Since the amount of technology available in the engineering classroom is increasing, instructors are challenged to find unique and positive ways to incorporate this technology into their classrooms. For the Department of Engineering Fundamentals, which teaches the core engineering mathematics and graphics courses for the entire J.B. Speed School of Engineering at the University of Louisville, mathematics continues to be an area of focus for the adoption and incorporation of technology into the classroom. As part of its mission, the Department of Engineering Fundamentals has been challenged with improving retention of first year engineering students, and is exploring technology based approaches to improve student learning and success in the sequence of engineering analysis courses, Engineering Analysis I, II, and III. In the Engineering Analysis I course, the department has long observed that students who attend class have a higher probability of succeeding. The use of paper-based, daily, in-class problems to help learning and attendance has been used for many years. A small amount of credit on weekly exams was given for completion of in-class problems. Work on in-class problems was not graded for accuracy since the problem was always worked by the instructor during class prior to the students submitting the problem. Since 2007, all incoming freshmen have been required to purchase a Tablet PC. Initial efforts to incorporate Tablet PC technology into the classroom were focused on the use of DyKnow™ [1], including these in- class problems. Electronic collection of students’ digital work on the in-class problems achieved an increase of efficiency (less time collecting and returning papers) and also encouraged students to embrace the use of their Tablet PC; however, grading for accuracy was still not possible in this scenario. Scoring via DyKnow was an improvement over the paper in-class problems, but was lacking the ability to check accuracy of the students’ answers, which was a goal of using these in-class problems. Most recently, the department started adopting the use of Pearson’s MyMathLab™ [2] an online multimedia textbook with active content, including algorithmic problem generators and computer grading. Homework in MyMathLab has been well received; however, using the software for exams has been less favorably received by students, since it can cause students to struggle with how to interpret a question and how to properly format solutions. This past spring semester, MyMathLab was used to deliver and grade a daily in-class problem in Engineering Analysis I. Several benefits of this approach have been observed: (a) attendance data is collected and stored with little effort by the professor; (b) using MyMathLab in-class problems helps reinforce course learning concepts with immediate correctness feedback; (c) students receive a structured environment to practice dealing with exam-like problems. Student response to the MyMathLab homework and in-class problem has been positive. Going forward, the in-class problems will be more tightly integrated with class notes. Because of the initial challenges with exams and MyMathLab, a hybrid approach will be used until the software technology matures.
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