Exploring Engineering Faculty's Use of Active-learning Strategies in Their Teaching

Abstract Active learning approach, an umbrella term for a multitude of instructional methods that require students to actively participate in the learning process, has gained increasing popularity in engineering education. Based on the complexity and the time requirement, active learning can take many different forms from simply pausing a lecture and asking students to write a summary of what has been covered in the lecture to asking them to collaboratively work on real-world problems and projects. The effectiveness of active learning strategies compared to the traditional lecture approach, when implemented well, has been empirically validated and documented in engineering education literature. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore engineering faculty's use of active learning strategies in their teaching in a Midwestern university's college of engineering context. Data sources included a survey about the faculty knowledge and use of active learning strategies and follow-up semi-structured interviews that aimed to gather an in-depth understanding of their implementation of active learning strategies in their classrooms. Results indicated that collaborative learning and problem-based learning were two most commonly used active learning strategies, while 1-minute paper and peer instruction were the least commonly used strategies. Participants agreed that active learning improved student learning outcomes, and motivated students to participate in the class, but required an increased workload during the development of activities. The results of this study may inform future faculty development efforts and adoption of active learning strategies in classrooms that were proven to improve student learning and retention in engineering.