Conference Session

Understanding Students: Cognition

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Stephen Krause

) course, became aware of the changes in their understandingof DET. Weekly reflection papers, weekly written pre and post tests and lesson plans were usedas data sources. A rubric linking the course outcomes with six major categories (engineering as adesign process, gender and diversity, societal relevance of engineering, technical self-efficacy,tinkering self-efficacy and transfer to classroom teaching) was developed to code text. Severalpasses through the data led to the refinements for the six categories that allowed the coding ofalmost all of the text. We specifically looked for shifts in understanding over a 15-week periodand an awareness that these shifts were taking place (e.g. “It’s not that I had a bad attitude abouttechnology to begin

Conference Session

Retention: Keeping the Women Students

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Rose Marra; Cherith Moore; Mieke Schuurman; Barbara Bogue

engineering studies. Such assessment results can provide the basis for thedevelopment and revamping of effective activities designed to meet program objectives andmissions.This paper reports the development and early results of a survey undertaken as part of theNational Science Foundation-funded Assessing Women in Engineering (AWE) project. Theinstrument is designed to measure undergraduate women students’ self-efficacy in studyingengineering. Self-efficacy is “belief in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the sources ofaction necessary to manage prospective situations" 2. Prior work from Blaisdell3 has shown thatfeelings of efficaciousness can be an important predictor in the success of women studyingengineering. In our project, we developed

Conference Session

Projects,Teams & Cooperative Learning

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Janet Schmidt

collective efficacy beliefs linked to student team functioning and administered it to 188students enrolled either in a freshman engineering design course or a senior-level electricalengineering course9. We found that collective efficacy beliefs were strongly related to indices ofteam cohesion and satisfaction with team functioning. They were also related to students’ senseof self-efficacy, interests, and social support relative to remaining in engineering. Seniorsreported significantly stronger collective efficacy than did freshmen, suggesting that, withincreasing team experience, students gain confidence in their ability to manage project teaminteractions.Our first study, aimed mainly at measure development and validation, examined

Conference Session

Retention: Keeping the Women Students

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Mary Ellen Litzinger; Barbara Bogue

notion that exists among youngwomen in some class and cultural groups that developing one’s muscles or working up a sweatare unfeminine pursuits. 10, 15Student self efficacy, as distinct from self esteem, is an important measure for engineeringstudents. Self efficacy, a distinct psychological construct grounded in social cognitive theory isdefined by Albert Bandura as referring 3, “to beliefs in one’s capabilities to organize and executethe courses of action required to produce given attainments” (p.3). Again, this speaks to studentbelief in the ability to complete a difficult curriculum as a factor in persistence17.Complementary to that is understanding that they are not alone in perceiving it as difficult andthat support from peers also makes

Conference Session

Attracting Young MINDs

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Suzanne Berliner-Heyman; Nicole Koppel; Rosa Cano; Siobhan Gibbons; Howard Kimmel

andwomen in engineering suggests that proper counseling and perceived barriers by adultsand peers to career attainment play an important role in career planning and possiblypersistence and should be considered in any intervention to gender inequity in careerssuch as engineering16.It has become recognized that successful outcomes should show increased knowledgeabout engineering careers and more positive attitudes to engineering in students17-20. Aspart of our activities a survey has been developed with attitudinal scales to measure highschool students’ attitudes towards engineers and engineering as a possible career, theirengineering skills self-efficacy and their level of academic self-confidence, theiracademic history as well as a measure of

Conference Session

The Climate for Women in Engineering

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Mara Wasburn

self-efficacy, resulting at least in part from their lack of technological experience in college comparedto men.18All of the course components noted above serve to strengthen the retention of women studentswithin the School of Technology: meeting role models, learning about the wide variety of careeroptions, discussing the balance of work and family (one of the major concerns of womenstudents considering technology-related careers), group discussions, assigned readings, andprojects. Frequently, students do not consider career-relevant decisions until shortly beforegraduation. The women students in this course are encouraged to create a personal road map tocareer development and planning by which they can better navigate their subsequent

Conference Session

Technology Transfer and Commercialization

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Chintan Parekh; Anthony Warren; Elizabeth Kisenwether

”Hypothesis:Undergraduate, interdisciplinary teams can actively support technology commercialization ofPenn State inventions, with this activity benefiting the students having improved entrepreneurialskills in leadership, self-efficacy, creativity, communication and team work.Methodology:This hypothesis will be tested using several assessment approaches. 1) Pre- and post course survey. Half the survey measures specific knowledge gains in technology commercialization process/terminology, and the other half is a self- assessment of improvements in creativity, idea generation and presentation skills and teamwork. 2) On-line quantitative assessment using the E-SHIP Minor tool [3], which measures leadership, self-efficacy, creativity

Conference Session

Engineering/Education Collaborators

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Norma Velasquez-Bryant; Gokhan Pekhan; Ahmad Itani; Pamela Cantrell

learning. Journal of Education for Teaching. 1997;23.5. Loucks-Horsley S, Hewson PW, Love N, Stiles KE. Designing professional development for teachers of science and mathematics. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin; 1988.6. Darling-Hammond L. Teacher learning that supports student learning. Educational Leadership. 1998;55:6- 11.7. Ashton PT, Webb RB. Making a difference: Teachers' sense of efficacy and student achievement. New York: Longman; 1986.8. Bandura A. Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company; 1997.9. Anderson R, Greene M, Loewen P. Relationships among teachers' and students' thinking skills, sense of efficacy, and student achievement. Alberta Journal of

Conference Session

Engineering Education: An International Perspective

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

David J. Bettez; G. Lineberry

students’experiences abroad, through a pilot program spearheaded by Donald Rubin and Richard Sutton ofthe System’s Board of Regents.5 Rubin and Sutton note that “existing research literature warrantsthe conclusion that studying abroad can enhance many affective or attitudinal outcomes such asstudents' ethno-relativism, global-mindedness, and sense of self-efficacy.” They assert, however,that “we are on less firm ground in documenting the effects of study abroad on students’ learningoutcomes,” and ask: “How have a student’s knowledge, thinking skills, and processing abilitiesimproved as a result of studying overseas?” Consequently, they have derived a Georgia assessmentplan that “incorporates analyses of student transcripts as well as self-reported learning

Conference Session

Writing and Communication I

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Roberta Harvey

#### 1. Affective: how we feel, our engagement, including values, self-esteem, and self-efficacy 2. Conative: what we do, our action, including skills and aptitudes, pace or “tempo” of learning, and degree of desire for autonomy or for social interaction 3. Cognitive: what we think, our understanding, including multiple intelligences, internal reflection, level of abstraction, and prior experience7Learners experience these three dimensions through four patterns of mental processes, each ofwhich engages affect, conation, and cognition in distinct ways. The extent to which a learnerexhibits each of the four patterns is captured in an instrument called the Learning ConnectionsInventory (formerly the Learning Combination Inventory) or

Conference Session

Teaching Teaming Skills Through Design

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Pei-Fen Chang; Jiunn-Chi Wu

, American Society for Engineering Educationconducted to discover the impact of the course and those aspects of learning activity that mostcontribute to the cultivation of creativity for engineering students. The Personal EvaluationQuestionnaire consists of 10 items to evaluate experience as a team member [6]. The Likertitems were based on a five-point scale of 0 indicating “not at all” to 5 indicating “a lot”. Fourareas of group work were included in the instrument: A general liking of groups; Self-efficacy in groups Group dynamics Help-seeking and help-giving in groups Next, at the time of the end of the final presentations, students were asked to respond to aquestionnaire, addressing the projects and the

Conference Session

Improving Teaching & Learning

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Dennis Truax

. and Oreovicz, F. (2003) “Getting Homework to Work.” Prism. ASEE, 12(6), 42.10. Felder, R. M. and Brent, B. (2003) “Designing and Teaching Courses to Satisfy the ABET Engineering Criteria.” J. Engrg. Educ., ASEE, 92(1), 7-25.11. Buch, N. (2002) “Use of Student Management Teams (SMTs) as a Course Evaluation Tool.” J. Engrg. Educ., ASEE, 91(1), 125-131.12. Ponton, M. K. (2002). “Motivating Students by Building Self-Efficacy.” Profl. Issues in Engrg. Educ. And Pract., ASCE, 128(2), 54-57.BiographyDENNIS D. TRUAX is a Professor of Civil Engineering at Mississippi State University. He has over twenty-fiveyears in education, he has more than 80 published papers and reports and over 110 paper and poster

Conference Session

Attracting Young MINDs

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Diana Muldrow; Rosa Cano; Deran Hanesian; Henry McCloud; Angelo Perna; Howard Kimmel

activities, panel discussions, field trips, and a family celebration Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Educationwhere students have the opportunity to present their projects to their parents and peers.Participants will leave the program with concepts that will strengthen their math, science,analytical, problem solving, and communication skills. The disciplines covered are aeronautical,biomedical, chemical, environmental, electrical, civil, computer and mechanical engineering.Programs designed to encourage and attract young women to STEM need to combineinterventions that enhance students’ sense of self

Conference Session

IE Accreditation and Program Issues

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Veronica Dark; Mary Huba; Kevin Saunders; Frank Peters; Sarah Ryan; John Jackman; Sigurdur Olafsson

surveys were administered to students. Second, students in bothclasses gave their feedback through focus groups.4.1 Survey ResultsTo help assess students problem solving skills, learning strategies, and self-efficacy with respectto both the material and general confidence, a survey was conducted both before and after thestudents experienced the module. This was done in both courses, and as a control group thesurvey was also administered to students in our optimization course (IE 312), which consistsmostly of junior and senior IE students. Page 9.688.8 Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference &

Conference Session

Innovative Graduate Programs & Methods

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Jennifer Dockter; Carol Muller

; Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Education”mentoring relationships 14. Well-deployed mentoring can also be highly effective in supportingsystemic changed and in creating positive, productive, equitable learning environments 15.In contrast to the obstacles for academic women in engineering and science, noted above,mentoring, deliberate encouragement, and affiliation with a community have been shown toenhance women’s retention, self-efficacy, confidence, and likelihood of remaining in these fields16, 17 . For women of color, mentoring has been shown to be the only significant predictor ofsuccess 18. Mentoring can also serve to counter the idea that science and engineering are notfriendly to