Portfolio Evaluation of the National Science Foundation’s Grants Program for the Department-level Reform (DLR) of Undergraduate Engineering Education

January, 2009
IDA document: D-3724
FFRDC: Science and Technology Policy Institute
Type: Documents
Authors:
Authors
Stephanie Shipp, Nyema Mitchell, Bhavya Lal See more authors
The National Science Foundation (NSF) established the Department-Level Reform (DLR) of Undergraduate Engineering Education to provide funding to engineering schools and departments for three specific developmental functions: 1) to reformulate, treamline, and update their degree programs, 2) to develop new curricula for emerging engineering disciplines, and 3) to meet the emerging workforce and educational needs of U.S. industry. NSF asked STPI to evaluate the NSF's Engineering Education program through a systematic review of the outcomes and impacts of the Department Level Reform program. The study sought to answer three fundamental questions: Is the DLR program accomplishing its goals? Is the DLR program the best way to encourage engineering departments to update their programs to incorporate new teaching methods? What are the indicators of success for individual projects as well as the portfolio of DLR projects?