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The application of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education in solving real-world problems is challenging. To tackle this challenge, a project-based learning approach that integrates robots with cost-effective self-made toys to problem-solving was adopted to assist rural primary school students to apply STEM skills. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the project-based learning approach which includes lecturing and hands-on activities on primary school students' STEM learning outcomes and attitudes. An experiment was conducted with 25 primary school students who voluntarily participated in a STEM summer-camp programme. Students were asked to assemble a paper house equipped with an IoT control module and LED light switches, and write and edit robot scripts to produce a robot-based storytelling narrative using the paper house they made as a context. The results show that the project-based learning approach was an effective approach for cultivating primary school students' STEM knowledge and skills as evidenced from the post-written test. The relationships between the students' STEM learning outcomes and attitudes were also confirmed by a clustering analysis. Students who had higher learning attitudes also achieved higher STEM learning outcomes; the findings are also supported by the feedback from the open-ended questionnaire items. This study suggests that integrating low-cost self-made toys and robots in project-based learning activities is an effective and practical approach to enhance primary school students' learning outcomes and learning attitudes in STEM education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Effective learning in computer programming courses has been a constant challenge for university teachers and has become a relevant competence for current professionals. The literature on gamification in learning presents mixed results, mainly due to problems in instructional design and inconsistency in gamification. Studies with positive empirical results on computer programming formative activities and showing under what conditions gamification is effective still need to be included. Objectives: This study aimed to quantify the effects of gamification techniques in software tools that support computer programming learning applied to data‐structures university students. The study focused on determining whether there are differences in learning when using gamification techniques in online exercising formative activities. The effects of gamification on learning objectives with diverse complexity are studied. Methods: The study was conducted on computer engineering university students following a pretest‐intervention‐posttest design. They were divided into control and experimental groups, where both used a bank of exercises in Moodle to support learning. The experimental group considered gamification techniques, including points, leaderboards, and badges. Results and Conclusions: Gamification techniques significantly outperformed in learning gains in exercising activities without gamification. Regarding learning complexity, increasing taxonomic complexity did not negatively affect gamification learning effects. Lay Description: What is currently known about the subject matter?: Gamification has been explored as a strategy to enhance learning motivation in various educational contexts, including computer programmingLiterature shows mixed quantitative results on learning improvements under gamification.Few studies cover formative exercises, deal with computer programming tasks, or use a LMS like Moodle.Lack of literature exploring the conditions for effective gamification use, and involving learning objective complexity. What does this paper add to the existing body of research?: Quantifies the impact of gamification techniques on learning outcomes, specifically focusing on computer‐programming in university.Provides empirical evidence on gamification significantly improving learning gains compared to non‐gamified data‐structures exercisesGamification is effective in tasks of diverse levels of taxonomic complexity, with consistent effectiveness regardless of learning difficulty. Implications of study findings for practitioners: Gamification techniques, can be used in higher education to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes in computer programmingThe gamification information (e.g. points and ranking) do not require an automatic update, can be processed manually and published daily.It is effective to use gamification for learning tasks of medium‐high difficulty in Moodle on computer programming topics.It is key a thoughtful instructional design when applying gamification, ensuring alignment with learning objectives and task complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Online learning has recently surged due to the COVID‐19 global pandemic. Because of the pandemic, many universities were forced to move to online learning, and various online teaching and learning environments emerged, both asynchronous and synchronous. Objective: This study explores how a large university in the Southeastern United States of America converted an in‐person Lean Manufacturing professional course into synchronous online learning for industry participants. Method: The study analysed the performance of 212 in‐person and 43 online industry participants and examined the views of online participants about the training. Paired t‐tests, one‐way multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), and univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were utilized to evaluate the performance of the in‐person and online groups on the three competencies (Lean culture, problem‐solving and Lean systems). Results and Conclusion: Both online and in‐person programs performed equally well in two Lean Manufacturing competencies: Lean systems and problem solving. The online program outperformed the in‐person program in the third competency, Lean culture. Overall, the participants had a positive experience with the structure and organization of the online program, and their impression of the online learning environment for the program was positive. The study findings indicated that Lean Manufacturing could be trained effectively online and in person. Best practices are suggested for the conversion of in‐person to synchronous online engineering continuing education programs. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: During the COVID‐19 pandemic, many in‐person lectures were converted to online lectures for undergraduate students, and some online lectures satisfied the students.Many researchers reported that the online participants yielded positive results, and the performance of online participants was comparable to that of in‐person participants.However, the participants mentioned that some of the challenges of online learning include poor concentration, internet losses and poor understanding of the use of technology. What this paper adds: A description of how in‐person training can be converted to online training for adult learners is a unique context since they bring experience to the learning process.A comparison of the performance of adult learners trained using in‐person performed compared to those trained in‐person. The implications of study findings for practitioners: The study's results indicated that both the online and the traditional in‐person programs yield almost similar results; thus, online education programs can be used when in‐person is impossible.Online education programs can be used when in‐person is impossible, and the best practice guidelines drawn from the study can benefit similar engineering continuing education programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outcome-based education (OBE) by Washington Accord (WA) promises to improve the technical education system by clarifying expectations for students and focussing assessment on specific learning outcomes for better measurement of student achievements. Numerous publications describe the process and results of OBE implementation in India. This article is a meta-analysis of research articles documenting the OBE efforts made by Indian engineering institutes. The study implements the established objective approached based reviewing technique. A rubric comprising seven distinct measurements was applied to assess critically selected articles. The detailed assessment indicates that there is a lack of empirical validation of the results obtained by the researchers. The papers were also found to lack a consistent understanding of CO-PO mapping. Hence, there is a clear research gap of statistical validation of the results using pre and postimplementation data for a given improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the students' perceptions and key learning outcomes with the use of system modelling (SM) instructional strategy. Specifically, the study sought to understand students' perceptions and experiences with the use of SM in enhancing their conceptual and application knowledge, as well as problem‐solving and system thinking skills. The study employed a qualitative inquiry approach to gain insight into engineering students' experiences. Data were collected using semi‐structured interviews and students' artefacts, including problem‐solving surveys and modelling diagrams. Overall, the findings indicated promising effects of the SM approach on students' learning outcomes. Seven major themes emerged from the interview data, including problem diagnosis, interconnection, linearity, external representation, wholeness, organized problem‐solving approach and systematic process. The problem‐solving inventory survey responses indicated that participants believed that the SM approach enhanced their problem‐solving skills. Furthermore, the model diagram analysis suggested that all participants showed moderate gain in system thinking skills after the SM strategy. This paper presents these findings and the pedagogical implications for engineering education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The number of artificial intelligence (AI) literacy studies in K‐12 education has recently increased, with most research focusing on primary and secondary education contexts. Little research focuses on AI literacy programs in early childhood education. Objectives: The aim of this mixed‐methods study is to examine the feasibility of an AI literacy program called "AI4KG" and explore how it might affect kindergarteners' perceptions of robots and attitudes towards engineering and science. Methods: A total of 26 child–parent dyads recruited from a Hong Kong kindergarten were involved in this study, consisting of 26 children (Mage = 4 years, SD = 0.28) and their parents. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through surveys and interviews designed to explore children's perceptions of robots and attitudes towards engineering and science, and parents' perceptions of the AI4KG intervention. Results: It is found that children have increased their perceptions of robots after the AI literacy program, but the AI4KG curriculum had no significant effects on kindergarten children's engineering and science attitudes. Most parents (22 out of 26) agreed that their children's AI knowledge, AI skills, and AI attitudes have been enhanced after learning through the AI4KG curriculum. Conclusions: This study suggests that the AI4KG curriculum is potentially effective in promoting early AI literacy and favourable attitudes towards the technology, but further research is needed to develop age‐appropriate measures and assess its long‐term impact on children's education and career paths. Lay Description: What is currently known about this topic?: AI literacy is becoming important as AI transforms society, but few studies have explored AI literacy in early childhood education.Prior research found AI activities can positively influence older children's views of robots and engineering. What does this paper add?: It evaluates an 8‐week AI literacy curriculum called AI4KG for kindergarteners in Hong Kong.The curriculum used tools like Teachable Machine and taught concepts through play and storytelling.It improved children's perceptions of robots but did not significantly impact engineering/science attitudes.Parents perceived improvements in children's AI knowledge, skills, and attitudes after the curriculum. Implications for practice/policy: The curriculum provides an example for developing age‐appropriate AI literacy activities.More rigorous research on impacts over time is needed, but results suggest potential benefits of AI literacy in early childhood.Policymakers could consider incorporating AI literacy into kindergarten curricula to prepare children for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aims to establish the mechanism by which virtual reality (VR) media characteristics affect learning transfer in a VR‐based job‐training environment. The two main determinants of learning transfer are the technology and the learner, but not many studies have considered both factors simultaneously. Objectives: This study aims to ascertain the mechanism by which VR media characteristics affect learning transfer with flow as a mediator, and to explore whether presence moderates the effect of VR media characteristics on flow. Methods: A survey of semiconductor facilities engineers who received VR‐based job training was conducted. A total of 106 responses were used in the statistical analysis. A path analysis was conducted to determine the promotional mechanism that connects VR media characteristics, flow, and learning transfer. Results and Conclusions: The results were as follows. First, VR media characteristics had a positive impact on learning transfer. Second, flow acted as a mediator in the relationship between VR media characteristics and learning transfer. Third, presence played a moderating role in the relationship between VR media characteristics and flow. Key takeaways: This study is significant as it identifies elements to consider in relation to both the technological and learner aspects of VR while designing a VR‐based job‐training programme. A corporation should consider VR media characteristics from a technological perspective, and flow and presence from a learner's perspective. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Corporations provide virtual reality (VR)‐based job training because of its positive impact.Interactions between the VR environment and learners impact flow.Presence is important as learner's subjective awareness affects efficacy. What this paper adds: VR media characteristics influence learning transfer in VR‐based job training.VR media characteristics affect flow, which, in turn, affects learning transfer.Presence moderates the relationship between VR media characteristics and flow. Implications for practice and/or policy: VR media characteristics influence learning transfer in VR‐based job training.VR media characteristics affect flow, which, in turn, affects learning transfer.Presence moderates the relationship between VR media characteristics and flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of immersive virtual reality (VR) as a medium for delivering laboratory safety training. We specifically compare an immersive VR simulation, a desktop VR simulation, and a conventional safety manual. The sample included 105 first year undergraduate engineering students (56 females).  We include five types of learning outcomes including post‐test enjoyment ratings; pre‐ to post‐test changes in intrinsic motivation and self‐efficacy; a post‐test multiple choice retention test; and two behavioral transfer tests. Results indicated that the groups did not differ on the immediate retention test, suggesting that all three media were equivalent in conveying the basic knowledge. However, significant differences were observed favoring the immersive VR group compared to the text group on the two transfer tests involving the solving problems in a physical lab setting (d = 0.54, d = 0.57), as well as enjoyment (d = 1.44) and increases in intrinsic motivation (d = 0.69) and self‐efficacy (d = 0.60). The desktop VR group scored significantly higher than the text group on one transfer test (d = 0.63) but not the other (d= 0.11), as well as enjoyment (d =1.11) and intrinsic motivation (d =0.83). Lay Description: What is currently known about the subject matter: Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly being used to deliver learning and training material.One field where the affordances of VR are particularly relevant is in safety training.VR provides the opportunity for trainees to safely act out realistic scenarios where making the right decisions is pivotal and training in real life would otherwise be impractical or impossible.Most studies that investigate the effectiveness of learning with VR do not include behavioural transfer tests. What this paper adds to this research: This study used a broad array of assessment methods to evaluate the effectiveness of safety training delivered with three different instructional media: an immersive VR simulation, a desktop VR simulation, and a conventional text‐based safety manual.There were no differences between conventional and VR training on a retention test.The immersive VR group significantly outperformed the conventional group on two behavioural transfer tests, perceived enjoyment, and increase in intrinsic motivation and self‐efficacy.The desktop VR group scored significantly higher than the conventional group on one behavioural transfer test, perceived enjoyment, and increase in intrinsic motivation.The results suggest that behavioural measures of transfer in realistic settings may be necessary to accurately assess the instructional value of VR learning environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how the use of smartphones vs. laptops influences students' engagement, behaviour and experience watching academic videos in a collaborative classroom. Experiments were run in authentic teaching sessions with a total of 483 first-year higher education students. The methodology applied is a quasi-experimental design with post-test-only, being the independent variable, the device used to visualise the academic videos. Results indicate that the use of laptops has provided better results in terms of student's engagement with the videos, their collaborative behaviour and satisfaction with the device. Hence, the findings of this research suggest that the type of mobile device used in activities that consider the use of videos in a collaborative class need to be carefully chosen to maximise the student's comfortability – and in consequence, their engagement with the video-based learning activity and their positive behaviour and experience within the collaborative context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Ergonomics/Human factors (HFE) is little considered in the engineering design practice and design methodologies do not adequately present the use of HFE. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper is to propose a systematic for the integration of HFE into product design, based on the user-centered design approach. Thus, an overview of the systematic is presented, as well as the suggestion of methods and support tools for each phase of the design process. METHODS: In order to verify the applicability of the systematic it was done an expert evaluation of the systematic and an experiment was carried out in the engineering education, in two classes of the product design course in a Brazilian University in 2016. RESULTS: The results showed that the students of the study group developed a better knowledge about HFE and its use in product design, besides the probability of using HFE in the product design went from low to high after the experiment. CONCLUSION: Presenting this information in a systematized way together with the design process allows students to be more likely to use it, to understand it better and know how to use it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modeling is an essential and challenging activity in any engineering environment, and it requires some hard-to-train skills such as abstraction and communication. This makes it difficult for educators to teach or train their students, co-workers, or users. The audience of this paper is both educators and learners who struggle with modeling. To address this challenge, we present PapyGame, a gamified version of a robust modeling environment (Papyrus) that aims to improve the learner's motivation, make the learning process an enjoyable experience, and boost learning outcomes. Gamification is the exploitation of gaming mechanisms for serious purposes, such as promoting behavioral changes, soliciting participation and engagement in activities, and more. The paper presents PapyGame's functionalities, architectures, illustrative scenarios, and its potential impact on both educators and learners. • PapyGame: Open-source gamified modeling environment. • Objective: Gamify learning of modeling in Papyrus UML editor. • Benefits: Enhances motivation, enjoyable learning experience, improved outcomes. • Assignments: Multiple levels with corresponding exercises. • Game Types: Hangman, On Your Own (OYO) for each learning exercise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper emphasizes the essential role of a support person for faculty teaching and assessing the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) graduate attributes as part of an ongoing accreditation cycle. It details the continuous program improvement process adopted by the Department of Biosystems Engineering at the University of Manitoba, and the role of engineering stakeholders. It recounts a study that details the supportive efforts of a Research Associate who helped to validate and implement rubrics with individual professors as outcomes-based tools for teaching and assessing the 12 CEAB graduate attributes, which resulted in the creation of 14 rubrics for 12 courses. Findings included new pedagogical understandings, the appreciation of individual support from the Research Associate, and the continued use of rubrics; the work led most professors to think deeply and in new ways about teaching and assessment. There was evidence that six professors engaged in 'reverse design', developing rubrics with targeted learning outcomes and course materials in mind. The work led to critical improvement in teaching practices and evidence of continual program improvement. Despite overall engagement and success, some professors continued to struggle with the concept and use of rubrics. In sum, this experience emphasizes the benefit of a dedicated person to support professors to implement rubrics, and in creating and sustaining an outcomes-based assessment culture in the department. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning a foreign language requires interaction with language input while involved in a task. Given that problem‐based learning (PBL) offers hands‐on application in realistic contexts, and that virtual reality (VR) enables learners to interact with multiple modalities of information, this study examines how the integration of VR technology into PBL contexts affects students' motivation for, problem‐solving during, and vocabulary acquisition in learning English as a foreign language (EFL). A total of 84 engineering majors who enrolled in a course of English for specific purposes were randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group. Students in the experimental group participated in a VR‐assisted PBL context, in which they were to view a PBL scenario using VR technology and then to create VR videos about solving the given problems. Those in the control group participated in a PBL context without the use of VR technology for viewing and solving the identical scenario. After the intervention, all the students wrote a problem‐solving analysis, took a vocabulary knowledge test, completed a learning motivation questionnaire, and participated in individual interviews. The results showed that the students in the experimental group significantly outperformed those in the control group in terms of vocabulary acquisition, and were more motivated to learn English related to their future careers, whereas there was no significant difference in the problem‐solving performance of the two groups. Implications of these findings highlight the value of engaging EFL learners in immersive environments for contextualized learning through the integrated use of VR and PBL. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic?: Virtual reality (VR) technology has been shown to enhance students' knowledge and skills in STEM fields.Problem‐based learning (PBL) has been widely used in medical education but not so much in foreign language education.English as a foreign language (EFL) students usually have very limited access to the target language beyond the classroom, thus lack a motivating reason for them to learn English after graduation. What this paper adds?: The VR‐assisted PBL approach proposed in this study was found to significantly enhance the EFL students' specialized vocabulary knowledge.The VR‐assisted PBL approach was found to motivate and sustain the EFL students' interest in career English.Exposing the EFL students to PBL contexts was capable of developing their problem‐solving performance, regardless of VR integration. Implications for practice and/or policy: The proposed approach has the potential to facilitate student learning in EFL education, particularly English for occupational purposes.EFL educators may apply the VR‐assisted PBL approach to narrow the gap between language classrooms and workplace contexts by immersing students in authentic contexts that were relevant to their occupational knowledge and workplace English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education is recognized as a top school education priority worldwide and Inquiry-based teaching and learning is identified as a promising approach. To effectively engage students in Inquiry tasks, appropriate guidance should be provided, usually by combining digital tools such online labs and modeling tools. This is a cumbersome task for teachers, since it involves manually assessing the type/level of tool-supported guidance to be provided and potentially refining these to meet guidance needs of individual students. In our research we target to investigate how to support this systematic reflection process with educational data analytics methods and tools from both the design and the delivery of Inquiry-based educational designs (IED). The contribution of this paper is to propose a novel "Teaching and Learning" Analytics method and research prototype tool, extending the scope of purely learning analytics methods, to analyze IED in terms of the tool-supported guidance they offer and relate these analyses to students' educational data that are already being collected by existing learning analytics systems, increasing teachers' awareness. A two-layer evaluation methodology positively assessed the capacity of our method to analyze IED and provided initial evidence that the insights generated offer statistically significant indicators that impact students' activity during the delivery of these IED. The insights of this work aim to contribute in the field of cognitive data analytics for teaching and learning, by investigating new ways to combine analyses of the educational design and students' activity, and inform teachers' reflection from a holistic perspective. Highlights • Tool-supported Guidance is essential for effective Inquiry-based education. • Teaching and Learning Analytics (TLA) can support teachers provide appropriate Guidance. • The TLA method and supporting tool provides analyses of the level of Guidance in Inquiry-based scenarios. • Analyses of the design can be investigated against customizable learners' data and profiles. • Insights from these combined analyses could help teachers improve their teaching designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between construction safety and productivity is extremely complex and very difficult to convey through traditional pedagogy. Nevertheless, it is vital for construction engineering and management students and construction managers to understand how safety and productivity are interrelated. To create a rich learning experience, an active simulation exercise was created that exposes the relationship between safety and productivity. The objectives of this paper are to: 1) describe the design and implementation of the exercise; 2) present the results of three years of implementation with more than 300 students; and 3) discuss the achievement of predefined learning objectives. The exercise was designed to be implemented in an outdoor setting using a 5 ft by 8 ft tarp, ten tennis balls, a stopwatch and a set of simple instructions. Through multiple rounds, students were exposed to the factors that affect both safety and productivity, including teamwork, communication, hazard volume, predictability of hazards and learning. Post-implementation assessments indicate that there is quantitative and qualitative evidence that, when compared to traditional lecture, the simulation exercise yields a greater achievement of desired learning objectives. For example, students are more capable of identifying and designing management strategies that effectively promote both safety and productivity. Residual benefits of the activity include teambuilding, leadership, promotion of lifelong learning and increased engagement. It is expected that this exercise can be used as an effective alternative to traditional lecture in both academic and professional settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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What is an engineering student expected to learn to become a competent engineer? Which is most desirable in higher education: hard skills or soft skills? Are there differences between master's and bachelor's learning outcomes, or between public or private schools? Previous works point out the relevance of hard rather than soft skills in engineering higher education. The implementation of learning outcomes (LOs) in higher-education curricula has been a common challenge for European educational institutions. Despite the efforts undertaken since the Bologna Declaration, the effective implementation of the learning outcomes paradigm is still in process. This research intends to analyse the LOs proposed in the scope of graduate and postgraduate electrical or computer electrical or computer engineering programs submitted to the Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education (A3ES) in Portugal since 2004. Conducting a qualitative analysis, data documents were coded according to the Nusche typology of LOs. The results suggest that cognitive skills are a core dimension in electrical or computer engineering LOs. References to non-cognitive LOs are not representative. Different institution sectors (private vs. public), systems (universities vs. polytechnics), and study cycles (first vs. second vs. integrated master) highlight distinct cognitive and non-cognitive categories in their definition of LOs. The results are discussed in terms of a changing or a recycling paradigm in higher-education practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: Insights are provided into the intended role of integrative courses that aim to connect technical and professional capabilities and, particularly, the appropriate stage within a program for different levels of integrative capability. Background: The need for Engineering graduates who can balance technical competence with professional and transversal capabilities is well recognized. Integrative multidisciplinary projects have become an increasingly common approach to managing this balance and have been the subject of significant research. There has, however, been minimal consideration of the level of integrative skills that might be considered as appropriate at different stages of degree programs. Research Questions: Do intended learning outcomes of integrative projects vary with their stage in a degree programs? If so, then what does this variation reveal regarding expectations on the development of integrative capabilities? Methodology: Examples of project units that claim to be addressing integrative objectives and for which learning outcomes are available were collected ($N=33$). Guided by the existing literature on the purpose of integrative units a thematic analysis of these units was undertaken by coding the learning outcomes against the structure of observed learning outcome (SOLO) taxonomy. Findings: Within the existing units, there is clear evidence, as projects move from junior to senior, of a progression in the breadth of knowledge that is being drawn on in carrying out the projects, and the nature of knowledge integration becomes more purposeful. There is, however, no evidence of an associated progression in the intended level of integrative capability that is expected (e.g., identifying richer connections). This suggests the critical need for more work in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: We evaluate programmes in health professions education (HPE) to determine their effectiveness and value. Programme evaluation has evolved from use of reductionist frameworks to those addressing the complex interactions between programme factors. Researchers in HPE have recently suggested a ‘holistic programme evaluation’ aiming to better describe and understand the implications of ‘emergent processes and outcomes’. Framework: We propose a programme evaluation framework informed by principles and tools from systems engineering. Systems engineers conceptualise complexity and emergent elements in unique ways that may complement and extend contemporary programme evaluations in HPE. We demonstrate how the abstract decomposition space (ADS), an engineering knowledge elicitation tool, provides the foundation for a systems engineering informed programme evaluation designed to capture both planned and emergent programme elements. Methods: We translate the ADS tool to use education‐oriented language, and describe how evaluators can use it to create a programme‐specific ADS through iterative refinement. We provide a conceptualisation of emergent elements and an equation that evaluators can use to identify the emergent elements in their programme. Using our framework, evaluators can analyse programmes not as isolated units with planned processes and planned outcomes, but as unfolding, complex interactive systems that will exhibit emergent processes and emergent outcomes. Subsequent analysis of these emergent elements will inform the evaluator as they seek to optimise and improve the programme. Conclusion: Our proposed systems engineering informed programme evaluation framework provides principles and tools for analysing the implications of planned and emergent elements, as well as their potential interactions. We acknowledge that our framework is preliminary and will require application and constant refinement. We suggest that our framework will also advance our understanding of the construct of ‘emergence’ in HPE research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to develop a better understanding of the underrepresentation of women in science and engineering by analyzing the gender gaps (a) in the interest in pursuing a science degree and (b) on science achievement. We use national-level college admissions data to examine gender differences and to explore the association between these outcomes and the attendance to single-sex or co-educational schools. The Chilean college admissions system provides a unique context to study these gender differences, since applicants who wish to pursue an undergraduate degree in science or engineering are required to take a high-stakes standardized science achievement test as part of the admission battery. This test has three subjects: biology, physics, and chemistry, and applicants must choose to be tested in only one of them. Significant gender differences exist for the examinees in their choice of subject and achievement on (the tests). Gender gaps favoring males are observed in the three forms. Both interest and achievement in science are associated with the sex composition of the school attended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]