Education Commons^™

Perceived Factors Contributing To The Subjective Wellbeing Of Undergraduate Engineering Students: An Exploratory Study, Muhammad Asghar, Angela Minichiello, Assad Iqbal

Engineering Education Student Research

Engineering education is perceived to be a tough field of study with detrimental effects on the mental health of undergraduate engineering students. High levels of anxiety and depression are reported among this population. Overall, mental health research is often biased toward looking at mental health from a deficit perspective and investigating mental health as a negative phenomenon. This trend also persists in engineering education research. The purpose of this exploratory study, therefore, is to investigate the condition of subjective wellbeing (SWB) of undergraduate engineering students to understand the factors that they perceive as positively contributing to their overall wellbeing in …

What Keeps Technology And Engineering Teachers In The Classroom? A National Mixed Methods Study, Cory J. Ortiz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Teacher retention is a significant issue impacting educational agencies around the country. Factors that have been found to be predictors of teacher retention include sense of belonging, sense of efficacy, and job satisfaction. Many personal and professional characteristics of a teacher also have been found to predict teacher retention. The purpose of this research was to explore how these factors predicted Technology and Engineering Educators' (TEE) teachers’ persistence to remain in the teaching profession. Furthermore, this research sought to identify programs that existed to help support TEE teachers in their persistence intentions.

This research found teacher job satisfaction was a …

Flipping The Digital Switch: Affective Responses Of Stem Undergraduates To Emergency Remote Teaching During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Angela Minichiello, Oenardi Lawanto, Wade Goodridge, Assad Iqbal, Muhammad Asghar

Engineering Education Student Research

The Corona Virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) catalyzed a global shift to distance education known as an emergency transition to remote teaching (ERT). While prior research investigates students' experiences during traditional online learning, fewer studies examine students' affective responses (i.e., feelings, emotions) to those experiences, particularly when remote learning is unexpected and unplanned. To understand how science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduates responded affectively to the COVID-19 ERT, researchers generated open-ended survey data with 1340 undergraduates (253 female) in 27 courses across seven U.S. institutions. Using an inductive qualitative approach, researchers developed a three-tier thematic model to synthesize the self-reported reasons …

Peer-Prompted Engineering Design: How Do Adolescents Interact And Strategize?, Kristin Marie Strong, Oenardi Lawanto, Amy Wilson-Lopez

Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Engineering design was integrated into K–12 science education in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013), but teaching design remains a challenge for educators. Design problems are ill-defined, ill-structured, and complex problem-solving tasks. Their solutions require creativity and recursive, metacognitive processes that cannot be taught with simple algorithms. Moreover, adolescents do not demonstrate fully developed metacognitive skills because they are undergoing profound developmental changes. In this comparative case study, we explored how peer-delivered metacognitive prompts supported adolescents during a design challenge. We investigated how scripted prompts sparked reflection and stimulated design changes and identified which prompts were most …

Using An Engineering Design Process To Bring The Local Community Into The Technology And Engineering Education Classroom, James M. Baker

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This plan B project documents the practice of using an authentic project to teach an engineering design process to high school pre-engineering students and documenting the project preparing a manuscript for journal publication.

The manuscript prepared for publication explores the details of working with local business owners and teachers from different departments and curricular foci to design, fabricate, and install an illuminated sign for a local business. This sign project was presented by an alum of the school to provide an authentic project for multiple courses to collaboratively create a solution for a local community business. Twenty-five students in two …

Eportfolio Adoption's Mediating Influence On Faculty Perspectives: An Activity Theory View, Jonathan M. Thomas

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A case-comparative mixed methods approach was used to discover how faculty members’ teaching perspectives changed as they adopted an eportfolio tool (Pathbrite). Ten faculty members took the Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI) before and after using the tool during Fall semester 2015. Also, systems logs were collected and interviews were conducted after the post survey was completed. Interview data found that faculty members developed a broader view of the potential of eportfolios. Participants also appreciated the long-term benefits that eportfolios would have on their students. However, when use was associated with accreditation standards, gains in student-centered perspectives were minimal. The study …

Relationships Between Access To Mobile Devices, Student Self-Directed Learning, And Achievement, Scott R. Bartholomew, Edward M. Reeve, Raymond Veon, Wade Goodridge, Victor R. Lee, Louis Nadelson

Applied Sciences, Technology and Education Faculty Publications

Today’s students are growing up in a world of constant connectivity, instant information, and ever-changing technological advancements. The increasingly ubiquitous nature of mobile devices among K–12 students has led many to argue for and against the inclusion of these devices in K–12 classrooms. Arguments in favor cite instant access to information and collaboration with others as positive affordances that enable student self-directed learning.

In this study, 706 middle school students from 18 technology and engineering education classes worked in groups of 2–3 to complete an open-ended engineering design challenge. Students completed design portfolios and constructed prototypes in response to the …

Towards Alternative Pathways: Nontraditional Student Success In A Distance-Delivered, Undergraduate Engineering Transfer Program, Angela L. Minichiello

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Nontraditional students, including those who delay college entry, attend college part-time, work full-time, or financially support themselves or dependents, are highly underrepresented in engineering education. Recently, the United States began emphasizing a need to access this untapped human potential. U.S. educational policymakers now seek increased nontraditional student participation in engineering education through the creation of robust new pathways—within and between 2- and 4- year institutions—to undergraduate engineering degrees.

To be impactful, alternative pathways must be grounded in knowledge related to nontraditional student success in engineering. To access this knowledge, this study qualitatively examined the experiences of 14 nontraditional students who …

Are We Preparing The Next Generation? K-12 Teacher Knowledge And Engagement In Teaching Core Stem Practices, Louis S. Nadelson, Anne Seifert, J. Kade Hendricks

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

Background: Several of the recent reform efforts in K-12 STEM education (e.g. Next Generation Science Standards [NGSS and Common Core State Standards-Mathematics [CCSS-M]) have included significant emphasis on the practices of STEM. We argue that K-12 teachers' ability to effectively engage their students in these core STEM practices is fundamental to the success of potential and current engineering students and their subsequent careers as engineers. Practices such as identifying problems, modeling using mathematics, and arguing from evidence are fundamental processes in engineering. Helping students develop their capacity to engage in these practices early in their education will increase the likelihood …

Effects Of Learner-Instructor Relationship Building Strategies In Online Video Lessons, Yanghee Kim, Jeffrey Thyne

Yanghee Kim

Although research has demonstrated that an increased rapport between instructors and learners can positively relate with increased learning gains, perhaps mediated by the positive attitudes toward the course and self-efficacy beliefs in the coursework, little has been done to test what instructional strategies might increase this rapport in online video-based instruction. This study compared online video-based instruction that made use of relationship-building strategies with online video-based instruction that did not use those strategies. The two instructions were identical in every other way. The results showed that the attitudes of the college students were positively affected by the relationship building strategies …

Pedagogical Agents, Yanghee Kim

Yanghee Kim

No abstract provided.

Grassroots Or Returning To One’S Roots? Unpacking The Inception Of A Youth-Focused Community Makerspace, Victor R. Lee, Whitney L. King, Ryan Cain

Victor R Lee

In this paper, we describe the individuals and factors contributing to the emergence of a community makerspace in a small city in the United States. As research into how makerspaces have come into existence is still in a nascent stage, this single case study is intended to describe and highlight some of the complexities involved in creating such a facility. Based on analysis of onsite observations, interviews of adults connected with the space, and electronic communications, we present a story of how two co-founders of a youth-focused makerspace went from having initial interest in extracurricular activities for their own children …

Grassroots Or Returning To One’S Roots? Unpacking The Inception Of A Youth-Focused Community Makerspace, Victor R. Lee, Whitney L. King, Ryan Cain

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

In this paper, we describe the individuals and factors contributing to the emergence of a community makerspace in a small city in the United States. As research into how makerspaces have come into existence is still in a nascent stage, this single case study is intended to describe and highlight some of the complexities involved in creating such a facility. Based on analysis of onsite observations, interviews of adults connected with the space, and electronic communications, we present a story of how two co-founders of a youth-focused makerspace went from having initial interest in extracurricular activities for their own children …

A Sociocultural Analysis Of Latino High School Students' Funds Of Knowledge And Implications For Culturally Responsive Engineering Education, Joel Alejandro Mejia

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Previous studies have suggested that, when funds of knowledge are incorporated into science and mathematics curricula, students are more engaged and often develop richer understandings of scientific concepts. While there has been a growing body of research addressing how teachers may integrate students’ linguistic, social, and cultural practices with science and mathematics instruction, very little research has been conducted on how the same can be accomplished with Latino and Latina students in engineering. The purpose of this study was to address this gap in the literature by investigating how fourteen Latino and Latina high school adolescents used their funds of …

Playing With A Robot To Learn English Vocabulary, Yanghee Kim, Diantha Smith, Namju Kim, Tianyu Chen

Yanghee Kim

A robot-based English curriculum called The Missing Code has been developed to teach English vocabulary to young children whose home language is one other than English. Guided by theories in children’s learning and motivation, the curriculum was designed to be developmentally appropriate and engaging for children who were 3-5 years old, carefully balancing the familiar and the new. The development process was characterized by iterative cycles of initial design, user testing, and refinement. Through multiple observations of child-robot play in situ, it was noted that children easily learned how to interact with the robot and showed sustained interest and engagement …

Gendered Socialization With An Embodied Agent: Creating A Social And Affable Mathematics Learning Environment For Middle-Grade Females, Yanghee Kim, J. Lim

Yanghee Kim

This study examined whether or not embodied-agent-based learning would help middle-grade females have more positive mathematics learning experiences. The study used an explanatory mixed-methods research design. First, a classroom-based experiment was conducted with one hundred and twenty 9th-graders learning introductory algebra (53% male and 47% female; 51% Caucasian and 49% Latino). The results revealed that learner gender was a significant factor in the learners’ evaluations of their agent (η2 = .07), the learners’ task-specific attitudes (η2 = .05), and their task-specific self-efficacy (η2 = .06). In-depth interviews were then conducted with 22 students selected from the experiment participants. The interviews …

Digital Peers To Help Children's Text Comprehension And Perception, Yanghee Kim

Yanghee Kim

Affable Reading Tutor (ART) is an online reading lesson designed for children who start reading to comprehend. A digital, human-like character (virtual peer) in ART serves as a peer model that demonstrates the use of the reading comprehension strategy questioning to help improve the learners’ comprehension of expository texts. This study, with 141 boys and girls in the fourth and fifth grades in the United States, examined the effects of virtual-peer presence (presence vs. absence vs. control) on learners’ text comprehension and also the effects of learner gender and virtual-peer attributes (human-like male vs. human-like female vs. robot still image) …

Measuring The Differences In Spatial Ability Between A Face-To-Face And A Synchronous Distance Education Undergraduate Engineering Graphics Course, Scott D. Greenhalgh

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A study was conducted in the Engineering and Technology Education Department at Utah State University by Scott Greenhalgh and Gary Stewardson to measure and compare a face-to-face engineering graphics course with a synchronous distance education engineering graphics course by identifying the impact of the teacher's physical presence on students' spatial ability. This study is unique because it involves laboratory classes in a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) field with greater emphasis on hands-on laboratory experiences and skills rather than mastery of information and knowledge. The potential for impact of the study extends beyond a few courses in a specific …

The Impact Of User Attributes And User Choice In An Agent-Based Environment, Yanghee Kim, Quan Wei

Yanghee Kim

This study examined the impact of learners’ attributes (gender and ethnicity) on their choice of a pedagogical agent and the impact of the attributes and choice on their perceptions of agent affability, task-specific attitudes, task-specific self-efficacy, and learning gains. Participants were 210 high-school male and female, Caucasian and Hispanic students who worked at computer-based algebra integrated with pedagogical agents. The results indicated, first, that students preferentially chose a same-gender agent and a same-ethnicity agent, supporting similarity-attraction theory. Second, males who chose an agent showed more positive attitudes toward working at the learning environment than did males who were assigned to …

Earth Systems Lesson Plan: Size And Forces Of The Solar System, Getaway Special Team 2010

Education and Outreach

No abstract provided.

Elementary And Middle School Science Lesson Plan: Solid, Liquid, Gas, What Is It?, Getaway Special Team 2010

Education and Outreach

No abstract provided.

Physics Lesson Plan: How Far And Fast Does It Travel?, Getaway Special Team 2010

Education and Outreach

No abstract provided.

Sixth Grade Lesson Plan: Heat Moves, Getaway Special Team 2009

Education and Outreach

No abstract provided.

Fifth Grade Lesson Plan: Solid, Liquid, And Gas, Getaway Special Team 2009

Education and Outreach

No abstract provided.

Effective Practices Of Project Lead The Way Partnership Teams, Cody J. Reutzel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to gather information from Project Lead The Way (PLTW) partnership team experts. This project follows the methodology of a modified Delphi study. A review of literature in the areas of curriculum development, pre-college engineering, and the Delphi research technique provided the background for the structure utilized. Top programs from across the country were questioned to identify and come to a consensus on top components essential to developing and utilizing a successful PLTW partnership team. The components were categorized into two lists: effective practices utilized to make a program successful and effective practices employed by …

Engineering Student Outcomes For Grades 9-12, Vincent Childress, Craig Rhodes

Reports of Center Studies

The following research study was conducted during the 2005 – 2006 academic year. Its purpose is to help the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education determine those engineering outcomes that should be studied in high school when the high school student intends to pursue engineering in college. The results of the study will also be used to determine those engineering student outcomes that all technology education high school students should learn in order to aid them in becoming more technologically literate.

A modified Delphi approach as used for the study. The participants were a panel of experts consisting of …

A Social-Cognitive Framework For Designing Pedagogical Agents As Learning Companions, Yanghee Kim, Amy L. Baylor

Yanghee Kim

Teaching and learning are highly social activities. Seminal psychologists such as Vygotsky, Piaget, and Bandura have theorized that social interaction is a key mechanism in the process of learning and development. In particular, the benefits of peer interaction for learning and motivation in classrooms have been broadly demonstrated through empirical studies. Hence, it would be valuable if computer-based environments could support a mechanism for a peer-interaction. Though no claim of peer equivalence is made, pedagogical agents as learning companions (PALs) -- animated digital characters functioning to simulate human-peer-like interaction -- might provide an opportunity to simulate such social interaction in …

Content-Based English Learning Through Pedagogical Agents, Yanghee Kim, P. Punahm, Y. Ko

Yanghee Kim

This paper suggests how an advanced technology called pedagogical agents can be applied to English education to benefit learners across ages through computer-assisted language learning (CALL) and content-based language learning (CBLL). CALL, when designed appropriately, has positively influenced the development of a learner’s linguistic proficiency and communicative competence (Chun, 1994; Fotos & Browne, 2004). CBLL integrates language learning with subject-matter learning to make language learning more meaningful (Snow, 2001; Swain, 1998). However, the conventional CALL programs are often criticized for the lacking a social context, considered essential for successful language learning ( Warschauer, 2004). Also, CBLL seems rarely applied to …

National Center For Engineering And Technology Education, C. Hailey, T. Erekson, Kurt Henry Becker, M. Thomas

Engineering Education Faculty Publications

The article reports that the overall impact of the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education (NCETE) is to strengthen the nation's capacity to deliver effective engineering and technology education in the K-12 schools. Further, it informs that the National Science Foundation established the Centers for Learning and Teaching (CLT) program to address needs in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce. The CLT program has three goals, based upon stated national needs. First, CLT are expected to renew and diversify the cadre of national leaders in STEM education. The CLT includes partners with strengths in engineering and in …

Constructivism And The Use Of Technology, Kurt Becker

Engineering Education Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.