Name: Fall 2026 Faculty Reading Community
Start: 2026-09-17T16:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-09-17T17:00:00-05:00
Location: Zoom

Event Description

Cover of a black book with a man wearing glasses resting his hand on his face The featured book for the Fall 2026 Faculty Reading Community is How to Learn to Think like a Skilled Engineer or Scientist and How to Teach It by Carl Wieman.

Advanced registration required: see the form at the bottom of this page.

Wieman, winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in physics, is emeritus professor of physics and education at Standford University. In recent years he has dedicated himself to improving STEM education through projects like the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative. In his latest book, published over this past summer, he lays out his vision of what successful STEM education looks like at the college level.

More about the book from the publisher:

This book presents a radical approach for better teaching that is firmly grounded in research on the nature and development of expertise in science and engineering. It is based on the author’s decades of experience in both teaching and research. The book argues for changing the focus of post-secondary education from the accumulation of knowledge to equipping learners to become better decision makers and problem solvers and then provides research-based principles for how to teach to achieve this outcome, including what is necessary to develop expertise and the nature of technical expertise.

It explains why decision-making and related problem-solving are uniquely valuable aspects of technical expertise that are neglected in conventional instruction and then presents how to teach these skills through focused practice. The book describes in detail how a teacher designs good practice tasks for students. It then covers how to effectively implement such practice in the classroom. Finally, it provides practical advice about the other aspects of education, such as homework, exams, grading, and the use of artificial intelligence.

Meeting Mode and Time:

The FRC will meet on Zoom from 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm every-other week on the following Thursdays:

September 17
October 1
October 15
October 29

Participants are asked to attend at least 3 of the 4 meetings in order that we can sustain a productive community. Faculty will receive a print copy of the book courtesy of the CTL. Seats are limited and advanced registration is required.

The faculty reading community will be co-facilitated by Eric Fournier, Director of Educational Development at the Center for Teaching and Learning and Jay Turner, Head of the Division of Engineering Education, Vice Dean for Education, and James McKelvey Professor of Engineering Education at the McKelvey School of Engineering.

If you have any questions, please contact Eric Fournier at efournier@wustl.edu

Registration

Faculty Reading Community Fall 2026

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