Bridging the Valley of Death: Examining the Work Environment Influencing Adoption of Innovations in Engineering Education

There is a nationwide need to better translate engineering education research into the classroom setting. Moving engineering education research into practice is a more complicated task than it might initially seem. There are many significant barriers to hinder the transition from research to implementation. These barriers can be categorized into two groups: (1) individual barriers, such as personality characteristics that contribute to a lack of willingness to implement innovations, as well as a lack of knowledge about engineering education research; and (2) environmental perceptions, such as perceptions of the tenure and promotion process that suggest a lack of support for innovations. The project discussed in this paper investigates the characteristics of faculty members who successfully adopt engineering education innovations and studies the impact of their working environment on their decision to adopt. The project also investigates characteristics of faculty members who do not adopt engineering education innovations and whether that decision was affected by perceptions of their working environment. This paper describes preliminary results of a data collection effort identifying current barriers faculty members have in the adoption of innovations in engineering education. This paper presents data from three perspectives: that of students, administrators, and published documents. These perspectives are part of a larger 360° approach for data collection that also includes the perspectives of self and colleagues. This 360° approach provides a foundation for bridging the gap, often referred to as the ‘valley of death,’ between engineering education research and the common practice of engineering education.