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1. Design Educators’ Conceptions of Prototyping in Engineering Design Courses

   Ali, Hadi; Lande, Micah (June 2019, ASEE Annual Conference proceedings)

   This is a research study that investigates the range of conceptions of prototyping in engineering design courses through exploring the conceptions and implementations from the instructors’ perspective. Prototyping is certainly an activity central to engineering design. The context of prototyping to support engineering education and practice has a range of implementations in an undergraduate engineering curriculum, from first-year engineering to capstone engineering design experiences. Understanding faculty conceptions’ of the reason, purpose, and place of prototyping can help illustrate how teaching and learning of the engineering design process is realistically implemented across a curriculum and how students are prepared for work practice. We seek to understand, and consequently improve, engineering design teaching and learning, through transformations of practice that are based on engineering education research. In this exploratory study, we interviewed three faculty members who teach engineering design in project-based learning courses across the curriculum of an undergraduate engineering program. This builds on related work done by the authors that previously investigated undergraduate engineering students’ conceptions of prototyping activities and process. With our instructor participants, a similar interview protocol was followed through semi-structured qualitative interviews. Data analysis has been undertaken through an emerging thematic analysis of these interview transcripts. Early findings characterize the focus on teaching the design process; the kind of feedback that the educators provide on students’ prototypes; students’ behavior while working on design projects; and educators’ perspectives on the design course. Understanding faculty conceptions with students’ conceptions of prototyping can shed light on the efficacy of using prototyping as an authentic experience in design teaching and learning. In project-based learning courses, particular issues of authenticity and assessment are under consideration, especially across the curriculum. More specifically, “proportions of problems” inform “problem solving” as one of the key characteristics in design thinking, teaching and learning. More attention to prototyping as part of the study of problem-solving processes can be useful to enhance understanding of the impact of instructional design. Challenges for teaching engineering design exist, and may be due to difficulties in framing design problems, recognizing what expertise students possess, and assessing their expertise to help them reach their goals, all at an appropriate place and ambiguity with student learning goals. Initial findings show that prototyping activities can help students become more reflective on their design. Scaffolded activities in prototyping can support self-regulated learning by students. The range of support and facilities, such as campus makerspaces, may also help students and instructors alike develop industry-ready engineering students. 

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2. The CLICK Approach and its Impact on Learning Introductory Probability Concepts in an Industrial Engineering Course

   Lopez, Christian; Ashour, Omar; Cunningham, James; Tucker, Conrad; Lynch, Paul (June 2020, ASEE Annual Conference proceedings)

   The objective of this work is to present an initial investigation of the impact the Connected Learning and Integrated Course Knowledge (CLICK) approach has had on students’ motivation, engineering identity, and learning outcomes. CLICK is an approach that leverages Virtual Reality (VR) technology to provide an integrative learning experience in the Industrial Engineering (IE) curriculum. To achieve this integration, the approach aims to leverage VR learning modules to simulate a variety of systems. The VR learning modules offer an immersive experience and provide the context for real-life applications. The virtual simulated system represents a theme to transfer the system concepts and knowledge across multiple IE courses as well as connect the experience with real-world applications. The CLICK approach has the combined effect of immersion and learning-by-doing benefits. In this work, VR learning modules are developed for a simulated manufacturing system. The modules teach the concepts of measures of location and dispersion, which are used in an introductory probability course within the IE curriculum. This work presents the initial results of comparing the motivation, engineering identity, and knowledge gain between a control and an intervention group (i.e., traditional vs. CLICK teaching groups). The CLICK approach group showed greater motivation compared to a traditional teaching group. However, there were no effects on engineering identity and knowledge gain. Nevertheless, it is hypothesized that the VR learning modules will have a positive impact on the students’ motivation, engineering identity, and knowledge gain over the long run and when used across the curriculum. Moreover, IE instructors interested in providing an immersive and integrative learning experience to their students could leverage the VR learning modules developed for this project. 

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3. CSAwesome: AP CSA curriculum and professional development (practical report)

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3421590.3421593  

   Ericson, Barbara; Hoffman, Beryl; Rosato, Jennifer (October 2020, Proceedings of the 15th Workshop on Primary and Secondary Computing Education)

   null (Ed.)

   CSAwesome is a new approved curriculum and professional development (PD) provider for the Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science (CS) A high school course. AP courses are taken by secondary (typically ages 14-19) students for college placement and/or credit. CSAwesome's free curriculum and teacher resources were developed in 2019 by adapting the CSA Java Review ebook on the open-source Runestone platform. The goals of CSAwesome are to broaden participation in the AP CSA course and to support new-to-CS students and teachers as they transition from the AP Computer Science Principles (CSP) course to the AP CSA course by using inclusive teaching practices and curriculum design. The AP CSP course is equivalent to a first course for non-majors at the college level, while the AP CSA course is equivalent to a first course for majors. Currently, AP CSA attracts a much less diverse student body than AP CSP. This new curriculum supports student engagement and scaffolded learning through an interactive ebook with embedded executable and modifiable code (Active Code), a variety of practice types with immediate feedback, and adaptable mixed-up code (Parsons) problems. Collaborative learning is encouraged through pair programming and groupwork. Our pilot Professional Development (PD) incorporates inclusive teaching strategies and active recruitment with the goal of broadening participation in CSA. This paper presents the design of the CSAwesome curriculum and teacher professional development and initial results from the curriculum use and pilot PD during the first year of CSAwesome. 

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4. Work-in-Progress: Mobile Assisted Gains through Innovative Curriculum for Students in the Thermal-Fluids Science Course

   Bakic, M; Pakala, K; Bairaktarova, D; Bose, D (June 2022, 2022 ASEE Annual Conference)

   A learner-centered higher education ecosystem is essential to effective educational outcomes and societal advancement. Mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, and tablet computers enable learning anytime and from any location, blurring the boundaries between formal and informal learning. When paired with effective pedagogy, mobile technologies can positively impact the teaching and learning experience for students in high-demand science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, increasing the flexibility and ease with which they are able to pursue their education while developing their professional identities as engineers. Student retention remains a problem in STEM programs. In engineering, many students do not even make it past their core courses. This poster reports on initial efforts of a two-year research study to utilize mobile technologies and a technology-enhanced curriculum to improve student engagement and learning in STEM undergraduate courses. This (work in progress) poster describes a quasi-experimental mixed methods study on implementing mobile devices (iPad and Pencil) and a technology-enhanced curriculum in an undergraduate thermal-fluids engineering course, a foundational engineering class. Research has indicated that engineering students’ performance in foundational courses is a predictor of future academic success. 

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5. Platform-independent and curriculum-oriented intelligent assistant for higher education

   https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-023-00412-7  

   Sajja, Ramteja; Sermet, Yusuf; Cwiertny, David; Demir, Ibrahim (July 2023, International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education)

   Abstract Miscommunication between instructors and students is a significant obstacle to post-secondary learning. Students may skip office hours due to insecurities or scheduling conflicts, which can lead to missed opportunities for questions. To support self-paced learning and encourage creative thinking skills, academic institutions must redefine their approach to education by offering flexible educational pathways that recognize continuous learning. To this end, we developed an AI-augmented intelligent educational assistance framework based on a powerful language model (i.e., GPT-3) that automatically generates course-specific intelligent assistants regardless of discipline or academic level. The virtual intelligent teaching assistant (TA) system, which is at the core of our framework, serves as a voice-enabled helper capable of answering a wide range of course-specific questions, from curriculum to logistics and course policies. By providing students with easy access to this information, the virtual TA can help to improve engagement and reduce barriers to learning. At the same time, it can also help to reduce the logistical workload for instructors and TAs, freeing up their time to focus on other aspects of teaching and supporting students. Its GPT-3-based knowledge discovery component and the generalized system architecture are presented accompanied by a methodical evaluation of the system’s accuracy and performance. 

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