iCollaborate - MSE

Western Washington University, Bellingham WA

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of the project is to use the iPod Touch to transform an introductory material science and engineering (MSE) course from a deductive practice to an inductive teaching and learning environment. The investigators are developing six multi-part MSE education applications for the iPod Touch that are designed to facilitate and support six new collaborative and innovative active learning modules that target specific student learning objectives which are known to be challenging for many students in MSE courses. They hypothesize that using these active modules in collaborative groups with data, visuals, audio, and information from the iPod Touch, will lead to improvements in student learning, engagement and retention, especially for women and other underrepresented groups in engineering technology programs. MSE education applications for this project are being freely disseminated through the Apple Applications store and are available to all others on the web as a Wiki. The evaluation effort, under the direction of an outside evaluator, is using pre- and post-course concept evaluations, grades on exams and research papers, and primary trait analyses on these student products. Broader impacts include a significant dissemination effort and the focus on underrepresented groups.