2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Engineering classrooms aim to prepare students to tackle multidisciplinary problems. It is impossible and impractical for instructors to cover every variant of a problem. Instead, instructors emphasize preparing students to address scenarios beyond those explicitly taught, bringing the concept of “transfer of learning” to the classroom. This education theory involves students applying previously acquired information, strategies, and skills to unfamiliar contexts. Since the turn of the century, extensive educational research and industry training-oriented efforts have worked on developing mechanisms to assess this transfer. However, many existing assessment methods are proprietary or very tailored to specific training applications. In this study, the authors adapt the Factors for the Evaluation of Transfer (FET) model [1] to evaluate the effectiveness of transfer of learning in a pre-college engineering short course. This model considers the transfer of learning through dimensions (trainee, training, and organization), achieved learning, and intent to transfer. The instructors implemented curricula emphasizing civil engineering applications related to buildings, water systems, infrastructure resilience, human comfort, and energy balance. For the course final project, students proposed solutions to build a lunar infrastructure habitat, requiring them to extrapolate from terrestrial designs discussed in the classroom to extraterrestrial contexts. Instructors enhanced the course material with transfer techniques such as analogy-driven learning, real-world problem-solving exercises, and facilitated discussions of lunar design challenges. The FET model was embedded in the pre-course, post-course, and feedback surveys. The authors found evidence of successful transfer from these artifacts, suggesting that the pedagogy and curricula implemented were effective at promoting transfer of learning. Furthermore, anecdotal instructor observations indicated that students effectively applied the acquired knowledge from the course to novel contexts. Future iterations of this course will focus on improving pedagogical approaches to teaching for a successful transfer, embedding the FET model in daily assignments to track transfer progress formally, and implicitly encouraging collaboration between groups.