Background

Studies analyzed for college courses taught in STEM fields show that active learning increases average grades by half-a-letter grade and that failure rates in classes with traditional lecture are 55% more than the rates in classes with active learning incorporated (https://www.wired.com/2014/05/empzeal-active-learning/).  One approach to include active learning is by flipping the classroom, where initial topic introduction and instruction takes place in the student’s own space (i.e., homework), while the topic concepts are applied and active learning exercises are done in the classroom, in place of the traditional lecture format. Another alternative approach is the “blended” classroom, which integrates the benefits of both flipping and traditional lecture formats. The impact of these approaches needed to be studied further on students in engineering, and in particular on under-represented and non-traditional groups. 

Intellectual Merit

As part of the course material development and assessment plan, the project investigators developed 1) a valid and reliable concept inventory to measure understanding of Numerical Methods, thus facilitating instructors’ evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness of their instructional methods, 2) online self-assessment quizzes to allow students to become engaged with the information and their learning of Numerical Methods, with features including multiple-attempts, algorithm-based, ability to integrate with course management systems, instant feedback, and automatic grading, and 3) clicker quizzes to discuss and assess conceptual knowledge of course topics in the classroom. 

The project team also developed, used, revised, and improved existing resources including 1) a final examination to assess procedural and higher-order levels of learning, 2) problem-based exercises to foster higher-order learning, and 3) survey and focus group instruments to assess affective learning components and self-efficacy of students towards mastery of numerical methods under the two treatment conditions – flipped and blended classrooms.

 Results

The differences between the flipped classroom and blended classroom were found to be small based on examination data from the three schools combined, although there were some large differences for the schools individually (suggesting further research with different demographics).  The students identified high course workload with flipped instruction but pointed to its benefits as well through their survey responses, such as enhanced learning or learning processes, preparation, and engagement. These results aligned with our focus group and instructor interview data.

 Impact

Under the premise that engaging students in active and collaborative work increase learning, this project developed best practices for teaching the Numerical Methods course in an inverted, flipped setting. These practices are helping faculty consider this mode of teaching for other engineering courses as well. The grant expanded the impact by collaboration among four investigators from the University of South Florida, Arizona State University, Alabama A&M University, and the University of Pittsburgh, while ensuring that all materials were developed for and worked well with diverse student populations. The assessment also had a particular focus on under-represented minorities, females, non-traditional students including community college transfers, Pell Grant recipients, over-traditional-age students, part-time students, and diverse engineering majors.

Dissemination avenues of project materials included the highly-popular open education resource portal http://MathForCollege.com, social media including blogs, and four faculty workshops at universities, zonal and regional engineering education conferences, and a national mathematics department chairs meeting.   Results were shared at major engineering education and professional society conferences. The findings of the project were published in STEM education journals.  To self-sustain the project beyond the funding period, methods such as 1) low-cost, self-published customized textbooks on Numerical Methods, 2) Google AdSense on the online resource website, and 3) YouTube (http:/YouTube.com/numericalmethodsguy) partnerships were used.

Last Modified: 09/16/2017
Modified by: Autar K Kaw