The first step towards a pre-requisite knowledge tracking architecture for engineering programs

Abstract

This work in progress paper presents the preliminary step towards developing a new educational framework titled “Tracking Evolution Architecture of Cognitive Hierarchy Maps for Engaged Classrooms” (TEACH ME). In this paper, we track the scaffolding of the pre-requisites needed in high school level physics concepts and use this information to design the higher-level scaffolding of the same concepts in a university freshmen physics course. This tracking is performed as a meta-cognitive activity inside the classrooms, using a well-established concept visualization tool called “concept maps”. Further, these maps will be extended to include higher-level concepts in the engineering courses that have the physics course as a pre-requisite. This paper presents the insights from a pilot implementation of this technique in a freshman physics course. We used concept map as an additional instruction method to aid the students to visually connect the pre-requisite and the newly delivered concepts. This will allow students to understand what they know and what they need to learn. The effectiveness of this method is measured using the data collected from class quizzes and tests. The paper summarizes the initial results from this study along with a discussion on how such earlier maps developed at freshmen level can be extended to higher-level engineering classes for creating engaged classrooms using a novel teaching-learning frame work under development titled “Tracking Evolution Architecture of Cognitive Hierarchy Maps for Engaged Classrooms” (TEACH ME).