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1 Applying Research from How People Learn to Engineering Classrooms INFORMS November 2007 Cynthia J. Atman Jim Borgford-Parnell Center for Engineering Learning and Teaching University of Washington Co-Designed with Jennifer Turns, University of Washington Lorraine Fleming, Howard University
Transcript of How People Learn - University of Washingtondepts.washington.edu/celtweb/wordpress/wp-content/... ·...
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Applying Research from How People Learn
to Engineering ClassroomsINFORMS
November 2007
Cynthia J. Atman Jim Borgford-Parnell
Center for Engineering Learning and Teaching University of Washington
Co-Designed with Jennifer Turns, University of WashingtonLorraine Fleming, Howard University
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“How People Learn”http://books.nap.edu/html/howpeople1/.
Source: National Resource Council (2000)
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Why use “How People Learn” to inform teaching?
Important to understand how our students think and what they bring to the classroom (experiences, skills, prior knowledge, etc.)
How People Learn gives a valuable framework
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Who are our students?Emerging findings from the Academic Pathways Study (APS)
– Part of the NSF-funded Center for Advancement of Engineering Education (CAEE)
– Large scale, multi-method, longitudinal study of undergraduate engineering students
– Three cohorts of students from four very different undergraduate engineering programs and a group of early career engineers
Sheppard (lead), Atman, Fleming, Miller, Smith, Stevens, Streveler
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Slides 4-7 provide a brief overview of some of the findings from the academic pathways study to help set context in terms of the circumstances of engineering undergraduates.
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APS Research Questions
Skills• How do students’ engineering skills and knowledge develop
and/or change over time?
Identity• How do these students come to identify themselves as
engineers?
Education• How do pre/engineering students navigate their educations?
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Slides 4-7 provide a brief overview of some of the findings from the academic pathways study to help set context in terms of the circumstances of engineering undergraduates.
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Emerging Findings Across the Study:From the student perspective
Large variation in student pathways . . . .• Reasons for choice of major
– Financial security– Contribution to society– Influence of family or mentors
• Curriculum and skill development issues– Heavy workloads, competition, stress– First two years give little “vision” of engineering (design and
teamwork come late)– Understanding context vs. detail (a “systems” view)
• Perspectives on diversity– What it means to students’ views of becoming an engineer
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Slides 4-7 provide a brief overview of some of the findings from the academic pathways study to help set context in terms of the circumstances of engineering undergraduates.
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Emerging Findings Across the Study:From the student perspective (cont.)
Large variation in student pathways . . . .• Commitment to field of engineering
– Affected by personal situation, learning experiences, institutional procedures
– Decision to be an engineer re-examined often
• Reasons for leaving– Lack of confidence in math/science skills– Fear of losing scholarships– Perception that engineering is too narrow (often little
understanding of the contributions of engineering to social good)– Factors affect men and women differently
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Slides 4-7 provide a brief overview of some of the findings from the academic pathways study to help set context in terms of the circumstances of engineering undergraduates.
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“How People Learn”http://books.nap.edu/html/howpeople1/.
Source: National Resource Council (2000)
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Workshop Goals:
1. Explore research results from How People Learn
2. Think about ways these results might be applied in the context of your own classroom
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Main Workshop Activity:Think / Pair / Share
Think: Individually think about an assigned topic
Pair: Discuss your thoughts with a colleague
Share: Group discussion
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Describe a topic you teach
Think: Think of a brief description of a topic you teach that you would like to focus on today (2 min)
Pair: Discuss with a colleague (4 mins)
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“How People Learn”
Three main findings:• Students have preconceptions • Knowledge organization matters• Students benefit from a “metacognitive”
approach to instruction
Source: National Resource Council, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, (2000)
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1. Preconceptions
“Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works.”
If their initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and
information that are taught, or they may learn them for purposes of a test, revert to their preconceptions outside the
classrooms.”
Source: National Resource Council, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. (2000). Chapter 1, p. 14-15.
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Student Preconceptions
Source: Chi, M.T.H., & Roscoe, R.D. In Limon, M. & Mason, L. (Eds.), (2002).
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Student Preconceptions
Source: Clement, J. (1982).
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Student preconceptions:Applying to your teaching
Think: In what ways could your teaching take into account student preconceptions? (2 min)
Pair: Discuss with a colleague (4 mins)
Share: Discuss as a group (4 mins)
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Student preconceptions: Applying to your teachingIdeas from workshop participants
Ideas….
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2. Organization of Knowledge“To develop competence in an area of inquiry,
students must: a) have a deep foundation of factual
knowledge, b) understand facts and ideas in the context of
a conceptual framework, and c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate
retrieval and application”
-> Draws on research on expert/novice differences
Source: National Resource Council, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. (2000). Chapter 1, p. 16.
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Expert/Novice differences in physics
SCANNED from: National Resource Council, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School (2000). Source: Chi, M.T.H., P.J. Feltovich, and R. Glaser (1981).
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Engineering Student Knowledge Networks
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Slides 20-22 show results of a classroom concept mapping exercise that illustrate the different conceptions of engineering held by two engineering undergraduates.
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Engineering Student Knowledge Networks
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Slides 20-22 show results of a classroom concept modeling exercise that illustrate the different conceptions of engineering held by two engineering undergraduates.
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Student Two:
Student One:
Source: Turns, Jennifer, Cynthia J. Atman, and Robin Adams (2000). "Concept Maps for Engineering Education: A Cognitively Motivated Tool Supporting Varied Assessment Functions," IEEE Transactions on Education Special Issue on Assessment 43 (2), pp. 164-173, May 2000
Engineering Student Knowledge Networks
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Slides 20-22 show results of a classroom concept modeling exercise that illustrate the different conceptions of engineering held by two engineering undergraduates.
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Knowledge Organization:Applied to your teaching
Think: In what ways could your teaching take into account knowledge organization? (2 min)
Pair: Discuss with a colleague (4 mins)
Share: Discuss as a group (4 mins)
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Knowledge Organization: Applying to your teachingIdeas from workshop participants
Ideas…
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3. Metacognition
“A ‘metacognitive’ approach to instruction can help students take control of their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them”
Source: National Resource Council, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. (2000). Chapter 1, p. 18.
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Metacognition
Source: Schoenfeld, A.H. (1992). Learning to Think Mathematically: Problem-Solving, Metacognition, and Sense-Making in Mathematics.
Presenter
Presentation Notes
This slide is used to help illustrate how experts think and how metacognition is a major part of their problem solving and knowledge organization.
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Senior/Freshmen differences in design processes
Source: Atman, Cynthia J., Justin R. Chimka, Karen M. Bursic, and H. L. Nachtmann (1999).
Presenter
Presentation Notes
This slide shows how education and experience levels can affect students’ design processes and potentially enhance their metacognitive skills.
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Metacognition:Applied to your teaching
Think: In what ways could your teaching take into account metacognition? (2 min)
Pair: Discuss with a colleague (4 mins)
Share: Discuss as a group (4 mins)
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Metacognition: Applying to your teachingIdeas from workshop participants
Ideas….
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Recap: Three main findings from “How People Learn”
• Students have preconceptions • Knowledge organization matters• Students benefit from a
“metacognitive” approach to instruction
Source: National Resource Council, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, (2000)
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Going Forward:
Think: Think about the topic you will teach with respect to the research findings from “How People Learn” Think about one research result you may try to implement (2 min)
Pair: Discuss with a colleague (4 mins)
Share: Discuss as a group (4 mins)
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What result could you implement?Ideas from workshop participants
Ideas…
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Revisiting Workshop Goals:
1. Explore research results on how people learn
2. Think about ways these results might be applied in the context or your own classroom
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Good Luck!
“How People Learn”
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AcknowledgmentThis material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. ESI-0227558, which funds the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education (CAEE). Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
CAEE is a collaboration of five partner universities: Colorado School of Mines, Howard University, Stanford University, University of Minnesota, and University of Washington.
CELT is an engineering education research and faculty development center at the University of Washington. The following are funding partners with CELT: The Mitchell T. Bowie and Lella Blanche Bowie Fund, The Boeing Company,, Ford Motor Company, GE Fund, Mark and Carolyn Guidry, Jim and Sue Hewitt
Applying Research from How People Learn
to Engineering Classrooms Workshop
Notes and Handouts
Applying Research from How People Learn to Engineering Classrooms
Purpose: This workshop focuses on the three key findings in the NRC’s report “How People Learn.” Application of those findings in engineering classrooms is also discussed. Agenda: The intended time for this workshop is 120 minutes. Topics for this workshop include:
Research results from the Academic Pathways Study Research results from the National Research Council
Students have preconceptions Knowledge organization matters Students benefit from a “metacognitive” approach to
instruction Applying research to classrooms
Goals:
1. Explore research results from How People Learn 2. Think about ways these results might be applied in the context of
your own classroom 3. Participants leave with something helpful
Applying Research from How People Learn to Engineering Classrooms Bibliography Atman, Cynthia J., Robin S. Adams, Monica E. Cardella, Jennifer Turns, Susan Mosborg,
and Jason J. Saleem . "Engineering Design Processes: A Comparison of Students and Expert Practitioners," Journal of Engineering Education, vol. 96, no. 4, pp. 359 -379, 2007
Atman, Cynthia J., Justin R. Chimka, Karen M. Bursic, and H. L. Nachtmann. "A
Comparison of Freshman and Senior Engineering Design Processes," Design Studies, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 131-152, March 1999
Atman, Cynthia J., Monica E. Cardella, Jennifer Turns, and Robin S. Adams.
"Comparing Freshman and Senior Engineering Design Processes: an In-depth Follow-up Study," Design Studies, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 325-357, 2005
Atman, Cynthia J., Ken Yasuhara, Robin S. Adams, Theresa Barker, Jennifer Turns, and
Eddie Rhone. "Breadth in Problem-Scoping: A Comparison of Freshmen and Senior Engineering Students," International Journal of Engineering Education, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 234-245, 2008
Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education.
http://www.engr.washington.edu/caee/ Date Accessed: 10 March 2009. Chi, M.T.H., & Roscoe, R.D. In Limon, M. & Mason, L. (Eds.), (2002). Chi, M.T.H., P.J. Feltovich, and R. Glaser (1981). Clement, J. (1982). National Resource Council, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School.
(2000) Schoenfeld, A.H. (1992). Learning to Think Mathematically: Problem-Solving,
Metacognition, and Sense-Making in Mathematics. Turns, Jennifer, Cynthia J. Atman, and Robin Adams (2000). "Concept Maps for
Engineering Education: A Cognitively Motivated Tool Supporting Varied Assessment Functions," IEEE Transactions on Education Special Issue on Assessment 43 (2), pp. 164-173, May 2000
Design Research Bibliography Adams, Robin S., Jennifer Turns and Cynthia J. Atman. “Educating Effective
Engineering Designers: the Role of Reflective Practice,” Design Studies, Special Issue on Designing in Context, vol. 24, no. 3, 2003. pp. 275-294.
Atman, C. J., Adams, R. S., Cardella, M. E., Turns, J., Mosborg, S., & Saleem, J. J.
(2007). Engineering Design Processes: A Comparison of Students and Expert Practitioners. Journal of Engineering Education, 96(4), 359 -379.This paper received the 2008 William Elgin Wickenden Award from the American Society of Engineering Education.
Atman, C. J., Borgford-Parnell, J., Deibel, K., Kang, A., Ng, W. H., Kilgore, D., et al.
(2007, September). Matters of Context in Design. In proceedings of the Design Thinking Research Symposium VII, London, England.
Atman, Cynthia J., Justin R. Chimka, Karen M. Bursic, and H. L. Nachtmann, “A
Comparison of Freshman and Senior Engineering Design Processes,” Design Studies, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 131-152, March 1999.
Atman, C. J., Rhone, E., Adams, R. S., Turns, J., Barker, T., & Yasuhara, K. (2007,
May). Breadth in Problem-Scoping: A Comparison of Freshman and Senior Engineering Students. In proceedings of the Mudd Design Workshop VI: Design and Engineering Education in a Flat World, Claremont, California.
Bursic, Karen M. and Cynthia J. Atman, “Information Gathering: A critical Step for
Quality in the Design Process,” Quality Management Journal, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 60-75, July 1997.
Kilgore, Deborah, Cynthia J. Atman, Ken Yasuhara, Theresa J. Barker, and Andrew E.
Morozov, “Considering Context: A Study of First-Year Engineering Students,” Journal of Engineering Education, vol. 96, no. 4, pp. 321-344, October 2007.
