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1. IUSE/PFE: RED A&I Curriculum Integration through Collaborative Teaching and Mentoring: Adapting an Integrated System for Engineering Formation

   Maniatty, Antoinette M; Borca-Tasciuc, Diana-Andra; Picu, Catalin; Felix, Sarah; Karthikeyan, Panneerselvam; Burkholder, Eric; Kopsaftopoulos, Fotis; Svirsky, Amy Jo; Ji, Wei (June 2026, American Society for Engineering Education)

   This wok provides an overview of progress made toward a transformation of the culture and curriculum of the Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering (MANE) Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) to better equip our students to solve the challenging problems of our world. This work is an adaption and extension of a proven integrated engineering education model from Colorado State University’s NSF IUSE/PFE RED program, scaling up to a large department with four degree programs in a way that is sustainable. Motivated by longstanding challenges in traditional siloed engineering education—such as students’ challenges with connecting fundamental concepts across disciplines, applying abstract knowledge to real-world problems, and understanding professional pathways early in the curriculum—the project is addressing critical needs identified in the National Academy of Engineering’s Educating the Engineer of 2020 report and supported by extensive literature on STEM integration and organizational change. The work leverages evidence-based strategies grounded in engineering education research. The project focuses on enhancing engineering education through six key activities: developing modules to support the application of foundational knowledge, implementing knowledge integration (KI) activities linking discipline-specific courses, embedding vertically integrated projects (VIPs) into the curriculum, fostering student professional formation via Engineers-In-Residence (EIR), supporting faculty teaching development, and continuous programmatic assessment. These elements are designed to foster deeper interdisciplinary understanding, enhance hands-on learning, and improve professional identity formation for undergraduate students in MANE. New curriculum activities have included the successful creation and piloting of foundation modules that refreshed essential math and physics concepts with positive student feedback; effective KI activities in aerospace engineering and control systems that connected courses with related content; and implementation of a VIP centered on Luminescent Solar Concentrators across multiple courses to promote cumulative learning and systems-level understanding. Other supporting activities include initial but promising EIR engagement in career-related support for students; faculty development workshops that encouraged evidence-based teaching practices; and ongoing assessment revealing areas for improvement such as increasing examples in modules, better framing of assignments, and enhanced coordination among courses. Overall, the project is stimulating more collaborative teaching and is demonstrating the feasibility and value in integrating interdisciplinary learning experiences into a large, multi-program department, to better prepare engineering students for complex professional challenges. 

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2. “It let me merge my love of teaching with research”: A qualitative investigation of the career pathways of biology education researchers

   https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0312243  

   Driessen, Emily P; Steele, Ariel L; Costello, Robin A; Brewer, Peyton; Ballen, Cissy J (October 2024, PLOS ONE)

   Malele-Kolisa, Yolanda (Ed.)

   Discipline-based education research—a field of research that investigates teaching and learning within STEM disciplines—has emerged over the last few decades to improve the quality of STEM education worldwide. Simple qualitative questions concerning the career backgrounds and motivations of the individuals who conduct this research have yet to be explored. Here, we surveyed and interviewed discipline-based education researchers about their career trajectories and motivations to pursue this field of research. We focused specifically on recruiting biology education research faculty members at colleges and universities. We used the Social Influence Model and Social Cognitive Career Theory to develop and analyze survey and semi-structured interview questions. Findings revealed participant career paths all began with disciplinary undergraduate and graduate-level biology education. We noticed participants began conducting biology education research due to theirvaluesandpersonal interests, while additionally being swayed bycontextual factors. Specifically, participantsvaluedbiology education research because it allowed them to make a difference in the world and provided them with a community open to change and collaboration. Biology education research allowed them to explore theirinterestsin teaching and evidence-based approaches to education. Thesevaluesandinterestswere impacted bycontextual factors, including discoveries of opportunities, positive (or negative) experiences with mentorship, exposure to evidence-based teaching literature, considerations of salary and job security, and experiences with gender-based discrimination. Our results underscore the importance of harnessing individual values and interests—especially those centered on evidence-based teaching practices and making a difference in the world—while fostering a positive and supportive academic environment. This research reveals pathways toward discipline-based education research careers. Additionally, this research can inform the development of graduate programs and funding opportunities. 

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3. Using an engagement lens to model active learning in the geosciences

   https://doi.org/10.1080/10899995.2021.1913715  

   LaDue, N. D.; McNeal, P. M.; Ryker, K.; St. John, K.; van der Hoeven Kraft, K. J. (April 2021, Journal of Geoscience Education)

   Hannula, K. (Ed.)

   Active learning research emerged from the undergraduate STEM education communities of practice, some of whom identify as discipline-based education researchers (DBER). Consequently, current frameworks of active learning are largely inductive and based on emergent patterns observed in undergraduate teaching and learning. Alternatively, classic learning theories historically originate from the educational psychology community, which often takes a theory-driven, or deductive research approach. The broader transdisciplinary education research community is now struggling to reconcile the two. That is, how is a theory of active learning distinct from other theories of knowledge construction? We discuss the underpinnings of active learning in the geosciences, drawing upon extant literature from the educational psychology community on engagement. Based on Sinatra et al. engagement framework, we propose a model for active learning in the geosciences with four dimensions: behavioral, emotional, cognitive, and agentic. We then connect existing literature from the geoscience education community to the model to demonstrate the current gaps in our literature base and opportunities to move the active learning geoscience education research (GER) forward. We propose the following recommendations for future investigation of active learning in the geosciences: (1) connect future GER to our model of active learning in the geosciences, (2) measure more than content learning, (3) document research methods and outcomes with effect sizes to accumulate evidence, and (4) prioritize research on dimensions of active learning essential to the geosciences. 

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4. Learning Trajectories through Undergraduate Engineering Curricula and Experiences

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--34905  

   Lande, Micah (June 2020, 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference)

   null (Ed.)

   This NSF EAGER research paper investigates how undergraduate STEM and engineering students’ learning trajectories evolve over time, from 1st to senior year, along a novice to expert spectrum. We borrow the idea of “learning trajectories” from mathematics education that can paint the evolution of students’ knowledge and skills over time over a set of learning experiences. Curricula for undergraduate engineering programs can reflect an intended pathway of knowledge construction within a discipline. We intend our study of individual students within undergraduate STEM and engineering programs can highlight how this may happen in situ and how it may be similar or might differ from a given, prescribed programs of study among disciplines. We use a theoretical framework based in adaptive expertise and design thinking adaptive expertise to develop a design learning continuum further. Envisioned routes through disciplinary undergraduate curricula and student conceptions of their design process are explored through qualitative, semi-structured interviews with undergraduate 1st year and senior year students across STEM, engineering and non-STEM field such as computer science, mechanical engineering, general engineering, mathematics, science, English, and art. We also conduct similar interviews with faculty in these fields who are responsible and knowledgeable for undergraduate programs about their perceived benefits for the structure of their program’s curriculum. Additional information is collected from noticing the organizational and pedagogical structures of the relative undergraduate curriculum. Initial findings/outcomes suggest that traditions to knowledge construction both differ across disciplinary approaches and have similarities across non-obvious disciplinary relationships. Faculty have a firm understanding of how one class chains from one to another; students have less of a field of view for how mindful chunks of knowledge combine together. 

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5. Identifying Pre-Service Elementary Teachers Productive Knowledge Resources around Representations and Arguments in Math and Science

   Barth-Cohen, Lauren; Francom, Rachel; Greenberg, Kevin; MacArthur, Kelly; Gutiérrez, Jose. (January 2019, Annual meeting program - American Educational Research Association)

   There have been increased calls for elementary teachers to integrate and connect knowledge across STEM disciplines. Along those lines, previous empirical research has identified known leverage points based on the disciplinary practices of representation and argumentation in math and science. Using the theoretical framework of resource theory, we analyzed data of pre-service teachers (PSTs) participation in open-ended performance assessments in math and science that asked them to utilize their subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge to address a realistic classroom challenge related to a hypothetical teaching scenario. Results show that the PSTs have a variety of productive knowledge resources related to generating and analyzing arguments and representations. We discuss the implications for elementary STEM teaching and teacher preparation. 

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