Abstract:from earth-centered to solar-centered. Perhaps the impact on engineering education will be as great.In this work, we shall compare and contrast a studentcentered approach to dassroom instruction to a teacher-Centered approach. In addition, we shall provide specific activities for teachers Who wish to explore a transformation of their own classroom environments. Lastly, we shall attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of the different activities through the use of case studies.
A student-centered approach to engi… Show more
“…However, these aspects of her critical engineering agency were not fostered in her university environment. Sara's experience highlights the vital need for educating our engineering instructors through professional development about why student‐centered teaching, affinity groups, and creating authentic engineering experiences connected to real‐world problems is so important to retaining talent in engineering which are often not widely used practices but evidenced‐based ways to improve student engagement (Borrego, Froyd, & Hall, ; Catalano & Catalano, ; Chanderbhan‐Forde, Heppner, & Borman, ; Dym, Agogino, Eris, Frey, & Leifer, ; Fleming, ). Sara discussed her lack of engagement in her engineering classes saying, I struggled with engineering design on the computer was ‘cause it was like very um, more independent than… I'm generally and independent learner, but like we weren't really taught how to like pretty much anything.…”
This manuscript reports a longitudinal case study of how one woman, Sara, who had previously considered dropping out of high school, authored strong mathematics and science identities and purposefully exhibited agency through her experiences in high school science. These experiences empowered her to choose an engineering major in college; however, her introductory university engineering experiences ultimately pushed her out of engineering. Drawing on critical agency theory, we argue that by paying careful attention to how and why women author their identities and build agency through their experiences in high school, we may gain insight into why women may choose an engineering path in college. Additionally, we examine how Sara's perceptions of engineering structures and practices chipped away at the critical engineering agency she developed and caused her to leave engineering after her first year in college.
“…However, these aspects of her critical engineering agency were not fostered in her university environment. Sara's experience highlights the vital need for educating our engineering instructors through professional development about why student‐centered teaching, affinity groups, and creating authentic engineering experiences connected to real‐world problems is so important to retaining talent in engineering which are often not widely used practices but evidenced‐based ways to improve student engagement (Borrego, Froyd, & Hall, ; Catalano & Catalano, ; Chanderbhan‐Forde, Heppner, & Borman, ; Dym, Agogino, Eris, Frey, & Leifer, ; Fleming, ). Sara discussed her lack of engagement in her engineering classes saying, I struggled with engineering design on the computer was ‘cause it was like very um, more independent than… I'm generally and independent learner, but like we weren't really taught how to like pretty much anything.…”
This manuscript reports a longitudinal case study of how one woman, Sara, who had previously considered dropping out of high school, authored strong mathematics and science identities and purposefully exhibited agency through her experiences in high school science. These experiences empowered her to choose an engineering major in college; however, her introductory university engineering experiences ultimately pushed her out of engineering. Drawing on critical agency theory, we argue that by paying careful attention to how and why women author their identities and build agency through their experiences in high school, we may gain insight into why women may choose an engineering path in college. Additionally, we examine how Sara's perceptions of engineering structures and practices chipped away at the critical engineering agency she developed and caused her to leave engineering after her first year in college.
“…The philosophy behind cooperative learning is to shift from a teach-center teaching environment to a student-centered learning environment (Catalano & Catalano, 1999, Mourtos, 1997. The acceptance of cooperative learning philosophies within the engineering education community has also expanded internationally (Claussen, 1997).…”
“…However, the rush towards new technologies without first asking the hard questions about appropriate educational goals, may end with disappointing and wasteful results. As the literature suggests, and the results of the study confirm, for the technology to be effective, it has to support a sound educational approach 32,33,34 . Research on distance education, including the newer form of WWW-based asynchronous instruction, generally reports that programs for adult learners produce learning outcomes and achievement at least equal to conventional instruction 22, 42, 43 .…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 70%
“…The educational technology itself does not produce learning; and what matters is how it is used. The evidence is accumulating that hypermedia is most effective in the context of student-centered education, where it has to be grounded firmly in curriculum goals and incorporated into the instructional process 32,33,34 . However, to make valid comparisons, the same principles should be implemented in control group, where no hypermedia instruction is used.…”
Section: Proceedings Of the 2002 American Society For Engineering Edumentioning
Educational researchers in university settings face many difficulties in trying to conduct controlled action research studies on the effects of hypermedia on learning outcomes, where threats to validity and reliability are often beyond the influence of the investigator. Switched Replications experiment and another, semester-long study, where all students received hypermedia instruction in which it was embedded, were specifically conducted to address several validity threats. In each of the two weeks of the experiment, one group of students received a hypermedia lecture, while the other group received a conventional lecture on the same topic. The two lectures were immediately followed by a test. Two instructors were involved. The hypermedia-instructed group performed significantly better both times, regardless of which instructor made presentations. However, there were no statistically significant differences in overall academic achievement of the students in the course, offered in a hypermedia mode for 12 out of its 13 weeks. This indicated that the choice of instructional media had a strong effect on student achievement, while the effect of instructor differences was negligible. Selection bias, novelty factor, differences in instructional design and social threats to the internal validity of the study were also rejected as a possible explanation for the observed differences in achievement. I.
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