Integrated e-Learning Modules for Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset: Direct Assessment of Student Learning
- Conference
- Location
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Salt Lake City, Utah
- Publication Date
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June 23, 2018
- Start Date
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June 23, 2018
- End Date
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July 27, 2018
- Conference Session
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Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation Division Technical Session 1
- Tagged Division
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Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation
- Page Count
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17
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--30675
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/30675
- Download Count
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548
Paper Authors
Maria-Isabel Carnasciali
University of New Haven
orcid.org/0000-0001-5887-0744
Maria-Isabel Carnasciali is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Tagliatela College of Engineering, University of New Haven, CT. She obtained her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech in 2008. She received her Bachelors of Engineering from MIT in 2000. Her research focuses on the nontraditional engineering student – understanding their motivations, identity development, and impact of prior engineering-related experiences. Her work dwells into learning in informal settings such as summer camps, military experiences, and extra-curricular activities. Other research interests involve validation of CFD models for aerospace applications as well as optimizing efficiency of thermal-fluid systems.
Ronald S. Harichandran University of New Haven
Ron Harichandran has served as the Dean of the Tagliatela College of Engineering at the University of New Haven since August 2011. He is the PI of the grant entitled Developing Entrepreneurial Thinking in Engineering Students by Utilizing Integrated Online Modules and Experiential Learning Opportunities. Through this grant from the Kern Family Foundation, entrepreneurial thinking is being integrated into courses spanning all four years in seven ABET accredited engineering and computer science BS programs.
Nadiye O. Erdil University of New Haven
Nadiye O. Erdil, an assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering and engineering and operations management at the University of New Haven. She has over eleven years of experience in higher education and has held several academic positions including administrative appointments. She has experience in teaching at the undergraduate and the graduate level. In addition to her academic work, Dr. Erdil worked as an engineer in sheet metal manufacturing and pipe fabrication industry for five years. She holds B.S. in Computer Engineering, M.S. in Industrial Engineering. She received her Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Binghamton University (SUNY). Her background and research interests are in quality and productivity improvement using statistical tools, lean methods and use of information technology in operations management. Her work is primarily in manufacturing and healthcare delivery operations.
Jean Nocito-Gobel University of New Haven
Jean Nocito-Gobel, Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of New Haven, received her Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She has been actively involved in a number of educational initiatives in the Tagliatela College of Engineering including KEEN and PITCH, PI of the ASPIRE grant, and is the coordinator for the first-year Intro to Engineering course. Her professional interests include modeling the transport and fate of contaminants in groundwater and surface water systems, as well as engineering education reform.
Cheryl Q. Li University of New Haven
Cheryl Qing Li joined University of New Haven in the fall of 2011, where she is Associate Professor of the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department. Li earned her first Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from National University of Singapore in 1997. She served as Assistant Professor and subsequently Associate Professor in mechatronics engineering at University of Adelaide, Australia, and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, respectively. In 2006, she resigned from her faculty job and came to Connecticut for family reunion. Throughout her academic career in Australia and Singapore, she had developed a very strong interest in learning psychology and educational measurement. She then opted for a second Ph.D. in educational psychology, specialized in measurement, evaluation and assessment at University of Connecticut. She earned her second Ph.D. in 2010. Li has a unique cross-disciplinary educational and research background in mechatronics engineering, specialized in control and robotics, and educational psychology, specialized in statistical analysis and program evaluation.
Abstract
In an effort to develop an entrepreneurial mindset in all our engineering and computer science students, the University of New Haven is embedding entrepreneurial concepts throughout the 4-year curricula in their majors. This is done with the use of several short e-learning modules developed by content experts. The modules are integrated into engineering and computer science courses by faculty who reinforce concepts through a related activity, project, or assignment. The e-learning modules, available online through course management systems, are self-paced and targeted at conceptual learning of 18 specific entrepreneurial topics. Using a flipped-classroom instructional model, students complete the modules outside of class, typically over a set two-week period, and instructors engage the students in discussion either in-class or online and through an activity. This mode of integration enables the assessment of higher cognitive understanding of the concepts and students’ ability to apply what they learn.
At present, 12 modules have been developed. In addition to the modules being integrated within the University, they have also been adopted by faculty at 42 other institutions across the country over the past three years. The broad-scale deployment has provided assessment and feedback data regarding the effectiveness of integrating the modules into existing courses using a blended approach (face-to-face and online learning).
Whereas prior work relied on indirect assessment using pre/post student surveys to quantify the acquisition of knowledge from the e-learning modules and contextual activities, the current work employs student deliverables that are directly assessed by instructors. Faculty were provided assessment rubrics based on criteria aligned with the learning outcomes of the e-learning modules. Direct assessment is tangible, visible and measurable, and provides more compelling evidence of student learning. In this paper we propose an Entrepreneurial Mindset Learning Index to map and quantify the progress of students toward attaining an entrepreneurial mindset.
The criteria in the assessment rubrics for the e-learning modules were mapped to the learning outcomes associated with an entrepreneurial mindset proposed by the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network’s (KEEN) framework. The KEEN framework is based on the premise that an entrepreneurial mindset is characterized by a persistent curiosity of all things, the skills to make connections between seemingly unrelated things, and an ever-present goal to create value. Through the mapping, the direct assessment results provided an indication of how well students taking courses with integrated e-learning modules achieved elements of an entrepreneurial mindset.
Carnasciali, M., & Harichandran, R. S., & Erdil, N. O., & Nocito-Gobel, J., & Li, C. Q. (2018, June), Integrated e-Learning Modules for Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset: Direct Assessment of Student Learning Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--30675
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