DBER - RAPID: Faculty Adaptability and Community Engagement when Teaching in a Crisis

Project PI's: Drs. Grace Panther & Heidi Diefes-Dux

Amount and Years: $224,572, 2020 - 2022

Funding: National Science Foundation Award #2027471

Abstract: The alarming spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred a national emergency. Many universities announced in mid-March 2020 that all courses taught in classrooms will be delivered online for the remainder of the semester. This requirement means that faculty have no choice but to change their teaching practices immediately. The requirement to rapidly change teaching practices across the country has rarely occurred. In this instance, it may mark a critical time of change in how university courses are taught and how university faculty view teaching. University teaching practices, particularly in technical fields, have been notoriously slow to adapt to changes in technology and a growing understanding of best-practices under a variety of educational circumstances. For instance, lecture is no longer recognized by education researchers as the most helpful for all types of learning. The unfolding response to the COVID-19 mandate to teach remotely (online) provides a unique, one-time opportunity for ground-breaking research to study how crisis-induced changes to instruction influence faculty’s teaching experience. RAPID response funding will enable real-time documentation of the faculty experience during this crisis and help explain the results of studies of teacher-design instruction generated during the COVID-19 event. The results of this study will help future efforts to build faculty’s sense of community around teaching. Building a greater sense of community around teaching will benefit society by improving teaching practices which in turn will improve student persistence, learning, and engagement. Such improvements can ultimately lead to engineering graduates who are better prepared to tackle the diverse challenges that society faces now and into the future.

Book Chapter

Panther, G., & Diefes-Dux, H. A. (in-press). Workplace learning and adaptability frameworks for conceptualizing faculty development. In S. M. Linder, C. Lee, & K. High (Eds.), Handbook of STEM faculty development. (pp. X-Y). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Refereed Conference Papers

Atkinson, L., Panther, G., & Diefes-Dux, H. A. (2022). Behavioral adaptability of engineering faculty instructors engaging in emergency remote teaching during three semesters of the COVID-19 pandemic . Proceedings of the 129th ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Minneapolis, MN.

Bobbett, D., Panther, G., & Diefes-Dux, H. A. (2022). Engineering faculty experience during emergency remote teaching & beyond: A case study . Proceedings of the 129th ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Minneapolis, MN.

Brijmohan, Y., Panther, G., & Diefes-Dux, H. A. (2022). University engineering instructors’ expressions of individual adaptability during a semester of emergency remote teaching . Proceedings of the 129th ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Minneapolis, MN.

Rehmat, A., Diefes-Dux, H. A., & Panther, G. (2021). Engineering instructors’ self-reported emotions during emergency remote teaching . Paper presented at 51st ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Lincoln, NE.

Hamad, A., Rehmat, A., Panther, G., & Diefes-Dux, H. A. (2021). Challenges and successes of engineering instructors when forced to deliver courses remotely . Paper presented at 51st ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Lincoln, NE.

Panther, G., & Diefes-Dux, H. A. (2021). Instruments used to capture instructors’ experiences during a forced move to remote instruction . Paper presented at 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference. https://strategy.asee.org/37352

Rehmat, A. P., & Diefes-Dux, H. A., & Panther, G. (2021). Engineering instructors’ self-reported activities to support emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic . Paper presented at 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference. https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--36520

Posters

Atkinson, L., Diefes-Dux , H., Rehmat, A., & Panther, G. (2021, August 4). Zooming in on faculty: Behavioral adaptability throughout the COVID-19 pandemic [Poster Presentation]. Nebraska Virtual Summer Research Symposium 2021, Virtual. https://mediahub.unl.edu/media/17370   Poster

Bobbett, D., Panther, G., Diefes-Dux, H., & Rehmat, A. (2021, August 4). Engineering faculty experience during emergency remote teaching: a case study [Poster Presentation]. Nebraska Virtual Summer Research Symposium 2021, Virtual. https://mediahub.unl.edu/media/17363  Poster

Hamad, A., Diefes-Dux, H., Rehmat, A., & Panther, G. (2021, August 3). Engineering instructors’ solutions to challenges while remote teaching [Poster Presentation]. Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Fair, Virtual.  Poster

Hamad, A., Hamada, B., Diefes-Dux, H. D., & Panther, G. (2021, March 1-3). Pandammit! Forcing engineering instructors to deliver courses remotely - challenges and successes [Poster Presentation]. X-DBER Conference, Virtual. Poster

Rehmat, A. P., Diefes-Dux, H. A., & Panther, G. (2021, March 1-3). Engineering instructors’ self-reported emotions at the start of a forced change [Poster Presentation]. X-DBER Conference, Virtual. Poster

Brown, I., Panther, G., & Diefes-Dux, H. A. (2020, August 5). COVID-19: Exploring self-centered and community-based activities faculty engaged in while teaching remotely during a crisis [Poster Presentation]. Nebraska Virtual Summer Research Symposium 2020, Virtual. https://mediahub.unl.edu/media/13751 Poster