Improving Engineering Education: A Research‐Based Framework For Teaching

Instructional methods suggested to improve engineering education often follow primarily from personal experience and disparate research findings. While acknowledging the value of anecdotal evidence and individual studies, we advocate treating teaching as an ongoing scholarly practice where existing and new research is organized into a robust framework that produces a total effect greater than the sum of the independent parts. This paper describes the major components in a research‐based framework for teaching and applies it to engineering education. While initially time intensive, this approach promotes an interplay of pedagogical decisions resulting in a synergism that best advances effective engineering education.