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Student Agency in Chemical Engineering Laboratory Courses across Two Institutions

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Conference

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Baltimore , Maryland

Publication Date

June 25, 2023

Start Date

June 25, 2023

End Date

June 28, 2023

Conference Session

Chemical Engineering Division (ChED) Technical Session 9: Student Experiences in Laboratory Courses

Tagged Division

Chemical Engineering Division (ChED)

Page Count

13

DOI

10.18260/1-2--44279

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/44279

Download Count

264

Paper Authors

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Vanessa Svihla University of New Mexico Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-4342-6178

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Dr. Vanessa Svihla is a learning scientist and associate professor at the University of New Mexico in the Organization, Information and Learning Sciences program and in the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department.

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Madalyn Wilson-Fetrow University of Texas, Austin Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-0509-2720

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Eva Chi University of New Mexico Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0001-7448-9943

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Eva Chi is a Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering Department at the University of New Mexico. The research in her lab is focused on understanding the dynamics and structures of macromolecular assemblies including proteins, polymers and membranes.

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Jennifer R. Brown Montana State University, Bozeman

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Jennifer Brown is an Associate Professor in the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department at Montana State University in Bozeman MT.

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Stephanie G. Wettstein Montana State University, Bozeman

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Stephanie Wettstein is an Assistant Professor in the Chemical and Biological Engineering department at Montana State University in Bozeman, MT. She has been the faculty advisor of the MSU SWE chapter since 2013.

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Catherine Anne Hubka University of New Mexico Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0001-8892-6948

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Catherine (Cat) Hubka, MFA, is a Ph.D. student in Rhetoric & Writing. She teaches technical writing at the University of New Mexico in the Departments of Chemical & Biological Engineering (CBE) and Biology.

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Ruben D. Lopez-Parra University of New Mexico Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0009-0007-8901-5688

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Ruben D. Lopez-Parra is a Post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering at University of New Mexico. His Ph.D. is in Engineering Education from Purdue University and he has worked as a K-16 instructor and curriculum designer using various evidence-based active and passive learning strategies. In 2015, Ruben earned an M.S. in Chemical Engineering at Universidad de los Andes in Colombia where he also received the title of Chemical Engineer in 2012. His research interests are grounded in the learning sciences and include how K-16 students develop engineering thinking and professional skills through diverse learning environments. He aims to apply his research in the design of better educational experiences.

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Abstract

Laboratory experimentation is a key component of the development of professional engineers. However, experiments conducted in chemical engineering laboratory classes are commonly more prescriptive than the problems faced by practicing engineers, who have agency to make consequential decisions across the experiment and communication of results. Thus, understanding how experiments in laboratory courses vary in offering students opportunities to make such decisions, and how students navigate higher agency learning experiences is important for preparing graduates ready to direct these practices. In this study, we sought to answer the following research questions: How do students perceive their agency in course-based undergraduate research experiences? What factors are measured by the Consequential Agency in Laboratory Experiments survey? To better understand student perceptions of their agency in relation to laboratory experiments, we first conducted a case study of a course-based research experience (CURE) in a senior-level chemical engineering laboratory course. We then surveyed six upper-division laboratory courses across two universities using an initial version of the Consequential Agency in Laboratory Experiments survey. We used exploratory factor analysis to investigate the validity of the data from the survey for measuring relevant constructs of authenticity, agency in specific domains, responsibility, and opportunity to make decisions. We found that with instructional support, students in the CURE recognized that failure could itself provide opportunities for learning. They valued having the agency to make consequential decisions, even when they also found the experience challenging. We also found strong support for items measuring agency as responsibility, authenticity, agency in the communication domain, agency in the experimental design domain, and opportunity to make decisions. These findings give us insight into the value of higher agency laboratory experiments, and they provide a foundation for developing a more precise survey capable of measuring agency across various laboratory experiment practices. Such a survey will enable future studies that investigate the impacts of increasing agency in just one domain versus in several. In turn, this can aid faculty in developing higher agency learning experiences that are more feasible to implement, compared to CUREs.

Svihla, V., & Wilson-Fetrow, M., & Chi, E., & Brown, J. R., & Wettstein, S. G., & Hubka, C. A., & Lopez-Parra, R. D. (2023, June), Student Agency in Chemical Engineering Laboratory Courses across Two Institutions Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--44279

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