Ron Miller

Tools for assessing conceptual understanding in the engineering sciences

One of the hindrances to reform in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education is the absence of good assessment instruments that can measure the value added to student learning by new ways of teaching important material. The well-known Force Concept Inventory (FCI) assessment instrument is a good model of an instrument that can be used to check on students understanding of basic concepts in a discipline. This panel session paper discusses work in progress by the panel members and their co-developers to construct FCI-like Concept Inventories in each of the disciplines of thermodynamics, systems and signals, strength of materials, electromagnetics, circuits, materials, fluid mechanics, and transport processes.

Incorporating writing in engineering classes and engineering in writing classes

For more than a quarter of a century, educators and employers have been concerned about the writing ability of young men and women graduating in engineering and engineering technology. Research over the years indicates that while writing skills are important for the successful engineer, these skills among most graduating engineers are inadequate. Many schools require discipline-specific writing courses in addition to the university required composition course. Writing ought to be a working part of all phases of an engineering students education. In this paper the authors suggest ways engineering and writing faculty can integrate communication skills into the educational programs of engineering and technology students in an effort to make those communication skills relevant to the students.

Panel - tools to facilitate better teaching and learning: Concept inventories

Concept inventory use came to the education literature in 1985 through the first publication of the force concept inventory. Since that time, there have been multiple inventories developed in all areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. For the past three decades, adoption and utilization of the inventories has not progressed to the instruments full potential. Participants will learn of the results of a recently held meeting called Assessing the State of STEM Concept Inventories: A National Workshop sponsored by the Division of Undergraduate Education of the National Science Foundation (DUE-0731232). In addition, group discussions will follow presentations that are designed to update persons on the status of concept inventories in each of the following areas; history in STEM areas, the writing and development, the related psychometric analysis and properties, and finally, the classroom implications.

Why are some science and engineering concepts so difficult to learn? identifying, assessing, and "repairing" student misunderstanding of import concepts

This special session will provide an active learning environment where participants will (1) be introduced to the idea of difficult concepts in engineering and science, (2) learn how they might use concept inventories for assessing understanding, and (3) begin examining how they can help improve student understanding of these concepts.

Special session - academic pathways study: Special interactive session on findings and implications for engineering education and practice

The Academic Pathways Study (APS) is a mixed- methods longitudinal study of engineering students at four institutions. The goals of this special interactive session are to begin the processes of (1) knitting APS knowledge into the larger body of engineering education scholarship, and (2) develop ways of thinking about these findings that inform engineering education program planning and classroom practice.

A faculty-driven quality initiative at the Colorado School of Mines

Although a small group of faculty at the Colorado School of Mines has been actively concerned about quality and continuous improvement issues for years, our involvement increased when we recently received a TQM curriculum implementation grant from Procter and Gamble (P&G). We have learned several valuable lessons through our work over the past two years with this grant: faculty buy in and involvement are essential for a successful program; given the opportunity, faculty will be interested in ways to improve teaching and learning; faculty and students are best qualified to judge the effectiveness of their courses and effect changes; assessment is an essential part of the quality process. When we received the P&G grant, we decided to make our quality efforts curriculum centered and grassroots organized. The paper highlights what we have done and what we have learned over the past three years (1992-5) in the hope that our experience may prove valuable to others, especially teaching faculty, who are interested in incorporating TQM concepts into their classrooms but who have little previous experience.

Developing meaningful freshman programs in engineering education

This workshop covers a brief background of recent findings on characteristics of freshman courses which drive students from engineering and a discussion of innovative freshman programs at selected engineering schools. Exercises in small groups which illustrate ways to help students improve their skills in open-ended problem solving, interpersonal relations, and oral and written technical communications are also covered. Brainstorming in small groups about ways to improve freshman engineering education including suggestions for future Frontiers in Education workshops and sessions is also considered.<<ETX>>