Transfer Student Higher Success with Multiple-Attempt Testing in  Engineering Dynamics

Marino Nader; Ronald F. DeMara; Harrison N Oonge

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Conference: ASEE Southeast Section Conference
Location: Arlington, Virginia
Publication Date: March 12, 2023
Start Date: March 12, 2023
End Date: March 14, 2023
Conference Session: Retention
Tagged Topics: Diversity and Professional Engineering Education Papers
Page Count: 7
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--45054
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/45054
Download Count: 136

Paper Authors

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Marino Nader University of Central Florida orcid.org/0000-0002-7677-1771

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Marino Nader
Marino Nader is an Associate lecturer in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of Central Florida and has been working on digitizing courses and exams, creating different course modalities. Dr. Nader obtained his B.Eng.,

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Ronald F. DeMara P.E. University of Central Florida orcid.org/0000-0001-6864-7255

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Ronald F. DeMara is Pegasus Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and joint faculty member of Computer Science, at the University of Central Florida, where he has been a full-time faculty member since 1993. He has completed over 325 articles, 50 funded projects as PI or Co-PI, and 56 graduates as Ph.D. dissertation and/or M.S. thesis advisor. He was previously an Associate Engineer at IBM and a Visiting Research Scientist at NASA Ames, in total for four years, and has been a registered Professional Engineer since 1992. He has served ten terms as a Topical Editor or Associate Editor of various IEEE Transactions and in many IEEE/ACM/ASEE conferences including General Co-Chair of GLSVLSI-2023. He has received the Joseph M. Biedenbach Outstanding Engineering Educator Award from IEEE and is a Fellow of AAAS.

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Harrison N Oonge University of Central Florida

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Dr. Harrison N Oonge is an assistant dean for academic planning in the College of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Harrison leads articulation and the curriculum alignment effort of 53 gateway courses between UCF and DirectConnect partner institutions. Prior to joining UCF, Harrison worked for three years at West Virginia University (WVU) as a project specialist in Undergraduate Academic Affairs and an adjunct professor in WVU’s College of Education and Human Services where he taught undergraduate and graduate-level courses. Harrison holds a B.A. in Education (Kenyatta University, Kenya), a M.A. in Special Education (WVU), and Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction (WVU). His research focuses on the role of curriculum on student access, success, and persistent.

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Abstract

Marino Nader1, Harrison Oonge2, and Ronald F. DeMara3 1Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, 2Department of Undergraduate Studies, and 3Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816-2362 Abstract Increasing the success of transfer students has presented a vital opportunity for decades to enhance quality, productivity, and access to engineering curricula. This issue be investigated as a focal point since the impact of COVID-19 pandemic when instructional modes suddenly shifted. In this paper, an approach was developed within an Engineering Dynamics course during the interim of COVID-19 pandemic which was delivered in hybrid in-person and online mixed-mode format during Spring 2021 semester. The course enrolled 236 students at a large state university having high activity of transfer students from two-year degree programs elsewhere. Namely, 76 of those enrolled were Transfer Students (TS) from partnering local institutions. During the course, three tests were conducted with three attempts each. Each attempt was allotted 90 min and each test was open for a week. To maintain high-integrity, a combination of LockDown Browser, Respondus monitor, as well as Proctor Hub were all used in conjunction with the strict condition that all students were to keep only one screen and allow the camera to capture what they were doing as well as their faces. All formative and summative assessments were facilitated using Canvas Learning Management System (LMS). Results obtained indicate that there was a 24% increase in class average in the third attempt for the last test of the course. The First Time in College students (FTIC) equivalent class average in the same test yielded a 23% increase in score. Different students’ success for each cohort were investigated separately with respect to a score of greater than 70% and those results were also significant. Then, a comparison between the percentage number of FTIC and TS succeeded in this course were noted and it was observed that TS percentage success matched those of FTIC students, i.e. 51% - 51%, contrary to past experiences. Thus, closing the success gap between FTIC and TS. More statistical analysis was performed that proved a strong correlation between students’ success and multiple testing. Finally, using anonymous survey, it was revealed that more than 90% of students agreed that this method is an effective new technique to be adopted for future assessments.

Citation
Format

Nader, M., & DeMara, R. F., & Oonge, H. N. (2023, March), Transfer Student Higher Success with Multiple-Attempt Testing in Engineering Dynamics Paper presented at ASEE Southeast Section Conference, Arlington, Virginia. 10.18260/1-2--45054

TY - CPAPER
AB -
Marino Nader1, Harrison Oonge2, and Ronald F. DeMara3
1Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, 2Department of Undergraduate Studies, and 3Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816-2362
Abstract
Increasing the success of transfer students has presented a vital opportunity for decades to enhance quality, productivity, and access to engineering curricula. This issue be investigated as a focal point since the impact of COVID-19 pandemic when instructional modes suddenly shifted. In this paper, an approach was developed within an Engineering Dynamics course during the interim of COVID-19 pandemic which was delivered in hybrid in-person and online mixed-mode format during Spring 2021 semester. The course enrolled 236 students at a large state university having high activity of transfer students from two-year degree programs elsewhere. Namely, 76 of those enrolled were Transfer Students (TS) from partnering local institutions. During the course, three tests were conducted with three attempts each. Each attempt was allotted 90 min and each test was open for a week. To maintain high-integrity, a combination of LockDown Browser, Respondus monitor, as well as Proctor Hub were all used in conjunction with the strict condition that all students were to keep only one screen and allow the camera to capture what they were doing as well as their faces. All formative and summative assessments were facilitated using Canvas Learning Management System (LMS).
Results obtained indicate that there was a 24% increase in class average in the third attempt for the last test of the course. The First Time in College students (FTIC) equivalent class average in the same test yielded a 23% increase in score. Different students’ success for each cohort were investigated separately with respect to a score of greater than 70% and those results were also significant. Then, a comparison between the percentage number of FTIC and TS succeeded in this course were noted and it was observed that TS percentage success matched those of FTIC students, i.e. 51% - 51%, contrary to past experiences. Thus, closing the success gap between FTIC and TS. More statistical analysis was performed that proved a strong correlation between students’ success and multiple testing. Finally, using anonymous survey, it was revealed that more than 90% of students agreed that this method is an effective new technique to be adopted for future assessments.

AU - Marino Nader
AU - Ronald F. DeMara P.E.
AU - Harrison N Oonge
CY - Arlington, Virginia
DA - 2023/03/12
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Transfer Student Higher Success with Multiple-Attempt Testing in Engineering Dynamics
UR - https://peer.asee.org/45054
DO - 10.18260/1-2--45054
ER -