Removing Barriers to Success in Engineering and Technology: Interventions that Reduce Gender Differe

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Removing Barriers to Success in Engineering and
Technology Interventions that Reduce Gender
Differences in 3-D Spatial Skills

• Sheryl A. Sorby
• Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Michigan Technological University
• Program Director, Division of Undergraduate
  Education
• National Science Foundation

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Importance of Spatial Skills

• Many historical scientific discoveries have been
  linked to well-developed spatial skills
• Well-developed spatial skills have been shown to
  lead to success in
• Engineering and Technology
• Computer Science
• Chemistry
• Computer Aided Design

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For Example Ease of Learning CAD
software(5-point scaleHigher numbersmore
difficulty) (n329)
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Purdue Spatial Visualization Test Rotations
(PSVTR)
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Differential Aptitude Test Space Relations
(DATSR)
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Mental Cutting Test (MCT)
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Background Factors in the Development of Spatial
Skills for Engineering Students

• Play with construction toys
• Shop, drafting, and mechanics classes
• 3-D computer games
• Certain sports
• Mathematics skills
• Sketching
• Most factors in developing skills have a certain
  degree of gender bias favoring males

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Spatial Skills and Engineering Graphics

• A 1985 study at Michigan Tech determined that a
  students score on the PSVTR was the most
  significant predictor of success of eleven
  variables tested in engineering graphics
• Gender differences on PSVTR were statistically
  significant

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IF..

• Spatial skills are critical to success in
  engineering graphics
• Graphics is one of the first engineering
  courses that students take
• Spatial skills of women lag behind those of their
  male counterparts

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WILL.

• Women become discouraged in this introductory
  course at a disproportionate rate and drop out of
  engineering or technology as a result?

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Spatial Skills Project Phase 1Initial
Development

• Received funding from the NSF in 1993 to develop
  a course and materials for improving spatial
  skills
• Course topics were ordered in a manner thought to
  develop spatial skills
• Textbook and computer exercises written over the
  summer of 1993

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A Course for the Development of Spatial Skills

• GN102 offered beginning in the fall of 1993
• First-year engineering students administered the
  PSVTR during orientation
• 96 students failed PSVTR with a score of 60 or
  lower
• Women were around 17 of the group tested and 43
  of the group failing the PSVTR
• Random sample of 24 students selected for
  participation in GN102

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PSVTR Performance
Male-Female Differences Statistically Significant
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Course Topics

• Isometric Sketching
• Orthographic Projection
• 2-D to 3-D Object Transformations
• 3-D Coordinate Systems
• Object Translations

• Object Scaling
• Object Rotations
• Object Reflections
• Cross-Sections of Solids
• Surfaces and Solids of Revolution
• Combining Objects

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Course Structure

• GN102 a 3-credit course (quarter system) with
  two hours of lecture and one 2-hour computer lab
  per week
• Hand-held models used wherever possible
• Computer lab utilized I-DEAS solid modeling
  software

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Gains in Spatial Skills

• Students were given PSVTR as part of their final
  exam
• Average pre-test score 51.7
• Average post-test score 82.0
• Gain scores were statistically significant
  (plt0.0001)
• No gender differences in average pre-/post-test
  scores for GN102 students

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Spatial Skills Project Phase 2Maintenance

• GN102 offered each fall quarter
• Engineering students were administered PSVTR
  during orientation
• People who failed encouraged to enroll in GN102
• Students administered PSVTR as part of their
  final exam
• Beginning in 1996, the DATSR and MCT were given
  as pre-/post-tests

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PSVTR Test Results
Gains statistically significant
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DATSR Test Results
Gains statistically significant
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MCT Test Results
Gains statistically significant
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Spatial Skills Project Phase 3Multimedia
Software

• Additional NSF funding received in 1998 to
  develop multimedia software and a workbook for
  enhancing spatial skills
• Nine modules developed over a two-year period
• Students rated the software favorably

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Recent Study

• Multimedia software and workbook were tested with
  students outside of engineering in Fall 2004
• Tested with middle and high school students
  during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 academic years
• Workbook and software were effective in improving
  the 3-D spatial skills of these audiences

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Logistic Regression Results from Research with
non-engineering majors

• Both groups that used the workbook were
  significantly better than the CG
• Software only group was not better than CG

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Curriculum Revision

• Course modified in fall 2000 to be nearly
  self-paced
• Michigan Tech switched from quarters to semesters
• Take advantage of software and workbook
  development
• Decrease faculty workload
• AT THE SAME TIME, we wanted to
• Maintain improvements in spatial skills
  development, student success, and retention

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Semester Course Format

• One two-hour lab session per week for one credit
• Short mini-lecture (10-15 minutes) at beginning
  of session
• Students work through software module in teams of
  two
• Students complete workbook pages for remainder of
  time
• Most instruction is accomplished by an
  undergraduate teaching assistant with faculty
  direction/supervision

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Course Modules

• Isometric Sketching
• Orthographic Projection with Normal Surfaces
• Orthographic Projection with Inclined and Curved
  Surfaces
• Flat Pattern Developments
• Rotation of Objects about a Single Axis

• Rotation of Objects about Two or more Axes
• Object Reflection and Symmetry
• Cross-Sections
• Surfaces and Solids of Revolution
• Combining Objects

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Multimedia Software and Workbook

• Each software module has a background section and
  an exercise section
• Exercises are primarily matching or fill in the
  blank
• Workbook modules include background information
  as well as multiple exercises
• Additional Sketching exercises available in the
  workbook

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Spatial Skills Project Phase 4Long Term
Assessment

• Transcripts examined for students who failed the
  PSVTR between 1993 and 1998 and between 2000 and
  2002
• Students who enrolled in spatial skills course
  were Experimental Group (EG)
• Students who did not enroll in spatial skills
  course were Comparison Group (CG)

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Assessment of Gains on Spatial Skills Test-PSVTR
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Assessment of Gains on Spatial Skills Test-DATSR
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Assessment of Gains on Spatial Skills Test-MCT
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Average GPA in Graphics Courses1993-98

• Females
• CG2.71 (n148)
• EG3.02 (n116)
• Difference statistically significant (plt0.02)

• Males
• CG2.55 (n274)
• EG2.87 (n121)
• Difference statistically significant (plt0.005)

Male-Female differences within groups not
significant No other differences in Grades
observed
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Average GPAs for Students in EG and CG semester
course
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Retention Rates-Overall
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Retention Rates-College of Engineering
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Conclusions

• Engineering has many Gateway courses
• Typically thought of as Calculus, Physics, and
  Chemistry
• For women, and for some men, Engineering Graphics
  may be another Gateway course
• By developing and implementing a course to
  improve spatial skills we have positively
  impacted the performance and retention of
  engineering students, particularly women

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Acknowledgement

• This work has been supported by the National
  Science Foundation through several grants.
  Current support is from HRD-0429020

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Questions?