Learning from the Best: How award-winning courseware has impacted engineering education

This paper describes research 1) to examine the impact of the Premier Award for Excellence in Engineering Education Courseware on the faculty members who developed and used award-winning courseware with their students and 2) to examine how the rewards system within higher education has changed in its valuation of innovative teaching. A case study was conducted with the faculty members who won the Premier Award from 1997 to 2012. The research team also gathered data from related populations (engineering deans and administrators; courseware end users) to provide a nuanced perspective on successful dissemination methods for courseware and on changes in the reward and recognition system in higher education.