Many institutions and organizations provide engineering (and STEM) educators capacity building programs around the world. Some of these programs are short, others are longer, some are mostly theoretical, others include hands-on, practice-based activities. Given the need and importance of providing pedagogy knowledge and hands-on experiences to faculty, in 2016, InnovaHiEd Institute, based in Puerto Rico, developed the International Engineering Educator Certification Program (IEECP), which aims at obtaining IGIP ’s International Engineering Educator Academic Certification. Instructors of the program believe in practicing what they teach, so teaching methods utilized in the IEECP include face-to-face lectures/ workshops, flipped learning, teaching/learning with technology, reflection (developing a teaching portfolio), proposal writing, project implementation and peer-reviewed paper writing and submission. All in all, it takes a total of about 500 hours for the students to learn the Program’s competencies distributed into three phases, considering that a student can devote between 12 and 15 hours per week for non-presential learning activities.
Present Required learning/practice modules include:
- Fundamentals of IT for Course Management
- The Need to Innovate Engineering Education
- Fundamentals of Outcomes Based Curriculum Development
- Teaching Methods and Active Learning Structures to Develop Competencies
- Theory Modules (required)
- Fundamentals of Outcomes Assessment
- Integrating Ethics Across the Curriculum
- Harnessing Technology in Higher Education
- Faculty Communication Competencies
- Teaching/Mentoring Practice (Teaching Clinic)
- Project – Becoming an Education Innovator
Major requirements of the program are completing all modules and their tasks, implementing a classroom innovation project, development of a teaching portfolio and publication of a paper in a peer-reviewed conference or journal. The IEECP has been offered twice to about 75 STEM deans and faculty members in the years 2017 and 2018.
“I have been able to implement the things I learned [in the program] and wanted to share the happiness we are witnessing daily with the outcomes.”
-Daniel Echaradía
The hybrid, hands-on, practice-based program and its components and unique requirements, implementation and outcomes are described in recent papers presented at the WEEF in Albuquerque (2018), New Mexico and in SEFI Conference in Budapest (2019). This writing summarizes the program outcomes in the quest to understanding if the attendees feel the program was worthwhile taking.
So, what is the opinion of those students (faculty) that have taken the IEECP?
About the learning management system (LMS) used: 84% of the respondents rated as useful or very useful the use of the LMS.
About the program requirements: 84% of the participants considered that program requirements and workload were appropriate in order to accomplish the program’s educational objectives.
Student level of satisfaction: 98% of the respondents expressed that they felt very motivated or motivated, and, 100% felt that the program transformed their teaching-learning experiences at different levels. 95% of respondents experienced a high level of transformation due to the program.
Overall level of satisfaction: The overall level of satisfaction of the participants of the program is reflected in two ways: 93% would recommend the program to their peers, and all respondents evaluated the IEECP as very good.
Students’ plans: 93% of respondents continue to practice innovations in their classrooms and/or working on an innovation paper. 81% plan to continue training in STEM education and pedagogy. Among the areas of education that participants would like to continue to pursue are active learning and curriculum development based on outcomes, and planning for accreditation.