WIP: Activity Centric Online Teaching and Learning with MATLAB

Lynn A. Albers

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Conference: 15th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience Conference (FYEE)
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Publication Date: July 28, 2024
Start Date: July 28, 2024
End Date: July 30, 2024
Page Count: 5
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--48635
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/48635
Download Count: 35

Paper Authors

biography

Lynn A. Albers Hofstra University orcid.org/0000-0002-1436-0256

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Dr. Lynn Albers is an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering of the Fred DeMatteis School of Engineering and Applied Science at Hofstra University. Her previous academic contribution was as one of the founding five faculty/staff at Campbell University, helping the newly formed School of Engineering grow and establish roots in the community. A proponent of Hands-On Activities in the classroom and during out-of-school time programs, she believes that they complement any teaching style thereby reaching all learning styles. She earned her doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University specializing in thermal sciences where her dissertation research spanned three colleges and focused on Engineering Education. Her passions include but are not limited to Engineering Education, Energy Engineering and Conservation, and K-20 STEM Outreach. Prior to matriculating at NCSU, she worked at the North Carolina Solar Center developing a passion for wind and solar energy research while learning renewable energy policy. She combined these passions with K-20 STEM Outreach while a National Science Foundation Fellow with the GK-12 Outreach Program at NCSU where she began Energy Clubs, an out-of-school-time program for third, fourth and fifth graders to introduce them to renewable energy.

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Abstract

The first-year engineering program at this university consists of a computer programming for engineers course, and a two-semester sequence of engineering design. Before the fall of 2018, the computer programming for engineers course covered algorithms, logic, flowcharting and programming of solutions to engineering problems through the MATLAB environment. A redesign of the course began in the Fall of 2018 to add Excel and math instruction. This new, activity centric model has been created for both first-year engineering students at the university and high school seniors. The course continues to evolve into an entirely activity-centric course building Excel, math, and programming skills through purely active learning.

The author recently teamed with MathWorks® to begin the process of converting the lectures to MATLAB livescripts and the homeworks to MATLAB grader. This work-in-progress paper documents the collaboration, development, implementation, and lessons learned during this process. The resources were piloted during the Fall 2023 semester in two sections of the course with 21 and 23 students respectively, modified, and are currently being piloted with 30 students in the Spring 2024 semester. Students provide feedback by completing minute papers at the end of each lecture. They will complete three surveys at the end of the semester. Data will be incorporated into the draft paper.

Citation
Format

Albers, L. A. (2024, July), WIP: Activity Centric Online Teaching and Learning with MATLAB Paper presented at 15th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience Conference (FYEE), Boston, Massachusetts. 10.18260/1-2--48635