May 12, 2009
Ronald Barr, mechanical engineering professor at The University of Texas at Austin, was awarded first place for the Best Paper Award by the Gulf Southwest section of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) during its annual meeting in March at Baylor University. Barr’s paper, titled “A Focus on the Scholarship of Engineering Education,”was rated the best among a pool of 45 faculty papers. Winners from each of the regional meetings will then present at the national ASEE conference for a national-level award. Barr’s paper encourages faculty to investigate and adopt the best practices in engineering teaching that have been presented in the educational research literature. The paper defines excellence in engineering scholarship using a four-tier model that spans from proven excellence in the classroom to an accomplished member of the engineering educational research community.
About the Cockrell School of Engineering:
The Cockrell School ranks among the top ten engineering programs in the United States and aspires to move into the top five. With the nation's fourth highest number of faculty members elected to the National Academy of Engineering, the Cockrell School's more than 7,000 students work with many of the world's finest engineering educators and researchers. This environment prepares graduates to become engineering leaders and innovators working for the betterment of society.