Improving the Conceptual Mastery of Engineering Students in High Enrollment Engineering Courses through Oral Exams

该项目旨在通过提高学生对低年级工程课程的概念理解来服务于国家利益，为未来的成功奠定基础。掌握基本概念是学生成功和坚持不懈的工程项目的关键。为了获得这种掌握并为工程师的终身学习做好准备，学生需要制定有效的学习策略。由于评估驱动学生的学习策略，本项目将实施和评估高招生介绍工程课程的口试。 口试将用于评估学生对基本概念的理解，这是很难衡量使用传统的考试和测验。一个新的培训计划将被创建，以准备教师和助教管理口试。该项目还将提供指导方针，帮助工程教育工作者在其他课程中实施口试。口试将引导学生使用学习策略，提高概念掌握和批判性思维。通过加强学生的口头沟通技巧，口试也可以帮助他们为工程劳动力做好准备。本项目将通过对大学生工科核心课程口试有效性的新认识，为口试研究增添新的内容，旨在提高大学生工科概念掌握和批判性思维能力。批判性思维已被确定为工程专业毕业生的基本技能和概念掌握是一个先决条件。它已经表明，学生采用学习策略的基础上，他们将如何评估。例如，如果考试本质上是程序性的，学生将追求程序性知识，而不是深入的概念理解。因此，评估在衡量学生的概念理解水平和指导学生选择学习策略以实现更好的概念掌握和批判性思维技能方面发挥着重要作用。口语考试的适应性对话性质有望改善概念掌握的评估和学生的学习策略。然而，口语考试的信度、效度和可扩展性等问题还没有得到充分的解决。该项目将创建一个框架，将口试纳入核心本科工程课程，补充现有的评估策略。该项目的关键要素是整个教学团队（教员和教学助理）的参与，并强调培训，包括考虑偏见和残疾学生等问题。该项目将采用循证评价方法实施一项迭代设计战略。口试的有效性将通过跟踪学生在一门课程的连续口试以及其他课程的概念问题上的进步来评估。培训计划将免费提供给其他机构的教师，他们有兴趣使用口试进行评估。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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 the conceptual understanding of students in the lower division engineering courses that build the foundation for future success. Mastery of basic concepts is essential for student success and perseverance in engineering programs. To gain this mastery and prepare for life-long learning as engineers, students need to develop effective learning strategies. Since assessments drive students’ learning strategies, this project will implement and evaluate oral exams in high enrollment introductory engineering courses. The oral exams will be used to assess students’ understanding of fundamental concepts, which is difficult to measure using traditional exams and quizzes. A new training program will be created to prepare faculty and teaching assistants to administer oral exams. The project will also provide guidelines to help engineering educators implement oral exams in other courses. It is expected that the oral exams will guide students to use learning strategies that enhance conceptual mastery and critical thinking. By strengthening students’ verbal communication skills, oral exams can also help prepare them for the engineering workforce. This project will add to research on oral exams by contributing new knowledge about the effectiveness of oral exams in undergraduate engineering core courses.The goal of the project is to improve undergraduate students’ conceptual mastery and critical thinking skills in engineering. Critical thinking has been identified as an essential skill for engineering graduates and conceptual mastery is a prerequisite. It has been shown that students adopt learning strategies based on how they will be assessed. For example, if an exam is procedural in nature, students will pursue procedural knowledge over deep conceptual understanding. Thus, assessment plays an important role in measuring the level of students' conceptual understanding and in guiding students' selection of learning strategies toward achieving greater concept mastery and critical thinking skills. The adaptive dialogic nature of oral exams holds promise for improving both assessment of conceptual mastery and students’ learning strategies. However, the issues of the reliability, validity, and scalability to high enrollment courses of oral exams have not been fully addressed. This project will create a framework to integrate oral exams in core undergraduate engineering courses, complementing existing assessment strategies. Key elements of the project are the involvement of the entire instructional team (instructors and teaching assistants) and the emphasis on training that includes considerations of issues such as bias and students with disabilities. The project will implement an iterative design strategy using an evidence-based approach of evaluation. The effectiveness of the oral exams will be evaluated by tracking student improvements on conceptual questions across consecutive oral exams in a single course, as well as across other courses. The training program will be made freely available online to faculty at other institutions who are interested in using oral exams for assessment. 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.