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Board 332: Learning by Evaluating (LbE): Engaging Students in Evaluation as a Pedagogical Strategy to Improve Design Thinking

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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

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Tagged Topic

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Page Count

11

DOI

10.18260/1-2--42934

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/42934

Download Count

167

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Paper Authors

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Andrew Jackson University of Georgia Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-2882-3052

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Andrew Jackson is an Assistant Professor of Workforce Education at the University of Georgia. His teaching and research interests are to support design-based learning and teaching in technology and engineering contexts. His past work has bridged cutting-edge soft robotics research to develop and evaluate novel design experiences in K-12 education, followed students' self-regulation and trajectories while designing, and produced new instruments for assessing design decision-making. Andrew received a PhD in Technology through Purdue's Polytechnic Institute, with an emphasis on Engineering and Technology Teacher Education, and completed postdoctoral research at Yale University. He is the recipient of a 2015 Ross Fellowship from Purdue University and has been recognized as a 21st Century Fellow by the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association.

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Nathan Mentzer Purdue University, West Lafayette

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Nathan Mentzer is an assistant professor in the College of Technology with a joint appointment in the College of Education at Purdue University. Hired as a part of the strategic P12 STEM initiative, he prepares Engineering/Technology candidates for teache

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Scott R. Bartholomew Brigham Young University

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Scott R. Bartholomew, PhD. is an assistant professor of Technology & Engineering Studies at Brigham Young University. Previously he taught Technology and Engineering classes at the middle school and university level.

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Wonki Lee Purdue University, West Lafayette Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-0007-1023

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Wonki Lee is pursuing a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction’s Literacy and Language program at Purdue University. She received her B.A and M.S in Korean Language Education from Seoul National University, South Korea. She served culturally and linguistical

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Jessica Marie Yauney

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Scott Thorne Purdue University, West Lafayette Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-3742-8903

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Scott Thorne is a doctoral candidate at Purdue University in Technology, Leadership, and Innovation, and a Purdue Doctoral Fellow. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Engineering and Technology Teacher Education in 2009, and a master’s degree in Technology, Leadership, and Innovation in 2021, both from Purdue University. His research focuses on meaningful dual credit experiences, and teaching tools and strategies for the 9-12 engineering and technology classroom. Scott has taught Engineering & Technology at the high school level in Indiana and Iowa, Design Thinking as an instructor at Purdue, and has engineering experience in design and manufacturing. He is also currently serves as a board member for Indiana TSA as the Competitive Events Coordinator.

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Daniel Bayah

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Abstract

Traditionally, students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) classrooms work on a design project and culminate work with a presentation to their peers. This model may be appropriate to measure student learning, but often does little to directly stimulate student learning because student learning is seen to start at the onset of a project/problem and stop when the assignment is submitted for evaluation. Instead, our study (funded by the NSF Division of Research on Learning) is developing, refining, and testing a protocol in which students evaluate prior work to prime them for learning while designing, through what we call Learning by Evaluating (LbE). This approach includes two important changes to the currently-practiced educational paradigms: 1) actively engaging students—in addition to teachers—in the critique and evaluation process; and 2) students performing the evaluation of work prior to embarking on an assignment—as opposed to the end of an assignment when evaluation traditionally takes place. Anticipated learning outcomes from this experience align with three critical variables in our research design: we believe allowing students to solidify their own understanding of the content, context, and ways of thinking for an assigned project (design mindset) and identifying key features related to work quality that develop evaluation and argumentation skills (critical thinking and reasoning)—both before beginning work on an assignment—will improve students’ performance in future design (student performance).

The first two years of our study use a design-based research approach to guide the design, implementation, and iteration on the protocol for Learning by Evaluating in 9th grade classrooms. By conducting this work in classroom contexts, targeting changes in practice, and collaborating on improvements with practitioners, this setting is well-suited to the design-based research approach. Following this development, we will implement a quasi-experimental design to test the efficacy of the LbE instructional approach.

At the time of submission our study is in its second year and continuing to study the instructional approach through teacher reflection, classroom observation, and initial analysis of students’ critical thinking and reasoning. Our paper and poster will describe three main developments and insights from the project thus far. First, we will describe the initial instructional approach, including connections to theory and epistemic practices in engineering argumentation. Next, we will describe two main trajectories for the LbE comparison experiences and classroom discussion that have emerged from classroom use. Finally, we will reflect on our improvements to the instructional experience based on teacher feedback, students’ use of critical thinking and reasoning, and the logistics of implementing the project. The central focus of this research is to position the student as an evaluator and initiate learning in the design process; the LbE approach has the potential to advance the preparation of critical thinkers in engineering design activities and our developmental approach is ensuring the exploration of ways to optimize this experience.

Jackson, A., & Mentzer, N., & Bartholomew, S. R., & Lee, W., & Yauney, J. M., & Thorne, S., & Bayah, D. (2023, June), Board 332: Learning by Evaluating (LbE): Engaging Students in Evaluation as a Pedagogical Strategy to Improve Design Thinking Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--42934

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