Adapting Mixed-Mode Instructional Delivery to Thrive within STEM Curricula
- Conference
- Location
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Tampa, Florida
- Publication Date
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June 15, 2019
- Start Date
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June 15, 2019
- End Date
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June 19, 2019
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Computers in Education
- Page Count
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16
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--32035
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/32035
- Download Count
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601
Paper Authors
Ronald F. DeMara P.E.
University of Central Florida
orcid.org/0000-0001-6864-7255
Ronald F. DeMara is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Central Florida (UCF), where he has been a full-time faculty member since 1993. His educational research interests focus on classroom instructional technologies and the digitization of STEM assessments. He is Principal Investigator of the NSF Workshop on Digitally-Mediated Team Learning and the organizer of faculty development workshops on Assessment Digitization Innovation and also on Virtualized Active Learning. He has completed over 275 technical and educational publications, 47 funded projects as PI/Co-I, and 22 Ph.D. graduates. He serves as the founding Director of the Evaluation and Proficiency Center (EPC), is an iSTEM Fellow, and the Digital Learning Faculty Fellow at UCF. He received the UCF university-level Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award twice, Teaching Initiative Program Award four times, Research Initiative Award twice, Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award, Advisor of the Year, Distinguished Research Lecturer, Marchioli Collective Impact Award, the Effective Practice Award from Online Learning Consortium, and the Joseph M. Biedenbach Outstanding Engineering Educator Award from IEEE.
Tian Tian University of Central Florida
Tian Tian is an Associate Lecturer of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the UCF, which she joined in 2013. She has been frequently teaching undergraduate lecture and laboratory components of Heat Transfer, Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics. Her educational research interests focus on project-based learning, online learning, and the digitization of STEM assessments. She received the Teaching Incentive Award, Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award, the Dean’s Advisory Board Faculty Fellow Award, Professor of the Year Award and Advisor of the Year Award.
Shadi Sheikhfaal University of Central Florida
Shadi Sheikhfaal received her B.Sc. degree in computer engineering from Azad University, Ardebil, Iran, in 2012 and her M.Sc. degree in computer engineering, computer systems architecture from Science and Research Branch of Azad University, Tehran, Iran, in 2014. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. degree in computer engineering at the University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA. Her current research interests include brain-inspired computing, spin-based computing, and educational research involving digitally-mediated team learning.
Wendy Howard University of Central Florida
Dr. Wendy Howard is the Program Director of the Pegasus Innovation Lab at the University of Central Florida, which is an incubator of experimental projects focused on digital learning innovations that can be developed and refined through rapid prototyping and then promoted throughout the university to maximize collective impact on student success at scale. With over twenty years of experience in both instructional design and teaching, her current research is focused on blended learning, collaborative online learning and internationalizing the curriculum through technology.
Abstract
Given increasing enrollments within STEM curricula, it is sought to overcome challenges of conventional lecture-only delivery in high-enrollment courses. Mixed-mode delivery, which is also known as Blended Delivery, utilizes a combination of online and traditional face-to-face methods. Herein, a novel eight-step phased instructional flow with several targeted adaptations is used to accommodate the mixed-mode delivery of STEM curricula. It is formalized as the STEM Blended Delivery Protocol (STEM-BDP) with a special emphasis on the scaffolding of analytical procedures along with hands-on problem solving in both online and face-to-face components of the delivery. Methods used, learning outcomes, instructor perceptions, and students’ perceptions of courses using STEM-BDP over multiple semesters at a large state university are described. Two high enrollment course case studies utilizing STEM-BDP are examined herein, including an Electrical and Computer Engineering required core undergraduate course and a Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering undergraduate course. The details of the STEM-BDP delivery strategies, learning activities, and student perceptions surveys are presented. Results indicated very positive feedback whereby 90% of students agreed that video content offers valuable convenience compared to live lecture and 76% of students, agreed that opportunities for questions and interaction with the instructor have increased versus traditional lecture. Finally, the paper will discuss the evidence of transportability of STEM-BDP from ECE courses to large-enrollment Mechanical Engineering courses, associated challenges, tools, and suggestions for successful transport to other courses and institutions.
DeMara, R. F., & Tian, T., & Sheikhfaal, S., & Howard, W. (2019, June), Adapting Mixed-Mode Instructional Delivery to Thrive within STEM Curricula Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Tampa, Florida. 10.18260/1-2--32035
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