Students\u27 Task Interpretation and Conceptual Understanding in Electronics Laboratory Work

Task interpretation is a critical first step in the process of self-regulated learning and a key determinant of the goals students set while learning and the criteria used in selecting the strategy in their work. Laboratory activities have been proposed to improve students\u27 conceptual understanding when working independently and alongside peers while integrating new experiences in a lab setting. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the explicit and implicit aspects of student\u27s interpretation of the task assigned during laboratory work may change during the task process, and how that interpretation may influence the student\u27s coregulation and conceptual understanding. One-hundred and forty-three sophomore students enrolled in the course of Fundamental Electronics for Engineers participated in this study. Instruments designed to measure task interpretation and conceptual understanding were created and validated in a pilot study. They were applied before and after selected laboratory activities during the semester. The instrument used to measure correlation was applied at the end of every selected laboratory activity. Statistical analysis indicated differences between the student\u27s task interpretation before and after the laboratory activity. Students improved in approximately 15% in the level of task interpretation. From the 143 students, only 37 of them were identified with high levels of task interpretation and coregulation. Moreover, Pearson correlations identified a positive correlation between the students\u27 task interpretation and conceptual understanding of the students during the laboratory work. Findings suggested students\u27 task interpretation changed during the task process and increased after the completion of laboratory activity. Overall, the findings showed a low level of task interpretation. However, students with a high level of task interpretation reached high levels of coregulation. Findings confirmed previous research that round students generally have an incomplete understanding of the assigned tasks, and struggle to establish a connection between laboratory activities and theory. Lastly, this study reported a significant relationship between students\u27 task interpretation and conceptual understanding in laboratory work which has not been reported in the most recent published reports. Further investigation is necessary to unveil other factors related to these constructs in order to engage students in laboratory work

The Link between Spatial Skills and Engineering Problem-Solving

Well-developed 3-D spatial skills are correlated with engineering success. However, most studies examining the link between spatial skills and engineering success have been conducted at the macro level, i.e., the link between spatial skills and course grades or between spatial skills and graduation rates. In this research, a more refined approach has been taken. Relationships between spatial skills and success in solving certain types of problems that engineering students commonly encounter are examined. It was found that high levels of spatial skills predict success in solving certain types of engineering problems but not in all types of problems. Data gathered through this research will be further analyzed to determine characteristics of problems where spatial skills appear to play a role and characteristics where they do not