations: We hold quarterly open discussions on topics such as inclusivity, grading, project-based learning, and more.

Teaching Evaluation

We are piloting new approaches to evaluating teaching that are a triangulation of student impressions, instructor self-reflections, and peer observations.

See: Dartmouth Engineering Selected to Develop Models for STEM Teaching Evaluation

EnggEdu graphic

Scholarship

Faculty in the EngEd Program Area are involved in scholarly activities aimed at evaluating and improving engineering education for all students.

Active Projects

DIFUSE

DIFUSE is an NSF-funded Dartmouth project aimed at creating opportunities for undergraduates to learn and use data science in introductory STEM courses and beyond. We work with teams of undergraduates, PhD students, and faculty to develop data science "modules" to integrate into existing course curriculum. We also offer opportunities for undergraduate and PhD students to apply data science and data visualization through Internships and work in the DALI Lab.

AAU STEM Project on Teaching Evaluation

With support from the Association of American Universities (AAU), we are creating a system for teaching evaluation that integrates evidence-based evaluation data from three sources: student course assessments, peer observation, and self-reflection. Existing student course assessments are being augmented to focus on observable best practices, rather than students' intuitive impression of the instructor. Peer observations are conducted in accordance with a consistent protocol, which includes guided pre-briefing and debrief sessions between the observer and observee. Self-reflection allows each instructor to note and report on their progress toward the implementation of best teaching practices. The system is currently being piloted and assessed en route to broader implementation. Learn more

Dartmouth Rural STEM Educator Partnership

The Dartmouth Rural STEM Educator Partnership is a collaboration between Dartmouth professors of engineering, biology and sociology, the Montshire Museum of Science, and educators from local middle schools. They are working together on a five-year project to create new STEM curriculum for students and teachers in rural New Hampshire and Vermont, build a virtual STEM teacher network for rural New England, and develop a "near-peer" student mentorship program. The initiative is funded by a $1.3 million Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Human-Centered Engineering Pathway

A group of faculty is creating a new human-centered engineering pathway through which first-year students will apply mathematics to engineering problems and projects. The new five-course sequence will serve as an alternative to the current pre-requisite course sequence. A funding proposal has been submitted to the NSF Broadening Participation in Engineering Program, and we will access additional funding sources as needed.

The EngEdu Team

Faculty

Staff

  • Jared Benedict, Associate Director of Innovation & Educational Technology
  • Jentry Campbell, Research & Learning Librarian (STEM), Feldberg Library
  • Lee Schuette, MShop Operations Manager & Technical Instructor
  • Tad Truex, Lab Instructor