bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Middle‐School Science Through Design‐Based Learning versus Scripted Inquiry: Better Overall Science Concept Learning and Equity Gap Reduction
Authors: Mehalik Matthew M. , Doppelt Yaron , Schuun Christian D. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractThis paper contrasts performances overall and by gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES) for middle school students learning science through traditional scripted inquiry versus a design‐based, systems approach. Students designed and built electrical alarm systems to learn electricity concepts over a four‐week period using authentic engineering design methods. The contrast study took place in the eighth grade of an urban, public school district, with the systems approach implemented in 26 science classes (10 teachers and 587 students) and the scripted inquiry approach implemented in inquiry groups of 20 science classes (five teachers and 466 students). The results suggest that a systems design approach for teaching science concepts has superior performance in terms of knowledge gain achievements in core science concepts, engagement, and retention when compared to a scripted inquiry approach. The systems design approach was most helpful to low‐achieving African American students.
A New Paradigm for a New Field: Communicating Representations of Engineering Education Research
Authors: Borrego Maura , Streveler Ruth A. , Miller Ronald L. , Smith Karl A. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractBased on a three‐year experience of developing, facilitating, and assessing NSF‐funded workshops on Rigorous Research in Engineering Education (RREE), the authors present four representations of engineering education scholarly work in the United States, specifically teaching and research. Many of the representations describe the relationships between engineering research, education research, teaching, and assessment. For each of the representations, assessment data are presented to evaluate which aspects resonated with workshop participants and which needed to be changed for wide acceptance by a U.S. engineering education audience. It was found that participants preferred continua to dichotomy and were more receptive to models that were introduced inductively through active learning exercises. Lessons learned, implications for the field, and future plans for further development of the paradigm are also included.
State of Qualitative Research in Engineering Education: Meta‐Analysis of JEE Articles, 2005–2006
Authors: Koro‐Ljungberg Mirka , Douglas Elliot P. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractWith recent calls for expanding the scope and rigor of engineering education research, use of qualitative methods to answer research questions that can not be answered through quantitative methods is taking on increasing significance. Well‐designed qualitative studies often build on epistemological consistency across theoretical perspectives, research questions, and research methods. We examine recent articles published in the Journal of Engineering Education to determine the overall prevalence of qualitative articles and the extent to which they appear epistemologically and methodologically consistent with the goals of qualitative inquiry. We find that there are very few qualitative articles published, and even fewer which show epistemological consistency across different aspects of the research design. These issues may limit the rich, descriptive information that could be gained from qualitative inquiry, limiting the contributions qualitative studies could make to engineering education. We call on researchers to expand their use of qualitative methods and to design their studies with careful attention to epistemological consistency across the design.
Persistence, Engagement, and Migration in Engineering Programs
Authors: Ohland Matthew W. , Sheppard Sheri D. , Lichtenstein Gary , Eris Ozgur , Chachra Debbie , Layton Richard A. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractRecords from the Multiple‐Institution Database for Investigating Engineering Longitudinal Development indicate that engineering students are typical of students in other majors with respect to: persistence in major; persistence by gender and ethnicity; racial/ethnic distribution; and grade distribution. Data from the National Survey of Student Engagement show that this similarity extends to engagement outcomes including course challenge, faculty interaction, satisfaction with institution, and overall satisfaction. Engineering differs from other majors most notably by a dearth of female students and a low rate of migration into the major. Noting the similarity of students of engineering and other majors with respect to persistence and engagement, we propose that engagement is a precursor to persistence. We explore this hypothesis using data from the Academic Pathways Study of the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education. Further exploration reveals that although persistence and engagement do not vary as much as expected by discipline, there is significant institutional variation, and we assert a need to address persistence and engagement at the institutional level and throughout higher education. Finally, our findings highlight the potential of making the study of engineering more attractive to qualified students. Our findings suggest that a two‐pronged approach holds the greatest potential for increasing the number of students graduating with engineering degrees: identify programming that retains the students who come to college committed to an engineering major, and develop programming and policies that allow other students to migrate in. There is already considerable discourse on persistence, so our findings suggest that more research focus is needed on the pathways into engineering, including pathways from other majors.
Characterizing Design Learning: A Mixed‐Methods Study of Engineering Designers' Use of Language
Authors: Atman Cynthia J. , Kilgore Deborah , McKenna Ann 
Published: January 2013

AbstractUsing multiple quantitative and qualitative methods to examine engineering design learning, we found that students taking a course in engineering design and/or studying engineering for four years acquired engineering design language that is common to a larger community of practice as well as common to their own programs and institutions of higher learning. The study also suggests that engineering design language shapes the knowledge that students have about engineering design. Finally, students did not always put their design knowledge into practice, suggesting the need for educational improvements and research to bridge this gap.
Becoming an Engineer: Toward a Three Dimensional View of Engineering Learning
Authors: Stevens Reed , O'Connor Kevin , Garrison Lari , Jocuns Andrew , Amos Daniel M. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractIn this paper we develop an analytical framework we refer to as “Becoming an Engineer” that focuses upon changes occurring over time as students traverse their undergraduate educations in engineering. This analytical framework involves three related dimensions that we track over time: disciplinary knowledge, identification, and navigation. Our analysis illustrates how these three dimensions enable us to understand how students become, or do not become, engineers by examining how these three interrelated dimensions unfold over time. This study is based on longitudinal ethnographic data from which we have developed “person‐centered ethnographies” focused on individual students' pathways through engineering. We present comparative analysis, spanning four schools and four years. We also present person‐centered ethnographic case studies that illustrate how our conceptual dimensions interrelate. Our discussion draws some educational implications from our analysis and proposes further lines of research.
Women Engineering Students and Self‐Efficacy: A Multi‐Year, Multi‐Institution Study of Women Engineering Student Self‐Efficacy
Authors: Marra Rose M. , Rodgers Kelly A. , Shen Demei , Bogue Barbara 
Published: January 2013

AbstractAs our nation's need for engineering professionals grows, educators and industry leaders are increasingly becoming concerned with how to attract women to this traditionally male career path. Self‐efficacy has been shown to be related to positive outcomes in studying and pursuing careers in non‐traditional fields. This paper describes the results of two years of engineering self‐efficacy data collected from women engineering students at five institutions across the U.S. This study adds to the growing body of self‐efficacy literature via its multi‐year, multi‐institution design and helps to clarify the impact of the engineering curriculum on self‐efficacy. Results indicate that while women students show positive progress on some self‐efficacy and related subscales, they show a significant decrease on feelings of inclusion from the first to second measurement period and further suggest a relationship between ethnicity and feelings of inclusion. Additionally, correlations show that self‐efficacy is related to women students' plans to persist in this predominantly male discipline.
Engineering Education Research: Discipline, Community, or Field?
Authors: Jesiek Brent K. , Newswander Lynita K. , Borrego Maura 
Published: January 2013

AbstractEngineering education research has experienced a notable scale‐up in recent years through the development of departments and degree programs, high‐profile publication outlets, research agendas, and meetings. We begin by reviewing these developments, contextualizing them historically, and clarifying some relevant terminology. We then use observational data collected at the 2007 inaugural International Conference on Research in Engineering Education (ICREE) to examine how engineering education is variously conceptualized as a discipline, community of practice, and/or field. We also examine how ICREE participants engaged with questions about the infrastructure and major goals of engineering education research. Our data reveals both an overall lack of clarity and continued sense of ambiguity about the identity and status of engineering education research. We conclude by recommending that participants and stakeholders work to clarify the goals and objectives of engineering education research, especially to inform the continued development of the field's identity and supporting infrastructures.
Comparing Competitive and Cooperative Strategies for Learning Project Management
Authors: Nembhard David , Yip Kelly , Shtub Avraham 
Published: January 2013

AbstractMany organizations use project management to organize and administer resources in time and in place in an effort to optimize costs and meet certain constraints. These constitute cognitive skills acquired through training and experience that have successfully been shown to be trainable through simulation. However, past research on simulation‐based project management training focused on individual learning. In this paper, we are interested in investigating whether a competitive or cooperative strategy is more desirable in using simulators for project management training. Several theories suggest that cooperative learning is more beneficial to learning than competitive learning. To investigate this problem, an experiment was set up based on the simulation‐based Project Management Trainer (PMT) software. The results suggest that using both PMT cooperative and competitive strategies yield learning in project management. However, cooperative strategies yield better results in the overall outcome.
Universalized Narratives: Patterns in How Faculty Members Define “Engineering”
Authors: Pawley Alice L. 
Published: January 2013

BackgroundU.S. engineering educators are discussing how we define engineering to ourselves and to others, such as in the recently released U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE) report,Changing the Conversation. In these conversations, leaders have proposed the skills, knowledge, processes, values, and attitudes that should define engineering. However, little attention has been paid to the daily work of engineering faculty, through their engineering research and teaching students to be new engineers, that puts these discipline‐defining ideas into practice in academia.Purpose(Hypothesis)The different types of narratives engineering faculty explicitly or implicitly use to describe engineering are categorized. Categorizing these common narratives can help inform the nationwide conversation about whether these are the best narratives to tell in order to attract a diverse population of future engineers.Design/MethodInterviews with ten engineering faculty at a research‐extensive university were conducted. Interview transcripts were coded thematically through coarse then fine coding passes. The coarse codes were drawn from boundary theory; the fine codes emerged from the data.ResultsFaculty members' descriptions moved within and among the narratives of engineering as applied science and math, as problem‐solving, and as making things. The narratives are termed “universalized” because of their broad‐sweeping discursive application within and across participants' interviews.ConclusionsThese narratives drawn from academic engineers' practice put engineering at odds with recommendations from the NAE report. However, naming the narratives helps make them visible so we may then develop and practice telling contrasting narratives to future and current engineering students.
The Influence of Computer‐based Model's Race and Gender on Female Students' Attitudes and Beliefs Towards Engineering
Authors: Rosenberg‐Kima Rinat B. , Plant E. Ashby , Doerr Celeste E. , Baylor Amy L. 
Published: January 2013

BackgroundThis study explored the use of interface agents, anthropomorphic, 3D‐animated computer characters that provide teaching or mentoring within a computer‐based learning environment, to encourage young Black and White women to pursue careers in engineering.Purpose (Hypothesis)We hypothesized that computer‐based models that matched young women in terms of their race and gender would be the most effective in positively influencing their interest, self‐efficacy, and stereotypes about engineering.Design/MethodEighty African American undergraduate female students in Experiment 1, and 39 White undergraduate female students in Experiment 2 interacted with a computer‐based agent that provided a narrative designed to encourage them to pursue engineering careers. The study employed a 2 × 2 between subjects factorial design (agent gender: male vs. female and agent race: Black vs. White).ResultsAcross both studies we found that race and gender influenced the effectiveness of the agent for several key outcome measures. Computer‐based agents who matched the participants with respect to race and gender tended to be the most effective in improving the women's responses to engineering‐related fields. Nevertheless, the White male agent was actually significantly more influential than the White female agent for female Black participants.ConclusionsPersonalizing interface agent characteristics to match the target population can increase the effectiveness of a persuasive message to encourage young women to pursue engineering. Such an approach may contribute to the growth and inclusiveness of fields such as engineering.
Gender Differences in Elements of the Undergraduate Experience that Influence Satisfaction with the Engineering Major and the Intent to Pursue Engineering as a Career
Authors: Amelink Catherine T. , Creamer Elizabeth G. 
Published: January 2013

BackgroundGroups within and outside of educational institutions are interested in factors that influence satisfaction among students enrolled in the engineering major as well as elements within the college environment that shape students' intentions to work in engineering in the future and whether these elements differ by gender.Purpose (Hypothesis)This study identified gender differences on indicators of the undergraduate experience including faculty‐related and student‐related variables as well as measures of satisfaction with the institutional environment that are related to satisfaction with the engineering major and intent to pursue a career in engineering ten years from now.Design/MethodThe mixed methods approach used for this investigation involved nine institutions with engineering undergraduate degree programs. An online questionnaire was administered to undergraduate students enrolled in engineering. Qualitative data was collected through focus group interviews with students at each of the nine participating institutions.ResultsFindings reveal that satisfaction with the engineering major does not translate directly to pursuing a career in engineering, particularly among women. In terms of elements of the undergraduate experience, some types of interactions with faculty and peers have both short‐ and long‐term impacts on interest in engineering as a major and as a career.ConclusionsCreating learning environments that emphasize care and respect for students as well as overseeing student interaction during group work can make a difference in students' satisfaction in the engineering major and in interest in engineering as a career, particularly for women.
Advancing Global Capacity for Engineering Education Research (AGCEER): Relating Research to Practice, Policy, and Industry
Authors: Jesiek Brent K. , Borrego Maura , Beddoes Kacey 
Published: January 2013

BackgroundWe report on the results of a joint initiative between the European Journal of Engineering Education and Journal of Engineering Education titled Advancing Global Capacity for Engineering Education Research (AGCEER). More specifically, we present findings from a series of moderated interactive sessions held at international engineering education conferences between July 2007 and December 2008, where participants were asked to discuss the current state and future trajectory of engineering education research.Purpose (Hypothesis)How did AGCEER session attendees describe: (1) the relationship between engineering education research and educational practice, policy considerations, and industry, and (2) important stakeholders, mechanisms/strategies, and challenges for relating research to practice, policy, and industry?Design/MethodThematic analysis was used to categorize and understand the textual data of report back transcripts and note pages from ten AGCEER sessions involving 300 participants on six continents. An open coding procedure was used to capture issues raised in each of the sessions on the relation of research to practice, policy, and industry.ResultsWe observed frequent discussion and widespread consensus among AGCEER participants about the need to relate engineering education research to the practice of engineering teaching. Discussions about relating research to policy and industry remain formative, but appear to be gaining traction.ConclusionsWe propose a cyclic model to better conceptualize how engineering education research can be strategically related to practice, profession, and industry across diverse local and global contexts.
Investigating the Effect of 3D Simulation Based Learning on the Motivation and Performance of Engineering Students
Authors: Koh Caroline , Tan Hock Soon , Tan Kim Cheng , Fang Linda , Fong Fook Meng , Kan Dominic , Lye Sau Lin , Wee May Lin 
Published: January 2013

BackgroundSimulation‐based Learning (SBL) was used in Machining Technology, a sixty‐hour module for second year engineering students, at the School of Engineering at Temasek Polytechnic. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of SBL on learners' motivation and performance. In assessing students' motivation, we adopted a framework based on the Self‐determination Theory (SDT), chosen on account of its comprehensive treatment of the relationship between students' perceived needs satisfaction and their motivation.Purpose (Hypothesis)It is hypothesized that SBL, which provides learners with interactive learning experiences, will enhance students' motivation and performance. We explored the effect of SBL on students' perceived psychological needs satisfaction, motivation, and learning, and how SBL affected students' understanding and application of content knowledge.Design/MethodThe intervention procedure involved the incorporation of SBL in Machining Technology, a 60 hour module in the mechanical engineering program. Survey findings and post‐intervention assessment outcomes were used to assess the students' perceptions of their basic psychological needs satisfaction, motivation, and performance.ResultsOur findings suggest that the students perceived their psychological needs to be satisfied and had high levels of self‐determined motivation. Students who undertook SBL had higher mean performance test scores, although SBL may have differential effects on learners depending on factors such as gender, educational backgrounds, and IT knowledge.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that the students perceived their basic psychological needs to be met and that SBL can potentially enhance self‐determined motivation as well as improve learning in general.
Student and Faculty Perceptions of Engagement in Engineering
Authors: Heller Rachelle S. , Beil Cheryl , Dam Kim , Haerum Belinda 
Published: January 2013

BackgroundThis study is designed to investigate how undergraduate engineering students and their faculty define engagement. While many researchers provide descriptions and suggestions that engagement is crucial to learning, there is no widespread, standard definition for engagement to guide engineering educators.Purpose (Hypothesis)The purpose of this study is to begin to understand student engagement by examining how students and faculty viewed the term engagement as it relates to their engineering courses. The two key questions asked were (1) How do faculty and undergraduate students define engagement? and (2) How are their definitions similar or different?Design/MethodThis exploratory study included a survey of all engineering faculty teaching first‐ and second‐year students and first‐ and second‐year engineering undergraduates enrolled in any engineering course within the standard curriculum at a small engineering school.ResultsStudents view engagement in terms of faculty enthusiasm for the subject and in teaching and the availability of faculty for out‐of‐class interactions. Faculty members believe that engagement rests with the students.ConclusionsThis study suggests that there is not a single definition of engagement for engineering students. Rather, engagement is both a process and an outcome. Faculty stimulate engagement by providing students with active learning experiences, conveying excitement and enthusiasm for their subject, and providing opportunities for student‐faculty interactions. Students show their engagement by participating in class discussions, doing research projects, and interacting with their professors and peers.