2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This study aimed to improve problem-solving skills in students entering engineering at the College Algebra level. These students start with deficiencies in math knowledge, and remedial math courses are traditionally used to support their success in engineering. By the end of their first year in college, many of these students either transfer out of engineering or discontinue their education. This study focuses on students' ability to solve story or word problems, which contain a mathematical problem embedded in a narrative. Such problems are common in engineering, especially in courses like Statics and Dynamics. Previous studies have shown that students often struggle to understand and represent matematically word problems. Solving these problems can be particularly challenging for at-risk students, including those with learning disabilities.

This study summarizes the findings from the second year of this NSF-supported project, conducted at an R-1 land-grant institution in the mid-Atlantic region. Ninety-eight (98) students participated in the second year of the study. All participants were enrolled in an engineering problem-solving course. Multiple word application problems were designed to blend engineering and math concepts. The study received approval from the Institutional Review Board.

The study explores how concurrent judgments can enhance students’ performance and self-assessment accuracy (i.e., calibration, as measured by the absolute accuracy index) during problem-solving. Absolute accuracy evaluates the precision of a confidence judgment relative to performance on a criterion task. Concurrent judgments require students to assess their confidence in their performance while engaged in the task (solving word problems). One-third of the student were allocated to the control group (they solved word problems with no metacognitive judgement intervention) and the remining two-thirds received an intervention where they were asked to solve word problems and provide concurrent judgement.

This metacognitive monitoring study focuses on the relationship between confidence judgments and performance. This presentation summarizes the results of the study, the successes in improving students' judgment and problem-solving skills, and the lessons learned on how to support students with deficiencies in math knowledge. This presentation will benefit institutions that accept students into engineering programs who are not ready to start Calculus during their first semester in college.