First-Year Research in Engineering Education
First-Year Research in Engineering Education
Link List
Welcome to FYRE!
FYRE aims to connect research and practice in first-year engineering to improve teaching practices, student learning, and student experiences.
FYRE is an interdisciplinary team of graduate and undergraduate researchers that investigates teaching practices, student learning, and student experiences within first-year engineering. We use the "Research to Practice Cycle" to drive innovations and assessment in first-year engineering. These classroom innovations include programming instruction, entrepreneurial mindset, and technical writing. Additionally, the research group focuses on larger questions within engineering education including major selection, retention of students, and the training of faculty and teaching assistants.
Our Team
FYRE Alumni & Former FYRE Collaborators
FYRE News
Projects
Formal Learning Team: EM Learning Objectives and Content Integration
This project is the Formal Learning piece of a larger project funded by The Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN). The high-level goal of KEEN and this larger project is for engineers to develop an Entrepreneurial Mindset (EM) so they can create personal, economic, and societal value through a lifetime of meaningful work. The Formal Learning team is working on integrating EM content into courses throughout the entire coursework of undergraduate engineering students. To accomplish this, we have been developing a set of measurable course learning objectives that encompass some of the most important EM skills for an engineer to master. Some of these skills include how to identify an opportunity to create value, learn from failure, and protect intellectual property. These learning objectives are subdivided into three efficacy levels to better capture the student learning process. Additionally, rubrics for each level are being developed by the Research and Assessment team so researchers or instructors can directly assess courses using the content and objectives our team creates. Additional goals of the Formal Learning team are to work with faculty and TAs to facilitate the integration of EM content into engineering courses. E-learning modules are being adapted from those made by the University of New Haven for use by OSU engineering instructors. We are also working on developing lessons, assignments, and labs that meet our learning objectives for first-year engineering and capstone courses.
Engineering Unleashed Cards: https://engineeringunleashed.com/card/940
Publications: https://peer.asee.org/34312, https://peer.asee.org/32089
Team Members: Krista Kecskemety, PI; Laine Rumreich, GRA; Nicholas Sattele, URA; Zachary Dix, URA; Faith Logan, URA
Keywords: entrepreneurial mindset, first-year engineering, capstone, learning objectives, e-learning
Engineering disciplines have evolved over the last two centuries as technology has advanced, creating additional opportunities for engineers to solve new problems. These disciplines attract different numbers of students, adapting to solve new problems with the latest technology. While the definition of an engineering discipline is not explicit, engineering programs must decide what majors to offer their students to prepare them for modern and future engineering problems. Students must also navigate the different disciplines as they use their knowledge and perceptions of disciplines to select their major. This research aims to understand better how students explore various engineering disciplines, what factors affect their choice of major, and how they apply to their chosen major.
Publications: https://peer.asee.org/complexity-of-engineering-disciplines-as-an-engin…
Team Members: Krista Kecskemety, PI; Tyler Milburn, GRA;
At Ohio State, technical communication skills are taught in the Fundamentals of Engineering courses through technical writing assignments such as lab reports. Students can track their mastery of technical communication using their scores on these assignments and the written feedback left on their work by Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (UTAs). Despite the positive impact written feedback has on student learning, the quality and experiences that inform UTA written feedback still need to be discovered. This study aims to be the first step in improving UTA written feedback methods.
For this project, a group of UTAs, Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs), and faculty were given a student writing sample to score and leave written feedback on. Their comments were broken into individual ideas and then coded using two different coding methods, one focusing on the content of the ideas and the other focusing on purpose. The two coding methods were synthesized from the literature that discussed categorizing feedback on student work. These results produced trends and observations comparing the UTAs and Experts (GTAs and Faculty) and described alongside observations of UTAs alone.
Publications: http://hdl.handle.net/1811/92973
Team Members: Krista Kecskemety, PI; Connor Jenkins, GRA;
Keywords: technical writing, written feedback, teaching assistants
Developing MCS1: A MATLAB Programming Concept Inventory for Assessing First-Year Engineering Courses
A concept inventory is a collection of typically multiple-choice questions that serve to assess student understanding of concepts for a topic as well as measure classroom teaching methods. The First-Year Engineering Program at Ohio State lacks a validated assessment tool to determine student understanding of MATLAB programming concepts for first-year students. While there are other validated concept inventories available for introductory computer science concepts, MATLAB is a unique programming language with features not present in other languages such as Java and Python that make it difficult to test student knowledge with a language-independent assessment. In this project, a MATLAB-specific concept inventory, MCS1, is being developed by replicating a previously validated foundational computer science concept inventory, SCS1. This assessment will be given to current students and a validation study will be conducted to determine the accuracy with which MCS1 is evaluating student learning.
This project is being completed by Ada Barach, Sery Gunawardena, and Connor Jenkins. The development of the MCS1 assessment also served as Ada Barach's Senior Undergraduate Research Thesis.
Examining Software Design Projects in a First-Year Engineering Course Through Different Complexity Measures
The motivation for this project is a change in the end-of-semester project in First-Year Engineering classrooms from an infrared (IR) device reader or train project to a computer game. The goal of studying this course change is to provide insight about how game development projects impact student learning compared to other project options. A Python script was developed to analyze the two different types of student software submissions, game development and traditional project options. The submissions were analyzed based on practiced programming fundamentals and four measures of complexity.
FYRE undergraduate student Laine Rumreich presented this research at the 2019 Frontiers in Education Conference.
First-Year Engineering Student Perceptions and Use of iPad Technologies: A Quantitative Investigation of Mobile Learning
Ohio State began a Digital Flagship initiative in autumn of 2018 with the goal to provide every incoming Ohio State student with an iPad, Apple Pencil, and Smart Keyboard. The goals of this project are to identify attitudes about the iPad and its use in first-year engineering (FYE) courses and provide insight about how the iPad tools can improve the student experience with regard to learning new material, teamwork, and communication in FYE. For this project, a quantitative survey was implemented and sent to FYE students, and a second survey was implemented for FYE instructors.
The insights from this survey support a continued focus by the EED on integration of the iPad in the FYE curriculum. In addition, it is believed that emphasis on iPads in FYE, similar to the autumn 2018 iPad designated section focus, along with a resolution of some of the technology gaps identified in this study, will result in positive student perceptions and a high level of use of the devices as part of the FYE experience.
Laine Rumreich presented this research at the 2019 Frontiers in Education Conference. This project was also Laine's Senior Undergraduate Research Thesis.
Analysis of the Entrepreneurial Mindset in Established Coursework: Analysis Process and Lessons Learned
The motivation behind this project is that the first year curriculum in engineering is being completely revamped to become more entrepreneurially minded. The goal of this project is to evaluate existing first year labs in the EML lens and identify categories each was lacking, and provide a framework for educators to quickly and efficiently evaluate their curriculum. For this study, a document analysis was done on each lab’s documents in FYE courses, and an ‘evaluation matrix’ based on EML was used to score each lab in specific EML categories.
This research indicates that a semester long design project is not needed to teach EML. In addition, some labs lacked in certain categories, but others made up for it and excelled.
This project was completed by students Nick Sattele, Zach Dix, and Faith Logan.
Publications
Conference Publications
- Rumreich, L.*, Logan, F.**, Dix, Z.**, Sattele, N.**, Kecskemety, K.M., and Christy, A.D., "Comparison of Entrepreneurial Mindset Course Learning Objectives: Evaluating Consistency and Clarity," 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference, Virtual On line, 2020, June. https://peer.asee.org/34312
- Sattele, N.**, Kecskemety, K.M., and Parris, K.A., “Analysis of the Entrepreneurial Mindset Elements in Established First-year Engineering Labs: Analysis Process and Lessons Learned and Changes for the Future,” 126th American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition, June 16-19, Tampa, FL, 2019. https://peer.asee.org/32089
* denotes current/former graduate researcher
** denotes current/former undergraduate researcher
Conference Publications
- Barach, A.**, Jenkins, C.**, Gunawardena, S.**, and Kecskemety, K.M. "MCS1: A MATLAB Programming Concept Inventory for Assessing First-year Engineering Courses," 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference, Virtual On line, 2020, June. https://peer.asee.org/34958
University Repository Publications
- Barach, A.** "A MATLAB Programming Concept Inventory for Assessing First-Year Engineering Courses: a Replication of the Second Computer Science 1 Assessment," Electronic Thesis or Dissertation. Ohio State University. Knowledge Bank. 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/1811/91465
* denotes current/former graduate researcher
** denotes current/former undergraduate researcher
Conference Publications
- Rumreich, L.** and Kecskemety, K.M., “Examining Software Design Projects in a First-Year Engineering Course through Different Complexity Measures,” Frontiers in Education, October 16-19, Cincinnati, OH, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE43999.2019.9028569
- Kecskemety, K.M., Dix, Z.,** and Kott, B.** “Examining Software Design Projects in a First-Year Engineering Course: The Impact of the Project Type on Programming Complexity and Programming Fundamentals Required,” Frontiers in Education, October 3-6, San Jose, CA, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2018.8659033
- Kecskemety, K.M. and Corrigan, L.N., “End of Semester Software Problem Solving and Design Projects in a First-Year Engineering Course,” Frontiers in Education, October 18-15, Indianapolis, IN, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2017.8190573
- Kecskemety, K.M., Drown, A.B.,** and Corrigan, L.N., “Examining Software Design Projects in a First-Year Engineering Course: How Assigning an Open-Ended Game Project Impacts Student Experience,” 124th American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition, June 25-28, Columbus, OH, 2017. https://peer.asee.org/28316
* denotes current/former graduate researcher
** denotes current/former undergraduate researcher
Conference Publications
- Rumreich, L.** and Kecskemety, K.M., “First-Year Engineering Student Perceptions and Use of iPad Technologies: A Quantitative Investigation of Mobile Learning,” Frontiers in Education, October 16-19, Cincinnati, OH, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE43999.2019.9028411
University Repository Publications
- Rumreich, L.** "First-Year Engineering Student Perceptions and Use of iPad Technologies: A Quantitative Investigation of Mobile Learning," Electronic Thesis or Dissertation. Ohio State University. Knowledge Bank. 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/1811/88760
* denotes current/former graduate researcher
** denotes current/former undergraduate researcher
Conference Publications
- Morin, B. C., & Kecskemety, K. M., & Harper, K. A., & Clingan, P. A., "Work in Progress: Parsons Problems as a Tool in the First-Year Engineering Classroom" 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference, Virtual On line. 2020. https://peer.asee.org/35675
- Kecskemety, K.M., Sattele, N.,** and Parris, K.A., “Exploring the Impact of a MATLAB Programming Interactive e-Textbook in a First-Year Engineering Course,” 126th American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition, June 16-19, Tampa, FL, 2019. https://peer.asee.org/32812
* denotes current/former graduate researcher
** denotes current/former undergraduate researcher
Journal Publications
- Kajfez, R. L., Kecskemety, K. M., Miller, E.,** Gustafson, K.,** Meyers, K., Bucks, G., and Tanner, K.,** “First-Year Engineering Students’ Perceptions of Engineering Disciplines: A Qualitative Investigation,” International Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 34, No. 1, January 2018, pg. 88-96.
Conference Publications
- Tanner, K.,** Kecskemety, K.M., and Kajfez, R.L., “Examination of Student Choice to Remain in Engineering,” 126th American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition, June 16-19, Tampa, FL, 2019. https://peer.asee.org/32773
- Tanner, K.R.,** Kajfez, R.L., and Kecskemety, K.M., “Chemical Engineering Major Selection throughout the First-Year: A Mixed-Methods Approach,” 125th American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition, June 23-27, Salt Lake City, UT, 2018. https://peer.asee.org/30188
- Kecskemety, K.M., and Kajfez, R.L., “Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering Major Movement to Graduation,” AIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition, January 8-12, Kissimmee, FL, 2018. https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2018-0809
- Paulson, J.L, Kajfez, R.L. and Kecskemety, K.M., “Examining Engineering Students’ Major Selection: Developing Baseline Quantitative Results to Investigate Major Selection and Change,” Frontiers in Education, October 12-15, Erie, PA, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2016.7757502
- Theiss, A.,* Robertson, J.,** Kajfez, R., Kecskemety, K. and Meyers, K., “Work in Progress: Engineering Major Selection: An Examination of Initial Choice and Switching Throughout the First Year,” 123rd American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition, June 26-29, New Orleans, LA, 2016. https://peer.asee.org/26654
- Kecskemety, K.M., and Kajfez, R.L., “Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering Major Selection in First-Year Engineering Students,” AIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition, January 4-8, San Diego, California, 2016. https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2016-1805
* denotes current/former graduate researcher
** denotes current/former undergraduate researcher