Board 315: Initial Findings of Engineering Faculties’ Perceptions of Mastery Assessment in a Project-based Engineering Program

Sara A. Atwood; Kelsey Scalaro; Rebecca Holcombe

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: NSF Grantees Poster Session
Tagged Topics: Diversity and NSF Grantees Poster Session
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/46894

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Paper Authors

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Sara A. Atwood Elizabethtown College

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Dr. Sara A. Atwood is the Dean of the School of Engineering and Computer Science and Professor of Engineering at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. She holds a BA and MS in Engineering Sciences from Dartmouth College, and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from U.C. Berkeley.

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Kelsey Scalaro University of Nevada, Reno

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Kelsey is a doctoral student in the School of Engineering Education at the University of Nevada, Reno. There she completed her Bachelorâ€™s and is working on her Master of Science in mechanical engineering. Her research focuses are on undergraduate engine

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Rebecca Holcombe

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Abstract

The purpose of this NSF grantees poster is to disseminate initial findings on faculty perception of mastery-based assessment in a project-based engineering program as part of an NSF Broadening Participation award.

It is understood that pedagogical approaches influence more than what students learn but also impact their mindsets, motivation, and how they see themselves as engineers. Mastery-based teaching has seen growing popularity in engineering education as faculty strive to support students in achieving learning outcomes linked with continuous improvement to promote performance and persistence. However, this teaching approach has specific challenges as it requires significant restructuring of assessment practices including assignments, exams, evaluation processes, and grading. This work seeks to better understand faculty perspectives of assessment within mastery-based teaching to support a user-oriented perspective that can help other engineering faculty navigate the challenges of using evidence-based teaching practices in their own classrooms.

This paper focuses on qualitative findings from an initial pilot study from a larger, NSF-funded Broadening Participation project at a small, Eastern private college. This exploratory pilot study includes the perceptions of two engineering faculty members using mastery teaching and assessment in a project-based engineering program. A semi-structured interview with multiple open-ended questions was used to prompt participants to share their experiences with assessment in relation to their self-efficacy around teaching and their perceptions of assessment in relation to their students’ learning, confidence, and agency. Directed content and thematic analysis were used to identify codes and develop themes in relation to how participants described certain features of assessment in their engineering program.

Preliminary results will illustrate features of mastery assessment that faculty highlighted as particularly challenging or successful and related lessons learned. The initial themes and patterns identified in this preliminary pilot study will be used to set up a more focused secondary full data collection phase in the larger study. Additionally, this poster serves as an opportunity to initiate important dialogue around the implementation of mastery-based assessment and project-based learning in engineering programs and to better support engineering faculty in incorporating elements of mastery-based teaching and assessment.

Citation
Format

Atwood, S. A., & Scalaro, K., & Holcombe, R. (2024, June), Board 315: Initial Findings of Engineering Faculties’ Perceptions of Mastery Assessment in a Project-based Engineering Program Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/46894

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - The purpose of this NSF grantees poster is to disseminate initial findings on faculty perception of mastery-based assessment in a project-based engineering program as part of an NSF Broadening Participation award. 

It is understood that pedagogical approaches influence more than what students learn but also impact their mindsets, motivation, and how they see themselves as engineers. Mastery-based teaching has seen growing popularity in engineering education as faculty strive to support students in achieving learning outcomes linked with continuous improvement to promote performance and persistence. However, this teaching approach has specific challenges as it requires significant restructuring of assessment practices including assignments, exams, evaluation processes, and grading. This work seeks to better understand faculty perspectives of assessment within mastery-based teaching to support a user-oriented perspective that can help other engineering faculty navigate the challenges of using evidence-based teaching practices in their own classrooms.

This paper focuses on qualitative findings from an initial pilot study from a larger, NSF-funded Broadening Participation project at a small, Eastern private college. This exploratory pilot study includes the perceptions of two engineering faculty members using mastery teaching and assessment in a project-based engineering program. A semi-structured interview with multiple open-ended questions was used to prompt participants to share their experiences with assessment in relation to their self-efficacy around teaching and their perceptions of assessment in relation to their students’ learning, confidence, and agency. Directed content and thematic analysis were used to identify codes and develop themes in relation to how participants described certain features of assessment in their engineering program.

Preliminary results will illustrate features of mastery assessment that faculty highlighted as particularly challenging or successful and related lessons learned. The initial themes and patterns identified in this preliminary pilot study will be used to set up a more focused secondary full data collection phase in the larger study. Additionally, this poster serves as an opportunity to initiate important dialogue around the implementation of mastery-based assessment and project-based learning in engineering programs and to better support engineering faculty in incorporating elements of mastery-based teaching and assessment. 

AU  - Sara A. Atwood
AU  - Kelsey Scalaro
AU  - Rebecca Holcombe
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Board 315: Initial Findings of Engineering Faculties’ Perceptions of Mastery Assessment in a Project-based Engineering Program
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/46894
ER  -