First-year engineering students' nanotechnology awareness, exposure and motivation before and after educational interventions

Abstract

Educational interventions in first-year engineering programs can positively affect students' awareness of nanotechnology by introducing students to basic nanotechnology concepts and motivating them to follow nanotechnology-related career paths. The research question examined in this study is: What are the differences in exposure, awareness, and motivation between students in classrooms where a mathematical modeling activity is implemented and where a mathematical modeling activity and a simulation design project are implemented? In a pre/posttest quasi-experimental design, first-year engineering course sections were split into experimental and control groups. The experimental course sections (6 sections n=496) implemented a mathematical modeling activity and a simulation design project related to nanotechnology. The control course sections (8 sections n=703) implemented only the mathematical modeling activity. Results show that when implemented together, the simulation design project and the mathematical modeling activity are more effective than only the mathematical modeling activity in terms of increasing student awareness, exposure and motivation related to nanotechnology. Although the change in motivation is statistically significant, the effect size is low. Therefore, further research for uncovering factors linked to motivation is necessary.