Conference Session

ERM Potpourri

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Janet Y. Tsai, University of Colorado, Boulder; Daria A. Kotys-Schwartz, University of Colorado, Boulder; Beverly Louie, University of Colorado, Boulder; Virginia Lea Ferguson, University of Colorado; Alyssa Nicole Berg, University of Colorado, Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

AC 2012-3418: GRADUATE STUDENTS MENTORING UNDERGRADU-ATES IN RESEARCH: ATTITUDES AND REFLECTIONS ABOUT THESEEXPERIENCESMs. Janet Y. Tsai, University of Colorado, Boulder Janet Y. Tsai is a doctoral student at the University of Colorado, Boulder, whose work examines and develops initiatives and curricular innovations to encourage more students, especially women, into the field of engineering. In addition to assessing peer mentoring programs, Tsai also explores teaching engi- neering statics through tangible sensations in the body, to feel and understand forces, moments, couples, equilibrium, and more via internal constructs instead of the conventional external examples.Dr. Daria A. Kotys-Schwartz, University of Colorado

Conference Session

Identity and Culture

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elliot P. Douglas, University of Florida; Mirka Koro-Ljungberg, University of Florida; David J. Therriault, University of Florida; Christine S. Lee, University of Florida; Nathan McNeill, University of Florida

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

interviews were conducted to gain additional information regarding their problemsolving experience. To study the role of socio-political context in shaping engineering identity,this study is guided by the following research question: What Discourses shape students’problem solving practices and identities as engineers?MethodsTheoretical perspective guiding this researchThe methodology and data analysis were guided by a constructivist theoretical perspective. Itwas our intention to study engineering students’ individual meaning making processes and howstudents describe their existing and emerging identities as engineers. We viewed individuals asactive agents gaining knowledge about their social context through their reflections andexperiences with

Conference Session

Identity and Culture

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brook Sattler, University of Washington; Jennifer A. Turns, University of Washington; Kathryn Ann Mobrand, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

meaning of the world and gain knowledge; identitydevelopment refers to a process of securing and trusting an internal compass; and relationshipdevelopment refers to maintaining one’s internal compass, while engaging in maturerelationships. In order to support student development toward self-authorship, educators first Page 25.1215.2must be aware of the importance of student this construct.More specifically, one strategy that has been shown to both challenge and support studentdevelopment is reflection—making meaning of past experiences. Reflective activities thatencourage and challenge students to engage with difficult and often murky areas have

Conference Session

Contextual Competencies

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christel Heylen, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven; Jos Vander Sloten, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

christel.heylen@mirw.kuleuven.be 2 Jos Vander Sloten, Faculty of Engineering, Division of Biomechanics and Engineering Design, K.U.Leuven, Belgium Technical communication and technical writing are important skills for the daily work- life of every engineer. In the first year engineering program at KU Leuven, a technical writing program is implemented within the project based course ‘Problem Solving and Engineering Design’. The program consists of subsequent cycles of instructions, learning by doing and reflection on received feedback. In addition a peer review assignment, together with an interactive lecture using clicking devices, are incorporated within the assignments of the

Conference Session

Problem-based and Challenge-based Learning

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Fatin Aliah Phang, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia; Khairiyah Mohd-Yusof, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia; Syed Helmi Syed Hassan, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia; Mimi H. Hassim, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

phenomenological study was conducted on the categories of variations in students’ perceptions towards learning as they go through a course that fully utilized CPBL in a whole semester. The main purpose is to identify students’ perception towards CPBL in two aspects: the student perceptions and acceptance/rejection, and the benefits and improvements that students gained along the learning process. The paper illustrates the extent of acceptance and effectiveness of CPBL method for an engineering class taught by a lecturer who had undergone a series of training on cooperative learning and problem based learning, but is new to implementing CPBL. Through classroom observations, students’ self-reflection notes and interviews with

Conference Session

Research in Engineering Education II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joachim Walther, University of Georgia; Nicola Wendy Sochacka, University of Georgia; Nadia N. Kellam, University of Georgia

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

AC 2012-4659: CHALLENGES TO ENSURING QUALITY IN QUALITA-TIVE RESEARCH: A PROCEDURAL VIEWDr. Joachim Walther, University of Georgia Joachim Walther is an Assistant Professor of engineering education research at the University of Geor- gia (UGA). He is Co-director of the Collaborative Lounge for Understanding Society and Technology through Educational Research (CLUSTER), an interdisciplinary research group with members from en- gineering, art, educational psychology, and social work. His research interests span the formation of students’ professional identity, the role of reflection in engineering learning, and interpretive research methods in engineering education. He was the first international recipient of the ASEE

Conference Session

Identity and Culture

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tiago R. Forin, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Robin Adams, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Kristen Hatten, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

theyhelped the participants weave a story linked to a physical experience rather than an abstractconcept. This allows the researchers to hear a story that is more in-depth, since pictures allow theparticipants to talk about important matters that may usually be tacit. While hearing the participants' stories, the researchers asked probing questions to drawout tacit elements of the participants' experiences. After being transcribed, the interviews wereanalyzed using an online software program, Dedoose, which allowed the researchers to highlightand codify elements of the interviews that reflected the lens of crystallized identity and aspectsof identity important in cross-disciplinary work. Each researcher reviewed the data multipletimes, using

Conference Session

Research Informing Teaching Practice I

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Chris Venters, Virginia Tech; Lisa D. McNair, Virginia Tech; Marie C. Paretti, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

Virginia Tech Engineering Communication Center. Her research includes interdisciplinary collaboration, commu- nication studies, identity theory, and reflective practice. Projects supported by the National Science Foun- dation include interdisciplinary pedagogy for pervasive computing design, writing across the curriculum in statics courses, and a CAREER award to explore the use of e-portfolios to promote professional identity and reflective practice. Her teaching emphasizes the roles of engineers as communicators and educators, the foundations and evolution of the engineering education discipline, assessment methods, and evaluating communication in engineering.Dr. Marie C. Paretti, Virginia Tech Marie C. Paretti is

Conference Session

Epistemic Research

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Golnaz Arastoopour, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Naomi C. Chesler, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Cynthia M. D'Angelo, University of Wisconsin, Madison; David Williamson Shaffer, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Jamon W. Opgenorth; Carrie Beth Reardan, Epistemic Games; Nathan Patrick Haggerty, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Clayton Guy Lepak

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

participate inconversations to reflect on their work [14, 15]. Through these reflective discussions, mentorsmodel how to think and work like professionals in a domain.Shaffer [16] has characterized the learning that takes place in the practicum in terms of anepistemic frame. Epistemic frame theory suggests every profession has unique collections ofskills, knowledge, identities, values, and epistemology that construct an epistemic frame.Professionals in a field rely on domain-specific skills and knowledge to make and justifydecisions. They have characteristics that define their identity as members of the group, as well asa set of values they use to identify important issues and problems in the field. Developing anepistemic frame means making

Conference Session

Research in Engineering Education I

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sandra Loree Dika, University of North Carolina, Charlotte; Jae Hoon Lim, University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

in engineering such aswomen and ethnic minority students. The authors suggest that future research should includethe re-development of the social engagement concept to reflect distinguishing characteristics ofengineering fields.Introduction During the last two decades, the retention and academic success of engineering studentshas emerged as a major topic for discussion among policy makers and researchers in highereducation. However, the current record of engineering student retention and graduation doesnot suggest a positive outlook. Based on the most recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statisticsprojections 1, the demand for qualified engineering graduates will grow 11% between 2008 and2018, yet the number of engineering graduates remained

Conference Session

Research in Assessment

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alan Chong, University of Toronto; Lisa Romkey, University of Toronto

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

these areas at graduation.However, the variability of these projects presents significant challenges for common rubricdevelopment and by implication, our ability to retrieve reliable data on student performance inthese categories/attributes. This variability also brings unique challenges to the development of asingle rubric that is 1) flexible enough to apply to a variety of engineering thesis projects, 2)reflective of the learning objectives of the thesis course, and also 3) appropriate for use ingathering reliable data about students’ graduate attributes.This paper describes the development of the rubric, and the inherent challenges in designing avalid and reliable tool that provides flexibility to a diverse group of projects and supervisors

Conference Session

Problem-based and Challenge-based Learning

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Holly M. Matusovich, Virginia Tech; Marie C. Paretti, Virginia Tech; Brett D. Jones, Virginia Tech; Philip R. Brown, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

teams tocollaboratively solve a complex problem under the guidance of a facilitator (often a facultymember). The facilitator does not serve as a traditional instructor but rather guides the studentsthrough self-directed learning. The problems are designed to be ill-structured and challenging tothe students, as well as relevant to them. The problems must be sufficiently challenging thatstudents cannot solve them with existing knowledge so new knowledge must be generated withthe help of the facilitator. To solve the problem, students must gather information, generatehypothesis for possible solutions, identify knowledge gaps, and repeat this process until asolution is reached. Reflection on the solution process is a critical part of the learning

Conference Session

Contextual Competencies

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hyun Kyoung Ro, Carnegie Mellon University; Lisa R. Lattuca, University of Michigan; Dan Merson, Pennsylvania State University; Patrick T. Terenzini, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

, the minimum acceptable loading according to the literature on factor analysis [43, 47].Cronbach’s alpha [48], which reflects the extent to which scale items are closely related to oneanother, is the most widely used measure of the internal consistency of a scale [49, 50]. Page 25.920.10Acceptable values for alpha vary from approximately 0.6 to over 0.9, with the most generallyacceptable minimum value in social science research being 0.7 [42, 49, 51, 52]. Alpha was 9considered when determining if individual items with relatively weaker factor loadings should beretained to maintain high

Conference Session

Educational Research and Methods Poster Session

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa K. Davids, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

. Page 25.108.2A one hour written exam limits the assessment to the students’ ability to perform only in that onehour of time. If the student had a difficult day, poor night’s sleep or any other wealth of personalissues, the impact on their performance during that hour could likely be significant5. A one hourwritten exam also limits the complexity of the problems. With only an hour, it is difficult to givestudents problems beyond a certain level of difficulty or complexity. A problem worth solvingshould require some time to reflect and the consideration of a few different approaches. Onehour is simply not enough time to allow for this without requiring the student to perform quickly;speed should not be a factor in the testing process6,7 when

Conference Session

Thinking About the Engineering Curriculum

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jason Feser, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Science & Technology Policy ; Maura J. Borrego, National Science Foundation; Russ Pimmel, University of Alabama; Connie Kubo DUPE Della-Piana, National Science Foundation

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

tended to focus on localimpacts which had been emphasized in CCLI, while strengths were more closely related toTUES emphases on transformation and broad impact at multiple institutions. Evaluation andassessment remain prominent weaknesses to be addressed, along with dissemination andinstitutionalization.This paper informs prospective PIs of program expectations, provides baseline data forevaluating recent and future changes to the program, and allows program officers to reflect onprogram and policy needs. In the broader context of studies on change in engineering education,this study documents shifting values of peer reviewers and engineering educators to increasinglyemphasize approaches that will broadly impact and transform how future

Conference Session

ERM Potpourri

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Russ Pimmel, University of Alabama; Roger K. Seals, Louisiana State University; Stephanie M. Beard, Louisiana State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

, and skills on a scalethat will meet the need. Although some traditional engineering faculty workshops havehad positive results as reported by Felder and his colleagues, 2, 7, 8 several investigatorshave identified some important issues with the short-term, face-to-face model. 6, 9, 13Specifically, such workshops do not allow time for faculty members to go through thetransitions from awareness to action, 9 can cause an adversarial relationship between thepresenter and the participants, 6 and do not encourage participants’ motivation andcommitment.13 The inadequacy of existing faculty development models is reflected in: 1)the slow adoption of engaging, active-learning methods that have been systematicallytested and shown to improve student

Conference Session

Research in Assessment

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Luanna B. Prevost, Michigan State University; Kevin C. Haudek, Michigan State University; John E. Merrill, Michigan State University; Mark Urban-Lurain, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

node sizes indicating the morecorrect responses contained these predictive ideas (i.e. reactants, products, energy of products,lower (energy). Correct responses also contained terms in the category delta G while incorrectresponses did not.We also observed more co-occurrences among categories in the correct responses than amongcategories in the incorrect responses web diagram. These co-occurrences are also more frequentas represented by the solid line between the nodes reactants and lower in the correct responseweb diagram. These connections reflect the comparisons made by students giving correctresponses, such as the response ―…with the products having less energy than the reactants‖which contained 3 ideas. In contrast, the fewer or weaker

Conference Session

Research on Engineering Design Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lindsey Anne Nelson, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

, I read blogs written by a wide range of internal authors.This study does not incorporate interviews with key stakeholders in the innovation process.While interviews could be used in conjunction with multimodal discourse analysis, the methoddoes not require incorporating interviews. Recognizing the power of first-person accounts, thisdesk-based study incorporates first-person perspectives found in designers’ written reflections.This archival strategy permits the researcher to consider projects across space and time.Reviewing documentation produced five years ago provides different insights than askingsomeone to reflect on the same events. Similarly, critical analysis of project documentationpermits comparing vastly different geographical and

Conference Session

Problem-based and Challenge-based Learning

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angela van Barneveld, Purdue University; Johannes Strobel, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Greg Light, Northwestern University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

-facilitator role was that of facilitating students in becoming independent learners. The reframing van Barneveld, Strobel, & Light 8of the educators’ identity may reflect the change of perspective that being an educator goesbeyond the content provided to or the concepts acquired by students. This category reinforces the‘who I am’ conceptualization of the role where the essence of the engineering educator is notconfined by how much they know and how much they can control the students and the learningenvironment, but embraces a transformed perspective of learning and of self and how he/she canbe of service in supporting the students to construct their knowledge.While the outcome

Conference Session

Research on Engineering Design Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ryan C. Campbell, University of Washington; Ken Yasuhara, University of Washington; Cynthia J. Atman, University of Washington; Sheri Sheppard, Stanford University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

students what factors they would take into account indesigning a retaining wall system to contain flooding of the Mississippi River. The follow-upinterviews then asked the students to reflect on their design task responses and includedquestions about their knowledge of Hurricane Katrina, which had occurred the previous summer,and the influence such knowledge might have had on their responses.The research question driving this analysis can be articulated as follows: In what qualitativelydifferent ways does knowledge of a humanitarian disaster influence student thinking on a con-ceptually related design task? Given the qualitative nature of the data and the exploratory natureof our research question, our analysis follows a descriptive approach that

Conference Session

Research Informing Teaching Practice II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jeremi S. London, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

support and feedback throughout all aspects of this endeavor. Page 25.614.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2012 Exploring Cyberlearning through a NSF LensIntroduction Phrases like “Let’s Google It” and “Text Me” reflect the lifestyle of today’s millennials. Thoughsimple, they speak to an undisputed reality–the use of computing technology and high-speedcommunication is ubiquitous. The new opportunities that have opened up in undergraduate STEMEducation can be cited in support of this fact. Cyberlearning, the use of web-based technologies tosupport learning, enables

Conference Session

Understanding Our Students II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michele L. Strutz, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Matthew W. Ohland, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

that prompted them to choose to studyengineering. The research question this study addressed was: What are the influences on thelived experiences of low-SES first-generation students who pursue engineering study?Methodological frameworkSince the first author wanted to “identify the meaning, structure, and essence of the livedexperience of this phenomenon for this person”, 24 she chose phenomenology as hermethodological framework. Phenomenology is the description of the lived experience. 25 Theaim of phenomenology is the description, reflections, and understanding of the lived experienceof a particular phenomenon and focuses on making meaning of what the participant reports. 24The first author chose phenomenology because she was interested in

Conference Session

Understanding Our Students I

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wade H. Goodridge, Utah State University; Scott David Greenhalgh, University of Northern Iowa; Oenardi Lawanto, Utah State University; Gary A. Stewardson, Utah State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

Page 25.922.7Robotics, Think Quest,Lego Engineering,INSPIRE!, Botball,Odyssey of the MindThe majority of the students in the study were between 18 and 24 years of age. A higher numberof students were above the age of 21 due to the predominant religion in the area asking membersto serve two year missions between the ages of 19 and 21. The majority of the study participantswere male with only 7 of the full 122 participants being female. With 5.7% of the participantsbeing female the study reflects a lower average than the 11.4% female students nationallyrecorded as receiving bachelor’s degrees in mechanical and aerospace engineering26. Only onestudent in the study reported not majoring in mechanical and aerospace engineering.Data AnalysisThe

Conference Session

ERM Potpourri

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Anthony Gregerson, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Sean Franey, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

should explore are methods of reducing end-of-semester workloads. Fromour experience as both students and instructors, we believe that design projects and researchpapers are essential components of the educational process in engineering courses, as they mostdirectly reflect the demands of engineering fields. As such, we wished to look outside of cuts todesign and research projects to reduce workloads. Therefore, we chose to question the role of thefinal exam and investigate its necessity in the assessment process.The remainder of this paper is organized as follows: In Section II, we lay out some of thecommon arguments in favor of the necessity of mandatory comprehensive final exams andpresent our counterarguments. In Section III, we discuss the

Conference Session

Research in Engineering Education II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Johannes Strobel, Purdue University, West Lafayette; David F. Radcliffe, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Ji Hyun Yu, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Sadia Nawaz, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Yi Luo, Purdue University; Jea Hong Choi, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

. Page 25.864.2social and cognitive psychology, sociology, education, and other STEM education disciplines) tobring valuable research skills and perspectives5. However, like many interdisciplinary fields,engineering education has the difficulty to identify what constitutes ‘interdisciplinary’ work dueto lack of appropriate indicators to measure the degree of knowledge integration. It is thusworthwhile exploring current initiatives to lead the formation of interdisciplinary networks ofengineering education researchers and the changes of interdisciplinarity over time usingbibliometric indicators. To date, interdisciplinarity of engineering education research has beenconceptualized in various ways; for example, by reflecting the international

Conference Session

Research on Engineering Design Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Leema Kuhn Berland, University of Texas, Austin; Kirstin Collette Busch, University of Texas, Austin

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

entering he course have:1) algebraic skills to be able to find slope and use equations for lines, 2) geometry skills to beable to use a coordinate grid, understand the concept of similar figures and the area-diameterrelationship of circles, and 3) physics knowledge of light reflection and how light travels instraight lines. While these concepts are considered pre-requisite knowledge, the concepts arereviewed within the first few lessons of the unit. The unit consists of 11 lessons and was taughtover the course of 9 3-hour workshops. The lessons were organized into lesson sets groupingtogether broader learning episodes; these lesson sets are described in greater detail in table 2

Conference Session

Understanding Our Students I

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donald William Rhymer Ph.D., U.S. Air Force Academy; Richard T. Buckley Ph.D., U.S. Air Force Academy; Daniel D. Jensen, U.S. Air Force Academy

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

, students spend less time inreflection over the course material, which is unfortunate because reflection is more likely to lead todepth in conceptual understanding and critical thinking about the material2, 3.Evidence that the traditional collegiate-level strategies are not successful in developing deep, criticalthinking in college students has been making national headlines. The recently published“Academically Adrift” by Arum and Roksa4 concluded that colleges and universities graduate studentswith no significant increase in critical thinking. Meanwhile, over the past few decades, the author citesthat average GPAs are on the rise. Albeit critical thinking isn’t the only lens to view success (nor isthe Collegiate Learning Assessment used in “Adrift

Conference Session

Research Informing Teaching Practice II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Arnold Neville Pears, Uppsala University; Judy Sheard, Monash University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

with the assumption that most of the students have very little useful knowledge of the topics to be covered.”In contrast to their results we have a fairly strong loading on ITTF6. ”In this subject I concentrate on covering the information that might be available from a good textbook.”We believe that this may reflect some differences in learning culture, though both our and Page 25.855.6Prosser and Trigwell’s studies draw on a significant number of responses from Swedish aca-demics. The difference in our study is that all responses were collected from a single faculty 5at a single university

Conference Session

Research Informing Teaching Practice II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sensen Li, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Sean P. Brophy, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

= -2.636, p = 0.008), algorithmic logic(Z = -5.915, p = 0.000), and programming output (Z = - 2.000, p = .046). Specifically, afterreviewing the pseudo peer diagram, thirty-three students identified a change should be made bymarking the error area; nineteen students merged their diagram with the pseudo peer diagram;and eighteen students revised their own diagrams by reflecting on the pseudo peer diagram.As illustrated in Figure 2, most students acknowledged the value of the pseudo peer diagram Page 25.885.7implemented in lecture. They agreed that pseudo peer diagrams facilitated their noticing of initialideas of the system (Question 1

Conference Session

Model Eliciting Activities

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Heidi A. Diefes-Dux, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Monica E. Cardella, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

Open-Ended Mathematical Modeling ProblemsI. IntroductionModel-Eliciting Activities (MEAs), a special case of open-ended mathematical modelingproblems1,2, can be exploited so that the inherent complexity and nature of a problem can beharnessed to promote effective learning across a wide variety of learning objectives. MEAs canbe used to provide first-year engineering students with opportunities to engage not only incomplex and iterative authentic problem solving but also guided problem formulation3, peerfeedback4, and reflection on team solution progress - all with an overarching emphasis on thedevelopment of effective teaming5 and communication skills.MEAs, which are a manifestation of the models and modeling perspective2,6, were