IUSE: Understanding and Supporting Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Student and Faculty Engagement with an Active, Blended and Collaborative (ABC) Learning Environment

留住工程本科生，特别是在大二和大三，是一个主要的国家关注的问题。主动学习课堂技术、混合在线和课堂材料以及协作学习环境都显示出改善工程专业学生成绩的一些希望。然而，这些有前途的工具很少被部署在一起，很少在核心学科课程中使用。该研究项目将严格研究普渡力学自由形式课堂（Freeform），这是一种主动混合协作（ABC）结构，在过去六年中取得了成功。研究团队将从多个来源收集数据，以了解学生和教师的经验，学科内容和机构设置的重要性，以及自由形式与学生和教师的其他课程的并置。该项目将探索普渡大学西拉斐特校区的自由形式，以及另外两个多元化的校区：普渡大学Calumet校区和Trine大学，这两个校区为未被充分代表的人口提供服务，这些人口受到退学的影响不成比例。这项研究将为其他感兴趣的课程采用者带来有用的结果，包括在线课程模板和视频制作策略、学生学习指南和教师培训研讨会。实证研究表明，主动学习结构、混合式学习结构和协作式学习结构（ABC）都能提高本科STEM学生的成绩和保留率。到目前为止，这些工具还没有结合起来，也没有在学科核心课程中广泛应用，而这些课程是学生表现不佳的主要原因。本研究项目将研究普渡大学力学自由形式课堂（Freeform），这是一个教学框架，在大二动力学课程中完全融合了ABC工具，并成功地提高了通过率。该项目的目标是更好地理解(a)学生使用ABC工具和课堂结构的经验，(b)协调教师、学科和机构的个人特征，以及(c) Freeform在学生和教师的其他课程背景下的运作方式。通过研究和实现的迭代过程，项目团队正在测试Freeform最成熟的实现（Dynamics），以及普渡大学和合作机构（Trine University和Purdue University- Calumet）的其他机械工程课程。该团队将从教师和学生那里收集丰富的定性和定量数据，包括态度、认知和行为指标。这将为如何在一段持续的时间内在不同的学科和机构中实现ABC环境提供有价值的和新颖的见解。

Retention of engineering undergraduates, in particular during the sophomore and junior years, is a major national concern. Active learning classroom techniques, Blended online and in-class materials, and Collaborative learning environments have each shown some promise of improving engineering student outcomes. However, these promising tools are seldom deployed together and rarely utilized in core disciplinary classes. This research program will rigorously study the Purdue Mechanics Freeform Classroom (Freeform), an Active-Blended-Collaborative (ABC) structure that has experienced anecdotal success for the last six years. The research team will collect data from multiple sources to understand the student and instructor experience, the importance of disciplinary content and institutional setting, and the juxtaposition of Freeform with students' and instructors' other courses. The project will explore Freeform at Purdue West Lafayette and two other diverse campuses: Purdue University Calumet and Trine University, which serve underrepresented populations that are disproportionately affected by stopout. This study will generate useful outcomes for other interested program adopters, including online course templates and video creation strategies, student study guides, and faculty orientation workshops.Empirical studies indicate that Active, Blended, and Collaborative learning structures (ABC) each enhance achievement and retention in undergraduate STEM. To date, these tools have not been combined, nor have they been widely deployed in disciplinary core classes in the middle two years that are major sources of underperformance. This research program will study Purdue's Mechanics Freeform Classroom (Freeform), a pedagogical framework that fully merges ABC tools in sophomore year Dynamics and has experienced success in improving pass rates. The project's goals are to better understand (a) the student experience in using ABC tools and classroom structures, (b) mediating individual characteristics of the faculty, discipline, and institution, and (c) the way Freeform operates in the context of students' and instructors' other courses. Using an iterative process of research and implementation, the project team is testing Freeform in its most mature implementation (Dynamics), as well as in other mechanical engineering courses at Purdue and at partner institutions: Trine University and Purdue University- Calumet. The team will collect a rich array of qualitative and quantitative data from both faculty and students, including attitudinal, cognitive, and behavioral metrics. This will provide valuable and novel insight into how to implement ABC environments in diverse disciplines and institutions over a sustained time period.