Developing a scholarship of teaching in engineering: supporting reflective practice through the use of a critical friend

This paper reports on a case study in which six engineering teachers in a Masters program of machine engineering worked with a critical friend from a university based centre of teaching and learning in order to develop their scholarship of teaching. The research question that framed the study became: 'what do engineering teachers learn, in terms of developing a scholarship of teaching, from working and reflecting together with a critical friend?' The results give insights into how the collaboration with the critical friend and with each other caused the engineering teachers to (re) think their values, beliefs and professional practice as teachers. As this study illustrates, uncovering the knowledge behind an action, framing and reframing problems of practice and formulating ideas for future actions can ultimately guide teachers in refining their practice and, in so doing, develop their scholarship of teaching.