Update 2013 on the iCollaborate MSE project

The primary goals of the iCollaborate Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) project are to improve student learning outcomes, engagement, and completion rates in introductory materials engineering courses. This extensive research project is multidimensional and includes several interrelated components, all of which are founded upon best practices from STEM education research. There are several individual elements within the project that operate simultaneously or sequentially and unite to form a novel teaching and learning system. The first element of the project was the transformation of the structure in our basic MSE course from primarily deductive practice to an Information Communication Technology (ICT) enabled, student centered, inductive teaching and learning environment. Collaborative learning, active/inquiry learning, concept learning, peer learning, problem/case-based learning, low stakes quizzing, mini-lectures with just-in-time reading, collaborative research writing, and constructive alignment are all important components of our multidimensional approach. Also completed as part of this research program were: detailed explorations to understand the students' pre-course knowledge and misperceptions, an investigation of student preparation and how that preparation influenced pre-course concept knowledge and overall course outcomes, and an analysis of Felder's Index of Learning Styles (ILS) assessment by student and course section. The detailed analysis of pre-course knowledge and misperceptions showed a surprising lack of pre-conceptual knowledge and revealed several important student misperceptions. This paper focuses on components of the iCollaborate project that were researched, analyzed, or developed during the Fall 2011 through Winter 2013 timeframe. First, a summary of the pre-course assessment findings is given in this paper. Second, an overview of the suite of MSE iPod applications and newly developed web applications for iCollaborate is presented. Finally, an overview of the supporting web site for the project, which is currently under development, is described. The paper concludes with a description of the remaining objectives for the iCollaborate project and future research directions.