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Metadiscourse markers (MDM) are words or phrases that help connect and organize ideas or attitudes in genre-specific written discourse. Using rule-based or dictionary-based techniques, the presence of MDM may be confirmed and their distribution measured to help deconstruct genre-specific discourse. Such a deconstruction may help identify "something" about knowledge sharing, learning, topic or authorship attribution, and knowledge symmetries (or asymmetries) in cross-sectional or longitudinal analyses of writing. In this paper, we introduce a methodology consisting of data processing and visualization that is at the intersection of genre analysis, statistics, dimensionality reduction, and natural language processing. We apply this methodology to publicly available newsgroup data which is pre-labeled by topic to demonstrate that MDM distribution may be used to extract a visual dichotomy in the text structure belonging to different topics. In other words, text data pertaining to a specific topic have similar MDM distribution characteristics. In the future we will apply this methodology to labeled reflections authored by n students in an Engineering mechanics classroom that is infused with activities that involve an Entrepreneurial mindset (EM) to identify if MDM distribution and clustering indicates the presence of EM. Future work will also include exploring the confluence of MDM and rhetorical moves, since we believe this will support identifying EM, metacognition, and/or the achievement of a threshold skill. As part of this broader goal, we will create web-based digital tools to assess student writing and statistical regression models that would automatically classify the presence of an Entrepreneurial mindset in student writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Case studies are used extensively in medical, law, and business schools to help students understand how theory applies to actual events or situations. This work explores the impact of the use of case studies in an environmental engineering laboratory, introductory engineering course, introductory biology seminar course, and upper level biology course. Motivations for implementing the cases include determining how case studies teaching impacts students' ability to carry out a scientific investigation (from hypothesis to data analysis to discussion of results) and if the results correlate to students' learning style preferences. This work is part of a continuing funded investigation of the use of case studies with the potential to contribute to the body of knowledge related to the use of learning styles assessments in educational practice across a variety of disciplines. The full study includes quantitative and qualitative assessments in the form of surveys, focus groups with students, and evaluation of student work (lab reports or oral presentations) for quality and content by two external reviewers. Student learning styles (active/reflective, sensing/intuitive, visual/verbal and sequential/global) were also assessed using the Index of Learning Styles Survey (ILSS) by Felder and Solomon. Data was collected at three different institutions: a public, land-grant minority serving institution, a private minority serving liberal arts college for women, and a private, predominantly white liberal arts college. A control group of students experienced a traditional laboratory or seminar and an intervention group experienced case studies to cover the same content. For this work, institutional survey data collected over two years assessing student impressions of the case study method were evaluated to determine if the responses vary by institution type. Early data reveals some interesting demographic trends and possible reasons for the behavior are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many educators acknowledge that the millennial generation of students learns like no other, yet little has been done to alter laboratory instruction in response to this generational shift. Further, most laboratory courses use a traditional, formal style of "step-by-step" instruction. This "cookbook" instructional pedagogy is based on the lower levels of Blooms Taxonomy and often leaves little to no impact on achieving higher levels of student learning. Data shows that students who participate in "cookbook" instruction are unable to apply lab concepts accurately beyond the original lab and many students do not retain laboratory skills they learned in the long-term. This work involves the use and evaluation of the case study teaching in the sciences method for laboratory instruction. The case study educational pedagogy promotes the use of cases, or interactive "stories," to engage students in STEM courses and it has been successfully used to help reform STEM instruction in traditional lecture courses. Our work is unique because the cases were used to introduce lab concepts and bring relevance to the analytical skills being learned in the lab. This work is funded by NSF IUSE and is a collaborative effort of professors at three distinctly different institutions: a public, historically black co-ed technical university, a private, historically black liberal arts college for women, and a private, predominately white liberal arts university. The proposed poster will report preliminary results from the evaluation of student learning preferences and learning gains for students in environmental engineering, biology, and introductory engineering courses at the three respective institutions. Data collection and analysis is currently underway; however, we anticipate that the data will show clear linkages between learning preferences, learning gains, and demographic data such as gender, ethnicity, classification, and institutional type. This work has the potential for broad impact because there is widespread interest in improving educational practices across STEM fields and in improving laboratory instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many college laboratories follow a "cookbook" approach to instruction that has remained the same for decades. This NSF TUES Grant # DUE-1140109 is conducting educational research to evaluate the use of case study based laboratory modules that enhance the learning experience in a junior level Environmental Engineering Laboratory course. The work investigates the use of the case studies in a lab course to introduce sustainability and environmental engineering laboratory concepts to 21st century learners using a modified-flipped classroom method. A total of four case studies have been developed and implemented into the course since the grant award. Before class, the students are given a case story related to the class experiment and asked to research the topic. The in-person lab class starts with a discussion of the case and the student's research finding. Students then conduct the lab exercise. Pre and post survey data indicated increased self-efficacy for ABET criteria skills and learning gains. Feedback from the student interviews suggested they felt the case studies methods used in the course were more engaging compared to their traditional laboratory classes they had taken during their education. The students particularly enjoyed the real world approaches and seeing how they could expect to apply course lab skills to their real jobs after graduation. This poster will summarize the cases, present preand post- survey data related to student learning preferences and the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) learning objective criteria, and will be used as a tool to help recruit other laboratory professors who are interested in using this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]