Asee peer logo

A Systematic Review of Models for Calculus Course Innovations

Download Paper |

Conference

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Tampa, Florida

Publication Date

June 15, 2019

Start Date

June 15, 2019

End Date

June 19, 2019

Conference Session

First-Year Programs: Mathematics in the First Year

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs and Mathematics

Page Count

25

DOI

10.18260/1-2--32007

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/32007

Download Count

552

Request a correction

Paper Authors

biography

Mary Katherine Watson The Citadel Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-1718-5825

visit author page

Dr. Mary Katherine Watson is currently an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at The Citadel. Prior to joining the faculty at The Citadel, Dr. Watson earned her PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from The Georgia Institute of Technology. She also has BS and MS degrees in Biosystems Engineering from Clemson University. Dr. Watson's engineering education research focuses on tools for promoting cognitive flexibility, sustainable design thinking, and retention of diverse groups.

visit author page

biography

Simon Thomas Ghanat P.E. The Citadel

visit author page

Dr. Simon Ghanat is an Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at The Citadel (Charleston, S.C.). He received his Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Arizona State University. His research interests are in Engineering Education and Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering. He previously taught at Bucknell University and Arizona State University.

visit author page

biography

Timothy Aaron Wood The Citadel Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-3926-7314

visit author page

Timothy A Wood is an Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at The Citadel. He acquired a Bachelor's in Engineering Physics Summa Cum Laude with Honors followed by Civil Engineering Master's and Doctoral degrees from Texas Tech University. His technical research focuses on the intersection of soil-structure interaction and structural/geotechnical data. He encourages students pushing them toward self-directed learning through reading, and inspiring enthusiasm for the fields of structural and geotechnical engineering. Dr. Wood aims to recover the benefits of classical-model, literature-based learning in civil engineering education.

visit author page

biography

William J. Davis P.E. The Citadel Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-3812-8654

visit author page

William J. Davis is Dept. Head & D. Graham Copeland Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of Construction Engineering at The Citadel in Charleston, SC. His academic experience includes: transportation infrastructure planning and design, infrastructure resilience, traffic operations, highway safety, and geographic information systems. His research interests include: constructing spatial databases for better management of transportation infrastructure, improving transportation design, operation, safety and construction, understanding long-term effects of urban development patterns, and advancing active living within the built environment for improved public health. He teaches courses in interchange design, transportation engineering, highway design. engineering management, geographic information systems, and land surveying. He has served in numerous leadership positions in ITE, ASCE and TRB.

visit author page

biography

Kevin C. Bower The Citadel

visit author page

Dr. Kevin Bower is a Professor and the Associate Provost for Academic Operations at The Citadel, Charleston, South Carolina. Dr. Bower’s teaching research interests are in improving active learning environments and the development of classroom pedagogy to improve moral development in engineering students.

visit author page

Download Paper |

Abstract

Engineering programs employ a variety of approaches for improving student retention. Often, students leaving engineering cite difficulties in their calculus courses as a major contributor to their attrition. Specifically, students cite that early calculus classes lack practicality and seeming disconnected from their engineering majors. Some researchers even argue against the necessity of many calculus concepts for success in later engineering courses. Consequently, many institutions are seeking to redefine and improve calculus experiences to retain engineering students. Indeed, a growing body of literature discusses innovations in calculus content, pedagogy, and/or course formats. A comprehensive review of prior efforts to improve calculus courses is needed to synthesize the effectiveness of available intervention models, as well as identify areas of needed work.

A systematic review of ASEE conference proceedings is being conducted to identify models for promoting success in undergraduate calculus courses. First, a search of the ASEE PEER database for articles with “calculus” in the title yielded 120 results. Records are currently being screened based on abstracts and appraised by full texts, according to three inclusion criteria: (1) The study includes a model and/or strategies for innovating calculus experiences, (2) Empirical evidence is provided to support the success (or lack of success) of the intervention, and (3) The intervention is generalizable to contexts beyond the presented study. Retained records related to calculus interventions will be categorized according to intervention target (Precalculus, Calculus I, Calculus II, Calculus III, or Calculus IV), intervention format (calculus course, parallel engineering course, or hybrid calculus/engineering course), and pedagogy (direct instruction, flipped approach, problem/project based learning). The outcome of this review will be a set of proven strategies for enhancing student learning of calculus that can be implemented to encourage persistence in engineering.

Watson, M. K., & Ghanat, S. T., & Wood, T. A., & Davis, W. J., & Bower, K. C. (2019, June), A Systematic Review of Models for Calculus Course Innovations Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Tampa, Florida. 10.18260/1-2--32007

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2019 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015