Empowering Students to Self-Select Resources Befitting Their Individual Learning Styles in a Reactor Design Engineering Course

Elizabeth Michelle Melvin

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: WIP: Student Success and Sustainability
Tagged Division: Chemical Engineering Division (ChED)
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/47252

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Elizabeth Michelle Melvin Clemson University

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Elizabeth M. Melvin is currently a Lecturer in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department at Clemson University. She earned her BS in chemical engineering from The Ohio State University in Columbus, OH in 2002 and her MS and PhD from NC State in 2008 and 2010. Dr. Melvin held a number of positions in industry with companies such as Dow Corning (now Dow), Johns Manville, and Hospira (now Pfizer). Her passion is helping students succeed in engineering and getting the next generation of students interested in pursuing engineering degrees.

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Abstract

In this Work In Progress Paper, the effect of empowering students to use course resources with respect to their individual learning style in a senior reactor design engineering course is explored. The Felder-Soloman Index of Learning Styles Inventory is a validated and accepted tool for assessing where on the spectra (visual-verbal, sensing-intuitive, active-reflective, sequential-global) students fall with respect to the different stages in the learning process. To date, the inventory has been used as a guide to help instructors vary their classroom instruction to use methods that will ultimately entice all learning styles. While this approach has been found to be highly effective, the amount of time students spend in the classroom as a part of their study cycle is relatively small compared to the time they spend deciphering course content on their own. Even highly effective instructors who use a plethora of well-established and validated pedagogical techniques and provide ample resources to foster success, can find they have a subset of students who are working hard, yet continue to struggle with performing on course assessments. Could it be possible that students are experiencing resource overload? With so many choices of resources, could they be choosing poorly and still be struggling as a result? Having a way to help students identify which course resources are most effective for them to employ when they are studying outside of class could help students focus their study time more efficiently. In a senior-level reactor design course, students were given an extra credit assignment to complete the Felder-Soloman Index of Learning Styles Inventory (85% response rate). After receiving their Learning Styles Inventory results, students were required to complete a 50-minute learning module on learning styles that included instruction on what their score means, how their brain processes information, what the learning styles are, advice on what kinds of resources might be best to fit their learning style and (very briefly) how to work with others who might have a different learning styles than them. After completing the learning modules, students were asked to complete a survey asking them their level of understanding of their learning styles and the following open-ended questions: 1. From the Learning Styles Assessment presentation and advice, what are you already doing now in your study cycle that seems to work well with your study cycle? 2. Where are some areas you could improve and how would you propose implementing changes? Are there any ideas that came to mind that weren't in the advice in the video? 3. Pick two resources listed in Appendix I (from reactor design text) that you think would help you when you are studying or doing homework for this class. For each resource, write a short (1-2 sentences) on how you think it would help you with respect to your learning style. Preliminary evaluation of the survey suggests that learning about their learning style helped students to explain why certain study methods worked and didn’t work for them. Most students were also able to identify key areas of improvement for their study time and tended to choose course resources that best fit their learning styles. The reactor design course is currently in progress and the students will be surveyed at the end of the course to evaluate their retention of what the learning styles mean and to assess if they used resources and how it affected their performance in the course. This short report will focus on the assessment of their knowledge of their own learning style and report on the effectiveness of students self-selecting course resources based on their learning styles.

Citation
Format

Melvin, E. M. (2024, June), Empowering Students to Self-Select Resources Befitting Their Individual Learning Styles in a Reactor Design Engineering Course Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47252

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - In this Work In Progress Paper, the effect of empowering students to use course resources with respect to their individual learning style in a senior reactor design engineering course is explored.  The Felder-Soloman Index of Learning Styles Inventory is a validated and accepted tool for assessing where on the spectra (visual-verbal, sensing-intuitive, active-reflective, sequential-global) students fall with respect to the different stages in the learning process.  To date, the inventory has been used as a guide to help instructors vary their classroom instruction to use methods that will ultimately entice all learning styles.  While this approach has been found to be highly effective, the amount of time students spend in the classroom as a part of their study cycle is relatively small compared to the time they spend deciphering course content on their own.  Even highly effective instructors who use a plethora of well-established and validated pedagogical techniques and provide ample resources to foster success, can find they have a subset of students who are working hard, yet continue to struggle with performing on course assessments.
Could it be possible that students are experiencing resource overload?  With so many choices of resources, could they be choosing poorly and still be struggling as a result?  Having a way to help students identify which course resources are most effective for them to employ when they are studying outside of class could help students focus their study time more efficiently.  In a senior-level reactor design course, students were given an extra credit assignment to complete the Felder-Soloman Index of Learning Styles Inventory (85% response rate).  After receiving their Learning Styles Inventory results, students were required to complete a 50-minute learning module on learning styles that included instruction on what their score means, how their brain processes information, what the learning styles are, advice on what kinds of resources might be best to fit their learning style and (very briefly) how to work with others who might have a different learning styles than them.  After completing the learning modules, students were asked to complete a survey asking them their level of understanding of their learning styles and the following open-ended questions:
1.	From the Learning Styles Assessment presentation and advice, what are you already doing now in your study cycle that seems to work well with your study cycle?
2.	Where are some areas you could improve and how would you propose implementing changes?  Are there any ideas that came to mind that weren&#39;t in the advice in the video? 
3.	Pick two resources listed in Appendix I (from reactor design text) that you think would help you when you are studying or doing homework for this class.  For each resource, write a short (1-2 sentences) on how you think it would help you with respect to your learning style. 
Preliminary evaluation of the survey suggests that learning about their learning style helped students to explain why certain study methods worked and didn’t work for them. Most students were also able to identify key areas of improvement for their study time and tended to choose course resources that best fit their learning styles.  The reactor design course is currently in progress and the students will be surveyed at the end of the course to evaluate their retention of what the learning styles mean and to assess if they used resources and how it affected their performance in the course.  This short report will focus on the assessment of their knowledge of their own learning style and report on the effectiveness of students self-selecting course resources based on their learning styles. 

AU  - Elizabeth Michelle Melvin
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Empowering Students to Self-Select Resources Befitting Their Individual Learning Styles in a Reactor Design Engineering Course
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/47252
ER  -