2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Work in Progress: Using Think-Aloud Sessions to Understand Student Problem-Solving Approaches

Presented at Work-in-Progress Session: Emergent Methods for Engineering Education Research

Technology-aided problem solving has made engineering judgement an increasingly important and essential skill for engineers. Educators subsequently need to ensure that students do not become rote learners with little ability to critically analyze the result of solutions. This need suggests greater focus should be placed on developing student’s engineering judgement, which includes engineering intuition.

In this work in progress paper, we examine students’ problem solving as they answer statics concept inventory questions based on the Concept Assessment Tool for Statics (CATS) (Steif & Dantzler, 2005).

Questions were modified to provide students with opportunities to explore two key aspects of engineering intuition: 1) predicting outcomes, and 2) assessing the feasibility of a solution. Students were recruited to participate in think-aloud sessions as part of the instrument development process. Each participant was asked to solve two statics concept inventory questions in a think-aloud interview. Students were recorded as they verbalized their process for deciding on the solutions to the multiple-choice inventory questions. The transcripts of these recordings were analyzed for emergent themes. Results examine emergent themes from seven think-aloud interviews with third and fourth year students to better understand how students make engineering judgements in the context of solving statics problems. Findings aim to inform the creation of classroom practices that improve students’ ability to develop, recognize, and improve their own engineering intuition.

Select References:

Steif, P. S., & Dantzler, J. (2005). A Statics Concept Inventory: Development and Psychometric Analysis. Journal of Engineering Education, 33(4), 363-371. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2168-9830.2005.tb00864.x

Authors

Natalie Dow
Ryan Lee Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott
Ms. Zihui Zhu Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott [biography]

Zihui Zhu is a senior at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) in Prescott, Arizona, majoring in Aviation Business Administration with minors in mathematics, economics, and global business. She anticipates earning her Bachelor of Science degree in Aviation Business Administration from ERAU by May 2023, after which she will continue her studies at Johns Hopkins University graduate school, where she is going to major in applied economics.
Dr. Kaela M Martin http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2359-6332 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott [biography]

Kaela Martin is an Associate Professor and Associate Department Chair of Aerospace Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott Campus. She graduated from Purdue University with a PhD in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. Her research interests in engineering education include developing classroom interventions that improve student learning, designing experiences to further the development of students from novices to experts, and creating engaging classroom experiences.
Dr. Elif Miskioglu Bucknell University [biography]

Dr. Elif Miskioglu is an early-career engineering education scholar and educator. She holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering (with Genetics minor) from Iowa State University, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Ohio State University. Her early Ph.D. work focused on the development of bacterial biosensors capable of screening pesticides for specifically targeting the malaria vector mosquito, Anopheles gambiae. As a result, her diverse background also includes experience in infectious disease and epidemiology, providing crucial exposure to the broader context of engineering problems and their subsequent solutions. These diverse experiences and a growing passion for improving engineering education prompted Dr. Miskioglu to change her career path and become a scholar of engineering education. As an educator, she is committed to challenging her students to uncover new perspectives and dig deeper into the context of the societal problems engineering is intended to solve. As a scholar, she seeks to not only contribute original theoretical research to the field, but work to bridge the theory-to-practice gap in engineering education by serving as an ambassador for empirically driven educational practices.
Dr. Adam R Carberry http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0041-7060 Arizona State University [biography]

Dr. Adam Carberry is an associate professor at Arizona State University in the Fulton Schools of Engineering, The Polytechnic School. He earned a B.S. in Materials Science Engineering from Alfred University, and received his M.S. and Ph.D., both from Tufts University, in Chemistry and Engineering Education respectively. His research investigates the development of new classroom innovations, assessment techniques, and identifying new ways to empirically understand how engineering students and educators learn. He currently serves as the Graduate Program Chair for the Engineering Education Systems and Design Ph.D. program. He is also the immediate past chair of the Research in Engineering Education Network (REEN) and a deputy editor for the Journal of Engineering Education (JEE). Prior to joining ASU he was a graduate research assistant at the Tufts’ Center for Engineering Education and Outreach.

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