Enabling Innovation in Engineering Education by Providing Flexible Funds for Teaching Staff

High quality Engineering Education is the key to master the challenges of tomorrow. Universities need to adjust their curricula to current requirements to overcome the global shortage of engineers. TeachING-LearnING.EU supports them in identifying and achieving the necessary steps. The subject center for higher engineering education was founded in 2010 by the three universities RWTH Aachen University, Ruhr University Bochum and TU Dortmund University. Right from the start TeachING-LearnING.EU implemented a funding concept which allows engineering teaching staff to apply for financial support to implement innovative teaching ideas. Each semester, there is a call for ideas. The ideas are evaluated by TeachING-LearnING.EU, and the best applicants receive a funding of up to 30.000 EUR over a period of 1 year. The money can only be invested in staff costs. By the end of April 2012, 22 innovative teaching projects will have been supported by the Flexible Fund Program. There is investment and benefit for all involved parties. Chairs and Institutes, whose staff receives funding, still need to invest manpower and additional money as the funding regularly does not cover 100 % of cost. In addition to financial funding they benefit from competent consulting and sustained improvements in teaching and learning strategies. TeachING-LearnING.EU invests money in funding but the Subject Center’s central goal goes beyond financial support: They give the faculties’ teaching staff help and advice in didactical questions and – this is the main point – scientifically evaluate the funded ideas. This makes a central contribution to scholarship of teaching within TeachING-LearnING.EU’s sphere of activity. The evaluation concept focuses on the impact the funded ideas have on teaching and learning in engineering education, Evaluation und Qualitätsentwicklung. Eine Grundlage für wirkungsorientiertes Qualitätsmanagement, Waxmann, Münster). It has three target levels: On the highest level the ideas are evaluated with regards to their contribution to the general goals of TeachING-LearnING.EU, e.g. implementing the shift from teacher centered to student centered courses. On the second level evaluation focuses on the aims of the Flexible Funds concept, e.g. increasing the teaching staff’s motivation to experiment with new approaches in teaching. On the most detailed level the ideas are evaluated with regards to their explicit goals and if these are reached. In the full paper we will explain the evaluation concept and process in detail. We will present first evaluation results and give insight in funded ideas and illustrate their results.