Assessing The Impact Of Innovative Me Courses: Creating And Validating Tools

The goal of this research was to devise three measurement tools to assess the effectiveness of laboratory innovations for undergraduate engineering courses. The first tool was devised to measure attitudes and impressions about module content and delivery as well as attitudes toward engineering in general. We included a novel method for evaluating attitude by developing an adjective checklist that varied by gender (adjectives were masculine or feminine, negative, positive, or neutral). This was intended to gauge whether mechanical engineering, usually perceived to be masculine in nature, would gain a more gender-balanced image through innovative laboratory experiences. The second tool utilized conceptual questions (requiring no formal calculations) in a pretest-posttest format to determine whether students learned the laws of thermodynamics. The third tool took the form of a behavioral rubric designed to assess whether and how well students demonstrate knowledge of thermodynamics in subsequent settings such as internships and advanced mechanical engineering courses. Content validation of all measurement tools was conducted using engineering experts. Methodological strategies and challenges will be discussed.