2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Our project, Deploying Adaptive Learning Environments to Overcome Background Deficiencies and Facilitate Mastery of Computer Engineering Content, involves the development of a novel web-based adaptive learning system to improve student mastery of digital logic concepts while considering the demographics of the individual student. Adaptive learning is a pedagogical approach that dynamically alters the difficulty of content based on an ongoing assessment of the student’s capability. This technique is becoming more popular with the advancement of web-based learning solutions and increased student enrollment. Using this type of e-learning environment has the potential to address background deficiencies of students who lack the necessary prerequisite skills coming out of high school. In order to accurately assess the effectiveness of our instructional intervention, we have begun to collect detailed baseline data. The baseline data, and the data that will be collected later following the development of the adaptive learning system, are linked to course objectives and outcomes that have been developed specifically for this project. The advantage of such a detailed baseline data system is that we will be able to measure effectiveness of the instructional intervention on very specific chunks of course content. And, we will be able to attach intervention effectiveness to specific groups of students, using our demographic data (gender, grade point average, age, ethnicity, etc.). This paper will benefit those engineering educators who are developing course objectives and outcomes and designing assessment methods to measure progress toward those objectives and outcomes.