Collaborative PBL to Enhance Freshman Design Experience in Digital Engineering

工程-电气(55)该项目正在一年级的数字工程课程中实施基于项目的协作学习(CPBL)。拟议工作的目标是从一年级开始培养学生的工程设计技能，以流水线设计体验激发学生的兴趣和提高留存率，并通过使用平板电脑进行高度互动的教学来提高教学效率。这门新课程与标准的一年级工程概论课程相结合，以帮助克服许多工科学生在前几个学期只遇到数学和科学课程时的挫败感。该项目团队正在开发一套完整的课程材料，其中包括一系列课堂合作项目，这些项目1)激发学生的学习兴趣，使他们更多地参与课堂；2)将课堂上教授的理论与现实世界的设计体验联系起来；3)提供对工程职业的见解；4)创建与后续课程的自然联系。此外，正在与科罗拉多矿业学院合作开发一种基于平板电脑的互动教学技术，以提供实时的课堂演示和互动练习。在外部评估员的指导下，评估工作正在使用各种调查工具、访谈、焦点小组以及对学生产品和记录的分析，以监测项目实现其目标的进展情况。项目团队正在通过网站张贴、出版物和演示文稿，通过标准的工程教育论坛、NSDL以及几个特殊的渠道，如Education aurus、高等教育研讨会中的平板电脑和当地校园教学中心研讨会，传播他们的材料和成果。更广泛的影响包括他们的材料的传播，与当地高中和社区大学的辅导员的接触，以及工程学学生，特别是来自代表性不足群体的学生留住的潜在增加。

Engineering - Electrical (55)The project is implementing collaborative project-based learning (CPBL) in a first-year digital engineering course. The objectives of the proposed work are to foster students' skill in engineering design from the freshman level, to stimulate students' interests and increase the retention rate with a pipelined design experience, and to improve teaching and learning efficiency by highly interactive instruction using Tablet PCs. This new course is combining with the standard first-year introduction to engineering course to help overcome the frustration many engineering students feel when they encounter only mathematics and science courses in the first several semesters. The project team is developing a complete set of course material that includes a series of in-class collaborative projects that 1) stimulate students' learning interest and make them more engaged in the classroom; 2) tie the theory taught in class with a real-world design experience; 3) provide insights into engineering careers; and 4) create a natural link to the subsequent courses. In addition, a Tablet PC based interactive instructional technology is being developed in collaboration with the Colorado School of Mines to provide real-time in-class demos and interactive exercises. Evaluation efforts, under the direction of an external evaluator, are using various survey tools, interviews, focus groups, and the analysis of student products and records to monitor the project's progress toward its objectives. The project team is disseminating their material and results by website postings and by publication and presentations through the standard engineering education forums, through the NSDL, and through several special outlets like Educause, the Tablet PCs in Higher Education Workshop, and a local campus teaching and learning center workshop. Broader impacts include the dissemination of their material, outreach to counselors from local high schools and community colleges, and the potential increase in retention of engineering students, especially students from underrepresented groups.