2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Board 229: Computational Thinking in the Formation of Engineers: Year 4

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session

Computational Thinking has evolved to a subject of great interest in all areas of education. The last three years have witnessed an explosive growth of initiatives, studies and even literature reviews. Yet, most of computational thinking is still focused on pre-college levels and not many studies have investigated it within engineering education at the college level. In this context, our work constitutes a spearheading effort and advances the current state of knowledge.
During the fourth year of this project, the major result has been the dissemination efforts taking place. That is, our diagnostic has been okayed by the Technology Transfer offices at the institutions in the collaborative and a website has been launched. Also, during past conferences and professional meetings, a number of institutions have expressed interest in utilizing the recently validated ECTD. This also opens opportunity to engage in another validation cycle with even a more diverse pool of participants, thus getting our instrument better calibrated for extended audiences.
Another major result is the publication of the earlier work on enculturation that has produced a secondary study on factors of enculturation where computational thinking has gained highlighted attention given its difficulty among engineering students. An instrument on enculturation that considers computational thinking as one of its constructs is getting validated.
We have also engaged in conversations with our IRB to obtain access to DFQWI students. The result has not been what we have anticipated, and we are taking alternative steps to reach participants. At the time this abstract is written, a different IRB revision is getting drafted utilizing a snow-ball technique (aka referrals) of potential students who might have dropped, withdrawn or transferred. We are also preparing the longitudinal study to take place at the end of the Fall 2023 semester and beginning of Spring 2024. The expectation is that we complete the last objective in our funded grant, the development of computational thinking skills over time in engineering students. We also expect to correlate the findings of this project with the enculturation project.

Authors

Dr. Noemi V Mendoza Diaz http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1215-1554 Texas A&M University [biography]

Dr. Mendoza is a faculty member of Technology Management in the College of Education-Engineering at Texas A&M University. She has worked as electrical engineering professor in Mexico. She recently obtained funds from NSF to investigate enculturation to engineering and computational thinking in engineering students. She is the co-advisor of the Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers at TAMU and is interested in computing engineering education and Latinx engineering entrepreneurship.
Dr. Deborah Anne Trytten The University of Oklahoma [biography]

Dr. Deborah A. Trytten is a Professor of Computer Science and Womens' and Gender Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Her main research focus is diversity in engineering education and introductory software engineering education.
Dr. Russell D. Meier http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9380-9049 Milwaukee School of Engineering [biography]

Dr. Russ Meier teaches computer architecture at Milwaukee School of Engineering. His funded research explores how first year students develop computational thinking. He received the Iowa State University Teaching Excellence Award, the Iowa State University Warren B. Boast Award for Undergraduate Teaching Excellence, and the MSOE Oscar Werwath Distinguished Teacher Award.

He belongs to IEEE and its HKN, Computer and Education Societies, as well as the American Society for Engineering Education and its Electrical and Computer Engineering, Educational Research and Methods, and First Year Programs divisions. In these groups, he helps deliver engineering education conferences, webinars, and certificate programs. He leads teams accrediting engineering degrees as an Engineering Area Commissioner in ABET.

IEEE elevated him to Fellow for contributions to global online engineering education. And, the International Society for Engineering Education bestowed International Engineering Educator Honoris Causa for outstanding contributions in engineering education.
Dr. Harry A. Hogan Texas A&M University [biography]

to be updated soon
Dr. So Yoon Yoon http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1868-1054 University of Cincinnati [biography]

Dr. So Yoon Yoon is an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering and Computing Education in the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Cincinnati, OH, USA. Dr. Yoon received her Ph.D. in Gifted Education, and an M.S.Ed. in Research Methods and Measurement with a specialization in Educational Psychology, both from Purdue University, IN, USA. She also holds an M.S. in Astronomy and Astrophysics and a B.S. in Astronomy and Meteorology from Kyungpook National University, South Korea. Her work centers on elementary, secondary, and postsecondary engineering education research as a psychometrician, data analyst, and program evaluator with research interests in spatial ability, STEAM education, workplace climate, and research synthesis with a particular focus on meta-analysis. She has developed, validated, revised, and copyrighted several instruments beneficial for STEM education research and practice. Dr. Yoon has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings and served as a journal reviewer in engineering education, STEM education, and educational psychology. She has also served as a PI, co-PI, advisory board member, or external evaluator on several NSF-funded projects.

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