Collaborative Research/Research Initiation: What Practice Makes Perfect

实践在培养任何工作的有用能力方面都起着重要的作用。尽管实践在竞技体育和音乐表演中得到了广泛的研究，但在工程教育中却没有得到充分的研究。随着训练和练习策略的进步，运动员和音乐家不断创造新的记录。练习的黄金标准被发现是“刻意练习”，它非常强调练习的特殊性。为了获得优异的表现，优秀的表演者必须针对特定的技能缺陷进行量身定制的练习，就像他们作为初学者练习以获得快速进步一样。相比之下，工科学生很少有这样具体的练习。例如，学生通常用课本上的问题来练习，这些问题可能超出他们目前的技能水平。这样的做法将导致没有或很少的进展，并降低信心。让学生参与有效的实践以提高学习效率是至关重要的。拟议的研究将检验在门户工程力学课程（即静力学和动力学）中定制实践策略的有效性，这些课程对工程专业学生的保留率有很大影响。特别的重点将是探索哪些类型的刻意练习可以帮助学生在最初的学习阶段和后来的记忆阶段更有效。此外，本研究还将探讨有利于工程学院获取知识和技能进行工程教育研究的实践策略。从这项研究中获得的发现和见解将扩大工程教育研究人员的社区，并加快采用循证教学策略。这项研究将在安柏瑞德航空大学进行。三种策略（即向后消退练习、模块化练习和间隔练习）对发展和巩固问题解决能力的影响将在门户课程中进行研究。将使用混合方法。多变量和单变量统计模型将用于分析从平衡研究设计中收集的数据，以控制混杂因素。将收集定量数据来分析学习表现，并将定性数据用于将定量结果置于背景中并改进实践。该项目的智力价值体现在提高力学课程及其他课程的实践设计知识，通过实践产生关于学生力学概念和程序知识变化的更详细信息，以及为扩大工程教育研究界提供见解。该项目的广泛影响是研究本身固有的，因为该项目的研究结果不仅将影响490名工科本科生并增强学习机制，而且还具有改善其他应用科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）领域的学习的潜力，这些领域的实践是主要的学习机制。随着安柏瑞德航空大学越来越多地在STEM项目中招募女性、残疾人和代表性不足的少数民族，该项目将有助于STEM劳动力的多样化。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Practice plays an important role in developing useful abilities for almost any undertaking. Although practice has been studied extensively in competitive sports and musical performance, it is understudied within engineering education. With advancements in training and practice strategies, athletes and musicians have kept setting new records. The gold standard for practice has been discovered as "deliberate practice" which puts great emphasis on practice specificity. To achieve superior performance, elite performers must practice with tailored drills focused on specific skill deficiencies just as how they practiced as beginners to gain rapid progress. In contrast, engineering students rarely practice with such specificity. For example, students usually practice with textbook problems which might exceed their current skill level. Such practice will result in no or little progress and reduced confidence. It is critical to engage students with effective practice to enhance learning efficiency. The proposed study will examine the effectiveness of tailored practice strategies in the gateway engineering mechanics courses (i.e., Statics and Dynamics) which have a high impact on engineering student retention. Special focus will be given to exploring what types of deliberate practice can help students more effectively in the initial learning stage as well as in the later retention phase. Additionally, this research initiation will also investigate practice strategies which benefit engineering faculty in acquiring knowledge and skills for conducting engineering education research. Findings and insights gained from this research will expand the community of engineering education researchers and expedite the adoption of evidence-based instructional strategies.The study will be conducted at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The effects of three strategies (i.e., backwards faded practice, modular practice, and spaced practice) on developing and consolidating problem solving skills will be investigated in the gateway courses. Mixed-methods will be used. Multivariate and univariate statistical models will be utilized to analyze data collected from the counterbalanced research design with the benefit of controlling confounding factors. Quantitative data will be collected to analyze learning performance and qualitative data will be used to contextualize quantitative findings as well as refine practice. The intellectual merits of the project are manifested by advancing knowledge of practice design for mechanics courses and beyond, generating information in greater detail about changes to students' conceptual and procedure knowledge of mechanics through practice, as well as providing insights on expanding the engineering education research community. The broad impacts of the project are intrinsic to the research itself because the findings from this project will not only impact 490 undergraduate engineering students and enhance learning mechanics, but also have the potential to improve learning in other applicable science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) areas in which practice serves as a major learning mechanism. With Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's increasing effort on recruiting women, people with disabilities, and underrepresented minorities in the STEM programs, the project will contribute in diversifying the STEM workforce.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.