Improving the Problem Solving Skills of Engineering Undergraduate Students by Infusing Engineering Design in Introductory Physics

该项目旨在通过提高工科学生在基于微积分的物理入门课程的背景下解决问题的技能来服务于国家利益。在21世纪的劳动力中，解决问题的技能至关重要。例如，工程师和科学家经常必须解决复杂的、定义不清的问题。相比之下，大多数本科生科学入门课程的重点是简单、明确的问题。该项目旨在提高学生解决问题的技能，使他们的技能更好地与STEM劳动力的挑战和需求保持一致。面向未来工程师和科学家的物理入门课程将通过将复杂和定义不明确的工程设计问题整合到实验室经验中来进行改造。该项目将为新课程的助教提供持续的专业发展，以便他们能够有效地实施这一新方法。除了开发将工程设计整合到基于微积分的物理入门课程中的教学材料、工具和资源之外，该项目还将建立一套设计原则，用于在其他本科STEM课程中发展类似的经验。通过提高学生解决问题的技能，该项目有望为STEM劳动力做出贡献，使他们更好地准备满足专业的问题解决期望，并最终带来更好的工程解决方案。这个项目是物理和工程教育方面的教师之间的合作努力。学生在第一年工程课程中使用的工程设计过程模型也将用于学生同时选修的物理课程。因此，该项目将为第一年的工程和物理课程的学生提供强化的学习经验，以促进不同背景之间的知识转移。这个项目的目标是(A)开发三个为期数周的模块，将工程设计与力学基本原理的学习结合在一起，(B)将这些模块部署在面向未来工程师和科学家的第一学期基于微积分的物理课程的每周实验室部分，(C)准备研究生和本科生助教，以促进使用工程设计学习物理，(D)评估这些干预措施对学生解决问题的专业知识、元认知能力和物理概念知识的影响。该项目的研究性研究将调查与更结构化的学习经验相比，工程设计过程对学生物理学习的促进或阻碍程度，以及如何支撑学习以满足不同水平的先前知识，学生将学习迁移到其他环境的程度，对元认知和学习的影响，以及物理助教关于工程设计的知识的程度及其在项目期间的变化。为一所大型公立大学的工程师修订的微积分物理课程每年将为约2400名学生提供服务，其中约40%将是女性或来自STEM中没有公平代表的群体的学生。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving engineering students’ problem-solving skills in the context of an introductory calculus-based physics course. Problem solving skills are critical in the 21st Century workforce. For example, engineers and scientists often must solve complex, ill-defined problems. In contrast, most introductory undergraduate science courses focus on simple, well-defined problems. This project addresses the need to improve students’ problem-solving skills so that their skills will better align with the challenges and demands in the STEM workforce. The introductory physics course for future engineers and scientists will be transformed by integrating complex and ill-defined engineering design problems into laboratory experiences. The project will provide teaching assistants in the new course with ongoing professional development so they can effectively implement this new approach. In addition to developing instructional materials, tools, and resources for integrating engineering design in an introductory calculus-based physics course, the project will establish a set of design principles for developing similar experiences in other undergraduate STEM courses. By improving students’ problem-solving skills, the project is expected to contribute to a STEM workforce that is better prepared to meet professional problem solving expectations, and ultimately lead to better engineering solutions. This project is a collaborative effort between faculty in physics and engineering education. An engineering design process model that students use in their first-year engineering course will also be used in a physics course that students take concurrently. Thus, the project will provide reinforcing learning experiences for students in their first-year engineering and physics courses to promote transfer of knowledge between contexts. The goals of this project are to (a) Develop three multi-week modules that integrate engineering design and learning of foundational principles of mechanics, (b) Deploy these modules in the weekly laboratory section of a first-semester calculus-based physics course for future engineers and scientists, (c) Prepare graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants to facilitate learning physics using engineering design, (d) Assess the impact of these interventions on students’ problem-solving expertise, metacognitive ability, and conceptual knowledge in physics. The project’s research study will investigate the extent to which the process of engineering design enhances or impedes student learning of physics, compared to more structured learning experiences, as well as how to scaffold the learning to meet different levels of prior knowledge, the extent of students’ transfer of learning to other contexts, impact on metacognition and learning, and the extent of physics teaching assistants’ knowledge about engineering design and how it changes during the project. The revised calculus-based physics course for engineers at a large public university will serve about 2400 students annually, of which about 40% will be women or students from groups that are not equitably represented in STEM. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.