Investigating and developing engineering students’ mathematical modelling and problem-solving skills

Wedelin, Dag; Adawi, Tom; Jahan, Tabassum; Andersson, Sven

doi:10.1080/03043797.2014.987648

Cited by 27 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Some may begin the program with an academic background that is more aligned with engineering education than others. Because metacognitive prowess and fluency with strategy use has been linked with problem solving success, developing a program for including instruction on these skills in engineering education classrooms may be beneficial 9,15,17 . This research suggests that students tend to apply some strategies, such as plug-and-chug, to all problem types, and others are more specific to particular problems, such as segmentation with story problems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, many students enter their post-secondary engineering studies with poorly-developed metacognitive skills, and in its current state, educational experiences do little to address this shortcoming 14 . Explicit education on strategies addressing metacognition have been shown to be beneficial in improving outcomes for students 15,16 , even in cases where content-specific knowledge is weak 17 .…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Utility of Post-Hoc Audio Reflection to Expose Metacognition and Strategy Use by First-Year Engineering Students for Different Problem Types

Cian¹,

Cook²,

Benson³

2016 ASEE Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

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Lisa Benson is an Associate Professor of Engineering and Science Education at Clemson University, with a joint appointment in Bioengineering. Her research focuses on the interactions between student motivation and their learning experiences. Her projects involve the study of student perceptions, beliefs and attitudes towards becoming engineers and scientists, and their problem solving processes. Other projects in the Benson group include effects of student-centered active learning, self-regulated learning, and incorporating engineering into secondary science and mathematics classrooms. Her education includes a B.S. in Bioengineering from the University of Vermont, and M.S. and Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Clemson University.c American Society for Engineering Education, 2016 Utility of Post-Hoc Audio Reflection to Expose Metacognition and Strategy Use by First Year Engineering Students for Different Problem Types AbstractThis work-in-progress paper identifies metacognitive activities and problem solving strategies utilized by first-year engineering students to solve different types of problems. Our research question is: What problem solving strategies and metacognitive activities are revealed by students' post-hoc audio reflections on their solutions to three different types of engineering problems (story, open-ended, exercise)?This study was conducted with first-year engineering students at our institution over two semesters. Students solved problems using tablets and custom-designed software that recorded student written work and erasures. Students then would watch playback of their problem solution and insert verbal comments into their work (post-hoc audio reflection). Analysis of students' written data did not reveal much about metacognition and only afforded minimal insight into strategy use. Audio data was then analyzed for strategy use and types of metacognitive activity for the three problem types.Our analysis suggests that students do employ different strategies for different problems; openended and story problems are more likely to elicit metacognition in general, and few students articulated their thinking for exercise problems. Most metacognition occurred in the form of monitoring and evaluating, with little evidence of planning. Several strategies are used by students for all problems, but some are unique to specific types of problems. These findings demonstrate the usefulness of post-hoc audio reflection in engineering education research to better assess and address students' metacognition and problem solving strategies. IntroductionThis work-in-progress paper identifies metacognitive activities and problem solving strategies utilized by first-year engineering students to solve different types of problems. Our research question is: What problem solving strategies and metacognitive activities are revealed by students' post-hoc audio reflections on their solutions to three different types of engineering problems (story, open-ended, exercise)? Post-hoc audio reflection is defined as verbal student comm...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Utility of Post-Hoc Audio Reflection to Expose Metacognition and Strategy Use by First-Year Engineering Students for Different Problem Types

Cian¹,

Cook²,

Benson³

2016 ASEE Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The solutions to these problems are not developed from linear design and mathematical thinking processes. Rather, by addressing these complex problems using the problems solving skills learned in engineering degree programs along with mathematical and design thinking skills, engineers are able to meet and address these problems head on [2]. Yet, engineering education, the vehicle which prepares future practitioners, is often criticized for not preparing students mathematically with the tools and ways of thinking which these problems mandate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is the ability to create mathematical representations of the problem at hand. In fact mathematical modeling tasks are often thought to be the best mechanisms by which students can develop confidence with solving ill-structured problems [2] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mathematics as a Gatekeeper to Engineering: Preliminary Findings from the Interview Data

Tolbert

Cardella

2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Proceedings

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Research suggests that students' experience may support or hinder future success in engineering. Students' experiences with engineering may shape their perception of engineering curriculum at the college level. It may also cause cognitive and learning dissonance, when the ways that a student engaged with precollege engineering activities do not align with the student's experiences in the college engineering classroom. At a large Midwestern university with a unique first-year engineering program, first-year engineering and senior mathematics, engineering, and senior students in a design discipline were invited to participate in an open ended design task. After completing the task, they were interviewed about how they solved the study design task as well as about their perceptions of their mathematical and design abilities. Finally, the students provided insight into their previous experiences with engineering. This paper will present findings and discussion based upon the students' responses in the follow-up interview. Some emergent themes in the student's responses are: 1) precollege engineering experiences are structurally different than college engineering experiences, 2) students fail to recognize the diverse types of mathematical knowledge they are applying to solve the design task and 3)precollege engineering is more hands-on than college engineering coursework. We anticipate that this work will give instructors insight in to the perceptions and experiences that students have when they enter the college engineering classroom as freshmen and how those ideas may change over time as they work towards completing their degree. This work may also contribute to on-going discussions about how students understand the relationship between engineering, design and mathematical thinking as they are solving everyday engineering problems.

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“…In this space, there may be rapid iterations between design possibilities. However, iterations between design possibilities may be limited by the time, available resources or the experience of the designer [6,7] . Time might operate as a constraint that could restrict design exploration because the designer may feel that they cannot invest in deeply considering many potential solutions.…”

Section: Design Explorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning to Integrate Mathematical and Design Thinking in Engineering

Tolbert¹,

Cardella²

2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Proceedings

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Investigating and developing engineering students’ mathematical modelling and problem-solving skills

Cited by 27 publications

References 20 publications

Utility of Post-Hoc Audio Reflection to Expose Metacognition and Strategy Use by First-Year Engineering Students for Different Problem Types

Utility of Post-Hoc Audio Reflection to Expose Metacognition and Strategy Use by First-Year Engineering Students for Different Problem Types

Mathematics as a Gatekeeper to Engineering: Preliminary Findings from the Interview Data

Learning to Integrate Mathematical and Design Thinking in Engineering

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