Toward a shared meaning of the "impact" of engineering education research: Initial findings of a mixed methods study

Jeremi S. London, Maura Borrego

    Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

    1 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    In an environment of increased scrutiny and accountability, engineering education researchers are being called upon to describe and defend the tangible impacts of their work on a regular basis. The lack of scholarship within and beyond the field of engineering education on the impact of research contributes to the lack of shared language around what research impact looks like in this context- and a lack of productive conversations on how research can impact practice. Using a convergent parallel mixed methods research design, the aim of this study is to develop a valid framework that characterizes the impact of engineering education research, and describe engineering education researchers' and practitioners' perspectives on how research does and should influence practice in our context. Together, the two data forms enable greater insights on the problem than would be obtained by either type of data separately. This project started in Summer 2016 (one year ago). Data collection for the quantitative strand is well underway while data collection for the qualitative strand is complete. One of the key findings thus far is that the field of engineering education is closer to the development of a research impact framework than previously realized. Details on the research design and progress on the framework development will be discussed in this paper. Next steps will also be presented.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    JournalASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings
    Volume2017-June
    StatePublished - Jun 24 2017
    Event124th ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition - Columbus, United States
    Duration: Jun 25 2017Jun 28 2017

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • General Engineering

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