This ITR small award provides support to adapt the Concept Inventory for frequent classroom use and then to implement it in a technology-enabled system to provide rapid feedback to students of their understanding of key concepts being presented. The feedback system acts as the focal point and catalyst to encourage students, working in pairs, to assist each other in correcting misconceptions or deepening each other's understanding of topics. The system allows the professor to assess the students' level of comprehension in a just-in-time fashion and thus judge the professor's pacing and coverage of the material. The system and methodology are to be implemented in two core-engineering courses at two institutions to demonstrate feasibility and adaptability in different environments.
The intellectual merit of the project in centered on its strong conceptual framework for the research. The resulting system should provide a platform for enhancing education in many disciplines and settings. The project has a sound evaluation plan that clearly will demonstrate the educational as well as technological benefits of the research to multiple audiences.
A major broad impact of the project is the integration of education, research, and faculty development, including the use of rigorous scientific research methods to establish that the environment is transferable and adaptable easily to other institutions. In addition, through the involvement of a historically black university impacts the participation of underrepresented minorities in engineering and enhances the curriculum at the institution. In addition, it provides opportunities for faculty professional development for currency in new and emerging technologies. The project is currently and timely and will impact both research and instruction as well as develop tools employing emerging technologies and technical innovations.
