Virginia Tech was awarded an EArly-concept Grant for Exploratory Research grant from the National Science Foundation. The $295,000 donation will be used to come up with ways to put engineering literacy into the general education curriculum. This grant will play a role in Tech’s plans to revamp its general education requirements by providing more emphasis on multi-disciplinary efforts.

Here is the press release from Virginia Tech.

BLACKSBURG, Va., Oct. 18, 2012 – The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded Virginia Tech an EArly-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER). The new grant will be used to explore innovative ways to incorporate engineering literacy into the general education curriculum.

The $295,000 award will provide two years of funding. The current year will be dedicated to curriculum planning, and a pilot project will be launched next year. At the end of the second year, NSF will evaluate the project’s results to determine if additional money, potentially millions of dollars, will be provided to continue the project long-term.

“Virginia Tech is a leader in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields,” said Daniel A. Wubah, vice president for undergraduate education, deputy provost, and principal investigator for this grant. “While most students are exposed to science and math in general education courses, engineering has not traditionally been included. Because of the strength of engineering education at Virginia Tech, it is logical to make it part of the core education of all our STEM majors and non-majors as well.”

The project’s goal is to strengthen STEM education at Virginia Tech, for those within STEM majors and non-majors as well, particularly focused on early exposure to and development of evidence-based engineering design-based teaching, supported by integrated technology tools.

The project is a product of the work of Wubah and four other faculty members representing a diverse set of offices and responsibilities on campus: Stephanie Adams, professor and head of the Department of Engineering Education; Gardner Campbell, director of professional development and innovative initiatives in the Department of Learning Technologies; Peter Doolittle, executive director of the Center for Instructional Development and Educational Research; and Ray Van Dyke, executive director of the Office of Assessment and Evaluation<.

“The team is interdisciplinary with a clear purpose,” said Wubah. “We want to develop an innovative way to integrate engineering principles and concepts into the curriculum. As we do that, we want to make sure we correctly assess and evaluate the project so it is meaningful for students and faculty.”

According to the NSF website, EAGER funding is provided for “exploratory work in its early stages on untested, but potentially transformative, research ideas or approaches. This work may be considered especially ‘high risk-high payoff’ in the sense that it, for example, involves radically different approaches, applies new expertise, or engages novel disciplinary or interdisciplinary perspectives.”

This grant comes during plans to revamp the university’s general education requirements, known as the Curriculum for Liberal Education. Part of the process includes providing a greater emphasis on inter- and multi-disciplinary efforts in general education, as well as linking the Curriculum for Liberal Education more effectively to signature elements of the Virginia Tech experience. The new grant, which will be run through the Office of the Vice President for Undergraduate Education, is one part of this effort to explore how to transform general education requirements on campus.

At the end of the first year, data and the curriculum plan will be shared with the Virginia Tech community to provide feedback before the pilot project is launched.

The Division of Undergraduate Education provides academic support, programs, and courses that touch on every aspect of the undergraduate experience, from recruitment to graduation and beyond. Its offices, units, and centers advocate for ways to create and nurture a vibrant and diverse community of engaged learners, while supporting the development of innovative and dynamic faculty. The division is committed to excellence in student access, retention, and success for the university’s 24,000 undergraduate students.