Teaching MSE students to teach: A design-based research model for introducing professional skills into the technical curriculum

The purpose of this chapter is to show how design-based research (DBR) methodologies can be implemented in technical programs. First, the authors provide a background of recent research in interdisciplinary education, Integrative Graduate Education Research Traineeship (IGERT) programs, and design-based research. Second, a brief summary the example case, a Pedagogy module which has been implemented with Materials Science and Materials Engineering students through an IGERT program, is discussed. The final portion of the chapter presents a new implementation model for DBR along with recommendations and strategies for interested faculty, department heads, or motivated graduate students to reform existing technical curricula using design-based research. The significance of the book chapter rests in the flexibility of this model to be adapted to any program, showing instructors the iterative process for developing a course to suit the needs of a department.