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Student Metacognitive Reflection on a Conceptual Statics Question

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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

Disciplinary Engineering Education Research – Session 2

Tagged Division

Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)

Page Count

14

DOI

10.18260/1-2--44306

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/44306

Download Count

181

Paper Authors

biography

Lorena S. Grundy Tufts University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0001-7706-2216

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Lorena received her BSE from Princeton in 2017 and PhD from UC Berkeley in 2022, both in Chemical Engineering. She is currently an ASEE eFellows postdoctoral fellow at Tufts University, working with Professor Milo Koretsky. Her research interests are in systemic change in engineering education, particularly as pertains to assessment of teaching.

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biography

Milo Koretsky Tufts University

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Milo Koretsky is the McDonnell Family Bridge Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and in the Department of Education at Tufts University. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from UC San Diego and his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley,

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Abstract

Many engineering problems assigned in undergraduate classes are numerical and can be solved using equations and algorithms—for example, truss problems in statics are often solved using the method of joints or the method of sections. Concept questions, which can be administered in class using active learning pedagogies, aid in the development of conceptual understanding as opposed to the procedural skill often emphasized in numerical problems. We administered a concept question about a truss to 241 statics students at six diverse institutions and find no statistically significant differences in answer correctness or confidence between institutions. Across institutions, students report that they are not accustomed to such non-numerical concept questions, but they grapple in different ways with the experience. Some frame engineering as inherently numerical, and thus do not value the conceptual understanding assessed by the question, while others recognize that developing conceptual knowledge is useful and will translate to their future engineering work.

Grundy, L. S., & Koretsky, M. (2023, June), Student Metacognitive Reflection on a Conceptual Statics Question Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--44306

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