Collaborative Research: In-Class Peer Tutoring: A Model for Engineering Instruction

本研究将在两所赠地大学实施材料力学与静力学课堂同伴辅导计划，并在社会资本的框架下，探讨同伴辅导计划与学生和导师保留态度之间的关系。在这个项目中，ICPT被定义为训练有素且更有经验的学生，在课堂上通过积极的学习练习来帮助学生学习这两门课程。ICPT还战略性地包括导师培训计划和每周课外辅导。社会资本的建构包括社会互动、社会规范以及这些网络和规范的价值。社会资本被广泛用于评估国家、社区、商业和教育层面的社会互动和规范的价值。本提案旨在进一步研究一个已被证明的教学模式，并发展和分享对该模式的更深层次的理解。S对学生留校率、社会资本和对工程学科态度的影响。广泛实施ICPT和社会资本评价措施可以改变本科教育文化。拟议的工作建立在两个外部基础研究来源的基础上。理论认知研究为同伴辅导项目的价值提供了广泛的证据，社会资本研究为研究社会稳健的ICPT项目提供了理论框架。为应对全球经济的挑战而增加工科学生的数量，对提高国家竞争力至关重要。目前工程教育的课堂教学实践缺乏公认的最佳实践，缺乏社会资源让学生与更有经验的学生进行有意义的互动。社会融合一直被证明是工科学生留校和学业成功的重要因素。在工程教育中，缺乏有效的社会整合教学评价方法和工具。该项目的研究成果将补充现有关于同伴辅导对学生社会融合和保持的有效性的研究，并为制定更广泛实施的评估方法提供框架。关于同伴辅导、社会资本和保留的新知识将为目前匮乏的工程教育基础添油加料。

This research project will implement an in-class peer tutoring (ICPT) program in statics and mechanics of materials at two land grant universities, and investigate the relationship between the peer tutoring program and student and tutor attitudes about retention, within the framework of social capital. For this project ICPT is defined as trained and more experienced students assisting students in these two courses with active learning exercises during lecture. The ICPT also strategically includes a tutor training program and out-of-class weekly tutoring. The construct of social capital includes social interactions, norms, and the value of these networks and norms. Social capital has been broadly implemented to assess the value of social interactions and norms at the national, community, business, and education levels. This proposal aims to further investigate a proven instructional model and to develop and share a deeper understanding this model?s effect on student retention, social capital, and attitudes towards the engineering discipline. Broad implementation of ICPT and social capital evaluation measures can transform the undergraduate education culture. The proposed work builds upon two external sources of foundational research. Theoretical cognitive research provides extensive evidence of the value of peer tutoring programs, and social capital research provides the theoretical framework to investigate the socially robust ICPT program. Increasing the number of engineering students prepared for the challenges of the global economy is important for national competitiveness. Current classroom instructional practices in engineering education fall short of recognized best practices, lacking the social resources for students to participate in meaningful interactions with more experienced students. Social integration is consistently shown to be a vital factor in the retention and academic success of engineering students. There is a shortage of assessment methods and instruments to evaluate effective socially integrative teaching in the business of engineering education. Research findings from this project will add to existing research on the effectiveness of peer tutoring on student social integration and retention and provide a framework for developing more broadly implementable assessment methods. New knowledge about peer tutoring, social capital and retention will add to a presently sparse base in engineering education.