Angela Minichiello

Engaging students for success in calculus with online learning forums

It is said that we face an engineering “talent crisis” [1]; the United States is failing to keep pace in educating a highly skilled and diverse engineering workforce. Emphasis is currently placed on recruitment and retention of underrepresented minorities. Newer distance-delivered programs seek participation of non-traditional and geographically underrepresented students. With expansion of educational offerings in engineering, one issue that emerges is student attrition during the first two years. It is suggested [2-4] that success in first year calculus reliably predicts persistence in engineering. To increase retention, new strategies are needed. Effective interventions may have the most impact if employed within the first year calculus sequence. Pedagogies that support traditional classroom learning as well as hybrid instruction and distance education offer the greatest transformative potential. This work-in-progress paper describes research underway to evaluate the use of online learning forums during first year calculus. A freely available, wiki-based online learning forum is employed during a mixed-methods study. The study is conducted within sequential calculus courses distance-delivered across two academic years. Qualitative and quantitative data are used to evaluate the effect of forum use on student achievement, engagement and attitudes. A usage model is developed to disseminate within the STEM education community.

Exploring student study behaviours in engineering: how undergraduates prepared textbook problems for online submission

ABSTRACT While textbooks serve as a primary source of content material and problem-solving practice for undergraduates in engineering, studies that investigate how engineering students prepare assignments based on textbook problems are limited. To examine how engineering students complete textbook-based assignments outside of class, this exploratory qualitative study retrospectively investigated the study behaviours of six undergraduates enrolled in a required, second-year undergraduate engineering course at a mid-size, public university in the western United States. Within the course, students solved textbook problems and electronically submitted problem answers for graded credit. Findings from in-depth, semi-structured interviews showed that students identified and used a variety of non-traditional and unsupported resources in personalised approaches to preparing assignments. Resource choice and use was affected by students’ preferences for timely support, convenience, and social connections. The online submission process seemed to influence students’ adoption of study behaviours and resources considered less effective for deep, conceptual learning.

Online engineering course design, Part I: Toward asynchronous, web-based delivery of a first course in thermodynamics

As part one in a series of two, this paper describes the development of a web-based [1] first course in thermodynamics. The course is conceptualized, designed and course materials are introduced to engineering students by a team of practitioner - researchers. The course builds from previous work concerning the development of web-based thermodynamic cycle teaching modules for undergraduate mechanical engineering students [2] and relevant educational literature. The design goals for the online course are that it a) be delivered primarily through asynchronous means and b) fulfill requirements of ABET accredited degree programs in civil, electrical and mechanical engineering as is accomplished by the current face-to-face course. The course design team, consisting of engineering faculty, administrators, and instructional design professionals, used a collaborative approach to move the online course through concept, development to initial introduction. As constructed, example segments (“exemplar modules”) were introduced within the current face-to face Thermodynamics I course to witness student reactions and solicit feedback. Once this feedback is filtered back and addressed in the design, the course will be implemented and evaluated in whole within the civil, electrical and mechanical undergraduate engineering programs. The full implementation, evaluation and results will be the focus of a part two paper.