Engineering - Electrical (55) This collaborative project between the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy is evaluating and dissemination a new interactive instructional circuit analysis computer environment (CIRCE) for college physics and engineering laboratories. CIRCE includes interactive, on-line software that provides immediate feedback, which is known to increase student learning and mastery of concepts. It also provides students with hands-on experience with electrical measurements and their interpretation. CIRCE includes an authoring tool that allows faculty to modify the environment to fit their own laboratory apparatus and curriculum goals. The project seeks to improve student learning by (1) providing immediate feed-back of the laboratory report and an opportunity for students to correct their errors, (2) freeing instructors from the task of checking student work so they can provide higher-level supervision of the laboratory exercise and (3) supporting the educational community by enabling flexible creation of new laboratory software. A consortium of faculty from 4-year colleges and the University of Massachusetts Amherst are introducing the software into their circuit analysis classes and evaluate its efficacy.
Our interactive circuit analysis lab software was tested in two venues: a community college with a high teaching load for the professors and a research university with teaching assistants to aid the professors in teaching and grading laboratories. We found improved student learning with student use of the software. Our software is targeted at students in engineering technology programs, often sited at maritime academies and community colleges. The aim is to provide students with hands-on understanding of "the tools of the trade." Such venues often have high student-to-teacher ratios and a wide range of student background preparation. A "coaching" feature is provided to give help to students. Students receive immediate feedback on their responses during the laboratory and an immediate grade when they have completed the lab. We surveyed outcomes via three tools: a survey of student attitudes, a pre-lab and post-lab quiz of the scientific concepts to determine if learning had occurred, and a brief narrative, in Tweet-style, of the students' understanding of the concepts pre-lab and post-lab. The students knew that their lab grades did not depend on the survey evaluations. There was a learning curve of one or two labs before the learning outcomes showed significant improvement. The students' attitudes were positive and they were engaged in the laboratories. The Tweet-style narrative responses of student understanding were difficult to quantify.
