Conference proceeding
The Impact of Project-based Learning on Engagement as a Function of Student Demographics
Association for Engineering Education - Engineering Library Division Papers
26 Jun 2016
Abstract
This work in progress seeks to determine the role of demographics in student inclination to choose science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) electives in high school. A Ph.D. student fellow and teacher will teach robotics and engineering principles through open-ended projects that address several of the NEA grand challenges. These projects are structured using constructivist pedagogy that ties into five core values: inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation, and reflection. We will introduce this study into an ethnically diverse robotics class comprised of sophomore, junior, and senior students. The predisposition of students to study topics relating to robotics will be assessed at the start of the study and then after each project has been completed. Initially, predisposition will be determined by which students selected this class as their first choice elective option and which were placed into the class based on scheduling. As the year continues, pre- and post-project surveys will be used to evaluate student interest and attitude towards robotics and engineering. This information will be broken down by demographics including, gender, age, and ethnicity to see if specific projects increase interest among certain groups. Although the sample size will be small, the goal is to establish a methodology and a preliminary outcome set that could be used in further research with larger populations.
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Details
- Title
- The Impact of Project-based Learning on Engagement as a Function of Student Demographics
- Creators
- Alyssa BellinghamJohn KamalJessica WardAdam Fontecchio
- Publication Details
- Association for Engineering Education - Engineering Library Division Papers
- Publisher
- American Society for Engineering Education-ASEE
- Resource Type
- Conference proceeding
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Electrical and Computer Engineering; School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems
- Other Identifier
- 991019174003704721