Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER) has emerged as a critical field in reshaping undergraduate education in science and engineering. The goals of DBER, as defined by the National Research Council (2012) report, are to:
- understand how people learn the concepts, practices, and ways of thinking of sicence and engineering.
- understand the nature and development of expertise in a discipline;
- help identify and measure appropriate learning objectives and instructional approaches that advance students toward those objectives
- contribute to the knowledge base in a way that can guide the translation of DBER findings to classroom practice; and identify approaches to make science and engineering education broad and inclusive.
National Research Council. 2012. Discipline-Based Education Research: Understanding and
Improving Learning in Undergraduate Science and Engineering. Washington, DC: The National
Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13362
Cornell University includes DBER scholars from a range of disciplines. While each group
conducts research within their own disciplines, the community regularly collaborates on
research projects and connects through a weekly CDER meeting that features seminars, journal
article discussions, and constructive feedback on works-in-progress.