Session S4G 1-4244-1084-3/07/$25.00 ©2007 IEEE October 10 – 13, 2007, Milwaukee, WI 37 th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference S4G-14 14 Work in Progress – Inter-disciplinary, Online Approach to Learning about Teaching Sandra Shaw Courter 1 , Erica Siegl 2 , Timothy Stiles 3 University of Wisconsin – Madison courter@engr.wisc.edu, esiegl@ssc.wisc.edu, tstiles@wisc.edu 1 Sandra Shaw Courter, College of Engineering, Department of Engineering Professional Development, Director, Engineering Learning Center 2 Erica Siegl, College of Letters and Science, Department of Sociological Science Research Services, Delta Intern 3 Timothy Stiles, Assistant Scientist, School of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Medical Physics, Delta Intern Abstract - Engineering graduate student experiences in an online pilot course about teaching science and engineering are the focus of this work-in-progress. Their experiences from fall, 2006 are the center of the on-going research that compares their experiences with engineering graduate students who completed the traditional, face-to-face, semester-long campus course and those who completed the traditional, face-to-face, two-week course. Case studies will demonstrate how six engineering graduate students (two from each format) learned about teaching science and engineering when they were participating in an interdisciplinary course; engineering students were the minority and worked with chemists, physicists, geologists, and other STEM graduate students. The research questions is how, if at all, the interdisciplinary, online context makes a difference in student learning. This on-going pilot program involves web-conferences, a course management system, and seven institutions associated with the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL). The effectiveness of online learning experiences is significant as we prepare and support future faculty; we expect to learn that students appreciate diverse formats and opportunities, will choose those that work for them, learn consistently across all formats, and gain the added benefit of learning how to work collaboratively at a distance. By the conference date, we will be midway through the second online course and data collection. Our evaluation plan consists of pre and post surveys, authentic assessments, and in-depth interviews for the students who are the focus of the case studies. Index Terms - Teaching-as-research, College Classroom, Assessment, Learning, Teaching, On-line, Distance BACKGROUND Designed especially for graduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, “Teaching Science and Engineering” provides a forum in which to discuss issues of learning, teaching, and assessment through the lens of “teaching-as-research.” We define “teaching-as-research” as “a deliberate, systematic, and reflective use of research methods to develop and implement teaching practices that advance the learning experiences and learning outcomes of students as well as teachers.” [2] The course is part of a larger learning community on the University of Wisconsin – Madison campus; this learning community is known as Delta, the Delta Program for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning [1]. Delta is part of a larger CIRTL network. Students from network institutions participated in the online version of the course; these institutions were Pennsylvania State University, Michigan State University, Vanderbilt University, Fisk University, Howard University, and University of Colorado at Boulder. The graduate course is designed to promote the development of those skills and habits-of-mind, along with the knowledge base associated with high-quality teaching, learning, and assessment. Within the graduate course, students participate in a micro-course, an innovative adaptation of the traditional micro-teaching experience. The course is available in several formats. First, the traditional semester course spans fifteen weeks with one session per week. Second, a two-week immersion experience is available in the summer. Finally, an on-line version spans the entire semester and includes a one-hour web-conference and a separate one-hour discussion with two – five students at the same campus. IMPORTANCE TO THE EDUCATIONAL COMMUNITY An answer to the following research question will contribute to the engineering education community as faculty seek effective strategies to provide professional development for