Understanding research engagement practices among engineering education stakeholders to promote the impact of research on practice

ABSTRACT

To improve the impact engineering education research has on practice, there is a need to understand how stakeholders (i.e. researchers, practitioners, administrators) currently engage with research. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the ways that various engineering education stakeholders engage with research and their perceptions of the impact of doing so. Twenty-seven engineering stakeholders located in the United States participated in 30–60 min semi-structured interviews. The interview participants’ responses were analysed using thematic analysis. This analysis resulted in two types of findings – namely seven ways engineering education stakeholders tend to engage with research; and four forms of influence that research has on engineering education practice. Both sets of findings were combined to create the Research Engagement Matrix, which maps characterisations of research activities along a continuum from consumer to producers and scopes of influence along a continuum from local to national level. Although the findings of this study are limited to insights from stakeholders in the United States, many of engagement activities and forms of influence may also describe members of the global engineering education community. This work has implications for bridging connections between research and practice among all engineering education stakeholders.

KEYWORDS:

• Impact
• bridging research and practice
• research engagement

Acknowledgements

This project is supported by National Science Foundation Grants #1564629, 1564509. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation [1564509];National Science Foundation [1564629].

Notes on contributors

E. Altamirano

E. Altamirano is a Ph.D. student in Counseling and Counseling Psychology Department at Arizona State University.

J.S. London

J.S. London, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

K. Lau

K. Lau is a Ph.D. student in Counseling and Counseling Psychology Department at Arizona State University.

N Waree

N Waree is an Educational Policy and Planning Analyst in the Office of Higher Education Commission in Bangkok, Thailand.

S. Cruz

S. Cruz is a Ph.D. student in Counseling and Counseling Psychology Department at Arizona State University.