Matching Items (8)
Filtering by
- All Subjects: Education
Description
Engineers have a strong influence on everyday lives, ranging from electronics and trains to chemicals and organs [1]. However, in the United States, there is a large knowledge gap in the roles of engineers, especially in K-12 students [2] [3]. The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) recognizes the current problems in engineering, such as the dominance of white males in the field and the amount of education needed to become a successful engineer [4]. Therefore, the NAE encourages that the current engineering community begin to expose the younger generations to the real foundation of engineering: problem-solving [4]. The objective of this thesis is to minimize the knowledge gap by assessing the current perception of engineering amongst middle school and high school students and improving it through engaging and interactive presentations and activities that build upon the students’ problem-solving abilities.
The project was aimed towards middle school and high school students, as this is the estimated level where they learn biology and chemistry—key subject material in biomedical engineering. The high school students were given presentations and activities related to biomedical engineering. Additionally, within classrooms, posters were presented to middle school students. The content of the posters were students of the biomedical engineering program at ASU, coming from different ethnic backgrounds to try and evoke within the middle school students a sense of their own identity as a biomedical engineer. To evaluate the impact these materials had on the students, a survey was distributed before the students’ exposure to the materials and after that assesses the students’ understanding of engineering at two different time points. A statistical analysis was conducted with Microsoft Excel to assess the influence of the activity and/or presentation on the students’ understanding of engineering.
The project was aimed towards middle school and high school students, as this is the estimated level where they learn biology and chemistry—key subject material in biomedical engineering. The high school students were given presentations and activities related to biomedical engineering. Additionally, within classrooms, posters were presented to middle school students. The content of the posters were students of the biomedical engineering program at ASU, coming from different ethnic backgrounds to try and evoke within the middle school students a sense of their own identity as a biomedical engineer. To evaluate the impact these materials had on the students, a survey was distributed before the students’ exposure to the materials and after that assesses the students’ understanding of engineering at two different time points. A statistical analysis was conducted with Microsoft Excel to assess the influence of the activity and/or presentation on the students’ understanding of engineering.
ContributorsLlave, Alison Rose (Author) / Ganesh, Tirupalavanam (Thesis director) / Parker, Hope (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The objective of this research study is to assess the effectiveness of a poster-based messaging campaign and engineering-based activities for middle school and high school students to encourage students to explore and to pursue chemical engineering. Additionally, presentations are incorporated into both methods to provide context and improve understanding of the presented poster material or activity. Pre-assessments and post-assessments are the quantitative method of measuring effectiveness. For the poster campaign, ASU juniors and seniors participated in the poster campaign by producing socially relevant messages about their research or aspirations to address relevant chemical engineering problems. For the engineering-based activity, high school students participated in an Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering program "Young Engineers Shape the World" in which the students participated in six-hour event learning about four engineering disciplines, and the chemical engineering presentation and activity was conducted in one of the sessions. Pre-assessments were given at the beginning of the event, and the post-assessments were provided towards the end of the event. This honors thesis project will analyze the collected data.
ContributorsBueno, Daniel Tolentino (Author) / Ganesh, Tirupalavanam (Thesis director) / Parker, Hope (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
In modern society, computer science (CS) professionals are necessary in the workforce. A growing number of fields and disciplines require the analytical and programming skills that come from a CS education. Despite the growing demand for programmers, the dropout rate within undergraduate CS programs remains high. In an effort to improve retention and make CS more accessible, I prototyped a mobile application that will help students through the principal deterrents that students face in their undergraduate years. Utilizing survey responses from 51 peers I determined the core courses and concepts within the CS curriculum that provoked the most concern to select the topics covered in the mobile application. The results show that the major barrier courses are CSE 310: Data Structures and Algorithms, CSE 340: Principles of Programming Languages, and CSE 355: Introduction to Theoretical Computer Science. Also using interviews and market research, I went through an iterative design process until I arrived at my final prototype that provides users a visual timeline of their program, examples for each individual topic, the ability to interact with other users, and create quizzes covering content they learned. This prototype is intended to lead to a fully developed application that will prepare and encourage students to further their professional careers in CS.
ContributorsRoldan, Jorge (Author) / Ganesh, Tirupalavanam (Thesis director) / Trowbridge, Amy (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
As a member of the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenge Scholars Program (GCSP) and the new Next Generation Service Corps (NGSC), I began this project interested in investigating the benefits and outcomes of these programs on my development throughout my undergraduate experience. Since interdisciplinarity is a core component of both programs, my thesis focused on the development and analysis of a survey to measure the interdisciplinary competence of undergraduate students in various programs and majors throughout ASU. In order to develop the survey items, we adapted questions by Lattuca, et al, which only analyzed the interdisciplinary competence of engineering students. Based on our responses, the quantitative data surfaced some interesting discrepancies between students in engineering and non-engineering majors. Broadly, the data also showed that students in GCSP and NGSC have higher interdisciplinary competence, implying there may be some benefits to both. Additionally, a preliminary theme analysis of the qualitative data seems to demonstrate that students appreciate a wide variety of opportunities to be exposed to disciplines outside of their primary major, and programs such as GCSP and NGSC which highlight interdisciplinarity expose students to opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t have known about. In the future, I would recommend evaluating the impact of students’ motivations for joining each program and examining the possible implications on their interdisciplinary competence. There are other outcomes that weren’t examined as part of this study, so it may also be interesting for future researchers to investigate other components of each program like the impacts of service learning or entrepreneurial experiences.
ContributorsChen, Diana Karen (Author) / Ganesh, Tirupalavanam (Thesis director) / Trowbridge, Amy (Committee member) / Watts College of Public Service & Community Solut (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The goal of this research study was to empirically study a poster-based messaging campaign in comparison to that of a project-based learning approach in assessing the effectiveness of these methods in conveying the scope of biomedical engineering to upper elementary school students. For the purpose of this honors thesis, this research paper specifically reflects and analyzes the first stage of this study, the poster-based messaging campaign. 6th grade students received socially relevant messaging of juniors and seniors at ASU achieving their biomedical aspirations, and received information regarding four crucial themes of biomedical engineering via daily presentations and a website. Their learning was tracked over the course of the weeklong immersion program through a pre/post assessment. This data was then analyzed through the Wilcoxon matched pairs test to determine whether the change in biomedical engineering awareness was statistically significant. It was determined that a poster-based messaging campaign indeed increased awareness of socially relevant themes within biomedical engineering, and provided researchers with tangible ways to revise the study before a second round of implementation. The next stage of the study aims to explain biomedical engineering through engaging activities that stimulate making while emphasizing design-aesthetic appeal and engineering habits of mind such as creativity, teamwork, and communication.
ContributorsSwaminathan, Swetha Anu (Author) / Ganesh, Tirupalavanam (Thesis director) / Shrake, Scott (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Background: Diabetes (DM) is a costly disease that negatively impacts patients and the healthcare system that requires complex and structured management. Literature has shown a gap in effective, structured diabetic education and management for providers and patients.
Objective: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to investigate the impact of how outreach, through a structured educational care plan, affects healthcare team experience, perception, and impact on their ability to communicate and comanage patients' chronic diabetes. Utilizing telemedicine as an alternative to the office visit healthcare model to address a gap in care by providing ongoing, structured diabetes education and management.
Methods: A small-scale study initially included ten participants, with five that completed the study. This included the Population Outreach Team (POT), one provider, and four auxiliary support staff. They were introduced to and utilized a care plan tool (CPT) to assist providers and auxiliary health team communication and education delivery to patients with DM. The theoretical and implementation framework that guided the study was based on the nudge theory, focused on altering habits and behavior, and the Model for Improvement supporting future alterations and improvement as identified. A CPT was designed based on HEDIS diabetes measures and the American Diabetic Association (ADA). Improvement was measured through nine question pre- and post-surveys with an additional four questions specific to the CPT use based on a modified RAND Likert scale patient satisfaction survey. A post-qualitative interview with the provider was conducted to gain further insight into CPT use and perception.
Results: A total of ten healthcare and auxiliary participants joined the study; of these, five completed it. The data, including the pre- and post-perception surveys, were collected over a 6-week study period with a post-implementation interview with one provider. Data analysis was captured through descriptive statistics. Pre-perception, M = 19.6 (SD. 4.04, 14 – 25). Post-perception, M = 7.60 (SD. 1.34, 6 – 9). CPT perception post, M = 14.4 (SD. 3.65, 10 – 18). A lower score indicated improvement. The interview identified the following barriers that impacted the CPT's success, including the patient-provider relationship, EHR "easability", patient readiness, and patient education barriers.
Conclusion: This small study indicated the positive impact structured, ongoing education provides to improve communication and comanage patients' with DM through the POT improved perception with CPT use. Barriers identified will assist with future implementations and other areas for improvement, which may increase success in the objective of this study and the delivery of healthcare for patients with DM. Future utilization of this intervention may be easily translated to other primary care environments. The intention is that successful DM management may lead to decreased medical management, complications, and financial strain.
ContributorsWilde, Daniella (Author) / Moffett, Carol (Thesis advisor) / College of Nursing and Health Innovation (Contributor)
Created2023-05-01
Description
Background: There is growing evidence that persistent exposure to the adverse effects of stressful work conditions, abuse, and re-traumatization without proper intervention leads to compassion fatigue (CF) and reduced compassion satisfaction (CS). Without appropriate intervention, the outcome of CF affects the patient, staff, and the organization. Despite proposed self-care measures, mental health (MH) workers continue to struggle with CF and lack the resources to combat the issue.
Objectives: Ongoing awareness on the implications of trauma and its impact on one's behavior, supports the use of Trauma-informed care (TIC) skills in creating a conducive work environment. This quality improvement project examines the efficacy of TIC education as an intervention for CF pre/post-one-hour education session among MH workers.
Methods: MH nurses (n=8) from diverse backgrounds in a Phoenix inpatient psychiatric hospital gave consent for the study. Participation was sought via flyers and entailed attending the one-hour education session, filling out a demographic, and pre/post-professional quality of life (ProQol) surveys. The ProQol standardized tool measures CF, CS, and burnout with reliability >0.70. Expected outcomes include a reduction in CF and an improvement in CS. Data analysis using intellectus software involved descriptive analysis and paired t-tests to compare outcomes.
Results: Pre/post data analysis was statistically significant, P = 0.003, which shows a reduction in CF and an improvement in CS.
Conclusion: TIC as an intervention for CF looks promising. MH nurses can manage their stress symptoms and that of their patients using TIC skills.
ContributorsOnyia, Nneka (Author) / Guthery, Ann (Thesis advisor) / College of Nursing and Health Innovation (Contributor)
Created2023-04-29
Description
Introduction: The objective of this study is to emphasize the significance of exclusive breastfeeding (EB) and investigate methods to encourage and sustain it within a hospital environment. Using the self-efficacy theory, the study seeks to improve the current support system for breastfeeding mothers and their families. Methods: The project was approved by the university IRB and facility IRB; guidelines were maintained. The project takes place in a non-profit organization in the southwestern United States. Education was conducted at a required staff meeting for Women and Infant Services (WIS) floor about supporting breastfeeding mothers. A pre- and post-education Breastfeeding Knowledge Scale (BKS) survey was performed, effectiveness was measured using a two-tailed t-test. The reliability of the BKS scale is 0.83 and the validity of the scale is reported to be strong. The hospital measures the EB rates of patients that are greater than 37 weeks gestation without need for neonatal intensive unit care and the mom requests to breastfeed. Results: The goal was 42% rate of EB in the first 48 hours after birth. After education the average rate of EB was 39.6%, lower than the goal but higher than the 33.7% rate before education. A two-tailed paired sample t-test (n=27) was used for BKS and the results were significant based on an alpha value; thus, showing significant knowledge gain. Conclusion: Consistent staff education improves breastfeeding support for moms in the hospital, leading to successful exclusive breastfeeding. This project benefits various settings, such as pediatric, postpartum, labor and delivery, and pediatric offices.
ContributorsHudson, Jennifer (Author) / Esperas, Amanda (Thesis advisor) / College of Nursing and Health Innovation (Contributor)
Created2023-04-26