Research team:

• Perry Samson, Associate Chair and Professor, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences.
• Stephanie Teasley, Research Associate Professor, School of Information
• Ben Van der Pluijm, Professor, Geology

Project summary:

The research team studies the use of Peer Instruction techniques as originally described by Mazur (1997) in two large geosciences classes at the University of Michigan and, extends these pedagogical techniques through use of interactive spatial concept challenges utilizing wireless PocketPC computers. The purpose of the project is two-fold; first. First, the team aims to further assess the value of wireless technologies and Peer Instruction techniques to geosciences education in general and specifically to examine how the incorporation of spatial questions affect student content learning and spatial analysis skills. Second, the team plans to help identify reproducible and scalable implementation strategies for use of wireless technologies in large classrooms to make this a plausible goal in other settings.

Funding sources:
National Science Foundation

Related publications:

• Samson, P.J, Teasley, S.D., Van der Pluijm B.A., & Knoop, P. (2006, July). Using handheld PCs and peer instruction to improve science teaching and learning in higher education. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Learning Sciences, Bloomington IN.
• Samson, P.J., Van der Pluijm, B.A., & Teasley, S.D (2007, January). Web-based responder systems for the geosciences. Paper presented at 87th American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX.
• Van der Pluijm, B.A., Samson, P.J., & Teasley, S.D. (2006, October). Active learning in class: Teaching with wireless technologies in large survey courses. Paper presented at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Philadelphia, PA.

Research team:

• Yili Liu, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and Associate Professor, Industrial and Operations Engineering
• Cristina Pomales-Garcia, Recent PhD Graduate, Industrial and Operations Engineering

Project summary:

This research uses surveys and controlled lab experiments to explore aesthetic and performance aspects of engineering education and web-based educational technology. Focus group interviews and surveys have been used to study the views of undergraduate engineering students on excellence in engineering education and educational technology. Web-based distance learning environments have been studied through controlled lab experiments to investigate the impacts of design characteristics on visual appeal and learning performance.

Related publications:

• Pomales-Garcia, C., & Liu, Y. (2006). Web-based distance technology: The impacts of web module length and format. American Journal of Distance Education, 20(3), 163-179.
• Pomales-Garcia, C., Liu, Y., & Mendez, D. (2005, October). Web-based distance learning technology: Does appearance matter? Proceedings of the 49th Annual Conference of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Orlando, FL.
• Pomales-Garcia, C., Liu, Y., & Soto, V. (2006, June). Excellence in engineering education and educational technology: Views of undergraduate engineering students. Proceedings of the 2006 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Chicago, IL. (Available on CD-ROM)

Research team:

• Donald Carpenter, Associate Professor, Civil Engineering, Lawrence Technological University
• Cynthia Finelli, Managing Director, CRLT North
• Trevor Harding, Associate Professor, Materials Engineering, California Polytechnic University University

Project summary:

The multi-institute project team has worked collaboratively since 2000 to understand the underlying causes of academic dishonesty in engineering undergraduate populations. Their work is especially motivated by decades of others’ work showing that, when surveyed, engineering students were among those most likely to report frequently cheating. The team has completed three major studies that surveyed a total of 1300 engineering and humanities undergraduates at eleven institutions. Currently, they are beginning a national assessment of formal and informal curricular experiences that positively influence the ethical development of engineering undergraduates in the United States.

Website:
http://www.engin.umich.edu/research/e3/

Funding sources:

National Science Foundation, Educational Research and Methods Division of the American Society for Engineering Education, Kern Family Foundation, Templeton Foundation in conjunction with the Center for Academic Integrity

A sample of related publications

• Carpenter, D.D., Harding, T.S., Finelli, C.J., Montgomery, S.M., & Passow, H.J. (2006). Engineering students’ perceptions of and attitudes towards cheating. Journal of Engineering Education, 95(3), 181–194.
• Finelli, C.J., Harding, T.S., Carpenter, D.D., & Mayhew, M.J. (2007, June). Academic integrity among engineering undergraduates: Seven years of research. Accepted for presentation at the 2007 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, HI.
• Harding, T.S., Carpenter, D.D., Finelli, C.J., & Passow, H.J. (2004). Does academic dishonesty relate to unethical behavior in professional practice? An exploratory study. Science and Engineering Ethics, 10, 311–324.
• Harding, T.S., Mayhew, M.M., Finelli, C.J., & Carpenter, D.D. (2007). The theory of planned behavior as a model of academic dishonesty in humanities and engineering undergraduates. Ethics and Behavior, in review.
• Passow, H.J., Mayhew, M.J., Finelli, C.J., Harding, T.S., & Carpenter, D.D. (2006). Factors influencing engineering students’ decisions to cheat by type of assessment. Research in Higher Education, 47(7), 643–684.

Recruitment and retention

• Koch, D., & Herrin, G (2006, June). Intervention strategy for improving success rates in calculus. Proceedings of the 2006 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Chicago, IL. (Available on CD-ROM)

Outreach and public service

• Chesney, D. (2006, October). An adaptable curriculum for middle school education in electrical engineering and computer science. Paper submitted to the ASEE Global Colloquium, Brazil.
• Pasek, Z., & Lyons, L. (2006, June). Enhancing engineering outreach with interactive game assessment. Proceedings of the 2006 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Chicago, IL. (Available on CD-ROM)

Course innovations

• Barkel, B., & Woolf, P. (2006, June). Process control: A relevant approach. Proceedings of the 2006 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Chicago, IL. (Available on CD-ROM)
• Chesney, D. (2006, June). Big fish: The lost art of story-telling in the engineering classroom. Proceedings of the 2006 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Chicago, IL. (Available on CD-ROM)
• Hill, R., & Tilbury, D. (2006, June). Introducing discrete event systems into an undergraduate controls course. Proceedings of the 2006 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Chicago, IL. (Available on CD-ROM)
• Luntz, J., Almeida, E., Tilbury, D., Moyne, J., & Hargrove, K. (2006, June).The distributed reconfigurable factory testbed: A collaborative cross-university manufacturing system testbed. Proceedings of the 2006 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Chicago, IL. (Available on CD-ROM)
• McAfee, L., Najafi, K., Gianchandani, Y., Wise, K., Mahargiz, M., Aslam, D., Bergstrom, P., & Friedrich, C. (2006, June). MEMS and microsystems courses with national and international dissemination. Proceedings of the 2006 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Chicago, IL. (Available on CD-ROM)

Miscellaneous

• Norton, J., & Rogers, R. (2006, June). Victim of success: The changing mission of an ASEE student chapter. Proceedings of the 2006 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Chicago, IL. (Available on CD-ROM)

Research team:

• Lisa Bullard, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Chemical Engineering, North Carolina State University
• Cynthia Finelli, Managing Director, CRLT North
• Richard Layton, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
• Misty Loughry, Assistant Professor, Management, Clemson University
• Matthew Ohland, Associate Professor, Engineering Education, Purdue University
• Doug Schmucker, Associate Professor, Engineering and Technology, Tri-State University

Project summary:

The multi-institution team is developing a simple, reliable peer evaluation instrument that can be used to improve the way that students rate their teammates during cooperative work. The reliability and validity of the instrument will be comparable to or greater than the best instruments currently available, and its simplicity will encourage widespread adoption by faculty who are not ready to make the commitment to more ambitious approaches.

During fall 2005, the online version of the instrument was launched at U-M in Engineering 100, and more than 100 students rated their own and their teammates’ team citizenship at four separate times during the term. One-half of the students used instrument A (a paper version of an established instrument for peer evaluation of teamwork) for the first and third ratings and instrument B (the new online instrument) for the second and fourth rating. The other students alternated the order of the forms–completing B–A–B–A for the four ratings. Data analysis will begin soon.

Website:
https://www.catme.org/login/index

Funding sources:

National Science Foundation

Related publications

• Ohland, M.W., Loughry, M.L., Carter, R.L., Bullard, L.F., Felder, R.M., Finelli, C.J., Layton, R.A., & Schmucker, D.G. (2005, June). Developing a peer evaluation instrument that is simple, reliable, and valid. Proceedings of the 2005 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition,Portland, OR. (Available on CD-Rom)

Research team:

• Steven Ball, Assistant Professor, Lourdes College
• Cinda Davis, Director, Women in Science and Engineering
• Cynthia Finelli, Managing Director, CRLT North
• Lorelle Meadows, Coordinator of Academic Affairs, Engineering
• Jana Nidiffer
• William Schultz, Professor, Mechanical Engineering

Project summary:

The project will establish an inventory of student retention data for women and underrepresented minority students in engineering at U–M. The inventory will be used to model persistence in engineering using student intentions when they enroll in first year courses, deliberateness of course choices, and perceptions of the first year experience. The model will also be used to identify differences between women and underrepresented minority students. 757 students responded (~14% response rate) to a baseline survey in winter 2006, and data analysis is underway.

Funding sources:

The Gilbert Whitaker Fund for the Improvement of Teaching, CRLT

Related publications:

• Meadows, L.A., Nidiffer, J, Ball, S.R., Davis, C.-S.G., Finelli, C.J., & Schultz, W.W. (2006, October) “Work in progress: An initial assessment of the effect of the first year experience on under-represented student retention in engineering.” 36th IEEE/ASEE Frontiers in Education Conference. San Diego, CA. 10/28/06–10/31/06. Available on CD-Rom.
• Meadows, L.A., & Jarema, S. (2006, June). An evaluation of the impact of a service learning project in a required first-year engineering course. Proceedings of the 2006 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Chicago, IL. (Available on CD-ROM)

• Cindy Veenstra, Doctoral Student, Industrial and Operations Engineering

This research uses benchmarking techniques, statistical process control theory, and the work of W. Edwards Deming to investigate engineering student retention. The long term goal of the project is to improve retention and close the achievement gap for K-16, and the Baldrige process holds promise for realizing this goal.

• Veenstra, C. (2005, Fall). A K-12 priority: College readiness. Quality Education Division News, ASQ.
• Veenstra, C. (2006, Winter). Report from the National Academy of Sciences on the K-12 school systems. Quality Education Division News, ASQ.
• Veenstra, C., & Herrin, G.D. (2006, June). An analysis of graduation rates at research universities. Proceedings of the 2006 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Chicago, IL. (Available on CD-ROM)
• Veenstra, C., & Herrin, G.D. (2006, June). Using the SAT and ACT scores for placement into engineering freshman courses. Proceedings of the 2006 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Chicago, IL. (Available on CD-ROM)
• Veenstra, C., Herrin, G.D., & Seiford, L.M. (2005, April 14). Need to jump-start your six sigma program: Try benchmarking. Proceedings of the 2005 SAE World Congress, Detroit, MI.

Research team:

• Helen Burn, Former Graduate Student, School of Education
• James Holloway, Professor, Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Science

Project summary:

For several years, there has been a 0.7 gap in average course GPA between underrepresented minorities and majority students,, and a 0.4 gap between females and males in the required first-year course Engineering 101, Introduction to Computers and Programming. Using evaluations of exams, surveys and student interviews this research team has studied the possible reasons for these gaps. The team implemented and are currently evaluating instructional interventions aimed at reducing the gaps by bolstering student motivation in the course.

Related publications:

• Burn, H., & Holloway, J. P. (2006, June). Why should I care? Student motivation in an introductory programming course. Proceedings of the 2006 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Chicago, IL. (Available on CD-ROM)

Research team:

• Cynthia Finelli, Managing Director, CRLT North
• Amy Gottfried, Research Fellow, Chemistry
• Chad Hershock, Coordinator of STEM GSI Initiatives, CRLT
• Matthew Kaplan, Senior Associate Director, CRLT
• Christopher O’Neal, Senior Consultant for Institutional Initiatives, CRLT
• Molly Ott, Graduate Student, Higher Education

Project summary:

This research is designed to address the question, “How are teaching practices of engineering faculty affected by different types of instructional consultations?” A total of 57 CoE faculty teaching undergraduate, lecture-based courses participated in the project. They were randomly assigned to either a control group that received no feedback and no consultation, a pseudo-control group that received a report summarizing quantitative student feedback from a midterm student ratings of teaching survey but no consultation, or one of three groups that received a consultation conducted by a trained professional. The consultations were based upon either quantitative student feedback from a midterm student ratings of teaching survey, qualitative student feedback from a small-group instructional diagnosis at midterm, or a self-reflection activity that involved reviewing a class session videotaped at midterm.

Data analysis is still underway, but preliminary results indicate that faculty in the three groups having a consultation demonstrated significant change in student ratings on several items. Qualitative student feedback and follow-up consultation seem to have the most positive impact on student ratings of teaching. Another preliminary trend is that most faculty who received a consultation made changes in their teaching (especially in the way in which they fostered class participation and managed class time).

Funding sources:

Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education and Engineering Teaching Academy

Related publications:

• Finelli, C. J., Gottfried, A.C., Kaplan, M.L., Mesa, V.M., O’Neal, C.M., & Piontek, M.E. (2006, June). Evaluating methods to improve teaching in engineering. Proceedings of the 2006 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition. Chicago, IL. (Available on CD-ROM).
• Finelli, C.J., Kaplan, M.L., & O’Neal, C.M. (2006, October). How different types of instructional consultations affect faculty teaching practices. Paper presented at 2006 Annual Professional and Organizational Development Conference, Portland, OR.

Research team:

• Tim Murphy, Former Graduate Student, EECS
• Jamie Phillips, Assistant Professor, EECS

Project summary:

In this project, team teaching with graduate students is investigated at the University of Michigan. The graduate student participates in all aspects of course planning, implementation, and evaluation for a select small percentage of the course, where the primary faculty instructor serves as a mentor for the student. This form of teaching internship was implemented in the Fall 2004 semester for the EECS 320 course on semiconductor devices. Future opportunities to offer a similar a teaching internship experience are being planned for the future.

Related publications:

• Murphy, T., & Phillips, J. (2005, June). Preparing for an academic career through team teaching as a graduate student. Proceedings of the 2005 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Portland, OR. (Available on CD-ROM)
• Phillips, J., & Murphy, T. (2005, June). Mentoring graduate students in engineering education through team teaching. Proceedings of the 2005 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Portland, OR. (Available on CD-ROM)