Tingerthal, J., & Ray, D., & Hewes, J. T., & Dymond, B. Z., & Tuchscherer, R. (2023, June), Development of an assessment for measuring knowledge transferred between the classroom and structural engineering practice.  Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--43154

\bibitem{asee_peer_43154}
  Tingerthal, J., \& Ray, D., \& Hewes, J. T., \& Dymond, B. Z., \& Tuchscherer, R. (2023, June), \emph{Development of an assessment for measuring knowledge transferred between the classroom and structural engineering practice.}
  Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland.
  10.18260/1-2--43154

John Tingerthal, Davis Ray, Joshua T. Hewes P.E., Benjamin Z. Dymond, and Robin Tuchscherer.  "Development of an assessment for measuring knowledge transferred between the classroom and structural engineering practice.".  2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland, 2023, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2023.  https://peer.asee.org/43154 Internet.  29 Jul, 2025

\bibitem{asee_peer_43154}
  John Tingerthal, Davis Ray, Joshua T. Hewes P.E., Benjamin Z. Dymond, and Robin Tuchscherer.
  "Development of an assessment for measuring knowledge transferred between the classroom and structural engineering practice.".
  \emph{2023 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland, 2023, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2023.
  https://peer.asee.org/43154 Internet.  29 Jul, 2025

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_43154
author = "John Tingerthal, Davis Ray, Joshua T. Hewes P.E., Benjamin Z. Dymond, and Robin Tuchscherer"
title = "Development of an assessment for measuring knowledge transferred between the classroom and structural engineering practice."
booktitle = "2023 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2023"
month = "June"
address = "Baltimore , Maryland"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/43154}
number = {10.18260/1-2--43154}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - It is well documented that humans are not adept at the process of transferring knowledge learned in one setting to another in which the underlying principles are the same, but the outward appearance is different from that in which the learning took place [1]-[7]. Knowledge transfer (or just ‘transfer’) is something that is assumed in upper division structural engineering courses: the instructor assumes that the student can apply fundamental principles of mechanics such as equilibrium, compatibility, and state of stress to practical engineering problems such as bridge design. Acknowledging that this assumption is faulty, at best, has led us to explore an anchored civil engineering curriculum in which these fundamental principles are situated (or anchored) in a specific practical engineering context. The goal of this investigation is to demonstrate that the process of anchoring will lead to better prepared bridge engineers and may lead to a positive shift in attitudes about careers in bridge engineering. This would, in turn help address the need for more practice-ready bridge engineers. This goal is part of a broader study funded by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), entitled “Creating More Practice-Ready Bridge Engineers through Anchored Instruction”. As part of the study, we identified a need for an assessment tool to measure whether anchoring has an influence on the transfer of fundamental engineering knowledge to practical bridge engineering problem solutions. As no existing instrument was available to meet this need, we embarked upon the development of such an instrument which is the focus of this paper.

The purpose of this paper is to present the in-progress development of an assessment instrument, called the “Fundamental Engineering Knowledge (FEK) Assessment”. This instrument is aimed at measuring undergraduate engineering students’ ability to transfer fundamental engineering knowledge to bridge engineering practice. To date, we have completed two iterations of instrument development and have achieved a Fleiss’ Kappa inter-rater reliability, = 0.445 (95% CI, 0.415 to 0.475), p < 0.001, without reconciliation between the raters. The resulting instrument will be deployed through the end of the FHWA project (Summer 2025).

The study described in this paper will provide engineering educators with a descriptive road map of the development process and evidence of the results, which can be used towards refining and improving future assessments of similar pedagogical interventions. 

AU  - John Tingerthal
AU  - Davis Ray
AU  - Joshua T. Hewes P.E.
AU  - Benjamin Z. Dymond
AU  - Robin Tuchscherer
CY  - Baltimore , Maryland
DA  - 2023/06/25
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Development of an assessment for measuring knowledge transferred between the classroom and structural engineering practice.
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/43154
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--43154
ER  -