25 years of frontiers educational research: the call for action-oriented research

Since the first FIE conference a quarter of a century ago (1970), engineering educational research at Purdue has shifted from status quo oriented research to action oriented research. Earlier our emphasis was on providing information, examining relationships, identifying strengths and delineating problems. We analyzed the correlation of high school grades and test scores with college GPA. We documented trends in enrolment, grades, and retention. We surveyed students and graduates regarding the quality and relevance of their education. Sometimes we even defined areas requiring action. However after the first FIE Conference 25 years ago, our research efforts shifted to action oriented research. How could we use educational research information to change and improve engineering education? We describe action oriented research that has significantly improved placement in beginning courses, helped students make more informed career decisions, increased and retained more women and minority students, and enhanced our programs for honors and higher risk students. We also describe how we have extended our educational research efforts beyond our own campus and are sharing our educational research findings and action oriented programs with other institutional settings and colleagues all over the world. We also speculate on what direction institutional and collaborative engineering educational research is likely to take during the next quarter of a century.