Assessing and Evaluating Student Work on Modeling Activities Imbedded in a First-Year Engineering Problem Solving Course

评估第一年工程问题解决课程中嵌入的建模活动的学生工作

• 批准号: 0535678
• 负责人: Heidi Diefes-Dux
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Purdue University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-03-15 至 2010-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0535678&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Assessing; Evaluating; Student; Work; Modeling

This project is developing a framework of principles and guidelines to assess and evaluate student responses to mathematical model-eliciting activities. This kind of modeling was introduced into the first-year engineering course in 2002 to investigate its potential for changing the interest and persistence of women in engineering. Results of this early work demonstrate that the use of engineering contexts and concepts to develop instructional settings (tasks and pedagogy) has accomplished the goal of increasing women's interest. Simultaneously it has enhanced the interest of international students and traditional engineering undergraduate students. The initial implementation work included informal attention to formative feedback to students for the purpose of assigning grades. We are now developing systematic methods and prototypes for assessing and evaluating students' responses to these complex problems. The assessment/evaluation tools being developed are incorporating criteria for high-level performance (as determined by experts). They are being field-tested for inter-rater reliability in their application. The objectives of our work are to produce prototype packages for assessing and evaluating student work on mathematical modeling activities to serve multiple purposes: (1) provide formative feedback on students' intermediate draft solutions to particular problems; (2) determine grades consistently across instructors; (3) provide for professional development of instructors who are first learning to incorporate mathematical modeling activities into first year-engineering courses; (4) provide for professional development of instructors who want to learn how to use formative assessment and determine grades for these types of activities; and (5) perform formal research and evaluation in the reporting of students' performance. 1. Intellectual MeritThis continued development and use of the modeling activities in the first-year engineering course has the potential to achieve lasting curriculum reform that provides substantial benefits to students. We also believe that there is a strong potential that the knowledge gained will transfer (or diffuse) to other courses in the College of Engineering and to other universities. These potentials will not be fully realized until there are field-tested and reliable assessment/evaluation tools, as well as frameworks for developing these tools and professional development mechanisms for using these tools. There is a dire need for assessment/evaluation tools that enhance the formative feedback given to students on their intermediate draft solutions, and that ensure consistency in evaluation across instructors, and that provide a prototype for the nature of evaluation of such complex activity. These tools will not only enhance implementation efforts but also provide ways in which to conduct research into what students learn as a result of engaging in these types of activities.2. Broader ImpactThis project is contributing to growing a community of engineering educators better able to teach with and assess student work on open-ended complex problems, an engineering and mathematics education research community with experience in assessing student learning in complex problem-solving situations, and a cadre of engineering graduates better able to solve the next generation of complex problems.

该项目正在开发一个原则和指南框架，以评估和评估学生对数学模型引发活动的反应。这种模型于 2002 年被引入一年级工程课程，以研究其改变女性对工程的兴趣和坚持的潜力。这项早期工作的结果表明，利用工程背景和概念来开发教学环境（任务和教学法）已经实现了提高女性兴趣的目标。 同时也提高了国际学生和传统工科本科生的兴趣。最初的实施工作包括非正式地关注学生的形成性反馈，以分配成绩。 我们现在正在开发系统的方法和原型来评估和评估学生对这些复杂问题的反应。 正在开发的评估/评估工具纳入了高水平绩效标准（由专家确定）。他们正在对其应用中的评估者间可靠性进行现场测试。我们工作的目标是制作原型包，用于评估和评估学生在数学建模活动方面的工作，以达到多种目的：（1）为学生针对特定问题的中间草案解决方案提供形成性反馈； (2) 确定各教师一致的成绩； (3) 为首次学习将数学建模活动纳入第一年工程课程的教师提供专业发展； (4) 为想要学习如何使用形成性评估并确定此类活动的等级的教师提供专业发展； (5) 在报告学生表现时进行正式的研究和评估。 1. 智力优势 在第一年的工程课程中持续开发和使用建模活动有可能实现持久的课程改革，为学生带来实质性的好处。 我们还相信，所获得的知识很有可能转移（或扩散）到工程学院和其他大学的其他课程。除非有经过现场测试的可靠的评估/评估工具，以及开发这些工具的框架和使用这些工具的专业开发机制，否则这些潜力将无法完全实现。迫切需要评估/评估工具来增强向学生提供的中间草案解决方案的形成性反馈，确保教师之间评估的一致性，并为此类复杂活动的评估性质提供原型。这些工具不仅将加强实施工作，而且还提供了对学生通过参与此类活动所学到的知识进行研究的方法。2．更广泛的影响该项目有助于发展一个能够更好地教授和评估学生在开放式复杂问题上的工作的工程教育工作者社区，一个具有评估学生在复杂问题解决情况下学习情况的经验的工程和数学教育研究社区，以及一个能够更好地解决下一代复杂问题的工程毕业生骨干队伍。