Chapter 3 Educational Material Development
3.0.0.0.1 Instructors’ use of curriculum materials is believed to have three general types of outcomes: (1) improvement of educators’ pedagogical knowledge and “design capacity”; (2) increased opportunities for students to engage in “ambitious science,” aimed at developing their skills in both generation and use of scientific knowledge; and (3) improved student learning outcomes (Davis et al., 2016). The ATE program supports the creation, validation, and dissemination of educational materials in print or digital formats to be used for instructional or assessment purposes. Such materials include—but are not limited to— tests, lab experiments, instructional modules, and textbooks.
3.0.0.0.2 The PIs whose projects developed educational materials were asked to report the type and number of materials they developed or adapted and how those materials were disseminated beyond their institutions.
3.1 Educational Material Development
3.1.0.1 Forty-three percent of ATE projects created or substantially modified educational materials.
3.1.0.1.1 136 ATE projects developed or modified over 6,840 educational materials in 2020.
Additional materials developed include 320 instructor guides, 210 interactive simulations, 200 program curricula, and 20 textbooks.
Educational materials created in 2020 by ATE projects were primarily disseminated through the projects’ websites (65%) and workshops (53%), followed by ATE Central (the ATE program’s archiving platform, 47%). Fewer than 15% disseminated their materials through a clearinghouse or repository (11%). Forty-two projects indicated “other” modes of dissemination, with 10 projects noting they disseminated materials through a conference presentation or booth. Additional avenues of dissemination included sharing via internal and external academic and industry partnerships, webinars, and newsletters.
One hundred five ATE projects disseminated educational materials that were created prior to 2020. These materials were primarily course curricula (56%), modules or instructional units (43%), and lab experiments (38%). ATE projects also reported continued dissemination of program curricula (37%), instructor guides and manuals (32%), and lesson plans (30%) created in previous years.
Posting materials developed on their website (62%) was the most prominent avenue for disseminating materials that were created in previous years. Fifty-five percent of projects distributed materials that were developed in a previous year at a workshop, and 51% distributed materials at a conference.
Thirty-one of the 136 projects that developed educational materials kept track of which other institutions are using their program and/or course curricula.
