NDLI: First Steps Toward Curricular Integration of Computational Tools

Content Provider	The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Digital Collection
Author	Hinds, T. Sticklen, J. Urban-Lurain, M. Amey, M. Eskil, T.
Copyright Year	2005
Abstract	Calls for new paradigms for engineering education are widespread [1-3]. Yet, major curricular change is difficult to accomplish for many reasons, including having the necessary faculty buy-in [4]. Generally, efforts can be classified as either top-down/structural, in which faculty assess an entire program of study and address needs in each component before implementation begins; or bottom-up/individual, a more traditional approach that implements change in one course at a time. Faculty buy-in, consensus, and resources (unit and institutional) needed for the top-down approach make it difficult to accomplish. On the other hand, the bottom-up model is slow; the assumption that curricular reform can be affected by an accumulation of individual course adaptations is unproven, and the change goals need to have a more systemic focus. Unless the curriculum helps students integrate material across their courses, they have difficulty seeing how the material they learn in one course will connect to the next. We have performed a pair of initial studies using an evolutionary approach to curricular reform that capitalized on the strengths of both the top-down and bottom-up models, which was built on the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) reform literature. This approach developed a pairwise linkage among strategic courses in the engineering curricula to promote curricular integration and helped students see connections between their first-year courses and subsequent courses. Vertically integrated problem-based learning scenarios that link across courses are crucial to this model. Pre-reform data collected in the first study showed that students taking an introductory computing course did not see the importance of learning a particular software tool (MATLAB), because they did not see connections to their future courses. This had negative impacts on student motivation, learning, and retention. In our recent work, which was our first vertical effort, we focused on MATLAB with integration of the learning of this engineering tool in an introductory computing course with the solution of statics problems in an introductory mechanical engineering course. Our recent study set out to determine if joint team efforts would enhance student perceptions of the set learning goal for the introductory computing students while enhancing learning outcomes for both the introductory computing and introductory mechanical engineering students. The paper outlines this pairwise linkage model, the goals of this project, the framework for evaluating the linkage, and the types of data we collected as part of the evaluation effort. Results from the initial study confirmed that problem-based teamwork enhanced student attitudes towards MATLAB. We also describe how results here will enable us to reach our long-term goal of curricular integration.
Sponsorship	Mechanical Engineering Education
Starting Page	67
Ending Page	72
Page Count	6
File Format	PDF
ISBN	0791842320
DOI	10.1115/IMECE2005-79956
e-ISBN	0791837696
Volume Number	Innovations in Engineering Education: Mechanical Engineering Education, Mechanical Engineering/Mechanical Engineering Technology Department Heads
Conference Proceedings	ASME 2005 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition
Language	English
Publisher Date	2005-11-05
Publisher Place	Orlando, Florida, USA
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Subject Keyword	Computer science Curriculum Pairwise linkages Teaming Matlab Computers Linkages Statics Students Computer software Teams Mathematics Engineering instruments Performance Engineering education Mechanical engineering
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
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4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
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