1 James M. Graham, Texas A&M University, TAMU FC A&E, 347 Zachry, TAMU MS 3405, College Station, ... more 1 James M. Graham, Texas A&M University, TAMU FC A&E, 347 Zachry, TAMU MS 3405, College Station, TX 77843-3405 jmg0612@tamu.edu 2 Rita Caso, Texas A&M University, dr-rita@tamu.edu 3 Jeanne Rierson, Texas A&M University, parrish@cs.ua.edu 4 Jong-Hwan Lee, Texas A&M University, jhlee@tamu.edu ACKNOWLEDGMENT: This project was funded in part by NSF HRD-9624602 i The full range of LSAMP Program Objectives specified in LSAMP Project Cooperative Agreements with NSF include: (1) increasing (by specified percentages, e.g., 100%, over each 5 year award period) the number of underrepresented minorities successfully completing SMET baccalaureate degree programs; (2) improving the quality of the undergraduate educational experience, the knowledge and skills learned by underrepresented minority SMET students; (3) increasing the number of underrepresented minorities progressing from BS to graduate SMET programs; (4) increasing the pool of qualified underrepresented minority SMET teachers in K-12 education. ii US 5 th Circuit Court of Appeals decision Abstract The NSF-funded Texas A & M University System Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (TX LSAMP) was successful in more than doubling the number of minority Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology (SMET) baccalaureate graduates in partner universities between 1991-98, with a variety of programs strategies and tactics, such as mentoring, stipends, tutoring, and supplemental instruction. In 2000-01, a focused study on one partner campus (TAMU) compared active LSAMP program participants with comparable under-represented minority students in the College of Engineering and found that, in 1996-98, participation in the LSAMP program contributed to the success of freshmen in SMET programs, as measured by outcome variables such as GPA, retention, and course progression. The present study expands upon its predecessor, by providing a longitudinal, quantitative, multidimensional outcome study of the TAMU LSAMP program, spanning 1995. Additionally, the control of preexisting socio-economic and educational variables is used to examine the impact of the LSAMP program on minorities from diverse backgrounds. Some post-hoc explorations of results are also included.
Student perceptions and attitudes about their educational experiences have been found to make a... more Student perceptions and attitudes about their educational experiences have been found to make an important contribution to the retention of students in undergraduate science, math, engineering, and technology (SMET) programs. The present study describes the continuing development of the Freshman Engineering Attitude Survey (FEAS) and the Engineering Perception Test (EPT) Instruments. The FEAS was designed to measure engineering freshman attitudes towards concepts and competencies targeted by the Texas A&M University engineering program (i.e., communication skills, integration of knowledge, life-long learning, technological skills and teaming). The EPT pre test was designed to measure students' perceptions of their pre-college experience and post test aimed to measure students perceptions of their experience in freshman engineering program. The EPT focused on some of the same factors identified by the FEAS, as well as on math/science fundamentals. The process of measurement instrument development in this study begins with the rationale for inception; followed by item analysis, reliability, and exploratory or confirmatory factor analysis.
It is acknowledged that educational research and evaluation is fraught with credibility and val... more It is acknowledged that educational research and evaluation is fraught with credibility and validity concerns, yet, most recent, available research methodology literature has focused on "experimentally" designed programs although the greatest evaluation challenges are presented by non-"experimentally" designed programs that are already in place and which have been institutionalized. Acknowledging the fact that the nature of educational research is applied, heterogeneous, and multidimensional, the primary purpose of this paper is to provide a case-study insight into evaluating the longitudinal impact of a non-"experimentally" designed student cohorting strategy, which has been institutionalized in the Texas A&M University freshman-engineering program. Originally introduced as a pilot project by the Foundation Coalition Program, this strategy has grouped freshman-engineering students by enrolling them together in clusters of common, required, classes. This paper analyzes and discusses the challenges of this evaluation task: i.e., applying appropriate ex post facto strategies; controlling for non-"experimental" treatment of groups; and identifying v alid success indicators. Its objective is to discuss the validity concerns encountered from an applied methodological perspective. A Full presentation of the evaluated program's outcomes is not within the scope of this paper; however the evaluation study i s ongoing and a number of papers addressing program outcomes are in preparation.
University admissions policies throughout the country are undergoing review and revision, and uni... more University admissions policies throughout the country are undergoing review and revision, and universities are considering options which range from basing admissions most heavily upon objective criteria, such as SAT/ACT scores and/or High School rank, to favoring more holistic approaches, including individualized subjective reviews of accomplishments and characteristics reported in applications, and application essays. Variations of these approaches have been in practice at Texas A&M University for quite some time, yet little was known about how these admission practices were actually predicting the retention, academic performance, and graduation of students throughout the institution. Moreover, less was known about how accurately university-wide objective and/ or subjective admission criteria predicted success for the students of very different colleges. This study identifies the admission criteria, which have best predicted academic success among engineering students from freshman cohorts 1997 through 2001. It specifically examines the predictive effectiveness of using "objective" merit-based criteria, in combination with subjective criteria, vs. using only "objective" admission criteria. Success outcomes of the sub-population of students exempt from admission review due to high school rank or high SAT/ACT, are examined in relation to objective criteria only. The outcomes of the students who did not meet exemption criteria and were admitted due to favorable review of both objective and subjective admission criteria are examined in relation to objective criteria alone, and also in relation to objective and subjective criteria together. Results are observed and
Engineering designers during the next fifty years will work intimately with tools and application... more Engineering designers during the next fifty years will work intimately with tools and applications made feasible by nanotechnology. Therefore, engineering undergraduates must be able to integrate concepts and principles of nanotechnology into their knowledge bases as soon as possible. The project "Nanoscale Issues in Manufacturing" will transfer knowledge gained through nanoscale research into undergraduate engineering curricula at Texas A&M University through four components. The level of detail and sophistication of the material taught will increase as the scientific understanding of the students increases through their undergraduate career. For first-year engineering students, a company involved in nanotechnology research will develop and offer a case study on nanoscale applications. This approach builds on the successful case study program that has been offered for five years. For sophomore engineering students taking ENGR 213 Principals of Materials Engineering the nanomanufacturing faculty team has developed two modules. The first focuses on two fundamental ideas in nanotechnology: scaling and granularity. The second module focuses on two approaches to manufacturing macroscale systems using nanoscale technologies: top-down and bottom-up. The third component consists of two one-hour modules that will be integrated into MEEN 360 Materials and Manufacturing Selection in Design, a junior-level course offered by the Mechanical Engineering department but available to all students who have taken the prerequisites. The module expands on the top-down and bottom-up approaches to nanoscale manufacturing and provides students with hands-on laboratory experience. The fourth component will be a new elective course that will be available to all engineering and science students who have completed the prerequisite courses. The elective course, which will be taught by three faculty members, is comprised of three elements: methods and techniques for nanostructure fabrication using nanolithography, fabrication of bulk materials through nanoparticle consolidation, and design and fabrication of active micro-devices using nanocomponents. The four components will be described.
1 Jim Morgan, Texas A&M University, Department of Civil Engineering, College Station, TX ... more 1 Jim Morgan, Texas A&M University, Department of Civil Engineering, College Station, TX 77843-3136, jim-morgan@tamu.edu 2 Jeff Froyd, Texas A&M University, Dwight Look College of Engineering, College Station, TX 77843-3128, froyd@ee.tamu.edu 3 Jan Rinehart, ...
Developments in materials science are creating new possibilities for engineering designs. For exa... more Developments in materials science are creating new possibilities for engineering designs. For example, multifunctional materials, such as shape memory alloys (SMA) or piezoelectric materials are referred to as "smart" materials since designers can use properties of these materials to construct components of adaptive mechanisms. For example, researchers are using shape memory alloys (SMA) to build biomimetic systems that mimic the behavior of biological organisms such as fish or insects. The ability of SMA components to change shape in response to thermal or electrical stimuli considerably simplifies construction of biomimetic systems. As multifunctional materials are changing the practice of engineering, providing undergraduate students with exposure and experiences with these materials and their potential for new design options should be seriously explored. The proposed paper presents a narrative description of how material on SMA was integrated into a first-year engineering course and a first-year engineering project. Key partners, including an undergraduate engineering student working on a research experience and a first-year graduate student, will describe their roles in integrating material into a first-year engineering course that was taught in Fall 2001. Also, data describing the impact on students and faculty will be presented.
Various entities within and related to higher education offer activities designed to promote prof... more Various entities within and related to higher education offer activities designed to promote professional development of faculty in the area of teaching. A critical challenge to these efforts is the lack of understanding of the actual process of faculty development in teaching. Insight into what faculty members believe about learning, assessment, and teaching, and how those views change, would assist efforts to improve faculty development opportunities. This paper will describe the current status of assessment of faculty professional development activities related to teaching. Working from this foundation, it will suggest how to improve assessment strategies and begin the process of measuring the impact of specific program activities on faculty beliefs and practices. In addition, it will describe ways of investigating and drawing conclusions about professional development process paths in the area of teaching, variables that influence and enhance development trajectory, and roles of various types of faculty development activities in this process.
New materials with attractive properties for design, so-called smart materials such as shape memo... more New materials with attractive properties for design, so-called smart materials such as shape memory alloys and piezoelectric materials, are being introduced rapidly and incorporated into diverse applications. Since these materials change engineering practice, these materials are being introduced into undergraduate engineering curricula. However, the degree to which students understand concepts associated with these materials is difficult to assess. As the work by Hestenes and Halloun on the Force Concept Inventory has shown, students may pass science and engineering courses but still retain alternate conceptions about the topics presented in the courses. Therefore, substantial interest in concept inventory assessment instruments for many engineering subjects, e.g., materials, signals and systems, fluid mechanics, has been generated and numerous projects are underway. Since smart materials are being introduced into undergraduate engineering curricula, assessing students' understanding of these smart materials would be reasonable. Therefore, two new concept inventories, one on shape memory alloys and one on piezoelectric materials, are being developed as part of a Combined Research and Curriculum Development (CRCD) project at Texas A&M University. The paper will describe the background for concept inventories. Then, concept inventories for both types of materials will be described in parallel presentations. First, concepts associated with the material will be described and then sample questions designed to assess understanding of these concepts will be presented. Results from students who have taken preliminary versions of each concept inventory will be presented.
1 James M. Graham, Texas A&M University, TAMU FC A&E, 347 Zachry, TAMU MS 3405, College Station, ... more 1 James M. Graham, Texas A&M University, TAMU FC A&E, 347 Zachry, TAMU MS 3405, College Station, TX 77843-3405 jmg0612@tamu.edu 2 Rita Caso, Texas A&M University, dr-rita@tamu.edu 3 Jeanne Rierson, Texas A&M University, parrish@cs.ua.edu 4 Jong-Hwan Lee, Texas A&M University, jhlee@tamu.edu ACKNOWLEDGMENT: This project was funded in part by NSF HRD-9624602 i The full range of LSAMP Program Objectives specified in LSAMP Project Cooperative Agreements with NSF include: (1) increasing (by specified percentages, e.g., 100%, over each 5 year award period) the number of underrepresented minorities successfully completing SMET baccalaureate degree programs; (2) improving the quality of the undergraduate educational experience, the knowledge and skills learned by underrepresented minority SMET students; (3) increasing the number of underrepresented minorities progressing from BS to graduate SMET programs; (4) increasing the pool of qualified underrepresented minority SMET teachers in K-12 education. ii US 5 th Circuit Court of Appeals decision Abstract The NSF-funded Texas A & M University System Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (TX LSAMP) was successful in more than doubling the number of minority Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology (SMET) baccalaureate graduates in partner universities between 1991-98, with a variety of programs strategies and tactics, such as mentoring, stipends, tutoring, and supplemental instruction. In 2000-01, a focused study on one partner campus (TAMU) compared active LSAMP program participants with comparable under-represented minority students in the College of Engineering and found that, in 1996-98, participation in the LSAMP program contributed to the success of freshmen in SMET programs, as measured by outcome variables such as GPA, retention, and course progression. The present study expands upon its predecessor, by providing a longitudinal, quantitative, multidimensional outcome study of the TAMU LSAMP program, spanning 1995. Additionally, the control of preexisting socio-economic and educational variables is used to examine the impact of the LSAMP program on minorities from diverse backgrounds. Some post-hoc explorations of results are also included.
Student perceptions and attitudes about their educational experiences have been found to make a... more Student perceptions and attitudes about their educational experiences have been found to make an important contribution to the retention of students in undergraduate science, math, engineering, and technology (SMET) programs. The present study describes the continuing development of the Freshman Engineering Attitude Survey (FEAS) and the Engineering Perception Test (EPT) Instruments. The FEAS was designed to measure engineering freshman attitudes towards concepts and competencies targeted by the Texas A&M University engineering program (i.e., communication skills, integration of knowledge, life-long learning, technological skills and teaming). The EPT pre test was designed to measure students' perceptions of their pre-college experience and post test aimed to measure students perceptions of their experience in freshman engineering program. The EPT focused on some of the same factors identified by the FEAS, as well as on math/science fundamentals. The process of measurement instrument development in this study begins with the rationale for inception; followed by item analysis, reliability, and exploratory or confirmatory factor analysis.
It is acknowledged that educational research and evaluation is fraught with credibility and val... more It is acknowledged that educational research and evaluation is fraught with credibility and validity concerns, yet, most recent, available research methodology literature has focused on "experimentally" designed programs although the greatest evaluation challenges are presented by non-"experimentally" designed programs that are already in place and which have been institutionalized. Acknowledging the fact that the nature of educational research is applied, heterogeneous, and multidimensional, the primary purpose of this paper is to provide a case-study insight into evaluating the longitudinal impact of a non-"experimentally" designed student cohorting strategy, which has been institutionalized in the Texas A&M University freshman-engineering program. Originally introduced as a pilot project by the Foundation Coalition Program, this strategy has grouped freshman-engineering students by enrolling them together in clusters of common, required, classes. This paper analyzes and discusses the challenges of this evaluation task: i.e., applying appropriate ex post facto strategies; controlling for non-"experimental" treatment of groups; and identifying v alid success indicators. Its objective is to discuss the validity concerns encountered from an applied methodological perspective. A Full presentation of the evaluated program's outcomes is not within the scope of this paper; however the evaluation study i s ongoing and a number of papers addressing program outcomes are in preparation.
University admissions policies throughout the country are undergoing review and revision, and uni... more University admissions policies throughout the country are undergoing review and revision, and universities are considering options which range from basing admissions most heavily upon objective criteria, such as SAT/ACT scores and/or High School rank, to favoring more holistic approaches, including individualized subjective reviews of accomplishments and characteristics reported in applications, and application essays. Variations of these approaches have been in practice at Texas A&M University for quite some time, yet little was known about how these admission practices were actually predicting the retention, academic performance, and graduation of students throughout the institution. Moreover, less was known about how accurately university-wide objective and/ or subjective admission criteria predicted success for the students of very different colleges. This study identifies the admission criteria, which have best predicted academic success among engineering students from freshman cohorts 1997 through 2001. It specifically examines the predictive effectiveness of using "objective" merit-based criteria, in combination with subjective criteria, vs. using only "objective" admission criteria. Success outcomes of the sub-population of students exempt from admission review due to high school rank or high SAT/ACT, are examined in relation to objective criteria only. The outcomes of the students who did not meet exemption criteria and were admitted due to favorable review of both objective and subjective admission criteria are examined in relation to objective criteria alone, and also in relation to objective and subjective criteria together. Results are observed and
Engineering designers during the next fifty years will work intimately with tools and application... more Engineering designers during the next fifty years will work intimately with tools and applications made feasible by nanotechnology. Therefore, engineering undergraduates must be able to integrate concepts and principles of nanotechnology into their knowledge bases as soon as possible. The project "Nanoscale Issues in Manufacturing" will transfer knowledge gained through nanoscale research into undergraduate engineering curricula at Texas A&M University through four components. The level of detail and sophistication of the material taught will increase as the scientific understanding of the students increases through their undergraduate career. For first-year engineering students, a company involved in nanotechnology research will develop and offer a case study on nanoscale applications. This approach builds on the successful case study program that has been offered for five years. For sophomore engineering students taking ENGR 213 Principals of Materials Engineering the nanomanufacturing faculty team has developed two modules. The first focuses on two fundamental ideas in nanotechnology: scaling and granularity. The second module focuses on two approaches to manufacturing macroscale systems using nanoscale technologies: top-down and bottom-up. The third component consists of two one-hour modules that will be integrated into MEEN 360 Materials and Manufacturing Selection in Design, a junior-level course offered by the Mechanical Engineering department but available to all students who have taken the prerequisites. The module expands on the top-down and bottom-up approaches to nanoscale manufacturing and provides students with hands-on laboratory experience. The fourth component will be a new elective course that will be available to all engineering and science students who have completed the prerequisite courses. The elective course, which will be taught by three faculty members, is comprised of three elements: methods and techniques for nanostructure fabrication using nanolithography, fabrication of bulk materials through nanoparticle consolidation, and design and fabrication of active micro-devices using nanocomponents. The four components will be described.
1 Jim Morgan, Texas A&M University, Department of Civil Engineering, College Station, TX ... more 1 Jim Morgan, Texas A&M University, Department of Civil Engineering, College Station, TX 77843-3136, jim-morgan@tamu.edu 2 Jeff Froyd, Texas A&M University, Dwight Look College of Engineering, College Station, TX 77843-3128, froyd@ee.tamu.edu 3 Jan Rinehart, ...
Developments in materials science are creating new possibilities for engineering designs. For exa... more Developments in materials science are creating new possibilities for engineering designs. For example, multifunctional materials, such as shape memory alloys (SMA) or piezoelectric materials are referred to as "smart" materials since designers can use properties of these materials to construct components of adaptive mechanisms. For example, researchers are using shape memory alloys (SMA) to build biomimetic systems that mimic the behavior of biological organisms such as fish or insects. The ability of SMA components to change shape in response to thermal or electrical stimuli considerably simplifies construction of biomimetic systems. As multifunctional materials are changing the practice of engineering, providing undergraduate students with exposure and experiences with these materials and their potential for new design options should be seriously explored. The proposed paper presents a narrative description of how material on SMA was integrated into a first-year engineering course and a first-year engineering project. Key partners, including an undergraduate engineering student working on a research experience and a first-year graduate student, will describe their roles in integrating material into a first-year engineering course that was taught in Fall 2001. Also, data describing the impact on students and faculty will be presented.
Various entities within and related to higher education offer activities designed to promote prof... more Various entities within and related to higher education offer activities designed to promote professional development of faculty in the area of teaching. A critical challenge to these efforts is the lack of understanding of the actual process of faculty development in teaching. Insight into what faculty members believe about learning, assessment, and teaching, and how those views change, would assist efforts to improve faculty development opportunities. This paper will describe the current status of assessment of faculty professional development activities related to teaching. Working from this foundation, it will suggest how to improve assessment strategies and begin the process of measuring the impact of specific program activities on faculty beliefs and practices. In addition, it will describe ways of investigating and drawing conclusions about professional development process paths in the area of teaching, variables that influence and enhance development trajectory, and roles of various types of faculty development activities in this process.
New materials with attractive properties for design, so-called smart materials such as shape memo... more New materials with attractive properties for design, so-called smart materials such as shape memory alloys and piezoelectric materials, are being introduced rapidly and incorporated into diverse applications. Since these materials change engineering practice, these materials are being introduced into undergraduate engineering curricula. However, the degree to which students understand concepts associated with these materials is difficult to assess. As the work by Hestenes and Halloun on the Force Concept Inventory has shown, students may pass science and engineering courses but still retain alternate conceptions about the topics presented in the courses. Therefore, substantial interest in concept inventory assessment instruments for many engineering subjects, e.g., materials, signals and systems, fluid mechanics, has been generated and numerous projects are underway. Since smart materials are being introduced into undergraduate engineering curricula, assessing students' understanding of these smart materials would be reasonable. Therefore, two new concept inventories, one on shape memory alloys and one on piezoelectric materials, are being developed as part of a Combined Research and Curriculum Development (CRCD) project at Texas A&M University. The paper will describe the background for concept inventories. Then, concept inventories for both types of materials will be described in parallel presentations. First, concepts associated with the material will be described and then sample questions designed to assess understanding of these concepts will be presented. Results from students who have taken preliminary versions of each concept inventory will be presented.
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