Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T15:21:42.179Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Getting Students Interested in Material Science and Engineering Through A Realistic Nanotechnology Modeling Problem

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Tamara J. Moore
Tamara J. Moore*
Affiliation:
[email protected], University of Minnesota, Curriculum and Instruction, 230A Peik Hall, 159 Pillsbury Drive SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, United States
Get access

Abstract

Attracting students to engineering is a challenge. In addition, ABET requires that engineering graduates be able to work on multi-disciplinary teams and apply mathematics and science when solving engineering problems. One manner of integrating teamwork and engineering contexts in a first-year foundation engineering course is through the use of Model-Eliciting Activities (MEAs) - realistic, client-driven problems based on the models and modeling theoretical framework. A Model-Eliciting Activity (MEA) is a real-world client-driven problem. The solution of an MEA requires the use of one or more mathematical or engineering concepts that are unspecified by the problem - students must make new sense of their existing knowledge and understandings to formulate a generalizable mathematical model that can be used by the client to solve the given and similar problems. An MEA creates an environment in which skills beyond mathematical abilities are valued because the focus is not on the use of prescribed equations and algorithms but on the use of a broader spectrum of skills required for effective engineering problem-solving. Carefully constructed MEAs can begin to prepare students to communicate and work effectively in teams; to adopt and adapt conceptual tools; to construct, describe, and explain complex systems; and to cope with complex systems. MEAs provide a learning environment that is tailored to a more diverse population than typical engineering course experiences as they allow students with different backgrounds and values to emerge as talented, and that adapting these types of activities to engineering courses has the potential to go beyond “filling the gaps” to “opening doors” to women and underrepresented populations in engineering. Further, MEAs provide evidence of student development in regards to ABET standards. Through NSF-funded grants, multiple MEAs have been developed and implemented with a MSE-flavored nanotechnology theme. This paper and presentation will focus on the content, implementation, and student results of these MEAs.

Keywords

educationnanoscalecoating
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1046: Symposium W – Forum on Materials Science and Engineering Education for 2020 , 2007 , 1046-W04-01
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Gainsburg, J., Math. Think. & Learn., 8 (1), 3-361 (2006).Google Scholar
2.Math. Assoc. of Amer, Proc. of curr. found. wksp in engineering, Clemson University, (2000).Google Scholar
3. Smith, K.A., Teamwork and Project Management, 2nd ed. (McGraw-Hill, Boston, MA, 2004).Google Scholar
4. Starfield, A.M., Smith, K.A., and Bleloch, A.L., How to Model It: Problem Solving for the Computer Age. (Interaction Book Company, Edina, MN, 1994).Google Scholar
5. Lesh, R. and Lamon, S.J., Eds. Assessment of Authentic School Mathematics. (AAAS Press, Washington, DC, 1992).Google Scholar
6. Wiggins, G., Educative Assessment: Designing Assessment to Inform and Improve Student Performance. (Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1998).Google Scholar
7. Zawojewski, J., Diefes-Dux, H.A. and Bowman, K., Eds., Models and Modeling in Engineering Education: Designing Experiences for All Students. (Manuscript in progress, 2008).Google Scholar
8. Diefes-Dux, H.A., Imbrie, P.K., and Moore, T.J., First-Year Engineering Themed Seminar – A Mechanism for Conveying the Interdisciplinary Nature of Engineering. (2005 ASEE National Conference, Portland, OR, 2005).Google Scholar
9. Lesh, R., Hoover, M., Hole, B., Kelly, A., and Post, T., Principles for Developing Thought-Revealing Activities for Students and Teachers. In Handbook of Research Design in Mathematics and Science Education (Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ, 591–645, 2000).Google Scholar
10. Lesh, R. and Doerr, H., Eds., Beyond Constructivism: Models and Modeling Perspectives on Mathematics Problem Solving, Learning, and Teaching, (Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ, 2003).Google Scholar
11. Diefes-Dux, H.A., Moore, T.J., Zawojewski, J., Imbrie, P.K., and Follman, D., A Framework for Posing Open-Ended Engineering Problems: Model-Eliciting Activities, (Paper presented at the FIE Conference, Savannah, 2004).Google Scholar
12.ABET, Criteria for Accrediting Programs in Engineering. (ABET, Inc., Baltimore, MA, 2004).Google Scholar
13. Chamberlin, M.T., Math. Teach Ed & Dev 6 (1), 61–72 (2004).Google Scholar
14. Diefes-Dux, H.A., Bowman, K., Zawojewski, J.S., and Hjalmarson, M., J. STEM Ed., 7 (1 & 2), 51–63 (2006).Google Scholar
15. Hjalmarson, M., Diefes-Dux, H.A., Bowman, K., and Zawojewski, J.S., J. STEM Ed., 7 (1 & 2), 64–73 (2006).Google Scholar
16. Lesh, R. and Harel, G., Math Think & Learn, 5, (2003).Google Scholar
17. Richardson, S.L., A Design of Useful Implementation Projects for the Development, Diffusion and Appropriation of Knowledge in Mathematic Classrooms. Doctoral dissertation, Purdue University, W. Laf., IN (2004).Google Scholar
18. Lesh, R., The Development of Representational Abilities in Middle School Mathematics. In Sigel, I. E., Ed., Development of Mental Representation - Theories and Applications (Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ, 323–350 (1999).Google Scholar
19. Carmona, G., Designing An Assessment Tool To Describe Students' Mathematical Knowledge. Doctoral dissertation, Purdue University, W. Laf., IN (2004).Google Scholar
20. Lesh, R., and Clarke, D., Formulating Operational Definitions of Desired Outcomes of Instruction in Mathematics and Science Education. In Lesh, R. and Kelley, E. A., Eds., Handbook of Research Design in Mathematics and Science Education (Lawrence Earlbaum, Mahawah, NJ, 113–152, 2000).Google Scholar
21. Koleza, E. and Iatridou, M., Experimentation: The Hidden Part of Problem Solving (10th ICME, Denmark, 2004).Google Scholar
22. Sriraman, B., Conceptualizing the Notion of Model Eliciting (Fourth Congress of the ESRME, Spain, 2005).Google Scholar
23. Follman, D.K., Liguore, C.V., and Watkins, C.T., Work In Progress - Male and Female Engineering Student Roles and Interaction Styles on Online Collaborative Learning Teams (ASEE/IEEE FIE Savannah, GA, 2004).Google Scholar
24. Wood, T., Moss, E., and Zapato, C., Learning from Observations to Establish Researchable Questions. In Zawojewski, J., Diefes-Dux, H.A. & Bowman, K., Eds., Models and Modeling in Engineering Education: Designing Experiences for All Students. (Manuscript in progress, 2007).Google Scholar
25. Diefes-Dux, H.A., Follman, D., Imbrie, P.K., Zawojewski, J., Capobianco, B., and Hjalmarson, M.A., MEAs: An In-Class Approach to Improving Interest and Persistence of Women in Engineering (ASEE, Salt Lake, 2004).Google Scholar
26. Moore, T.J., Diefes-Dux, H.A., and Imbrie, P.K., How Team Effectiveness Impacts the Quality of Solutions to Open-Ended Problems. (ICREE, published in the October J. of Engr. Ed., 2007).Google Scholar
27. Moore, T.J., Diefes-Dux, H.A., and Imbrie, P.K., Assessment of Team Effectiveness During Complex Mathematical Modeling Tasks. (FIE, San Diego, CA, 2006).Google Scholar
28. Moore, T.J., Diefes-Dux, H.A., and Imbrie, P.K.. The Quality of Solutions to Open-Ended Problem Solving Activities and its Relation to First-Year Student Team Effectiveness (ASEE, Chicago, IL, 2006).Google Scholar
29. Moore, T.J., Diefes-Dux, H.A., and Imbrie, P.K., Model-Eliciting Activities: A Curricular Tool to Measure First-Year Engineering Students' Perception of Learning Problem Solving and Teaming (FIE, Indianapolis, IN, 2005).Google Scholar