New Resource for University Educators
Engineering education has evolved during the past year. The COVID-19 pandemic forced colleges and universities to close classrooms and shift to remote learning, prompting instructors to adapt their curricula and teaching style. As schools reopen this year using in-person, hybrid, and remote learning models, it has become crucial for teachers to adjust.
To help them, in May IEEE launched its Teaching Excellence Hub, a resource for university-level educators who are teaching engineering, computer science, and technology courses online or in person. The website offers tools they can use to improve their curriculum, manage student teams, and more. The hub is a collaboration between the IEEE Education Society and the IEEE Educational Activities Board.
'"IEEE quickly observed that university faculty did not have the resources or support they needed during the COVID-19 pandemic as they transitioned to remote learning," says Burton Dicht, director of student and academic programs for IEEE Educational Activities. "The IEEE Teaching Excellence Hub is meant to help all university staff access resources and tools they can use in the ever-adapting world of education."
Here is an overview of what the hub offers.
Best practices. The IEEE Education Society and the IEEE Educational Activities Board co-sponsored the Engineering Education 2.0 interactive four-part virtual-event series to equip engineering educators with best practices. IEEE Senior Member Arnold Pears, an engineering education expert and current vice president of publications for the IEEE Education Society, is the featured speaker.
- Models, Methods, and Techniques for Innovation.
- Transformation in Practice: Approaches to Innovative Instructional Design.
- Interviews in the Field.
- Digital Transformation of Teaching in a Post-Pandemic World.
Distance learning series. The four webinars in this series cover technologies to facilitate student-teacher communication.
- Using eLearning to Support Distance Learning.
- Online Delivery of Engineering Programs: Tips You Can Use From an Experienced ABET-Accredited Program.
- Helping Students Learn via Online Delivery: Considerations for Pandemic Pedagogy.
- Strategies for Effective Delivery of Online Engineering Courses: Best Practices, Tips, and Tool Kits.
IEEE accreditation series. This series presents behind-the-scenes experiences from IEEE/ABET program evaluators and global accreditation experts. The first event, How an IEEE Program Evaluator Prepares for a University Visit, is available on demand.
Teaching remotely. The Effective Remote Instruction virtual conference, held in April, brought together faculty members from across the globe to share real-world examples and best practices. Five webcasts from the conference are available, offering continuing-education units and professional development hour credits.
- Ditching the Traditional College Lecture in Remote Instruction.
- Making Labs Effective With Remote Learning.
- Managing Remote Student Teams.
- Student Assessments for Remote Delivery.
- Student and Data Privacy When Offering Remote Instruction.
Registration is free for all the events. Attendees can earn a digital certificate of participation.
The hub offers reading material on the following topics.
Academic integrity. The ethical behavior expected in an educational setting.
Assessment techniques. Ways to measure formative and summative levels of student learning.
Career development. Activities for personal and professional improvement through continuing education, skill acquisition, experience, and curated mentorship.
Cooperative learning. Peer-to-peer learning and support where students work together to solve a problem or complete a task.
Educational research. The systematic study of how people learn and teach, and how people experience education.
Equality, diversity, and inclusion. Ensuring equal access to engineering, computing, and technology education and careers, as well as the inclusion of viewpoints that reflect the diversity of the community.
Flipped classroom learning. A technique that requires students to study material before class and then apply their knowledge through problem-solving exercises in class.
Learning technologies. Technology-based tools that enable information delivery and assessment of students, including networks, applications, learning management systems, and computer-aided learning software.
Remote instruction. How students learn through online content and interaction.
The hub's content is reviewed by an editorial board, which includes members from all 10 IEEE regions, reflecting the global nature of the organization.
Vist the hub to find more resources.
Johanna Perez is a digital marketing specialist for IEEE Educational Activities.