A First-Year Design Project That Encourages Motivation, Curiosity, Connections, and Making

Haolin Zhu; Amy Trowbridge

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Conference: 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Baltimore , Maryland
Publication Date: June 25, 2023
Start Date: June 25, 2023
End Date: June 28, 2023
Conference Session: Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation Division (ENT) Technical Session 3: Projects and Student Learning
Tagged Division: Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation Division (ENT)
Page Count: 23
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--42392
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/42392
Download Count: 153

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Paper Authors

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Haolin Zhu Arizona State University

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Dr. Haolin Zhu earned her BEng in Engineering Mechanics from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and her Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Cornell University, with a focus on computational solid mechanics. Dr. Zhu is an Associate Teaching Professor of the freshman engineering education team in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University (ASU). In this role, she focuses on designing the curriculum and teaching in the freshman engineering program and the mechanical engineering program. She is also the Co-Director of the Grand Challenges Scholars Program (GCSP) at ASU. In this role, she focuses on student support and tracking, curriculum, program requirements, as well as programming for current students in GCSP. Dr. Zhu was also involved in the ASU ProMod project, the Engineering Projects in Community Service program, the Engineering Futures program, the Global Freshman Academy/Earned Admission/Universal Learner Courses Program, and the ASU Kern Project. She was a part of the team that designed a largely team and activity based online Introduction to Engineering course. She has also co-developed two unique MOOCs, Introduction to Engineering and Perspectives on Grand Challenges for Engineering for the Global Freshman Academy/ASU Earned Admission/Universal Learner Courses Program. Her Ph.D. research focuses on multi-scale multiphase modeling and numerical analysis of coupled large viscoelastic deformation and fluid transport in swelling porous materials, but she is currently interested in various topics in the field of engineering education, such as innovative teaching pedagogies for increased retention and student motivation; innovations in non-traditional delivery methods, incorporation of the Entrepreneurial Mindset in the engineering curriculum and its impact. She has published over 30 papers and presented at various conferences about her work. She is recognized as the Engineering Unleashed Fellow and won the Fulton Outstanding Lecturer Award for her contributions in Engineering Education.

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Amy Trowbridge Arizona State University

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Amy Trowbridge is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University and is co-Director of the Grand Challenges Scholars Program (GCSP) at ASU. Amy is a member of the current interim Executive Committee for the international GCSP Network, and mentors schools to develop GCSPs as part of the GCSP New Programs committee. She is also actively involved in the ASU Kern project and Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN), focused on students’ development of entrepreneurial mindset. Amy received the 2019 KEEN Rising Star award from KEEN for her efforts in encouraging students in developing an entrepreneurial mindset. She is interested in curricular and co-curricular experiences that broaden students’ perspectives and enhance students’ development, and the use of digital portfolios for students to showcase and reflect on their experiences.

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Abstract

This paper describes a design project, the Mars in the Making project, that was developed to encourage more curiosity and connections in first year engineering students, while also enhancing making. The motivation behind the Mars in the Making project is to create a context that will allow students to choose an opportunity/need area to focus on based on their interests and passions, while still ensuring consistency in the amount of effort and complexity of the designs produced. According to self-determination theory, the highest level of self-determination, intrinsic motivation, i.e., doing something for one’s own sake, is achieved when there is a true sense of choice, i.e., a sense of freedom to do something one has chosen to do [1]. Providing an open-ended, real world context and allowing students to identify opportunities has been found to inspire students’ development of an entrepreneurial mindset, including curiosity and connections [2]. The goal of this work is to use the future establishment of a Mars colony and automation as the context for a design project to encourage more motivation, curiosity, connections, and making. The design project was implemented in 3 sections of the Introduction to Engineering course at [Institution] in Fall 2021, 2 sections of the course in Spring 2022, and 7 sections of the course in Fall 2022, with approximately 40 students in each section.

To assess the impact of this design project on student motivation, curiosity, connections, their understanding of the entrepreneurial mindset, and their making skills, a survey instrument will be administered and a written individual reflection about the project experience will be assigned, at the end of the Fall 2022 semester to students enrolled in 7 sections of the course. The survey measures student motivation based on the Situational Motivation Scale (SIMS) [3-4], student curiosity that relates to joyous exploration based on the five-dimensional curiosity scale [5] and curiosity involvement [6], connections based on the connections rubric [7] adapted from the VALUE (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education) Rubrics [8], and their making skills. The survey responses to the Likert Scale questions will be analyzed quantitatively while the responses to the free response survey questions and the individual reflections will be analyzed using thematic analysis [9] to understand the impact of this design project on students.

In the paper, the design project and its implementation will be described and the assessment results will be presented and discussed.

References

[1] Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum.

[2] Huerta, M. V., & London, J. S., & Trowbridge, A., & Arévalo Avalos, M., & Huang, W., & McKenna, A. F. (2017, June), Cultivating the Entrepreneurial Mindset through Design: Insights from Thematic Analysis of First-year Engineering Students' Reflections. Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. 10.18260/1-2--28093

[3] Guay, F., Vallerand, R. J., and Blanchard, C. (2000). On the Assessment of Situational Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: The Situational Motivation Scale (SIMS). Motivation and Emotion 24(3), 175-213.

[4] Vallerand, R. J. (2001). A Hierarchical Model of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation in Sport and Exercise. In G. C. Roberts (Ed.), Advances in Motivation in Sport and Exercise (Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics).

[5] Kashdan, T. B., (2018). The five-dimensional curiosity scale: capturing the bandwidth of curiosity and identifying four unique subgroups of curious people. Journal of Research in Personality, 73, 130-149.

[6] Jeraj, M., & Antoncic, B. (2013). A conceptualization of entrepreneurial curiosity and construct development: A multi-country empirical validation. Creativity Research Journal, 25(4), 426-435. doi:10.1080/10400419.2013.843350

[7] Hylton, J. B., & Hays, B. A. (2019, June), Modifying the VALUE Rubrics to Assess the Entrepreneurial Mind-set. Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Tampa, Florida. 10.18260/1-2--33117

[8] Association of American Colleges and Universities. (2009). Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education (VALUE). https://www.aacu.org/initiatives/value

[9] Braun, V, and Victoria C. (2006), Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology, Qualitative Research in Psychology 3(2), 77-101.

Citation
Format

Zhu, H., & Trowbridge, A. (2023, June), A First-Year Design Project That Encourages Motivation, Curiosity, Connections, and Making Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--42392

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This paper describes a design project, the Mars in the Making project, that was developed to encourage more curiosity and connections in first year engineering students, while also enhancing making. The motivation behind the Mars in the Making project is to create a context that will allow students to choose an opportunity/need area to focus on based on their interests and passions, while still ensuring consistency in the amount of effort and complexity of the designs produced. According to self-determination theory, the highest level of self-determination, intrinsic motivation, i.e., doing something for one’s own sake, is achieved when there is a true sense of choice, i.e., a sense of freedom to do something one has chosen to do [1]. Providing an open-ended, real world context and allowing students to identify opportunities has been found to inspire students’ development of an entrepreneurial mindset, including curiosity and connections [2]. The goal of this work is to use the future establishment of a Mars colony and automation as the context for a design project to encourage more motivation, curiosity, connections, and making. The design project was implemented in 3 sections of the Introduction to Engineering course at [Institution] in Fall 2021, 2 sections of the course in Spring 2022, and 7 sections of the course in Fall 2022, with approximately 40 students in each section. 

To assess the impact of this design project on student motivation, curiosity, connections, their understanding of the entrepreneurial mindset, and their making skills, a survey instrument will be administered and a written individual reflection about the project experience will be assigned, at the end of the Fall 2022 semester to students enrolled in 7 sections of the course. The survey measures student motivation based on the Situational Motivation Scale (SIMS) [3-4], student curiosity that relates to joyous exploration based on the five-dimensional curiosity scale [5] and curiosity involvement [6], connections based on the connections rubric [7] adapted from the VALUE (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education) Rubrics [8], and their making skills. The survey responses to the Likert Scale questions will be analyzed quantitatively while the responses to the free response survey questions and the individual reflections will be analyzed using thematic analysis [9] to understand the impact of this design project on students.

In the paper, the design project and its implementation will be described and the assessment results will be presented and discussed. 


References 

[1] Deci, E. L., &amp;amp; Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum.

[2] Huerta, M. V., &amp;amp; London, J. S., &amp;amp; Trowbridge, A., &amp;amp; Arévalo Avalos, M., &amp;amp; Huang, W., &amp;amp; McKenna, A. F. (2017, June), Cultivating the Entrepreneurial Mindset through Design: Insights from Thematic Analysis of First-year Engineering Students&#39; Reflections. Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference &amp;amp; Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. 10.18260/1-2--28093  

[3] Guay, F., Vallerand, R. J., and Blanchard, C. (2000). On the Assessment of Situational Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: The Situational Motivation Scale (SIMS). Motivation and Emotion 24(3), 175-213.

[4] Vallerand, R. J. (2001). A Hierarchical Model of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation in Sport and Exercise. In G. C. Roberts (Ed.), Advances in Motivation in Sport and Exercise (Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics).

[5] Kashdan, T. B., (2018). The five-dimensional curiosity scale: capturing the bandwidth of curiosity and identifying four unique subgroups of curious people. Journal of Research in Personality, 73, 130-149.

[6] Jeraj, M., &amp;amp; Antoncic, B. (2013). A conceptualization of entrepreneurial curiosity and construct development: A multi-country empirical validation. Creativity Research Journal, 25(4), 426-435. doi:10.1080/10400419.2013.843350

[7] Hylton, J. B., &amp;amp; Hays, B. A. (2019, June), Modifying the VALUE Rubrics to Assess the Entrepreneurial Mind-set. Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference &amp;amp; Exposition , Tampa, Florida. 10.18260/1-2--33117

[8] Association of American Colleges and Universities. (2009). Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education (VALUE). https://www.aacu.org/initiatives/value

[9] Braun, V, and Victoria C. (2006), Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology, Qualitative Research in Psychology 3(2), 77-101.
AU  - Haolin Zhu
AU  - Amy Trowbridge
CY  - Baltimore , Maryland
DA  - 2023/06/25
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - A First-Year Design Project That Encourages Motivation, Curiosity, Connections, and Making
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/42392
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--42392
ER  -