ABSTRACT: 2014 ELATE Institutional Action Project Poster Symposium
Project Title: Models for integrating didactic and collaborative learning in engineering
education.
Name and Institution: Laura Ray, Dartmouth College
Collaborators: Faculty from colleges and universities, public and private, well-resourced and
tuition-driven, U.S. and abroad, and Dartmouth Center for Advancement of Learning personnel
Background, Challenge or Opportunity: A meta-analysis of published studies on undergraduate
STEM education shows overwhelmingly that small-group learning in the classroom promotes
greater academic achievement, more favorable attitudes towards learning, and increased
persistence through STEM courses and programs. However, a recent National Academies report
cites statistics showing that science and engineering faculty are the least likely to adopt any
form of student-centered or collaborative instruction. This leads to STEM educational
inequities, particularly for women and underrepresented groups. The challenge and
opportunity of my IAP is to develop solutions that facilitate the use of collaborative learning in
the classroom.
Purpose/Objectives: The objective of this project is to develop, document, and evaluate
hands-on classroom activities in systems and controls education that weave traditional
classroom instruction with small group activities, completing the learning cycle model of
learning. The focus on a core subject provides a model for integrating small group learning,
which can then be used to develop models that work throughout an engineering curriculum.
Additionally, the project identifies and addresses many obstacles that faculty face in using small
group learning within the classroom.
Methods/Approach: I conducted a need analysis through a literature review and over 75
informal interviews of faculty, students, and support staff in colleges and universities with
undergraduate engineering programs. The analysis identified six major obstacles that faculty
face in developing and adopting small group classroom learning activities, the most common
being class size, lack of resources, time pressures, and perceptions of the lack of value of
undergraduate course development to tenure and promotion relative to extramural research.
Based on this analysis, I developed a plan and proposal for integrating didactic and
collaborative learning in engineering that begins with one subject – systems and controls
education – and a cross-sectional case-study. I developed a portable core apparatus that can
be carried in suitcase and several classroom activities using this apparatus that enable students
to visualize control concepts prior to presentation of the math. I wrote a proposal to fund a
summer workshop for faculty to develop learning activities that engage students in the
classroom. I recruited 15 faculty partners from seven institutions to participate in the
workshop and follow on activities in which we will conduct a cross-sectional study of engaged
student learning.
Outcomes and Evaluation: The project is ongoing, with evaluation plans tied to the summer
2015 workshop and follow on activities.
Models for integrating didactic and
collaborative learning in engineering education
Laura Ray, Professor, Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College
Facts
Opportunity: Go Viral
Didactic instruction and competitive classroom
environments
are
deterrents
to
STEM
educational equity for women and members of
under-represented groups. (Springer et al.,
1999)
Develop models to seed entrenchment of small
group, collaborative learning in engineering
classrooms throughout U.S. colleges and
universities.
Methods
•
•
Problem
Faculty face these common obstacles to
developing small-group learning activities for the
classroom
•
•
•
•
•
How?
Why?
Reflective Observation (RO)
(Watching)
Outcomes
•
NSF proposal for cross-sectional case study
and workshop
What?
– Collaborative development of small-group learning
activities for systems classes.
– One-year classroom testing
– Shared outcomes and dissemination
Abstract Conceptualization (AC)
(Thinking)
Learning styles and the learning cycle (Kolb,
1984; McCarthy, 1987)
class size
lack of resources
time pressures
perceptions of undergraduate education
relative to extramural research in tenure and
promotion
working solo vs. working collaboratively
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
Active Experimentation (AE)
(Doing)
Model development
– “Learning cycle” integrates didactic instruction with
activities
– “Suitcase” apparatus provides thread for hands-on
activities through a course
– Collaborative development among faculty from
many institutions addresses common obstacles
– Evaluation of small-group classroom learning
activities using the apparatus provides measurable
outcomes
– Planning and proposal provides resources for
going “viral”
Concrete Experience (CE)
(Feeling)
What if?
Need analysis
– 75+ interviews of faculty, students, support staff
Small-group
learning
promotes
“greater
academic achievement, more favorable attitudes
toward learning, and increased persistence
through STEM courses and programs.”
(Springer et al., 1999)
Science & engineering faculty are the least likely
to adopt any form of student-centered or
collaborative instruction. (National Academies,
2012).
Presented at the 2015 ELATE(R) Leaders Forum
•
Diverse participants/collaborators
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–
–
–
Learning style inventory scores on Active-Reflective
(AE-RO) and Abstract-Concrete (AO-CE) dimensions
by major (from Kolb, 1981).
Small private: Dartmouth, Union
Small public: Univ. Southern Maine
Large public: Univ. New Mexico, Univ. Vermont
Undergraduate: Christian Brothers Univ., Norwich
Univ., Wentworth Institute of Technology
– International: Ashefi Univ., Ghana
•
Prototype suitcases
http://engineering.dartmouth.edu/video/featured/
L. Springer et al., Effects of small-group learning on undergraduates in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology: A meta-analysis, American Educational Research Association, Sage Publications, Review of Educational Research, 69(1), 21-51, 1999.
National Academies, Discipline-based education research: Understanding and improving learning in undergraduate science and engineering, National Academies Press, 2012.
Kolb, D., Learning styles and disciplinary differences, in the modern American college: Responding to the new realities of diverse students and a changing society, A. Chickering and Associates, Jossey-Bass, Inc. Publishers, San Francisco CA, 1981.
Kolb, D.A., Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development, Prentice Hall, NJ, 1984.
McCarthy, B., The 4MAT system, Teaching to learning styles with right/left mode technique, EXCEL, Inc., 1987.