{"title":"Work in progress: First-year engineering students development of test cases for model development","authors":"H. Diefes‐Dux, M. Cardella","doi":"10.1109/FIE.2012.6462326","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2012.6462326","url":null,"abstract":"When developing mathematical models for authentic problems that draw on basic descriptive statistics, many first-year engineering students do not address data distribution when it is appropriate to do so. An assignment was created in association with such a problem that asks students to develop their own test cases as a means of getting students to think more deeply about the data provided and the models they are developing. In this work in progress, these test cases are analyzed. The means and standard deviations of the test cases are quite different than those provided with the problem. However, there is evidence that students may not be attending to the original problem context. Next steps are briefly indicated.","PeriodicalId":120268,"journal":{"name":"2012 Frontiers in Education Conference Proceedings","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"120878722","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Implementation of enhanced guided notes to promote students' metacognitive self-regulated learning strategies while learning electric circuit concepts","authors":"O. Lawanto, H. Santoso","doi":"10.1109/FIE.2012.6462450","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2012.6462450","url":null,"abstract":"The current study was part of activities in a Work in Progress paper presented at the 41st Frontiers in Education Conference that focused on activity Phase 2. This study evaluated students' metacognition using the Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) framework while learning electric circuit concepts. Two research questions guided this study: (1) Was there any improvement in metacognitive self-regulation skills while learning using the enhanced guided notes (EGN) throughout the semester?, and (2) To what degree were students' monitoring strategies reflected in regulating strategies at the beginning and end of the semester? The subjects for this study were engineering students enrolled in the Fundamental Electronics for Engineers course at Utah State University during the fall 2011. Thirteen sets of EGN were developed and used in the semester. A survey instrument developed using Butler and Cartier's SRL model was used to capture students' metacognitive self-regulated learning strategies. Participants were asked to complete the survey twice; at the beginning and end of semester. Descriptive statistics and mean differences of SRL features were used to analyze survey data. Mean differences were conducted in two ways: (1) comparing mean values of the same SRL items, and (2) comparing the level/quality between SRL features for two themes (i.e., knowledge acquisition and problem solving) at the beginning and end of the semester. The findings suggested that there were improvements in some aspects of monitoring and regulating strategies. Comparison of SRL item mean values revealed that there was increasing awareness on specific SRL items. Students did a good job in monitoring and regulating strategies for knowledge acquisition and problem solving. They successfully improved the quality of SRL feature in knowledge acquisition and maintained the quality level in problem solving. This article will also discuss the potential implications for electric circuit concepts instruction.","PeriodicalId":120268,"journal":{"name":"2012 Frontiers in Education Conference Proceedings","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122259047","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Students' experiences and attitudes towards learning computer science","authors":"Anne-Kathrin Peters, A. Pears","doi":"10.1109/FIE.2012.6462238","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2012.6462238","url":null,"abstract":"Low enrollment and high drop-out rates in computer science (CS) have led to an alarming decrease in number of graduates in western countries. What are students' learning experiences, how do these affect their attitudes towards learning CS? This question was explored by investigating diverse students, of a broad study program with courses in humanities and technology, at the end of an introductory course in CS (CS1), which has been designed to enhance students' engagement. The results of a first questionnaire were remarkably positive: All students reflected their experiences as overall positive. Almost half of the students stated, that they had been skeptical towards learning CS before the course. All of these students described positive transformations of attitudes. These results provided an interesting starting point for further research using interviews: What exactly have these students experienced and how do they reason about future engagement? We point out students' experiences that were crucial for a positive transformation of attitudes as well as critical aspects in students' reasoning on future engagement in CS.","PeriodicalId":120268,"journal":{"name":"2012 Frontiers in Education Conference Proceedings","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122304123","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marisa K. Orr, C. Brawner, S. Lord, M. Ohland, R. Layton, Russell A. Long
{"title":"Engineering matriculation paths: Outcomes of Direct Matriculation, First-Year Engineering, and Post-General Education Models","authors":"Marisa K. Orr, C. Brawner, S. Lord, M. Ohland, R. Layton, Russell A. Long","doi":"10.1109/FIE.2012.6462357","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2012.6462357","url":null,"abstract":"Longitudinal data from ten U.S. institutions are used to characterize outcomes of three matriculation models: Direct Matriculation to a specific major (DM), First-Year Engineering programs (FYE), and Post-General Education Programs (PGE). Both DM and FYE programs show high persistence rates, but FYE programs are less likely to attract transfer students and switchers. FYE graduates are the most likely to stick with their first choice of major (after completing FYE requirements), followed by DM graduates who begin in undesignated engineering (taking extra time to decide), then DM graduates who choose their major as part of the matriculation process, and then PGE graduates. FYE students also have the shortest time to graduation. We conclude that encouraging students to associate with engineering or an engineering discipline from the start, yet maintaining the curricular flexibility to allow alternate entry points onto the engineering path improves persistence, accessibility, effectiveness of major choice, and time to graduation.","PeriodicalId":120268,"journal":{"name":"2012 Frontiers in Education Conference Proceedings","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116405525","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
R. Adams, Mel Chua, Dana Denick, J. Mondisa, Nikitha Sambamurthy, Junaid Siddiqui, L. Vanasupa, Roberta Herter
{"title":"Work in progress: In their own words — How “changemakers” talk about change","authors":"R. Adams, Mel Chua, Dana Denick, J. Mondisa, Nikitha Sambamurthy, Junaid Siddiqui, L. Vanasupa, Roberta Herter","doi":"10.1109/FIE.2012.6462522","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2012.6462522","url":null,"abstract":"We present preliminary work on “change knowledge” through a study investigating what exemplar “changemakers” understand about the process of undergraduate STEM education transformation.","PeriodicalId":120268,"journal":{"name":"2012 Frontiers in Education Conference Proceedings","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116486344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Critical questions of engineering students by gender and ethnicity","authors":"Armando A. Rodriguez, M. Anderson-Rowland","doi":"10.1109/FIE.2012.6462465","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2012.6462465","url":null,"abstract":"Engineering and computer science careers are not well known to the general public. Most students studying these majors also have limited knowledge and information about their chosen area of study. In working with students over many years, the authors have experienced many questions from these students. As part of the evaluations for Academic Success Meetings, the students have been encouraged to ask questions about areas that they need to know more about. The questions tend to repeat themselves and fall into general categories. Not all students have mentors to answer these questions. Starting with the most important, the answers to all of these questions will go on a website that has been developed especially for transfer students under a National Science Foundation Step Award # 0836050. An initial 136 questions were presented to over 100 students. The students were asked to choose the 20 most critical questions to them. From this data, in an earlier paper, the top five questions were determined for students over 21 and the top five for students 21 and under, as well as by academic level. In this paper the similarities and differences in these critical questions by gender and by race/ethnicity are considered. The males and females in this study had two questions in common for their top five: “Why should I consider getting a PhD degree in engineering?” and “How do I choose a job?” The three race/Ethnicity groups of White, Hispanic/Latino, and Other/Unknown had only one question in common: “Will there be a job for me when I graduate?” Each of the three two-pair combinations had one question in common. The differences in critical questions by gender and ethnicity will also be discussed. The information determined here will help educators and advisors encourage potential and actual students in engineering and computer science. With this information they can focus their message by honing in on the critical questions of their particular audience. These questions and their answers can also be used for intentional advising.","PeriodicalId":120268,"journal":{"name":"2012 Frontiers in Education Conference Proceedings","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127740883","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Unveiling fieldbus network technology through project-based learning","authors":"S. E. Lucena, Omar Mogames","doi":"10.1109/FIE.2012.6462259","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2012.6462259","url":null,"abstract":"Fieldbus communications networks are a fundamental part of modern industrial automation technique. This paperwork presents an application of project-based learning (PBL) paradigm to help electrical engineering students grasp the major concepts of fieldbus networks, while attending a one-term long, elective microcontroller course.","PeriodicalId":120268,"journal":{"name":"2012 Frontiers in Education Conference Proceedings","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128767903","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Laura Pohopien, Gina Hogan, S. Bayne, James Temple, Diane Fiero, Allison Devlin, J. Patrick, Nate Sexton, Jalin Brooks, Penny Stein, Anthony Arty, R. Luechtefeld
{"title":"Trust in engineering teams and groups and virtual facilitation methods","authors":"Laura Pohopien, Gina Hogan, S. Bayne, James Temple, Diane Fiero, Allison Devlin, J. Patrick, Nate Sexton, Jalin Brooks, Penny Stein, Anthony Arty, R. Luechtefeld","doi":"10.1109/FIE.2012.6462328","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2012.6462328","url":null,"abstract":"This paper presents two related studies the first explores the typical recurring dysfunction engineering student teams face and the second evaluates the effectiveness of a virtual facilitator called the Droid Communication System (DCS) in training such teams to address the dysfunction. Using Patrick Lencioni's Theory of Five Dysfunctions of a Team this study first measured for the following: absence of trust fear of conflict lack of commitment avoidance of accountability and inattention to results. Then a virtual trust-building vignette was developed and loaded onto Droid phones to guide students to potential solutions. The studies' findings indicate that absence of trust seems to be a significant problem for engineering student teams and that 42% of participants indicate that the DCS process increased their confidence in communicating and interacting with their teams. The development of the vignettes and experimental evaluation can provide a model for future research on engineering education and on student team development.","PeriodicalId":120268,"journal":{"name":"2012 Frontiers in Education Conference Proceedings","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128769329","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Work in progress: Implementation of enhanced guided notes and collaborative note-taking in learning electric circuit concepts","authors":"O. Lawanto, H. Santoso","doi":"10.1109/FIE.2012.6462452","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2012.6462452","url":null,"abstract":"The major aim of this research was to develop new instructional materials and strategies to support engineering students, who are not electrical engineering majors, to learn electric circuit concepts. The study focused on activity Phase #3 of the Work in Progress paper presented at the 41st Frontiers in Education conference. The implementation of this phase included: (1) implementing enhanced guided-notes (EGN) with a collaborative note-taking effort; and (2) evaluating students' notes shared in collaborative notebooks. Selected students were provided an iPad 2™ and an application which allowed editing of the EGN, while other students were provided hard copies of the different sets throughout the semester. Furthermore, students were asked to complete online social networking surveys at the beginning and end of the semester. The instructor developed EGN to facilitate note-taking and note-sharing during the semester. An online repository system was created to allow iPad-groups of students to complete and edit EGNs that were created to facilitate note-sharing submission. Students worked in groups of three or four to complete the EGN and self-evaluation sections beginning in EGN 6 and continuing to EGN 11.","PeriodicalId":120268,"journal":{"name":"2012 Frontiers in Education Conference Proceedings","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129078698","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yehiry Lucelly Pulido Vega, J. G. Bolaños, Gloria Milena Fernández Nieto, S. Baldiris
{"title":"Application of item response theory (IRT) for the generation of adaptive assessments in an introductory course on object-oriented programming","authors":"Yehiry Lucelly Pulido Vega, J. G. Bolaños, Gloria Milena Fernández Nieto, S. Baldiris","doi":"10.1109/FIE.2012.6462377","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2012.6462377","url":null,"abstract":"Assessment process in one of the most important issues in the learning process and in many cases it is the process that define the sequence of the instruction because it measures the performance of the student in the educational process. In last decades the inclusion of TICs in teaching-learning process has facilitated to address the diversity of students and teachers features. Learning technologies enhance have permitted to adapt the different ways of learning and teaching that coexist in the educational context through the generation of adaptations process as well as user modeling process. This paper describes the item response theory and how it can be applied in a test scenario of an online course for the generation of adaptive assessments within a course of introduction to Object Oriented Programming from items (assessment questions), which are available in online repositories. Being a probabilistic theory the article describes the variables to consider and how to calculate the probability that a student answers correctly a specific item, which is known as the student proficiency level or theta, based on a skill test and their previous answers. In other papers write for the authors it is described the experience of working with fedora commons repositories, which are distributed across a network, in order to have enough questions to be applied properly normalized in the adaptation process. These questions are described under the Dublin Core standard. The main contributions of this project are the implementation of a probabilistic theory in the generation of adaptive assessment and use of distributed repositories that allow the reusability of items properly parameterized. A second phase of the research includes the implementation of the project (APIP) Accessible Profile Portable Item, allowing standardization of assessment items in a suitable format in the LOM.","PeriodicalId":120268,"journal":{"name":"2012 Frontiers in Education Conference Proceedings","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129142845","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}