MCA: Concept Mapping for Improved Technical Communication in Undergraduates

这项职业生涯中期推进(MCA)项目调查了概念图活动如何影响高级化学和生物工程实验室课程本科生的技术交流技能。其目标是通过增加新的概念图作业来显示学生生成的实验室数据与他们的书面交流之间的联系，从而增强本科生的技术沟通技能。通过调查概念图对学生技术信息交流能力的潜在影响，本研究旨在解决向工程师教授技术交流的挑战。该项目还将探索学生之间的潜在差异，并努力创造一个包容性的学习环境，使学生对他们的技术交流充满信心。在整个项目过程中，首席研究员将由一位在工程教育方面经验丰富的研究员进行指导。这一项目的潜在好处符合国家利益，即具备技术交流技能的训练有素的工程学毕业生加入技术队伍，并扩大开展工程教育研究的能力。概念图将作为一种工具，帮助学生学习如何在书面报告中交流复杂的技术概念。将探讨的研究问题是：1)概念图的使用如何影响学生在实验室课程中的技术沟通技能？2)概念图对不同群体学生的技术沟通技能有什么影响？3)合作开发的概念图对个人的沟通技能及其在沟通任务中的表现有多大影响？以及4)概念图的质量与技术沟通任务的成绩之间有什么关系？为了回答这些问题，将通过调查、访谈和评估收集数据，然后分析这些数据以证明技术沟通技能和信心的增长。该项目的研究结果旨在促进技术交流教学的发展，促进更深层次的学习和理解，并最终加强对工程专业毕业生的准备。此外，这项研究有可能为工程教育工作者提供一个有价值的评估工具，并促进在不同机构和学科的概念图中采用基于证据的做法。该项目得到了NSF IUSE：EDU项目的支持，该项目支持旨在提高所有学生STEM教育有效性的研究和开发项目。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 Mid-Career Advancement (MCA) project investigates how concept mapping activities affect the technical communication skills of undergraduate students in a senior-level chemical and biological engineering laboratory course. The goal is to enhance the technical communication skills of undergraduate students by adding new concept mapping assignments to show connections between student-generated laboratory data and their written communications. By investigating the potential impact of concept mapping on students' ability to communicate technical information, this research aims to address the challenges of teaching technical communication to engineers. This project will also explore potential disparities among students and strive to create an inclusive learning environment that empowers students to have confidence in their technical communications. The principal investigator will be mentored by an experienced researcher in engineering education throughout the project. The potential benefits of this project serve the national interest for well-prepared engineering graduates with technical communication skills to join the technical workforce and expanded capacity to conduct research on engineering education. Concept mapping will be implemented as a tool to support students to learn how to communicate complex technical concepts in written reports. The research questions that will be explored are: 1) How does the use of concept mapping influence students' technical communication skills in the laboratory course?, 2) What are the the impacts of concept mapping on the technical communication skills for different groups of students? 3) To what extent does the collaborative development of concept maps impact individuals' communication skills and their respective performance on communication assignments?, and 4) What is the relationship between the quality of concept maps and scores on technical communication assignments? To answer these questions, data will be collected through surveys, interviews, and assessments, which will then be analyzed for evidence of growth in technical communication skills and confidence. The findings of this project seek to contribute to the advancement of technical communication instruction, promote deeper learning and understanding, and ultimately enhance the preparation of engineering graduates. Additionally, this research has the potential to provide a valuable assessment tool for engineering educators and to facilitate the adoption of evidence-based practices in concept mapping across various institutions and disciplines. This project is supported by the NSF IUSE: EDU program, which supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students.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.