Measuring adaptiveness among college students and working professionals
- Conference
- Location
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State College,, Pennsylvania
- Publication Date
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March 30, 2023
- Start Date
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March 30, 2023
- End Date
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April 12, 2023
- Page Count
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12
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--45062
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/45062
- Download Count
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89
Paper Authors
Alexander John De Rosa
University of Delaware
orcid.org/0000-0003-1693-4724
Alex De Rosa is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Delaware. His research focuses on improving the educational experience through the creation and promotion of new teaching tools and techniques. Alex is particularly interested in the areas of deeper learning and knowledge transfer, where he is working to help students better apply their knowledge and skills in new contexts, including in their future careers.
Ashley Lytle Stevens Institute of Technology
Ashley Lytle is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA. Her research explores how prejudice, discrimination, and stereotyping impact academic, social, and health outcomes.
Frank T Fisher
Stevens Institute of Technology (School of Engineering and Science)
orcid.org/0000-0003-4476-5040
Frank T. Fisher is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology, where he served as the Interim Department Director / Department Chair from April 2013 to August 2018. He earned BS degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Applied M
Jenni Buckley University of Delaware
Dr. Buckley is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at University of Delaware. She received her Bachelor’s of Engineering (2001) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Delaware, and her MS (2004) and PhD (2006) in Mechanical Engine
Abstract
The concept of adaptive expertise has been defined within the learning sciences to describe individuals with both deep content knowledge and the ability to apply this knowledge more broadly in practice. Four characteristics of adaptive expertise: 1) multiple perspectives, 2) metacognition, 3) goals and beliefs, and 4) epistemology have been identified in the literature as being important in contributing to an individual's adaptiveness.
Within the realm of education, engineering programs are increasingly being asked to prepare students to enter an interdisciplinary workplace as “T-shaped” professionals with deep understanding and the ability to apply this understanding across a range of problems. As such, the traits of adaptive expertise are characteristics that engineering educators are being required to instill in their students. A problem exists however in that measurements of adaptive expertise among students and working professionals are rarely presented in the literature. More data is required to assess the levels of adaptiveness displayed by both students and working professionals and to examine points in both an individual's education and professional career in which adaptiveness is developed.
In this study we use an existing, validated survey instrument designed to measure adaptive expertise to compare the levels of adaptiveness displayed by students at a large public university and a small private university with those displayed by working professionals. The goal is to provide baseline data against which student gains in adaptiveness can be measured and that will allow activities designed to improve levels of adaptive expertise to be developed and assessed.
This study is being conducted with the approval of each institute's IRB committee.
De Rosa, A. J., & Lytle, A., & Fisher, F. T., & Buckley, J. (2023, March), Measuring adaptiveness among college students and working professionals Paper presented at ASEE Zone 1 Conference - Spring 2023, State College,, Pennsylvania. 10.18260/1-2--45062
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