2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

WIP: Evaluating Entrepreneurially-minded Learning in Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences

Presented at Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation Division (ENT) Technical Session 5

Our study in this Work in Progress paper presents preliminary results from the first stage of a three-year research project centering on the creation and validation of a pre-post survey instrument for evaluating entrepreneurially-minded learning (EM) for students engaging in course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). The survey instrument has 18 questions asking students to rate their ability to perform various sub-activities within these five research domains on a five-point likert scale. Survey validation included the evaluation of question reliability and strength of correlation to the research domains using confirmatory factor analysis. This evaluation included the analysis of 115 student responses who participated in 12 CUREs across three different academic institutions. The confirmatory factor analysis revealed a high Cronbach Alpha Coefficient along with high factor loadings, indicating that the survey questions have good reliability and correlation with the associated research domains – thus providing a robust tool for the evaluation of EML. A preliminary analysis of student responses using the survey instrument showed a statistically significant improvement in students’ EML for all five research domains. The future application of the survey instrument in more classes in the R4A research program will seek to evaluate if statistically significant shifts in students’ EML are attained through engaging in CUREs. Additionally, by combining findings from the survey with qualitative and quantitative comparisons of research activities employed within the CUREs, future work will aim to evaluate which CURE activities led to the greatest gains in students’ EML.

Authors

Dr. Jeffrey Walters http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6655-1233 University of Washington [biography]

My research seeks to develop participatory systems-based decision support techniques to improve engineering practice and policy for sustainable rural and urban infrastructure system design and management in developing world contexts. My research has been applied within the sectors of water, sanitation, energy, food systems, climate change migration, circular economy applications in construction waste disposal, and engineering education. I am also passionate about teaching my students the theory and application of systems thinking and modeling to promote social justice and global prosperity.
Dr. Kayt Frisch George Fox University [biography]

Dr. Frisch's research helps students and professionals engage with data in meaningful and insightful ways. She specializes in data relating to creating student learning experiences, biomechanics, and large-scale time-series data analysis.
Dr. Zaher Kmail University of Washington [biography]

Zaher Kmail, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Statistics at the University of Washington Tacoma in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences’ Division of Science and Mathematics. His general areas of research are in theoretical and applied statistics with a specialization in the design and analysis of experiments. His current research focuses on causal structure modeling, optimal design and its applications, multivariate analysis, and mathematics and statistics education. In addition to applied statistics, Dr. Kmail has published in a wide variety of fields including agronomy, engineering education, special education, student success in higher education, nursing, and environmental chemistry.
Dr. Heather Dillon http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4467-2306 University of Washington [biography]

Dr. Heather Dillon is Professor and Chair of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington Tacoma. Her research team is working on energy efficiency, renewable energy, fundamental heat transfer, and engineering education.
Dr. Chris Sharp George Fox University [biography]

I am an associate professor in Mechanical Engineering at George Fox University with an affinity for philosophy, embracing moments, finding beauty, and creating. At the moment, I teach courses focused on materials, manufacturing, and engineering design. I

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