Deploying Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) in the Engineering Classroom

Randy Brooks
2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access Proceedings   unpublished
After 23 years in Telecom building the internet and email, I observed that the front line personnel that I was hiring didn't have what I considered to be skills that they should be bringing to the table. I began investigating why, and that led me to high school. Alas, I began my journey in Education in 2010 inhabiting the classrooms of Lovejoy High School, where my two daughters attended. I redubbed my PreCalculus course as Problem-Solving with Brooks and was also afforded the opportunity to
more » ... d a Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Principles of Engineering (PoE) course which is a project-based learning survey of the engineering discipline. Since the Summer of 2015 I have been privileged to work with the Texas A and M Sketch Recognition Lab (TAMU SRL) to evaluate two online tutorial tools (Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS)) currently under development, Mechanix and Sketchtivity, that provide immediate constructive feedback to the students and student-level metrics to the instructors. I presented on this work at the state and national PLTW Conventions and at CPTTE in 2016. I also spent 5 semesters beginning the Fall of 2015 in online courses learning how to construct and deliver online courses. This resulted in a MSEd from Purdue University in Learning Design and Technology (LDT). This widely varied background prepared me well for my next big adventure. Beginning in August 2018, I accepted a role as the Texas A and M Professor of Practice for the Texas A and M Engineering Academy at Blinn College in Brenham. TAMU Engineering Academies are an innovative approach to providing the planet with more Aggie Engineers. I am a technology learner and have been a regular presenter at the state TCEA (Texas Computer Educator Association) convention and PLTW state convention each year. My career began with a B.S. in Telecom Engineering from Texas A and M. Upon graduation, my learning continued at MCI, Vartec, and Charter. Abstract The volume and complexity of student analysis practice required to effectively navigate engineering courses drives the need for Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) deployment to best manage the time of both students and instructors. This study will explore student feedback and instructor observation of a recent classroom deployment of the Physics Education Technology (PhET) online simulation tool [1] and two specialized web-based ITS tools, Mechanix and Sketchtivity. These three tools provide personalized and immediate feedback to each student while encouraging students to explore new pathways regarding the concepts that the tools address. PhET, Mechanix, and Sketchtivity are digital products with instructor-tailoring capabilities and availability anytime and anywhere for students to continue their practice while receiving instructor-influenced visual and textual constructive feedback regarding their actions. The student feedback was generally positive regarding tool operation. Additionally, all three tools appear to have overcome some previous technology challenges, even since the initial student feedback was gathered in Fall 2019.
doi:10.18260/1-2--34382 fatcat:r6hvirnelnedhl2idgmbu3uhuq