Pedagogy

Current cognitive science and educational research can be applied to engineering education to enhance and assess student learning. To this end, we are incorporating several advances in educational research and key learning theories; these are described below.

Modified Bloom's Taxonomy

  

Figure 1. Modified Bloom's Taxonomy
In 1956, Ben Bloom (Bloom, 1956) developed a taxonomy of learning consisting of successively deeper levels of cognitions. We hypothesize that to be a successful engineer, a person must be able operate in the higher cognitive domain and to transition smoothly between the levels of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Furthermore, the cognitive levels of synthesis (creative thinking) and evaluation (critical thinking) are considered equally important. This modified Bloom's taxonomy of learning is depicted in Figure 1.

Such taxonomies of learning are also useful for crafting learning objectives. Well written learning objectives are useful to guide and assess student learning. The OSU Course Development webpage provides instructions for writing good learning objectives by applying the Andersen taxonomy of learning, a slight modification of Bloom's taxonomy.

Kolb's Learning Cycle

 

Figure 2. Kolb Learning Cycle and Learning Styles

 The Experiential Learning Model developed by David Kolb (Kolb, 1984) is composed of four elements:
  • Concrete Experience,
  • Observation and Reflection,
  • Abstract Conceptualization,
  • Active Experimentation
Additionally, this model is built upon the idea that learning preferences can be described using two continuums: active-reflective and abstract-concrete. The result is four types of learners: active-abstract (converger); active-concrete (accommodator); reflective-abstract (assimilator); and reflective-concrete (diverger). A Learning Style Inventory (LSI) has been designed to determine an individual's learning preference. The LSI and other tools are more completely explained and available at Experience Based Learning Systems, Inc. (EBLS)

The Kolb learning cycle has been applied to engineering education at OSU according to the model shown in Figure 4.

Assessment

  

Figure 3. Components of Effective Assessment Design
 An effective assessment is built on three critical components, as depicted in Figure 3.
  1. a model of cognition that describes how students become competent in a specific subject domain through perception of the concepts as presented and the transformation of their knowledge as they process these concepts,
  2. tasks or situations that allow observation of student performance
  3. an interpretation method to analyze the observational data (Pelligrino, 2000).
Both summative assessment (assessment of individual achievement), and formative assessment (assessment to assist student learning) are essential, and integrated into the engineering education curriculu.

Approach to ABET Evaluation

  
Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) provides specialized accreditation for engineering programs across the country. For each course in the Chemical, Biological, Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering curriculu at OSU, the process described below is used to demonstrate alignment with ABET criteria which is shown in Table 1 (ABET, 2006). This approach is based on two well established cognitive models, Bloom's taxonomy (Figure 1) and a modification of the Kolb learning cycle, depicted in Figure 4. It also includes development of an assessment plan consisting of pre and post assessment of students. Additionally, each instructor must develop an improvement plan and describe progress on the goals from the previous year's improvement plan.

Figure 4. Modified Kolb's Cycle
  1. Create concise and measureable course learning objectives.
  2. Match learning objectives to ABET criteria (Table 1).
  3. Categorize learning objectives into either lower (knowledge, comprehension,application) or higher (analysis, synthesis, evaluation) cognitive domains, according to the modified Bloom's taxonomy.Conduct a pre-assessment of student's pre-existing knowledge.
  4. Create an assessment plan consisting of three methods to assess each learning objective.
  5. For each learning objective, plan activities that correlate to each quadrant in the Kolb learning cycle (Figure 4).
  6. Conduct post-assessment of student learning according to the assessment plan and report results.
  7. Create instructor improvement plan for the following year and provide reflection on previous year's improvement plan progress.
Table 1. Course Evaluation Criteria
  ABET Evaluation Criteria (a-k)   Chemical Engineering Specific Criteria (l-q)
(a)
 an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering
(l)
 a formal practice of project planning and management
(b)
 an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data
(m)
 an ability to identify what information is missing and to formulate specific critical engineering problems when given complex process problems
(c)
 an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability
(n)
 an ability to make rapid and intelligent engineering decisions with minimal data
(o) an ability to find trends in large quantities of process data and relate those trends back to fundamental chemical engineering process principles
(d)
 an ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams
(p)
 an ability to identify modifications to process equioment to improve process performance
(e)
 an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems
(q)
 an ability to evaluate multiple process technologies in a broad context, i.e. safety, environment, cost, etc.
(f)
 an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility
 
(g)
 an ability to communicate effectively
(h)
 the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context
(i)
 a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning
(j)
 a knowledge of contemporary issues
(k)
 an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice

Constructivism

  • Constructivism has its roots as a philosophical explanation of human development and the nature of learning. It contradicts the cognitive notion that learning occurs as a transfer of knowledge from teacher to student. Instead it focuses on the idea of the construction of knowledge within the learner. Application of this theory in the classroom should focus on the creation of an active learning environment that fosters the guided construction of knowledge. Common techniques that draw on constructivism are inquiry learning, active learning, instructional scaffolding, situated cognition and problem-based learning (Bransford, 2000).

Cyclic Model of Knowledge

  

Figure 5. Cyclic Model of Knowledge Production
A cyclic model of knowledge development was adapted from a report on how to achieve mathematics proficiency in K12 education in the US (Ball, 2003); this model has been incorporated into NSF requirements for educational grants and is depicted in Figure 5. This cycle describes a process for creating new educational interventions that includes conducing educatonal research, assessing learning, evaluating the intervention and incorporating these learnings into developing faculty expertise.

References