Realising A Centre For Educational Development: Experiences, Challenges, Lessons Learnt, And Future Ambitions

Authors

Reidar LYNG, Centre for Science and Engineering Education Development (SEED), Norwegian University of Science and TechnologyFollow
Guri Sivertsen KORPÅS, Centre for Science and Engineering Education Development (SEED), Norwegian University of Science and TechnologyFollow
Gabrielle HANSEN, Centre for Science and Engineering Education Development (SEED), Norwegian University of Science and TechnologyFollow
Geir Egil Dahle ØIEN, Centre for Science and Engineering Education Development (SEED), Norwegian University of Science and TechnologyFollow

Document Type

Conference Paper

Abstract

In order to develop high-quality engineering education with a focus on students’ learning, academic staff must themselves develop new skills, with a lifelong learning perspective to their own teaching. This requires coordination and support. For this purpose, three faculties at our university decided to jointly fund a Centre for Science and Engineering Education Development. Among the aims were to boost educational quality, strengthen educational competence among academic staff, and build educational quality culture on the institutional level. The faculties also recognized a need to establish a stronger and more focused didactic perspective for the university’s programme STEM portfolio, beyond and in addition to the general pedagogical training already offered by the university. The centre's main responsibility has been to provide various forms of training of and teaching for academic staff and educational leaders, thus indirectly affecting also students’ learning experiences. Strategic advice on educational change, dissemination of results, and strengthening of international and national collaborations, networks, and arenas, have been important additional tasks. This paper reflects upon the centre's activities, strategies, impact, experiences, and challenges from the start-up until today. We identify lessons learnt and propose advice for others planning similar centra. Among the topics covered are capacity and recruitment challenges, coping with diverse faculty cultures, and the need for a shared vision in which to anchor activities and resource usage. We will also describe a recent upscaling of the Centre’s mandate, responsibilities, and capacity, designed to support a major ongoing educational reform in the STEM programmes at our university.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21427/Z7VC-AG22

Recommended Citation

Lyng, R., Korpås, G. S., Hansen, G., & Øien, G. E. D. (2023). Realising A Centre For Educational Development: Experiences, Challenges, Lessons Learnt, And Future Ambitions. European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI). DOI: 10.21427/Z7VC-AG22

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.