Tempe, Arizona
April 20, 2017
April 20, 2017
April 22, 2017
Pacific Southwest Section
8
10.18260/1-2--29207
https://peer.asee.org/29207
397
Dr. Majid Poshtan obtained his PhD in EECE from Tulane University, New Orleans, USA in 2000. Dr. Poshtan has over 20 years of wide-ranging experience in EE academic and industry. He is an expert in electric power systems, transmission planning, short circuits studies and protection, condition monitoring of generators, induction motors, transformers and power cables, substation design, power system computer simulators, and Real Time simulator. Dr. Poshtan is currently a faculty member in California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, CA, USA.
Ahmad Nafisi is a professor of Electrical Engineering at Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo, CA. He received his Ph.D. and MS both in Electrical Engineering from University of Southern California in 1983 and 1977, respectively and his BSEE from Sharif University of Technology in 1975. Professor Nafisi has more than 30 years of teaching and research experience in power system analysis and electrical machines. He was the director of Cal Poly’s Electric Power Institute (1997-2011) and has done consulting for Southern California Edison, Electro-Kinesis Corporation, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, California Energy Commission, and Pacific Gas and Electric.
The two most important challenges for instructors are motivating their students about the course, and assessing their students’ performances in the course. Motivation is an output of many inputs, including evaluation, the gaining of knowledge, and the assurance of graduation. The existing evaluation methods motivate most of the students, but can also cause unexpected results, such as discouraging student-student interaction. Moreover, it discourages team working and sharing of ideas and knowledge. The standard evaluation method in our current education system – which includes regular tests and quizzes – is a single variable function between student and teacher. The author of this paper proposes a method of assessment that changes the single variable function to a multivariable function of teacher, student, and class. In the proposed method of assessment, the teacher combines evaluation and competition in a form of Class Work (CW). Unlike simple assessment, CW is a function of team working, speed, and the participation of all of the students in the class. The combination of competition and evaluation creates excitement, which amplifies the motivation. I applied this idea by assigning the students into groups of two and letting them work on a quiz during the class. The students obtain extra credit inversely proportional to the time they spend on the CW. Hence, the less time they spend on the quiz (the faster they submit the quiz), the greater the number of points they will earn.
Poshtan, M., & Nafisi, A. (2017, April), Combined Student Evaluation and Competition Class Work Paper presented at 2017 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting, Tempe, Arizona. 10.18260/1-2--29207
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