Presentation

In late 2017 the TEACH group, that stands for Teaching Engineering Avant-garde Challenge Host, was formed created with the aim of analyzing the teaching experience ongoing at the Politecnico di Torino. In the meantime, by looking at local and international panorama we discover a thriving network on “Engineering Education Research (EER)”, the related research field. This is a multi-disciplinary sector in which are considered all the implications that engineering has in education, from kindergarten to the lifelong learning. Scholars in EER focus on and apply research methods from education, learning sciences, and social-behavioral sciences to address a variety of issues pertaining to: teaching and learning; college access and persistence; workforce development; and other issues critical to the success of the field of engineering. EER uses research processes similar to those used applied in traditional engineering disciplines, but it relies on different methods and mechanisms to achieve and measure impact in the field education.

Considering the 5 key topic areas of EER, current research topics interested in our group are:

• Engineering Learning Mechanisms: Research on engineering learners’ developing knowledge and competencies in context, in particular by looking at the research in Spatial Abilities.
• Engineering Learning Systems: Research on the instructional culture, institutional infrastructure, and epistemology of engineering educators. Particular attention has lecturers teaching skills improvements and teaching experimentations.
• Engineering Diversity and Inclusiveness: Research on how diverse human talents contribute solutions to the social and global challenges and relevance of the engineering profession. Our focus is on reverse inclusion and special supports paths for talented students.
• Engineering Assessment: Research on, and the development of, assessment methods, instruments, and metrics to inform engineering education practice and learning, in particular about admission test validation and innovative assessment methods.

The research group is recognised inside the international panorama and is listed in the Engineering Education list. The group is also in two interests group of the UK&IE Engineering Education Research Network and have projects in collaboration with different European and international institutions.