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Tolerance of ambiguity: A comparison between engineering and non-engineering students

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Conference

2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Minneapolis, MN

Publication Date

August 23, 2022

Start Date

June 26, 2022

End Date

June 29, 2022

Conference Session

Aerospace Division Technical Session: Student Success

Page Count

9

DOI

10.18260/1-2--41427

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/41427

Download Count

334

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Paper Authors

biography

M. Javed Khan Tuskegee University

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Mohammad Javed Khan is professor and head of the Aerospace Science Engineering department at Tuskegee University. He has a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M University, MS in Aeronautical Engineering from the US Air Force Institute of Technology and a BE in Aerospace Engineering from the PAF College of Aeronautical Engineering. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, UK and an Associate Fellow of the AIAA.

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biography

Chadia A. Aji Tuskegee University

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Chadia Aji is professor in the Department of Mathematics at Tuskegee University. She 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.

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Abstract

The typical student mind-set is focused on getting the ‘right’ answer for a problem with certainty that every problem has one and only one correct answer. However, this viewpoint is not consistent with real life problems as the information available for solving a real-life problem can be stochastic and incomplete. As a result, many correct answers could be possible and the acceptable one would depend on several factors. Students must therefore be exposed to such ambiguous problem spaces. This paper presents a comparison of undergraduate students’ tolerance of ambiguity. The modified Rydell-Rosen Ambiguity Tolerance scale was administered to a cross-section of students to measure their responses. Differences between engineering and non-engineering students were observed. The influence of academic classification and gender were also observed.

This work is supported NSF grant # XXXXX.

Khan, M. J., & A. Aji, C. (2022, August), Tolerance of ambiguity: A comparison between engineering and non-engineering students Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41427

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