2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

This paper explains the progress with transforming a junior level electrical engineering electromagnetics course by incorporating guided-inquiry learning (GIL) with an electronic open response system (EOR). For this year’s study, elements of entrepreneurial minded learning (EML) will be stacked on top of the GIL-EOR pedagogy that requires students to work together to solve electromagnetics problems.

At this university, Electromagnetics is a required electrical engineering course offered in the spring semester once per year. For the past two years, the Colorado Upper Division Electrostatics (CUE) coupled multiple-response (CMR) diagnostic test has been given to the students to measure knowledge gain.

Spring semester 2018 showed a knowledge gain of 0.118 using the GIL-EOR pedagogy adapted from work at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Course modifications for spring 2019 included a longer lecture time, a different electronic response system, and the class size (number of students) was 25% smaller. The measured knowledge gain in spring 2019 was found to be to 0.164, or a 32% increase in knowledge gain.

For the spring 2020 semester, it is planned to incorporate elements of EML into the course activities to observe if the CUE-CMR measures a further increase in student knowledge gain. Students will be required to complete a pre-class activity (video, online quiz, etc.), an in-class tutorial, and a post-class set of activities for each module within the electrostatics portion of the course. The 3C’s (Curiosity, Connections, and Creating Value) of EML will be incorporated in the pre-, in-, and post-class student work. For example, a pre-class networking activity might require students to report to an on-campus location with business cards that they must trade, but the cards will have electrostatics concepts on them rather than typical information (connections). The students will then have to explain the application of the concepts to other class members using a quick pitch during an in-class activity (curiosity). In-class GIL-EOR will be used that features content with real-world relevance, such as when covering the electrostatic concept of capacitance, touch screen technology can be used. A post-class activity might require students to reconsider the technology in a new way (creating value, curiosity) while practicing the electromagnetic course material.

Since full results will not be available until May 2020, the submitted paper might not provide a measure of the spring 2020 knowledge gain. However, the presentation at the conference can provide updated information including the measure of knowledge gain with EML.