All students have preferences for the way they receive and distribute information when the objective is learning. These preferences can be shown to have an effect on self-efficacy and on performance. The relationships between learning preference, self-efficacy and performance were studied using survey and grade data obtained from a first-year Engineering Design and Graphics course. The students were placed in one of three groups according to the modality (type) of design project they were given; a Simulation-Based project (SIM) using a software simulation tool, a Prototyping project (PRT) using a 3D printer, or a Simulation and Prototyping project (SAP) where they had to complete a design using both tools. Participants were given a custom survey that assessed self-efficacy and the VARK learning styles inventory which assesses learners on Visual, Aural, Read / Write and Kinesthetic learning preferences. 97 students were surveyed representing a response rate of 22.6%. Student performance was assessed by examining scores on a subset of questions related to design visualization on the final examination for the course. Data analysis involved examining the correlation between learning style and self-efficacy, and scores on final examination for each of the three course modality groups. Findings from this study include higher performance for Kinesthetic learners assigned a simulation-based project and low performance for Read/Write learners with a prototyping project. This study supports the hypothesis that student performance may depend on learning preferences coupled with design project modality.
Self-efficacy, a belief that one can achieve a certain level of attainment, is important to student retention in engineering and technology fields. Developing ways to increase self-efficacy should be a primary concern for engineering programs. Several key tasks will be investigated including (a) the importance of design projects to self-efficacy in first-year engineering, and (b) making first-year engineering students feel like engineers. A team-based “Cornerstone” design project was undertaken by first-year engineering students as part of a Design and Graphics course. Two groups of first- year engineering students were surveyed, (1) students who had completed the course and design project in first term, and (2) students who were enrolled in the second term offering of the same course, before completing the design project. The survey focused on Bandura’s four identified sources of self-efficacy: (a) Mastery experiences, (b) Vicarious experiences, (c) Social persuasions, and (d) Physiological states, as well as a fifth often added characteristic (e) Drive and motivation. Additionally, students were asked to quantify their agreement or disagreement to the statement “I feel like an Engineer.” This paper will present the results between these two groups and will be of interest to faculty involved in freshmen design.
The skill of visualization is fundamental to the teaching and learning of engineering design and graphics. Implicit in any skill is the ability to improve with training and practice. This study examines visualization performance using three teaching modalities of a Freshmen Design and Graphics course: 1) Traditional, 2) Project based Dissection, and 3) Simulation based Design. The first and second modalities focused assessment on the part/assembly form, whereas the third modality transitioned the outcome expectations to understanding and function of mechanism design. A shift of focus from Traditional (Form) to Simulation (Function) was expected to positively effect visualization performance. Analogously, medical education and practice also require visualization and high-fidelity simulation has provided numerous positive outcomes for the practice of medicine. Comparison of a random population of 375 from each year indicated a decline in the average visualization scores. Further analysis revealed that highest 100 and 250 exam score populations show improvement in average scores with consistent variance. This paper will examine simulation based learning in medicine and engineering, present our findings on the comparison between teaching modalities, and discuss the reasons for the unexpected bifurcation of results.
Visualization literature suggests that solid-modeling software tools improve visualization skills as a result of interaction with the model. As an extension of these findings, the authors proposed that product dissection and real-time simulation of the model should further improve visualization. Our prior study examined visualization performance using solid-modeling in three teaching modalities of a Freshmen Design and Graphics course: 1) Traditional, 2) Project Based Dissection, and 3) Simulation Based Design. The first and second modalities focused assessment on the part/assembly form, whereas the third modality transitioned the outcome expectations to understanding and function of mechanism design. Our comparison between teaching modalities revealed an unexpected bifurcation of results where the top performing group from several years of data demonstrated slight performance improvement with consistent variance, while the lower performing group decreased in performance with substantial increase in variance. It was proposed that the abstract nature of mentally reconstructing a solid-model or real- time simulation was a potential factor in the lower performing group. In September 2013 the author implemented rapid prototyping capability as pilot study in improving the traditional Design & Graphics course. This paper will discuss the implementation of rapid prototyping and present the preliminary results on visualization performance. This paper will be of interest to educators interested in first year Design & Graphics.
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