Inventions and Impact 2 - CCLI/TUES: Course, Curriculum, and

Transcription

Inventions and Impact 2: Building Excellence
in Undergraduate Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education
a conference of
Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) Program
National Science Foundation, Division of Undergraduate Education
13–15 August 2008 • Washington DC
Inventions and Impact 2:
Building Excellence in Undergraduate Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
Education
a conference of
Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) Program
National Science Foundation
Division of Undergraduate Education
August 13–15, 2008
Renaissance Washington, D.C. Hotel
in collaboration with
Education and Human Resources (EHR) Programs
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
About AAAS
AAAS Mission
The American Association for the Advancement of Science
AAAS seeks to …advance science, engineering, and innovation
(AAAS) is the world’s largest general scientific society, and
throughout the world for the benefit of all people. Its motto
publisher of the journal, Science (www.sciencemag.org).
is “Advancing science, serving society.” To fulfill this mission,
AAAS was founded in 1848, and includes some 262 affiliated
the AAAS Board has set these strategic goals:
societies and academies of science, serving 10 million
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and the public
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estimated total readership of one million. The non-profit
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Strengthen support for the science and technology
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enterprise
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Provide a voice for science on societal issues
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and more. For the latest research news, log onto EurekAlert!,
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service of AAAS.
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Foster education in science and technology for everyone
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Increase public engagement with science and technology
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Open to all, AAAS membership includes a subscription to
Science. Four primary program areas fulfill the AAAS mission:
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Science and Policy
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International Activities
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Education and Human Resources
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Visit the AAAS Web site at http://www.aaas.org/
NSF Grant # DUE 0749512
Abstracts published in this volume reflect the individual views of
© AAAS 2008
the authors and not necessarily that of AAAS, its Council, Board
of Directors, Officers, or the views of the institutions with which
ISBN 978-0-87168-721-0
the authors are affiliated. Presentations of ideas, products, or
publications at AAAS’ meetings or the reporting of them in news
Cover photo courtesy of USDA
accounts does not constitute endorsement by AAAS.
Table of Contents
Overview of the Conference............................................................4
About the NSF CCLI Program..........................................................5
Welcome Letters.............................................................................7
Cora B. Marrett, NSF
Linda L. Slakey, NSF
Shirley M. Malcom & Yolanda S. George, AAAS
General Information for Attendees .............................................. 10
Hotel Floor Plan & Key Rooms......................................................11
Conference Staff........................................................................... 16
NSF CCLI Staff
AAAS Staff & Consultants
Agenda and Room Locations........................................................ 17
Speaker Biographies....................................................................23
Myles Boylan, NSF
Robert J. Full, University of California, Berkeley
Yolanda S. George, AAAS
Alan I. Leshner, AAAS
Shirley M. Malcom, AAAS
Cora B. Marrett, NSF
Eileen McIlvain, NSDL
Russell Pimmel, NSF
Linda L. Slakey, NSF
Terry Woodin, NSF
Plenary Lecture Abstract..............................................................A3
Workshop Session Abstracts........................................................A5
By Sessions
Poster Abstracts.........................................................................A23
By STEM Disciplines
Index........................................................................................ A217
Alphabetical Index by Author
Introduction
Overview of the National Science Foundation
(NSF) Course, Curriculum and Laboratory
Improvement (CCLI) Conference
The overall outcome of the NSF CCLI Conference is to provide
awardees with an opportunity to identify collaborators,
strategies, and actions that they and others can use to
strengthen the design, development, and implementation of
promising project approaches to transform science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education for the
diverse undergraduate student population. The conference
includes plenary and poster sessions, discussion groups, and
an opportunity to network with other faculty and educational
leaders engaged in improving undergraduate STEM education.
The NSF CCLI Program, which is a program of the Division of
Undergraduate Education (DUE), seeks to improve the quality
of STEM education for all undergraduate students, including
majors and non-majors. The program supports efforts to create
new learning materials and teaching strategies, develop faculty
expertise, implement educational innovations, assess learning
and evaluate innovations, and conduct research on STEM teaching
and learning. The program supports three types of projects
representing three different phases of development, ranging from
small, exploratory investigations to large, comprehensive projects.
The CCLI Program includes all STEM fields.
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The conference features nearly 400 poster presentations and
65 workshops organized by CCLI project leaders. The poster
presentations are grouped by STEM disciplines. The workshops
are grouped into six categories:
1. Dissemination and Project Management
2. Material Development
3. Pedagogy
4. Personnel Development
5. Research and Assessment
6. Technology Based Education
Also, included in the conference are posters and presentations
by leaders of the NSF DUE National Science Digital Library
(NSDL) Program. NSDL is the nation’s online library for STEM
education and research.
The plenary speaker is Robert J. Full, Professor, Department
of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley.
His research interest includes comparative biomechanics,
physiology, and functional morphology.
The conference was organized by staff and consultants of
the National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate
Education and American Association for the Advancement of
Science Education and Human Resources Programs.
2008 Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI)
Introduction
About the National Science Foundation (NSF)
Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement
(CCLI) Program
The NSF Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI)
program seeks to improve the quality of science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education for all
undergraduate students. The program supports efforts to create,
adapt, and disseminate new learning materials and teaching
strategies, develop faculty expertise, implement educational
innovations, assess learning and evaluate innovations, and
conduct research on STEM teaching and learning. The program
supports three types of projects representing three different
phases of development, ranging from small, exploratory
investigations to large, comprehensive projects.
The vision of the CCLI program is excellent STEM education
for all undergraduate students. Toward this vision, the
program supports projects based on high-quality STEM and
recent advances in research on undergraduate STEM learning
and teaching. The program seeks to stimulate, evaluate,
and disseminate innovative and effective developments in
undergraduate STEM education through the introduction of new
content reflecting cutting edge developments in STEM fields, the
production of knowledge about learning, and the improvement
of educational practice. The CCLI program design reflects
current challenges and promising approaches reported in recent
seminal meetings and publications sponsored by organizations
concerned with the health of national STEM education. These
are reviewed in the remainder of this section.
The National Research Council (NRC) notes several challenges
to effective undergraduate education in STEM disciplines.
These challenges include providing engaging laboratory,
classroom and field experiences; teaching large numbers of
students from diverse backgrounds; improving assessment
of learning outcomes; and informing science faculty about
research on effective teaching (2003, “Evaluating and Improving
Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics,” http://www.nap.edu/books/0309072778/html/).
Promising approaches to meeting these challenges have
been identified by several national organizations. The NRC
emphasizes the importance of teaching subject matter in depth,
eliciting and working with students’ preexisting knowledge,
and helping students develop the skills of self-monitoring and
reflection (2005, “How Students Learn,” http://www.nap.edu/
books/0309074339/html/ and 2000, “How People Learn,”
http://books.nap.edu/catalog/9853/html). The NRC further
emphasizes the importance of creating a body of knowledge
about effective practices in STEM undergraduate education (“a
STEM education knowledge base”) and of creating a community
of scholars who can act as resources for each other and for those
seeking information.
The NRC also describes several strategies for improving the
assessment of learning outcomes. It recommends that research
on effective teaching should pose significant questions that can
be investigated using empirical techniques; have the potential
for replication and generalization across educational settings;
and be publicized and subjected to professional critique (2002,
“Scientific Research in Education,” http://www.nap.edu/
books/0309082919/html/).
The value of working with a community of people within or
across specific STEM disciplines, or pursuing similar educational
innovations, is highlighted in a recent report from Project
Kaleidoscope that calls for “collective action” to share ideas and
materials so that projects build on, connect to, and enhance
the work of others (2002, “Recommendations for Action in
Support of Undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering,
and Mathematics,” http://www.pkal.org/documents/
ReportonReports.pdf ). The need for collective action is also
emphasized in a report from the National Academies (2003,
“Improving Undergraduate Instruction in Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics,” http://www.nap.edu/
books/0309089298/html/), which identifies the importance of
expanding faculty and scholarly networks to promote effective
instruction and to support rapid dissemination and adaptation of
successful educational innovations.
Subsequent reports have reiterated the need for moving
away from lecture-mode approaches in undergraduate STEM
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Introduction
education, and they emphasized the importance of increasing
innovation and diversity in STEM education programs and
the increasingly urgent need for change (2005, “Innovate
America: Thriving in a World of Challenge and Change, Council
on Competitiveness,” http://innovateamerica.org/webscr/
report.asp and 2006, “Recommendations for Urgent Action,”
Project Kaleidoscope, http://www.pkal.org/documents/
ReportOnReportsII.cfm).
The CCLI Program supports the development of exemplary
courses and teaching practices (including the acquisition
of equipment needed to support these developments) and
assessment and research efforts that build on and contribute to
the pool of knowledge concerning effective approaches in STEM
undergraduate education. The Program recognizes the value of
a cadre of STEM faculty committed to improving undergraduate
STEM education and sharing their findings with each other,
forming a “community of scholars.”
The report “Invention and Impact: Building Excellence
in Undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics Education” (2005, http://www.aaas.org/
publications/books_reports/CCLI) describes some of the
successful efforts supported by the CCLI program and its
predecessors (the Course and Curriculum Development [CCD],
Instruction and Laboratory Improvement [ILI], and Undergraduate
Faculty Enhancement [UFE] programs). Additional information
about funded projects is available through the NSF award search
engine, http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/.
Preparing your next
biological sciences
lecture or laboratory?
The BEN portal provides access to peer-reviewed
online educational resources from professional
societies, educational organizations, and educators
like you. With BEN resources, educators can incorporate
images and animations into lectures; use virtual labs
and simulations to introduce students to experimental
methods, data gathering, and scientific analysis or
problem solving; and assign articles such as historical
documents for journal club discussions. Discover the
rich array of materials for use in higher education
resources.
www.biosciednet.org
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www.aaas.org
Welcome
Dear Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement Community:
On behalf of the Directorate for Education and Human Resources at the National Science
Foundation (NSF), I want to welcome you to the 2008 principal investigators’ conference. The
conference theme, Inventions and Impact 2: Building Excellence in Undergraduate Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education, resonates with the mission and
core values of NSF. We support research and education that is creative and visionary, and we
are dedicated to enabling excellence in STEM undergraduate education. Your participation in
this conference is a reflection of these values and illustrates your dedication to improving the
STEM enterprise.
We at NSF believe that you are co-investors in our mission to foster education at the frontiers
of knowledge. You help to strengthen and to sustain our nation’s undergraduate education
capability through your activities. For that I say “Thank you.”
Cora B. Marrett
I encourage you to learn from each other. Take advantage of this unique gathering to expand
your expertise and to enlarge your network of colleagues.
We welcome your comments and suggestions as we strive to transform postsecondary STEM
education.
Enjoy the conference.
Sincerely,
Cora B. Marrett, Ph.D.
Assistant Director
Education and Human Resources Directorate
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Welcome
Dear Participant:
On behalf of the National Science Foundation’s Division of Undergraduate Education, I
welcome you to the 2008 CCLI PI meeting, Inventions and Impact 2: Building Excellence in
Undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education.
This meeting will provide you with many pathways to explore new ideas in STEM
undergraduate education: presentations, poster sessions, workshops, and informal
conversations. We encourage you to use this meeting as a means to both let others know of
your work and to develop a network of like minded colleagues. It is our hope that this will help
encourage development of exciting and stimulating approaches to undergraduate education in
STEM, and effective ways of assessing your progress and disseminating your successes.
Linda L. Slakey
I applaud you for the work you are doing and look forward to learning about it at this meeting.
Sincerely,
Linda Slakey, Ph.D.
Division Director
Education and Human Resources Directorate
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Welcome
Dear Colleagues:
On behalf of Education and Human Resources (EHR) Programs at AAAS, we would like to
welcome you to the NSF Course Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) Conference.
As part of its mission to advance science innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all
people, AAAS is committed to providing high quality resources for undergraduate education
through both Science magazine and its programs. In addition to the printed version of Science,
which is often used for classroom reading assignments, the Science Multimedia Center now
provides a variety of teaching tools, including images and slide shows, videos and seminars,
Podcast, and other interactive materials.
If you are looking for a place to publish your CCLI Program results, another relatively new
magazine feature is Science’s Education Forum, published in the last issue of every month.
For information on how to submit an education article see http://www.sciencemag.org/sciext/
educationforum/.
Shirley M. Malcom
In addition, we invite you to visit the AAAS Programs and Centers sites, http://www.aaas.org/
programs/, where you can find a range of materials and resources, including online teaching
resources, videos on scientific ethics, programs for students with disabilities, approaches to
undergraduate admissions, communicating science tools, and much more. In addition, you
might find our http://ScienceCareers.org site useful for advising and mentoring students,
including our recent women in science booklet and our minority scientist online network.
We also want to thank you for your efforts in strengthening science education and in helping to
build a diverse STEM workforce, as well as citizens who are aware of STEM issues.
Best regards,
Shirley M. Malcom and
Yolanda S. George
Education and Human Resources Programs
Yolanda S. George
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General Information
Cell Phone Usage
About the Workshop Sessions & Room Locations
All cell phones MUST BE turned off before you enter session
rooms out of courtesy for speakers and session participants.
The CCLI meeting includes 3 workshop sessions:
Session A 11:00 am – 12:15 pm, Thursday, August 14, 2008
Session B 4:00 pm – 5:15 pm, Thursday, August 14, 2008
Session C 8:00 am – 9:15 am, Friday, August 15, 2008
E-Mail Center
Four (4) computers will be available in the registration area for
attendees to receive and send emails during the conference.
PLEASE LIMIT YOUR SESSION TO 5 MINUTES.
Evaluation
Conference evaluation forms will be available immediately after
each session and will also be sent by email to all attendees
immediately following the Conference. Please take advantage
of this opportunity to share with us your views and opinions
regarding the CCLI Conference.
Name Badge & Badge Replacement Fee
Name badges are to be worn AT ALL TIMES. Badges permit
attendees to enter ALL sessions, exhibition area, conference
meals, and e-mail center. THERE WILL BE A $20.00 CHARGE FOR
BADGE REPLACEMENT.
All 3 sessions include a total of 65 workshops. Each session
includes 21 or 22 workshops that are grouped into 6 CCLI
program related categories.
1. Dissemination and Project Management
2. Material Development
3. Pedagogy
4. Personnel Development
5. Research and Assessment
6. Technology Based Education
The auditorium and rooms 1 to 17 are on the Meeting Room
Level.
Rooms 18 and 19 and Congressional A, B, and C rooms are on the
Ballroom Level.
Message Board
For specific workshops and locations see the agenda.
A message board will be displayed in the registration area.
The message board is a great location for attendees to post
messages, job openings, upcoming events, or announcements.
Plenary Sessions and Lunch Location
All plenary sessions and the lunch on Thursday, August 14, 2008
are in the Renaissance Ballroom on the Ballroom Level.
No Smoking Rule
Hotels, restaurants, bars, and indoor workplaces are considered
smoke-free in the District of Columbia effective January 2, 2007.
We ask that all persons who attend the meeting comply with this
ruling. To view the Renaissance Hotel smoking policy, please
visit http://www.marriott.com/marriott.mi?page=smokefree.
National Science Digital Library (NSDL)
Room Location
The NSDL Core Integration and Pathways leader are in Room 1 on
the Meeting Room Level. Also NSDL representatives are located
at tables in the Grand Ballroom Foyer.
Staff Room Location
The Staff Room is located on the Ballroom Level next to the
Grand Ballroom Registration Desk.
Poster Session Location
The Poster Session is in the Grand Ballroom.
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Hotel Information
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Hotel Information
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Hotel Information
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Hotel Information
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Hotel Information
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Conference Staff
(NSF) Division of Undergraduate
Education (DUE) Staff
Linda L. Slakey, Division Director
telephone: (703) 292-8670
email: [email protected]
Karen Kashmanian Oates,
Deputy Division Director
telephone: (703) 292-86 70
Course, Curriculum, and
Laboratory Improvement
(CCLI) Staff
Myles Boylan
telephone: (703) 292-4617
Russell Pimmel
telephone: (703) 292-4618
Terry Woodin
telephone: (703) 292-4657
Biological Sciences
V. Celeste Carter, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-4634
Joan T. Prival, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-4635
Daniel Udovic, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-4766
Terry S. Woodin, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-4657
Chemistry
Susan H. Hixson, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-4623
Eileen L. Lewis, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-4627
Pratibha Varma-Nelson, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-4653
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Computer Science
Physics/Astronomy
Stephen C. Cooper, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-4645
Timothy V. Fossum, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-5141
Warren W. Hein, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-4644
R. Corby Hovis, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-4625
Duncan E. McBride, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-4630
Engineering
Kathleen A. Alfano, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-4641
Lesia L. Crumpton-Young, Program
Director
telephone: (703) 292-4629
Russell L. Pimmel, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-4618
Sheryl A. Sorby, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-4647
Geological Sciences
Jill K. Singer, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-5323
Interdisciplinary
Herbert H. Richtol, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-4648
Curtis T. Sears, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-4639
Mathematics
Daniel P. Maki, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-4620
Ginger H. Rowell, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-5108
Elizabeth J. Teles, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-8670
Lee L. Zia, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-5140
Research/Assessment
Myles G. Boylan, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-4617
Russell L. Pimmel, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-4618
Social Sciences
Myles G. Boylan, Program Director
telephone: (703) 292-4617
AAAS Education and Human
Resources (EHR) Staff
Shirley M. Malcom, Director
Yolanda S. George, Deputy Director
Conference Staff
Donna Behar, Program Manager, Logistics
and Databases
Betty Calinger, Project Director
Cursillia Fenwick, Financial Analyst
Tracy Compton, Web Technical
Programmer
Marty McGihon, Web Designer
Jessica Kunkler, Senior Project
Coordinator
Cathy Ledec, Senior Office Administrator
Sabira Mohamed, Research Associate
Brittany Zelman, Intern
Ann Williams, Senior Production
Specialist
Publications
Donald Norwood, Art Director
Technology Consultants
Chrissy Rey-Drapeau
Lisa Bazinet
Agenda
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
10:45 am – 11:00 am
Break
Grand Ballroom Foyer
Registration
11:00 am – 12:15 pm
Workshop Session A – PI Led Sessions
Poster Setup
Grand Ballroom
National Science Digital Library Room
Meeting Room 1
Open until Friday, August 15, 1:00 PM
Thursday – August 14, 2008
Category: Dissemination and Project Management
A1 Building and Maintaining Collaborations
Room 14
Vladimir Genis, Drexel University
A2 Institutional Barriers to the Adoption of
Innovations
Auditorium
Registration & Continental Breakfast
Norman Fortenberry, National Academy of
Engineering
A3 Research on Teaching and Learning
Poster Setup
Congressional A
Grand Ballroom
Diane Ebert-May, Michigan State University
7:00 am – 7:45 am
A4 Targeted (or Niche) Dissemination
7:45 am – 8:45 am
Welcome and Opening Session
Room 8
Renaissance Ballroom
Matthew Vonk, University of Wisconsin, River Falls
Moderator
Russell Pimmel, Program Director, NSF
Category: Material Development
Speakers
A5 Innovative Practices in the Teaching of
Engineering
Cora B. Marrett, Assistant Director, NSF
Directorate for Education and Human Resources
Room 9
Linda L. Slakey, Division Director, NSF
Norbert Delatte, Cleveland State University
Alan I. Leshner, CEO, AAAS and
Executive Publisher, Science
A6 Innovative Practices in Computer Science
Congressional B
Barbara Ericson, Georgia Institute of Technology
8:45 am – 9:00 am
Dissemination via the National Science Digital
Library (NSDL)
A7 Use of Diagnostic Questions to Improve Biology
Teaching
Eileen McIlvain, NSDL, Core Integration
Congressional C
Charlene D’Avanzo, Hampshire College
9:00 am – 9:15 am
Break
9:15 am – 10:45 am
Poster Session I
Grand Ballroom
Category: Pedagogy
A8 Let’s Not Reinvent the Wheel: What Have We
Learned about Student-Active Pedagogies?
Room 16
Jeffrey Froyd, Texas A&M University
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Agenda
Room 6
A18 Writing for Assessment and Learning in the
Sciences Using Calibrated Peer Review (TM)
Norbert Pienta, University of Iowa
Room 15
A9 Bringing Education Research to Practice
Arlene Russell, University of California-Los Angeles
A10 Integrating Hands-on Investigations to Teach
STEM Courses
Category: Technology Based Education
Room 2
A19 Enhancement of Classroom Instruction Using
Personal Response Systems
Michael Rogers, Ithaca College
Room 12
A11 Undergraduate Research as a Pedagogical
Approach for Increasing Student Engagement and
Learning
Sheryl Ball, Virginia Tech University
A20 New Tools for Teaching Geoscience: From
Large Datasets to Cybermapping and 3D
Animations
Room 3
Nancy Hensel, Council on Undergraduate Research
Room 18
Category: Personnel Development
Laura Leventhal, Bowling Green State University
A12 Faculty Development/Scientific Teaching
A21 Remote Instrumentation for Teaching
Chemistry: Challenges and Benefits
Room 7
Sarah Miller, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Room 13
Alexander Grushow, Rider University
A13 The Role of Disciplinary Societies in
Advancing STEM Faculty in Undergraduate Reform
A22 Use of Simulations to Improve Student
Learning in Engineering
Room 10
Amy Chang, American Society for Microbiology
Room 19
Erez Allouche, Louisiana Tech University
A14 Working with Graduate Teaching Assistants
(GTAs) & Undergraduate Peer Teachers (UPTs)
Fire View Room (Lobby Level)
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm
Lunch and Speaker
Monica Cox, Purdue University
Moderator
Category: Research and Assessment
Terry Woodin, Program Director, NSF, CCLI
A15 Developing Instructor-Coached Activities for
Hybrid and Online Courses
Topic and Speaker
The Value of Interdisciplinary Research-based
Instruction
Room 11
Cem Kaner, Florida Institute of Technology
A16 Institution-Wide Assessment of Scientific and
Quantitative Student Learning Gains
West A (Renaissance Ballroom)
Robert J. Full, Professor, Department of Integrative
Biology, University of California, Berkeley
2:15 pm – 3:45 pm
Poster Session II
Donna Sundre, James Madison University
A17 Using “ePortfolio” to Objectively Measure
Student Gains from Mentored Research
Room 17
Kathryn Wilson, Indiana U Purdue U at Indianapolis
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Grand Ballroom
3:45 pm – 4:00 pm
Break
Agenda
4:00 pm – 5:15 pm
Workshop Session B – PI Led Sessions
B1 Institutional Inertia: Getting your Colleagues
and Administrators on Board
Room 13
B10 The Use of Themed-Based Projects to Motivate
Greater Participation in STEM Courses
Room 6
Ingrid Russell, University of Hartford
Christine Broussard, University of LaVerne
B11 Developing Faculty “Nurturing Leaders:”
Supporting Agents of Change
B2 Project Dissemination
Room 2
Auditorium
Jeanne Narum, Project Kaleidoscope
Stephen Edwards, Virginia Tech University
B3 Sustainable Curricular Reforms in Large
Introductory Courses
Congressional A
Michael Schatz, Georgia Institute of Technology
B4 Using WEB 2.0 Tools to Disseminate Curricular
Materials
Room 14
B12 Incorporating Research Findings from the
Learning Sciences
Room 7
David Yaron, Carnegie Mellon University
B13 Undergraduates as Partners in Innovating
STEM Curricula
Room 10
Ellen Goldey, Wofford College
Andrew Beveridge, Queens College, CUNY
B14 Developing Assessment Tools in a Discipline
B5 Innovative Practices in Computer Science
Room 3
Room 8
Stacey Lowery Bretz, Miami University
James Cross, Auburn University
B6 Innovative Practices in the Teaching of
Engineering
Congressional B
Cliff Davidson, Carnegie Mellon University
Category: Pedagogy
B7 Incorporating Authentic Research Experiences
into Various Stages of the Curriculum
Room 9
B15 Diagnosing Student Learning in the Biological
Sciences
Room 11
Douglas Luckie, Michigan State University
B16 Methods of Project Assessment
William Walstad, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Category: Technology Based Education
James Hewlett, Finger Lakes Community College
B17 Distance Learning in Engineering Using the
World Wide Web
B8 Case-Based Learning in STEM
Room 17
Congressional C
Driss Benhaddou, University of Houston
Mark Bergland, University of Wisconsin-River Falls
B9 Adapting Pedagogies across Disciplines: What is the Potential, What are the Limitations?
Room 16
B18 Enhancement of Classroom Instruction in
Biology Using Technology
Sara Tobin, Stanford University
Scott Simkins, North Carolina A&T State University
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Agenda
B19 Enhancing Classroom Instruction Using Video
Capture and Analysis
Friday – August 15, 2008
Room 15
7:30 am – 8:00 am
Continental Breakfast
Priscilla Laws, Dickinson College
Foyer Grand Ballroom & Tables in Renaissance
Ballroom
B20 Remote Instrumentation for Teaching
Astronomy
Room 18
8:00 am – 9:15 am
Claud Lacy, University of Arkansas
Workshop Session C – PI Led Sessions
B21 Use of Animation, Simulation and Visualization
to Improve Student Learning
Room 12
Steven Fleming, Brigham Young University
B22 Using the World Wide Web to Enhance
Mathematics Learning
Room 19
Lang Moore, Duke University
C1 Leading Multi-Institution Collaborative Projects
Room 13
Terry Lahm, Capital University
C2 Project Sustainability
Auditorium
William Oakes, Purdue University
5:15 pm – 5:30 pm
Break
C3 Improving the Scientific Literacy of all Students
Foyer Grand Ballroom
Room 14
Amy Jessen-Marshall, Otterbein University
5:30 pm – 6:45 pm
Small Group Session 1 with NSF Program
Directors
C4 Innovative Practices in the Life Sciences Major
Room 8
Bessie Kirkwood, Sweet Briar College
6:45 pm – 8:00 pm
Poster Session III and Reception
Grand Ballroom and Foyer
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Remove Posters and Reception Continues until
9:00 PM
C5 Improving the Scientific Literacy of all Students
Congressional A
Travis Rector, University of Alaska, Anchorage
C6 Innovative Practices in the Teaching of
Engineering
Congressional B
Linda Schmidt, University of Maryland
Category: Pedagogy
C7 Designing Active Learning Activities and
Associated Assessment Plans
Congressional C
Kristin Wood, University of Texas
20
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Agenda
C8 Engaging Students in Mathematics by
Incorporating Real-World Problems
C18 Enhancement of Classroom Instruction in
Engineering Using Technology
Room 9
Lynn Bennethum, University of Colorado, Denver
Don Millard, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
C9 Mathematics for Liberal Arts Students: Lessons
in Math and Art
C19 Improving Student Learning Using the World
Wide Web
Room 16
Room 15
Annalisa Crannell, Franklin and Marshall College
Laura Bartolo, Kent State University
C10 Writing Within a Discipline
C20 Remote Instrumentation for Teaching Geology
Room 6
Room 18
Marin Robinson, Northern Arizona University
Jeffrey Ryan, University of South Florida
C21 Use of Visualization to Improve Student
Learning in Physics
C11 Recruiting & Supporting K-12 Teachers
Room 12
Room 7
John Belcher, Massachussetts Institute of
Technology
Richard McCray, University of Colorado, Boulder
C12 Teacher Prep
9:15am – 9:30aM
Room 2
Break
Alan Tucker, SUNY - StonyBrook
C13 Using the Expertise of Senior Faculty
9:30 am – 10:45 aM
Room 10
Small Group Session 2 with NSF Program
Directors
Garon Smith, University of Montana, Missoula
11:00 am – Noon
Summary Session
C14 Development and Testing of Concept
Inventories
Moderator
Room 3
Myles G. Boylan, Program Director, NSF CCLI
David Klappholz, Stevens Institute of Technology
C15 The Use of Video Data in Educational Research
Room 11
Noon
Adjourn
Dawn Rickey, Colorado State University
C16 Tools for Assessing Learning in Engineering
Teri Reed-Rhoads, Purdue University
Category: Technology-Based Education
C17 Enhancement of Classroom Instruction in
Computer Science Using Technology
Room 17
Janusz Zalewski, Florida Gulf Coast University
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21
Speaker Biographies
Myles G. Boylan
Myles G. Boylan currently serves as
Program Director, Graduate Education
Research, Division of Graduate Education
and is a lead program director for the
Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory
Improvement Program. His other program
responsibilities include Ethics Education
In Science and Engineering (EESE); NSF Director’s Award for
Distinguished Teaching Scholars (DTS); Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program (STEP).
He joined NSF in 1984 after holding academic appointments
at the Ohio State University, Case Western Reserve University,
and Colby College. While at Colby College, he served as
department chair. His academic research focused on the process
and diffusion of technological innovation in private industry,
particularly manufacturing. His instructional innovations included
early advocacy and practice of small group learning.
While at NSF, Dr. Boylan has served in the Division of Policy
Research and Analysis (which later became the Director’s Office
of Planning and Assessment), and the Division of Undergraduate
Education. He served as executive secretary of a National
Science Board subcommittee that examined the condition
of national literacy in science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (STEM) fields in the early 1990’s; and as staff leader
for a comprehensive study, released in 1996, of the state of
undergraduate education in STEM disciplines. He has also served
as an internal consultant to the NSF division concerned with data
on the health of the national science and engineering enterprise,
including the condition of science and engineering education. In
addition to the programs for which he serves as a lead program
director, Dr. Boylan has significantly participated in the operation
and management of 5 other NSF grants programs.
In 2003-04, he has worked with Center for the Advancement of
Scholarship on Engineering Education (CASEE).
Dr. Boylan earned his B.S. in mathematics from Michigan
State, his M.S. in organizational science from Case Institute of
Technology, and his Ph.D. in industrial economics from Case
Western Reserve University
Robert J. Full
Robert Full received his Ph.D. in 1984 from
SUNY Buffalo, completed a post doc at the
University of Chicago in 1986 and became
a Full Professor of Integrative Biology at
the University of California at Berkeley
in 1995. Currently he is Chancellor’s
Professor and Director of the PolyPEDAL
Laboratory and CIBER.
Dr. Full has led a focused international effort to demonstrate
the value of integrative biology and biological inspiration by the
formation of 14 interdisciplinary collaborations and 5 new design
teams composed of biologists, engineers, mathematicians and
computer scientists from academia and industry.
His fundamental discoveries in animal locomotion have
inspired the design of novel neural control circuits, artificial
muscles, eight autonomous legged robots and the first selfcleaning dry adhesive. In 1990 he received a Presidential Young
Investigator Award. Full has authored over 200 contributions
and has delivered an equal number of national and international
presentations.
To further his efforts, Full has just created a new center at
Berkeley called CIBER, the Center for Interdisciplinary Biological
Inspiration in Education and Research, focused on training the
next generation of scientists and engineers to collaborate in
mutually beneficial relationships.
In 1996 Full was given Berkeley’s Distinguished Teaching
Award for his efforts involving undergraduate teaching and
research. He has mentored over 90 undergraduate researchers
who have received more than 50 awards/fellowships.
His students have given over 40 undergraduate research
presentations at national and international meetings. Twenty-five
journals articles and 5 proceedings have been published with at
least one undergraduate author, along with over 60 abstracts.
Full has presented his ideas to several National Academy
of Sciences committees on education, at Science Education
for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities meetings and
has organized workshops at the Re-inventing Undergraduate
Education Meeting. For his participation in the Summer Institute
on Undergraduate Education in Biology, he was named Mentor in
the Life Sciences by the National Academy of Sciences.
Program Book
23
Speaker Biographies
Yolanda S. George
Yolanda Scott George is Deputy
Director and Program Director,
Education and Human Resources
Programs, American Association for
the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Her duties and responsibilities include
planning, development, management,
implementation, and evaluation of multi-year science,
mathematics, and technology (SMT) education and educational
research projects. She has served as Director of Development,
Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC), Washington,
DC; Director, Professional Development Program, University of
California, Berkeley, CA, a pre-college academic enrichment,
university retention, and pre-graduate school program in SMT for
minorities and women, and as a research biologist at Lawrence
Livermore Laboratory, Livermore, California involved in cell cycle
studies using flow cytometer and cell sorters.
George conducts evaluations, project and program reviews,
and evaluation workshops for both the National Institutes of
Health and National Science Foundation, as well as reviews
SMT proposals for private foundation and public agencies,
including the Sloan Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New
York, the Ford Foundation, and the European Commission. She
develops and coordinates conferences and workshops related
to recruitment and retention of minorities, women, and persons
with disabilities in SMT. She works with UNIFEM, UNESCO,
and non-governmental organizations on gender, science,
and technology initiatives related to college and university
recruitment and retention and women leadership in SMT.
Over the last 25 years she has raised over $70 million for a
variety of SMT education initiatives for colleges and universities,
associations, and community-based groups. She currently
serves as principal investigator (PI) or co-PI on National Science
Foundation (NSF) grants related to developing evaluation capacity
of PIs, project directors and evaluators for the Alliance for
Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP); development
of a National Science Education Digital Library (NSDL) Biological
Sciences Pathways for biological sciences educators in
undergraduate, graduate and professional schools; Women’s
International Scientific Cooperation Program (WISC); Historically
Black Colleges and Universities-Undergraduate Programs (HBCUUP); and Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI)
for undergraduates. She serves on the board of the International
24
Program Book
Women in Science and Engineering Network (INWES); American
Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) Education Committee,
Award Advisory Committee; Maria Mitchell Women in Science
Award, McNeill/Lehrer Productions Online Science Reports and
Resources Advisory Committee, Great Science for Girls: Extension
Services for Gender Equity in Science Advisory Committee,
Academy for Educational Development, and the South Dakota
Biomedical Research Network Advisory Committee.
George has authored or co-authored over 50 papers,
pamphlets, and hands-on science manuals. She received her
B.S. and M.S. from Xavier University of Louisiana and Atlanta
University in Georgia, respectively.
Alan I. Leshner
Dr. Leshner has been Chief Executive
Officer of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science and
Executive Publisher of the journal Science
since December 2001. AAAS (triple A-S)
was founded in 1848 and is the world’s
largest, multi-disciplinary scientific and
engineering society.
Before coming to AAAS, Dr. Leshner was Director of the
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) from 1994-2001. One of
the scientific institutes of the U.S. National Institutes of Health,
NIDA supports over 85% of the world’s research on the health
aspects of drug abuse and addiction.
Before becoming Director of NIDA, Dr. Leshner had been the
Deputy Director and Acting Director of the National Institute
of Mental Health. He went to NIMH from the National Science
Foundation (NSF), where he held a variety of senior positions,
focusing on basic research in the biological, behavioral and
social sciences, science policy and science education.
Dr. Leshner went to NSF after 10 years at Bucknell University,
where he was Professor of Psychology. He has also held longterm appointments at the Postgraduate Medical School in
Budapest, Hungary; at the Wisconsin Regional Primate Research
Center; and as a Fulbright Scholar at the Weizmann Institute of
Science in Israel. Dr. Leshner is the author of a major textbook
on the relationship between hormones and behavior, and
has published over 150 papers for both the scientific and lay
communities on the biology of behavior, science and technology
policy, science education, and public engagement with science.
Speaker Biographies
Dr. Leshner received an undergraduate degree in psychology
from Franklin and Marshall College, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees
in physiological psychology from Rutgers University. He also
has been awarded five honorary Doctor of Science degrees. Dr.
Leshner is an elected fellow of AAAS, the National Academy
of Public Administration, the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences, and many other professional societies. He is a member
(and on the governing Council) of the Institute of Medicine of the
National Academies of Science. The U.S. President appointed Dr.
Leshner to the National Science Board in 2004. He is a member
of the Advisory Committee to the Director of NIH, and represents
AAAS on the U.S. Commission for UNESCO.
Shirley M. Malcom
Shirley Malcom is Head of Education and
Human Resources (EHR) Programs at the
American Association for the Advancement
of Science (AAAS). EHR includes AAAS
programs in education, activities for
underrepresented groups, and public
understanding of science and technology.
Dr. Malcom serves on several boards—including the Heinz
Endowments and the H. John Heinz III Center for Science,
Economics and the Environment—and is an honorary trustee of
the American Museum of Natural History. In 2006, she was named
co-chair (with Leon Lederman) of the National Science Board
Commission on 21st Century Education in STEM. She serves as
a Regent of Morgan State University and as a trustee of Caltech.
In addition, she has chaired a number of national committees
addressing education reform and access to scientific and
technical education, careers and literacy. Dr. Malcom is a former
trustee of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. She is a fellow
of the AAAS and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
She served on the National Science Board, the policymaking
body of the National Science Foundation, from 1994 to 1998, and
from 1994-2001 served on the President’s Committee of Advisors
on Science and Technology.
Dr. Malcom received her Ph.D. in ecology from Pennsylvania
State University; M.S. in zoology from the University of California,
Los Angeles; and B.S. with distinction in zoology from the
University of Washington. She also holds 15 honorary degrees.
In 2003, Dr. Malcom received the Public Welfare Medal of the
National Academy of Sciences, the highest award given by the
Academy.
Cora B. Marrett
Dr. Cora B. Marrett is the Assistant
Director of the Directorate for Education
and Human Resources (EHR) at the
National Science Foundation (NSF).
She leads the NSF’s mission to achieve
excellence in U.S. science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM)
education with oversight of a budget of approximately $825
million and a staff of 150. EHR is the principal source of federal
support for strengthening STEM education through education
research and development (R&D).
Dr. Marrett currently co-chairs the Subcommittee on science,
technology, engineering and mathematics education of the
National Science and Technology Council, Committee on Science.
Prior to her appointment at the NSF, Dr. Marrett served as the
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs in the University of
Wisconsin System. Her NSF position is in conjunction with the
UW-Madison Department of Sociology, where she remains a
tenured faculty member.
Earlier, she held the post of Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic
Affairs and Provost at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
Her current position represents a return to NSF. She served at
NSF as the first Assistant Director of the Directorate for Social,
Behavioral and Economic Sciences. She received the NSF’s
Distinguished Service Award for her leadership in developing
new research programs and articulating the scientific projects of
the directorate. Dr. Marrett also served as the initial chair of the
Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering
(CEOSE).
In addition to her faculty appointment at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, she has been a faculty member at the
University of North Carolina and Western Michigan University.
Dr. Marrett holds a B.A. degree from Virginia Union University,
and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from UW-Madison. She has an
honorary doctorate from Wake Forest University. She is a Fellow
of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Sigma Xi, the
Science Research Society.
Dr. Marrett received the Erich Bloch Distinguished Service
Award from the Quality Education for Minorities (QEM)
Network, given annually to an individual who has made
singular contributions to the advancement of science and to the
participation of groups underrepresented in science, technology,
Program Book
25
Speaker Biographies
engineering and mathematics. She is widely published in
the field of sociology, and has held a number of public and
professional service positions.
Eileen McIlvain
Eileen McIlvain, University Corporation for
Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado,
is the Pathways Liaison for the National
Science Digital Library (NSDL)—created
by the National Science Foundation
to provide organized access to high
quality resources, tools, and services
supporting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
(STEM) education and research, at all educational levels. The
Pathway projects of NSDL are discipline- and audience-focused
partnerships that engage trusted organizations and institutions
with proven expertise in serving specific communities of users.
McIlvain has worked in the educational digital library field
since 1998, joining NSDL in November 2005. She focuses her
efforts on communications and organizational and programmatic
support and outreach to Pathways Principal Investigators and
their staffs, and other NSDL partners. These include identifying
priorities, developing best practices, consensus building
on common issues of digital library development across the
partnership, maximizing efficiencies for outreach and capacitybuilding professional development, and the provision of services
to the NSDL community. Her educational background includes
an M.A. in Linguistics (University of Colorado) and a B.A. in
Philosophy (Colorado College).
Russell Pimmel
Dr. Russell Pimmel is the lead program
director for the Adaptation and
Implementation (A&I) track of the Course,
Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement
(CCLI) program.
He joined NSF in 2003 in the Division
of Undergraduate Education (DUE). His
other program responsibilities include the Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program (STEP).
Prior to NSF, he held faculty appointments at the University of
Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ohio State University, University of North
26
Program Book
Carolina, and University of Missouri at Columbia. His industrial
experience includes positions with the Emerson Electric Co.,
Battelle Research Laboratory, and McDonnell-Douglas Corp. He
received his B.S. degree from St. Louis University and his M.S.
and Ph.D. degrees from Iowa State University; all degrees are in
electrical engineering.
Linda L. Slakey
Dr. Slakey is a graduate of Siena
Heights College (B.S. in Chemistry),
and the University of Michigan (Ph.D.
in Biochemistry). She did postdoctoral
research at the University of Wisconsin.
Dr. Slakey was appointed to the faculty
of the Department of Biochemistry at
the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1973. Her scientific
work focused on lipid metabolism and vascular biology, and was
funded by the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart
Association, and the National Science Foundation. She was
Head of the Department of Biochemistry from 1986 until 1991,
and Dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
(NSM) from 1993 until 2000. In September of 2000, she was
appointed Dean of Commonwealth College, the honors college of
the University of Massachusetts Amherst. As Dean of NSM and
of Commonwealth College she was active in supporting teaching
and learning initiatives throughout the university, with particular
attention to engaging undergraduate students in research, to
faculty development activities that promote the transition from
lecturing to more engaged pedagogies, and to the support of
research on how students learn. She joined the National Science
Foundation in November of 2006 as Director of the Division of
Undergraduate Education.
Terry Woodin
Terry Woodin has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry
from the University of California at Davis.
She is currently a Program Director in the
Division of Undergraduate Education. She
was Lead Program Director for the NSF
Collaboratives for Excellence in Teacher
Preparation from 1992-1999. In the fall
of 1999 she spent three weeks in Japan as a Fellow of the Japan
Speaker Biographies
Society for the Promotion of Science, studying the preparation
of teachers in that country. From December of 1999 through
December of 2000 she served as a Brookings Fellow in the office
of Senator Paul Wellstone. She serves as an editor on the board
of the Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education
and is a reviewer for the Barry Goldwater Undergraduate
Scholarships.
Prior to her service at NSF, Dr. Woodin was a faculty member in
the biochemistry department at the University of Nevada, Reno,
served as Associate Director of their Honors Program and helped
found and direct the Northern Nevada Mathematics and Science
Alliance, an organization whose membership includes K-12
teachers and university faculty and administrators. Her other
professional assignments include: two years in Puerto Rico, as
a Professor of Biochemistry, helping initiate the medical school
in Ponce; three years in the chemistry department of Humboldt
State University (Arcata, CA); and four years as a teacher in
California and New York.
Photo courtesy of USDA
Program Book
27
Abstracts
Plenary Abstract................................................................A3
Workshop Session Abstracts.............................................A5
Poster Abstracts
Biological Sciences (1–54).................................................. A23
Chemistry (55–99).............................................................. A50
Computer Sciences (100–133).............................................A71
Engineering (134–243)....................................................... A88
Geological Sciences (244–256).........................................A142
Interdisciplinary (257–312)...............................................A148
Mathematics (313–343).....................................................A176
Physics / Astronomy (344–373)........................................A190
Research / Assessment of Research (374–376)................ A204
Social Sciences (377–387)............................................... A206
NSDL Abstracts . ...............................................................A212
Program Book
A1
Plenary Abstract
The Value of Interdisciplinary
Research-based Instruction
Robert J. Full, Professor
Department of Integrative Biology
University of California, Berkeley
We are in the Age of Integration. Today’s
challenges demand interdisciplinary
approaches. Academia must remove
the hurdles of history in instruction.
When faculty teach using an interdisciplinary, research-based
approach, their research can benefit directly. When taught
through cutting-edge discoveries, students see the complex
path that takes basic research to application. When taught
using inquiry, students can challenge the literature and develop
the tools of critical thinking that include tolerating uncertainty,
avoiding emotional reasoning, considering other interpretations,
falsifiability, logic, comprehensiveness, replicability and
sufficiency. When taught through team-based projects, students
experience the advantages of diversity along with the challenges
of communication. Professor Full will illustrate these approaches
by discussing three courses he teaches at Berkeley. Biomotion,
Biomechanics and Physiology highlight the fundamental
discoveries of how animals work. These principles provide
biological inspiration for space exploration, robotics, prosthetics,
adhesives, animatronics, computer animation and art. Professor
Full has created a new center at Berkeley, CIBER – Center for
Interdisciplinary Bioinspiration in Education and Research, to train
the next generation of scientists and engineers to collaborate in
mutually beneficial relationships.
Photo courtesy of USDA
Program Book
A3
Workshop Session Abstracts
A1
A4
Category:
Dissemination and Project Management
Session Title: Building and Maintaining Collaborations
Leader: Vladimir Genis
Leader’s Institution: Drexel University
Leader’s Project #: 0703836
First Co-Leader: Dawn Tamarkin
First Co-Leader’s Institution: Springfield Technical College
First Co-Leader’s Project #: 0618182
Category:
Session Description: A key for developing the science, technology, engi-
Session Description: Typically, when disseminating Course Curriculum
neering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce for the 21st century will be
meaningful partnerships among all stakeholders, including industries,
universities, community colleges, and K-12 schools. This session will describe how to establish and maintain partnerships that are mutually beneficial to all parties.
and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) project results, quantity is valued over
quality. This trend runs counter to current marketing trends that emphasize the importance of targeting messages to specific narrowly defined
audiences. This session will focus on the issues related to creating such a
targeted dissemination plan.
A2
Session Title: Institutional Barriers to the Adoption of
Innovations
Leader: Norman Fortenberry
Leader’s Institution: National Academy of Engineering
First Co-Leader: Jeanne Narum
First Co-Leader’s Institution: Independent Colleges Office
Category:
Session Description: Change often occurs slowly in our institutions of
higher education, and there are several barriers to affecting change. This
session will identify barriers to change and focus on identifying strategies
by which these barriers can be surmounted.
A3
Session Title: Research on Teaching and Learning
Leader: Diane Ebert-May
Leader’s Institution: Michigan State University
First Co-Leader: P.K. Imbrie
First Co-Leader’s Institution: Purdue University
Category:
Session Description: Recent reports on STEM education bring urgency
to the need for change in undergraduate education. How can the STEM
education community embrace change and develop a more innovative
approach to undergraduate education? One possible answer is through
research in STEM education. The focus of this session would be to begin
to address this issue.
Session Title: Targeted (or Niche) Dissemination
Leader: Matthew Vonk
Leader’s Institution: University of Wisconsin, River Falls
First Co-Leader: P.K. Raju
First Co-Leader’s Institution: Auburn University
Discussion Questions:
1. How does one identify the appropriate niche market?
2. What is the best way to reach that target audience?
3. What are some strategies for involving the prospective audience?
4. How do you measure success? How do you know if you’ve hit
your target?
A5
Material Development
Session Title: Innovative Practices in the Teaching of
Engineering
Leader: Norbert Delatte
Leader’s Institution: Cleveland State University
Category:
Session Description: Various types of case studies, both successes and
failures, can be used to facilitate student interest and learning. This breakout session will discuss the selection and sources of case studies, ways to
present case studies, ways to involve students in case study research, the
benefits of using case studies, and possible assessment rubrics.
1. In which courses is it best to use case studies, and what topics can theses studies address? Are the potential benefits worth the investment
of time and effort? Are failure or success case studies more valuable?
2. What case study materials should be provided by the instructor, and
what should be left to the student to find through library, Internet,
and other resources? What are the pros and cons of fully developed
(canned?) case studies versus a discovery learning process?
3. How can case studies be presented to students in class and out of
class? Reading assignments, PowerPoint presentations, videos, class
webpages, online discussion, class discussion, etc.?
4. What outcomes from case studies should we assess, particularly in
terms of student interest and learning? How can these be used to support Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). What
assessment rubrics and other tools can be used?
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A5
A6
A8
Session Title: Innovative Practices in Computer Science
Leader: Barbara Ericson
Leader’s Institution: Georgia Tech University
Category:
Category:
Session Description: A number of innovative practices are emerging in
the teaching of the introductory computer science courses that can be
used to attract and retain students, including Alice, Media Computation,
robotics, and games. This breakout session will discuss and share innovative practices and ideas in the teaching of computer science and changes
in the introductory computer science curriculum for majors and general
education students.
1. What are the assessment results for each approach and how was the
assessment done?
2. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each approach?
3. What are the difficulties that faculty face with respect to adopting the
approach?
4. How well does the approach work with majors? How well does the approach work with non-majors?
A7
Session Title: Use of Diagnostic Questions to Improve
Biology Teaching
Leader: Charlene D’Avanzo
Leader’s Institution: Hampshire College
First Co-Leader: Mike Klymkowsky
First Co-Leaders Institution: University of Colorado, Boulder
Category:
Session Description: An important factor in designing curriculum materials and course content is having information about the initial knowledge
state of students, including their misconceptions and skills with biological
reasoning. This breakout session will discuss the use of biology concept
inventories and similar diagnostic questions based on education research
to improve biology teaching, especially of introductory courses
1. Based on your experience, what are three to four common misconceptions or alternative conceptions that biology students hold and how
have you attempted to dislodge this thinking? How do you know if you
have been successful?
2. If biology faculty could accurately identify faculty thinking and reasoning about core concepts and ideas at the beginning of a course, how
might this change their teaching? From your experience, do you know
if faculty are doing this?
3. How do we help biology faculty use tools such as concept inventories
and other research-based diagnostic tests to improve introductory biology teaching?
A6
Program Book
Pedagogy
Session Title: Let’s Not Reinvent the Wheel: What Have We
Learned about Student-Active Pedagogies?
Leader: Jeffrey Froyd
Leader’s Institution: Texas A&M University
Session Description: Many science, engineering, and mathematics fac-
ulty who contribute CCLI proposals have adopted various innovative,
student-active pedagogies. Nevertheless, knowledge of the literature that
provides data on the efficacy of one or more student-active pedagogies
from carefully designed studies is not widespread. In this session, a summary of high-quality studies of student-active pedagogies will be shared
to help broaden awareness of existing studies, collect additional studies,
and provide a cumulative summary to support future work.
1. How can lessons learned in one discipline be effectively transferred to
another discipline?
2. How do we best inform faculty in one discipline about pedagogic innovation in another discipline?
3. How can we facilitate the adoption to another discipline?
A9
Pedagogy
Session Title: Bringing Education Research to Practice
Leader: Norbert Pienta
Leader’s Institution: University of Iowa
Category:
Session Description: Participants will discuss methods for implementing
chemistry education research in practice. The presenter has used methods such as cognitive load theory to design and assess chemistry problem-solving strategies and test questions. In the session, participants will
brainstorm about adapting these methods to other STEM disciplines.
1. How do I find out about research-based findings in science education
in my area? What about research in STEM disciplines outside of my
area?
2. Several innovations have been supported by research and National
Science Foundation (NSF) initiatives. How do I pick the best one for my
institution or my particular set of circumstances?
3. Research often demonstrates the shortcomings or problems with current pedagogy and practice. What are the best interventions and how
do I pick among the possibilities?
A10
Pedagogy
Session Title: Integrating Hands-on Investigations to Teach
STEM Courses
Leader: Michael Rogers
Category:
Ithaca College
Leader’s Institution:
Session Description: Using studio-physics as a model, this session will
discuss how the studio-classroom format can enhance student learning
in STEM. This model integrates peer instruction, student polling devices,
mini-investigations, and full experiments to engage students in an active
learning environment. Evaluation methods that provide evidence of effectiveness of this model include pre-testing and post-testing, homework,
laboratory reports, quizzes, exams, end-of-course questionnaires, reflection logs, student interviews, and faculty interviews.
1. What are the institutional and administrative challenges in moving
STEM instruction to a studio format?
2. What are the best approaches for helping faculty feel comfortable in
this new teaching/learning environment?
3. How is the studio-classroom effectively used in large class settings?
How can this format provide a secure environment for exams?
A11
Pedagogy
Session Title: Undergraduate Research as a Pedagogical
Approach for Increasing Student Engagement and Learning
Leader: Nancy Hensel
Leader’s Institution: Council on Undergraduate Research,
Executive Officer
First Co-Leader: Kerry Karukstis
First Co-Leader’s Institution: Harvey Mudd College
Second Co-Leader: Jeffrey Osborn
Second Co-Leader’s Institution: The College of New Jersey
Second Co-Leader’s Project #: 0713546, 0618542
Category:
Session Description: There are various models for integrating under-
graduate research as an effective strategy for increasing student engagement and learning. Recently, greater attention has been placed on providing students research and research-like experiences earlier and more
often in their studies. In this session, models for various types of research
experiences will be discussed as well as strategies for institutionalizing
undergraduate research.
1. How can we best build a “community of scholars” to foster a campus
culture of undergraduate research?
2. How can research and research-like experiences be best incorporated
in the classroom environment?
3. What are the challenges of institutionalizing undergraduate research?
What are successful strategies for overcoming these challenges?
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Personnel Development
Session Title: Faculty Development/Scientific Teaching
Leader: Sarah Miller
Leader’s Institution: University of Wisconsin, Madison
Category:
Session Description: This session will focus on helping faculty use active
learning, assessment, and diversity to design instruction that engages
students in the process of science. The session will also address how to
use an iterative model of modifying instruction based on assessment.
1. Learning goals: What content is essential to learn in a STEM undergraduate course?
2. Active learning and diversity: What types of activities will foster learning for diverse students?
3. Assessment: How do you know whether students are learning? How do
your students know what—and how well—they are learning?
4. Evaluation: How do you evaluate instructional materials and
teaching?
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Session Title: The Role of Disciplinary Societies in Advancing
STEM Faculty in Undergraduate Reform
Leader: Amy Chang
Leader’s Institution: American Society for Microbiology
Category:
Session Description: In the Biology Scholars model, there are several
unique roles for societies: facilitating, validating, and advancing members’
practice of evidenced-based learning; providing a community of practice
for biologists practicing evidenced-based learning; providing venues to
publish and disseminate results; and recognizing and providing leadership opportunities to colleagues engaged in science education reform.
1. What are the greatest challenges facing biology educators in the coming decade?
2. What is needed to transform biology education in your department?
What will be different when it is transformed?
3. How can societies play a role in transforming biology education in your
discipline? What will be different when it is transformed?
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with Graduate Teaching Assistants
and Undergraduate Peer Teachers
Leader: Monica Cox
Leader’s Institution: Purdue University
First Co-Leader: Christine Ehlig-Economides
Category:
Session Title: Working
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First Co-Leader’s Institution: Texas
A&M University
Session Description: This session will focus jointly on engaging gradu-
ate teaching assistants (GTAs) in the undergraduate educational process
and using undergraduate peer teachers (UPTs) as instructors and as part
of the learning community. After introductory remarks from the breakout
leaders about their preliminary findings within funded studies related to
GTAs and UPTs, workshop participants will engage in an interactive session that allows them to explore the rationale for involving GTAs in undergraduate learning environments, to identify instructor expectations and
GTA and UPT roles in these environments, and to discover challenges that
instructors may encounter working with GTAs and UPTs.
1. What advantages and disadvantages are there to engaging GTAs and
UPTs as part of your learning community?
2. What should be done to ensure GTA and UPT success in the roles you
envision for them?
3. How do you create effective professional development opportunities
for GTAs and UPTs within STEM disciplines?
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Research and Assessment
Session Title: Developing Instructor-Coached Activities for
Hybrid and Online Courses
Leader: Cem Kaner
Leader’s Institution: Florida Institute of Technology
Category:
Session Description: We teach in a format that uses videotaped lectures.
In the hybrid classes (undergrad and graduate), students watch the video
before coming to class. We use classroom time for coached activities relevant to the preceding or upcoming lecture. In the online classes (professional development), we use similar activities as the focus of peer-reviewed group projects. We’ve been working through examples of activities
used in other disciplines, trying to build a collection of templates to help
us generate new activities for each of our learning units. The breakout will
start with examples of two of the activities we use. We will describe the
activity itself, how we use it and why, and a more general class of activities
that includes it.
1. What are your three main objectives for in-class activities?
2. How do you assess whether an activity is effective?
3. Have you seen good collections of activities? If so, where would we find
them? Have you tried any of them and, if so, how well did they work for
you?
4. Have you seen any good classifications of activities or collections of
patterns of activities?
5. Have you worked from generic activity descriptions to generate activities for your classes? How did that work?
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Session Title: Institution-Wide Assessment of Scientific and
Quantitative Student Learning Gains
Leader: Donna Sundre
Leader’s Institution: James Madison University
Category:
Session Description: Scientific and quantitative student learning may
mean one thing in one classroom and something entirely different in another classroom. What happens when we try to define scientific and quantitative learning at the classroom level, at the departmental level, and at
the institutional level? Two additional components of the topic include
the notion of “institution-wide assessment of scientific and quantitative
student learning” and the very ticklish notion of student learning gains.
Consideration and resolution of the distinct differences in definitions are
central to making progress in assessment that faculty care about.
1. What do we mean by “Science for All” and how does this fit into our
definitions of scientific and quantitative reasoning?
2. At your institution, at what point in the process has a meaningful assessment of quantitative and scientific literacy stalled?
3. What are the prerequisites for valuable and meaningful data that faculty will pay attention to and actually use?
4. The assessment of student learning gains suggests a value-added™
methodology. Has your institution or program considered assessment
of student learning gains, and what evidence would be most credible
to you and your colleagues to answer this kind of question?
A17
Session Title: Using “ePortfolio” to Objectively Measure
Student Gains From Mentored Research
Leader: Kathryn Wilson
Leader’s Institution: Indiana University, Purdue University at
Indianapolis
Category:
Session Description: This breakout session will discuss the use of elec-
tronic portfolios (ePortfolios) to assess student achievement. Electronic
portfolios can present a picture of student achievement from an institutional level, a school, or a department or program level and from a student
viewpoint. This breakout session will focus on approaches to documenting the intellectual gains experienced by students as a result of participating in a mentored research experience. The workshop leader will discuss
some of the steps required to construct a useful assessment instrument
and lay out some of the key challenges an institution may encounter in
working out an objective assessment.
1. What are the primary outcomes we look for when assessing a student’s
learning as a result of participating in an undergraduate research experience? Consider, for example, student skills in the areas of 1) core
communication and quantitative skills, 2) critical thinking, and 3) integration and application of knowledge. How do we refer to these in the
assessment instrument?
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2. How do we construct rubrics that provide useful data about the outcomes that we seek? What constructive rubrics are available for grading research experiences? What surveys are available and what do they
measure?
3 How do we quantify the intellectual gains students experience as a result of mentored undergraduate research experiences?
4. What else do we want to know about the mentoring environment that
we can examine in an ePortfolio? How do we want students to interact
with their mentors within the ePortfolio environment? How do student
and faculty perceptions of student intellectual gain as a result of a
mentored undergraduate research experience differ?
5. How can student and faculty member reflection within the ePortfolio
environment contribute to measuring intellectual growth?
6. What technological barriers exist at present and what solutions have
institutions brought to bear to overcome these barriers? What are the
social or organizational barriers on campuses that prevent development of effective ePortfolio tools? How have different groups overcome
these barriers? What are some constructive solutions to social roadblocks to using ePortfolios (faculty resistance, for example)?
A18
Session Title: Writing for Assessment and Learning in the
Sciences using Calibrated Peer Review™
Leader: Arlene Russell
Leader’s Institution: University of California–Los Angeles
Category:
Session Description: As the literature on research and practice with Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) grows, faculty have mounting evidence, across
many disciplines, to support the introduction of writing and peer review
in their classes. The CPR program provides a template and a process to
manage the submission and evaluation of writing assignments, thus removing many of the barriers of faculty- or teaching assistant–intensive
writing courses. STEM students, however, frequently remain skeptical of
the value of writing in the sciences and fearful of change in traditional
assessment measures, particularly in peer review. Like the introduction
of any major change in a course, implementing CPR requires thoughtful
planning. To be successful, the process must not only convince students
that they can learn through writing, but also give them the confidence that
they and their peers can gain the knowledge, skills, and ability to reliably
evaluate the work of others.
Four questions will direct the group discussion on successfully implementing writing and assessment using CPR.
1. How can faculty select or create appropriate, well-designed assignments so that students can recognize the process of writing-to-learn in
the sciences?
2. What tools are in the CPR program to help faculty relieve student fears
that peer review is unfair?
3. How does the CPR program teach students who have no prior experience reviewing to become critical thinkers as competent reviewers?
4. How does the program assist faculty in building the confidence of students as they engage in the peer-review process?
A19
Category: Technology-Based
Education
Session Title: Enhancement of Classroom Instruction Using
Personal Response Systems
Leader: Sheryl Ball
Leader’s Institution: Virginia Tech University
First Co-Leader: Neville Reay
First Co-Leader’s Institution: The Ohio State University
Session Description: Personal Response Systems (PRSs) have become
ubiquitous on many campuses and in many classrooms. The design of a
teaching pedagogy using PRSs (i.e., how to pick good questions) poses
a challenge to faculty. While it is easy to help maintain student attention
and make class more “fun,” more advanced teaching strategies offer innovative ways to do formative assessment and achieve other types of active
learning. This breakout session will discuss and share innovative practices
and ideas to increase active engagement of learners with applications in
economics and physics.
1. Why bother? What are motivations for using clickers and other classroom technology?
2. How do you select learning goals that are appropriate for your class?
How does this help choose the right questions?
3. What are some of the problems that you have encountered and how do
you deal with them?
4. What is the bottom line? Do students really learn more?
A20
Education
New Tools for Teaching Geoscience: From
Large Datasets to Cybermapping and 3D Animations
Leader: Laura Leventhal
Leader’s Institution: Bowling Green State University
First Co-Leader: Jeffrey Ryan
First Co-Leader’s Institution: University of South Florida
Session Title:
Session Description: The use of innovative technologies in introductory
geoscience courses has a number of potential benefits, including greater
inclusion of students who may have not been included previously, interesting students in research careers, and so on. For example, student
understanding of concepts such as topographical maps can be improved
using three-dimensional animation and interactive animation tools, especially for those students with lower spatial ability. This breakout session
will discuss and share innovative practices and ideas in the use of technology, including three-dimensional animations, simulations, and visualizations to improve student learning with examples from geology.
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1. How can innovative technologies be used to enhance student learning in introductory geoscience courses, especially students who might
otherwise be limited by factors such as low spatial ability?
2. What technologies and approaches work? Is it enough to simply incor
porate innovative technologies or does the approach matter?
3. Is it enough to improve student performance in the classroom? What is
the role of performance in tasks versus actual learning?
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0717504
Session Description: A major learning barrier for many engineering
students who are highly visual learners is the need to develop an understanding of the practice and process of problem-solving and the ability to
transcend disciplinary boundaries in areas where abstract concepts are
involved. This breakout session will discuss and share innovative practices and ideas in the use of the simulations to overcome these barriers
and teach important concepts in engineering.
Education
Session Title: Remote Instrumentation for Teaching
Chemistry: Challenges and Benefits
Leader: Alexander Grushow
Leader’s Institution: Rider University
First Co-Leader: Alline Somlai
First Co-Leader’s Institution: Delta State University
Session Description: Accessing state-of-the-research-practice instru-
mentation remotely offers a way to modernize undergraduate laboratory
instruction and provide instrumentation for undergraduate research at
institutions, both baccalaureate and two-year colleges, that normally cannot afford to acquire and maintain larger instrumentation. With the growth
of the Internet, a number of mechanisms have been developed to obtain
data from a remote site, and a number of cases even operate instrumentation from a remote location. This breakout session will discuss and share
innovative practices in remote-use instrumentation in the undergraduate
chemistry laboratory, including the challenges and benefits.
1. What is the level of interactivity (and connectivity) that is needed to
use an instrument from a remote location?
2. What other logistical issues need to be addressed? In particular, how
much work needs to be done at the other end? How are samples transported and prepared?
3. What does a student get out of using a remote piece of scientific instrument and how is this affected by the lack of a physical box in the
room?
4. While sharing instrumentation does help spread out the cost, what are
the logistical issues in spreading out the purchase and maintenance
costs? What models exist to ease the burden on hosting institutions?
1. What are the main barriers for incorporating computer simulation activities in engineering curricula?
2. What are the pros and cons of simulation-based engineering courses?
3. How can we increase awareness to STEM disciplines in general and
engineering in particular through simulation-based gaming among kindergarten to grade 12 students?
4. The next dimension: What is the value of adding real-time rendering,
3-D graphics, and other advancements in computer science to educational simulation software?
B1
Session Title: Institutional Inertia: Getting Your Colleagues
and Administrators on Board
Leader: Christine Broussard
Leader’s Institution: University of LaVerne
First Co-Leader: Edward Berger
First Co-Leader’s Institution: University of Virginia
Category:
Session Description: In STEM, we have a particularly acute challenge of
convincing other faculty and our institutional administrators of the merits
of our projects to enhance education. Our colleagues are often supportive
but unwilling to prioritize or alter their teaching efforts to the degree necessary to engage in some of our ideas and strategies. Administrators are
eager for faculty to acquire funds and accolades, but desire to minimize
or eliminate institutional responsibility for the cost of improving science
education. This session will focus on ideas and methods for getting other
instructors to adopt innovative (or simply different) teaching methods and
to increase institutional support for continued efforts to improve science
education.
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Education
Use of Simulations to Improve Student
Learning in Engineering
Leader: Erez Allouche
Leader’s Institution: Louisiana Tech University
First Co-Leader: Henry Liu
First Co-Leader’s Institution: University of Minnesota
Session Title:
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First Co-Leader’s Project #:
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1. What challenges, if any, have you encountered with other faculty in
implementing your project? Try to give a specific example.
2. What challenges, if any, have you encountered with administration in
implementing your project? Try to give a specific example.
3. What strategy (or strategies) have you used to counter the challenges
you have faced? Did the approach(es) work?
4. What other ideas do you have, perhaps not yet tested, that might be
good approaches to the challenges we face?
B2
B4
Session Title: Project Dissemination
Leader: Stephen Edwards
Leader’s Institution: Virginia Tech
First Co-Leader: Ned Mohan
First Co-Leader’s Institution: University of Minnesota
Category:
Category:
Session Description: CCLI has provided resources to faculty members to
develop innovative instructional materials and practices. One of the goals
of CCLI is that materials and methods are adopted by institutions other
than the primary development site; another goal is to contribute to the
formation of a community of scholars with expertise in educational innovation. Project dissemination plays an important role in achieving these
goals. This session will focus on project dissemination and will feature
innovative, active strategies for maximizing project impact.
B3
Session Title: Sustainable Curricular Reforms in Large
Introductory Courses
Leader: Michael Schatz
Leader’s Institution: Georgia Institute of Technology
First Co-Leader: Thomas Greenbowe
First Co-Leader’s Institution: Iowa State University
Category:
Session Description: At research-intensive universities, most students in
introductory STEM courses are taught in a large lecture format using curricula that have not changed significantly in the past half-century (or more).
Good curricular reforms have been developed; however, such reforms are
seldom tested, rarely adopted, and almost never sustained in large lecture
courses. This session will discuss strategies for increasing the likelihood
of sustainable curricular change in large introductory courses.
1. What are the chief barriers to sustainable reform?
2. Do departments need education research specialists “in-house” for
sustaining reforms?
3. What role can measurement of student learning play in adopting/sustaining reforms?
4. What role does the “culture of the department” have on tenure and
promotion issues with respect to faculty, including “the scholarship of
teaching” as a T&P component?
5. What role do peer-reviewed education research publications play in
providing evidence that a particular reform effort is effective?
6. What are the best first steps departments can take toward sustainable
reform?
Session Title: Using WEB 2.0 Tools to Disseminate Curricular
Materials
Leader: Andrew Beveridge
Leader’s Institution: Queens College, CUNY
First Co-Leader: Autar Kaw
First Co-Leader’s Institution: University of Southern Florida
Session Description: The advent of so-called Web 2.0, which includes
collaborative and interactive web-based applications, such as Facebook,
MySpace, YouTube, and 2nd Life, present challenges and opportunities
for educators. These applications engage the undergraduates we are trying to reach. This session will review and discuss both the opportunities
and pitfalls of using Web 2.0 approaches in curriculum development and
in project dissemination.
B5
Session Title: Innovative Practices in Computer Science
Leader: James Cross
Leader’s Institution: Auburn University
Category:
Session Description: The ideal integrated development environment
(IDE) for introductory computer science courses would include basic
operations (e.g., edit, compile, run, and debug) and advanced features
(e.g., visual debugger, workbench, interactions pane, and visualizations
for class structure, control structure, and data structure). This breakout
session will discuss what features are present in integrated development
environments and features that are missing, as well as other innovative
practices in the teaching of computer science.
1. What are the barriers to using IDEs in introductory computer courses?
2. How can IDEs provide direct pedagogical support?
3. How can software visualizations be used effectively?
4. What are the implications for migrating to a professional IDE?
B6
Engineering
Leader: Cliff Davidson
Leader’s Institution: Carnegie Mellon University
Category:
Session Description: Engineers are increasingly being called upon to
create environmentally sustainable solutions to societal problems. This
breakout session will discuss and share innovative practices and ideas
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to facilitate the incorporation of sustainable engineering into current curricula with the outcome that engineering graduates will incorporate sustainability into their practice.
1. Where can one obtain information and real-world data related to Sustainable Engineering that can be used to develop course materials?
2. What are the best learning activities through which to incorporate Sustainable Engineering materials into a course?
3. Since Sustainable Engineering is not a separate discipline but rather
a new way of solving engineering problems, what are the best ways
of introducing Sustainable Engineering in courses throughout the
curriculum?
4. What can individual faculty members do so that their efforts in developing course materials in Sustainable Engineering are recognized by
department heads and deans?
5. Overall, what are the main obstacles to changing the status quo so that
engineering graduates have the knowledge and skills to incorporate
Sustainable Engineering into their practice?
B7
Pedagogy
Session Title: Incorporating Authentic Research Experiences
into Various Stages of the Curriculum
Leader: James Hewlett
Leader’s Institution: Finger Lakes Community College
First Co-Leader: Theodore Muth
First Co-Leader’s Institution: City University of New York–
Brooklyn College
Category:
Session Description: Within the past eight years, several landmark re-
ports from the National Research Council and the National Science Foundation have identified the need to reform STEM curriculum at the college
level. At the core of the many recommendations is the idea that to learn
science, a student must do science. To accomplish this, the reports suggest that an undergraduate research experience be incorporated as early
as possible in the educational pathway. In this breakout session, we will
explore models for integrating a research experience into a college science curriculum. Special attention will be placed on integrating this type
of experience into freshman and sophomore courses: a task that contains
its own unique set of challenges. An effective model must address many of
the barriers associated with conducting undergraduate research at these
levels. These barriers include heavy teaching or research responsibilities,
lack of research and inquiry-based teaching skills, poor administrative
support, transferability of the experience (e.g., community colleges), lack
of resources, and limited access to research collaborations and networks
for the development of novel research questions for undergraduates.
1. What are the specific barriers that prevent the integration of undergraduate research at various institutions (e.g., two-year and four-year
colleges)?
2. What are the systemic barriers that are unique to community colleges
that will prevent them from being leaders in this type of reform effort?
3. What are some of the ways that various types of institutions can work
together to address specific barriers?
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4. What are some of the existing models that address these barriers?
5. What are some of the tools that institutions can use to begin to explore their own unique situations to identify the strengths and weaknesses that relate to the establishment of an undergraduate research
program?
B8
Pedagogy
Case-Based Learning in STEM
Leader: Mark Bergland
Leader’s Institution: University of Wisconsin–River Falls
Leader’s Project #: 0717577, 0229156
Category:
Session Title:
Session Description: Case-based learning is a powerful tool for engaging
students in authentic, interesting learning experiences in STEM. Participants in this session will learn about different types of cases and how to
plan for using case-based learning and how to implement this teaching
method successfully in STEM classes. Integrating computer simulations
offers yet another potential for using case-based learning. The group will
also generate ideas for cases.
1. What types of case-based/problem-based learning do you currently
use with your classes? How successful has your approach been, and
do you have plans to modify it?
2. Have you had experience using online tools for case-based learning
(wikis, discussion boards, etc.)? Have your students interacted in this
way with students from other institutions?
3. How much direction do students need when working on cases? What
are the relative advantages of open-ended problems compared to more
directed case studies?
4. What sort of “problem spaces” (resources, etc.) provide the richest
learning experiences?
5. How do you assess student learning in these projects?
B9
Pedagogy
Session Title: Adapting Pedagogies Across Disciplines: What
Is the Potential, What Are the Limitations?
Leader: Scott Simkins
Leader’s Institution: North Carolina A&T State University
Category:
Session Description: This session will focus on the potential benefits and
limitations of adapting pedagogical innovations developed in one discipline for use in another discipline. By discussing in small interdisciplinary
groups, this interactive session will highlight the implications of our ability to gain knowledge and ideas from research activities outside our own
fields. Session participants will address the questions listed below.
1. How large are the pedagogical intersections across disciplines? How
can we best identify these intersections?
2. How similar must disciplines be to facilitate effective cross-disciplinary
pedagogical adaptations?
3. What challenges remain for learning and integrating successful pedagogies across the disciplines?
B10
Pedagogy
Session Title: The Use of Themed-Based Projects to Motivate
Greater Participation in STEM Courses
Leader: Ingrid Russell
Leader’s Institution: University of Hartford
Category:
Session Description: Studies have shown that the choice of context or
problem domain of assignments and examples used in class can have a
dramatic impact on student motivation and in turn on the quality of their
learning. A problem domain that a student relates to and finds relevant
leads to deeper understanding and hence smoother transfer to other domains. Using an example from computer science involving machine learning systems, the presenter will show how this context can span a wide
range of application areas that students can choose from. Participants in
the session will discuss such approaches and their potential in motivating
greater participation in computer science and other STEM disciplines.
1. What are suitable problem domains to which students relate and find
relevant?
2. What are the salient characteristics of projects that will likely promote
deeper understanding?
3. Can we design projects that help motivate students’ interest in further
study?
4. How can lessons learned in computer science be transferred to other
disciplines?
B11
Session Title: Developing Faculty “Nurturing Leaders”
Supporting Agents of Change
Leader: Jeanne Narum
Leader’s Institution: Project Kaleidoscope
Category:
Session Description: Lessons learned from the NSF-funded PKAL Leader-
ship Initiative (LI) about what works in the process of change are fundamentally about campus culture. Where the impetus for change surfaced
and how relevant conversations were engaged, barriers to change identified and addressed, and piloting efforts encouraged each depended on
the formal and informal policies and practices of the community. Questions to be addressed in this session follow. Some answers from PKAL LI
experience will be presented; the heart of the session will be to gather
new insights and ideas from experiences of participants.
1. What are the major barriers to scaling-up and institutionalizing new
curricular/pedagogical approaches that would strengthen and sustain
a robust undergraduate STEM learning environment, for all students
and/or for STEM majors on your campus? What can be done at the
institutional level to build leadership teams, taking responsibility to
address those barriers?
2. How does one come to understand his or her own capacity and potential for leadership in context?
3. What is meant by “leadership” will be a question that is threaded
throughout the session.
B12
Session Title: Incorporating Research Findings from the
Learning Sciences
Leader: David Yaron
Leader’s Institution: Carnegie Mellon University
First Co-Leader: Melanie Cooper
First Co-Leader’s Institution: Clemson University
Category:
Session Description: Discipline-based science education research and
research from the learning science fields provide valuable knowledge for
improving teaching in STEM. However, these research results are not used
by many individuals teaching STEM in the college and university settings.
Participants in this session will discuss strategies for integrating learning
science into curriculum development projects. They will also brainstorm
about ways to bring discipline-based science education research results
to a larger audience.
1. What are the most effective ways to make research from learning sciences accessible to a more general audience?
2. Why does private empiricism seem to be acceptable in education when
it would not be accepted in any other arena of scholarship?
3. What are the impediments to integration of discipline-based science
education research results into curriculum reform?
B13
Undergraduates as Partners in Innovating
STEM Curricula
Leader: Ellen Goldey
Leader’s Institution: Wofford College
Category:
Session Title:
Session Description: Where do we find the creativity, energy, and fresh
insight to revitalize our courses and programs? Who are the role models
that can motivate students to become more engaged learners? Who can
provide unique insight into the minds and lives of students? The one answer to all these questions should be obvious, but it is often overlooked.
Our undergraduates possess a variety of talents, but they are rarely invited to work with us in improving our academic programs. When they are,
the partnership can lead to mutually rewarding outcomes. Please join in a
discussion of ways in which top students have worked in partnership with
professors to innovate the curriculum.
1. How have students aided in course planning and implementation?
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2. How have undergraduates helped implement experiential learning and
community-based research activities?
3. How can upperclassmen foster trust and a closer community among
students in introductory courses?
4. How might our best students share their energy and creativity to acquire extramural funding and market effective programs to various
constituencies? Plan to share your own answers to these questions
with the group.
B14
Session Title: Developing Assessment Tools in a Discipline
Leader: Stacey Lowery Bretz
Leader’s Institution: Miami University
Leader’s Project #: 0626027, 0536776
First Co-Leader: Thomas Holme
First Co-Leader’s Institution: Iowa State University
Category:
Session Description: The session will focus on the relationship between
learning and assessment. The premise framing this session is that knowing how to make classroom choices about content and pedagogy to drive
forward student learning requires high-quality measures of that learning.
Activities will explore faculty assumptions about assessment and how to
carefully articulate measures of learning so that assessment plays an important role in the design of projects for enhanced learning.
1. What aspects of your science discipline are particularly challenging to
assess? What makes them so challenging?
2. Are there aspects of your science discipline that are prone to errors in
measuring student knowledge? Do these measurement errors lead us
to believe our students know more than they actually do or less than
they actually do?
3. Aside from the content domain constraints of your discipline, what
are the other major factors that affect the reliability and the validity of
questions that may be asked as part of assessment?
4. How could assessment guide curriculum development or pedagogical
innovation within your discipline?
5. What should be the role of assessment in driving student learning in
your discipline?
B15
Session Title: Diagnosing Student Learning in the Biological
Sciences
Leader: Douglas Luckie
Leader’s Institution: Michigan State University
First Co-Leader: Charlene D’Avanzo
First Co-Leader’s Institution: Hampshire College
Category:
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Session Description: In this session, we will introduce two different
types of diagnostic tools that allow students and faculty to recognize
students’ misconceptions and poor biological reasoning. Douglas Luckie
has been working with colleagues on the “The Concept Connector,” a
web-based tool that students use to draw their own concepts maps and
receive immediate formative feedback (http://ctools.msu.edu/ctools).
Charlene D’Avanzo and colleagues are developing sets of “Diagnostic
Question Clusters” that are carefully researched questions that diagnose
students’ common misunderstandings and faulty biological thinking. They
“cluster” around biological processes such as tracing matter and energy
in photosynthesis.
Participants will be challenged to work in groups of two or three to build a
concept map of something they really know using post-it notes.
B16
Methods of Project Assessment
Leader: William Walstad
Leader’s Institution: University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Leader’s Project #: 0338482, 0652153
Category:
Session Title:
Session Description: A challenging aspect of directing an NSF grant
project is figuring out how to assess outcomes and use the results to improve the project or report findings. Each NSF grant project is unique and
typically designed to meet multiple goals and objectives, so assessment
methods will differ within and across projects. At the same time there are
commonalities in the methods used and questions asked as part of an
investigation. The purpose of this session will be to give principal investigators (PIs) an opportunity to describe and discuss the methods that they
use to assess their projects. This sharing and discussion will give PIs new
insights about the variety of methods used, or that could be used, and
also help them understand commonalities and concerns across projects.
Attention will be given both to formative strategies that help PIs shape
their projects and to summative strategies for yearly or final reporting.
1. What assessment methods do you use for your project and why do you
use them?
2. If you could redo your project, would you conduct your assessment in
the same way?
3. Are there significant advantages or disadvantages with particular assessment methods?
4. In what ways have assessment practices shaped your thinking or the
work on your project?
B17
Education
Session Title: Distance Learning in Engineering Using the
World Wide Web
Leader: Driss Benhaddou
Leader’s Institution: University of Houston
First Co-Leader: Ismail Fidan
First Co-Leader’s Institution: Tennessee Tech University
0536509
Session Description: Online laboratories, including simulations and
remotely controlled components, offer greater flexibility for course
offerings and make the laboratory courses accessible to students in
remote geographic areas that have access to the World Wide Web. This
breakout session will discuss and share innovative practices in the use of
the web to provide distance learning opportunities for students with an
emphasis on engineering laboratory courses.
1. What are the fundamental concepts of the subject matter that can be
most effectively addressed in an online laboratory environment.
2. How do you best parse an experiment undertaken into pieces that can
be addressed by simulation, by visual exposition, by analytical exercise, and by actual manipulation of equipment?
3. How do you differentiate between the imperfection of our student’s
learning and that of our teaching technique? Identify the capabilities
and limitation of the e-laboratory.
4. How is students’ learning improved? Address distance learning versus
on-ground learning settings and discussion of the factors in Teamwork,
Communication, Real-Life Problem Solution, and Critical Thinking, etc.
(Student Side).
5. What are the effective evaluation tools to measure the success of your
distance-based laboratory? Do you tabulate your findings? What are
good and bad indications in your survey results? What are ways to improve your survey results?
B18
Education
Session Title: Enhancement of Classroom Instruction in
Biology Using Technology
Leader: Sara Tobin
Leader’s Institution: Stanford University
Session Description: Today’s undergraduates have grown up in a sophis-
ticated online world and require new multimedia approaches to engage
them in the learning process. This breakout session will provide a forum for
discussion and sharing of innovative practices in teaching of biology with
an emphasis on the use of electronic tools for teaching about genetics.
0717720
First Co-Leader: Robert Teese
First Co-Leader’s Institution: Rochester Institute of Technology
Leader’s Project #:
Session Description: Real-time events in most STEM disciplines take
place in a time frame that is too short or too long for students to either
observe or make measurements. In this breakout session, we will discuss
and share ideas about the teaching of biology, chemistry, and physics using video capture and analysis techniques. Participants who bring laptop
computers will have an opportunity to use LoggerPro and QuickTime Software to analyze data from LivePhoto Project video clips.
1. What is your field and what topics do you envision teaching with the
capture and analysis of video clips or single photos?
2. What are some ways that you might structure assignments and projects involving capture and analysis that promote active learning, e.g.,
enhancing investigative skills, addressing learning difficulties, developing effective teamwork, etc.?
3. What are some impediments to using video capture and analysis to
enhance student learning?
B20
Education
Session Title: Remote Instrumentation for Teaching
Astronomy
Leader: Claud Lacy
Leader’s Institution: University of Arkansas
Session Description: Accessing telescopes remotely offers a way to pro-
vide quality observational data for undergraduate astronomy laboratories
and undergraduate research at institutions, both baccalaureate and twoyear colleges, that normally do not have access to these types of facilities.
This breakout session will discuss and share innovative practices in the
use of robotic imaging telescopes for the teaching of observational astronomy and enhancing student participation in undergraduate research.
1. How can innovations that lead to effective learning be identified and
adapted?
2. How can student enthusiasm and interest be promoted?
3. How can electronic approaches support effective interactions and promote learning?
4. How can evaluation activities be implemented to document effective
learning approaches?
1. What are the disadvantages of WebScopes in the astronomy lab and
how can these be ameliorated?
2. What do I need to build a WebScope myself? What are the costs?
3. Suppose I want to use a WebScope in my class, but I don’t want to
build one myself? How can I do that?
4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using remote telescopes in introductory astronomy laboratories compared to having
hands-on access to classroom quality telescopes?
B19
B21
Education
Session Title: Enhancing Classroom Instruction Using Video
Capture and Analysis
Leader: Priscilla Laws
Leader’s Institution: Dickinson College
Education
Use of Animation, Simulation, and
Visualization to Improve Student Learning
Leader: Steven Fleming
Leader’s Institution: Brigham Young University
Session Title:
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0717133
Session Description: Student understanding of complex concepts in
biochemistry such as enzymes, carbohydrates, lipids, and DNA, and
biochemical reactions can be improved with the use of simulations and
animations. In this breakout session, we will discuss and share innovative
practices and ideas in the use of animations, simulations, and visualizations to improve student learning. We will use examples from chemistry
and biochemistry.
1. Does it make sense to use valuable class time on computer visualizations or is this teaching tool best suited for homework/computer lab
work?
2. Can we assume that technology is equally available? Are all students
going to have access to personal computers? Do all schools have openaccess computer labs?
3. Are all instructors expected to use technology for teaching?
4. Who should be responsible for providing (compiling, organizing,
choosing, evaluating) the technology that will be used: textbook authors, publishing company, individual instructors, stakeholders?
B22
Education
Using the World Wide Web to Enhance
Mathematics Learning
Leader: Lang Moore
Leader’s Institution: Duke University
First Co-Leader: Daryl Yong
First Co-Leader’s Institution: Harvey Mudd College
Session Title:
Session Description: The Mathematical Association of America (MAA)
supports the Mathematical Sciences Digital Library (MathDL), now the
MAA’s pathway project in the National Science Digital Library (NSDL)
(mathdl.maa.org). In addition, the MAA maintains many other online resources, including a wiki devoted to Better Practices for Math on the web
(mathonweb.org). This breakout session will highlight these and other online mathematical resources available on the web and discuss how these
resources can be used to improve learning in mathematics throughout the
STEM curriculum.
1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of “publishing” your project materials on your own site as opposed to having them published on
an established site?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of the following
methods for including mathematics in a webpage: MathML, jsMath,
ASCIIMath, Latex-to-PDF?
C1
Session Title: Leading Multi-Institution Collaborative
Projects
Leader: Terry Lahm
Leader’s Institution: Capital University
Category:
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First Co-Leader: Eric Voss
First Co-Leader’s Institution:
University of Southern Illinois at
Edwardsville
0633186
Session Description: Collaborative projects that involve multiple institu-
tions have their own set of particular problems including communication,
contracts, and commitments. This session will explore methods for creating and maintaining large partnerships, across institutional boundaries,
to achieve innovations in undergraduate education.
C2
Session Title: Project Sustainability
Leader: William Oakes
First Co-Leader: Eric Simanek
First Co-Leader’s Institution: Texas A&M University
Category:
Session Description: What happens to your great idea after NSF funding
runs out? Will all of your hard work be for nothing in the long run? In this
session, strategies for ensuring that the results of your project continue in
a meaningful way will be highlighted.
C3
Session Title: Improving the Scientific Literacy of all
Students
Leader: Amy Jessen-Marshall
Leader’s Institution: Otterbein University
Category:
Session Description: It is increasingly important in today’s global society for all students, including non-science majors, to become scientifically
literate and understand the processes and limitations of science. Models
of General Education vary, often including introductory majors courses as
options for non-majors to meet science requirements; however, creative
course models designed for all students with an emphasis on problemsolving and scientific methodology are offered as a successful alternative.
This breakout session will discuss and share innovative practices and
ideas to improve scientific literacy through team-taught interdisciplinary
lab-based courses within an Integrative Studies core curriculum.
1. What models for course design are most successful in developing scientific literacy for non-science majors?
2. How can you organize general education science courses to meet the
needs of majors and non-majors in science?
3. What themes or content areas are most important to develop scientifically literate citizens?
4. What are the pros and cons of team-teaching interdisciplinary science
courses?
C4
Session Title: Innovative Practices in the Life Sciences Major
Leader: Bessie Kirkwood
Leader’s Institution: Sweet Briar College
First Co-Leader: Adam Green
First Co-Leader’s Institution: University of St. Thomas
Category:
Session Description: Life science majors are increasing being required to
have more relevant backgrounds in other STEM disciplines such as mathematics and physics, in addition to courses already required in chemistry.
This breakout session will discuss and share suggested innovative courses in mathematics, physics and statistics for life science majors.
1. How do you get input from life science faculty about the background
they’d like their students to have?
2. How do you handle demands to cram too many topics into one
course?
3. How much variation in math/physics background do you observe in
the students who take your course? Do you have techniques for accommodating different levels of preparation?
4. How do you make students and their advisors aware of new courses
and its value for them?
5. Do you offer faculty development workshops or other opportunities to
help colleagues in other departments learn the same material that is in
your new course?
6. Do you find that students learn math and physics more readily in the
context of their chosen field? Do you have any evidence that they are
able to transfer a math or physics concept from one context to another?
Is this something you address in your course?
7. Is your innovative course designed to serve math or physics majors as
well as life science majors? If so, how do you accomplish this?
C5
Session Title: Improving the Scientific Literacy of all
Students
Leader: Travis Rector
Leader’s Institution: University of Alaska, Anchorage
First Co-Leader: Mel Sabella
First Co-Leader’s Institution: Chicago State University
Category:
Session Description: It is increasingly more important for general education, non-science majors to become science literate and understand the
processes and limitations of science. This breakout session will discuss
and share innovative practices and ideas on ways to improve students’
understanding of the process of science, their attitudes toward science,
and their interest in pursuing STEM careers. Addressing the needs of nontraditional students and underrepresented groups will also be discussed.
1. What kinds of discussion/activity can be done in a lecture-hall setting
to teach students about the process (and limitations) of science?
2. What kinds of discussion/activity can be done in a laboratory setting to
teach students about the process (and limitations) of science?
3. How can non-science majors in an introductory course engage in authentic scientific research in a classroom setting?
4. How can understanding the process of science improve interest in science and encourage students to pursue STEM careers?
5. How can nontraditional and underrepresented groups be engaged
effectively?
C6
Engineering
Leader: Linda Schmidt
Leader’s Institution: University of Maryland
Category:
Session Description: Courses requiring student engineering design projects are significant components of most engineering curricula because of
their ability to motivate students on a wide variety of learning outcomes.
These courses are often expected to provide evidence of satisfying many
ABET criteria. This breakout session will discuss and share innovative
practices in selecting projects to meet course objectives, creating an infrastructure of interim deadlines and assignments for project completion,
establishing teams and team operation guidelines, establishing effective
peer evaluation regimes, and assessing individual learning objectives.
1.
2.
3.
4.
How should student teams be formed to increase chances of success?
Should an engineering design course accept any project topic?
How many assignments are too many assignments?
How can peer evaluations be done in a way that is fair and contributes
to the success of the course and project?
5. When should an individual student be failed from a group project
course?
C7
Pedagogy
Session Title: Designing Active Learning Activities and
Associated Assessment Plans
Leader: Kristin Wood
Leader’s Institution: University of Texas
Category:
Session Description: Contemporary STEM classrooms must focus on a
variety of learning styles and personality types, while seeking to empower
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students with their ability to shape their own learning environment. Active
learning products are a targeted approach for this purpose. This session
will discuss the effective approaches to using active learning products in
the classroom and how to avoid potential pitfalls. This session will also
cover assessments appropriate for courses using active learning.
1. What are the challenges in facilitating the transition for faculty teaching style from a lecture-based model to an active-learning model? How
can these challenges best be overcome?
2. What are effective methods for assessing student learning in this
environment?
3. What will the future hold in this scholarly area of educational research?
What are the corresponding research questions?
C8
Pedagogy
Session Title: Engaging Students in Mathematics by
Incorporating Real-World Problems
Leader: Lynn Bennethum
Leader’s Institution: University of Colorado Denver
First Co-Leader: Darren Narayan
First Co-Leader’s Institution: Rochester Institute of Technology
Category:
Session Description: Application projects can be used to increase inter-
Session Description: Mathematics and art can make a positive difference
in the mathematics curriculum, especially for liberal arts students. Drawing perspective pictures can help students see “literally” many standard
geometric theorems; knowing geometry can help students draw “correct”
pictures. At this workshop, we will share Viewpoints materials for handson perspective drawing and perspective viewing activities. These materials and methods, which have been used in art classes, geometry classes,
and liberal arts math classes around the country, open up the way for
perspective viewing and drawing techniques to play a significant role in
undergraduate mathematics learning. At the end of the session, we will
turn to a more theoretical discussion of this topic. Below are some questions for your advance consideration.
1. What challenges do instructors face when trying to integrate two disciplines (specifically, mathematics and art) within the curriculum?
2. What are the advantages of this kind of integration, both for students
and for the instructor?
3. What are some specific pieces of advice you might share with someone
who wants to incorporate art “problems” in a mathematics classroom
(or what kind of advice might you seek out for yourself )?
C10
Pedagogy
Session Title: Writing Within a Discipline
Leader: Marin Robinson
Leader’s Institution: Northern Arizona University
Category:
est in STEM disciplines, understand fundamental mathematical concepts,
and learn appropriate uses of technology. Real-world problems can be a
repeatable project developed for a particular class or a cutting-edge realworld problem obtained from industry. Approaches for obtaining ideas
and resources for real-world application projects will be presented. The
challenges of incorporating real-world problems in a math course or curriculum, and how we evaluate the results, will be discussed.
Session Description: This session will focus on ways to help students
1. What are the advantages/disadvantages of incorporating real-world
problems in a math course?
2. Where do we obtain real-world problems? What challenges do we
face in developing and incorporating real-world problems in a math
course?
3. How do we evaluate the (hopefully) success of incorporating real-world
problems?
4. How do we encourage our colleagues to incorporate real-world
problems?
1. What are move structures? How do they guide organization in both
non-chemistry (e.g., jokes) and chemistry genres? What activities can I
use to introduce move structures to my students?
2. How well do journal articles in chemistry (or other STEM disciplines)
follow these move structures? What are some common variations?
3. Novice writers often include extra moves in their Introduction or Methods sections or omit moves that should be present. What are these
extra and missing moves?
4. Effective writers learn to signal moves in their writing with conventional words or phrases. What are examples of these common words and
phrases?
C9
Pedagogy
Session Title: Mathematics for Liberal Arts Students:
Lessons in Math and Art
Leader: Annalisa Crannell
Leader’s Institution: Franklin and Marshall College
Category:
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improve organization in their writing. Organizational templates known as
move structures will be shared for each major section of a journal article
(Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion) along with exercises and
activities that can be used to introduce students to move structures in
the classroom. Even though many of the examples will focus on writing in
chemistry, the methods can be easily applied to other STEM disciplines.
C11
Session Title: Recruiting and Supporting K-12 Teachers
Leader: Richard McCray
Leader’s Institution: University of Colorado, Boulder
Category:
Session Description: This session will focus on how research universities
can recruit and support K-12 science teachers. In the report “Rising above
the Gathering Storm” (see http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_
id=11463), a distinguished committee of the National Research Council
recommended as its first priority for ensuring U.S. economic competitiveness in the 21st century: Increase America’s talent pool by vastly improving K-12 science and mathematics education. U.S. research universities
remain the envy of the world for training scientists. Yet, very few of them
are contributing significantly to the training and support of K-12 science
teachers.
1. Why are most research universities failing to attract talented students
into careers in K-12 science teaching?
2. What universities are exceptions to this rule and why?
3. What more can be done to remedy this situation?
4. How can research universities do a better job in supporting in-service
K-12 science teachers?
C12
Session Title: Teacher Prep
Leader: Alan Tucker
Leader’s Institution: SUNY–Stony Brook
Category:
Session Description: The Mathematical Association of America (MAA)
has proposed a multifaceted initiative to strengthen the mathematical
education of teachers. The initiative focuses on enabling college and
university mathematics faculty to better support school mathematics, in
particular, to offer better courses for future teachers and to provide professional development for in-service teachers. These components urge
mathematicians to rethink and expand their teacher education activities
in the light of recent findings on the mathematics of teaching and best
practices in content and pedagogy in courses for future and in-service
teachers.
C13
Session Title: Using the Expertise of Senior Faculty
Leader: Garon Smith
Leader’s Institution: University of Montana, Missoula
Category:
Session Description: As better understanding has come to light on the
best ways for students to learn, it is apparent that traditional methods of
college instruction need to be revamped. While a move to newer “pedagogies of engagement” is likely to appeal to young faculty, it may be risky on
their part to be too innovative in educational reform. This might be especially true if the young faculty member holds a position in a department
dominated by senior colleagues who have spent their careers steeped in
a lecture-format tradition. A better model for curricular reform uses senior faculty (tenured, full professors) as instigators of change. Using their
well-established campus relationships, senior faculty can court support
for “pedagogies of engagement” from appropriate administrators with
supervisory line authority. This sets up an ideal environment in which
junior faculty can be recruited and mentored within the program. Vulner-
ability from potential departmental adversaries is minimized. It also creates a pre-established mechanism for the administration to recognize and
reward the initiative of young faculty who embrace these more effective
teaching approaches.
1. What is the distribution of pedagogical techniques currently used in
your department?
2. On your campus, what status does the scholarship of teaching and
learning (SOTL) receive in evaluation of faculty for promotion, tenure,
and merit?
3. Who are the curricular innovators in your department? Are they senior? Are they tenured? Are they rewarded professionally for their
activities?
4. Are pedagogies of engagement limited by class size? For example, do
they work in large-format, introductory courses?
C14
Session Title: Development and Testing of Concept
Inventories
Leader: David Klappholz
Leader’s Institution: Stevens Institute of Technology
First Co-Leader: Steven Condly
First Co-Leader’s Institution: Florida Central University
Second Co-Leader: Julie Libarkin
Second Co-Leader’s Institution: Michigan State University
Second Co-Leader’s Project #: 0127765, 0350395
Category:
Session Description: This session will explore ways of constructing valid
and reliable measures of student learning. It will also explore the development of instruments that collect data about student learning with a
goal of informing teaching practices. Finally, it will consider the difference
between the levels of validation required for localized use and those proposed for broader use.
1. What is the structure of a concept inventory (CI)?
2. How are CIs developed and validated?
3. How do results of the use of CIs suggest changes/improvements in
pedagogical techniques?
4. What is the difference between the validations required?
C15
Use of Video Data in Educational Research
Leader: Dawn Rickey
Leader’s Institution: Colorado State University
Category:
Session Title: The
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Session Description: This session will explore the use of video data to
address key questions in educational research.
1. For what types of research questions are video data useful?
2. What considerations are important in designing video data collection?
3. What methods can be used to transform raw video into data that address the research question(s)?
4. What tools are available to assist researchers in the process (from
video data collection to analysis)?
C16
Session Title: Tools for Assessing Learning in Engineering
Leader: Teri Reed-Rhoads
Category:
Session Description: This session will explore a variety of assessment
types available for assessing learning in engineering. These include
cognitive assessments such as concept inventory instruments, affective
assessments such as attitudinal instruments, and achievement assessments such as graduation rate changes. A general presentation will introduce these three types of assessment and will include information on
a concept inventory central website that lists instruments, developers,
and summaries of instruments. Next, the participants will be divided into
three subgroups to discuss details and questions. To conclude the session, each subgroup will report out to all participants on a summary of
their discussion.
1. What are the known instruments/methods in each of the three areas?
2. Where have these been used successfully/unsuccessfully?
3. Where are the gaps in each area?
C17
Education
Enhancement of Classroom Instruction in
Computer Science Using Technology
Leader: Janusz Zalewski
Leader’s Institution: Florida Gulf Coast University
Session Title:
Session Description: Remote web-based access to a fully functional lab
for software development provides computer science students with experiences in software engineering, real-time programming, web design and
development, and aspects of embedded devices and systems. This breakout session will discuss and share innovative practices and ideas associated with educational issues in web-based software laboratories.
1. What is the place of a web-based lab in a Computer Science or a Software Engineering program or course?
2. Conducting computer science experiments in a web-based lab: Is there
an ideal model?
3. Developing software for remote equipment: How does a web-based lab
help?
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4. Is there really an intellectual value added to a course with remote webbased laboratories?
C18
Education
Session Title: Enhancement of Classroom Instruction in
Engineering Using Technology
Leader: Don Millard
Leader’s Institution: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Session Description: Hands-on, instrumentation-rich activities have the
potential for increasing students’ interest in design and development. This
breakout session will discuss and share innovative practices and ideas in
the teaching of engineering using technology-enhanced instruction.
1. Can technology better enable scaffolding of difficult concepts?
2. How can hands-on activities enhance a student’s ability to do design?
3. What are the challenges and impediments that come with the use of
technology in the classroom?
4. How much effort is necessary on the part of the instructor to prepare
technology-based activities for specific utilization in the classroom?
C19
Education
Session Title: Improving Student Learning Using the World
Wide Web
Leader: Laura Bartolo
Leader’s Institution: Kent State University
First Co-Leader: Heejun Chang
First Co-Leader’s Institution: Portland State University
Session Description: Cyber-enabled learning offers opportunities for creating, disseminating, sharing, repurposing, and sustaining dynamic and
state-of-the-art resources for STEM education. As one example, virtual
laboratories can help students achieve mastery of key interdisciplinary
concepts in science. They hold potential as an alternative or complement
to physical laboratories. This breakout session will discuss and share innovative Web 2.0 practices and strategies to improve student learning,
including computational thinking, within and across disciplines.
1. How can Web 2.0 applications be used to recruit and retain next-generation STEM scientists through innovative learning resources and instructional strategies?
2. What are some Web 2.0 applications that have successfully supported
student STEM learning and what is on the horizon?
3. Can web-based interdisciplinary design and dissemination efforts support development and use of teaching resources applicable in a wide
variety of contexts?
4. If so, what approaches have been successful? How can Web 2.0 applications for technology-based education be sustained?
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C21
Education
Session Title: Remote Instrumentation for Teaching Geology
Leader: Jeffrey Ryan
Leader’s Institution: University of South Florida
Session Description: Remote access to state-of-the-art research instrumentation (through Internet-based operational portals and other means)
offers both a way to update and revise undergraduate laboratory instruction and a means for providing access to instrumentation for undergraduate research at institutions, both baccalaureate and two-year colleges,
that normally cannot afford to support such facilities in-house. This breakout session will discuss and share innovative practices in the use of remote instrumentation in the teaching of geology, including the challenges
and benefits.
1. What kinds of geoscience-relevant research instrumentation can be
used effectively via remote operational access? What are the practical limitations of such access for different instruments (i.e., how much
onsite setup is required to use the hardware remotely)?
2. Where within undergraduate geoscience courses and curricula might
using remotely accessible instrumentation most benefit student learning of critical geoscience concepts/ideas/skills?
3. The benefit of a remotely accessed instrument is flexibility (i.e., it can
be used in a classroom, lab, or research space, as needed). Where then
are the physical and logistical obstacles in using remote instruments
with students, especially in open-ended “problem-based” learning
scenarios?
4. How does one balance teaching geology with “teaching the tool” if one
is incorporating remote instrument use in course instruction?
5. How does using instrumentation (remote or otherwise) in a classroom
setting benefit student learning of geoscience content and intellectual
skills? How does it benefit the development or persistence of student
interest in geoscience fields? How do we best collect such evidence,
given the typical small enrollments in geoscience courses?
Education
Session Title: Use of Visualization to Improve Student
Learning in Physics
Leader: John Belcher
Leader’s Institution: Massachussetts Institute of Technology
Session Description: The use of visualization techniques to provide students with a visual picture of abstract concepts is becoming a powerful
teaching tool in many STEM disciplines. This breakout session will discuss
and share innovative practices and ideas in the use of visualizations to
teach various abstract concepts in physics including electromagnetism.
1. What are the design features that maximize the educational value of a
simulation/visualization?
2. Is active interaction with visualization necessary for maximum learning
gains, or is passive viewing of, for example, a movie also valuable?
3. What is the optimal way to present visualizations to the student, e.g.,
should they always be embedded in a guided learning framework or is
pure exploration valuable as well?
4. How does one give credit to a student for successfully interacting with
visualization, especially in the context of large enrollment courses?
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Poster Abstracts
Biological Sciences
Poster 2
Stokes Baker
Institution: University of Detroit Mercy
Title: Using Transgenic Plants that Express Green
Fluorescent Protein in Teaching Quantitative Experimental
Skills to First-Year Undergraduates
Project #: 0442771
Co-PI: Margaret Roytek
Type: Educational Material Development-Proof-of-Concept
Target Discipline: Biological Sciences
Focus: Creating Learning Materials and Teaching Strategies
PI:
Poster 1
PI: Norris
Armstrong
Institution: UGA
Title: Promoting Inquiry and Scientific Literacy in NonScience Major Undergraduate Biology
Type: Adaptation & Implementation
Focus: Implementing Educational Innovations
Goals: Adapt existing teaching methods to convert a very large biology
laboratory course for non-science undergraduate students from a “cookbook” into an inquiry-based format in order to improve students learning
outcomes, scientific literacy, and engagement. Also to develop a program
to train graduate students on how to teach inquiry-based labs.
Methods: Develop inquiry based labs that relate contemporary scientific
issues to student experiences. Teach new labs in pilot classes and collect
student, instructor, and external evaluator feedback to guide revision efforts. Implement new labs in one half of course sections and collect evaluation data from treatment and traditional lab control sections.
Evaluation: Adapted published assessment tools to measure student at-
titudes, scientific literacy, and proficiency skills. Interviewed undergraduate students and graduate teaching assistants regarding implementation
and effectiveness of the inquiry labs and TA training methods.
Students in inquiry-based labs showed greater improvement in science
proficiency and literacy skills than students taught using traditional cookbook labs. However, students had equal or lower self-efficacy skills in the
inquiry labs compared to the traditional labs. We suspect that this may be
due to students overestimating their skills in the traditional labs.
Dissemination: We have presented the newly created labs and/or data
collected at national meetings for the Association of Biology Laboratory
Educators, the National Association for Biology Teachers, The Annual
Conference in Case Study Teaching in Science, and the Georgia Science
Teacher Association.
Impact: We will begin the process of converting the science-major’s bi-
ology lab into an inquiry-based format this coming spring. Work on the
education training for TAs has encouraged us to look at expanding this
program to include all TAs teaching introductory biology courses.
Challenges: When first implementing the inquiry lab, we ran into difficulty
because of the students’ unexpectedly low math and reasoning skills. We
adapted the labs to address this issue by requiring students to prepare a
written draft of the experiment they planned to perform before coming to
class as well as including more lengthy homework assignments that introduce students to the concepts covered in the lab more thoroughly. Also,
most students have had very little experience with inquiry previously and
would often be confused as to how to proceed during the lab. We have addressed this issue by including simpler, more straightforward labs at the
beginning of the term to better introduce inquiry.
Goals: Instructional materials and apparatus were created that allow first-
year undergraduates to perform open-ended quantitative experiments on
environmentally regulated plant genes. The intended outcome is to increase students’ abilities to design experiments and to analyze stochastic
data.
Methods: A digital photograph technique to quantify expression of a re-
porter gene, Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP), was developed. Students
using transgenic Arabidopsis plants containing GFP controlled by the ADH
promoter conducted quantitative inquiry experiments to determine what
environmental factors induced expression.
Evaluation: Classroom testing was conducted in seven course sections
of the General Biology Laboratory in the fall of 2007. On the first day of
class, over 200 students were given validated instruments that measured
reasoning skills, understanding of experimental design, and statistical
data analysis. Currently, the students are being evaluated with the same
instruments to assess their learning gains. Additionally, examples of the
students’ works (scientific posters) have been collected. Data will be evaluated using a randomized blind format in the winter of 2008.
Dissemination: A poster describing the digital analysis system was pre-
sented at the Botanical Society of America (BSA) annual meeting. This
year, workshops will be given at the Association of Biology Laboratory
Educators (proceedings will contain instructional materials) and BSA annual meetings, along with peer-reviewed publications.
Impact: The instructional materials and prototype equipment will allow
undergraduate institutions to use inquiry-based laboratory instructions
that advance the National Research Council’s (2003) Biology 2010 report
by incorporating curriculum that integrates mathematics and computer
technology into teaching laboratories. Since digital cameras are a consumer good, they are accessible to resource-poor institutions and community colleges. The software, ImageJ, is distributed free by the National
Institutes of Health. The University of Detroit Mercy is an institution with
an “urban mission.” Biology majors largely come from groups underrepresented in science.
Challenges: Detection of green fluorescence in plants using standard
barrier filters was not feasible because of contaminating green light produced by blue light emitting diodes. The technical difficulty was overcome
by creating an epifluorescent attachment based on commercially available dichroic filters.
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Poster Abstracts
Poster 3
Poster 4
PI: Mahalaxmi
Bangera
Institution: Bellevue Community College
Title: ComGen: The Community College Genomics Research
Initiative
Project #: 0717470
Type: Phase II—Expansion
Mark Bergland
Institution: University of Wisconsin–River Falls
Title: Case It Simulations for Case-Based Learning in
Molecular Biology
Project #: 0717577 and 0229156
Goals: ComGen’s main goals are to train the next generation of scientists
Goals: The goal of the Case It project is to create simulations of labora-
and to generate a model for bringing experiential learning and research to
community colleges nationwide. Our intended outcomes are increasing
interest among students to pursue research and graduate school and a
modular program that can be disseminated to other community colleges.
tory procedures in molecular biology and to integrate them with an online
system for case-based learning. Our latest grant allows us to incorporate
microarray and bioinformatics technology into the existing Case It simulation, available at http://caseit.uwrf.edu.
Methods: Our strategy is to provide students with hands-on research ex-
Methods: We use a case-based approach putting students in the roles of
perience in genomics and exposure to world-class scientists. For dissemination, we plan to generate a modular curriculum that can be adopted by
other community colleges without needing access to expensive high-tech
equipment.
patients, family members, health counselors, and laboratory technicians.
They use the Case It simulation to analyze DNA and protein sequences
associated with a variety of genetic and infectious diseases, compile webbased “posters,” and discuss results via online discussion boards.
Evaluation: Our program has just begun, so we do not have data at this
Evaluation: We have extensively evaluated results of this project using
point. Our evaluation plan will involve the combined efforts of an external evaluator working with our internal assessment team. The external
evaluator will work with the team to create the essential protocols and
assessment instruments, including surveys, questionnaires, and interview protocols. The evaluator will work collaboratively with the Bellevue
Community College (BCC) center for student assessment to collect and
analyze the data. We will assess the impact on students’ critical thinking
and their interest in and perception of science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics (STEM) fields. We will also be assessing faculty professional development and the development of a model for dissemination to
other community colleges.
a variety of assessment techniques, including focus interviews, pre- and
post-tests, and analysis of discussion board conferencing. Publications
describing these results are available at http://caseit.uwrf.edu. To summarize, both university and high school students developed more confidence in their understanding of genetic disease testing and connected
content in an introductory science course with everyday life. Current plans
are to expand this assessment to include students at North Carolina A&T
State University and the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico.
Dissemination: Dissemination will include presentations at national and
regional teaching and research conferences and publication of results in
journals. ComGen modules will be disseminated to other community colleges and high schools. BCC’s existing relationships with middle school
and Native American schools will be another dissemination route.
Impact: We hope to affect student perceptions of STEM fields, enhance
critical thinking and scientific literacy in non-STEM majors and non-majors,
develop faculty expertise in using real research as a teaching tool (new
pedagogies/faculty capacity), create new knowledge about undergraduate STEM education and new avenues for exploration research/pedagogy
in community colleges, disseminate a new model for active experiential
STEM learning, create internships at national research labs, develop effective outreach to underrepresented students, and create a bridge for
collaboration and community building among students, community college, and university faculty.
PI:
Dissemination: Educators from 46 states and 47 foreign countries down-
loaded the latest version of the Case It simulation (v5.03), available free of
charge at our website (http://caseit.uwrf.edu). We will continue to make
new versions of the software available at this website, along with online
tutorials and case descriptions.
Impact: Our latest successful CCLI proposal included very positive testimonials from 40 educators at universities, community colleges, and high
schools in the U.S. and abroad. Formal assessment (reprints available at
http://caseit.uwrf.edu) strongly suggests that the software is very effective at making molecular biology more relevant to students at a wide variety of educational levels.
Challenges: Our greatest challenge was online conferencing involving
students at the University of Wisconsin–River Falls and the University of
Zimbabwe, because of a variety of logistic difficulties (brown-outs, a presidential election in Zimbabwe, etc.). Despite these challenges, students in
Zimbabwe were very positive about the impact of the project and felt that
it was potentially very useful for AIDS education in this African country.
Challenges: We have just started our work, and so far we have not faced
any unexpected challenges. If we do face challenges by August 2008, we
will present them at the conference.
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Poster Abstracts
Poster 5
Poster 6
PI: Lawrence
Blumer
Institution: Morehouse College
Title: Developing Bean Beetles as a Model System for
Undergraduate Laboratories
Project #: 0535903
Type: Phase I—Exploratory
Focus: Developing Faculty Expertise
PI: Wesley
Goals: We intend to develop a species of bruchid bean beetle as a model
Goals: This award supports the design and evaluation of microarray ex-
system for inquiry-based undergraduate laboratories in ecology, evolutionary biology, and animal behavior. We will develop a handbook, a
website, and five inquiry-based experiments that can be used to develop
faculty expertise in using bean beetles in undergraduate laboratories.
periments for freshman biology and biotech labs. Current instructional
goals in metabolism and genetics are to be reinforced while introducing
new technology. Students interpret a yeast expression array to discover
the glycolytic pathway. An SNP-microarray lesson teaches genetics.
Methods: We started by writing a handbook on bean beetle biology and
Methods: Kits of reagents and 15 DNA microarrays (25–50 spots) printed
laboratory techniques and developing a dedicated website (www.beanbeetles.org) to disseminate information. We make hands-on workshop
presentations at national meetings at which faculty work with live bean
beetles and conduct an experiment using an inquiry-based pedagogy.
on small nylon disks are being distributed to participating institutions
for evaluation. After hybridization with biotinylated oligos, the arrays are
enzymatically developed and examined with a low-power microscope or
photoscanner. A supporting website is under development.
Evaluation: Students in the ecology courses at Emory University and
Evaluation: Because kits are still being readied for shipment, evaluation
Morehouse College ranked each laboratory experiment with respect to
how useful each was in reinforcing knowledge and understanding. In addition, students were asked which studies were the most and least enjoyable
and which best increased their understanding of the scientific method. A
pre-test/post-test evaluation on understanding of the scientific method
also was administered. We found the bean beetle experiments were effective in increasing understanding of the scientific method. Workshop
participants were surveyed immediately after each presentation, which
indicated that we were very successful in creating faculty expertise.
plans can only be discussed. Two distinct audiences for this kit will require
different evaluation norms. Both groups will evaluate practical aspects
such as setup simplicity, support equipment required, design robustness,
and speed of execution. Cognitive gain evaluations will differ. Instructors
seeking to demonstrate microarray technology are interested in learning
goals related to techniques. Biology instructors are more interested in
learning gains related to metabolism and genetics. In each case, instructors will be asked to contribute written evaluations, and students will be
evaluated against controls.
Dissemination: In 2006 and 2007, we presented workshops at a total of
Dissemination: Dissemination will follow a route of market testing then
four national meetings and developed a website on which all new teaching materials are freely available. We will continue to develop and improve
our website (www.beanbeetles.org) and make workshop presentations at
national meetings. Faculty from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are being recruited to attend workshops.
commercialization. Interest in the kit spawned by a Bio-Link announcement two years ago continues. No less than 25 institutions, many with
community college biotech programs, have asked for the kit, along with
three groups representing secondary schools. Two vendors have asked to
distribute it.
Impact: In 2006 and 2007, we developed five innovative laboratory protocols that incorporate inquiry-based learning. These experiments have
been disseminated to college faculty who have adopted them in their undergraduate courses, both introductory and upper-level. Our new experiments have increased student understanding of the scientific method and
interest in science. We developed a comprehensive website (www.beanbeetles.org) on this model system for the ecology education and research
community. We have provided significant research opportunities for two
African-American undergraduates and accompanied them to national scientific meetings.
Impact: The lesson’s real impact may be its introduction of cheap, massively parallel experiments to undergraduate biology lab science. Students will no longer see transcription as “one gene, one RNA,” but many
genes simultaneously upregulated to perform a function. That global view
reveals new elements like transcription factors and cyclins. The microscale
nature of the lab succeeds another way: a teacup of reagents will satisfy
the needs of an entire class. In another example, a 32-spot array reveals
12 bi-allelic SNPs identifying nine haplotypes spread over three human
chromosomes. Students can use their understanding of Mendelian genetics and glycolysis to solve a medical genetics problem.
Challenges: Conducting hands-on workshops with live organisms is not
common at most scientific meetings that are oriented toward speakers
and poster presentations. Only the Association for Biology Laboratory Education (ABLE) is specifically organized for hands-on laboratory workshop
presentations. We have overcome this limitation by designing simple experiments and purchasing all the basic supplies needed for laboratory
workshop presentations. This has enabled us to successfully conduct
workshops in hotel meeting rooms at the national meeting of the Ecological Society of America and the National Association of Biology Teachers.
Challenges: The single biggest challenge has been the inability of this
Bonds
Institution: Western Carolina University
Title: Inexpensive Glycolytic Pathway Discovery Lessons
Using Microarray Technology
Project #: 0633404
institution to adequately provide facilities to support the award. A science
building renovation gone badly awry left the institution without adequate
lab space including an area to set up its large arrayer robot. The project
continues only about three months behind schedule because the PI purchased a small robot with personal funds and installed it in a university
storeroom. The silk lining to this sad story is that the new little arrayer
only weighs 15 lbs and is portable. Protected by a clear Plexiglas case, it is
ideal for undergraduate laboratory demonstrations.
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Poster Abstracts
Poster 7
Poster 8
Christine Broussard
Institution: University of La Verne
Title: Visualizing Cells and Embryos: Integrating Modern
Cell and Developmental Biology Techniques into the
Undergraduate Biology Curriculum
Project #: 0632831
Type: Adaptation and Implementation
PI:
PI:
Goals: The goal of this proposal is to provide University of La Verne under-
graduates with opportunities to design, execute, analyze, and report on
original experimental questions in cell and developmental biology using
some of the most significant and broadly applicable techniques in modern
biology.
Methods: We are adapting the research techniques of fluorescence mi-
croscopy, stereomicroscopy, digital imaging, microsurgery, and microinjection into new, innovative, inquiry-based undergraduate laboratory
experiences with an emphasis on developing undergraduates’ technical,
collaborative, and communicative skills.
Evaluation: Assessment of student learning and skills development will
be done by observation and evaluation of undergraduates conducting
laboratory experiments and research projects, evaluation of formal student reports, focus-group interviews, and pre-, mid-, and post-course
questionnaires. To determine the long-term impact of the implementation
of this proposal, the following will be tracked: the number of semesters
required by seniors to complete their projects; the number of students
who pursue graduate and professional degrees; and the proportion of biology majors to total incoming students, the actual number of majors in
biology, and the number of students who change their major to biology.
Dissemination: The PI will participate in a campus-wide retreat on best
practices in higher education in January 2008. A manuscript outlining the
pedagogical approach has been accepted for publication in spring 2008
in the online journal CBE: Life Sciences Education. The PI will prepare a
website outlining practices and assessments.
Impact: We predict that implementation of the proposal will result in a
decrease in the number of semesters required for the completion of the
senior project and an increase in the quality and sophistication of these
projects. A positive and timely experience with the senior project and
upper-division courses might also be expected to increase the number
of students pursuing graduate and professional training. And innovation
and modernization of the biology program as a result of this proposal may
also increase the number and proportion of students who major in biology
and increase the number of students who complete a degree in biology.
Challenges: The new laboratory component of BIOL 310 Cell Biology was
taught for the first time this semester. Students expressed concern over
the unexpected laboratory requirement (and cost) for this course and a
reluctance to enroll. However, 23 students (juniors and seniors) enrolled.
We had anticipated enrollment of 12 juniors. The two cohorts of students
will be compared in analyzing the impacts of the new lab and pedagogical approach on timely completion of the senior project and biology degree. Challenges in accessing the fluorescence scopes (only two) were
addressed by having two sections of lab and rotating students through
multiple activities to alleviate the crush to use the scopes.
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Program Book
Giovanni Casotti
Institution: West Chester University
Title: Inquiry-Based Learning in the Physiology Laboratory
Project #: 0509161
Goals: Inquiry-based curricula were introduced through three courses:
Human Anatomy and Physiology and Human Physiology for non-majors
and Comparative Vertebrate Physiology for Biology majors. Our aims are
1) to increase understanding of physiological principles, 2) to increase understanding of the scientific approach, and 3) to simulate creative and
critical thinking.
Methods: The curricula in all courses were redesigned to introduce new
inquiry-based laboratories. Students design and implement their own experiments and collect and analyze their data using the acquisition system
PowerLab by ADinstruments, Inc. They present oral presentations of their
work to their classmates using interactive white board technology.
Evaluation: Evaluation in Human Anatomy and Physiology includes lab
exams, show and tell oral presentations, and participation. Evaluation in
Human and Vertebrate Physiology includes show and tell oral presentations, a lab notebook, lab reports, and an independent project. Formative
and summative rubrics are used in all evaluations. Results show attainment of all three goals in all classes. Human Anatomy and Physiology
students feel traditional labs help them better understand physiological
concepts, and inquiry-based labs help with the scientific approach and
creative and critical thinking skills. Human and Comparative Physiology
students say that the inquiry approach helps in attaining all three goals.
Dissemination: Our curricular modifications were presented at the
Experimental Biology meetings in 2006, 2007, and will be in 2008. We
have submitted a manuscript for consideration in the APS’ Physiology in
Higher Education journal in October this year. Continued dissemination
will be presented at both the Experimental Biology and possibly the HAPS
meetings.
Impact: Our curricular modifications have increased students’ understanding of physiology and their ability to “think like a scientist,” and this
has led to an increase in critical and creative thinking. Students will take
this knowledge and apply it to other courses and hopefully life outside
of the University after graduation. Our success has stimulated numerous
colleagues at traditional teaching colleges such as ours, to submit similar
proposals for funding from the NSF CCLI program.
Challenges: We faced many challenges to ensure successful implementation of the inquiry-based curriculum. These include consistently analyzing
data from our rubrics and modifying exam questions to target our three
project goals: occasionally having to redesign our rubrics, technical difficulty in understanding the working of the data acquisition system, and
ensuring that all instructors in all courses understood inquiry-based learning, its goals, and how to monitor our outcome assessments.
Poster Abstracts
Poster 9
Amy Chang
Institution: American Society for Microbiology
Title: Biology Scholars Program
Project #: 0715777
PI:
Goals: The Biology Scholars Program supports faculty in undergraduate
biology education reform and enhances their practice of evidenced-based
education. The Program supports three virtual residency programs where
faculty use rigorous evaluations of their own teaching, publish results
demonstrating improved learning, and lead colleagues.
Methods: Three strategies used include: 1) successful collaborations with
seven life sciences professional societies and the Carnegie Foundation for
the Advancement of Teaching, 2) faculty engagement in their own teaching challenges, and 3) three independent, but intertwined, virtual residencies (e-posters and e-discussions) on research, writing, and leadership.
Evaluation: The Program evaluation focuses on the extent that Scholars
contribute to biology education reform. Evidence to determine whether
Scholars reach the desired outcomes include 1) results of Scholars’ influence on courses and curricula within the department, 2) growth of Scholars as science educators, and 3) learning gains and participation of STEM
students into careers and advanced education. Methods used include
surveying cohorts and tracking courses, leadership positions, and career
levels before and after participating in the program. Scholars who chose
not to lead will also be monitored. Mechanisms will be developed to determine what worked and how to improve.
Dissemination: The Program website www.biologyscholars.org commu-
nicates information about the residencies, Biology Scholars, and findings. The Program draws upon the partner’s role to publish educationrelated articles and/or journals, sponsor education sessions at national
conferences, and recognize members and institutions for educational
excellence.
Impact: Forty-three college biologists in three cohorts have completed the
pilot program. Monitoring their development and impact in the classroom
is ongoing but currently inconclusive. Results as they are identified will
be posted at www.biologyscholars.org. The impact of this program is expected to be evident at multiple levels: 1) in Scholars’ classrooms through
change in practice; 2) on the pedagogical practices of the extended community through publication of Scholars’ research; and 3) on the growth
of a community through campus, regional, and national mentoring and
leadership efforts. Faculty come from a diverse range of institutions representing a broad array of missions, goals, and students.
Challenges: The pilot study identified cultural challenges:
1) Sustained commitment from STEM disciplinary societies for faculty
professional development and educational publications
2) Recognition for classroom research by disciplinary colleagues and professional society leaders
3) Faculty motivation beyond using effective strategies to reflecting on
one’s impact on student learning
Faculty challenges:
1) Evaluating learning research
2) Focusing classroom research and framing a question
3) Institutional Review Boards, especially at community colleges or
teaching-intensive institutions
4) Collecting and interpreting data to measure learning
5) Writing and publishing findings in pertinent journals and online
libraries
Poster 10
PI: Wei-Jen
Chang
Hamilton College
Title: Bioinformatic Technology in Biology Education
Project #: 0310893
Institution:
Goals: The goal of the project is to increase literacy of Hamilton’s stu-
dents on bioinformatics. We expect students to learn how to retrieve and
analyze genomic and/or proteomic data from major databases. Outcomes
include, but are not limited to, increased enrollment in bioinformatics-related courses and increased use of bioinformatics approaches in theses.
Methods: We created a Biology Computation Facility room dedicated for
bioinformatics education. A server loaded with web-interfaced software
allows students to simultaneously link to these user-friendly programs
that can be used during a 50-minute class period or a three-hour laboratory. More than 20 teaching modules have implemented into nine different
courses.
Evaluation: One indicator of the success of this project is the enrollment
in our 400-level bioinformatics seminar. Thirteen students have registered
for this class in spring 2008, relative to the four to six students per semester that have taken this course previously. Furthermore, four out of 13 students are sophomores; they were attracted to bioinformatics after their
exposure to informatic modules in introductory biology. Another indicator
of the success of this project is that the number of seniors using bioinformatics tools to complement their thesis projects have steadily increased
in the past few years.
Dissemination: PI and co-PIs on this project have been discussing our
progress with our peer colleagues in numerous bioinformatics conferences. A planned outreach program will be held in summer 2008 to help
guide local high school teachers teaching bioinformatics in high schools.
We have also created a web for our successful teaching modules.
Impact: This project has allowed us to gain deeper insights into bioinformatics education in a liberal arts institution. It has helped us to identify
the essential components of a bioinformatics education in the liberal arts
setting and allowed us to integrate these elements into our curriculum. In
addition to the 20 teaching modules to 9 existing courses, we are planning to add a 200-level core course to better integrate bioinformatics into
molecular biology, a 200-level programming course to enhance students’
programming skills in solving biological questions and a 400-level bioinformatics course to emphasize algorithms.
Challenges: Personnel issues have been a major setback in this project. A
system administrator responsible for the creation and maintenance of bioinformatics web-interfaces was a key element in the initial success of this
project. Once this administrator left for brighter horizons, key software
and hardware elements quickly deteriorated. We dealt with this issue by
hiring a relatively low-cost intern to maintain and administrate the server.
We also are looking for the latest, most user-friendly bioinformatics soft-
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Poster Abstracts
ware that can be executed on Windows/Mac OS platforms, allowing our
students to run these programs on their own PCs.
Poster 11
PI: Charlene
D’Avanzo
Institution: Hampshire College
Title: Diagnostic Question Clusters to Improve Student
Reasoning and Understanding in General Biology Courses
Project #: 0736943
Goals: The project centers on a set of interrelated Biological Diagnostic
Question Clusters designed to “hook” biology faculty to question and
learn about their students’ understanding of core biological concepts and
ways of thinking about biology. We will study how faculty use and modify
these resources to assess the usefulness of these diagnostics.
Methods: We will introduce faculty who teach general biology to the diag-
nostic tools and associated resources in a workshop and continue to work
with them via conference calls during the semester. They will also work
together in teams by institutional type. Faculty will use the Question Clusters to assess student knowledge and thinking in pre- and post-tests.
Evaluation: Evaluation is integral to this project; the development of the
Diagnostic Questions Clusters uses an established research-based model, and the involvement of faculty participants in practitioner research
generates practical knowledge about the effectiveness of these tools in
improving student learning. Both formative and summative evaluation
methods will be used to determine how well the project implements these
processes in a variety of classroom settings. Evaluation methods include
pre/post-interviews of faculty, analysis of course artifacts, student progress on pre/post-tests, and analysis of practitioner-research reports completed by the participants.
Dissemination: This project will begin in January 2008. To ultimately dis-
seminate the Diagnostic Question Clusters, we will make use of Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology (TIEE), an electronic peer-reviewed
publication of the Ecological Society of America.
Impact: The ultimate impact of the project will be improvement of general
biology teaching, which will depend on additional funding. We wish to develop a set of Diagnostic Questions that can be used to assess students’
knowledge of core biological phenomena and reasoning. The Force Concept Inventory is an inspiration, although there are significant differences
between teaching introductory physics and biology. In the short term, we
anticipate that the Diagnostic Questions will help faculty who take our
workshop to recognize problematic patterns in students’ thinking and to
frame content in ways that lead to systematic approaches to biology content and ultimately better understanding.
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Program Book
Poster 12
Kathleen Dixon
Institution: University of Arizona
Title: Q-Bio: Integration of Quantitative Concepts into
Introductory Biology
Project #: 0633379
PI:
Goals: The goal of this project is to better prepare undergraduate biology
students for success in upper-level biology courses that require increasingly sophisticated and difficult quantitative thinking. We are developing
instructional modules for use in large introductory biology classrooms
that help students think about biology mathematically.
Methods: The project goal will be achieved through 1) development and
refinement of quantitative biology online modules, 2) evaluation of learning outcomes and identification of successful module characteristics, and
3) creation of a faculty/staff group capable of developing, implementing,
evaluating, revising, and innovating modules based on outcomes.
Evaluation: All instructional modules developed cycle through a reitera-
tive assessment and revision process that involves: 1) implementation
of module in an introductory biology class, 2) collection of assessment
results, 3) data-driven revision of module, and 4) repetition of implementation and assessment steps. Each module will undergo at least one to
two generations of this cycle. First-generation assessment results have
already contributed substantially to our understanding of student challenges in this area and guided revision of module content and structure to
address those challenges (see “Challenges” section for further detail).
Dissemination: Once copyright issues are resolved, all online modules
will be made available for wide-scale Internet access. In addition, we will
include online instructional videos and documentation to aid implementation at other academic and educational institutions.
Impact: Integration of math and biology is difficult for a majority of undergraduates. Our work will further characterize the challenges students face
learning and integrating these often-compartmentalized fields, including
the experiences, psychology, and cognition underlying those difficulties.
We will also report on instructional approaches found to improve student
conceptual understanding and capacity to engage in sophisticated biology and quantitative thinking. Finally, our learning goals require development of innovative online media. Characterizing the challenges, failures,
and successes of that process will have intrinsic value to the community
advancing online learning and instruction.
Challenges: Results from early module assessments found that students
have poorly developed ideas about cell biology. These inaccurate ideas
are difficult to correct and impede learning of related, more sophisticated
concepts. Successful student connection of math and biology would likely
be eclipsed by a failure to understand the biology, potentially aggravating
negative attitudes about math. We are redesigning modules to circumvent
these initial difficulties. Modifications include development of case-based
scenarios, animation and video instruction libraries, and challenging intelligent assessment tasks to enhance motivation, context, and greater
connection of learning with assessment.
Poster Abstracts
Poster 13
Poster 14
PI: Erin
Dolan
Institution: Virginia Tech
Title: Integrating Biology Learning through Investigation
Project #: 0633424
Co-PI: Alenka Hlousek-Radojcic
PI:
Goals: Our goal is to create and disseminate a model for engaging stu-
Goals: The SCOPE Project’s goal is to introduce Problem Spaces as a novel
dents in research in their courses. Anticipated outcomes are as follows: a
module in which students examine interactions between herbivores and
Arabidopsis thaliana, a larger and more diverse pool of undergraduates
engaging in science, and knowledge about students’ understanding of
science.
Methods: Methods are to foster collaboration among the BioQUEST Cur-
Sam Donovan
Institution: Beloit College
Title: Science Collaboratory: Open Participatory Learning
Infrastructure for Education (SCOPE)
Project #: 0737474
curricular and pedagogical object. Building on the notion of an Open Participatory Learning Infrastructure, Problem Spaces link together e-science
resources, web-based productivity and communication tools, and open
educational resources in ways that promote communities of inquiry.
ments to examine interactions between wild-type and mutant Arabidopsis
and herbivores, investigating the interplay among genes, biochemicals,
organisms, and populations. The module is being piloted in general biology, plant biology, and behavioral ecology courses.
riculum Consortium, the Open Educational Resources Commons, the San
Diego Supercomputing Center Education Group, and the Center for Science Education at Emory University to hold workshops for biology faculty
and implement collaborative curriculum development and student-driven
scientific investigations.
Evaluation: The module is being piloted in general biology, plant biol-
Evaluation: As a recently launched Phase I project evaluation, results are
Methods: We are creating a module in which students design experi-
ogy, and behavioral ecology courses and is revised based on student
feedback and learning assessments, including pre/post-tests, surveys,
and instructor interviews. We are also developing a content and process
knowledge assessment and validating the measures for eventual use in a
quasi-experimental study to explore the impact of module participation
on students’ science content and process knowledge.
Dissemination: The module, including timeline, datasets, manual, and
guidelines for active learning, will be presented at conferences on undergraduate education and scientific research. Education research and evaluation findings related will be prepared for publication in peer-reviewed
journals. Scientific results will be shared with partner scientists.
Impact: We anticipate that this project will lay the groundwork for testing
our hypotheses that 1) undergraduate students can learn interdisciplinary
science concepts and the process of inquiry by designing and conducting
investigations in classroom settings as part of an ongoing research effort
and 2) in comparison to traditional lab class experiences, these learning
experiences better prepare students to reap the benefits of research internships. If we find evidence that supports these hypotheses, we believe
it would have the potential to transform the teaching and learning of science in undergraduate settings to ensure better student understanding of
the processes and nature of science.
Challenges: We have encountered one unexpected challenge: significant
attrition rates of students enrolled in participating community college
courses. Upwards of 50% of students have dropped out of the community college classes where we are piloting the module, which is apparently typical in introductory biology at this particular institution. We would
welcome input from NSF personnel and other CCLI project personnel regarding whether they have observed this elsewhere and how it has been
addressed.
not yet available. The evaluation plan includes collecting detailed descriptions of faculty participants’ curriculum projects, their ability to collaborate
effectively, and their implementation of these resources in their courses.
Year-long follow-up with workshop participants will make it possible to
document details of how various collaborative tools are used, changes in
faculty familiarity with e-science resources, and changes in their attitudes
about engaging students in realistic scientific investigations.
Dissemination: The following professional presentations have already
been accepted: 1) poster at Open Learning Interplay Symposium on March
10, 2008, and 2) talk at AIBS Education Summit on May 16, 2008. SCOPE
resources are also scheduled to be integrated into a variety of faculty
workshops organized by ASM, BioQUEST, and NESCent. Also see http://
bioquest.org/scope.
Impact: The SCOPE Project will adopt existing, scientific, and technical resources to build learning environments that reflect contemporary science
practices. These Problem Spaces will provide intellectual and social support for faculty as they experiment with innovative teaching approaches in
their biology courses. Furthermore, by engaging students with a realistic
scientific community within which to pursue biological problems, these
Problem Spaces will help students develop research strategies, practice
scientific argumentation skills, and become experienced tool users early
in their educational careers. The materials generated will persist in the
Open Educational Resources Commons environment.
Challenges: The only significant challenge experienced so far in this new
project involves confusion that some faculty have about the goals of the
project. Several times, faculty who are new to the project have construed
our efforts as distance education, course management software, or online content delivery. We will highlight examples of collaborative curricular
projects and student-driven scientific inquiries to communicate the goals
of our work.
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Poster Abstracts
Poster 15
Poster 16
PI: Diane
Diane Ebert-May
Institution: Michigan State University
Title: FIRST III—Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science
Teaching: Developing the Scholarship of Scientific
Teaching
Project #: 0618501
Type: Phase III—Comprehensive
Focus: Conducting Research on Undergraduate STEM
Education
Ebert-May
Title: FIRST II Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science
Teaching Through Field Stations
Project #: 0088847
Type: National Dissemination
Education
Goals: This research study examined faculty change in response to profes-
PI:
sional development programs (FIRST II) (Faculty Institutes for Reforming
Science Teaching and the Summer Institute at University of Wisconsin–
Madison). Results of the research will inform the design and implementation of future faculty, graduate student, and postdoc professional development programs.
Goals: We are in the pilot phase of building an assessment database to
Methods: Methods included faculty surveys, collection of course mate-
Methods: We are building on the NCEAS database structure and exist-
rials (e.g., syllabi, assessments, homework), and direct observations via
videotape recordings of faculty in classes over two years to identify significant components of change. Sample includes over 70 faculty at 48 institutions (38 from FIRST II, 34 from SI 2004, and 20 from SI 2005) (~10,000
students).
Evaluation: The study analyzed faculty surveys, course materials (e.g.,
syllabi, teaching and learning modules, and assessments), and direct observations (used RTOP to analyze videotapes) of faculty in classes to identify the significant components of change. Results address these questions: Does knowledge of and experience in scientific teaching correlate
with changes in teaching practice? Does self-report of teaching practice
correlate with observed practice? What is the influence of years of experience on teaching practice? What is the impact of course size on teaching
pedagogy? Does the teaching:research ratio (in terms of time) influence
observed teaching practice? Role of department in change?
Dissemination: Broad dissemination of materials developed during FIRST
II: Pathways to Scientific Teaching book, Sinauer Press (2008), Pathways
workshops. Research papers: in preparation to science journals (ESA) and
plan to use the findings to guide the next faculty development program we
are proposing for postdoctoral fellows.
Impact: The analyses predict the teaching practice we expect to observe
via the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) in an individual’s
classroom using the variables knowledge of and experience with active
learning, course size, teaching:research ratio, departmental support,
number/duration of workshops attended, analysis of assessments).
These results will impact the design and implementation of future professional development projects. Specifically, future FIRST programs will engage participants in principles of active, inquiry-based learning, and each
will practice evaluating approaches, instructional resources, and adapting
resources and assessment tools for their own use.
Challenges: Several faculty did not have institutional support to videotape in their course—it was a resource issue.
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store, search, and support analysis of student assessment data from undergraduate science courses. The two major goals of the FIRST III project
are 1) developing faculty expertise in assessing student learning and 2)
evaluating instructional innovations based on analyses of these data.
ing metadata standards (e.g., Ecological Metadata Language, IMS, Dublin Core) to define an extensible Educational Metadata Language (EdML)
for describing a wide variety of assessment data types and metadata
(e.g., taxonomies, psychometrics, difficulty, discrimination) about the
assessments.
Evaluation: We are in the pilot development stage. The preliminary data-
base and metadata will be tested by a preliminary group of faculty (FIRST,
ASM) to evaluate the functionality and provide design feedback. These
results will be used as part of the design when seeking continuing support
for the production database and the infrastructure to recruit and support
participating institutions. We will use two metrics: 1) Numbers of institutions and faculty who participate will be used as the metric to evaluate the
efficacy and adoption rate of the database. 2) Change in types of assessments and analyses used by faculty will be reviewed.
Dissemination: Presentations and workshops at the CAB I and CAB II con-
ferences and the INQUERI STEM assessment workshop were reviewed.
We 1) hosted the FIRST database national advisory board meeting; 2) established collaborations with the ASM Education Board for presentation
in May 2008; and 3) established collaborations with the MIDFIELD longitudinal database (at Purdue).
Impact: We anticipate three primary impacts when the database is in full
production: 1) Provide faculty with the tools to support detailed analysis
of student performance on assessments to facilitate SOTL activities by
providing data to guide instructional improvement. 2) The database will
support analyses of items across courses and institutions that may lead to
better understanding of common student misconceptions and instructional challenges. 3) Institutional and cross-institutional analyses can provide
data to address calls for outcomes-based evidence in STEM education.
Challenges: Faculty initially think of the database as an “item bank”
where they would search for assessments to use. They have difficulty understanding the granularity of data storage (individual student responses
to each exam item rather than summative exam scores) and how they
would analyze that data. Guiding faculty through a series of use cases that
demonstrate moving beyond analyzing overall student grades to analyzing student understanding of particular concepts help faculty understand
the utility of the database for supporting SOTL. The relationship between
institutional regulations (FERPA, Institutional Review Board) and faculty
Poster Abstracts
participation will need to be addressed before the database goes into
production.
Poster 17
Heidi Elmendorf
Institution: Georgetown University
Title: Development of Scientific Understanding through
Teaching Experiences
Project #: 0633112
PI:
Goals: The project seeks to integrate a community educational outreach
experience into several places along the continuum of a STEM college curriculum and to examine the impact that the development and teaching of
biology curricula has on developing a deep understanding of biological
concepts and affinity for the discipline among college students.
Methods: Biology majors (completing a capstone requirement) and non-
majors (from a general education science course) develop and teach biology curriculum in partner schools within the DC school system. We examine the process through which they develop their teaching materials and
their reflection about the work for evidence of their learning.
Evaluation: We are tracking three learning metrics: comprehension (of
disciplinary content and process), flexibility (in the creative transfer and
communication of knowledge), and engagement (the qualities of motivation and confidence that aid learning) along a novice-expert competency
continuum. Our primary sources of evidence are the curriculum and lesson plans that the students create, accompanied by documentation of the
intellectual decisions the students made in the creation of these materials. We are working to create a rubric to analyze lesson plans for the evidence of student learning. Additional evidence comes from surveys and
interviews and longitudinal data tracking career paths.
Dissemination: We are engaging others directly through conference pre-
sentations and invited seminars. We are developing a digital repository
that will capture the full scope of the project, document student work, and
invite commentary on that work. A chapter is being written for a book about
integrative learning models sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation.
Impact: We have preliminary evidence from analysis of student work that
the creation of lesson plans hones in students a sophisticated understanding of the science they are teaching. We have also documented
an impact within our partner schools of the value of the lesson plans. An
exciting development has been the incorporation of this work into a larger
faculty working group that is exploring and documenting “social pedagogies” characterized by learning situations in which students represent
knowledge for others and receive critical feedback from the community.
We are learning a great deal by comparing pedagogical structures and student learning outcomes across specific teaching modalities.
Challenges: Because this project has been running for several years, we
have not faced any significant new obstacles thus far. Generally, what we
find most challenging is evaluating the lesson plans for evidence of learning, since they provide a much less direct measure of student knowledge
than we are typically accustomed to seeing in exams or papers.
Poster 18
Karen Gonzalez
Institution: Universidad Metropolitana
Title: Multidisciplinary Approach to the Study of Molecular
and Cellular Biology
Project #: 0511357
Co-PI: Diana Gomez
PI:
Goals: The goal of this proposal is to transform the Cellular and Molecular
Biology (CMB) B.S. degree offered by Universidad Metropolitana from a
traditional to a multidisciplinary program. The objectives of this proposal
are as follows: to adapt and implement best practices from various sources and to train faculty to implement these changes.
Methods: The methods are as follows: mathematical and computational
modules, verbal and written communication skills, laboratory experiences
that lead to discovery-based learning, biotechnology techniques experiences, entrepreneurship components into the science curriculum, and
bioengineering processes course for biologists.
Evaluation: Equipment for the Biotechnology includes a new cell culture
room.
Integration of Mathematical and Computational Sciences Modules in
CMB courses. University of Michigan as model. Modules have four main
focuses:
1) Probability and statistics
2) Visualization and modeling
3) Data presentation and interpretation
4) Prediction
Bioprocess Engineering for Biologists. Collaboration with Dr. Carlos Santiago. A unique basic engineering course for biologist with emphasis in
applications.
Business in Biotechnology Course. Collaboration with Dean of the School
of Business Administration. A minor degree was developed using existing
courses and seminars are being developed in the topic.
Dissemination: The project has not yet disseminated its results. It is still
in the process of implementing the changes. For example, the entrepreneurship minor program and its complementing seminar series will be
implemented and disseminated once the academic board approves it. The
other changes are at different levels of approval.
Impact: Participating faculty will broaden their understanding of CMB and
how it relates to other fields. The program will produce biologists with a
strong background in biotechnology as well as knowledge in engineering
and entrepreneurship. This will translate in graduates with a significant
edge over their competition for biotechnology sector employment as well
as interdisciplinary graduate programs. Independent research at UMET
will be enhanced through the acquisition of equipment that could be
share by teaching and research laboratories.
Challenges: One challenge is the turnover of grant co-PIs. Over the course
of the first two years of the grant, the PI and one of the co-PIs moved from
the institution for personal reasons. The second year, one of the co-PIs
moved from Puerto Rico. As PI and Dean of the Science School, I involved
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the faculty in all the activities of the grant, and the activities have been
completed or in their way. The involvement of the faculty in general has
been fundamental to the success in the completion of this grant and the
activities described in it. The main goals and activities originally proposed
have not changed.
Poster 19
PI: Tamar
Goulet
University of Mississippi
Title: Testing the Use of Case Study Teaching in a NonMajors Introductory Biology Class
Project #: 0511664
Education
Institution:
Goals: The project tests the use of case studies as an alternative peda-
gogical technique to lecturing in a large, non-majors introductory course.
The goals are as follows: 1) maintain/increase student factual knowledge,
2) maintain/increase student application of the learned information, 3)
provide deeper conceptual understanding, 4) increase student satisfaction, and 5) increase student attendance.
Methods: An instructor teaches two sections: one lecture and one section
using case studies. Topics were covered in the same amount of time, same
textbook, with the addition of case studies to those sections. Both sections used clickers to collect in-class student answers. Both sections had
three 50-question tests during the semester and a 100-question final.
Evaluation: Faculty taught two sections, lecturing in one class while using
case studies in the other. Learning was quantified in both classrooms by
posing identical questions using digital acquisition technology. Identical
test questions, both factual and application, were compared among sections. Conducting student surveys assessed student satisfaction. Student
attendance was recorded in all sections. In the fall 2006 semester, student
attendance was significantly higher in the case study section compared to
the lecture section. In addition, the grade distribution differed, with fewer
students receiving Ds and Fs in the case study section compared to the
lecture section. Data analysis is still ongoing.
Dissemination: I conducted a Regional Case Studies in Science Workshop
(May 15-19, 2006) at the University of Mississippi. Dr. C. Herreid (SUNY at
Buffalo) and I directed the workshop. A total of 23 participants, from multiple departments, and a wide array of academic institutions from three
states attended the Workshop. I will publish the study results and present
at a meeting.
Impact: Articles about my teaching the non-majors’ course, case studies,
and clickers in the classroom appeared in the local town paper, Oxford
Eagle (August 9, 2006), and in the spring 2007 issue of The College of
Liberal Arts newsletter. I presented talks during the Instructional Technology Enhancement Week (2006, 2007), to the IT committee, and as part of
the Provost’s Faculty Professional Development series (11/07). The workshop attendees were affected by the experience. When data analysis is
complete, the results may change our non-majors’ course. A publication
will hopefully influence U.S. universities in addition to potentially affecting other countries.
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Challenges: My use of case studies relies on the students reading the case
and understanding the terms mentioned in the case by reading the relevant sections in the textbook. One challenge that I encountered was that
some students did not read the case and the associated text and therefore
were unprepared for class. The few in-class questions that I asked about
the pre-class preparation were not a sufficient motivation. I plan to ask
more in-class questions about the pre-class assignment, thereby increasing the rewards and consequences of being prepared for class.
Poster 20
Jane Greenberg
Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Title: BOT 2.0—Botany through Web 2.0, the Memex and
Social Learning
Project #: 0737466
PI:
Goals:
1) Use social software/Web 2.0 technologies to develop the memex
framework and a new approach to botany pedagogy focused on engagement and collaboration.
2) Recruit students from underrepresented populations to botany.
Intended outcome: An innovative technological approach facilitating
STEM education.
Methods: Methods were as follows: recruiting 30+ diverse students from
four area universities (with diverse populations), developing evaluation
instruments to assess student learning and memex use, conducting a
three-phase botany curriculum requiring the use of Web 2.0 technologies
and the memex, and bringing students to the NC Botanical Garden for a
three-day BotCamp experience.
Evaluation: We have developed a four-phase evaluation plan that aligns
with the Bot2.0 curriculum for year one and year two of the project. Each
phase includes two methodologies for gathering data and evaluation.
Phase I: A baseline survey and a self-assessment study on participants’
technological capabilities and, separately, their knowledge of botanical
science.
Phase II: Field observations (during BotCamp) and two focus group
sessions.
Phase III: A Web2.0 log analysis and semi-structured interviews.
Phase IV: A second self-assessment study (reflecting topics covered in
phase I) and a post-curriculum survey.
Year one data will be collected May to October 2008.
Dissemination: Research methods, plans, and results will be dissemi-
nated through scholarly and research journal publication and conference
presentations. Targeted conferences include the Society for Information
Technology and Teacher Education conference, the Association of College
and University Biology Educators, and the American Society for Information Science and Technology.
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Impact: The intellectual merits of this project include:
• Integrating social software, reflection, and self-monitoring into botany
curricula
• Taking advantage of open source technologies that students use daily
• Testing a technology platform for supporting reflection and learning
• Evaluating the usability of this technology and the effectiveness of our
overall approach
The broader impacts of this project include:
• Bringing science education in line with learning science knowledge
• Transforming pedagogy and student learning experiences
• Bringing diverse and underrepresented populations of students to the
field of botany
Challenges: Our project was launched February 1, 2008, and we have not
encountered any unexpected challenges to date. We are moving forward
on schedule and making good progress.
Poster 21
PI: William
Grisham
Institution: University of California, Los Angeles
Title: Modular Digital Course in Undergraduate
Neuroscience Education–Revised (MDCUNE-R)
Project #: 0717306
Goals: The goal of this project is to create a series of inquiry-based labo-
ratory modules in neuroscience and to make them freely accessible to students and faculty at a wide range of institutions. This project will give students a truly rich, hands-on introduction to neuroscience research while
requiring no equipment or facilities other than computers connected to
the Internet.
Methods: The methods were as follows: 1) Making existing, success-
ful, field-tested neuroscience laboratory modules exclusively digital. 2)
Publishing these digital resources in free online, open-access media. 3)
Providing faculty development via articles on use, instructor and student
manuals, workshops, Webcasts, and online tutorials. 4) Preserving these
materials in a free, open-access, on-demand basis on the Internet.
Evaluation: The evaluation plan will entail three phases: 1) testing and re-
fining the teaching tools with UCLA students, 2) obtaining feedback from
faculty and students at other institutions where our materials are being
beta tested, and 3) receiving feedback from faculty and students who are
using the materials after general dissemination. All of the phases will use
feedback to improve the digital resources and manuals. The third phase
(evaluating faculty and students at other institutions after widespread
distribution) will be the most extensive. Data will be obtained via Webbased forms and from interviewing faculty directly. We hope to gauge the
efficacy of our materials across institutions of different Carnegie classifications and to revise them if differentially effective.
Dissemination: Dissemination includes the following: 1) publishing in
open-access, online journals; 2) providing materials via a website linked
through UCLA; 3) publishing in the California Digital Library eScholarship
Repository; 4) distributing at conferences and workshops; and 5) targeting instructors at HBCUs, HSIs, and Tribal Colleges. Even though the project has not begun, we have disseminated the first module to instructors
at about 100 institutions.
Impact: Based on the success of the prototype, we expect each of the
modules to be downloaded over a thousand times and used to teach literally thousands of students. Because the backbone of our distribution plan
is web-based and because the articles and supplemental materials will
be provided at no cost to end-users, we expect the modules will be adopted at diverse institutions, including underserved institutions with limited resources. As a consequence of our free distribution, we expect that
these modules will be used to teach students that are underrepresented
in STEM disciplines. Further, a learning community of neuroscience educators will be built from the contacts made in workshops, in presenting at
meetings, and in distributing and evaluating these modules.
Challenges: The most difficult aspect of this project is gleaning evaluation data from faculty and students at other institutions. The problem has
three aspects: 1) tracking who has received the materials, 2) obtaining
data from faculty and students at other institutions and getting good compliance rates, and 3) devising assessment tools for these students and
faculty. The first two problems can be solved by requiring users to provide
us with contact information, institution characteristics, demographics,
and a pledge to give feedback before allowing access to the materials. The
third will require devising tools for both students and faculty that assess
multiple domains such as gains in critical-thinking skills, content areas,
and motivation/difficulties in use and implementation.
Poster 22
PI: Timothy
Gsell
Governors State University
Title: Undergraduate Coursework and Research
Enhancement Using Molecular Techniques and
Instrumentation
Project #: 0536099
Institution:
Goals: The goal is developing a state-of-the-art laboratory facility for undergraduate teaching and research, with improvements in Microbiology
Labs and additional use for experiments in Cell Biology, Biotech, and Biochemistry. Students will learn novel techniques using this equipment with
positive impacts on student learning for their future STEM careers.
Methods: The method is an integration of procedures with experiments
flowing one into the next with student groups working together to achieve
a specific end result. This is intended to create a more goal-oriented style
of cooperative learning atmosphere supported by theory taught in lecture.
The focus is on integrating culture and DNA-based tools and techniques
in the lab.
Evaluation: Students will be evaluated for their learning ability on two
main levels: 1) laboratory skills and understanding the theory behind the
techniques and 2) their ability to cooperate and function as a member of
an interactive research team using critical-thinking skills to guide them
to discover the proper method to use in a given experimental situation.
The latter is intended to support the former, in that students at different
skill levels or understandings compliment one another. Objective exams
and reports are used in tandem with surveys based on more subjective
queries concerning how they think the specific lab enhancements have
helped them in biology courses and possible research.
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Dissemination: Assessment data from this grant is being compiled and
analyzed and will be presented at an American Society for Microbiology
national meeting (Div W). Student research participants have presented
data at the Governors State University (GSU) Student Annual Research
Symposium and The Illinois State Academy of Science annual meetings.
Some continue in GSU’s master degree program.
Impact: The broader impacts of including culture-based systems and novel advanced molecular microbiology exercises to the courses will better
reflect where the fields of microbiology and biotechnology are currently.
Implementing broadly applicable molecular methods in teaching and research will help students keep pace with the continuing advancements.
Students involved in projects who have taken the improved course will
have now learned skills that will empower them to accomplish better, and
more relevant, research in the projects they undertake. The dissemination
experience will contribute long-term research projects and link these students to potential employment in a science-based position.
Challenges: Timing for new lab experiments in microbiology and other
courses has not been a smooth transition from previous experiments. The
integration of multi-step lab exercises works best, and sometimes participants come in out of class time to complete labs. Students claiming
to have learned a great deal from new lab experiments, based on survey
data, often performed poorly on objective tests and assignments, so more
time is spent on topics in lecture. The presentation of data at meetings
as a dissemination experience is not easy to accomplish for some undergraduate students in biology. Involving other campus’ professors for use
of the new instruments has been problematic, but interest is high.
Poster 23
Jo Handelsman
Institution: University of Wisconsin–Madison
Title: A New Wave of Scientific Teaching
Project #: 0618821
Co-PI: Sarah Miller
PI:
Goals: Our program goal is to train faculty and future faculty to teach sci-
ence with the rigor and spirit of research. This project aims to evaluate and
disseminate the first five years of the program. Outcomes: Faculty and future faculty trained in teaching, instructional materials for undergrad bio,
evaluation tools, publications, and improved undergrad biology courses.
Methods: The program involves two programs on teaching: a year-long
graduate/postdoctoral program and a week-long summer institute for
research faculty. This project 1) evaluates the impact of the program on
participants and their undergrad students and 2) disseminates scientific
teaching (ST)-type workshops through publications, web, and participant
training.
Evaluation: We measure with qualitative and quantitative tools the partic-
ipants’ knowledge, skills, attitudes/confidence, teaching practice, sense
of community, and satisfaction. Instruments include pre/post electronic
surveys, rubric for pre/post written teaching philosophies, and rubric for
the teachable unit, in addition to standard in-class assessment activities.
Participants show gains in knowledge and skills in active learning, assessment, and diversity; positive attitudes about teaching; satisfaction; and
sense of community. Participants also measure undergraduate knowl-
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edge, skills, and attitudes in the courses in which they teach. Preliminary
evidence indicates undergrads are achieving the learning outcomes.
Dissemination: We published one book about ST with instructions to lead
ST-type workshops. Two papers by participants are in press at CBE-Life
Sciences Education and two more are submitted; more are in progress. A
total of 17 teachable units and three videos are posted online; more are
in development. Faculty taught ST-type workshops at eight universities;
more are to be taught in 2008.
Impact: Analysis of the program’s impact from 2002 to 2007 shows that
we have trained 224 participants who developed 54 teachable units to engage students in learning biology and the nature of science. Participants
have taught the units to over 52,000 undergrads at 50 universities. While
the units are developed for biology courses, the interdisciplinary topics include microbiology, ecology, cell biology, neurobiology, statistics, molecular biology, and imaging. In 2007, we trained 36 faculty and instructors to
lead ST-type workshops at 13 universities.
Challenges: The most interesting challenge we have faced is that our
participants are very interested in publishing their findings and want to
collaborate with us to do so. The challenge is finding the time to coauthor or edit them. The other challenge we face is accountability to the Institutional Review Board for human subjects approval. Even though our
project is exempt from formal review because there is no risk to our participants or their subjects, the sheer number of participant projects leads
to hours of updates and busywork. It would be helpful if this process was
streamlined.
Poster 24
Pamela Hanson
Institution: Birmingham–Southern College
Title: Enhancing Multidisciplinarity through Molecular
Modeling
Project #: 0536152
PI:
Goals: This project links biology and chemistry courses by integrating molecular modeling into all levels of these curricula. Specifically, students
use computational approaches to develop testable hypotheses. This
inquiry-based pedagogy encourages critical thinking while exposing students to the interdisciplinary nature of modern research.
Methods: Each summer, two students, one chemistry faculty member, and
one biology faculty member collaborate in the development of molecular
modeling modules and the accompanying wet labs for a pair of courses:
one in biology and one in chemistry. All of the modules are related to the
same, small bioactive compound—namely the nerve agent sarin.
Evaluation: Process evaluation reveals that most grant-related activities
have been implemented as proposed. Minor changes made when facing
unexpected challenges have been documented. Formative and summative
assessment strategies have been designed to address whether program
goals are being met. Anonymous surveys reveal that molecular modeling
modules are having the anticipated impact. For example, during the first
semester of implementation, 92% of Cell and Molecular Biology students
agreed or strongly agreed that molecular modeling helped them visual-
Poster Abstracts
ize what an active site looks like. During the last year of the grant, focus
groups will be carried out as part of our summative assessment strategy.
Dissemination: Preliminary results were presented at Trinity University
“Conference on Interdisciplinarity in Science and Mathematics” and at
the 2007 Experimental Biology meeting. An article for Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology Education is in preparation, and lab manuals can be
downloaded from http://faculty.bsc.edu/phanson/molecular_modeling.
Impact: This project introduces students to modern interdisciplinary research, since molecular modeling is used to aid in designing testable
hypotheses. Preliminary data are promising: 73% of Cell and Molecular
Biology (BI 125) students agreed that molecular modeling helped predict which cholinesterase inhibitors specifically target butyrylcholinesterase—a prediction they tested in the lab. This project should also affect
students’ visualization skills, and in fact, 85% of BI 125 students agreed
that molecular modeling helped them visualize differences between cholinesterases. An impact we may see in the future is enhanced student interest in interdisciplinary research that uses molecular modeling.
Dissemination: A total of 48 undergraduate educators will be exposed to
these Learning Modules in workshops hosted in the summers of 2007 and
2008. Our hope is that these materials will be incorporated into the courses taught by these undergraduate partners and sustained in this way.
Impact: We anticipate that the Learning Modules created in this project
will be adopted by undergraduate educators in a variety of different classrooms where they will contribute to a better understanding of the molecular world. In addition, we anticipate that this project will contribute to a
growing awareness of the powerful role of physical models in capturing
student interest in a molecular topic.
Challenges: Innovative educators, who are the primary target audience in
this project, are incredibly busy people. It is difficult for all of the project
participants to find the time to work together as efficiently as we would
all like.
Poster 26
Chemistry (CH 212) and Physiology (BI 303) went smoothly; however,
design of the accompanying wet labs was problematic. Specifically, the
chemical reactions tested yielded insufficient product and the physiological assay initially gave inconclusive results. To overcome these challenges,
a student developer continued working on the project during the fall. This
work led to a functional protocol for examining effects of cholinesterase
inhibitors on frog leg contraction. This lab will be implemented in spring
2008, and additional trouble-shooting of both the BI 303 and CH 212 wet
labs will be conducted in summer 2008.
James Hewlett
Institution: Finger Lakes Community College
Title: Community College Undergraduate Research:
Building a Model of Integration
Project #: 0536329
Poster 25
Goals: The goal is to test a model for integrating a research experience
Challenges: Development of molecular modeling exercises for Organic
PI: Tim
Herman
Institution: Milwaukee School of Engineering
Title: Active Learning Modules for the Molecular
Biosciences
Project #: 0618688
Type: Educational Material Development—Full
Development
Goals: This project creates Active Learning Modules focused on important
protein complexes commonly encountered in the molecular biosciences.
Each module is composed of a combination of physical models, molecular animations, narrated Jmol-based computer tutorials, and compelling
illustrations.
Methods: The co-PIs work collaboratively to create the “multiple-visual-
izations” that constitute each Learning Module and then share these materials with our undergraduate partners at a summer workshop. We then
continue to work with this community of educators throughout the academic year as they field-test these materials in their classrooms.
Evaluation: Our evaluation of this project is focused in two areas: 1) the
impact of these Learning Modules on the teaching practices of our undergraduate partners and 2) the impact of the Modules on student learning
in the classroom. Evaluation of impact on student learning is done in close
cooperation with the undergraduate partners.
PI:
into a community college science curriculum. The outcomes would include
a shift to project and problem-based learning (PBL)-based coursework,
enhanced student learning, increased recruitment and retention of students, and stronger four-year college connections for enhanced transfer
opportunities.
Methods: The project involves faculty training in PBL methods (case study
method), training in research methods, the development of research experiences for students and faculty, the creation of advanced courses to
train students in research skills, the development of curriculum modules
based on faculty research, and four-year articulation development.
Evaluation: The evaluation plan will use course and program enrollment
data to document the number of students affected by project activities. In
addition, the plan will document additions to institutional course offerings
and course catalogs; document modifications to freshman science course
syllabi; survey faculty (pre and post) to assess the impact of the project
on diversity of research skill sets; document increases in the number of
students involved in project-based learning and produce case studies of
student-involved research projects; document recruitment efforts using
the model as a marketing tool; and survey students involved to evaluate
the impact of the model.
Dissemination: The dissemination plan has included the presentation of
the model at the Oklahoma Association of Community Colleges conference, workshops at the Empire State Association for Two-Year College
Biologists, and an Advisory Board position for an ATE project to integrate
research at Delaware Community and Technical Colleges. Final outcomes
will be presented at the League of Innovations.
Impact: Finger Lakes Community College (FLCC) has institutionalized two
new advanced courses to support the model. The project has produced
stronger interdepartmental and interdisciplinary connections (math, com-
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puter science, conservation) and connections with national networks of
researchers. Faculty at three different community colleges have been
trained in the case study method and field research methods. Students
at FLCC have initiated research projects and submitted student proposals for funding. Problem-based learning curriculum modules have been
implemented in freshman biology courses, and a collaboration with the
Rochester Institute of Technology has been strengthened and a plan for
developing joint projects is in place.
insight in to student conceptual understanding that is not directly tied to
language and thus may be useful with non-native English–speaking students. In addition, this type of assessment may be used as a model for
other sub-disciplines in biology or other STEM disciplines.
Challenges: The primary challenges faced during the initial phases of
the project were in the area of faculty load. The minimum faculty teaching load for science faculty at FLCC is 17 contact hours. Initially, release
time was implemented so that faculty could develop curriculum materials
and novel projects. This is not sustainable and has put a strain on departmental staff. A new community college faculty model has been developed
where faculty will meet a specific set of criteria to qualify for five contact
hours of teaching. These criteria are aligned with institutional mission
statements and outcome goals. We hope to test this model as part of a
phase II project.
PI:
Challenges: There are no unexpected challenges to report to date.
Poster 28
Poster 27
Sally Hoskins
Institution: City College of CUNY
Title: Implementing CREATE through Faculty Development
at Multiple Institutions in Order to Assess Its Efficacy on
Diverse Learners
Project #: 0618536
PI: William
Goals: The CREATE project aims to demystify research and humanize re-
Hoese
California State University Fullerton
Title: Seeing Is Knowing: Using Images to Diagnose
Misconceptions in Biology
Project #: 0633262
Institution:
Goals: The two major goals of this project are to 1) identify misconcep-
tions of cell structure and organismal diversity held by undergraduates
in introductory majors biology using student-generated images and 2)
develop a computer-based tutorial assessment that uses images to help
students replace misconceptions with correct scientific knowledge.
Methods: We are surveying and interviewing students to identify miscon-
ceptions about cell structure and plant and animal morphology. Subsets
of students participate in interviews to more deeply probe understanding
of concepts. Student drawings and narratives are analyzed for errors. Assessment tutorial will be used to measure changes in understanding.
Evaluation: Preliminary results of student understanding of cell structure
identified multiple misconceptions about the nature of the fluid mosaic
model of membrane structure. Students depiction of phospholipid bilayers included common structural errors (e.g., linking hydrophobic tails
across the interior of the membrane). Student drawings of insects also
included structural errors (e.g., placement and number of legs on thorax).
Misconceptions remain widespread across our student population after
instruction.
Dissemination: We presented preliminary results of this project to re-
searchers at a Conceptual Assessment in Biology conference in the spring
of 2007 and will also participate at another meeting of this group in January 2008. Future dissemination plans include presentations by faculty and
graduate students at national meetings.
Impact: We anticipate that the development of an image-based assessment for the identification of common misconceptions will positively affect the quality of biology instruction. This type of assessment provides
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searchers through intense investigation of primary literature. Our CCLI
level 1 project succeeded at CCNY, a minority institution. For CCLI level
2, we are running CREATE training workshops for NY/NJ/PA faculty in fall
2007. In spring 2008, a subset of these faculty will implement and assess
CREATE on their home campuses.
Methods: Our workshops (one full day per month) cover the pedagogi-
cal basis of the CREATE method, “how to run a CREATE class,” how to
work with small groups on exercises like the “grant panel,” how to contact
paper authors for novel behind-the-scenes insights, how to assess outcomes, and the reactions of students to learning in this way.
Evaluation: An outside evaluator writes formative and summative re-
ports for the workshops. Faculty workshop participants also complete
online evaluations at the conclusion of each session (using the Wisconsin
Student Assessment of Learning Gains site), as well as a pre-workshop
series and post-series Likert-style survey.
During project implementation, the outside evaluator will observe workshop participants as they teach CREATE on their home campuses and will
interview some students from these CREATE classes. In addition, each
class will be evaluated using critical thinking tests, attitude surveys,
and other tools (described in Hoskins et al. 2007; Genetics Education
176:1449–1554).
Dissemination: Papers: Genetics Education 176:1449–1554, 2007 (see
above); Amer. Biol. Teacher, Cell Biology Education (in review). Meetings:
National Assoc. of Biol. Teachers, Amer. Soc. for Cell Bio., Soc. for Neurosci. Soc. for Devel. Biol. Talks: NY Academy of Science, Amer. Acad. of
Sci. (MA), Columbia U., Georgia State U., Bard, Montclair State. A CREATE
textbook is planned.
Impact: CCNY is a minority institution and two-thirds of the students in
the first implementations of the CREATE course were from underrepresented minority groups. To our knowledge, this is the first approach demonstrated to simultaneously develop such students’ competence in critically reading/analyzing literature while at the same time increasing their
enthusiasm for research and their understanding of “who does science
and why?”
CREATE is cost-effective, transferable to any content area, and provides
students with tools that are applicable to any science reading. As such,
Poster Abstracts
this novel approach has generated a great deal of interest from science
educators in diverse fields.
Challenges: An occasional scheduling conflict or personal emergency
has arisen for a few of our faculty participants, preventing a few individuals from attending a given monthly workshop. We have dealt with this by
running several “makeup sessions” where individuals meet one-on-one
with one of the PIs (Hoskins) for an intensive tutorial aimed at helping the
student catch up before the next workshop.
Some faculty have always taught by lecturing and find it challenging to
consider alternatives. To ease the transition to teaching with the CREATE
method, we have run “student teaching sessions” in some workshops to
give future CREATE faculty practice and feedback.
Poster 29
Jay Hosler
Institution: Juniata College
Title: A Non-Majors Biology Text in Comic Book Form
Project #: 0536737
PI:
Goals: The goal of this project was to create a non-majors biology text-
book in comic book format that is visual, humorous, conceptual, and context rich. Optical Allusions follows Wrinkles the Wonder Brain on a series
of eye-themed adventures. Each story introduces a biological concept and
is followed by a text section that expands on that concept.
Methods: The PI is an Associate Professor of biology and a professional
cartoonist. The art was hand-drawn and the book assembled in the design program Adobe InDesign. The book is designed for use in non-majors
biology classes. Several instructors will be using and testing the book in
2008/2009.
Evaluation: Assessment by statistician K.B. Boomer at Bucknell Univer-
sity begins in January 2008. Two forms of assessment will be used. Conceptual Diagnostic Tests: Students will be assessed on how well they understand the key concepts outlined in the prototype chapter, before and
after its use. A colleague and student attitude survey will help determine
if the text made the material less intimidating and improved the overall
classroom experience. This survey will also assess which elements of the
text were most successful and whether this text facilitates different learning styles effectively.
Dissemination: This conference would be the first dissemination activity.
Since the book Optical Allusions focuses on the eye and evolution, the PI
plans to attend the Society for Neuroscience and Evolution meetings in
2008/2009. In addition, the outcomes will be reported in the Science of
Teaching and Learning literature.
Impact: I hope that Optical Allusions provides an engaging vehicle to in-
troduce concepts of eye biology and evolution to students that have traditionally been resistant to learning about science. Because of its unique
blend of science and comics, the book may garner the attention of the
general public as well. In both cases, readers will be exposed to evolutionary concepts through the guerrilla educational tactics of humor and
adventure. This technique has garnered my previous graphic novels, Clan
Apis and The Sandwalk Adventures praise from Science, The New York
Times, and Chronicle of Higher Education.
Challenges: My first two books were about natural history. Clan Apis is
the biography of a honey bee and The Sandwalk Adventures is the story of
a conversation between Charles Darwin and a follicle mite in his left eyebrow. In Optical Allusions, I had to write comic stories about molecular biology and evo-devo. These proved to me more challenging in terms of constructing a story to which readers could relate. I believe I have succeeded
by placing these more abstract concepts in classic adventure tropes. For
example, in one story, the shape-changing photopigment rhodopsin becomes a were-protein that is transformed by the light of the moon.
Poster 30
Rupa Iyer
University of Houston
Title: From Nature to Lab to Production—Infusing CuttingEdge Research Into Undergraduate Curriculum
Project #: 0633714
PI:
Institution:
Goals:
1) Designing and disseminating project-based modules
2) Modifying and updating curricula for principles of biotechnology
course
Outcomes:
1) Explain the theory and practice of recombinant DNA technology
2) Describe biocatalysis, bioprocess control, and upstream and downstream processing
3) Designing and disseminating lab activities
Methods: Three sets of activity modules are being developed in collabo-
ration with industry and academic partners. These modules cover topics
from microbiology techniques, molecular techniques, and applications to
biomanufacturing, biosensors, and nanotechnology and are connected by
a common theme—a pesticide degrading bacteria.
Evaluation: Curricular materials are being peer-reviewed nationwide and
suggestions and recommendations are being incorporated.
The module is being pilot-tested in a special topics class, BIOL 495R Biotechnology Laboratory Evaluation. Evaluation was based on the student
laboratory notebook, where students discussed the learning objective of
each protocol, explanation of whether or not it met each learning objective, explanation on the success of each protocol, and suggestions for
improvement.
Student evaluation consists of formative and summative evaluation that
consists of testing the effectiveness of the course in terms of knowledge,
skills, and overall impact.
Dissemination:
1) Presentations: American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) conference June 2007, Hawaii; Biomedical Technology Club, Houston,
Texas, May 2007; ISPE Southwest chapter, Galveston, April 2007;
publication Bridges to the Future- Infusing Cutting-Edge Research into
Undergraduate Curricula, ASEE conference paper
2) Workshops for faculty, counselors, and advisers
3) Website
Impact: The project is currently being pilot-tested and adopted by Purdue
University and Brigham Young, Hawaii. Since the project is interdisciplin-
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Poster Abstracts
ary and infuses current research into undergraduate curriculum, it can be
a model for biotechnology education.
Challenges: Only biology faculty in the College of Technology (CoT). This
college offers programs in engineering technology, information logistics
technology, construction management, power technology, etc. Faculty
and administration are not familiar with the challenges of setting up a fullfledged biotechnology program that involves wet labs. CoT students are
not familiar with the new program.
We plan to conduct multiple workshops with advisor’s and faculty within
the College of Technology and College of Natural Sciences and College of
Pharmacy.
Poster 31
Christopher Jarvis
Institution: Hampshire College
Title: Discovering Science through Fermentation:
Equipment for an Investigative Approach
Project #: 0633121
Co-PI: Jason Tor
PI:
Goals: The project aims to improve college science teaching and student
learning through interconnected and innovative lecture/laboratory materials designed to attract and retain science concentrators. We created two
new active hands-on laboratory-focused courses, which will attract more
people to the sciences.
Methods: We plan to attract students to science early in college using
fermentation science as a lure. The introductory course will focus on fermentation of a wide variety of food products and will require no previous
background in the sciences. The advanced course is brewing science and
will require the introductory course, chemistry, and microbiology.
Evaluation: We will also be doing formative assessment during the se-
mester, evaluating students abilities to find, read, and critique the primary literature and to work with quantitative data. We will also assess the
introductory students attitudes toward science, including their abilities,
interests, and likelihood of taking another science class before and after
course completion. We will use the Views About Science Survey (VASS),
a validated attitudes instrument. This instrument is designed to survey
student views about knowing and learning science and to assess the
relation of these views to student understanding of science and course
achievement.
Dissemination: Our dissemination plan will targets five audiences: stu-
dents and faculty within Hampshire College, students and faculty in the
five-college area (including our community colleges), the academic community nationally, pre-college students and educators, and the brewing
community. We have held one conference in which our students presented
their data.
Impact: It should be noted that using brewing (fermentation science) to
attract students is likely to be widely applicable to many colleges looking
to increase the number of science majors. Our courses are being motivated by the scientific questions of interest to fermentation scientists and
will give our students the opportunity to participate in this real research.
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We believe that this approach will lead to greater student recruitment to,
and retention in, the sciences. We also believe that in the long run, this
approach will lead to a more sustainable interest in such courses by the
faculty as the research, and therefore the course focus will change each
time it is offered.
Challenges: Our major challenge has been in the interpretation of the
VASS survey, since we have not yet received help from anyone in the educational assessment field. The other challenge will be taking what we
learn from the VASS survey and developing a curricular plan for addressing various aspects of the student attitudes. A minor challenge has been
dealing with the long enrollment waiting lists the introductory course has
generated. We have been trying to think of ways to increase our class size
without compromising our pedagogical approach.
Poster 32
Michael Klymkowsky
Institution: University of Colorado at Boulder
Title: Building a Basic Biology Concept Inventory
Project #: 0405007
Type: Assessment of Student Achievement
Focus: Assessing Student Achievement
PI:
Goals: The goal is to build a concept inventory for the biological sciences
that can drive instruction toward more robust conceptual goals and away
from the memorization-based outcomes often characteristic of conventional instruction.
Methods: Our strategy in constructing the Biology Concept Inventory
(BCI) has been to identify foundational concepts that students do not confidently understand, e.g., randomness, energy/entropy, molecular interactions, and then construct items that probe those areas. This is sadly a
novel student-centric rather than instructor/standards-centric approach.
Evaluation: Primarily data for item construction were obtained through
Ed’s tools database system. Items were validated in terms of student interpretation through a series of interviews and “think-aloud” sessions.
We are currently in the process of conducting other statistical analyses.
Dissemination: We have, and are preparing, a series of articles in widely
read journals (e.g., PLoS Biology, Life Science Education) describing the
BCI, its uses, and its availability. We hope to collaborate with professional
organizations (e.g., NABT) to bring the lessons learned from the BCI to the
consciousness of instructors and standardized test designers.
Impact: We believe that, much like the Force Concept Inventory in physics,
the BCI is beginning to raise the awareness of the biological education
community to the fact that key conceptual foundations are often overlooked by traditional instructional/evaluative strategies. A second important point is to communicate the role of concept inventories (as opposed
to standardized tests) in providing instructors with an accurate map of
their students’ conceptual landscape, empowering the instructor to reform the curriculum and class content to address persistent misconceptions and lacunae.
Challenges: A critical issue has been the common confusion of the nature
of concept inventories, which are often viewed as standardized tests. The
two have quite different goals and require different methods for validation. Our approach is to publicize these differences using both Wikipedia
Poster Abstracts
and refereed publications and to illustrate how the two can be used synergistically to improve educational outcomes.
Poster 33
Jonathan Knight
Institution: San Francisco State University
Title: Implementation of a Biological Case Study Curriculum
at a Minority-Serving Institution
Project #: 0511697
PI:
Goals: This project aims to develop a case-based teaching model and to
assess student attitudes and learning in an advanced undergraduate cell
and molecular biology laboratory course at a minority-serving institution.
The intended outcomes of this project are to generate increased interest
among minorities in biological research while meeting course learning
goals.
Methods: We have developed four case-based, laboratory-based teach-
ing modules. We conducted in-class pre- and post-assessments on attitudes about case-based learning and biology research, as well as in-class
pre- and post-assessments on knowledge about experimental techniques. Finally, we conducted one-on-one, videotaped student attitudinal
interviews.
Evaluation: We conducted open-ended, in-class written assessments of
student attitudes at the beginning and again at the end of the semester of
all sections of Biology 351. At the end of the spring semester, all students
were invited to participate in a one-on-one, videotaped, semi-structured
interview. Eight students participated.
We also conducted open-ended, in-class written assessments of student knowledge before and after each case-based module, as well as an
open-ended in-class end-of-the-semester written assessment of student
learning.
Dissemination: We plan to publish our findings in CBE: A Journal of Life
Science Education so that researchers and instructors alike can either use
the cases we have developed or develop their own case studies based on
ours.
Impact: We anticipate that this project will demonstrate that rigorous
learning goals can be met while engaging students in case-based strategies that lead to increased motivation among some students as well as increased real-world problem-solving, communication, and collaboration.
Challenges: Students were initially reluctant to engage in the case-based
approach. We found, however, that our use of multiple case-based modules allowed students to become more comfortable and confident with
the approach.
Another challenge was the incorporation of assessments into the curriculum to evaluate the effectiveness of the approach. A strong collaboration
between the researchers and the course instructor was important in overcoming this challenge and facilitating effective evaluation.
Poster 34
PI:
Eli Meir
SimBiotic Software
Title: EvoBeaker II: Assessing Simulations for Teaching
Evolutionary Biology
Project #: 0717495
Institution:
Goals: We are expanding on a Phase I CCLI grant to develop software for
teaching evolutionary biology. In Phase II, we are focusing on writing or rewriting four laboratories and doing a large-scale formative and summative
assessment of each one, including labs on the Hardy-Weinberg formula,
genetic drift, and tree-thinking and using models in biology.
Methods: Each laboratory consists of a set of structured simulated ex-
periments that are geared toward overcoming misconceptions we find
among college students on the topic. The labs are built using a very flexible individual-based modeling engine and recreate actual experiments of
evolutionary biologists.
Evaluation: We used pre- and post-tests on both local students and
classes nationwide to look for improvement around two of our labs. From
EvoBeaker 1.0, we found that one lab on tree-thinking, which showed a
growing evolutionary tree next to a set of populations that are splitting
and mutating, improved students understanding of trees by about 35%.
However, one aspect of reading trees, which we called “node-counting,”
did not improve at all in our lab. We also compared against a class on the
same topic from an excellent teacher using paper activities and found student gains with the simulation lab equal to those from a standard class.
Our lab on natural selection showed smaller improvements.
Dissemination: We have been selling the labs from EvoBeaker 1.0 for 3
years as part of the set of introductory biology and upper-level biology
labs that our company offers.
Impact: Close to 50,000 students across the U.S. and around the world
have used labs from EvoBeaker so far in a range of classes from Advanced
Placement high school courses, non-majors and introductory biology, and
general evolution classes. We expect 25,000 or more students to use EvoBeaker labs in the 2008/2009 school year. We also expect up to 100 biology classes around the U.S. to participate in our assessment program for
EvoBeaker II. Most of the professors in these classes have reported that
the labs are successful for them and that their students enjoy doing the
labs.
Challenges: Some misconceptions were very hard to dispel. In the second phase of our project, we will be looking at the “node-counting” misconception in our tree-thinking lab and trying different sets of instructions
to get the students to realize that is not a good way to think about trees. In
a more general sense, it was easy for us to get volunteers of faculty to try
our materials with pre- and post-tests, but we had to spend a lot of time
on follow-up to make sure the tests were actually given as we wanted and
returned.
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Poster Abstracts
Poster 35
PI: Theodore
Muth
Institution: CUNY Brooklyn College
Title: Authentic Research Experience in Microbiology
Project #: 0633490
lab hours to deal with this as well as relocating the PI’s lab adjacent to the
teaching lab.
Poster 36
tive will transform the general microbiology laboratory course at Brooklyn
College from a traditional format to a cutting-edge, hands-on, authentic
research experience for students. Students will contribute to the PI’s research on Agrobacteria and present and/or publish their data.
Philip Myers
Institution: University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
Title: Exploring Natural History: Promoting Active Learning
in Ecology and Biodiversity
Project #: 0633095
Co-PI: Tricia Jones
Methods: Students in the AREM lab will contribute to the design of ex-
Goals: Students in evolutionary, ecological, and organismal biology
Goals: The Authentic Research Experience in Microbiology (AREM) initia-
periments, carry out the experiments in the lab, analyze their results, and,
when possible, develop strategies for the future direction of their work.
In contrast to the current lab format, the AREM lab will promote student
engagement, creativity, and ownership of their research.
Evaluation: Results from our pilot AREM projects indicate that under-
graduate students can carry out technically demanding assays and generate useful, reproducible data. Students have begun to analyze the ability
of Agrobacteria to bind and infect roots from several different Arabidopsis
lines (wild-type and mutants).
The evaluation of AREM will include both quantitative and qualitative data
for formative and summative evaluation. The traditional lab sections are
switching to the AREM format in a phased manner (several sections each
year), which will allow us to adjust and compensate for any unexpected
complications, ensuring that the fully integrated AREM format is able to
achieve its objectives.
Dissemination: We have just begun on our AREM initiative and our dis-
semination has been primarily local and informal. This has included encouraging and supporting other Biology faculty to incorporate authentic
research from their own labs into the undergraduate teaching labs. In
the future, we will present our results at conferences and publish our
findings.
Impact: We have just begun our AREM initiative and have not had time to
carefully assess our impact. However, the award of the CCLI grant itself,
and the fledgling efforts of the AREM lab, have had an impact by raising the level of interest in significantly improving undergraduate research
training on our campus. We anticipate that the AREM initiative will serve
as a model for the inclusion of authentic research projects into other undergraduate science labs at Brooklyn College and Kingsborough Community College. The PI and co-PI have already begun working with other science faculty to identify areas where AREM modules could be modified to
compliment the teaching taking place in other labs.
Challenges: Our first unexpected challenge came when we learned that
our proposal needed Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval because
the students in the lab fit the definition of human subjects. We were able
to obtain the required training for work with human subjects and to receive fast-track IRB approval. We have only begun our work in the AREM
lab and we have not yet encountered many unexpected challenges. The
challenges we have had are related to the specific assays used by students in our research. It has not always been trivial to organize the experiments to fit into the scheduled lab periods. We introduced flexible open
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PI:
(EEOB) courses have few opportunities to investigate the natural history
data central to these fields. Our goal is to develop and test innovative querying tools so students in diverse educational settings can explore data,
discover patterns, and test hypotheses.
Methods: The structured data in the Animal Diversity Web (ADW) is the
basis for our project. Faculty from seven institutions collaborated with
us in intensive workshops to refine a structured query tool and develop
exercises suitable for undergraduate EEOB courses. These inquiry-based
activities are now being integrated into their courses.
Evaluation: Formative evaluation has relied on two data streams, gath-
ered from all faculty participants and their students. Our faculty feedback
rubric looks at ease of implementation of inquiry activities and fit with
course goals. A 20-item student questionnaire probes student knowledge, experience, and confidence relative to each item. Analysis of repeated measures is ongoing, but early results indicate growth in all three
areas, particularly with respect to exploring and analyzing data. We are
also examining student work to assess how students use natural history
data for inquiry in organismal biology concepts. Next semester, we will
add a measure of student content knowledge.
Dissemination: In 2007, we demonstrated querying tools at a conference
for math and science educators. As we refine our techniques and support
material, we will expand to more faculty across the country. We will accomplish this by targeting workshops to interested instructors at relevant
EEOB academic conferences, publishing results, and carrying out online
dissemination.
Impact: The ADW database and structured query tool have been used successfully in five undergraduate courses in fall 2007. Initial feedback from
instructors has been enthusiastic, suggesting that these exercises were
a valuable addition to their courses. Students are excited about using
data to ask scientific questions and observe patterns. Courses supported
so far are widely taught, cover a range of student levels (introductory to
upper-division science), and are designed for a variety of educational settings (community college to research universities). As a result, materials
produced by this project should be useful to a large audience. All materials developed will be freely available online.
Challenges: Needs-assessment with collaborators changed our technology tools development focus. This greatly improved our query interface,
although some delays in implementation resulted. Collaborating faculty
have broad-ranging research backgrounds and their feedback suggested
gaps in our database. We were challenged to integrate new data sources
Poster Abstracts
to fully enable student inquiry. Finally, consistent and timely communication from faculty participants was a challenge. Faculty expectations regarding support through activity development were more variable than
anticipated. We continue to research ways to improve communication
avenues and clarify expectations.
Poster 37
PI: Bruce
Nash
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Title: Functional Genome Analysis by RNAi: Phase II
Curriculum Dissemination and Evaluation
Project #: 0717765
Institution:
Goals: The goal of this CCLI project is to strengthen biotechnology instruc-
tion, focusing on colleges, by training faculty members to implement curriculum, experiments, and bioinformatics exercises to highlight the newly
discovered experimental power and biology of RNA interference (RNAi).
Methods: The goal is being met by achieving the following objectives:
1) Conducting a nationwide series of Silencing Genomes Workshops
reaching 208 biology faculty
2) Providing follow-up and ongoing support for workshop participants,
including an online discussion forum
3) Assessing project impact using formative, longitudinal, and summative
evaluation
Evaluation: Project assessment is being conducted in collaboration with
an external consultant and consists of five parts: 1) formative evaluation
of the workshop experience using participant feedback; 2) longitudinal
evaluation of classroom use, gauging baseline knowledge pre-workshop,
teacher predictions of implementation post-workshop, and follow-up email surveys to correlate actual teaching behaviors with predictions made
in the post-workshop survey; 3) Internet use statistics; 4) a controlled
study of attitudinal and learning effects among college and health students; and 5) annual project review to monitor how well the project is fulfilling its stated objectives.
Dissemination: Silencing Genomes was introduced to biology educa-
tors during a mini-workshop at NABT in Atlanta in November 2007. The
Silencing Genomes website was launched in March 2007 to support and
disseminate the curriculum. Eight five-day Silencing Genomes workshops
and 1.5-day follow-up workshops will be held nationwide beginning April
2008.
Impact: Our goal is to train 208 college faculty. Extrapolating from Phase
I follow-up surveys, we estimate that 12,000 students and 400 faculty
will be exposed to our curriculum within a year of these faculty receiving training. Because our curriculum is flexible and multidisciplinary, we
anticipate impacts on multiple aspects of student learning, which we will
assess in our controlled study. A unique impact of the workshop will be
the team development of RNAi feeding vectors and strains that will be
provided free-of-charge to biology educators nationwide, building a committed core community of lead RNAi instructors, and developing a sense
of ownership that will enhance implementation.
Challenges: We have yet to meet any unexpected challenges.
Poster 38
PI: Clare
O’Connor
Institution: Boston College
Title: Yeast and Oxygen: Incorporating Functional Genomics
Research into Three Advanced Laboratory Courses
Project #: 0633062
Goals: The overall goal of the project is to introduce original research ex-
periences into three advanced laboratory classes in biochemistry, cell biology, and molecular biology. Students construct and design experiments
to test original hypotheses around an interdisciplinary theme involving
enzymes that repair oxidative damage to proteins.
Methods: Students work in teams that develop original research propos-
als based on understanding of current literature and online genomic and
protein databases. Teams design experiments to test their hypotheses
and meet regularly with other teams to analyze results. Projects culminate
in research papers that are shared with other classes and the public.
Evaluation: Our first round of evaluation included pre- and post-course
surveys on student knowledge and student confidence with the scientific
method. These initial surveys showed significant gains in both student
knowledge and student confidence. These initial surveys are serving as
the pilot for more in-depth ongoing and future evaluations. The current
evaluation plan uses a mixture of quantitative and qualitative evaluation
methods, including class interviews and observations as well as concept
tests and attitude surveys. Evaluations are being designed in collaboration with colleagues in the evaluation department of the Lynch School of
Education.
Dissemination: The project website (BCBC) includes class information,
protocols, tutorials, and links. Files in the site are in HTML, PDF, and SWF
format, thus allowing access from multiple platforms and long-term access. The site is currently under testing, with public release in early 2008.
Other results will be published in scientific and educational journals.
Impact: This project provides a new model for undergraduate research
classes at research universities. The class organization allows large numbers of undergraduate students with the kind of research experience and
sense of research community normally available only to students conducting research projects in faculty laboratories. The vast amounts of information published by genome projects with model organisms can provide the
basis for large numbers of research projects designed and conducted by
students. The results generated from student projects will be published
and thereby contribute to the knowledge base in the biological sciences.
Challenges: The major challenge that we have encountered relates to
the sequential nature of the project. The project is structured such that
classes use results produced during the previous semester as the starting
point for their own projects. Because classes last for a single semester,
students often struggle to advance their projects to the next step before
the semester ends. As a consequence, we have compressed the introductory activities for the semester to enable us to advance the timeline for
student proposal submission. Instructors also face the challenge of revising course goals at the end of each semester in response to the results
generated during the previous semester.
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Poster Abstracts
Poster 39
Poster 40
Joyce Parker
Title: A Framework for Reasoning in Cell Biology Courses
Project #: 0736947
Education
Robert Pennock
Title: Avida-ED: Technology for Teaching Evolution and the
Nature of Science Using Digital Organisms
Project #: 0341484
Development
PI:
Goals: Many problems students have with biology can be tied to failure
to use principled reasoning (PR). We will develop homework and clicker
questions that explicitly teach the use of the organizing principles of tracing information, matter, and energy; implement these items in a spectrum
of courses; and study subsequent student performance on PR questions.
Methods: We will develop machine-gradable homework questions and
sequences of questions for use in lecture with personal response systems.
For the topics of cellular respiration and photosynthesis, these questions
will focus on tracing matter (carbon) and energy. For meiosis, the focus
will be tracing matter (chromosomes) and information (alleles).
Evaluation: We will develop homework and clicker questions that explic-
itly teach students how to use organizing principles to make sense of biological processes (TIME items). We will evaluate their efficacy as instructional tools and assessment items using our existing clusters of questions
designed to assess principled reasoning. We will compare student’s scores
on these questions in courses as they are currently implemented to scores
of students in a later semester when the TIME items are used. To guide
development and to evaluate the validity of the final version of the TIME
items as formative assessment tools, we will use think-aloud interviews
and/or written assignments in each of the courses.
Dissemination: Avida-ED was publicly released in July 2007 at the Society
for the Study of Evolution conference. Papers and posters have been presented at SSE, NSTA, Sigma Xi Forum, and GECCO conferences. A dozen
invited talks have been given at various universities. A half-day teacher
workshop was given at NABT.
Impact: Other members of the biology education community are beginning to use our frameworks in their assessment work. These include Dr.
Susan Elrod (Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo), who is developing a genetics concept inventory, and Dr. Charlene D’Avanzo (Hampshire), who is developing
workshops for faculty.
In addition, preliminary research shows that implementation of our framework in an introductory biology course had a positive effect on the middle
45% of student’s ability to do principled reasoning, including 44% of the
black students. The introductory biology courses we are working in are
required of all preservice secondary biology teachers as well as many preservice teachers of other sciences.
Challenges: We have recently found that some significant number of faculty attribute poor performance on questions posed in everyday contexts
to the nature of the question. They see these as trick questions that deflect
student thinking from their formal learning. They see a bridge between
formal learning and experiential concepts that students have picked up
as dangerous to the rigor of their students’ understanding. Therefore, we
believe that dissemination to these faculty must include some learning
theory that explains the need for new learning to be connected to existing
ideas if it is to be retained.
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Program Book
PI:
Goals: Develop educational software (Avida-ED) that will allow under-
graduates in biology and computer science and engineering courses to
perform experiments to test evolutionary hypotheses using digital organisms. Develop support materials and model lesson plans. Access the effectiveness of the software. Disseminate results.
Methods: We followed a strategy of extensive alpha and beta testing of
the software with users all during the design/development process.
Evaluation: During the development phase, the software was tested in a
wide variety of courses. Direct observations of students as they used the
software as well as the usual feedback surveys were used to refine the
interface and increase its usability and stability.
Dissemination: Avida-ED was publicly released in July 2007 at the Society
for the Study of Evolution conference. Papers and posters have been presented at SSE, NSTA, Sigma Xi Forum, and GECCO conferences. A dozen
invited talks have been given at various universities. A half-day teacher
workshop was given at NABT.
Impact: In its beta-testing phase, Avida-ED has been used in a variety of
courses locally both for majors and non-majors. In the few months since
its public release, it has already been picked up for use at many locations
nationally and internationally.
Challenges: Although not necessarily unexpected, the main challenge
has been the educational assessment component. It is always difficult to
isolate the specific effect of a new pedagogical intervention upon student
learning. There are too many uncontrollable confounding factors to be
able to get a clear signal in the data.
Poster 41
PI: John
Peters
College of Charleston
Title: Civic Engagement in Non-Majors Introductory
Biology: Connecting Problem-Based Learning and
Scientific Inquiry
Project #: 0410720
Institution:
Goals: This project aims to develop/adapt exemplary resources and mod-
els of teaching college non-science majors biology to promote a deeper
understanding of fundamental biological concepts, the process and na-
Poster Abstracts
ture of science, and an ability to use scientific knowledge and evidence to
understand and resolve important societal/environmental issues.
Methods: A problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum was used to teach
the core concepts of biology in the context engaging civic issues. In inquiry-based labs, students experience the process of doing science, how
scientific knowledge is established as valid, and the strengths and limitations of using this knowledge to resolve societal issues.
Evaluation: The project is currently evaluating how PBL and traditional
content-driven lecture-based teaching methods influence students’:
• Science-technology-society literacy
• Views about their own learning
• Level of engagement with science-related topics
Two pre/post-course surveys (Views on Science-Technology-Society;
Student Assessment of Learning Gains) were given before, during, and
after implementation of the new curriculum. Additionally, ~30 students
participated in pre- and post-project focus group interviews. Analysis is
ongoing, but preliminary results from focus group interviews suggest
that the new curriculum has had a positive effect on student learning and
engagement.
Dissemination: Project information/resources can be found at http://
www.cofc.edu/~petersj/CCLI/CofC_NSF_CCLI_HomePage.html and have
been shared at several local conferences/workshops. Project results, innovations, and teaching resources will be published via educational journals and presented at educational research conferences.
Impact: 1) Pre/post-project student interviews show substantial positive
changes in students’ attitudes/interest in biology and their views about
the value of science in their general education. 2) The department has
approved a new course title/description.
Challenges: Our main challenge has been getting faculty to re-conceptualize their roles as teachers from disseminators of knowledge to active
facilitators who consider the constructivist nature of learning in teaching.
We have dealt with this challenge by:
1) Offering teaching workshops for faculty
2) Providing stipends to adjunct faculty for ongoing pedagogical
development
3) Encouraging faculty collaboration by meeting regularly to discuss
teaching strategies
4) Encouraging faculty to adopt pedagogies that fit their own evolving
strengths
5) Developing a lab instructor manual that provides graduate TAs with
the structure they require to adopt student-directed inquiry-based
pedagogies
Poster 42
Randall Phillis
Institution: University of Massachusetts
Title: Assessment of Model-Based Reasoning in Biology
Project #: 0512725
PI:
Goals: In this project, we are developing and evaluating:
1) A set of formative assessment tools to help students develop scientific
reasoning skills in biology
2) A corresponding set of summative assessment tools to measure their
performance
3) Guiding principle instructional approaches to optimize the learning impact of the use of these tools
Methods: In our development of formative assessment tools, we are using
evaluations from biology experts and student data that include “clicker”
response data, written response data, verbal response data, and classroom observation data. The formative tools are then evaluated against
student performance on corresponding summative assessments.
Evaluation: Our evaluation of the data involves the development and
application of a model-based reasoning rubric that we apply to student
written and verbal data, which we compare to multiple-choice responses
on objective problem sets. We have found that over 75% of first-semester
freshmen in introductory biology can perform at good or excellent levels
and that student performance improves significantly over their first college semester using this set of assessment tools. We also have a description of instructional guidelines that encourage student engagement and
improvement in reasoning tasks.
Dissemination: We presented our work at conferences, workshops, and
seminars, including the NSF conference for NSF DUE-ASA PIs, conferences
sponsored by publishers for introductory biology conferences at university
seminars. In addition, we have two manuscripts submitted for publication
and three in preparation and a public website that describe our work.
Impact: We have influenced the teaching of biology and other disciplines
locally and nationally. Through conference presentations, we have informed hundreds of faculty at institutions ranging from community college to research 1 public universities about our methods and assessment
tools. Many of these faculty have contacted us repeatedly to ask for advice or give feedback about their application of our approach. Our design
has gone beyond a simple-minded “clicker classroom” type of instruction
and has focused on what problems should students work on to solve if
they are to develop the set of cognitive skills required of biology experts.
Challenges: Initially, we sought expert feedback about our formative and
summative assessment tools, but we found that many of our biology colleagues did not have an adequate background in education research to
appreciate the goals. We have also found that measuring student performance, including objective test response, written response, and verbal
response poses an array of logistical and theoretical challenges. We have
worked to include our collaborating faculty in our research group meetings and refined our goals for measuring student performance.
Poster 43
Erin Sanders-Lorenz
University of California–Los Angeles (UCLA)
Title: Implementation and Evaluation of an Undergraduate
Inquiry-Based Research Laboratory Curriculum in Microbial
Ecology
Project #: 0737131
Co-PI: Debra Pires
PI:
Institution:
Goals: Our goals are to improve student attitudes about science and to
increase conceptual understanding of the material related to microbial
Program Book
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Poster Abstracts
ecology and evolution by transforming a single, discovery-based course
into an inquiry-based research curriculum comprised of a series of three
successive courses.
Evaluation: During the course of its creation, the book has been peer-
Methods: We will create laboratory education tools and materials includ-
Dissemination: The book is being commercially published by Jones and
ing a dedicated database, which will facilitate curation and mining of existing data for more advanced phylogenetic analyses. We will evaluate the
curriculum using assessment instruments designed to measure the impact of the inquiry-based curriculum on student learning and attitudes.
Bartlett Publishers, Sudbury, Massachusetts. Subsequent editions will
also be published by Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Evaluation: We will work directly with an assessment consultant from the
Office of Undergraduate Research and Evaluation at UCLA to develop instruments, conduct student evaluations, and analyze student outcomes.
We will compare students participating in the inquiry-based curriculum
to two control groups, including those involved in “cookbook” laboratory
courses and those conducting research in faculty laboratories. Data collection will occur using self-reporting surveys and preexisting materials
amenable to quantitative assessment. We have recruited an evaluator
with content expertise to assist with performance evaluation. Our assessment will focus on the impact of collaborative work on learning.
Dissemination: We envision that database usage will evolve to include a
nationwide consortium of undergraduate laboratories producing and exchanging data through this online interface. We also have made plans to
publish the “Guided Inquiry” portion of the curriculum as a stand-alone
textbook/lab manual with ASM Press.
Impact: This program will facilitate efforts to increase the diversity of qualified students graduating with majors in the life sciences. We will track
students who participate in the curriculum from declaration of major to
time of graduation, with particular interest in comparing transfer students
and direct entry students, given that they are different and have unique
challenges. The structure of the curriculum provides a framework for
building laboratory courses around research projects focused on any multitude of topics (not only microbial ecology) and thus could be valuable
as a model to other institutions interested in promoting research-based
learning within undergraduate science.
Poster 44
PI: Teri
Shors
Institution: University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh
Title: Understanding Viruses: The Development of a Next
Generation Virology Textbook
Project #: 0441044
Goals: The goal of this project was to create an innovative next-genera-
tion undergraduate virology textbook (titled Understanding Viruses) and
ancillary materials. The textbook is currently in production (to be in press
January 28, 2008) (http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/0763729329).
Methods: This textbook concept integrates previously disconnected virol-
ogy principles into a single resource, providing the student with the “big
picture or ideas” approach to understanding viruses, host-virus interactions, and molecular biology concepts. It includes high-quality, full-color
images throughout, Virus Files, Refresher Boxes, and cases studies.
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Program Book
evaluated by as many as 12 reviewers for certain chapters. The book will
be evaluated in college classrooms during the spring 2008 semester.
Impact: The new instructional materials will result in significantly improved content and pedagogical preparation of faculty and teachers of
science. In addition, ancillary materials such as an instructor’s resource
CD-ROM and companion website are being created.
The resource CD-ROM will contain PowerPoint lecture outlines, a Test
Bank, and Image and Table Banks. The companion website will contain
interactive quizzes, animations, and links to other resources pertinent to
virology. The overall learning approach is self-directed and intended to ensure that students learn to conceptualize viral diseases as a whole.
Challenges: The main challenge has been the time it has taken to create
a quality book by a single author. The book is over 600 pages with many
illustrations, tables, and other figures in addition to ancillary materials.
Photo research, permissions, and working with an illustrator has also taken more time than anticipated. It has required much persistence.
Poster 45
PI: William
Staddon
Institution: Eastern Kentucky University
Title: Development of an Inquiry-Based Biology Lab Manual
for Pre-Service Elementary and Middle School Teachers
Project #: 0442398
Goals: The trend in science education is to move to an inquiry-based for-
mat. Most teachers in training have limited exposure to this format. The
objective of this study was to develop a lab manual that would both teach
biological content and introduce the use of inquiry-based formats.
Methods: Labs are being developed and tested in a course offered at
Eastern Kentucky University called Inquiry Biology for Teachers. Both the
PI and another instructor are using these labs.
Evaluation: The lab manual is at a sufficient level of development that
pre- and post-testing will begin in spring 2008.
Dissemination: Initially, the lab manual will be sent to other instructors
the PI knows for review and testing. It is hoped that the manual will be
distributed by a major publisher. McGraw-Hill has expressed an interested
in this project.
Impact: It is hoped that this manual will be used at other universities in
courses dedicated to pre-service teachers. Alternatively, the manual could
be used in lab sections of traditional biology courses dedicated to the
same group.
Challenges: The premise of this project is that materials and labs that
teachers used in their classrooms would be used as the basis for this lab
manual. Activities would be scaled up to a collegiate level. Many resources exist; however, care must be taken to ensure that those chosen for the
manual are based on inquiry and meet national content standards. This
Poster Abstracts
has proven more challenging than was anticipated, since many activities
do not meet these criteria.
Poster 46
Stasinos Stavrianeas
Title: Undergraduate Research and Exercise Science
Education: A Symbiotic Relationship in a Small Liberal Arts
College
Project #: 0511219
PI:
Goals: We transformed the Exercise Physiology course from an instructor-
centered and lectured-based activity to a modern, innovative, studentcentered, inquiry-based experience. The equipment provided opportunities for student research projects, quantitative-analytic techniques, and
teamwork and communication and nurtured the excitement of discovery.
Methods: During the first nine weeks, students become familiar with techniques and methods. They must also generate at least one research question per laboratory session and carry out a small experiment to test their
hypothesis. In the last six weeks, groups examine a research idea generated by students and present their findings in research presentations.
Evaluation:
Challenges: We encountered two major obstacles. The first was the tremendous demand the multiple student research projects place on the
instructor’s time and availability. This problem was solved by better departmental load allocation throughout the year. Second, the demand for
space and a laboratory supply line item in the budget is being addressed
by the administration, as an issue in our capital campaign.
Smaller challenges were the adjustments needed to facilitate a steep
student learning curve, and encouraging students to attend and present
their work at conferences. We have slowly started to create a “culture of
scholarship.”
Poster 47
Eleanor Sterling
American Museum of Natural History
Title: Teaching Biodiversity Conservation: The Network of
Conservation Educators and Practitioners
Project #: 0442490
Co-PI: Nora Bynum
Development
PI:
Institution:
Goals: The NCEP project aims to create teaching resources explicitly de-
signed to increase content retention and mastery in biodiversity conservation, as well as the development of higher-order thinking and process
skills that are essential for conservation professionals. This project is developing 25 NCEP teaching modules and case studies, providing a series
of faculty development opportunities, and expanding our evaluation strategy to encompass student assessment of learning gains.
1) To assess the impact of the grant on student learning, we developed a
list of Student Learning Objectives. The student surveys indicate that
we have succeeded in making the students become stakeholders in
their learning.
2) Implementation of the new curriculum and installation of equipment
were completed by year 1. Our external evaluator was instrumental in
monitoring the process.
3) The number of majors has increased steadily over the past three years
(despite a decline in college enrollment).
4) We were able to increase the number of faculty.
5) The results of the summer research projects have been presented at
eight regional and national conferences and in peer-reviewed papers.
Methods: NCEP teaching modules include a Synthesis document that
Dissemination: We have presented our conclusions to date in three regional conferences and two colloquia on education and interdisciplinary
teaching; written two publications and a third is in preparation. Additional
information can be found at the website established for the purpose of
disseminating our findings: http://www.willamette.edu/~stas/NSFgrant.
htm.
Evaluation: Interviews have been conducted with undergraduate profes-
Impact:
1) The number and quality of in-class student research projects have
increased threefold over the past 3 years. Students can form smaller
teams and be responsible for a larger portion of the project.
2) The number of students conducting independent research projects has
tripled. One student received a national research fellowship from the
American Physiological Society for 2007.
3) My students served as enthusiastic teachers for over 550 visitors from
local middle and high schools and over 160 minority students who attend regular weekend sessions in the lab.
4) All information pertinent to the grant have been freely shared (via the
website) with several investigators across the country.
brings together key concepts, a presentation, and a practical exercise with
solutions. In addition, interdisciplinary case studies cover topics that span
more than one module. Modules are designed to be easily adaptable by
teachers, such that they support rather than replace materials teachers
may have already developed. NCEP workshops have provided additional
means for investigating how teachers and trainers use NCEP modules and
what aspects of the modules are most effective in teaching biodiversity
conservation.
sors to assess the usage of modules in undergraduate courses. Preliminary
results show that modules provide a flexible resource that supplements
existing materials in biodiversity conservation; more than three-quarters
agreed that materials facilitate active teaching in the classroom. To evaluate the NCEP’s contribution to student learning gains in biodiversity, a
group of faculty tested the validity of the modules in the classroom during
the 2007 spring semester.
Dissemination: Free, international dissemination of NCEP modules and
case studies is one of the main objectives of this project. There have been
13,443 downloads of module components by 606 registered users at the
NCEP website (http://ncep.amnh.org) over the last 18 months. We have
also distributed NCEP materials by CD at all our regional and international
workshops. An online journal, Lessons in Conservation (LinC) for publication of selected module components, was launched in December 2007,
and module materials have also been published as book chapters.
Program Book
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Poster Abstracts
Impact: The most significant impact of this project has been the development and free distribution of a thematically rich and diverse set of materials for teaching biodiversity conservation. Before this project, there were
relatively few educational materials specific to the topic of biodiversity
conservation that were based on the principles of student-active learning
and critical thinking. Therefore, the NCEP materials represent an important addition to the resources available to teachers in colleges and universities. The large number of downloads of the module materials and the
positive feedback via online and workshop evaluation indicates that the
NCEP project is successfully providing appropriate teaching materials to
diverse users. NCEP workshops have enabled us to reach an extremely
wide audience of module users, in terms of educators, practitioners, and
students. Thus far, our workshops have reached more than 1,000 faculty
members, practitioners, and students. Most recently, we have developed
workshops for our Faculty Focus Group; the purpose of these workshops
is for members of the Focus Group to share perspectives on active teaching techniques and collaborate on the assessment of student learning
outcomes.
Challenges: Our main challenge has been the timely preparation and
review of modules. In response, we have developed an Editorial Board
that provides input throughout module development. We encourage busy
faculty to work with students when writing modules; students are supervised by faculty to ensure content standards. Reviews are coordinated by
Assigning Editors, who are recognized as experts in the topic. This has
relieved some of the workload on NCEP staff, and Assigning Editors report
that they find the process informative for their own teaching and research.
Another challenge has been obtaining copyright permission for images in
Presentations. To overcome this, we suggest web sources for copyrightfree images, or replace copyrighted images with ones from the CBC image
database.
Poster 48
Dawn Tamarkin
Springfield Technical Community College
Title: Improving Biology Understanding through a Universal
Design for Learning Strategy
Project #: 0618182
PI:
Institution:
Goals: We will determine relationships between the use of interactive,
tactile, and dynamic learning tools and student mastery of concepts in cell
biology. This will be done with Universal Design for Learning cell models.
We will evaluate student learning and attitude improvements as well as
changes in teacher methodologies with cell model incorporation.
Methods: We have fine-tuned CAD designs for the Universal Design for
Learning (UDL) cell models and prototyped them at Springfield Technical
Community College for classroom use. Colleges and high schools are using the UDL cell models and completing our assessments. We have now
finalized the CAD designs and are working toward injection-molding manufacturing with our partner school, James Madison University.
Evaluation: We are giving both content and affective based pre- and
post-tests to all students using the UDL cell models. These will reveal any
relationship between UDL cell model use and gains in cell biology knowledge and attitudes toward science. We are also completing focus groups
to determine UDL cell model usage amount and appreciation. We will also
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Program Book
have the instructors’ complete questionnaires on their perceptions of the
UDL cell models. This evaluation period is taking place over the course of
this year and results may be available for this conference.
Dissemination: We are manufacturing the UDL cell models using injec-
tion molding so that we will be able to distribute these models upon the
completion of this project. We plan to distribute them to all the participating schools and to area schools through a workshop we will offer during
our final summer of this project.
Impact: As this is only our second year, we have not been able to determine our impacts as of yet. We do have anecdotal information that applies to the project impact however. Throughout this second year, we have
been distributing our prototypes of the UDL cell models, made at STCC by
John LaFrancis in our Mechanical Engineering Technologies Department.
Upon receiving the prototypes, biology faculty have been quite excited.
They have instantly seen a variety of applications for the models, including surface-to-volume representation, customization opportunities, and
dynamic modeling.
Challenges: Developing our CAD designs so that the UDL cell models are
accessible for learning as well as ideal for injection molding was the most
challenging aspect of this project. We were able to overcome this challenge
through partnership. An example is in the design of our chloroplasts. We
adapted our original design at STCC to be injection-moldable by increasing the number of parts. However, we found out through our partnership
with Ronald Kander and Dwight Dart at James Madison University that the
new design was flawed for classroom use. This led to a redesign (with the
same number of parts) that assembles and disassembles properly. Our
partnership has been essential and rewarding.
Poster 49
Richard Tankersley
Institution: Florida Institute of Technology
Title: Development of an Interactive Statistics Tutorial
Project #: 0536107
PI:
Goals: The goals of this Phase I: Exploratory Project are to improve stu-
dent critical thinking and decision-making skills; to enhance their understanding of statistical applications, concepts, and practices; and to
increase their confidence in selecting, executing, and interpreting the results of common statistical tests and graphical analyses.
Methods: StatTA is an interactive statistics tutorial designed to support
inquiry-based activities in biology. It includes interactive exercises and
self-test activities to help students select and perform statistical procedures; identify the connections between graphical, exploratory, and inferential analyses; and master the art of statistical thinking.
Evaluation: Evaluation activities included student surveys, informal ob-
servations, and pre- and post-tests. Assessment instruments included
elements that test both student knowledge of statistical tests and more
upper-level abilities, such as interpretation and synthesis of statistical
practice. To test the usability of StatTA, a group of student volunteers and
intended users was selected to pilot the demonstrations and interactive
simulations. A “beta” version of the program is currently being distributed
to colleagues who teach college-level statistics to obtain feedback on its
content, usability, and accuracy.
Poster Abstracts
Dissemination: StatTA is available via the university’s network for adop-
Dissemination: The Watershed Methods eManual is available free on
tion and testing by other colleges and universities. It is being distributed
nationally with a new laboratory manual for statistics developed by the PI
entitled “Biostatistical Inquiry Using SPSS.”
the Internet. A link to the CAWS site can be found on the Ecological Society of America’s Education Section webpage. Many presentations were
made that describe the collaborative model or the CAWS project. Each
college has its own public CAWS website. A pamphlet was prepared and
distributed.
Impact: Our initial assessment of student learning indicates that StatTA
improves students’ ability to select and perform statistical procedures
(test selection skills), identify the connections between exploratory and
inferential procedures (test connectivity), and practice statistical thinking
when designing experiments and analyzing data (statistical literacy). Students report that StatTA has increased their understanding of statistical
applications and their confidence in executing and interpreting the results
of common statistical procedures. Instructors report that they spend less
time teaching students how to use statistical software and more time
helping them design and perform experiments.
Challenges: The software available for creating online, interactive tutorials has developed rapidly over the last several years. As a result, we have
had to constantly modify and upgrade the simulations and assessment
tools included in StatTA to make them consistent with the latest technology. Consequently, testing and evaluation of the final prototype was delayed several times while we integrated some of the new features into the
program.
Poster 50
PI: Carolyn Thomas
Ferrum College
Title: CAWS: Collaboration through Appalachian Watershed
Studies
Project #: 0410577
Co-PI: Bob Pohlad
Institution:
Goals: The CAWS project faculty and colleges are as follows: 1) creating
a research-rich learning environment; 2) infusing the small watershed
approach methods into our curricula; 3) improving our laboratory instrumentation; 4) implementing collaborative, cross-site student research
projects; and 5) developing an Online Lab Manual for Small Watershed
Studies.
Methods: 1) Develop small watershed site—a research-rich learning envi-
ronment was the establishment of experimental watersheds at each institution. 2) Integration into the undergrad curriculum. 3) Dissemination of
a collaborative model and eManual for small watersheds. 4) Implementation of collaborative field projects. 5) Increase undergraduate research.
Evaluation: A Field and Lab Skills Rubric was developed to assess the
improvement of students going through the new curriculum. The rubric
assessed skills such as understanding and use of GPS units; ability to
read topographic maps; ability to use a pH, conductivity, and DO meter;
and collection of water samples. The rubric was applied at the beginning
and end of the year-long upper-level sequence (at many of the CAWS colleges). There was significant improvement in each of the 10 categories
measured. This indicates that student research skills improved significantly during the year in which they were exposed to the research-rich
watershed curriculum.
Impact: 1) We were able to create a research-rich learning environment at
each of the participating institutions using our small experimental watersheds as a focus and by leveraging our time and resources through online
networking with our colleagues. 2) Four collaborative (intercollegiate) research projects were conducted that involved faculty and students from
all or most of the participating institutions (i.e., A Leaf Decomposition
Study). All researchers used the same methods and materials and shared
their institutional results online. 3) A total of 32 other faculty-student research projects have been conducted at the six experimental watersheds
involving 21 faculty researchers and mentors.
Challenges: We have 12 small teaching colleges in the southern Appalachian Mountains now involved with the CAWS project, and communication with all 12 adds some challenges. We try to meet every semester and
during the summer, but getting everybody to come together at one time is
difficult. This puts a lot of pressure on the principal investigators to keep
communication lines open and working. We have begun also to meet by
conference calls occasionally.
Poster 51
PI: Sara Tobin
Stanford University
Title: The New Genetics: Electronic Tools for Educational
Innovation
Project #: 0618280
Institution:
Goals: Our goal is to engage undergraduate students in cutting-edge sci-
ence by developing effective educational materials that integrate genetic
and genomic science with technological concepts, environmental, agricultural, and biomedical applications and societal and ethical issues.
Methods: We are building on the successful multimedia courseware, “The
New Genetics,” by creating and evaluating new content and interactive elements, as well as a modular workbook with problem sets and exercises,
debate questions, a launching pad for student research projects, and an
image bank. Pilot versions are currently under evaluation.
Evaluation: Participating faculty evaluators from 15 community col-
leges, two state universities, and Stanford University will log into the
project development website at http://bioethics.stanford.edu/research/
TheNewGeneticsProjectPage.html to obtain access to evaluation instruments. These instruments were created by professional evaluator Daniel
Weiler and are currently posted. Tests and measures consultants Richard
Shavelson and Enrique Lopez are creating sample instruments to guide
instructors in determining the levels of understanding that are achieved
by their students. Evaluation results will be analyzed continuously and
will be used to guide ongoing content development and revisions.
Dissemination: We have not yet engaged in active dissemination activi-
ties other than communications with faculty participants. However, plans
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Poster Abstracts
have been made for commercial dissemination through the Stanford Office of Technology Licensing, and two major publishers have expressed
interest. We will also pursue partnerships with nonprofit entities such as
Bio-Link.
Impact: The resources we are developing are designed to enhance the
ability of instructors to deliver high-quality, media-rich, effective teaching
programs in the areas of genetics and genomics. The proposed materials
will be relevant to a broad range of undergraduate courses, from biology
to agriculture. Our goal is to enable students to become personally engaged in the astonishing advances in genetic and genomic technologies.
They will be able to grasp the technical aspects and the applications to individual dilemmas, public policy, and their own medical choices. Societal
issues around genetics will stimulate student interest because they are
relevant to current political and societal topics.
Challenges: The single most challenging issue we have encountered is
navigating human subject approvals when participating faculty are located at so many different institutions. Although we have approval from
the Stanford Institutional Review Board (IRB), faculty at other institutions
must submit either IRB approval or a letter from an institutional official
acknowledging that the project will involve faculty and students on their
campus. It has been difficult to obtain this documentation, so we are asking faculty for the names of the institutional officials so we can contact
them directly about the need for letters or IRB approvals and the project
is not delayed.
Poster 52
Nancy Trun
Institution: Duquesne University
Title: A Model for Incorporating Application-Based Service
Learning in the Undergraduate Science Curriculum
Project #: 0717685
PI:
Goals: We have developed a novel pedagogy called Application-Based
Service Learning (ABSL) to use in undergraduate lab classes. The goal of
our project is to develop this approach at our university and to disseminate it to other institutions in pilot studies. We are assessing the impact of
this approach on student learning of basic scientific concepts.
Methods: ABSL requires students to learn about a specific community
problem through service learning. We bring samples back into the lab on
which students conduct novel research to help understand the biology of
the problem. We are using pre- and post-testing to determine if students
learn basic scientific concepts better.
Evaluation: We are developing pre- and post-tests of scientific concepts
to measure if students are learning concepts better and retaining this
knowledge longer. We are working with a statistician to develop a testing strategy as well as questions for our pre- and post-tests. We are using previously developed pre- and post-tests for student attitudes toward
community service.
We have just begun this part of our grant and are currently analyzing very
preliminary data on two classes. Our major focus has been on developing
our testing strategy.
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Dissemination: We are working with a faculty member at a small liberal
arts college in our area to replicate our ABSL lab at this institution. We
are also working with a technical writing class at a community college to
use our ABSL project for various writing projects, including grants and
manuscripts.
Impact: From the three semesters we have taught classes using ABSL, we
have begun to accumulate evidence of an increased interest in research
in students exposed to the community problem that we are using as our
model system. These students bring a wide variety of abilities and have
allowed us to develop several aspects of the research project.
Challenges: The biggest challenge in this project is to convey what we
are doing to the university as well as several regulatory committees and to
present all of the safety aspects we have built into the research to protect
students from harmful biological substances. This part of the project has
taken almost as long as developing the project itself. It requires patience
and persistence to assure everyone that we are not exposing students to
unreasonable risks and to describe exactly what the students are doing in
various parts of the curriculum.
Poster 53
Denise Woodward
Institution: Penn State University
Title: Producing Interactive Web-Based Animations for an
Introductory Biology Course
Project #: 0442691
Type: Other
PI:
Goals: We are developing a web-based animation for use in introductory
biology courses that will help students explore feedback loops in biological regulation at multiple levels of biological organization. The goal is to
help students be more thoughtful about biological phenomena and to see
the interconnections between different biological phenomena.
Methods: Macromedia Flash is being used to develop the animation. Ac-
tionscript, a programming language within Flash, provides a way to design
interactive animations with which users can interact and allows for a more
dynamic learning environment. Additionally, we are assessing the effectiveness of interactive animations to improve design and classroom use.
Evaluation: A study comparing the effectiveness of the use of an interac-
tive animation to a traditional lecture suggests that the use of animations
alone may not be sufficient to convey complex biological concepts. Each
group was given an eight-item pre- and post-test. Both groups showed
significant improvement on the post-test as a result of instruction [animation group, M(pre-test) = 2.5, SD = 1.9, M(post-test) = 4.8, SD = 1.2,
traditional group, M(pre-test) = 2.3, SD = 1.4, M(post-test) = 6.0, SD =
.89, t(5) = –4.7, p =.005 and traditional group, t(5) = –8.7, p=.000]. While
not significant [t(10) = –1.94, p = .08], the traditional instruction group
performed better on the post-test than the animation group.
Dissemination: We are currently organizing the still images and anima-
tions that are used in our introductory biology courses into a searchable
web application that will be posted on MERLOT (Multimedia Educational
Resource for Learning and Online Teaching) for use by biology educators.
Impact: The intended impact of this project is to both develop a useful
tool that biology educators can use to help instruct students in complex
Poster Abstracts
biological phenomena as well as to help other animation developers better understand how students use and learn from interactive web-based
animations. There are many developed animations available for educators to use, but there is little information available about the effectiveness of these animations or best practices for using these animations in
a classroom.
Challenges: An unexpected challenge was the loss of our Flash programmer. It has been unexpectedly difficult to find someone to replace him.
His skill level was exceptional and I have not yet found anyone to fully
replace him. As a result, I have been forced to work with several different
people and attempt to integrate their talents into a cohesive final project.
Because of this difficulty, the project has taken longer than intended.
Poster 54
Robert Wyttenbach
Cornell University
Title: Teaching Mathematical Modeling in the Behavioral
Sciences
Project #: 0716592
PI:
Institution:
Goals: Our goal is to introduce students to mathematical modeling of be-
havior, with an emphasis on game theory and creation of testable models.
After a locally conducted proof-of-concept study (DUE 0341410), we are
now developing our preliminary material into a set of modular exercises
that can be incorporated into existing behavior courses nationwide.
Methods: In each module, students will be shown a behavior and led to
design a model, frame it in mathematical terms, test it with our simulator,
and extend their analysis to new situations. Depending on course goals
and time constraints, instructors can use the material didactically or let
students work on their own for a discovery-based experience.
Evaluation: Our proof-of-concept study showed exam score improve-
ment in two years of a large class at Cornell. We will continue to use the
material in this course and will add two comparative tests. 1) Two groups
of students recruited from introductory biology each year will take a quiz
on game theory after either attending a lecture or completing a module.
2) Faculty at four colleges have agreed to administer a quiz that we design and send us the results. In year 1, they will do so after their usual
game theory lecture; in years 2–3, their students will complete one of our
modules. Modules will also be given to many faculty for informal testing
in their classes.
Dissemination: The game-theory simulator was described at an Animal
Behavior Society meeting and made available online for beta testing. At
the end of the current Phase II project, we plan to publish our modules as
separate units. The publisher of the most widely used animal behavior
text has expressed interest.
Impact: The game theory simulator has been used by ~900 students at
Cornell so far (two years of testing and two years of subsequent use).
We anticipate continued use at Cornell by 200–250 students/year plus a
smaller number at our other test sites during the project. It is difficult to
estimate the number of students and faculty affected after publication of
the material. If selected modules are used in introductory classes (as they
could be), the numbers could be large.
Challenges:
1) In the proof-of-concept study and in an earlier EMD full development
grant (0088829), it was difficult to get feedback from beta testers.
Many expressed interest and received copies, but few gave feedback.
This time, we are doing more formal testing and paying faculty an honorarium to test in their classes and report to us. These tests will start in
2009, so it remains to be seen whether it works.
2) At the 2005 Animal Behavior Society meeting, some faculty said that
modeling is too difficult to teach to undergraduates. Our preliminary
data suggest that this is not so; we will publish results of our assessments to convince faculty that their students can learn this material.
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Poster Abstracts
Chemistry
Poster 56
Julia Baker
Institution: Columbia College
Title: Using Discovery-Based Experiments to Integrate FTNMR Spectroscopy in the Chemistry Curriculum
Project #: 0633149
Target Discipline: Chemistry
PI:
Poster 55
Pia Alburquerque
Institution: Grambling State University
Title: Using Inquiry-Based Instruction in Chemistry
Laboratory Courses
Project #: 0511683
PI:
Goals: The goal is to improve our students’ independent thinking and
problem-solving skills.
Outcomes: Purchase modern instrumentation for our chemistry teaching
Goals: The goal of this project is to modernize and improve the chemistry
education at Columbia College by integrating Fourier transform nuclear
magnetic spectroscopy into the curriculum through the use of discoveryoriented laboratory experiments. An additional goal of the project is the
invigoration of our undergraduate research program.
Methods: Columbia College has purchased an Anasazi Eft-90 Spectrom-
labs. Students acquire data with this equipment. Introduce inquiry-based
instruction in organic, analytical, and inorganic chemistry labs to improve
independent thinking and problem solving.
eter that is being incorporated into the general, organic, and physical
chemistry courses through the use of intellectually stimulating, researchlike experiments. A new spectroscopy course is scheduled for the spring
2008 term, and a high school outreach program is also being developed.
Methods: Inquiry projects were introduced in organic, inorganic, and
Evaluation: Assessment of the new experiments will be done by using
analytical chemistry labs. Organic chemistry labs used published inquirybased projects to teach organic lab techniques and spectroscopy. All students used the new NMR. They worked in pairs or groups to analyze their
spectra and discuss their results. They wrote individual research reports.
Evaluation: Evaluations were used in organic chemistry labs. The Student
Assessment of Learning Gain (SALG) instrument was used to compare student skills before implementing inquiry-based instruction and after. The
average of the entire survey increased after the implementation of inquiry-based instruction. Surveys show how students felt about independent
skills gained during this class, and most scores increased after the implementation of inquiry-based instruction. More students felt prompted to
use the content of these classes in the future, after the implementation
of an inquiry project. Modifications of published inquiry projects brought
significant improvements according to survey statistics.
Dissemination: The PI submitted an abstract to give an oral presentation
in the national ACS meeting in New Orleans in April 2008. A proposal to
continue dissemination will be submitted in the near future.
Impact: This project will increase the number of students interested in
research because they will feel more confident in designing, analyzing,
and discussing experimental results. It is expected that these students
will successfully join a graduate program and be productive scientists.
The presence of underrepresented groups will dramatically increase in
the scientific job market.
Challenges: Some drawbacks were found during the implementation of
inquiry projects in organic chemistry labs in fall 2006: 1) students did not
like to analyze their results, 2) students needed more explanations about
each technique before class started; and 3) students did not try to find information in textbooks and/or on the Internet by themselves. Group work
facilitated the analysis of experimental results. Pre-lab and lab handout
questions were included in inquiry-based projects in fall 2007 to overcome
these problems. These questions were also designed to facilitate student
understanding of the concepts underlying the organic techniques. Survey
statistics show a significant improvement overall.
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pre- and post-tests and by incorporating questions investigating the impact of the discovery base-labs on students’ attitudes toward chemistry
and undergraduate research into student course evaluations. Scores on
ACS exams will be monitored, and a record of student use of the instrument in undergraduate research projects will be kept. An advisory panel
has been assembled and will meet three times during the course of the
project to evaluate its implementation and success. The panel will examine the pre- and post-test results, student course evaluations, and student
lab reports. The first meeting of this panel is scheduled for May 2008.
Dissemination: Because this project is in its first year, no dissemination
has yet occurred, but we plan to form an Anasazi User Group composed
of representatives from colleges in South Carolina that have instruments
similar to ours. The advisement panel for the project will form the core
part of this group. We also plan to publish novel experiments developed.
Impact: We anticipate this project will have a number of impacts. We
anticipate that it will substantially enhance the quality of the chemistry
curriculum at Columbia College and act as a spark for our undergraduate research program. We also anticipate that it will help enhance our
relationship with several high schools in the area through an outreach
program and establish more collaboration with other colleges in South
Carolina through the Anasazi User Group.
Challenges: The only unexpected challenges we have faced so far are
timing issues. We found out rather late in the spring that our grant had
been funded and that meant the instrument was ordered later than we
would have liked. By the time the instrument was delivered and installed,
we had only a limited amount of time during the summer to develop the
new experiments for the fall. Also, as a result of an unanticipated faculty
retirement, we are having to introduce the new spectroscopy course earlier than originally planned, so there is a time crunch to develop the experiments for that course as well.
Poster Abstracts
Poster 57
PI: Debbie
Beard
Institution: Mississippi State University
Title: Implementation of FT-NMR Across the Chemistry
Curriculum at Mississippi State University
Project #: 0633119
Co-PI: William Henry
Goals: Improvement in the quality of the undergraduate chemistry labo-
ratory experience and students’ perceptions of chemistry are our goals.
Enhancement in students’ critical-thinking skills, greater involvement in
chemical research, attraction and retention of students in chemistry, and
increased enthusiasm toward chemistry as a career are expected.
Methods: Incorporation of FT-NMR spectroscopy in freshman through
senior chemistry laboratories at Mississippi State University (MSU) will
provide hands-on experience to students who would otherwise not gain
these skills unless majoring in chemistry. Methods and strategies for incorporating this technology will be adapted from the literature.
Evaluation: “Attitudes” and “knowledge” are evaluated using pre-lab
and post-lab voluntary surveys where the student remains anonymous. A
sociology professor will lead the assessment of student attitudes and perceptions, while the teaching assistant will evaluate the student’s knowledge. Our survey includes standard questions soliciting student’s general
knowledge of chemistry, laboratory protocol and use, and attitudes about
chemistry/science. Data gathered each semester will be compared to
those of each successive class that uses the NMR spectrometer and compiled into an aggregated data file. Presently, successive semester data
have not been assessed since its implementation for only one semester.
Dissemination: The activities/results of this project will be disseminated
to the MSU and the chemistry community through presentations, publications (e.g., Journal of Chemical Education), and other publicity (e.g., press
releases). In addition to the regional/national meeting of the ACS, results
will also be presented at the Mississippi Academy of Sciences meeting.
Impact: A total of 1,200 MSU students per year from numerous disciplines
are affected by this project. The impact of the NMR instrument as a tool
to interest and retain underrepresented students in STEM disciplines is
enhanced through outreach activities to area high school, community college, and HBCU students not having access to NMR instrumentation at
their home institutions. Local demographics are as follows: 22% AfricanAmerican at MSU, 85% women and 32% African-American at Mississippi
University for Women (MUW), 71% women and 93% African-American at
Mississippi Valley State University (area HBCU), and 56% African-American population at area high schools.
Challenges: The instrument was not installed until October 3, 2007, after
the semester had begun, whereas the installation was expected during
the spring semester such that implementation was anticipated for summer 2007, not late fall 2007. This gave a short time period for training
teaching assistants on the NMR, on the file transfer method to the remote
computer laboratory we established, and on the data processing software
because the first laboratory was October 15. However, we were able to
accomplish all of these goals and stay on the fall 2007 timeline for imple-
mentation, which included Freshman I, Organic I, and Analytical I, plus we
exceeded these goals by implementation in Freshman II and Organic II.
Poster 58
Robert Boggess
Institution: Radford University
Title: NSF Symposium: Innovations in the Undergraduate
Curriculum
Project #: 0423949
PI:
Goals: We are to convene a Symposium each year at the Fall National
Meeting of the American Chemical Society for PIs of CCLI-A&I or Phase I
projects to present their findings.
Methods: Each January, we send approximately 200 invitations to PIs who
have had an award within the past five years to participate in the Symposium. Those interested submit an abstract and from these, we select
15–17 to participate in the Symposium. We attempt to include projects of
all types and scope.
Evaluation: Our evaluation is to assess the usefulness of the Sympo-
sium to the audience members and information has been obtained via a
questionnaire.
• How did you learn about the Symposium?
• Have you submitted a proposal to the CCLI Program?
• Was your proposal funded?
• Did you receive adequate information to initiate curricular changes?
• Did the Symposium provide new ideas for curricular changes?
• Was the Symposium sufficiently diverse?
• Was adequate time allotted for questions/answers?
We have compiled the data and most attendees strongly agree that the
Symposium is a good forum to give and receive information about the
CCLI Program and its many ongoing projects.
Dissemination: We publish a report on the Symposium in the CHED Win-
ter Newsletter. We have also established a website that provides a summary of the Symposium, individual abstracts including links to the PI’s
homepage, and NSF award numbers that link to the DUE PIRS information
database.
Impact: We are uncertain of specific impacts of the Symposium, but many
members of the audience—both presenters who are NSF awardees and
novices seeking advice about submitting a proposal—have indicated that
they did obtain valuable information and have encouraged us to continue
holding the Symposium. One reason we wish to attend this Conference is
to discuss with current PIs a better method to reach new faculty members
and others who have never submitted a proposal to this Program.
Challenges: Our award was to organize and hold the Symposium and we
have not had any serious unexpected challenges. We have seen a decline
in the number of applicants to participate and have tried to get the word
out by advertising in various CHED publications.
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Poster Abstracts
Poster 59
Stacey Lowery Bretz
Institution: Miami University
Title: CHEMX: Assessing Students’ Cognitive Expectations
of Chemistry
Project #: 0404975/0626027
PI:
Goals: The goal is to develop an instrument to measure students’ cogni-
tive expectations for learning chemistry. We began with work done by the
Redish group to develop MPEX in physics. We developed a 47-item instrument with seven valid clusters and overall reliability of 0.97 (Cronbach
alpha). We measured student and faculty expectations (across chemistry
disciplines)..
Methods: Years 1 and 2 focus on generating qualitative data regarding
the goals/strategies/assessments of chemistry faculty in the undergraduate chemistry laboratory. Year 3 will focus on developing an instrument
grounded in these qualitative findings to broadly survey chemistry faculty
and subsequently refine the taxonomies developed in years 1 and 2.
Evaluation: An external evaluator will conduct both a confirmability audit
(examining the products of the inquiry—data, findings, interpretations,
and recommendations) and a dependability audit (examining the processes of the inquiry—procedures, designs). Formative evaluation will be
critical to identifying emerging themes from analysis of the faculty interviews. Summative evaluation will focus on the extent to which the project
achieved its goals of developing taxonomies.
Dissemination: A paper disseminating the rubric used to characterize the
degree of inquiry in laboratories was published in 2007 in Chemistry Education Research and Practice. Several papers have been accepted for the
spring 2008 American Chemical Society meeting in New Orleans.
Methods: We reviewed literature on learning chemistry and interviewed
Impact: Creation of valid and reliable taxonomies, as well as the instrument for broadly surveying chemistry faculty, will offer important contributions to assessment efforts. These new tools will facilitate reforms and
measurement designs of other chemistry faculty in the CCLI programs.
chemistry faculty and chemistry undergraduates. We pilot-tested several
versions of the instrument at a diversity of undergraduate institutions
across the country.
Poster 61
Renee Cole
University of Central Missouri
Title: A Computer Laboratory to Support Integration of
Visualization and Computation Into the Curriculum
Project #: 0411104
Evaluation: We have given multiple presentations at both chemistry
PI:
and physics conferences nationwide. We have published one paper and
one book chapter and have one paper under review. We developed and
validated an online version of CHEMX that automates data collection and
analysis for faculty, available at www.chemx.org.
Institution:
Dissemination: Chemistry faculty at more than 30 institutions now use
CHEMX to measure gains in students’ cognitive expectations in concert
with their own local curricular/pedagogical innovations. A phase III CCLI
grant is planned with other chemistry American Sociological Association
grantees to develop a cumulative assessment effort.
Impact: A reliable and valid tool is now available for any chemist engaging in curriculum or pedagogy reform to measure impacts on student
thinking.
Poster 60
Stacey Lowery Bretz
Title: Mapping the Dimensions of the Undergraduate
Chemistry Laboratory: Faculty Perspectives on Curriculum,
Pedagogy, and Assessment
Project #: 0536127
Education
PI:
Goals: We propose to investigate the diversity of faculty goals for the un-
dergraduate chemistry laboratory, the array of strategies they implement
in the name of those goals, and the assessments they use to measure the
extent to which they meet those goals. We envision the development of
one or more taxonomies to convey the findings of this research.
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Program Book
Goals: The goals of the project are for students to:
1) Develop better spatial and visualization skills
2) Better understand how molecular structure influences properties
3) Use modeling tools to make predictions and compare to experimental
results
4) Become better prepared for graduate study or other careers in
chemistry
Methods: We are creating activities to be incorporated into course in-
struction that use a variety of computer programs such as Spartan, Odyssey, MathCad, and Protein Explorer, among others. These activities are
being incorporated into both the lecture and laboratory in both beginning
and advanced courses.
Evaluation: We have been conducting surveys and interviews to assess
the activities themselves. To measure improvements in visualization ability, all students taking chemistry courses complete the GATB assessment
of visual ability and the ChemX inventory. We have seen that students in
courses implementing visualization activities show statistically significant improvement in their spatial abilities. We also have formative data
on activity design and implementation that provides insights into optimal
design to achieve stated outcomes. We will be conducting a longitudinal
analysis of student outcomes in advanced courses to see the impact of
using visualization activities in lower-level courses.
Dissemination: We have made several presentations at national ACS
meetings and the Biennial Conference in Chemical Education. One paper
Poster Abstracts
has been submitted to the Journal of Chemical Education and two more
are in preparation. There will be additional presentations and papers as
the analysis is completed.
Impact: Materials have been developed that have been shared with other
instructors to improve undergraduate education in chemistry. Additional
materials are still being developed that will be useful. The information on
activity design will be disseminated and can be used to help other developers design innovative materials. The data on student learning and
attitudes will provide insights that should be useful to the chemical education community.
Challenges: The biggest challenge for the grant is coordinating the different faculty members involved and gathering all the assessment data. The
biggest challenge for students has been learning the different software
packages. For some students, the technological challenges interfere with
learning the content. If they are frustrated with the programs, they tend
to shut down rather than seeking help to be able to complete the exercise
and learn the material. We’ve also learned that students need very directed questions for them to achieve the desired outcomes for an activity.
Poster 62
Melanie Cooper
Institution: Clemson University
Title: Collaborative Research: Adapting IMMEX to Provide
Problem-Solving Assessment Materials from the ACS
Exams Institute
Project #: 0512203
PI:
Goals: This project is a collaboration between the ACS Examinations In-
stitute, Clemson University, and the IMMEX project. The ultimate goal is
the development and dissemination of alternative instruments to assess
student problem-solving abilities and strategies in the first two years of
college chemistry.
Methods: We are developing a range of problems focusing on big ideas
that stretch throughout a chemistry curriculum, for example, structure
and function, and energy. As students solve these problems and others,
we are looking at the correlations between problem-solving strategy, ability, and self-reported problem-solving metacognitive activity.
Evaluation: We have been able, using our multi-method assessment in-
struments, to develop methods to probe how students solve open-ended
problems and to investigate the effect of interventions on student problem-solving ability and strategy and their metacognitive activity.
We have evidence to show that students who work in groups have higher
abilities and use better strategies, even when working alone on subsequent problems. We have also investigated the effects of other investigations, including concept mapping, distance collaborations, problembased laboratory activities, and metacognitive interventions. All have
been shown to produce positive effects on problem-solving behaviors.
Dissemination: We have reported our findings in a number of journals
and at national and international conferences (including a lecture tour
of the United Kingdom). We have made available a workbook for IMMEX
problems on the web (http://chemed.ces.clemson.edu/chemed/RA-
group.htm) and anticipate contributing a chapter to an upcoming volume
on problem-solving.
Impact: We have shown that relatively small changes in instructional strategy can have measurable effects on student achievement. The evidence is
statistically significant and hard to ignore. It is published in peer-reviewed
journals and can be used as evidence for using teaching and learning
strategies that promote metacognitive activity in students.
Challenges: One of the major challenges we have faced is problems with
computer hardware setup at a satellite site. Whereas it has not affected
the development and testing of problems and interventions, it has affected the roll-out of wider dissemination plans.
Poster 63
Steven Fleming
Brigham Young University
Title: Bio-Organic Reaction Animations
Project #: 0717133
PI:
Institution:
Goals: Bio-Organic Reaction Animations (Bio-ORA) is a visualization
program for biochemistry that focuses on molecular events. This type of
teaching tool can provide students with three-dimensional representations of the biomolecules, the binding, and the enzyme catalyzed reactions they undergo. The animations will cover the chemistry of enzymes,
carbohydrates, lipids, and DNA.
Methods: The Bio-ORA program is developed by using 3D enzyme data
from the literature and animating the chemical pathways that are known
or presumed for the particular enzyme. In addition, the effectiveness of
the software will be evaluated using learning outcome techniques.
Evaluation: We will evaluate the Bio-ORA product by 1) using student
questionnaires; 2) comparing between a using group and a control group;
3) performing “think aloud” studies; 4) interviewing instructors who
use the program, using test questions that determine if users have an
improved understanding of bio-organic chemistry; and 5) using the “usability testing center” to determine if the program achieves the desired
goals. We will have log sheets for monitoring time of Bio-ORA use. We
will use log sheets at Brigham Young University, BYU-Hawaii, BYU-Idaho,
University of Pennsylvania-Harrisburg, and Southern Utah University for
assessing the effectiveness of Bio-ORA.
Dissemination: The software will be made available by either making it
accessible online or by marketing it through W.W. Norton Publishing Company. If it goes through a publisher, we hope to connect the product to a
textbook.
Impact: It is our goal to have an impact on the teaching of bio-organic
chemistry. Our proposal involves working directly with instructors at several small colleges. The impact we will have at those institutions would be
broader than our initial goals. It is not our initial goal to improve the teaching at these schools, but that is a potential outcome. Another potential result for the project is the improvement of 3D technology. Applications for
the tools that allow for visualization of 3D images will hopefully be noted
by future software developers. Perhaps the most likely long-range impact
this tool will have is that future STEM teachers will be better prepared and
more excited to teach.
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Poster Abstracts
Challenges: It will be difficult to evaluate the impact Bio-ORA has on
learning. We know this is not an easy task. The biggest challenge is to remove all other influences. One must deal with many variables that are not
controlled, such as a different instructor, emphasis of material covered,
difference of material covered, student exposure outside of class, time of
day if same instructor for the two groups, opinions that result from being
the test group or the control group, and class dynamics. It will also be a
challenge to use 3D software in a product because of the fluidity of the 3D
programming. The rate of growth in this field is rapid.
Poster 64
PI:
Regina Frey
Institution: Washington
Challenges: We have only performed the videotaping at this time and
therefore have not run into any issues at this time.
Poster 65
M. Scott Goodman
Institution: Buffalo State College
Title: Development of a Problem-Based Forensic Chemistry
Laboratory
Project #: 0310600
PI:
University in St. Louis
Title: An Analysis of Discourse in Peer-Led Team Learning
Project #: 0633202
Goals: The goal is to enhance the Forensic Chemistry curriculum at Buffalo State College by including activities that will skillfully develop student
knowledge of crime scene processing, evidence handling, and scientific
analysis of evidentiary material using state-of-the-art methodologies and
equipment. The activities take place in CHE 414 (Forensic Chemistry Lab).
Goals: 1) Investigate the group dynamics in PLTL sessions and 2) identify
Methods: To achieve this objective, the laboratory and field experiences
correlations between group discourse and student outcomes in the firstsemester general chemistry course. Outcomes: 1) Provide insight into how
group dynamics increase student understanding of science content and 2)
improve peer-leader training based on analysis.
presented at the 2002 NSF Summer Workshop in Forensic Sciences are
being adapted and implemented as a project-based laboratory experience. To fully realize the stated goal, two vital pieces of equipment—a
GC-MS and an FTIR (with microscope) —were purchased.
Methods: Data collection: The same three sessions of experienced peer
Evaluation: Direct evaluation is underway using an assessment tool cre-
leaders were videotaped over the course of the fall semester for a total.
The analysis will focus on the middle section of the session. Data analysis:
The data will be transcribed and coded using the software Transana, and a
set of categories describing specific phrases will be developed.
Evaluation: We will compare how different dynamics might differentially
affect student performance. During the analysis, we will obtain conversational patterns and compare these different patterns to student achievement. We will examine leader-student discourse and student-student discourse patterns. The specific links between the conversational-analysis
patterns and the measurements of student achievement will emerge in
the analysis. Types of student-achievement measurements that we will be
focusing on are: performance in course such as midterm grade and finalcourse grade, retention in the course, attitude toward chemistry, and attitude toward usefulness of group study in understanding material.
Dissemination: We will use our conclusions to modify the implementa-
tion and the leader training in our University PLTL programs. We will present our findings to the national PLTL community via their newsletter. We
will disseminate our conclusions to the chemistry-education and scienceeducation communities by presenting at conferences and submitting
manuscripts.
Impact: Anticipated impacts are as follows: 1) modifications in the current problem-solving methods to increase effective group discourse; 2)
modifications in current problem sets to increase student understanding
of the concepts involved; 3) improved training of all of the PLTL peer leaders by using video clips of both more effective and less effective discourse
patterns, and discussing with the peer leaders how they can facilitate the
more effective discourse patterns; and 4) developing an orientation session for all of the students participating in the PLTL program. As a result,
participating students will know what discourse patterns and styles of
group interaction result in more effective learning.
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ated for the CHE 414 course. We are also attempting to assess the impact of the changes in the CHE 414 course on student preparedness for
their required forensic internship. Finally, questions have been added to
our graduate survey that attempt to measure the impact of the CHE 414
changes on student knowledge, employability, and satisfaction with our
forensic chemistry program.
Dissemination: The PI and co-PIs have made four presentations at na-
tional meetings thus far. We plan to continue this in the future. We have
also had the opportunity to aid several other educators interested in starting forensic DNA analysis at their institution. We plan to disseminate this
information more broadly through journal publication and the web.
Impact: Locally, the acquisition of the instruments has improved our infrastructure for education and research in chemistry and related fields. The
project has also raised awareness of forensic chemistry among faculty at
Buffalo State and regionally among prospective students, science educators, and potential employers of our students. The dissemination of our
results will hopefully aid educators who wish to use forensic experiments
in science laboratories, especially advanced laboratories. Finally, the project benefits society as a whole by ensuring the existence of well-trained
forensic scientists in crime laboratories.
Challenges: Early attempts to create an elaborate crime scene with student investigators collecting and then analyzing the evidence have been
abandoned. It was decided that this approach gave students the wrong
idea about being a forensic scientist. We were reinforcing the idea, popularized in the TV show CSI, that forensic scientists “do it all” from crime
scene processing to sophisticated laboratory work to catching the bad
guy. A new approach is being tried that retains problem-based experiences and crime scene training, but separates the two activities.
Poster Abstracts
Poster 66
Poster 67
PI:
John Goodwin
Institution: Coastal Carolina University
Title: Collaborative Project—Development of POGIL-IC
Modules for General Chemistry
Project #: 0633191/0632957/0633231
PI: Thomas
Goals: This collaborative project brings two complementary researchbased pedagogical advances together. Active-learning classroom activities using the POGIL pedagogy and focused on connections beyond the
classroom will be devised, written, and tested by collaborating faculty
authors from university, community college, and high schools.
Goals: This project provides college chemistry faculty and chemistry
Methods: Activity design and classroom use is based on educational re-
Methods: The Science Writing Heuristic involves students in collabora-
search and classroom testing in a small group of institutions. Activity templates for students and instructors have been developed and applied to
contextual problems related to traditional chemistry topics during writing
workshops held for collaborating faculty authors twice yearly.
tive inquiry activities, negotiation of conceptual understanding, and individual reflective writing. Teachers actively guide students to design experiments to answer a research question. The Science Writing Heuristic
(SWH) laboratory report format is different compared to a “traditional”
report format.
Evaluation: Evaluation of the activities has thus far involved assessment
of student attitudes about the activities through web-based rubrics and
focus-group interviews of students completing courses that used the activities. These have been used in the first phase of the project to revise the
design of the materials to make them more effective. A new online evaluation instrument was devised concurrently to specifically gauge previous
issues. Assessment of faculty participants has probed their understanding of the POGIL pedagogy, the POGIL-IC strategy, and their perceptions
about the effectiveness of these materials.
Dissemination: Presentations by project PIs have been given at POGIL
symposia at the ACS national meetings in Atlanta, San Francisco, Chicago
and Boston. Two publishers (W.W. Norton and Pacific Crest) are interested
in publishing the activities. In 2007, 26 participants attended authoring
workshops, and at least as many new ones are expected in 2008.
Impact: The project has attracted interest from other POGIL users involved
with general chemistry and other chemistry courses in college and high
school at a wide range of institutions. The contextual themes are attractive, but their real strength is in the problem-solving pedagogy developed,
going beyond the scope of previous POGIL activities that focus on specific
content. The integrative nature of many of the activities adds to their richness. The advanced nature of these materials makes them challenging
for students and instructors, and our success in developing specific templates, strategies for effective use, training of instructors, and evaluation
of the materials will raise the POGIL bar.
Challenges: Creativity of faculty is both a blessing and a curse. To date,
about 40 activity topics have been identified and developed to varying
stages, and recommendations for topics seems endless. This creativity
in identifying topics also carries over to the redevelopment of activities.
Some activities have been written, tested, and rewritten several times
by different faculty authors who tweak them for their own classes. To encourage greater consistency and pedagogical soundness, several days of
development of templates was carried out by the PIs, core collaborators,
and a small group of participants in May 2007. Producing a beta version
of published activities is now a realistic objective.
Greenbowe
Institution: Iowa State University
Title: Implementing the Science Writing Heuristic: An
Advanced POGIL Workshop
Project #: 0618708
teaching assistants with exemplary models to enhance teaching and
learning in the general chemistry laboratory through the use of training
modules. Materials developed in this proposal will allow instructors to
implement guided-inquiry teaching technique in their laboratory course.
Evaluation: We will evaluate the effectiveness of the workshops by hav-
ing participants complete surveys at the beginning and end of each workshop. We will make adjustments to improve the workshops. We will ask
instructors and TAs to report to us whether they have made changes in
their classroom as a result of attending the SWH workshop. We will conduct research on whether or not the SWH improves student’s conceptual
understanding. We will track the effect of SWH based on factors including diversity of student population, gender, region of the country, college
major, and retention.
Dissemination: We already have over two dozen publications in peer-
reviewed journals (JCE, IJSE, JRST, JCST, and we have chapters in books
published. We are presenting papers and giving workshops about implementing the SWH at regional and national meetings of the ACS and POGIL
meetings. We are developing a website, a DVD, and a handbook.
Impact: If successful, our project will change how students do chemistry laboratory activities from passive to active. In an active learning setting, instructors provide initial guidelines for procedures, but students
work in groups to design experiments, collect data, and interpret results.
Students in an SWH environment perform at a higher level on chemistry
content exams than students in a traditional lab setting. Second, our project will change how instructors and TAs view teaching, from a teacher as
knowledge provider to a teacher as a facilitator.
Challenges: Chemistry research faculty do not want to make changes
in how they approach teaching in the lecture and laboratory. Chemistry
teaching assistants assigned to laboratories want to teach in the manner
in which they were taught. Even though they are getting paid to teach, the
TAs are resistant to learn any new methods and to appropriately implement these methods in the lab sections they are teaching.
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Poster Abstracts
Poster 68
PI:
Liz Gron
Hendrix College
Title: Educating Green Citizens and Scientists for a
Sustainable Future
Project #: 0633227
Institution:
Goals: This project will create multi-week laboratories, based on green
analysis of metals in the environment, to teach scientific literacy to citizens and prospective scientists in introductory chemistry courses. The
laboratory learning goals include the traditional facts and skills, while intentionally developing student scientific literacy.
Methods: The first laboratories developed for the majors’ and non-majors’
courses have used iron as a surrogate toxic metal with analysis by ultraviolet/visible (UV-Vis) and flame atomic absorption (FAA) spectroscopy.
Another project assesses environmental water quality through divalent
cations using ion chromatography (IC) and FAA spectroscopy.
Evaluation: Assessment in the majors’ and non-majors’ courses has fo-
cused on student attainment of traditional laboratory learning goals to
prove these new projects are rigorous. Both courses use a student survey
(student assessment of learning gains [SALG]) and a final written exam in
a multiple-choice format. The majors’ course includes precision and accuracy data from the individual experiments as well as an end-of-course
laboratory practical (done in pairs). Our data suggest that we have been
successful in reaching our traditional learning goals. This fall, the non-majors’ course used a pre- and post-test for scientific literacy. These results,
not yet available, will be discussed.
Dissemination: Planned dissemination activities include describing our
laboratory projects in national talks (abstracts have been submitted to
the national spring ACS meeting), and a paper on the iron project for the
majors’ course is being drafted.
Impact: Locally, we have increased interest in our introductory laboratories and some outside inquiries about our programs. We anticipate that
materials related to assessing scientific literacy will be of high interest
nationally.
Challenges: Our project is going well. Developing the new laboratories
has been exciting and interesting for everyone involved. The largest unanticipated challenge has been the problem finding a specific definition
of scientific literacy and deciding on what sorts of skills and behaviors the
students would exhibit as a result of being scientifically literate.
Poster 69
Robert Grossman
University of Kentucky
Title: Web-Based Interactive Organic Chemistry Homework
Project #: 0441201
PI:
Institution:
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Focus:
Creating Learning Materials and Teaching Strategies
Goals: We are developing a web-based interactive organic chemistry
homework program, ACE Organic, which requires students to draw structures and provides feedback specific to the individual student’s response.
We have recently expanded the scope of the program to include multistep mechanism questions, conformation questions, and label-the-atom
questions.
Methods: We use Java programs delivered through a web browser. The
major structure-drawing applet in ACE is by ChemAxon, Inc. It converts
student drawings into a text string that is then interpreted by Java methods written by us and by ChemAxon. The response is evaluated for particular characteristics, which determine the correctness and the feedback.
Evaluation: We are correlating student performance on exams to their
performance on ACE. We are also obtaining data from other schools to
compare student performance on exams from years before and after instructors started using ACE.
Dissemination: Prentice Hall is marketing ACE Organic in the U.S., Cana-
da, and around the world. The cost per student is $5 to $30, depending
mostly on whether they buy a new Prentice Hall textbook.
Impact: We anticipate that students who use ACE Organic will perform
better on their exams. Already, we observe that office hours are much
more productive than they used to be, because students now do their
homework intelligently and have a much better idea of what they don’t
understand. We also observe many fewer silly mistakes (e.g., pentavalent
C) on exams. Students still answer incorrectly, but their incorrect answers
are much more sensible. The biggest impact in grades is a large decrease
in the number of Cs and a large increase in the number of Bs. Somewhat to
our surprise, the number of As has remained mostly unchanged.
Challenges: Our greatest challenge has been developing suitable algorithms for evaluating student responses so that we can provide appropriate feedback. This challenge has been especially great for mechanism
questions, where we have had to develop entirely new kinds of evaluators
for all sorts of heuristic rules that organic chemists have created over the
years (e.g., “No SN2 substitution at sp2-hybridized C”). We have also had
to establish a close relationship with ChemAxon, the company that makes
our structure-drawing applet, so that the applet has the drawing tools that
our students need.
Poster 70
PI: Alexander
Grushow
Institution: Rider University
Title: Incremental Incorporation of LC/MS in the Chemistry
Curriculum
Project #: 0509735
Goals: The goal is to incorporate LC/MS techniques into the chemistry
curriculum and then assess how student interaction with a dual-purpose
instrument affects their understanding of instrumental application.
Methods: We have been adapting experiments from chromatography literature and chemical education literature for use in our undergraduate
Poster Abstracts
teaching labs. We are now beginning to use web-based surveys to assess
students’ understanding of the instrumentation.
Evaluation: Before and after each use, students will take a short web-
based assessment survey keyed to the complexity of the experiment they
are doing. The results of these surveys will be used to examine perception
and understanding differences between those students with one or two
experiences and those with multiple and more complex experiences.
Dissemination: We have not completed implementation and thus have
not disseminated results to a broad audience. The implementation of new
instrumentation including the LC/MS has been discussed at one presentation at an American Chemical Society National Meeting.
Impact: While we are only beginning the assessment phase of the project.
We have noticed that students who use the LC/MS have a better understanding of compound purity as a result of a synthesis. We hope to quantify this and other observations from student assessment feedback.
Challenges: Our primary holdup has been in getting the instrument set
up and working on a regular basis. The instrumentation is rather complex,
and there are no LC/MS technical experts on the faculty of staff. So there
has been a rather steep learning curve in making sure the instrumentation
works properly.
Poster 71
Jerome Haky
Institution: Florida Atlantic University
Title: Shifting Responsibilities: When Chemistry Replaces
First-Year Writing
Project #: 0632894
Co-PI: Donna Chamely-Wilk
PI:
Goals: Faculty in the Departments of Chemistry and English at Florida
Atlantic University are creating the nation’s first writing-intensive, second-semester, introductory Chemistry course, which also meets the requirements of second-semester College Writing. The course content and
assignments will be equivalent to that of both courses, using strategies
that are consistent with the standards of the Writing Across the Curriculum program.
Methods: Faculty and graduate students have been meeting weekly for
the past year to develop the scientific and writing content of this course.
We created a syllabus for a unique second semester introductory chemistry course as a College Writing II equivalent. The course materials were
piloted on a small scale in the fall of 2007. We will offer this course in
spring 2008 to 22 diverse and well-qualified students.
Evaluation: We will evaluate the effectiveness of this course as a substi-
tute for both second-semester introductory chemistry and college writing
by a controlled comparison of the achievement and attitudes of students
who completed this course with those who took conventional introductory chemistry and college writing. We will identify a cohort of students
enrolled in these conventional classes whose demographics match those
of the students in the new course. Qualitative and quantitative comparisons will then be performed between the two groups of students.
Dissemination: We will continue to conduct presentations on this proj-
ect at college faculty meetings at our institution and elsewhere. We will
send a survey to institutions throughout the country to identify individuals who are interested in incorporating writing-intensive assignments into
their chemistry courses. We will then work with these faculty to meet at
regional and national conferences to exchange ideas.
Impact: This project will establish and demonstrate the methods by which
writing-intensive chemistry courses can be created and also provide
much-needed data on the effectiveness of this approach in improving student learning and attitudes toward science and writing. It will also serve
as an exemplary model for implementing and evaluating such courses at
other colleges and universities and within other disciplines.
Challenges: Although we are early in this project, our work with small
groups of students in developing the foundations for this course have indicated that we may have overestimated the prior knowledge and capabilities of second-semester introductory chemistry students, even when
they are highly motivated and intelligent. As a result, we are reevaluating
the experiments, assignments, and other activities in this course to ensure that they are at appropriate levels.
Poster 72
PI: Thomas
Higgins
Harold Washington College
Title: Adapting and Implementing Process-Oriented Guided
Inquiry Learning (POGIL) into the Curriculum of Two
Community Colleges
Project #: 0536113
Institution:
Goals: The goals of this project are to:
1) Adapt and implement Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning
(POGIL) into the chemistry curricula of two community colleges.
2) Assess the effectiveness of POGIL instruction on student learning,
thinking skills, and attitudes.
Methods: POGIL is a student-centered method of instruction that empha-
sizes learning the content of chemistry, the process of science, and the
discovery of new materials. POGIL was implemented in the General Chemistry classroom using structured small-group work and in the laboratory
using discovery-oriented experiments.
Evaluation: Evaluation of student learning has centered on successful
completion rates (final grade of A, B, or C—up 21% since intervention),
student retention (up 18% since intervention), and final scores on a standardized exam (average score essentially unchanged). Preliminary analysis suggests that more students are completing the course successfully
without a significant change in the amount of chemistry being learned.
Evaluation of student thinking used the Test of Logical Thinking in a pre/
post format. Preliminary analysis suggests that logical thinking skills increase across the board. Evaluation of student attitude used the Chemistry Self-Concept Inventory and extensive student interviews.
Dissemination: Dissemination activities include planned presentations
at National Meetings of the American Chemical Society, the Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, and the Two-Year College Chemistry Con-
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Poster Abstracts
sortium. A short paper is also being written for the Journal of Chemical
Education.
Impact: Anticipated impacts include learning more about implementing
POGIL in community colleges and with predominantly underrepresented
student populations.
Challenges: Challenges included (include) student resistance to “nontraditional” methods of instruction and the need to “personalize” others’
materials to a new curriculum.
Poster 73
PI: Thomas
Holme
Institution: University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Title: Collaborative Research: Electronic Delivery and
Criterion Referencing of Assessment Materials for
Chemistry
Project #: 0717769
Goals:
1) Define content learning in Chemistry in terms of big ideas (anchoring
concepts).
2) Construct a workshop format with psychometricians and chemists to
carry out criterion referencing of chemistry test items.
3) Establish enhanced electronic delivery capacity for chem exams.
4) Merge criterion referenced information with electronic delivery.
Methods: We are leveraging several groups, including computer scientists,
chemists, and psychometricians to carry out this project. It will simultaneously devise appropriate criteria for chemistry using survey instruments,
build the capacity to carry out criterion referencing using workshops, and
deliver exams using a secure, electronic delivery platform.
Evaluation:
1) Planned evaluation activities will focus both on providing formative
feedback to the project team and on collecting summative data to demonstrate that the project has met its goals.
2) Usability tests. After components are developed, they will be tested in
a controlled setting with a small number of users before being made
available to the wider population.
3) Interviews/focus groups will be held with early adopters of the
technology.
4) Faculty and researcher users of the system will be provided with the
opportunity to fill out very short surveys after use of the electronic delivery system.
5) Students will be asked to take a very short survey after completion of
the electronic exam.
Dissemination: This is a very new project with no net dissemination at this
time. We anticipate using the national visibility of ACS exams to smooth
the adoption of these methods. The idea of electronic delivery of exams
has been discussed in several talks by the PI already and will continue to
feature prominently in our marketing materials for ACS exams.
content map (predicated on anchoring concepts), individuals and departments will be able to enhance their assessment strategies in the courses
they teach that use ACS exams. Because the chemistry content is built
within the anchoring concepts framework, departments that use ACS exams for the entire undergraduate curriculum will be able to devise valid
assessment of student learning that is somewhat longitudinal.
Challenges: We are early in the project, so challenges lie primarily in coordination of a geographically dispersed group. We will, by the time of the
conference, however, be able to better identify some of the challenges associated with building a map of the undergraduate chemistry curriculum
using an anchoring concept model.
Poster 74
PI: Charles
Hosten
Institution: Howard University
Title: Introducing Project-Based Labs into the Instrumental
Analysis Course
Project #: 0511132
Goals: Science and public policy are inextricably linked. Because so much
of modern science is now being done at the molecular level, i.e., on a size
scale that is in the traditional domain of most chemists, chemistry now
lies at the nexus of science and public policy.
Methods: Our goals are to infuse public policy into lectures and labs
seamlessly throughout our undergraduate program and develop meaningful laboratory experiences in the form of project-based laboratories
(PBLs) that force students to make the connection between what they
learn at Howard University and real-world problems.
Evaluation: A student questionnaire has been developed to evaluate: 1)
the degree of difficulty of the projects; 2) whether the projects and the
service learning component required excessive amounts of the students
time; 3) the applicability of the projects; 4) the adequacy of library and
support resources, the accessibility of faculty members, and the availability of required instruments; and 5) if students developed an appreciation
of the influence of science data on public policy.
Dissemination: Our dissemination plans fall into three categories: pre-
sentation at conferences and meetings, publications (we are currently
working on a manuscript that will be submitted to the Journal of Chemical
Education), and HBCU-specific dissemination strategies that involve mailings and visits to HBCU.
Impact: Anticipated impact: Most public policymakers rely on experts
with scientific backgrounds to assist with policy decisions, but nobody is
training chemists in such matters. What should be a strong and healthy
link between policymakers and scientists is frayed at best, nonexistent, or
staffed by naive personnel who can be manipulated by self-serving institutions at worst. Our program will produce students who are aware of the
role science has in policy decisions.
Impact: The primary anticipated impact is the development of electronically delivered assessment materials that will provide a greater range of
information for people who use ACS exams in their teaching of chemistry.
The premise is that by aligning items from ACS exams to an established
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Poster Abstracts
Poster 75
Poster 76
PI: Devin
PI: David
Imoto
Institution: Whittier College
Title: Problem-Based Experiments Involving HPLC and CE
Project #: 0410423
Goals: The project’s goal was to introduce more problem-based experi-
ments using HPLC and CE into the chemistry curriculum starting with organic chemistry and quantitative analysis, and ending with biochemistry,
instrumental analysis, and the integrated laboratory. It was hoped that
students would gain an in-depth understanding of HPLC and CE.
Methods: In the integrated laboratory, students research the literature to
propose a project that answers a question of interest. They design experiments to answer that question and are encouraged to use HPLC or CE. Students do their project in the laboratory and write the results in a paper. In
other courses, students are introduced to the instruments.
Evaluation: The evaluation consists of giving the students a knowledge
pre-test and a SALG self-evaluation survey on HPLC and CE in organic
chemistry before they have used either instrument. Students who take
the integrated laboratory in the senior year then take a knowledge posttest and a SALG self-evaluation survey. The results from the first group of
students to graduate and use the HPLC and CE indicate that significant
learning has taken place. The graduating seniors score twice as well on
the knowledge post-test than students who took the pre-test in organic
chemistry. Future evaluation plans include giving the test at intermediate
stages and tracking the same students for all exams.
Dissemination: Because we just collected our first data for graduating
seniors, this will be my first dissemination of this project. As I collect more
data, I hope to present the results at an American Chemical Society conference, submit a paper to the Journal of Chemical Education, and post the
project on my Whittier College website.
Impact: One anticipated impact of this project is to incorporate HPLC and
CE and more problem-based experiments in all of our courses including
General Chemistry. We are currently in the process of assessing our curriculum and student learning outcomes, and this project will certainly inform
decisions to change our curriculum in that process. In addition, it is hoped
that once the information is disseminated beyond Whittier College, that
others might find that this is doable at their particular institutions and will
adopt some of what we have done at Whittier College.
Challenges: My greatest unexpected challenge was having two faculty
members leave Whittier College within the time frame of the grant. One,
the organic chemist, was a co-PI, and the other, the analytical chemist, had
expertise in CE. It was a challenge to implement aspects of this project in
courses that were taught by these faculty members: Organic Chemistry,
Quantitative Analysis, and Instrumental Analysis. Fortunately, the faculty
that subsequently taught those courses were willing to incorporate HPLC
into their laboratory experiments, even though they were not problembased experiments. I intend to raise the issue and importance of doing
problem-based experiments in our curriculum review.
Kofke
Institution: University at Buffalo–SUNY
Title: A Molecular Simulation Module—Development
Community
Project #: 0618521
Goals: This project addresses obstacles preventing the widespread use
of molecular simulation as a tool for instruction in courses that involve
thermodynamics, transport, kinetics, materials science, and biology. The
primary focus is on producing and assessing molecular simulation modules, which include supporting instructional materials.
Methods: The project uses a mechanism of proposal-initiated collabora-
tions between content experts and the project investigators, who have the
necessary expertise to produce and assess simulation-based modules.
The project aims to produce 12 modules while examining their effectiveness as a tool for learning molecular concepts.
Evaluation: Students enrolled in a chemical engineering class at Buffalo
used a simulation module and participated in a survey that used both Likert-scale and open-ended questions. The students accessed a web-based
survey hosted on a server at Purdue.
The outcomes are as follows. Students were:
1) Strongly positive in responses to questions that dealt with the ease of
operation of the simulation
2) Neutral in their responses to questions that probed whether the simulations enhanced their understanding of material
3) Strongly negative toward the amount of time the simulation took
4) Strongly positive toward the general idea of simulations being a “good
way to learn”
Dissemination: Modules were used in a workshop for new faculty at the
2007 ASEE Chemical Engineering Summer School. No other significant
dissemination activities are completed yet.
Impact: We anticipate that this work will permit molecular concepts to
be more easily addressed in the classroom and that a community of interested educators will be formed to increase the range of application of
molecular simulation to this end.
Challenges: We are currently trying to more broadly advertise this effort,
so that we can get more proposals submitted for module development.
We are using mechanisms via CACHE to reach the chemical engineering community, but we need to find other means to reach the chemistry
community.
Poster 77
PI: Thomas
Malloy
University of St. Thomas
Title: FTNMR Instrumentation and Modeling Software for
Undergraduate Instruction in Chemistry
Project #: 0536648
Institution:
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Poster Abstracts
Chemistry
Target Discipline:
Goals:
1) To educate our students in the use and application of NMR throughout
the curriculum
2) To develop, test, and disseminate new examples of experiments applying NMR
3) To integrate Molecular Modeling in every course
4) To adapt existing modeling exercises from the literature and to develop
and disseminate our own
Methods: FTNMR: The NMR instrument has been used in several under-
graduate research projects. Resulting experiments are tested in laboratory courses. Modeling: Existing exercises from the literature are modified
and introduced in the curriculum at various levels. We are concentrating
on the Spartan programs from Wavefun.com.
Evaluation: The sophistication of the experiments and modeling exercis-
es are increased at each level with passing time as students pass through
the curriculum. Next year’s juniors will have used the same equipment
and programs for two years. Consequently, they can be expected to deal
with more complex exercises than last year’s juniors, who had no prior
experience.
Dissemination: We are currently evaluating the test results on experi-
ments developed by research students and tested in the labs. Posters
have been presented at ACS meetings and will be at the spring meeting. Manuscripts for J Chem Educ are in preparation. Results have been
shared with other users by informal meetings at conferences and through
e-mails.
Impact: The Anasazi FTNMR is heavily and routinely used in the organic
lab. It has been used in biochemistry, inorganic, instrumental, and physical chemistry labs.
Poster 78
Joe March
Institution: University of Alabama at Birmingham
Title: POGIL in Preparatory Chemistry (POGILinPrep)
Project #: 0511330
PI:
Goals: The POGIL approach was studied in a series of preparatory chem-
istry courses with the desired outcomes of increasing the self-assessed
ability to carry out scientific inquiry, the scores of the Group Assessment
of Logical Thinking (GALT) test, the percent of students enrolling in General Chemistry, and the number of students continuing in STEM majors.
Evaluation: A collection of POGIL materials was developed and used in
the classroom. Pre- and post-term measurements were made using surveys regarding attitudes and confidence. Student performance on the ACS
California Diagnostic exam are being used to evaluate student mastery of
the material. Preliminary analysis of the surveys shows much greater confidence in the ability to do science and to work with others. Performance
on the ACS exam indicates that students do as well on the exam, even
though fewer topics are covered, potentially indicating that students are
answering individual items correctly at a higher rate.
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Dissemination: The materials have been published by Houghton Mifflin.
We have presented seminars and workshops describing our approach.
Seminars have been presented at ACS meetings. Workshops have been
presented in Atlanta and Washington, DC. Future workshops or seminars
are planned for Oxford (MS), Houston (TX), Pasadena (CA), and ACS meetings and the BCCE.
Impact: Students are more engaged in the classroom with the material
and with their peers. This particular active learning strategy has also affected students’ self-confidence in learning science. The POGIL approach
also appears to increase performance on individual items on the California
Exam when compared to students in a traditional lecture-format course.
Locally, we have had two instructors that used a lecture-only approach
convert to this approach upon seeing how students responded. With an
increase in the number of preparatory chemistry courses being offered
nationwide, our results should provide guidance about how to best reach
the widest audience.
Challenges: Manuscript preparation took much longer than anticipated.
There is a lot of time between implementation of the first draft and the
second attempt to use materials, so the materials could undergo further
modification for improvement. Dissemination has been a tremendous job.
Most people interested in POGIL will contact the POGIL National Project.
Thus, we are not likely the primary contact point and even our close association with the project often causes personal contacts to contact POGIL
National. We are working with that group, but the number of workshops
that we host is likely fewer than we projected.
Poster 79
PI: Christina
McCartha
Newberry College
Title: Application and Integration of Gas Chromatography/
Mass Spectrometer in the Undergraduate Chemistry
Laboratory: Chemistry Major with Forensic Science
Concentration
Project #: 0633174
Institution:
Goals: Improve critical thinking/applied science skills of students. Fill a
need for chemists in crime labs in SC. Objectives: Adapt GC/MS lab experiments to curriculum. Adapt and develop teaching strategies. Implement
educational innovations. Develop faculty expertise in forensic science and
use of GC/MS. Assess learning and evaluate innovations.
Methods: The detailed project plan will incorporate the forensic science
concentration into the chemistry major, integrate inquiry-based lectures
and labs into chemistry curriculum, design forensic science courses, and
integrate an Agilent 6890 Gas Chromatograph with Mass Spec Detector
(GC/MS) and pyrolysis sample introduction unit.
Evaluation: Plans are to evaluate chemistry courses currently taught in
an inquiry-based format, and the impact of the Agilent 6890 Gas Chromatograph with Mass Spec Detector (GC/MS) on the chemistry curriculum
at Newberry College. Plans are to integrate GC/MS into forensic science,
organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, environmental chemistry, structural organic analysis, biochemistry, investigative chemistry, and undergraduate research courses with proposed adapted experiments and learning outcomes from the experiments.
Poster Abstracts
Dissemination: The results will be reported though two or more of the fol-
lowing: professional meetings, peer-reviewed publications, publication of
program highlights in Dimensions, and faculty e-mails to fellow educators
at other interested colleges and universities. NSF support will be acknowledged in all publications and communications.
Impact: The integration of a forensic science concentration will have im-
pacts through advancing discovery and understanding while promoting
teaching, training, and learning. The course Forensic Science Laboratory
Techniques was designed as an inquiry-based course. Students may enroll
in three applied chemistry courses: Laboratory Development, where they
design and test sample laboratory experiments; Investigative Chemistry,
where they actively engage in design, investigation, analysis, and report
of research in chemistry; and Research in Chemistry, where they become
involved in a research project. Chemistry majors have increased from 28
in fall 2005 to 56 in fall 2007.
Challenges: An unexpected challenge was the renovation of the Newberry College science and math building. The building was closed for summer
2007 and will be closed again during summer 2008. The closing of our
building has delayed the start of the project, and the closing this summer
will delay the project even further. We do not have any other lab facilities
on campus to temporarily relocate. We had the instrumental lab renovated in summer 2007, so the instruments would be moved only once during
summer 2007. Portable air conditioning units will be used during summer
2008 and instrumentation will be accessible; however, limited use of the
facilities will be allowed.
Poster 80
Iraj Nejad
Mt. San Antonio College
Title: Enhancing Student Learning by Incorporating NMR
Spectroscopy into the General and Organic Chemistry
Curriculum
Project #: 0410033
PI:
Institution:
Goals: The major goals of our project are:
1) Incorporate modern NMR spectroscopy into our two-year chemistry
curriculum.
2) Provide students with an increasingly in-depth, hands-on experience in
the application of modern NMR techniques.
3) Enhance students’ learning by combining molecular modeling with 1H
and 13C NMR techniques.
Methods: We are using an Anasazi FTNMR along with Spartan modeling
to achieve our goals. We are adapting NMR experiments that progressively give an in-depth experience to students as they move through our
curriculum. Our adaptation to the experiments includes using Spartan to
explore the relationship between molecular modeling and experimental
results.
Evaluation: Formative assessment including pre- and post-surveys plus
pre- and post-quizzes are being administered to 1) assess student perceptions of the implemented experiments, 2) evaluate the student skills
acquired while operating the NMR instrument and processing the FID data
with NUTS software, and 3) assess students’ data interpretation skills,
critical-thinking skills, and analytical reasoning. A summative assessment
will be conducted to determine the number of faculty and students affected by the project, assess student learning outcomes, and ascertain the
overall impact of the project on our curriculum. An outside expert evaluator is involved in evaluating the many aspects the project.
Dissemination: A presentation on the preliminary outcomes of our initial
implementation was made at the 234th national meeting of the ACS in
Boston. Presentations are also planned for the upcoming April meeting of
the ACS and the 2008 BCCE conference. A workshop will be held in March
2008 for faculty from area colleges and universities to learn about our
project.
Impact: The project is affecting our students in a very positive way. Stu-
dents in four sections of our courses (both general and organic) have been
affected by the project thus far. Our formative evaluation indicates a very
high degree of student satisfaction with the experiments implemented, a
very challenging but a rewarding experience learning and working with a
modern analytical technique, and, last but not least, an improved student
learning, as reflected in their pre- and post-responses. Several faculty
have been trained and have started to use the instrument and the experiments in their laboratories. As we continue to edit and revise the experiments, the impacts of the project will certainly grow.
Challenges: A major obstacle we encountered was the initial delay in ordering and installing the instrument. But, once the instrument was delivered and installed, the work progressed rather smoothly. Obtaining 13C
NMR spectra in a few instances has proven to be difficult because of the
low solubility of the samples coupled with the low field strength of the
instrument. This difficulty, however, challenged us to learn special instrumental techniques to overcome that barrier in those instances. Learning
such techniques has taken us some time to master. A special challenge
that we face now is to find ways to include permanently the experiments
in all sections of our general and organic chemistry courses.
Poster 81
Norbert Pienta
University of Iowa
Title: Using Cognitive Load Theory to Design and Assess
Questions and Problem-Solving Strategies
Project #: 0618600
PI:
Institution:
Goals: 1) Define qualitative and quantitative measures of complexity in
intro chemistry problems; 2) assess student strategies, including textual
and/or visual data; 3) devise interventions; 4) provide and promote applications including exams, test banks, and asynchronous testing; and 5)
use the ACS Exams Institute to disseminate applications.
Methods: 1) A browser-based Flash program generates ideal gas law and
stoichiometry questions based on specific format and language, unit conversions, and presence of extraneous information. 2) A rubric and process
by which existing questions from ACS exams and from course hour exams
are evaluated for cognitive load, problem difficulty, and student mental
effort.
Evaluation:
1) Two questions were created and pilot-tested in fall 2006; data were
collected in spring 2007 (N = ca. 1,300 prep chem. attempts). Effects
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Poster Abstracts
are observed for number format (i.e., scientific notation), temperature
(K vs. C), and volume units (i.e., L to mL vs. mL to L vs. L to L). Error
checking analysis was added. Additional prep chem data were in December 2007.
2) A tool to test organic representations is being assembled (testing in
spring 2008).
3) Rubrics were devised, tested, and revised to assign cognitive load sequentially to 3 ACS Exams Institute instruments. These data correlate
with student performance and perceived mental effort.
4) The rubric is being extended to course hour exams.
Dissemination: Preliminary results appeared in talks and posters at the
ACS national meetings in Chicago and Boston; at the Gordon Conference
in Lewiston, ME, June 2007; and at SERMACS, Greenville, SC, October
2007. More presentations are scheduled for the ACS national meeting in
New Orleans. Problem difficulty analyses based on our rubrics will be included with ACS standard exams in the future.
Impact: 1) A striking difference between unit conversions in the ideal gas
questions (i.e., L to mL vs. mL to L) suggests that all unit conversions are
not interchangeable without significant performance changes. This is being confirmed with another prep chem cohort and with factor analysis
seeking causes or reasons. Similar information is being sought in the
context of stoichiometry problems. 2) Multi-variant assessment of problem difficulty of ACS exam questions, based on the expert-assigned cognitive load (with rubrics developed herein) and student-assigned mental
effort; a process and the means to assign difficulty to individual’s exam
questions.
Challenges: The investigator team has collaboratively solved challenges
encountered to this point. We have met as a group at national and regional meetings, conducted conference calls, and communicated extensively
through e-mail.
Poster 82
Jeffrey Pribyl
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Title: Use of Guided Inquiry with Incorporation of Tablet
PCs into the Preparatory Chemistry Classroom to Promote
Student Learning
Project #: 0633172
Co-PI: Mary Hadley
PI:
Institution:
Goals: Tablet PCs will be incorporated as the delivery method for a guided
inquiry introductory chemistry classroom. The success of the students in
the guided inquiry classroom will be compared with students in a more
traditional lecture classroom. This project focuses on both the adaptation
of guided inquiry materials and implementation of Tablet PCs.
Methods: Introductory Chemistry students receive instruction either
through guided inquiry materials (delivered via Tablet PCs) or traditional
lectures. Students’ success in the course and several pre/post instruments was studied. New software, FastGrade, was used to provide efficient feedback to the students in the guided inquiry section.
Evaluation: Student success, as measured by course exams and several
pre/post instruments on specific concepts, will be used. Variables also
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included in this study include learning styles and self-efficacy. Long-term
retention will also be measured by following the students as they move
to the next chemistry course. It is anticipated that students in the guided
inquiry section will perform better on exams and instruments. It is also
anticipated that the guided inquiry students will retain knowledge longer,
as demonstrated in the next chemistry course.
Dissemination: We presented at the Collaboration for the Advancement
of College Teaching and Learning Fall conference on the topic and guided
inquiry in the chemistry classroom. A similar presentation will be done in
February at the Realizing Student Potential/ITeach Conference 2008. We
plan on a presentation at the Fall ACS national meeting and/or BCCE.
Impact: Through funding of this grant, 25 faculty members from across
our campus participated in a one-day introductory workshop on guided
inquiry in May. Seventeen faculty members will participate in a one-day
intensive writing workshop on guided inquiry in January. Guided inquiry
material for introductory chemistry courses have been developed and
modified for use in the classroom. It is anticipated as the data are analyzed we will be able to help direct students into learning environments
that are conducive to their learning styles.
Challenges: Through funding of this grant, 25 faculty members from
across our campus participated in a one-day introductory workshop on
guided inquiry in May. Seventeen faculty members will participate in a
one-day intensive writing workshop on guided inquiry in January. Guided
inquiry material for introductory chemistry courses has been developed
and modified for use in the classroom. It is anticipated as the data are analyzed we will be able to help direct students into learning environments
that are conducive to their learning styles.
Poster 83
Dana Richter-Egger
Institution: University of Nebraska at Omaha
Title: Improving Student Learning and Attitudes in
Chemistry through Early Undergraduate, Interdisciplinary
Research Using ICP-MS
Project #: 0411164
PI:
Goals: Our primary objectives are to improve 1) student attitudes about
science, 2) student understanding of the nature of experimental science
and the scientific method, and 3) student perceptions of the application of
science and the interdisciplinary nature of science.
Methods: The strategy is to integrate student research into first-semester
general chemistry. We currently have two such active research topics:
drinking water composition monitoring and analysis of soil samples for
lead. Both highlight the daily relevance of chemical analysis and emphasize its application to other sciences.
Evaluation: This effort is being evaluated based on feedback from partici-
pating students collected via student surveys and via focus group feedback from students and instructors. The majority of the students felt that
1) their work was similar to that of a real scientist, 2) the project was fun
and interesting, and 3) the IC instruments were an effective aid to their
understanding. Approximately 10% of the ~600 respondents per year indicated they are more likely to consider majoring in chemistry. Overall,
Poster Abstracts
results indicate that this has 1) positively influenced the attitudes of our
students and 2) helped students experience for themselves something
that real scientists do on a regular basis.
Dissemination: A manuscript describing the drinking water project (be-
gun ~3 years before the soils project) is being revised for resubmission to
J Chem Ed. A corresponding manuscript for the soils project is in the early
stages of preparation. The work has been presented numerous times locally, regionally, and nationally, including ACS and CUR.
Poster 84
Dawn Rickey
Institution: Colorado State University
Title: Expansion and Refinement of a Research-Based
Laboratory Curriculum to Enhance Diverse Students’
Abilities to Apply Chemistry Ideas Effectively in New
Contexts
Project #: 0618829
Education
PI:
Goals: 1) Develop problem-based Model-Observe-Reflect-Explain (MORE)
laboratory modules and instructor materials to complete the general
chemistry curriculum and 2) continue the cycle of development, implementation, research on student learning, and refinement of laboratory
instruction with the goal of maximizing students’ abilities to apply their
models effectively in new contexts.
Methods: Three diverse institutions are collaborating to design, imple-
ment, study, and refine a sequence of instructional and curricular developments involving the MORE Thinking Frame. In designing instruction, we
seek to promote meta-cognition, support guided discovery, and engage
students in authentic scientific inquiry.
Evaluation: Assessment and evaluation is conducted via analyses of a
standardized chemistry and math pre-test, pre- and post-course surveys,
photocopies of students’ coursework, video of groups of students working in the laboratory, and video of student interview/problem-solving sessions. In the third year of the project, once all of the core modules have
been implemented and revised at least once, the above-described data
will be collected for MORE classes and for corresponding control classes.
We will also use external measures of student understanding of chemistry
ideas to provide conclusive results regarding the effectiveness of MORE
laboratory instruction compared with standard instruction.
Dissemination: The PI has presented at the national meeting of the Amer-
ican Chemical Society and for the Hach Scientific Foundation. Graduate
students have presented posters at the Gordon Research Conference.
Additional presentations, publications, and workshops are planned. We
also plan to mentor new instructors/institutions in the final year of the
project.
Impact: This project is advancing understanding of the cognitive mechanisms underlying chemistry learning, specifically the role of student reflection on how their own molecular-level models change via laboratory
experiences in enabling productive use of these understandings in new
contexts. We are also investigating the ways in which student epistemologies affect their propensity to engage in quality reflection and the role of
different types of evidence in the process of developing molecular-level
models. We anticipate that the project will continue to generate important
new knowledge regarding how specific curriculum materials and teaching
practices are linked to students’ chemistry learning.
Challenges: While there are many challenging aspects of this work,
I do not think that we have encountered any significant unexpected
challenges.
Poster 85
Marin Robinson
Institution: Northern Arizona University
Title: Development of a Textbook and Companion Websites
for Chemistry-Specific Writing Instruction
Project #: 0230913
Development
PI:
Goals: Project goals were to analyze the language of chemistry and de-
velop a chemistry-specific writing textbook. Write Like a Chemist (in press)
improves the writing skills of upper-division and graduate-level chemistry majors (including non-native English-speakers) and is easy to use by
chemistry faculty with little to no experience teaching writing.
Methods: The textbook uses a read-analyze-write approach that com-
bines the reading of authentic excerpts with the structured analysis of
those excerpts for audience, organization, writing conventions, grammar,
and science. This is followed by exercises and writing-on-your own activities in three genres (journal article, research proposal, scientific poster).
Evaluation: The textbook was piloted in 16 institutions nationwide be-
tween 2003 and 2006 involving 300+ students. Feedback was obtained
using student and faculty questionnaires and interviews. Student writing was assessed through a final paper and pre/post-tests, which were
scored by trained evaluators using a rubric that assessed writing in five
categories (audience, organization, writing conventions, grammar and
mechanics, and science content). Statistical analysis of pre/post-test data
indicates that the instruction significantly improved chemistry-specific
writing skills.
Dissemination: Project-related publications include one textbook (Write
Like a Chemist, Oxford University Press, release date July 2008); one invited chapter (Council on Undergraduate Research); seven journal articles
(five published or in press, two in review). National presentations include
seven (five invited) at chemistry conferences and 10 at applied linguistics
conferences.
Impact: The project will potentially revolutionize the way chemistry majors
(including non-native English-speakers) learn to write in chemistry (specifically the journal article, research proposal, and poster). For the first
time, a textbook (and answer key) with numerous exercises and excerpts
(from ACS journals and NSF proposals) is available for classroom use. The
book is ideal for a writing dedicated course but can also be adapted for
use in labs, lectures, or seminars. The materials are easy to use by chemistry faculty unfamiliar with teaching writing. Students using these materials will improve their own writing skills and be better prepared to teach
writing to the next generation of students.
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Poster Abstracts
Challenges:
1) Students without research experience needed a sufficiently rich project to write about. To this end, we created four “canned” research
projects.
2) Writing samples (papers, pre/post-tests) needed to be objectively/efficiently assessed. To this end, we created rubrics to assess writing in
five areas, identifying common errors in each area.
3) Chemistry faculty are hesitant to teach writing and do not know how
to fit it into the chemistry curriculum. The textbook will build faculty
confidence and open up new ways to incorporate writing (e.g., across
several courses, in a writing-dedicated course, through self-study, in
faculty or peer-led summer workshops, in graduate seminars).
Poster 86
Eric Simanek
Institution: Texas A&M University
Title: Anchoring Organic Chemistry in Broader Context
Project #: 0536673
PI:
Goals: The goal was to dedicate an entire semester laboratory course for
agricultural sciences majors to the design, synthesis, and evaluation of
novel herbicides using contemporary methods including computation and
greenhouse evaluations.
Methods: The class is introduced to chemical synthesis with the prepa-
ration of simazine, then atrazine. After computationally modeling these
molecules in the protein crystal structure, the students design a new herbicide for preparation in the laboratory. After synthesis and characterization, they develop bioassays for efficacy.
Evaluation: Student satisfaction is higher with this integrated approach
as opposed to more traditional lab curriculum. This conclusion is based
on surveys and interviews with teaching fellows. Interestingly, when this
curriculum was adopted by a group of chemistry majors, the level of satisfaction were significantly higher.
Dissemination: We have generated a laboratory manual intended for revi-
sion and dissemination in the final year of the project.
Impact: Broader impacts are tremendous. I took over the general chemistry program here and have completely retooled the laboratory curriculum
to be contextual. Student satisfaction is very high. Students engage in
authentic science at the conclusion of the second semester in the laboratory. These materials will be disseminated throughout the state shortly.
Trickle-down impacts are equally compelling. We have achieved sustainable change with this cohort.
Poster 87
Garon Smith
Institution: University of Montana
Title: Development of an Upper-Division SENCER-Based
Course
Project #: 0310616
PI:
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Chemistry
Target Discipline:
Goals: The goals are as follows: having a fundamental understanding of
the chemical and process design principles involved in making an industrial process economically viable, using critical-thinking tools needed to
understand the impact of a given industry on the surrounding environment, and having a balanced view of how local industry affects the state
economically, socially, and environmentally.
Methods: The course is based around field trips to five or six local plants
from different sectors of chemical industry. Before the field trips, students
are provided with background information on both the chemical principles
used in process technologies and the business/economic aspects of each
facility. Students select one industry to analyze further.
Evaluation: Students are assessed through both subjective and objective
instruments. Exams assess mastery of scientific principles and their understanding of economic/business issues. At the end of the course, students submit a summative written report and make an oral presentation
of further assessment on one the industries visited during the semester.
Dissemination: Course materials in the form of process strategies and
business plans have been developed for about nine Montana industries.
These as well as digital versions of the students’ summary reports are
available to those interested. A national ACS meeting talk was given in Fall
2006. We anticipate a pedagogic journal article soon.
Impact: We have now offered the course two times: spring 2006 and fall
2008. It is incorporated into our systematic catalog of course offerings
with a regular university number (instead of an experimental course number). In both instances, the course enrollment consisted of three undergraduate majors and three graduate students. Just now there is beginning to be a discernable level of interest in further offerings of the course
among those students who are considering career tracks in industry rather than academia. Our hope is that both our colleagues and the student
population will begin to regard some exposure to the economic and social
aspects of science as desirable.
Challenges: Our two biggest challenges are the following: 1) It is difficult
to attract upper-division undergraduate majors to the course because our
ACS-certified degrees leave precious few discretionary elective credits.
By the time the students also complete their general education requirements, they have about six credit hours that are free. 2) Montana is such
a large state that some chemical companies in our first offering (spring
2006) were too far to be practical (with respect to driving times and travel/
accommodation expenses). For challenge number 1, we have renumbered
the course so that it may be taken by graduate students. For number 2, we
have switched to some new industrial facilities that are closer to us.
Poster 88
Jerry Smith
Institution: Georgia State University
Title: The Center for Workshops in the Chemical Sciences:
An Experiment in Chemical Education
Project #: 0618678
Co-PI: Lawrence Kaplan
PI:
Poster Abstracts
Goals: Our goal is to improve instruction in the chemical sciences, broadly
defined, primarily at the undergraduate level. This goal is implemented in
part by enhancing both the topical and the pedagogical knowledge of faculty involved in undergraduate teaching in two- and four-year institutions
plus comprehensive universities as well as support personnel, conservators, and others with educational responsibilities. We will demonstrate
that the knowledge acquired by CWCS participants has positively affected
learning at the individual student level. Also to perpetuate the impact of
the program, a Community of Scholars at the local, regional, and national
levels will be developed.
Methods: The CWCS has completed a comprehensive evaluation of sev-
eral aspects of the program covering years 2001–2006. The results may be
viewed at http://chemistry.gsu.edu/cwcs using the “Evaluation” button.
The program in general has collected end-of-workshop evaluations that
are basically participant satisfaction surveys but more recently contain
questions on how the workshop materials will be used, i.e., in new or existing courses, in laboratory exercises, etc. These surveys also include questions related to the enhancement of knowledge of participants in areas
specific to each workshop. The program also conducts intermediate-range
evaluations, 1–3 years after a participant has attended a given workshop,
and longer-term (e.g., five-year) evaluations are planned. Evaluations of
the impact of the inclusion of workshop materials into specific courses
taught by participants on learning at the individual student level have
been carried out in limited numbers and will be further expanded. The
evaluations are administered by CWCS participants to students at their
home institutions. The gender distribution among workshop participants
was 60% male and 40% female; 23% of the participants were non-white
or Hispanic and 71% were white. Sixteen percent of the participants represented HBCUs, minority- or Hispanic-serving institutions, or tribal colleges and universities. The vast majority (85%) of participants held a doctoral
degree and had a broad range of teaching experience ranging from 0 to 35
years. The type of institution represented by workshop participants was
as follows: 18% community college, 54% traditional four-year institutions,
and 25% comprehensive universities.
Evaluation: A large majority of participants (85–90%) were highly sat-
isfied with the relevance of materials presented, the quality of presentations, workshop organization, and accommodations. Over 90% would
recommend the workshop that they attended to a colleague. Over half
of the participants learned of the CWCS organization via the comprehensive recruitment efforts. The primary motivation expressed by participants
for attended the workshops was to broaden their abilities by learning a
new area or technique, but to remain current in an area and to broadened professional contacts was also important to them. Participants used
workshop materials in a variety of ways, including in an existing course
for science majors and in student research. Workshop materials were primarily used in general and organic chemistry courses. Participants placed
the most value on ideas generated for laboratory and demonstration activities. Over 80% of the students surveyed indicated that the inclusion of
workshop materials into the specific course they were taking enhanced
their mastery of the course content and over 60% felt that the material
was relevant to their career goals.
Dissemination: The program has run 74 workshops at over 20 locations,
including Hawaii and Puerto Rico, both EPSCoR locations. Where feasible,
workshop locations are moved among various sites, including HBCU institutions and EPSCoR locations, to maximize the number of participants
who can be served by CWCS. The program ran two major symposia at the
national ACS meetings held in spring and fall of 2007 that illustrated the
impact that the program has had on instruction, new program development, and both teaching and research collaborations. A symposium is
planned for the BCCE meeting in 2008. As part of the development of a
Community of Scholars, we are developing both physical and virtual re-
unions plus a discussion forum designed to assist workshop participants
as a resource library, in resolving difficulties in implementing workshop
techniques and materials into their instructional activities, in the preparation of proposals, and in the development of research collaborations between participants and between participants and workshop organizers.
Impact: The program has attracted 1,141 participants representing 715 institutions from 48 states plus Guam, Puerto Rico, and Washington, DC.
Some 450,000 students are estimated to have benefited from CWCS activities. A Community of Scholars in the form of an interacting group of
former and current workshop participants, organizers, and instructors
plus other interested persons is being developed at the local, regional,
and national level with the goal of perpetuating the impact of the program
over an extended period of time.
Challenges: CWCS workshops are now over-subscribed with waiting lists.
The increasingly sophisticated backgrounds of participants have lead the
program to offer workshops at both an introductory and advanced level
(e.g., Forensics Science) or with different emphasis such as crystallography as implemented for small molecules and for macromolecular systems.
The program has benefited from unusual workshop ideas contributed by
the scientific community.
Poster 89
PI: Alline
Somlai
Institution: Delta State University
Title: A Regional NMR Training Cooperative with a Virtual
Impact
Project #: 0310861
Goals: My goal is to understand the impact of an NMR spectrometer on
student learning of NMR spectroscopy. Textbook instruction is compared
with remote access and “hands-on” learning. A secondary project goal is
to incorporate NMR experiments into other chemical disciplines at Delta
State University and local community colleges.
Methods: I have consistently looked at student scores on three questions
(FT-IR, 13C, and 1H NMR) from the 1994 ACS Organic Chemistry Standardized Final Examination to gauge student understanding. I have collected
percentage correct/incorrect answers and performed a SALG assessment
to further elucidate any relationships between student learning and NMR
usage.
Evaluation: I have collected scores from spring 2005 (pre-NMR) through
summer school 2007; all data to date are sampled from Delta State University. A substantial improvement in the FT-IR and 1H NMR scores is observed from 2005 to 2006. This is most likely because of the increased
“hands-on” experience with the instrumentation in addition to teaching
these techniques as tools to be used in pairs when solving these problems.
SALG cross-tabulation 1 shows a positive correlation in student opinion regarding the influence of NMR usage and their understanding of main concepts. SALG cross-tabulation 2 shows a positive correlation in influence of
1H NMR spectra interpretation and main concept comprehension.
Dissemination: I have not shared the SALG results or standardized final
exam data in a formal presentation or paper. I have coauthored a poster
presentation at the Mississippi Academy of Sciences entitled “Compari-
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son of 13C NMR Chemical Shifts with Quantum Calculations,” which highlighted our efforts to bridge Organic and Physical Chemistry concepts.
Impact: NMR is used extensively at Delta State University. NMR spectroscopy experiments are now integrated into Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, Physical Chemistry, and Analytical Chemistry laboratories. The NMR
instrumentation has allowed undergraduate students to participate in
cross-disciplinary studies and new curriculum development. An NMR
spectroscopy winter institute will be held over Christmas break for faculty
at local community colleges to promote the remote usage function of this
instrumentation. Students at colleges with limited instrumentation will
have the opportunity to use the instrument.
Challenges: The original PI for this grant left, the grant start date was
delayed, and circumstances prevented the original community colleges
from participating. I have set up for remote access at two different community colleges but have had limited participation from them. I have organized a Winter NMR Institute (December 2007) to promote remote usage;
I have six community college professors attending. I have also purchased
an auto-sampler for the instrument that will allow for much easier usage
for participating community colleges. The auto-sampler was not part of
the original proposal. Samples changes and loads can now be scheduled
electronically.
Poster 90
David Speckhard
Loras College
Title: Applying Spectroscopy in General Education,
Introductory, and Advanced Science Courses
Project #: 0632817
PI:
Institution:
Goals: We plan to increase student’s level of scientific literacy and appreciation of science reasoning in everyday applications and demonstrate the
importance of instrumentation as a tool of scientific inquiry.
Another goal is to increase numbers of science majors and retention in
STEM programs.
Methods: The new spectrometers will allow hands-on access to modern
instruments and will be the stimulus for increasing the number of inquirybased and active learning–based projects in general education and STEM
classes.
Evaluation: We have started our assessment efforts. So far we have col-
lected a pre/post-survey of student attitude toward science in general
chemistry. We have also initiated pre- and post-testing on content items
for this class. We plan to continue the surveys and testing, engage some
students in focus groups to verify the survey results, and examine the impact of the new pedagogies on student portfolio artifacts. We are developing a short survey for use in classes with more limited use of the new
materials.
Dissemination: Dissemination has not yet begun but we anticipate pre-
sentations at regional and national chemistry and science education conferences. Loras participates in SENCER, PKAL, MACTLAC, CUR, and BCCE.
We also regularly attend ACS meetings. Our biology colleagues have similar participation in ACUBE.
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Impact: We expect to have an impact on a majority of the Loras College
students through the general education courses. Our impact on STEM
majors will be concentrated on fewer students but will occur in multiple
classes in three disciplines. The STEM classes will also see the biggest
change in pedagogy, since these classes had been taught in a traditional
lab model.
Challenges: So far, the unexpected challenges have been pretty minor,
such as difficulties getting software useable by all students in an easily
accessible format. There have been several challenges that were not really unexpected, such as phasing in the new instruments, initiating full
participation in the assessment efforts, and scheduling the use among
several classes.
Poster 91
PI: Daniel
Stanford
Harper College
Title: Impact of FTNMR in Early Coursework and Research at
a Two-Year College
Project #: 0633315
Education
Institution:
Goals: Our goal is to expose students to state-of-the-art FT-NMR techniques coupled with research/inquiry-based experiments in all of our
chemistry courses with the intention of increasing interest in and changing student attitudes toward science. We also desire to assess the impact
of those experiences on retention and career/major choices.
Methods: Currently, we are gathering background data on attitudes be-
fore new NMR experiments are introduced. We will then survey students
before and after their exposure to the NMR and try to follow up as they
move to other chemistry courses. We are taking published experiments
and modifying them for our setting.
Evaluation: We just began collecting data this fall semester and have not
completed our analysis yet. We have developed an attitude survey. It will
be used to survey students before and after exposure to the new NMR,
within a semester and from semester to semester. Focus groups will also
be conducted. We have not yet implemented new NMR experiments, so
we are gathering background attitude data on students before exposure
to the new NMR.
Dissemination: We have not completed any activities yet. We plan to
present at the 2YC3 conference (spring 2008), Biennial Conference on
Chemical Education (summer 2008), and National Science Teachers Association convention (April 2009) and publish in journals such as J Chem
Ed, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, and the Journal of College
Science Teaching.
Impact: Anticipated impacts are as follows: Increase student comfort level
with using technology, foster more realistic research-type experiences in
all chemistry courses, affect excitement in our chemistry students toward
science, promote scientific reasoning and an understanding of the nature
of science, increase our students’ hands-on time with modern, sophisticated technology so that they can compete effectively with their four-year
and university-educated peers, increase the effectiveness of our under-
Poster Abstracts
graduate research program, and increase the literature base of knowledge
regarding community colleges and their effect on STEM education.
Poster 92
Christopher Stromberg
Institution: Hood College
Title: Introduction of Raman Spectroscopy to the
Undergraduate Curriculum
Project #: 0632829
PI:
Goals: The overall goal of this grant is to improve STEM education by giv-
ing students experience with modern instrumentation. In particular, this
grant will increase student understanding of Raman spectroscopy, an important but underused technique, by funding the purchase of a Raman
spectrometer and the implementation of labs using this instrument.
Methods: Labs covering different aspects of Raman spectroscopy will be
introduced throughout the curriculum, including courses both for majors
and non-majors. These experiments will increase in complexity as students are repeatedly exposed to both the theory and practical applications of Raman spectroscopy.
Evaluation: Project evaluation is only in its preliminary stages. Student
learning will be measured for each individual lab through the use of concept inventories. Each concept inventory will be a short quiz given before
and after the lab. Roughly half of the questions will be common between
these inventories. The other half will cover topics specific to that experiment. The entire program will be evaluated through an external evaluator.
This external evaluator will make two visits during the course of the grant.
The first of these visits will be a formative evaluation roughly halfway
through the grant period. The second visit will be a summative evaluation
at the end of the grant period.
Dissemination: Because the project is only in its first year, no dissemina-
tion activities have been completed. Experiments created for this project
will be disseminated nationally through articles in the Journal of Chemical
Education. Other dissemination will include regional meetings such as the
Middle-Atlantic Association of Liberal Arts Chemistry Teachers.
Impact: One experiment in Physical Chemistry has been successfully integrated into the curriculum so far. The concept inventories for this experiment showed a marked gain in understanding of Raman spectroscopy in
general, even for those students who have been previously introduced to
the topic. These gains in student learning are expected to be seen for every level once the full complement of experiments is in place. In addition,
long-term retention of this information is expected to increase significantly upon repeated exposure. More broadly, access to modern instrumentation is expected to increase interest in STEM disciplines and improve
student preparation for jobs and/or graduate school.
Challenges: The biggest challenge in implementing this project has been
coordinating the implementation of the labs, given the time constraints.
Because of heavy teaching loads during the year, most of the lab development work needs to be done over the summer. Continuing this work
during the school year, either by the students involved or by the faculty
members, has been difficult. Also, while the Raman instrument has performed well, other aspects of the experiments have been problematic. For
instance, the synthesis of silver nanoparticles for SERS experiments has
been inconsistent at best. By changing the method for the synthesis, this
step has been improved, but the success rate is not yet 50%.
Poster 93
PI: Warren Tucker
Queens University of Charlotte
Title: Enhancement of the Undergraduate Curriculum with
FT-NMR
Project #: 0511630
Institution:
Goals: Our primary goal was to incorporate nuclear magnetic resonance
(NMR) spectroscopy throughout the entire chemistry curriculum to improve students’ critical-thinking skills using inquiry-based experiments.
Students are expected to develop a deeper understanding of molecular
structure.
Methods: NMR spectroscopy is vertically integrated into the laboratory
curriculum, such that students are introduced to the technique in their
freshman year and experience increasingly sophisticated experimental applications as they progress toward their senior year. Computerized molecular modeling is used to increase understanding of molecular structure.
Evaluation: Evaluation is in progress using several opinion and knowl-
edge surveys and will be completed in May 2008. In a freshman-level
structure determination exercise, the class average increased from 70.5
in 2004 (before implementation) to 91.8 in 2007. In a survey of the 2007
first-semester freshman lab, students were asked, “Which experiment
taught you the most?” The NMR experiment was most frequently cited,
chosen by 39% of students.
Dissemination: In preparation, a new biochemistry experiment for track-
ing glucose metabolism with NMR is to be submitted to J Chem Ed. We
also plan to prepare an article describing our use of freely available software for molecular modeling, also to be submitted to J Chem Ed.
Impact: Freshman chemistry majors are excited to be able to use modern
instrumentation in their first lab.
Students who worked on the project in the summer developed in-depth
knowledge of NMR and were able to serve as peer-mentors for laboratory classes. For many years, we only had a biochemistry major, and the
project helped us to convince our administration to revive our chemistry
major.
Challenges: We knew it would be tough to introduce NMR at the freshman level, but the challenges were different than we had expected. Chemistry majors loved the intro to NMR, but biology majors preferred more
traditional experiments with bunsen burners and test tubes. It was difficult to prepare thorough yet concise documentation for the freshman
experiment.
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Poster 94
Harry Ungar
Institution: Cabrillo College
Title: Bridging Community College Chemistry Faculty into
the National Educational Community
Project #: 0737166
PI:
Goals: This NSF-supported project will improve the quality of community
college chemical education nationwide by increasing the connection of
the nation’s community college chemistry faculty to the national community of chemical educators, particularly those who develop and lead efforts to improve methods used to teach chemistry.
Methods: We host symposia and participatory workshops at national
meetings of the ACS and the BCCE. We offer travel support for community
college faculty to attend these meetings. These meetings feature community college faculty with experience in educational innovation and implementation, including undergraduate research at their colleges.
Dissemination: Our project was just funded and our first symposium was
in April 2008 at the ACS meeting in New Orleans.
Challenges: It is too early to comment.
Poster 95
PI: Bhawani Venkataraman
Eugene Lang College, The New School
Title: Adapting Active-Learning Methods for a Chemistry
Curriculum at Eugene
Project #: 0510543
Institution:
Goals: The goal of this project is to develop a chemistry curriculum for
students interested in careers such as environmental policy, science writing, and education. Through assessment of the curriculum, the project intends to demonstrate effective ways in which chemistry can be taught to
students interested in alternate science-based careers.
Methods: The curriculum uses issues of societal interest, such as climate
change, air pollution, and water quality, to teach chemistry and emphasizes the need to understand these issues on a molecular scale to develop
solutions. The curriculum uses contextual, thematic, and active learning
approaches to engage students in the learning of chemistry.
Evaluation: Assessment of learning is performed through conceptual
tests and homework, written responses to class activities, and research
papers. The research papers assess students’ abilities in applying chemical concepts and the application of their scientific understanding in a
social context. Surveys adapted from the Student Assessment Learning
Gains assess students’ perceptions on what they learn in the class. Responses verify that the curriculum is successful in engaging students,
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helping them learn and apply chemical concepts, becoming comfortable
with complex ideas, and understanding the role of chemistry in addressing real-world problems.
Dissemination: Four papers have been presented at the American Chemi-
cal Society national meetings. A paper will appear in Chemical Evolution:
Chemical Change Across Space and Time, American Chemical Society
Conference Proceedings, 2007. Two papers have been submitted for the
2008 ACS meeting. Submissions to the Journal of Chemical Education are
in preparation.
Impact: More students are now interested in taking chemistry courses, as
evidenced by an increase in enrollment. An interdisciplinary course on Energy and Sustainability was developed. Discussions with faculty outside
the sciences have made them aware of the value of connecting chemistry
with their disciplines. Guest lectures in courses such as Interior Design
and Product Design and serving on panels assessing senior projects of
students in Design programs have resulted in some of these students taking chemistry courses. In collaboration with a theater faculty member, a
reading of the play “Oxygen” was performed to an audience of college
students and faculty.
Challenges: Student’s responses and the quality of their work appear
to validate the pedagogical approaches of this curriculum. Extracting
meaningful data and performing authentic assessment in courses where
the numbers are small has been challenging. Content analysis to assess
application of knowledge and concept mapping to assess development
and understanding of concepts will be used. A case-study approach may
also help us understand the effect of this curriculum on students’ understanding and perception of chemistry. Collaborations with faculty at other
colleges interested in incorporating the materials and approaches of this
project will also help.
Poster 96
Eric Voss
Institution: Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Title: Collaborative Project Gemini SPM: Scanning Probe
Microscopy in Undergraduate Chemistry Courses
Project #: 0633186
PI:
Goals: This collaborative project incorporates scanning probe microscopy
(SPM) experiments into chemistry courses at Southern Illinois University
Edwardsville (SIUE) and UIS and assesses the impact of these innovative educational materials on student learning. Activities integrate SPM
through the use of laboratory experiments that engage students in active
learning at all levels of chemistry.
Methods: Experiments are adapted from the literature, with an emphasis
on real-life SPM applications. Student learning objectives include enthusiasm for science, understanding applications and surface chemistry, and
improved problem-solving. Experiments increase in sophistication as students progress through the curriculum and include STM and AFM.
Evaluation: The project assessment includes formative and summative
evaluation of the impact of SPM in our curricula and involves mixed (qualitative and quantitative) data collection methods. Student surveys are
embedded in assignments to facilitate formative assessment during each
Poster Abstracts
semester. Other assessment tools include, but are not limited to, concept
maps, the RSQC2 technique, and word journals. Assessment activities are
designed to give a composite picture of the applications of the instrument
in the curriculum and its impact on student learning. At each institution,
an instrument log is maintained to record the amount of usage as well as
which experiments were performed.
phase I, we had students evaluate various aspects of popular commercial
games. In phase 2, we had students evaluate the same aspects of our
prototype Haber-Bosch room. In phase 3, we are having students evaluate
our entire prototype game and carry out a comparison to popular commercial games.
Dissemination: Results of the activities will be disseminated through a
variety of methods, including presentations at conferences, published papers, and interactions with high school teachers. The PI maintains an active collaboration with the University of Wisconsin–Madison MRSEC, and
this provides a method for dissemination of resources via the Exploring
the Nanoworld website.
variety of methods, including presentations at conferences, published papers, and interactions with high school teachers. The PI maintains an active collaboration with the University of Wisconsin–Madison MRSEC, and
this provides a method for dissemination of resources via the Exploring
the Nanoworld website.
Impact: Project activities integrate cutting-edge research examples using
SPM into chemistry courses. They also foster interactions between science and engineering undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty
who are involved in the project. Because activities reach large numbers
of students, they have the potential to improve scientific and technological understanding in over one-third of the undergraduate student population at SIUE and UIS. The interdisciplinary nature of SPM activities makes
them powerful tools to demonstrate the link between discovery and societal benefits. Students from underrepresented groups and nontraditional
students are included in the education activities.
Challenges: “Twin” high-resolution dynamic AFM/STM instruments are
integrated into the chemistry curricula at SIUE and UIS. Our biggest challenge has been effective hands-on use of these instruments by large numbers of students (hundreds per semester). Methods for dealing with this
include careful scheduling and design of experiments, efficient training
of teaching assistants and faculty coordinators, and successful communication. Our collaborative strategy has been to get input from chemists
at both institutions, to meet face-to-face on a monthly basis, to design
experiments for each school, and to then swap experiments for testing
and development.
Poster 97
Gabriela Weaver
Purdue University
Title: Video Game–Based Chemistry Teaching
Project #: 0443045
Type: Educational Material Development—Full Development
PI:
Institution:
Goals: The purpose of this award is to develop a video game that is en-
gaging to students and includes activities that will help students learn
chemistry concepts. To date, we have develop a game prototype and begun testing it with undergraduate students.
Methods: The game was developed through a collaboration with faculty
and students in our Computer Graphics Technology department. The game
consists of seven individual rooms with different chemistry challenges
embedded in them. The goal is for the chemistry to be embedded in an
engaging storyline, rather than being the main goal of the game.
Evaluation: We are asking students to play with our game and then rate
various aspects of the game design. We are also asking them to participate in a pre- and post-survey and -interview evaluation in which we
are assessing whether they learned chemistry content through playing
the game. We have carried out three phases of this evaluation work: In
Dissemination: Results of the activities will be disseminated through a
Impact: We anticipate that this game will server as a supplement to traditional chemistry instruction. In this way, students can use it to feel less intimidated about chemistry. Although it has been tested only at the college
level at this time, we will begin high school level testing next semester
and we anticipate that this will help to make chemistry more engaging to
students.
Challenges: The costs for producing a “commercial quality” game are astronomical. Working with half of the budget that we originally requested,
we were able to produce a game by working with student programmers.
The students did this work primarily for course credit. This created many
difficulties, such as a large turnover of students at the end of each semester and new students trying to figure out the programming of previous students. We dealt with this in part by keeping some students on the project
long term by paying them.
We also encountered interesting difficulties in communicating chemistry
concepts to non-scientists in the game design phase.
Poster 98
PI: Troy Wolfskill
Stony Brook University
Title: Development and Field Assessment of Web-Based
Activities for General Chemistry
Project #: 0341485
Development
Institution:
Goals: The goals were as follows: 1) Produce 60 web-based POGIL activi-
ties spanning two semesters of General Chemistry. 2) Field-test the activities in diverse environments and use the results of this assessment
to improve the activities, teaching methodologies, and student learning
outcome.
Methods: Web-based POGIL activities and multiple-choice exam ques-
tions were developed in which student responses are analyzed to identify
learning objectives that students do and do not achieve. These measured
learning outcomes are analyzed to identify needed improvements in activities or other aspects of the course.
Evaluation: The LUCID Learning and Assessment System used in this
project provides a multidimensional assessment model that goes beyond
common score-based assessment by scoring responses with respect
to learning objectives. A single response can be associated with one or
more objectives and analyzed to determine which have and have not been
achieved. Taxonomies for classifying objectives by topic and educational
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Poster Abstracts
objective enable students and instructors to review learning outcomes in
multiple dimensions and at varying levels of resolution. While the results
of such analyses are often consistent with instructors’ expectations, a
number of surprises are revealed, many of which are readily addressed.
Dissemination: Sessions on web-based POGIL activities and multidimen-
sional assessment have been provided at a number of workshops and national meetings sponsored by the POGIL National Dissemination Project.
In 2008, a three-day introductory POGIL workshop will be offered that is
focused on the use of web-based POGIL activities and multidimensional
assessment.
Impact: Students using these web-based activities report a more engaging, enjoyable, and supportive environment than they experience with
text-based activities. They claim that exploring interactive models under
the guidance of questions helps them develop a deeper understanding of
chemistry topics. We find that measured learning outcomes help us identify ways to improve both curriculum materials and instructional strategies and anticipate that other instructors will find the same.
Challenges: Our greatest challenges have been software upgrades, beta
testing, and developing an easy-to-use system for instructors. To support
algorithmically generated items and to better track problem-solving, we
upgraded LUCID from IMS QTI 1.2 to QTI 2.0 compliance, which proved to
be an enormous task, delaying activity completion and beta testing. When
beta testing began in the fall of 2006, three testers withdrew, leaving two
who had considerable difficulty using the system because of the need to
manage classes and rosters. Redesign of the interface was recently completed and is hoped for implementation before the spring 2008 semester
when beta tests should resume.
Poster 99
David Yaron
Institution: Carnegie Mellon University
Title: Online Systems to Support Problem-Solving and
Learning in Introductory Chemistry
Project #: 0443041
Development
PI:
Goals: The goal of this project is to create a variety of scaffolded home-
work activities for introductory chemistry courses. These activities support students as they design and carry out their own experiments in the
ChemCollective virtual lab, participate in scenario-based learning experiences, and interact with online tutors and simulations.
Methods: The goal of this project is to create a variety of scaffolded home-
work activities for introductory chemistry courses. These activities support students as they design and carry out their own experiments in the
ChemCollective virtual lab, participate in scenario-based learning experiences, and interact with online tutors and simulations.
Evaluation: Assessment in an entire semester course collected and
analyzed all work handed in by students. The results show that our authentic problem-solving activities have an important mediating effect in
learning. Furthermore, homework performance was not correlated with
pre-knowledge and so can overcome differences in students’ background
preparation. A controlled study was done of a fully online stoichiometry
course with a parallel paper and pencil version. The results show that engagement with the virtual laboratory is the strongest predictor of learning. Additional studies are underway in collaboration with the NSF-funded
Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center (www.learnlab.org).
Dissemination: Dissemination is through the NSDL ChemCollective proj-
ect headed by the PI. Efforts include booths at chemical education conferences, workshops, and presentations. In addition to teacher support
materials, we provide authoring tools that allow instructors to create their
own virtual lab activities.
Impact: Our virtual laboratory, scenario-based learning materials, and
tutorials are in use at hundreds of classrooms around the country and
world. In addition, our collaboration with the Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center has enabled a number of learning scientists to begin work in
the chemistry domain.
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Computer Sciences
Poster 101
Florence Appel
Institution: Saint Xavier University
Title: Integrating Ethics Into the Database Curriculum
Project #: 0442637
Type: Educational Material Development—Proof-of-Concept
Target Discipline: Computer Sciences
PI:
Poster 100
PI: Georgios
Anagnostopoulos/Michael Georgiopoulos
Institution: Florida Institute of Technology/University of
Central Florida
Title: Collaborative Research: Building a Community of
Learners/Scholars to Develop, Assess, and Disseminate
Educational Materials/Teaching Practices in Machine
Learning: Expand EMD-MLR
Project #: 0717674, 0717680
Goals: Goals are as follows: 1) to build a Machine Learning (ML) commu-
nity of scholars and learners from an already existing core community, 2)
to integrate research and education by actively engaging the recruited undergraduate students into cutting-edge ML research, and 3) to create new
and enhance already-produced learning materials.
Methods: These objectives are being accomplished via a variety of meth-
ods, such as by introducing two undergraduate courses at the host universities, the latter of which entails semester-long supervised research by
student teams under the guidance of an experienced faculty and a graduate student mentor.
Evaluation: The plan involves formative and summative assessment
instruments and will evaluate and assess both product and process to
ensure that project goals are met in a timely manner. The plan will use
a mixed-method approach (Frechtling et al., 2002) assess the effectiveness of the proposed educational tools and educational content in fulfilling the desired learning outcomes, from both educators’ and learners’
perspectives.
Dissemination: The project uses an entire ensemble of dissemination
methods and avenues. The educational and research material, which includes the open-source software implementations of ML algorithms and
techniques, the lecture modules, and other supporting material described
in Section B, are going to be disseminated via the project’s web portal.
Impact: The project’s ML community designs, implements, and tests educational practices in diverse environments of learners and scholars and
contributes its experiences to the knowledge base of undergraduate STEM
education. Moreover, the research performed advances the knowledge in
the field of ML and its applications. Additionally, the project’s community
produces ML learning materials that will enhance the infrastructure for ML
research and education at the host and affiliate universities, as well as at
other institutions around the nation through an ambitious, multifaceted
outreach plan.
Goals: The goal is to sensitize students to database privacy issues. Ex-
pected outcomes are: a set of privacy modules, one for each phase of the
database development process; a collection of resource materials on privacy and pedagogy; and a full-service website.
Methods: Create materials (in-class and homework assignments, exam
questions, and links to resources) to foster the integration of privacy content throughout the database design process curriculum; share materials
with interested database instructors, who use them in their teaching and
report back their impact (via surveys and interviews).
Evaluation: The impacts of both the curriculum and faculty support com-
ponents are under evaluation. The impact of privacy ethics instruction on
the student is being evaluated by a combination of an ethical sensitivity
test (student’s ability to recognize privacy issues and professional responsibilities in a scenario) and Rest’s Defining Issues Test (sample ethical dilemmas with questions about recommended action and prioritization of
issues). There is also a post-course survey of faculty opinion about how
well integrated the privacy content was with standard course material and
how well prepared they felt to address privacy and professional ethical
issues.
Dissemination: Two journal articles (Information, Communication and Eth-
ics in Society; Science and Engineering Ethics); two workshops (SIGCSE,
CS division—local consortium); eight presentations—local, regional); initial website is launched; will continue in this vein, making the website a
full-service portal for database faculty.
Impact: Database faculty who are now more confident in their ability to include privacy ethics content in their course curricula; students who understand that databases and privacy issues are inextricably linked; privacy is
considered a natural and essential topic in the database curriculum.
Challenges: The greatest challenge is to weave privacy content seamlessly throughout the database curriculum. The database curriculum is packed
with technical content, and the only way to effectively integrate privacy
content is to mesh it with this technical content. Some phases of the database design process lend themselves more readily to this approach than
others. If we want a database curriculum that attends to privacy issues in
a systematic way (rather than as an afterthought), the privacy modules
must provide instructional materials that enhance the technical content
(rather than deflect attention away from it). The message should be as
follows: good database design is privacy conscious.
Challenges: There is nothing of importance to report yet.
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Poster 102
Poster 103
Michael Clancy
Institution: University of California, Berkeley
Title: Online Curricula for Monitored, Closed-Lab First-Year
Computer Science Courses
Project #: 0443121
Development
PI: Daniel
Goals: Our goal is to design, evaluate, and disseminate a new approach
ics that receives little attention in most undergraduate computer science
programs. The goal of this project is to increase the opportunities for undergraduates to learn about VR by developing a low-cost laboratory and
appropriate curriculum and by offering training workshops for faculty.
PI:
for teaching introductory computer science courses, namely, a lab-centric
model that trades lecture and discussion time for hands-on lab activities.
The activities include various assessments embedded in the online curricula and both online and offline collaborations.
Methods: We have designed and piloted several curricula for lower-divi-
sion courses here at Berkeley, at U.C. Merced, and at Drew University in
New Jersey. Some have gone through several revision cycles. Our research
focuses not only on how the students do but also on how instructors deal
with the systems.
Evaluation: We have collected a substantial amount of data, including
online quiz and collaboration responses, sequence and duration of student interaction with each step in the online curricula, other performance
measures (project and exam scores), and survey responses.
We have noticed some interesting gender effects; females seem to do
better on projects relative to males in the lab-centric courses than in the
traditional-format counterparts. Despite the extra lab activities, students
perceive no change in overall course workload. The data have also revealed several student misconceptions about which we had previously
known little or nothing. Investigations continue.
Dissemination: We have presented papers at the 2006 World Conference
on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications; at the
2007 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium for CS Education; and at the
2007 International Conference on Frontiers in Education. We will be part
of a poster session at the 2008 SIGCSE Symposium.
Impact: Our impact so far has been in proof of concept: we now have full
lab-centric curricula for three lower-division courses, with parts of other
curricula under development. We were awarded a CPATH grant this past
August to form a community around lab-centric instruction, and we expect our efforts in this area to publicize and reinforce our CCLI work. (It
is notable that the curriculum design process funded by CCLI is complex
enough to have spawned an entire related project.)
Challenges: Effective lab-centric curricula are hard to design. This has led
us to focus more on support tools and professional development activities that make the process more tractable.
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Cliburn
Institution: The University of the Pacific
Title: Collaborative Research: A Virtual Reality Laboratory
and Curriculum for Undergraduates
Project #: 0632924
Goals: Virtual Reality (VR) is a contemporary subfield of computer graph-
Methods: Work has begun to identify a low-cost immersive environment
that supports stereo viewing that could serve as the centerpiece of an undergraduate VR laboratory. Online curriculum will then be developed that
can easily be incorporated into existing courses. Laboratory activities for
learning about VR will be an integral component of the materials.
Evaluation: The first evaluation activity is to assess the price-to-perfor-
mance ratio of the VR systems. We plan to quantify the presence provided
by each system through use of a well-known presence questionnaire. Test
subjects will visit a virtual world on a desktop PC and one of the VR systems. After each visit, subjects will be asked to fill out the questionnaire,
allowing us to quantify the magnitude of presence with each. The online
curriculum will be evaluated by testing students on their knowledge of
specific learning objectives from the Computing Curricula 2001 (http://
www.sigcse.org/cc2001) guidelines for an elective course in VR. Faculty
workshops will be assessed through evaluations.
Dissemination: Plans for dissemination include publication of the results
of the laboratory and curriculum evaluation, making the curricular materials available online, and offering workshops at conferences. At the end of
the grant, a phase 2 proposal will be submitted to expand the VR topics
covered and to involve more faculty in workshop presentations.
Impact: Despite a growing popularity in many application areas, VR receives very little attention in most undergraduate CS curriculums. We believe there are three reasons most likely to blame: high equipment costs,
lack of easily accessible curricular materials, and insufficient training
amongst faculty members. We anticipate the major impact of our efforts
will be to address the latter two of these problems, although we hope to
develop effective VR laboratories that are reasonable in cost as well. A
concrete result will be the availability of good materials and experience
to assist in the introduction of VR as an undergraduate topic of study at
many colleges and universities around the country.
Challenges: The major unexpected challenge arose as a result of an unanticipated ability to evaluate yet another immersive display technology.
When preparing the proposal, the investigators planned to include a Head
Mounted Display (HMD) unit as part of the evaluation. At the time, budget
limitations made this impossible. However, a drop in equipment prices
coupled with the recent availability of a low-cost HMD (the eMagin Z800
3D visor) have made it possible to purchase a unit to include in the study.
The HMD is cheaper than the systems suggested in the proposal. However, the HMD offers a lower field of view and only supports a single user.
The HMD adds an additional dimension to the study.
Poster Abstracts
Poster 104
Poster 105
James Cross
Institution: Auburn University
Title: jGRASP: A Framework for Integrating Visualizations of
Software
Project #: 0442928
Development
PI:
Goals: Create a framework for integrating software visualizations that in-
duce a computer security curriculum model that fosters an appreciation
of the relevance of contextual issues in solving technical problems. The
outcomes are dissemination of learning materials and results showing increased student appreciation of contextual issues.
PI:
cludes a comprehensive object viewer API and interactive view builder.
Determine the impact of jGRASP with respect to its use and effect in CS1,
CS2, algorithms, and object-oriented design courses. Disseminate via the
Internet, conferences, workshops, and publishers.
Methods: Static and dynamic visualizations will be generated directly
from the student’s program before, during, and after its execution. Baseline object viewers for Java collections classes will be provided, and a
structure identifier will provide additional visualizations for specialized
data structures.
Evaluation: We conducted two controlled experiments to test the fol-
lowing hypotheses: 1) Students are able to code more accurately (with
fewer bugs) using the jGRASP data structure viewers; 2) students are able
to find and correct bugs more accurately using jGRASP viewers. In both
experiments, there was a statistical significant difference between the
control and treatment groups that yielded the following: 1) jGRASP object
viewers helped increase the accuracy and reduce the time taken to write
programs implementing data structures; 2) jGRASP object viewers helped
increase the accuracy and decrease the time taken to detect and correct
logical bugs.
Dissemination: Dissemination and distribution of jGRASP is being done
via the Internet, conferences, workshops, and publishers. During the past
two years, we have averaged over 2,000 downloads per week, and we
have published/presented four conference papers and conducted five
workshops. Currently, jGRASP is bundled with over 20 CS1 and CS2 Java
textbooks.
Impact: We expect this project to have a significant impact on comput-
ing education. The development of the jGRASP framework is being guided
through the participation of faculty and students from diverse institutions, including high schools, two-year and four-year colleges, and HBCUs
(e.g., Tuskegee University). With over 300,000 downloads during the past
two and a half years, jGRASP is clearly the IDE of choice for many students
and instructors. jGRASP is freely available to the computing research and
education community.
Challenges: Although students and faculty at hundreds of institutions
are using jGRASP, we suspect many are only using its basic features. By
not using several of the automatically generated visualizations, these users are not receiving the full benefit of jGRASP. To help address this issue,
we have provided nine well-illustrated tutorials that can be freely downloaded from the jGRASP website.
Janine DeWitt
Institution: Marymount University
Title: An Integrative Approach to Computer Security and
Information Assurance Education
Project #: 0536630
Goals: The project goal is to apply research in integrative learning to pro-
Methods: Our curriculum framework is built upon five key features: integrative learning, authentic learning, active learning, emotional engagement, and guided instruction. We applied this framework in the delivery
of two sequential graduate-level computer security courses throughout
which we assessed student appreciation of contextual issues.
Evaluation: Throughout the process of teaching three sequential sections
of two graduate-level computer security courses, we actively assessed the
courses, the students, our plan, and our progress. We examined the students’ perceptions of the integrative courses and the course materials.
Students were given an initial survey to gather quantitative and qualitative data. Mid-semester focus groups were held each semester. Course
evaluations were conducted at the end of the semester, including the
standard university-format survey as well as targeted questions specific
to this research project. Student feedback helped drive continuous improvement in the course delivery as the courses progressed.
Dissemination: We presented our work at the following conferences:
Improving University Teaching (Jaen, Spain, July 2007) and InfoSecCD
Conference 2006 (Kennesaw, GA, September 2006). We continue to work
on a manuscript that applies our contextual model to specific computer
security scenarios. We anticipate publication of our student assessment
results.
Impact: Throughout this process, we were encouraged by the level of ac-
complishment that the students exhibited in their thorough assessment of
both technical and contextual factors as evidenced in their final semester
projects. We also learned that traditional assessment approaches needed
to be tempered when introducing innovative curriculum. We had to alter
our assessment plans between the semesters because we learned more
about our students and the process of assessing them, radically changing our plans from before the first course offering to final data collection.
Specifically, we reduced the number of data collections, altered the type
of data collected, and used multiple methods of assessment.
Challenges: We encountered unexpected challenges in both our assessment approach, as discussed above, as well as in our organizational
environment, being a small computer science program in a small private
university in a time of declining computer science enrollments. The challenges of this environment indeed helped drive the need for the development of an innovative approach to attract more students. It would be very
helpful in the future to apply this model on a larger scale in a variety of
organizational contexts to produce a richer set of assessment data.
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Poster Abstracts
Poster 106
PI: Wenliang
Du
Institution: Syracuse University
Title: SEED: Developing Instructional Laboratories for
Computer Security Education
Project #: 0618680
Goals: The objective of the SEED project is to develop an instructional
laboratory environment and laboratory exercises (called labs) for computer security education. The outcomes of this project are 30 well-designed
and fully evaluated laboratories (and documentations) that can be easily
adopted by instructors from other institutes.
Methods: We plan to develop three types of labs. One is design/imple-
mentation labs, which help students achieve learning by system development; the second type is exploration labs, which help students achieve
learning by system exploration; and the third type is vulnerability/attack
labs, which help students achieve learning from other people’s mistakes.
Evaluation: We will evaluate three factors of our labs: efficiency, effec-
tiveness, and broadness. Our evaluation methods consist of surveys,
group interviews, and individual interviews. For surveys, after each lab
is completed, we ask students to fill out a survey. For group interviews,
we ask an education specialist to conduct a group interview with the students at the end of each semester. For individual interviews, we conduct
interviews with other instructors, practitioners, and experts who are not
associated with this project.
We have used each of these methods already in our evaluation. In general,
the results are very positive. We also made a lot of improvements based
on the feedback.
Dissemination:
1) Published a paper at SIGCSE 2007.
2) A paper is accepted with minor revision by the ACM Journal on Educational Resources in Computing.
3) All the materials are on http://www.cis.syr.edu/~wedu/seed.
4) Made three conference presentations about this project.
Our plan for the next step is to get more universities adopting our labs.
Impact: The labs have been used on three courses taught at Syracuse University; about 80 students have benefited from the project (during 2007).
Two other universities (North Carolina State University and Central Michigan University) have also used our lab materials. Several other universities are considering adopting our labs. We anticipate that more and more
universities will use our labs once the word about our labs has spread.
Moreover, a number of people whom we met at conferences have mentioned their interest in our labs, including people from CMU, Stony Brook,
University of North Dakota, University of Minnesota, Purdue, etc.
Challenges: The dissemination is harder than what we thought. Our labs
have received a lot interest from instructors; however, the number of people who are actually using our labs does not reflect the number of people
who have shown the interest. We realize there is a big gap between “interested” and “actually using it.” We think that this gap is caused by fear:
instructors may fear that adopting our labs can take a lot of time.
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To achieve successful dissemination, we have to reduce such fear. We are
trying various techniques, such as making a video to show how easy it is
for instructors to use the labs (not necessarily easy for students. We also
plan to add more supporting materials.
Poster 107
Stephen Edwards
Title: Community Resources for Automated Grading
Project #: 0618663
PI:
Goals: Develop Web-CAT, an innovative automated grading system, from a
proof-of-concept to a state where it can be distributed and applied widely;
develop educational materials for instructors who want to use Web-CAT;
develop a community of educators who want to use, extend, and support
Web-CAT; and evaluate the effectiveness of Web-CAT in new contexts.
Methods: Methods include providing a community-driven wiki containing
best practices, examples, and a “cookbook” for new adopters; releasing
Web-CAT as an open-source; holding training workshops at major conferences; developing self-installation infrastructure; offering remote hosting
for new adopters; and developing unique research-driven data mining
tools.
Evaluation: Our evaluation plan includes two external evaluators at other
institutions, as well as a measurement and evaluation specialist. An external advisory board of computer science education researchers will review
evaluation plans yearly and provide feedback. In addition, a student advisory board addresses student concerns, prioritizes student-originated
feature requests, and provides a voice in the evolution and evaluation of
the project.
The main focus when evaluating learning impact is to replicate earlier studies on a larger scale at multiple institutions. In addition, we are collecting
new data on student perceptions regarding engagement and frustration.
Dissemination: In addition to conference papers and a journal submis-
sion, during the first year, we have established a community wiki containing a cookbook for new users, released the project as open-source,
distributed CDs at major conferences, applied for and won the Premier
Award for engineering courseware, and helped get Web-CAT started at 20
institutions.
Impact: Students who write their own tests for their own software and
are graded by Web-CAT produce 28% fewer bugs per thousand lines of
code. Web-CAT is now in use at 20 different institutions. The main server
at Virginia Tech alone has processed over 217,000 assignment submissions from 3,441 students, serving 141 separate sections of courses at 10
institutions.
Challenges: There are no challenges so far (but we’ve just finished the
first year).
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Poster 109
Barbara Ericson
Institution: Georgia Institute of Technology
Title: Collaborative Research: Alice and Media Computation
Project #: 0618562
PI:
PI:
Goals: The goals are to provide a high-impact, motivating context for in-
troductory computing and programming courses; to increase the flow of
students into computing studies at the undergraduate level and, eventually, into computing and computing-related careers; and to increase the
retention rate of students in computing.
Methods:
1) Create a textbook merging Alice and Media Computation and instructional materials
2) Create an online showcase of student work
3) Develop and teach summer workshops for computer science teachers
and instructors
Evaluation:
1) The merged textbook is nearly complete.
2) The online space has been created.
3) We taught two summer workshops in 2007. These workshops were
highly rated.
4) Steve Cooper taught the combined course in the fall of 2006 and had
very high ratings and even had three female math majors switch to
computer science. They succeeded in a follow-up traditional computer
science course as well.
Dissemination: We held two teacher workshops in the summer of 2007
and will hold four in the summer of 2008. We did Alice and Media Computation workshops at SIGCSE 2007 and at NECC 2007. We will present this
material during the SIGCSE 2008 workshops.
Impact: We trained 51 teachers in Alice and Media Computation in the
summer of 2007. We expect to train about 120 in the summer of 2008. We
expect that with the books publication, more teachers will be interested in
this approach. We are just doing follow-up now to see how many of the 51
teachers used or plan to use this approach. We expect that this approach
will help attract and retain computer science students.
Challenges: Some teachers at the Alice and Media Computation work-
shops expected to only learn Alice and didn’t know what Media Computation was. Some teachers didn’t have any previous programming experience and found the workshops too difficult. We had a wide range of
people—some that knew Alice and some that knew Media Computation.
We plan to make sure that teachers understand that these workshops are
for both Alice and Media Computation and that they must have previous
programming experience to take these workshops. We will also split our
sessions into beginning and advanced sessions to handle the range of
experience.
John Fernandez
Institution: Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi
Title: Increasing Attractiveness of Computing: The Design
and Evaluation of Introductory Computing Coursework that
Elicits Creativity
Project #: 0717883
Co-PI: Phyllis Tedford
Goals:
1) CS-0 Design and Planning
2) CS-0 Implementation
3) CS-0 Evaluations
Outcomes Intended
1) Improved retention of students
2) Improved success in CS-1 and CS-2
Methods: Methods and strategies:
1) Develop CS-0 course based on the Alice
2) Conduct CS-0 classes every semester
3) Enroll students who are not ready for CS-1 into CS-0
4) Evaluate results
Evaluation:
We plan to conduct pre- and post-surveys for students in CS-0 to determine attitudinal changes. We also plan to compare the CS-1 and CS-2
grades of students who took CS-0 and compare with students who matriculated directly into CS-1, without taking CS-0.
Dissemination: We are just starting the grant, so we have not done any
dissemination.
Impact: We hope to have increased retention in CS and greater success in
follow-up CS courses.
Poster 110
Eric Freudenthal
Institution: University of Texas at El Paso
Title: CCLI Phase II: The Adaptation and Dissemination of a
Programming-Centric Computer Literacy Course at HSIs
Project #: 0717877
Education
PI:
Goals: Evaluation and extension of a creatively engaging media-centric
introduction to a programming course; nurturing a sense of self-efficacy
and motivating future study of CISE subjects by entering freshmen in preengineering courses at HSIs. We will compare with other courses at HSIs
and non-HSIs.
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Poster Abstracts
Methods: Students practice problem-solving and programming skills
through direct manipulation of multimedia and engineering models. Creatively engaging projects require only an elementary math background
and expose the relevance of foundational math and science coursework.
Course incorporates career guidance and uses cooperative learning and
peer leaders.
Evaluation: Questionnaires at the beginning and end of the course mea-
sure attitudes toward computation-, engineering-, and math-related subjects and determine whether class experience has helped student refine
their academic or career plans. Collaborators in the Education School interview participants. Longitudinal studies will track student progress and
compare with students who do not attend this course. Program is in the
first semester, so little data have been collected thus far. Anecdotal observations confirm hypotheses that STEM students are motivated differently
than students in language arts programs. We detected problems with use
of the Discover online career exploration tool and found approaches to
their remediation.
Dissemination: We are in the first three months of funding. We will pub-
lish results including course modules, lab exercises, and research findings
in appropriate venues. We will offer workshops on successful techniques
at relevant educational conferences and disseminate to other members of
the Computing Alliance for Hispanic-Serving Institutions.
Impact: The project is in the first semester. Students appear to be mo-
tivated for future study and are using experiences to adjust their career
trajectories. We anticipate that TA-reformed curriculum will be helpful in
tuning major/career selection and motivating future study of science and
math courses.
Challenges: Students were discouraged by stereotypical and narrow vo-
cational descriptions in the online career exploration tool used at UTEP.
This problem was successfully remediated through the incorporation of a
panel discussion with engineering faculty.
We also discovered that this intro-to-engineering-through-programming
course requires different teaching approaches than a traditional intro-toprogramming course and that a seasoned CS1 instructor required substantial coaching during the first semester.
Poster 111
John Gallagher
Institution: Wright State University
Title: Collaborative Proposal: CCLI-EMD—A WorldWide Web–Based Autonomous Robotics Practicum for
Engineering Undergraduates and STEM Educators
Project #: 0341263
PI:
Goals: The purpose of the project is to develop materials and methods for
teaching a robotics practicum course entirely online. Outcomes include
remote access to a real robot, teaching materials, and comparative studies of the educational outcomes of both traditional and online practica.
Methods: We distribute an open-sourced robot simulator on which stu-
dents develop solutions to challenge problems. Students upload their
solutions and watch the results on a real robot in our lab. Our tools allow
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student/student and student/teacher interaction online to support discussion and coaching.
Evaluation: We compare student notebooks/journals generated in both
traditionally offered and online-offered versions of the course. A standard
grading rubrick is used in an attempt to uncover potential weaknesses of
the online version.
Dissemination: We disseminate all our materials free of charge as open-
source/creative commons documents.
Poster 112
PI: Alessio
Gaspar
Institution: University of South Florida Lakeland
Title: SOFTICE
Project #: 0410696
Goals: The SOFTICE project is meant to enable new pedagogies for un-
dergraduate networking and operating systems laboratories. Deliverables
are twofold: 1) an almost turn-key load balancing cluster providing students with remote access to Linux virtual machines and 2) a set of labs
using intensively these virtual machines to enable new pedagogies.
Methods: The project has been conducted over three years and focused
essentially on development aspects. The first year focused on deploying
appropriate technologies; the second and third were dedicated to developing the labs and maintaining the technologies. We are now in a no-cost
extension to have more time to evaluate our solution and facilitate its
adoption by others.
Evaluation: Evaluations are now focused on students’ satisfaction and
their reaction to the new pedagogies used in the two lab series. This is
done by using anonymous surveys featuring Likert-scale and open-ended
questions.
This project has been so far focused on developing both the technology
to support new pedagogies and then the laboratories leveraging it to develop new approaches to teach undergraduate operating systems and
networking courses. For this reason, our evaluation plan will have to be
further elaborated in a follow-up project as soon as we are done with the
development aspects themselves.
Dissemination: Dissemination efforts resulted in publications in jour-
nals, conferences, and local events. Our results are available in a wiki at
http://softice.lakeland.usf.edu. Recently, we organized a special session
at SIGCSE 2008 on the role of virtualization in computing education in
partnership with two research teams leading similar projects.
Impact: As this project is concluded, the resulting technologies and pedagogies have had a limited national impact. We are planning to address
that in a follow-up project that will focus on dissemination and evaluation
aspects.
To ensure a valid evaluation, we need to recruit faculty interested to adopt
our solution. To this end, a two-day hands-on workshop will train faculty in
deploying the necessary technologies and leveraging the labs in their own
classroom. A follow-up collaboration will allow participants to expand the
range of available labs to meet their specific courses and institutional
Poster Abstracts
needs. This initial community of adopters will trigger wider range adoption of the solutions.
Challenges: Our main challenge is the low enrollment figures along with
the frequency of teaching the courses related to this project. Having
four students in an OS course each year doesn’t allow obtaining significant feedback in a time frame compatible with grant and tenure process
deadlines.
The lack of undergraduate qualified personnel is also a major issue in
securing the development of labs. Most IT senior projects organized in
the context of this grant allowed dissemination of research to students
but were not as successful at supporting the implementation of solutions,
thus letting this responsibility lay with the PI solely.
Poster 113
Maria Gini
Institution: University of Minnesota
Title: Collaborative Project: Extending the Next-Generation
Robot Laboratory to Increase Diversity in Undergraduate
CS Programs
Project #: 0511304
Co-PI: Elizabeth Jensen
PI:
Goals: The main hypothesis is that using robotics, in particular, the Sony
dog AIBO, we could attract a diverse population of students to computer
science and increase the number of students who consider computer science as a career choice. Robotics is more engaging and fun than traditional programming, yet can teach valuable skills and improve confidence.
Methods: We have developed new courses and course materials aimed
at making computer science more attractive to women, while keeping the
course contents rigorous. We have developed a freshman seminar entered on using robots as pets and developed material for introduction to
CS courses and material for the CS1 course based on programming the
AIBOs using Scheme.
Evaluation: Assessment of student learning and attitudes has been done
using multiple formative and summative evaluations (informal questionnaires, statistics, interviews to students, focus groups, etc.). We assessed
both the overall achievement (in particular, the performance in the class)
and the student attitude (toward the CS field, the CS profession, confidence in abilities, seeing self in CS field, etc.). Evaluations in the freshman seminar were done tracking individual students. The data collected
support our hypothesis that students get more engaged when using the
AIBO than when doing traditional programming assignments and that this
translates into increased self-confidence.
Dissemination: Currently, the material we created is shared among the
three institutions of the co-PIs and is posted on the web for the respective courses. The software we developed to connect with the AIBOs using
Scheme is publicly available. Preliminary results have been presented at
the AAAI Spring Symposium last year, where we got significant visibility.
Impact: Students in the CS1 class were so excited about the project that
they created videos of their projects, which were then posted on YouTube. A more professional video from the previous year CS1 course will be
posted soon on our department webpage (currently being revamped). We
anticipate writing a scholarly article on our experience with the CS1 course
and on the assessment of student learning. The freshman seminar will be
offered a second time to increase the number of students who took it and
hence the reliability of the conclusions of our study.
Challenges: Sony decided to discontinue the production of the AIBO
shortly into the project. We decided to continue with the project as planned
to test our hypothesis that women would be engaged by working with the
AIBO and this will result in an improvement in their self-confidence. We
broadened the student population targeted in our study by introducing
the use of the AIBO in our CS1 course, a class taken by more than 100 students per semester. We have extensive data collected from the students in
the CS1 class the year before we introduced the AIBOs and for two course
offerings after we introduced the AIBO. The data support our hypothesis
that students would benefit from programming it.
Poster 114
Mario Guimaraes
Institution: Kennesaw State University
Title: Animated Database Courseware (ADbC)
Project #: 0717707
PI:
Goals: Database concepts are foundational knowledge in computing dis-
ciplines, but little has been done to strengthen the way these concepts are
taught. The goal of Animated Database Courseware (ADbC), via the creation of learning materials, is to broaden and deepen learning in database
courses, develop faculty expertise, and generate sharing of best practices
in using these materials.
Methods: Strategies include developing software animations organized
into eight modules covering core and advanced database topics. Currently, 70+ prototypes have been developed. Students are enlisted in all
phases of the project from design to implementation to testing. Additional animations, assessment features, and ancillary materials are under
development.
Evaluation: Phase II builds on the evaluation network established during
Phase I. Reviews were positive and evaluation affirmed that the courseware enhanced student learning. Evaluation methods included an online
feedback mechanism, student and faculty surveys from multiple institutions, a comparison of student test results, and a tally of hits to the
courseware website. We are adding usability testing and extending the
evaluation of educational impact. This includes a quasi-experimental pretest/post-test design. An assessment component will also be added to
each module to record student responses for analysis. Ten universities
will be invited to participate in formal evaluation processes.
Dissemination: Currently, primary means of dissemination are a freely
available website, papers, and workshop presentations. Continuing plans
add inclusion in digital library cataloging instructional resources, journal publications, collaboration with external institutions in implementation and evaluation, and bundling the courseware with leading database
texts.
Impact: Phase II has just commenced so we have not yet evaluated continuing impact. However, we expect the impacts found during Phase I to
continue. Primarily evaluation results indicated that the courseware had
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increased the depth and breadth of database knowledge for students who
used it. As dissemination of the courseware becomes more widespread,
we anticipate impacts on course content and student exposure to additional database topics. The broader impacts include the involvement of
students as designers, developers, and testers who gain valuable skills
and experiences. Via collaborative efforts with database educators, we expect increased discussion, communication, and sharing of best practices.
Challenges: Student involvement in all aspects of the project is a major
objective. However, as a result of accommodating skill sets of students
who earned course credit for their work, current animations were developed using three development environments. It was not practical to expect students to learn a new development environment in one semester.
To facilitate continued support for the ADbC, we will be requiring student
developers to adhere to a strict set of interface design standards. Students will be instructed on the standards and adhering to them will become a grading criteria. This allows us to continue to include a wide array
of students while making it easier to rework any code if necessary.
Poster 115
Jason Hallstrom/Joan Krone/Murali Sitaraman
Institution: Clemson University/Denison University/
Clemson University
Title: Collaborative Research: Computer-Aided
Collaborative Reasoning Across the Curriculum
Project #: 0633506
PI:
Goals: The project is focused on introducing analytical reasoning principles across the computing curriculum. The goal is to instill the skills necessary to enable future software practitioners to develop and maintain
high-quality software. Phase I course targets include introductory programming, data structures and algorithms, and software engineering.
Methods: The instructional approach is designed to engage and excite
students using collaborative learning exercises and supporting software
tools. The software tools guide students in completing competitive and
cooperative reasoning tasks. Systematic feedback, from both human and
computer-based reasoning assistants, supports the learning process.
Evaluation: Evaluation objectives focus on assessing the impact of the
instructional approach on student performance and student attitudes toward math and science. Formative and summative evaluation measures
are used. Qualitative feedback is collected through pre- and post-surveys
and content analyses of instructor journals and student submissions to
Clemson’s online Collaborative Learning Environment. Quantitative feedback is collected through objective grading of assignments, laboratories,
and exams. The evaluation team includes a cognitive-learning expert, an
external evaluator, and an expert panel of CS professors. We have not yet
completed our first semester; evaluation results are pending.
Dissemination: An initial set of specification-based reasoning exercises
and the corresponding software assistant are being piloted at Clemson
and Denison. The PIs also held an expert panel to aid in project planning,
where dissemination was a key focus. Three external professors have already expressed an interest in using project deliverables in their courses.
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Impact: While it is too early to assess project results, a significant impact
is expected. The instructional approach binds key reasoning principles
across the curriculum and encourages a cohesive view of computing as a
discipline of problem-solving. Results will also serve as a first step toward
establishing a concept inventory for computer science. While it is unclear
whether the instructional approach will have a particular impact on women or minorities, the documented benefits of collaboration with peers in
education suggest a positive outcome. Further, by producing graduates
who can reason effectively about software correctness, the project will
have a long-term impact on computing practice.
Challenges: At this point, we have encountered only one unexpected
challenge. To enable longitudinal analyses of student response data,
pre- and post-survey results are tagged with a unique code known only
to respondents. We recently collected post-survey results from a control
section, and found that a significant portion of the post-surveys could not
be associated with a corresponding pre-survey. It appears that many respondents forgot their unique code. In future semesters, students will be
asked to write their code on a slip of paper sealed in an envelope labeled
with their name. The envelopes will be kept sealed by the instructor and
returned to students at the point the post-survey is given.
Poster 116
Cem Kaner
Florida Institute of Technology
Title: Adaptation and Implementation of an Activity-Based
Online or Hybrid Course in Software Testing
Project #: 0717613
PI:
Institution:
Goals: Foster widespread adoption of a course in software testing. Out-
comes include training of several instructors, adoption by a national professional society, and use in several corporate, commercial, and academic
settings.
Methods: 1) Develop a cadre of academic, in-house, and commercial in-
structors via online instructor training materials, instructor support (with
assessment aids), instructor mentoring, and certification. 2) Offer and
evaluate the course at collaborating research sites. 3) Abstract a set of
theme patterns to support instructors creating in-class activities.
Evaluation: This course is being taught worldwide, in academic, commer-
cial, professional self-development, and staff-training contexts. We are
collecting data across contexts and expect to compare performance on final exam questions and assignments. Our analyses so far are of data from
the same university, over time. We found that this instructional method
works better (measure: three-grader consensus blind ranking of answers
across 10 courses) than traditional lecture. We also collected detailed student assessments and will be collecting detailed instructor assessments.
Student assessments so far are very favorable but highlight opportunities
for improvement.
Dissemination: Everyone can download materials from www.testingedu-
cation.org/BBST. Additional materials will be available to registered instructors. Currently, they go to Association for Software Testing instructors. We will make broader plans at the project Advisory Board meeting in
January 2008 and present results at the Workshop for Teaching Software
Testing.
Poster Abstracts
Impact: The Association for Software Testing has started to offer Black
Box Software Testing (BBST) as a series of free standalone courses. We
are co-developing a process for training and certifying AST instructors and
have people in a multi-month (free) training program. Certified instructors
can reuse the materials, under the AST logo. AST will develop a coursebased certificate in software testing, and AST-certified instructors can
offer the courses they are certified to teach for AST credit. AST’s online
courses (two offered as of November 30, 2007) have included professional-practitioner students from every continent in the world. Students’ blogs
describe this as fostering exceptional depth of learning.
Challenges: We started with a one-semester course in software testing
and expected to be able to translate it back to commercial instruction easily, because the underlying content was developed in commercial courses.
This was much harder than expected. We were fortunate in finding a cluster of active volunteers in AST to help with this and refocused our first
6 months to capitalize on them. 1) Including meaningful (higher Bloomlevel) assessment in commercial courses changes the timing of the course
so much that we have split the course into many standalones. 2) We are
replacing some videos, preferably with racial-diverse and gender-diverse
instructors. Coordinating the videos is complex.
Poster 117
Aidong Lu
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Title: Collaborative Research: Bridging Security Primitives
and Protocols: A Digital LEGO Set for Information
Assurance Courses
Project #: 0633150
PI:
Institution:
We will present demonstrations at the security and visualization conferences to introduce the approach to more researchers and educators in
these fields and collect their comments. We will also promote this approach among several CAE/IAE centers.
Impact: The capability to construct flexible, secure protocols will help
students establish a more solid background and achieve a better performance in advanced OS, network, and data security courses. Our illustrative digital security LEGO set is effective and flexible for educating students with diverse backgrounds and different learning objectives, thereby
benefiting a broader scope of students and preparing them to be a qualified workforce with information assurance knowledge.
Challenges: We didn’t encounter any significant unexpected challenges
in this project.
Poster 118
Barbara Moskal
Colorado School of Mines
Title: Computer Science Assessment Instrument
Development
Project #: 0512064
PI:
Institution:
Goals: Create a computer science (CS) attitudes survey that measures the
undergraduate students’:
1) Confidence in their own ability to learn CS skills
2) Perceptions of CS as a male field
3) Beliefs in the usefulness of learning CS
4) Interest in CS
5) Beliefs about professionals in CS
Goals: This project proposed to improve information assurance courses
Methods:
through developing innovative instructional demonstrations and handson experiments. We expect the outcomes will help students to better understand security concepts and cultivate their skills to flexibly design and
evaluate security protocols under various requirements.
1) Define and development questions to match proposed content and
construct domain
2) Expert confirmation
3) Pilot testing and third-party review
4) Large-scale testing
5) Examine internal consistency coefficients
6) Factor analysis
Methods: Our approach applies the pedagogical methods learned from
toy construction sets by treating security primitives as LEGO pieces and
protocols as construction results. We adopt state-of-the-art of security
education and illustrative visualization techniques to develop a comprehensive suite of education materials and experiment environments.
Evaluation: The evaluation of this project consists of efforts at two levels:
component level and system level. At the component level, initial evaluations of each module will be interweaved with the design and development procedures and used to improve our approaches. At the system
level, we will design and perform systematic user studies to evaluate the
improvements to security education that are brought by our proposed approach. We will evaluate our digital security LEGO set in both information
assurance and visualization courses from different aspects. We are also
collaborating with staff consultants at the Teaching Excellence Center to
develop an evaluation questionnaire and user studies.
Dissemination: We plan to publish and present the approach and proto-
type at educational conferences.
Evaluation: The research team created a preliminary set of attitude questions designed to be aligned with the described attitude outcomes. These
were revised based on feedback from experts in the field. Two pilot-tests
have been completed thus far, involving over 600 students. Both internal
reliability coefficients and a factor analysis have been completed, both
with positive results.
A major result of this project is the determination that a single instrument
is unlikely to serve the needs of the broader CS community. We are currently working on two versions of the instrument: high school and first
year of college. We also hope to create an attitude survey in programming
as part of our future work.
Dissemination: Our work has been disseminated at the annual NSF meet-
ing for CCLI investigators. Additionally, we wrote an article for the 2006
conference proceedings. The results of our factor analysis will be presented at the ASEE annual meeting in 2008. Research from Grinnel has
inquired about using our instruments.
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Impact: A goal of many CS education projects is to determine the extent
to which an instructional intervention has affected student attitudes. A
challenge is that valid and reliable instruments that measure the necessary constructs are not currently available. Instead, each project is left to
develop its own, resulting in problems. First, most computer scientists are
not trained in measurement and therefore are not familiar with the psychometric principles. This could result in questionable instruments and
interpretations. Second, without a common set of instruments, valid comparisons cannot be made across projects. This project seeks to address
this need for a valid attitudes survey in CS.
Challenges: A major result of the previously described process is the determination that a single instrument is unlikely to serve the needs of the
broader CS community. The current instrument is designed to measure
attitudes toward the field of computer science, and two versions are being made—high school and college. A major component of CS is programming. A second instrument that measures students’ attitudes toward programming is planned as future work to this project.
Poster 119
Manuel A. Perez
Title: Educational Support for Testing Graphical User
Interfaces
Project #: 0633594
PI:
Goals: The goal is to develop a class library for testing graphical user in-
terfaces that is easy and simple enough for introductory-level students.
We want to evaluate the effectiveness of this library in CS1- and CS2-level
courses. The outcome of the project is to improve the quality of software
by teaching students how to test graphical user interfaces.
Methods: We will modify an existing graphical user interface library called
Objectdraw to allow students to write JUnit-style of test cases. We will
reuse some portions of an open source project (Abbot) and integrate the
support into educational IDEs (BlueJ and Eclipse). The project will use
Web-CAT’s testing framework.
Evaluation: The evaluation includes assessment of ease of use of the
class library and its documentation, impact on learning (code quality
and bug density), student feedback and perceptions of the tool, and acceptance by a community of professors. We will use surveys and direct
code measurements (instrumentations) to gather data for the various
assessments.
Dissemination: Dissemination is in the form of publications, workshops,
and software distribution. We already have a publication with preliminary
results that will be published in SIGCSE 08. We have proposed a workshop
for ITiCSE and plan others in the future. Our software will be incorporated
into Web-CAT and distributed as an open source project.
Impact: Graphical user interfaces (GUI) are very popular in high schools
and early introductory programming courses. Our work will allow students
to learn software testing while they learn GUIs without an increase in
complexity. This allows us to better train future computer scientists and
software engineers. In addition, topics such as graphical user interfaces
tend to attract a more diverse student body to computing. We expect our
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work to have impacts in high school and introductory computing courses
and to indirectly help us recruit a more diverse student body.
Challenges: The biggest challenge is the technical aspect of the implementation of the class library and the testing framework. We already have
had some success on this end. If further problems occur, we have an advisory board that includes the creator of Objectdraw. We will consult the
advisory board to discuss our plans.
Poster 120
PI: Gang
Quan
Institution: University of South Carolina
Title: CCLI: Novel Instructional Material Development
for Embedded System Education in the Undergraduate
Computer Engineering Curriculum
Project #: 0633641
Goals: The goal of this project is to develop innovative course materials
based on the most up-to-date concepts and technologies in embedded
system design. The intended outcomes include hands-on lab series based
on commercial field programmable gate array (FPGA) tools/technology
and corresponding instructional materials. A textbook based on these
materials will be published.
Methods: We are taking advantage of the exemplary materials, provided
by Xilinx University Program (XUP) based on industrial design tools and
platforms, and intend to expand and organize them into a set of more
systematic and comprehensive lab series with appropriate supporting
materials, which will be more suitable for the undergraduate education
purpose.
Evaluation: Our evaluation includes both internal and external evalua-
tions. For the internal evaluations, the expected outcomes based on ABET
guidelines have been defined and approved by the department undergraduate committee. The PI and co-PI will collect, analyze, and measure
the outcomes based on five criteria, i.e., performance, capability, productivity, satisfaction of the students, as well as the quality of their designs.
For the external evaluation, a faculty colleague from the Department of
Education will be invited to develop appropriate strategies and a related
questionnaire to further assess the knowledge and skills of our students
as well as the quality of other outcomes from this project.
Dissemination:
1) To publish a textbook with detailed laboratory/instructional materials
and pedagogical exercises
2) To disseminate the laboratory/instructional materials through the
Xilinx XUP program and make them available to other educators and
researchers
3) To publish in conference proceedings/journals the outcomes of the
projects and our findings
Impact:
1) This project is one part of a larger program driving U.S. institutions of
higher education to respond to the rapidly changing needs of industry
and continue to turn out qualified graduates for the competitive global
electronic systems job market
Poster Abstracts
2) The extensive hands-on opportunities based on commercial tools
and cutting-edge technology will have a tremendous and positive impact on the technical capabilities, competence, and confidence of our
students
3) This project will greatly strengthen the computer engineering program
of our department, i.e., a department with a large population of minority students, and help to fight the national trend of decreasing enrollment in the Computer Engineering program
Challenges: A longtime collaborator and faculty colleague, Dr. Laura
Kent, from the Department of Education has recently left the university
for personal reasons. We are seeking to develop new collaborations with
other faculty in the Department of Education.
Poster 121
PI: Ingrid
Russell
University of Hartford
Title: Machine Learning Experiences in Artificial Intelligence
Project #: 0716338
Institution:
Goals: Our goal is to develop a framework for teaching core Artificial Intelligence (AI) topics through a unifying theme of machine learning. A total
of 26 adaptable, hands-on laboratory projects will be developed that can
be closely integrated into a one-term AI course. The projects involve the
design of machine learning systems and span a wide range of application
areas.
Methods: This is a multi-institutional effort that engages a community of
20 scholars from a broad range of universities working together on the development, implementation, and testing of curricular material, in a manner that fosters the integration of research and education.
Evaluation: The effectiveness of the project is being evaluated with the
assistance of internal and external evaluators through a multi-tier evaluation system involving faculty, students, and an external advisory board.
Led by the project evaluator, the evaluation process involves both a formative evaluation and a summative evaluation. The formative evaluation
will involve strategies for monitoring the project as it evolves and will provide feedback to guide the development efforts. The summative evaluation will involve strategies to evaluate the effectiveness of the curricular
material and our work in achieving our goals and in identifying findings at
the end of the project.
Dissemination: We have already disseminated our work through several
publications and conference presentations. These venues include ACM
SIGCSE, ITiCSE, FIE, ASEE, and CCSC conferences. We have also given
several invited presentations. We expect to continue such dissemination
efforts. A website containing relevant project material is also available.
Impact: A broader impact of this project will be achieved through the collaborative development, dissemination, and separate testing of these
hands-on laboratory projects at the institutions of 20 participating faculty
members, including the two PIs, from 18 diverse institutions nationally.
The institutions are geographically dispersed and represent small, large,
private, and state universities. They span a broad range of institutions,
including universities serving a diverse student body consisting of a significant number of females and underrepresented minorities. The project
plan also includes workshops run by the PIs to help educators adapt the
material to their educational setting.
Challenges: We have used these as long-term projects with several deliverables throughout the semester. They are intended to supplement and
not replace regular assignments typically given to reinforce concepts covered in class. One of the challenges we faced was ensuring good mapping
of deliverables with corresponding concepts covered in class. To ensure
smooth adoption and adaptation of the material by others, guidelines including a mapping of project phases with course topics are provided as
well as resources such as sample solutions.
Poster 122
Christelle Scharff
Pace University
Title: Collaborative Research: Adapting and Extending
WeBWorK for Use in the Computer Science Curriculum
Project #: 0511385
Co-PI: Andy Wildenberg (Cornell University)
PI:
Institution:
Goals: The goals of this project are to enhance the learning experience of
undergraduate students in computer science and establish a sound pedagogical environment to achievement. The focus is on assessing and improving students’ understanding of programming fundamentals, thereby
providing a stronger conceptual foundation for subsequent courses.
Methods:
1) Engaging students in active online learning (via WeBWorK use) to augment traditional practices with programming fundamentals
2) Encouraging students to contribute to an open-source online assessment system
3) Providing instructors with the ability to continually monitor and assess
student performance
Evaluation: We developed a series of surveys to gauge student percep-
tions with regard to WeBWorK benefits (or not) and to examine whether it
helps students to better integrate the programming fundamentals material across all the core courses. We also look at the quality of the work
produced by the students when contributing to WeBWorK. Our results are
gathered in published papers.
Dissemination: We organized WeBWorK tutorials and workshops at
conferences to initiate contacts and collaboration in the Computer Science community and more widely (e.g., Pace University Faculty Institute,
SIGCSE 2006). We worked closely with the WeBWorK developers at Rochester as they built a large community of WeBWorK professors in the mathematics field.
Impact: Instructors agreed on the fact that WeBWorK didn’t change the
way they taught the material in their courses; rather, WeBWorK was used
as an add-on and integrated in the courses in a smooth manner for additional homework assignments and in-class tests. WeBWorK permitted
instructors to increase their visibility of student progress though and
continuously monitor class homework assignment progress, but this currently takes some work to use and comprehend.
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Challenges: Our main challenge has been to create a community of instructors interested in using and integrating WeBWorK in their teaching.
The main reason is that there are many emerging online programming
homework assistants—mostly commercial ones coming with textbooks.
Another reason is that designing WeBWorK homework assignments requires more time than designing paper-based homework assignments.
WeBWorK uses a particular programming language to input problems
called PG based on HTML, Perl, and Latex, and time needs to be dedicated
for the quality assurance of the problems.
Poster 123
PI:
Bo Sun
Lamar University
Title: Collaborative Research: Module-Based Courseware
and Laboratory Development for Teaching Secure Wireless
Sensor Networks
Project #: 0633445
Institution:
Goals:
1) To develop an educational infrastructure at University of HoustonClear Lake and Lamar University for teaching wireless sensor networks
(WSNs) and their security solutions in undergraduate computer science curricula
2) To establish a courseware repository where computer security and
sensor network modules may be collected and freely accessible by the
general public
2) Students will be involved in developing labs, case studies, assignments, and webpages. Moreover, they will participate in evaluating the
modules.
3) A distributed wireless sensor network test bed between UH-Clear Lake
and Lamar University will be established. In the long run, the test bed
has the potential of being used by nearby universities in southeastern
Texas and nearby states, as well as other small- and medium-sized universities and colleges across the nation.
Challenges: One of our unexpected challenges is the design and imple-
mentation of applications for the wireless sensor network infrastructure.
Example applications are necessary to give a vivid demonstration of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). We are now systematically learning the
hardware and software for WSNs and targeting the development of three
interesting applications. The other challenge is to develop suitable course
materials. The complexity of sensor networks makes their algorithms and
protocols full of complex theoretical discussions and mathematics. To introduce WSN research into undergraduate curricula, we are now properly
tailoring selected instruction materials.
Poster 124
PI: Karen
Sutherland
Augsburg College
Title: Extending the Next-Generation Robot Laboratory to
Increase Diversity in Undergraduate CS Programs
Project #: 0511282
Institution:
Methods: We propose the creation of a distributed WSN test bed across
UH-Clear Lake and Lamar. Each site will have its own sensor fields, whereas the two sites are linked over the Internet as an educational/research
platform. We propose the development and evaluation of a series of three
modules. We also propose to establish a courseware repository.
Goals: The overall goal of this three-way collaboration is to increase the
Evaluation:
Methods: In an effort to make the approach readily adoptable by others, I
1) Formative ongoing evaluation: experts from the domain, local industry
representatives who would potentially hire the students after completion of the course, and graduate students who understand the course
material and can provide student perspective
2) Summative evaluation: both qualitative and quantitative approaches
are used to verify the quality and effectiveness of the modules and
courses. Qualitative approaches will involve pedagogic verification and
user acceptance, whereas quantitative approaches will involve learner
performance before and after learning from modules, and comparison
of the learning outcomes of the same course taught with and without
the developed WSN modules.
Dissemination: The course Wireless Sensor Networks has been offered in
UH-Clear Lake and will be offered in Lamar. We plan to publish our developed modules to obtain help from the user community. Also, newsletters
from organization such as ACM SIGCSE will also be used to disseminate
our project. We plan to publish papers and make presentations in related
conferences.
Impact:
1) Our proposed modules and supporting courseware will contribute to a
repository useful for computer science and engineering education.
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interest of underrepresented groups in studying CS. Using the Sony AIBO
robots, I am developing material for our intro CS course that is especially
attractive to women and underrepresented groups. We are thoroughly
testing this material and running continuous external evaluations.
have developed separate laboratory modules with specific goals, such as
understanding time complexity or processing audio input. Students work
in teams of three, women and minorities together. My research student
helps with questions. A short written evaluation follows each lab.
Evaluation: All three projects use the same external evaluator. We have
developed similar questionnaires, which take about 5 minutes to complete. Students are tracked by ID. The initial questionnaire addresses gender and ethnicity as well as attitudes about one’s ability to succeed in CS.
This same data are acquired again at the end of the term. The evaluator
provides cumulative raw data to all of us. Results thus far are as follows:
All students love the labs. There is less attrition in the course. The women
like being in all female groups and have become more assertive in the
class. Ending evaluations have shown more confidence in ability. There
has been a very small shift toward desire to major in CS.
Dissemination: With Gini, Pearce: Using the Sony AIBOs to increase di-
versity in Undergraduate CS programs, Intelligent Autonomous Systems,
IOS Press, 2006.
With Gini, Pearce: Extending the next generation robot laboratory to increase diversity in the classroom. ACM SIGCSE NSF Showcase, 2006.
Poster Abstracts
The Introductory CS Course—Exciting, MICS 2007
Student paper—MICS 2007
Impact: We are seeing more interest in a CS major. Since the students are
vague as to why they decided on CS, it is difficult to tell if this is due to our
new labs. We are seeing a demonstration of better concept understanding on the exit surveys. We are seeing more women confident of their CS
knowledge. We are seeing less attrition. We are seeing better course evaluations and hearing better comments on the course from non-CS faculty.
The course will be taught next term by someone other than the PI, showing departmental interest.
Faculty at MICS 2007 asked for copies of the labs. The new students are
already starting to hang out in the lab and ask about ongoing research
projects.
Challenges:
1) Shortly after receiving this funding, Sony stopped making the AIBOs.
We continue to develop material using them as we watch for replacement hardware to be released, but are also designing the labs so that
they could be done using the Handy Cricket platform.
2) I have four AIBOs. This fall, enrollment in the intro class unexpectedly
increased to 30 students. This was more than the number of workstations needed for the rest of the course, so the class was split. I am currently teaching three sections with AIBO group size a reasonable three
and robot sharing required. As institutions move toward encouraging
large classes with online material, small hands-on projects will cause
ongoing problems.
Poster 125
David Touretzky
Carnegie Mellon University
Title: Cognitive Robotics: A Curriculum for Machines that
See and Manipulate Their World
Project #: 0717705
PI:
Institution:
Goals: This project is developing software and course materials for a
higher-level introduction to robotics for computer science undergraduates. Our “cognitive robotics” approach provides sophisticated primitives
for robot perception, navigation, and manipulation, allowing students to
focus on experimenting with algorithms for intelligent behavior.
Methods: Tekkotsu, our application development framework for mobile
robots, is an open-source software package written in C++ and Java. It supports a variety of platforms, including the Sony AIBO, Qwerkbot, iRobot
Create, and new designs we are developing. Lecture notes and exercises
used in CMU’s Cognitive Robotics course are being extended and refined.
Evaluation: Our planned evaluation strategy involves pre- and post-
course questionnaires to see how students’ thinking about robotics, computer programming, and their own skill level changes as a result of taking
a Cognitive Robotics course. We will monitor subsequent student course
choices to see how their educational direction is affected. We will examine student homework assignments and exams to see what students are
learning. To assess the effectiveness of the software tools we are providing, we also plan to do some videotaped interviews of students engaged
in “think aloud” protocols for problem-solving.
Dissemination: The Tekkotsu software framework is available for free
download, under an LGPL license, at the Tekkotsu.org website. The PI’s
Cognitive Robotics lecture notes, labs, and homework sets are disseminated via the web. We plan to write a cognitive robotics textbook once the
software has been further developed.
Impact: Tekkotsu was a central element of a Broadening Participation in
Computing award to Carnegie Mellon and Spelman College that allowed
us to set up Tekkotsu robotics labs at three other historically black colleges in 2006. Students at all four HBCUs have been introduced to AIBOs
and the CMU cognitive robotics curriculum. The success of this project
led to the award of a BPC Alliance grant in 2007 involving seven research
universities and eight HBCUs; Spelman is the lead institution. Tekkotsu
will be a major resource used by the HBCUs in this project.
Challenges: Our main challenge is the lack of a powerful yet relatively
inexpensive robot platform to replace the AIBO, which is no longer offered
for sale. We are meeting this challenge by designing our own platform,
which will be easy for computer scientists (not engineers) to assemble
and will provide much better capabilities than the various toy robots currently offered for sale. We are also supporting some currently popular
educational platforms such as the iRobot Create.
Poster 126
PI: Andre Van
der Hoek
Institution: University of California, Irvine
Title: SimSE: An Educational Software Process Simulation
Environment
Project #: 0618869
Goals: The focus of this work is SimSE, a game-based, educational soft-
ware engineering simulation environment. SimSE allows students to
practice managing software engineering processes in a fully graphical,
interactive, and fun setting in which direct, graphical feedback enables
them to learn the complex cause-and-effect relationships underlying the
processes of software engineering.
Methods: We are carrying out the expansion of SimSE through six steps/
goals: 1) broadening SimSE’s technical features, 2) developing a comprehensive set of simulation models, 3) creating course modules, 4) evaluating SimSE comprehensively, 5) promoting faculty expertise, and 6) creating an effective strategy for achieving widespread dissemination.
Evaluation: We have conducted four evaluations of SimSE: A pilot study
in which we collected feedback from SimSE players, an in-class study involving SimSE as part of a course, a comparative experiment in which we
compared SimSE to traditional teaching methods, and an observational
study that focused on the learning processes of SimSE players. We are
currently replicating the in-class study at other universities. To summarize
our findings to date: SimSE has tremendous potential to be an effective,
engaging, and enjoyable tool for teaching software process concepts, if
used in the context of a software engineering course and if adequate instruction and guidance is provided to the students playing SimSE.
Dissemination: We have built and maintained an SimSE website through
which users can discuss SimSE issues, contribute their own simulation
models, and download source code, executables, simulation models, and
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Poster Abstracts
documentation. We continue to publish papers at SE education conferences and plan to package SimSE with an established software engineering textbook.
Impact: SimSE has already been downloaded by institutions throughout
Europe, Australia, Asia, and North, South, and Central America, and we
are aware of numerous instructors who used SimSE in their classes or are
experimenting with its use. SimSE benefits students in gaining a broad
and deep understanding of the software process, instructors in enhancing
their portfolio of teaching methods, and the software industry at large in
providing a diverse and internationally competitive workforce. The focus
of our remaining work is on enabling a smoother path of impact by lowering adoption hurdles, providing extensive course materials, and developing faculty expertise.
Challenges: The biggest challenges stemmed from the comparative
study. The first one was that one-third of the subjects did not show up,
leaving us with far smaller treatment groups than planned. The second
one was that none of the subjects in the SimSE group completed their
assignment, while nearly all those in the other groups (reading and lectures) did. Although our intentions for the study were thrown off by these
surprises, analyzing the data from every possible angle resulted in some
important, although unintended, insights. Moreover, the fact that none of
the SimSE subjects completed the assignment was actually an important
piece of information that revealed some significant lessons about SimSE.
Poster 127
PI: Scott Wallace
State University Vancouver
Title: Collaborative Research (RUI): Broadening the Use of
Computer Games in the Computer Science Curriculum
Project #: 0633726
Goals: The project seeks to develop a set of student and teacher resourc-
es to help bring computer-game-based curriculum into resource limited
colleges at all levels of study. The overarching goal is to help produce
excellent computer scientists by creating engaging course material that
meets traditional learning objectives.
Methods: The project incorporates several key decisions to help ensure
that curricular materials will be suited to a wide audience: since its inception, the project has been a multi-campus collaboration; software is
developed in Java, one of the most widely used programming languages; and curriculum is based on recommendations from a multi-campus
committee.
Evaluation: One key outcome from this project is the design and develop-
ment of a new Java 2D game engine (JIG-E) that will be the foundation for
all curriculums. JIG-E was used in class for the first time in fall 2007, and
we are in the process of evaluating student feedback to guide the next
series of improvements to the engine. In 2008, we will begin developing
curricular modules for traditional computer science courses. Like JIG-E,
these software packages will be evaluated by a small group of students.
We will use formative and summative evaluations based on student and
instructor experiences to guide the development and final release of these
materials.
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Dissemination: In October 2007, the PIs presented a tutorial on the JIG-
Engine at the Northwest meeting of the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges. Approximately 12 CS instructors attended; each expressed
interest in using the project’s materials. In 2008, we will focus on supporting these instructors’ use of JIG in their classrooms.
Impact: We expect this project to have two main impacts: first, it will yield
engaging Computer Science curriculum for students at all four years of
the study. We expect this to be demonstrated by student evaluations of
the curriculum developed in 2008. Second, it will provide the resources to
allow smaller, resource-limited schools to incorporate game-related projects into both new courses and traditional courses without undue burden.
We expect to see this impact unfold as peer institutes learn about our
work. We will consider this project highly successful if the curriculum is
adopted by three to five institutes and participating instructors are interested in contributing to the project.
Challenges: For a technical standpoint, a key challenge for this work has
been the use of Java as a programming language. A main selling point for
the language is its ability to run the “same program” on multiple machine
types (e.g., Windows, Linux, and Macintosh). Yet for computer games, this
level of abstraction is not always ideal. We have had to be very careful
with the implementation assumptions built into the engine to ensure that
high performance can be achieved reliably without students understanding everything that happens “under the hood.” We will present results
from a series of benchmarks conducted during development that test key
design decisions for our software.
Poster 128
PI: Weichao Wang
University of North Carolina–Charlotte
Title: Collaborative Project: Bridging Security Primitives
and Protocols: A Digital LEGO Set for Information
Assurance Courses
Project #: 0633143
Institution:
Goals: The goals of the project are to develop a new approach to help
students bridge security primitives and security protocols and explore
Moore’s method in adult education. The outcomes include a digital LEGO
set for security protocol construction and a complete suite of modularized,
easy-to-expand demonstrations, experiments, and course materials.
Methods: We adopt a strand space model (SSM) to represent expected
security properties and security protocol execution in a graphic way. Automatic protocol verification has been abstracted as a state search problem.
Interactive visualization methods are designed to support drag-and-drop
security protocol construction, verification, and improvements.
Evaluation: We have evaluated the protocol representation and verifica-
tion component with more than 20 safe and unsafe security protocols that
are widely adopted in information assurance education. A new attack has
been discovered under strengthened attackers’ capabilities. The component has been adopted by the Intro to Information Security and Privacy
course (fall 2007, 37 students) and student feedback is under analysis. A
prototype of interactive LEGO set for protocol construction will be tested
by investigators in the Visualization Center at the University of North Carolina–Charlotte in spring 2008. We are collaborating with staff consultants
Poster Abstracts
at the Teaching Excellence Center to develop an evaluation questionnaire
and controlled experiments.
Dissemination: Software modules and presentations are posted on the
project webpage. Course materials have been and will be adopted by
introductory-level security courses. A paper is ready for submission. Presentations have been made at Purdue University and Tsinghua University.
Demonstrations on protocol verification have been made to local high
school students.
Impact: The project provides a good vehicle to evaluating adoption of
Moore’s method and construction sets in information assurance education for adults. It provides resources for a PhD student and attracts an
ISSA Scholarship awardee to apply for graduate school. The research extends SSM by improving its representation capabilities and reducing state
search complexity. It distinguishes free variables from instantiated variables so that we can simulate more types of attacks. The research will contribute to logic programming and has the potential to advance knowledge
representation and language modeling. It provides a platform to evaluate
interactive visualization in security education.
Challenges: The first challenge we face is that the traditional SSM cannot guarantee the stop during the state search procedure. We have introduced extra knowledge to distinguish free variables from instantiated
variables. It avoids repeated substitution during state search procedure.
It also enables guided replacement during state expansion. The second
challenge we face is the design of shapes of digital LEGO pieces for expected security properties and primitives so that they can fit together to
construct security protocols. The design is partially inspired by “blocks”
of the SCRATCH project at MIT. A prototype design is under construction
and will be tested in spring 2008.
Poster 129
Roger Webster
Millersville University
Title: A Computer Graphics and Game Development Track
in Computer Science
Project #: 0632889
Co-PI: Gary Zoppetti
PI:
Institution:
Goals: The specific goal of this project is to implement an exemplary cur-
riculum track called Computer Graphics and Game Development (CGGD)
that combines computer science with mathematics, physics, art, and digital media classes.
Methods: The intellectual merit of the proposed project is that it would
broaden the delivery of education in entertainment technologies and
game development by enabling the creation of a curriculum track designed
to provide exemplary education in computer graphics and game development, thereby increasing the institutional capacity and infrastructure.
Evaluation: We will use both formative and summative evaluations and
direct and indirect assessment techniques. Students beginning and completing the track will be given a test to determine how their knowledge
and skills map to outcomes one though eight. This will allow us to assess
improvements as a result of the curriculum. Additional direct, formative
assessments will be administered as students progress through the track,
enabling the integration and synthesis of findings into the track based
on the results of laboratory exercises, programming projects, homework
assignments, and examination questions. For outcome nine, we will use a
mixed-method approach. A survey will be used to gauge students.
Dissemination: The investigative faculty will publish papers on the rela-
tive merits of the newly acquired hardware, software, and the results of
the curriculum changes in publications comparable to ACM SIGGRAPH,
Game Development, and Journal of Game Tools, Proceedings of the IEEE
Conference on Graphics, IEEE Transactions on Education, Game Developer, and ACM SIGCSE.
Impact: The intellectual merit of this project is to broaden the delivery of
education in entertainment technologies and game development by enabling the creation of a curriculum track designed to provide exemplary
education in computer graphics and game development, thereby increasing the institutional capacity and infrastructure as they pertain to these areas. This project will enable Millersville University to bring this technology
to central Pennsylvania and to become involved in a hub of entertainment
technology and game development research performed at universities in
the mid-Atlantic region. We are located in close proximity to the University
of Pennsylvania, Temple, and St. Joseph’s University.
Challenges: See our website for details on the progress of this project:
http://cs.millersville.edu/~webster/gametechnologytrack/resources.
html.
Poster 130
Keith Whittington
Institution: Rochester Institute of Technology
Title: Active Learning for Programming in Information
Technology
Project #: 0442987
PI:
Goals: Provide discipline-specific, active learning instructional techniques
that will enhance the learning of students in intro programming courses.
Develop and test the materials in a rigorous way to provide evidence of increased student learning. Provide a series of presentations and distribute
the materials to faculty in other academic institutions.
Methods: This was a quasi-experiment where the students were not ran-
domly assigned. All the data were gathered over two quarters using parallel courses. There was one active section (experimental section) and one
traditional section (control section) during each quarter.
Evaluation: The following were used to try to make the experimental sec-
tions as similar as possible to the control sections:
• Same lecture materials and homework assignments
• Identical tests and practical exams
• Same rubrics and grade percentages for all assessments
• Same amount of instructional time
• Different instructors:
• One instructor for the control sections
• One instructor (the PI) for the experimental sections.
• Students were statistically similar in pre-knowledge
The multiple assessments implemented included:
• Pre/post-tests
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•
•
•
•
•
Exam grades
Final grades
Exit student interviews
Videos of the classroom
Classroom data gathering to assess the level of engagement
Dissemination:
• Four journal publications
• Full-day workshops at DePaul, Dakota State, University of Rochester,
and Middlesex Universities
• Two presentations at teaching and learning (T&L) conferences
• One keynote address
• Anticipated:
• Multiple workshops at conferences
• Multiple papers disseminating the grant results
• Presentations at T&L conferences
Impact: Anticipated impacts are to transform the way intro programming
courses are taught and provide materials for the instructors to use. A
new learning model was created. Significant student learning is being
demonstrated.
Challenges: Class sizes were down dramatically from previous years,
so we extended the grant for a year to get more students involved in the
study. We studied two years of classes.
Poster 131
Cheryl Willis
Title: The Tablet PC as a Tool to Enhance Higher-Order
Thinking Skills
Project #: 0511672
PI:
Institution:
Goals: The broad goals of the project are to adapt and integrate the use
of visual learning tools and techniques such as tablet PCs and concept
maps into specified undergraduate courses. The intended outcomes are
enhanced thinking and learning skills of students and increased use of
visual learning techniques and tools by faculty.
Methods: We have used collaborative planning among faculty to develop
the format and content for the instructional module template, inclusion of
visual tools relevant to information systems in addition to concept maps,
scaffolded learning activities that require students to assume more responsibility for learning, and authentic assessment of outcomes.
Evaluation: Workshops for faculty have been offered and were well re-
ceived. Continued refinement of activities in modules has limited the plans
for data collection of student changes in abilities and in their perception of
the value of visual learning tools. We will still be able to gather data from
the originally planned sources, but we have fewer chances for review and
revision of the modules.
Dissemination: We have made numerous presentations and published
several articles about our planned activities. Our presentations have been
to audiences of engineering, information technology, business, information systems, health science, and computer science educators. We have
also made presentations to university, community college, and secondary
faculty.
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Impact: The project has had a significant impact on the principal investiga-
tors and our approach to learning activities. We feel more strongly than
ever that time spent on engaging students in meaningful knowledge-creation activities “trumps” merely getting through the textbook. Enabling
students to see the connectedness of the information systems knowledge
domain is doable. We see the commonalities between concept maps and
more formal knowledge management systems, as well as taxonomy and
ontology development. Visual learning tools and techniques will affect
students’ future success. These same techniques have been effective in
faculty efforts at documenting outcomes for future accreditation visits.
Challenges: The unexpected challenges included a hurricane, new administrators and staff, faculty turnover, temporary relocation of one of
the PIs, health issues, and personal family issues. The only way to deal
with them is to persevere and continue to do what you can. We have been
granted a one-year extension of our completion date.
Poster 132
Janusz Zalewski
Institution: Florida Gulf Coast University
Title: Web-Based Real-Time Software Engineering Lab
Project #: 0632729
PI:
Goals: The primary goal of the project is to assess the feasibility of build-
ing a fully functional lab for software engineering courses in the real-time
systems and applications domain, with web-based access for software development and operation. The intended outcome is to have one or more
fully operational devices set up for remote access.
Methods: The process I am using is characterized by the following steps:
1) Determine the best devices for this sort of lab.
2) Purchase the devices and accompanying software.
3) Develop web-based software for each device.
4) Fully test and verify device accessibility.
5) Create student tasks and procedures.
6) Evaluate pedagogy of the adopted solution.
Evaluation: The evaluation plan is to engage four reviewers, each from a
different specialization area, to cover all respective aspects:
• Software Engineering
• Real-Time Programming
• Web Design and Development
• Embedded Devices and Systems
Each evaluator acts according to the project milestones and evaluates the
respective part of the project.
Dissemination: The dissemination will be done in the following steps:
• Website set up for the project
• Student papers for presentation at conferences
• Presentation at a major educational conference (ASEE, SIGCSE, or
CSEE&T)
• Submission of an article to an educational journal
Impact: It is too early to make any assessment, but the anticipated impacts involve a significant change. The student population will use remote
labs for software engineering courses.
Poster Abstracts
Challenges:
1) There is a significant variety in device types (from a sensor network to
a telescope), which is very difficult to manage and requires permanent
support by a technician.
2) Uneven student population: students’ backgrounds differ, even though
they all meet the prerequisites, and not all of them are good candidates for this sort of class project.
3. The pedagogical aspects need to be sorted out in further steps of the
project, to determine the benefits of this sort of lab without losing the
merits.
Poster 133
Craig Zilles
Institution: University of Illinois
Title: Development of Concept Inventories for Computer
Science
Project #: 0618589
PI:
Goals: The goal of this project is to improve assessment of student learn-
ing in computer science. To this end, this work proposes to develop three
concept inventories for introductory CS subjects (based on Force Concept
Inventory). CS concert inventories (CIs) would enable making meaningful
comparisons of the effectiveness of different pedagogical approaches.
Methods: We performed a Delphi process to collect expert opinions about
the most important concepts in three intro CS subjects. We are now interviewing students to identify misconceptions relating to these subjects.
Later we will design questions based on these misconceptions and validate these questions for reliability.
Evaluation: We plan to evaluate the extent to which the concept inven-
tories we develop reliably indicate whether students understand the concepts on which they cover. This will be done by having students explain
their interpretations of the questions to ensure they are correctly interpreted, by looking at statistical correlations between questions on the
same concepts, and through post-testing interviews.
Dissemination: So far we have collected data on expert consensus opin-
ions on the important and difficult concepts in three CS subjects: programming fundamentals, discrete math, and digital logic. We have so
far disseminated these through a conference publication and a technical
report.
Impact: We hope to create a tool that can be used by others developing
pedagogical techniques to allow them to perform comparisons with other
techniques to determine which lead to the highest levels of student learning. In doing so, we hope to accelerate the identification, development,
and adoption of best practice pedagogies.
Challenges: Two of the main challenges of developing concept inventories for CS (relative to physics, for example) are 1) that “design” is an
important part of CS that might be difficult to test in the context of a concept inventory and 2) that the concepts in CS are manmade, and abstract
making it difficult to concisely write the questions unambiguously without
assuming certain knowledge in the student.
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Poster Abstracts
Engineering
Poster 134
Erez Allouche
Institution: Louisiana Tech University
Title: Visual Tools for Demonstrating Engineering Concepts
in a Quasi-Realistic Simulation Environment
Project #: 0443101
Target Discipline: Engineering
PI:
Goals: This project addresses a major teaching/learning problem for un-
dergraduate engineering students who are highly visual learners—the
need to develop a sound understanding of how engineering problems can
be formulated and solved, and the ability to transcend disciplinary boundaries, in areas where abstract concepts are involved.
Methods: Several prototypes of an innovative teaching tool, named “Case
Study Interactive,” were developed and tested. This instructional tool
combines the delivery of technical knowledge and humor/entertainment
within a highly visual and interactive computer simulation environment to
present complex, multidisciplinary problems that evolve over time.
Evaluation: SIMSewer, interactive case study introducing infrastructure
management and engineering economics, was used with three groups
of senior undergraduate engineering students. Data collected suggest
that this is an effective method for enhancing students’ problem formulation and solving skills as well as decision-making skills. Two additional
prototypes (Treat and Fish and Traffic Work Zone) were also developed.
Traffic Work Zone, which focuses on the relationships between pavement
management, traffic delays, and user costs, was used in a double-blind
test. The data collected demonstrated that the class average testing score
more than doubled after a two-hour exposure to the software.
Dissemination: The materials developed in this project will be dissemi-
nated nationally via the project website, CDs, publications in relevant
peer-reviewed journal publications, and presentations in technical meetings. A booth with one of the software was placed at the “IDEA Place,”
a hand-on science museum visited annually by 10,000 pre-K to grade 12
students.
Impact: This research led to the development, and demonstrated the ef-
fectiveness, of a new tool for enhancing problem formulation and solving, critical thinking, technical knowledge, and cross-disciplinary comprehension of engineering students. Another important broad impact is the
creation of a tool that enables exposure of elementary and high school
students to real-world engineering problems at a technical level that they
can comprehend. By varying the relative amounts of technical knowledge
and entertainment features, interactive cases can be developed for a wide
range of ages and learning capacities.
Challenges: Some faculty resist using the software in their classes, claiming that they are not “engineering tools.” Demonstrations and discussion
were conducted to convince faculty in the value of this new teaching
approach.
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Poster 135
PI: David
Bahr
Institution: Washington State University
Title: Development and Implementation of an Intensive
Short Course, Seminar, and Mentoring for Introducing
Undergraduates to Research in Engineering
Project #: 0633678
Goals: The Cougar Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) is tar-
geted at rising sophomores to address the problem that undergraduate
research is not broadly accessible at the freshman and sophomore levels.
The program is aimed at increasing participation by undergraduates in directed research at the sophomore level across all engineering fields.
Methods: Our CURE is an intensive summer program followed by a men-
toring and seminar program to match engineering students with faculty. A
one-week “boot camp” with a follow-on mentoring program is being used
to match students to faculty.
Evaluation: Our participants included 20 students and had a wide range
of incoming GPAs and backgrounds. The student satisfaction in the program was high and did not relate to prior academic performance. Students
perceived value in both the jump start provided to get into a research environment in the fall semester as well as recognizing future benefits in
coursework and critical-thinking skills. Lessons from faculty participants
will be discussed, with recommendations for future topics and suggestions
for using an intensive immersive experience as a first introduction to research in a university environment in materials science and engineering.
Dissemination: A presentation has been made at the Material Research
Society fall meeting, which will be followed by publication of the initial
year’s assessment in the literature.
Impact: We anticipate a documented improvement in retention of engineering students in their field and have demonstrated the ability to retain
at-risk students in engineering once they have been partnered with a faculty mentor.
Challenges: Continuing to find pairings for individual students is sporadically difficult, and we have found that the school year mentoring program
is challenging to keep students focused on finding a research project. The
mechanism to address this will be scheduling more large blocks of time in
a retreat format over short biweekly meetings with students.
Poster 136
James Becker
Institution: Montana State University
Title: Weaving Microwaves Thread through the Curriculum
Project #: 0536081
PI:
Poster Abstracts
Goals: This project seeks to develop and connect educational materials
related to high-frequency electronics across several courses in electrical
engineering. The intended outcomes include increased student appreciation of the importance of high-frequency design, enhancement of their
system-level thinking, and recruitment of pre-college students to STEM.
Methods: Materials have been developed framing typical topics in electrical engineering in terms of concepts relevant to high-frequency design.
For example, freshman practice their skill in describing waveforms to predict the beam-steering properties of antenna arrays, and seniors display
system-level knowledge through the design of an RF receiver.
Evaluation: Evaluation is being accomplished through assessment of stu-
dent performance relative to course objectives. The course objectives are
introduced the first day of class through an introductory course outcomes
questionnaire. The questionnaire aims to help the instructor understand
the educational background of the students and sets forth immediately
to the students the key concepts to be mastered. Assessment is based on
grading of well-crafted laboratory reports as well as targeted homework
and exam questions. A longitudinal study based on the course outcomes
questionnaire is performed to provide a measure of student sentiment regarding their perceived mastery of course outcomes.
Dissemination: A poster presentation will be given at the 2008 ASEE con-
ference describing a portion of the project activities; submission of a full
paper to the conference is planned. We will submit a paper in 2008 to the
IEEE Transactions on Education. Multiple visits to schools serving primarily Native American communities have been made and are ongoing.
Impact: Thus far, students who have been presented the newly developed
materials have provided favorable feedback, both through formal surveys
and anecdotal remarks. The overall impact of the activities will be felt
over time. It is anticipated that the efforts will result in better-prepared
students for entry into the field of high-frequency electronics, enhanced
graduate enrollment in the area, and recruitment of underrepresented
populations to STEM fields. In addition, the potential for “thread” materials to be developed concerning other subfields within electrical engineering is considerable.
Poster 137
Amy Bell
Title: A Discovery-Based First-Year Electrical and Computer
Engineering Course Emphasizing Real-World Projects that
Benefit Society
Project #: 0633496
PI:
Goals: The goal is the design and implementation of a first-year course
for undergraduate students interested in electrical engineering (EE), computer engineering (CE), and computer science (CS). Student outcomes include increased enrollment, retention, and satisfaction for all students—
with even greater impact for students from underrepresented groups.
Methods: The course is focused on discovery-based, hands-on projects
that address real-world, contemporary problems in EE/CE/CS. Connections to how these problems and their solutions benefit society are
emphasized. Students work in teams to solve these technically diverse
problems; they work with approximately eight different faculty experts on
these projects.
Evaluation: The pilot offering of this new course has just concluded
(fall 2007). Student retention has increased over past semesters of the
old version of this first-year course: 100% of the women and 95% of the
men completed the course this fall (5 women and 56 men completed the
course). Spring 2008 student enrollment has increased over spring 2007:
total course enrollment is up from 271 to 285; most dramatic is the 100%
increase in women’s enrollment (from 15 to 30). There was a significant
improvement from the beginning to the ending of the course satisfaction
survey on the students’ feeling of belonging to an EE/CE/CS community
at Virginia Tech (35% agreement/strong-agreement increased to 54% by
the semester’s end).
Dissemination: Presentation to engineering faculty at Virginia Tech (January 2008). Invited panelist at ACM SIGMIS (April 2008). Paper and presentation on large, multidisciplinary project at ASEE conference (June
2008). Journal papers to JEE and IEEE Transactions on Education (submitted in 2008). Paper and presentation on entire course at ASEE conference
(2009).
Impact: The primary expected impact is on student enrollment and reten-
tion to degree in undergraduate EE/CE/CS programs. This impact is anticipated for all students, but is expected to be most dramatic for students
from underrepresented groups (particularly women). Initial results indicate some impact has already been realized with regard to course retention and enrollment. The critical factors in the success to date are as follows: an exciting introductory course that promotes discovery of EE/CE/
CS concepts and problem-solving strategies; enthusiastic faculty experts,
including women faculty role models; and a focus on student learning and
success through teamwork and a supportive learning community.
Challenges: Ironically, the most challenging problem in the design and
implementation of this new course has also been one of the most significant advantages: outstanding instructors. The visiting EE/CE/CS faculty experts who developed the technical projects have enthusiastically
engaged in the course, donating much more time than the two weeks of
summer salary they received. They also willingly embraced new pedagogical practices. However, the negative influence of only one or two instructors can mitigate some of these positive effects. Their unwillingness and/
or inability to understand the technical projects and their skeptical beliefs
about how to engage students are unsolved problems.
Poster 138 and Poster 199
PI: Driss
Benhaddou/Alan Mickelson
University of Houston/University of Colorado
Title: Collaborative Research: An Online Laboratory for
Optical Circuits Courses
Project #: 0536823/0536144
Institution:
Goals: The goals are to determine what set of optical circuit concepts can
be addressed in a laboratory; how best to parse an experiment into simulation and remotely controlled components; and how to separate technology imperfections from teaching method imperfections. The desired
learning outcomes are the mastery of the concepts of optical communica-
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Poster Abstracts
tions and the development of the skills necessary to identify and correct
problems with optical communication system equipment.
Methods: Students do a prelab in a form of simulation using Matlab,
VPIphotonics software, or LabView; problem sessions and lab demos are
prerecorded and used to ready the students for the online laboratory sessions in which they control the equipment. The equipment is controlled
using Labview, which is the Internet server for video and control signals.
Evaluation: The assessment plan encompasses both formative and sum-
mative assessment methods. Our first assessment strategy was to use
a survey style summative assessment. Most of the survey material was
qualitative. It was decided to adopt a more quantitative approach in future work. In later phases of the course, a formative assessment program
was adopted—specifically a Berkley Evaluation and Assessment Research
(BEAR) assessment strategy. Such an approach has now been developed
and piloted. The results of this strategy are being processed. A formative
assessment included evaluating student ability to interact with real equipment. A faculty brings a student in front of the equipment and asks the
student to implement specific task. With improved visuals of the remote
experiments, more than 80% of students could successfully do a handson experiment with the real equipment (which showed improvement from
the previous semester).
Dissemination: A webpage is set up for the project at http://www.tech.
uh.edu/rock. We have presented five papers at conferences with published proceedings (three at ASEE national conferences, one at an ASEE
regional conference, and one at an IJME conference), and we have published a paper in IEEE Transactions on Education (November 2007). We’re
planning to keep the website and be actively involved in this research.
We have applied for a phase 2 proposal to continue the research in this
area. The course will be offered both at the University of Houston and the
University of Colorado.
Impact: One anticipated impact is the possibility of opening laboratory
classes to larger numbers of students. With the larger numbers of “subjects” could come better assessment of the efficacy of remote labs. It has
been stated in the recent literature that there is little or no difference between hands-on and remote operation when it comes to learning laboratory skills. It would be interesting to quantity this. Another impact is in
distance learning in engineering and science. Laboratories have been a
traditional barrier to far-away distance students working on undergraduate degrees. Methodology of online labs could enable another segment
of our population to engineering and science learning. The PI is in contact with collaborators at universities around the world (in Morocco and
United Kingdom) to implement the experiments in their courses.
Challenges: There are three difficulties. One was the original assessment
method. The solution seems to be use of a quantitative formative method
rather than a qualitative summative. We believe that “hiding” the assessment within laboratory exercises may also improve its accuracy. A second
problem has been bringing the labs to life. Sitting in front of a screen with
scales that can be dithered with to change numbers and/or graphs is not
very inspiring for hands-on interested young engineers. We are presently
in discussion with computer scientists who work with cognition to try to
determine a better visual environment that does not require an exorbitant quantity of bandwidth. A third difficulty is technology imperfections
that can affect the learning experience (e.g., synchronizing access to the
experiment, speed of data visualization, server hang up). This can bring
some frustration to students interacting with a webpage that does not
speak to them.
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Poster 139
Lisa Benson
Institution: Clemson University
Title: Adapting and Implementing the SCALE-UP Approach
in Statics, Dynamics, and Multivariable Calculus
Project #: 0511515
PI:
Goals: The goal was to deliver more effective Statics and Dynamics in-
struction through active-engagement courses integrating two traditional
courses and learning activities related to multivariate calculus. The objectives were to have high content mastery, evidence supporting studio instruction, instructional materials for integrated Stat-Dyn, and workshops
on the SCALE-UP approach.
Methods: After observing current practice, inquiry learning exercises for
statics and dynamics were designed, integrating material from multivariable calculus. These courses were transformed to an inquiry learning approach, and mixed-method assessments were conducted. Faculty development workshops were developed based on our experience.
Evaluation: Student performance has been measured using final exam
questions common to Statics, Dynamics, and integrated Statics-Dynamics
courses and overall course grades. Performance in follow-on courses will
measure improvements in concept retention. Conceptual tests (Force,
Statics, and Dynamics Concept Inventories) were administered before
and after semesters, and normalized gains were compared with those for
traditional learning environments. Student interviews were conducted to
assess study habits and the impact of different course resources and approaches. Preliminary results indicate increases in conceptual measures
in statics with SCALE-UP and significant reductions in failure rates.
Dissemination: Preliminary results were presented at the ASEE 2007, and
plans are in place for presenting further results at the ASEE and Frontiers
in Education 2008. Faculty development workshops were offered at two
institutions in fall 2007. Course materials were published, and efforts are
under way to promote this as a mainstream teaching resource.
Impact: Improvements in statics concept comprehension and course per-
formance indicators demonstrate the project’s success. Learning activities
for the statics-dynamics courses integrated material from multivariable
calculus, and vice versa, which is unique and beneficial. Students are selecting courses taught in SCALE-UP over traditional formats, as they gain
a reputation as being more challenging yet rewarding courses. Classroom
renovations to accommodate active and cooperative learning through studio environments have been completed in seven classrooms, indicating
administrative support for these pedagogical innovations and faculty willingness to practice active learning in studio environments.
Challenges: A major focus of the project has been on developing materials and workshops to train faculty in teaching in SCALE-UP. While these
efforts have been successful, we have found that faculty need more
guidance in adapting existing courses to an active- and collaborativelearning approach. We are revamping our faculty development materials
to concisely state the pedagogical underpinnings of the method, provide
evidence of success in our courses, and identify key aspects of successful
implementation of SCALE-UP in engineering courses. These include effective use of learning assistants, well-designed learning activities, and formative assessment questions that emphasize learning objectives.
Poster Abstracts
Poster 140
Edward Berger
Institution: University of Virginia
Title: HigherEd 2.0
Project #: 0717820
PI:
Goals: Our goals are twofold. First, we are developing technology-driven
educational innovations for STEM course instruction using “web 2.0”
tools such as podcasts, blogs, wikis, etc. Here we strongly focus on student-generated content. Second, we will assess educational outcomes for
diverse students in multiple settings exposed to the materials.
Methods:
1) Technology-driven course content using blogs, wikis, etc.
2) Substantial student-generate content
3) Quantitative and qualitative assessment approaches including surveys, focus groups, and interviews
4) Faculty training workshops to encourage tech transfer and adoption of
our methods
Evaluation: The evaluation plan has several components. First, we will
collect usage statistics on the technology content of the course. This
includes download rates, hits on the websites, and other factual data
obtainable from programs such as Google Analytics. Second, we will
collect student self-report data from a variety of surveys. These include
pre-, mid-, and post-type surveys to examine student development and
evolution as they use the course materials. Third, we expect to use student response systems (“clickers”) to get quick formative feedback in the
classes. Fourth, we will use task-based interviews to elucidate the role of
technology in shaping students’ problem-solving abilities.
Dissemination: We recently unveiled a very preliminary website, http://
www.highered20.org, which will house news, updates, and all the faculty
training materials available for dissemination.
Impact: We expect to determine which web 2.0 technologies have the
greatest impact on student learning in core STEM courses. We are also
trying to bring in instructors from other disciplines (and other settings, for
instance, medical professionals who teach in a clinical setting) to determine whether the set of tools that works best in engineering is the same
set that works best in other disciplines. In fact, we expect that different
disciplines in other educational settings will come to different conclusions
about what strategies work best.
Challenges: There are no unexpected challenges yet.
Poster 141
Leonard Bohmann
Institution: Michigan Tech
Title: Implementing a Curriculum in Service Systems
Engineering
Project #: 0618537
Co-PI: Nilufer Onder
PI:
Focus:
Implementing Educational Innovations
Goals: Faculty at Michigan Tech are implementing a program in Service
Systems Engineering. We are designing an engineering curriculum that
serves the current needs of the U.S. economy more effectively than traditional disciplines. This curriculum is broadly interdisciplinary, incorporating subject matter from fields both inside and outside of engineering.
Methods: There are three broad strategies we will use to complete this
task: 1) designing a coherent curriculum with challenging, meaningful
courses; 2) developing appropriate faculty expertise in the emerging discipline; and 3) developing and implementing an excellent evaluation plan
to ensure continuous improvement and high-quality graduates.
Evaluation: In the first year of the program, the curriculum was defined
that included eight new courses to be developed specifically for this degree program. The administrative structure of the degree program was
also implemented. Course materials for three of the courses were also developed. In the fall 2007 semester, the introductory course was taught for
the first time. The second course is to be taught in the spring 2008 semester. Course materials for a fourth course are being developed during the
2007–2008 academic year. The four remaining courses will be developed
during the summer of 2008. The curriculum is evaluated by assessing students and review by faculty from other universities.
Dissemination: We have published or presented at six conferences and
held a 1.5-hour workshop. We will continue to present papers at conferences and publish papers on the topic. Additionally, we will publish our
courseware on our website and index it on courseware sites. At the end of
the project, we will hold a faculty workshop explaining the material.
Impact: The impact of this work will be the proliferation of undergraduate
engineering courses and programs that focus on the service sector of the
economy. Presently, most of the courses and programs available for students are either in business schools, focusing on the management aspects
of services, or at the graduate level. Although we are early in the stage
where we are disseminating course material, we have influenced the national discussion on the need for such programs. This is evidenced by the
many discussions we have had at national meetings and conferences.
Poster 142
Ashland Brown
Institution: University of the Pacific
Title: Finite Element Method Exercises for Use in
Undergraduate Engineering Programs
Project #: 0536197
PI:
Goals: Our primary goal is to provide undergraduate engineering stu-
dents with the basic knowledge of finite element (FE) theory, along with
the following:
• An introduction to basic FE theory
• A reinforcement of engineering theory through the use of computer
models of engineering problems
• The ability to construct computer models of engineering problems
Program Book
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Poster Abstracts
Methods: Engineering tutorials are being written in various disciplines
Evaluation: Formative evaluation will focus on identifying needed revi-
of engineering to covey this new engineering modeling knowledge. We
are writing finite element tutorials in structural analysis, thermal analysis, biomedical electromagnetic analysis, computational fluid dynamics,
vibrations, and electromagnetic analysis.
sions to the video game and will include both a usability test and assessment of learner outcomes relative to the course objectives. A usability test
has been performed on the one aspect of the prototype. Another usability
test on the full prototype and the assessment of learner outcomes will
occur in mid-March 2008. The evaluation will use a quasi-experimental
design. Experimental and control groups will be compared to determine
if the video games affect student learning and attitudes. In addition, correlation analysis will be performed within the comparative studies to examine differences by gender and ethnicity.
Evaluation: The evaluations of the effectiveness of the FE are conducted
in the actual engineering classes at the three educational institutions of
the project. The summative assessments include both quantitative and
qualitative techniques to measure the effectiveness of the tutorials in improving learning of the subject matter. The project is using three different
assessment instruments to measure the effectiveness of the tutorials in
making continuous improvements during the three years of this project.
The assessment instruments include pre- and post-test measuring tests
administered to the students along with survey instruments administered
after using the tutorials in the engineering course.
Dissemination: It is anticipated that a number of workshops will be ad-
ministered at major professional conferences free of charge (ASME, ASEE,
ASCE, etc.) during the second year of this project. A website will be developed during the second year of this project to provide copies of the
tutorials free to engineering educators.
Impact: It is expected that a positive impact to student learning will be
magnified by the use of these FE tutorials during this project and the second phase of this project. We anticipate a strong impact to engineering
education will be obtained once more engineering educators use these FE
tutorials in their classes. The full impact of this project won’t be obtained
until the website is installed and engineering educators have discovered
its availability during the second year of this project.
Challenges: We did encounter delays due to investigator sabbaticals and
administrators at one institution not allowing our researchers to administer the tutorials during the first year of the project. We anticipate making
up this lost time with administering the tutorials during both semesters
at these institutions. The investigator on sabbatical is administering the
FE tutorials abroad in India during his leave from his host institution; this
may provide some valuable student feedback on the effectiveness of
these tutorials in a non-U.S. engineering educational setting.
Poster 143
Karen Butler-Purry
A&M University
Title: Enhancing Learning in Digital Systems Courses
Project #: 0633479
Co-PI: Vinod Srinivasan
PI:
Institution: Texas
Goals: This project entails the development of a prototype implementa-
tion of a video game to demonstrate its potential and identify needs for revisions and future design prescription. The video game will be integrated
with currently used instructional techniques in Digital System courses.
Methods: The prototype of the video game will be designed, developed,
and tested in the classroom. It will be developed as a single-player game
to be played on a PC. Each game task will be linked to course learning objectives with multiple ways to complete a given task. Successful completion of a task will require the player to have learned the concepts.
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Program Book
Dissemination: There is no dissemination at this time.
Impact: Anticipated outcomes: Video games will provide an opportunity
for students to learn the material in an environment with which most of
them are familiar and comfortable, and they will be able to experience
learning in an active way. Video games will provide students with an opportunity to learn complex concepts at their individual pace. Video games
will provide a different mechanism for student demonstration of learning
using a style that some students may prefer and feel is fairer than conventional examinations. These feelings may positively affect the students’
attitude toward the course for the remainder of the semester and possibly
their motivation to remain in the major.
Challenges: It was a challenge to develop an environment and game story that we felt would include gaming features and learning opportunities.
We have been seeking input from students at each stage of development
to keep these dual goals at the forefront.
Poster 144
Nebil Buyurgan
Institution: University of Arkansas
Title: Integrated Auto-ID Technology for Multidisciplinary
Undergraduate Studies (I-ATMUS)
Project #: 0633334
Co-PI: Justin Chimka
PI:
Goals: The goals of this project are to increase the understanding of Au-
toID in different engineering disciplines and improve undergraduate student attitudes about engineering education. Intended outcomes include
improving students’ conceptual understanding and improving student attitudes about engineering as a career.
Methods: Stated as one of the objectives, an Internet-based hands-on
learning environment for Auto-ID technologies is being created. Along
with the environment, an interactive experimentation website where online users can control laboratory machinery through the Internet and see
the readings of AutoID equipment online is being planned to develop.
Evaluation: We are in the process of software and website development.
Once they are finished, measurable outcomes for project objectives will
be measured by different data collection methods such as faculty/student
interviews and surveys, crew interviews, and company surveys. In addition, throughout the project departmental undergraduate studies and
curriculum, a committee will evaluate initial and ongoing project activities as well as outcomes and impacts. We will manage the formative and
Poster Abstracts
summative evaluations after recommendations of The 2002 User-Friendly
Handbook for Project Evaluation.
Dissemination: Dissemination activities include three national and inter-
national seminar presentations, three conference presentations, and one
journal paper submission. Plans for continuing dissemination includes
conference papers in ASEE annual and IIE annual conferences.
Impact: The developed experimentation environment and website will be
used for workshops and seminars for students as well as industry partners. The learning environment will provide students in different engineering disciplines with invaluable resources to learn and experiment. Evaluated impacts of this project will include capabilities of the new material,
availability of them to the students and industrial companies, students’
interest in AutoID technology, faculty teaching styles and content, faculty
grant activity, student research output, knowledge production, students’
first jobs, and level of satisfaction and suggested improvements.
Challenges: There are no unexpected challenges; however, there are
technical and technological problems during the development of the Internet-based, hands-on learning environment.
Poster 145
Juan Caicedo
Institution: University of South Carolina
Title: Developing an Engineering Environment for Fostering
Effective Critical Thinking (EFFECT) through Measurements
Project #: 0633635
Co-PI: Joe Flora
PI:
Goals: 1) To develop freshmen-level civil engineering Environments for
Fostering Effective Critical Thinking (EFFECTs) focusing on various aspects
of measurement, 2) to evaluate the effectiveness of the EFFECTs, 3) to
evaluate the transferability of the EFFECTs to other institutions, and 4) to
evaluate the longitudinal impact of the freshman-level EFFECTs.
Methods: EFFECTs use an inquiry-based approach where students re-
search the solution of realistic engineering problems. Students are required to identify relevant parameters and issues through group and class
discussion and test their assumptions with hands-on experiences. The EFFECTs are specially designed for a variety of institutional settings.
Evaluation: The EFFECTs are being used for the first time during the fall of
2007. The data sources used this semester for the freshman-level implementation of the EFFECTs are 1) pre-post written tests, 2) decision worksheets done at the beginning of each EFFECT, 3) design reports submitted
at the end of each EFFECT, and 4) journal entries submitted by students
after each class period. Additional data sources to be used include video
of group discussions. Pre-post written tests are conducted in other freshman classes with students who are not being exposed to the EFFECTs. A
longitudinal study will be performed by testing upper-level classes with
both students exposed and not exposed to the EFFECTs.
Dissemination: Six EFFECTs have been designed in six different areas of
Civil Engineering. The material needed to implement the EFFECTs will be
available to the public on the project’s website. Journal and conference
papers are also planned in the dissemination activities.
Impact: Over 40 students at three institutions (University of South Carolina, Midlands Technical College, and Marshal University) were exposed
to the EFFECTs during the fall of 2007. We hope to both nurture student’s
critical-thinking skills and provide students with a better understanding
about civil engineering at an early stage. We believe this will positively
affect student performance in upper-level classes and freshman retention.
In addition, preliminary versions of the EFFECTs were used in the 2007
USC Science and Engineering Summer Camp with over 50 high school
students and over 90% minorities. Several students expressed interest in
pursuing engineering as a major after this experience.
Challenges: One of the main challenges faced by the research group
was finding a method to assess the development of critical thinking in
students. The capacity of students to reflect on their previous work is an
indication of their critical-thinking skills. Student journals where students
recorded how and why their original design changed were added to the assessment instruments. In addition, open-ended questions such as “what
did you learn about the topic of the EFFECT?” were included in the final reports for the same purpose. The design of EFFECTs applicable to different
institutional settings was another challenge faced by the research team. A
modular design was adopted.
Poster 146
PI: Amy
Chan Hilton
Florida State University
Title: Adaptation of Groundwater Physical Models and
Activities for Introduction to Environmental Engineering
Project #: 0410916
Institution:
Goals: The goal of this project is to improve student interest and learning
of environmental engineering, especially groundwater topics. The objectives are to 1) adapt and develop physical models, classroom demonstrations, and real-world activities to provide students hands-on learning of
groundwater concepts and 2) to implement these activities in courses.
Methods: The activities are adapted from material produced by Project
WET and EPA, while the implementation into courses is based on the ASCE
ExCEED teaching model. Physical models include a groundwater “ant farm”
model and real-world instrumentation. Groundwater investigation and remediation activities use actual site data and hands-on experiments.
Evaluation: Several tools are used to assess student learning of the
groundwater concepts. These include a pre-quiz and post-quiz, homework
assignments, exams, and laboratory reports and anonymous student surveys. Average student scores in relevant assignments and exams were
80% or higher in multiple semesters. Survey results indicate that more
than 80% of students found the use of the groundwater physical model
to be “excellent” or “very good” in helping them learn groundwater concepts. Additional assessment is ongoing.
Dissemination: Project results have been presented at the NSF Engineer-
ing and Computing Education Grantee Meeting (2005) and ASCE EWRI
World Environmental and Water Resources Congress (2006). Additional
plans include the 2007 ASEE Annual Conference and a journal manuscript
submission. The project website is http://www.eng.fsu.edu/~abchan/
gwmodels.html.
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Impact: The ExCEEd teaching model emphasizes the use of physical models and demonstrations as well as activities that place course material
into real-world context. Not only do the models and activities developed
in this project stimulate student excitement for the course content, they
also enhance student learning of concepts and their understanding of
the interdisciplinary nature of the material and address different learning
styles. Thus, they gradually build up their level of student learning and
use a variety of learning styles by the time they complete the unit. One
unique aspect of this project is that student assistants are involved in developing and adapting the models and team activities.
Challenges: Some challenges are those often encountered during experiment-based activities: Equipment failure and longer development time for
some activities than anticipated. During some semesters, the classroom
layout made it difficult to implement some of the demonstrations.
Poster 147
Bing Chen
Institution: University of Nebraska
Title: Vertical Integration of the TekBot Learning Platform
into Computer and Electronics Engineering Programs at
the University of Nebraska
Project #: 0511639
PI:
Goals: The long-term goal of the project is to re-ignite a sense of excite-
ment and commitment in students. The objectives are to 1) implement
TekBot course materials, 2) adapt and implement problem-based learning
strategies, 3) assess the success of the TekBot on student learning, and 4)
disseminate these educational tools beyond the scope of the project.
Methods: We find problem-based learning to be a successful approach for
engaging students in the learning process, allowing them to deeply participate in their own learning. A vertical curriculum integration takes place
as the TekBots cross traditional course boundaries, allowing students to
make connections and reinforcing content from course to course.
Evaluation: Formative evaluation data (such as retention and grades)
are examined each semester to determine what, if any, changes need to
be made so that the TekBot curriculum integration stays on track toward
achieving its objectives and is well mapped to desired outcomes across
CEEN coursework. Summative evaluation information is reviewed on an
annual basis and submitted to Fastlane with yearly evaluation reports providing the cumulative information needed for the end of year reporting to
NSF. Both the formative and summative stages of the evaluation process
also examine unanticipated outcomes and help the project to address
those outcomes with positive programmatic changes.
Dissemination: We have created a CEEN website that represents the work
of the project that is accessible at http://ceen.unomaha.edu. The curriculum materials and instructional modules are available because we are designing them for free electronic dissemination via the website. We are also
publishing scholarly papers and attending conferences.
Impact: Our anticipated impacts of our project centers on the use of the
TekBot learning platform as a unifying theme throughout an undergraduate computer and electronics engineering program. In this curriculum
model, students will be actively engaged in the learning process through
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problem-solving scenarios that allow them to more deeply participate in
their own learning. As a result, the anticipated outcome is that students
will experience engineering as fun. The work has led to the development
of a freshman retention program and a new robotic platform in our programs, the CEENBoT, and for grades 5–8, educational outreach programs
called SPIRIT under NSF ITEST.
Challenges: We have found the TekBot lacks certain attributes in terms of
being a robust platform with sufficient work space for attaching additional
electronics enhancements for courses in the junior and senior year. As a
result, a new platform has been developed, CEENBoT, which is responsive to the requirements of the upper-division courses yet will be priced
competitively.
Poster 148
PI: Brianno
Coller
Institution: Northern
Illinois University
Title: Teaching Dynamic Systems and Control with a Video
Game to Mechanical Engineering Undergraduates
Project #: 0633162
Goals: We are designing a new course in dynamic systems and control in
which assignments, projects, and learning experiences are built around
a video game. In the video game, students design and create feedback
controllers that drive virtual cars and bicycles. Our goal is to create a particularly engaging learning environment that improves learning.
Methods: Dynamic systems and control texts are filled with contrived and
unrealistic homework problems. There is little to connect the abstract math
to aspects of engineering that students find intrinsically interesting.
Our strategy is to get students to think as engineers do by making them
solve authentic problems within the virtual world of a video game.
Evaluation: 1) We are comparing learning outcomes of students who take
the traditional course to those who take the video game–based course.
There are no results to report yet. 2) We are assessing student engagement with a technique called the experience sampling method. For certain periods during the semester, we have students wear wrist watches
that are preprogrammed to beep at random times during the day. When
beeped, students fill out surveys describing what they are doing and the
emotions/feelings they are experiencing. Preliminary result: Students
working on homework in a game-based engineering course experience
significantly more intellectual intensity, intrinsic motivation, and overall
engagement.
Dissemination:
1) Published two papers. Many more are anticipated.
2) Presented at ASEE Annual Conference. Will continue to do so and to
present at a control conference.
3) Gave seminars at other universities. Plan to look for more opportunities to do so.
Impact: Locally (near-term): When our new course is established, we expect to dramatically improve the quality of learning and the excitement to
learn dynamic systems and control at Northern Illinois University (NIU).
I expect other professors at NIU will begin experimenting with the video
game in teaching their courses. Currently, a colleague is working with me
Poster Abstracts
to devise a way of incorporating the game into his vibrations course. Globally (longer-term): I expect video games and video game–like simulations
will have a widespread and prominent role in mainstream engineering
education in the not so distant future.
Challenges: Creating software always takes longer than anticipated.
Poster 149
Monica Cox
Institution: Purdue University
Title: Development of a Pedagogically Focused Course for
Engineering Graduate Teaching Assistants
Project #: 0632879
PI:
Goals: This project explores whether engineering graduate teaching as-
sistants’ (GTAs) pedagogical perceptions changed after their enrollment
in an engineering education course based on elements of the “How People Learn” framework. Course effectiveness will be examined via course
materials, GTA interviews, and online undergraduate surveys.
Methods: The research group will conduct one semi-structured interview
per GTA to identify GTAs’ perceptions about their instruction. Interviews
will occur face-to-face and will be audio-recorded. Researchers will distribute online surveys to undergraduates in GTAs’ courses. Researchers
will map responses to elements of the “How People Learn” framework.
Evaluation: After the interview questions have been asked, researchers
will transcribe the interviews. A general sense of the results will be obtained by continuous reading and rereading of the data and an examination of reflexive notes. The research group will note significant comments,
organize the statements into segments, pool the segments together, and
assign codes. Then researchers will test the codes and categorize the
codes based on repeated patterns. Differences and similarities in patterns
for control and treatment groups will be examined. Informal and formal
observations of GTA laboratories and results from student surveys will be
used to triangulate results obtained from GTA interviews.
Dissemination: A poster and paper describing the GTA course has been
accepted for the 2007 American Society for Engineering Education conference. Results from the qualitative and quantitative studies will be disseminated in peer-reviewed engineering education journals.
Impact: Through the creation of a professional development course for
GTAs that focuses on understanding the science and principles of learning
and teaching, we have exposed future engineering faculty to the importance of creating learning environments that promote all students’ higherlevel learning and retention. Results from this study are being used in the
redesign of a first-year course at Purdue University and will be used to
understand the roles that engineering GTAs play in the development of
undergraduate engineering students.
Challenges: One of the biggest challenges within this project was recruiting engineering GTAs to participate in the effective teaching seminar. In
the future, researchers anticipate combining course content with current
GTA training content so that all students can be exposed to elements of
the “How People Learn” framework and to innovative problems called
Model-Eliciting Activities.
Poster 150
Cliff Davidson
Institution: Carnegie Mellon University
Title: Collaborative Project: Sustainability Science and
Engineering Education
Project #: 0442618
PI:
Goals: Engineers are being increasingly called upon to create environ-
mentally sustainable solutions to societal problems; hence, our main goal
is to facilitate incorporation of sustainable engineering into current curricula around the country. The intended outcome is that engineering graduates will incorporate sustainability into their practice.
Methods: We are conducting workshops that include sessions on the con-
cepts of sustainable engineering, where to obtain educational materials
on these concepts, how to develop modules for courses, and other topics
related to this theme. We also have set up a peer-reviewed electronic library of free-access sustainable engineering educational materials.
Evaluation: We distribute evaluation forms covering all workshop ses-
sions to be completed anonymously, and create statistical summaries of
the data. We also invite comments on these forms, which are also summarized. The numerical results and written comments from these evaluations
are shared with our Advisory Board and discussed with them. Evaluations
of the first two workshops in year 1 showed that the sessions were well
received, although there were some suggestions for change. A number
of changes were implemented and the evaluations from year 2 suggested
that the changes achieved their intended outcomes.
Dissemination: We have conducted four workshops, two in summer 2006
and two in summer 2007, with roughly 30 engineering faculty members in
each workshop. Another workshop will be held in January 2008 and then
two more workshops in summer 2009.
Impact: We expect that faculty members attending our workshops will
be better prepared to include topics in sustainable engineering in their
courses. The long-term impact is that engineering graduates will be able
to incorporate sustainability principles in their day-to-day engineering
decisions so that environmental damage is minimized. Essentially all
engineering decisions affect the environment in some way, and thus it is
important for all engineers to understand these effects and to minimize
them.
Challenges: We desired to include faculty members from a broad range of
engineering disciplines at each workshop. However, the applications have
been dominated by civil and environmental engineers. We are increasing
our efforts to advertise the workshops to other branches of engineering.
Poster 151
PI:
Denny Davis
State University
Title: Capstone Engineering Design Assessment
Project #: 0717561
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Poster Abstracts
Engineering
Target Discipline:
Goals: The goal of the proposed project is to develop assessment instru-
ments, adoption strategies, and faculty resources for effective, sustainable use of capstone engineering design assessments.
Methods: New assessment exercises and scoring rubrics will be devel-
oped for the solution assets area of performance.
The assessment system will be rigorously tested to document its value in
measuring student achievement.
Educational research will be conducted to answer questions related to
adoption and best practices for implementing assessments.
Evaluation: Project evaluation will be conducted by the WSU Assessment
and Evaluation Center (AEC), led by Dr. Trevisan, with support of an education doctoral student. The AEC has years of experience conducting evaluations for funded projects, particularly National Science Foundation grants
in engineering education.
Dissemination: During spring and summer terms 2009, materials will
be developed to recommend methods and practices to enhance quality
implementation of each of the four assessments. Additionally, multiple
conference and journal papers will be developed to share research results
nationally.
Impact: This project will bring added value through its broad impacts.
Assessments and implementation practices will be tested and revised in
contexts that make them supportive of diverse students and capstone
courses. Collaborations established among institutions and capstone
course faculty will stimulate ongoing dialogue on capstone courses, assessment, and improvement of student achievement. Proven, practical
assessments will become models for non-engineering capstone courses
and will help elevate assessment literacy and credibility of engineering
education research on campuses.
Challenges: It is too early in the project to have encountered unexpected
challenges.
Poster 152
Jaudelice de Oliveira
Institution: Drexel University
Title: Integrating Sensor Networks in Undergraduate
Curriculum: A Marriage Between Theory and Practice
Project #: 0633576
PI:
Goals: Integrate sensor network studies into the undergraduate engineer-
ing curriculum and use them as a means to facilitate STEM learning. This
will be achieved through the creation of exciting hands-on experiments
that clarify concepts taught in several disciplines. Outcomes also include
a mini-conference on student’s work and senior design projects.
Methods: A new laboratory course in sensor networks has been created
and will be offered in the winter term. The course includes experiments
and lectures related to networking, digital signal processing, biomedical
imaging, etc. The course has been developed in modules that can be im-
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ported into other courses. Two senior design projects are currently under
way.
Evaluation: The course will be offered in the winter term. Two senior de-
sign projects are currently underway. We will use a multi-method matched
group evaluation design. This design allows examination of the experiences and achievement of students and other significant participants
across courses to ascertain effects of the new course content, motivation
and interest, and pedagogical effectiveness and attract underrepresented
populations (e.g., women and minorities).
Dissemination: The course materials will be made available on a website
and will be advertised on several mailing lists. Additionally, we will also
upload the material developed on sites such as Connexions.
Impact: The PI hosted a high school student, Justin Warren (Arkansas
School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts), during the Drexel College of Engineering Summer Mentorship Program, summer 2007. Justin
returned to Drexel for 5 days in October to continue work on the project, which he is going to present as part of his school’s science fair. He
is designing a sensor network capable of counting occupants in a room.
Seven undergraduate students are currently working in two senior design
projects entitled: 1) ParkSmart: A Distributed Parking Search System Using Wireless Sensor Networks, and 2) Detection and Tracking of a Moving
Vehicle using Sensor Networks.
Challenges: I have had to change the schedule of the project: the course
will be offered in winter, the mini-conference in April, and the seminar in
winter/spring because of university policies on new course offerings and
also to allow students to have had a prerequisite course.
Poster 153
Norbert Delatte
Institution: Cleveland State University
Title: Assessing the Impact of Case Studies on Civil
Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Curriculum
Project #: 0536666
PI:
Goals: The expected outcomes of this project will be educational mate-
rials on failure case studies for use in civil engineering and engineering
mechanics courses, in print and CD-ROM format, and a series of three
one-day workshops to disseminate those materials to engineering faculty
members across the U.S., as well as a tested assessment package.
Methods: The methods and strategies include further development of existing case studies, drafting new case studies, and pilot-testing the case
studies and assessment protocols in engineering mechanics and civil engineering courses at Cleveland State University. Other methods include
the one-day workshops and a new book.
Evaluation: Student learning has been assessed through surveys as
well as focus groups. The case studies were pilot-tested in two courses,
Strength of Materials (engineering mechanics) and Construction Planning
and Estimating (civil engineering). The use of case studies in Strength of
Materials was modified in a subsequent offering, based on the findings.
Students were asked about the technical lessons, as well as their responses. Case study questions were included on homework assignments and
exams. Case studies are particularly useful for addressing the outcomes
Poster Abstracts
concerned with professional and ethical responsibility, global and societal
context, lifelong learning, and contemporary issues.
Dissemination: Dissemination included one workshop, presentation, and
paper at the 2007 ASEE annual meeting; paper and presentation at the
2007 ASCE Structures Congress; and an abstract accepted for the 2008
ASEE annual meeting. Also, the book final manuscript was submitted to
ASCE Press, with expected publication in summer 2008.
Impact: The broader impacts of the proposed activity will be the imple-
mentation of a set of fully developed case studies for civil engineering
education. Based on survey returns from the participants from previous
workshops, each of the 60 faculty can expect to directly influence an average of 3.2 courses and 215 students in the two years after workshop attendance. Thus, the broader impact will be approximately 190 courses and
13,000 students across the U.S. The cases will be broadly disseminated,
with particular emphasis on applications to other engineering disciplines,
to enhance the impact of the work. The impacts will be measured through
formal assessment carried out at Cleveland State University.
Challenges: It proved surprisingly difficult to attract faculty to a summer
2007 workshop in Denver, Colorado, perhaps because of travel budgets.
As a result, the decision was made to hold the 2008 workshop in conjunction with the ASEE annual meeting in Pittsburgh, PA. This was approved
by the Civil Engineering Division and by ASEE, and the next workshop is
scheduled for the Sunday of the annual meeting. A convenient venue,
combined with publicity through both ASEE and ASCE, should help increase participation to 2003–2005 levels, by reducing the cost for the
workshop attendees. Funds have been requested from the ASCE Technical
Activities Committee to subsidize the workshop.
Poster 154
Bill DeLuca
Institution: North Carolina State University
Title: Grid-C: Green Research for Incorporating Data in the
Classroom
Project #: 0737180
PI:
Goals: The purpose of this Phase I project is to develop curriculum to
teach STEM concepts using data collected from renewable energy technologies at the NC Solar Center located on the campus of North Carolina
State University (NCSU). The main feature of this project is that data from
multiple systems at a single location, the NCSU Solar Center, will be collected and stored, enabling faculty and students to analyze, synthesize,
and evaluate data in a variety of instructional contexts. Working together,
the NCSU Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, the NCSU Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,
and Pitt Community College will develop curriculum and activities that use
the Solar Center as a means of incorporating real-world data in curriculum
to enhance student learning.
Methods: The Solar Center can be a national resource serving college and
universities throughout the U.S. To use the Solar House as a state-of-theart laboratory facility for undergraduate student instruction of STEM concepts, a new Photovoltaic roofing and monitoring system will be fabricated on the existing structure and interact with other renewable technology
systems at the site. To effectively use the facility as a learning tool, system
performance data must be available to verify that renewable technology is
viable. To make this possible, an extensive data acquisition system will be
fabricated to accompany the new Photovoltaic system to monitor and record all of its performance characteristics in addition to those from other
renewable energy systems on the site. To allow students access and availability to this resource, an Internet site will be created to display all of the
information and data monitored at the Solar House.
Evaluation:
The units are designed to enhance learning in a data-rich environment
will focus on developing students’ factual, conceptual, and procedural
knowledge and their abilities to apply this knowledge to solve problems
or make decisions. Constant with these goals at the completion of the
units, students will:
1) Understand components of renewable energy systems
2) Relate discipline-specific knowledge to renewable energy systems under study
3) Understand the engineering process used to design and/or evaluate
renewable energy systems
4) Apply knowledge to evaluate the appropriateness of renewable energy
systems in given situations
5) Identify strategic knowledge and processes used to make decisions
based on data analysis
Dissemination: Once operational, the data will be readily available
through the Internet and linked from the Solar Center site. Additional exposure throughout North Carolina and nationally will come through postings and articles submitted to many organizations that have a large network and a strong educational presence on the Internet.
Impact: Students must understand factual, conceptual, and procedural
knowledge, apply their knowledge to learn by doing, and then reflect on
the process that led to the solution (Bransford et al., 2001; Anderson et al.,
2001). The data collected from the renewable energy systems at the Solar
Center will be available to researchers, curriculum developers, teachers,
and students across the United States. Through Internet publication, the
curriculum will be available to universities and community colleges nationally. This project will provide aspiring engineers and scientists with
a resource to study renewable energy systems. Pre-service science and
technology education teachers will learn about theses technologies in the
context of their discipline and will have a resource that they can bring to
their classrooms.
Challenges: This is a startup project in its beginning stage. It has been
recommended for funding but the award has not been finalized. This wait is
a challenge but not unexpected. The biggest challenges to date have been
the change in personnel that occurs during the time the proposal is submitted and awarded and insuring that the project is ready to start immediately
upon award announcement. Both challenges have been dealt with continuous communication between parties and contingency planning.
Poster 155
John Dempsey
Institution: Clarkson University
Title: Hands-On Learning in Engineering
Project #: 0311075
PI:
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Poster Abstracts
Goals: The goal is to develop hands-on lectures and labs to teach the
freshman engineering class (350 students) an introductory computer
course. MATLAB and LabVIEW are being taught. Outcomes are as follows:
build self-confidence, integrate research advances into the undergraduate curriculum, promote teamwork and communication skills, and broaden range of teaching styles.
Methods: The project is in the fourth year of implementation. The recent
two years have involved undergraduate teaching assistants (UTAs) in
classroom and labs and in lecture development. There has been continuous in-class assessment, feedback from instructors, and use of the Blackboard (Discussion Forum). The challenge is to develop lectures accepted
by all engineering disciplines and instructors.
Evaluation: All classes are equipped with a computer workstation for
each student. Interactive PowerPoint lectures, the Blackboard Academic
Suite software, and instant messaging software are being used. Hands-on
Clarkson designed examples built into the PowerPoint lectures focus on
concurrent or previously learned concepts from other freshman classes.
Each student is required to complete “Your Turn” exercises during and
at the end of classes. At the conclusion of each lecture, each student is
required to provide feedback on that lecture on the course’s Blackboard
webpage regarding any difficulties encountered during lecture or possible
improvements to the lecture material and exercises.
Dissemination: The challenge to create a successful course accepted by
all engineering departments at Clarkson has to date overwhelmed the
time available. Recently, the feedback has been very positive and we can
be more active in our dissemination activities.
Impact: MATLAB and LabVIEW are being taught at the freshman level. The
graduating students are using this software in other classes, often to the
surprise of their instructors. In other words, one impact is that successive
upper-level courses are being revised. Specific departments have been
singled out as being too weak in upper-level use of MATLAB or LabVIEW.
One surprising impact that I never expected is that after perhaps the rigor
of MATLAB, the students really like LabVIEW, and we get statements like
“why did we not see this earlier?” In time, if committed faculty continue
the unified team-taught approach, this freshman course will cause many
of the upper-level classes to be modified.
Challenges: While the Provost, Dean, and all four Engineering Department Chairs signed approval for the NSF-funded curriculum reform that
has been under way, the resistance encountered from individual instructors has proved a very troubling obstacle. From lectures and labs clearly
too difficult for the class in general, to unprepared or uncaring instruction, one challenge has been to get a unified instructional effort. The most
efficacious tactic has been to solicit the help of a team of undergraduate teaching assistants who, having had the course, could help revise
the lectures and labs so that the course was at the right level and well
accepted.
Poster 156
PI: Heidi
Diefes-Dux
Purdue University
Title: Assessing and Evaluating Student Work on Modeling
Activities Imbedded in a First-Year Engineering ProblemSolving Course
Project #: 0535678
Institution:
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Education
Goals: The goal is to develop a framework for assessment and evaluation
of student responses to model-eliciting activities. The intended outcome
is two prototype assessment and evaluation packages that are reliable
among instructors and represent high fidelity to what is valued by professional engineers.
Methods: The strategy is to establish criteria for evaluation of student
work using engineering faculty experts and to refine and operationalize
the criteria using experienced teaching assistants. Instructors’ modeleliciting activity (MEA) Assessment/Evaluation Packages (I-MAP) are
then constructed, implemented, and validated in a first-year engineering
course.
Evaluation: I-MAPs for three model-eliciting activities (MEA 1: Theft Pre-
vention with Laser Detection, MEA 2: Just-In-Time Manufacturing, and
MEA 3: Nano Roughness) were developed and implemented in a first-year
engineering course in fall 2007. Data consist of 1) complete panel results
for MEA 2 and a generic model for an I-MAP, 2) TA assessment and evaluation of five pieces of sample student work using I-MAPs for MEAs 1–3 (for
validation purposes) and expert feedback to the TAs, and 3) TA assessments and evaluations of student work for MEA 1–3. Inter-rater reliability
will be assessed for each I-MAP. An analysis of the TAs use of the I-MAPs
and expert feedback will be performed in spring 2008.
Dissemination: The work is targeted for presentation at the 2008 Re-
search in Engineering Education Symposium (REES). A publication focused on the design and validation of the I-MAPs will be submitted for
peer review to the Journal of Engineering Education. A second publication
will be written for mathematics education audiences.
Impact: Impacts, at this time, are anecdotal, but include 1) improved reliability of TA evaluation of student work, 2) increased quantity and quality
of TA written feedback to students, and 3) improved student work through
iterative cycles of feedback. One unexpected impact was concurrent development and implementation of a new rubric, modeled after the I-MAP,
for blind peer review, which included initial steps to develop a peer calibration system. A second unexpected impact was the concurrent design
and implementation of assessment and evaluation tools for first-year design projects that mirrored a number of elements of the process for implementing I-MAPs with the TAs.
Challenges: We learned that a reliable assessment and evaluation tool
does not work if it has no face validity with its users. The holistic approach
of the first I-MAP resulted in reasonably high inter-rater reliability, but the
TAs disliked it so much that we were compelled to change the format to
include partial credit. We also had to work with the fact that the first-year
course is complex and TAs have a tremendous workload. Providing feedback on model-eliciting activities (MEAs) takes considerable time. The result is that TAs often do not provide as much feedback on students’ work
as is intended by the instructors. Because we value students’ learning
from MEAs, we are looking at ways to balance the TAs’ loads.
Poster 157
James Drewniak/Edward Wheeler
Institution: Missouri University of Science and Technology/
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Title: Instructional Materials on Electromagnetic
Compatibility, Signal Integrity, and High-Speed Design
PI:
Poster Abstracts
0618494
Project #:
Goals: The project goal is establish a collaboration between a research
laboratory, an industrial consortium, and an undergraduate institution
to develop materials in electromagnetics, electromagnetic compatibility,
signal integrity, and high-speed design. Intended outcomes are that these
materials be current, authoritative, and rich in content.
Methods: Materials enable self-learning through written notes with em-
bedded audio/video clips, test conceptual understanding with conceptquiz questions, engage interest with in-class demonstrations, emphasize
applications developed with industry colleagues, and demonstrate measurement techniques, instrument usage, and use of simulation tools.
Evaluation: Methods include student surveys given pre- and post-course,
student course evaluations, student focus groups, and performance on
concept inventory tests given pre- and post-course. We are currently early
in the second year of a four-year project. The evaluation focus in year 1
was on establishing baseline data on existing courses. Student evaluations from year 2 have been significantly higher than typical in a sequence
of required courses in electromagnetics. Future plans include industrial
sponsor feedback on student design team and assessing the success of
students in hardware and paper competitions. Colleagues from industry
and academia assess the quality of materials developed.
Dissemination: Dissemination to date has been two conference presenta-
tions. Additional presentations and journal publications will follow. A second edition of a text on electromagnetic compatibility and signal integrity
will be published in 2008. A workshop is planned for the 2008 IEEE EMC
Symposium. A website is being developed for module dissemination.
Impact: We will establish an online educational archive of authoritative
materials for undergraduate and graduate engineers as well as engineers
working in industry. This archive will be disseminated to the EMC and SI
communities through links on the websites of the IEEE EMC Society and
the EMC Consortium.
We are testing whether outcomes from senior design projects can be improved by beginning preparation in the junior year, followed in the summer by company-sponsored internships or project-related research, and
then continuing the work in senior design courses. This scheme promises
both higher-level work in senior design classes and closer ties between
industry and universities.
Challenges: One challenge is in efforts to establish design teams, in
which the goal is to collaborate with industry in projects where there is
an expectation of results that the company can depend upon. Toward this
end, the two undergraduate teams, one at each school, work in parallel,
duplicating one another’s work, confirming measurements and comparing simulation results. By this means, results are made more robust while
still placing responsibility primarily on the students. Resources taken for
granted at the university (a well-stocked laboratory, expertise in modeling
and measurement, and a cohort of graduate students to assist) are not
presently available on one end.
Poster 158
Christine Ehlig-Economides
Title: Reading, Writing—Energy
Project #: 0633321
PI:
Goals: Project goals include designing instructional materials for energy
sustainability, applying innovative teaching methods, recruiting a diverse
instructional team, outreach, and evaluation of preliminary project results. Outcomes are an expanded and enhanced freshman energy course
and demonstrably improved writing skills.
Methods: Strategies involve the Reform Teacher Observation Protocol,
the Cappola Cognitive Apprenticeship Model, an English composition
writing skills component, weekly team meetings, an interactive website,
and ongoing evaluation and assessment. Outreach strategies include a
trial project in the TAMU Science Olympiad and a Duke Teaching Innovations Program (TIP) course offering.
Evaluation: We are qualitatively investigating two areas: the impact of
the team-teacher’s participation in team collaboration on their perspectives of teaching and learning, and the evolution of team-teacher’s actual
teaching practices over the course of the semester. Data sources used to
develop a richer understanding of instructors beliefs, teaching styles, and
discourse opportunities include semi-structured interviews, recitation observations, videotaped weekly meetings, student work, and teacher-student feedback. Triangulation of these data enabled analysis of the evolution of beliefs and practices of the team-teachers and provided examples
from their actual teaching and discourse.
Dissemination: Currently, we are preparing two papers accepted for the
ASEE Annual Conference: a poster and paper titled “Reading, Writing—
Energy: An NSF CCLI Project to Enhance a Freshman Core Curriculum Natural Science Course,” and a presentation paper titled “Research on the
Evolution of College Instructors’ Perspectives of Teaching and Learning.”
Impact: The anticipated impacts are that the energy and energy sustainability emphasis will attract underrepresented groups, spawn collegeand university-wide energy programs, attract industrial collaboration
and funding, and foster energy sustainability innovation. Up to now, the
teaching team has 30% women, and students have been 50% women and
10% Hispanic. Students are pursuing the Energy Engineering Certificate
program that requires ENGR 101 as a core course. The mechanisms are
essentially in place to sustain ENGR 101 for a large student population.
The first undergraduate peer teachers have instructed a recitation section, and new UPTs will assist in the spring and teach in the fall.
Challenges: One unexpected challenge was the difficulty to attract students to a new natural science course approved for the core curriculum.
We had very few students in the beginning. Actively acquainting undergraduate advisors with the course and especially explaining to them that
even though the course is offered by engineering, it is intended for all
students, may have been effective in increasing enrollments. The other
challenge is to improve teaching effectiveness of undergraduate peer
teachers (UPTs) because our first peer teachers seemed to struggle a bit.
For this reason, we are now asking future UPTs to assist with recitation for
a semester before actually teaching their own recitation section.
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Poster 159
Eniko Enikov
Institution: University of Arizona
Title: Low-Cost Multi-Purpose MEMS/Mechatronics Testing
Laboratory for Undergraduate Students
Project #: 0633312
PI:
Goals: The objective of this proposal is to develop a low-cost, multi-pur-
pose undergraduate micro-mechatronics laboratory based on the principles of learner-centered education. The laboratory will use inexpensive
micro-controllers, a desktop maskless lithography tool, and a wet bench
that will allow students to build and test their own micro-devices.
Methods: Specifically, this proposal will demonstrate four different exper-
iments based on the proposed laboratory: micro-cantilever experiment,
thermal micro-actuator, pressure sensor experiment, and mechatronics
experiment demonstrating system identification and closed-loop control
of a DC motor.
Evaluation: Student surveys and academic performance data have been
collected to assess the effectiveness of the laboratory in fostering experimental skills and the ability to solve open-ended design problems and
to entice students to pursue advanced engineering degrees. Additionally,
we are investigating the impact of the proposed laboratory modules on
the creativity level of the students using Test for Creating Thinking (TCT)Drawing Production. The results were interpreted using a two-tailed
paired t-test. Statistically significant increases were found in the students’
perception of the amount of their design experience and knowledge of
nanotechnology/biosensors.
Dissemination: A website describing the project has been developed:
http://www.ame.arizona.edu/research/memslab/Education/index.html.
The results of this project were also disseminated at the International
Conference on Engineering Education (ICEE 2007) in Coimbra, Portugal.
Impact: The proposed laboratory development is part of a multi-departmental master plan for the creation of a college-wide undergraduate curriculum on micro- and nano-technologies addressing the needs not only
of undergraduate engineering students, but also of students from other
sciences such as biosciences, optics, and physics. It is expected that the
proposed laboratory experience will foster interdisciplinary skills and improve our ability to motivate students to pursue advanced engineering
degrees.
Poster 160
Michael Escuti
North Carolina State University
Title: Modular Lab Experiments on Organic Electronics and
Liquid Crystal Displays for Undergraduates
Project #: 0633661
PI:
Institution:
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Goals: The overall goal of this proposal is to develop a series of laboratory
experiments for advanced undergraduate electrical engineering students
that give hands-on experience with organic electronic materials and liquid
crystal display technology.
Methods: Inherently modular laboratory experiments lead students to
build from scratch four devices: a single-pixel liquid crystal display (LCD),
a polymer light-emitting-diode (pLED), a polymer field-effect-transistor
(pFET), and an organic photovoltaic (OPV) solar cell. A comprehensive lab
manual and identify a low-cost “kit” of materials.
Evaluation: The primary mode of evaluation will be through a five-member panel of independent experts recruited from other universities. These
members will participate in the planning of the experiments and will all
participate in a workshop in the second year where the lab experiments
will be reviewed and improvements suggested. Feedback from student
participants through surveys will also be considered.
Dissemination: We plan to disseminate via a comprehensive website (still
under construction) and transfer at least two experiments to NC A&T. An
open workshop will be offered in the second year for those interested to
participate in performing all modules.
Impact: We have so far integrated these lab modules in an undergraduate
course with approximately 20 students and led 36 high school students
through the LCD module.
Challenges: The guiding principle of the project is to find a minimum set
of equipment and processing consideration that will allow almost any university to set up these lab modules. The challenge is to find equipment
and processing that allows for low-cost, easy instructions and high likelihood of fabrication success. We have found the cathode material application to be particularly challenging, but are exploring various conducting
polymers as an easily applied contact.
Poster 161
Ning Fang
Institution: Utah State University
Title: Integrating Computer Simulations and Hands-On
Real-World Experimentations to Improve Undergraduate
Manufacturing Engineering Education
Project #: 0536415
PI:
Goals: The goal is to improve undergraduate manufacturing engineering
education by developing an innovative instructional model to improve
cognitive learning and student motivation. The measurable outcomes
include developing a high-quality computer simulation program and improving students’ understanding on fundamental concepts and problemsolving skills.
Methods: Our instructional model consists of six cyclic steps that involve
diversified teaching and learning in the classroom, computer room, and
manufacturing laboratory. Throughout the semester, students conduct a
series of computer simulation projects and also perform real-world manufacturing experiments to validate the computer-simulated results.
Evaluation: An innovative unique method is developed to evaluate how
our computer simulation program can improve students’ understand-
Poster Abstracts
ing of engineering concepts and problem-solving skills. Multiple-choice
questions at varying degrees of difficulty are designed. If students are uncertain if their first response to a particular question is correct, they can
run the computer simulations to provide a second response to the same
question. Of 80 student responses, 57 responses (71%) indicated that
computer simulation is necessary or preferred for confirming their first
response. The phrases students use to describe our simulation program
include “see,” “visualization,” “easy to use,” and “real-time.”
Dissemination: The project results have been presented at three na-
tional and regional conferences: the 2007 Frontiers in Education Conference, 2007 ASEE Annual Conference, and the 2007 ASEE Rocky Mountain Section Conference. A paper manuscript that documents the project
results has been submitted to the International Journal of Engineering
Education.
Impact: The project advances the knowledge and understanding within
STEM education in general and within the manufacturing engineering
and technology discipline in particular. The project benefits U.S. manufacturing industry and the economy by preparing students with the required knowledge, skills, and abilities when they enter the manufacturing
workforce. Moreover, the developed instructional model can be extended
beyond manufacturing to other engineering disciplines, such as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, civil engineering, and technology
education where hands-on experience also plays an important role in enhancing student learning.
Challenges: Fortunately, we have not met significant unexpected challenges to date.
Poster 162
Bonnie Ferri
Georgia Tech
Title: A Cohesive Program of Experimental Modules
Distributed Throughout the Electrical and Computer
Engineering Curriculum
Project #: 0618645
PI:
Institution:
Goals: We are developing several low-cost, portable experimental
modules for use in lecture-based courses. The goal of the modules is
to enhance the learning of theoretical material by adding hands-on, experimental components. The expected outcome is to improve students’
understanding of the course material.
Methods: The goal of the project is to build modules and develop teach-
ing strategies and logistics to make the use of the modules attractive to
instructors who normally do not use experiments. We are using common
web formats, video tutorials, cheap off-the-shelf components, interactive
simulations of the material, and online quizzes for the students.
Evaluation: Student achievement will be evaluated using a rigorous
model with control and experimental groups. An analysis of student test
performance on those questions that correspond to the material covered
with hands-on experiment will be compared to the control group who
use the traditional instructional approach without the supplemental experiments. Appropriate statistical techniques will be used to compare the
performance of the student groups. In addition, students from the experi-
mental group (those in classes using the hands-on experiment) and from
the control group (those in classes using the traditional instruction) will
be compared using selected demographic variables.
Dissemination: We are starting to submit material to conferences. We will
have all of the developed materials online and available to anyone. We will
disseminate the material to our partner schools directly, and we will be
meeting with our external advisory board to discuss ways of disseminating the material to their schools as well as other schools.
Impact: We envision a fundamental change in the way that experiments
are conducted at universities. This change is analogous to the evolution
in the use of computers during the last 20 years, where students transitioned from using centrally located computing facilities to using personal
computers. In the same way, students can transition from using high-cost
centrally located experimental facilities to using student-owned low-cost
experimental platforms that they can use at home or in classrooms. Ultimately, experiments will be distributed throughout the curriculum, not
just in lab courses. Our impact will be to provide materials, teaching strategies, and logistics to facilitate this transition.
Challenges: One of the main challenges that we face is faculty inertia.
Most people agree that developing low-cost portable experiments to supplement the material in lecture-based courses is a good idea. However,
the instructors have some concerns: 1) time to implement experiments
in class will take away from needed lecture time, 2) there may be a large
learning curve, and 3) the logistics and maintenance of the experiments
will be too much trouble. To overcome these concerns, the material is designed to integrate very closely with theoretical material and can be used
to replace standard homework. The teaching materials are designed for
ease of use for instructors who do not normally use experiments.
Poster 163
PI:
Ismail Fidan
Institution: Tennessee Tech
University
Title: The Development of a Remotely Accessible Rapid
Prototyping (RP) Laboratory
Project #: 0536509
Goals: The goal of this exploratory project is to promote an awareness of
rapid prototyping (RP) technology through the development of a remotely
accessible RP laboratory. This project is introducing cutting-edge RP technology to two-year and four-year engineering/technology students and
enhancing student learning in advanced manufacturing technologies in
STEM disciplines.
Methods: Remote RP laboratory and instructional RP materials have
been developed in 2006. In summer 2006 and 2007, faculty development
workshops have been held for P16 STEM faculty with the support of the
Tennessee Tech University (TTU) STEM Center and Tennessee Board of Regents. Remote laboratories have been used for TTU and TBR’s online and
on-ground design and manufacturing courses.
Evaluation: The project evaluation plan is focusing on student learning
and is also comparing the relative advantages of remote and traditional
engineering/technology courses/laboratories. Through this project, many
users are benefiting from state-of-the-art RP technology, thereby better
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Poster Abstracts
justifying the cost of purchasing and maintaining the overall facility. Furthermore, the project is providing new insights into the strengths and
weaknesses of remote-access environments for both the design/manufacturing technology and distance education communities. An Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved survey tool has been used to collect
the measurable results of the project deliverables in online and on-ground
courses and workshops.
Dissemination: Remote RP laboratory and its educational components
have been presented to many P16 students/educators in the Engineering
Orientation Fair, Homecoming, E-week, and ASEE conferences. The TTU
SME student chapter members, senior students, and project team were
present in these events. Project findings were presented in ASEE and Tennessee Academy of Science events.
Impact: The project plays a vital role in training undergraduate students in
Middle Tennessee in cutting-edge RP technology. The project’s activities
yield a broader awareness of RP technology at the high school and community college levels, too. The project is instrumental in increasing the
participation of underrepresented groups in engineering and technology
education. Special emphasis is given to increase the number of the affected student and faculty in dissemination activities—courses and workshops. The survey data collected through the project assessment tools
expresses that the number of the RP practicing/knowledgeable faculty
and students are continuously increasing.
Challenges: Project co-PI: In summer 2007, the project co-PI left the uni-
versity. There were deliverables to be done by him. It took a few months
to find a replacement who has a close fit to project deliverables. With the
help and support of the TTU SRO and EE department, Dr. Elkeelany was
selected as project co-PI. Workshop recruitment/stipend processing: It
was tough to find highly qualified STEM teacher workshop attendees for
the RP workshops. The TTU STEM Center Director and TBR Workforce Development Director helped with these tasks. Student assistants: It took
time to find a qualified student assistant in RP processes and hands-on
networking skills. The PI’s former design student took the position.
Poster 164
Norman Fortenberry
Institution: National Academy of Engineering
Title: Two-Phase Validation Pilot for Measuring Engineering
Student and Faculty Engagement
Project #: 0618125
PI:
Goals: This project seeks to test and refine instruments to gauge student
and faculty engagement in engineering teaching and learning. The project
is piloting the instruments at seven highly regarded engineering colleges.
Once finalized, the instruments will aid in tracking and understanding
changes in engineering instruction and learning over time.
Methods: The project is piloting draft instruments, based on those de-
veloped by NSSE and augmented with ABET outcomes, at seven highly
regarded engineering colleges, including two minority-serving institutions. This allows the project to investigate validity and reliability, as well
as other properties of the surveys, and to refine them.
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Evaluation: Faculty and students at six campuses have taken the instru-
ments; we hope to have the other four campuses participate in spring
2008. There were high response rates for each question (median 96.5%).
We achieved response rates of over 50% from the participating campuses.
This shows that the instrument can successfully be administered via the
web and probably by postal mail to a broad range of engineering faculty.
The survey appears to have satisfactory internal reliability for the Learning Component scale, with the Cronbach’s alpha index above 0.7 for each
component. Content validity was ensured during questionnaire development. More data and tests are needed and will be pursued.
Dissemination: Presentations have occurred at the International Confer-
ence on Research on Engineering Education and the 2007 ASEE Annual
Conference and Exposition both to be held in Hawaii in June 2007. Additional dissemination at professional meetings will occur. The project’s
final report will be mailed to engineering department heads across the
country.
Impact: Successful completion of this project will result in the development of instruments that will help to judge national state of engineering
education and to follow trends over time. Appropriate use of the instruments can also help institutions and faculty improve teaching and learning, revise programs, and gain a better understanding over time of engineering and student behavior.
Challenges: Some of the campuses who were initially enthusiastic about
participating were not able to fully participate. We will replace them in the
second and more detailed phase of our work.
Poster 165
Jeffrey Froyd
Title: Collaborative Research: Assessing Engineering
Students’ Mathematical Preparation to Create Engineering
Solutions
Project #: 0536815
PI:
Goals: The project addresses two sets of research questions:
1) How well are engineering students prepared mathematically?
2) What are the strengths?
3) Where improvement is needed?
How is mathematical preparation related to:
1) Doing engineering computations?
2) Applying computation procedures to novel contexts?
3) Formulating a problem?
Methods:
1) Solicit representative problems from engineering faculty to derive examples of what engineering faculty want students to be able to do.
2) Deconstruct problems into desired learning outcomes to clarify expectations for student performance.
3) Build initial instrument from learning outcomes and acquire data.
4) Revise, get more data, and improve.
Evaluation: We will present the following results:
1) Sample problems that have been acquired from engineering faculty
2) Learning outcomes that were deconstructed from these problems
Poster Abstracts
3) Sample instrument that has been developed
4) Analysis of the data obtained from administering the instrument to approximately 300 students
The analysis will include estimates of reliability and validity of instrument.
We will also have results from an item analysis and a confirmatory factor
analysis.
Dissemination: To address faculty at different stages of change readi-
ness with respect to knowing about the project, we will use the following
activities:
1) One-page brochure on project activities and results
2) Journal and conference publications
3) Website with sample problems, learning outcomes, and instrument
analysis
4) Offer workshop at a conference
Impact: Review of existing research has revealed the lack of instruments
with which to assess the quality of mathematics preparation. By preparing
learning outcomes, an instrument constructed from these learning outcomes, and analysis of data obtained from using the instrument, engineering faculty will have clarified their expectations for the mathematical
preparation of their students and will be able to more clearly understand
the degree to which their students meet their expectations. With this information, engineering and mathematics faculty can have constructive
conversations about how well the current mathematics courses are preparing engineering students.
Challenges: It has been more difficult than expected to obtain sample
engineering problems from engineering faculty. Further, engineering faculty members who have supplied problems have focused on very specific
mathematical computations or very vague expectations. One result has
been that construction of the learning outcomes has been more timeconsuming and more difficult than was projected in the original project
timeline. As a result, we have resorted to lifting sample problems from
textbooks and asking engineering faculty if these are representative of the
types of problems their students are expected to solve.
Poster 166
Dmitriy Garmatyuk
Title: Developing Leadership and Innovation in Engineering
Students through Undergraduate Courses in Applied
Electromagnetics Built Upon a Novel Educational Concept
Project #: 0632842
PI:
Goals: This project is aimed at course material development to specifi-
cally address the problem of students’ declining interest in electromagnetics (EM). The new approach to teaching introductory course of EM aims
to spark students’ interest via offering them several real-world problems
which will form the core of the course.
Methods: The real-world problems offered in the course will be chosen
from the select areas of signal integrity engineering, radar, antenna analysis and EM field propagation in human tissue. The problems are intuitively
relevant and presentation of them is based on visualizing software (Matlab, SciPy and Ansoft Designer/HFSS).
Evaluation: The course based on the developed strategy is to be offered
in Spring 2008 semester. The evaluation methods will consist of: 1). Midterm student reflection essay; 2). Student evaluation at the end of the
semester; 3). Small Group Instructional Diagnosis administered by Teaching Technology Center at Miami U.; 4). Full-scale evaluation provided by
Ohio’s Evaluation and Assessment Center, as part of the CCLI grant.
Dissemination: Dissemination activities so far have included informal
talks with fellow EM educators, industry expert (former colleague at Intel
Corp.) and establishing a webpage with the materials for the course to be
posted shortly. As the course progresses, we will involve more educators
as panelists and share our course materials and observations with them.
Impact: The major anticipated impact is in creating such a course structure and materials which will spark students’ interest in the field and encourage them to pursue more advanced EM studies and possibly a career
involving some aspect of EM. These course materials will be made available to educators via publications, webpage postings and direct mailings
of CDs on demand.
Challenges: As the course based on the CCLI project has not been offered
yet - it is to be offered in Spring 2008 - we have not observed any significant challenges.
Poster 167
PI: Vladimir
Genis
Drexel University
Title: Implementation of the Internet-Based Nondestructive
Evaluation Laboratory for Applied Engineering Technology
Curriculum
Project #: 0632734
Institution:
Goals: The goal of the project is to develop a course with a problem-based
learning approach to nondestructive evaluation of materials using Internet Protocol (IP) networks. The outcome of the project will be a hands-on
course where nondestructive evaluation techniques of parts and materials will be presented and applied through real-life problems.
Methods: Develop a team approach in the laboratory creating a model for
a real-world environment. Use Internet access to high-end equipment for
other universities and community colleges. Develop training and certification programs for the manufacturing and operating companies who desire
to train or retrain their workforce in the nondestructive evaluation field.
Evaluation: Evaluation of the project and data collection began soon
after the start of the fall quarter (September 22, 2007, to December 12,
2007). Students were administered a pre-test, which assessed the entering knowledge requirements for the course. Based on the results of
the test, students were divided by groups according to the think-sharereport-learn (TSRL) process. Both a formative and summative evaluation
approach to teaching will be applied. After completion of the course,
students will complete a course evaluation, including the questions according to a Likert-type scale. The qualified unbiased evaluator will be
involved to provide guidance in terms of educational effectiveness of the
developed material.
Dissemination: The results of the project’s development were presented
at the major conferences, such as ASEE, ASNT, and Mid-Atlantic ASEE and
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were published in the conference’s proceedings. Two papers were submitted and accepted for 2008 conferences. We will also submit papers to
professional journals and publications of ASEE and ASNT.
Impact: This project has the potential to significantly affect AET education.
It will help provide a new cadre of engineers with a strong background in
Applied Engineering Technology to fill important roles in industry in the
future. It will create a model for leveraging high-end instrumentation for
undergraduate education. It will create infrastructure for remote access to
high-end equipment via the Internet. It will stimulate interest in the AET
career paths among middle school and high school students via interaction with those students and their faculty. It will reinforce our relations
with the regional manufacturing companies and community colleges by
providing highly skilled graduates.
Challenges: We did not experience any unexpected challenges during the
progress of the project. The course development, instruction, and evaluation procedures were carried out according to the project’s goals and outcomes. Unfortunately, because of the limited number of the characters allowed in this submission, we could not completely describe the methods
and strategies, dissemination activities, and evaluation methods.
Poster 168
PI: Mayrai
Gindy
Institution: University of Rhode Island
Title: Development of Learning Materials for an
Undergraduate-Level Structural Engineering
Instrumentation and Measurements Laboratory Course
Project #: 0633500
Goals: The goal of the Structural Engineering Instrumentation and Mea-
surements (SEIM) Laboratory is to integrate current technological advances in structural instrumentation into the undergraduate civil engineering
curriculum. It is intended that students will be able to reach a deeper level
of understanding of an engineering problem and be able to develop an
approach to address the problem.
ing, provide feedback from their experiences, and partake in discussions
with the assessment expert.
Impact: The most significant impact of the project will hopefully be “shaking up engineering education.” Engineering by nature tends to be taught
in a very mechanical way. This is perhaps needed for some of the basics
and theory. But in laboratory courses, I feel that students should be able
to try different things to convince themselves of what they have just been
taught. This project will hopefully empower students to think for themselves, reward their creativity, and foster student-centered groups and
ideas.
Challenges: Because the project is relatively young, there have not been
many challenges. One thing that comes to mind, however, is student
recruitment for the pilot-testing in July 2007. The project team felt that
Saturday morning sessions would appeal to students who would be interested, since many students at URI tend to have internships during the
summer. However, we did not receive many responses. As a result, I had
to “sell” the opportunity better by highlighting the many benefits in my
class and offering a Certificate of Completion at the end of the program.
This seemed to have worked. We now have five of the six slots filled with
highly qualified participants.
Poster 169
Stacy Gleixner
Institution: San Jose State University
Title: Development of Project-Based Introductory to
Materials Engineering Modules
Project #: 0341633
PI:
Goals: The goal of the project is to develop five lecture modules and three
laboratory modules for an Introduction to Materials course. The modules
teach the basic fundamentals by placing them in the context of a modern
engineering application. The goals are to increase student engagement in
the course as well as increase their interest in engineering in general.
set of comprehensive and challenging laboratory modules that resemble
real-world situations. Junior-level students work in a team-centered environment, under the guidance of a faculty member, to design their own
experiments that address a specific objective.
Methods: The lecture and lab modules both have a similar format. The
goal of the module format is to make them easily adaptable by other instructors. Each module contains learning objectives, background on the
engineering application, lecture notes, in-class active learning exercises,
open-ended team-based projects, homework questions, and grading
rubrics.
Evaluation: Long-term success of the SEIM Laboratory requires a con-
Evaluation: The effectiveness of students learning the fundamental
Methods: This goal is achieved through the use of learning materials for a
tinuous review cycle to monitor, assess, and improve student learning
strategies at regular intervals. Key components of the assessment plan include the development of formative and summative evaluations, specific
program objectives and outcomes, pilot-testing of laboratory modules,
and student surveys. The PIs have partnered with an external evaluator
currently developing physics education material at MIT. The project team
is currently developing learning objectives for each laboratory module,
and pilot-testing is expected to begin in July 2007.
Dissemination: Faculty from the civil engineering departments at Rutgers
University and UMASS-Dartmouth have agreed to implement the developed learning materials and laboratory modules into their course teach-
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concepts is being assessed using the Materials Concept Inventory quiz.
Results show that our students learn the fundamentals to the same degree as a traditional course. Student self-motivation for learning is being
assessed with an instructional motivational survey. Initial data indicate
the project-based learning increases student motivation. The adaptability
of the modules is assessed with survey feedback from beta testers. The
modules have been used by eight other instructors besides the PIs. They
report an easy time adapting the material to their different teaching styles
and an increased level of enthusiasm in the classroom.
Dissemination: The modules have been published in three ASEE confer-
ence proceedings. Discs of the modules have been disseminated to faculty members through the ASEE materials division e-mail list. Eight faculty
Poster Abstracts
members outside of the PIs have implemented the course material. We
are working on a proposal with John Wiley to market the material as an
add-on to their text.
Impact: The Introduction to Materials course is a required course for almost every engineering student in the country. An estimated 50,000 students a year take the course. This course is usually a freshmen/sophomore-level course. Our modules teach the same material but in a way that
has proven to be more engaging and more fun for both instructors and
students. The modules give students a better understanding of how the
fundamental principles relate to modern engineering and in turn a better
understanding of just what engineering is.
Challenges: The assessment has been extremely challenging. We used
the Materials Concept Inventory quiz because it is the only standardized
form to measure learning of materials engineering. However, it has not
been that accurate a tool because it is not directly related to the content
in our course. We also have not been able to set up a true control for our
assessment because we do not have instructors teaching multiple sections of the same course.
Poster 170
David Hall
Institution: Louisiana Tech University
Title: Living WITH the Lab
Project #: 0618288
PI:
Goals: Our goal is to develop and deliver a project-based curriculum to
approximately 400 freshman students each year and to provide a bridge
between the freshman experience and upper-level engineering courses by
implementing projects in three sophomore-level engineering courses. Our
aim is to create students with a can-do attitude.
Methods: Our new curriculum boosts experiential learning by putting the
ownership of the lab into the hands of the students. Each student purchases a robotics kit, complete with a programmable controller, sensors,
servos, and software, to provide the basis for a mobile laboratory and design platform.
Evaluation: We are currently in our first year of full implementation of the
new freshman engineering program, and we expect to have assessment
results by the CCLI Conference in August 2008. We are using end-of-course
surveys to provide qualitative data on student attitudes and confidence in
achieving course outcomes. We are using these same surveys to collect
quantitative data on the frequency of hands-on activities in each course
as well as a listing of the out-of-class professional society meetings or service activities attended. Student responses on course outcomes are tied
to specific curriculum objectives, which are further tied to one or more of
the 10 attributes of the Engineer of 2020.
Dissemination: We presented a paper at the 2007 ASME International
Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition documenting our winter
quarter microfabrication project (fabrication of an RTD), and we have two
papers accepted to the 2008 ASEE Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh. We will
submit abstracts to the Frontiers in Education Conference to be held in
Milwaukee.
Impact: We delivered the first course of the new freshman curriculum
(ENGR 120) to 280 students this past fall. We are currently teaching the
second course (ENGR 121) as well as ENGR 120 to a group of 90 students.
So far, hand-on projects include programming robots for sensing and control (individual student assignments), fabricating a centrifugal pump with
solid modeling and rapid prototyping applications (teams of two), and
building a system where the temperature and salinity of a small volume
of water is controlled by using student-built conductivity and temperature
sensors as well as off-the-shelf components. Student teams will develop
a “smart product” in ENGR 122.
Challenges: The content that defines the courses is being posted to
course websites. The time required to get this content finalized and posted to the website has been significant. Also, while students do own and
maintain their robot and most of the hand-tools that they use, a significant
amount of supplies are required for the course projects. Choosing, ordering, and distributing these supplies has been both time-consuming and
challenging. The faculty participants will spend time next summer writing
work responsibilities for our students who staff the “help desk” and work
orders for our technicians to transfer most of these duties to student labor
and staff members.
Poster 171
Eric Hamilton
U.S. Air Force Academy
Title: Collaborative Research: Impact of Model-Eliciting
Activities on Engineering Teaching and Learning
Project #: 0717864
Education
PI:
Institution:
Goals: One goal of this collaborative is to use a models and modeling
approach in engineering to help develop effective, transferable competencies in problem-solving and creativity. At the U.S. Air Force Academy,
we carry out this work in environmental engineering with research in the
evolution of conceptual systems to give insight on deeper approaches to
college learning.
Methods: We develop tools that are used simultaneously for teaching,
research, and assessment, called model-eliciting activities (MEAs). These
group problem-solving activities involve carefully formulated real-world
scenarios that elicit conceptual models and motivated further modeling
iterations.
Evaluation: The project is currently in its opening months. One evaluative
measure will be the nature, number, and embeddedness of MEAs in the
various participating universities. This must be evaluated in a stepwise
manner, and it is not until a course or approach is fully in place that its impact can be evaluated. Thus, these three interim evaluative methods are
crucial. We also seek to evaluate the conceptual model development and
evolving expertise of the researchers and teaching faculty on the team.
MEAs are about the evolution of conceptual systems, and we will document the growth not only of student competencies, but of the teachers
and researchers.
Dissemination: We are engaged with partners internationally in advanc-
ing the models and modeling approach, including colleagues in Africa,
China, and England. Additionally, we have produced research journal
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Poster Abstracts
submissions and numerous paper presentations in the early stages of the
project. Finally, we are blending MEA approach with research on virtual
human tutors.
Without training, students averaged 50% correctness and justification.
With training, students average 70% correctness and justification.
Impact: Change is a complex undertaking in any curriculum, especially in
zine for practitioners. I have presented about classroom activities four
times and in two papers. Materials are available at the Center for Structural Engineering Education website, http://www.rose-hulman.edu/csee.
Several journal publications are in preparation.
engineering curriculum. Many of the most enduring goals in education,
involving equity, the balance of deep conceptual structures and skill sets,
cross-cultural collaboration, and the development of astute and creative
problem-solvers with high levels of adaptive expertise, lend themselves to
the type of approach we are pursuing in this project.
If we have the impact desired, a large body of MEAs will be developed,
along with existence proofs of engineering students engaged in powerful
international collaborations, and we will be able to shed light on important cognitive processes underlying creativity and misconceptions.
Challenges: We are at the beginning of the project, so unexpected challenges have not arisen in very rich ways. The greatest challenge we anticipate in bringing a modeling approach to bear in undergraduate curriculum
is the zero-sum nature of available time in the curriculum. In that sense,
we are developing an approach to MEA integration. MEAs do not replace
existing topics on a 1:1 basis; they are oriented around eliciting, nurturing,
and developing increasingly powerful conceptual models that involve the
topics in a typical curriculum. Bringing this alternative approach to bear in
a “land-locked” curriculum is a difficult challenge for which each partner
currently has a plan.
Poster 172
James Hanson
Institution: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Title: Using Metacognition to Teach Evaluation of Results in
Structural Analysis Courses
Project #: 0341212
PI:
Goals: This project seeks to enable students to achieve the following:
1) Explain and implement strategies for evaluating results of structural
analyses.
2) Evaluate whether the strategies being implemented lead to reasonable
conclusions.
3) Change strategies or develop new ones if the strategies used do not
lead to reasonable conclusions.
Methods: I conducted interviews with practitioners to learn how they
evaluate results. I incorporated the teachable strategies into classroom
instruction and homework assignments. I also taught metacognition as
it applied to developing assessment skills. This was reinforced in how I
constructed the homework assignments.
Evaluation: We measured Attitude through surveys. Student self-as-
sessment of ability remained unchanged; however, their performance did
change. We measured Behavior through interviews where the student
talked through their evaluation of results for a given problem. We recorded the interviews for the class without training and the subsequent three
years and are reducing the data now. We measured Cognition with a timed
exam. Students had to select the most reasonable answer and justify the
selection. Practitioners averaged 92% correctness and 72% justification.
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Dissemination: I published results of practitioner interviews in a maga-
Impact: The project resulted in a procedure for gathering “experience”
from practitioners. The teachable components of their experience (underlying principles, simplifying assumptions, features of the answer) are
probably common to all engineering, although the details will be discipline
specific. The format of homework problems (guess the solution, make approximations to generate a solution, implement the method introduced
in class, perform computer analysis, argue that the computer results are
reasonable using the other calculations, reflect on the accuracy of your
initial guess) should be valid for teaching evaluation of results and metacognitive behavior in any engineering discipline.
Poster 173
Richard Herz
University of California, San Diego
Title: PureWaterLab—Conservation Education and
Research through Interactive Simulation
Project #: 0443044
Co-PI: Gregory Ogden
Development
PI:
Institution:
Goals: One goal is enhanced understanding by students of water purifica-
tion and conservation methods. Another goal is a software framework that
allows others to produce and distribute interactive simulations that will
engage students and allow them to understand complex systems.
Methods: The strategy is to enhance awareness and understanding of
complex systems by providing interactive software simulations as well as
explanatory text and learning assessment tools.
Evaluation: Evaluation methods include:
•
•
•
•
•
Analysis of logs recorded during use of the software
Results of quizzes taken by students as they use the software
Observation of students as they use the software
Analysis of questions asked by students
Evaluation forms given to students
Dissemination: The software is distributed via the web at no charge to
users. The prototype software is also being distributed on the CD-ROM
included with the major textbook in the field.
Impact: Many parts of the U.S. are suffering through an extended period
of drought, and drought conditions are predicted to worsen as the climate
continues to change. This project will help to increase awareness and understanding of the challenges of water supply and usage, especially the
method of conserving water in manufacturing processes. The project is
also developing a software framework that will be able to be used by other
educators to develop and distribute educational modules that contain interactive simulations of complex systems.
Poster Abstracts
Challenges: One unexpected challenge is the resistance of some educators to move outside the traditional lecture and end-of-chapter homework
model of teaching. We are trying to deal with that by trying to provide
complete educational modules that are as simple as possible for teachers
and students to include in a course.
Poster 174
Archie Holmes
University of Virginia
Title: CCLI: Hands-On Module Development for Student
Mastery of Electric Circuit Concepts
Project #: 0734896
Co-PI: Kathy Schmidt
PI:
Institution: The
Goals: Our goal is to develop carefully designed experimental learning
experiences to improve student achievement and “ultimately” improved
intellectual development in students. The focus of our work is in electrical
circuits.
Methods: There are two main approaches. The first is the experimental
learning modules that require a student to apply important concepts in
electrical circuits. The other is the development of assessment tools to
measure student learning and achievement.
Evaluation: Development is still ongoing. Our evaluation plan is to get
students to use the modules and then complete an evaluation that measures learning. A comparison will be done between those who have used
the modules and those who have not.
Dissemination: Our plans for dissemination are to publish the modules
and experiments once their educational value is demonstrated. We plan
to do the same with all developed assessment instruments.
Impact: Our anticipated impacts are on helping students better under-
stand core concepts in electrical circuits. In addition, these students
should demonstrate improved ability to apply these concepts in novel
situations.
Poster 175
PI: Steve
Hsiung
Institution: Old Dominion University
Title: Collaborative Development of a Microcontroller
Training System for Two- and Four-Year Distance Learning
Engineering Students
Project #: 0633241
Co-PI: James Eiland
Goals: This project aims to make affordable technology-related course
materials, activities, hardware, and software to students who do not have
access to microcontroller training that is required for many high-tech jobs.
This project will produce microcontroller prototype hardware and software
and instructional materials needed to support the distance education.
Methods: Collaborate between a four-year university and two, two-year
community colleges faculty in a project to make it suitable for both the
two-year and four-year students. Design a training system that is affordable and sufficient for hands-on learning from a distance. Evaluate Phase I
hardware, software, and curriculum designs through two-year faculty and
students.
Evaluation: This exploratory project will test and assess the effectiveness
of the designed digital, microprocessor curriculum and hardware/software packages in two-year community college courses. There will be comparisons undertaken between the students’ evaluation scores for those
who used this training system and students who did not use the system. A
statistical analysis of the data will be used to determine the effectiveness
of the instructional package. In addition, a survey of the students and faculty at the end of the semester will assess their opinions regarding this
training system. Outside evaluators will be used for assessment of this
project effectiveness in hands-on distance education.
Dissemination: The first-year project results are scheduled to be present-
ed through a workshop at the 2008 ASEE Annual Conference in Pittsburgh,
PA. There is also a presentation of this project design and development of
the hardware and software. There will be an article submitted to the JET,
JIT, or others as the results of this project are collected.
Impact: The immediate impact of this project is the development of expertise by the project team members. Team members have realized the vast
amount of work required to develop new training hardware and their instructional support materials. This is the best motivation when your team
members want to fulfill goals and conduct research for solutions. It is a
very fruitful learning experience for everyone on this design team. There
are demands for this training system through various conversations with
different institution’s faculty during conference meetings. It is a common
obstacle in implementing hands-on distance learning—the lack of a good
teaching platform that is effective and affordable.
Challenges:
1) Seek collaboration: Be persistent; get to know people through conferences and meetings.
2) Coordinate efforts among team members: Use different communication methods. Use confirmation and verification techniques.
3) Resource sharing: Show needs and set deadlines so institutions can
build upon each other’s assets. Coordinate among institution’s support
branches.
4. Hardware and software learning: Spend more time asking questions
and learning about potential applications.
5. Coordinate curriculum content: Communication, confirmation, verification, and compromise.
6. Budget: Parts and labor costs management from vendors.
Poster 176
Lisa Huettel
Institution: Duke University
Title: A Vertically Integrated Application-Driven
Undergraduate Signal Processing Laboratory
Project #: 0410596
PI:
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Poster Abstracts
Focus: Implementing
Educational Innovations
Goals: The goal of this project is to develop a signal processing laboratory
to serve sophomore- though senior-level students in core, topic, and design courses. The primary outcome of the application-focused, vertically
integrated design of the laboratory will be the provision of new opportunities to apply theoretical concepts to real-world applications.
Methods: The application-driven exercises are integrated into multiple
courses. As the students advance through the signal processing curriculum, they transition from high-level algorithm generation to hardware-level design and implementation. This hierarchical training provides a thorough, extended, and increasingly focused exposure to signal processing.
Evaluation: Initial assessment data, obtained via anonymous surveys,
indicate that this laboratory had significant and salutary effects on student learning. First, students nearly uniformly reported that lab exercises
illustrated real-world applications of lecture concepts. Second, students
reported that the exercises increased their understanding of the material.
Finally, nearly 80% of the students reported that the laboratory exercises
increased their interest in signal processing and 60% reported that the exercises increased their interest in the Electrical and Computer Engineering
(ECE) major. Additional assessment will come from a concept inventory
exam to provide performance metrics that complement the qualitative
self-assessments.
Dissemination: The results of this project have been reported at confer-
ences including the ASEE Annual Conference (2005, 2006, 2007), the 2006
TI Developer Conference, and the 2006 Digital Signal Processing (DSP)/
Signal Processing Education Workshop. In addition, there have been several articles in the popular press, and a journal publication is planned.
Impact: This project has made a positive impact on SP education by improving student understanding and motivation. Students commented
that they found it easier to understand the technical objectives and concepts of the course, since they could derive the design specifications of
the laboratory project from the actual problem (rather than being given
seemingly meaningless design parameters). Classroom discussions have
become more animated, since real-world applications are linked to theory
through lab exercises. Overall, the laboratory experience has increased
the students’ level of interest in the field of signal processing.
Challenges: Some students commented on the challenges of learning
to use the hardware, even going as far as to suggest that debugging the
software/hardware sometimes obscured the conceptual learning objectives. This issue was addressed by dividing the introductory laboratory
exercises into software and hardware introductions. A second challenge
arose with the use of the Signals and Systems Concept Inventory as an
assessment tool. Unfortunately, the overall normalized student gain from
the beginning to the end of the semester is not significantly different before and after the introduction of the laboratory exercises (based on a
small sample size). Further data collection and analysis is planned.
Poster 177
P. K. Imbrie
Purdue University
Title: Assessing Student Team Effectiveness
Project #: 0512776
PI:
Institution:
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Goals: The goal is to develop both a reliable and valid instrument and
a procedure designed to allow students to assess their individual, and
team, effectiveness using a web-based peer evaluation process, which
automatically corrects for rater-bias (e.g., halo, leniency) to enhance students’ understanding of team processes and behaviors.
Methods: The first analysis uses cluster analysis to derive the core pro-
files of the team effectiveness scale. The second analysis uses a calibration schema to correct for rater-bias in peer evaluation measures. The
third analysis uses a neural network model to predict team effectiveness.
Last, a repeated-measures analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) evaluates the
impact of intervention.
Evaluation: The goal of this study is to develop a model that enables en-
gineering educators to identify effective student teams in a broad range
of educational settings. On a consistent basis, students complete simple
online peer evaluations to identify the level of their team’s functionality (i.e., effectiveness). Indicators of effective teams are based on peer
evaluations for each team member, as provided by each team member.
Student’s perception of functionality is operationalized in terms of a selfreport instrument requiring students to indicate the degree their team
worked together across a range of domains, including interdependency,
learning, potency, and goal-setting.
Dissemination: Dissemination included presentations at ASEE and FIE.
We are currently finishing a JEE manuscript.
Impact: Current teaching pedagogies rely heavily on students collaborating in a team-like environment. However, if we do not develop innovative
strategies to evaluate the effectiveness of the teaming experience for students or determine methods to intervene when teams are dysfunctional,
we will miss the opportunity to maximize student learning gains. The
team effectiveness model that is being developed will produce engineering graduates that have a profound understanding of team processes and
behaviors. In addition, it will allow faculty members to more accurately
determine the impact the teaming experience is having on their students.
Poster 178
PI: Jacqueline
Isaacs
Institution: Northeastern University
Title: Assessment of Learning through Computer-Facilitated
Networked Play
Project #: 0717750
Goals: This project brings the growing concerns of environmental aware-
ness and diverse learning styles together in an innovative learning model
to educate future engineering leaders, by exploring the extent to which
students increase their understanding of complex tradeoffs among environmental, economic, and technological issues in the auto industry.
Methods: We are designing an educational computer game to allow stu-
dents to gain knowledge and confidence in the following areas: history
of environmentally benign technologies, policies and legislation that influence manufacturing, effect of current events on a supply chain, teambased decision-making, and business strategies to address environmental burdens.
Poster Abstracts
Evaluation: The game will be assessed and evaluated for its effectiveness
as a learning tool for engineering students. Investigation of different student groups will allow comparison across engineering disciplines (IE, ME).
Using a combined qualitative and quantitative longitudinal design, and
incorporating a non-equivalent control group in the area of knowledge acquisition, we will impose pre/post-testing of students using a knowledge
survey format to measure learning and confidence. A program survey will
evaluate game functionality. Players will be periodically “tested” regarding their retention of information supplied by current event cards they
have accessed. Focus groups will also be conducted.
Dissemination: Our game will be available online for networked par-
ticipation. The PI is the education coordinator for NSF-funded NSEC and
will also use established Engineering Center networks for dissemination.
Northeastern University may grant access to Shortfall Online to partner
universities or license the technology to universities that wish to adopt
the game.
Evaluation: We have developed pre- and post-assessment survey instru-
ments, which explore students’ perceptions about their knowledge of lean
thinking and its application, as well as their ability to solve problems. Preand post-data have been collected at four universities in fall 2007 and will
be analyzed in spring 2008.
We have also developed a “diary” for faculty who are first using the materials and simulation, to record learning goals as well as what worked well
and what was a challenge. These instruments will be updated to support
flexibility around different learning objectives and levels of use and used
at two additional universities in spring 2008.
Dissemination: We presented a paper at the DSI Annual Conference in
November 2007. Several presentations (at the May 2008 Ind. Eng. Research Conference and June 2008 ASEE Conference) have also been accepted. They involve both the PIs and faculty at participating institutions,
describing implementation benefits and barriers, as well as assessment
results.
Impact: Engineers will play a critical role in addressing the challenges of
sustainability. The development of Shortfall Online will allow evaluation
of a forward-looking gamed-based method for engaging the upcoming
generation of technical savvy, participatory-oriented engineering students as decision-makers in the design, civic, and business implications
of caring for our environment. It imparts participants with skills that are
broad-based and learning techniques that can be applied throughout
their careers and can foster informed participation in complex business
and engineering decision-making.
Impact: The intensive Lean Enterprise Workshop in June 2007 was attended by 14 faculty and 5 graduate students from nine institutions, as well as
lean trainers. In fall 2007, the simulation and materials were used at WPI
(30 students), the University of Pittsburgh (60 students), Elizabethtown
College (20 students), and Merrimack College (160 students). Courses included Introduction to Engineering, the first course in Industrial Engineering, and Operations Management. In these implementations, three faculty
were supported in using the materials for the first time.
Challenges: One of our test plays was scheduled with a class of 70 senior
In 2008 and 2009, 12 additional schools will implement, representing twoyear and four-year colleges and minority-serving institutions.
mechanical and industrial engineering students in their Capstone Design
Course. I did not understand why they seemed so reticent about playing
the game in class, until I realized that their course instructor had scheduled me to come to class on the day before final projects were due. I will
be very wary of conflicts in course deliverables before scheduling such
an event again. In this case, the test play was not well received by our
students.
Poster 179
Sharon Johnson
Institution: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Title: Integrating Hands-On Discovery of Lean Principles
into Operations, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering
Curricula
Project #: 0618669
PI:
Goals: Our project goals are to 1) create 15 Lean Process Design Case
Studies to complement the Time Wise physical simulation, 2) develop faculty expertise through experiential workshops and follow-up support, 3)
test materials at 15 diverse colleges and universities, and 4) assess the
ability to apply lean principles and to use data effectively.
Methods: Our strategy to ensure innovation and sustainability is to en-
gage participants. In our workshop in June 2007, attendees played the
Time Wise simulation, developed implementation plans, and brainstormed rubrics. We developed an RFP for creating case study materials.
In June 2008, a second workshop will include supply chain and case study
writing.
Challenges: The project involves implementations at 15 universities,
each of which will use different subsets of materials in different courses.
While standard instruments were developed for assessment, as well as
agreements related to material use, each university has its own requirements. This variability was not completely unexpected, but to manage it,
we are looking to develop more ‘modular’ assessment instruments, so
that schools may use assessments that are consistent with their learning
objectives.
Poster 180
Ghodrat Karami
North Dakota State University
Title: Transition from Continuum-Based Mechanics to MultiScale Mechanics in Engineering Education
Project #: 0536126
Co-PI: Robert Pieri
PI:
Institution:
Goals: The goal for this project was to prepare engineers and researchers
for the future of multi-scale technology by:
1) Development, at an early stage, of students’ internalized ease with the
scale
2) Development of students’ visualization of the problems under
consideration
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Poster Abstracts
Methods:
Evaluation: Several formative and summative evaluation methods are
1) Addressing the engineering mechanics courses to become multi-scale
mechanics
2) Present some of the concepts as well as the additive materials in the
forms of new modules to mechanics courses
3) The efforts were substantiated and facilitated using the simulation capabilities of Computer-Aided Engineering and Drawing.
used at multiple universities. These assessments include student performance, student satisfaction survey, digital content assessment, summative website rating, and external instructor evaluations. The results show
10% improvement in student performance and a 20% increase in website
rating. External evaluations show that the resources are effective without being overwhelming. A pilot study showed that the two modalities
of web-based enhanced classroom and web-based self-study/classroom
discussion are better than the two modalities of web-based self-study or
traditional classroom lecture.
Evaluation: Before implementation of the modules of multi-scale me-
chanics, questionnaires were given to students. The questions were
targeted to four board areas of familiarity and knowledge, preparation,
expectation, and the impact. The students in the two groups of Statics,
and Mechanics of Materials, were asked before and after the implementation of the modules. Also another set of questionnaires was given to the
students who attended the summer camp for the modules. The students
were from the university level as well as tribal college level. Moreover,
colleagues who were teaching the materials were also asked about the
impact of these new materials.
Dissemination:
1) One journal and six conference publications by G. Karami and R. Pieri
2) Presentation to students at North Dakota State University
3) Presentation to Turtle Mountain Community College (tribal college)
4) Presentation to group of faculty teaching engineering mechanics
courses
Impact: The impact should be sought in making the students more
familiar:
1) With the scales
2) With nanoscale materials
Other outcomes:
3) The generalization of mechanics to all scales
4) The importance of understanding nanostructural materials in design
and the capabilities to do design at all scales
Challenges: The classical mechanics by itself is a tough subject and is
well established. The addition of new materials is interesting for some
students, but a high percentage is not ready to accept any extra work
at nanoscale materials. However, in general, they are interested to hear
about the subject and to broaden their view.
Poster 181
Autar Kaw
Institution: University of South Florida
Title: Holistic Numerical Methods: Unabridged
Project #: 0717624
PI:
Goals: The goal of the project is developing web-based resources for an
undergraduate course in Numerical Methods for Engineers. The multi-institutional project (2002–2010) offers both students and faculty a comprehensive instructional package for simplifying and enhancing the teaching
of numerical methods across the engineering curriculum.
Methods: We are providing open resources that are modular and peda-
gogically neutral, so that they can be modified and linked to suit anyone’s
needs. The resources are holistic in nature, but are also customized based
on a choice of an engineering major and a mathematical package. The resources are available in multiple formats such as text, PPTs, videos, etc.
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Dissemination: All the resources are accessible (no login, no password,
no registration required) from the website http://numericalmethods.
eng.usf.edu. The web-based resources are part of several digital libraries including NSDL, Maplesoft, etc. Other avenues include advertising
in ASEE Prism, postcards to engineering professors, presentations, and
publications.
Impact: The website is ranked #1 and #14 out of 2.5 million hits in Yahoo
and Google Search, respectively. The website is visited more than 15,000
times per month. Several universities are using resources ala carte—
some use simulations, many use the textbook material, while others use
the multiple-choice questions. A total of 30,000 users from 50 different
nations have downloaded the book on Matrix Algebra. The website won
the 2004 ASME Curriculum Innovation Award and a paper on the project
evaluation received the 2006 ASEE DELOS Best Paper Award. By December 2008, we will be completing a typical Numerical Methods textbook.
Challenges: The unexpected challenges include working with the co-investigators from other universities. The emphasis of their courses is different and conducting similar evaluations can be challenging. This takes
time and has sorted itself out well. The other challenge is to publish the
material while still keeping it available free on the web. We have solved
this problem as well, since we will be self-publishing the material via thirdparties such as http://lulu.com, keeping the publishing rights, and generating self-sustainability with sales from products that are in print and in
electronic form.
Poster 182
Nirmal Khandan
New Mexico State University
Title: Computerized Adaptive Dynamic Assessment of
Problem-Solving
Project #: 0618765
PI:
Institution:
Goals: The goal of this proposal is to produce and evaluate a computer-
based adaptive dynamic assessment system that has the potential to improve problem-solving skills of STEM graduates. It is anticipated that with
the proposed system, problem-solving skills of students in fluid mechanics and statics areas will improve.
Methods: A computer-based dynamic assessment system is being devel-
oped for use in undergraduate hydraulics engineering and statics courses.
This system will contain problems designed to assess factual, conceptual,
procedural, and metacognitive knowledge of students and their ability to
remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create knowledge.
Poster Abstracts
Evaluation: The evaluation methods will include results of the nationally
normed Fundamental of Engineering (FE) exam in the two areas, specially
designed “test” problems, and student feedback from multiple institutions. Preliminary results in the hydraulics engineering area confirm that
the students are performing significantly better in this subject compared
to the other subjects.
Dissemination: As of now, the system is being developed and is not ready
for dissemination. However, preliminary results from the project activities
have been presented at educational conferences and published in educational journals. Plans for further dissemination include free distribution of
the system with a textbook the PI is authoring.
Impact: Based on the preliminary implementation of the system in the hydraulic engineering area, the following impacts have been noted:
1) Voluntary part8urnal of Computers in Education, 2007
Challenges: The original plan was to include 75 problems in the system,
but participating faculty have offered to author more problems to fit this
framework. This demanded a revision of the computer programming system but has been resolved now.
Poster 183
PI: John
Kieffer
University of Michigan
Title: Enhancing Materials Science and Engineering
Curricula through Computation
Project #: 0633180
Institution:
Goals: Our goal is to devise a more effective instructional process by in-
corporating computation and cyber infrastructure (CI) into materials science core courses. We expect students to gain a better fundamental understanding of materials science concepts and principles and to advance
their computational thinking and proficiency.
Methods: We will develop instructional modules that 1) visually present fundamental concepts in materials science, thereby increase student
comprehension; 2) actively engage students in computer-based experimentation; and 3) concentrate student attention on algorithmic thinking
and concepts in scientific computation.
Evaluation: The course Thermodynamics of Materials serves as a pi-
lot. Student learning in two consecutive offerings will be evaluated: one
taught in the conventional way and the other one after implementation
of the instructional modules. Evaluation will be carried out by a professional from the University of Michigan’s Center for Research on Learning
and Teaching. Assessment methodologies include interviews with instructor and teaching assistants, student surveys, review of instructor-developed course materials, analyses of student work, and collection of data
on student grades and student demographic and academic background
indicators.
Dissemination: Dissemination will involve presentation of module contents and assessment results at national conferences, publication in appropriate journals, and the distribution of modules via a web server.
Impact: We are modernizing the materials science and engineering (MSE)
curriculum using the latest advances in CI and computational science and
engineering. We will 1) use computation to enhance the cognitive process,
2) strengthen the mathematical and computational proficiency of MSE
students, and 3) use computer-based instruction to accelerate information transfer. The resulting product can be easily adapted by other institutions, it can be used for distance learning, and it can serve as a vehicle to
raise public awareness about the role of materials in advancing technology. We expect that these tools will increase comprehension and improve
the overall preparedness of MSE graduates.
Challenges: This project is currently in its assessment (using the reference student group) and initial development of modules phase. There
have been no unexpected challenges so far.
Poster 184
PI:
Jay Kim
University of Cincinnati
Title: Engineering Education through Degree-Long Project
Experience
Project #: 0633560
Institution:
Goals: To nurture creativity among engineering students who go through
a very structured curriculum, an approach called engineering education
through degree-long projects is being developed. Core courses in mechanical engineering curriculum are integrated by the theme of the project
to motivate students by relating abstract concepts with the project.
Methods: The first degree-long project is developed using the formula
SAE competition as the theme. Through selected courses relevant to the
project, the sequence provides simple yet meaningful example problems
to motivate students in learning in early years, to progressively comprehensive assignments, culminating as the capstone design project.
Evaluation: A system that collects responses from students, industry
sponsors, and instructors of each course is being developed. The techniques and method developed by our Professional Practice Division (coop) as a part of the FIPSE (Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary
Education) project will be used. Course evaluations, direct student survey,
and web-based surveys from cooperative employers will be used. The performance and responses of the students who participated in the degreelong program with varying extent will be analyzed statistically as well as
qualitatively. Special focus will be placed on comparing groups who were
in the program with other students.
Dissemination: We are developing teaching materials to distribute dur-
ing SAE and ASME student design competitions, publications in education conferences, and journals. We organized an advisory committee
composed of three professors from Ohio State, Wright State, and Miami
University who will potentially apply the approach in their schools.
Impact: The paradigm being developed in the project is intrinsically designed for board, long-lasting impacts. As the proposed paradigm is based
on an effective coordination of typical engineering curriculum, not based
on new out-of-the-ordinary concepts, the outcome is highly transferable.
The concept, using the FSAE project as the basic degree-long project, will
provide a prototype to develop a similar long-term PBL sequence based
on the existing comparable student design competition project such as
Mini Baja, Solar-Powered Vehicle, Human-Powered Vehicle, or Moon Bug-
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Poster Abstracts
gy. We also intend to demonstrate a new model of integrating research
and education by forming a partnership with industry sponsors.
Challenges: The main challenge we encountered is to develop and validate the proposed concept of a degree-long project during the two-year
project period of the phase I CCLI project. It is not completely unexpected;
however, we do find it more challenging than anticipated. On the other
hand, the project, assuming it will be successful, will have significant benefits to the students.
Poster 185
Jihie Kim
University of Southern California
Title: Scaffolding Pedagogical Discourse in Engineering
Courses
Project #: 0618859
PI:
Institution:
Goals: By supporting collaborative problem-solving and reflection with
discussion scaffolding tools, we will enhance students’ competence and
engagement in the courses. The overall approach should benefit undergraduate STEM students in general, but we predict that the impact will be
greater for female students.
Methods: Since Sept 2006, we have developed a discussion scaffolding
tool and a couple of discussion assessment tools. We will investigate the
styles of interactions among undergraduate students in online discussion
boards and assess the benefit of software tools that automatically structure and scaffold student interactions in an online discussion board.
Evaluation: The software tools will be deployed in diverse undergraduate
engineering courses at three universities: University of Southern California, Michigan Technological University, and Brooklyn College. The current
analysis of student discussions from a USC computer science course indicates that female participation in undergraduate-level discussions is lower than that in graduate-level discussions, and graduate female students
post more questions and answers compared to undergraduate female
students (Kim et al., 2007).
Besides the scaffolding tool, we will evaluate the new instructor tool that
automatically identifies discussion threads with unanswered questions
(Kim and Ravi, 2007).
Dissemination: The new discussion scaffolding tool is deployed in one of
the USC courses and was used in the fall 2007 (Kim et al., AERA 2008). The
same tool will be deployed in one of the computer science courses at the
Michigan Technological University next year. The instructor tool for discussion assessment will also be deployed next year (Ravi and Kim, AIED
2007).
Impact: The new discussion scaffolding tool is deployed in one of the
courses and was used in fall 2007. All the students can access the scaffolding tool, and 59 of 103 students have used the scaffolding content
details so far. We will associate the use of the scaffolding tool and student performance. In particular, we will analyze the impact on female
students.
• J. Kim et al., Towards Automatic Scaffolding of On-line Discussions in
Engineering Courses, AERA 2008
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• S. Ravi and J. Kim, Profiling Student Interactions in Threaded Discussions with Speech Act Classifiers, AIED 2007
• J. Kim et al., Novel Tools for Assessing Student Discussions, AIED 2007
Challenges: One of the instructors requested some extensions to the phpBB discussion board software, and we needed to create a new feature to
help the instructor.
Poster 186
PI: Nathan
Klingbeil
State University
Title: A National Model for Engineering Mathematics
Education
Project #: 0618571
Institution: Wright
Goals: The inability of incoming students to successfully advance past the
traditional freshman calculus sequence plagues engineering programs
across the country. As a result, this project seeks to redefine the way engineering mathematics is taught, with the goal of increasing student retention, motivation, and success in engineering.
Methods: The Wright State University (WSU) approach involves the de-
velopment of EGR 101 (a hands-on, application-oriented freshman engineering mathematics course) along with a substantial restructuring of the
early engineering curriculum. The result has shifted the traditional emphasis on math prerequisite requirements to an emphasis on engineering
motivation for math.
Evaluation: Assessment and evaluation are a primary focus of the project
and will provide the pedagogical basis for its adoption nationwide. The
approach uses both quantitative and qualitative measures of student retention, motivation, and success in engineering, with a focus on student
learning. To date, student surveys have revealed an increased motivation
and perceived chance of success in future math and engineering courses.
This has been supported by the quantitative data, which indicate that EGR
101 and the associated restructuring of the early curriculum have had a
dramatic effect not only on student retention and success in engineering,
but also on their future performance in calculus.
Dissemination: All course materials for EGR 101 have been made avail-
able to interested faculty from any institution at http://www.engineering.
wright.edu/cecs/engmath. Through invited presentations at conferences, workshops, and a variety of academic institutions, the PI has established over 100 contacts from dozens of engineering programs across the
country.
Impact: The WSU model is designed to be readily adopted by any university using a traditional engineering curriculum. As such, expected long-term
impacts include significant increases in engineering student retention and
graduation rates at universities across the country. By increasing the accessibility of the engineering curriculum, the WSU model is also expected
to have a profound effect on recruitment and retention of women, minorities, and other traditionally high-risk students. The nationwide impact of
this project is already becoming evident, as the State of Texas has recently
issued an RFP for course redesign based on the WSU model (http://www.
thecb.state.tx.us/AAR/courseredesign).
Poster Abstracts
Challenges: The only unexpected challenge associated with this project
has been its exponential growth. What started as a fix for engineering
student attrition at WSU has sparked interest not only from universities
across the country, but also from community colleges and the K-12 arena.
We have dealt with this growth by establishing a team of national players
in each of these areas, a subset of which will join forces for a proposed
Phase III implementation of the program. At WSU, we are dealing with the
local demand for EGR 101 in the community college and K-12 arenas by
the employment of undergraduate teaching assistants, which will set the
stage for their recruitment to our own graduate programs.
Challenges: Fewer faculty have provided problems than we had hoped
(or than had promised). So I worked with the instructor of the biochemical
engineering course to have the senior students develop a problem as part
of their course. I found research papers describing relevant bioprocesses
for them to use to develop problems. Of the 14 groups, 12 developed satisfactory problems, and they have been posting them for editorial review.
It turned out to be an excellent exercise for the students, and they are getting first-hand exposure at the publication and peer-review process.
Poster 187
PI:
PI: Claire
Komives
Institution: San Jose State University
Title: CCLI: Educational Materials to Enhance Chemical
Engineering Curricula with Biological Applications
Project #: 0633373
Goals: Facilitate the incorporation of biological applications into the
undergraduate chemical engineering curriculum through a database of
solved problems and enable faculty who have not had bioX training to use
the website in their courses. Outcome: Students are able to apply chemical engineering principles to biological applications.
Methods: A website repository (www.BioEMB.net) of solved problems
was developed for the first course offered in chemical engineering: material and energy balances (MEB). A workshop was given to faculty teaching the course, and a “roadmap” document was posted. Posted problems
undergo editorial review. Project direction is endorsed by an advisory
board.
Evaluation: Evaluation consisted of determining the extent of website
usage, particularly by faculty without formal education in biology. Beta
testing consisted of four positive test sites where website problems were
included in course instruction and one negative control site. Surveys were
given to the same students asking for attitudinal outcome information regarding the incorporation of bioX in their courses. Workshop attendees
were surveyed and a web-based faculty survey is underway to explore
faculty attitudes about the website, problems, and incorporating bioX in
their courses. Problem downloads by faculty users are being measured:
248 to date (three months).
Dissemination:
•
•
•
•
•
Presentation at Biochemical Engineering XV
Oral presentation and poster at AIChE 2007
E-mails to department chairs
Article published in education section of C & E News
Scheduled presentation at AIChE conference in 2008 and ASEE 2008
Conference
Impact: Website has 120 registered faculty users (worldwide) and 83 student users in first three months since launch (students are not required to
register if their faculty members are using the problems). In positive beta
test sites alone, 130 students are enrolled in courses where bioX is now
being incorporated. Estimated student participants is easily > 500. Some
non–chemical engineering faculty and high school teachers are registered
users.
Poster 188
Milo Koretsky
Institution: Oregon State University
Title: Enhancement of Student Learning in Experimental
Design Using Virtual Laboratories
Project #: 0717905
Goals: This Phase II proposal builds upon the successful proof-of-concept,
“Development of a Virtual Reactor for Experiential Learning of Design of
Experiments,” to more fully develop the virtual laboratory as a learning
tool for teaching experimental design, to investigate its effectiveness, and
to extend its utility.
Methods: In a virtual laboratory, first-principles simulations based on
mathematical models implemented on a computer are used to replace the
physical laboratory. However, rather than providing students access to the
entire output of model, output values are obscured by added noise, and
provided to students only where they have decided to measure.
Evaluation: We plan to assess learning and evaluate the virtual labora-
tories by 1) continuing to qualitatively and quantitatively study the ways
students learn using the Virtual CVD laboratory, including further development of the “think-aloud” method used in the proof-of-concept stage; 2)
assessing student learning using a new Virtual Bioreactor laboratory; and
3) assessing the implementation of the Virtual CVD laboratory at the high
school and community college levels.
Dissemination: Results and materials will be disseminated as follows:
continued development of a website (http://cbee.oregonstate.edu/education/VirtualCVD), presentations at national meetings, and published
papers in the engineering education literature. A workshop will be delivered for high school and community college instructors in summer 2007.
Impact: This project will promote teaching and learning and develop faculty expertise through implementation directly in two graduate, four undergraduate, approximately 10 community college, and approximately 10
high school programs. Because the virtual laboratories are easily transportable with minimal cost, have assessment methodology built into the
instructor interface, and can be easily tailored to different levels, they
have the potential to greatly enhance the infrastructure for education.
Poster 189
John Krupczak
Institution: Hope College
Title: Improving Introduction to Engineering by Combining
Insights from Non-Engineers with Portable Equipment
PI:
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Poster Abstracts
0633277
Project #:
Goals: The goal is to create laboratory modules with an emphasis on ac-
tivities and perspectives shown to be successful in technological literacy
courses for non-engineering students. To meet the unique needs of community college engineering programs, the logistical and commercial feasibility of shipping boxes or palettes of equipment will be investigated.
Methods: Complete self-contained laboratory-in-box projects that can be
leased from a commercial supplier are being created. This work will explore in detail how to circumvent the logistical issues of this model. Labs
are organized using a how-things-work approach. Engineering functional
analysis of technological devices introduces systems thinking.
Evaluation: The instrument used is the Motivated Strategies for Learn-
ing Questionnaire (MSLQ). Students complete several scales of the MSLQ,
specifically Intrinsic Motivation, Extrinsic Motivation, Task Value, SelfEfficacy, Control Beliefs, Test Anxiety, and Critical Thinking. These MSLQ
scales have been used on hundreds of campuses and translated into
several languages. The psychometric properties are reliable and predict
achievement, particularly in science and social science courses.
Dissemination: Dissemination will be conducted through the California
Engineering Liaison Council (ELC) and the American Society for Engineering Education Technological Literacy Constituent Committee (TLCC). The
ELC is a group whose mission includes dissemination of best practice
methods for engineering education in California community colleges.
Impact: Impacts are expected by addressing the need of community college engineering programs for access to laboratory equipment. Community college engineering instructors have little time for developing laboratories, complex laboratory setup, or maintenance. There is potential for
rental or lease of a model of complete self-contained laboratories. This
appeals to community college instructors and equipment suppliers. Using insights and themes derived from non-engineering students in technological literacy courses may enliven introduction to engineering courses.
Beginning engineering students may have interests more closely aligned
with their non-engineer peers than current engineering professionals.
Challenges: It has been possible to find many themes, activities, and
topics in technological literacy courses for non-engineers that stimulate
high interest in engineering students. However, adapting these materials
to introduction to engineering courses with an appropriate level of technical rigor has been challenging. To address this, the visual presentation of
material and concept maps used with non-engineers has been adapted to
use the engineering design technique of functional analysis or functional
decomposition. Functional analysis provides a mechanism to discuss how
things work with engineering students that is rooted in established engineering design methodology.
Poster 190
PI: Lisa
R. Lattuca
Title: Prototyping the Engineer of 2020: A 360-Degree
Study of Effective Education
Project #: 0618712
Co-PI: Patrick T. Terenzini
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Phase III—Comprehensive
Engineering
Education
Type:
Target Discipline:
Goals: 1) Identify six engineering schools graduating NAE’s engineer of
2020 and high proportions of women and minorities, and 2) do case studies of those schools’ curricular, pedagogical, and organizational features
that enable these successes. The study will discover not only what works,
but also why and how it works. Case study findings will be validated
through surveys in a closely related NSF study.
Methods: A mixed-methods design was used to analyze ABET-EC2000
study outcomes data from 40 schools to identify six that are outperforming
others in graduating the engineer of 2020 using factor analysis, residuals
analysis, and median-split techniques. Site visits (two per campus), interviews, documents, and cross-case analyses will identify organizational
and contextual factors most effective in promoting learning.
Evaluation: The project has a nationally known, third-party evaluator with
extensive experience in funded research and engineering project evaluation. He conducts both formative and summative annual evaluations of
project plans, data collection, analytical procedures, materials, instruments, and interpretation of analyses. He advised on quantitative procedures for selecting case studies and will review interview protocols and
drafts of case studies and the cross-case analyses. He has also provided a
formative evaluation of the project’s qualitative and quantitative research
designs. He meets annually with project leaders and team members, after
which he prepares an annual report to the project team evaluating the
project’s progress and goal achievement. He will also advise on project
dissemination plans.
Dissemination: Study goals and designs were presented at NAE’s Convo-
cation of Engineering Societies, the NSF Engineering Education Awardees
Conference, and the 2007 FIE Conference. A website is periodically updated. Findings of individual case studies will be presented at FIE in 2008
and 2009 and at ASEE 2009 and 2010. Case study reports will be posted
on the website. A monograph will be submitted in 2010 for publication.
Impact: The study will provide information on the experiences of minority
and majority students, enabling programs to develop and graduate the
diverse engineers needed to ensure U.S. engineering and economic competitiveness. The study’s conceptual model includes three elements: organizational context, peer environment, and student experiences. Following this model, researchers will examine how school, program, classroom,
and co-curricular experiences shape what and how much students learn
in three areas: design and problem-solving skills, interdisciplinary competence, and contextual competence. The study will identify both effective
practices and the institutional conditions that support and sustain them,
contributing to a national benchmarking study and guiding engineering
education reform.
Challenges: Begun in July 2006, this study is comprehensive and complex. Because it is designed to complement another NSF study (Prototype
to Production: Processes and Conditions for Preparing the Engineer of
2020), bringing pieces together on schedule is difficult. Case-study site
selection required a sophisticated process to identify schools that, together, have a balance of both focal conditions: high performance in promoting learning and in recruiting and graduating women and minorities.
A solution required school background data collection and extended conversations with National Advisory Board members and others. Securing
participation (schools are over-studied) and timely cooperation in iden-
Poster Abstracts
tifying interviewees and scheduling site visits has also been difficult and
was solved through careful planning and persistence.
330 Thermodynamics course in fall 2007 (continuing with the ChE 120 students from spring 2007).
Poster 191
Poster 192
PI: Ted
PI:
Lee
University of Southern California
Title: A Degree Project Approach to Engineering Education
Project #: 0633372
Co-PI: Gisele Ragusa
Institution:
Goals: Chemical Engineering education is facing a growing disconnect
between a curriculum focused on macroscopic “unit operations” and faculty research that has increasingly emphasized nano and biotechnology.
At USC, we have developed vertically and horizontally integrated “degree
projects” consisting of nano/bio lab modules in successive ChE courses.
Methods: Nano students synthesize nanoparticles in the Mass Balance
course, examine nanoparticle interactions in Thermodynamics, fractionate
nanoparticles in Separations, investigate nanoparticle catalyst in Kinetics,
and examine the thermal conductivity of nanocolloids in Heat Transfer, all
leading to an independent research project in the senior year.
Evaluation: Evaluative results were obtained during spring 2007 in the
freshman ChE 120 course (29 students). A ChE efficacy scale was adapted
from a computer engineering efficacy scale with six subscales: problemsolving confidence, trouble-shooting confidence, career encouragement,
satisfaction with college major, career exploration, and course anxiety.
Freshman ChE students appear confident in their ability to collaborate in
the laboratory and prefer collaboration to solo activities. They report high
levels of confidence related to their major choice in ChE. Student participants did not receive encouragement about ChE from any high school personnel, speaking to the need for K-12 outreach.
Dissemination: At the 2008 annual meeting of the American Society of
Engineering Education (ASEE), we will be giving two presentations (both
abstracts accepted). These presentations will be converted to a manuscript for submission to the journal Engineering Education during 2008.
Impact: One major impact of this grant has been the training of the funded graduate student (Anne-Laure Le Ny) who has been involved in the
planning/strategic meetings, creation, and testing of the degree-project
modules, and supervision of the undergraduates in the lab. Furthermore,
through USC’s Science, Technology, And Research (STAR) program, where
inner-city students from local high schools work in research labs as a summer and after-school experience, the co-PIs have met with high school faculty who facilitate this K-12 STARS outreach project and plan to continue
this effort by adapting this degree-project model to “diploma projects” for
high school students.
Challenges: For the spring 2007 semester, we begin the CCLI degree project sequence with a new group of freshman students in ChE 120 through
a degree-project laboratory module. Two lab modules were offered in this
course, with the students allowed to choose between either a nano- or
biotechnology module. The PI and co-PIs have had several planning meetings to infuse degree-project modules into the year 2 courses in fall and
spring 2007–2008. Two new degree-project modules were created and
tested over the summer of 2007, which were incorporated into the CHE
Kemper Lewis
Title: Experiential Learning in Vehicle Dynamics Education
Project #: 0633596
Goals: In this project, we focus on the innovative development and use
of a motion simulation–based framework to provide authentic engineering experiences for learning about dynamic systems. This will result in an
adaptable computational framework and learning experience model for
technology-enabled vehicle dynamics courses.
Methods: Through inquiry-based approaches, students use physical
simulation and virtual reality to discover the impact that design decisions
have on a dynamic system, while gaining experience in vehicle simulation
hardware and software. Our strategy is to develop learning experiences
that are adaptable for other areas of engineering education.
Evaluation: We are assessing the changes in and results from the new
teaching and learning methods using the initial fall 2007 Road Vehicle
Dynamics course. Comparative video recordings and documents from the
course before and after the development of the new learning modules are
being used along with results from common exam questions, pre/postinterviews with the course instructor, and pre/post–student survey statistics. We are also currently evaluating the quality of the new educational
materials with our internal and external peer evaluators. Lastly, focus
groups are being used to determine student perceptions on a number of
issues related to technology and learning opportunities.
Dissemination: We are presenting results from our first course module
implementation at the 2008 ASEE Conference. We are also discussing
adoption plans with some of our external evaluators for other universities
that have motion platforms. Along with more papers and integration of
distance learners, we will also extend the developments to other dynamics courses.
Impact: This past summer, we offered a workshop for 16 top high school
girls that integrated the motion platform and vehicle dynamics concepts,
and this workshop was covered by various media sources. We also have
three undergraduate student researchers working on the project. More
generally, as far as we know, we are the only university that offers vehicle
dynamics courses where hands-on physical/mechanical laboratory experimentation is performed by the students using a motion-based simulation
utility. Although the initial curriculum selected is for road vehicle dynamics,
the underlying framework and pedagogy are adaptable for other dynamic
system courses, including flight dynamics and vibration and shock.
Challenges: In the first implementation of the module and experiments in
the fall 2007 MAE454/554: Road Vehicle Dynamics course, we were only
able to accommodate around one-half of the students as drivers in the
simulator. The other half participated as passengers in the cabin. This is
because we underestimated the popularity of this course with seniors and
graduate students this semester. For the upcoming Road Vehicle Dynamics II course in the spring, we are making adjustments to the experiment
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Poster Abstracts
timing so that everyone who wants to drive can. This will enhance the
value of the experiential learning opportunities.
Poster 193
Albert Liddicoat
Institution: California Polytechnic State University
Title: Enhancing Student Learning Through State-of-the-Art
Systems Level Design and Implementation
Project #: 0633363
PI:
Goals: This project is aimed at enhancing engineering curricula using an
innovative project-based learning approach that includes:
1) Contribution of curricular materials to the STEM knowledge base
2) Preparation of students to engage in system-level design and to communicate effectively
3) Providing outreach activities to high schools and community colleges
Methods: Our approach draws upon the “Learn by Doing” approach that
is a major educational attribute of the engineering programs at Cal Poly.
This project enhances the curriculum by developing three new projectbased learning modules for electronics design and manufacturing, systems design, and a capstone design experience.
Evaluation: The project has contracted with Cal Poly’s Institute for Policy
Research, an independent evaluator, to deliver formative and summative
assessments. The formative assessment determines whether scheduled
activities are taking place and occurring in the most efficient and effective
manner. The summative assessment includes 1) the extent that faculty
were able to introduce changes in teaching approaches, 2) a new successful approach at improving acquisition of knowledge and skills among
engineering students, 3) the extent that the curricular changes were institutionalized by the university, 4) the extent of faculty development, and 5)
if these curricular modifications were adopted by other institutions.
Dissemination: The planned dissemination will ensure that new learn-
ing materials become widely available to the STEM education community
through the following four mechanisms:
1) Conferences and publications
2) Project-based learning modules availability via the website
3) Collaboration with faculty at community college
4) Collaboration with high school teachers
Impact: The Electronics Design and Manufacturing, Systems Design, and
Engineering Capstone courses will serve as a model for other engineering programs at Cal Poly and at other universities. Project-based learning
will better prepare students to enter the engineering profession. Results
of the project will be presented at national conferences and published in
peer-reviewed engineering educational journals. The lower-division PCB
module will make printed circuit board design accessible to a larger group
of people including community college and high school students. The adaptation of the lower-division PCB module will occur first at a Hispanic
Serving Institution, Alan Hancock Community College, in Santa Maria,
CA.
Challenges: There are no challenges to report.
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Poster 194
Cliff Lissenden
Title: Design in Mechanics of Materials Courses for Deeper
Learning
Project #: 0633602
Co-PI: Nicholas Salamon
PI:
Goals: Our goals are to engage engineering and engineering technology
students in realistic design experiences, attract faculty to teach application of their science through design, and assess the effectiveness of the
design experiences on their preparation for an engineering career.
Methods: We are developing a framework for a team-based open-ended
design project, which will be administered with the assistance of Internet tools to supplement in-class instruction. Tools include links to design
resources, project administration, and, most importantly, an interactive
design project example. Tools and student learning will be assessed.
Evaluation: Our first data will be collected in December 2007. Each in-
tended outcome listed below will be assessed.
1) Students are more proficient at interpreting requirements and conceptualizing a design.
2) The analysis skills of students are comparable.
3) Students, especially women and minorities, are more motivated to be
engineers.
4) The time required of students and instructors for the course will be
comparable.
5) Outcomes 1–4 apply for engineering and engineering technology students at large and small campuses.
6) The design project can be used with ease by novice instructors.
Conceptual design problems, standards quizzes, and surveys have been
created.
Dissemination: Our project was awarded in March 2007 and our first proj-
ect presentations will be given at the ASEE Conference in June 2008. A
poster will be presented in the NSF Awardee session and a paper will be
given to the Mechanics division. Our primary data are to be collected in
2008. At that point, we will submit to peer-reviewed journals.
Impact: This work will better prepare engineers in a range of disciplines for
practice; it provides opportunities for innovation, creativity, and discovery.
The design tools will reflect that design is best done by diverse teams because women and underrepresented minorities broaden the experience
base on which the team draws its creativity and that design teams must
create products that accommodate diverse customers. Realistic design
projects early in the engineering curriculum will be used to recruit women
and minorities to engineering and help to retain them. After completion of
Phase I, a diverse group of institutions will be assembled for nationwide
implementation.
Challenges: We had experience with a design-focused mechanics course
in our pilot study so we had a good sense of the challenges involved. The
interactive design project example on the website has turned out to be
more difficult and time-consuming to implement than anticipated. We are
still early in the project and expect that the biggest challenges are ahead
Poster Abstracts
of us. The biggest challenges are most likely going to fall in two areas: 1)
accounting for the differences between engineering and engineering technology student needs in the Internet tools and 2) getting a large enough
sample size for drawing statistically valid conclusions in project duration.
Poster 195
Henry Liu
Title: STREET: Simulating Transportation for Realistic
Engineering Education and Training
Project #: 0717504
PI:
Goals: The goal of this project is to create a new paradigm for undergraduate transportation engineering education to better engage students and
deliver knowledge.
Methods: The focus of this project is to develop web-based simulation
modules to improve instruction in the Introduction to Transportation Engineering course that is a standard part of undergraduate civil engineering
programs. The simulation-based materials form an active textbook, which
offers an interactive learning environment to undergraduate students.
Evaluation: Our evaluation plan includes two components: 1) evaluation
of the effectiveness of student learning; 2) evaluation of student motivation and retention. To evaluate student learning, comparative studies
will be conducted on two groups of students across multiple semesters
or multiple universities: the control group receiving the traditional case
study–based assignment and the treatment group taking simulationbased assignments. To evaluate student motivation, we will conduct a
student exit interview when they complete the course and a longitudinal
survey to evaluate motivational factors and retention rate.
Dissemination: Building upon the local implementation success, the
simulation modules will be evaluated and tested in the course offerings of
over 16 other transportation programs from different universities across
the country. Feedback from the implementation will be provided to the
project team for continuing improvement.
Impact: We anticipate simulation-based teaching modules will signifi-
cantly change the way of teaching and learning in undergraduate transportation engineering education. Eventually, the simulation-based teaching materials will become an active textbook, which offers an interactive
learning environment to undergraduate students. The active textbook
with simulation is expected to improve student understanding of critical
concepts in Transportation Engineering and student motivation toward
Transportation Engineering and improve student retention in the field.
Challenges: Since the project just started in September 2007, we have
not yet encountered any unexpected challenges.
Poster 196
Jenny Lo
Title: Collaborative Research: Facilitating Case Reuse
During Problem-Solving
PI:
0618541
Co-PI: Tamara Knott
Education
Project #:
Goals: The goal of this project is to investigate learning technologies and
case reuse for improving student understanding of problem-solving and
engineering design at an introductory level. The intended outcome is to
deliver information regarding the effectiveness of these learning technologies and case reuse examples.
Methods: A constrained discussion was used to guide the design process
in a first-year engineering course at Virginia Tech. Some student teams
were part of an experimental group that used the discussion board, while
others were part of a control group. Additionally, both groups completed a
survey of epistemological beliefs.
Evaluation: Data will be analyzed to determine the effectiveness of the
structure discussion board on student understanding of the design process. The discussion boards are being analyzed for frequency and quality
of student responses. The design reports prepared by student teams that
used a structured discussion board to facilitate their navigation through
the design process were compared against those by teams that did not.
The results from the survey of epistemological beliefs will be used in a
regression analysis to determine possible differences between the experimental and control groups.
Dissemination: Results are expected to be presented in a paper at the
2008 ASEE conference in conjunction with University of Missouri–Columbia partners.
Impact: Anticipated impact is a better understanding of how students
learn design by developing and analyzing pedagogical tools for teaching
engineering design.
Challenges: One unexpected challenge was the lack of readily available,
appropriate engineering design case studies in the literature. Because
of this, we focused on the use of a structured discussion board to guide
the design process instead of using case evaluation and reuse. Originally,
our experimental method called for the implementation of a transfer task
activity to further evaluate student learning. Unfortunately, because of
the Virginia Tech shooting, we were unable to conduct the transfer task
activity.
Poster 197
Ronaldo Luna
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Title: Introduction of GIS into Civil Engineering Curricula
Project #: 0717241
PI:
Institution:
Goals: The goal was to develop a web-based learning system that will
teach the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) within the foundational courses of a typical civil engineering program. As opposed to
generating a series of GIS courses, the GIS know-how will be introduced
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Poster Abstracts
within existing courses as a module that will reinforce basic concepts
comprehensively.
outreach plan for middle school and high school students has been initiated in an effort to increase student awareness of science and engineering.
Methods:
Methods: Sophomore- through senior-level laboratories within the B.S.
program will be redesigned to include metalworking components with the
objective of increasing student understanding of microstructural development and its relationship to mechanical properties. The design and development of a mobile outreach trailer for middle and high school students
is underway.
• Create a web-based learning system that supports student learning on
how to use GIS as a tool in civil engineering.
• Implement learning modules in existing undergraduate civil engineering courses.
• Carry out a series of evaluation studies.
• Disseminate the new materials to learning communities in civil engineering programs nationwide.
Evaluation: An initial evaluation will be carried out iteratively with cycles
of development. The interface and components of the system will be examined through usability studies, in which the behavior of individual users will be carefully examined through controlled experiments in which
fundamental aspects of content and interface design are systematically
varied and presented to randomly assigned groups of participants. Volunteers from the relevant civil engineering classes that involve GIS will serve
as participants in these experiments. This will be followed by more formative applied evaluations conducted in classes where the systems are
implemented (using control and pre- and post-test designs).
Dissemination: A dissemination plan is being implemented. The com-
pleted geotechnical module is being shared within university professors.
Participation in the national conferences ASEE and AAAS is underway with
publication of materials. See the website www.learn-civil-gis for related
modules and publications. Key external professors are identified to help.
Impact: The expansion project is designed with a broad scope to cover
several emphasis areas in civil engineering and the impact of engineering
decisions to the public. Almost all civil engineering programs in the country have required courses such as the ones proposed in this project. The
evaluation process includes peers and colleagues at other universities for
an external loop in the development of the learning system to ensure a superior quality product. Civil engineering programs nationwide will benefit
from the integration of GIS into their foundational courses without adding
more courses. Nationwide access benefits the engineering profession and
new engineers in the workforce.
Challenges: Data collection from different geographic locations in the
U.S. to develop the respective modules will be a challenge. Industry contacts have been made to facilitate data collection efforts. We were hoping
to get an international site, but no partners have been identified. We have
been working for 4 months and some challenges are not yet met.
Poster 198
Dana Medlin
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Title: Back in Black: A Multifaceted Curriculum and
Laboratory Plan
Project #: 0717887
PI:
Institution:
Goals: The ultimate goal of the program is to use blacksmithing as a
gateway to improve B.S.-level student understanding and application of
fundamental structure/property relationships relevant to all materials. An
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Evaluation: Program outcomes will be systematically measured through
five interrelated assessment instruments. These include the use of 1)
Materials Concept Inventories, 2) longitudinal tracking of student cohort
groups in Metallurgical Engineering, 3) the Teamwork KSA inventory, 4)
the Hermann Brain Dominance and Kolb inventories, and 5) an in-house
survey designed to gauge middle/high school student awareness of Metallurgical Engineering.
Dissemination: The results of this study will be presented at professional
engineering and science conferences with sessions dedicated to undergraduate teaching.
Impact: Outreach activities will focus on middle school and high school
students and include onsite visits by B.S.-level student ambassadors and
faculty to selected pilot schools. Pilot schools will include those with a
predominantly Native American student population and involve training
in the craft of blacksmithing, as well as the scientific discovery possible
through the application of the craft. A mobile trailer outfitted for both the
craft and scientific (metallographic) components will be used. A very similar approach, as described above, will be used during the summer months
with a variety of middle and high school camps. Included in the outreach
plan is an annual workshop.
Challenges: The project is in the early stage of development and the only
major obstacle to date has been some budget limitation issues and procurement of equipment.
Poster 199 and Poster 138
PI: Driss
Benhaddou/Alan Mickelson
Institution: University of Houston/University of Colorado
Title: Collaborative Research: An Online Laboratory for
Optical Circuits Courses
Project #: 0536823/0536144
Goals: The goals are to determine what set of optical circuit concepts can
be addressed in a laboratory; how best to parse an experiment into simulation and remotely controlled components; and how to separate technology imperfections from teaching method imperfections. The desired
learning outcomes are the mastery of the concepts of optical communications and the development of the skills necessary to identify and correct
problems with optical communication system equipment.
Methods: Students do a prelab in a form of simulation using Matlab,
VPIphotonics software, or LabView; problem sessions and lab demos are
prerecorded and used to ready the students for the online laboratory sessions in which they control the equipment. The equipment is controlled
using Labview, which is the Internet server for video and control signals.
Poster Abstracts
Evaluation: The assessment plan encompasses both formative and sum-
mative assessment methods. Our first assessment strategy was to use
a survey style summative assessment. Most of the survey material was
qualitative. It was decided to adopt a more quantitative approach in future work. In later phases of the course, a formative assessment program
was adopted—specifically a Berkley Evaluation and Assessment Research
(BEAR) assessment strategy. Such an approach has now been developed
and piloted. The results of this strategy are being processed. A formative
assessment included evaluating student ability to interact with real equipment. A faculty brings a student in front of the equipment and asks the
student to implement specific task. With improved visuals of the remote
experiments, more than 80% of students could successfully do a handson experiment with the real equipment (which showed improvement from
the previous semester).
Dissemination: A webpage is set up for the project at http://www.tech.
uh.edu/rock. We have presented five papers at conferences with published proceedings (three at ASEE national conferences, one at an ASEE
regional conference, and one at an IJME conference), and we have published a paper in IEEE Transactions on Education (November 2007). We’re
planning to keep the website and be actively involved in this research.
We have applied for a phase 2 proposal to continue the research in this
area. The course will be offered both at the University of Houston and the
University of Colorado.
Impact: One anticipated impact is the possibility of opening laboratory
classes to larger numbers of students. With the larger numbers of “subjects” could come better assessment of the efficacy of remote labs. It has
been stated in the recent literature that there is little or no difference between hands-on and remote operation when it comes to learning laboratory skills. It would be interesting to quantity this. Another impact is in
distance learning in engineering and science. Laboratories have been a
traditional barrier to far-away distance students working on undergraduate degrees. Methodology of online labs could enable another segment
of our population to engineering and science learning. The PI is in contact with collaborators at universities around the world (in Morocco and
United Kingdom) to implement the experiments in their courses.
Challenges: There are three difficulties. One was the original assessment
method. The solution seems to be use of a quantitative formative method
rather than a qualitative summative. We believe that “hiding” the assessment within laboratory exercises may also improve its accuracy. A second
problem has been bringing the labs to life. Sitting in front of a screen with
scales that can be dithered with to change numbers and/or graphs is not
very inspiring for hands-on interested young engineers. We are presently
in discussion with computer scientists who work with cognition to try to
determine a better visual environment that does not require an exorbitant quantity of bandwidth. A third difficulty is technology imperfections
that can affect the learning experience (e.g., synchronizing access to the
experiment, speed of data visualization, server hang up). This can bring
some frustration to students interacting with a webpage that does not
speak to them.
Poster 200
Don Millard
Institution: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Title: Mobile Studio
Project #: 0717832
PI:
Focus:
Implementing Educational Innovations
Goals: The goal is to foster students’ interest and intuition in design and
development with hands-on, instrumentation-rich activities. Another goal
is to make studio courses more flexible at a dramatically reduced cost
and increase students’ exploration of principles, devices, and systems,
which have been dramatically restricted due to the size and cost of test
equipment/instrumentation.
Methods: Using the Kolb cycle to sequence activities, students will:
1) Formulate hypotheses and plan/perform experiments to determine the
validity of their intuition
2) Relate their outcomes to real-life applications
3) Present their findings
4) Apply the results in developing a design for more open-ended problems/questions, thus completing the cycle
Evaluation: Traditional Studio and new Mobile Studio classes will be of-
fered by the same instructor who teaches a traditional studio class. The
lectures, homework, and exams will be identical, with the only difference
being the hands-on, in-class activities and the take-home experiments/
projects. All students would be administered a Force Concept Inventory
(FCI) test to assess their understanding of basic principles related to
hands-on observations at the beginning/end of each course. Evaluation
(by University of Albany assessment experts) will focus on identifying intermediate success, programmatic weakness, and areas in need of modification as the Mobile Studio platform is developed, implemented, and
fully tested.
Dissemination: We provided students (>1,000), faculty, and K-12 STEM ed-
ucators with Rensselaer’s Mobile Studio Board ($150), offering the functionality of an oscilloscope, function generator, multimeter, and power
supplies, at a significantly lower cost via: http://mobilestudio.rpi.edu.
• EE Times September 24, 2007 cover story
• SoE featured story
• Distributed >2,000 boards
Impact: Twenty Mobile Studio–based demonstrations, 20 in-class activities, and 20 follow-up take-home experiments are being designed, developed, used, evaluated, and disseminated for engineering and physics
courses, with guidance from an advisory group (w/representatives from
industry/academia). The broader impact of the project is to provide a
large number of underrepresented minority and Community College students with hands-on expertise available via the use of the low-cost, portable platform. A number of K-12 student outreach activities have been
conducted and are further planned to increase interest in STEM areas, via
participation in “cool” hands-on demonstration projects.
Challenges: The huge popularity of the Mobile Studio has presented a
challenge in getting enough boards made for others to investigate the benefit in their classrooms. We have currently received >300 concrete orders
for boards, materials, and curricula. The challenge of doing high-volume
production of the boards and providing an infrastructure for communicating with the thousands of correspondences has been daunting, although
gratifying. We have now partnered with Analog Devices to perform the
necessary large-scale manufacturing and also brought in a number of additional sponsors, partnering university educators, and K-12 teachers. We
are building an “open” group of collaborating partners via our website.
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Poster Abstracts
Poster 201
Poster 202
PI: Vladimir
PI:
Mitin
Title: CCLI: Interdisciplinary Nanoelectronics Laboratory for
the Engineering/Science Undergraduate Curriculum
Project #: 0536541
Goals: The goals of the project were to develop experiment modules; de-
Ned Mohan
Title: State-of-the-Art Practices and Educational Material
for Revitalizing Power Electronics and Electric Drives
Curricula
Project #: 0231119
velop, publish, and distribute teaching materials; and assess and evaluate students’ knowledge. The outcomes were: students will learn goals
of nanoelectronics, will be able to characterize and investigate the specific properties of nanostructures, and will analyze and present results of
experiments.
Goals: The goal of this CCLI-ND project is to disseminate nationwide the
educational materials developed with the help of a CCLI-EMD project in
revitalizing the Electric Energy Systems Curriculum in 175 schools nationwide. This Electric Energy Systems Curriculum emphasizes Renewables/
Storage, Reliable Delivery, and Efficient End-Use.
Methods: The necessary equipment has been purchased and installed,
the laboratory rooms have been renovated, and the instruments were
connected to Internet and tested. Through the direct involvement of undergraduate and graduate students, teaching materials for the lab experiments were prepared and published. The new lab experiments have been
demonstrated.
Methods: We are holding faculty workshops once and sometimes twice a
Evaluation: New assessment tools were developed by the group of Prof.
that have increased three to fourfold in a few years. We are also keeping
track of universities that in various combinations have adapted our approaches. We are also encouraging those universities that have adapted
our approaches to track their student enrollments. By all indications,
the results are extremely positive. We are also posting Expected Course
Outcomes and Learning Objectives for each course. In spite of these being ambitious, we are able to show that they are met at the end of the
semester.
X. Liu and they will be used for assessment and formative evaluation. In
particular, a factor analysis, based on the results of conceptual pre- and
post-tests, consisting of multiple-choice questions, will be carried out. In
addition to the assessment tools, the instrument “Survey of Attitudes toward Hands-on Nanotechnology and Nanotechnology Laboratory (SANL)”
was given to students in fall 2007. The instrument contained 14 statements
related to the students’ perceived goals and importance of nanotechnology. The obtained data are being analyzed and findings will be delivered
at the CCLI Program PI Conference.
Dissemination: The PI of the project gave an invited talk about the devel-
opment of Undergraduate Nanoelectronics Laboratory at the 3rd International Symposium on Teaching Nanoscience with STM, Chicago, March 28.
On December 3, experiments with AFM were demonstrated to students of
ECC, and the visit to North Tonawanda High School is planned on December 19.
Impact: The acquisition of new instruments allowed the expansion of research and teaching activities at the EE Department, and also attracted a
number of faculty and their students from other UB Departments including Physics, Applied Chemistry, and Mechanical Engineering. In addition
to four teachers from New York State high schools, undergraduate and
graduate students from groups of Professors Mitin, Petrou, and Lui were
trained at the newly developed Undergraduate Nanoelectronics Laboratory. Many local high school students who visited the newly established
laboratory during a few recent UB events, including Open House Day (January, November 2007), enjoyed watching real-time AFM/STM experiments.
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year where faculty from across the country is invited to get familiar with
the student-oriented nature of the educational material that has been developed. In addition, through a 1.23 million dollar grant from the Office of
Naval Research, we are holding in-depth week-long workshops.
Evaluation: We are tracking in our own courses the student enrollments
Dissemination: To date, more than 50 universities have adapted our cur-
riculum in various combinations. With the help of a 5-year, 1.23 million
dollar grant for the Office of Naval research, and support by the Electric
Power Research Institute and American Electric Power, we are continuing
to hold faculty workshops and week-long in-depth training sessions.
Impact: As mentioned in the previous section, to date, more than 50 universities have adapted our curriculum in various combinations. The enrollments in our courses have gone up by three to four in just a few years,
making Electric Energy Systems one of the most popular senior options.
Challenges: We emphasize that the approach that we are disseminating
is to benefit students. This resonates deeply with most instructors. All
other benefits, such as being efficient for faculty and TA resources are secondary. We also discovered that the curricular reform moves at a glacial
pace. Therefore, to implement this reform, it has been extremely helpful
to get the endorsement of the department heads. Therefore, we make it a
point to invite the department heads to these faculty workshops, and they
have responded positively. For example, in our next workshop, to be held
in Napa, California, during February 7–9, 2008, out of 130 registered for it,
about 25 are department heads.
Poster Abstracts
Poster 203
Poster 204
PI: Tamara
PI:
Moore/Brian Self/Larry Shuman
Institution: University of Minnesota/California Polytechnic
State University/University of Pittsburgh
Title: Collaborative Research: Improving Engineering
Students’ Learning Strategies through Models and
Modeling
Project #: 0717529/0717595/0717801
Education
Goals: We are interested in models and modeling as a foundation for
undergraduate STEM curriculum and assessment, especially within engineering domains. To do this, we will build upon and extend model-eliciting
activities (MEAs) to incorporate laboratory, misconceptions, ethics, and
new domains of engineering. There are five objectives to this project.
Jim Morgan
Title: Multiple Models for Civil Engineering Dynamics
Project #: 0536834
Goals: Specific project objectives include:
1) Address student preconceptions by making students more aware of
their learning.
2) Develop physical models for critical fundamental dynamics concepts.
3) Develop computer visualizations for identified concepts.
4) Link mathematical, physical, and computer models to real world.
Methods:
Methods: The methods for one of our objectives are as follows: Through a
design experiment approach, we follow faculty as they design and implement MEAs. For each MEA implementation, the instructor will be asked
to participate in a sequence of data collection: pre- and post-interview,
observations, journaling to learn how the faculty beliefs, and teaching
practices change.
1) An inventory of misconceptions and strategies for students addressing
them
2) Simple physical models and corresponding class demonstrations and
hands-on student experiment
3) A simulation environment allowing the interactive construction of student-defined systems including the physical models described in (2)
4) In-class exercises, homework, and projects bringing the students from
the physical, mathematical, and computer toward real systems and
structures
Evaluation: Both qualitative and quantitative methods in both forma-
Evaluation: Evaluation includes:
tive and summative manners will be used. To aid evaluation of this large
project, Dr. Maura Borrego (VA Tech) will serve as our outside evaluator.
There are five objectives for this project. Each objective has a measurable outcome. For two of the objectives, the design experiment and the
various interviews conducted with faculty described will serve to provide
formative feedback to the implementation of MEAs into the classroom.
Further, statistical analyses and modeling will be used to answer the multiple questions posed. Investigation via SEM modeling show how various
models will provide information for successful curricula.
Dissemination: A presentation at the Material Research Society (MRS) fall
meeting in Boston, MA, was given in November. Two papers are in press:
one in the proceedings for MRS and another for the Journal of Materials
Education. This is the first semester of the grant so there are other papers
in the works.
Impact: Successful completion of this project will provide engineering and
STEM educators with an understanding of how students learn to become
better problem-solvers, including resolving ethical dilemmas, how misconceptions enter into the process (and how they can be repaired), and
how to enhance the creative process to produce more innovative engineers. Faculty will be able to better identify areas for learning enhancements, introduce informed curriculum improvements, and have more
engaging teaching approaches all around. Students will learn to become
better problem-solvers and be more innovative.
Challenges: Because of the distance of the six campuses, it has been
difficult to write MEAs together. We are using video conferencing with file
sharing as a way to have meetings and work on developing MEAs together. We have found that the new MEA writers need a face-to-face experience to be successful with writing MEAs, and we are now providing this
for our PIs and co-PIs to help them understand MEAs and what is needed
to produce them.
1) Pre- and post-test use of the Dynamics Concept Inventory
2) Classroom observation by our evaluation expert
3) Surveys and interviews of students
4) Student performance on quizzes, exams, and final exams (since final
exams are not returned, many same or similar questions are used from
semester to semester, allowing pre- and post-intervention analyses.
To date, there are positive results on the use of active classroom
demonstrations.
Dissemination:
Completed:
• Papers and presentations at ASEE and FIE conferences
Planned:
• Papers and presentations at ASCE, ASEE, and FIE conferences
• Publication in journals of ASEE and ASCE
• Website with streaming videos of classroom demonstrations and other
project-related materials
Impact: This project will directly affect all civil engineering students
at Texas A&M—implementation is in a course required of all civil engineering students. Similar courses are taken by nearly all mechanical
and aerospace engineering students worldwide. Additionally, since the
fundamental issues of creating connections between real, physical, and
mathematical models are part of virtually all engineering coursework, it
is expected that improving student skills in these areas will improve their
performance in other engineering courses.
Challenges: The simulation environment has been much more challenging than any other part of the project, whether because of the nature of
computer simulation or because of the increased level of expectation on
the part of video game–savvy students. Although we have not yet “solved”
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Poster Abstracts
this problem, it is being addressed through student focus groups and by
having two sets of advisors for the student developing the environment
(one from the visualization faculty on software issues, the other from civil
engineering on interface issues).
Poster 205
Balasubramaniam (Bala) Natarajan
Institution: Kansas State University
Title: Shared Laboratory Experience: A Comprehensive
Resource for Teaching Engineering Concepts
Project #: 0511669
PI:
Goals: Our primary objective is to provide undergraduate students with
an integrated laboratory learning experience that cuts across traditional
course boundaries and helps them understand the relationship between
the fields of communication theory/systems, signal processing, and VLSI.
Methods: The integration of the various areas is accomplished by 1) de-
veloping lab experiments that may be applied to more than one course
and 2) creating labs where students design and develop a “product” and
pass this “product” on to other related courses. A new open lab (Integrated Systems Lab [ISL]) was created in fall 2006 to evaluate this new
strategy.
Evaluation: As each of the laboratory components are developed and used
in the appropriate courses, the benefits provided by these lab experiences
will be measured by a variety of techniques. These techniques include: 1)
questions on exams and project reports that evaluate the understanding
of key concepts conveyed by the lab exercises, 2) student self-assessment
of what they felt they learned from each individual lab, and 3) product
development feedback on the quality of the lab as they experienced it.
Based on our assessment, almost all students had a very positive overall
impression of ISL and felt that the lab experiments significantly helped
their understanding of concepts introduced in the classroom.
Dissemination: Dissemination activities include 1) two papers presented
at the 2006 FIE conference, 2) a new lab website with resources for both
students and faculty around the country, 3) showcasing ISL in the women
in science and engineering program’s GROW, EXCITE, and Shadow Day activities, and (4) ISL also hosted the freshmen robotics competition.
Impact: The impact of the project has been manifold. The open-laboratory
has provided an opportunity to 1) design sophisticated systems/experiments that are impossible to develop in a single course, for example, a
complete LRIT satellite receiver was built based on products developed
in multiple courses; 2) expose students to real-world design problems in
the classroom; 3) improve student teamwork via interdisciplinary group
laboratory projects; and 4) improve communication skills through required product documentation. It was noticed that student performance
in courses also improved as a result of the hands-on learning component
that was not previously available.
Challenges: Since our budget was cut at the very beginning of the project, it was a challenge to equip the lab benches with all the equipment we
had wanted. We learned how to setup a lab on a tight budget. Next, we
realized that it was a challenge to complete all projects listed in the original proposal, since this was in addition to what students already learn in
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one semester. Therefore, we have spread out the design projects over two
years, so that the students are not overwhelmed. Finally, we determined
that for seamless use of an open lab by students from different courses,
it is very helpful to set up a web cam that students can access and determine the availability of lab benches. Students appreciated this.
Poster 206
PI: William
Oakes
Purdue University
Title: National Dissemination of the National Engineering
Projects in Community Service
Project #: 0231361
Institution:
Goals: The goals of the project are to 1) raise awareness of service-learn-
ing as an accepted pedagogy in engineering and computer, 2) build capacity among faculty to implement EPICS-style programs within their own
curricula, 3) create a community of practitioners, and 4) provide data to
support dissemination efforts.
Methods: We are using regional and national faculty workshops and con-
ferences. EPICS sponsors dedicated conferences and workshops and also
participates in national conferences such as ASEE and FIE. Web-based
curriculum resources are provided, and electronic networks of faculty
have also been established. Strategic seed funding added new schools
to EPICS.
Evaluation: Evaluations of faculty workshops were conducted after the
workshops and a follow-up survey was conducted on the impact of the
training. Student responses were collected from some of the programs.
Likert scale data were collected from participants at one institution, reflecting their learning gains. A retention study was conducted on EPICS
participation at Purdue and the impact on women in service-learning, including quantitative and qualitative data.
Dissemination: EPICS conducted annual conferences that have been
moved to multiple campuses around the country. We hosted a conference
at the National Academy of Engineering on engineering service-learning.
We conducted a series of regional workshops on local university campuses. We maintain an active website that disseminates curriculum.
Impact: EPICS has expanded to 18 other universities that have integrated
the curriculum model into their own institutions. A larger group of institutions have integrated service-learning into engineering and computing.
Participation of the activities is several hundred. A survey of the participants to quantify the impact on their own campus is in process. A secondary impact has been the creation of a high school program that is now
in five states with 50% female, 32% African-American, and 17% Latino
participants.
Challenges: It has been surprisingly difficult to enable faculty to lead
service-learning programs. There are a large number of skills that were
challenging for the faculty. While none of them were individually surprising, the enormity of the skills was surprising. These include managing and
assessing multidisciplinary teams, managing community relationships,
guiding reflections, and interacting with industry to support and sustain
the program.
Poster Abstracts
Poster 207
Focus:
PI: Daniel
Oerther
Institution: University of Cincinnati
Title: CCLI: A&I: Collaborative Research: Molecular Biology
for Environmental Engineers
Project #: 0511160
Goals: This project aims to improve the electrical engineering (EE) student
experience in the systems area, especially signal processing and communications, in terms of enhancing student abilities to connect theory and
practice and to work in collaborative teams. Another goal is to foster diversity in recruiting by providing a new freshman design experience.
Goals: The objective of this project was to adapt and implement a suc-
the materials, which involved in-class discussions with students. This effort led to revising the lab and lecture schedule to better connect the two
and to a course revision to allow for increased lab time. We used another
consultant to conduct surveys that tracked student assessments of the
class, student interest in the subject, and future student enrollments. It
is difficult to factor out differences because of the professor teaching the
course, but the trend is that the changes increase student interest in EE.
We also conducted pre- and post-course survey on core concepts and
found improved response from a majority of students.
cessful pilot course developed at the University of Cincinnati to be taught
at four sister institutions. After teaching the course, the final outcome is
expected to be a co-written textbook to be distributed through a commercial vendor.
Methods: Existing course materials developed at the University of Cincinnati have been adapted to four sister institutions, and pilot courses have
been taught at each school. A meta-analysis of individual assessment is
being conducted as part of the project.
Evaluation: Assessment of the effectiveness of the course to introduce
engineering students to molecular biology tools without a requirement
for prerequisite courses has been completed using pre- and post-quizzes,
anonymous paper-based surveys of satisfaction, and small group interviews by a third-party evaluator. Results indicate that the pilot course from
the University of Cincinnati was successfully adapted and implemented at
the four sister institutions. The course materials and format are successful
independently of the style of the instructor, suggesting that the materials
are fit for widespread distribution.
Dissemination: Descriptions of the course have appeared twice in the
peer-reviewed educational literature and have been presented at meetings of the American Society of Engineering Educators. A textbook for
commercial distribution is being prepared.
Impact: As summarized in our publications, more than 250 engineers
have been exposed to molecular biology tools applied to environmental
engineering through the activities of this project. Follow-up surveys of
students have indicated that this knowledge has been used in the day-today careers of practicing engineers. This result suggests a strong positive
impact of the project on the field of environmental engineering.
Challenges: Preparing a textbook for commercial distribution is harder
than it appears before one has undertaken the effort. While a manuscript
can be prepared in short order, the preparation of a text requires tenacity
and a great deal more effort.
Poster 208
Mari Ostendorf
Institution: University of Washington
Title: A Collaborative Program for Electrical Engineering
Systems Education
Project #: 0511635
PI:
Methods: Laboratories were developed that provide students with collab-
oration opportunities and make connections with technology from everyday life: digital music and speech, photography, wireless networking, etc.
Material is at three levels: a two-day introductory lab for a freshman orientation program, a new freshman course, and a core sophomore course.
Evaluation: We used a consultant to help with formative evaluation of
Dissemination: We provided our software tools for the freshman orienta-
tion lab to a University of Washington group doing high school outreach,
and we have made the sophomore laboratories available through Connexions. With the completion of the recent course offering and analysis
of student enrollment data, we hope to present a paper at ICASSP in the
DSP Education session.
Impact: It is too early to assess impact in terms of freshman recruiting
and area enrollment, but the enrollment for the new freshman course has
increased. The impact of the changes to the sophomore course has been
an increase in the number of units in recognition of the importance of lab
work for the curriculum as a whole.
Challenges: An unexpected challenge was the strong resistance that the
students had to team projects initially. We have addressed this problem
by making collaboration in the first project optional and making opportunities for collaboration explicit in early projects.
Poster 209
Ian Papautsky
Institution: University of Cincinnati
Title: Integrating Microfluidics in the Undergraduate
Electrical Engineering Curriculum
Project #: 0536799
PI:
Goals: The objective of our CCLI project is the development and evalua-
tion of proof-of-concept educational materials to introduce undergraduate and early graduate students to the rapidly emerging field of microfluidics and to provide them with an integrated learning experience that cuts
across traditional course boundaries.
Methods: A unique aspect of the course is the focus on an extended
problem-based example that underlines all course activities. Working
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in teams of three, students first design and model a microfluidic mixer,
then fabricate and characterize them. Using teams in the lab allows students to learn from each other and takes advantage of students teaching
students.
Evaluation: Three methods of assessment are being used: question-
naires at the end of each of three lab modules, a course evaluation form
at the end of the course with a series of open-ended questions addressing
student experiences, and an informal interview of the entire class by a collaborator from the Evaluation Services Center. The course was a considerable success, and students appreciated the opportunity to experience
state-of-the-art research in the classroom. Students valued hands-on experience, which is typically not available to them; modeling gave them
opportunity to learn-by-doing and explore many device designs, while
hands-on work allowed for testing boundaries of possibilities.
Dissemination: After two successful offerings at University of Cincinnati,
we are offering the course at University of Illinois at Chicago, with plans
to disseminate to other universities. We presented two conference papers
(ASEE 2007 and BMES 2006); two abstracts were accepted to the ASEE
2008 conference; a journal manuscript submission is planned in the near
future.
Impact: Microfluidics is a multidisciplinary field that deals with behavior
and precise control of microliter volumes of fluids. In the past decade,
microfluidics has transformed many areas of engineering and applied sciences. Yet little has been done to transfer the microfluidics research to
the undergraduate curricula. Experience offered in this course introduces
students to the exciting, rapidly emerging field and better prepares them
for graduate school or industry. After two successful offerings at University of Cincinnati, we are now offering the course at University of Illinois at
Chicago, with plans to offer it at other universities. We are also sharing our
experience at educational and technical conferences.
Challenges: One of the unexpected challenges has been the difference
in student population for the first two course offerings. At first offering,
the student population included undergraduate seniors, first-year graduate students, and advanced graduate students who were eager to take
the course. At second offering, there were no advanced graduate students. While all students were domain-specific novices in microfluidics,
advanced graduate students in the first course became group leaders
(experts) who helped other students (novices) with experimental design.
This effect however was mostly absent during the second course offering,
since all students were novices in the both microfluidics and experimental
design.
Poster 210
PI: Michael
Prince
Institution: Bucknell University
Title: Collaborative Research: Inquiry-Based
Project #: 0717536
Goals: This Phase II project develops inquiry-based activities to repair
student misconceptions in heat transfer and thermodynamics. The initially targeted misconceptions were a subset of critical misconceptions
identified as both important and difficult by an NSF-funded Delphi study.
Phase II examines the remainder of misconceptions identified.
Methods: Educational materials are developed based on proven models
for addressing misconceptions that have been proven successful with
physics students. Pre- and post-tests of students’ conceptual understanding is measured using concept inventories and related questions. These
results are used to assess the effectiveness of the educational materials.
Evaluation: The proof-of-concept project has shown very promising re-
sults for the two targeted misconceptions: 1) the difference between factors affecting the rate versus amount of heat transfer and 2) entropy and
engine cycle efficiency. Results indicate student misconceptions are immediately repaired by the activities and this change in student thinking
extends into the long term. Normalized gains in students’ conceptual understanding are clearly superior to those found in traditional instruction
and match or exceed results for active engagement methods reported by
Hake and others.
Dissemination: Dissemination to date includes several conference presentations at ASEE and FIE. We are currently drafting a manuscript to
submit to the Journal of Engineering Education and plan to submit in the
next couple of months. Results have also been disseminated at teaching
workshops held at Bucknell University over the past summer.
Impact: At this stage, it is not clear what the impact of phase I has been
outside of the participating institutions.
Challenges: The biggest challenge is working to find efficient and effective methods to assess conceptual understanding and student thinking
beyond concept inventory questions tied to specific inquiry-based activities. We would like to gain a deeper and richer understanding of students’ thinking related to the targeted concepts and how this thinking has
changed as a result of their experiences engaging with the educational
materials.
It is also a challenge to keep abreast of colleagues engaged in similar
work elsewhere and to perhaps coordinate or piggy-back off of each other’s work effectively.
Poster 211
PI: P.K.
Raju
Auburn University
Title: Educating Engineers for the Information Age: A RealWorld Case Studies–Based Project
Project #: 089036
Institution:
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Poster Abstracts
Educational Material Development—Full
Development
Type:
Goals:
1) Develop instructional materials that introduce engineering students
to the complexity of real-world problems and show how engineering
companies work in the information age.
2) Develop instructional materials to improve students’ higher-order cognitive skills.
3) Develop an Instructor Support System.
4). Disseminate the materials.
Methods:
1) Working with industry to bring relevant problems into classrooms
2) Developing multimedia educational materials based on these
problems
3) Providing a decision scenario
4) Developing assignments where students work in teams to defend an
option and pick the best options
5) Formative and summative evaluation of the materials
Evaluation: Evaluation methods:
1) Survey of students in control and experimental groups
2) Electronic journals to provide formative data
3) Qualitative comments received from students
Results:
1) Multimedia educational materials stimulate the interest of engineering
students
2) Female students get excited about the engineering topics provided
multimedia is used in the delivery of materials
3) Engineering faculty members find innovative means of integrating
these materials in their classrooms
4) The students in the experimental section perceived that their higherorder cognitive skills had improved significantly compared to the students in the control group.
Dissemination:
1) Conducted nine faculty workshops at Auburn, AL, training 180 faculty
members
2) Conducted one workshop for 4-H students
3) Conducted a workshop at Chile to train Spanish-speaking educators
4) Exhibited the project results through an exhibit booth at ASEE annual
meeting for four years
5) Published 55 papers in journals and conferences
Impact:
1) Falkenburg stresses the need for new instructional pedagogies to use
IT more effectively in engineering classrooms and refers to our work in
the Engineer of 2020 book. The impact of our work has led to the National Academy of Engineering (2004) recommending the development
of case studies based on both engineering successes and failures and
the appropriate use of a case-studies approach in undergraduate and
graduate curricula.
2) LITEE case studies have been used in engineering courses at Auburn
University, the University of Virginia, MIT, Purdue University, Mercer
University, Illinois Institute of Technology, Alabama A&M, the Rose Hulman Institute of Technology and others.
Challenges:
1) This pedagogy requires a change in the role from “age on the stage” to
“guide on the side.”
2) The university reward systems do not adequately recognize the time
and effort spent by faculty who implement case studies in classrooms.
3) Faculty are apprehensive of using innovative instructional materials in
the classrooms.
4) Traditional publishers shy away from publishing innovative instructional materials.
5) Some academicians insist that actual improvements in higher-order
cognitive skills have to be documented. The known measures are
based on perception; hence, the comments of these academicians cannot be addressed.
Poster 212
S. Manian Ramkumar
Rochester Institute of Technology
Title: Reliability Education and Analysis Laboratory
Project #: 0411075
Co-PI: Scott Anson
PI:
Institution:
Goals: The goal of the project is to integrate the reliability knowledge
and skills that are in demand by the electronics packaging industry into
undergraduate education. The intended outcomes include preparation
of graduates for the workforce, research collaborations with industry,
and enhanced reputation for the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)
through research publications.
Methods: The methodology includes the seamless integration of concepts
related to failure modes, failure mechanisms, failure detection, root cause
analysis, reliability statistics, probability distributions, reliability testing,
and reliability analysis along with the creation of a laboratory to provide
hands-on training analysis.
Evaluation: An evaluation team was assembled and was involved in the
planning, implementation, and assessment stages of the REAL project.
The team consisted of three members, a Professor from CQAS department
at RIT, an Electronics Packaging Strategic Alliance Manager from JPL and a
Retired Principal Scientist from Nokia Research. The team has a combined
experience of over 50 years in the area of reliability analysis and testing.
The curriculum modules were developed and implemented in collaboration with the evaluation team. The team met on the RIT campus two times
to review the curriculum and laboratory development and the results of the
initial offering. We are currently finishing the team’s recommendations.
Dissemination: Several dissemination activities have been completed:
1) RIT faculty made aware of available courses and equipment
2) PI participation in an earlier NSF-CCLI PI conference
3) ASEE conference poster presentation
4) Reliability study results presented at SMTA, ECTC, and IMAPS
conferences
5) A reference guide to be published in 2008
Impact: The following impacts have been observed to date:
1) The student’s understanding of reliability and its implications
2) Enhanced laboratory capability attractive to industry
3) Greater collaboration between faculty in utilizing the laboratory
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Poster Abstracts
4) Improved research capability and results produced using the
laboratory
5) Greater funding from industry to help support students
6) Definite enhancement of RIT’s reputation in the electronics packaging
industry
Challenges: No major unexpected challenges were encountered that re-
quired us to alter the course of the project.
Poster 213
Arun Ravindran
Institution: University of North Carolina–Charlotte
Title: An Undergraduate Computer Engineering Educational
Framework for Using Field Programmable Gate Arrays as
Efficient Hardware Accelerators
Project #: 0633056
PI:
Goals: The goal of the project is to investigate the educational feasibil-
ity of introducing undergraduate computer engineering students to the
emerging paradigm of high-performance computing through the use of
field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based hardware accelerators. Salient outcome of the prototype course is the student’s ability to map computationally intensive cores to an FPGA.
Methods: Algorithms would be drawn from applications such as image
processing, scientific computing, and bioinformatics. These are presented
to the students in a pseudo-code format to keep the background knowledge requirement to a minimum. A laboratory component is used where
hands-on projects serve to reinforce the ideas acquired as part of the
course.
Evaluation: Student feedback and learning outcomes are collected using
both new (pre- and post-tests) and existing assessment programs in the
department. Co-PI Tolley, an educational expert, visited the class a couple
of times during the semester to get student feedback. Professionals from
the industry and faculty from engineering and computer science would be
invited in spring 2008 to serve as evaluators of the final course project. A
faculty workshop is also proposed that would enable peer evaluation of
the new course material.
Dissemination: A faculty workshop is proposed for the summer of 2008
that would enable peer evaluation of the new course material and facilitate dissemination of the products of the proposal to the computer engineering education community. The project and laboratory materials developed in the project may lead to publication of a textbook.
Impact: The course has been offered once (fall 2007). We have already
noticed a greater increase in student interest in the topic due to the interdisciplinary projects assigned in the course. The students had to develop
an FPGA accelerated version of the convolution and the LU decomposition algorithms, exploiting in each case the available data parallelism.
The broader impacts of the project are that the knowledge and skill set
imparted to computer engineering students in such a course would help
in building tomorrow’s workforce by preparing them for careers in the
emerging areas such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, and homeland
security, where high performance computing capability is essential.
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Challenges: The advanced nature of the material presented proved challenging to some students. However, active faculty involvement, faculty
participation in the laboratories, use of additional teaching assistants,
and collecting feedback from the students throughout the semester enabled the students to successfully complete the course projects.
Poster 214
PI: Gerald
Recktenwald
Portland State University
Title: The Engineering of Everyday Things
Project #: 0633754
Institution:
Goals: The goal of the project is to develop curriculum that uses every-
day technology to engage students and improve their learning of core
concepts in the thermal and fluid sciences. The curriculum is primarily for
third-year students in Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering Technology.
Methods: We are developing learning materials that use a hair dryer, a
toaster, a blender, a bicycle pump, and three other simple devices: a tank
of water with a hole in it, a sudden expansion, and a fan-cooled computer
power supply. Students participate in 15-minute, in-class exercises and
1.5-hour-long lab exercises using guided inquiry.
Evaluation: Student learning gains are measured with pre- and post-quiz
questions administered before and after lab sessions. We are recording
scores on exam questions covering concepts addressed in the lab exercises. Student affective response (change in attitude) is measured with
surveys administered at the start of student participation and at intervals
during the academic year. The project has been going for eight months, and
during the last academic term (fall 2007), we collected our first substantial sample of data. We are just starting to analyze these data. Our primary
goal at this point is to use these early data to refine our instruments.
Dissemination: We presented a preview of our project at the 2007 ASEE
Meeting in Hawaii (AC 2007–2294). Abstracts for two papers at the 2008
ASEE Meeting in Pittsburgh have been accepted. Course materials will be
disseminated via a website.
Impact: The faculty at Portland State University have been stimulated by
our approach. Some students have shown interest in learning more about
data acquisition. As we refine our learning materials, we will need to also
do a better job of educating both faculty and students about the inquirybased approach. We still have a lot of work to do. One of our research hypotheses is that the hands-on laboratory exercises will appeal to women
students and underrepresented groups. We have no conclusive data on
that hypothesis because our sample size is too small at this point, and we
have not yet analyzed our fall 2007 survey results.
Challenges: Despite our success with students and faculty who are inclined to learn new approaches, there is a significant resistance to change
both in the students and the faculty. The inquiry-based approach requires
more active student involvement in the learning process. Some students
are frustrated by the lack of a clear recipe for completing the lab exercises.
We have simplified some lab exercises so that students are not rushed
to complete the exercises. One of our papers for the 2008 ASEE meeting
deals with our experiences at integrating our inquiry-based exercises into
a laboratory class that uses conventional “canned” experiments.
Poster Abstracts
Poster 215
PI: Teri
Reed-Rhoads
Title: Assessing the State of STEM Concept Inventories: A
National Workshop
Project #: 0731232
Goals: Engineering experienced a flurry of development, primarily associ-
ated with the Foundation Coalition, from 2001 to 2003 (see Evans et al.,
2003, for a summary). A literature review (Allen, 2006) identified 16 engineering concept inventories and nine additional science, technology, or
mathematics concept inventories in some stage of development or implementation. As a first step to catalyze completion of existing inventories in
beginning stages, large-scale deployment of developed instruments, and
analysis of concept inventory assessment instruments, the research team
held a National Workshop that brought together researchers with expertise in developing, analyzing, and applying concept inventories with concept inventory users in classrooms around the nation. Recommendations
from the Workshop provide a basis for constructive action, serving as the
first step toward a national collaborative effort to support continued development, refinement, analysis, and application of multiple instruments
and to engage the engineering education community in productive conversations about assessing and improving conceptual understanding.
Finally, it was proposed that a National Workshop of STEM Concept Inventory Developers would facilitate the establishment of six long-term goals
for this community:
1) Provide the opportunity to create a collaborative national database
where concept inventory data can be gathered and analyzed in a common way
2) Provide mechanisms for further development and increasing reliability
and validity of concept inventories
3) Enhance communication between concept inventory developers
4) Expand the breadth and number of concept inventory users
5) Make concept inventory use more beneficial to instructors
6) Catalyze discussions about student conceptual understanding
Methods: In April 2007, an NSF-sponsored National Workshop for STEM
Concept Inventory Developers and Users was held in Washington, DC.
Combinations of presentations and interactions covered topics in a twotiered format: large-group activities highlight successful approaches
and methods, followed by small-group sessions to explore broadening
impact.
Evaluation: Assessment and evaluation methods were selected to target
the goals and objectives of the National Workshop. Data collection was facilitated by an evaluation form that was completed by all of the workshop
participants. Assessment results were evaluated by the steering committee at a summative debrief directly after the meeting, and lessons learned
will be incorporated in the final report.
Dissemination: Information about the results of the Workshop will be dis-
seminated through website and at workshops held at ASEE 2007 and FIE
2007. Further dissemination is being sought in ASEE Section meetings
through interactive workshops targeting developers and users. The ciHUB
is now being developed to create a virtual community of developers and
users.
Impact: As a result of this project, there is now a concept inventory central
website that lists instruments, developers, and summaries of instruments
in two forms: one tabular and the second descriptive. In addition, two national workshops have increased the awareness of available instruments
and potential uses of instruments. Funding was obtained to sponsor concept inventory graduate students travel to ASEE Global Colloquium on Engineering Education, where these students were able to interact with an
international population of graduate students who were all interested in
the future of engineering education research. Key contacts for instrument
translation into other languages was just one outcome.
Challenges: In future concept inventory national meetings, there will be
two tracks. The first will be for developers and will focus on psychometrics, database and cyberstructure needs, and cross-instrument research.
The second will be for utilizers and will focus on the historical background,
classroom use, and methods for beginning to write concept questions.
Common times for both developers and utilizers will focus on difficult concepts and student conceptual understanding.
Poster 216
Ruth Streveler
Title: Rigorous Research in Engineering Education: Creating
a Community of Practice
Project #: 0341127
PI:
Goals: The goals of the project are:
1) Create and present workshops for engineering faculty on conducting
rigorous research in engineering education.
2) Sustain the development of this project through establishing a community of practice. The intended outcome is to assist engineering faculty in conducting rigorous research in engineering education.
Methods: Engineering faculty attended a five-day workshop on conducting rigorous educational research, followed by a mentored research experience. The workshop was developed through a collaboration of three
professional societies: ASEE (engineers), learning scientists (AERA), and
faculty development professionals from learning and teaching centers
(POD).
Evaluation: Evaluation of immediate impact of the workshop was done
by evaluators Nancy Chism and Maura Borrego. Data used for this evaluation were 1) pre– and post–self-assessment workshop learning objectives
(significant gains were observed) and 2) qualitative observation of the
workshop and participate artifacts. Result: Articles by Streveler, Smith,
and Borrego that track the paradigm changes that occurred during the
workshop. Summary: A shift was seen toward clearer understanding of
the differences and similarities between technical engineering research
and engineering education research. Long-term effects of this experience
are underway.
Dissemination: We have also published three articles in the Journal of
Engineering Education. Another article is in press, and one being developed. We have made conference presentations at ASEE, FIE, AERA, and
POD. Our special session “What IS Rigorous Research in Engineering Education?” (RREE) won the 2007 Helen Plants Award for the best nontraditional session at FIE.
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Poster Abstracts
Impact: The impact of the RREE workshops on participants a year or more
after the workshops has been completed using an online survey. Participants reported increases in 1) attendance and presentations at engineering education conferences, 2) collaborations with learning/social scientists on engineering education research projects, 3) writing engineering
education proposals, and 4) having such proposals funded. Both new and
established faculty reported these positive outcomes. An in-depth systematic evaluation of long-term impacts is in the planning stages.
Challenges: The biggest challenge was dealing with the demand for
the workshop. Each of the three years we offered the workshop we had
about 70 applications for 20 slots. The first year, we were really taken by
surprise and had 85 applications (for 20 slots) before we could turn off
the online application process. Our method for handling this was to think
deeply about the application process and creating an application process
and application rubric for selecting faculty who would benefit the most
from the experience. Our rubric had three categories: 1) readiness for the
workshop, 2) broader impact of participation, and 3) institutional support
for engineering education research.
Poster 217
Chetan S. Sankar
Auburn University
Title: National Dissemination of Multi-Media Case Studies
That Bring Real-World Issues into Engineering Classrooms
Project #: 0442531
PI:
Institution:
Goals:
1) Provide faculty members with hands-on experience of working in
teams
2) Explain case study teaching strategies
3) Connect STEM theories to the real-world problems discussed in the
case studies
4) Demonstrate how the LITEE case studies can help meet the ABET accreditation criteria
Methods: We have formed a partnership with a group of engineering/
technology faculty members who are validating the concept and value of
disseminating LITEE case studies to students and training other faculty
members.
Evaluation: Assessment and evaluation efforts will target and measure
the impact in terms of the project’s goals, specific strategies, and outcomes. The emphasis will be on assessing the following five areas: curricular and case study materials, faculty workshops, faculty adaptation
of the case studies in their classrooms, student attitudes, and student
usage.
Dissemination:
1) A faculty meeting at ASEE conference, 2006, where 20 faculty members and experts participated
2) LITEE workshop held at Auburn, AL, March 2007 with 30 attendees
3) Six journal and conference articles have been published
4) A national conference is being planned for May 2008
Impact:
1) The case studies have been used by 10 faculty members affecting 750
students during the course of this project.
2) Victor Mbarika from Southern University has received two NSF grants
and one NASA grant to adopt LITEE case studies in his university based
on the results obtained from this project.
3) We have obtained a grant from the NSF international division to develop case studies illustrating global issues. These case studies are being
developed by U.S. graduate students who work with local industries
and IIT Madras in India.
4) We received the iNEER Recognition Award by the International Network
for Engineering Education and Research, 2006.
Challenges:
1) The proposed work had to be limited substantially due to limited funds
made available to this project. We could not support many faculty
members who had expressed strong interest in adopting the LITEE
case studies in their universities.
2) We plan to write a proposal for national dissemination to address some
of the challenges we encountered in this project.
3) We have published all the case studies at lulu.com/litee_cases and are
working to make them electronically available to students and faculty
members.
4) We have also developed an instructor support system to support faculty interaction on the use of these case studies.
Poster 218
Linda Schmidt
Institution: University of Maryland
Title: Assessing the Impact of Early Specialization on
Learning and Development in an Engineering Student
Project Team
Project #: 0536433
PI:
Goals: This work studies the development of role specialization on proj-
ect teams during a student’s undergraduate education and the degree
to which specialization on team projects influences students’ individual
learning.
Methods: This is a mixed methods study using Self Efficacy measures
(Lent), focus group data analysis, and Dr. P. Alexander’s Model of Domain
Learning to understand how students “learn” in teams. A total of 14 focus
groups were planned and 18 were conducted.
Evaluation: Focus group data from the first-year teams will provide the
“baseline” for determining the relationship between functional roles, selfefficacy, and steps toward the development of expertise. The team is preceding with content analysis on the focus group transcripts.
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Dissemination: We will be presenting a paper on the comparison of first-
Dissemination: In addition to papers and workshops at engineering con-
and last-year team member behaviors at the ASEE 2008 Conference.
ferences and archival publications, we will distribute a manual that describes the various pedagogical approaches used throughout the grant.
We will format our web materials for the NSDL and team with one of
the National Dissemination Projects and a private publisher for further
dissemination.
Impact: Understanding the impact of specialization on teams will inform
faculty to 1) structure assignments to provide opportunity for individual
assessment on skills and knowledge comprising course learning outcomes; and 2) form teams so that members exploit specialization in skills
and knowledge that will improve project outcomes without stifling individual learning. This study will provide evidence on the ability of women
on engineering teams to avoid stereotypical roles. The use of Alexander’s
Model of Domain Learning will contribute to the understanding of the development of competency in engineering course subjects. This will inform
faculty on appropriate course structuring.
Challenges: There have been unforeseen difficulties in recruiting the necessary number of female focus group participants. The pool of available
women is so small that it is difficult to recruit a suitable number of volunteers. Originally, we planned on collecting data only during the spring
semester of 2007. Our focus group data collection has continued into the
summer and fall semesters of 2008. The final focus group of women was
conducted on Monday, December 10, 2007. This was a group of women
taking a second-year, required Mechanical Engineering course. It took
roughly 50 e-mail messages to bring four women into the same room for a
focus group. There were only six women in the course.
Poster 219
PI: Brian
Self/Tamara Moore/Larry Shuman
Institution: California Polytechnic State University/
University of Minnesota/University of Pittsburgh
Modeling
Project #: 0717595/0717529/0717801
Impact: By creating and assessing additional MEAs, this project will provide STEM educators with an understanding of how students learn to
become better problem-solvers. This includes how misconceptions enter
into the process and how they can be repaired. This should be particularly
useful in classroom settings where instructors can determine student abilities and misconceptions at various points during the course, intervening
when appropriate, and enabling students to better understand their areas
of weakness. Purdue University documented that MEAs were helpful in
attracting and retaining women students; we expect this positive affect to
continue and to extend to other underrepresented populations.
Challenges: Management of this ambitious undertaking (six universities
and multiple researchers) has been challenging. Teleconferences and web
meetings have been productive, and we are working to establish a collaborative workspace. It has also been more difficult than originally anticipated to create activities that adhere to the six MEA design principles.
Students are developing discipline-specific MEAs, but it is difficult to write
client-driven, interesting problems that will adequately challenge teams of
students. One of the experienced team experts will give a two-day workshop on creating and assessing MEAs to Cal Poly and Colorado School of
Mines researchers to enable us to write successful MEAs.
Poster 220
cuses on models and modeling as a foundation for undergraduate STEM
education. The team from Cal Poly is concentrating on creating modeleliciting activities (MEAs) that elicit and help overcome common misconceptions in thermodynamics and in mechanics. We also hope to develop
complementary MEA laboratory activities.
Shuman/Tamara Moore/Brian Self
Institution: University of Pittsburgh/University of
Minnesota/California Polytechnic State University
Modeling
Project #: 0717801/0717529/0717595
Co-PI: Renee Clark
Education
Methods: We are teaming with researchers at the Colorado School of
Goals: We are interested in models and modeling for undergraduate cur-
Goals: This comprehensive effort by researchers from six universities fo-
Mines and the University of Minnesota to develop MEAs in Mechanical and
Chemical Engineering courses. Focus groups will be conducted at multiple
sites to assess and improve the MEAs and laboratory activities. The MEAs
will be refined and then pilot-tested in actual undergraduate classes.
Evaluation: The team has an extensive background in qualitative and
quantitative methods. Student teams performing MEAs will be videotaped
and assessed, and we will obtain subjective feedback from the students.
Because Model Documentation is one of the six principles of MEAs, a written deliverable is a product of every activity. We have previously developed assessment rubrics to evaluate team performance, and this rubric is
augmented by peer critique forms. These tools will be analyzed to identify
student misconceptions and to see if previously identified misconceptions
are elicited by the MEAs. Finally, team members have developed concept
inventories that are used to assess conceptual understanding.
PI: Larry
riculum, especially in engineering. We are aiming to enhance problemsolving, nurture ethical frameworks, and more effectively identify misconceptions. At Pitt, we are striving to introduce modeling to industrial
engineering, including assessment of problem-solving processes.
Methods: We will extend model-eliciting activities from math education to
engineering curriculum. MEAs simulate real-world team problems. We will
broaden the MEA library across engineering, including industrial at Pitt.
We will measure problem-solving processes by capturing solution steps
using PDAs and statistically analyzing process patterns.
Evaluation: Dr. Maura Borrego will serve as the outside evaluator of our
project. Dr. Borrego’s interests are in faculty development in engineering
education, specifically how faculty adopt new pedagogies. Evaluation of
our MEA development for multiple engineering disciplines will be accom-
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Poster Abstracts
plished by assessing the number of MEAs developed for each area that
adhere to the Six Principles of MEA development. Once the MEAs are developed, several classroom environments will be selected for monitoring
and formative assessment of MEA implementation into upper-level engineering. As part of this, participating faculty will be interviewed by Dr. Borrego to assess and discuss the value of using MEAs in engineering.
Dissemination: By August, we will have disseminated at IERC (May) and
ASEE. We also plan to attend FIE. At IERC, we are presenting on development and recent use of MEAs in industrial engineering, and Minnesota
(partner) will conduct an interactive session on applying MEAs in industrial settings. We will package the MEA library and practices for STEM
communities.
Impact: Our project will provide an understanding of how students be-
come better problem-solvers, including ethical resolutions. Faculty will be
able to better identify informed curriculum enhancements and understand
how misconceptions arise. Students will learn to become better problemsolvers. Such results can be extended to other STEM areas. In introducing
MEAs into Purdue’s freshman engineering, researchers documented that
MEAs were helpful in attracting and retaining female students. As we develop a broad library and introduce issues related to societal and ethical
impacts, we would expect this positive effect to continue and extend to
other underrepresented populations.
Challenges: We recently completed a successful pilot study on measuring the problem-solving process during MEA activity, using PDAs and work
measurement software. This pilot highlighted various lessons for making
this measurement as successful as possible, which we will apply as we begin implementing MEAs in classrooms. The development of MEAs that will
elicit generalizable models for resolving ethical dilemmas is a challenging problem that we as an MEA development team continue to address.
For example, we are currently addressing this issue as we create an MEA
centered on evaluating whether to develop food-based ethanol facilities
in various areas.
Evaluation: The developed materials were used in VHDL and VLSI cours-
es. For the VHDL class, the average on the asynchronous homework was
the second highest of the six homework assignments, and the asynchronous project’s average was approximately the same as the synchronous
project. For the VLSI course, all students successfully completed the
asynchronous assignment; and all three asynchronous semester projects
worked correctly, all resulting in a conference publication. We are developing a concept inventory test of standardized questions covering fundamental asynchronous principles to accompany each module to provide an
easy mechanism to gather student feedback that can be fairly compared
across multiple institutions.
Dissemination: We have presented our work at ASEE regional, national,
and global conferences and as a workshop at an IEEE conference; have
developed a website for our educational modules and component libraries; and are currently writing an IEEE journal article and a book proposal.
Additionally, we will offer a free three-day short course for 10 faculty each
summer.
Impact: This project will incorporate asynchronous digital design into the
Computer Engineering curriculum by integrating this increasingly important topic into many courses at numerous institutions throughout the nation, positively affecting thousands of Computer Engineering students.
It will also develop a comprehensive design methodology for automated
synthesis, optimization, and testing of delay-insensitive digital circuits,
starting from the RTL level of abstraction and ending with an FPGA or ASIC
implementation, which will expedite the integration of widespread asynchronous circuit usage in the semiconductor industry, thus alleviating
many of today’s clock- and power-related problems.
Challenges: The PI switched universities at the beginning of the project,
which delayed the project by approximately one semester, since he was
focused on equipping his new laboratory, recruiting new students to work
on this project and others, and adjusting to a new university environment.
Everything is now on track and proceeding smoothly.
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Poster 222
PI:
Scott Smith
University of Arkansas
Title: Collaborative Research: Integrating Asynchronous
Digital Design into the Undergraduate Computer
Engineering Curriculum throughout the Nation
Project #: 0717572/0717767
PI: Gangbing
Institution:
Institution:
Goals: The goals are to develop and broadly disseminate materials for
easy integration of asynchronous circuit concepts into existing course
structures and to yield a low-cost, innovative addition to the Computer Engineering curriculum, including lecture notes, example problems, group
projects, digital component libraries, CAD tools, an asynchronous field
programmable gate array (FPGA), and a textbook.
Methods: Preliminary educational materials have been developed by the
PIs and integrated into VHDL, VLSI, and Advanced Digital Logic courses
at University of Arkansas and UMR. These materials and digital component libraries have been posted on our CCLI website: http://www.uark.
edu/~smithsco/CCLI_async.html; and we will present a free three-day
short course for faculty each summer.
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Song
Title: Development of a Smart Vibration Platform
Experiment
Project #: 0341143
Goals: The goal of this project is to develop a multi-purpose Smart Vibration Platform (SVP) with controllable stiffness and damping ratio by using
shape memory alloys and magneto-rheological fluids. The SVP is expected to significantly enhance student learning involving dynamic systems,
vibrations, and vibration controls in multiple departments.
Methods: With its unique property of adjustable damping and stiffness,
the SVP is capable of many demonstrations. The SVP was integrated with
undergraduate teaching in 22 classes to demonstrate various concepts
and phenomena, directly benefiting 430 students, among whom 310 students in 16 classes participated in the anonymous and voluntary surveys.
Evaluation: Three approaches were used to evaluate the Smart Vibration
Platform (SVP) and its effectiveness in improving student learning.
Poster Abstracts
1) Anonymous student surveys: 310 students in 16 classes participated.
Each survey has five to nine questionnaires in the form of four multiple
choices: Very Effective, Effective, Somewhat Effective, and Not Effective.
Of the responses, 90% are either Very Effective or Effective.
2) Instructor surveys: An anonymous survey was conducted with the participating instructors. Of the responses, 94% are either Very Effective
or Effective.
3) Technical evaluation: Two experts conducted evaluations of the SVP
and all highly regard the SVP and its role in engineering education.
Dissemination:
1) Conference and journal publications: two journal papers and four conference papers have been published
2) Websites: http://egr.uh.edu/smsl/research/svp/svp.html
3) Lab tours and experimental demonstrations to visiting K-12 students
4) Demonstration of the developed experiments in other universities
Impact:
1) Developed a unique and multi-purpose Smart Vibration Platform (SVP)
with controllable stiffness and damping ratio for undergraduate engineering education
2) Improved undergraduate teaching in 22 classes and directly benefiting
430 students in various engineering and technology disciplines in five
universities
3) Recruited several undergraduate students to go to graduate school at
University of Houston via this project.
4) Introduced emerging technologies into undergraduate education
5) Benefited 800 K-12 students, including 500 underrepresented students, by demonstrating the SVP
6) Formed a community of scholars, who successfully secured a CCLIPhase II project based on this Phase I project
Challenges: The developed SVP was found effective in improving undergraduate engineering education. It is a challenge to use only one SVP to
benefit a large population of students. To address this challenge, the PI
further developed a remote control feature for this platform using the
Internet. All the data and video can be transmitted in real time. In addition, controller parameters can also be adjusted remotely, and this makes
this equipment remotely interactive. This feature has already been successfully demonstrated in two courses, and student surveys show that
the remote experimental demonstration is an effective alternative to the
traditional face-to-face approach.
Poster 223
PI: Andreas
Spanias
Institution: Arizona State University
Title: Collaborative NSF Project: Development and
Dissemination of Online Laboratories in Networks,
Probability Theory, Signals and Systems, and Multimedia
Project #: 0443137
Goals: The EMD collaborative project involves five universities: ASU,
UWB, UTD, URI, and UCF. Goals are 1) to develop new education technology and Java labs and 2) to evaluate the labs/technology at the five sites.
Outcomes are 1) new technology supporting collaborative online labs, 2)
testing performed at four sites, 3) results disseminated, and 4) a book
published.
Methods: Developed Java software that enables students to perform e-
labs jointly from geographically distributed sites. Engaged all five suites in
testing/assessment and included two new international sites. Developed
educational materials and evaluated them.
Evaluation:
Educational material evaluation: We evaluated new labs materials. We
used a pre- and post-quiz to assess learning improvements when using
our materials. We interviewed students involved. Preliminary assessments were very encouraging and results were reported at FIE and ASEE.
Technology evaluation: A collaborative lab involves real-time J-DSP lab
Internet transfer from one remote student user to another. We evaluated: Time delays for GUI transfers and different connectivity involving
local, state, and international collaborators. We used: Average round data
transfer metrics for different J-DSP packet sizes. There is more information
in papers at http://jdsp.asu.edu/JDSP_EMD05/index.html.
Dissemination:
•
•
•
•
Papers presented at FIE 2006, 2007, ASEE 2006
Continuous website updates, see http://jdsp.asu.edu
Results published at ASEE Journal of Computers in Education, 2007
Some EMD results reported in IEEE Trans. on Education, November
2005
• New IEEE Trans. on Education paper submission on J-DSP hardware interfaces submitted
Impact:
• Software developed from this project is now used internationally.
• Our J-DSP software was adapted for use in a multidisciplinary Earth
Sciences project with Johns Hopkins, Purdue, and ASU (ICASSP 08 and
ASEE 08).
• Book by the PI that uses the EMD materials
Challenges:
1) Communications with one test side at times were difficult. Solution:
We have set up meetings with the PI at the site to help him set up the
mirror site. We established communications directly with the student
at the site.
2) Technical challenges occurred with getting the software interfaces to
work. Solution: Hired students from computer science expert in Java
and in programming servers to resolve the problems.
3) Continuous software and educational materials maintenance issues
occur as student workers graduate and new ones have to be trained.
Solution: Hire and train a new student every six months, make work
part of his or her thesis, and maintain continuity.
Poster 224
Daniel Stancil
Carnegie Mellon University
Title: Remote Educational Antenna Laboratory for
Enhanced Undergraduate Electrical Engineering Education
Project #: 0442989
Development
PI:
Institution:
Program Book
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Poster Abstracts
Goals: Students taking electrodynamics often come away with the impression that the topic is abstract, mathematical, and of little practical
use. Our goal is to create an educational experience to help students see
electrodynamics as relevant and more concrete. We hope this will attract
students and encourage faculty to add projects to their courses.
Methods: Students perform at least one learning module in Active Learn-
Methods: One type of electromagnetic component that is practical for
Evaluation: Upon completion of the module, student evaluation is per-
students to design and build is an antenna. However, the capability to
characterize antennas is not always available to instructors. To address
this and meet our goals, we are building an antenna measurement facility
that will be widely available for student projects via web controls.
formed based on a triangulation technique. Specifically, feedback from
the instructor(s), practicing professional(s), and the student is used. The
information from the instructor and practicing professional form the team
base score. This base score is adjusted based on the accuracy of self-assessment and the level of individual contribution. An emphasis is placed
on giving qualitative feedback useful for improvement in addition to quantitative feedback useful for comparison and analysis. All feedback is to be
collected using the web, with scoring performed in an automated fashion
allowing modification by the instructor.
Evaluation: The evaluation plan consists of multiple measures: user in-
terface studies, focus groups, learning experiments and instructor interviews. Interface user studies and a focus group with local students who
used the lab have been completed. Focus group students revealed that
the lab experience helped them connect the abstract, mathematical representations with real phenomenon, resulting in a more intuitive understanding of the concepts and that the experience better prepared them
for professional life by providing them with an understanding of real world
factors, such as manufacturing precision, that could interact with and affect the successful operation of devices they might design.
Dissemination: The project website is operational (http://preal.ece.cmu.
edu) and papers have been presented at both the 2007 IEEE Antenna and
Propagation Symposium and the 2007 International Union of Radio Science Conference. Future plans include sponsoring a booth at an international conference and developing a flier for distribution.
Impact: To date, the primary impact has been through the experiences of
students in our focus groups. Ultimately, we hope the facility will increase
the numbers of students who are involved with antenna project courses
throughout the country. We believe this will have a significant positive impact on the effectiveness of electrodynamics education and consequently
the preparedness of students in this area.
Challenges: In addition to the web facility, our trials have indicated that
it is critical for the remote students to have the ability to measure the
return loss locally. Many universities that do not have anechoic chambers
do have this instrumentation, but we are now exploring inexpensive ways
to make this available for those who do not. We are also finding that for
larger classes, the logistics for adding an antenna design project are a significant deterrent, even with such a facility available over the web. At least
initially, the facility may be most attractive for smaller classes.
Poster 225
Paul Stanfield
Institution: North Carolina A&T State University
Title: Discipline Integration through the ALIVE System
Project #: 0341492
Development
PI:
Goals: The Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at NC A&T
is reorganizing its laboratories into a Virtual Enterprise (VE). The VE is a
full-scale manufacturing supply chain, integrated using information technology and producing the actual product. Departmental laboratories are
organized as business departments.
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Program Book
ing in the Virtual Enterprise (ALIVE). The learning module is a seven-step
process with learning objective, functional training, data and process
model, economic model, other issues, individual evaluation, and group
case study.
Dissemination:
•
•
•
•
Seven peer-reviewed conference proceedings
Planned: two journal publications
Onsite symposium
DVD and manual distribution
Impact: There is a new method of authentic assessment using triangulation and metacognition.
Challenges: One challenge was maintaining a stable database; we sepa-
rated the database so that students can work in their separate production
version. Another challenge was getting industrial partners for assessment; we engaged an advisory board.
Poster 226
PI: Tulio
Sulbaran
Institution: University of Southern Mississippi
Title: Edutainment Distributed Virtual Reality to Enhance
Engineering Scheduling Pedagogy
Project #: 0442686
Goals: The overall goal of this research project is to provide simulated
hands-on experience (through edutainment) to promote students’
higher-order thinking skills and the ability to visualize time sequencing
components.
Methods: The project plan is based on the idea of organizing the project
into tasks. Each task has a specific methodology with a predefined outcome. The five tasks for this project are as follows: 1) literature review
update, 2) detailed planning, 3) development and testing, 4) implementation and assessment, and 5) dissemination and feedback.
Evaluation: The implementation and assessment task will be based on
an experimental methodology. In this research, the independent variable
is the instructional media used to develop higher-order thinking skills (traditional vs. edutainment DVR), and the dependent variable is the cognitive
level gained during the learning process (higher-order thinking skills). The
analysis of variance (ANOVA or F-test) will be used to determine whether
or not there are significant statistical differences between the two groups.
ANOVA will be used to 1) validate groups statistical equivalency, 2) com-
Poster Abstracts
pare learning achievement upon completing the learning process, and 3)
compare learning achievement of the two groups.
Dissemination: The conferences most likely to be targeted for dissemina-
tion are: 1) American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE); 2) American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) Conference; 3) Virtual Reality for
Construction (CONVR); and 4) Mississippi Educational Computing Association (MECA).
Impact: This project is anticipated to advance discovery and understand-
ing by exploring the use of edutainment DVR on promoting higher-order
thinking skills, which directly affects the educational experience of students. Because the edutainment DVR prototype will be accessible through
the Internet by commonly available desktop computers, all communities
(regardless of gender, ethnicity, some disabilities, and geographic limitations) will benefit from it.
Poster 228
PI: Ying Tang
Rowan University
Title: A Collaborative Proposal to Integrate System-on-Chip
Concepts in Two-Year Engineering Science and Four-Year
Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Curricula
Project #: 0633512
Co-PI: Linda Head
Institution:
Poster 227
Goals: Our goal is to develop System-on-Chip (SoC) laboratory experi-
Jianxin Tang
Institution: Alfred University
Title: A Magnetic Levitation System for Control Engineering
Education
Project #: 0536236
Methods: We will take three fundamental tracks of the ECE and ES cur-
PI:
Goals: This proposal addresses real-time magnetic levitation (maglev)
control using digital signal processing (DSP). The expected outcomes of
this project are prototype one-, two-, and three-dimensional maglev systems and the relevant new software, laboratory experiments, and teaching materials.
Methods: Preliminary study using analog controllers for a one-dimension-
al system was conducted and successful. Digital controllers using DSP
were then used to replace analog controllers for one- and two-dimensional
systems and were successful. Adaptive control scheme was then used and
successful. Currently, we are working on the three-dimensional system.
Evaluation: This project will be evaluated for the students’ ability to design and conduct experiments; to identify, formulate, and solve problems
related to maglev and other non-linear systems; to use techniques, skills,
and modern engineering tools like MATLAB to design, construct, and tune
maglev systems; and finally to communicate effectively with written reports an oral presentations.
Dissemination: So far, three technical papers have been presented and
published in ASEE and other conferences. Lab manuals were written for
control systems course, signals and systems course, and discoveries labs
course.
Impact: This project so far involves senior design and lab experiments for
freshman course (Discoveries Labs), junior course (Signals and Systems),
and senior course (Digital Control Systems). It is also used for Open Houses many times for visiting high school students.
Challenges: The most challenging problem is the three-dimensional sys-
tem construction, currently under way. It is very difficult to move the object from point A to point B. There is not a lot of information available for
this part either.
ments and design projects that cut across course boundaries and integrate SoC techniques using problem-oriented laboratory experiments in
Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and Engineering Science (ES)
curricula. The intended outcome is a project-oriented textbook of SoC
experiment.
ricula (digital, analog, and signal processing) and vertically integrate SoC
concepts focusing on three comprehensive SoC product designs.
Evaluation: We will progressively monitor the impact of the laboratory ex-
periments via pre- and post-student surveys, course quizzes, and course
evaluations. The key result is the comparative assessment of improvement in the sophistication of the laboratory components obtained by
surveying students with and without access to our proposed materials.
Focus groups will also be conducted throughout the project with students
who participated in the proposed experiments and with faculty who teach
courses with the proposed materials.
Dissemination: We plan to share our results in the 2008 European Workshop on Microelectronic Education and the 2008 Frontiers in Education
conference. An educational video is under development for outreach programs during summer 2008 to excite students about engineering system
design. The project website will be launched with materials to depict our
design.
Impact: The proposed teaching strategies will optimize student learning
by stimulating recall of pertinent concepts and promoting a “big picture”
strategy for problem-solving. The partnership between a two-year college
and a four-year university will encourage more students to pursue ECE.
Collaborative efforts with three successful outreach programs and activities to introduce students to a vision of engineers as problem-solvers who
improve the quality of life will help increase the numbers of women and
minorities who pursue a career in engineering.
Challenges: We encountered none unexpected challenges so far.
Poster 229
PI: Patrick Tebbe
Institution: Minnesota
State University Mankato
of Engineering Scenarios to Promote
Student Engagement and Design in Thermodynamics
Courses
Project #: 0536299
Title: Development
Program Book
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Poster Abstracts
Stewart Ross
Co-PI:
Goals: The overall goal is to improve student performance in thermody-
namics and related courses by increasing student engagement. This will be
done by developing course material based on an actual facility. Outcomes
will include the completed course material, information on engagement,
and results on relationships between engagement and performance.
Methods: Student engagement is being fostered by providing skill- and
design-based problems created around a real-world facility. Students gain
a greater sense of perspective for the material covered. In-depth information on the facility and staff allows greater student exploration and inclass discussion. Heavy use of real equipment data reinforces this.
Evaluation: A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods are
being used in the Thermodynamics and Applied Thermodynamics courses.
These include pre- and post-concept inventories, brief periodic engagement surveys, student focus groups, course evaluations, web tracking of
material use, and assessment of student work by an outside evaluator.
Dissemination: Two conference publications have been made. An addi-
tional conference paper is accepted for summer 2008. One draft journal
article is prepared. Additional journal papers will be submitted. During
2008, a workshop is planned to disseminate the material and discuss
thermodynamics pedagogy. The completed material will be made available online.
Impact: Involvement of student workers has had a major impact on five
undergraduates and one graduate student. Student expectations appear
to be better met in the intro thermodynamics course. The student focus
groups have had the largest impact producing information on how engineering courses are taught, as well as general education courses, and textbook formats used. Anticipated impacts include methods and materials to
create greater student engagement. The results of the concept inventories
(across three years) are also giving hints at what students do not understand, what they incorrectly understand, and what things they know coming into a thermodynamics course. This will improve future instruction.
Challenges: The greatest challenge has been time. The creation of prop-
erly formatted text, homework problems, and design problems has been
very time intensive. To conserve energy, a focus has been maintained on
first-semester thermodynamics topics. A second challenge has been determining a way to accurately measure student engagement (or to even
define student engagement properly). Multiple assessment methods and
student focus groups have been used to help with this. In addition, the
project student workers have been heavily used for input and as a sounding board for all material development and assessment activities.
Poster 230
PI: John
Uhran
Institution: University of Notre Dame
Title: On Engineering Education: The Role of the First Year
Project #: 0735633
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Program Book
Goals:
1) To explore various approaches to engineering courses appropriate for
the first year.
2) Allow and encourage attendees to develop a network of people with
common interests.
3) Try to understand today’s students and how they are different from
those a decade or two ago.
4) To discuss current technologies and their impact.
5) To examine diversity.
Methods: The method to do this was to bring together people with com-
mon interests in a pleasant, relaxed environment and provide a mechanism for interchange of ideas. This was seeded by experts who are familiar
with the issues to start the conversations going. Ample time was provided
for questions and answers and a variety of approaches was provided.
Evaluation: Evaluation was done informally, but in depth, by the organizers to probe attendees’ feelings about the various sessions. We also
handed out an in-depth survey before people left and have two years of
data, which was analyzed to indicate what worked and what did not work
and what was good and what was not so good. Each survey provides the
direction that the next workshop should take.
Dissemination: Each session of the workshop, including dinner talks, is
videotaped and a DVD was produced of the filming, as well as a written
summary of each presentation and original papers and PowerPoint slides
for all those participating. We are preparing presentations and papers for
major education conferences. The first is ASEE national in June 2008.
Impact: It is hard to judge impacts this early, but requests for presentations have been made to the PI. We have also had some high school teachers attend and believe that future conferences will have more focus on this
group because of the national need. The latter has led to some significant
interactions this fall. We have also had some repeat attendees because
of changing the program and speakers without sacrificing the overall purpose. Further, the ASEE section meetings in the Midwest this spring will
have a focus on K-12 as a result of ideas generated at the conference.
Challenges: We did have one unexpected challenge this summer when
one of the lunch speakers had a family death and was required to leave
before giving the talk. Because each topic and talk had a role in the overall mosaic, this created a problem. We finally worked it out by squeezing
the talk in a place it did not really belong. Although seemingly okay to all
concerned, it rushed our first afternoon somewhat and did not fit as well
as it would have if given at the time allocated.
Poster 231
PI: Bernard Van Wie
State University
Title: Assessing and Disseminating Group Learning
Pedagogy in Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer While
Using Hands-On Desktop Units with Interchangeable
Cartridges
Project #: 0618872
Goals: Goals are to redesign Desktop Learning Modules (DLMs) and com-
panion materials for classroom implementation. A transferable assess-
Poster Abstracts
ment strategy is being developed to assist in pedagogical evaluations
especially for newer experiential learning approaches. Seven control/
beta institutions are involved, including Ahmadu Bello University (ABU)
in Nigeria.
Methods: A Collaborative, Hands-on, Active and Problem-Based Learning
(CHAPL) approach is being taken with the DLMs as the base learning unit
in Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer (FMHT). We are assessing students’
critical thinking (CT), performance on a concept inventories (CI), responses to a focused survey, and students’ and curricular debrief.
Evaluation: CT assessment: Inter-rater reliability exceeded 95% and
the assessment showed average student scores for FMHT increasing
throughout the semester. CI assessment: Pre- to post-assessment gains
are substantial in all but energy versus temperature. Other areas showed
gains of 11% in linear momentum conservation, 22% in understanding the
Bernoulli equation, and 47% in Conservation of Mass. Online five-point
Likert surveys probed student perceptions compared to other courses
and showed affective gains in developing vital non-technical skills, course
satisfaction, and ability to work in groups. A curricular debriefing to assess group performance showed FMHT with higher marks than graduating
seniors.
Dissemination: There was one referred proceedings paper and one post-
er presentation at the 2007 ASEE meeting. Two workshops were given at
the Chemical Engineering Summer Institute for new Faculty; this Institute
is held only once every four years. Two more presentations are planned
for the ASEE 2008 meeting, and three peer-reviewed publications are
planned for the year.
Impact: Professor Van Wie (PI) mentored a postdoc and professor to teach
while he does a Fulbright Exchange at ABU. They and one ChE graduate
student showed gains in incorporating the new DLMs into the CHAPL pedagogy. The entire team including co-PI Brown grew in skills for assessing
the impact of new pedagogy on student growth in CT and conceptual understanding. The group and two undergraduates developed a workshop
and presented it twice at the ASEE ChE Summer School; this workshop
forms the basis for future workshops for implementation at our beta sites.
An NSF supplement provides extension to ABU and brings in a WSU undergraduate under NSF OISE support. ABU students and faculty are showing enthusiasm for the approach and an ABU Education professor is now
involved.
Challenges: We encountered challenges in implementing DLMs in Nigeria.
First, there are small problems that occur in shipping and it is necessary
to troubleshoot the DLMs once they arrive. We will add a troubleshooting
section to the workbook to assist professors with anticipated problems.
Before arriving at ABU, it was not known what would happen with classes
as large as 140. Modification of the approach is necessary in this case
where students still do active and cooperative learning, but groups must
rotate through hands-on stations. The challenge of frequent power outages was unexpected; however, the DLMs performed beautifully and batteries lasted for over two hours with continuous DLM usage.
Poster 232
Linda Vanasupa/Julie Zimmerman
California Polytechnic State University/Yale
University
Title: Collaborative Research: Civil and Environmental
Engineering Education (CEEE) Transformational Change:
Tools and Strategies for Sustainability Integration and
Assessment in Engineering Education
PI:
Institution:
0717428/0717556
Phase II—Expansion
Project #:
Type:
Goals: This project is explicitly focused on addressing some of the cur-
rent barriers to integrating sustainability into engineering education and
creating effective learning materials and proving the effectiveness of new
teaching strategies that enable engineering faculty to more easily incorporate sustainability approaches into curricula.
Methods: The objectives of this proposal are to design, develop, imple-
ment, disseminate, and assess the success of the proposed transformational learning practices and peer-to-peer networks including developing
a new textbook and modules, providing an international design experience, and simultaneously teaching identical courses on two campuses.
Evaluation: The evaluation plan is designed to assess our central research
thesis: Transformational learning practices and peer-to-peer networks 1)
enable students and faculty to more effectively implement sustainable
practice, 2) result in higher orders of significant learning, and 3) increase
factors that have been shown to contribute to retention. Three main hypotheses emanate from the thesis, including these strategies that will enable students and faculty to more effectively implement sustainable practices, will result in higher orders of significant learning in students, and
will increase factors that have been shown to contribute to retention.
Dissemination: The results of this project were disseminated through
newly developed curricular materials in the form of an innovative textbook, new courses and drop-in modules delivered through workshops
and conferences, and through faculty workshops with a particular emphasis on faculty at minority-serving institutions.
Impact: We propose to advance the knowledge of how to design and as-
sess engineering learning experiences that accomplish two social imperatives: 1) equipping engineers to solve technical challenges in the context
of our complex global society and 2) recruiting and retaining women and
others in engineering. Although the curriculum is specifically targeted at
the Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) community, we feel that the
educational design elements and educational research can be generalized
to other engineering programs and that the power of using these practices
can aid a “sea change” in engineering education.
Challenges: One of the unique features of this work is the use of Fink’s
taxonomy of significant learning as a framework for the design of the
learning materials. Quantifying and validating the degree of significant
learning may present a challenge due to the difficulty of reliably measuring psychometrics. It may also be difficult finding a student group sufficiently similar to serve as the “quasi-control.”
Poster 233
PI: Ganesh
Kumar Venayagamoorthy
University of Missouri–Rolla
Title: Modernizing the Undergraduate Power Engineering
Curriculum with Real-Time Digital Simulation
Project #: 0633299
Institution:
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Poster Abstracts
Goals: The principal goal of this project is to develop a novel, real-time,
state-of-the art power system simulation teaching and undergraduate research laboratory that incorporates actual computer-controlled hardware
in the simulation loop. A new course entitled “Real-Time Power System
Simulation” will be developed and taught at the undergraduate level.
Methods: The real-time simulation resources will be used to develop and
incorporate real-time simulation-based experiments into undergraduate
power engineering education, and this will improve the educational practices and student learning in Electrical/Power Engineering.
Evaluation: The impact of integrating real-time simulations with hardware-in-the-loop experiments into the new course and existing laboratories is yet to be evaluated. The PI and co-PIs will use “Outcomes Assessments” as the main method to assess the impact of this project on
student learning and student confidence with respect to power engineering. Formative and summative evaluations will be implemented in accordance with the modern accepted assessment practices, found in the NSF
handbooks. Students will also be assigned “minute papers,” assignments
and exams during or after a class/laboratory throughout the project’s duration. Student responses/scores will be used by faculty for continuous
feedback.
Dissemination: The project is still in the first year of the three years’ dura-
tion. A number of avenues have been identified to disseminate the findings of this project including conference presentations, articles in Education journals, and a website. The success of the dissemination plans
above will be determined using questionnaires/surveys sent to relevant
parties.
Impact: Because of developments in computer-aided technology and
the demand in industry for short development cycles, skills in real-time
simulation with hardware-in-the-loop have become increasingly important to electrical and computer engineers. Based on the experience of the
University of Wyoming and the University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa,
with real-time simulations in undergraduate teaching and its impact on
student learning, we expect this comprehensive project will affect over
100 students yearly at the UMR. Because of the highly transferable nature
of the findings of this project, we expect many more students to benefit
when they are incorporated at other universities.
Challenges: There are no challenges as of yet.
Poster 234
PI: Philip Voglewede
University of South Carolina
Title: Continuous Renewal of Undergraduate Education Via
an Interdisciplinary, Inquiry-Based Laboratory
Project #: 0633648
Institution:
Goals: The goal of this project is to develop an interdisciplinary laboratory
capable of delivering a diverse experience for undergraduates in biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering, and biology. The laboratory is
based on a perfusion tissue engineering bioreactor used to grow a variety
of different three-dimensional tissue constructs.
Methods: Students will solidify theoretical ideas and gain practical expe-
rience through an inquiry-based approach on a tissue growth bioreactor.
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Program Book
The laboratory is continuously renewed through the students’ researchworthy hypotheses. Each semester will build on the previous semester’s
work and then trickle down throughout the curriculum.
Evaluation: The students in the cornerstone classes of tissue engineering
and control theory will be assessed on their understanding of the stated
learning objectives through pre- and post-surveys and exit interviews.
Conversely, the success of the project will be determined by the quality of
the research that comes out of the undergraduate laboratories. External
reviewers will assess the technical quality of the laboratories. Anecdotal
data will be collected by a trained engineering education researcher on
the impact of the laboratory on the lower-level courses.
Dissemination: The data from the educational improvement in the corner-
stone classes will be published in an upcoming ASEE conference paper.
The results from the laboratory will be developed into research journals
on tissue engineering. The research bioreactor system will also be transferred to a two-year institution for parallel implementation.
Impact: The creation of the required laboratory equipment and subsequent debugging took longer than anticipated because of the uniqueness
of the designed system and the need to incorporate future flexibility in the
design. These obstacles were overcome by continued testing and consultation with the experts. However, the main issue has been communication
between the courses and departments. Many different disciplines were
consulted, and vernacular differences needed to be deciphered before a
common language was created. Also maintaining contact with all affected
courses at the beginning has proven difficult.
Poster 235
PI: Kathleen Wage
George Mason University
Title: The Signals and Systems Concept Inventory
Project #: 0512686
Institution:
Goals: This project seeks to refine, validate, and disseminate the Signals
and Systems Concept Inventory (SSCI), an assessment instrument for a
core course in electrical engineering curricula. The expected outcomes are
a validated instrument and the development of a team of faculty trained
in the use of the Signals and Systems Concept Inventory (SSCI) and dedicated to improving Signals and Systems (S&S) instruction.
Methods: In this project, faculty from 12 engineering schools administer
the SSCI in their classes and provide pre- and post-test scores linked to
academic and demographic data. In addition to analyzing these datasets,
we are comparing the SSCI to traditional written exams, conducting student interviews, and soliciting feedback from instructors.
Evaluation: The SSCI has been given to more than 1,800 students at 17
campuses. The project has obtained several important results. First, the
analysis of pre/post-gain data reveals a striking similarity to Hake’s results for a physics concept inventory: students in interactive classes learn
almost twice as much as they do in traditional lectures. Second, we compared the pre/post-test results of individual students to identify several
persistent misconceptions that resist instruction. Third, we used clinical
interviews based on the SSCI to gain deeper understanding of students’
misconceptions. Finally, faculty feedback on the SSCI has informed our
current revision of the exam to version 4.0.
Poster Abstracts
Dissemination: During this grant, we published three conference papers
Dissemination: The proposal team has not yet started the dissemination
and are currently drafting a journal paper. We maintain the signals-andsystems.org website containing password-protected versions of the SSCI,
as well as related publications. We have presented at workshops on engineering education. We plan to offer a tutorial at FIE 2008.
process. However, the plans for dissemination of the project’s findings
include paper presentations at conferences, journal articles, and maintenance of a Clemson University website. At a national conference, a workshop will be offered to present the course and laboratory materials.
Impact: The SSCI is rapidly gaining visibility with engineering faculty and
is being used both in the U.S. and overseas for formative assessment and
accreditation. We have been contacted by more than 40 instructors about
gaining access to the SSCI, in addition to our 12-member development
team. These faculty represent both private and public universities in the
U.S. and around the world. We recently collaborated with a colleague in
Spain to produce a Spanish translation of the SSCI. Several colleagues
have published conference papers using the SSCI for pre/post-assessment in their own pedagogical research.
Impact: At this time, the project is developing the interactive learning en-
Challenges: Our major unexpected challenge has been dealing with the
varieties of human subjects approval processes at different universities
and guiding our engineering colleagues on the development team through
these processes. As a rule, engineering faculty do not have experience
dealing with human subjects issues in their research. A second and less
important challenge has been data management, since we receive SSCI
results and demographic data in a variety of formats from many schools.
We should have spent more time up front designing our data-handling
protocols.
Poster 236
John Wagner
Clemson University
Title: Multi-Institutional Mechatronics and Material
Handling Educational Laboratories—Course Development
and Student Collaboration
Project #: 0632800
PI:
Institution:
Goals: The multidisciplinary manufacturing lab (Greenville Tech) and
mechatronics course with material-handling lab (Clemson) will be created to prepare technology, engineering, and science students for careers in manufacturing and material handling. The project outcomes
include hands-on labs, participation of underrepresented groups, and
dissemination.
Methods: The project learning goals require students to work as a team
to provide input and share in tasks, plus recognize the importance of multidisciplinary teams in solving problems. The faculty will schedule teambuilding tasks, meetings, and work sessions. The teams will apply simulation tools and experimentally validate ideas using new laboratories.
Evaluation: The proposal team has not started gathering assessment
data. However, the Clemson University Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Assessment will assist in the assessment of the course and lab
evaluation process by performing formative and summative evaluations.
To guarantee independent, unbiased evaluations and analyses of results,
the Clemson Sociology Department will perform statistical and content
analyses of the questionnaires. Pre- and post-assessment questionnaires
will be administered to each student before establishing a baseline for
evaluating the project’s impact and then measure any gains. Direct measures of outcomes will be used to construct performance-scoring rubics.
vironment materials, procuring lab equipment, and assembling material
handling equipment. The anticipated project impact includes: education
(an innovative undergraduate/graduate material handling course will be
created); underrepresented students (Clemson University PEER and WISE
programs will be used, and Greenville Tech’s VP for Diversity); industrial
(students can join existing industrial teams and make immediate contributions); multidisciplinary outreach (proposed course opened to all
students at Clemson); and student impact and faculty development (precollege and college students, and faculty will use materials).
Challenges: As the second quarter of the project nears completion
(4Q07), the project team has not encountered any unexpected challenges
in their efforts.
Poster 237
PI: Guoping Wang
Institution: Indiana
University–Purdue University Fort
Wayne
Title: Preview, Exercise, Teaching, and Learning in Digital
Electronics Education
Project #: 0632686
Goals:
1) Improving learning in undergraduate electrical and computer engineering (ECE) through increased emphasis on students’ active learning
2) Developing effective strategies for the integration of interactive multimedia and the web in ECE instructional activities
3) Fostering changes in the teaching-learning environment during the lecture period
Methods: Through multimedia delivery of new materials, web-based
warm-up exercises, and interactive classroom teaching/learning, project
Preview, Exercise, Teaching, and Learning (PETL) represents an effective
approach to teaching and learning in digital electronics education. The
proposed pedagogy is based on the active participation of learners at
each stage of the learning process.
Evaluation: The formative evaluation will be conducted primarily by the
PI in consultation with the external evaluators. The purposes are to identify project components that effectively meet objectives, devise effective
assessment tools, determine how well the project procedures work, and
identify information for project improvement. The process evaluations will
be conducted to provide information on how the project is progressing.
The focus will be on course activities, teacher performances, and student
actions. The outcome evaluations will be conducted to determine if the
project actualized the intended results and to determine what happened
to the students after their participation in the courses.
Dissemination: A course website will be developed that houses the con-
tents. The course website will be shared within the JiTT community and
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Poster Abstracts
the NSF-founded JiTT digital library. The research results will be presented
at the IEEE/ASEE conferences and in academic journals.
Impact: The purpose is to develop effective strategies for the integration
of the Web and multimedia in ECE undergraduate education, to foster
changes in the teaching-learning environment, to help students better
understand principles and practices of digital electronics, and to improve
student learning outcomes through increased emphasis on active learning. The successful implementation of project PETL will provide an example for using effective teaching strategies to improve student learning in
digital electronics. It will also serve as a test bed for applying technology
and new teaching strategies in ECE instructional activities so that changes
may be fostered in other engineering schools.
Challenges: Challenge: Which topics should be covered in preview mod-
ules and warm-up exercises? Method: Search literature, talk to other faculty members to find the topic that is important but students have difficulties to understand.
Challenge: To what extents should these modules and exercises be developed? What is the appropriate difficulty level? Method: Adjust the
contents and the difficulty levels of the exercises and modules from the
feedback of students and other interested faculty.
Challenge: How do you better assess the outcomes of this project? What
are the suitable assessment instruments? Method: Consult with the staff
from the Center for Enhancement of Learning and Teaching at Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne.
Dissemination: We have published two articles in Frontiers in Education
and one article in ASEE and are in the process of revising an article for the
International Journal of Engineering Education (a Cross-Sectional Study of
Belonging in Engineering). From Phase I, we hope to disseminate further
into Frontiers in Education and our community of scholars.
Impact: We have taught the Phase I intervention twice in electrical engineering and plan to pilot a single offering in mechanical engineering before the expiration of the Phase I period. We have identified key barriers
to generalizability of the intervention that we hope to explore in Phase II.
Evidence of student progress in the two completed interventions clearly
indicates a benefit to the student’s sense of place and connection to the
high-tech workforce and a corresponding improvement in professional
development skills.
Challenges: Generalizability to other curricula and other educational
settings indicates a future challenge. For the pilot offering in mechanical
engineering, we have changed the entry point of the course (sophomore/
junior rather than senior level) to meet the needs of mechanical engineering students. We have also found student engagement in an alternative
teaching style (and course content) to be a challenge, which we hope to
address by more clearly identifying the student’s zone of engagement
(proximal development) early on in the term and modifying instructional
pace and strategy accordingly.
Poster 239
Kristin Wood
Institution: University of Texas
Title: EMD Full-Scale Development: An Active Learning
Approach to Mechanics of Materials Using Hands-On
Activities, Written Content, and Multi-Media Courseware
Project #: 0442614
Development
PI:
Poster 238
Denise Wilson
Institution: University of Washington
Title: Applying the Core: Creating Relevance
Contextualizing Professional Development for STEM
Careers
Project #: 0633753
PI:
Goals: We have designed a gateway intervention that surveys an engi-
neering field in part or in its entirety, with equivalent attention to “hot” applications and the broader (social, environmental, etc.) impacts of those
applications, while contextualizing professional development outcomes
into the instructional design.
Methods: We are using a subset of social learning instructional strategies
that are relevant to higher education and to a gateway (survey) course
such as this intervention. Methods include guided instruction, legitimization of differences, collaborative learning, and contextualization of professional development skills to individual student career pathways.
Evaluation: We evaluate a combination of cognitive (academic perfor-
mance), meta-cognitive, and affective factors related to achievement of
course objectives and the successful implementation of our instructional
methods. These factors include sense of community, locus of control, and
self-efficacy (affective elements); improvements in writing, oral presentation, relationship-building, and networking capability (cognitive elements); and awareness of individual purpose, goals, and objectives as
well as their place in the economically globalized high-tech world and in
engineering education mission and trajectory (meta-cognitive elements).
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Goals: The project goals include: 1) Enhance the study of Mechanics of
Materials through full development of active learning products (ALPs);
2) determine the effectiveness of different combinations and uses of the
ALPs for different types of students; and 3) develop and implement an assessment plan for STEM education.
Methods: The methods and strategies to develop active learning activi-
ties for engineering include application and adaptation of pedagogical
theories, creation of design methodologies for ALPs, integration of MBTI
and learning styles into assessment instruments, and testing of the ALPs
across all types of higher education.
Evaluation: We have evaluated our ALPs across research, undergraduate only, and community college institutions. These evaluations include
student surveys, quick quizzes, concept inventories, etc. Demographic,
personality type indicators, and learning style information has been collected for all students over many courses and three years. These results
are correlated with the demographic, personality type, and learning style
data. Results are very positive and show marked improvement in the
students’ ability to understand, apply, and evaluate difficult concepts in
engineering.
Poster Abstracts
Dissemination: We have published approximately 15 refereed articles
demonstrating our results from the project. A dissemination website has
been developed and piloted. We have also disseminated the ALPs to a
number of higher-education institutions. A phase 3 proposal is underway
to develop dissemination workshops, material kits, etc.
Impact: Thousands of students at the University of Texas, the United
States Air Force Academy, and a local community college have used the
active learning materials as part of this project. A number of students
have also been trained in the ALPs design methodology and the assessment procedure. The publications from this work have resulted in two Best
Papers and two Best Presentations at the ASEE annual conference. After
disseminating the materials more fully, we expect to train greater than 100
faculty and K-12 teachers in methods to develop ALPs. We also plan to
train students across the country in the area of Mechanics of Materials
through the linking of the materials to popular texts.
Poster 241
PI: Ece Yaprak
Institution: Wayne
State University
Title: Using a Model Undergraduate Learning Laboratory for
Teaching Real-Time Embedded-Systems Networking
Project #: 0632890
Co-PI: Karen Tonso
Education
Challenges: The reaction of faculty and students to active learning activities vary depending on their background, training, personality types, and
learning styles. Our methods focus on the different needs of both faculty
and students. The active learning products are specifically designed to
be efficient in time, cost, and other resources, while having the greatest
impact possible. The methods we have used, in this regard, include pedagogical theories, design methodologies, and assessment instruments
that cover personality types and learning styles.
Goals: The goals are as follows: Studying course development and learning laboratory activities for an interactive learning lab for teaching realtime, embedded-systems networking: building a learning laboratory,
teaching a new undergraduate course, using the lab for design projects,
holding a workshop for faculty, and teaching a summer workshop for high
school teachers and students.
Poster 240
PI: Keith Woodbury
learned about real-time embedded networking by working in teams to
complete both faculty-directed and student-interest research projects. A
study of curriculum-development process suggests a novel approach, as
well as the need for more such research.
Institution: The
Evaluation: n educational ethnographer with expertise in engineering
University of Alabama
Title: Vertical Integration of Ubiquitous Computational
Tools through the Thermal Mechanical Engineering
Curriculum
Project #: 0633330
Goals: The goal of this project is to vertically integrate the thermal me-
chanical engineering undergraduate curriculum through standardization
on Microsoft Excel as a computational and organizational tool.
Methods: Develop Excel-based computational modules to enhance ther-
mal-science instruction in mechanical engineering. Introduce these tools
into lower-level ME courses and later into upper-level elective offerings.
Measure effectiveness of this methodology through formative and summative evaluations.
Evaluation:
• Student surveys of tool usability
• Comparative performance on common exam problems
• Very little data in hand at the moment
Dissemination: Website has been established and modules that have
been developed are available.
Impact: Transform engineering analysis from pencil-and-paper to Excelnotebook focus.
Challenges: Introducing new topics into existing core courses without
sacrificing original content. Additional calculation sessions (recitation)
were helpful to address this.
Methods: In the undergraduate course taught in fall 2007, students
education research studied both course development and learning lab activities by collecting field notes, interviews of students and faculty, course
materials, and students’ work. Faculty evaluation of student reports contributed to understanding what students learned, while ethnographic
data developed understandings about processes through which students
learned. Similar activities are planned for upcoming faculty and HS workshops planned for summer 2008. By the time of this conference, most activities will be completed. Preliminary results suggest that students’ prior
experiences and student interactions proved vital to learning.
Dissemination: One paper has been accepted at the ASEE 2008 confer-
ence, a second is pending, and a paper about course development is
almost ready for submission to a peer-reviewed journal. Summer 2008
workshops (faculty and HS) will continue this effort. Finally, all course materials will be added to an RT/ESN website, where they will be available
to interested faculty.
Impact: Studying both the course development and learning laboratory
activities affects STEM education by:
1) Creating learning and teaching strategies for undergraduate, seniordesign, and high school teachers and students
2) Developing faculty expertise in RT/ESN
3) Implementing educational innovations by creatively organizing the
laboratory
4) Assessing learning and evaluating innovations in all facets of the
project
5) Researching undergraduate education in STEM learning and teaching
in the new course, with an in-depth ethnographic study of the course
by an engineering education researcher
6) Research about course development suggests the need for more research of this sort from which educators can learn.
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Poster Abstracts
Challenges:
1) After preparing laboratory guides for the course, the vendor updated
hardware making the prepared lab obsolete. This suggests the need
for modular design of lab materials, so that changes can be in a module
instead of the entire lab.
2) Students discovered software and hardware changes or undocumented aspects, which led to unexpected learning opportunities.
3) Unpredictable on-campus system and non-course student changes
to the lab or computers derailed student work at times, which more
knowledgeable students corrected.
4. Some aspects of RT/ESN are very sensitive to electrical interference,
and students learned how to identify and overcome these challenges.
Poster 242
PI: Weizhao
Zhao
Institution: University of Miami
Title: Exploratory Development of Module-Based
Interactive Teaching Software for Medical Imaging, Signal,
and Optics Curriculum
Project #: 0632752
Goals: This project aims to establish an efficient teaching method and
interactive learning environment for medical imaging education. Expected
outcomes are: 1) improved concepts understanding of common imaging
modalities; 2) improved problem-solving ability by simulation programming; and 3) adaptive teaching methodology by an online assessment
system.
Methods: 1) Develop an online medical imaging simulation system for
teaching and learning. The system features text/graphics illustration, interactive animation, and interactive simulation. 2) This Internet-accessible
system allows students to perform self-evaluation and provides instructors feedback of students’ learning progress by a dynamic database.
Evaluation: A three-level (near, proximal, and distal) evaluation has been
designed for the project. The first level is to test the implementation of the
developed software. Data analysis targets observations of students’ engagement with developed software and interviews with students on their
perceptions of the difficulty level when using the software. The second
level is a step up by using a quasi-experimental design to determine the
effects of participation and the transfer of learning to broader curriculum
measures, and we seek to make refined revision of the software. The third
level is concerned with scale-up of the development to the extent to which
student learning meets professional standards
Dissemination: Preliminary results of the project will be presented in the
ASEE 2008 meeting. The developed medical imaging teaching software is
Internet accessible and has been used in two participating institutions.
Interested instructors from other institutions can obtain manger-authority
from the system and use for their own teaching/learning objective.
Impact: The developed medical imaging simulation teaching software will
potentially serve biomedical engineering students for interested institutions. The developed teaching software not only has been beneficial to the
two participating Hispanic-serving institutions (about 1,000 undergraduates and the potential for application to about 50 courses in the institutions), but also will be beneficial to the biomedical engineering programs
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nationally, which have had a continuous 20% annual increase of undergraduate enrollment since 1999.
Challenges: Challenge 1: Technical difficulty. We designed this Internetaccessible simulation system by using a product called “matlab webserver” from MathWorks, Inc., to communicate between user and server. Simulations experienced slow response from the server when several users
simultaneously use it. The developed software will be moved to a dedicated super-computing facility next year. Challenge 2: Dynamic evaluation.
We have developed a dynamic evaluation database to analyze students’
learning progress. Concept understanding evaluation is currently limited
by the concept–problem-solving evaluation method. We have initiated a
concept inventory for a medical imaging teaching evaluation.
Poster 243
PI: Ali
Zilouchian
Florida Atlantic University
Title: Development of a Prototype Multidisciplinary Fuel
Cell Laboratory
Project #: 0341227
Co-PI: Homayoun Abtahi
Type: Educational Material Development—Proof-of-Concept
Institution:
Goals: The main goal of the project is to substantially improve the ca-
pability of undergraduate instruction at Florida Atlantic University (FAU)
pertaining to fuel cell technology. Such a goal has been achieved by the
establishment of an undergraduate fuel cell laboratory at the College of
Engineering and Computer Science at FAU. Students from electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, ocean engineering, and computer science and engineering have been benefiting from the education principles
provided by the laboratory instruction.
Methods: The students in the fuel cell class were exposed to fuel cell fundamentals. Once the students had a basic familiarity with fuel cell electrochemical basics and general design principles, they were grouped into
teams of three to four. To strengthen the multidisciplinary nature of the
course, each team was required to have at least one mechanical and one
electrical engineering student. Each team was then required to study and
evaluate a major aspect of fuel cell research, development, design, safety,
or marketing.
Evaluation: To ensure the success of the project, a detailed evaluation
plan was proposed. Several components of the evaluation plan including
the students, teaching assistants, local industries, and peer evaluations
have already been carried out for the project:
• Representatives from a spectrum of local industries have been invited
to visit the new laboratory. Their comments and suggestions have already been integrated into the laboratory experiments.
• At the end of the spring 2007 semester, 10 different questionnaires
were distributed to the students as well as two TAS for the course evaluation and feedback. The following are the major assessments of the
course materials:
1) Students were very pleased with the final project related to the course.
Thirteen different projects have been completed by the students in
various subjects related to the fuel cell.
2) The Simulink modeling experiments were very useful to understand
the mathematical concept and modeling of the PEM fuel cell.
Poster Abstracts
3) The Labview projects have provided the students with a much better
understanding of the interface and data acquisition.
4) The students were very pleased with the lab experiments with Nexa
Fuel cell. However, more stations with a variety of fuel cells are needed
to accommodate all the students in the lab.
Impact: The project has enabled FAU to establish an undergraduate fuel
cell laboratory at the College of Engineering. Students from electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, ocean engineering, and computer science and engineering have been benefiting from the education principles
provided by the laboratory instruction.
The evaluation process including the surveys from students, recent graduates, co-op students, and teaching assistants for the project should be
completed by the end of the spring 2008 semester.
Challenges: For the development of the project, single- as well multistack Teledyne fuel cells were originally proposed for the implementation
of the experimental stations in the laboratory. However, the mentioned
vendor couldn’t deliver the product as specified for the implementation
of our project. Therefore, we had to switch to another vendor and used
Nexa PEM fuel cells for our experimental stations. The Nexa system has
performed very well for our designed experiments and required tasks.
Dissemination: The dissemination plan for the project includes, but is not
limited to, the following:
1) Interaction with the scientific community
2) Reinforcement of the local participation in lab development
3) Reaching out to a wider student audience
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Geological Sciences
Focus:
Poster 244
Goals: Goals for this project include 1) improvement of undergraduate
STEM education for students of diverse backgrounds, 2) focus on interdisciplinary, inquiry-based learning, and 3) increased student appreciation
for, and experience with, use of innovative technologies to leverage the
power of local networks and the Internet.
Mohamed Abdelsalam
Institution: University of Missouri–Rolla
Title: Cyber-Mapping for Teaching Undergraduate
Geoscience Courses
Project #: 0719816
Target Discipline: Geological Sciences
PI:
Methods: Students will use discovery-based, technology-rich learning
modules in a freshman-level geoscience laboratory. The major module under proof-of-concept development is a map-based simulation of the oil exploration game that will be delivered to student teams operating wireless,
handheld PDAs. The game uses an automated, eBay-like bidding system.
Evaluation: Students enrolled in geoscience laboratories at University
methods and structural geology courses for better accessibility to geosciences topics to all students, but especially to individuals with mobility
disabilities or travel limitations.
of Alabama at Birmingham (UBA) are racially diverse and nearly genderequal. Surveys have been used to collect student interest in, and use of,
computer technology at home and at work. Pre- and post-term surveys
show significant interest in computer technology, less than desired computer technology skills, and a recognition that knowledge of computer
technology is a critical component of their education. Surveys on geoscience-specific questions provide a baseline against which to measure differences attributed to computer simulation experience.
Methods: 1) Create 3D photo-realistic digital replicas of outcrops using an
Dissemination: Initial progress was reported in two talks presented at a
Goals: The project aims at developing cyber-mapping modules for field
integrated cyber-mapping system; 2) use these to develop course modules for teaching topics such as unconformities, faulting, and folding; and
3) use a formative and summative approach to evaluate the effectiveness
of cyber-mapping in teaching 3D concepts.
Evaluation: The project will apply both formative and summative evalu-
ation components through a dynamic and a combination of well-tested
existing tools. We will collect a combination of qualitative and quantitative data to ascertain the impact of the project on both students’ learning
in geoscience and students’ attitudes toward science. Formative assessments will help us in adjusting the program by assessing participants’
experiences and understanding throughout the project. The summative
evaluation will determine if international research experience has been
successful in positively affecting students’ learning.
Dissemination: Dissemination is not yet applicable.
Impact: The project will demonstrate the effectiveness of the vast growing cyber-mapping technology in teaching 3D concepts that are difficult to
explain by instructor and difficult to grasp by students. These include, but
are not limited to, primary and tectonic geological structures. Additionally,
the project will highlight the importance of the establishment of a national
cyber-mapping library in which 3D photo-realistic models can be remotely
accessed by all students and virtual field trips (including measurement of
orientation data) can be conducted.
Geological Society of America sectional meeting (May 2005). An updated
summary was given as the keynote speech for the education workshop
of the June 2007 Integrated Design and Process Technology international
meeting in Antalya, Turkey. Materials will be posted to the National Science Digital Library and DLESE.
Impact: The project has provided (to date) a “practical, working” expe-
rience to three graduate students, leading to abstract publications and
talks. A new collaboration of the PI and faculty of UAB’s Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering was initiated by common interests
in computer wireless technology and educational pedagogy. Preliminary
use of the wireless PDAs in the geoscience laboratory shows significant
student interest in mobile technology and the delivery of real-time geoscience information. Development of web supplements to existing laboratory
activities has extended static textbook content that will be disseminated
via the National Science Digital Library and DLESE.
Challenges: The lack of capable, consistent student programmers has
Challenges: There is nothing to report yet.
most hampered system development, thus requiring no-cost extensions
to the project. A new affiliation with the Department of Electrical and Computer Science has brought a new programmer to the project and initiated
a new collaboration with faculty and graduate students there. Advances in
computer technology have unfortunately resulted in the discontinuance
of the original PDAs. However, improvements to programming languages
and server technology have provided new alternatives for serving webbased output to existing PDAs.
Poster 245
Poster 246
Scott Brande
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Title: Proof-of-Concept Web-Delivered Exploration and
Production Simulations for the Introductory Geoscience
Laboratory
Project #: 0341541
Melinda Dyar
Institution: Mount Holyoke College
Title: Development of a 3D Interactive Mineralogy Textbook
Project #: 0127191
Development
PI:
Institution:
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PI:
Poster Abstracts
Focus:
Goals: We created a new 732-page textbook, Mineralogy and Optical Min-
eralogy, that was just published by the Mineralogical Society of America.
The text is fully integrated with a DVD-ROM focused on active learning
by students; it includes color 3D versions of all illustrations, animations,
interactive exercises, and a mineral database.
Methods: The textbook incorporates innovative methods (spiral and in-
Focus: Implementing
Educational Innovations
Goals: The goal is to promote greater minority student STEM participation by introducing the AMS’s oceanography course, Online Ocean Studies, to 75 minority-serving institutions. Faculty members involved receive
professional development including a one-week workshop at the University of Washington’s School of Oceanography and National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) facilities.
ductive learning, as well as concept maps) that have the potential for improving the quality of science teacher preparation, adding diversity to the
textbooks in this field, and providing for integration of technology into
earth science and related curricula.
Methods: Minority-serving institutions are approached via mailings, e-
Evaluation: Initial drafts of textbook chapters were reviewed by our co-
Evaluation: Primary evaluation methods ultimately were based on de-
PIs who are in the Education School at the University of Idaho. Both authors used the text in their own classes and surveyed students for suggestions. Near-final versions of the text were tested by classes at Smith and
Amherst Colleges in the fall of 2006. Galleys of the text were reviewed by
24 different colleagues at institutions worldwide. The Mineralogical Society of America has now set up a website for the book at http://www.
minsocam.org/MSA/DGTtxt.
Dissemination: Using the American Geological Institute “Glossary of Geo-
science Departments” and the www, we created a database of all faculty
members teaching mineralogy courses at institutions in the U.S. Each of
these faculty members received a free copy of the textbook and information about adopting it in classes.
Impact: The book was published just before our national Geological Society of America meeting in October. Initial feedback at the conference
was very supportive, and everyone we talked with has indicated they will
adopt the text. We are hopeful that we can change the way mineralogy is
taught and inspire more students to pursue work in this discipline. Also,
important to us is the fact that two schools (Lawrence University and the
University of Massachusetts) are using the completed text this fall with
great success. To quote Andrew Knudsen at Lawrence University: “I am using the book, and I am loving it. More importantly, the students are loving
it. For the first time, my students are actually reading the textbook!”
Challenges:
1) Writing 700+ pages of a textbook and working with an illustrator/animator on more than 1,000 illustrations took a lot more time than we
thought. Balancing the demands of this ongoing project against our
own research programs and teaching expectations at our institutions
was difficult.
2) One of our biggest motivations for writing the text was the high price of
comparable textbooks. Even by cutting costs to the bone and publishing with a nonprofit organization, we are disappointed that the cost to
students will be $90. However, the text and the features on the DVD are
so spectacular that we still think they’re getting a good deal.
Poster 247
PI:
Ira Geer
American Meteorological Society
Title: Online Ocean Studies: National Dissemination
with Collegial Professional Development Activity for
Undergraduate Faculty in Minority-Serving Institutions
Project #: 0442497
Type: National Dissemination (ND)
Institution:
mail, and telephone. Individual science faculty are informed of potential
to offer geoscience offerings. Presentations and exhibits are made at
meetings with MSI representation.
termining the extent of participation of faculty and implementation on
minority-serving institution campuses. The goal of providing professional
development for faculty members is fully on schedule, as is the implementation processes on their home campuses. The third faculty workshop is
scheduled for summer 2008.
Dissemination: Two of the scheduled faculty development workshops
have been completed (summers 2006 and 2007). A total of 47 faculty
members attended the workshop, while others have been assisted in their
implementation processes. In total, the course has been introduced to 52
minority-serving institutions.
Impact: The activity to date has provided hundreds of students on minority-serving institution campuses with opportunities to study oceanography
at the introductory level. The major anticipated impact is mid- and longterm, since a significant number of enrollees are in pre-college teacher
training programs.
Challenges: The major unexpected challenge has been institutional inertia (e.g., curriculum committees) experienced by faculty participants as
they work toward course implementation. Our most successful strategy
dealing with this has been to provide continuing encouragement to the
individual faculty members.
Poster 248
PI: Timothy
Kenna
Institution: Barnard
College/Lamont-Doherty Earth
Observatory
Title: Discovering the Hudson River Estuary through an
Experiential Curriculum in Environmental Science at
Barnard College
Project #: 0511524
Goals: By adapting a successful inquiry-based immersion program (SEA
semester) to the typical college format of classes, we hope to improve the
technical and quantitative skills of undergraduate women and minorities
in environmental science and improve critical thinking and problem-solving by exposure to open-ended real-world environmental issues.
Methods: Our approach uses the Hudson River Estuary as a natural labo-
ratory. In a series of hands-on inquiry-based activities, students use advanced equipment to collect data and samples. Each class session intro-
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duces new analytical and data analysis techniques. All classes have the
connecting theme of the river. Working with real data is open-ended.
Evaluation: Students completed pre- and post-surveys about their expe-
riences with Hudson River curriculum, and some did journaling throughout the semester. Our major findings are that the field-based experience
significantly contributed to student learning and engagement. Journaling
responses indicated that nearly all students discussed the importance
and excitement of an authentic research experience. Some students were
frustrated with data irregularities, uncertainty in methods and data, and
the general challenge of a curriculum with inherent ambiguity. The majority were satisfied with the aims of the course to provide an integrative
experience. All students demonstrated transfer of learned skills.
Dissemination: Many of the hands-on curricular activities have been
adapted and used with a variety of student, teacher, and faculty groups.
As part of a related project, we are in the process of assembling these
and other hands-on field-based activities as fully exportable curricular
elements.
Impact: This project has had a significant impact on our undergraduate
female students: several students have pursued senior thesis projects
stemming from grant activities, stating that the field activities were the
highlight of their semester. Some students love the experience and want
more. Others decide that they want to pursue a different career. All learn
how science is conducted and have a better foundation to understand
concepts such as sampling, uncertainty, and variability, which are important to many fields. Faculty participants see earth system science in a way
that would be hard to replicate without the hands-on experience. Exporting curricula and assessment tools will increase impact.
Challenges: Providing a field-based authentic research experience re-
quires a significant amount of logistics planning as well as a time commitment with regard to using real data with students. We try to as little
behind-the-scenes work as possible. Processing data and demonstrating
calculations as a class activity with a computer projector has worked well.
Although some things do become easier from year to year, there is a significant baseline time commitment each year that can’t be avoided. Team
teaching worked well. Eliciting meaningful feedback was difficult. This
was improved by making responses anonymous, having an independent
reviewer, and not having access ourselves until the end of the semester.
Poster 249
PI: Laura
Leventhal
Bowling Green State University
Title: Empowering Student Learning in the Geologic
Sciences with 3D Interactive Animation and Low-Cost
Virtual Reality
Project #: 0536739
Education
Institution:
Goals: The primary goals of this project were to develop and evaluate the
usefulness of interactive three-dimensional animation (3DIA) tools that
would be used to teach college students to learn about topographic maps
and how to match profiles to topographic map profile lines, a task that is
thought to use spatial visualization.
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Methods: There were two phases in the project: a laboratory study of the
effectiveness of our 3DIA tool and tutorial materials using introductory
psychology students as participants, followed by several iterations of pilot studies using the 3DIA tools and instructional materials in introductory
geology classes taught at Bowling Green State University.
Evaluation: Our results from data analyzed so far indicate that perfor-
mance on the profile analysis task was significantly better when using the
3DIA tools than when not, that using the 3DIA tools allows participants
with lower spatial ability to perform better on profile analysis tasks, that
performance in general is lower on profile tasks of higher complexity but
this effect is moderated by the presence of the 3DIA tools, and that participants who use the 3DIA tools seem to learn and understand the profile
analysis task better than those who do not have the tools. Early evaluation of click-stream data indicates that subjects are more likely to use
3DIA tools on more complex problems.
Dissemination: We have disseminated materials locally via the web. We
plan to publish in recognized cognition and geology educator journals,
and we plan to make our 3DIA materials available as part of the Digital
Library for Earth Sciences Education. Our geology collaborator is planning to attend an NSF “Cutting Edge” workshop in 2008 and share our
materials.
Impact: Our projected impact is by necessity limited but our results are
suggestive. In our pilot studies in introductory geology classes, we have
seen some evidence that the use of the 3DIA improves performance on a
follow-up assessment as compared to a traditional presentation, under a
number of tutorial conditions. In addition, we find that students in these
classes perform well on profile matching tasks using our 3DIA training
materials as compared to those without the tools. Finally, we find that students who have 3DIA tools in an active learning training setting will use
the tools to explore the relationships between topographic maps and 3D
models.
Challenges: We believe, based on our laboratory work using our materials, that the performance and strategies of lower spatial ability subjects
are differentially affected by the 3DIA. We planned to test this hypothesis
in our classroom pilots. But we found it very difficult to actually administer
and collect spatial ability data using standardized psychometric tests. We
have as a result developed and are in the process of developing an online spatial ability battery. We also found that it would be useful to assess
changes on geology tasks involving visualization, not specifically included
in our training. We validated an additional surface matching test as part of
our overall assessment.
Poster 250
Julie Libarkin
Michigan State University
Title: Collaborative Research: Community Development of
an Expanded Geoscience Concept Inventory: A Webcenter
for Question Generation, Validation, and Online Testing
Project #: 0717790
PI:
Institution:
Goals: We are conducting a major revision and expansion of the Geosci-
ence Concept Inventory (GCI) that allows the entire geoscience community to participate in:
Poster Abstracts
1) Revision of existing GCI questions
2) Creation of an easy-to-use online testing system
3) Expansion of the GCI to cover a broader range of topics in the
geosciences
sional development to improve teaching; contribute to improving geoscience education through development, publication, and review of new
geoscience education resources; and recognize standards for evaluating
contributions.
Methods: We are developing a webcenter for revision and dissemination
Methods: We offer several workshops each year. Each workshop produc-
of the GCI. The community of geoscientists is being asked to assist in revising existing GCI questions, as well as to submit and critique new GCI
questions. Student data will be collected via this webcenter, and Rasch
analysis will be used to compare existing and new GCI questions.
es a set of web resources that help disseminate the workshop outcomes.
Workshop participants contribute resources for the websites and review
web resources. We have launched a leadership program to train leaders
who will offer follow-on workshops and contribute to the website.
Evaluation: Our evaluation plan is based on within-house criteria and
Evaluation: After a period of formative assessment, the evaluation is now
focused on determining the summative impact. The evaluation uses a pyramid approach in which a few are studied for deep information informing
interpretation of surveys of all participants and the broader community.
Embedded assessments within the workshops demonstrate increased understanding of effective teaching methods and content. Evaluation results
showed that workshops are well received and affect faculty attitudes, teaching practice, and leadership abilities. Evaluation of the website proved it to
be well designed and supportive of workshop participants as well as the
greater geosciences community in improvement of geosciences teaching.
evaluation via expert panel review. We have carefully considered validity
and reliability in design of this study, which will be included in formative
project design. An external panel composed of five geologists and science
educators will be convened to provide feedback relative to project design
and webcenter usability, as well as expert review of submitted questions.
The expert panel will evaluate the connection between project goals and
our research design, provide feedback on conclusions reached from data
analysis, indicate content areas for which we need to solicit question submissions, and evaluate the webcenter’s usability.
Dissemination: This project is a continuation of an earlier American Sociological Association (ASA) grant to develop the GCI. A website has been
used to disseminate 69 validated GCI questions to over 200 users. We
have also published six papers and given over 40 presentations on GCI
findings. This new project has just begun, although we expect the webcenter to be a dissemination tool.
Dissemination: The professional development program, On the Cutting
Impact: The original GCI initiative established a technique for creat-
the full spectrum of geoscience disciplines have participated in one or
more Cutting Edge workshops. The participants leave the workshop with
a new attitude toward teaching, student-centered learning, and the role
of education research in informing teaching as well as new information
about cutting-edge geoscience and educational research. They return to
their institutions and implement new teaching strategies, building on this
knowledge. The Cutting Edge web resources support workshop participants and the larger geosciences community in improving their teaching.
ing valid and reliable concept inventories based on scale development
theory, grounded theory, and item response theory. Over 200 faculty and
researchers are using the GCI, and the GCI has begun to appear as an assessment tool of choice in NSF proposals, at professional meetings, and
in refereed publications. This new project will significantly enhance the
validity of the GCI and will allow us to determine whether a community of
scientists can create and collaboratively validate a concept inventory.
Edge, has offered more than 40 workshops. The website now consists of
over 1,600 web pages, including 421 community-contributed teaching activities. It was visited by over 285,000 users in 2006. We continue to build
the website, which is a key dissemination tool.
Impact: More than 1,000 faculty, postdocs, and graduate students from
Challenges: We encounter a few scientists and science educators who
believe that the GCI asks questions that are below the level of college student conceptual understanding. Because the GCI is based on qualitative
data collected from college students nationwide, we had to develop an
easy way to challenge these faculty and researchers to re-conceptualize
their view of college students. We found that combining student interview
and GCI datasets to illustrate alternative conceptions is powerful and provides skeptics with food for thought as they think about learning and assessment in their own classrooms.
Challenges: Sustainability is a challenge, although not an unexpected
one. We have developed a leadership program and are using our Advisory
Board to help with this challenge. The new leaders identified and mentored through our leadership program will offer workshops that carry forward from our core offerings and will contribute to the website.
Poster 251
Institution:
PI: Heather
Macdonald
College of William and Mary
Title: Building a Culture in Which the Cycle of Educational
Innovation Can Thrive
Project #: 0618725
Institution:
Goals: We aim to promote development of a culture in the geoscience
education community in which faculty participate in ongoing profes-
Poster 252
Martha Mamo
University of Nebraska
Title: Broadening Soil Science Education
Project #: 0442603
Co-PI: Dennis McCallister
PI:
Goals: The goal is to develop soil science educational materials to reach
the broader audience of introductory earth science undergraduates.
Methods: Lessons were developed using the approach of Principles les-
sons and Application lessons to broaden the student audience. The Application lessons linked Principles into other disciplines, such as agroecosystem science, ecology, and environmental science.
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Poster Abstracts
Evaluation: The evaluation method included: forward feedbacks, pre-
and post-tests, descriptive survey, learning style inventory, and roundtable discussion with participants at three major academic institutions.
Dissemination: Over 282 participants used lessons in one year. A total of
500 postcards were printed, and over 150 of these postcards were handed
and/or distributed by mail to Soil Science and Geoscience instructors
across the U.S. Three presentations were made at national conferences.
Lessons submitted for peer journal publication.
Impact: Student pre- to post-test performance improved by 10–69%. Survey indicated that students at all three institutions thought the lessons
were useful and helped their learning.
Challenges: Developing e-lessons required major time commitments and
efforts. Lack of sufficient fund minimized the degree of interactivity that
could have been included in lessons. The project lacked the faculty training/expertise needed to devise appropriate implementation strategies
and assessment techniques.
Poster 253
Paul Marchese
Queensborough Community College
Title: Development of an Inquiry-Based Meteorology
Course for Non-Science Majors
Project #: 0511170
PI:
Institution:
Goals: The project affected student attitudes and understanding of sci-
ence. We modified an introductory meteorology course to emphasize active learning. The objectives of the project were to have students develop
an appreciation of science, have a basic understanding of relevant scientific principles, and have increased science literacy in general.
Methods: The PIs incorporated activities to enhance understanding of
various scientific concepts. The activities consisted of Interactive Demonstrations or discovery-based activities. They included elements proven
to be effective, including collaborative learning, quantitative observation,
computer activities, and class discussions.
Evaluation: The PIs developed a self-efficacy scale specific to the meteo-
rology course. We modified the SALG and EBAPS measures to be consistent with the objectives of the project. Results suggest that students’ beliefs about their confidence to learn meteorology increased. SALG scores
for the semesters in which the inquiry materials were implemented were
almost 10 points higher than for the pilot semester. Post-intervention
scores on the EBAPS were correlated with final exam scores for the active
learning sections. We compared concept mastery for the modified course
to another section taught by the same instructor at another college. There
was an increase of about 10 points for the enhanced class.
Dissemination: First, the PIs presented results at American Geophysical
Union meetings and plan to present at the American Meteorological Society meeting next year. The PIs will also write a peer-reviewed paper to
be submitted this spring. A website was developed describing our efforts,
modules, and results.
Impact: As mentioned previously, students who took the course using
active learning methods had improved self-efficacy and concept mas-
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tery scores. This is significant for the nontraditional student population
at Queensborough Community College, since our students typically have
not done well using traditional methods. It is believed that our students
will benefit most from a student-centered approach.
Challenges: The modules developed are constantly being modified because each time we perform the activities, the PIs (and the students) think
of a better way to do it. As a result, there has not been a final version of
the modules yet. Also, some of the students became very involved in the
activities and would not leave the class. The instructor saw this as a good
thing and would accommodate the students if the room was available the
following period.
Poster 254
PI: Sara
Rathburn
Institution: Colorado State University
Title: GetWET Observatory: Implementing a Fluid Learning
Experience for Undergraduates
Project #: 0536136
Goals: The project goals are to expose undergraduates to a field-based,
process-oriented surface and groundwater learning environment and to
offer content-rich professional development for K-12 teachers. Intended
outcomes for students are improved student knowledge of surface and
groundwater and increased teacher utilization of the GetWET site.
Methods: Methods used include developing and incorporating relevant,
hands-on, small-group exercises in geosciences courses for both majors
and non-majors, where students analyze and interpret personally collected data on surface and groundwater. Three workshops were offered for
regional teachers, providing them one university credit and a monetary
stipend.
Evaluation: Methods consist of student evaluations of their experience at
the GetWET Observatory and pre- and post-assessments of student conceptions of surface and groundwater. Student evaluations indicate that
the overall enjoyment of the GetWET experience for non-majors (M = 3.21;
five-point Likert scale) differs significantly (p = 0.002) from the enjoyment
of majors (M = 4.17). Results of the pre- and post-conceptions are not yet
analyzed. Teacher responses (n = 40) to the workshops are highly positive, with the result of a robust learning community emerging at one local
high school. All six science teachers from this school are collaborating on
GetWET teaching strategies for both the classroom and the field.
Dissemination: Dissemination activities include development of a GetWET
Observatory website (www.csmate.colostate.edu/getwet), poster presentations at two GSA annual meetings in geoscience education sessions,
press releases in local newspapers, an article in a Colorado water bulletin,
and GetWET demonstrations and classes at the local children’s science
museum.
Impact: Over 750 undergraduate students enrolled in the Introductory
Geology Laboratory for non-majors have completed two exercises at the
GetWET measuring surface and groundwater quantity and quality. Over
65 undergraduate majors have participated in various field exercises and
experiments through participation in five courses within the Geology curriculum. A total of 40 teachers have been trained and 390 K-12 students
Poster Abstracts
have visited the GetWET on field trips. Press coverage resulted in a major
gift from a local groundwater equipment manufacturer, allowing student
use of cutting-edge, professional technology. An internal grant was funded to upgrade and modernize the surface water monitoring station.
Challenges: Unexpected challenges of this project include the need to
develop and implement student assessments simultaneous with the exercise upon which to evaluate student learning. Initially, a more qualitative
survey of student experiences was developed, followed by the pre- and
post-conceptions assessment. Another challenge is that the demand from
K-12 teachers is much greater than we can support with a single teaching
assistant and GetWET staff. An industry sponsor is considering funding
an undergraduate intern to assist with K-12 fieldtrips. Finally, the PhD student conducting project evaluation left during our initial year of funding.
We are currently filling this gap with undergraduates.
Poster 255
PI: Jeffrey
Ryan
University of South Florida
Title: Collaborative Research: Using MARGINS Research
Data Resources in the Classroom: Developing and Testing
Multidisciplinary Mini-Lessons
Project #: 0633081
Co-PI: Geoff Abers
Institution:
Goals: This collaborative project seeks to engage the research faculty and
scientists who participate in the NSF MARGINS program in the development and testing of “Mini-Lessons” emphasizing multidisciplinary geoscience and based on the extensive archive of research data available from
MARGINS-funded projects.
Methods: Faculty participants are engaged in this effort through dedicat-
ed MARGINS educational workshops and/or through MARGINS Education
activities occurring as part of MARGINS-funded topical workshops and
Theoretical/Experimental Institutes. Produced Mini-Lessons are hosted at
the Science Education Resource Center (SERC), and users provide assessment information on their effectiveness.
Evaluation: Evaluation: Lessons are still being produced. Emphasis on
their use will begin in 2008. Users will be able to respond regarding the
materials’ effectiveness and ease of use via a web-based response form
made available through SERC. Results from these will be forwarded to
writers for lesson revision and compiled to assess the overall effectiveness of the approach and to identify the best mini-lesson forms (largescale or small-scale).
Dissemination: Results have been reported in a GSA Short Course and as
part of the November 2008 MARGINS-IFREE workshop on the Izu-BoninMariana subduction system. A special session at the 2007 fall AGU meeting will present newly developed mini-lessons and preliminary results on
their use.
Impact: As MARGINS projects reach out to international audiences, scientists from Japan, Central America, and Europe have been engaged in
discussions about educational practice in the geosciences and in providing content for new mini-lessons. Ultimately, we hope that the mini-lesson
database will become a repository for all MARGINS scientific content repurposed for geoscience teaching.
Challenges: Getting builders of mini-lessons has been difficult, while getting researchers to provide current data, images, and visualizations (and
engaging their general interest in the topic) has been very successful. We
have modified our project plan to incorporate more targeted outreach and
engagement activities, to ensure mini-lesson coverage in all four MARGINS initiatives.
Poster 256
Jeffrey Ryan
University of South Florida
Title: Preparing Undergraduates for Research: Examining
the Use of Remote Instrumentation in Earth and Planetary
Science Classrooms
Project #: 0633077
PI:
Institution:
Goals: The project is examining the educational impact of using research
grade instrumentation in the classroom through the implementation and
assessment of advanced microbeam analysis activities in two classes. The
intended outcomes are to discover if using such research-oriented activities improves student learning and interest in science.
Methods: The approach to instrument use is a term project that involves
data collection using Electron Microprobe or Scanning Electron Microscope
instruments, accessed via remote operation capabilities. Structured class
activities in data processing and instrument use support student efforts.
Evaluation: We are evaluating student learning through pre/post-test examinations during the course, referenced to two years of baseline performance data. Test questions are vetted by faculty at other schools teaching similar courses. Student impression/empowerment data and faculty
views on the effectiveness of the intervention are being compiled by an
on-campus, external assessment group (Center for Research, Evaluation,
Assessment, and Measurement).
Dissemination: Project approach and preliminary results have been pre-
sented at a past AGU meeting and in a GSA short course. Future outreach
will include the 2008 CUR Biannual Conference, CUR, and/or Cutting
Edge–sponsored GSA short courses and like venues. Assessment results
will be published in JGE or a like high-impact venue.
Impact: The first formal intervention occurred this fall (2007), so it is too
early for results (the term isn’t over). We are implementing this intervention in an upper-level and introductory geoscience course, so ultimately
we will discover how such approaches engage students in the discipline
as well as whether it helps them learn it. Two students involved in the
setup of the project are completing undergraduate research projects using the microprobe for submission to the 2008 GSA Sectional Meeting.
Challenges: Scheduling of activities has been challenging due to student
field commitments in other courses, as well as standing and new commitments by the instructor. The amount of time students need to digest the
new data and use it should not be underestimated, even if they become
facile in its collection.
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Poster Abstracts
Interdisciplinary
Poster 257
Stephen Adair/Jeffrey Gerwing/Donald Stearns
Institution: Central Connecticut State University/Portland
State University/Wagner College
Title: Collaborative Research: Critical Thinking for Civic
Thinking in Science
Project #: 0633586/0633578
Target Discipline: Interdisciplinary
Education
PI:
Goals: The Critical Thinking for Civic Thinking Project uses open-ended
scenarios that ask students to apply scientific reasoning and develop a
civic action plan based on their conclusions. We seek to identify whether these thinking skills develop independently or concurrently, and we
seek the pedagogical techniques that enhance the development of these
skills.
Methods: Students’ pre- and post-tests are coded and assessed by paid
outside evaluators. Mean changes in student scores are compared among
sections, institutions, and pedagogical approaches. In the first year of the
study, seven sections across four institutions participated (180 students).
In the second year, we have 1,400 students in 33 sections.
Evaluation: Preliminary results suggest:
1) The scoring taxonomy used to evaluate student responses produces
reliable results (Cronbach’s alpha measure of reliability 0.9).
2) Most students entering beginning science courses have relatively lowlevel ability to critically evaluate scientific information and apply that
evaluation to thinking about civic action or decision-making.
3) Overall the measures are able to identify differences in the relative
ability of different classrooms to improve critical and/or civic thinking.
4) Critical thinking and civic thinking skills for beginning science students
are only weakly correlated with each other and may develop in classrooms independently.
Dissemination: Gerwing, J., McConnell, D., Stearns, D., and Adair, S.,
“Critical thinking for civic thinking in science,” Academic Exchange Quarterly, vol. 11, (2007)
2007 National CASTL Institute. Chicago, Illinois. The PIs from the four collaborating institutions presented “Improving Critical Thinking and Civic
Thinking in Introductory Science Courses.”
Impact: The project aims to develop and publicize pedagogical and assessment exercises and tools that faculty may find valuable to improve
students’ skills and interest in science. The results may also contribute to
our understanding of students’ motivations to learn science and whether
or not improvements in presenting some real and important consequences of scientific reasoning can foster student interest. We plan to develop
a website to make our exercises, assessment tools, and results available
to a wide audience.
Challenges: In the first year of the study, some faculty had difficulty getting students to put effort into their post-test responses. In the second
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year, we addressed this by making the responses to the post-test a small
part of the students’ overall course grades across all sections.
Poster 258
PI: Susan
Barnes
Institution: Rochester Institute of Technology
Title: Theoretical and Applied Approaches to Teaching
Social Computing in STEM Education
Project #: 0633401
Education
Goals: Two emerging and quickly growing new areas of technology design are social software and social computing. This project both creates a
course to examine the topic of social media and researches online learning environments to examine how students make social connections in
the classroom.
Methods: By bringing together human-computer interaction theories with
social theory, this project will help to create a theoretical foundation for
future research in the area of social media, online learning technologies,
and the development of social networks. We plan to gain a better understanding about online learning environments for STEM education.
Evaluation: This course combines a theoretical and applied approach to
the study of social media. In addition to the content evaluations associated with the course, two graduate students will be working with the faculty to develop a case study that tracks the different types of online social
networks developed by the students during the 11-week quarter. Building
social networks directly relates to the concept of social capital. Van der
Gaag and Snijders (2004) have developed measurements for the evaluation of social capital. Our case study adapts portions of Van der Gaag and
Snijder’s questions that relate to specific goal productivity. Students are
assigned tasks designed for us to research.
Dissemination: The project is associated with the Lab for Social Computing. Research findings will be made available to software developers
through the lab and website located on the RIT campus. We will also prepare academic papers to be presented at various conferences. Findings will
also be shared with the Relationship Networking Industry Association.
Impact: We will be preparing IT and liberal arts students with the skills
needed for the social media industry. The course developed at RIT could
become a model for teaching social media at other colleges. The proposed
project prepares students for industry through interdisciplinary teaching
about the social computing sector of software design. In addition to meeting industry needs, the project has a broader impact on theory and practice, STEM education, online learning, and RIT’s institutional goals. The
project combines the interdisciplinary theories of computing and social
science in both the research and educational components of the project.
We will develop and test research online methods.
Challenges: Our first challenge has been with computer technology. We
solved this problem by receiving additional funding from RIT. Our second
challenge is getting the technology programmed to capture all of the data
we need to collect. We are using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to answer all of the questions that we have posed. But, all
of this requires a tremendous amount of academic creativity.
Poster Abstracts
Poster 259
Laura Bartolo/Donald R. Sadoway
Institution: Kent State University/Massachusetts Institute
of Technology
Title: Interdisciplinary Virtual Labs for Undergraduate
Education in NSDL MatDL
Project #: 0632726/0633211
Co-PI: David Yaron
PI:
Goals: MIT-led virtual labs (VLs) have been designed to help students
understand some difficult key concepts such as states and energy landscape. VLs may complement or be an alternative to physical labs, helping students achieve many ABET laboratory learning objectives while addressing restrictions caused by growing enrollments and physical space
limitations.
Methods: CMU-led students are introduced to concepts and VLs, which
are self-contained learning vehicles: they contain observable physics,
controls, and documentation for students. The students voluntarily take
pre- and post-tests as well as provide feedback. VLs are used in introductory classes from three disciplines: Chemistry, Materials Science, and
Physics.
Evaluation: PSLC-led evaluation in Phase I has focused on formative as-
sessment of implementation and learning issues. Web-based feedback
surveys have collected preliminary data on student experiences with the
VLs and resources. Feedback surveys were conducted with Kent State
University’s Introduction to Biological Physics, the first class to test the
virtual labs. Feedback indicated lessons were easy to use, interactive, and
engaging, but sections on entropy were confusing. Modifications were
made to the VLs, and voluntary feedback as well as pre- and post-tests are
being conducted with MIT’s 600 students enrolled in 3.091, Introduction
to Solid State Chemistry, during December 10 to December 15 for feedback
and possible impact on student learning.
Dissemination: KSU-led NSDL Materials Digital Library (interdisciplinary
and linked with other NSDL portals) serves materials science undergraduate and graduate students, educators, and researchers. MatDL has wiki
with VLs, instructional materials, pre/post-tests, and feedback surveys.
All VLs and VL codes will be in MatDL for download and ongoing community development.
Impact: We received our Phase I award in January 2007 and have not had
time to assess impact. We anticipate the VLs will provide effective, complementary, and supplemental support and improve student learning about
interdisciplinary concepts that are key in introductory science courses. We
are broadly disseminating the developed resources through methods that
we anticipate will encourage participation, feedback, use, and reuse. Our
public domain product demonstrates it is possible to develop intuition
and mental graphical constructs for canonical ideas in the physical sciences. By enticing the student to interact with the modules, the connection between physical laws and behavior are made more concrete.
librarians, biophysicists, chemists, and materials scientists has cooperated to produce learning modules that span all disciplines in physical science education.
Poster 260
Kostia Bergman
Northeastern University
Title: Curriculum Improvement in Practice-Oriented Biology
and Computer Science Programs Using Student Portfolios
Project #: 0243184
Co-PI: Veronica Porter
PI:
Institution:
Goals: Development of rubrics to evaluate student learning in different
settings (including traditional classroom and on-the-job).
1) Choice and/or customization of a robust e-portfolio system
2) Improvement of student learning experience based on results
3) Dissemination of results at Northeastern University and in the wider
educational community
Methods:
• Expert review of student artifacts deposited in the e-portfolio by the
student
• Use of portfolio evaluation to improve implementation of new core curriculum at Northeastern University
• Use of enhanced e-portfolio and other electronic communication with
co-op employers
Evaluation: Aggregation of student work and subsequent evaluation by
expert reviewers led to results that could be analyzed for statistical significance. Similar evaluation was done on electronic communications from
coop employers. Our plans include an analysis of qualitative data from
outside experts and employers using “ethnographic” software.
Dissemination: Dissemination: Dissemination included contribution to
the volume from the last NSF meeting and several poster and oral presentations a year at Northeastern University and at outside meetings.
Impact: This project has had an impact on the types of assignments given
to Northeastern University (NU) students, since faculty have been stimulated to create assignments that lead to artifacts that students are proud
to add to their portfolio. The project has stimulated interest on the NU
campus to generalize student portfolios and electronic communications
with coop employers available for all students. The project has begun to
cause changes in the curriculum for Biology and Computer Science students and dovetails nicely with the new core curriculum that is required
of all students. This is particularly true for the new emphasis on writing in
the disciplines.
Challenges: The software available for electronic portfolios is immature
and the market is fragmented. It is difficult to find and adopt software that
allows the aggregation of artifacts that is necessary for our methodology.
Our choice of open-source software has been difficult to support. This has
slowed progress and forced a pause before campus-wide adoption of
Challenges: Our work has gone smoothly. We have held three project
meetings (one at each institution) as well as regular conference calls during the course of the project, facilitating communication and collaboration. We believe that our disparate group of cognitive scientists, digital
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Poster Abstracts
Poster 261
Katherine Price Blount
Institution: Angelo State University
Title: Preservice Teachers Learning to Engage Hispanic
Parents in Mathematics and Science (PTEP)
Project #: 0536827
Co-PI: Cherie McCollough
PI:
Goals: The goal is to infuse elements for Hispanic parent involvement into
undergraduate mathematics and science content courses taken by preservice elementary and middle school teachers (PSTs). The intended outcome is content faculty and preservice teachers gain knowledge and skills
to engage parents in high-quality mathematics and science education.
Methods: 1) Design and implement faculty development experiences
regarding effective parental engagement strategies and 2) reform and
implement science and math courses to provide undergraduate PSTs with
experience in engaging families in math and science education, so that
they enter the teaching workforce with a culturally appropriate skill set
in hand.
Evaluation: Student survey data address 1) effectiveness of PTEP-de-
signed faculty professional development and 2) success of PTEP-developed course materials in enhancing PST’s 1) understanding of parental
involvement and 2) ability to create high-quality family learning events
(FLEs). Survey results from the first two semesters of PTEP implementation were gathered from 225 of the students enrolled in PTEP classes.
Change in PST’s self-efficacy for conducting FLEs was measured using a
retrospective survey instrument. On a 1 to 5 scale, PST’s average confidence increased between 0.8 and 2.28 points, which is statistically significant (p < .01) for all 12 aspects of engaging parents in math and science
that were measured.
Dissemination: Three professional presentations by PTEPpers in Texas
(2007), including:
1) Southwestern Association of Science Teacher Educators
2) Hispanics in the Southwest
3) Papers accepted for presentation in spring 2008
4) National Association for Research in Science Teaching
5) American Associate of Hispanics in Higher Education
6) Research Council on Mathematics Learning
Impact: PTEP impact on faculty and preservice teachers has been profound. Faculty implementers were skeptical about the impact that FLEs
might have on deepening student understanding of science and math content and were unsure of their ability to coordinate the FLE entire spectrum.
Over three semesters and one summer, four content faculty members coordinated a total of 16 FLEs, involving 403 preservice teachers (64% Hispanic), 1,192 elementary and middle school students (45% Hispanic), and
812 family members (78% Hispanic). Evaluation feedback from faculty,
PSTs, middle school students, families, and teachers ranged from positive
to exhilarated.
Challenges: By the second semester of FLE implementation, word of the
successful programs had spread among teachers in the Corpus Christi
community. Requests for hosting a FLE were coming from more school
campuses than the PTEP faculty could possibly serve. Their solution was
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to offer a Family Learning Institute for teacher/administrator teams who
were interested in conducting an FLE on their campus. The Saturday institute featured the two co-PIs from Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi
and 80 PSTs as presenters. A total of 36 teachers and administrators participated from 11 school districts. End-of-Institute evaluations were overall
positive and rich with suggestions for future FLE institutes.
Poster 262
David Burns
Institution: Harrisburg University
Title: SENCER
Project #: 0717407
PI:
Goals: SENCER’s goals are to get more students interested and engaged
in learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)
courses; to help students connect STEM learning to their other studies;
and to strengthen students’ understanding of science and their capacity
for responsible work and citizenship.
Methods: SENCER improves science education by focusing on real-
world problems and, by so doing, extends the impact of this learning
across the curriculum to the broader community. We do this by developing faculty expertise in teaching “to” basic canonical science and mathematics “through” complex capacious often-unsolved problems of civic
consequence.
Evaluation: An independent study supported by the NSF found that 80%
of SENCER-inspired surveyed courses are permanent pieces of the curriculum and that students, especially women and non-science majors, substantially increased their literacy and interest in the sciences after completing a SENCER course. The development of the SENCER-SALG was part
of this study. We’ve established the Consortium for the Advancement of
Student Achievement as a community of educators that will promote the
use of regular, in-class assessments and measure the learning improvements that result. SENCER also is applying the scholarship of teaching and
learning approach to questions arising during the project’s maturation.
Dissemination: The SENCER Summer Institutes (annual, invitational faculty development conferences) are the cornerstone of our dissemination
plan. They are complemented by regional organizations, outreach on campus and at disciplinary conferences, a vibrant website with downloadable
assessment tools, course models and backgrounders, and a peer-referred
journal.
Impact: More than 1,300 educators, administrators, and students from
330 high schools, colleges, and universities have been engaged in SENCER activities. Thus far, hundreds of undergraduate science courses have
been modified or newly designed. A total of 30 have been selected as national models, more than 12 scholarly papers have been published, a web
resource has been developed, an online assessment tool (SENCER-SALG)
has been created and validated, and a new peer-reviewed journal has
been launched. At least 27 alumni have received extramural grant support
to develop their projects more fully and at least 10 participating faculty
have been promoted and tenured in part on the basis of their SENCER
work.
Challenges: Many challenges we’ve faced have led to new areas of work.
Originally, SENCER methods had been targeted at the general education
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level, but there is a strong interest in applying the concept of making science real to STEM majors learning. There is a deep need for a community
of practice among innovators, one that we support through symposia and
regular communication. We also created a formal peer-reviewed journal to
report on these innovations. As courses took root, we found that students
need to take the classes early in their college careers if they wish to take
any other courses in the sciences. Otherwise, there simply is not enough
time to take advantage of their increased interest.
Poster 263
Devon Cancilla
Institution: Western Washington University
Title: Expanding the Use of Remote Scientific
Instrumentation Within the Curriculum: Continued
Development of the Integrated Laboratory Network
Project #: 0618626
PI:
Goals: The Integrated Laboratory Network (ILN) is an initiative to provide
anytime/anyplace access to instrumentation, expertise, and supporting
instructional materials through the use of web-based technologies. The
goal of the ILN is to create additional opportunities to engage in “mindful”
scientific activities at all levels throughout the curriculum.
Methods: Our strategy is to adopt technologies that are open-source,
easy to use, and robust. It is to then provide training and opportunities for
faculty to incorporate remote instrumentation into the classroom. The ILN
has adopted UltraVNC, Ineen, Drupal, and Moodle as web-based resources that allow remote collaborative activities and instrument sharing.
Evaluation: Evaluation involves focus groups, surveys, one-minute
papers, and personal interviews. Early results show that students are
comfortable with the use of remote instrumentation and have a positive
learning experience. This supports findings collected during a CCLI Phase
I project. Instructor preparation and commitment to creating a positive
ILN experience significantly affect the quality of an ILN activity. Eighty-four
percent of students agreed or strongly agreed the ILN should continue to
be developed for use in the classroom/laboratory. Western Washington
University’s MBA program is currently developing a sustainable business
plan for the ILN incorporating survey data from potential users and instrument companies.
Dissemination: Dissemination involves conference presentations and
publications. We have also developed a yearly online conference entitled
Moving the Lab Online. The 2007 conference is available at http://community.sloan-c.org/course/view.php?id=39. This year’s theme is evaluating online laboratories. We are currently developing a book based on the
series.
Impact: The ILN project’s impact has been to demonstrate the ease with
which remote instrumentation can be incorporated into the curriculum
and how this can lead to a fundamental change in how we teach instrument intensive courses. For all too long, access to instrumentation has
been a fundamental bottleneck to teaching science courses. Removing
this bottleneck has led to unprecedented opportunities to incorporate instrumentation into the everyday lives of students. Why shouldn’t access
to a GC/MS be as easy as using a cell phone? The development of the
principles and practice to more effectively use the online environment for
teaching instrument-based sciences will be a major impact.
Challenges: The most significant challenge to the ILN project has been
the extent to which institutions have limited student and faculty access
to offsite websites from campus locations. This is primarily true for the
transmission of audio and video and occasionally true for the ability to
remotely access instruments. Issues related to firewalls have occurred at
almost every institution participating in ILN. The other unexpected challenge has been the extent to which prevailing departmental cultures slow
the adoption and use of remote instrumentation and online resources into
the curriculum. Dealing with these issues involves leading by example as
well as education, training, and demonstrations.
Poster 264
Cliff Chancey
University of Northern Iowa
Title: Expanding Nanoscience Education in Northern Iowa
Project #: 0633057
PI:
Institution:
Goals:
1) Develop lecture and laboratory materials for a nanoscience curriculum
at the sophomore-junior level.
2) Develop introductory nanoscience modules appropriate to first-year
undergraduate science sequences.
3) Create and implement a university–high school cooperative nanoscience outreach program for high school teachers.
Methods: Development will involve 1) clear articulation of learning goals
for each curriculum, 2) pilot-tests of curricular materials with independent
assessments of their pedagogic value, 3) undergraduate research projects
that test nanotechnology techniques and activities for their suitability to
be included in the curricula, and 4) a summer teacher workshop.
Evaluation: Participant assessments for the first regular semester trial of
a nanoscience course are being collected now (December 2007). Data for
a four-week short course for high school teachers will be analyzed beginning in January 2008. The schedule for grant activity assessments is as
follows:
Spring 2008—Assess outreach efforts to community college and high
school teachers.
Summer 2008—Assess curricular materials developed for the Intermediate Nanoscience and Nanotechnology course.
Fall 2008—Assess the introductory sequence lab modules developed
Spring 2009 (post-grant)—Assess outreach efforts to community college
and high school teachers.
Summer 2009 (post-grant)—Assess all course materials.
Dissemination: Our dissemination plans are centered on the grant’s
summer 2008 “Teaching Nanotechnology” workshop for high school and
community college teachers. We wish to increase the cadre of nano-saavy
secondary teachers and to provide them with a spectrum of class activities (quick to in-depth) that bring the nano-world into the macro-world of
students.
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Impact:
1) We are already engaged in loaning out an EasyScan STM and AFM package to area high school science teachers. During December 3–17, 2007
in Waverly, Iowa, middle and high school students are being introduced
to scanning probe microscopy by Mr. Jon Allen—a high school teacher
partnering with the PIs in this effort.
2) We will begin introducing nanoscience lab modules into the undergraduate sequences during spring 2008. One undergraduate who was
involved with module testing and a nano-intensive research project
has just graduated (December 2007); she is planning to combine nanotechnology and medical engineering in graduate school this coming
year.
Challenges: Our project is to develop nanoscience curricular materials,
and we necessarily need to field-test these materials in the classroom,
fairly often (each semester). An unexpected challenge was the difficulty of
motivating undergraduates to register for introductory and intermediate
nanoscience classes. The classes are not required in any major program,
and the first course has prerequisites of a year of general physics and a
year of general chemistry—both factors that depress enrollment at the
sophomore/junior level. We have overcome this hurdle by persistent and
continual advertising to potential students and our faculty colleagues
through quick demonstrations or samples in classes and clubs.
Poster 265
Richard Chiou
Institution: Drexel University
Title: CCLI Phase II: E-Quality for Manufacturing (EQM)
Integrated with Web-Enabled Production Systems for
Engineering Technology Education
Project #: 0618665
PI:
Goals: The goals are to advance the engineering technology education
through the incorporation of E-quality and to strengthen the AET programs
through provision of professional development with industry. The intended outcomes include involvement of faculty and industry practitioners,
workshop, and new instructional materials and course development.
Methods: The concept of remote quality inspection has been materialized
in conjunction with the emerging technologies in web-based control. All
the experimental setups planned for the project have been developed in
correspondence with the project timeline’s expectation. An Internet-based
quality vision system has been integrated with web-enabled robots.
Evaluation: A set of questionnaires customized by evaluators regarding
the project progress and activities was given for lab evaluation, course
evaluation, workshop evaluation, and annual project evaluation. Lab and
course evaluation forms were given to the students to encourage improvement in course and lab development and to instill a stronger sense
of student learning capability and responsibility in the winter of 2007. The
NSF professional development workshop evaluation form was given to all
attendees in the spring of 2007. The annual evaluation form was given to
external evaluators in the summer of 2007. All the results show the highly
supportive evidence toward the intended project outcomes.
IMECE, sessions at regional ASEE Mid-Atlantic, and a NSF workshop in
2007. The PIs also submitted articles to journals such as JEE, JCE, and
IJAMT. Other activities include a lab tour for high school students and
AET board.
Impact: In addition to the training of the undergraduate and graduate students involved in this project, to date the project has affected over 100
students from different universities, colleges, and high schools. A unique
aspect of the project was its commitment to bring together a critical mass
of undergraduate/high school students so that they can learn from and
collaborate with one another from the project. Our students are being
exposed to cutting-edge Internet-based quality technology. The students
are enthusiastic in learning the state-of-the-art techniques in the areas of
web, quality, machine vision, robotics, automation, information technology, sensor, and monitoring.
Challenges: The project is exploring the emerging technology as a means
for integrating E-quality and web-enabled systems. The most unexpected
challenge is that the project is very interdisciplinary in nature and the project results have to be used to develop teaching materials and courses
immediately. Efforts to deal with the challenges include involvements
with more full-time and adjunct faculty members from industry; graduate assistants from mechanical, electrical engineering, and information
departments; and undergraduate students from a senior design project.
It has allowed fellows to produce results from a range of methodological
approaches and perspectives from a variety of disciplines.
Poster 266
Kelvin Chu
Institution: University of Vermont
Title: Undergraduate Labs for Biological Physics
Project #: 0536773
PI:
Goals: This project creates a set of labs for an undergraduate biological
physics class that draws students from chemistry, biology, engineering,
and mathematics in addition to physics. This project will evaluate the efficacy of inquiry-driven, case study–based labs in settings where the students come from a broad spectrum of STEM disciplines.
Methods: Each lab incorporates two innovative educational techniques to
drive the process and application aspects of scientific learning. Case studies are used to encourage students to think independently and apply the
scientific method to a novel lab situation. Student input is used to decide
how to best do the measurement and guide the project.
Evaluation: The evaluation consists of three steps:
1) A pre- and post-course assessment of content, process, and application skills.
2) A post-course assessment of improvement, description of specific
learning methods that were effective/not effective for learning and a
comparison of learning in this course with other lab courses, and a
group peer evaluation.
3) An assessment of how group composition affects the learning of
content and process skills by advanced students and by beginning
students.
Dissemination: All of our outcomes have been presented by talks and
posters at national education conferences in the ASEE, SPIE, IEEM, ASME
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Our assessment will be useful to the National Science Foundation and
instructors at other institutions using collaborative learning experiences
with a diverse student body.
Dissemination: I will make my undergraduate adaptation of biological
physics labs and upper-division physics labs available nationwide. Course
materials developed from this curriculum will be made available online at
the Department of Physics website at UVM and the NSF- and Pew Charitable Trust–sponsored case studies in science website at SUNY Buffalo.
Impact: Students will be exposed to cutting-edge technology that is used
in current research. They will be presented with problems that require discussion, peer instruction, and reaction to extend their own knowledge to
lab situations. This will enhance the educational experience of our students so that they will be better prepared to cope with current advances
in science and technology.
Poster 267
PI: Timothy
Comar
Institution: Benedictine University
Title: Biocalculus: Text Development, Dialog, and
Assessment
Project #: 0633232
Goals: We intend to attract and prepare students who intend to major in
biological and health sciences to pursue research in these increasingly
quantitative, computational, and data-driven areas. The goals include the
development of a new biocalculus textbook and computer lab manual and
the creation of a student-oriented biomathematics seminar.
Methods: The team consists of both mathematics and biology faculty
from Benedictine University and College of DuPage (COD). The seminar
exposes students to the intersection of the mathematics and biology
in current research. To ensure effectiveness of our biocalculus courses,
text, and seminar, external evaluators will participate in the assessment
component.
Evaluation: The evaluation plan includes feedback from students, evalu-
ation of student performance, tracking student progress after completing the biocalculus courses, and evaluation by expert colleagues at other
institutions. Student feedback is obtained through end-of-term course
evaluations and through comments on lab projects. We compare performance of biocalculus students and traditional calculus students through
common final exam problems and a common laboratory course for all
first-semester calculus students. We keep track of how many students
participate in undergraduate research and how many students continue
with graduate or professional studies.
Dissemination: The PI regularly presents updates of this project at Mathematical Association of America (MAA) and SMB meetings. Two computer
workshops were presented at professional meetings this fall. The PI will
be directing a MAA PREP workshop on biocalculus in June 2008. Plans include textbook publication, conference presentations, and papers on the
pedagogy and assessment of our project.
Impact: The nature of the collaboration between mathematicians and
biologists and between a four-year institution and a two-year institution
can serve as a template for fostering interdisciplinary pedagogy and re-
search at such institutions and as a template for actively establishing and
promoting educational and research opportunities for students at a community college. This collaboration strengthens professional connections
between disciplines, builds a common language between mathematicians
and biologists, and strengthens the interdisciplinary knowledge base of
the faculty members who train future research biologists and medical professionals. We expect the textbook to have a national audience.
Challenges: The most difficult challenge with this project is attracting
students to the biocalculus courses. At Benedictine University (BU), we
now recommend students take the biocalculus course sequence if they
enter BU with a strong high school record and express an interest in majoring in the biological sciences. We have identified and resolved some
internal advising practices that have in the past kept students out of the
biocalculus courses. Establishing and institutionalizing novel courses at
a large community college has proven to be more difficult than at a small
university. At COD, we are currently exploring ways to best advertise the
biocalculus courses and recruit and advise students to take the courses.
Poster 268
Ivo Dinov
Title: Statistics Online Computational Resource for
Education
Project #: 0716055
PI:
Goals: The overarching aims of the Statistics Online Computational
Resource for Education (SOCRE) are to design, validate, and freely disseminate knowledge using modern information and communication
technologies.
Methods: We develop multidisciplinary instructional materials, extensi-
ble computational libraries, and interactive hands-on activities, which are
available anonymously and in their entirety over the Internet to all users
all the time (www.SOCR.ucla.edu).
Evaluation: The SOCRE resource and materials evaluation matrix in-
cludes varieties of quantitative and qualitative, instructor and learner, and
event- and curriculum-based protocols for data collection, statistical analysis, and result interpretation. Such protocols include methods for collecting data for webpage access, course evaluations, topic assessment,
and SOCRE resource utilization. In addition, we use randomized designs
to assess the efficacy of SOCRE technology-enhanced instruction against
traditional educational approaches.
Dissemination: SOCRE relies on three major dissemination vehicles:
1) Internet dissemination via review-based inclusion in digital libraries
(e.g., NSDL.org), instructor resources (e.g., MathForum.org), and a
general web-search knowledge search (e.g., dmoz.org)
2) Publications in open-access peer-review journals
3) Training of instructors and professional audiences
Impact: SOCRE is widely used around the U.S. and the globe in probability
and statistics classes, in informal training, and for Internet-based statistical computing. SOCRE has had over 145,000 (daily unique) visitors since
2002: http://www.socr.ucla.edu/SOCR_UserGoogleMap.html. SOCRE
has been reviewed and included as part of many digital libraries covering
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a wide range of disciplines: http://www.socr.ucla.edu/htmls/SOCR_Recognitions.html.
Challenges:
Educational challenges: 1) Developing SOCRE materials and resources
that provide data, interactive tools, and learning materials across STEM
disciplines: We are engaging educators and engineers from different
fields to determine synergies and symbiosis between science areas on
the basis of studying common natural, biological, or social challenges.
2) Instructional challenges: We have encountered difficulties in training
instructors to embrace, develop, and use modern information and communication technologies.
involvement of students and mentoring encourages and nurtures participation from a wide range of students, including those from underserved
groups. The ARG experience has helped students improve their research
and professional skills. They felt more connected to the university, aware
of the needs of other individuals, and confident of their own abilities to
function as members of research groups. An unanticipated consequence
of the model has been the fostering of a commitment of members to help
other students succeed in computer science and research.
Challenges: A challenge is to support faculty after they attend the work-
Technological challenges: Spam in SOCRE wiki educational resources: We
have adopted newly developed Internet security applications to combat
machine and human-driven spam.
shop and return to their home institution. The model is based on cooperative team techniques and proficiency in using these techniques and
requires practice and reflection. Our strategy is to implement a series of
workshops in which faculty mentors can review the model, discuss what
is working, refine practices, and learn about activities and other practices
that can be introduced to address challenges.
Poster 269
Poster 270
Ann Gates
Institution: University of Texas at El Paso
Title: Affinity Research Groups: Developing Students
Beyond Academe
Project #: 0443061
Co-PI: Elsa Villa
PI:
Goals: The Affinity Research Group (ARG) model has been shown to devel-
op research and professional competencies of diverse students and make
them more effective scientists and engineers. The goals of the project are
to create a handbook and disseminate the model. The outcomes are a
published handbook and adoption of the model by diverse institutions.
Methods: The project team has faculty from Engineering and Education
and an advisory group of scientists, engineers, and industry. The team’s
experience includes UG research, situated learning, and cooperative
groups. A professional copy editor has assisted with the handbook. Workshops are delivered using the ARG model of deliberate development of
skills.
Evaluation: The evaluation plan is a multi-method approach to under-
stand how an ARG operates and how the program affects students and
faculty. The understanding gained is expected to contribute to improvement of training materials and delivery system, a greater understanding
of the research experience, an evaluation strategy for assessment, and
evidence for judging the worth of ARG. A logic map (inputs, processes,
and intermediate-/long-range outcomes) guided the development of indicators, revision of current measures, and development of an evaluation
design. Observation at the workshops, interviews with faculty and students, and retrospective interviews with ARG alumni were conducted.
Dissemination: The investigators received an IEEE SEED Initiative grant
to publish the handbook through IEEE Computer Society Press and to promote it through the Computer Society. The investigators have conducted
numerous workshops disseminated to faculty from over 10 institutions.
The Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions is adopting ARG.
Impact: An ARG deliberately structures activities to create a cooperative
environment in which students with different abilities can succeed. Active
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Edward Gehringer
Institution: North Carolina State University
Title: Expertiza: Reusable Learning Objects through Active/
Cooperative Learning and Peer Review
Project #: 0536558
PI:
Goals: Peer review is frequently used to let students give other students
constructive feedback on their work. In the Expertiza approach, different
sets of students do different assignments, and peer review is used to select the best assignment in each category. These can then be assembled
into educational resources, e.g., work examples, exercises.
Methods: We have developed peer-review software and are doing user
studies, which have led to several improvements, such as support for
evaluating wiki contributions, team submissions, and closer interaction
between instructor and peer reviewers. To facilitate assessment, the system automatically disseminates surveys after assignments are finished.
Evaluation: We have recently developed a standard survey that is given
to students in all classes who have used the system. It asks about critical thinking, engagement, and the peer-review process. However, to date,
most of our feedback is qualitative. Feedback from instructors has shown
us that they want to be involved in the peer-review process, so we have
added facilities for them to comment on submissions and reviews during
the review cycle. To date, our best results are from an object-oriented design class that used the system to produce new exercises and examples
for a soon-to-be-published OOD text: 17 students’ contributions were
used by the author in the published version of the book.
Dissemination: Dr. Gehringer has traveled extensively to teaching-with-
technology conferences, as well as delivering seminars on several campuses. A total of 220 instructors have expressed interest in the project,
with about 20 saying they are interested in using the system in their own
classes. To date, 12 have used the system for at least one assignment.
Impact: Our project received an honorable mention in 2007 for the Gertrude Cox Award, NCSU’s program to recognize projects in teaching with
technology. It is competing to win the 2008 award. The PI was one of a
half-dozen invited speakers at the First Latin American Conference on
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Mobile Learning Systems (http://e-sanitas.edu.co/simposio), where he
presented three talks, two of them on Expertiza. In July 2007, nearly 100
attended our Webcast, hosted by the online journal Innovate. As the software improves and adds features, we expect to collect a large amount
of survey data, which can then be mined to evaluate the effectiveness of
peer-review strategies for encouraging collaborative work by students.
Challenges: The biggest surprise was how much effort on our part is ac-
tually needed to induce instructors to follow through and use the system.
Most instructors who have promised to use the system have not done so.
So we have been ramping up the frequency of contacts, through e-mail and
phone calls. I have also been making many more presentations (about 10
this year, with six already scheduled for next year). Another surprise was
that our existing software base was too unwieldy and unreliable for future
development. So we rewrote the entire application in Ruby on Rails this
year, with much help from independent-study students. Now new features
can be added in a fraction of the time it used to take.
Poster 271
PI:
Ellen Goldey
Institution: Wofford
College
Title: Seeing the Big Picture: Integrating the Sciences and
the Humanities
Project #: 0126788
Goals: The goals of this project have been to 1) improve the learning ex-
perience of non-science majors in science courses, 2) provide a model for
integration of knowledge across seemingly disparate disciplines, and 3)
develop and broaden professors’ skills as they work with colleagues with
different disciplinary training and perspectives.
Methods: Two faculty members, one from the sciences and one from the
humanities, integrate their two courses into a learning community (LC).
Each LC explores a theme and enrolls a common cohort of first-year students. Advanced undergraduates team with the professors in each LC,
particularly in its planning, which occurs in the summer.
Evaluation: A multifaceted evaluation of our program has included 1) pre-
and post-semester evaluations of student perceptions; 2) focus groups
with professors, preceptors, and students; 3) reflective writing assignments for students and preceptors; 4) graded customized assignments
and tests; and 5) site visits to our campus by external teams who conducted formal evaluations of our LC program. This evaluation process has
led to constant revision and improvement of our program, and the results
of the evaluation are reflected in the impacts described below.
Dissemination: We have presented our LC model through presenta-
tions and workshops at numerous national conferences (e.g., hosted
by SENCER, AAC&U, and the Washington Center) as well as hosting our
own well-attended workshops for faculty throughout our region. We have
been invited to lead such workshops for faculty at numerous campuses
throughout the country.
Impact: This project has fostered dramatic and positive institutional
change at Wofford. Interdisciplinary teaching has become a regular part of
our culture, and learning communities have spread to upper-level courses
and across departments. One of the most exciting outcomes has been the
consensus that our science majors would benefit from adapting some of
the pedagogical practices that have grown out of our LC work, and the
biology department is undertaking a dramatic redesign of its introductory
core curriculum to incorporate some of the lessons learned from the LC
program.
Challenges: Our challenges were not really unexpected. The LC work
requires high investments of energy and time from participating faculty,
both before and during the semester the LC is taught. The administration
has been supportive in giving course reductions for those teaching LCs,
but this balancing of resources will remain an ongoing challenge. However, the outcomes for students and faculty have been so positive, and the
media coverage of the program so favorable, that a line-item for LCs has
been incorporated into the annual college budget.
Poster 272
Nathan Grawe
Institution: Carleton College
Title: Assessing Quantitative Reasoning in Student Writing
Project #: 0717604
PI:
Goals: The Quantitative Inquiry, Reasoning, and Knowledge (QuIRK) ini-
tiative has developed a rubric for assessing quantitative reasoning (QR) in
student writing. The goal of the current grant is to adapt this rubric for use
at a wide variety of institutions, from community colleges to liberal arts
colleges, to research universities.
Methods: Working with partners at Yale, Iowa State, Wellesley, St. Olaf
College, Morehouse, and Seattle Central Community College, we will
adapt the assessment instrument for various contexts. Then we will conduct feasibility studies on four of the six campuses to determine how the
evaluation strategy performs in these various contexts.
Evaluation: In addition to the feasibility described above, we will share
project materials and findings, including the assessment materials and
processes, assignments used to generate student writing with QR, and
professional development (PD) workshops designed to equip professors
to teach QR (on the program webpage). The usefulness of these materials
will be evaluated with user surveys and interviews with a sample of users. The effect of programming on campus will be measured by the depth
and breadth of faculty participation, number of students in “treatment”
courses, and, ultimately, by student performance in writing portfolios as
measured by the assessment rubric.
Dissemination: We’ve presented our project to local statistics professors.
In January and February, we will post materials from the first PD workshop
and share our assessment process at conferences of the AAC&U and The
Collaboration for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning. And in October, we will be hosting a PKAL conference on various QR assessment
strategies.
Impact: QR demands the ability to apply numerical concepts in a wide
range of real-world contexts. As a result, the literature argues that the
assessment of QR must be contextual—a standard not met by available
standardized tests. We believe our rubric can fill this gap. Having shown
that the tool can be adapted for broad application, it will be an invaluable
resource as institutions increasingly seek to demonstrate value-added
and reflective practice at their institutions. In addition, we have found that
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assessment findings motivate curricular reform. By encouraging greater
assessment of QR, we aim to foster better teaching practice in a topic critical to citizenship and the STEM fields.
Poster 273
Deborah Grossman-Garber
Institution: University of Rhode Island
Title: Pathways to Careers in Science: Academic Roadmaps
Project #: 0442888
PI:
Goals: This project is intended to enhance student learning, retention,
and recruitment in the sciences by creating better communication and advising tools. This project introduces dynamic, web-based academic roadmaps for current and prospective students, their families, and the broader
public.
Methods: We have developed a transferable web template and four con-
ceptual roadmaps for Wildlife and Conservation Biology, Nutrition and Dietetics, Geoscience, and Animal and Veterinary Science. Maps illustrate a
deep array of information, including educational requirements and courses, career tracks, experiential opportunities, and strategies for success.
Evaluation: This project has undergone several rounds of formative eval-
uation to determine student and institutional need for the roadmaps and
preferences in terms of content, presentation, and accessibility. Evaluation has been conducted through a series of focus groups and surveys and
through the use of external evaluators. Students have been asked to respond in a variety of ways to the four conceptual roadmaps. Response to
the maps has been overwhelmingly positive. Approximately 400 students
(high school through graduate level) have identified a real need for the
roadmaps and confirmed the information’s utility as well as suggesting
further topics and delivery mechanisms, which we are developing.
Dissemination: The roadmaps have been presented at a variety of na-
tional and discipline-specific conferences during the past year. Interest
has been high. Soon, the roadmaps will be available to the general public
on an open website at University of Rhode Island. A transferable template
will also be available for customizing the information and creating new
disciplinary maps.
Impact: We have identified discrete audiences who will directly benefit
from these tools:
1) High school students and families curious about the scientific discipline and the major
2) Freshman or sophomore undergraduates who are mapping out a
course plan
3) The undeclared or exploratory student
4) The community college student concerned about articulating with a
four-year school
5) Graduating seniors researching the next possible steps toward a
profession
6) Guidance counselors, college advisors, colleagues, and others
7) Parents and relatives of students
8) The broader public
9) Professionals in the actual disciplinary field of the map
Challenges: The development of the website and a relational database, in
been a difficult task. We have now moved the supervision of the coding
and programming work to the University Computing Systems Division.
Poster 274
PI: Chaya
Gurwitz
Institution: Brooklyn College of the City University of New
York
Title: Developing a STEM Curriculum for Early College
Programs: A High School to College Continuum
Project #: 0633497
Goals: Our goal is to develop STEM curricula for Early College High School
(ECHS) programs. These programs propose a seamless curriculum to take
students from high school through college in six to seven years. The overall aim is to smooth the transition from high school to university to retain
a broader population through the STEM pipeline.
Methods: We target three aspects of student learning:
Developmental: a gentle transition plan eases students into the college
classroom and levels of expectation.
Academic: a tightly knit set of interdisciplinary topics integrates science
and math curricula.
Motivational: proven pedagogical methods and a mentoring program link
students with STEM majors.
Evaluation: Quantitative indicators of success will include high rates of
continuing participation in project activities, high grade point averages,
and increased choice of majoring in STEM disciplines. We will work with
the college to set up a system to collect and analyze data that compares
the students in our program with other entering freshmen in terms of demographics, need for remediation, attrition, and grades in STEM courses.
In addition to the analysis of quantitative data, the evaluation will use
a mix of methodologies for collecting qualitative data, including surveys
(baseline and at the end of each year), interviews, and focus groups for
students and participating faculty.
Dissemination: We will present our work at conferences, in journal pub-
lications, and through the CUNY and Woodrow Wilson Foundation ECHS
networks. Our curricular materials will be disseminated electronically.
These will include syllabi, lecture material, presentations, and software
tools. Such material will be accessible at http://www.sci.brooklyn.cuny.
edu/~star.
Impact: The long-term goal of the project is to produce curricular materials that can be disseminated and scaled to other colleges and that can
be used by other Early College High School programs. We aim to provide
insight into how interdisciplinary curricula should be structured to improve science comprehension, particularly in urban environments involving underrepresented populations. Our approach to address an at-risk
population of students through a comprehensive high school/college perspective is unique. We have the opportunity to use the STAR Early College
program as a test-bed to evaluate our proposal and to serve as a model for
other Early College High School programs nationwide.
terms of graphic representation, usefulness, and bug-free operation, has
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Poster Abstracts
Challenges: One issue we faced was motivating students in the collegelevel courses to complete homework assignments outside of class. It
seemed to us that the students were simply unaccustomed to the idea
that college courses require a substantial amount of work to be done outside of class time. We are addressing this issue by scheduling additional
required study periods, during which the students will work on homework
assignments on the campus under the supervision of a student teaching
assistant. We encountered some difficulty with students’ attendance. A
high school teacher has been assigned to supervising attendance records
and impressing on the students the importance of attending classes.
Poster 275
PI: Kathleen
Harper
Institution: Ohio State University
Title: Problem Categorization as an Interdisciplinary
Foundation for Problem-Solving
Project #: 0633677
Goals: Most problems that STEM students are given to solve in their
coursework have one correct answer and contain exactly the information
needed to solve it. By developing problems that differ from this, we hope
to aid students in developing real-world problem-solving skills, as well as
an awareness of when to apply these skills.
Methods: We are writing problems that may contain excess information
or insufficient information and that may also have more than one solution or no solution. We are implementing these problems in a two-course
introductory physics sequence for engineers. We are collecting data to
determine any impacts on student problem-solving behavior.
Evaluation: We are in the midst of data collection right now. We have col-
lected and will continue to collect student exam data from these physics
classes and will code them using a system developed at the University
of Minnesota to track development of problem-solving skills. Additionally, we have conducted and will continue to conduct interviews with
students at various points throughout the sequence. In these interviews,
students complete a problem categorization task and answer some questions about problem-solving behaviors. We will be comparing students to
themselves, as well as to matched students in the previous cohort taking
these courses.
Dissemination: We have published in the 2007 peer-reviewed confer-
ence proceedings for the Physics Education Research Conference and the
International Conference on Engineering Education Research. We also
presented at the American Association of Physics Teachers meeting. We
will repeat this in 2008 and add the American Association of Engineering
Education.
Impact: It is too early in this project to document any significant impacts,
but we anticipate that the collection of problems we develop will be of
interest to a variety of college and high school physics instructors. Dr.
Harper already presents problem-solving workshops at national and local
professional meetings, so it will not be difficult to get these out. What we
learn from this process can then be expanded to other sciences, mathematics, and engineering. We also anticipate that our findings on the impact on student learning will be of interest to the wider problem-solving
research community.
Poster 276
Nancy Hensel
Institution: Council on Undergraduate Research
Title: A Workshop Initiative by the Council on
Undergraduate Research to Establish, Enhance, and
Institutionalize Undergraduate Research
Project #: 0618721
PI:
Goals: The goal of this project is to disseminate successful models of collaborative student-faculty undergraduate research by conducting regional
workshops at host institutions and to create a community of scholars. We
are assisting institutions to establish, formalize, and expand undergraduate research opportunities.
Methods: Workshop participants spend two days working with a campus
team, expert facilitators, and the PIs, as well as interacting with other colleagues in the region to create a strategic plan for implementing undergraduate research on their own campuses. The regional workshops facilitate networking and community-building among faculty and institutions.
Evaluation: The project is being evaluated by a post-workshop feedback
questionnaire, a follow-up survey sent to all workshop participants, and
a team survey after the follow-up visit by a consultant. The first questionnaire is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the workshop format
and presentations. The follow-up survey will assess the effectiveness of
the workshop as participants put into practice the strategic plan developed at the workshop. The evaluation is designed to determine both the
effectiveness of the practices used in the workshops and the challenges
faced by institutions as they implement or expand their undergraduate
research program.
Dissemination: The project is entering the second year and we are still in
the early stages of dissemination. Dissemination efforts to date include an
article in the CUR Quarterly and presentations scheduled for the upcoming CUR National Conference in June 2008 and AASCU in February 2008.
Presentations at other conferences (AAC&U, ACS) are planned.
Impact: To date, 16 institutions have participated in two regional workshops, and three workshops are scheduled for spring 2008. By fall of
2008, all eight workshops will be held and efforts will shift to follow-up
activities with the participating institutions. Short-term impacts derived
from participating in the workshops are already taking place, with each institution preparing a planning document in advance of the workshop and
developing a strategic plan during the workshop. We anticipate that the
workshops will lead to longer-term positive impacts that include the development, expansion, and increased quality of undergraduate research
programs for the participating institutions.
Challenges: Whereas we anticipated that we would receive many more
worthy applications than we could accept for our workshops, we were
not initially prepared for applicants who were not accepted to respond
by asking for an additional workshop to be held on their campuses. We
were able to respond because our project had already created additional
trained facilitators who we could draw on to incorporate the additional
workshops into our already-packed schedule of offerings.
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Poster 277
PI: Thomas
Jacobius
Institution: Illinois Institute of Technology
Title: Creating a Service Learning Pathway in
Interprofessional Studies
Project #: 0511647
Co-PI: Margaret Huyck
Goals: The overall goal of this project is to adapt best practices from
Purdue’s EPICS program to formalize and strengthen Illinois Institute of
Technology’s (IIT) cluster of service learning team projects as part of its
broader Interprofessional Projects (IPRO) Program within the general education requirement of the university.
Methods: We are integrating EPICS core values in the IPRO Program in
four ways: 1) structure the context and culture for a “ServPRO Pathway,”
2) develop/demonstrate the service leadership development process,
3) develop/demonstrate a service learning team reflection process, and
4) formalize ServPRO project partnerships with nonprofit community
partners.
Evaluation: We have aligned various IIT service learning activities to cre-
ate an array of possibilities for seamless student engagement via a Service Learning Pathway at IIT, including Service Learning IPRO projects,
Camras Scholars Service Pathway to Professional Excellence, Service
Component of the IIT Leadership Academy, and Service Learning Program
via Office of Student Activities. We now have partnerships with Chicago
Public Schools, Museum of Science and Industry, and Access Community
Health Network. We are developing and testing techniques that may validate the reflective judgment theories of King and Kitchener in the context
of interprofessional education. An ethics workshop reinforces reflection.
Dissemination: The project’s goals, methods, and findings have been
to 1) measure reflective thinking without personal interviews, 2) stimulate
reflective thinking in undergraduates, and 3) provide multiple, sustainable reinforcement of need to think reflectively.
Poster 278
Amy Jessen-Marshall
Otterbein College
Title: Increasing Scientific Literacy for Non-Science Majors
through Team-Taught Interdisciplinary Lab-Based Courses
Project #: 0536681
PI:
Institution:
Goals: The goals are to promote scientific reasoning and critical-thinking
skills in non-major students at Otterbein through the creation of teamtaught interdisciplinary science courses that model the scientific method
through lab-based skills.
Methods: We have created five different interdisciplinary courses to date.
Two more are in the process of development. Each course is team-taught
from two different scientific disciplines in a joint section with break-out
sections for labs. Courses on Origins and Evolution, Sex, the Atom, Exobiology, and Forensics are currently being taught and assessed.
Evaluation: Extensive pre- and post-course surveys have been used to
determine the impact of the team-taught courses on students’ levels of
science anxiety, ability to define and use the scientific method, and report
on the value of learning and applying science in society. Over 250 students have completed the courses in the past three years, and the surveys
have been coded and scored relative to students taking upper-level nonmajors science courses that are not using the same pedagogical strategies to look at statistical comparisons.
In addition, embedded questions in course exams are being collected to
look at levels of quantitative reasoning and analytical skills.
shared with various universities via professional publications and conference participation, including 2006 through 2008 conferences and
workshops of ASEE, NCIIA, FIE, Rose-Hulman (assessment), and IIT’s own
Interprofessional Conference on Best Practices of Interdisciplinary Team
Project Programs.
Dissemination: The evaluation of the surveys over the three years was
Impact: This project has advanced our thinking and student learning outcomes via best practices that enhance the service learning IPRO project
experiences of our students as well as our other IPRO project experiences
focused to contemporary open-ended multidisciplinary team problemsolving in the context of research, process improvement, design or venture
development, and entrepreneurship challenges. Our efforts through this
project, and related initiatives that included a comprehensive integrated
assessment framework, were highly regarded in our 2006 accreditation
by North Central Association. The project is enhancing collaboration with
Purdue, Michigan Tech, Lehigh, and other universities.
Impact: To date, the surveys have shown that the courses are having a
statistically significant impact on students’ ability to define and use the
scientific method over students not taking these team-taught lab-based
courses. In addition, we have identified from our demographics that student gender is the number one predictor of science anxiety at Otterbein
and we are evaluating how to reduce this anxiety for women. As a result
of this work, we are currently developing two additional sections of these
courses with the goal to implement enough sections to serve 500 students per year within the next three years.
Challenges: We have discovered several challenges in adapting Purdue’s
EPICS values and practices within IIT’s IPRO Program. It is a challenge to
create an institution-wide coordinated service learning project effort, although there are IIT programs highly compatible with this effort and student passion for service learning is high. It is difficult for students to add
co-curricular commitment to team leadership development. Also, across
80 IPRO team course sections each year with 900 students, it is difficult
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presented at the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and
Learning in Sydney, Australia, in July 2007. In addition, the work has been
presented at the American Chemical Society meeting in spring 2007 and
will be presented at the American Society of Microbiology in 2008.
Challenges: Ultimately, the largest challenge will be resource allocation
for staffing of these courses. This continues to be our biggest challenge.
However, the evidence we have collected through the work of the grant
has provided a strong rational for continuing this work, and we are working with administration to find space and resources for the continued development of these courses.
Poster Abstracts
Poster 279
Poster 280
Semra Kilic-Bahi
Institution: Colby-Sawyer College
Title: Quantitative Literacy Across the Curriculum in a
Liberal Arts Setting
Project #: 0633133
Co-PI: Joe Carroll
Leslie King
Institution: Smith College
Title: Integrating Social Science, Natural Science, and
Engineering in an Introductory Environmental Science and
Policy Course
Project #: 0511323
Co-PI: Virginia Hayssen
PI:
Goals: The goal of this project is to develop an across the curriculum
quantitative literacy (QL) program that will strengthen students’ ability
to use basic mathematical concepts in their majors, future careers, and
personal lives.
Methods: In developing the program, our two focus areas are:
1) Faculty development including curriculum design
2) Student involvement in the development and implementation of the
program, especially with the use of classroom material. The student
tutors are trained to help.
Evaluation:
Faculty: A survey is designed and administered that asks faculty members about the QL content of their courses and their attitudes toward it.
The first faculty development workshop was attended by one-third of the
faculty.
Students: We are tracking the National Survey of Student Engagement
(NSSE) that contains several items that assess students’ QL experience
and perceptions of their quantitative problem-solving abilities. The QL
test is administered to establish baseline data for entering students. The
same test will be given to seniors in the spring term.
Dissemination: We gave a presentation at Vassar College and a faculty
development workshop at Johnson State College. This year, our college is
hosting the Northeast Consortium on QL. We are collaborating with Carleton College to co-organize the second faculty development workshop.
We will give a poster session in January 2008 at the Joint Math Meeting
at San Diego.
Impact: We already see many changes in terms of faculty’s attitude toward quantitative literacy and math. The advisors are recommending
courses that are quantitative in nature and are experimenting with QLrelated classroom activities. The Liberal Arts Math class is redesigned as
the foundation QL course. This semester, the course evaluations were the
highest of the last six years. Some schools who are at the beginning of
their initiative are asking for a copy of our grant proposal, and they are
asking recommendations for possible speakers.
Challenges: After we got the support of administration on campus, the
administration went through a dramatic change. So we have to start all
over, but we did it since we already had the support of many faculty to
start with.
PI:
Goals: Our main goal was to facilitate interdisciplinary thinking and inter-
actions among students and faculty members. We designed and implemented an introductory, interdisciplinary course for undergraduates (The
Science and Politics of Food, Energy, and Water) that explores environment-related problems through different disciplinary lenses.
Methods: The course, designed by an interdisciplinary faculty team, was
informed by diverse pedagogical approaches, including problem-based
learning. The course focuses on specific case studies and supplements
class work with field trips. The course, which was offered in fall 2006 and
fall 2007, is co-taught by a sociologist (the PI) and a biologist.
Evaluation: With the help of a consultant, we designed and implement-
ed an assessment survey for students in the 2006 course. Among other
things, the survey assessed the extent to which students came to understand interdisciplinary perspectives. One of our conclusions thus far is
that a multidisciplinary approach (one that highlights diverse perspectives
but does not necessarily integrate them) is more realistic for undergraduate education. Undergraduates come to college without the disciplinary
framework that characterizes most of their professors. To achieve integration in their thinking, students must first understand the advantages and
disadvantages of disciplinary lenses.
Dissemination:
•
•
•
•
•
October 18, 2007, presentation, Smith ES&P Series
February 22, 2008, presentation on PBL, Smith Teaching Arts Series
http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/esp/fys147/index.html)
Paper planned for Journal of Environmental Education
Presentation, fall 2008: NE Regional Meeting
Impact: Our project has had important implications on our campus. Environmental Science & Policy (ES&P) is proposing a new major (we currently offer a minor). The first-year seminar is a model for courses that
will form the backbone of the new major, courses we call “integrations,”
which will bring diverse disciplinary perspectives to bear on specific environmental topics. The course has also allowed for interactions between
science, engineering, and social science faculty that would not have occurred without our CCLI grant. Four faculty members planned the course,
it has been team taught, and the co-PIs have worked on assessment and
dissemination together. Our CCLI project has strongly influenced ES&P’s
curricular planning.
Challenges: We did not anticipate the institutional challenges involved in
creating cross-divisional exchange. For example, there is not a straightforward mechanism for team-teaching courses in terms of faculty compensation and departmental assessment. We had to teach our course as a firstyear seminar, outside the program for which it was conceived, because of
these institutional barriers. Second, there is a lack of understanding on
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the part of many faculty members that we did not anticipate. We ourselves
did not fully grasp the distinction between “multidisciplinary” and “interdisciplinary,” a difference we have come to realize is crucial in the context
of undergraduate education.
Poster 281
PI: Terry
Lahm
Institution: Capital University
Title: Development and Dissemination of Computational
Science
Project #: 0618252
Goals:
1) Develop class-tested educational materials.
2) Teach interdisciplinary, team-based science.
3) Facilitate use of current computing technology.
4) Foster creative nature of computational science.
5) Develop computational science faculty via workshops/conferences
that enhance computational science teaching expertise and curriculum
development.
Methods:
1) Multidisciplinary team develops educational materials to demonstrate
interdisciplinarity of computational science and cross-disciplinary use
of modeling and visualization techniques
2) Multidisciplinary content experts facilitate assessment of developed
educational materials
3) Workshops and conferences target specific populations of educators
Evaluation: Multi-method evaluation targets procedural, formative, sum-
mative assessments to inform future project activities.
• Content experts evaluate course materials (ongoing); results indicate
goals one through four are being met by course materials
• Faculty/students class-test/evaluate course materials (begins spring
2008)
• Professional evaluators assess student work (begins spring 2008)
• Professional evaluators assess workshops/conferences (two workshops completed); results indicate goal five is being met and developed materials are being disseminated; evaluation identified ways to
improve future workshops, these ideas will be implemented
Dissemination:
5) Educational reform that introduces modeling and visualization to nonscience and math majors
6) Increased amount of students from underrepresented groups (due to
the collaborative nature of the project)
Challenges: Change of PI and movement of co-PI to another institution:
Host institution and new institution collaborated on the development of
a contract that identifies the responsibilities of each institution and the
co-PI who moved. Contingency plans for several issues are identified in
the original proposal.
Poster 282
Deann Leoni
Institution: Edmonds Community College
Title: Mathematics Across the Community College
Curriculum (MAC3)
Project #: 0442439
Co-PI: Christie Gilliland
PI:
Goals: The goal of MAC3 is to create a mathematically literate society that
ensures a workforce equipped to compete in a technologically advanced
global economy. By integrating mathematics across disciplines, students
will deepen and reinforce the mathematics they have learned in their math
classes and understand its importance and applications.
Methods: The goals will be accomplished by training faculty across disciplines and geographic regions to create projects that incorporate mathematics. Faculty attend curriculum-development institutes in interdisciplinary teams from their institutions. The project also uses a website to
disseminate curricula developed at the institutes.
Evaluation: The MAC3 evaluator is evaluating the impact on students
and faculty. All institute participants complete a written workshop evaluation and participate in a facilitated conversation about their experience.
To measure student impact, students in MAC3 courses complete pre/
post-surveys on their attitudes about mathematics and their abilities to
do mathematics. In the first two years of the project, 521 matched sets
of student data were collected and analyzed. The data show that, overall,
students held more desirable attitudes about mathematics and more accurate understandings of what math is and how it is used at the end of the
MAC3 course than they did upon entering.
• Web: After materials are evaluated, they will be added to a web repository of computational science educational materials and linked to
NSDL.
• Workshops/conferences funded by grant: 10 workshops/two conferences are planned; two workshops are completed.
Dissemination: The ongoing dissemination is primarily through confer-
Impact: Anticipated impacts:
1) Increased use of computational science in undergraduate curricula
2) Increased flow of students from two-year institutions (targeted in
grant) into four-year institutions and from four-year institutions into
science graduate programs
3) Increased ability of adults to interpret data, compare sources of information in the formation of knowledge, and ask and develop methods
of answering “what-if?” questions
4) Problem-based textbooks to teach undergraduate computational science
Impact: The MAC3 project has had an impact on 140 teachers who have attended one or more of the summer and winter institutes. These instructors
had the experience of working in interdisciplinary teams for an intensive
four days during the institute and then implementing the curriculum when
returning to their institutions. These faculty have then had an impact on
over 800 students. From our student attitudinal surveys, we have seen
that the students overall have improved attitudes about mathematics, its
applications and utility, and their abilities to do mathematics as a result of
completing a MAC3 course.
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ences and the MAC3 website. Lead project faculty have presented at AMATYC affiliate conferences, regional and state-wide math conferences, the
Joint Mathematics Meetings, and the annual AMATYC conferences. The
MAC3 website has sample curriculum from over 35 disciplines.
Poster Abstracts
Challenges: The primary challenge MAC3 has encountered is in hiring a
qualified project manager for the grant. We found it to be difficult to hire a
person with the background, knowledge, and skills needed to coordinate
an interdisciplinary curriculum-reform project like MAC3. We initially dealt
with the problem by hiring someone with whom we had worked previously
at Dartmouth College. However, she could not continue in the position
because of other commitments. When we needed to hire her replacement,
the process was slow, the pool of qualified candidates was very limited,
and the position’s geographical location did not allow the PI/co-PIs to be
present for the interviews, hiring, and training.
Poster 283
Douglas Luckie
Title: C-TOOLS: Concept-Connector Tools for Online
Learning in Science
Project #: 0206924
PI:
Goals: The C-TOOLS project developed a new assessment tool for STEM
well in learning cycles and will have, at least theoretically, 100% accurate
auto-grading by Robograder. In this tool, Robograder is designed to be a
“guide on the side” to give students confidence in mapping.
Poster 284
Reginald Luke
Middlesex County College
Title: Integrating Sustainability Issues into Undergraduate
Education
Project #: 0410516
PI:
Institution:
Goals: The goal was to develop and field-test four interdisciplinary Web-
quest modules about real-world environmental problems. The outcome
was four Webquest modules dealing with NJ sustainability issues: The
Meadowlands and the Xanadu development; the Highlands watershed
and the Protection Act; NJ renewable energy sources; and NJ sustainable
communities.
Methods: The Webquest is a structured Internet-based case study activ-
courses, the Concept Connector (http://ctools.msu.edu), to enable students in large introductory classes to visualize their thinking online. It consists of a web-based concept mapping applet that helps students model
their ideas about science and gives immediate formative feedback.
ity, requiring students to work together to research and resolve environmental issues. It begins with an appealing scenario with a series of interdisciplinary questions. The module contains the resources and websites
for the student teams to research and respond to with presentations.
Methods: The C-TOOLS team from Michigan State University spent most
release of installable applets (the full suite as well as a small robust demo
tool) as well as the source code for all interested parties to download and
use under the GNU license.
Evaluation: The four modules were beta tested in a college science
course. Assessment of students and instructors were reviewed to finetune the Webquest modules. Rubrics were developed for each module
to assist the instructor in determining the strength and depth of student
responses. A teacher’s guide is being developed for each module, giving
the instructor an idea of the level of student presentations at various collegiate levels and in different courses. The plan is to include a variety of
student PowerPoint presentations to display exemplary presentations.
The initial results showed students enjoy the Webquest experience and
realize that sustainability issues are complex and multidimensional.
Dissemination: There have been 10 peer-reviewed publications so far
Dissemination: In 2006/2007, presentations were made at the Campus
of the project period developing the Java applet, called the Concept Connector, and its automated grading feature, Robograder, as well as working
with other faculty developing and using concept map problems sets with
science students in biology, geology, physics, and chemistry courses.
Evaluation: Our result or primary product of the C-TOOLS project was the
from the C-TOOLS project team as well as from some of the individual faculty who used the online concept mapping system in the classrooms and
followed student learning. The source code release was also a dissemination of the work. More papers are on the way and a new modeling tool is
being made.
Impact: In addition to allowing faculty to more easily use concept maps in
their teaching and assessment as a result of the Concept Connector software being simple and online and having automated grading features, in
this research, we have been studying a range of holistic algorithms as well
as WordNet, an electronic lexical database and thesaurus, to test existing
and potential automated methods of scoring to supplement the current
Robograder system. This form of semantic analysis may have impacts beyond just automated scoring concept maps.
Challenges: Besides the fact that inspiring science faculty to make
changes in their teaching was much more like “herding cats” than I would
have predicted, the most interesting surprise was some learning data
we gathered that suggested a new form of concept mapping was a good
learning tool. Thus, we started a new software project called GUIDE that
is developing a new cyclical form of concept mapping much like what are
called “box diagrams” in the geosciences. This type of concept map works
of the Future Conference, Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, Conference on Information Technology, Alliance of NJ Environmental Educators Conference, Institute for Community
College Development at Cornell University, the NJ Science Convention,
and the Princeton Sustainability Summit.
Impact: Through pilot-testing of the Webquest modules, instructors found
the Webquest activity to be an invaluable experience, giving students the
opportunity to learn teamwork, while researching, resolving, and reporting on complex sustainability issues. A notable finding is the use of these
Webquest modules at the high school level, especially in AP Environmental Science courses during the month after the AP test when teachers look
for activities to close out the year. Other high school environmental science teachers have found use for the Webquest modules of value. In this
year of non-cost extension, funds were available to initiate development
of a fifth Webquest module on Climate Change and Campus Action.
Challenges: Project dissemination has been extensive at the national
level. At these conferences, there is general interest in the Webquest concept, but not a groundswell of module piloting, primarily since the focus
is on local NJ environmental issues. Thus, the more recent dissemination
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efforts have sharply targeted regional college instructors and also teachers of AP Environmental Science and related high science courses, with
much greater success. The Webquest has been found to be appropriate
for issues-oriented courses for projects or special assignments. In light of
the plight of global warming, it was decided that a Webquest module on
Climate Change and Campus Action was needed as a capstone.
Poster 285
PI: Terri
Lynch-Caris
Institution: Kettering University
Title: Development of a Course in Environmentally
Conscious Design and Manufacturing for Undergraduates
Project #: 0511322
Co-PI: Jennifer Aurandt
Goals: The primary goal of this project was to develop a unique learn-
ing experience through a multidisciplinary course in environmentally conscious design and manufacturing for undergraduate students. The course
was to be integrated into the curriculum while providing relevancy of
course topics via input from industrial and academic stakeholders.
Methods: A multidisciplinary faculty team developed a course in environ-
mental design and manufacturing using teaching methods adapted from
the Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies emphasizing learner-centered,
hands-on, experiential learning through analysis of everyday objects and
products. Assessment/evaluation from stakeholders was integral.
Evaluation: The assessment/evaluation plan was implemented with the
assistance of an external evaluator. Surveys indicated that students and
co-op employers were interested in learning more about environmental
considerations. Students performed a pre/post-course knowledge selfassessment and were asked to rate on a scale from one (very little) to four
(very familiar) their level of knowledge in the each of the topic areas. The
average level of knowledge increased from the pre-course level of 1.64 to
a post-course level of 3.39. Individual module assessment feedback was
provided by students and shared with individual instructors. The formative feedback was used to improve the second offering.
Dissemination: Various forms of dissemination activities have occurred
and are being prepared. Publications include four conference papers and
one journal article. A website has been created at http://green.kettering.
edu with much assistance from an external evaluator. A workshop at the
2008 ASEE conference will include the distribution of course materials.
Impact: The initial offering of IME540 affected 21 students with antici-
pated enrollment of 40 for 2008. The entire Kettering campus has been
exposed to the project through guest speakers and a student organization spawned by the project. The website (http://green.kettering.edu)
is online, and our advisory board has provided many hours of input and
involvement. The environmental impact of the project will continue to
be realized over the years to come as our graduates take up positions
in industry. The cost savings from better designed products and more efficient manufacturing processes will be significant and ongoing, as more
students who have benefited from the project enter the workplace.
Challenges: One challenge deals with integrating a new course into an
added to various concentrations to encourage student priority. The team
has been discussing how to offer the course online and how to make it a
core requirement. The second challenge relates to having multiple personnel working together from different departments and the need for providing credit to multiple instructors. Current discussions with the administration of Kettering are ensuing with the intention of developing a model
for giving credit in team-taught, multidisciplinary courses.
Poster 286
Hong Man
Stevens Institute of Technology
Title: SimuRad: A Software Simulation Environment for
Medical Imaging Education
Project #: 0633552
PI:
Institution:
Goals: The objective of this CCLI Phase I Project is to develop a computer
simulation lab environment, SimuRad, that can help junior or senior undergraduate students from different majors to understand the concepts
and theories of medical imaging methodologies and gain hands-on experience on the design and implementation of image acquisition.
Methods: The software simulation environment will consist of three in-
terdependent layers, including “physics of radiology,” “projection and
tomographic imaging,” and “image processing and analysis.” It will also
contain several supporting modules, including visualization, graphic user
interface, and networking.
Evaluation: Evaluation of the software is a critical component to ensure
that full advantage of the learning opportunities provided by this software
is experienced. In this regard, evaluation of the proposed software tool
in the BME 504 Biomedical Instrumentation and Imaging course at Stevens will include two aspects: 1) formative evaluation, consisting of both
implementation evaluation, to address the effectiveness of implementation as designed, as well as progress evaluation, to assess the extent to
which adequate progress is being made toward overall project goals, and
2) summative evaluation, to assess the overall impact of the project vis-avis its objectives. No data have been obtained yet.
Dissemination: We have submitted an abstract to ASEE 2008 to present
our first developed module on Computed Tomography. The abstract was
accepted. Continuous dissemination will be made through peer-reviewed
topical journals, conference proceedings, and publications. The software
will be made accessible to colleagues wishing to use these materials.
Impact: SimuRad is a unique simulation tool for undergraduate medical
imaging education. Because of the portability, low cost, and open-source
nature of this software, the potential impact of this project can be significant. For well-established BME programs, this software can help students to “observe” the physical processes within the medical imaging
instrument; and for new BME programs, this software will provide a costeffective approach to deliver a medical imaging course with an appropriate lab component. Furthermore, this software may present an affordable
solution to provide basic medical imaging training to underrepresented
student populations.
Challenges: So far we have not encountered any unexpected challenges.
already-packed curriculum. To deal with this challenge, IME540 has been
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Poster 287
PI: John
Marshall
Institution: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Title: Exploiting Laboratory Experiments in the Teaching of
Meteorology and Oceanography: Phase II
Project #: 0618483
Goals: For the past two years, we have been funded by CCLI-EMD to de-
velop undergraduate curriculum materials for the teaching of meteorology and oceanography, combining the use of real-time meteorological data
of atmospheric phenomena with artfully chosen rotating fluid laboratory
experiments.
Methods: In our second year of Phase II, we provided:
1) Portable rotating tanks and carts to our collaborators http://paoc.mit.
edu/labguide/apparatus.html
2) Curriculum materials
3) Evaluation tools
See “Weather in a Tank” lab guide: http://paoc.mit.edu/labguide.
Evaluation: In collaboration with K.J. Mackin, our education consultant,
we have brought in to being the following assessment tools and a pre/
post-test to evaluate students learning (see http://paoc.mit.edu/labguide/assess.html).
Evaluation instruments:
1) Pre/post-test of conceptual knowledge
2) Collaborator survey: analysis of responses to a collaborator survey
conducted with lead professors at the five schools participating in this
project
3) Instructor weekly logs: analysis of responses reported on weekly instructor logs to determine the extent of use and value of the experiments, project curriculum, and website
4) Analysis of site visit reports
Dissemination: The courses, dates, and numbers of students involved
from five different universities are listed at http://paoc.mit.edu/labguide/assess.html. In Phase II, the treatment group comprises ~200 students with ~200 in the control group. The results from fall 2007 courses
are being evaluated. We have also planned a summer workshop at the
University of Chicago in 2008.
Impact: Preliminary results (http://paoc.mit.edu/labguide/assess.html)
suggest that the experiments can be especially beneficial in helping students, especially science majors in non–atmospheric-related fields, understand and use content that was initially unfamiliar to them. The project
is having considerable impact, as gauged by the interest of professors at
other schools who have contacted us about getting involved and acquiring equipment: CSU, Wheaton, UCSD, UC Irvine, NYU, Utah, the U.S. Coast
Guard, and several high schools. We expect the word to spread through
the publication of our undergrad textbook Marshall and Plumb: Atmosphere, Ocean and Climate Dynamics, 2007 (Academic Press).
Challenges: We have found the management of the project to be hugely
enjoyable, but also a great challenge—visiting our collaborating universities, responding to questions, setting up the associated websites providing key information, and instructions on the use of the equipment. A
personal visit to the sites was essential to appreciate the context in which
our collaborators were working. We are developing, through the use of
WEB2 technology, a wiki for use in the project. This will help a two-way
exchange. The design and implementation of the evaluation tools was
also a challenge: we are now using a scantron sheet to help enter data
into databases.
Poster 288
PI: Robert
Mathieu
Title: Building Capacity for Course, Program, and
Department Evaluation: Improving and Expanding the
Student Assessment of Learning Gains Site
Project #: 0613426
Goals: This project is improving and expanding the Student Assessment
of Learning Gains (SALG) instrument and website. The SALG is a valid and
reliable course evaluation instrument that focuses exclusively on students’ assessment of their learning. The web-based SALG has been used
by over 1,000 undergraduate instructors in over 3,000 courses.
Methods:
1) Increase the performance and usability of the site for an expanding
number of users.
2) Expand the site’s functionalities.
3) Develop, implement, and evaluate a version for departments and other
academic units to use for program evaluation, faculty development,
and accreditation.
4) Pilot an institutional implementation of the SALG.
Evaluation: Our evaluation plans include needs assessments, usability
testing, and field testing. The field testing will include STEM undergraduate instructors, evaluators, and departments, followed by revision and
confirmatory field tests. For example, we will ask 15 instructors to test the
new instructor site in their courses during fall 2007. These users subsequently will be interviewed by telephone to gather feedback. After consequent modifications, the site will be released to the general public on a
trial basis and will be tested again with the same individual users and an
additional group of 15 users. The needs assessments are completed, with
results incorporated into the instructor site design.
Dissemination: The SALG has a large user base of over 1,000 instruc-
tors, for whom dissemination is immediate. All materials from the original
SALG dissemination initiative (brochures, presentations, etc.) continue to
be used and, after modification, will be widely presented at national and
regional STEM disciplinary and faculty development meetings.
Impact: Three classes of user—instructors, evaluators, and department—
will be served by the upgrade of the SALG site. STEM instructors will continue to be the interface between the SALG and students. This approach
places the instructor squarely at the center of the formative evaluation
process. Thus, instructors have opportunities for input and guidance of
the course evaluation process, and they experience directly the benefits
of formative feedback. Indeed, by making the SALG accessible to departments, we will indirectly but quite surely engage more faculty with both
the SALG and the experience of effective formative evaluation. We are designing for a peak of 40,000 evaluations per day.
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Challenges: The project is proceeding as expected without significant unexpected challenges. We have developed previously unplanned functionalities. As two examples, written answers may now be coded and subjected to statistical analysis, and the entire SALG site can now be translated
easily into any language (and has been done so in Spanish in a collaboration with the Puerto Rico Math and Science Partnership).
Poster 289
PI: Teri
Murphy
Institution: University of Oklahoma
Title: Classroom Response Systems in Statistics Courses
Project #: 0535894
Goals: We proposed to produce an annotated set of multiple-choice ques-
tions (a.k.a., clicker questions) for use with classroom response systems
in statistics courses, field-tested at the University of Oklahoma.
Methods: System for vetting items (and annotations):
1) A team member drafts an item
2) At a team meeting (weekly), discuss the draft item
3) Edit the item
4) Assign an ID number to the item (e.g., 0022v01); add it to PPT and Word
files
5) Use the item (as appropriate) in class
6) Debrief class use
7) Revise the item
Evaluation:
• Item validity check through vetting process described above
• Discussion of pedagogical strengths of items during team meetings
• Pre/post-test for student learning, some possible evidence of improved
conceptual learning, and questionable value in education
Dissemination:
• Website: http://www.ou.edu/statsclickers
• Presentations: American Meteorological Society (education session),
International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics,
Joint Mathematics Meetings, Joint Statistical Meetings, MAA MathFest,
USC
Challenges: PowerPoint constraints (e.g., can’t put figures in notes)
caused the creation of two separate files—one for just the questions
(.ppt) and one for the annotations (.doc). The Statistics Concept Inventory, which is our pre/post-test, moved from OU to Purdue—not a smooth
transition. So we lost some data early on (we now have that resolved, but
it was frustrating). Complications with H-iTT for Mac users are ongoing
and annoying. Ongoing problems with receivers (e.g., one classroom had
them stolen and OU IT didn’t replace them as promised) will get better
once we switch to radio frequency receivers.
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Poster 290
Jeanne Narum
Institution: Project Kaleidoscope
Title: Project Kaleidoscope: Investing in Faculty Leaders
Project #: 0341516
PI:
Goals: Project Kaleidoscope’s CCLI goal was to build leadership teams
that had the knowledge, tools, resources, and support that would enable them to build and sustain a robust undergraduate STEM learning
environment—one that was research-rich, interdisciplinary, and served all
students.
Methods: We distilled the wisdom and experience of individuals and in-
stitutions exemplary in regard to the quality of their undergraduate STEM
community and translated their lessons learned into a leadership “curriculum” disseminated through a three-year coordinated series of workshops, publications, and on-campus assignments.
Evaluation: Participating campuses submitted periodic reports on their
activities. Phone interviews were undertaken at the end of the first year.
A five-person evaluation team (beyond the project team) was identified.
They established an extensive questionnaire for campus response, reviewed information from each of the campuses, selected six campuses
for two-day site visits, and developed a rubric for those visits and the final
report. The team is now analyzing the site visit reports, in the context of
project goals and other relevant project information. One intended outcome of this project was to identify salient characteristics of campuses
with a culture in which both leadership and learning flourish.
Dissemination: This was essentially a development/dissemination proj-
ect. We hosted eight STEM leadership seminars that involved project
institutions on research-rich/interdisciplinary/science for all topics and
prepared relevant materials for pre- and post-presentation PKAL’s website
(http://www.pkal.org).
Impact: The impact is on three levels: on participating institutions, PKAL,
and the broader STEM community. Most participating teams gained informed experience in clarifying vision, dealing with the politics of change,
and taking personal responsibility as an agent of change. Results of their
action included revised graduation requirements, new/reshaped interdisciplinary programs and/or assessment practices, and/or policies affecting undergraduate research. Many realized broader campus-wide involvement in strengthening STEM learning of all students. On PKAL, the impact
is a clearer sense of what works in developing STEM leadership teams,
and these lessons learned were shared broadly via PKAL’s website.
Challenges: The “carrot” to participate actively had to be internal to the
campus, since the grant provided no funds for travel or room or board of
participating teams. Some campuses sent different teams to most project
events and others only to one. The trigger seemed to be consistent and
tangible support from someone with both budget authority and institutional vision. About one-third had presidential changes during the project period. The method: conference calls, one-on-one calls, using other
PKAL funds for consultancies, connecting regional groups of participating
campuses, as well as piggy-backing meetings of faculty who are PKAL F21
members during other PKAL events.
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Poster 291
Poster 292
PI:
Marie Paretti
Title: Building Interdisciplinary Collaboration Skills through
a Green Engineering Capstone Design Experience
Project #: 0633537
PI:
Goals: The goals were to develop learning materials and teaching practices to help students and faculty 1) understand the challenges and benefits
of interdisciplinary collaboration, 2) plan and organize interdisciplinary
projects, 3) address the challenges and opportunities of interdisciplinary
collaboration, and 4) integrate expertise from multiple disciplines.
Goals: The success of an undergraduate research experience depends
Methods: Through the grant, we conducted pilot studies of existing inter-
Methods: Our approach is rooted in an existing mentor-training seminar
disciplinary teams and then created a course in Green Engineering Design
that includes students from diverse fields. We are collecting qualitative
and quantitative data on the practices of interdisciplinary student design
teams with and without targeted pedagogical interventions.
that was developed, implemented, and tested in the biological sciences at
the University of Wisconsin at Madison (UW-Madison). We will work to 1)
adapt and enhance this approach for use across STEM, 2) implement the
adaptations, 3) test their effectiveness, and 4) disseminate broadly.
Evaluation: At the beginning of the course, students were given a set of
Evaluation: Both formative and summative evaluation will be used, and
assessment instruments, including concept mapping and design scenarios. These instruments will be repeated in spring 2008 at the end of the
course. We are also gathering extensive observational, focus group, and
interview data. Whereas we are conducting a limited amount of analysis
during the project, most of the analysis will occur in the summer of 2008.
Our spring 2007 pilot data enabled us to refine observational protocols
and define coding schemes for analyzing interdisciplinary team performance and instructor interventions.
a variety of data collection methods, both qualitative and quantitative, to
assess the effectiveness of the mentor-training seminars and the impact
of mentor training on the undergraduate research experience in each discipline will also be used. Facilitators of each mentor seminar, the mentors
in their training seminars, and their corresponding mentees (undergraduates, in most cases) will be surveyed and in some cases interviewed. As
the mentor-training seminar is disseminated nationally, we will have an
opportunity to collect evaluation data beyond UW-Madison, addressing
broader questions.
Dissemination: Because the project is still in its early stages, dissemina-
tion has not begun. We are in the process of planning journal articles and
workshops for engineering education conferences.
Impact: By establishing a green engineering design course that can serve
as a capstone experience for students from a variety of engineering disciplines, the project is better preparing these students for the complex demands of the global marketplace. In addition, by developing and testing
teaching practices, we hope to contribute approaches that can be applied
across a wide range of institutions. In addition, the two projects undertaken by the green engineering design teams are contributing to the public welfare through design practices that address pressing environmental
problems.
Challenges: The events of April 16, 2007, severely disrupted our pilot
data collection and summer 2007 plans, since all the PIs, GRAs, and URAs
involved were severely affected by the tragedy. We did analyze the available data, refine data collection methods, and develop preliminary pedagogical interventions, but the fall 2007 semester of the interdisciplinary
design course has served in more of a pilot capacity than originally anticipated. We are adding additional pedagogical interventions for the spring
2008 semester and will continue data collection as planned.
Christine Pfund
Title: Improving Undergraduate Research Experiences in
STEM
Project #: 0717731
largely on a positive relationship between the student and the research
mentor. The goals of this project are to improve undergraduate research
experiences in STEM disciplines through research mentor training and develop cultural competency in mentors and their mentees.
Dissemination: Once the adapted and the enhanced materials for men-
tor training across STEM have been implemented, evaluated, and revised,
they will be posted on the project website, which we have started creating. The website will contain a guide on how to facilitate, adapt, and evaluate the mentor-training seminar as well as a user tracking system.
Impact: Because mentored research experiences represent an intersection of many aspects of research and education, improving them through
mentor training presents an opportunity for generating multiple effects
with a single, low-cost intervention. The most direct effect will be enhanced undergraduate research experiences, which in turn may increase
the recruitment and retention of diverse students in science. Other positive effects include the enhancement of the quality of undergraduate research and the training graduate students and postdoctoral researchers
to produce a new generation of scientists who enter the professoriate as
skilled mentors.
Challenges: One unexpected challenge (and opportunity) is the desire of
the team to focus on creating materials for interdisciplinary mentor training. This is due, in part, to the rich conversations that have developed
as the team shares ideas across disciplines. These conversations have
proven to be a fascinating, and we recognize the potential impacts interdisciplinary mentor training could have on how current and future faculty
learn to function within and outside their disciplines. As a team, we have
decided to both create disciplinary-based materials as well as interdisciplinary materials. Moreover, we plan to use materials from across disciplines to create a cross-disciplinary training seminar.
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Poster 293
Poster 294
PI: Wendell
Potter
Institution: University of California–Davis
Title: Improving the Learning Experience in Introductory
STEM Courses in a Large Research University
Project #: 0633317
Education
PI:
Goals: The first goal is to create special sections of calculus and chemis-
try to add to the reformed intro physics course and to show that bioscience majors taking all three will exhibit increased performance in these
and later courses. The second goal is to show that course changes can
be made by using specially trained TAs without changing the large lecture
sections.
undergraduate students in science and technology that gives them an
understanding of the fundamental concepts in scientific data preservation, management, access, and use to facilitate scientific inquiry. As one
of the outcomes, the SDL course will suggest and help prepare students
majoring in science and technology to choose a career in science data
management.
Methods: A cohort of 48 entering freshmen will be closely followed
Methods: Survey faculty from STEM disciplines to gather data on aware-
starting F07 as they take the specially created lab/discussion sections
of chemistry using active-learning activities, the special calculus lecture
section using a large-group questioning approach, and the previously
reformed physics course. Chemistry and calculus sections are taught by
specially trained senior TAs.
Evaluation: We use quantitative and qualitative methods. Student per-
formance in the target courses as well as in subsequent courses is being
collected for both the cohort as well as the much larger group of noncohort students, at both the course grade level as well as at the individual
exam-problem level. Admissions data, e.g., SATs, and various GPAs are
used to control for individual student variation to isolate the effect of simultaneously taking the modified courses. Pre/post-surveys are being
given to uncover changes in attitudes toward STEM courses, approaches
to studying and learning, and epistemological factors along with a small
number of interviews. Data are also collected on TAs.
Dissemination: At the campus level, we are sharing results as they be-
come available with interested faculty in the involved departments and
with deans. We will present our analysis of the impacts of this project at
the summer 2008 AAPT physics meeting, the January 2009 MAA math
meeting, and at NARST in 2009. We expect to submit an article to J Sci
Teaching.
Impact: The 2003 NRC report Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate
Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics states
that it is particularly difficult to implement change from traditional lecturebased science and math courses to active-engagement inquiry-based science and math courses at large research universities due to constraints
on faculty time and university resources. We believe we are developing,
and will demonstrate, a viable model that will lead to this kind of change
by showing significant improvement in learning outcomes by initially making modifications that involve changes only in course sections taught by
advanced graduate students, rather than in lecture sections.
Challenges: There are no challenges as we near completion of the first
quarter of the project.
Jian Qin
Syracuse University
Title: Enhancing Scientific Data Literacy in Undergraduate
Science and Technology Students
Project #: 0633447
Institution:
Goals: The goal is to create a Scientific Data Literacy (SDL) course for
ness, attitudes, and practice in science data management; motivate active
learning and interactions through teaching the fundamentals of data literacy and management and reinforcing them with a variety of coursework
and an authentic project; and recruit students in STEM majors.
Evaluation: The evaluation plan includes:
1) A pre-SDL survey at the beginning of the course, which will focus on
understanding students’ perceptions and knowledge and skill levels in
data literacy and management
2) A post-SDL survey that will measure changes in their perceptions on
data management, knowledge, and skills obtained from the course and
any experience and comments that will contribute to the improvement
of future offerings of this course. The post-SDL survey emphasizes outcomes and impact of SDL education.
We also anticipate gaining insights on pedagogic matters in course
delivery.
Dissemination:
1) A website to promote SDL
2) A panel during the preregistration period with a chief medical officer
at a local company and the university CIO to discuss challenges and
career opportunities in science data management
3) A cover letter and course flyer sent to survey respondents and department chairs
4) Course flyer distributed around campus for students
Impact: We anticipate some impact from the post-SDL survey at the end of
the spring 2008 semester, which includes the following areas:
1) Increased awareness of issues and opportunities in science data management and use among undergraduates and faculty
2) Increased motivation and interest in learning about science data management and use
3) improved knowledge and skills in science data management and use;
4) Experience in working with interdisciplinary teams
5) Increased participation in science data management by women and
underrepresented groups of students
Challenges: One unexpected challenge is the amount of effort necessary
to generate enough awareness, willingness, and motivation for undergraduates that results in a viable enrollment for the new course. Our targeted population of juniors and seniors in STEM disciplines have commit-
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ted, disciplinary-directed schedules that make it difficult to supplement.
We used a variety of venues (see the dissemination section) to raise the
awareness of SDL and the course and plan to post the course flyer again
before the spring semester. If enrollment fails to meet objectives, we will
develop SDL course modules that STEM departments could use to enhance data literacy, rather than all individually developing their own.
gy student resistance has been another challenge. Many biology students
enter class not expecting to use physics or math and when presented with
quantitative materials resist accepting them as integral concepts. This last
challenge has been the most difficult to address, although some success
has been achieved by including a detailed look at evolution within the
confines of the physical environment.
Poster 295
Poster 296
PI: Scott
Arlene Russell
Title: Augmenting Calibrated Peer Review—Responding to
New Imperatives
Project #: 0442828
Development
Reese
Institution: Kennesaw State University
Title: IBEAM-Integrating Biology Experimental Activity
Modules with Introductory Physics
Project #: 0535983
Goals: The primary goal is to create integrative activities for physics and
biology classes that relate physical principles and biological systems. Intended outcomes include educating students about the integrative nature
of modern biology and increasing their success in physics courses by relating physical concepts to biological material.
Methods: We are creating activities unified by a modular theme. The four
modules for this preliminary project include: Forces, Energy, Electricity,
and Fluids. Module activities include standard physics labs that are unified by a biology-linked capstone project; biology activities relate the material in appropriate courses to the modular theme.
Evaluation: The Student Assessment of Learning Gains has been used to
evaluate affective learning, while published concept inventories assess
cognitive learning in physics students. We created biology-equivalent
concept inventories to assess biology students. A series of problems assessed quantitative skills. The materials for this project will be reviewed
off- and on-site by instructors. We have found increased student understanding of biology as an integrative science and increased comfort with
physics concepts. In addition, biology students perform better quantitatively when these modules are included. However, we have not found an
impact on the success of students in physics classes.
Dissemination: Dissemination includes a workshop presentation at the
New Mexico Nanoscience Education Initiative and a presentation at the
2008 Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology meeting in January.
We are preparing the data collected for publication; because of its interdisciplinary nature, we are investigating the Journal of College Science
Teaching.
Impact: Students continue to compartmentalize information learned in
various classes preventing them from connecting material essential for
modern science. Success in post-baccalaureate education and research
increasingly depends on integrative/interdisciplinary thinking. The success of the project will have serious implications for curriculum reform
in the sciences, as it will show an increased need for disciplinary departments to work together to thread interdisciplinary content through their
curricula.
Challenges: Coordination among institutions has been a significant challenge. To successfully implement and assess this project, two institutions
collaborated; however, maintaining a cohesive unit among the participating faculty over the distances involved has proven to be challenging. Biolo-
PI:
Goals: Restructure and augment the Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) pro-
gram to:
1) Allow an institution to maintain its student records on local servers behind firewalls
2) Allow faculty to continue to share and edit the 1,600+ assignment library to meet the needs of their diverse student populations
3) Document the use by others of faculty scholarship in developing
assignments
Methods: Developing and pilot-testing the distributed program first at
UCLA, then at City College of San Francisco, and then with some of our
advisory committee members.
Evaluation: Pilot tests in the summer evaluated and debugged the new
system. We are now beta testing the local server portion of the distributed
version. This will inform the final programming affecting student records
and interfaces. Student feedback from a survey being conducted by the
external reviewer will provide data on the effectiveness of enriched peer
feedback on writing and understanding. A spring beta test will focus on
the “central” server and authors and instructors. We plan to assess the effectiveness of the revised authoring interface, the usefulness of enhanced
accessibility of all assignments to instructors, and the value of the citation
index in promotion and tenure actions.
Dissemination: Workshops (e.g., Iowa, Mississippi, Chautauqua), pre-
sentations (e.g., ACS, Gordon Conference, Educause), and papers (e.g.,
JCST, IEEE, Focus on Microbiology Education, Academic Medicine) form
the focus of interdisciplinary dissemination activities. Science and English
faculty addressed best CPR practices for learning through writing at the
CPR Symposium 2007.
Impact: We anticipate that the augmented version will have fewer barriers for universities to adopt CPR because of internal record control, a
decrease in front-loaded faculty work in developing new assignments because of the increased access to others’ work, a new external measure
of faculty scholarship of teaching, and an enhanced feedback tools for
students to become reflective learners.
Challenges: The need to build additional security features into the program became apparent during the project. Addressing them has set us
back a few months but ultimately has improved the program.
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Poster 297
Poster 298
PI:
Nancy Schiller
Institution: University of SUNY–Buffalo
Title: Case Study Teaching in Science: A Nationwide
Program of Faculty Development and Dissemination
Project #: 0341279
PI:
Goals: Our major goals are to: train undergraduate science faculty to
Goals: The purpose of this program is to facilitate the integration of in-
teach with case studies, develop a collection of science cases accessible
on the web, disseminate information about the use of the case method in
science education, and evaluate the effectiveness of our training and impact of the method on student learning and perceptions about science.
quiry into the undergraduate science curriculum through conversion of
cookbook laboratories into inquiry-based exercises. A key feature of the
laboratory materials is that they explicitly model the scientific literature as
a guide to student investigation.
Methods: We conduct an annual series of summer workshops and an an-
Methods: We use faculty development workshops to develop new materi-
nual two-day fall conference at which we train undergraduate science faculty in how to teach, and how to write, case studies. Through our awardwinning website, we provide access to over 250+ science cases. Each case
is subjected to a rigorous peer-review process, using outside evaluators.
als that are then implemented in home settings. The CUES team helps
with implementation and assessment at each partner site. The intent is to
move activities along the “inquiry continuum” (Brown et al., 2006).
Evaluation: We developed and implemented a survey to assess the effec-
tiveness of our training (as measured by the adoption and use of the case
method by faculty we trained) as well as the impact of the method on student learning (as measured by faculty perceptions). Survey data collected
were published in an article in the fall 2007 issue of the Journal of College
Science Teaching. The data show high adoption rates (84%) among faculty we trained. In addition, faculty reported that students in their classes
using case studies demonstrated stronger critical-thinking skills (88.8%),
were able to make connections across multiple content areas (82.6%),
and developed a deeper understanding of concepts (90.1%).
Dissemination: In years 1–3, we trained 1,475 STEM faculty, 106 from
minority/majority schools. In the same period, we developed, reviewed,
edited, and published 96 cases (see http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/
projects/cases). We also produced a special case study issue of the Journal of College Science Teaching annually, as well as a book published by
NSTA Press.
Impact: Before our project to introduce case method teaching into the science classroom, the field of science education, particularly at the postsecondary level, was dominated by the lecture method. We have played a
significant role in providing alternate teaching strategies to undergraduate science faculty. Through our CCLI ND grant, we have trained over 1,400
science faculty across the country in case-based teaching. Based on our
survey data, 84% of those trained by us have become case teachers. If we
assume that each of them teaches at least 100 students annually, then
case study teaching reaches at least 8,000 students a year.
Challenges: A major challenge to promoting widespread use of the case
method by science teachers has always been a general lack of case studies. We are trying to address this with our peer-reviewed case collection,
which currently has 250+ cases in it. Certain scientific disciplines are underrepresented in our collection and at our workshops, e.g., physics and
mathematics. We have tried to reach faculty in these areas by sponsoring
workshops at major science society conferences, drawing on a group of
experienced and trained case teachers to deliver these (e.g., “Using Case
Studies to Teach Physics,” presented at the American Association of Physics Teachers’ 131st National Meeting in Anchorage in January 2005).
Francis Schmidt
Institution: University of Missouri
Title

Inventions and Impact 2 - CCLI/TUES: Course, Curriculum, and

Transcription

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