Document Type
Paper
Abstract
The most important goal of teaching is student learning, passing on information from the instructor to the student so they can apply those concepts and skills months and years after instruction. However, this goal is not easily accomplished. Thinking and learning take significant effort and students often resist putting in the required work. Additionally, the increasingly diverse student population and recent disruptions to traditional classroom learning require instructional design to meet learning outcomes. Three evidence-based teaching practices including retrieval practice, spaced (distributed) practice, and interleaving were incorporated into a hydraulics course to improve student learning and evaluated for their effectiveness. This paper describes the practices, how they were employed within an engineering course, and evaluates their success using data as available and student feedback. Of the three practices, students indicated retrieval practice as the most effective as 89% of respondents used classroom retrieval practices to adjust their study and preparation for tests and 67% thought retrieval practice would help them remember concepts past this course. Quantitative support of student learning (in the form of test grades) was not significant. Spaced practice outperformed student expectations and was perceived as helpful for chapter test preparation while interleaving was moderately incorporated into the course with low perceived impact.
Publication Date
2024
Recommended Citation
Wildschut, Julie Anne, "Incorporating evidence-based teaching practices in a civil/environmental engineering course to improve learning" (2024). University Faculty Publications and Creative Works. 799.
https://digitalcommons.calvin.edu/calvin_facultypubs/799
Included in
Engineering Commons, Science and Mathematics Education Commons, Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons