Faculty Roles in Student Learning, Confidence, and Skills Development

Previous studies have investigated and identified a number of ways in which faculty can affect students' gains in learning outcomes and course satisfaction. This study focused on the relationships between engineering faculty teaching practices and students' gains in communication skills, problem-solving skills, occupational awareness, and engineering competence in a curriculum emphasizing engineering design activities. The study was based on data gathered from 1555 students taking the first-year design course offered at 19 campuses of The Pennsylvania State University system over a period of two years. The results suggest that faculty interacting with and providing constructive feedback to students was significantly and positively related to student gains in developing problem solving and communication skills, understanding what it is practicing engineers do, and improving students' motivation and confidence to become engineers. These relationships remained after controlling for student demographic characteristics and campus location. The focus of this paper is to provide engineering instructors with insights about their roles in fostering selected student gains. Recommendations regarding specific teaching practices are provided.