Enhancing Understanding and Retention in Undergraduate ECE Courses through Concept Mapping

Yang Victoria Shao; Juan Alvarez; Olga Mironenko

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: June 26, 2024
Conference Session: Innovative Pedagogical Techniques in Engineering Education
Tagged Division: Electrical and Computer Engineering Division (ECE)
Page Count: 13
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--47322
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/47322
Download Count: 58

Paper Authors

biography

Yang Victoria Shao University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign

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Yang V. Shao is a teaching assistant professor in the electrical and computer engineering department at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). She earned her Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. Prof. Shao has research interests in curriculum development, assessment, student retention, and student success in engineering, developing innovative ways of merging engineering fundamentals and research applications.

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Juan Alvarez University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign

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Juan Alvarez joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Illinois faculty in Spring 2011 and is currently a Teaching Assistant Professor. Prior to that, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at York University, Canada, a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Chemical Physics Theory Group at the University of Toronto, Canada, and a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Saskatchewan. He obtained his Ph.D. and M.S. from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois in 2004 and 2002, respectively. He teaches courses in communications, signal processing and probability.

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Olga Mironenko University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign orcid.org/0000-0002-1239-185X

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Dr. Olga Mironenko is a Teaching Assistant Professor with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She received a specialist degree in Physics from Omsk F.M. Dostoevsky State University, Russia in 2009, and she received a Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from University of Delaware in 2020. Her current interests include improvement of introductory analog signal processing and power systems courses, training for graduate teaching assistants, and mentoring of under-represented students in ECE.

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Abstract

Concept mapping is well recognized for its effectiveness in promoting deep learning and aiding students in understanding knowledge acquisition in complex subjects. In undergraduate ECE courses, instructors usually present topics one by one, followed by examples and applications. Instructors can easily navigate all course information due to their well-established understanding of the entire course and the connections between its topics. However, students face the challenge of establishing the connection between their existing knowledge and the new concepts and reinforcing those connections through repeated practice.

In this work, we introduced concept mapping as an assessment tool to help students build these links and enhance their learning experience. The goal is to improve students’ comprehension, retention, and interconnectivity of complex course topics. We have systematically integrated concept mapping into four distinct courses: a freshman course about electronics (ECE 110), a sophomore course about signal processing (ECE 210), and two junior-level courses about electromagnetics (ECE 329) and green energy (ECE 333). In each course, students were asked to create their own concept maps before midterm exams. The maps were scored qualitatively by the instructor based on the number of concepts and their structures. This exercise was designed to encourage students to consolidate their knowledge and foster a deeper understanding of the course material by visualizing and summarizing the relationships between key topics. This type of active learning also empowers students to take ownership of their learning by creating and revising their concept maps.

A fundamental aspect of our course improvement work involved gathering feedback from students regarding their perceptions of the effectiveness of concept mapping in these courses. In each course, a survey was administered at the end of the semester to gauge students' experiences, opinions, and reflections. Our findings from the surveys indicate that concept mapping is perceived positively by a significant proportion of the students, especially if it's actively used as an instruction tool during the semester. Students reported that concept mapping enhanced their understanding of the course material.

Citation
Format

Shao, Y. V., & Alvarez, J., & Mironenko, O. (2024, June), Enhancing Understanding and Retention in Undergraduate ECE Courses through Concept Mapping Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--47322

TY - CPAPER
AB - Concept mapping is well recognized for its effectiveness in promoting deep learning and aiding students in understanding knowledge acquisition in complex subjects. In undergraduate ECE courses, instructors usually present topics one by one, followed by examples and applications. Instructors can easily navigate all course information due to their well-established understanding of the entire course and the connections between its topics. However, students face the challenge of establishing the connection between their existing knowledge and the new concepts and reinforcing those connections through repeated practice.

In this work, we introduced concept mapping as an assessment tool to help students build these links and enhance their learning experience. The goal is to improve students’ comprehension, retention, and interconnectivity of complex course topics. We have systematically integrated concept mapping into four distinct courses: a freshman course about electronics (ECE 110), a sophomore course about signal processing (ECE 210), and two junior-level courses about electromagnetics (ECE 329) and green energy (ECE 333). In each course, students were asked to create their own concept maps before midterm exams. The maps were scored qualitatively by the instructor based on the number of concepts and their structures. This exercise was designed to encourage students to consolidate their knowledge and foster a deeper understanding of the course material by visualizing and summarizing the relationships between key topics. This type of active learning also empowers students to take ownership of their learning by creating and revising their concept maps.

A fundamental aspect of our course improvement work involved gathering feedback from students regarding their perceptions of the effectiveness of concept mapping in these courses. In each course, a survey was administered at the end of the semester to gauge students&#39; experiences, opinions, and reflections. Our findings from the surveys indicate that concept mapping is perceived positively by a significant proportion of the students, especially if it&#39;s actively used as an instruction tool during the semester. Students reported that concept mapping enhanced their understanding of the course material.
AU - Yang Victoria Shao
AU - Juan Alvarez
AU - Olga Mironenko
CY - Portland, Oregon
DA - 2024/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Enhancing Understanding and Retention in Undergraduate ECE Courses through Concept Mapping
UR - https://peer.asee.org/47322
DO - 10.18260/1-2--47322
ER -