Growing Experimental Centric Learning: The Role of Setting and Instructional Use in Building Student Outcomes

The need for experimental centric learning in engineering education has been a major area of discussion and innovation for the last decade. Research has proven that, in general, the impact on student learning is beneficial. Little literature is available, however, on the impact of instructional use and learning setting when this approach is used. This paper presents preliminary results from a two year collaboration of 13 HBCU electrical and computer engineering (ECE) programs working collaboratively on the development, implementation, and expansion of Experimental Centric based instructional Pedagogy (ECP) in essentially all engineering courses in which circuits and electronics play significant role. As of June 2015, the 13 participating institutions have produced, piloted, and internally distributed 64 curriculum modules and/or labs. The purpose of this paper is to provide preliminary results of an investigation of the relationship of learning setting and instructional use of experimental centric learning, especially for students of color. Learning settings studied include: 1) traditional classrooms, 2) lab settings and 3) homework. Variations by instructional use included: 1) instructor demonstration, 2) cooperative and 3) independent student use. Student outcomes reflect gains in: 1) pre-requisites to learning; 2) immediate short-term learning; 3) long-term and transferable outcomes and 4) selected ABET characteristics (importance and preparedness). Findings indicate that both setting and instructional use do influence selected outcomes and that prior identified patterns of instructor development when incorporating new practices are upheld. The study begins a conversation on the implications of these influences and the need for further research on how students, faculty, and instructional practices change when using experimental centric learning.