Development of a Concept Inventory for Engineering Design Graphics
- Conference
- Location
-
New Orleans, Louisiana
- Publication Date
-
June 26, 2016
- Start Date
-
June 26, 2016
- End Date
-
June 29, 2016
- ISBN
-
978-0-692-68565-5
- ISSN
-
2153-5965
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
-
Engineering Design Graphics
- Page Count
-
10
- DOI
-
10.18260/p.26794
- Permanent URL
-
https://peer.asee.org/26794
- Download Count
-
838
Paper Authors
Steven Nozaki
Ohio State University
orcid.org/0000-0003-4733-246X
PhD Candidate - Engineering Education; The Ohio State University
MS, BS - Civil Engineering; The Ohio State University
Nancy E. Study Pennsylvania State University, Erie
Dr. Nancy E. Study is on the faculty of the School of Engineering at Penn State Behrend where she teaches courses in engineering graphics and rapid prototyping, and is the coordinator of the rapid prototyping lab. Her research interests include visualization and haptics. Nancy is a former chair of the ASEE Engineering Design Graphics Division and is currently the Circulation Manager and Treasurer of the Engineering Design Graphics Journal. She received her B.S. from Missouri State University, and M.S. and Ph.D. from Purdue University.
Heidi M Steinhauer Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach
Heidi M. Steinhauer is an Associate Professor of Engineering, Department Chair of the Engineering Fundamentals Department, co-advisor for the only all-women’s Baja SAE Team, Founding Member of FIRST (Female Initiative Reaching Success Together), and former director for GEMS (Girls in Engineering, Math, and Science). Dr. Steinhauer’s awards include the ABET Presidential Award of Diversity and a three time winner of the Women’s Vision Award. She has presented papers at ASEE Annual Conference, the ASEE Global Colloquium, Research in Engineering Education Symposium, Engineering Design Graphics Division Mid-Year Conference, Additive Manufacturers Users Group, and Solid Free-Form Fabrication Symposium. Her research interests center around the development and assessment of students’ spatial visualization skills, the effective integration of 3D modeling into engineering design, and the impact of contextualized hands-on applications on student learning and success. She has taught Engineering Graphics, Introduction to Engineering Design, Automation and Rapid Prototyping, and has developed several advanced applications of 3D modeling courses. Dr. Steinhauer received her B.S. in Aircraft Engineering and her M.S. in Systems Engineering, and her Pd.D. in Engineering Education from Virginia Tech.
Sheryl A. Sorby Ohio State University
Dr. Sheryl Sorby is currently a Professor of STEM Education at The Ohio State University and was recently a Fulbright Scholar at the Dublin Institute of Technology in Dublin, Ireland. She is a professor emerita of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics at Michigan Technological University and the P.I. or co-P.I. on more than $9M in grant funding, most for educational projects. She is the former Associate Dean for Academic Programs in the College of Engineering at Michigan Tech and she served at the National Science Foundataion as a Program Director in the Division of Undergraduate Education from January 2007 through August 2009. Prior to her appointment as Associate Dean, Dr. Sorby served as chair of the Engineering Fundamentals Department at Michigan Tech. She received a B.S. in Civil Engineering, an M.S. in Engineering Mechanics, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, all from Michigan Tech. Dr. Sorby has a well-established research program in spatial visualization and is actively involved in the development of various educational programs.
Mary A. Sadowski Purdue University, West Lafayette
Mary A. Sadowski has been at Purdue since 2003 and until September 1, 2011 served as the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Learning in the Purdue College of Technology where she provided leadership for strategic initiatives in undergraduate education.
As a professor of Computer Graphics, her research interests include enhancing visualization skills, creative thinking, and learning styles. She is currently funded to begin gathering data to create a concept inventory for engineering graphics. As a professor at both Purdue University and Arizona State University, Mary's specialty is computer and technical graphics. Dr. Sadowski received her B.S. from Bowling Green State University, her M.S. from The Ohio State University, and her Ph.D. from Purdue University.
Ronald L. Miller Colorado School of Mines
Ronald L. Miller is a professor emeritus of chemical engineering and former Director of the Center for Engineering Education at the Colorado School of Mines, where he has taught chemical engineering and interdisciplinary courses and conducted engineering education research for the past 30 years. Miller has received three university-wide teaching awards and has held a Jenni teaching fellowship at CSM. He has received grant awards for education research from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education FIPSE program, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education and has published widely in engineering education literature. His research interests include measuring and repairing engineering student misconceptions in thermal and transport science.
Abstract
This research paper describes the process of developing a concept inventory for engineering graphics. Historically, many of the pedagogical methods in core engineering topics such as statics or circuits have largely remained constant. This is not the case when considering the subject of engineering graphics. The way graphics instruction is currently delivered relies heavily on technology, and the technology that was current at a student’s enrollment in an engineering graphics course may very well be outdated by the time they graduate. Regardless of the progression and methodology of instruction, there seems to be an expectation of understanding basic graphical concepts at the conclusion of the course of study. However, there is variance in the academic community regarding what constitutes basic graphics concepts that students should master and how they might be validly and reliably measured. Concept inventories aim to measure the understandings and misconceptions of a set of ideas related to a subject. The final result of this project will be an instrument used to measure students’ conceptual knowledge of basic engineering graphics. Concepts that were previously identified as important by a Delphi study involving engineering graphics professionals are the foundation for item development. Items are being developed based on these concepts and categorized for revision. Reviewing for content validity will ensure the appropriate constructs of each important concept that are being measured. Those items that demonstrate the ability to accurately measure the established constructs will continue to be included for review. Items will be individually analyzed for validity and reliability before being included in a more comprehensive instrument. As items are refined and reach statistically acceptable levels, an inclusive instrument will be compiled for evaluation. Established methods of assessing educational instruments have been selected for use, including Item Response Theory and Classical Test Theory. One area of important concepts that was identified through our Delphi process could be characterized as “modern” fundamental concepts, i.e., those related to computer-aided design, and more specifically to concepts in constraint-based modeling. Through several iterations, the authors have attempted to develop CAD-related items for the Concept Inventory with as yet unsatisfactory results. The development team has discussed many options and have examined all data available from the Delphi study, including importance and relative difficulty, for CAD concepts and there is little consensus regarding the content of the items or even the need for the items. This work in progress paper will outline our attempts thus far in developing CAD-related items and will engage participants in an interactive discussion regarding next steps. Since our ultimate aim is to develop a Concept Inventory that is valued and used within the graphics community, we believe that input from the community, through this interactive presentation, will enable us to develop an instrument that is responsive to the needs of educators at multiple educational levels.
Nozaki, S., & Study, N. E., & Steinhauer, H. M., & Sorby, S. A., & Sadowski, M. A., & Miller, R. L. (2016, June), Development of a Concept Inventory for Engineering Design Graphics Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.26794
ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2016 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015