Identifying Deficiencies in Engineering Problem-solving Skills
- Conference
- Location
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Virtual On line
- Publication Date
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June 22, 2020
- Start Date
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June 22, 2020
- End Date
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June 26, 2021
- Conference Session
- Tagged Topic
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NSF Grantees Poster Session
- Page Count
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10
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--34744
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/34744
- Download Count
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713
Paper Authors
Lizzie Santiago West Virginia University
Lizzie Y. Santiago, Ph.D., is a Teaching Associate Professor for the freshman engineering program in the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources. She holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and has postdoctoral training in neural tissue engineering and molecular neurosciences. She teaches freshman engineering courses and supports the outreach and recruiting activities of the college. Her research interests include neural tissue engineering, stem cell research, absorption of air pollutants in human upper airways, attrition and university retention, increasing student awareness and interest in research and engineering, STEM education, and recruitment and retention of women and minorities.
Anika Coolbaugh Pirkey
West Virginia University
orcid.org/0000-0002-5349-3561
Anika Pirkey is currently a PhD student and Graduate Research Assistant with the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at West Virginia University (WVU) with a research focus in cancer immunology. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BSChE and BME Certificate in 2017 from West Virginia University (WVU) and spent two years as a Chemical Engineer in the Pilot Plant Division of the Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research and Innovation Center (MATRIC) in South Charleston, West Virginia before pursuing her graduate education.
Mrs. Pirkey also works as a Graduate Research Assistant with the Fundamentals of Engineering Department as a continuation of her undergraduate research focusing on increasing retention rates of non-calculus ready first year engineering students. Other publications to which she has contributed include "Introducing First Year Engineering Students to Engineering Reasoning" and "Critical Thinking Skills in First Year Engineering Students" presented at the Annual ASEE Conferences in 2017 and 2016 respectively.
Awards include 1st Place in the Student Poster Session - Individual Researchers Category and 1st Place in the North Central US Region Student Paper Competition, both of which were received at the 2017 ASEE Zone II Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Abstract
Problem solving is the process of finding a solution to a problem. Problem solving skills are essential for student success in Engineering. Engineering programs are committed to improving students’ problem solving skills. However, there is no standard way of evaluating engineering problem solving that is valid, reliable, and easy to use. Most classroom assessments of problem solving are focused on the correctness of the final result rather than focusing on the reasoning leading to the result.
In this study, a problem solving rubric developed for Physics students was adapted to assess the problem solving skills of engineering students. Unlike most rubrics used in engineering courses, this rubric grades the thought process, and splits the problem solving approach into separate categories: Useful Description, Engineering and Math Approach, Application of Engineering, Mathematical Procedures, and Logical Progression. In this project, the rubric was implemented to identify deficiencies in problem solving in first year non-calculus ready students enrolled in an engineering curriculum.
Santiago, L., & Pirkey, A. C. (2020, June), Identifying Deficiencies in Engineering Problem-solving Skills Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--34744
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