Understanding the intersection of student motivation and approaches to learning in an engineering Problem Solving Studio

Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

Engineers are valued for the way they solve problems where a strategy is followed that uses simplified, idealized, diagrammatic and mathematical models, and quantitative analyses. Students find this strategy very difficult to learn. This project will investigate an innovative learning environment, called the problem solving studio (PSS), that previous pilot studies have suggested help students learn engineering ways of thinking. This project will build on these pilot studies to answer the following questions: 1) How does PSS affect the approaches students take to learning, as compared to more traditional lecture-based courses? 2) How does PSS affect students' sense of empowerment? and 3) What are the relationships among students' approaches to learning, their sense of empowerment, and their learning? The project will identify the key principles and design criteria that are needed to create an effective flipped classroom, which is a new student-centered approach to instruction that is rapidly gaining popularity in engineering departments. Outcomes from this project will improve understanding of how to effectively teach entry-level engineering courses, and will shed light on why most, but not all, students thrive in flipped classroom learning environments. The project has the potential to transform how engineering faculty configure their gateway courses for greater student motivation, more effective approaches to learning, and most importantly, greater gains in how well students learn to think like engineers. The project holds promise for providing instructors a road map to success for flipping their classrooms, thus increasing the number of STEM faculty who are engaged in this effective pedagogy.