2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Transfer Learning from Math to Engineering and Using Scaffolds through Hands-on Learning to Build New Engineering Skills in Sensors and Systems Course

Presented at Multidisciplinary Engineering Division (MULTI) Technical Session 8

Transfer of learning from mathematics to engineering entails relating and applying theoretical concepts learned in mathematics courses to engineering concepts and courses. The project team investigated engineering students’ skills in transferring learning from mathematics to engineering in an engineering Sensors and Systems course, and based on the results developed scaffolding exercises to lead students to their team- and project-based final project that incorporated the targeted skills through hands-on engaged student learning.
This work targeted the following research question: Can transfer of learning be successfully achieved in remote hands-on engaged student learning (ESL) scenarios?

First, the mathematics faculty studied the sensors and systems course material, and identified relevant mathematical background that the students should remember and build on in the engineering course. Three assignments were prepared for the Sensors and Systems course to assess the students’ readiness to transfer the learned math skills to the sensors and systems engineering concepts:
1. Linearization
2. Units (and unit conversions)
3. Calibration (by calculating the transfer function from data)

It was discovered that students:
1. had forgotten and had to remember some of the math concepts if they took the math course over a year before the senior-level Sensors and Systems course.
2. experienced challenges relating the mathematical concepts they learned in mathematics courses to cases and examples presented in the engineering Sensors and Systems course that utilized those same mathematical concepts to solve, describe or analyze an engineering process or application due to different symbology used in the math and engineering courses.
3. self-discovered math topics that they had to revisit to be successful in the engineering course.

Students were assisted by the engineering course instructor to build scaffolds from what they had learned in math to develop the targeted engineering skills in a problem-based learning assignment encapsulated in the course’s hands-on sensor-related team project. This team-based final project entailed hands-on engagement with sensors and required interfacing sensors to microcontrollers, or designing circuitry to drive an actuator based on sensor data.
The findings suggest that at the beginning of this engineering course, students need some assistance to remember and then achieve transfer of learning from mathematics concepts to engineering applications. The built scaffolds facilitate incremental learning through which students can achieve larger goals, such as a larger-scope final class project within a collaborative team environment that also benefits from peer learning.

This paper will present the details of the relevant math concepts for sensors and systems that were targeted for transfer of learning, and scaffolds faculty built to guide the students towards developing a team-based final project through hands-on engaged student learning in the students’ chosen location and time, giving students flexibility to succeed to answer the posed research question.

Authors

Dr. Mehrube Mehrubeoglu http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-5927-8408 Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi [biography]

Dr. Mehrubeoglu received her B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. She earned an M.S. degree in Bioengineering and Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University. After working in industry developing algorithms for machine vision systems, she returned to academia. She is currently a professor and program coordinator at the Department of Engineering at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Her research interests span applications of imaging modalities (hyperspectral, thermal, color) in engineering and science applications. She has been engaged in effective teaching and learning pedagogies, and is a proponent of engaged student learning through hands-on experiences. Her most recent work involves effective learning pedagogies using PBL in IoT applications.
Dr. Lifford McLauchlan Texas A&M University, Kingsville [biography]

Dr. Lifford McLauchlan is an Associate Professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at Texas A&M University - Kingsville, and has also worked for Raytheon, Microvision, AT&T Bell Labs, and as an ONR Distinguished Summer Faculty at SPAWAR San Diego, CA. He has over 55 publications covering areas such as adaptive and intelligent controls, robotics, an ocean wave energy converter, green technology, education, wireless sensor networks and image processing. He is a co-inventor on 3 US patents related to control systems. Dr. McLauchlan is a member of ASEE and was the 2012-2014 Chair of the Ocean and Marine Engineering Division. He is also a member of IEEE (senior member), SPIE, Eta Kappa Nu, ACES and Tau Beta Pi, and has served on the IEEE Corpus Christi Section Board in various capacities such as Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Membership Development Officer. Dr. McLauchlan has received the Dean’s Distinguished Service Award twice and the Dean’s Outstanding Teaching Award once for the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.
Dr. David Hicks [biography]

David Hicks is an Associate Professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Before joining TAMU-K he served as Associate Professor and Department Head at Aalborg University in Esbjerg, Denmark. He has also held positions in research labs in the U.S. as well as Europe, and spent time as a researcher in the software industry.
Dr. Adetoun Yeaman http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7063-9836 Northeastern University [biography]

Adetoun Yeaman is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the First Year Engineering Program at Northeastern University. Her research interests include empathy, design education, ethics education and community engagement in engineering. She currently teaches Cornerstone of Engineering, a first-year two-semester course series that integrates computer programming, computer aided design, ethics and the engineering design process within a project based learning environment. She was previously an engineering education postdoctoral fellow at Wake Forest University supporting curriculum development around ethics/character education.
Maria Vasilyeva Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi

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