Assessment techniques for a learning-centered curriculum: evaluation design for Adventures in Supercomputing

Abstract

Program BackgroundThe goal of the AIS program is to foster a d enhance the participation of diverse populations of high school students in mathematics, science, and computing. Program ElementsTeacher Training: Initially, teachers on the Ais team in each school receive two weeks intensive training during the Summer Institute. In addition, two workshops and follow-up week-long summer institutes are held to provide training on new technologies and strategies to infuse the technology into the classroom. Curriculum:The Ais curriculum is a leamercentered computational science course which cuts across the disciplines of mathematics, scicnce, and engineering and fosters the use of computcrs and technology as tools to simulate a variety of complex, real world problems. To provide the focus for the AiS class, students work in tcanis to dcvclop a ycar-long projcct. Tcaclicrs illc encouraged to serve as facilitators of learning, to guide their students to research appropriate materials and to acquire mentors who will help students define and focus their project. The students' progression on their projects resembles the manner in which real research teams approach solving problems.To promote the use or Ais in the classroom, a high school computational science textbook has been

The Impact of a Simulation and Problem-Based Learning Design Project on Student Learning and Teamwork Skills

“…This study is among the few to use a performance assessment to measure student learning, and one of the few to address the measurement of teamwork skills in an engineering context. For other examples of use of assessment in engineering education, see Dillon, Kondraske, Everett, and Volz (2000); Helland and Summers (1996);McMartin, McKenna, and Youssefi (2000); and Newstetter and Khan (1997). For assessment issues related to teamwork, see Aller (1993); Chung, O'Neil, and Herl (1999); Gentili et al (1999); Jacobson, Davis, and Licklider (1998);McKenna, Mongia, and Agogino (1998); and Seat, Poppen, Boone, and Parsons (1996).…”