Influencing Student Motivation Through Scaffolded Assignments in a Quality Analysis Course and Its Impact on Learning

This paper discusses the impact of various class assignments and activities that build up on each other with the aim of increasing student motivation and student learning in a Quality Analysis course. Scaffolding is an instructional strategy that aims to reduce the amount of cognitive effort that students has to make to learn the materials by breaking down the material into more manageable components. In this study, critical thinking scaffolding is applied in the quality analysis course by structuring several elements to lead students to an assignment that is more complex. At the end of the semester, the impact assessment of critical thinking scaffolding was studied by analyzing student feedback and end-of course surveys, quality of student assignments and course grades. Introduction Quality control is one of the primary areas of specialization in Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE), therefore, a course on quality is typically offered as a core course in the ISE curriculum. Compared to the other ISE specialization areas such as operations research, quality finds applications in all industries and functions, and is employed in all types of sectors including manufacturing, healthcare, entertainment, education, military, and so on. The Lean and Six Sigma methods, that have gained popularity in the last decades, further expand the range of applications of quality. Given the importance of quality in today’s world, enhancing student motivation and improving student learning in courses on quality is of significant value in the ISE discipline. With this in focus, this research was conducted to study the following research question: What is the impact of scaffolding of activities on student motivation and learning in a quality analysis course?. This paper discusses the scaffolding strategy implemented to address this question and presents the findings. Scaffolding is an instructional strategy that aims to reduce the amount of cognitive effort that students have to make to learn the materials by breaking down the material into more manageable components. Instructional scaffolding is based on the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) concept introduced by L. Vygotsky. ZPD refers to the range between a person’s ability level that is reached by individual efforts and the ability level that can be reached under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers. Guidance can be provided by helping the learner to focus on particular aspects of the problem by asking leading questions or providing starter information, or simplifying some of the details. Scaffolding provides a structure that helps students construct knowledge by building new knowledge and competencies upon their existing abilities. It is commonly used in writing and usually given in one the following three forms: 1) breaking up an assignment into smaller assignments, 2) keeping assignment constant but increasing the difficulty of materials, or 3) creating a scaffold within a single assignment. 3 The levels of learning based on Bloom’s Taxonomy can guide the division of the work, in which the components introduced first target the lower level outcomes and the latter ones aim at upper levels. This type of scaffolding is known as critical thinking scaffolding and helps students develop critical thinking skills. In this study, the first approach is tailored and critical thinking scaffolding is applied in a quality analysis course by structuring several elements to lead students to an assignment that is more complex. Scaffolding has been in use for a long time in academia. Literature presents many successful examples. In a biology class Dirks and Cunningham, using the second approach, applied scaffolding that introduced students to statistical concepts and methods in an increasing complexity through initial exercises and subsequent assignments; they reported that students showed significant gains in their abilities to perform the skills targeted with these assignments. 5 Linder et al. used a modified version of the first approach and employed scaffolding in redesigning an introductory computer science course to keep students interested in their selected majors and better prepare them for higher-level classes. 6 Their scaffolding structure included classroom activities and short one-week assignments that target the skills needed in a larger assignment, which was the final class project. They observed that with the instructional scaffolding approach followed in structuring and conducting assignments, the weaker students were able to build skills earlier in the course, and that students showed more confidence in their programming and problem-solving abilities. Browne et al. implemented a critical thinking scaffolding in a recreation management course that is based on case-based learning activities. 7 The second form of scaffolding was used to guide the case study analysis assignments that increased in complexity throughout the course. They reported positive outcomes in student learning, mainly increased ability in analyzing and formulating recommendations for the case studies reviewed. Boylan-Ashraf et al. conducted a six-year research study involving introductory engineering courses. 8 One of their research questions was whether scaffolding improves student ability in the next class in their curriculum sequence. They chose the third form of scaffolding approach, and the results showed that scaffolding (and the other methods they studied) have an effect on student performance in the class currently taken and in the following classes. One of the recommendations of the study was to encourage faculty to use scaffolding in their classroom instruction. Girgis used scaffolding for teaching the techniques of problem solving to underrepresented minority students. 9 Using the second approach, he conducted a oneweek case study in three sessions with increasing complexity, and structured guidance throughout the sessions. His study showed notable progress in students’ problem solving skills and received positive feedback from the students. The approaches in designing assignment scaffolding and the objectives for implementing scaffolding vary, as the previous examples show. But, one thing that is common is that all these studies support that scaffolding has positive impacts on the student outcomes whether this is to improve the ability to perform the targeted skills, to keep students interested in their selected majors, or to improve ability in the next class. The scaffolding presented in this paper targeted to improve students’ skills in applying statistical tools in analysis and application of statistical process control and aimed to improve students’ critical thinking skills in the process. Critical thinking, as defined by Scriven and Paul, is “the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from or generated by observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action”. In this context, critical thinking targeted in this study is the students’ ability to gather information through various activities and connect and integrate this information for use (as a guide to action) in a more complex assignment. The approach used is similar to the one employed in Linder et. al. study in terms of assignment sequencing and breaking up a larger assignment into smaller assignments. However, the smaller assignments used in this study are different in nature and type, and how they are connected to each other and to the final assignment. The initial assignments in Linder et. al. study were limited in scope and were short and similar assignments, while this study used assignments of different types and outside class activities. These were structured in a way to encourage and guide students to think about the next assignment while working on the current one and to use their work from the previous assignments in the final assignment. Research suggests that scaffolding is an effective teaching strategy. In this respect, this paper presents another successful implementation, as the results discussed in the following sections show. Nevertheless, there are not many studies focusing on ISE discipline specific courses. Moreover, in the few that exist scaffolding is not the focus but is discussed as an aiding tool and the details of its implementation are not provided. 11,12, 13, 14 This study, therefore, is a valuable contribution to the literature on scaffolding in ISE education, and it provides a framework for ISE education practitioners with the detailed descriptions of the scaffolding strategy implemented, the outcomes targeted, and the assessment used. Background The Quality Course discussed in this study is a graduate level course in the industrial engineering program at the University of New Haven. This course aims to provide fundamental concepts in quality and statistical quality analysis. Topics include principles of quality control systems, control charts for variables and attributes, process capability analysis, measurement system analysis, specification and tolerances, and acceptance sampling plans. Students typically take this course in the second year of their masters program. The course learning outcomes are (a) Define concepts in quality and quality management; (b) Apply statistical tools in analysis and application of Statistical Process Control; (c) Produce and employ control charts; (d) Explain sampling process; and (e) Design acceptance sampling procedures for quality control. The course work and activities typically include a term paper, a term project, homework, in class exercises and discussions, quizzes and two exams (midterm and final). During the study period the author added the library training and a factory visit to the class activities. A brief definition of each course component is given in Table 1. The relation and