Sarah E. Zappe

Acceptance of Tablet PC technology by engineering faculty

This paper considers the results of a two-year project in which Tablet PCs were given to engineering faculty at the Pennsylvania State University. During Phase 1, 34 faculty members received a Tablet PC for use in the classroom. Due to the success of this implementation and demand by other faculty, the project was expanded in the following year to include an additional 30 faculty members in the College of Engineering. During both phases of the project, the participants were asked to complete various assessment tools including scales measuring teaching efficacy, computer skills efficacy, and technology acceptance. A sample of the faculty members participated in interviews intended to gather additional information on their perceptions of the Tablet PC and its benefit in the classroom environment. This paper provides results of the project assessment and its relation to the literature on the diffusion of innovation and the Technology Acceptance Model. Implications of the assessment will be discussed that may be helpful to those who are interested in implementing a similar program for engineering faculty.

2017 IEEE Education Society Awards, 2017 Frontiers in Education Conference Awards, and Selected IEEE Awards

The IEEE Education Society, the IEEE Computer Society, and the American Society for Engineering Education Educational Research and Methods Division (ASEE ERM) sponsored the 46th Frontiers in Education (FIE) Conference in Erie, PA, USA, held October 12–15, 2016. James Sluss, President of the Society, Russell Meier, President of the ASEE ECE Division, and Elizabeth Eschenbach, Chair, FIE Steering Committee, presented awards sponsored by HP Enterprise, the FIE Conference, the Education Society of IEEE, and the ECE Division of ASEE to the 2016 recipients of these awards.

Considerations When Evaluating the Classroom Flip Instructional Technique

This chapter addresses the development of a strong formative evaluation piece—a necessity for strong course design. It discusses evaluating the impact that flipping has on teaching and student learning. The chapter also provides readers with an overview of a research-based approach to evaluation and describes what other sources of evidence might help one better understand the flipped classroom implementation. It concludes with concise summary of useful ideas and considerations, including ideas about making such research publishable.

Innovation t-ball: Everybody wins!!

As we all come together at FIE to explore advancements in engineering education, many attendees may ask themselves, “How could I use this in my classroom?” At Penn State, the Leonhard Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Education has been working with faculty for the last 25 years to help answer that exact question. This special session will offer FIE participants the opportunity to bring their new ideas together to collaborate with other participants, and members of the Leonhard Center, to develop specific strategies for how they can take that new idea (innovation) and turn it into classroom practice. The structure of this session will mimic a t-ball game to help exemplify the Leonhard Centers core values of exuberance and fun through learning while allowing participants to think about classroom practices from a different perspective.

A self-assessment of the use of evidence-based instructional practices in Engineering

The purpose of this paper is to describe the methodology and preliminary results used in a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project whose purpose is to conduct a self-assessment of the instructional practices used in the College of Engineering at Pennsylvania State University. The project was funded in the fall of 2012 by the NSF WIDER (Widening Implementation and Demonstration of Evidence-based Reforms). The overall goals of the study are to 1) characterize the use of evidence-based practices in engineering undergraduate programs, 2) understand the major barriers that faculty and administrators see to wider use of evidence-based practices, and 3) identify faculty who are making exemplary use of evidence-based practices so that these practices can be celebrated and used to encourage others to adopt them. The multi-faceted study used a combination of quantitative and qualitative measures to answer research questions relating to the above project goals. This paper discusses the methodology used during each of four study stages (syllabi analysis, student survey, faculty survey, and interviews with faculty and administrators), provides preliminary results, and discusses next steps. Suggestions for others conducting similar studies at their institutions are provided, in terms of both methodology and study administration.

Ambassador program for recruiting girls into engineering―appropriate messages, messengers, and modes of delivery

Although women make up more than half of the U.S. population, the percentage of women entering engineering is much lower. To address this discrepancy, the College of Engineering at Penn State has initiated an Engineering Ambassador Program that sends female engineering undergraduates to give talks in science and math classes within Pennsylvania high schools and middle schools. The main goal of these talks is to clarify what engineers do. What distinguishes our program are the specific messages in the talks and the presentation style of our ambassadors. The messages of our programs talks come from recommendations in the recent text Changing the Conversation [1]. The primary presentation style that our ambassadors rely on is an assertion-evidence style taught in a special presentations course [2]. Evaluations of the presentations by almost 500 students at six different schools across Pennsylvania (including two all-girls schools) indicate that the presentations are highly successful at communicating the messages. More powerful evidence for the efficacy of this program lies in the volunteered responses of girls to these presentations.