Communication, Collaboration, Coordination: Preparing Postdoctoral Fellows to be Embedded in Engineering Disciplines

Engineering education (EER) PhD graduates are increasingly being hired into education research faculty positions in technical engineering departments. These positions present multiple challenges for new EER graduates. One particular challenge is lack of experience with navigating the cultural and expertise differences between engineering education and the technical engineering disciplines. The proposed project is designed to develop three postdoctoral fellows' capacity to span these disciplinary boundaries so that they can solve complex education problems in engineering. While engaging in engineering education research, fellows will grow their "3Cs" boundary spanning competencies of communication, collaboration, and coordination. Ultimately, the outcomes of this postdoctoral program have the potential to inform similar postdoctoral programs, providing invaluable postdoctoral training experiences for future STEM education researchers. The overall aim of this postdoctoral fellowships program is to prepare discipline-based education research (DBER) scholars for independent research within engineering (E) disciplines. DBER-E boundary spanners are individuals who can work across the knowledge and skills gap between those trained in engineering education and those with technical engineering backgrounds. Those trained to be boundary spanners in engineering education research will be uniquely positioned to facilitate collaboration among engineers, educators, and social scientists. The merit of this work is threefold. First, the program is designed to enable three scholars to create their own new, independent DBER-E programs by providing support and resources to engage in both education- and engineering-centered spaces, as they may experience in their future home engineering departments. Second, the fellows have strong potential to contribute to the research areas associated with the DBER-E program at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln that focus on student success and workforce preparation. Third, the program will examine the use of boundary spanning as a means of grounding postdoctoral training, with new materials and strategies for such programs. By integrating boundary spanning theory into postdoctoral development, there is the potential to generate new strategies for fostering collaboration across disciplines, enhancing and accelerating educational research, and advancing the overall quality of engineering education. This project is funded by the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program (STEM Ed PRF) with co-funding from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program (IUSE:EDU) Program. The STEM Ed PRF Program aims to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of recent doctorates in STEM, STEM education, education, and related disciplines to advance their preparation to engage in fundamental and applied research that advances knowledge within the field. The IUSE:EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.