Assessing and Evaluating Student Work on Modeling Activities Imbedded in a First-Year Engineering Problem Solving Course

该项目正在制定一个原则和指导方针框架，以评估和评价学生对数学模型引出活动的反应。这种模型在2002年被引入到一年级的工程课程中，以调查其改变女性对工程的兴趣和坚持的潜力。这项早期工作的结果表明，使用工程背景和概念来开发教学环境（任务和教学法）已经实现了提高女性兴趣的目标。同时也提高了国际学生和传统工科本科学生的兴趣。最初的实施工作包括非正式地关注对学生的形成性反馈，以便分配分数。我们现在正在开发系统的方法和原型来评估和评估学生对这些复杂问题的反应。正在制订的评估/评价工具纳入了（由专家确定的）高级别业绩标准。它们正在进行现场测试，以确定它们在应用中的跨等级可靠性。我们的工作目标是为评估和评估学生在数学建模活动中的工作提供原型包，以达到多种目的：(1)为学生对特定问题的中间解决方案草稿提供形成性反馈；(2)确定教师之间一致的成绩；(3)为首次学习将数学建模活动纳入第一年工程课程的教师提供专业发展；(4)为想要学习如何使用形成性评估并为这些类型的活动确定分数的教师提供专业发展；(5)在学生成绩报告中进行正式的研究和评估。1. 在第一年的工程课程中持续发展和使用建模活动有可能实现持久的课程改革，为学生提供实质性的好处。我们也相信，有一个强大的潜力，获得的知识将转移（或扩散）到工程学院的其他课程和其他大学。除非有经过实地检验和可靠的评估/评价工具，以及开发这些工具的框架和使用这些工具的专业发展机制，否则这些潜力将无法充分发挥。我们迫切需要评估/评估工具，以增强对学生的中间解决方案草稿的形成性反馈，并确保教师评估的一致性，并为此类复杂活动的评估性质提供原型。这些工具不仅将加强实施工作，而且还提供了研究学生在参与这些类型的活动后学到什么的方法。更广泛的影响该项目将促进工程教育工作者社区的发展，使他们能够更好地教授和评估学生在开放式复杂问题上的工作，促进工程和数学教育研究社区在评估学生在复杂问题解决情况下的学习方面的经验，促进工程毕业生骨干队伍更好地解决下一代复杂问题。

This project is developing a framework of principles and guidelines to assess and evaluate student responses to mathematical model-eliciting activities. This kind of modeling was introduced into the first-year engineering course in 2002 to investigate its potential for changing the interest and persistence of women in engineering. Results of this early work demonstrate that the use of engineering contexts and concepts to develop instructional settings (tasks and pedagogy) has accomplished the goal of increasing women's interest. Simultaneously it has enhanced the interest of international students and traditional engineering undergraduate students. The initial implementation work included informal attention to formative feedback to students for the purpose of assigning grades. We are now developing systematic methods and prototypes for assessing and evaluating students' responses to these complex problems. The assessment/evaluation tools being developed are incorporating criteria for high-level performance (as determined by experts). They are being field-tested for inter-rater reliability in their application. The objectives of our work are to produce prototype packages for assessing and evaluating student work on mathematical modeling activities to serve multiple purposes: (1) provide formative feedback on students' intermediate draft solutions to particular problems; (2) determine grades consistently across instructors; (3) provide for professional development of instructors who are first learning to incorporate mathematical modeling activities into first year-engineering courses; (4) provide for professional development of instructors who want to learn how to use formative assessment and determine grades for these types of activities; and (5) perform formal research and evaluation in the reporting of students' performance. 1. Intellectual MeritThis continued development and use of the modeling activities in the first-year engineering course has the potential to achieve lasting curriculum reform that provides substantial benefits to students. We also believe that there is a strong potential that the knowledge gained will transfer (or diffuse) to other courses in the College of Engineering and to other universities. These potentials will not be fully realized until there are field-tested and reliable assessment/evaluation tools, as well as frameworks for developing these tools and professional development mechanisms for using these tools. There is a dire need for assessment/evaluation tools that enhance the formative feedback given to students on their intermediate draft solutions, and that ensure consistency in evaluation across instructors, and that provide a prototype for the nature of evaluation of such complex activity. These tools will not only enhance implementation efforts but also provide ways in which to conduct research into what students learn as a result of engaging in these types of activities.2. Broader ImpactThis project is contributing to growing a community of engineering educators better able to teach with and assess student work on open-ended complex problems, an engineering and mathematics education research community with experience in assessing student learning in complex problem-solving situations, and a cadre of engineering graduates better able to solve the next generation of complex problems.