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Contribution: This paper argues for a shift in how students’ team project experiences are assessed. Findings from this paper suggest that it is not enough to consider student-reported data in assessing team dynamics; hidden gendered behavior may be impacting students in ways that students do not realize or report. Background: Although the number of women in engineering is rising, difficulties still exist for female students in electrical engineering and computer science, particularly in team projects. Male and female students may have very different project experiences, due to differing levels of confidence/self-efficacy, difficult team dynamics, or inequitable task division. Research Questions: This paper aimed to elucidate what differences exist in the project experience between male and female students, considering self-reported measures (engineering confidence/self-efficacy, time spent on task, and team satisfaction) and observational study. Methodology: Students completed pre/post-project surveys, weekly logs, and post-project interviews to report and discuss their engineering confidence/self-efficacy, project task selection, and team satisfaction. This paper reports a case study of one student team, observed by a researcher throughout the project course. Findings: While student-reported data implied a lack of gender division (male and female students had the same levels of confidence, completed the same project tasks, and were similarly satisfied with their teams), the observational study implied that the student-reported data may not be telling the whole story. Given the difficult team dynamics observed in the student team (but not reported by students), findings suggest that difficult gender dynamics may go unrecognized by students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: Prior studies on goal congruity show that students are more motivated to pursue careers that allow them to work with and help others and give back to their community (i.e., careers that afford prosocial value). This paper discovers this same pattern in electrical engineering (EE) and discovers that prosocial affordance beliefs are significantly associated with intensions to persist, while agency beliefs are not. Background: Goal congruity theory finds that people are more motivated to pursue a career if it aligns with values they endorse. This theory can shed light on why some students do not persist in EE because of the stereotype that the profession does not allow working with and helping others. Research Questions: This paper seeks to answer whether EE students perceive the profession as affording prosocial value, and to test associations between prosocial perceptions and motivation to persist in the field. Methodology: The first study in this paper was conducted on students in an introductory EE course ($n\,\,= 79$) that measured affordance beliefs about the EE profession and tested associations with intensions to persist. The second study compared affordance beliefs and trait endorsements held by students in the introductory level course with those in an advanced EE courses ($n\,\,=51$). Findings: Mediation analysis revealed that the more novice students believe that EE allows them to fulfill prosocial goals, the greater their persistence intentions (95% CI: 0.01 to 0.34). This analysis also showed that agency beliefs were not strongly associated with persistence intensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: This paper adds to existing literature on teaching basic concepts of electricity using computer-based instruction; findings suggest that students can develop an accurate understanding of electric circuits when they generate multiple and complementary representations that build toward computational models. Background: Several studies have explored the efficacy of computer-based, multi-representational teaching of electric circuits for novice learners. Existing research has found that instructional use of computational models that move from abstract to concrete representations can foster students’ comprehension of electric circuit concepts, but other features of effective instruction using computational models need further investigation. Research Questions: 1) Is there a correlation between students’ representational fluency and their ability to reason qualitatively on electric circuits? and 2) Is the quality of student-generated computational representations correlated to their conceptual understanding of electric circuits? Methodology: The study comprised two cases in which 51 sophomore-engineering students completed a voluntary assignment designed to assess their representational fluency and conceptual understanding of electric circuits. Qualitative insights from the first case informed the design of a scoring rubric that served as both the assessment and the data collection instrument. Findings: The results suggest that a multi-representational approach aimed at the construction of computational models can foster conceptual understanding of electric circuits. The number and quality of students’ representations showed a positive correlation with their conceptual understanding. In particular, the quality of the computational representations was found to be highly, and significantly, correlated with the correctness of students’ answers to qualitative reasoning questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: This article presents the innovative prototypes used in materials and fabrication technologies in medical devices (MFTIMD) laboratory course, under the curriculum of Biomedical (BME) and Electrical Engineering (EE) undergraduate studies. A special part of the course is devoted to state-of-the-art topics, such as flexible and wearable electronic devices and microfluidic devices. The article contains a brief overview of the laboratory course content as well as an assessment analysis with a satisfactory review and an academic outcomes review. Background: The course should address the properties and the applications of new types of materials used in medical electronics as well as corresponding fabrication technologies and devices. The course content and literature provide a multidisciplinary approach to contemporary engineering problems, specifically in a fast-developing field of biomedical electronics. Intended Outcomes: After successfully completing the MFTIMD course, undergraduate Biomedical (BME) and EE students are trained to independently fabricate and characterized various materials and components for medical devices. They are also capable of creating original ideas and realizing them according to gained knowledge. Application Design: The assessment and evaluation study consist of satisfactory test with positive statements and gradual multiple-choice options for student to rate the statements as well as teachers and the literature. An additional survey of acquired knowledge was conducted before the June exam period and a short prior/post-test focused on main course topics. Findings: The satisfactory survey results indicated a very positive students’ attitude toward the course material and the teaching methods. The pass rate was above 85% in first (June) exam period with an average mark of 8.63 (on a scale from 5 to 10). The prior/post test revealed a significant improvement in the overall knowledge of the course subject, while the preparation test before the exam period resulted in 84% of correct test answers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: This research presents a case study of an online peer assessment (PA) implementation in a random processes course. Students were required to submit simulation assignments, and then to evaluate their peers’ submissions. The research explored the students’ perception of the activity throughout the course using surveys, and their behavior and academic performance using data obtained in the course. Background: With decreased resources and larger class sizes, the obligatory theoretical random processes course in the electrical engineering program presents a challenge with regard to students’ motivation and assimilation of the academic material. Intended Outcomes: In preceding research, PA was found to provide benefits for students’ learning, without significantly burdening teaching staff resources. The implementation was directed at achieving these benefits. Application Design: Simulation exercises were designed to provide illustrations of relatively abstract material, and PA was instituted to facilitate better learning of the material without imposing greater resource requirements on the teaching staff. Findings: Results indicated that PA, although executed in accordance with the best practices presented in the literature, failed to achieve the benefits expected, and might even have contributed to lower grades in the course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]