The Impact of Diaries and Reflection on Self-Assessments of Learning in a First-Year Undergraduate Engineering Design Course

Serena Mao; David Chen; Magdalena Jones; Aye Mon Htut-Rosales; Laura Palucki Blake; Leah Mendelson; Steven Santana

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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: Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM) Technical Session 10
Tagged Division: Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/48106

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Magdalena, a senior at Harvey Mudd College studying Computer Science and Mathematics is dedicated to working at the intersection of many fields. This project was a treat to work on and she is very proud to have been a part of it!

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Aye Mon Htut-Rosales Harvey Mudd College

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Laura Palucki Blake

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Laura Palucki Blake is the Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness at Harvey Mudd College, where her primary role is to coordinate data collection, interpretation and dissemination to support teaching and learning, planning and decision-makin

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Leah Mendelson Harvey Mudd College orcid.org/0000-0003-1672-4292

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Leah Mendelson is an Associate Professor of Engineering at Harvey Mudd College.

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Steven Santana Harvey Mudd College

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Abstract

This work-in-progress (WIP) paper communicates the impact of diary and reflection activities on students’ self-assessments of their learning in a first-year, studio-format undergraduate engineering design course. This work is implemented in an equity-minded frame to ensure that we support the learning and experience of all students. Students in first-year engineering design courses often ineffectively deploy design process phases and activities, which can limit their learning and negatively impact the quality of their deliverables. To further encourage students to intentionally engage in the appropriate design process phases and activities, we supplement our current instruction with a new activity that includes a modified time diary and a structured reflection activity. This work-in-progress paper begins analyzing our data to understand the role played by these activities in student learning. We analyze students’ self-assessments of learning and engineering identity, with data sourced from pre- and post-term surveys, with a phased deployment of the diary and reflection activities across multiple semesters. Given our centering of equity-mindedness, we analyze demographic data to identify and attend to any equity gaps in student learning and experience. In this work-in-progress paper, we include a subset of Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) focused on the design process and teamwork and a single measure for students’ identity as engineers. Data are analyzed using a two-factor Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The factors include (1) the phased deployment of data-collection, diary, and reflection activities (PHASE), and (2) whether the student identifies as a member of a racial or ethnic group that is historically underrepresented in higher education (URM). This initial analysis identifies a statistically significant positive impact of the implemented diary and reflection activities on the student learning outcome “solve open-ended and ill-structured engineering problems” for students in the URM-identifying group. Beyond this outcome, this initial analysis also indicates that students report increased learning for engineering design outcomes but do not report a self-assessed growth in learning related to functioning effectively on teams. Furthermore, this course and the pilot activities, as currently implemented, do not enhance students’ sense of their engineering identity. These shortcomings require innovations that carefully consider student experience so that we effectively prepare technically excellent, collaborative, and confident engineers.

Citation
Format

Mao, S., & Chen, D., & Jones, M., & Htut-Rosales, A. M., & Palucki Blake, L., & Mendelson, L., & Santana, S. (2024, June), The Impact of Diaries and Reflection on Self-Assessments of Learning in a First-Year Undergraduate Engineering Design Course Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/48106

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This work-in-progress (WIP) paper communicates the impact of diary and reflection activities on students’ self-assessments of their learning in a first-year, studio-format undergraduate engineering design course. This work is implemented in an equity-minded frame to ensure that we support the learning and experience of all students. Students in first-year engineering design courses often ineffectively deploy design process phases and activities, which can limit their learning and negatively impact the quality of their deliverables. To further encourage students to intentionally engage in the appropriate design process phases and activities, we supplement our current instruction with a new activity that includes a modified time diary and a structured reflection activity. This work-in-progress paper begins analyzing our data to understand the role played by these activities in student learning.
We analyze students’ self-assessments of learning and engineering identity, with data sourced from pre- and post-term surveys, with a phased deployment of the diary and reflection activities across multiple semesters. Given our centering of equity-mindedness, we analyze demographic data to identify and attend to any equity gaps in student learning and experience. In this work-in-progress paper, we include a subset of Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) focused on the design process and teamwork and a single measure for students’ identity as engineers. Data are analyzed using a two-factor Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The factors include (1) the phased deployment of data-collection, diary, and reflection activities (PHASE), and (2) whether the student identifies as a member of a racial or ethnic group that is historically underrepresented in higher education (URM). This initial analysis identifies a statistically significant positive impact of the implemented diary and reflection activities on the student learning outcome “solve open-ended and ill-structured engineering problems” for students in the URM-identifying group. Beyond this outcome, this initial analysis also indicates that students report increased learning for engineering design outcomes but do not report a self-assessed growth in learning related to functioning effectively on teams. Furthermore, this course and the pilot activities, as currently implemented, do not enhance students’ sense of their engineering identity. These shortcomings require innovations that carefully consider student experience so that we effectively prepare technically excellent, collaborative, and confident engineers.
AU  - Serena Mao
AU  - David Chen
AU  - Magdalena Jones
AU  - Aye Mon Htut-Rosales
AU  - Laura Palucki Blake
AU  - Leah Mendelson
AU  - Steven Santana
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - The Impact of Diaries and Reflection on Self-Assessments of Learning in a First-Year Undergraduate Engineering Design Course
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/48106
ER  -