2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This Work-in-Progress (WiP) paper explores concept mapping as an analytical instrument to assess the effects of a 10-week, mentor-guided summer research program for undergraduate engineering students. Specifically, it examines how this program fosters connections, a fundamental component of the entrepreneurial mindset (EM). Concept maps are visual representations of knowledge and connections between topics. EM encompasses a multitude of essential skills, including the inclination to discover, evaluate, and exploit opportunities, all of which are critical for developing students into well-rounded engineers.

Concept maps are tools used in both learning and assessment within broad K-20 academic contexts. They aid in student learning by developing non-linear connections of acquired ideas over time. In engineering education, leaders in EM scholarship have demonstrated the impact of concept maps on measuring the development of knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) of first-year engineering students. While the efficacy of concept mapping as an analytical approach has been established, this paper takes a novel approach by demonstrating the adaptability of this assessment tool to high-impact experiential learning beyond the conventional classroom setting. This tool can illustrate stages of the learning process, thorough understanding, development of conceptual relationships, knowledge gaps, and the ability to disseminate knowledge through scientific communication. Concept maps harness the development of complex, interconnected ideas and can be applied to learning, not dependent on the style of the educational process. The primary objective of a Grand Challenges Scholars Program Research Experience for Undergraduates (GCSP-REU) is to provide students with an opportunity to apply their classroom-acquired knowledge to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Grand Challenges. Scholars participating in this study completed a concept map, with the center topic being their chosen NAE Grand Challenge theme, and used ideas from their research as the branching topics from the theme. Initially, the research participants created their concept maps on day one of their research experience. Later, the participants then built upon their concept maps in the middle and at the end of their research experience. Concept maps give a unique opportunity to document, observe, quantify, and support the development of a student’s EM through hands-on experiences in an REU.

Furthermore, this paper explores how the concept mapping technique may be applied to similar hands-on, high-impact experiential learning settings. Specifically, using concept maps to analyze the impact of a study abroad trip for a first-year design-oriented engineering course on the development of connectedness within the Entrepreneurial Mindset (EM). This work-in-progress paper describes the successful implementation of concept mapping as an analytical tool to measure student learning outcomes in non-traditional learning environments. Furthermore, this paper describes a work in a current study to explore the development of research self-efficacy and engineering identity development of early career engineering students who participate in a 10-week interdisciplinary research experience and community-building activities through the Engineering Grand Challenges Scholars REU program.