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Rationale Antelope Valley College is closely collaborating with CSU Fresno in offering baccalaureate degrees in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering hosted at the Lancaster University Center which is supported by the city of Lancaster, CA and local aerospace industry. Fresno faculty offer junior and senior level distance learning courses for local students, thus increasing access for many students who otherwise would not have the opportunity to complete a four year degree. Students start at AVC completing the first and second year course load in physics, chemistry, mathematics and engineering. The majority of these courses incorporate the “learning by doing� pedagogy that facilitates collaborative and problem-based learning techniques. The same pedagogy is employed by Dr. Jeigh Sheley and Dr. Maria Sanchez, professors of Mechanical Engineering at CSU Fresno, that teach courses in Mechatronics (instrumentation and measurement laboratory) and Electronics. The use of mobile wireless technology is instrumental in the success of these courses. Students are able to communicate real time with each other and with the instructors.
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Implementation (pedagogy) Courses in physics, chemistry and engineering used to be largely based on the traditional lecture-recitation-cookbook lab methodology which was instructor centered, leaving few opportunities for hands-on learning. The redesigned learning experience, afforded by the incorporation of mobile technology, is centered on student understanding through collaborative inquiry-based curricula developed by physics and chemistry education research. Students are no longer passive observers and recipients of information, but they actively develop their own knowledge by “doing� and “thinking� about science. Instructors act as facilitators of knowledge through a Socratic Dialogue approach. Mobile technology has transformed the Mechatronics course, allowing students to do field testing of devices used in aerospace industry. The Air Force Research Lab, at Edwards Air Force Base along with Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop-Grumman corporations are partners in this endeavor. Learning materials are adopted from science research curricula such as: Tools for Scientific Thinking, Real Time Physics, Chemistry with Computers, Physics by Inquiry, and other locally developed modules.
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Impact on Teaching The goal of the project is first to improve student understanding in physics and chemistry concepts as measured by concept inventory tests such as Force Concept Inventory(FCI) for physics and Chemistry Concept Inventory (CCI) for chemistry. Students have achieved learning gains, measured by pre/post testing of 54% in FCI well above the 48% national average. Results in CCI will be analyzed at the end of the spring 2006 semester. The second goal was to increase the number of engineering majors that enroll in a baccalaureate engineering program offered at a local level. Distance learning courses, facilitated by the mobile technology from the HP grant, removed the biggest obstacle of accessibility by eliminating the 200-mile drive to the closest university.
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Implementation (technology) Hands-on activities are radically transformed using wireless mobile technology that drives data collection by sensors. Students are no longer engaged in the tedious effort of data collection, but rather they concentrate in data analysis, prediction testing and what-if scenarios. Wireless technology allows real time collaboration between students and instructors with instant feedback. Students are exposed to real world applications through field based instruction facilitated by mobile technology.
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Impact on Student Learning One Year Ago – 50% of engineering majors were either changing majors or completely dropping out due to decreased interest or lack of four year degree accessibility. Today – The locally based engineering program has 11 enrolled students that successfully completed all courses that they were enrolled. One Year From Now – We anticipate a more than two fold increase in the number of students in the local engineering program, as predicated by the 150% increase of enrollment in physics engineering and chemistry courses at AVC. Success rates in physics courses have increased by 20% and retention rates have skyrocketed from 55% to almost 85%. Surveys show that the redesign of the courses through mobile technology, is a major contributing factor in these increases.
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Students in the engineering physics course at AVC analyze motion with friction data collected by motion and force sencors attached to a laptop.
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In active learning laboratory settings, students spend more time analyzing data and testing predictions. Laptop computers and computer driven sensors collect data, and display tables and graphs in real time. Students, thus, spend more time in "thinking" about science and exploring what-if scenarios, rather than being engaged in boring data collection activities. Active learning lab investigations are inspired by Physics Education Research (PER) which has shown that inquiry-based activities accompanied by careful questioning and guidance by the instructor (using the Socratic Dialogue approach), lead to significant increases in student understanding as compared to traditianal recipe style activities.
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Quick Facts Dept: Division of Mathematics and Science Courses Impacted: Engineering Physics, Majors Chemistry, Physical Science for Teachers, Astronomy, Mechatronics. # Students Impacted: Approx. 150 # Faculty Involved: 6 This project is funded in part by a 2005 HP Technology for Teaching grant.
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References & Publications Tools for Scientific Thinking by D. Sokoloff ( U. of Oregon) and R. Thornton (Tufts U.) Real Time Physics by D. Sokoloff, P. Laws (Dickinson College) and R. Thornton. Physics by Inquiry by Lillian McDermott and PER group at U. of Washington. Socratic Dialogue Labs by R. Hake (U. of Indiana). Physlet Physics by Mario Belloni and Christian Wolfgang (Dickinson College). Ranking Tasks by C.Hieggelke (Joliet College), T. O'Kuma (Lee College), D. Malloney(IU-PU Fort Wayne). Workbook for Introductory Physics:Part II by David Meltzer ( Iowa Sate U.) and Kandiah Manivannan(Southern Missouri State U.) Introductory College Physics: 21st Century(ICP/21) edited by Alex Dickison (Seminole Community College).
Talks Presentation at NSF-ATE directors meeting, Washington D.C., October 2005. Future presenation at Tech-Ed conference, Ontario CA, March of 2006. Future presenation at Phi Theta Kappa conference of Exemplary Teacher Preparation Programs: Focus On Students.
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