The objective of this engineering education project is to examine the cognitive and affective effects of pre-college engineering instruction. This project will provide fundamental insights into how pre-college students learn engineering problem solving while attaining high cognitive flexibility in engineering which in turn supports creativity and design. We will obtain a fundamental understanding of how instruction representation, practice design, and pedagogical agents foster problem solving and cognitive flexibility. By developing and rigorously assessing tools for effectively fostering engineering problem solving and cognitive flexibility in middle- and high school students, this project will significantly contribute to engineering education. Successful engineering learning at the pre-college level will increase students' self-efficacy and interest in engineering college programs, leading to the potential larger recruitment of engineering college students and eventual engineering workforce, which will strongly benefit our society.
Computer-based learning modules will be used for presenting the instructional content, such as the different representations of engineering concepts, and for problem solving practice. These computer-based components will be presented on PCs in readily available computerized classrooms. The PIs will combine multiple assessment formats (i.e., multiple choice, open-ended, verbal, symbolic, graphic) to document different aspects of students' problem solving performance. Students' responses to the learning measures will be scored by teachers trained in the scoring criteria developed by the PIs and in consultation with the Advisory Board. Any data resulting from students' interactions with computer-based assessments will be logged in electronic files and analyzed in accordance with the respective scoring criteria. Based on the findings, the PIs will randomly select a sub-sample of students to interview after each of the studies is completed.
