Providing robust professional development opportunities for educators can present unique challenges, especially when activities occur abroad. In 2019, the NSF-ATE CREATE Energy Education Center took a group of renewable energy educators to Germany to study innovations in renewable energy and energy storage and to learn how these emerging technologies are incorporated into educational programming and workforce preparation. Learning activities conducted before, during and after travel ensured participant preparedness, academic rigor, constructive reflection and collaborative knowledge-building. This paper presents an analysis of accumulated participant data and presents recommendations for enhancing faculty learning when conducting international educator professional development programs.
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127th Annual American Society for Engineering Education Conference
In 2018, the Center for Renewable Energy Advanced Technological Education (CREATE)
received funding from the National Science Foundation to administer an Energy Storage Project with the overarching goal of advancing the renewable energy sector by facilitating integration of energy storage technology into existing two-year college programs. The goals for this project included gathering expertise, conducting job task and curriculum gap analyses, producing instructional materials, implementing pilot energy storage courses, and providing professional development for college instructors.
The project's initial task was to work with educators to gather knowledge and expertise around
energy storage technologies and energy education. Widespread adoption of energy storage is
only beginning in the U.S. and, subsequently, energy storage-related educational programs are few; conversely, energy storage education efforts have already been pioneered and established in Europe, most notably in Germany. As a result, CREATE leveraged its history of improving energy education through international cooperation and organized a study tour to Germany for nine renewable energy educators to examine innovations in renewable energy and energy storage and to research how these technologies are incorporated into German workforce preparation.
In the planning and conducting international professional development opportunities for
educators, two distinct challenges arise: that of ensuring academic rigor and of anchoring and
capturing learning, especially given the additional cognitive load presented by being abroad.
CREATE employs an evidence-based, international collaboration model - developed and improved over the course of two previous study tours - to meet these challenges. The learning plan consists of pre-travel online activities, knowledge capture and collaborative sharing during travel, and post travel reflection. These activities combine to support educators in gathering and preserving knowledge gains and to facilitate collaborative knowledge-building that leverages the expertise and skills of the participant cohort.
While this paper presents the results of the CREATE professional development model, however the findings are not limited to energy storage or to the energy sector. Indeed, this analysis and the resulting set of recommended practices should be of interest to anyone interested in creating a meaningful educator professional development opportunity, especially if international travel is incorporated.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1800893
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10218361
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- International Faculty Professional Development: Utilizing Hybrid Environments to Deepen Learning and Grow Community
- Issue:
- 30904
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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