2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Speak Loudly and Carry a Small Stick: Applying Classicle Sticks Across the Engineering Curriculum

Presented at New Engineering Educators (NEE) Technical Session 4 - Undergraduate Student Learning

An activity used in some middle-school classrooms had been adapted for engineering lecture courses with 15-45 students and is described in detail in blinded citation___. It was named Classicle Sticks in homage to Popsicle ® sticks, as the sticks form the basis of this student engagement activity. The activity was found to be an easy to implement classroom management tool. In this follow-on, the Classicle Stick activity was implemented in a total of five engineering courses at Texas State University in Electrical Engineering, Engineering Technology, and Mechanical Engineering. In addition to gathering more data regarding the effectiveness of the activity, a second Likert survey was created and administered to a subset of the students polled a year ago. In addition to continuing to probe effectiveness, this second survey addresses stress and other factors associated with the activity. It is hypothesized that students who were exposed to the activity a year ago will experience less stress associated with being randomly called upon than their classmates who have not engaged in this activity. It is also hypothesized that the study habits of students who experienced the activity improved. This paper will provide new engineering educators with a tool for classroom management to help randomize the students who are called upon to answer questions.

Authors
  1. Dr. C. Richard Compeau Jr Texas State University [biography]
  2. Dr. Austin Talley Texas State University [biography]
Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025