Conference Session

ERM Potpourri

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Veronica Burrows, Arizona State University; Michael Oehrtman, Arizona State University; Anton Lawson, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

individual’s behaviors and attributes. Thebehaviors are engaged in a cyclical manner through the following four phases:1. Observation of a problem, which may be posed by another individual or formed by the problem solver in response to other results, a puzzling real world situation or pattern, etc. This phase involves orienting oneself to the nature, elements, and structure of the problem.2. Conjecturing solution paths involves imagining several possible plans of attack without actually carrying them out, quickly evaluating the potential effectiveness and requirements of each, then making a decision on how to proceed. This is often informed by previous problem solving efforts.3. Execution of a plan involves proceeding with the chosen

Conference Session

Student Misconceptions and Problem Solving Abiltiy

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thomas Litzinger, Pennsylvania State University; Peggy Van Meter, Pennsylvania State University; Monica Wright, Pennsylvania State University; Jonna Kulikowich, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

’ difficulties and to generate suggestions about effective instructional interventions. Inthe sections that follow, each of the three dimensions contained in the IPS model are discussedindependently. This discussion is followed by a presentation of the model itself.Problem Solving ProcessSince Polya’s seminal work in mathematics,8 the utility of learning and using a sequence of stepsduring problem solving has been widely accepted. Although several specific models exist, ageneric 4-step model captures most: (1) Represent the Problem, (2) Goal Setting and Planning,(3) Execute the Plan, and (4) Evaluate the Solution. In the first step, problem representation, thestudent must read the problem statement and discern the objective. Correct execution of this

Conference Session

Assessment

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joanne Mathews, Illinois Institute of Technology; Daniel Ferguson, Illinois Institute of Technology; Margaret Huyck, Illinois Institute of Technology; Abhinav Pamulaparthy, Illinois Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

each semester commences and voted upon my chosen faculty and students. The review ofproposals process is done in order to ensure quality projects that will engage participants andoffer the chance to acquire knowledge of the Learning Objectives. Types of IPRO projectsinclude research, design, process improvement, and business planning, performed as servicelearning projects, entrepreneurial projects, consulting projects and international service. IPROprojects are among the general education requirement for all undergraduates (i.e., two three-credit hour semester-long project courses fulfill the requirement). Over the past few years, theIPRO Program has begun to establish systematic evaluation of the various parts of the programin order to

Conference Session

Building Communities for Engineering Education Research

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robin Adams, Purdue University; Philip Bell, University of Washington; Cheryl Allendoerfer, University of Washington; Helen Chen, Stanford University; Larry Leifer, Stanford University; Lorraine Fleming, Howard University; Bayta Maring, University of Washington; Dawn Williams, Howard University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

laboratory”. Thisfocus put the classroom as the primary zone of impact and Scholars’ studies followed a“scholarship of merit” model (e.g., a traditional model of conducting research). For the secondISEE, the theme expanded the zone of impact to the program or college level (“campus as lab”).For this cycle, a “scholarship of impact” was the central format. “Impact studies” emphasize aprocess of bridging research and practice and involve using research findings to develop animpact plan at the program level. Impact plans included information on potential impactnetworks or pathways, as well as the needs and communication practices of people within thosenetworks. For the third cycle, the theme is “nation as lab,” reflecting an interest at the hostschool

Conference Session

Knowing Our Students I

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Trevor Harding, Kettering University; Cynthia Finelli, University of Michigan; Donald Carpenter, Lawrence Technological University; Matthew Mayhew, University of North Carolina-Wilmington

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

individual. When comparing the ethical decision-making of engineering andhumanities students, the authors rely on a modified form of the Theory of Planned Behavior5,6 asa model of the decision-making process used by students when forming an intention to cheat.The purpose of this study, therefore, is to measure the predictive validity of the modified Theoryof Planned Behavior as a model of cheating behavior and the intention to cheat.Theory of Planned BehaviorTo provide a theoretical foundation for this study, the authors chose a modified form of Ajzen’sTheory of Planned Behavior (TPB)5. The modified model includes the explicit variables of theTPB (shown inside the dashed box in Figure 1), plus a variable describing past behavior and anadditional

Conference Session

Curricula of the Past, Present, and Future

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thomas Litzinger, Pennsylvania State University; Robert Pangborn, Pennsylvania State University; David Wormley, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

gained in creating and institutionalizing theLeadership Development Minor.15The Entrepreneurship Minor began as largely a “top down” approach to change, with those inleadership positions conceiving the vision and plan and then implementing them. In crafting asuccessful NSF Action Agenda effort, the opposite approach was used in which a vision andstrategy were built from the “bottom up.” Shortly after the formation of the Faculty AdvisoryBoard of the Leonhard Center, the Director began a strategic planning process with the FacultyAdvisory Board around the following question: “If you could make any changes you wished,what would you do to increase the success of your students in the workplace?” From thisdiscussion grew two major themes: (1) have

Conference Session

Student Teams and Design Skills

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tamara Moore, Purdue University; Heidi Diefes-Dux, Purdue University; P.K. Imbrie, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

as they work on the engineering task. Moore, et al. 13 and Diefes-Dux, et al.9 provide moreinformation about the framework and development of these team activities.The problem statement introduces students to the task. It is written in such a way as to make thestudents define for themselves the problem a client needs solved. The students must assess thesituation to create a plan of action to successfully meet the client’s needs. The problem solvingsession requires that a group of students go through multiple iterations of testing and revising Page 11.1322.3their solution to ensure that their procedure or algorithm will be useful to the

Conference Session

Building Communities for Engineering Education Research

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Maura Borrego, Virginia Tech; Ruth Streveler, Colorado School of Mines; Nancy Chism, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis; Karl Smith, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Ronald Miller, Colorado School of Mines

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

, participants develop a specific research question andresearch plan on a topic of personal interest. The deliverable of the workshop is a draft ofa small-scale research plan. This plan is to be refined and carried out (with the help of aresearch mentor) during the following academic year. For more detailed informationabout the content of the workshop please see the project webpage [10].The program uses Wenger, McDermott and Snyder’s model of a community of practice(CoP) [12]. The CoP approach is being embraced by many organizations, including forexample, the American Association of Higher Education, and is receiving increased websupport [16]. A previous publication [3] describes how the RREE workshops wereinitially structured and updated to create a

Conference Session

Student Teams and Design Skills

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steven Zemke, Gonzaga University; Donald Elger, University of Idaho

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

3 Brainstorming alternative ideas (subset of PDM) 8 1 Weekly project team reviews with instructor 8 0 Mentors (teaching assistants) in the lab 7 3 Creating team plans 5 2 Team size ( too few or too many teammates) 4 2 Following a team meeting agenda 3 1 Product specification/test plan 1 0 Team logbooks 3 3 Lack of tools in the

Conference Session

Building Communities for Engineering Education Research

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sally Fincher, University of Kent at Canterbury; Josh Tenenberg, University of Washington-Tacoma

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

2006-1515: BUILDING AND ASSESSING CAPACITY IN ENGINEERINGEDUCATION RESEARCH: THE BOOTSTRAPPING MODELJosh Tenenberg, University of Washington-Tacoma Josh Tenenberg is an Associate Professor in the Computing and Software Systems program in the Institute of Technology at the University of Washington, Tacoma. He holds a B.M. in music performance (San Francisco State University, U.S.A.) and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science (University of Rochester, U.S.A), where his primary research was in Artificial Intelligence. His research areas have included automated planning, knowledge representation and reasoning, reinforcement learning, temporal logic, and cognitive modeling of computer

Conference Session

Factors Affecting Student Performance

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rick Covington, California State University-Northridge; G. Michael Barnes, California State University-Northridge

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

most educatorswould admit that planning and time management are often not an explicitly addressed element ofthe Computer Science and Engineering curriculum. Rather than teach students how to managetime, most instructors do the work themselves, incorporate the results into the time frames anddeadlines documented in the course syllabus, and assume that students will allocate their timeaccordingly. In reality, many students, especially those with weaker performance, do not knowhow to do this, or do not realize the consequences of not taking deadlines seriously. We showthat a brief periodically administered self-assessment survey that requires students to state howmuch time they have allocated on class tasks helps students better manage their time

Conference Session

Building Communities for Engineering Education Research

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Heidi Diefes-Dux, Purdue University; Robin Adams, Purdue University; Monica Cox, Purdue University; Deborah Follman, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

doctoral programs, could beaccentuated for students enrolled in a novel program and entering a field that is small andfragmented. ENE 595A faculty desired to establish a network of support for its students, wherestudents would know and support one another, develop strong relationships with engineeringeducation faculty, and be introduced to the national and international engineering educationcommunity.INTRO Course ImplementationThe course was offered in a three-hour block (with a break after 90 minutes) once per week.Typically two to three content areas or activities were planned for each class, with the faculty (allof whom attended each class) taking turns leading the discussion or learning activities. Asdepicted in Figure 1 and presented in

Conference Session

Curricula of the Past, Present, and Future

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yvonne Ng, College of St. Catherine; Lori Maxfield, College of St. Catherine

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

designing a streamlined, manageable, and assessable curriculum that allows instructors Page 11.1316.3to honor their content expertise while serving a diverse student population. By separatingknowledge of a professional into four main curriculums or parallels, the PCM helps frame theinstructional strategies so instructors can select the most appropriate ones for the objectives. Byaligning the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of the engineering professional across four maincurriculums or parallels, PCM helps the instructor to identify and select essential curricularcomponents to design and plan a comprehensive curriculum.Section 2 grounds the

Conference Session

Faculty Development

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rebecca Brent, Education Designs Inc.; Richard Felder, North Carolina State University; Sarah Rajala, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

, including designing and starting up aresearch program and getting it funded, attracting and managing graduate students, finding andworking with appropriate faculty or industrial collaborators, planning courses and deliveringthem effectively, writing assignments and tests that are both rigorous and fair, dealing withclassroom management problems and cheating and students with a bewildering assortment ofacademic and personal problems, doing what it takes to learn about and integrate into the campusculture, and finding the time to do all that and still have a life. Figuring out how to do all these things is not trivial. Robert Boice studied the careerdevelopment of new faculty members and found that most of them take between four and fiveyears

Conference Session

Knowing Our Students I

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eugene Rutz, University of Cincinnati; Virginia Westheider, University of Cincinnati

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

styles are identified by abstract conceptualization and reflectiveobservation. The strength of this style is in inductive reasoning and the ability to createtheoretical models. The fourth style, accommodation, emphasizes concrete experience andadaptive experimentation. The strength of this style is in carrying out plans and tasks, risk takingand action. Concrete Experience ACCOMODATING DIVERGING Active Reflective Experimentation Observation CONVERGING ASSIMILATING

Conference Session

Knowing Our Students III

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Taryn Bayles, University of Maryland-Baltimore County; Claudia Morrell, University of Maryland-Baltimore County; Anne Spence, University of Maryland-Baltimore County

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

, technology, engineering, and mathematics(STEM). These initiatives were funded by the National Science Foundation through their STEP(STEM Talent Expansion Program) (STEP-DUE-0230148) program. This was achieved throughthe following objectives: ‚ Developed a high school awareness activity that brought teams of UMBC engineering students to area high schools to introduce the high school students to STEM concepts using hands on engineering activities and demonstrations. During the presentation, the high school students were made aware of the various paths that UMBC students have taken in order to study engineering and what they plan to do upon graduation. ‚ Evaluated the relative effectiveness of a two-week summer bridge

Conference Session

Assessment

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Faouzi Bouslama, Zayed University; Azzedine Lansari, Zayed University; Akram Al-Rawi, Zayed University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

students can actually do after they are taught instead oftraditional inputs such as course credits earned. Learning outcomes need to be clear, observabledemonstrations of student learning that occur after a significant set of learning experiences.Learning outcomes are demonstrations that reflect what students know; what students canactually do with what they know; and the confidence and motivation of students indemonstrating what they know6,7. Hence, all curricular and teaching decisions in an OBE modelare made based on how to facilitate the desired outcome. This leads to a planning process that isdifferent from the traditional educational planning. The desired outcome is first identified and the

Conference Session

ERM Potpourri

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Barbara Lovitts, National Academy of Engineering; Norman Fortenberry, National Academy of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

biases will be worked outover time as we process the remainder of the Phase Two articles. Despite these biases, the datacurrently in the database provide insight into the state of engineering education research oninterventions and practice.Depending on the nature of the data, the data in some tables are presented in descending order offrequency, while the data in other tables are presented conceptually. Regardless of method ofpresentation, “Other” is often the most frequently coded item. We plan to analyze the text-baseditems that have been coded to “Other,” and, where appropriate, create new discrete items.Our analysis of the current content of our database is structured as follows: First we discuss theinterventions. Second, we present data on

Conference Session

Factors Affecting Student Performance

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daria Kotys-Schwartz, University of Colorado-Boulder; Lawrence Carlson, University of Colorado-Boulder; Derek Reamon, University of Colorado

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

-content test andLearning Styles Inventory were administered to each student. On the final day of class, a post- Page 11.605.8survey, post-content test and university Faculty Course Questionnaire (FCQ) was distributed toeach of the class participants. Throughout the semester, the instructor maintained a journal torecord class attendance, hours required for class preparation and time spent in office hours.Journal ResultsAt the end of the semester the instructor tabulated entries from the daily journal to analyze theaverage daily attendance, the number of hours students visited office hours and the time requiredto plan both sections of the

Conference Session

Curricula of the Past, Present, and Future

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wendy Harrison, Colorado School of Mines; Ruth Streveler, Colorado School of Mines; Ronald Miller, Colorado School of Mines; Arthur Sacks, Colorado School of Mines

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

affairs, removing outdated legacy courses that have been componentsof the Program for decades, and replacing these with rigorous technically-focused investigationsof the inherently intertwined nature of modern engineering practice and public policy.This paper documents the process of curricular reform at a mid-way point in our activities:through a series of faculty workshops and committee meetings CSM faculty and staff havecreated a new curricular framework which will be reviewed by a panel of leading experts frompublic affairs programs nationally. Pending the outcome of this review we plan to initiate thedevelopment of individual course offerings, and organize faculty development workshopsfocused on Socratic pedagogies and mentoring techniques

Conference Session

Assessment

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa McNair, Virginia Tech; Tamara Knott, Virginia Tech; Mary Leigh Wolfe, Virginia Tech; Marie Paretti, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

programs. Programs can often show thatstudents gain experience and have opportunities to improve their professional skills throughoutthe curriculum, particularly skills such as teamwork and communication, but faculty generallystruggle with documenting student achievement. The expectations give faculty a framework fordocumenting student learning related to these skills. Using three levels, moreover, provides amechanism for assessing current performance and planning for continual improvement byenabling programs to move beyond a yes/no response to the ABET criteria and insteadproductively identify the degree to which students meet expectations.Moreover, from a student development standpoint, part of the goal of the portfolio, as describedelsewhere,4

Conference Session

ERM Potpourri

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Katie Sullivan, University of Utah; April Kedrowicz, University of Utah

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

provide their opinions and thoughts regarding both the effectivenessand usefulness of the instruction they received, as well as the reasons why.CLEAR and Mechanical EngineeringWe chose to examine course evaluations in Mechanical Engineering because it is currently oneof the most advanced CLEAR departments and the communication integration in is solidifiedand endorsed by the undergraduate curriculum committee, as well as the faculty members. Thefour-year plan is summarized in Table 1. Communication instruction takes place in threerequired, core Mechanical Engineering courses, as well as throughout the junior level labsequence. The oral and written communication and teamwork instruction varies from course tocourse and builds on the professional

Conference Session

Use of Technology to Improve Teaching and Learning

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Alley, Virginia Tech; Madeline Schreiber, Virginia Tech; Katrina Ramsdell, Virginia Tech; John Muffo, Virginia Tech; Maura Borrego, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

would benefit from the audience examining the evidence in the body ofthe slide before seeing the assertion, as in the presentation of an assertion for which theaudience has a hostile reaction. Another case would be in a teaching situation in whichthe presenter wants more participation from the students. In such a use, the questionheadline would appear first, and then after the students have addressed the question byexamining evidence in the body of the slide, the presenter would animate in the sentenceheadline. In this way, the audience would benefit both from the active learning of thequestion headline and from the precision of the sentence headline. Given those twobenefits, future plans in the geoscience course are to use question headlines

Conference Session

Innovative Classroom Techniques

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eileen Kowalski, U.S. Military Academy; Joe Manous, U.S. Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

Engineering Education. 94:2, 207-213.14. Light, Richard J., Judith D. Singer, and John B. Willett (1990) By Design, Planning Research on Higher Education. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 296p.15. Van de Ven (2000) “Professional Science for a Professional School: Action Science and Normal Science” Breaking the Code of Change, chapter 19, edited by Michael Beer and Nitin Nohria. Harvard Business School Press. Boston, 512p.16. van Someren, Maarten W., Yvonne F. Barnard, and Jacobijn A.C. Sandberg (1994) The Think Aloud Method: A Practical Guide to Modelling Cognitive Processes. Academic Press, London, 218p.17. Camacho, M., and Good, R. (1989) “Problem Solving and Chemical Equilibrium: Successful versus

Conference Session

Student Teams and Design Skills

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Durward Sobek, Montana State University; Joshua Ruder, Montana State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

: exploration of anddecisions about components and subsystems, and their configuration. SLD starts with thesolution approach decided in the conceptual design, and encompasses elements fromembodiment design,2 system architecture,3,4 preliminary design,5 product planning,6 andmodularity.7 These decisions are extremely important to the overall success of a design project.Interestingly, system level design has not been heavily studied. Some information is availablefrom specific experiences of a designer or educator. These authors often state the importance ofsystem level design, but do not supply a method or tool to fill that gap. For example, one designtext states that this intermediate phase requires “a flexible approach with many iterations andchanges

Conference Session

Factors Affecting Student Performance

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Abel Fernandez, University of the Pacific; Camilla Saviz, University of the Pacific; Jeff Burmeister, University of the Pacific

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

of motivating student learning.Homework could be assigned but not graded, with classroom discussion and web solutionposting providing feedback to student work. The authors are planning to test thishypothesis in a future Statics course. Another research direction is investigating theactual proportion of individual work in homework assignments. Although students areencouraged to seek help as necessary to understand assignments, all homeworksubmittals are expected to reflect individual work. The results of this study seeminglycontradict this guideline. Are students, to the ultimate detriment of their testperformance, not following this honor code guideline? The authors are currentlyconducting a controlled experiment to further understand the

Conference Session

Climate Issues for Women Students

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ashlyn Munson; Barbara Moskal, Colorado School of Mines; Wanda Dann, Ithaca College; Stephen Cooper, Saint Joseph's University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

are taking an introductoryprogramming course. Although the achievement of women in the treatment group was greater thanwomen in the control group, this was also true of the men. Women in the treatment group as compared tomen were still at a disadvantage by the end of the course. Since the spring of 2005, the designers of theAlice curriculum have been working to improve the Alice curriculum, based on the results of this study.Future plans include a more in-depth qualitative analysis of the impact of Alice on male and femaleperformances.The results regarding student attitudes after exposure to the Alice curriculum are contradictory totraditional findings in programming courses. Research suggests that many students, women in particular,exhibit

Conference Session

Student Misconceptions and Problem Solving Abiltiy

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ruth Streveler, Colorado School of Mines; Monica Geist, University of Northern Colorado; Ravel Ammerman, Colorado School of Mines; Candace Sulzbach, Colorado School of Mines; Ronald Miller, Colorado School of Mines; Barbara Olds, National Science Foundation and Colorado School of Mines; Mary Nelson, University of Colorado

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

will discuss the theoreticalframework, methodology, and results of each of the two research questions. This is followed by asection which discusses implications of this work.What important concepts in electric circuits and engineering mechanics do students finddifficult to learn?Theoretical frameworkWe chose to use Delphi methodology to gather expert opinions about which concepts in electriccircuits and in engineering mechanics that were both important and difficult to learn. The Delphimethod is a technique that elicits, refines, and draws upon the collective opinion and expertise ofa panel of experts [4]. Delphi methodology has been used to elicit information and judgmentsfrom experts on anything from planning to problem-solving to decision

Conference Session

Use of Technology to Improve Teaching and Learning

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Chen, Rowan University; Jennifer Kadlowec, Rowan University; Dexter Whittinghill, Rowan University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

perceived by students tobe more helpful to their learning than the flashcards. Finally, 65% of the students believed thatthey would have performed worse in a course in which rapid feedback was not provided, whilethe remainder believed they would have performed at the same level.The rapid feedback also had impacts on the authors as instructors. Regardless of the feedbackmethod, we had to be more organized for each class and to plan ahead in preparing skill andconcept questions and placing them appropriately in the lecture period. We also found thatposing the feedback question was useful to get students to refocus or review, even if a questionwas created “on the spot” during class. We observed that the students took the feedback quizzesquite

Conference Session

K-12 Activities

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Leilah Lyons, University of Michigan; Zbigniew Pasek, University of Windsor

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

, and a floormanager. These characters introduce the visitor to the tools (e.g. injection molders and Page 11.584.2extruders) and tasks that he or she engages in – like machine calibration and the routingof materials to machines on a factory floor. The third game, Business as Usual,introduces the visitor to strategic planning, and asks the user to decide how to investcapital to best encourage sustained growth.Figure 1. The Design Station, the first of three exhibits installed in the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum.The remainder of this section describes the design rationales underpinning the games inthis exhibit, with particular attention towards the