Extending WID to train mechanical engineering GTAs to evaluate student writing

Beyond first-year composition, the typical undergraduate mechanical engineering curriculum provides few opportunities to develop writing skills without a concerted effort by faculty to incorporate writing into their courses. One underutilized path for BSME students to strengthen those skills is the required sequence of laboratory courses, where students write several lab reports, evaluated by graduate teaching assistants (GTAs), many of whom speak English as a second language. Historically, engineering GTAs have not been trained in evaluating student writing in a way that helps students improve their technical communication skills, a method known as formative assessment. Formative assessment can be a key part of the learning process in that a student produces a product on which an evaluator provides feedback and the student learns from the feedback, “forming” new knowledge (Yorke, 2003, pp. 478-479). Such assessment can be informal (feedback on drafts, immediate responses to student questions or presentations in class) or formal (graded work such as lab reports that GTAs evaluate and return to the students with feedback the students are expected to incorporate into future assignments). This paper details a comprehensive research study of a GTA training program implemented in a large mechanical engineering department at a small Midwestern public “high research activity” university. Situated within the field of Writing Across the Curriculum/Writing in the Disciplines, the training program was developed to meet the unique needs of the department’s GTAs and address perceived deficiencies in undergraduate student technical writing by teaching best practices in writing evaluation. Two distinct methods were used to assess the efficacy of this program: 1) qualitative methods including interviews and an open-ended survey helped gauge GTA needs and performance as well as assess the value of instructional tools developed to assist GTAs and students and 2) a summative assessment of undergraduate student writing completed prior to when the GTA training program was implemented and afterwards. In follow-up interviews after completing the program, the majority of GTAs said the training helped them provide higher quality feedback and improve their own writing because they were more aware of issues such as audience and logical flow. The survey showed the undergraduate students found the set of lab report guidelines, developed as part of the program and applying to all three courses, and the corresponding detailed rubric helped them better understand report requirements and expectations. The survey also showed that there was still some inconsistency in grading from GTA to GTA in one course in particular, but that many GTAs were providing detailed feedback that helped students learn. The summative assessment showed improvement in four of five categories measured in the university’s written communication learning goal rubric: Organization and Conventions, Content Development, Sources and Evidence, and Control Syntax and Mechanics. No improvement was shown in Context and Purpose for Writing. Feedback from GTAs and students played an important role in a curriculum redesign that occurred in parallel with the implementation of this training program. This research is relevant to undergraduate engineering programs seeking to improve the communication skills of their undergraduate students. The training program used limited staff/faculty resources to extend the knowledge and skills of its GTAs and reach all its undergraduate students through existing required courses

Extending Writing in the Disciplines (WID) to Train Mechanical Engineering GTAs to Evaluate Student Writing

Beyond first-year composition, the undergraduate mechanical engineering curriculum provides few opportunities for students to develop technical writing skills. One underutilized path for students to strengthen those skills is the required sequence of laboratory courses, where students write reports that are evaluated by graduate teaching assistants (GTAs), many of whom speak English as a second language. Historically, engineering GTAs have not been trained in formative assessment techniques to help students improve their technical writing skills. This dissertation details a comprehensive study of a GTA training program implemented in a large mechanical engineering department. Situated within the field of Writing Across the Curriculum/Writing in the Disciplines, the program was developed to meet the unique needs of the department’s GTAs and address perceived deficiencies in undergraduate student writing by teaching best practices in writing evaluation. Two methods were used to assess the efficacy of this program: 1) Qualitative methods such as interviews and an open-ended survey were used to gain the perspective of the GTAs and their students on a variety of issues; and 2) A summative assessment compared Senior Capstone Design final reports completed prior to the program’s implementation to reports completed three years later to gauge improvement in clarity and concision. This research is relevant to engineering programs seeking to improve the communication skills of their undergraduate students. The program used limited staff/faculty resources to extend the knowledge and skills of its GTAs and reach all its undergraduate students through existing required courses

Incorporating student reflection into engineering courses

Critical reflection as students move through their disciplinary curriculum is one way to cultivate capacity for critical thinking. By embedding opportunities for critical reflection in disciplinary courses, educators can combine aspects of writing theory, metacognitive learning, and critical pedagogy to help students begin to frame how they will apply their skills and talents to problems effecting diverse populations. The new undergraduate ME curriculum combines applied learning and project-based learning methods in a series of four ME Practice courses. Technical communication instruction is also embedded in these courses, and the “capstone” of each course is a reflective essay. By responding to a series of questions, students have the opportunity to reflect on their progress and voice their thoughts about the courses and the teaching methods employed. The responses also provide insight into whether the new curriculum is meeting some of the department’s program educational objectives.https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/techtalks/1050/thumbnail.jp

Primary School Children’s Articulation of the Development of Quality in Writing During the Implementation of Assessment For Learning

In this qualitative study, I investigated six grade 1 and 2 children’s change in their articulation about the quality of their writing throughout one school year of exposure to Assessment For Learning. The Assessment For Learning strategies included giving and receiving feedback, co-creating assignment criteria, one-on-one and small group conferences, and articulating work with peers and teacher, as well as considering work samples from previous students, supported student writing. In addition, writing samples were analyzed to search for authenticity in what students were saying about their writing and about what makes good writing. The research questions that I was investigating were: 1. In what ways do students articulate their understanding of accomplished or needed improvements in their written work? 2. In what ways is this articulation related to implemented Assessment For Learning practices? Research methods involved both naturalistic inquiry and grounded theory analysis. Data included a semi structured interview, used at the beginning and end of the school year; teacher observations; student writing samples; tape recordings of teacher-student (one on one and small group and whole class) conversations; and samples of student developed criteria. Transcripts were read and re-read to develop themes, searching for how the selected six students articulated their understandings of quality writing. In addition, writing samples were analyzed to search for authenticity in what students were saying about their writing and about what makes good writing The six children were chosen for maximum variation on beginning ability, and gender. Of the six students, all began, in September, by talking about appearance of writing – neatness, spaces between words, etc. By November, they were talking about quality of words, length of sentences, and were articulating methods for improving their spelling, and increasing sentence and story length. By June, the high achieving boy was talking about quality writing having “to make sense”. In this study, the boys improved as much, or more, as the girls. Although no generalizations can be made from such a small qualitative study, this is an unexpected outcome. An important finding of this study is the link between children’s ability to articulate about quality writing from having participated in Assessment for Learning principles, and their ability to regulate their own learning (self-regulated learning). Theory derived from this study points to a relationship between Assessment For Learning and self-regulated writing activity

Revising a Portfolio Initiative to Assess Student Progress in a Mechanical Engineering Program

Background: This work-in-progress paper describes an effort to modify a pre-existing course portfolio initiative in a large mechanical engineering undergraduate program to be used for multiple forms of program assessment while maintaining its value as a student learning tool. Purpose: This paper aims to outline the process that an ad-hoc department committee used to define what it wanted to assess in a required four-course second and third-year problem-based learning sequence by reviewing various rubric options. Design: Deciding what to assess and what language to use in a rubric involved a series of facilitated discussions. Results: Following a mock assessment exercise, the resulting rubric and assessment worksheet will be tested in a fullscale assessment in spring 2021. Conclusions: The discussions led course coordinators to better articulate learning objectives for the course sequence and a continuous improvement plan

Moving hands-on mechanical engineering experiences online: Course redesigns and student perspectives

Hands-on lab experiences are essential for enabling students to be successful engineers, especially those who identify as kinesthetic learners. This case study describes how a Mechanical Engineering Practice course sequence was redesigned during the COVID-19 emergency transition to remote learning and examines how students responded to these changes. The remote course included videos of Graduate Teaching Assistants conducting data acquisition phases of the practice session to replace hands-on experiments. To understand student perspectives and performance, researchers reviewed approximately 400 reflective essays from Spring 2020 and compared assignment submissions between Fall 2019 and Spring 2020. Results suggest that some students perceived the loss of hands-on activities as detrimental to their learning and it was not comparable to face-to-face counterparts. Furthermore, students felt forced to develop self-directed learning skills. However, in contrast to student comments in reflective essays, comparisons of assignment submissions suggested that students in Spring 2020 did not receive lower grades or have a reduced demonstration of conceptual knowledge obtained in the course

Gradually Guiding Nursing Students through Their Capstone Course: Registered Nurse Preceptors Share Their Experiences

Professional precepted immersion courses (capstone) have become the standard as a means to prepare senior nursing students to enter the workforce. Preceptors have a significant role in developing the student nurse, yet exactly how to prepare preceptors for this role has been an ongoing discussion. This qualitative inquiry explored the educational needs of clinical registered nurse (RN) preceptors who work directly with senior nursing students in a professional precepted immersion (capstone) course. A descriptive qualitative design was used to examine preceptors responses to a prepared set of questions about their educational needs. Results showed that preceptors have three distinct sets of learning needs: the need to know the expectations of their role, wanting to know how best to role model for the student, and knowing how to socialize the student into the profession of nursing. Overall, preceptors communicated their desire and commitment to doing the best job possible. They also clearly stated their expectation of faculty to have a physical presence on the nursing unit that included being proactive in resolving mismatches and exposing the student to the roles of provider of care, leader and manager of care, and member of profession

Integrin-linked kinase regulates melanosome trafficking and melanin transfer in melanocytes

Melanosomes are melanin-containing organelles that provide pigmentation and protection from solar UV radiation to the skin. In melanocytes, melanosomes mature and traffic to dendritic tips, where they are transferred to adjacent epidermal keratinocytes through pathways that involve microtubule networks and the actin cytoskeleton. However, the role of scaffold proteins in these processes is poorly understood. Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is a scaffold protein that regulates microtubule stability and F-actin dynamics. Here we show that ILK is necessary for normal trafficking of melanosomes along microtubule tracks. In the absence of ILK, immature melanosomes are not retained in perinuclear regions, and mature melanosome trafficking along microtubule tracks is impaired. These deficits can be attenuated by microtubule stabilization. Microtubules are also necessary for the formation of dendrites in melanocytes, and Ilk inactivation reduces melanocyte dendricity. Activation of glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) interferes with microtubule assembly. Significantly, inhibition of GSK-3 activity or exogenous expression of the GSK-3 substrate collapsin response mediator protein 2 (CRMP2) in ILK-deficient melanocytes restored dendricity. ILK is also required for normal melanin transfer, and GSK-3 inhibition in melanocytes partially restored melanin transfer to neighboring keratinocytes. Thus, our work shows that ILK is a central modulator of melanosome movements in primary epidermal melanocytes and identifies ILK and GSK-3 as important modulators of melanin transfer to keratinocytes, a key process for epidermal UV photoprotection

Prospectus, October 24, 1990

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1990/1024/thumbnail.jp

Prospectus, October 11, 1989

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1989/1023/thumbnail.jp