Background and Pedagogical Theory Increasing numbers of college students believe that the most important outcome of college is economic gain [1]. Many engineering educators reinforce this belief by arguing that the undergraduate engineering curriculum provides credentialing that leads to higher paying jobs and develops enhanced cognitive skills that prepare the student to perform that job [2]. While this viewpoint has merit, it ignores more significant benefits of the higher education process. Behavioral scientists classify performance into cognitive and affective domains [2]. The cognitive domain includes higher order thought processes such as logic and reasoning and is the primary (and in many cases, the only) target of engineering curricula. Affective issues include attitudes, values, and self-concept. These attributes typically cannot be measured directly through exams and other classroom instruments, yet they are essential components of the overall developmental process.
This paper discusses the results of the first semester of a longitudinal study of intentional teambuilding undertaken in the Freshman and Sophomore Engineering Clinics at Rowan University. Students took Johnston & Dainton's Learning Combination Inventory 1 (LCI), a 28item self-report instrument that quantitatively and qualitatively captures the degree to which an individual uses each of four learning patterns. Through these patterns the learner represents how he or she sees the world, takes in stimuli, integrates the stimuli and formulates a response to it. An individual can begin his or her learning with a particular pattern or patterns, use patterns as needed, or avoid them. Teams were then created in order to maximize individual and collective use of learning patterns. This paper will report 1. The results of the initial study conducted during the Fall 2001 semester. 2. An overview of the patterns that resulted from the administration of the LCI to all Freshmen and Sophomore Engineering students at Rowan 3. Examples of the patterns of the teams that were assigned (to show how it's done) 4. Comments from students regarding their team experiences 5. An evaluation of the study to date.
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