Tracking Student Engagement with a Touchscreen App for Spatial Visualization Training and Freehand Sketching

Abstract

Van Den Einde is a Teaching Professor at UCSD. She teaches core undergraduate courses in Structural Engineering, is the chair of the ABET committee responsible for the continuous curricular improvement process, incorporates education innovations into courses (Peer Instruction, Project-based learning), is responsible for TA training (preparing next generation faculty), serves as faculty advisor to student organizations, hears cases of academic misconduct as a member of the Academic Integrity Review Board, and is committed to fostering a supportive environment for diverse students at UCSD by serving on the faculty advisory board for the IDEA Student Center. Her research is focused on engagement strategies for large classrooms and the development of K-16 curriculum in earthquake engineering.c American Society for Engineering Education, 2015Page 26.1595.1 Tracking Student Engagement with a Touchscreen App for Spatial Visualization Training and Freehand Sketching AbstractThe Spatial Visualization Trainer (SVT) App was developed for an iPad to enable students to freehand sketch isometrics and orthographic projections. The App consists of an algorithm that automatically grades each sketch. When errors are made, students can redraw their sketch or take a peek at the solution, which highlights the lines in their sketch that are correct or incorrect. The objective of the App is to teach spatial visualization and freehand sketching skills, which have been show to increase retention in STEM majors, especially among under-represented and women students. A unique aspect of this App compared to other eLearning tools is that the sketching assignments are not multiple-choice, and thus require students to synthesize their complete solution. As a result, data that tracks how engaged students are at different stages of an assignment can be collected. The App was integrated into a 1-unit Spatial Visualization class consisting of 54 students. To assess learning gains, an assessment test was given at the beginning and end of the course. Overall, students' test performance increased by 7%. The group of students who started the class with low pre-test scores was investigated in more depth, since this group is often at a higher risk of dropping out of STEM majors. There was a marked bimodal distribution in this group, with one subgroup (n=6) having a 43% increase in test scores, and the other subgroup (n=7) having a drop in test scores of -4%. The largest difference between these two sub-groups was that students who did not see an increase in their post-test performance were 74% more likely to peek at a solution than try again without peeking. This peeking metric is an indication of perseverance and how engaged the students were in their learning, and could be used to alert teachers early on to students who need additional assistance in the course. This study illustrates the potential of non multiple-choice questions in an eLearning environment and can provide guidance on how to further improve eLearning tools to teach spatial visualizat...

Spatial Skills Training Impacts Retention of Engineering Students - Does This Success Translate to Community College Students in Technical Education?

“…Alpha versions for sketching exercise have been developed. 35 Planned enhancements include a feedback mechanism to provide faculty automated feedback regarding students' sketches. The workbook pages with sketching exercises will also be available as pdf files for students who do not have an iPad.…”

Board # 125 : Spatial Skills Training Impacts Retention of Engineering Students – Does This Success Translate to Community College Students in Technical Education?

“…The project team developed an iPad app that allows students to sketch exercises with their fingertips or a stylus instead of pencil and paper. 35 Enhancements to the app included a mechanism to provide faculty automated feedback about students' sketches and persistence in sketching. Workbook pages with sketching exercises are also available as pdf files for students who do not have an iPad.…”

Sketching, Assessment, and Persistence in Spatial Visualization Training On a Touchscreen

“…Automated grading allows students to work independently without impacting lecture time. In a 2015 study [10], the assignments used were from an SV training workbook [7]. In this study, when a student's sketch was incorrect they had the option of trying on their own again or peeking at the solution.…”

“…In order to facilitate independent SV training, a software app, Spatial Vis™, was developed where students perform their sketches on a touchscreen [10], [11]. A key advantage of this approach is that students receive immediate feedback, which increases engagement.…”

“…In an early implementation of Spatial Vis™ [10] persistence was correlated to SV improvement. The aims of this study are to determine if persistence and effectiveness of the SV training can be increased.…”