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Intellectual Mental Models of Engineering and Non-Engineering Undergraduate Students

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Conference

2022 ASEE Zone IV Conference

Location

Vancouver

Publication Date

May 12, 2022

Start Date

May 12, 2022

End Date

May 14, 2022

Conference Session

Student Success and Interactions

Tagged Topic

Conference Submission

Page Count

9

DOI

10.18260/1-2--44744

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/44744

Download Count

102

Paper Authors

biography

M. Javed Khan Tuskegee University

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Dr. M. Javed Khan is Professor and Head of Aerospace Science Engineering Department at Tuskegee University. He received his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M University, M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from the US Air Force Institute of Technology, and B.E. in Aerospace Engineering from the PAF College of Aeronautical Engineering. He also has served as Professor and Head of Aerospace Engineering Department at the National University of Science and Technology,Pakistan. His research interests include experimental aerodynamics, aircraft design and engineering education.

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biography

Chadia A. Aji Tuskegee University

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Chadia Affane Aji is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Tuskegee University. Dr. Aji received her Ph.D. and M.S. in Mathematics from Auburn University and a Bachelor in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University. Her research interests lie in the areas of numerical analysis, computational applied mathematics, complex analysis, and on improving students' learning in STEM disciplines. Dr. Aji is involved in retention activities at Tuskegee University. She helps designing strategies to assist incoming freshmen cope with first year mathematics classes. She developed teaching modules to improve students' learning in mathematics using technology.

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Abstract

Intellectual Mental Models of Engineering and Non-Engineering Undergraduate Students

The traditional educational paradigm encourages the development of dualistic intellectual mental models of the world view. Students strive to get the correct answer as expected by the teacher. With the development of understanding of the world view and student agency, the mental models move towards multiplicity and finally to a relativistic understanding. This paper discusses this cognitive development of undergraduate students and the impact of duration of stay in college. A validated instrument was used to measure anchoring of student mental models across the spectrum of duality, multiplicity, and relativity. Data was analyzed to determine the differences between engineering and non-engineering students. The effect of the academic standing was also investigated. The influence of gender was studied. Results of these analyses are shared.

The work is supported by NSF Grant # xxxxxxxx

Khan, M. J., & A. Aji, C. (2022, May), Intellectual Mental Models of Engineering and Non-Engineering Undergraduate Students Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Zone IV Conference, Vancouver. 10.18260/1-2--44744

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