Matthew Verleger

Testing the flipped classroom with model-eliciting activities and video lectures in a mid-level undergraduate engineering course

This paper outlines an ongoing study of the flipped classroom with second and third-year undergraduate engineering students in a numerical methods course. The flipped classroom is a new pedagogical method, which employs asynchronous video lectures and practice problems as homework, and active, group-based problem-solving activities in the classroom. It represents the combination of learning theories once thought to be incompatible-active, problem-based learning activities founded upon constructivist ideals and instructional lectures derived from direct instruction methods founded upon behaviorist principles. Using a controlled quasi-experimental research design, we conduct a study with a full 15-week numerical methods course at Utah State University during the spring semester of 2013. Students in the experimental section completed model-eliciting activities inside the classroom and video lectures and homework outside the classroom. Students in the control section completed homework outside the classroom and group lectures inside the classroom. The two groups will be compared using scores from homework, examinations, and a sixteen-question numerical methods conceptual pre- post- test pair. The three main features that distinguish this study from previous research are: 1) This is a controlled study; 2) This study examines student performance on objective measures; 3) This study uses model-eliciting activities in the experimental classroom.

Student reflections on peer reviewing solutions to Model-Eliciting Activities

A double-blind peer review process is embedded in the implementation of Model-Eliciting Activities - a type of open-ended problem used in a large first-year engineering course. Students conduct the peer review along three dimensions: Mathematical Model, Re-usability & Modifiability, and Audience (Share-ability). Classmates bring to bear both their own solution development experience as well as their own educational and personal backgrounds when providing feedback to their peers. In this paper, we examine the results of a reflection instrument used to investigate how students felt about their ability to provide reviews along the three rubric dimensions across three MEAs implemented in a single semester. Further we exam the results of a second instrument that is used by student teams to provide feedback to their reviewers on the quality of the reviews received.

An engineering teaching assistant orientation program: Guidelines, reactions, and lessons learned from a one day intensive training program

At Purdue University, an all-campus one day intensive training orientation for new teaching assistants has been in place since 2001 under the supervision of the universitys Center for Instructional Excellence. At Purdue, engineering teaching assistants serve a fundamentally different role than those in other disciplines. Recognizing these differences, in 2005 the training was divided into separate engineering and non- engineering training sessions. This was done to better meet the roles, responsibilities and needs that are unique to engineering teaching assistants. The work presented in this paper describes the all-campus and engineering training programs at Purdue and demonstrates, through attitudinal and follow-up survey responses, that the separate engineering specific training program elicits a more positive reaction from engineering teaching assistants towards their training.

Education and Qualification for Control and Automation

Engineering education has seen an explosion of interest in recent years, fueled simultaneously by reports from both industry and academia. Automatic control education has recently become a core issue for the international control community. This has occurred in tandem with the explosion of interest in engineering education as a whole. The applications of control are growing rapidly. There is an increasing interest in control from researchers from outside of traditionally control-based fields such as aeronautics, chemical, mechanical, and electrical engineering. Recently control and systems theory have had much to offer to nontraditional control fields such as biology, biomedicine, finance, actuarial science, and the social sciences as well as transportation and telecommunications networks. Complementary, innovative developments of control and systems theory have been motivated and inspired by complex real-world problems. These new developments present huge challenges in control education. Meeting these challenges will require a multifaceted approach by the control community that includes new approaches to teaching, new preparations for facing new theoretical control and systems theory problems, and a critical review of the status quo. This chapter discusses these new challenges as well as new approaches to education and outreach. This chapter starts by presenting an argument towards the future of controls as the application of control theory expands into new and unique disciplines. It provides two case studies of nontraditional areas where control theory has been applied: finance and biomedicine. These two case studies show a high potential for using powerful fundamental principles and tools of automatic control in research with an interdisciplinary nature. The chapter then outlines current and future pedagogical approaches being employed in control education, particularly introductory courses, around the world. It concludes with a discussion about the role of scholarship, teaching, and learning in control education both now and in the coming years.

Development of a multiple-choice MATLAB theory and syntax exam

Examinations in programming courses that require students to write code to solve a problem are an excellent method for testing how well a student has mastered language syntax, programming theory, and problem solving technique. However, if a student struggles with problem solving, it is often difficult for students to demonstrate any understanding of syntax or theory. To address this situation, faculty for a freshman engineering MATLAB-focused introductory programming course at a private southeastern STEM+Business-only university have been giving exams that are a combination of practical programming problems and multiple-choice questions. This research is focused on performing an item analysis of the questions appearing on those exams with the immediate goal being a multiple-choice exam with both topic coverage and documentation of its ability to properly discriminate knowledge.

The lord of PhD: Fellowship of the dissertation - A guide to surviving the pursuit of a PhD

Allegories have been used to represent ideas, concepts, and processes, primarily in classical literature. In engineering education, allegories have been used to describe the different roles within academia [1]. Here, we focus specifically on the path of a doctoral student in engineering working towards earning their degree and completing a dissertation. The path will be discussed as an allegory to “The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien [2]. This allegory explores the milestones, characters, barriers, and support doctoral students will meet along their journey. The session will utilize identity-trajectory to guide discussion and encourage attendees to explore and share their experiences. The session is aimed at providing guidelines to students progressing through a doctoral degree and to assist graduate advisors in supporting their students on this journey.

Multidiscipline interactions in STEM: Analysis by artifact

Integration of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines in K-12 education have been promoted through national education standards and a variety of curricular initiatives. This research examines the adoption of these standards through analysis of book purchasing pattern information available through amazon.com. A directed network was developed starting with four “root” books chosen to represent either key education standards (in the cases of science, technology and mathematics) or an assessment of the current K-12 educational status (in the case of engineering). The network was then built by branching out from the four core books using the amazon.com database of purchase history (“Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought.”) Two additional levels of purchases for the books were compiled resulting in approximately one hundred and twenty-five books per discipline. Network analysis techniques were then employed to investigate various properties of the compiled network. An exploration into the purchasing patterns provides insight into how these standards are being adopted and the relationships between the disciplines. The results of the analyses of the network suggest that there is significant integration of the four disciplines, though some disciplines align more closely than others.