Measuring Links Between Awareness and Implementation of Engineering Education Research in Practice

In order to make large-scale changes and promote research-to-practice in engineering education, there is a need for a greater understanding of factors that contribute to RTP in this field. Using the hierarchy of effects model, this work in progress strived to examine the RTP gap and factors that facilitate an RTP pathway in the engineering education discipline, specifically examining engineering education stakeholders’ awareness of, interest in, influence of, and implementation of published research in their daily practices. Participants included 41 engineering education stakeholders. Greater awareness of published research was significantly associated with greater influence of published research and more frequent implementation of published research. A significant, positive association was found between the influence of published research and the implementation of published research. Participants on a non-traditional career track reported greater awareness of published research than those on a mid-career track. Engineering education researchers reported greater awareness, influence, and implementation of published research than engineering education practitioners. Implications of findings, such as future directions and ways for improving attitudes toward research in engineering education, are discussed.