Formative Feedback: Impacting the Quality of First-Year Engineering Student Work on Modeling Activities

本计划将透过设计及调查教学方法对学生素质的影响，为工程学习机制的研究作出贡献。解决复杂的数学建模问题，制定指导方针，为学生提供有效的形成性反馈？建模工作。数学模型激发活动（MEAs）基于模型和建模理论框架，为工科学生提供了解决复杂问题、培养团队合作和沟通能力的机会。最近的研究表明，教师和同伴在提供对学生有意义的反馈方面存在相当大的困难，导致学生难以有效地解释和利用反馈来改进他们的数学模型。这限制了学生通过迭代开发这些复杂问题的解决方案来实现的学习。需要教学方法来改善教师和同伴的反馈，并帮助学生学会解释和回应反馈。最近开发的评估和评估学生作业的工具跨越三个维度，数学模型，可重用性和可共享性，以及受众，这将使围绕定性反馈的教学方法的调查成为可能。开发、实施和研究这些方法的目的是充分利用多边环境评估的性质以及评估和评价工具来培养学生的能力。通过提高他们解释和利用反馈的能力来提高知识和技能。最终寻求的是反馈与对学生的影响之间关系的更清晰图景。通过他们的工作产品和相互作用来学习。未来的工程劳动力必须准备好解决日益复杂和模糊的问题，有效地教授开放式问题解决方案一直是工程教育的挑战。投资开发围绕反馈的教学方法，将是朝着培养工程教育工作者群体迈出的一步，他们能够更好地教授开放式复杂问题。这项工作将有助于评估学生在复杂问题解决情况下的学习情况，并帮助建立一支能够更好地解决下一代复杂问题的工程毕业生队伍。提供适当反馈的原则和准则将大大促进向其他教育机构传播模型和建模教学法的后续步骤。

This project will contribute to the research on engineering learning mechanisms by designing and investigating the impact of pedagogical approaches on the quality of students? solutions to complex mathematical modeling problems and developing guidelines for providing effective formative feedback on students? modeling work. Mathematical model-eliciting activities (MEAs), based on the models and modeling theoretical framework, provide engineering students with opportunities to engage in solving complex problems and develop teaming and communication skills. Recent work has revealed that instructors and peers have considerable difficulty providing feedback that is meaningful to students, causing students to have difficulty interpreting and utilizing the feedback effectively to improve their math models. This limits student learning that can be achieved through iterative development of solutions to these complex problems. Pedagogical approaches are needed to improve instructor and peer feedback and help students learn to interpret and respond to feedback. Recent development of tools for assessing and evaluating student work across three dimensions, mathematical model, re-usability & share-ability, and audience, will enable investigations into pedagogical approaches around qualitative feedback. These approaches will be developed, implemented and researched with the intent of taking full advantage of the nature of MEAs and the assessment and evaluation tools to develop students? knowledge and skills by improving their ability to interpret and utilize feedback. What is ultimately sought is a clearer picture of the relationship between feedback and its impact on students? learning as viewed through their work products and interactions. The future engineering workforce must be prepared to address increasingly complex and ambiguous problems, and effectively teaching open-ended problem solving has been a challenge for engineering education. An investment in the development of pedagogical approaches around feedback will be a step towards growing a community of engineering educators who are better able to teach open-ended complex problems. This work will contribute to assessments of student learning in complex problem-solving situations and help build a cadre of engineering graduates better able to solve the next generation of complex problems. Principles and guidelines for providing appropriate feedback will greatly facilitate the next steps in dissemination of models and modeling pedagogies to other educational settings.