Exploring Engineering Education in Broader Context: A Framework of Engineering Global Preparedness

Both the National Academy of Engineering and engineering education researchers underscore a necessity that U.S. engineering graduates be capable of collaborating across national boundaries to successfully “encounter worlds of professional practice that are increasingly global in nature.” As a result, this emphasis requires engineering educators and professionals to better understand what constitutes a globally prepared engineer and the types of learning experiences foster preparation of such an engineer. This paper offers an overview of a NSF funded multi-university research program that investigates how globally focused learning experiences within engineering (both coand extracurricular) impact students’ global preparedness. The research protocol involves three studies and dissemination platform, each of which is in different levels of completion. Results from this study offer the engineering education community a set of impactful and flexible research-based globally focused engineering education pedagogical practices that correlate to learning, diverse student populations, and program types.