CU Thinking: Research to Practice

Clemson University, Clemson SC

Investigators

Abstract

This project which is jointly funded by the Office of Cyberinfrastructure and the Division of Engineering Education and Centers will extend an existing research tool used to assess students' problem solving abilities, MuseInk, into a tool for feedback-rich instructional delivery. MuseInk, developed by a Co-PI (Bowman), is a novel Tablet PC application that assists researchers in studying problem solving strategies. MuseInk is currently in use by the research group to investigate how students with different academic preparation and prior knowledge progress in developing problem-solving skills in a first year engineering program. The specific goals of this project are to 1) harden MuseInk and add functionality specific for instruction, 2) expand and develop new built-in analysis tools and visualizations in MuseInk, and 3) develop an online community for MuseInk adopters to share materials, ideas, and support. The outcomes of ?CU Thinking: Research to Practice? will open a communication channel between classroom practitioners and researchers and facilitate the translation of research to practice. Through the development of advanced features and visualizations within MuseInk, the community of adopters will be able to share best practices of MuseInk adoption for both in-class and out-of-class educational experiences. At the same time, the development of the community will enable greater opportunities for collaboration on instructional materials, assessment methodologies, and research projects. The feedback from users, observation of community interactions, and analysis of the assessments and materials developed by researchers and instructors will sustainably drive the future direction of MuseInk development.