O R R I N G T O N E. DWYER,

Brookhaven National

Laboratory, Upton, Ν. Υ.

Professional Deve lopment Of Engineering Teachers

The young instructor must seize his opportunit ies

quickly, for the early y e a r s a re the most important

in his pursuit of a successful teaching career

I N institutions of higher learning, new instructors fresh from graduate school often embark upon their careers without any pedagogical training, which is in sharp contrast to the pract ice followed in our elementary and secondary schools.

1 lowever, within recent years, several universities have established Ph .D. pro­grams in the humanit ies and social science fields which combine a certain amount of teacher- t raining work along with the regu­lar curricula. In the field of history, for example, the re are at least seven leading universities which now have such pro­grams in operation. Of special note, is an extensive program at the University of Chicago, supported by a grant from the Carnegie Corp. , which provides for the training of both predoctoral and post­doctoral fellows in the art of teaching as well as in the science of research. This part icular program includes stu­dents in t he sciences as well as the arts, in general, bu t the emphasis in teacher-training work among predoctoral graduate s tudents has been in t he arts fields. This is a logical development , because nearly all graduate students working for doc­tor's degrees in the humanit ies and social sciences do plan to become teachers.

In most branches of engineering, on the other hand , the holder of an advanced degree who plans to teach is the ex­ception rather than the rule. For this reason, and the further fact that subject mat ter has become so extensive, it is doubtful tha t university engineering de­partments can justifiably allow the inclu­sion of sizable amounts of teacher-train­ing work in their normal doctorate pro­grams. Perhaps , in certain large universi­ties, an engineering gradua te student may be able to squeeze in an isolated course in education at the end of his program. This is all to the good, but it cannot he

expected that one such course will go very far in developing the young Ph .D. as a teacher.

At the present critical per iod in his­tory, American defense efforts are, in large measure, hampered b y the limited supply of competent technically trained men; and it is unfortunate t h a t t h e num­ber of engineers graduating from college this year and next, will be less than half the nation's normal peacetime require­ment. Looming large in the national de­fense effort is t h e production of atomic weapons under t h e aegis of the Atomic Energy Commission, which has recently announced a $3 billion expansion in its production program. One o f the biggest problems to be overcome in realizing this goal, according to the commission's chair­man, Gordon Dean , is the procurement of the thousands of scientists a n d engineers needed for the design and operation of the plants. Since engineers are currently in such limited supply, and since the num­bers graduat ing from our engineering schools are so inadequate to meet our country's needs, it behooves our schools to turn out as fine a product as possible. In such an endeavor, I th ink w e would all agree with t h e pertinence of the old Chinese proverb: "A load of books does not equal one good teacher/*

The combination of teacher- t rainin^ with regular academic work for predoc­toral candidates is something for one of our large engineering schools to consider seriously as a worthwhile experiment. However, for the reasons s ta ted above, we must expect tha t the vast majority of young engineer ing teachers will start out in the foreseeable future w i t h very little or no teaching experience. W h i l e this is undesirable, I do not feel tha t it is en­tirely unfor tunate ; for with proper guid­ance the young engineering teacher can,

through his own initiative, and with in­telligent effort, achieve remarkable results in gaining increased effectiveness.

Basic Objectives It is essential that a young instructor

appreciate the aims and purposes of edu­cation, in the broadest sense of the term, the organization of subject matter in his own branch of engineering, and under­stand how his part icular courses fit into the broader engineering scheme.

The highly successful teacher does not simply dish out information. H e trains his students to think logically and inde­pendently, develops their capacity for sound judgment and their desire for crea­tive accomplishment, arouses their intel­lectual curiosity, and inspires and stimu­lates them. Through his example in and out of the classroom, his students are in­fluenced to become good citizens as well as competent engineers. This is the high calling of the teaching profession, and the earlier the young instructor recognizes it and aspires to it, the quicker he will develop and the farther he will progress.

One aspect of American engineering education that has been neglected is training of students to develop their in­genuity and imagination in equipment and process design. The pressing need to­day is for engineers who have developed these important qualities, men who are flexible in their thinking and who are versatile in the application of their scien­tific and technical knowledge to the solu­tion of engineering problem*.

The young engineer who lia·; caught the vision and dedicated himself to the ideals of the teaching profession si amid as early as possible decide whether he wants to devote his major energies to teaching undergraduates , graduates, or directing the research of graduate stu-

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Characteristics of the Effective Teacher

k Knowledge of subject

• Clarity of expression

• Ability to arouse interest

k Enthusiasm for the subject

• Character

• Friendliness

• Intellectual honesty

• Breadth of interests

• Fairness in giving and grading

• Assignments, and exams

dents. I t is a good idea to do some of all three , but professionally it is wise to concentrate and do one or two unusually well. After the young instructor has set his goal, he can intelligently set about reaching it. This may involve certain adjustments, perhaps even changing posi­tions.

Since the engineering teacher is ac­tually a member of two professions, teach­ing and engineering, the young instructor should realize that he must simultaneously increase his effectiveness as a teacher and his competence as an engineer if he ex­pects to advance professionally.

In considering the pedagogical develop­ment of the young instructor, three ques­tions come to mind: W h a t is good teach­ing? W h a t are the qualifications of a good teacher? and H o w can a young engi­neering faculty m e m b e r become a good teacher?

T h e characteristics of good teaching and the qualifications of good teachers have been discussed b y H. P. Hammond of Pennsylvania State College [Journal of Engineering Education, 40, 417 (1950)1 and T. K. Sherwood of M.I.T. [Journal of Engineering Education, 39 , 412 ( 1 9 5 0 ) ] . There is no short or concise yet all-in­clusive definition of good teaching. As in defining the second law of thermody­namics, the best one can do is to define certain aspects of it and state certain re­sults which accrue from it. It is not sim­ply a quest ion of techniques, or of meth­ods: it is all of those and much more. Ef­fective teaching is most often achieved when t h e teacher blends a dynamic spirit with t he presentation of his subject. That teacher is most effective who not only knows his subject but lives it as well. Not all outs tanding teachers employ the same methods , or have the same classroom de ­portment , or have similar personalities. They achieve their results in various ways: but in all cases the outstanding fact re­mains that through their knowledge, per­sonality, enthusiasm, and clear expression, they very effectively inform, stimulate, and mental ly develop their students. As for those personal characteristics which make for effective teaching, one might list knowledge of subject, clarity of ex­position, ability to arouse interest, enthus­iasm for the subject, character, friendli­

ness, intellectual honesty, breadth of in­terests, and fairness in giving and grading assignments and exams.

These are not necessarily listed in any special order. The young instructor would do well to appraise himself periodically on the above points and then set about improving himself where improvement is considered desirable. This brings us to the third question which the alert young teacher asks: how can I become a good teacher?

Laying the Foundat ion Outstanding teachers are as much born

as they are made; bu t this does not de­tract from the fact that all teachers can still do a lot to increase their abilities and develop more fully their potentialities. Intelligent effort spent in self improve­ment can mean the difference between excellent teaching and just good teaching, between good teaching and mere mediocre teaching.

The young engineering instructor must develop not only as a teacher hut also as an engineer and a man. It will be agreed that before the young instructor can in­

telligently set about the serious job of in­creasing his teaching ability, he must first conceive the broad aim of general educa­tion; secondly, he must learn the charac­teristics of good teaching; and thirdly, he must come to recognize those personal purification essential to good teaching. H . must further realize that this serious job calls for the expenditure of genuine and sustained effort in order to avoid the pitfalls which lie in the path of every young teacher. Some of the more obvious of these pitfalls, against which he should ever be on guard, are : overestimating student's ability to keep up with him in his classroom presentation, mistaking quantity for quality in giving assign­ments, grading too severely, neglecting to show adequately the application of the basic principles he is teaching, neglecting to show how his course fits ir.*o the stu­dent's over-all program and to show how his subject relates to engineering prac­tice, getting impatient when hir students do not understand some concept or ab­stract principle the first time he explains it, failing to sense when he is leaving his class behind him, failing to urge his stu­dents to ask questions, and giving the im­pression of indifference.

Responsibilities of Department Head Considerable responsibility should be

borne by the department head for ways and means by which the young instructor can achieve greater teaching effectiveness. Probably most important of all, he should see to it that the inexperienced instructor is alerted to the need of attaining greater professional stature in general and teach­ing skill in particular. No young instruc­tor is so proficient that he cannot, with guided effort, show marked improvement in his teaching. The department head should also acquaint him with the various methods and opportunities which are available for assisting him in his profes-

/ Λ Η Β Ι Ν Ό Τ Ο Ν Ε. D W V K R , who is in charge of ^-^ chemical engineering research and develop­ment work at the Brookhavcn National Laboratory, has a varied and extensive background of experi­ence in industrial laboratories, "in the academic world, and in the Government. Newfoundland was his bir thplace and his education was obtained at Northeastern. M I T , and Yale. H e taught at the University of Rochester from 1939 to 1951, with intermittent periods at the Office of Rubber Research in Washington, Oak Ridge National Laboratory* and the D u Pont Co. in Buffalo. H e is a member of the ACS, AIChE, and the Society of Engineer ing Educat ion.

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Pitfalls of the Effective Teacher

• Overestimating student's ability to keep up with him in clossroom presentation

• Mistaking quantity for quality in giving assign­ments

• Grading too severely

• Neglecting to show adequately the application of the basic principles he is teaching

• Neglecting to show how his course fits into the student's over-all program and to show how his subject relates to engineering practice

• Impatience when his students do not understand some concepts or abstract principles on first explanation

• Failing to sense when he is leaving his class behind

• Failing to urge his students to ask questions

• Giving the impression of indifference

sionai growth. He can refer hi in to writ­ten articles and booklets on the subject or, better still, pass out such material to him personally.

The department head should offer to attend his young instructor's classes occa­sionally to study his presentation for the purpose of offering constructive criticism. Of course, the offer would not always be accepted. When this happens, the depart­ment head should not be insistent, for it is possible that, depending upon the tem­perament of the instructor, the practice might be harmful. The young instructoi should be invited to attend some classes ot the head of the department, or those of any other senior member whose teach­ing is exemplary. It is also the responsi­bility of the department head to see that academic responsibilities of the young in­structor are not excessive, particularly dur­ing his first year. The younger men should not be the workhorses of the department. Their teaching loads should !>·· moderate, their courses varied, and thev should have sufficient opportunity to engage m re­search or other scholarly activity. Young instructors should not be saddled 'wi th a lot of laboratory teaching, should not teach the same undergraduate courses year after year, and should not be re­quired to do paper correction work which could be done by a teaching assistant. Above all, the instructor's load should be of such a character that he finds his work interesting, challenging, and rewarding.

it is also the responsibility <>i the de­partment head to follow the progress ot his young instructors, and at the end ot their first year give them his frank opin­ion on the quality of their teaching and the extent of their progress. It. after u reasonable trial period of two or three years, a given instructor does not show sufficient promise as a teacher, he should be advised to switch to some other type of work more suited to his personality and capabilities. Sometimes it is not necessary to wait two or three years, and usually the instructor does not need to be told of his situation.

One of the most effective stimuli to the young instructor in his prolessional climb is that which comes from association with able, friendly, and inspiring col­leagues. It is the responsibility of the department head to promote such an at­mosphere among his staff members

Tools for Self Betterment Λ very effective tool which the youmi

instructor may employ in his self-develop­ment is the anonymous teacher-rating form. These forms list a large number ol questions pertaining to the quality of an instructor's teaching. Students are re­quested to answer as accurately and ob­jectively as possible each of the ques­tions, thus giving a comprehensive evalu­ation of the instructor. Usually, the in­structor passes out the forms in his own classes and only he sees the results, in some schools, the engineering honorary society, Tan Beta Pi, handles the mechan­ics of passing out and collecting the forms.

In all uisci unl> the instructor sees the results. By this means, an instructor gets a fairly reliable analysis ot himself as a teacher and as his s tudents know him. He learns of his strong points as well as his weak points. By cont inued use* of such forms and diligent effort to overcome his shortcomings, a young instructor can markedly improve the quality of his teaching. Fair-mindedness a n d objectivity of the students was demonstra ted on one occasion when the writer d iv ided a class into two groups on the basis of academic performance. The students in t h e lower half of the class, in general, i*avc the same evaluation as the s tudents in the upper liidf. One might assume that the students who were1 not doing so well scholastically would tend to be more critical. Their compliments and criticisms paralleled those ot the higher-ranking group.

Another tool which the young instructoi may use with profit is a recorder. This instrument can very pointedly reveal to an instructor any defects in his oral pres­entation, such as excessive repetition of a particular word or phrase?, grammatical errors, use of incomplete sentences, talk­ing too fast, and monotone delivery.

Faculty Guidance Since the war, in certain large universi­

ties, apprenticeship systems have been established whereby inexperienced in­structors are assigned to a senior member of the staff who counsels them in all aspects of their teaching. \i\ some schools

these advisers may actually decide course contents and prepare quizzes and exami­nations. Generally, however, they assist the young instructors in performing these? duties. In addition, they may hold regu­larly scheduled seminars to coach the in­structors in teaching methods, classroom procedures, and course objectives. They also assist by indicating which topics in the course are most important and which topics are usually the more difficult to get across. Moreover, the advisers may occasionally sit in on the instructors' classes. These teacher guidance schemes can be very profitable, particularly in large schools where there may b e several young instructors teaching the same course. A particular program can be a success or a failure; depending upon the wisdom and efforts of the adviser; a big responsibility rests upon his shoulders. One danger is that the adviser may exer­cise too much control over the instructor and his teaching. This should b e avoided at all costs. The young instructor needs to feel that he is teaching his own course, that he can exercise his own initiative, and that he has the full confidence of his adviser to do a good job. Finally, it is important that the young instructor be encouraged to develop his own class­room personality and not try to imitate someone else.

Hesponsihilities of School Administration In chemical engineering, the rank of

instructor has fallen victim to our inflated economy to the point that a Ph.D. just

3920 C H E M I C A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G N E W S

out of graduate school starts out as an assistant professor, and not as an instructor as he d id before the war. The situation is probably the same in most of t h e other branches of engineering. A decade ago, the r a n k of assistant professor was gen­erally given only to a teacher who had proved himself and served his apprentice­ship for two to six years as an instructor. Only rarely, and in special cases, did a novice receive an initial appointment as an assistant professor. The reason for the disappearance of the rank of instructor-ship is that the salary range to which it is linked is below t h e market price of Ph.D. graduates of engineering. Universities, instead of raising salaries all along the line to meet the situation, took the line of least resistance, and junked the instructorship rank. I t might be appropria te for admin­istrators of our engineering schools to con­sider t h e desirability of reinstating the instructorship rank, thereby restoring the prestige and meaning of the assistant pro­fessorship. A teacher 's rank, unlike sal­ary, should not b e affected by the na­tional economy. I t should remain a mark of t each ing experience and proficiency, immune to the visissitudes of the market place.

in the development of good teachers, the school administration has a responsibility to see that faculty promotions and in­creases in salary go to the good teacher, as well as the prolific author or the staff member who directs an imposing amount of sponsored research.

No one will question the importance of research in development of an engineer­ing teacher . In most cases, it is the t ap root of his tree of knowledge. How can a teacher create in his s tudents a zest tor scientific inquiry and creative accom­plishment unless he himself possesses them? Yet, when it comes to undergradu­ate teaching, I think there is a tendency to overemphasize the importance of re-Rcarch when assessing the caliber of an engineering teacher, to the neglect of the other necessary and desirable qualifica­tions. This overemphasis on research often means that the engineering teacher devotes the major portion of his time and interests to his research and publications at the expense of his teaching.

Tin's can also happen at the graduate level. The problem is mainly one of re­storing the proper balance between the teacher's various activities so that his teaching will be of the highest caliber. In order to restore this balance, the admin­istrators of our engineering schools must create an academic atmosphere where incentives for good teaching are com­parable in degree to the present incen­tives for published research. It is possible for o n e to b e a good teacher without do­ing a significant amount of research, but , in general , such a teacher would be a better one if he did. At the same t ime, there are outstanding engineering teach­ers, probably few in number , whose suc­cess derives chiefly from the fact that they have a vital interest in their field, Keep u p with latest developments, and

bring industrial news and progress into the classroom. This type of teacher can stimulate and develop his students just as well as the active researcher. He is, however, generally limited to under­graduate instruction and might be re­garded as an interpreter specializing in the synthesis approach, while the re­searcher specializes in the analysis ap­proach. Both approaches are needed, but the rigor and exactness of engineering re­quires far greater emphasis on the latter. That is why research should be an im­portant activity of nearly all engineering teachers, an activity which not only the engineering school should enthusiastically support but industry and government as well.

Responsibility of Industry The engineering teachers ' development

as an engineer is achieved through re­search, consulting work, and industrial employment. Since industry is the chief consumer of the product of our engineer­ing schools, it should have a concerned interest in this question of effective teach­ing and stand reads to cooperate in any way it can. W h e n an engineering teacher seeking practical experience applies to a large company for a short term job of from two to 12 months, it should not be a question of whether or not an opening exists. If an opening does not exist, one should be made, and the salary should be respectable. Any large company which cannot thus provide a satisfactory job for the man who is training its future engi­neers is not only shirking its responsibility but is also short-sighted.

Cooperation of Government Laboratories There is hardly a phase of American

life today that is not influenced some way or other by the Government . This is par­ticularly t rue of American science. T h e present rate of Federal spending for re­search and development is estimated at more than $1.5 billion a year, more than all other sources combined. Of this amount, nearly a fifth is be ing spent by our universities. Many government agencies, depar tments , bureaus, authori­ties, and special commissions either spon­sor research in our universities and indus­trial research laboratories or operate their own Laboratories. From this, a young engineering instructor can conceivably benefit in two ways: by part icipating in government-sponsored research at his school and by working part- t ime or full-time for limited periods in one of the several government operated research laboratories. Among the more outstand­ing laboratories are those operated by the Atomic Energy Commission and the Ten­nessee Valley Authority. TVA, through grants made by the general education board, provides research opportunities to young engineering instructors in the Southeastern states. T h e program is spon­sored by the southeastern section of the American Society of Engineer ing Educa­tion and administered by a committee

composed ol deans of several of the leading engineering schools in tha t area. Chief ρ -irpose of the program is to pro­vide research training and experiences for engineering teachers below 35 years of age.

ASEE Programs While discussing the various agencies

contributing to the at tainment of effec­tive teaching, we are mindful of the ac­tive interest and past accomplishments of the American Society of Engineer ing Education. T h e recent manual , "Effec­tive Teaching," prepared by Frederick C. Morris of Virginia Polytechnic Institute under the sponsorship of the Committee on Teaching Manual , should be s tandard equipment for every young engineering instructor. This booklet deals with the down-to-earth questions and problems of the engineering teacher. Then too, there is the Commit tee for Young Engineer ing Teachers which was recently formed to promote the interests and welfare of young teachers. The professional development of these men, both as teachers and engi­neers, is the chief concern of the commit­tee. Fur ther information about the com­mittee and its program may .be obtained by writing the Chairman, L. W. Gleek-man, Depar tment of Chemical Engineer­ing, University of Delaware.

Responsibilities of the Instructor It is not enough for the depar tment

head, the school administration, industry, government, and the engineering socie­ties to do their respective parts . The young instructor must do for himself something which none of these can do for him—he must take the initiative and seize his own opportunities. Outs tanding teaching ability is attainable by most only after years of persistent and intelligent ef­fort. The first 10 or 15 years are, by far, t he more important . This means that the young instructor must not only seize his opportunities bu t he must seize them quickly.

There is much to b e done outside the classroom too, the young instructor must increase his breadth of interest, bo th within and without his profession. Within his profession, he should join and take an active interest in his professional societies and also keep u p with his field through the engineering journals. Outside of his profession, he should take some part in community affairs or in the activities of some social or religious organization. T h e chances are great that the highly success­ful teacher is not only outstanding as a classroom lecturer, but he is also a well-rounded man and a responsible citizen.

Progress in any area of human knowl­edge is possible only after the accomplish­ments of the past have been thoroughly understood. In gaining tin's unders tand­ing, the teaching art always has and al­ways will play the dominant role. The re­sponsibility for future progress in the vari­ous branches of engineering rests largely on the shoulders of our young teachers of today.

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