Storytelling in System Dynamics: Exploring the impacts of emotional investment on student-chosen projects

Allison Lee

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Conference: 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Publication Date: June 22, 2025
Start Date: June 22, 2025
End Date: August 15, 2025
Conference Session: ME Division 11: Beyond the Build: Communication, Collaboration, and Reflection
Tagged Division: Mechanical Engineering Division (MECH)
Page Count: 7
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/57672

Paper Authors

biography

Allison Lee Campbell University orcid.org/0000-0002-1385-1512

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Allison Lee is an Assistant Professor in the School of Engineering at Campbell University. She earned a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Brigham Young University. Her roles including teaching junior and senior courses to the multiple engineering concentrations at Campbell and supporting the ongoing K12 outreach activities sponsored by the School.

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Abstract

Background: It is often noted that students with intrinsic motivation for a specific topic or project put forth more effort to learn and understand that topic. Story driven learning (SDL) techniques have been used in engineering classrooms to help connect students both to their peers and to the course materials in ways that promote self-efficacy and overall learning. In a senior-level system dynamics course, students were asked to choose their own projects to model and analyze a real-world system. Even with this freedom, the instructor has noticed a general lack of self-efficacy—students’ personal belief in their own abilities- to model something useful and limited interest in the project beyond achieving a grade. In this work-in-progress study, students chose their own project groups and then completed a guided brainstorming activity which incorporated elements of story-telling, with the aim of increasing the emotional investment of the group members in successfully completing the project.

Purpose: Research Question 1: To what extent does allowing students to choose a system dynamics project based on personal/emotional connections to the project help them increase their self-efficacy in system dynamics? Research Question 2: To what extent does choosing their own emotionally invested project improve student competency based on project and over all grades?

Methodology/Approach: Students completed pre/post surveys to measure increase in self-efficacy. Additionally, anonymized project grades and final grades from previous semesters will be compared to Fall 2024 grades to explore any changes in student competency.

Findings/Conclusions: Preliminary results indicate that, in general, student self-efficacy increased after completing the project, but additions to the survey and/or other data collection need to be included in future semesters to help quantify the effects of SDL in the project.

Implications: It is possible that the small addition of story-telling elements into the already established end-of-the-semester project may positively correlate with an increase in student self-efficacy and competency in system dynamics. If so, this may be a useful addition to other courses where instructors are seeking ways to modify existing projects instead of creating brand-new projects.

Citation
Format

Lee, A. (2025, June), Storytelling in System Dynamics: Exploring the impacts of emotional investment on student-chosen projects Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . https://peer.asee.org/57672

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Background: It is often noted that students with intrinsic motivation for a specific topic or project put forth more effort to learn and understand that topic. Story driven learning (SDL) techniques have been used in engineering classrooms to help connect students both to their peers and to the course materials in ways that promote self-efficacy and overall learning. In a senior-level system dynamics course, students were asked to choose their own projects to model and analyze a real-world system. Even with this freedom, the instructor has noticed a general lack of self-efficacy—students’ personal belief in their own abilities- to model something useful and limited interest in the project beyond achieving a grade. In this work-in-progress study, students chose their own project groups and then completed a guided brainstorming activity which incorporated elements of story-telling, with the aim of increasing the emotional investment of the group members in successfully completing the project. 

Purpose: Research Question 1: To what extent does allowing students to choose a system dynamics project based on personal/emotional connections to the project help them increase their self-efficacy in system dynamics? Research Question 2: To what extent does choosing their own emotionally invested project improve student competency based on project and over all grades? 

Methodology/Approach: Students completed pre/post surveys to measure increase in self-efficacy. Additionally, anonymized project grades and final grades from previous semesters will be compared to Fall 2024 grades to explore any changes in student competency. 

Findings/Conclusions: Preliminary results indicate that, in general, student self-efficacy increased after completing the project, but additions to the survey and/or other data collection need to be included in future semesters to help quantify the effects of SDL in the project. 

Implications: It is possible that the small addition of story-telling elements
into the already established end-of-the-semester project may positively correlate with an increase in student self-efficacy and competency in system dynamics. If so, this may be a useful addition to other courses where instructors are seeking ways to modify existing projects instead of creating brand-new projects.
AU  - Allison Lee
CY  - Montreal, Quebec, Canada 
DA  - 2025/06/22
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Storytelling in System Dynamics: Exploring the impacts of emotional investment on student-chosen projects
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/57672
ER  -