(174d) Chemical Engineering Faculty Perceptions of Active Learning Incorporation

Despite the rich history of innovation and evolution in chemical engineering pedagogy, widespread adoption of evidence-based practices has been sluggish in comparison. The benefits of active learning on students in STEM classes have been well-documented over the last decade (Freeman et al., 2014), yet widespread adoption of active learning techniques by chemical engineering faculty on both the class and curriculum level has been slow (Borrego et al., 2010; Cutler et al., 2012). Previous research on resistance to active learning adoption in STEM departments has shown that faculty perceive numerous barriers to incorporating active learning in their classes, including a dearth resources and support, student perception and engagement, and a lack of time and confidence for successful implementation (Carroll et al., 2023; Finelli et al., 2014). To achieve sustainable organizational change towards department-wide adoption of active learning, these barriers must be elucidated and addressed in a systemic manner.

We are in the process of transforming our chemical engineering curriculum to include active learning in the form of hands-on, inquiry-based laboratory experiments. This change relies on faculty’s willingness to develop, implement, and assess the impact of these laboratory experiences on student learning in their respective classes. Given the previously mentioned barriers to faculty incorporation of active learning, department policy, norms, structures, and resources must be intentionally aligned to empower faculty to engage in this effort. Through the lens of organizational change theory, we present here emerging results of our faculty’s current attitudes and perceived barriers towards our change efforts at the beginning of our initiative and identify key actions to address these concerns as the initiative progresses.

We employed a mixed-methods study (IRB#0148897), assessing faculty perceptions of active learning through both quantitative survey responses and qualitative interviews with two faculty before and after implementing laboratory experiments in their core, required courses. Future work will continue to assess the change in faculty attitudes over time with yearly surveys for the entire department and interviews with individual faculty before and after the class implementation. Organizational change literature suggests that achieving sustainable systemic change in higher education typically requires around five years of sustained effort. By understanding our faculty’s current state of enthusiasm for active learning, we can better plan and inform our own change efforts and similar efforts at other departments and institutions.

References

Borrego, M., Froyd, J. E., & Hall, T. S. (2010). Diffusion of Engineering Education Innovations: A Survey of Awareness and Adoption Rates in U.S. Engineering Departments. Journal of Engineering Education, 99(3), 185–207. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2168-9830.2010.tb01056.x

Carroll, L. J., Reeping, D., Finelli, C. J., Prince, M. J., Husman, J., Graham, M., & Borrego, M. J. (2023). Barriers instructors experience in adopting active learning: Instrument development. Journal of Engineering Education, 112(4), 1079–1108. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20557

Cutler, S., Borrego, M., Prince, M., Henderson, C., & Froyd, J. (2012). A comparison of electrical, computer, and chemical engineering facultys’ progressions through the innovation-decision process. 2012 Frontiers in Education Conference Proceedings, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2012.6462405

Finelli, C. J., Daly, S. R., & Richardson, K. M. (2014). Bridging the Research‐to‐Practice Gap: Designing an Institutional Change Plan Using Local Evidence. Journal of Engineering Education, 103(2), 331–361. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20042

Freeman, S., Eddy, S. L., McDonough, M., Smith, M. K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., & Wenderoth, M. P. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(23), 8410–8415. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1319030111