Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

UVM SoTL Symposium, 2024

At this inaugural, campus-wide SoTL symposium, researchers from across campus will share their findings and work-in-progress related to teaching and learning research conducted here at UVM. (Acknowledgements)

When: May 21, 2024, 8:30am-3:00pm
Where: Innovation Building – Room 105

University of Vermont

Program

8:30 Coffee and light breakfast
9:00 Welcome with Dr. Jane Okech, VP Faculty Affairs

Why here? Why now? Overview of SoTL at UVM
— Dr. Holly Buckland-Parker, Center for Teaching and Learning
— Dr. Courtney Giles, CEMS Director of Curricular Enrichment

9:15 Teaching Slam
9:30 Lightning Talks
10:15 Break
10:30 Research Talks
12:15 Lunch
1:00 HHMI Driving Change Grant: Fulfilling the Promise of Our Common Ground
— J. Dickinson, Vice-Provost for Academic Affairs and Student Success
— Linda Schadler, Dean, College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences
1:20 Keynote Address—Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: A vehicle for transformative and inclusive pedagogy
Bryan Dewsbury, Associate Professor of Biology and Associate Director of STEM Transformation Institute at Florida International University
2:30 Facilitated Discussion on Moving Forward with SoTL @UVM – Dr. Susanmarie Harrington, CTL Director
3:00 Networking and Resources
3:30 End

About Bryan Dewsbury

A photo of Bryan DewsburyDr. Bryan Dewsbury is an Associate Professor of Biology and Associate Director of STEM Transformation Institute at Florida International University

Bryan Dewsbury grew up in Trinidad and Tobago and immigrated to the United States in 1999. He received a BS in biology from Morehouse College and an MS and PhD in biology from Florida International University. Learn more about him at this website.

Read about Dr. Dewsbury’s workshop the next day.

Acknowledgments

The Symposium is made possible by the Provost’s Office Faculty Development Fund, the CEMS Deans Office, and The Center for Teaching and Learning. We thank the presenters and educators in attendance for advancing teaching and learning excellence at UVM and for sharing your work with the community. We thank Provost Prelock, Vice-Provost Okech, Vice-Provost Dickinson, and Dean Linda Schadler for your continued commitment to SoTL at UVM.

Teaching Slam (9:15 – 9:30 AM)

  1. Aligning Points with Time Spent
    John Sangster, Senior Lecturer, Civil & Environmental Engineering
  2. Teaching Career Readiness
    Holly Fosher, Career Readiness Coordinator, CEMS
  3. Linking Engineering to Life K-12 Outreach
    Amber Doiron, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
  4. “Your Leadership Lens”: Prompting Critical Self-Reflection Through Drawing
    Melissa Rocco, Senior Lecturer, College of Education and Social Services
  5. True-False with a Third Option
    Tony Julienelle, Senior Lecturer, Mathematics & Statistics
  6. Research Development Resources for Education
    Erin McConnell, Research Development Office

Lightning Talks (9:30 – 10:15 AM)

  1. Student Use of Generative AI
    David Conner, Professor, Community Development & Applied Economics
  2. Improving Cognitive and Affective Chemistry Outcomes in a Water Treatment Engineering Course
    Matt Scarborough, Assistant Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering
    Amy DeCola, Adjunct Lecturer, Civil & Environmental Engineering
  3. Teaching Biostatistics Online: Video Recorded Lectures and Articulate Rise
    Shamima Khan, Assistant Professor, Division of Public Health, College of Medicine and co-authors
  4. Impact of professional development on faculty understanding of inclusive teaching
    Linden Higgins, Senior Lecturer, Biology
  5. NSF-IUSE Working with Learning Maps to (Re)Design Course Sequences
    Courtney Giles, Lecturer, Civil & Environmental Engineering, and co-authors
  6. Exploring trends among embedded fieldwork experiences and Gallup Clifton Strengths assessment with OT students’ clinical preparedness
    Victoria Priganc & Kimberly Krebs, Clinical Associate Professors in Rehab. & Movement Sci.
  7. Incorporating Student Efficacy into Group Formation
    John Sangster, Senior Lecturer, Civil & Environmental Engineering
  8. Teaching gender, space, and environment through projects on digital games and apps
    Ingrid Nelson, Associate Professor, Geography & Geosciences

Research Talks (10:30 AM – 12:15 PM)

  1. Student Reaction to Choice-Based Assessment
    Lisa Dion, Senior Lecturer, Computer Science, and co-authors
  2. Learning outcomes in choice-based assessment compared to a traditionally graded course
    Allison Anacker, Senior Lecturer, Psychological Science
  3. Mastery-based Testing in Elementary Physics
    Luke Donforth, Lecturer, Physics
  4. Students’ responses to evidence of racism in a forensic science class
    Linden Higgins, Senior Lecturer, Biology
    Aoi Tischer, College of Arts and Sciences
  5. Cultivating Transformative Agroecology: A Case Study in SoTL
    Karen Nordstrom, Director of Assessment, Institute for Agroecology, and coauthors
  6. Exploration of the Impact of Brief Mindfulness Practices on Student Attention and Focus in Civil Engineering Design Classes
    Priyantha Wijesinghe, Senior Lecturer, Civil & Environmental Engr, and co-authors
  7. Analysis of student reflections from engineering capstone courses to evaluate service-learning experiences and their effectiveness
    Mandar Dewoolkar, Professor and Chair, Civil & Environmental Engr, and co-authors

Lightning Talk Details

Student Use of Generative AI

David Conner, Professor, Community Development & Applied Economics

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) applications are becoming more widely used in and out of the classroom. In Fall 2023, David Conner’s class (CDAE 3500, Applied Research Methods) partnered with UVM’s Center for Teaching and Learning on a research project to better understand UVM students’ awareness, beliefs and behaviors around GenAI. The class designed a survey and administered it to a convenience sample of 597 students. Most respondents reported using GenAI for fun, coursework or both; however very few of their instructors had formal policies for GenAI use and even fewer discussed it in class. The respondents generally believe GenAI is an important tool but have many concerns about its ethics and future impacts on their education and careers. Discussion will focus on implications for instructors.

Top

Improving Cognitive and Affective Chemistry Outcomes in a
Water Treatment Engineering Course

Matt Scarborough, Assistant Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Amy DeCola, Adjunct Lecturer, Civil & Environmental Engineering

Chemistry is essential to many branches of engineering, including civil and environmental engineering. As examples, redox chemistry underpins corrosion of essential infrastructure and critical biotransformations of pollutants. Based on three years of pre-course surveys for CE 151: Water and Wastewater Engineering, civil engineering (CivE) and environmental engineering (EnvE) majors at the University of Vermont lack confidence in applying chemistry to solve engineering problems. CivE majors take General Chemistry I prior to taking this course, and EnvE majors have historically taken both General Chemistry I and II. According to students’ assessments of their learning gains, ~50% of students have reported good or great gains in their chemistry abilities because of taking Water and Wastewater Engineering, but learning gains could be improved further. As part of curricular changes, EnvE students will no longer take General Chemistry II. This means that water and wastewater engineering students will provide both CivE and EnvE students with their first college-level redox chemistry. The hypothesis of the proposed teaching-as-research project is that incorporation of two modules on redox chemistry – the “Chemistry of the Flint Water Crisis” and “How Microbes Can Save The Planet” — will improve both affective and cognitive chemistry outcomes.

To test the proposed hypothesis, two new modules were developed that will be implemented in Spring 2024. These modules interweave redox chemistry fundamentals (e.g., half reactions, electron donors and acceptors, electronegativity) with big-picture, impactful, real-world problems.Two 75-minute modules will be developed, implemented in two lectures. To assess impacts on student learning gains, both cognitive and affective outcomes will be assessed. Further, both self-reported and observed gains will be analyzed. To accomplish this, a pre-course assessment will be used to assess student understanding of redox chemistry and a pre-course survey will ask students to report their confidence in applying chemistry to solve engineering problems. To assess observed cognitive outcomes, results of one quiz (related to redox chemistry during drinking water disinfection processes) will be compared to pre-course assessment results of a similar redox problem. Further, a Student Assessment of Learning Gains (SALG) survey will allow students to report their own learning gains (affective and cognitive) related to chemistry. Additionally, SALG survey results will be compared with past cohorts (n=3) to determine if learning gains for other topics were significantly impacted by replacement of course content with the redox chemistry modules.

Top

Impact of professional development on faculty understanding of inclusive teaching

Linden Higgins, Senior Lecturer, Biology

In order for transformational change efforts to be effective, people working towards change need to have similar mental models of the current structure, the desired structure, and the reasons for those changes. For over a decade, the demographic inequities related to student success in gateway science, engineering, and math courses have driven efforts to increase faculty use of evidence-based pedagogies. What is less understood is whether training results in the convergence of participants’ mental models. Such understanding is particularly important in professional development around inclusive pedagogies, which is argued to be a key component for increasing retention of students from historically marginalized groups. In short, it is important to examine the question, do participants in these trainings arrive at similar mental models of what ‘inclusive teaching’ is?

In order to explore this question, I obtained anonymized reflections on the nature and importance of inclusive teaching from the research team analyzing the impact of the multi-institutional, NSF-funded, massive on-line course offering, the Inclusive STEM Teaching Project (ISTP). Starting in 2021, this six week professional development program engages up to 1000 participants per cohort. While analysis of pre / post surveys have shown significant increase in participant acceptance of and confidence in inclusive pedagogies, it is less clear what participants believe “inclusive” to mean in an educational context and whether a shared vision emerges from the week 2 focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the college classroom.

The ISTP course asks participants to write reflections on a range of topics, including the nature and importance of inclusive teaching. After a week of presentations and discussions around the nature and impact of DEI in education, faculty are prompted to reflect on the nature and importance of inclusive teaching. I am using 403 ISTP participants’ writings to test whether there is convergence in faculty mental models. The anonymized data includes contextual parameters such as cohort (2021 vs 2023, before and after the ‘anti-woke’ political efforts), geographic region, discipline, institutional type, and gender and racial identity. My analysis of these reflections reveals although there is common understanding of the importance of inclusive teaching, there is great variation in participants’ description of ‘inclusive teaching.’ Although common themes emerged, such as the diversity of student identities, the need for efforts to create welcoming educational environments for all students, and the goal of reduced inequities. However, most participants fail to include one or more of these inclusive teaching concepts and 18% of the participants did not include any mention of equity, diversity, or community building. Moreover, participants describe equity and diversity in different ways. For example, some participants frame equity in terms of access whereas others frame equity in terms of outcomes across students of different identities. In my presentation, I will describe patterns of variation across cohort and demographic parameters then open the floor for discussion of these findings and other questions that can be addressed with these data.

Top

Teaching Biostatistics Online: Video Recorded Lectures and Articulate Rise

Shamima Khan*, Assistant Professor, Division of Public Health, College of Medicine
Jan Carney, Professor and Director of MPH Program, College of Medicine
Elzerie De Jager, Assistant Professor, College of Medicine
Tiffany Delaney, Office of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, College of Medicine
Audrey Frey, Public Health Program Manager, Division of Public Health, College of Medicine
Thomas Griffin, Assistant Professor, College of Medicine
Carolyn Siccama, Professional and Continuing Education

Background: In online asynchronous courses, a common format of content presentation is short, recorded video lectures (VRLs). VRLs are beneficial as they allow students the opportunity to watch and listen to a lecture and replay any portion to support their learning. One drawback: VRLs are passive, with usually no interactive elements requiring student input.

Teaching an online a quantitative course provides the opportunity to explore new tools for presenting course content. In this course, Articulate Rise (AR) has been used to replace short VRLs. The benefits of AR include elements of interactivity, such as, integrated knowledge checks, flash cards, labeled graphics and equations. Additionally, short videos can be integrated into AR, such as a “Biostatistics ER” which is a video series created so students can watch the instructor work through specific problem sets.

Method: The asynchronous, online introductory course Biostatistics I consists of 14 weekly modules. The course content in modules 1 to 7 has been converted from video lecture into AR. The course elements in modules 8 to14 is delivered through short, VRLs. An online questionnaire will be used to survey MPH students enrolled in Fall 2023 in the course. The questionnaire asks students about their attitude and perception toward the two different types of content presentation: VRLs and AR, as well as to reflect on the strengths and weakness of each approach.

Discussion/Conclusion: Modern technology tools allow faculty the opportunity to integrate new ways to present content and assess student attitude and perception toward these tools. This provides opportunities to explore new ways to improve teaching and learning in public health, especially in areas of quantitative sciences. The current study will provide preliminary evidence about student preference for delivery of video content, which influence the adoption of AR in other quantitative courses.

Top

NSF-IUSE Working with Learning Maps to (Re)Design Course Sequences

Courtney Giles, Lecturer, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Priyantha Wijesinghe, Senior Lecturer, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Varuni Seneviratne, Visiting Lecturer, Physics
Larry Medsker, Research Professor, Physics

The goal of this project is to support the success of undergraduate engineering students through coordinated design of curricula across STEM course sequences. The Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation (ADDIE) framework and backward design are being used to develop guides for instructors to align learning outcomes, assessments, and instructional materials in a physics – engineering mechanics course sequence. The approach relies on the analysis of student learning outcomes in each course, identification of interdependent learning outcomes, and development of skills hierarchies in the form of visual learning maps. The learning maps are used to illustrate the knowledge required and built upon throughout the course sequence. This study will assess the effectiveness of a course redesign intervention (series of faculty workshops), which uses visual learning maps and backward design concepts, to guide instructors within a common course sequence to align learning outcomes and assessments. If successful, the intervention is expected to improve students’ primary learning and knowledge retention, as well as persistence and success in the degree.

To pilot the approach, we will focus on Mechanical Engineering B.S. and Civil Engineering B.S. students that complete the Physics for Engineers – Statics – Dynamics course sequence before and after the planned intervention. During control and treatment terms, students’ primary learning in individual courses will be assessed using established Concept Inventories. Retention of knowledge from pre-requisite courses will be tracked using pre-identified problem sets (quizzes, exams) specifically associated with interdependent learning outcomes in the Statics and Dynamics courses. Students’ primary learning and knowledge retention in the sequence will be related to longer term student success outcomes, including retention and graduation. If successful, we plan to share the approach through a series of workshops with the broader UVM community.

Top

Exploring trends among embedded fieldwork experiences and Gallup Clifton Strengths assessment with OT students’ clinical preparedness

Victoria Priganc, Clinical Associate Professor in Rehab. & Movement Science
Kimberly Krebs, Clinical Associate Professor in Rehab. & Movement Science

Student success in clinical placements does not rely on just one personality trait or one particular characteristic. Some students excel in settings other would not and vice versa. In an attempt to understand how some students may or may not exceed from a clinical placement perspective, we are examining the relationship between student strengths, embedded fieldwork, and readiness for clinical placements. To examine student readiness for clinical placements, we are utilizing the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale (SRIS) (Grant et al., 2002; Roberts & Stark, 2008) and the Self-Assessment of Clinical Reflection and Reasoning Scale (SACRR) (Royeen et al., 2002) following each embedded fieldwork experience. To examine student strengths, we are using the CliftonStrengths assessment (formerly known as the Clifton StrengthsFinder) (Gallup, 2023). Designed to understand people’s strengths and how those strengths can be used from a leadership and business perspective, the CliftonStrengths has been used extensively in business practice and in the workplace (Miglianico, et al., 2019), but its utilization with allied health graduate students is not well explored. Some descriptive research has been performed with pharmacy students, (Janke et al., 2011; Janke et al., 2015), but to date there is no research examining the effectiveness of examining one’s strengths and clinical readiness and outcomes in Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) students. The purpose of this research is to explore the relationship between OTD students’ strengths, their perceived readiness for clinical work, and their performance on clinical placements. Preliminary descriptive data are available. As we continue to grow our program, additional data will be available.

Top

Incorporating Student Efficacy Into Group Formation

John Sangster, Senior Lecturer, Civil & Environmental Engineering

The formation of successful groups is a topic well covered in the literature, but many faculty have a lived experience of group implosions every semester regardless of how carefully groups are formed. This talk will briefly highlight some of the best practices for group formation, before diving into new territory. Having successfully implemented a process at a previous institution where students self-select what level of effort they plan to put into the group project, I will share some anecdotes of how that process is working out with first-year students at UVM.

Top

Teaching gender, space, environment through projects on
digital games and apps

Ingrid Nelson, Associate Professor, Geography & Geosciences
(Description coming soon)

Top

Research Talk Details

Student Reaction to Choice-Based Assessment

Lisa Dion, Senior Lecturer, Computer Science
Holly Buckland Parker, Center for Teaching and Learning
Lizzy Pope, Associate Professor, Nutrition and Food Sciences
Jen Garrett-Ostermiller, Vermont State University
Marieka Brouwer Burg, Assistant Professor, Anthropology
Rachel Plouffe, Lecturer, Biology
Luis Vivanco, Professor and Chair, Anthropology
Allison Anacker, Senior Lecturer, Psychological Science

A group of UVM faculty teamed up with colleagues in CTL to perform research on choice-based grading schemes. Across five courses of varying levels and sizes, these instructors implemented choice-based designs and surveyed their students during the Fall 2020 semester. Subsequent analysis of the survey results found that students reported increased engagement, lower levels of stress, and higher motivation compared to their experiences in courses that use percentage-based grading schemes. We also collected data about faculty experiences and will analyze those results in future work.

Learning outcomes in choice-based assessment compared to a traditionally graded course

Allison Anacker, Senior Lecturer, Psychological Science

A course designed with a choice-based assessment scheme allows students to choose from a menu of options for learning and assessment, and build points toward their course grade. More options and points are available than what is required to get a top grade, so students can focus on their interests, and continue to work, learn, and improve their grade even when they miss some points or assignments. Choice-based courses are associated with lower stress and greater engagement, motivation and autonomy (Pope, Anacker, Brouwer Burg, Dion, Plouffe, Vivanco, Buckland Parker and Garrett-Ostermiller, in press). Each of these advantages to choice is typically associated with greater learning; on the other hand, it is possible that in choice-based courses, students may take easy options to get a high grade without necessarily learning or mastering new material. This study directly compared learning outcomes in two sections of the same course taught by the same instructor in the same semester: one was a choice-based design and the other was a traditionally-graded course. Preliminary analyses revealed that the direct assessments of learning (grades on specific assignments that both sections completed) were not significantly different from each other. However, more students in the choice-based section earned A+ grades than in the traditionally-graded section; it is notable that those students took the opportunity to do more work relative to the traditionally-graded section, allowing them to earn the higher grade. Students rated how the flexibility improved their learning similarly in the two course sections, while students in the choice-based section specifically noted lower stress and greater motivation. Overall, the results show that a choice-based assessment design shows no detriment to learning, while previous findings were reproduced showing reduced stress and greater motivation with a choice-based approach.

Top

Mastery-based Testing in Elementary Physics

Luke Donforth, Lecturer, Physics

Taking advantage of the pandemic-induced pivot to online testing, I rolled out outside-of-class online testing for the algebra based physics course; which allowed a mastery based testing protocol. Students take weekly chapter tests, drawing multiple choice questions from a test bank. They have an opportunity to re-take tests if they’re dissatisfied. Student reception was generally positive, and student learning outcomes remain on par with previous semesters.

Top

Students’ responses to evidence of racism in a forensic science class

Linden Higgins, Senior Lecturer, Biology
Aoi Tischer, College of Arts and Sciences

The University of Vermont is a principally white institution with a general education requirement of a course about race and racism. Introduction to Forensic Biology is a high enrollment non-majors science class meeting this requirement, that Higgins has taught since 2018. Most published studies of the impact of such courses on student thinking about race and racism use pre-post surveys (Zabala Eisshofer 2022). However, as argued by Zabala Eisshofer, to truly understand the impacts of such courses, in particular whether they lead to improved understanding of systemic racism and empathy with people from historically marginalized populations (de Novais & Spencer 2019), we need to explore student thinking as reflected in their work during the class. The forensic biology course has weekly reflections that we adapted in fall, 2022, to evaluate students’ personal responses to learning about implicit and explicit racism through Robin Givhan’s 2022 editorial about the Aubrey killing and taking the Harvard Implicit Bias test.

In fall, 2022, 118 students enrolled in Forensic Biology, 89% of them white identifying. One hundred students wrote reflections to the target prompt (88% of the final enrollment; 4 students withdrew from the course early). Students’ work was anonymized and randomized, then Watkins and Tischer coded students responses in HyperResearch using a combination of a priori codes for emotions and in vivo codes for other responses. Reliability of coding was checked through consensus conversations among all three researchers. Contextualization of students’ feelings and thinking is provided through consideration of students’ reasons for taking the class and epistemology, extracted independently from two other journals. We interpret our findings using Lawrence and Tatum’s 1998 adaptation of Helm’s model of white people’s responses to racism. Our results show little evidence that the course elicited distress; instead, a majority of students expressed interest in systemic or personal change. We argue that these findings support the continuation of social justice education in higher education.

de Novais, J. & Spencer, G. (2019) Learning Race to Unlearn Racism: The Effects of Ethnic Studies Course-Taking, The Journal of Higher Education, 90:6, 860-883, DOI: 10.1080/00221546.2018.1545498

Lawrence, S. M. and B. D. (1998). “White racial identity and anti-racist education: A catalyst for change.” Beyond heroes and holidays: A practical guide to k-12 anti-racist, multicultural education, and staff development 217.

Zabala Eisshofer, C. “Framing and Efficacy of University-Required Diversity Courses in the Research Literature.” Review of Educational Research (2022): 00346543221123793.

Top

Cultivating Transformative Agroecology: A Case Study in SoTL

Karen Nordstrom*, Evaluation Director, Institute for Agroecology
Emily Hoyler, Operations Manager, Institute for Agroecology
Vic Izzo, Senior Lecturer, Plant & Soil Sci.; Director of Undergrad. Edu., Institute for Agroecology
Scott Lewins, Research Development Office

This Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) project delves into a transformative case study—the Agroecology Extension (AX) Summer Research Fellowship–a collaborative initiative between UVM Extension and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The fully paid, 10-week program, coordinated by the UVM Institute for Agroecology, engages undergraduates in research and outreach, preparing them for careers in agroecology and extension, while fostering collaboration with UVM faculty and staff, as well as Vermont’s agricultural community.

The study aims to identify the best design elements for experiential learning programs in transformative agroecology, aligned with the UVM Institute for Agroecology’s pillars: Transforming Food Systems for Just Sustainability, Participatory, Transdisciplinary, and Action Research, and Centering Equity. It builds on a literature review focused on immersion pedagogy and transformative agroecology, as well as an analysis of the AX case study, from which we extract lessons learned for the future of AX, and other similar initiatives.

The presentation focuses on the first phase of the SoTL project, covering the program’s initial two years, transitioning from an independent grant to being integrated into the UVM Institute for Agroecology (IfA). This phase, in collaboration with the Agroecology and Livelihoods Collaborative, the precursor of the IfA, provides insights into the challenges and opportunities encountered, particularly in the context of a predominantly BIPOC cohort and mentorship dynamics.

Implementation challenges during the 2022 and 2023 AX Fellowship are examined and discussed, highlighting issues related to programmatic framing, the complex mentorship model, and responding to the well-being and belonging concerns of BIPOC students. The challenges that were encountered in the first two years prompted programmatic adjustments, reinforcing the need for clarity in framing agroecology, extension and addressing diversity within a predominantly white-led program.

The presentation will detail lessons learned, emphasizing the significance of responsive curricular changes informed by student concerns. In addition, the advisory committee’s role in reinforcing decisions for curricular adjustments is highlighted, showcasing the collaborative and iterative nature of the program’s development. As the study transitions to its second phase, now as a program within the IfA, and integrating new staff, a faculty director, and co-directors, it seeks to further refine its transformative agroecology content, ultimately contributing valuable insights to the broader field of Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Education.

Top

Exploration of the Impact of Brief Mindfulness Practices on Student Attention and Focus in Civil Engineering Design Classes

Priyantha Wijesinghe*, Senior Lecturer, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Holly Buckland-Parker, Center for Teaching and Learning
Ethan Stein, Graduate Student, College of Education and Social Sciences

This research study investigates the impact of short mindfulness practices on student attention and focus in two upper-level civil engineering design courses. Numerous studies show a positive correlation between mindfulness activities and student focus and attention. However, only a few intervention studies are available that focus on specific student groups in engineering. Qualitative and quantitative data was gathered from two student groups (n = 66) in 2022 and 2023 in two design classes (structural steel and wood design). In addition to one demographic survey, weekly mindfulness surveys, including the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory and student focus group interviews, are utilized. Direct observations by the instructor, participants’ scores in follow-up assignments, and their overall semester performance are analyzed.

This study includes results from three data sets collected from two student groups: two data sets collected from the same group of students in structural steel design in the fall of 2022 and structural wood design in the spring of 2023 and one data set collected from the students in structural steel design in the fall of 2023. Students were offered 3–7-minute mindfulness practices at the beginning of class, two to three times per week throughout the semester, facilitated by the first author. These practices included mindful breathing, awareness, observation, listening, and meditations like lovingkindness and gratitude. Once a week, students participated in other contemplative learning activities to develop a deeper awareness of self and others. These activities, labeled ‘Nuggets of Wisdom,’ included reflective writing, deep listening, insight mediations, and mindful conversations. Upper-level engineering design classes require high cognitive abilities. The results show that short mindfulness practices before class positively impact students’ focus, attention, and acceptance. Data also suggests an overall improvement in mindfulness outside their academics.

Top

Analysis of student reflections from engineering capstone courses to evaluate service-learning experiences and their effectiveness

Mandar Dewoolkar, Professor and Chair, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Kate Johnson, Former Graduate Student, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Jeff Buzas, Professor and Director of the Statistics Program
Courtney Giles, Lecturer, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Priyantha Wijesinghe, Senior Lecturer, Civil & Environmental Engineering

Student written reflections (n = 246) from 62 different team-based service-learning (SL) projects in a combined civil engineering and environmental engineering capstone course over five consecutive years were analyzed. The reflections data were supplemented by an anonymous exit survey taken by the students and instructors’ assessment of the quality of the deliverables, team dynamics, community partners’ background and level of engagement. The data analysis methods were largely quantitative supplemented by some qualitative analysis. The analysis was directed toward assessing five research questions attempting to understand factors that affect student satisfaction and performance in SL capstone courses.

Top