There is a need for pedagogical techniques that increase student engagement among underrepresented groups in engineering. Relating engineering content to student interests, particularly through biomechanics applications, shows promise toward engaging a diverse group of students. This study investigates the effects of student interests on engagement and performance in 10th grade students enrolled in a summer program for students underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. The authors assessed the effects of interest-tailored lectures on student engagement and performance in a 5-week program with bioengineering workshops, focusing on the delivery of biomechanics content. A total of 31 students received interest-tailored lectures (intervention) and 23 students received only generic lectures (control) in biomechanics. In addition, the authors assessed the effects of teaching method (lecture, classroom activities, and laboratory tours) on student engagement. The authors found interest-tailored lectures to significantly increase student engagement in lecture compared with generic lectures. Students that received interest-tailored lectures had an insignificant, but meaningful 5% increase in student performance. Students rated laboratory tours higher in engagement than other teaching methods. This study provides detailed examples that can directly assist student teaching and outreach in biomechanics. Furthermore, the pedagogical techniques in this study can be used to increase engagement of underrepresented students in engineering.
Erika M. Pliner, April A. Dukes, Kurt E. Beschorner and Arash Mahboobin
Niek Pot, Margaret E. Whitehead and Elizabeth J. Durden-Myers
might create a novel context in which to perform the movement, which is similar to the divergent discovery teaching styles ( Mosston & Ashworth, 2008 ). This approach to pedagogy lends itself well to co-construction, divergent and discovery pedagogical methods, and strategies to encourage personalized
Stephen Harvey and Brendon Hyndman
reported that the use of Twitter in the classroom has the potential to improve students’ learning and engagement ( Junco, Heiberger, & Loken, 2011 ) by personalizing learning for students ( Casey et al., 2017 ). Despite some of the advantages of using social media applications like Twitter to facilitate
Brendon P. Hyndman and Stephen Harvey
and between disciplinary areas ( Casey, Goodyear, & Armour, 2016 ). There is strong potential for social media sites to personalize learning by bridging the gap into students’ mobile and social worlds ( Casey et al., 2016 ; Junco, Heiberger, & Loken, 2011 ). As explained in the literature review of
Koon Teck Koh, Chunxiao Li and Swarup Mukherjee
. , & Palmer , E. ( 2015 ). Personalizing learning: Exploring student and teacher perceptions about flexible learning and assessment in a flipped university course . Computers & Education, 88, 354 – 369 . doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2015.07.008 Ward , P. , Tsuda , E. , Dervent , F. , & Devrilmez , E
