A Tutorial Design Process Applied to an Introductory Materials Engineering Course
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| Title: | A Tutorial Design Process Applied to an Introductory Materials Engineering Course |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Rosenblatt, Rebecca, Heckler, Andrew F., Flores, Katharine |
| Source: | Advances in Engineering Education. Win 2013 3(3). |
| Availability: | American Society for Engineering Education. 1818 N Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 412-624-6815; Fax: 412-624-1108; Web site: http://advances.asee.org |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 38 |
| Publication Date: | 2013 |
| Sponsoring Agency: | National Science Foundation (NSF) |
| Contract Number: | DMR-0820414 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research Tests/Questionnaires |
| Education Level: | Higher Education Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Engineering Education, Science Education, College Students, Introductory Courses, Tutorial Programs, Outcomes of Education, Design, Graphs, Visual Aids, Teaching Methods, Program Implementation, Student Educational Objectives, Teaching Assistants, Data Collection, Difficulty Level, Scientific Concepts, Science Process Skills, Statistical Analysis, Interviews, Multiple Choice Tests, Homework, Observation |
| Geographic Terms: | Ohio |
| ISSN: | 1941-1766 |
| Abstract: | We apply a "tutorial design process", which has proven to be successful for a number of physics topics, to design curricular materials or "tutorials" aimed at improving student understanding of important concepts in a university-level introductory materials science and engineering course. The process involves the identification of instructional goals, the identification of specific student difficulties, the iterative design of interactive tutorials, the implementation of interactive group-work recitations, and assessment. The project, which involved over 1000 students, included extensive interviewing, testing, and iterative classroom implementation over a period of three years. Here we report on some of the identified student difficulties, several of the tutorials designed to address the difficulties, and the results of the implementation. The project has yielded 9 field-tested 48 minute tutorials in which students work together in small groups on the tutorials in the presence of teaching assistants who assess and facilitate student progress. To determine the learning outcome, we analyzed final exam scores and found that, even accounting for the fact that slightly "better" students tended to attend recitations more often, there was a significant valued-added effect of the recitations on final exam performance. These results suggest that these recitation methods and materials are effective in teaching students the difficult and important conceptual materials which they were designed to address. Furthermore, since this process was initially designed for physics courses yet is also successful for an engineering course, this implies that this process may be successful for a wide range of STEM courses. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Number of References: | 38 |
| Entry Date: | 2015 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1076078 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | We apply a "tutorial design process", which has proven to be successful for a number of physics topics, to design curricular materials or "tutorials" aimed at improving student understanding of important concepts in a university-level introductory materials science and engineering course. The process involves the identification of instructional goals, the identification of specific student difficulties, the iterative design of interactive tutorials, the implementation of interactive group-work recitations, and assessment. The project, which involved over 1000 students, included extensive interviewing, testing, and iterative classroom implementation over a period of three years. Here we report on some of the identified student difficulties, several of the tutorials designed to address the difficulties, and the results of the implementation. The project has yielded 9 field-tested 48 minute tutorials in which students work together in small groups on the tutorials in the presence of teaching assistants who assess and facilitate student progress. To determine the learning outcome, we analyzed final exam scores and found that, even accounting for the fact that slightly "better" students tended to attend recitations more often, there was a significant valued-added effect of the recitations on final exam performance. These results suggest that these recitation methods and materials are effective in teaching students the difficult and important conceptual materials which they were designed to address. Furthermore, since this process was initially designed for physics courses yet is also successful for an engineering course, this implies that this process may be successful for a wide range of STEM courses. |
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| ISSN: | 1941-1766 |