In recognition for his exceptional contributions to the field of materials science and engineering, Prof. Stephen Krause was awarded the ‘Michael Ashby Outstanding Materials Educator Award’ at this year’s ASEE conference in Salt Lake City.

Nominated by Dr. Cynthia Waters, she explains: “Steve has been described as the “Pied Piper” of Materials Active learning.  He continually and with excitement shares his “Music” and many follow.  This music includes methods and tools to increase learning in a Material Science classroom.  One cannot find a more genuine and sharing mentor and Engineering Education leader.”

A worthy winner of this year’s award, Stephen has long been instrumental in many engineering education initiatives, not least the Materials Concept Inventory. Co-developed with Prof. Richard Griffin, of Texas A&M University, the strategy is an interesting methodology which can be used to measure students’ conceptual changes. By exploring common misconceptions, which he has termed the ‘Muddiest Points’, Stephen has been able to quickly identify key topics, which his classes find most challenging.

Further explained in his 2013 ASEE paper, titled ‘Muddiest Point Formative Feedback in Core Materials Classes with YouTube, Blackboard, Class Warm-ups and Word Clouds’, Stephen reviews the effectiveness of four different feedback modes, based on the Muddiest Points responses.

You can read more about Stephen’s achievements here, as well as joining us for a no-cost live webinar on the November 8 when Stephen will be available for questions. Register here.

We would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Dr. Alison Polaski who received the ‘New Materials Educator Award’, for her exceptional achievements as an early-career professional.