In this interactive talk, Jenni draws on two recent comparative and collaborative research projects which have investigated how the Engineering Education Research (EER) field operates in different national settings.  The first study, published recently in the Journal of Engineering Education, performed a sociological discourse analysis of two decades of key articles discussing the state of the field, which identified two main different modes of legitimation, and sought to understand how these functioned in different contexts.  The second set of studies sought to identify the forms of institutionalization of EER that have taken root in different national contexts, firstly comparing the USA, China and Australia and then expanding to a study of South Africa and New Zealand.  

Like any academic discipline, EER seeks to build a global knowledge base but sometimes local variation can be lost in the search for universals.  Furthermore, national research has much to benefit by international comparisons, as currently argued in a draft chapter for the new International Handbook of Engineering Education Research.  

But these findings also have significant implications for those newer to the field seeking to build careers in EER.  Different national contexts have very different possible career trajectories, and there are surprising opportunities in places that are less well endowed with research funding than the USA.  Jenni will conclude the talk with some practical advice for those who might be interested to do part or all of their career beyond the USA, and also for those who have an interest in building international collaborations.

References

Klassen, M., & Case, J. M. (2022). Productive tensions? Analyzing the arguments made about the field of engineering education research. Journal of Engineering Education, 111( 1), 214– 231. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20440

Klassen, M., Jesiek, B., Zheng, L., & Case, J. (n.d.). Institutionalizing Engineering Education Research: Comparing Australia, China, and the United States.

Kumar, S., Gamieldien, Y., Case, J., & Klassen, M. (2021). Institutionalizing Engineering Education Research:  Comparing New Zealand and South Africa. In Research in Engineering Education Symposium (REES) & Australasian Association for Engineering Education Conference. Online. Retrieved from chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/

Speaker Bio

Jennifer Case is Professor and Head of the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech in the USA.  Prior to her appointment in this post she was a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Cape Town, where she retains an honorary appointment.  She completed postgraduate studies in the UK, Australia and South Africa.  With more than two decades of undergraduate teaching and curriculum reform work, she is a well-regarded researcher in engineering education and higher education.  Her work especially on the student experience of learning as well as on topics around teaching and curriculum, has been widely published.  She was a founding member of the Centre for Engineering Education (CREE) and served twice as its Director, as well as being the founding president of the South African Society for Engineering Education (SASEE).  She is a coordinating editor for the international journal Higher Education.