Development of innovative thinking skill among engineering undergraduates is of critical importance in designing new products/systems and creating new services, and thus is vital to the national economy. This project examines whether effective use of instructional technology, specifically slate-enabled technology, has an impact on the innovative thinking skills of engineering undergraduates enrolled in large lecture classes, and develops and implements a pedagogical model based on the findings. The methodology used is a quasi-experimental mixed method approach utilizing a control and treatment group. Data are being collected through surveys (i.e., quantitative assessment) and interviews, focus groups, and direct observation (i.e., qualitative assessment).
The project advances understanding of how students learn to be innovative through determination of measurable and identifiable learning outcomes. In addition, information about how best to teach innovative thinking skills among undergraduates in an active and engaging educational environment using slate-enabled instructional technology provides a useful educational model. The model considers faculty motivation for employing active and engaging learning strategies that utilize slate-enabled instructional technology in developing innovative thinking, the infrastructure (e.g., wireless capabilities, student requirements, technology support) that is necessary to facilitate such a model, and how to assess the extent to which the employment of the model has been effective. The project has the potential to produce information that will lead to transformative change in undergraduate STEM education.
The intellectual merit of this project is the advancement of the understanding regarding how students learn to be innovative in the form of measurable and identifiable learning outcomes. Collected over a two year period, survey responses, student focus group transcripts, and class observations have helped identify ways that slate, or tablet, technology can facilitate development of innovative thinking skills among undergraduates in large lecture courses. Project results show that when tablets and related inking technology are used in conjunction with software that facilitate student and faculty interaction (e.g., DyKnow) knowledge acquisition, scaling, elaboration, and collaboration are the four innovative thinking skills that are most readily encouraged among students. Research helped delineate between innovative thinking and more general learning behaviors such as memorization and the role slate technology can have in facilitating both types of skill development. Students provided additional detail about how faculty can use technology to help encourage innovative thinking. Inking on powerpoints and recording that digital ink for later play back was cited as a way to encourage self-regulated learning and elaboration. Submission of panels to faculty for feedback and collaboration with peers through DyKnow sessions where inking could take place was another important way to encourage students to consider what they were learning and how to apply it in new ways. The broader impact of this project is an initial model that can be used to develop a cadre of faculty who effectively employ new and innovative pedagogical approaches within large lecture classes in a manner shown to develop and enhance the innovative thinking skills among engineering undergraduates. Specific ways faculty use technology to encourage innovative thinking were captured through professional development and related course observations; highlights include pre-recorded lectures with diagrams that can be used by faculty, case studies, and team assignments. In order to train faculty on how to incorporate technology to effectively develop innovative thinking, "just in time" support and training appear to be a critical component. Project findings also indicate that it it important to pair faculty new to a particular technology with more experienced mentors in the same discipline in order to build understanding of how to best employ new technological approaches in the classroom. The intellectual merit of this project is the advancement of the understanding regarding how students learn to be innovative in the form of measurable and identifiable learning outcomes.
