Introducing Engineering Graduate Students To Learning Theory And Inquiry Based Learning: A Collaborative, Interdisciplinary Approach

Newly emerging theories of how people learn have direct application in engineering. Constructivist learning theory, which holds that learners construct knowledge through active participation with others, is highly compatible with the hands-on, team centered, inquiry-based emphases of contemporary engineering education. Thus, gaining background in theory and practice of constructive learning uniquely prepares engineering graduate students who plan academic careers. This presentation describes a novel approach in which engineering graduate students learned about learning theory through study, discussion, and practice in a constructivist environment. The approach was developed as a training program for engineering graduate students participating in the NSF-funded Research Communications Studio (RCS) Project at the University of South Carolina. These graduate students mentor small groups of engineering undergraduate researchers who meet in weekly Studio sessions to develop their research and communications abilities. The graduate student mentors also participate fully in the research project, working closely with other members of the project staff--two communications specialist co-PIs, two English graduate students, and engineering faculty research advisors--to study the ways that engineering students use language in learning to design and conduct research. Training for the graduate student mentors includes a weekly seminar on key concepts of learning theory, discussion of ways that these theories explain the learning and progress of the undergraduate researchers, and development of theory-based teaching and coaching methods to be used in subsequent Studio sessions. In this presentation, the co-PIs and four graduate students describe their RCS participation and its role in furthering their understanding of how undergraduate engineering researchers learn through research. The graduate mentors also discuss what they have learned about their own research and professional development, and give recommendations for adapting the RCS graduate mentoring model for use at other institutions.