Michael S. Trevisan - US grants

The Department of Physics, the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the College of Education at Washington State University (W. S. U.) are developing a new educational/training paradigm that prepares students for high-technology careers in the area of optoelectronics. In particular, a new M.S. degree specialization that draws on the strengths of these two units. The M.S. is designed to fill the need for educating and training students for an industry that requires more preparation than a traditional bachelor's degree, yet does not require the theoretical rigor of Ph.D. The proposed program will provide an accelerated curriculum that will train the next generation of scientists and engineers who will play a significant role in the optoelectronics revolution.
The high-tech industry, particularly small- and medium-sized companies, has realized that the new global environment demands that scientists/engineers easily adapt to rapid technological changes by drawing on a solid problem-solving-oriented educational background. The main objective of the proposed work is to integrate cutting edge research and technology into the education of young scientists and engineers by exposing them to real hands-on problems. The overall philosophy of the new M.S. is to educate and train students through a series of laboratory-based research experiences in which the student will be required to participate actively as a member of a team.
The planned curriculum combines courses in basic science and technology including Electromagnetism, Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Electronics, Nonlinear optics (which are taught in the Physics Department), Optical Signal Processing, and Optoelectronics (which are taught in the Department of Electrical Engineering). In addition to these traditional courses, students will have a two-semester hands-on laboratory course that will include peer instruction and team work. The laboratory course is designed to give students a solid introduction to optics and experimental techniques in followed by challenging laboratory projects.

9973034
Davis

The goal of this project is to synthesize and institutionalize an outcomes-based engineering design education model across a region to achieve desired educational responsiveness, student transfer, and resource sharing. Five universities and community colleges in Washington will lead efforts of educators and industry throughout the Pacific Northwest to establish effective processes for improving engineering design education. Through regional workshops, they will define educational objectives and achievement standards suitable for the region, refine and facilitate implementation of assessments for engineering design, and prepare others to implement effective design education practices. Resulting improvements to teaching of design will increase student, learning of competencies important to the region and will increase retention and success of qualified students, especially women and minorities.

This project includes research to evaluate and improve design assessments and training to support institutionalization of effective practices and materials. Proposed design assessments will be tested in two ways: (a) through comparative analysis of design team actions, their design products, and their design perceptions and (b) through comparisons of assessment results to responses on alumni/employer surveys. A web-based survey will be developed to obtain alumni/employer feedback for assessment of program achievement on a regional scale. Faculty trainers will be prepared and assisted to lead local workshops patterned after regional workshops. These workshops will empower faculty to implement and continue improvement of design education materials, methods, and assessments for their local needs.

The regional design education model will be synthesized from resources developed in Washington through the NSF-funded Transferable Integrated Design Engineering Education (TTDEE) project:
- Proven TTIDEE collaborative learning models for teaching and learning of engineering design
- Definitions of learning outcomes for engineering design at mid-program and end-of-program points
- Pilot-tested and proposed instruments for mid-program and end-of-program design assessments
- Workshop facilitation expertise for team-based engineering design education and assessment
- Extensive collaborative efforts across the state on engineering design education
- Affiliations with institutions and organizations across the region and nation for extended impact

Previous Abstract still valid

WSU will implement a young women's afterschool and summer science camp program to determine what type and degree of contact is most effective in increasing their understanding of, and interest in, the areas of science, math and technology. Three types of science camps are proposed for middle school girls: eight-week afterschool camps (two days/week); week-long summer camps (six hours/day); and week-long residential summer camps. Each camp provides 30 hours of instruction. The theme of the camps in "Science at the Summit." This mountaineering theme covers many fields of science, mathematics and technology related to popular Northwest outdoor experiences. Camps are taught by a certified teacher, assisted by local outdoors experts, with support from women science professionals. A mentoring program brings together women professionals and students through regular E-mail contact over six-month period immediately following the camp experience. Girls also have program contact through CityLab's website and with CityLab's monthly newsletter. Program evaluation will determine whether or not the mode of delivery of content material, in combination with a strong mentoring program, significantly affects middle school student's interest in, and intent to pursue courses and experiences in science, math and technology.

This project is creating a versatile system for reliable assessments of student learning outcomes for capstone design courses across engineering disciplines and institutions. It builds on a decade of engineering design education and assessment achievements of the Transferable Integrated Design Engineering Education (TIDEE) consortium in the Pacific Northwest. Prior to this project, the investigators engaged regional and national collaborators to: (a) develop a consensus profile of a top quality engineer; (b) define engineering design learning outcomes at mid-point and end-of-program; (c) develop and test reliable assessment instruments for engineering design; and (d) facilitate dozens of workshops to help faculty define and assess engineering design learning outcomes. In this project, a multi-institution faculty team is developing assessment tools with input from a diverse set of expert consultants and stakeholders. Assessment instruments are being built around frequently used classroom assignments to measure achievement of high-level integrated performances in capstone design courses. Performance expectations are being derived from a profile of a top quality engineer for applicability to a full range of capstone engineering design courses. The developed assessment instruments are being tested for quality in diverse institutions and student populations to demonstrate their transferability.

To address a lack of informal science education opportunities and to increase community capacity to support STEM education for their children, Washington State University's Yakima Valley/Tri Cities MESA program, the Pacific Science Center, and KDNA Educational Radio have developed a set of informal science initiatives that offer complementary learning opportunities for rural Latino families. The goal of this four-year program is to create a sustainable informal science infrastructure in southeastern Washington State to serve families, increase parental awareness, support and involvement in science education and ultimately increase the numbers of rural Latino youth pursuing STEM-related under graduate studies. This program is presented in English and Spanish languages in all of its interconnected deliverables.
-Two mobile exhibits, beginning with one focused on agricultural and environmental science developed by The Pacific Science (PCS) Center.
-Curriculum and training in agriculture, life sciences and facilitating learning.
-Curriculum and training for community members to provide support to parents in encouraging the academic aspirations of their children developed by PSC and MESA.
-420 Youth and parents from the MESA program trained to interpret exhibits and run workshops, community festivals, family science workshops and Saturday programs throughout the community.
- Four annual community festivals, quarterly Family Saturday events, and Family Science Workshops reaching 20,000 people over the four-year project.
-Take home activities, science assemblies, a website and CDs with music and science programming for community events.
-A large media initiative including monthly one hour call-in radio programs featuring science experts, teachers, professionals, students and parents, 60-second messages promoting science concepts and resources and a publicity campaign in print, radio and TV to promote community festivals. These venues reach 12,500-25,000 people each.
-A program manual that includes training, curriculum and collaborative strategies used by the project team.

Overall Accesso la Ciencia connects parents and children through fun community activities to Pasco School District's current LASER science education reform effort. This project complements the school districts effort by providing a strong community support initiative in informal science education. Each activity done in the community combines topics of interest to rural Latinos (agriculture for instance) to concepts being taught in the schools, while also providing tools and support to parents that increases their awareness of opportunities for their children in STEM education.

Engineering - Other (59)
Assessment/ Research (91)
This project is addressing the goal of building robust assessments that effectively guide and enable transformative improvement of engineering design education in American Schools of engineering. Four diverse lead institutions, partnering with strategically selected design education consultants, are producing methods of assessment to define, measure, and facilitate improved student achievement in capstone engineering design courses. This project is creating and disseminating proven assessment instruments that span desired student performances. It is defining research-informed strategies for sustaining effective assessment implementation in capstone design courses at diverse institutions.
INTELLECTUAL MERIT
The assessment tools being developed in this project and in an earlier project are designed to provide formative feedback for student learning as well as summative evaluation for documenting achievements and supporting ABET accreditation of programs. Implementation strategies are also being developed based on the results of qualitative research conducted on the experiences of adopters of the project's capstone design assessments. Research questions are being addressed that focus on assessment quality, user attitudes, and best practices. Faculty and teaching assistants using assessments are participating in the study as they are introduced to assessments, receive training, administer assessments, and score and interpret results. Analysis of attitudes, beliefs, implementation practices, and how they change over time are being investigated. Ultimately, recommendations will be made for building communities of practice and for effective, sustainable use of assessments for formative and summative purposes.
BROADER IMPACTS
The broadly defined outcomes in this project ensure that the assessment tools being developed are also valid for use in multidisciplinary capstone courses outside of engineering. Research results on adoption practices and attitudes will help guide practices that support effective adoption of assessments. Numerous engineering departments have already committed to trying out this assessment approach.

Engineering - Other (59)

The project addresses an important national need: evaluating effectiveness of engineering education innovations and research. The goal is to build an annotated inventory of evaluation tools for determining the effectiveness of projects targeted at improving engineering education and student retention along the engineering pipeline. An experienced team of engineering education, assessment and evaluation professionals will conduct an extensive search for existing evaluation tools and document their usefulness for the engineering education research and development community. Recognized national experts in engineering education and evaluation will review and contribute to the evaluation of tools and the resulting inventory. Products of this work include: (1) a catalog of evaluation tools characterized by outcomes addressed, instrument stage of development, and instrument usability, (2) a prioritized list of evaluation tool gaps needing to be addressed to support engineering course, curriculum, and laboratory improvement, (3) a journal publication presenting the methodology and results of the evaluation tools inventory, (4) a national workshop to refine and disseminate results and to promote needed evaluation tools development, and (5) a strategy for broad dissemination of findings and evaluation tools

The project is creating instructional materials designed to help students achieve the professional growth needed in team-based design projects and professional practice and to empower faculty for effective assessment-driven development of the students' ability and attitudes in teamwork and professional development. The project builds on a prior NSF funded project and involves a diverse set of institutions. Curriculum materials are being designed to connect with students' previous experience and knowledge, develop knowledge with underlying structure or organization, construct understanding in the context of an engineering design, and refine understanding through focused feedback. Instructional activities engage learners in content and the professional community, using steps such as: motivation/purpose, posing inquiry questions, individual exploration, group processing, application of learning, and reflection. Instructor guides are being developed to coach educators on how and when to use instructional materials and assessments for best results in their design classes. Evaluation efforts include qualitative and quantitative measures (surveys, focused interviews, and student essays) to monitor progress on each project outcome. Broader impacts include the dissemination of the project's instructional material.

The purpose of this project is to create a web-based library of proven engineering education evaluation instruments to help build evaluation capacity for this community. The community itself is growing rapidly and there is a significant market for this resource. Many engineering educators are educational innovators, but few evaluate resulting discoveries and impacts adequately so that others might confidently adopt effective new practices. This project is focused on reversing this situation.

This resource's materials will be expert-mediated and will enable engineering educators to better document and transfer impacts of their innovations and develop additional superior evaluation instruments. This library, known as the Appraisal System for Superior Engineering Education Evaluation-instrument Sharing and Scholarship (ASSESS), expands upon proof-of-concept work led by the project investigators. The earlier work created a preliminary database and convened a national panel of 30 engineering education and evaluation professionals, who confirmed the value of a resource like ASSESS. The panel refined the design of the proposed database and recommended developing and testing an online library to:
1. test its effectiveness in enabling engineering educators to locate and use evaluation instruments to support engineering education improvement projects; and
2. support the engineering education evaluation community in the identification and refinement of evaluation instruments with potential to become major assets to the profession.
ASSESS users will be guided in instrument selection and implementation to ensure credible evaluation and interpretation of findings. Peer input will identify promising instruments and guide their development.