Conference Session

Empowering Students and Strengthening Community Relationships

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Danielle N. Wagner, Purdue University; Sukrati Gautam, Purdue University; Peyman Yousefi, Merck Group; Nuela Chidubem Enebechi, Purdue University; Andrew Pierce, Purdue University; William C. Oakes, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Community Engagement Division (COMMENG)

the survey accurately reflects the GTAexperience and captures the dynamic educational environment they contribute to, aiming for aninclusive and comprehensive evaluation.3.2.1 Pre- & Post-Semester Assessment SurveyThe study commenced with a pre-semester survey designed to establish a baseline understandingof GTA’s' skills and perspectives before their active involvement in the service-learning program.The skillset gauged is listed in Table 1. Administered through Qualtrics, this survey played apivotal role in assessing the initial skill set and expectations of GTA’s.The survey questions were carefully crafted to gauge their proficiency and mindset, setting thefoundation for subsequent comparative analyses with post-assessment data. By

Conference Session

Community Building and Student Engagement

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ismail Uysal, University of South Florida; Mehmet Bugrahan Ayanoglu, University of South Florida; Rania Sherif Elashmawy, University of South Florida; Rifatul Islam, University of South Florida; Paul E. Spector, University of South Florida; Chris S. Ferekides, University of South Florida

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer Engineering Division (ECE)

their survey responses by answering thefollowing questions:1. Can a predictive model be trained on the survey responses with sufficient accuracy compared to the baseline (in this case 50% for a binary classification) in classifying student GPA groups as TRUE or FALSE?2. If the answer is yes to question 1, does the model trained only on pre-intervention action state surveys have quantifiable levels of difference in accuracy when tested on the post- intervention responses? 3. If the answer is yes to question 2, is this difference in accuracy reflected in explainable and modest changes in false-positive ratios between the models trained and tested on different populations?To start answering these questions, we need to be able

Conference Session

Tricks of the Trade in Teaching I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Grau, University of Alabama; Guillermo Mejia, University of Alabama and Universidad Industrial de Santander

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

students’ and professors’ feedback. Hence, three data collection tools allowed thedefinition of the key instruction strategies to enhance the academic performance of the students.The findings of an open survey, a structured survey, and a Test of Felder applied to threedifferent samples, reflected the students’ perceptions, which were analyzed and adapted todeliver the course syllabus.. The survey sample included students officially registered within thecourses of the construction area in the school of civil engineering.. First, the open surveycollected the preferences and suggestions of the students with respect to the methodology that Page

Conference Session

Experiential Learning and Globalization in BME

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jonathan Sanghoon Lee, University of Virginia; Shing Wai Yam, University of Virginia; William H. Guilford, University of Virginia

Tagged Divisions

Biomedical

female than male students reported havinglaboratory experiences. The most significant predictors were the correlate KSA scores betweenlabs and what students wanted to learn (p = 0.14), student preference to work alone or in teams(p = 0.14), and student desire to work with live animals or perform animal surgery (p = 0.16).Each of these makes intuitive sense in a BME lab setting. A better match between laboratory andstudent interests, at any educational level, lends itself to success. Given that most researchlaboratory settings are inherently team-based, a desire to work in teams rather than alone alsomakes sense. That a student desire to work with live animals was a negative predictor may either(a) reflect the fact that the majority of

Conference Session

Assessment Instruments

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Laura L. Pauley, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Jonna M. Kulikowich, Pennsylvania State University; Nell Sedransk, National Institute of Statistical Sciences; Renata S. Engel, Pennsylvania State University, University Park

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

difficulty estimates ranged from.13 to .94. We find these initial reliability statistics very good given the short scale.Validity Results for Construct M2No correlation coefficient was greater than .11 when studying Construct M2 with the externalcriteria. This pattern of correlation coefficients suggests that Construct M2 is representing a latenttrait that may not be reflected in engineering coursework. Further, the pattern of results is differentthan that observed for Construct M1. We did compute the Pearson correlation coefficient forscores representing both M1 and M2. The degree of association was .44. While this value doessupport a significant relationship, descriptively it is only moderate. As such, it appears that there isevidence to support

Conference Session

Experiential Learning in ECE

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mihaela Radu, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Clint S. Cole, Digilent, Inc.; Joe Harris, Digilent, Inc.; Mircea Dabacan, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

is an impossible topic tomaster. The current method of teaching analog circuits focuses on procedural, quantitative andanalytical methods to describe individual circuits 2.According to3, there are four types of learners: Type 1(concrete, reflective)-the diverger; Type2(abstract, reflective)-the assimilator; Type 3(abstract, active)-the converger; Type 4 (concrete,active)-the accommodator. Traditional science and engineering instruction focuses almostexclusively on lecturing, a style comfortable for only Type 2 learners. Effective instructioninvolves teaching all learning styles–motivating each new topic (Type 1), presenting the basicinformation and methods associated with the topic (Type 2), providing opportunities forpracticing the methods

Conference Session

Alternative Energy Laboratory Experiences

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Narayanan M. Komerath, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

footprint compatible with roof terraces in the developing world. It uses a reflective trough of aluminum sheeting formed by a simple wooden truss, covered with 99% reflective Mylar to focusFigure 2: 2m Wind turbine with flexible blades sunlight onto copper tubes that form the heatingin wind tunnel testing element of a gaseous heat engine. System analyses came to the conclusion in Spring 2010 that for the operating temperature range and safety constraints of the device, an open-return air

Conference Session

Ethics in different disciplines

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert M. Brooks, Temple University; Jyothsna K. S., St.Joseph's College, Bangalore, Department of English; Amithraj Amavasai

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

social justice issues, an important aspect of the engineering field. Engineers make decisionsthat affect societies. They must understand the impact these decisions have and carefullyexamine their own motives as well as those of their superiors. Exposing students to pedagogiesof liberation encourages them to claim responsibility for their decisions and to see themselves asco-teachers in a community of scholars15. Critical thinking and reflective action16 are aspects ofethics. These are also the outcomes of pedagogies of liberation. Students who are taught fromthis perspective not only learn to think ethically but also to act ethically.How to Teach with CasesHerreid13 stated that the use of case studies in teaching could be classified into four

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics Issues Part II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Martin S. High, Oklahoma State University; Steve Harrist, Oklahoma State University; Scott D. Gelfand, Oklahoma State University, Department of Philosophy

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

Inventory Report, will help the student engage in reflection inorder to determine what sorts of situations the student might find ethically challenging. Thestudent will then develop a personal plan (Adaptive-Strategies Report) addressing what strategiesthey might use in order to increase the likelihood that they will act ethically in challengingsituations (that is, the situations arrived at while developing the Personal Inventory Report). TheAdaptive Strategies Report will help the student: 1) recognize when an ethically challengingsituation; and 2) act ethically in ethically challenging situations (that is, apply the strategiesdeveloped for the Adaptive-Strategies Report). The products of this exercise – PersonalInventory Report and Adaptive

Conference Session

Tools of the Trade

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Craig G. Downing, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

feasibility of designing a 10-week course thataddressed all the concerns communicated by the interviewees. After having discussions withcampus stakeholders and other interested faculty members, a new scope was established tooptimize the course design while operating within the current resource constraints. Additionally,two major concerns were explicitly expressed: 1) Create a course that maintains the academicexcellence and rigor reflected in other Rose-Hulman STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering,and Mathematics) courses and 2) Integrate experiences to help students build the leadershipskills required of successful project leaders. Given these criteria and the original interviewfindings, the final scope read as follows: Design a 10-week

Conference Session

First-year Programs Division Poster Session

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kirsten A. Davis, Boise State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

example), this paper focuses on the academic aspects.“The first college year is critical not only for how much students learn but also for laying thefoundation on which their subsequent academic success and persistence rest.”2Students regularly overestimate their knowledge and abilities3. As an anecdotal example, thereis the student who receives a D or F on an exam, but claims to have studied for hours (studyingwhat, we don’t know…), and another student with a similar grade who didn’t study at all becausethey thought they already knew the information well enough. Students also unreasonably expectthat their assignment and test grades should reflect not just their achievements, but also theamount of time and effort they expend4. We regularly have

Conference Session

General Topics in Graduate Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Suzanne M. Kresta, University of Alberta; John A. Nychka, University of Alberta; Roger Graves, University of Alberta

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

, but interestingly, a vast majority of students find “Exercise 5: Visual Abstract” verydifficult the first time they reflect on their research. However, most students comment that thevisual abstract exercise is crucial to them realizing what it is they are doing in their research. Ageneral written outline exercise has been used in the past for students to reflect on their research,but it is not as powerful as the visual abstract, likely because the students tend to make visualconnections and image cues in their minds when thinking about their research, which cannot beas easily captured for them with words on a page. By performing the described exercises graduate students feel that they have become better

Conference Session

A Global Engineer: International and Domestic Engineer

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Claudio da Rocha Brito, Science and Education Research Council; Melany M. Ciampi, Safety, Health and Environment Research Organization

Tagged Divisions

International

understanding of different cultures and respect for diversity andcommunication. There are differences in the focus of the courses, general or more specific, moreor less practical and etc. There is no recipe, an equation that can be applied to all the Institutionsto ensure the expected results, precisely because there is a great diversity in addition to theincreasingly rapid changes that happen and more embodiments by scientific and technologicaldevelopment. This paper has the goal to instigate the reflection on the formation of engineeringteachers in present challenging academic community.Keywords: Mobility, program design; motivation; global formation; skills.1. IntroductionNo matter the field of expertise civil, electronic, chemical, environmental it

Conference Session

Collaborations, Accreditation and Articulation Issues for International Engineering Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Salahuddin Qazi, State University of New York, Institute of Technology; Yasin Akhtar Raja, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, Center for Optoelectronics & Optical Communications; Syed Muhammad Hassan Zaidi, NUST School of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

Tagged Divisions

International

industry, the participants and the other non-profit organizations in the host countries.Although the focus of HONET predominately remained optical Internet and associated information& communication and enabling technologies, a special theme was added each year to reflect thecurrent state of technology and its applications. During the past seven years of organizing andholding these symposia and associated workshops over two thousand attendees consisting offaculty, engineers, students, delegates from different countries and CEOs of Internationalbusinesses have participated in this knowledge sharing experience and were motivated forinternational collaboration. These symposia were attended by the nationals of Australia, Britain,Canada, China

Conference Session

Middle School Engineering Programs, Curriculum, and Evaluation

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jacob D. Joseph, The College of William and Mary; Jessica Taylor, College of William and Mary, STEM Education Alliance; Gail B. Hardinge, College of William and Mary, STEM Education Alliance; Eugene F. Brown, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

the VDP. In addition, the students’ self-reported attitudes toward math and likelihood of pursuing a STEM career increased afterparticipation in the program. This is shown in Figure 3. However, there were no significantchanges found in the Building and Invention, Science Attitudes, or Technology Attitudes factorsas a result of participation in the program.The data for the entire group of 7th and 8th graders largely reflects the data for each subgroupwith a few notable exceptions. The entire group of 7th grade students showed no statisticallysignificant differences between pre- and post-interventions. In addition, Hispanic students andAsian-American students showed no statistically significant pre-test/post-test differences. Thedata for female

Conference Session

Information Literacy Programs for First-Year Engineering Students

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Melissa Bowles-Terry, University of Wyoming; Larry Schmidt, University of Wyoming

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

evidenced by the student whothought Wikipedia was a peer-reviewed source. Repetition and experience with actual peerreviewed sources will reinforce the concept over time. Finally, we’re not convinced that this isan appropriate learning outcome for first-year students. They are just being inducted into thescholarly community of engineers, and their information needs may be better served by lesstechnical articles.Student ConfidenceOn the pre- and post-tests, in addition to probing for students’ knowledge and experience withresearch concepts and tools, we asked one confidence question. Angelo and Cross6 suggest that aconfidence survey helps instructors to identify where students feel comfortable and where theydo not, and reflecting on confidence

Conference Session

Design Across Disciplines

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James M. Leake, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; David Weightman, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

and creativity that the engineers don't always have to consider.” “It was nice working with the industrial designers because they put an artistic spin on theproduct. They also worked to make the housing ergonomic which is something I would not havebeen able to do.”Then there are the quotes from industrial designers, reflecting on their experience working withengineers:“It is great to work with engineers! They know how to make things work, they know thedimensions and materials well, and they can make cool video and analysis.”“Being the first time I've worked with a group of engineers, I think it was successful and a hugelearning experience.”“I found it really useful working on this project with industrial design and engineering

Conference Session

Thinking Outside the Box! Innovative Curriculum Exchange for K12 Engineering

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Zachary Vonder Haar, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Taryn Melkus Bayles, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Julia M. Ross, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

"patient", andthen evaluate the effectiveness of their prototype. Over the first five years of the INSPIRES project, the teacher Professional Development(PD) training was limited to two days. But in the past two years, with the support of a NSF-DRK-12 grant and cooperation with the education department, the PD training was extended tothree weeks. This has allowed the teachers to spend more time to learn, practice and reflect. ThePD is split into three distinct sessions. The morning session focused on the heart lungengineering content taught by engineering faculty and inquiry-based pedagogical facilitators (oneof which is a faculty member in the education department). The early afternoon sessions had theteachers apply what they learned in

Conference Session

Alternative Energy Laboratory Experiences

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Oxana S. Pantchenko, University of California, Santa Cruz; Daniel Scott Tate, University of California, Santa Cruz; Daniel O'Leary, University of California, Santa Cruz; Michael S. Isaacson, University of California, Santa Cruz; Ali DUPE Shakouri

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

engineering and science majors to social aspect of renewable energy sources. Inaddition, all students learned about the important social impact of our energy infrastructure andappreciated the social implementation issues associated with the new technologies.Due to a wide range of students’ backgrounds a large number of learning styles were expected.According to Richard Felder and Linda Silverman, there are 32 different learning styles and the Page 22.621.3usual methods of engineering education usually implement only five categories; intuitive,auditory, deductive, reflective and sequential1. A mismatch between preferred learning styles andcorresponding

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Katie Grantham, Missouri University of Science & Technology; Ryan Arlitt, Missouri University of Science and Technology

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees

. Usabilityaspects that received lower mean scores may reflect lower levels of satisfaction with thataspect of the usability. Based on these mean scores for each response, the survey suggeststhe following order of importance for usability improvements: provide feedback, providehelp and guidance within the application, improve navigation, improve error recovery,and improve accessibility. Page 22.652.18 Table 6.1. RED Usability Survey Results StandardRank Question Mode Mean Deviation

Conference Session

Issues Affecting Engineering Program Development

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Miguel Angel Ramos, University of Houston; Lauren Chapman, Boston College; Mac Cannady, Boston College; Enrique Barbieri, University of Houston

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

would discuss the ideas with colleagues.Follow-up evaluation results in fall 2010 confirmed the findings from the spring. With a fewexceptions, most respondents expressed their intent to forgo any future action with regard to theproposed curriculum models. For some, the reasons reflected a belief that there was not aconvincing case for the type of change embodied by these models. For example, regarding the 2-year co-curriculum model, one person cautioned that the model did “not align with our strategicplan or vision or needs or requests from employers.” Others feared the implications ofengineering technology being aligned too closely with engineering. “I discussed the concept withour faculty. While we believe there are positive aspects to this

Conference Session

Design Communications & Cognition II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Barbara A. Karanian, Stanford University, Wentworth Institute of Technology; Gregory Kress, Stanford University; Tessa Price, Stanford University; Regina Getz-Kikuchi, Stanford University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

IMVU environmentPower Linked to responses that express a sense of self-worth or self-confidence,(PO) including power motivesUser Tracks the extent to which a user is personally invested in IMVU (in terms ofIntensity time, money, etc.)(IN)2.2 Coding/AnalysisQuestions (whenever possible) were coded to reflect an integer score between -2 and 2 forSociality and Activity, and between 0 and 2 for Power and User Intensity. For a given variable,the coding is assigned with zero representing “definitely not,” one representing “arguably so,”and two representing “definitely so.” For example, a response indicating that a person prefersto chat with big groups is a definite indicator of connectivism

Conference Session

Digital Technologies and Learning

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Hergenrader, University of Southern California, Information Sciences Institute; Joanna Drummond, University of Pittsburgh; Jihie Kim, University of Southern California

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

𝐾  =   1 − 𝑝expectedWith 1.0 as a maximum, Kappa scores of approximately 0.70 and above indicate goodagreement13. As seen in Table 1, the results reflected quite good consistency between the twosemester data sets. Scores at the category level are similarly high, indicating agreement if aphrase was or was not tagged with any contained speech act by both annotators. Also includedare the speech act tag descriptions and sample phrases seen in posts. Speech Act Tag Description Sample Cue Phrases Kappa Question Category Represents a question N/A 0.94 A

Conference Session

FPD IV: Improving Student Success: Mentoring, Intervening, and Supplementing

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Frederick L. Smyth, University of Virginia; William H Guilford, University of Virginia; Brian A. Nosek, University of Virginia

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

BFigure 1: Example of one of the IATs delivered in this study. See the text for a detaileddescription. Page 22.718.3(standard deviation) of their response times to yield an effect size score similar to a Cohen’s d 22.The IAT has detected gender differences in STEM attitudes and predicted real-world STEMoutcomes such as calculus performance 10,14, and countries’ gender-gaps in teenagers’ scienceand math achievement 23.An example of the sort of IAT we employed can be experienced by entering the Demonstrationportal at https://implicit.harvard.edu/. The “Gender-Science” IAT is reflected in Figure 1. Thisonline 10-minute evaluation session is used

Conference Session

FPD XI: Assessing First-Year Programs, Experiences, and Communities

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marie C. Paretti, Virginia Tech; Kelly J. Cross, Virginia Tech University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Page 22.240.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2011 Assessing First-Year Programs: Outcomes, Methods, and FindingsAbstractFirst-year programs reflect a wide array of approaches, from general engineering programs todiscipline-specific introductions to the major spanning one or two semesters; many of theseprograms have published descriptions of their approaches to assessment and the effects ofvarious intervention strategies on student retention or specialized outcomes. Yet much of thiswork remains localized; little research to date has examined assessment across multiple programsto identify large-scale trends, locate similarities and differences in targeted learning outcomes,analyze methods of

Conference Session

Information Literacy: Theory and Practice

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mysore Narayanan, Miami University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

2Strongly Disagree or Unacceptable 1 Page 22.254.10APPENDIX D: W.S.U. CRITICAL THINKING RUBRIC Source: http://wsuctproject.wsu.edu/ctr.htm 1. Identifies, summarizes (and appropriately reformulates) the problem/question/work assignment.This dimension focuses on task or issue identification, including subsidiary, embedded, or implicitaspects of an issue and the relationships integral to effective analysis. 2. Identifies and considers the influence of context and assumptions.This dimension focuses on scope and context, and considers audience of the analysis. Context includesrecognition of the relative nature of context and assumptions, the reflective

Conference Session

Student Learning and Assessment I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thomas J. Vasko, Central Connecticut State University; Nidal Al-Masoud, Central Connecticut State University; Peter F. Baumann, Central Connecticut State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

lifelong learner must possess: curiosity represents the depth ofexploration; initiative measures the ability to generate new ideas or solutions; independence is anindicator of self-learning; transfer appraises the ability to build on previous knowledge;reflection is “in depth reviews of prior learning experiences both inside and outside of theclassroom to reveal significantly changed perspectives about educational and life experiences”11.The purpose of the survey question was to explore the mindset of students about these requiredskills. While most students agree, in general, that all of these skills are fundamental to a lifelonglearner, it was surprising that one third of the class downplayed independence when compared tothe other attributes

Conference Session

Mechanical and Architectural Engineering Laboratories

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nancy K Lape, Harvey Mudd College; David L Harris, Harvey Mudd College; Matthew Joseph Keeter, Harvey Mudd College; Madeleine S Ong, Harvey Mudd College; Zachary Dodds, Harvey Mudd College

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

) • building a reaction timer game • building a “Simon says” memory game • generating Gold codes • detecting Gold codesIn Lab 5, students assembled a gearbox kit and mounted motors and gears on their chassis. Theysoldered resistors on their Mudduino board to interface with an IR reflectance sensor and aphototransistor. They attached a connector to their battery pack, stacked the battery and boardon the chassis, and bolted the whole robot together, as shown in Figure 4. In Lab 6, studentslearned to control the robot in C. They developed their own library of motor control functions.They learned to read the sensors, and programmed the robot to drive toward a light, stopping if itwere about to dive off the lab bench. They attempted to drive in

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching: Statics

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Anna Dollar, Miami University; Ronald R. Ulseth, Itasca Community College; Paul S. Steif, Carnegie Mellon University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

that informs just-in-time changes of instruction describedbelow.)3.2 Detailed Quiz ReportsWhile an overall quiz grade itself is useful for awarding a grade, for instruction to reflect quizresults in an “inverted-classroom”, the instructor needs to know how students answeredindividual quiz questions, at least in an aggregate way. OLI provides such feedback toinstructors. As an example, an excerpt from the Module 7 Quiz Report is shown in Figure 3. Page 22.291.4 3Fig. 2 Screenshot of Gradebook Page 22.291.5 4Page 22.291.6 5

Conference Session

Focus on Entry Experiences in Chemical Engineering

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jeffrey Heys, Montana State University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

persevered7.Another source of beliefs about problem solving is from our cultural background. Studiesindicate that people in the U.S. are much more likely than the Japanese to believe that innateability (as opposed to effort) underlies children's success in mathematics12. Schoenfeld madetwo important observations based on the results of these studies7. “First, parents and students who believe ‘either you have it or you don't’ are much less likely to encourage students to work hard on mathematics than those who believe ‘you can do it if you try.’ Second, our nation's textbooks reflect our uniformly low expectations of students: ‘U.S. elementary textbooks introduce large numbers at a slower pace than do Japanese, Chinese