The purpose of this study was to explore relationships between teaching methods and students' learning and satisfaction in statics courses. This study explored the teaching methods that were used in sophomore-level statics courses taught by three different instructors. The teaching methods ranged from fairly standard lecture with numerous example problems worked during class to flipped class that was highly interactive. Faculty interviews and student focus groups provided insight into the course from both perspectives. Students took a statics concept inventory to gauge topic-based knowledge as well as a separate self-assessment of their learning gains. Results show no clear link between instructional methods and student understanding of statics concepts but do show a student preference for the more active, student-centered classrooms. Faculty member interviews showed a trend toward teaching based on personal philosophy of how their efforts will affect student learning. These preliminary results serve as initial insight into faculty and student perspectives of the engineering science courses that are typical of the sophomore year in engineering.
Boulder. She has taught in the areas of education research and leadership development and served as a design team adviser. She is earning her PhD in engineering education with a focus on leadership development.
Despite an elusive definition of engineering leadership, educators and researchers forge ahead to identify disparate and complementary theories which frame engineering leadership.
is the Director of the Idea Forge-a flexible, cross-disciplinary design space at University of Colorado Boulder. She is also the Design Center Colorado Director of Undergraduate Programs and a Senior Instructor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. She received B.S. and M.S degrees in mechanical engineering from The Ohio State University and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder. Kotys-Schwartz has focused her research in engineering student learning, retention, and student identity development within the context of engineering design. She is currently investigating the impact of cultural norms in an engineering classroom context, performing comparative studies between engineering education and professional design practices, examining holistic approaches to student retention, and exploring informal learning in engineering education.c American Society for Engineering Education, 2016
Assessment of a Cross-Disciplinary University Startup Accelerator AbstractThis paper focuses on the second year assessment results of Catalyze CU, a university startup accelerator at the University of Colorado Boulder. This annual intensive, 9-week program provides interdisciplinary, university-affiliated businesses with equity-free grants, mentorship, workspace, and prototyping capabilities. The program culminates in a demo day where companies give their business pitches to the local entrepreneurial community.The program model emulates professional startup accelerators in the entrepreneurial community while keeping in mind best practices from other university accelerators. The model is mentorship-based, focused on transitioning teams from early product concepts to start-up ready companies. Activities that are core to the Catalyze CU program include a full cohort update, individual team accountability meetings, skill-building workshops, mentor office hours, and social events.Assessment of Catalyze CU focused on goals related to the development of a university startup accelerator. Methodology for assessment included a pre-survey and post-survey given to program participants and one mid-point focus group, facilitated by a university assessment specialist. Results show success in reaching program goals and opportunities for improvement in reaching goals. The program received good feedback on its pitch practice support in particular. Suggested improvements for future Catalyze CU programing included better development of business and financial acumen, a stronger effort to involve the local entrepreneurial community, and an improved effort in teaching participating teams how to assess their own projects.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.