Evaluation of a Peer-Led Team Learning Course Designed to Increase Underprepared Students Success in Engineering

David Joseph Ewing; Catherine Mary Unite; Monica Franco; Kimshi Hickman

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Conference: ASEE 2021 Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference
Location: Waco, Texas
Publication Date: March 24, 2021
Start Date: March 24, 2021
End Date: March 26, 2021
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 12
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--36377
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/36377
Download Count: 370

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Paper Authors

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David Joseph Ewing The University of Texas at Arlington

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Earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Pensacola Christian College and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University. He spent several years teaching in a first year engineering program at Clemson University. He is now a Assistant Professor of Instruction at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he continues to teach first year engineering courses. Combined, he has been teaching first year engineering courses for almost nine years. His previous research involved thermal management systems for military vehicles.

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Catherine Mary Unite

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Catherine Unite is the Director of University Tutorial and Supplemental Instruction, within the Division of Student Success at the University of Texas at Arlington. Prior to her current position she was the International Certified Trainer at the International Office for SI, at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). As an Internationally Certified Trainer, she regularly conducted Supervisor and Leader Trainings on a local, national and international level. Her international experience in peer education originated in South Africa, as Head of the SI National Office for Southern Africa at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. In 2006 she received the UMKC international award for Outstanding SI Support by a Campus Administrator having trained and consulted with staff from major tertiary institutions in Southern Africa. She is the external judge for the Australasian Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) Leader Awards and a faculty member for the Institute on Peer Educators, National Resource Centre for The First Year Experience (FYE) and Students in Transition, University of South Carolina. Born in the United Kingdom, Catherine has had international experience in higher education and presented at national and international conferences and published articles on a range of student academic development and peer education issues.

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Monica Franco

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Kimshi Hickman

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Abstract

David J. Ewing Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department University of Texas at Arlington

Catherine Unite, Monica Franco, Kimshi Hickman Division of Student Success University of Texas at Arlington

Abstract

Several years ago, the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), and specifically the College of Engineering, created a first year engineering course in order to address student’s deficiencies in solving engineering related problems. This class is called Engineering Problem Solving and teaches in-depth problem solving methodology and programming in an active and collaborative environment, shown to benefit the most diverse preparedness levels of student groups. Since its inception, however, students placed into Pre-Calculus, instead of being Calculus ready, have suffered from higher failure rates than any other student grouping. While UTA has devoted many studies to programs and techniques that aid these underprepared students, a few strategies have emerged as being most effective. These strategies, shown in previous papers, were the implementation of Supplemental Instruction (SI), separate sections devoted specifically to Pre-Calculus co-enrolled students, peer-based instruction, and active learning activities as opposed to additional lectures. Therefore, in the Fall 2020 semester, UTA combined all these strategies into a learning course combining these best practices into a required learning lab with problem-based activities and studying practices. The goal is to aid in increasing this group’s success rate in this class, which has been shown to increase student retention in the College of Engineering. The students engage in effective “study habits” and problem-based learning practices with a Peer Led Teaching Learning (PLTL) leader. What we have found is these practices, which will be shared in this paper, have taken the best parts of our previous effective strategies that have helped this particularly at risk population. The students receive college credit hours, so they are able to spend the required amount of time studying the material and are guided by peers rather than their professors, encouraging more interactivity. This paper will show the effectiveness of this learning course by comparing success rates, defined as an A, B, or C in Engineering Problem Solving, of this student group this semester versus the other singular implementations from previous fall semesters. This paper will show that this learning course is even more effective in its forced implementation (lab learning) than the singular components for all students in the Pre-Calculus entry level.

Citation
Format

Ewing, D. J., & Unite, C. M., & Franco, M., & Hickman, K. (2021, March), Evaluation of a Peer-Led Team Learning Course Designed to Increase Underprepared Students Success in Engineering Paper presented at ASEE 2021 Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference, Waco, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--36377

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - David J. Ewing
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department
University of Texas at Arlington

Catherine Unite, Monica Franco, Kimshi Hickman
Division of Student Success
University of Texas at Arlington 

Abstract 

Several years ago, the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), and specifically the College of Engineering, created a first year engineering course in order to address student’s deficiencies in solving engineering related problems. This class is called Engineering Problem Solving and teaches in-depth problem solving methodology and programming in an active and collaborative environment, shown to benefit the most diverse preparedness levels of student groups. Since its inception, however, students placed into Pre-Calculus, instead of being Calculus ready, have suffered from higher failure rates than any other student grouping. While UTA has devoted many studies to programs and techniques that aid these underprepared students, a few strategies have emerged as being most effective.  These strategies, shown in previous papers, were the implementation of Supplemental Instruction (SI), separate sections devoted specifically to Pre-Calculus co-enrolled students, peer-based instruction, and active learning activities as opposed to additional lectures.  Therefore, in the Fall 2020 semester, UTA combined all these strategies into a learning course combining these best practices into a required learning lab with problem-based activities and studying practices.  The goal is to aid in increasing this group’s success rate in this class, which has been shown to increase student retention in the College of Engineering.  The students engage in effective “study habits” and problem-based learning practices with a Peer Led Teaching Learning (PLTL) leader.  What we have found is these practices, which will be shared in this paper, have taken the best parts of our previous effective strategies that have helped this particularly at risk population.  The students receive college credit hours, so they are able to spend the required amount of time studying the material and are guided by peers rather than their professors, encouraging more interactivity.  This paper will show the effectiveness of this learning course by comparing success rates, defined as an A, B, or C in Engineering Problem Solving, of this student group this semester versus the other singular implementations from previous fall semesters.  This paper will show that this learning course is even more effective in its forced implementation (lab learning) than the singular components for all students in the Pre-Calculus entry level.
 

AU  - David Joseph Ewing
AU  - Catherine Mary Unite
AU  - Monica Franco
AU  - Kimshi Hickman
CY  - Waco, Texas
DA  - 2021/03/24
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Evaluation of a Peer-Led Team Learning Course Designed to Increase Underprepared Students Success in Engineering 
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/36377
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--36377
ER  -