Assessing the Effectiveness of a Nanotechnology Educational Module Using the "Nanotechnology Awareness Instrument"

The effectiveness of the introduction of an educational module to an Introduction to Engineering class was investigated. A lecture introducing nanotechnology was given to the students, and the students participated in a question-and-answer period following the lecture. The “Nanotechnology Awareness Instrument” of Dyehouse et al. was used to assess students' motivation for, awareness of, and exposure to nanotechnology. The survey contained thirty multiple choice questions divided into sections covering nanotechnology awareness, motivation, and exposure. The survey was given to the students prior to the lecture and again five weeks after the lecture. An Ordinal Pattern Analysis in Observation Oriented Modeling was used to evaluate differences in student scores on the Nanotechnology Awareness Instrument after the lecture as compared to their scores before the lecture. It was found that students’ awareness and exposure increased after the lecture, however, their motivation did not increase.