Collaborative Research: Research Initiation: The Use of Mobile Technology and Innovative Pedagogy to Improve Undergraduate Thermal-Fluid Science Learning

Student retention remains a problem in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs. This project will utilize mobile technologies and a technology-enhanced curriculum to improve student engagement and learning in STEM undergraduate courses. The technology-enhanced curriculum will be fully integrated in the thermal-fluids course to deliver content and to facilitate student engagement with the content, instructor, and peers. This research project will measure how mobile technology, when purposefully integrated into engineering teaching, impacts student engagement, enhancement, and extension of learning to real-life problems. Through the full integration of mobile devices, findings from this research will transform the teaching and learning of the thermal-fluid science curriculum. The study will be led by a researcher who is new to the field of engineering education research who will be mentored through research methods by an engineering education researcher. This aligns with the Research Initiation in Engineering Formation program's goal of initiating new researchers into engineering formation research to meet the needs of a diverse workforce. Undertaking such research project will supplement the lead researcher's experience in developing and implementing mobile learning in the classroom while using social science research approaches to advance both the professional formation of future engineers.

The underlying goal of this research is to measure how mobile technology, when purposefully integrated into engineering teaching, impacts student engagement, enhancement, and extension of learning. Using an undergraduate thermal-fluid science course as a model course, the primary contribution of this research is to directly improve and transform engineering students' learning in one of the most difficult and abstract content in engineering curricula. Guided by a social-constructivist theoretical framework and the Triple E framework (Engagement, Enhancement of learning outcomes, and Extension of learning goals to real-life problems), the research team will conduct a mixed-methods study, implementing mobile devices with a stylus and a technology-enhanced curriculum. To examine the impact of mobile devices on student learning, the following research questions will be addressed in the areas of engagement, learning outcomes, and extension of learning goals to real-life problems: (1) Does mobile device use facilitate engagement in thermal-fluid science course content? (2) Does mobile device use increase learning of identified difficult concepts in thermal-fluid science courses as indicated by increased achievement scores? (3) What are student perceptions of using mobile devices for solving real-life problems? The findings from this research will provide educators a blueprint for broader implementation of mobile devices in teaching and learning across STEM disciplines. Further, this project is one of the first applications of the Triple E Framework in higher education, offering potential to bridge research on educational technologies with evidence-based teaching practices.

This project is jointly funded by the Research Initiation in Engineering Formation program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.