Creating the Skillful Learning Institute: A Virtual Short Course for Building Engineering Educators' Capacity to Promote Student Metacognitive Growth

Patrick Cunningham, Rachel Mc Cord Ellestad, Holly M. Matusovich, Cheryl Carrico

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

Abstract

The Skillful Learning Institute is preparing a virtual short course experience for engineering educators to expand the explicit engagement of engineering students in their metacognitive development, which is currently lacking. Participants will develop a unique metacognitive activity for their context. The ultimate goal is to enhance the education of engineers through explicit metacognitive training, and we focus on instructors for their enduring and multiplicative impact on current and future engineering students, and secondary impacts on their colleagues. We have designed the short course as a series of three two-hour synchronous virtual workshops over a six-week period in the summer. The experience is designed to build instructors' capacities to teach metacognition and to continue to use and develop engaging metacognitive activities. By eliminating the time and cost of travel, this project will enable populations that might otherwise be limited in attendance such as professional-track faculty, teaching focused faculty, community college faculty, adjunct faculty.

Original languageEnglish (US)
JournalASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings
StatePublished - Jul 26 2021
Externally publishedYes
Event2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference, ASEE 2021 - Virtual, Online
Duration: Jul 26 2021Jul 29 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Patrick Cunningham is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. His professional development is focused on researching and promoting metacognition, self-regulated learning, and reflection among students and faculty in Engineering Education. Dr. Cunningham has been a PI/Co-PI on two NSF-funded grants and led Rose-Hulman’s participation in the Consortium to Promote Reflection in Engineering Education (CPREE). He is also a regular contributor to the Improve with Metacognition blog. In May of 2018, Dr. Cunningham received the Rose-Hulman Board of Trustee’s Outstanding Scholar Award for his research work. Dr. Cunningham teaches a range of courses across undergraduate levels with specialization in dynamic systems, measurement, and control. In his teaching he seeks to apply what he has learned from his research, spurring student reflection and metacognitive growth, so that they may become more skillful learners. Skillful learners are capable, independent, and adaptable thinkers who are able to succeed wherever their career paths lead. Dr. Cunningham has industry experience through 7 co-op experiences as an undergraduate student, 2 sponsored projects as a graduate student, and as a consultant after joining the faculty at Rose-Hulman. He holds B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University and was an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship recipient.

Funding Information:
Dr. Holly M. Matusovich is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering Education. She is current the Assistant Department Head for Undergraduate Programs and the former Assistant Department Head for Graduate Programs in Virginia Tech’s Department of Engineering Education. Dr. Matusovich is recognized for her research and practice related to graduate student mentoring. She won the Hokie Supervisor Spotlight Award in 2014, was nominated for a Graduate Advising Award in 2015, and won the 2018 Graduate Student Mentor Award for the College of Engineering. Dr. Matusovich has graduated 10 doctoral students since starting her research program in Spring 2009. Dr. Matusovich co-hosts the Dissertation Institute, a one-week workshop each summer funded by NSF, to help underrepresented students develop the skills and writing habits to complete doctorate degrees in engineering. Across all of her research avenues, Dr. Matusovich has been a PI/Co-PI on 12 funded research projects including the NSF CAREER Award with her share of funding be ingnearly $2.3 million. She has co-authored 2 book chapters, 21 journal publications and more than 70 conference papers. She has won several Virginia Tech awards including a Dean’s Award for Outstanding New Faculty, an Outstanding Teacher Award and a Faculty Fellow Award. She holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University, an M.S. in Materials Science from the University of Connecticut and a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Purdue University.

Publisher Copyright:
© American Society for Engineering Education, 2021

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