Concept To Question: Creation Of An Electronics Concept Inventory Exam

Simoni, Mario; Herniter, Marc E.; Ferguson, Bruce

doi:10.18260/1-2--12965

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Therefore, this paper also related BEK scores to performance on a simulation‐based task in electronics, known as the Three‐Resistor Activity. The results did show that even high basic content knowledge in electronics was not necessarily sufficient for being successful on more complex tasks, consistent with Simoni et al (2004) in two ways. First, about 10% of those completing one or fewer levels and about 13% of those attempting two or fewer levels of the simulation‐based task scored in the highest performance quartile on the BEK assessment.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…The respective results are shown in Tables 6 and 7 7 . Even with the complexity and inherent difficulty of the different task levels within the simulation‐based electronics task, these results appear to support the notion proposed by Simoni et al (2004) that high conceptual knowledge is necessary, but not sufficient, to attain related mastery of the overall domain. This is based on the fact that (a) about 10% of those completing one or fewer levels and about 13% of those attempting two or fewer levels of the simulation‐based electronics task scored in the highest performance quartile on the BEK assessment and (b) only about half of students in the highest performance quartile completed at least three levels of the simulation‐based electronics task.…”

Section: Research Questionsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…Subsequently, the relationship between BEK scores and performance on the simulation‐based electronics task is discussed. Score patterns from the BEK assessment and from the performance assessment will be used to support Simoni et al's (2004) assertion, noted previously, that high conceptual knowledge is necessary, but not sufficient, to attain related mastery of the overall domain.…”

Section: Measuring Engineering Skillsmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Means to measuring a fundamental understanding of students' basic electronics knowledge has been explored by Simoni et al (2004) utilizing concept inventories that were purposefully designed in a multiple‐choice format to gage topical mastery as well as identify key misconceptions. They noted a challenge in identifying the most important concepts, as these formed the basis for drafting potential assessment items.…”

Section: Measuring Engineering Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Development of a Content Assessment of Basic Electronics Knowledge

Steinberg

Andrews‐Todd

Forsyth

et al. 2020

ETS Research Report Series

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This study discusses the development of a basic electronics knowledge (BEK) assessment as a pretest activity for undergraduate students in engineering and related fields. The 28 BEK items represent 12 key concepts, including properties of serial circuits, knowledge of electrical laws (e.g., Kirchhoff's and Ohm's laws), and properties of digital multimeters. This paper first discusses a psychometric evaluation of the BEK assessment to understand its basic measurement properties and to examine various group‐level differences based on demographic, institutional, and instructor characteristics. Subsequently, the relationship between BEK scores on the 23 retained items and performance on an existing complex collaborative simulation‐based electronics task is discussed. Results demonstrated that basic content knowledge alone may not be sufficient for students to demonstrate knowledge of electronics skills on more complex tasks. The research also carries great importance given ongoing concerns about improving the overall state and diversity of the engineering workforce and its associated pipeline to meet the demands of the national economy.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Research Questionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Measuring Engineering Skillsmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Measuring Engineering Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The Development of a Content Assessment of Basic Electronics Knowledge

Steinberg

Andrews‐Todd

Forsyth

et al. 2020

ETS Research Report Series

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Recently, concept inventories have been developed for various electrical engineering courses. 21,22 Our interest in Page 23.821.12 developing concept inventories for microelectronics courses is to assess the impact of various pedagogical methods on student conceptual learning. The strategies used to develop the tests will be detailed in a separate paper.…”

Section: 7mentioning

confidence: 99%

Introducing Nanoelectronics into the Electrical Engineering Curriculum

Hoe¹

2013 ASEE Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

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Engineering programs that have introduced nanotechnology into their curriculum typically add material into core classes or have added a separate set of nanotechnology courses. Increasing the number of courses can be a challenge for colleges with limited resources and faculty and it is not easy to make significant changes to the curriculum all in one step. This paper looks at an alternative that is being introduced at the University of Texas at Tyler. The goal is to introduce nanotechnology into select courses while minimizing changes to the curriculum for ease of adoption. The proposed solution is to introduce nanoscale design concepts into existing classes which teach microelectronic-related topics and where nanotechnology will revolutionize the way these circuits are built in the near future. An advantage of this approach is that the students have a prior context to build upon. They can see how state-of-the art microelectronic circuits are currently designed while comparing and contrasting it with the paradigmatic shift offered by nanoelectronic devices. This juxtaposition of technologies is appropriate since a number of proposed nanoelectronic circuits are built upon similar principles and topologies used in current microelectronic technologies. This paper overviews the initial attempts at such an integration in an introductory digital integrated circuits course. Evaluation of this effort through student selfassessment surveys, concept inventory quizzes, and exam and project scores are reported. Plans to improve upon future offerings are also detailed.

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