Preparing Prospective Engineers for Artemis: Analyzing the Efficacy of MOOCs in a Specific Area of Expertise (WIP)

Joselyn Busato; Elif Miskioglu; Kaela Martin; Davide Guzzetti

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: ERM: Self-Efficacy, Motivation, and MORE!
Page Count: 7
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--40979
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/40979
Download Count: 727

Paper Authors

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Joselyn Busato

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Undergraduate Student
Bucknell Class of 2024

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biography

Elif Miskioglu Bucknell University

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I am an early-career engineering education scholar and educator. I hold a B.S. in Chemical Engineering (with Genetics minor) from Iowa State University, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from The Ohio State University. My early Ph.D. work focused on the development of bacterial biosensors capable of screening pesticides for specifically targeting the malaria vector mosquito, Anopheles gambiae. As a result, my diverse background also includes experience in infectious disease and epidemiology, providing crucial exposure to the broader context of engineering problems and their subsequent solutions.

These diverse experiences and a growing passion for improving engineering education prompted me to change career paths and become a scholar of engineering education. As an educator, I am committed to challenging my students to uncover new perspectives and dig deeper into the context of the societal problems engineering is intended to solve. As a scholar, I seek to not only contribute original theoretical research to the field, but work to bridge the theory-to-practice gap in engineering education by serving as an ambassador for empirically driven educational practices.

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Kaela Martin Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott

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Kaela Martin is an Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott Campus. She holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Iowa State University, a B.S. in Mathematics from Iowa State University, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University. Her research focuses on bridging the theory-to-practice gap in engineering education through new educational techniques.

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Davide Guzzetti

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Since 2019, Dr. Davide Guzzetti is an assistant professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Auburn University. Dr. Guzzetti’s research focus is astrodynamics and space mission design in complex space environments. He obtained a PhD in astrodynamics from Purdue University in 2016, and he holds a Master degree in space engineering from Politecnico di Milano, Italy. He is also an alumnus of the Italian honor society Alta Scuola Politecnica.

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Abstract

The use of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in undergraduate education is increasing in popularity due to their accessibility, user-friendly format, and their ability to prepare students with the specific skills and knowledge to enter their desired field. In 2024, NASA plans to land the next man and the first woman on the Moon through the Artemis program. Preparing for this mission requires astrodynamics and trajectory design knowledge that is beyond the scope of most undergraduate, and even graduate, education. It’s critical that the engineers working on this mission overcome this knowledge gap to ensure a successful mission. Our team has created a MOOC entitled Teaching the Moonshot to help bridge this gap for engineering students preparing for a professional career with NASA, specifically those who will be working on the Artemis mission. Some of the topics included in the course include gravitational fields, chaotic behavior, spacecraft orbits in a gravitational multi-body environment, targeting and optimization, and other advanced topics such as stationkeeping and mission operations. The course is available on the online program “Canvas” to anyone in the world that has access to the internet. This MOOC serves as a proof-of-concept for using remote, asynchronous teaching and learning methods to facilitate the development of expertise in advanced topics. To ensure that the course is best suited to a wide range of students, module efficacy and ease of use was tested by a group of twelve undergraduate engineering students before the course’s official release. In “Think-Aloud'' sessions, the participants were asked to meet with two team members remotely over Zoom and work through one of the five course modules. Participants narrated their opinions and critiques about the course as they went, with one of our team members prompting additional feedback and the other member taking notes of their narration. Each of the five modules were reviewed via Think-Aloud at least twice. The feedback received after all modules were reviewed led to improvements and adjustments being made to the original course based on the participants’ preferences. Some of the most common suggestions included adding additional visuals to the lectures, clearly establishing the variables being used, and moving the location of certain quizzes and assignments. The feedback provided in the Think-Aloud sessions led to edits and revisions, which eventually resulted in the final version of Teaching the Moonshot. The course was released in June 2021. Pre- and post-quiz data from the participants of the course during the first four weeks of the course’s release are being analyzed to observe the modules’ efficacy. Evidence that the modules were effective would suggest that MOOCs are an effective tool for teaching highly specific areas of expertise. The use of online modules in professional development has the potential to increase access to engineering expertise, subsequently creating a stronger workforce able to meet unique or changing needs.

Citation
Format

Busato, J., & Miskioglu, E., & Martin, K., & Guzzetti, D. (2022, August), Preparing Prospective Engineers for Artemis: Analyzing the Efficacy of MOOCs in a Specific Area of Expertise (WIP) Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40979

TY - CPAPER
AB - The use of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in undergraduate education is increasing in popularity due to their accessibility, user-friendly format, and their ability to prepare students with the specific skills and knowledge to enter their desired field. In 2024, NASA plans to land the next man and the first woman on the Moon through the Artemis program. Preparing for this mission requires astrodynamics and trajectory design knowledge that is beyond the scope of most undergraduate, and even graduate, education. It’s critical that the engineers working on this mission overcome this knowledge gap to ensure a successful mission. Our team has created a MOOC entitled Teaching the Moonshot to help bridge this gap for engineering students preparing for a professional career with NASA, specifically those who will be working on the Artemis mission. Some of the topics included in the course include gravitational fields, chaotic behavior, spacecraft orbits in a gravitational multi-body environment, targeting and optimization, and other advanced topics such as stationkeeping and mission operations. The course is available on the online program “Canvas” to anyone in the world that has access to the internet. This MOOC serves as a proof-of-concept for using remote, asynchronous teaching and learning methods to facilitate the development of expertise in advanced topics.
To ensure that the course is best suited to a wide range of students, module efficacy and ease of use was tested by a group of twelve undergraduate engineering students before the course’s official release. In “Think-Aloud'' sessions, the participants were asked to meet with two team members remotely over Zoom and work through one of the five course modules. Participants narrated their opinions and critiques about the course as they went, with one of our team members prompting additional feedback and the other member taking notes of their narration. Each of the five modules were reviewed via Think-Aloud at least twice. The feedback received after all modules were reviewed led to improvements and adjustments being made to the original course based on the participants’ preferences. Some of the most common suggestions included adding additional visuals to the lectures, clearly establishing the variables being used, and moving the location of certain quizzes and assignments. The feedback provided in the Think-Aloud sessions led to edits and revisions, which eventually resulted in the final version of Teaching the Moonshot. The course was released in June 2021. Pre- and post-quiz data from the participants of the course during the first four weeks of the course’s release are being analyzed to observe the modules’ efficacy. Evidence that the modules were effective would suggest that MOOCs are an effective tool for teaching highly specific areas of expertise. The use of online modules in professional development has the potential to increase access to engineering expertise, subsequently creating a stronger workforce able to meet unique or changing needs.
AU - Joselyn Busato
AU - Elif Miskioglu
AU - Kaela Martin
AU - Davide Guzzetti
CY - Minneapolis, MN
DA - 2022/08/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Preparing Prospective Engineers for Artemis: Analyzing the Efficacy of MOOCs in a Specific Area of Expertise (WIP)
UR - https://peer.asee.org/40979
DO - 10.18260/1-2--40979
ER -