Key words: Study abroad; Faculty motivation; Faculty engagement
As the nature of engineering work continues to be embedded in a more globally connected environment, it is becoming more important for undergraduate engineering programs to help students develop global competencies. Faculty-led study abroad programs, which tend to be short-term but highly focused on a set of objectives with a structured, intentional itinerary, are one way colleges and universities support student development in this area. However, despite the documented benefits, study abroad programs face many challenges with regard to expanding access and enrollment. Student costs, rigid engineering curricular sequencing, persuading parents of the value of study abroad, and high resource needs to plan logistics are some of the common barriers associated with these kinds of experiences. Less studied, although equally important, is the challenge of recruiting faculty members to expand study abroad programs. Planning and administering these kinds of programs tend not to be valued in the promotion and tenure system, and many faculty are not interested in engaging in such student-faculty interaction opportunities.
Given this problem, our paper focuses on a program that has successfully scaled-up faculty engagement to determine why faculty members chose to participate. This faculty-led, short-term study abroad program that targets first year engineering students has undergone rapid expansion over the past few years. In 2017, the program enrolled 135 students into one of six international tracks that, in total, involved 17 faculty members and graduate student leaders. Grounded with expectancy-value theory, our analysis focuses on uncovering the variety of reasons faculty were motivated to engage in the program, both for their first time and in subsequent years. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews that focused on how faculty perceived the task of engaging students in a study abroad experience and the subjective task values faculty associated with the experience. Findings from our study point to a variety of mechanisms and strategies to boost faculty engagement in international experiences with undergraduates.
David Knight is a Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech and also serves as Chief of Strategy in the College of Engineering and Special Assistant to the Provost. His research tends to be at the macro-scale, focused on a systems-level perspective of how engineering education can become more effective, efficient, and inclusive, and considers the intersection between policy and organizational contexts. Knight currently serves as the co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Engineering Education.
Dr. Holly Matusovich is the Associate Dean for Graduate and Professional Studies in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech and a Professor in the Department of Engineering Education where she has also served in key leadership positions. Dr. Matusovich is recognized for her research and leadership related to graduate student mentoring and faculty development. She won the Hokie Supervisor Spotlight Award in 2014, received the College of Engineering Graduate Student Mentor Award in 2018, and was inducted into the Virginia Tech Academy of Faculty Leadership in 2020. Dr. Matusovich has been a PI/Co-PI on 19 funded research projects including the NSF CAREER Award, with her share of funding being nearly $3 million. She has co-authored 2 book chapters, 34 journal publications, and more than 80 conference papers. She is recognized for her research and teaching, including Dean’s Awards for Outstanding New Faculty, Outstanding Teacher Award, and a Faculty Fellow. Dr. Matusovich has served the Educational Research and Methods (ERM) division of ASEE in many capacities over the past 10+ years including serving as Chair from 2017-2019. Dr. Matusovich is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Advances in Engineering Education and she serves on the ASEE committee for Scholarly Publications.
Mayra S. Artiles is a Ph.D. Candidate in Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. She has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez and a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University with a focus on nanotechnology. Prior to her current position, she worked at Ford Motor Company as an Electrified Vehicles Thermal Engineer. Her research interests are broadening participation in engineering higher education, higher education policy, and academic motivation.
Kirsten Davis is an assistant professor in the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University. Her research explores the intentional design and assessment of global engineering programs, student development through experiential learning, and approaches for teaching and assessing systems thinking skills. Kirsten holds a B.S. in Engineering & Management from Clarkson University and an M.A.Ed. in Higher Education, M.S. in Systems Engineering, and Ph.D. in Engineering Education, all from Virginia Tech.
Timothy Kinoshita is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. His research interests include graduate education, global engineering education, and education policy.
Diana Bairaktarova is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech and the Director of the Abilities, Creativity and Ethics in Design [ACE(D)]Lab. Bairaktarova's ongoing research interest spans from engineering to psychology to learning sciences, as she uncovers how individual performance and professional decisions are influenced by aptitudes and abilities, interest, and manipulation of physical and virtual objects.
Kacie Hodges, PE works as a Civil Engineer in Blacksburg, Virginia. She holds BS and Master's degrees in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech. Kacie is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Virginia and has worked in both the private and public sectors. Prior to her current engineering position, she was on the faculty at Virginia Tech in the Department of Engineering Education for over 8 years teaching Foundations of Engineering courses to first year engineering students.
Tamara Knott is the Academic Programs Manager for the Engineering Education
Department at Virginia Tech. She is involved with recruiting and supporting the
department's PhD students and supporting the departments first-year program
interdiscipliary undergraduate courses. She previously taught the Engineering
Foundations course to first year engineering students. Within ASEE, she is a member
of the ERM, FPD, and WIED divisions.
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5082-1411
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
[biography]
Dr. Walter Lee is an associate professor in the Department of Engineering Education and the director for research at the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity (CEED), both at Virginia Tech.
Marlena McGlothlin Lester is the Director of Advising for the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. She leads the undergraduate advising team and oversees the advising process for all General Engineering students. She is responsible for the development of a hands-on, minds-on orientation model for all first-year engineering students, the creation of a comprehensive engineering major exploration tool, Explore Engineering, and enhancement of the academic planning resources available for first-year engineering students. Marlena strives to transform the advising experience for students and advisors through communication, collaboration, and consistency.
Lisa D. McNair is a Professor of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech, where she also serves as Deputy Executive Director of the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology (ICAT).
Kenneth Reid is the Associate Dean and Director of the R.B. Annis School of Engineering at the University of Indianapolis and an affiliate Associate Professor in Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. He is active in engineering within K-12, serving on
Denise R. Simmons, Ph.D., PE, LEED-AP, is an assistant professor in the Myers-Lawson School of Construction and in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, and an affiliate faculty of the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. She holds a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in civil engineering and a graduate certificate in engineering education – all from Clemson University. She has over 10 years of experience working for energy companies and as a project management consultant. Her research contributes to the advancement of labor and personnel issues in engineering broadly and specifically in the construction industry through two research areas: untangling the complex relationship between activities people become involved in — operationalized as engagement — and the technical and professional outcomes gained — operationalized as competencies. The broader impact of this work lies in achieving and sustaining productive, diverse and inclusive project organizations composed of engaged, competent people. Dr. Simmons’ research is supported by awards from NSF, including a CAREER award. She oversees the Simmons Research Lab (www.denisersimmons.com), which is home to a dynamic, interdisciplinary mix of undergraduate and graduate students and a post-doctoral researcher from various colleges and departments at Virginia Tech who work together to explore engineering and construction human centered issues with an emphasis on understanding difference and disparity.
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