Engineering education is an emerging interdisciplinary field in which scholars apply the methods of educational research to address a variety of issues pertaining to teaching and learning in engineering. The Rackham Certificate Program in Engineering Education Research, approved by the Rackham Graduate School on March 12, 2009, was established to provide engineering doctoral students with a formal program to learn the skills needed to be proficient in the field. Details about the program are contained in the full proposal.

The Rackham Certificate Program in Engineering Education Research requires 15 credit hours of coursework (four core courses and one elective) as listed here:

• ENG 580/CHE 580 (Offered Fall 2009). Teaching Engineering
• One of the following courses on quantitative methods:
  • EDUC 795 (Tentatively offered Winter 2010). Quantitative Methods for Non-Experimental Research
  • EDUC 793 (Offered Fall 2009). Introduction to Quantitative Methods in Educational Research
• EDUC 792 (Tentatively offered Winter 2010). Methods in Educational Research: Qualitative
• EDUC 831 (Schedule TBD). Theory and Research on Learning and Instruction in Science
• One elective class (3 credits minimum).

The program must also include an engineering education research project – for most students, this will take the form of a course project, and some students may even complete a dissertation that incorporates engineering education research.

The certificate program will be piloted during the 2009-2010 Academic Year, and enrollment will be limited to five students (after one year, course requirements and enrollment limits will be reassessed). Engineering graduate students who are interested in enrolling in the program are invited to apply at any time (provided they have completed at least one term in a Rackham program and are in good academic standing). Students must maintain cumulative GPA of B in order to continue in the program, and the requirements must be completed within four years of admission to the certificate program.

Applications to the program should include four items:

• a letter of application,
• a proposed plan of study,
• a current transcript, and
• a letter of support from the student’s advisor.

These items should be emailed to Dr. Cynthia Finelli. Admission decisions will be made on a rolling basis. Questions about the program should be directed to Dr. Finelli.