| NSF Org: |
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | March 8, 2019 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | March 8, 2019 |
| Award Number: | 1841980 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Abby Ilumoka
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | March 15, 2019 |
| End Date: | February 29, 2024 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $298,535.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $298,535.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
300 TURNER ST NW BLACKSBURG VA US 24060-3359 (540)231-5281 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
VA US 24060-0001 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | IUSE |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
Repeated deliberate practice in problem-solving can increase students' understanding of difficult engineering concepts. In addition, students who receive frequent formative feedback are better able to identify and correct problems with their reasoning. Unfortunately, few undergraduate engineering courses provide students with such opportunities for repeated practice, targeted feedback, and focused tutoring. This project aims to enable these opportunities by developing an automated educational intervention tool for learning engineering mechanics. This open-access, problem-solving interface will provide engineering students with feedback and tutoring, based on their performance on practice exercises. Since all developed materials will be open-source and open-access, the project can also inform and support the work of students and teachers beyond the local institution. By focusing on developing strong analytical problem-solving skills, this project directly responds to industry and the federal government priorities for developing an engineering workforce that is capable of innovative problem solving. Thus, this project has the potential to contribute to the ability of the U.S. to maintain its economic competitiveness and position as a global leader in innovation.
The project will: 1) develop an innovative problem delivery and assessment system and evaluate its effectiveness in meeting specific learning and assessment goals in engineering mechanics; 2) systematically study how this technology-rich problem-solving interface can enhance the learning, teaching, and assessment of complex knowledge through an education research study; and 3) critically evaluate opportunities and barriers to scaling and transferring the innovation across educational contexts. This study should contribute to understanding how technological solutions, such as automated tutoring systems, can enhance learning and assessment of complex knowledge and skills. As a result, this project is likely to have relevance for teaching and learning of other engineering topics, as well as topics in other STEM fields.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The project focused on the development of an open-source interactive problem-solving tool designed to provide immediate and targeted feedback to students. The goal of this system was to help students learn how to repeatedly solve problems in a deformable bodies course without the algebraic tedium that comes with traditional approaches solving these types of problems. The tool featured a feedback system programmed into the software that incorporated real-time hints, error-checking, and suggestions to help students learn from their mistakes while also grasping key concepts. The user-friendly interface featured visual aids such as diagrams, an equation bank and links to tutorial materials to further enhance comprehension and usability.
Through this project the research team fostered strong collaboration with course instructors, recognizing their crucial role in the successful implementation of the problem-solving tool. Furthermore, our project has fostered interdisciplinary collaboration, pairing engineering education faculty with instructors who have extensive experience in teaching mechanics courses. This partnership also included experts in engineering mechanics, ensuring that our research-to-practice loop was both meaningful and impactful. This collaborative model is a best practice in engineering education, promoting the integration of evidence-based practices with applicable classroom experiences. It exemplifies how interdisciplinary teams can effectively address educational challenges, leading to evidence-based and scalable solutions aimed at enhancing learning outcomes across STEM disciplines.
We have designed and implemented an interactive problem-solving tool aimed at improving students’ conceptual understanding of fundamental mechanics concepts through deliberate, repeated practice and targeted feedback. Our system's success with reducing the number of steps students would have to take to solve algebraic problems demonstrated the role technology can play in enhancing learning, allowing students to explore a larger range of problems in a given time frame. Automating assessment not only streamlines the evaluation process but has the potential to ensure consistent and objective grading, which is crucial for large classes. This innovation can support efficient learning and assessment processes that would benefit both students and instructors by reducing the need for traditional problem-solving methods thus allowing more time to focus on interactive and personalized teaching methods.
Our project fostered bi-directional collaboration between researchers, course instructors, IT consultants and graduate students. Our initiative has sparked broader conversations among the research team and course instructors, culminating in the collaborative effort to develop an open-source textbook. This resource, integrated with a newer version of our system, allows for seamless embedding of problems directly from the textbook into the tool. This would not only enrich the learning experience but also ensure that educational materials remain current and widely accessible.
Usability studies provided feedback that informed refinements of the system. The project team maintained open communication channels, encouraging continuous feedback and suggestions for improvement from our intended users – instructors and students. Instructors were actively involved in the tool's development process, contributing to content creation, writing problems, testing new features, and refining the feedback mechanisms. This collaborative approach ensured that the tool met the practical needs of educators and aligned with curriculum objectives, ultimately fostering a supportive environment for innovation in the target course. By systematically studying the tool's impact on teaching, learning, and assessment, the project demonstrated how this resource could impact students’ understanding of core course concepts. Additionally, the tool was designed to be applicable across various educational contexts. While designed for mechanics courses, this framework can be applied to other engineering disciplines.
Overall, the project achieved its primary goals of developing an open-source interactive problem-solving tool with an embedded feedback system, systematically studying the tool's impact on students understanding, and evaluating its use across multiple educational contexts. The outcomes demonstrate this work has the potential to be a valuable resource for educators in engineering mechanics and beyond. The open-source nature of the tool ensures its continuous development and adaptation, while the pedagogical framework offers a flexible approach to content delivery. The positive results from pilot studies and diverse implementations underscore the tool's potential to transform teaching and learning experiences across various educational settings. Future work will focus on expanding the tool's capabilities, enhancing the user experience, and exploring its application in other STEM disciplines.
Last Modified: 06/28/2024
Modified by: Nicole Pitterson
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