| NCETE
Research Studies Funded in Year 1
May 2005 |
| Title: |
Engineering Design
Cognitive Capabilities Evaluation Instrument |
| Purpose: |
Develop an instrument that accurately
determines the engineering design capabilities of pre-service and
in-service technology educational educators. |
| PIs: |
Robert Wicklein,
Stacey Neuharth-Pritchett and David Gattie
University of Georgia |
| Abstract: |
This study seeks to develop an engineering
design cognitive capabilities evaluation instrument that can be
used to accurately determine the engineering design capabilities
of pre-service and in-service technology educational educators.
Essential criteria for the instrument will be based on a research
and development protocol consistent with the design of standard
educational evaluative tools (e.g., research on the engineering
design process, organization of intellectual categories for the
instrument, item identification and construction, item piloting,
validity and reliability studies). Specifically, this instrument
will seek to assess the intellectual capabilities of technology
educators with regard to the mathematical and scientific skills
necessary to engage in predictive analysis and optimization in the
engineering design process. The evaluative instrument developed
in this project could serve as a way of reliably and validly measuring
the starting and ending intellectual capabilities for engineering
design of technology educators. Without such an instrument, professional
development efforts will be forced to rely on assumed or self-reported
needs that may produce less than desired instructional capabilities
for technology teachers. |
| |
|
| Title: |
Determining Outcomes for 9-12
Technology Programs that Infuse Engineering Design Processes |
| Purpose: |
Identify the engineering outcomes
of technology education programs that infuse analytical and predictive
processes and other engineering design processes into the curriculum. |
| PIs: |
Craig Rhodes and
Vincent Childress
North Carolina Agriculture and Technology
State University |
| Abstract: |
Currently there are no well-documented
technology education programs that focus on technological literacy
with engineering design infused into the curriculum for all learners.
A starting point to define courses and curriculum for such programs
is to determine what learning outcomes students in 9-12 technology
programs should achieve. The goal of this project is to determine
the learning outcomes. The project will form focus groups of practicing
engineers and engineering educators and conduct interviews to develop
a predetermined list of outcomes in order to conduct a modified
Delphi study. Results of the Delphi study will be used to define
outcomes for 9-12 technology programs. |
| |
|
| Title: |
Seventh Grade Females Perceptions
of Technology |
| Purpose: |
Understand how young women think about
technology and engineering. |
| PIs: |
Leah Roue and
Brian K. McAlister
University of Wisconsin-Stout |
| Abstract: |
This project is designed to study
the Summer Technology and Engineering Preview at Stout (STEPS) for
Girls participants’ perceptions of technology, importance
of knowledge in technology, technology’s daily impacts, and
what they want to know and already know about technology education.
This study will be an iteration of the 2004 ITEA/Gallup Poll survey,
with the survey participants being STEPS students. This survey will
provide useful insights into how young women think about technology.
The findings could influence how STEPS is marketed and in turn increase
female enrollment in technology and engineering classes as a whole. |
| |
|
| Title: |
The Impact of Applying Students’
Self-management of Cognition in an Engineering Design Project. |
| Purpose: |
Study engineering students’ self-management of cognition in an engineering design task. |
| PIs: |
Oenardi Lawanto
University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign |
| Abstract: |
Meta-cognition is a fundamental tool
that enables learners to take control of their own cognition. Meta-cognition
is a state of awareness of our thinking, as we perform specific
tasks and then use this awareness to control what we are doing and
the ability to execute that skill can improve student’s learning
especially in an open-ended engineering task. Working on an open-ended
task such as designing an engineering artifact is indeed a rich
learning experience for students, as they normally require little
direct guidance and instruction from their professors. This study
is an instrumental case study design examining a group of engineering
students applying their self-management of cognition in an engineering
design task. The study will focus on student self-management of
cognition in two aspects: the team’s working strategy (i.e.
team functioning) and the team’s design strategy, during the
design process. The way students apply their self-management of
cognition on a given task correlates to students’ control-of-self-skill.
These control-of-skills are not qualitatively observed but they
will be measured through the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaires
(MSLQ). Interviewing each member of the team, field observation
at team’s working laboratory, and accessing team’s communications
(i.e. emails and shared Netfiles), as well as reading individual
logbooks and team’s status reports will be conducted throughout
the design process. Data will be both categorically aggregated and
directly interpreted. Interpretation will be made through individual
instances as well as through aggregation of instances until a clearer
picture of understanding can be said about the design process. |
| |
|
| Title: |
Features of Engineering Design
in Technology Education |
| Purpose: |
Identify the key features of the engineering
design process and what critical elements should be assessed in
an engineering design activity for technology education. |
| PIs: |
Paul A. Asunda, and Roger B. Hill
University of Georgia |
| Abstract: |
The purpose of this project is to
develop a process for identifying critical features of engineering
design within technology education learning activities. While some
very positive initiatives have taken place in the field of technology
education, a number of critical problems still facing the profession
must be addressed if the field is to survive and thrive. Infusing
engineering design as a focus for the technology education curriculum
has been proposed as a reasonable strategy to address these concerns.
This project therefore, seeks to identify what engineering design
is. What are the key features of the engineering design process?
And, what are the critical elements that should be assessed in an
engineering design activity in the context of technology education?
The study will utilize a qualitative design paradigm and a phenomenological
research approach will be used to collect and analyze data. Participants
for this study will be conversant regarding technology education
and engineering design, and potential candidates who do not possess
this characteristic will be excluded from the study. An important
outcome of this project will be development of a rubric to guide
identification of key elements of engineering design within the
context of technology education learning activities. This tool will
represent a synthesis of the qualitative research to be conducted
and will provide a basis for future research. |
| |
|
| Title: |
Career Choice, and Persistence
in Engineering |
| Purpose: |
Better understand what attracts, supports,
and helps women to persist in an engineering career. |
| PIs: |
John R. Duncan and
Yong Zeng
University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| Abstract: |
The problem is that the number of
women engineers continues to fall short in comparison to the gender
ratio of women to men in the population in the U.S. and worldwide.
The challenge is to improve the support and motivation for under-served
engineering student populations. As evidenced by the under-representation
of women in the engineering profession, steps need to be taken to
improve both the entry into the engineering pipeline and the ultimate
success of women engineers. In order to move beyond previous attempts
to resolve this problem, a multi-faceted approach will be used.
First there is a need to summarize, compare, and evaluate previous
empirical work through a meta- analysis of the research done in
this area. The result will be a better understanding of the competencies
and support measures required for women to succeed in the engineering
field. Another facet, perhaps less frequently evaluated empirically,
deals with affect and the strategies, which promote persistence
both in completing the education pipeline and in pursuing an engineering
career. This type of research with the emphasis on theory building
lends itself to a qualitative approach. Interviews and focus groups
with women who persist and with those who do not persist, including
degree finisher, dropout, and non-engineer, will provide insight
into the key factors that promote that persistence in the selected
career. |
