Category: Freeform

“Education will always be a challenging profession, but the good news is that we now have more tools to help us”, says Jorge Bris about the constant changes teachers face today when trying to find better ways to communicate and share information with their students.  Bris is a mechanical engineer and has worked in academia in one way or another since 1996. Teaching has always been his passion, and in the engineering lectures he gives today at the Universidad del Norte (Uninorte), he emphasizes the importance of collaborative learning. With strategies like this, Jorge faces head on the reality of students dropping out of, failing, or needing to retake the engineering course he teaches. Bris is a graduate of Uninorte himself, where he earned his doctoral degree in materials science…

Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Education Ed Berger admits there are some parts of his job he loves more than others. Working with students and studying ways to be a more effective educator would be two areas high on a list of his likes. Grading papers and exams, he admits, would be somewhat lower. But Berger says he has found a way to reduce the time he spends grading through the use of an online grading platform called Gradescope, which allows instructors to grade papers online efficiently and accurately. This fall, Purdue began a pilot program to offer Gradescope to instructors and faculty interested in joining a spring pilot program are encouraged to learn more by contacting tlt@purdue.edu. Faculty are also invited to learn more about Gradescope by attending…

July 6, 2017 by Hemali Chhapial, also highlighted in the July 2017 Colombia Purdue Newsletter Engineering education researchers have developed a method to assess the effectiveness of instructors who are using an innovative teaching approach that could play a role in boosting the number and quality of engineering graduates. The Purdue Mechanics Freeform Classroom allows students in challenging engineering courses to access hundreds of instructional videos and animations while encouraging interaction with each other and faculty online. The approach is helping sophomore-level students overcome daunting challenges in core engineering courses. However, engineering education researchers need a scientific method to assess how well instructors are using the Freeform Classroom. A new assessment method is detailed in a research paper being presented during the American Society for Engineering Education's 124th Annual Conference…

June 4, 2017 by Dave Stephens Since he began using Gradescope, an online grading application, Ed Berger says he has reduced the amount of time he spends grading about 30 percent. But that efficiency says Berger, an associate professor of both Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Education, isn’t even the best part. Gradescope has improved the way he grades. “Gradescope allows me to define and apply really detailed rubrics effectively,” Berger says, “which I’ve found to be even more useful than the time savings, which alone is tremendous.” Faculty and instructors are invited to learn more about Gradescope during the June 13 Tech Today event in Grissom Hall, Room 102. A light lunch will be provided along with a presentation about using Solstice Pod technology – a way to connect devices wirelessly in…