Plug-n-Play: A Flexible Approach to Active Learning

Wei Wu; Scott Heggen; Emmaley Clare Powell; Oussema Khlifi; Trayvion Jalan Newton

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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: June 26, 2024
Conference Session: Integrating Hands-On Technology and Project-Based Learning in Engineering Education
Tagged Division: Electrical and Computer Engineering Division (ECE)
Page Count: 20
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--47849
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/47849
Download Count: 58

Paper Authors

biography

Wei Wu Berea College

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Dr. Wei Wu is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Technologies and Applied Design at Berea College. She received her Ph.D. in Engineering Science with a concentration in Electrical Engineering from the Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2017. Her research interests include renewable energy technology, power electronics, and designing sensor nodes for coral reef restoration. She is also interested in Engineering education and is willing to try different pedagogies to help her students learn electronics.

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biography

Scott Heggen Berea College orcid.org/0000-0003-2288-3038

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Dr. Scott Heggen serves as an Associate Professor of Computer Science and Chair of the Computer Science department at Berea College. Much of Dr. Heggen's interests have focused on embedded systems, in particular, how can Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and similar embedded computing devices, coupled with sensors and logic, be used in socially-aware and socially-relevant contexts. Dr. Heggen also leads the Student Software Development Team, a cohort of labor students who are hired through the Berea College Labor Program to develop software solutions to support various departments on campus. The software team is responsible for the entire software engineering lifecycle, from initial design and customer requirements gathering to software maintenance and upgrading as new features and bugs are identified. Started in 2014, the team now maintains 9 software systems, with new systems being developed and maintained each year. Finally, Dr. Heggen is always seeking ways in which we can broaden participation in computing to underrepresented populations, helping ensure future technologies support and represent all people.

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Abstract

Educators tend to build their courses based on their preferred teaching style, but that teaching style often does not align with the needs of the class or take into consideration the changing nature of their student demographics. Furthermore, new educators are often encouraged to use active learning pedagogues, particularly in STEM fields, where students learn best by constructing their own knowledge about a particular subject, but these instructors may have no prior experience in implementing these strategies effectively.

This paper is centered around lessons learnt in the implementation of an introductory electricity and electronics class, which covers various topics including: fundamentals concepts such as voltage, current and Ohm’s Law; use of mathematical skills to solve circuits; hands-on exercises, such as breadboarding circuits; PCB design, fabrication, and soldering; and Arduino programming fundamentals. The class is open to all students at the institution, resulting in a highly diverse population, both in class rank and identity. Any given class will have a mixture of seniors through first-years. Students have typical majors such as Engineering Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, but also atypical majors find value in the course as well, such as Communications, Education Studies, Theater, and others. This wide range of student identities, experience, and academic focus result in very diverse classrooms, which is atypical in engineering, engineering technology or computer science programs.

To teach such a diverse range of students, we developed the Plug -n- Play approach, a flexible pedagogical approach which ensures instructors have a fixed core structure, flexibility in leveraging their own teaching style, and a mechanism for constant reflection which allows for adaptations to the course structure over time. The PNP approach focuses course design around the student experience, while acknowledging and supporting individual teaching styles and teaching methods.

To assess PNP, a classroom observation protocol was developed to evaluate student engagement, as well as examination of sixteen sections worth of grades and student evaluations. The results show that students are highly engaged with the course material, peers in the class, and the instructors. Finally, the PNP approach supports students in building self-efficacy in their abilities as electricity and electronics students

Citation
Format

Wu, W., & Heggen, S., & Powell, E. C., & Khlifi, O., & Newton, T. J. (2024, June), Plug-n-Play: A Flexible Approach to Active Learning Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--47849

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Educators tend to build their courses based on their preferred teaching style, but that teaching style often does not align with the needs of the class or take into consideration the changing nature of their student demographics. Furthermore, new educators are often encouraged to use active learning pedagogues, particularly in STEM fields, where students learn best by constructing their own knowledge about a particular subject, but these instructors may have no prior experience in implementing these strategies effectively.

This paper is centered around lessons learnt in the implementation of an introductory electricity and electronics class, which covers various topics including: fundamentals concepts such as voltage, current and Ohm’s Law; use of mathematical skills to solve circuits; hands-on exercises, such as breadboarding circuits; PCB design, fabrication, and soldering; and Arduino programming fundamentals. The class is open to all students at the institution, resulting in a highly diverse population, both in class rank and identity. Any given class will have a mixture of seniors through first-years. Students have typical majors such as Engineering Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, but also atypical majors find value in the course as well, such as Communications, Education Studies, Theater, and others. This wide range of student identities, experience, and academic focus result in very diverse classrooms, which is atypical in engineering, engineering technology or computer science programs.

To teach such a diverse range of students, we developed the Plug -n- Play approach, a flexible pedagogical approach which ensures instructors have a fixed core structure, flexibility in leveraging their own teaching style, and a mechanism for constant reflection which allows for adaptations to the course structure over time. The PNP approach focuses course design around the student experience, while acknowledging and supporting individual teaching styles and teaching methods.

To assess PNP, a classroom observation protocol was developed to evaluate student engagement, as well as examination of sixteen sections worth of grades and student evaluations. The results show that students are highly engaged with the course material, peers in the class, and the instructors. Finally, the PNP approach supports students in building self-efficacy in their abilities as electricity and electronics students
AU  - Wei Wu
AU  - Scott Heggen
AU  - Emmaley Clare Powell
AU  - Oussema Khlifi
AU  - Trayvion Jalan Newton
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Plug-n-Play: A Flexible Approach to Active Learning
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/47849
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--47849
ER  -