Department of Technology Leadership & Communication Works
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Item Place-Based Experiential Learning: A Pathway to Sustainability and Environmental Literacy(AERA, 2022) Sorge, Brandon; Fore, Grant Alan; Williamson, Francesca Arielle; Angstmann, Julia; Technology Leadership and Communication, School of Engineering and TechnologyWhen implemented effectively, Place-Based Experiential Learning (PBEL) pedagogies have been shown through different studies to enhance student content knowledge, course engagement, critical thinking skills, and civic-mindedness. This research followed 10 semester-long university courses, during one academic year, implementing PBEL pedagogies with a focus on urban farming. Courses came from a wide array of disciplines including courses focused on science, technology, engineering, or mathematics as well as many non-STEM courses. Students completed pre- and post-assessments to measure change in civic-mindedness, place attachment, situated sustainability meaning-making, and environmental scientific literacy. Statistically significant positive change with small to moderate effect sizes were found in student’s environmental scientific literacy, situated sustainability meaning-making, place attachment, and civic-mindedness.Item A Framework for Training Animals to Use Touchscreen Devices for Discrimination Tasks(ACM, 2022-12) Cunha, Jennifer M.; Renguette, Corinne C.; Technology Leadership and Communication, School of Engineering and TechnologyRecent technological advances have made touchscreen devices more widely available for animal-computer interaction, but there is little consensus about methods for discrimination task training frameworks. Here we discuss the potential enrichment and communicative uses for touchscreen-based interactions as well as benefits and limitations of automated learning systems and social learning systems. We review the literature for discrimination training methods on touchscreen devices for a variety of species and discuss what we recommend as an expanded framework for cross-species discrimination training methods. This framework includes environment and device selection and setup, orientation and habituation, touchscreen shaping skills, and discrimination training. When done ethically, human-assisted animal interaction with technology can improve psychological wellbeing and cognitive enrichment through environmental choice and control, enhance human-animal relationships, and provide data collection opportunities for research.Item Nanotechnology Experiences for Teachers and Students, Student Experiences and Outcomes(PEER, 2022-08-23) Sorge, Brandon; Fore, Grant; Agarwal, Mangilal; Technology Leadership and Communication, School of Engineering and TechnologyThe Nanotechnology Experiences for Students and Teachers (NEST) program aimed to increase nanotechnology content knowledge, scientific research knowledge, and understanding of nanotechnology among high school students while fostering career readiness in nanotechnology-related fields. The program, offered for four consecutive summers with a two-week session each summer, included the following experiences: research experience and knowledge of careers in nanotechnology, hands-on laboratory experiences in inquiry-based science and the engineering design process and discover innovative technologies all while generating awareness and interest in emerging workforce opportunities. In total, 123 students [F=50, M=73; White=29; African American/Black=41, Hispanic=13, Asian=30, Other=10) participated in the program. The program was focused on recruiting students from low-income and underrepresented populations. This paper details the two-week intervention as it progressed over the course of four years. A formative and summative mixed-methods program evaluation was conducted to better understand and promote practices that increased students' motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM). Each year, both the implementation and evaluation teams reviewed findings and discussed relevant changes to the program the following year. While each year of NEST included an introduction to nanotechnology, visits to existing laboratories, and hands-on activities, we detail where there were successes and failures, changes made to the program each year, and the associated student-level outcomes. For example, early findings found outcome issues related to race/ethnicity and content knowledge gains below expectations.Item A Food-Themed Cross-Disciplinary Faculty-Staff Learning Community Enriches Place-Based Experiential Learning Curricula—(Instructor Resource)(Digital Common at Butler University, 2022-04-25) Angstmann, Julia L.; Fore , Grant A.; Williamson, Francesca A.; Sorge, Brandon H.; Technology Leadership and Communication, School of Engineering and TechnologyThis document contains instructional resources to facilitate an 8-month Faculty-Staff Learning Community (FSLC) focused on learning and discussion to support the creation of campus farm-situated place-based experiential learning (PBEL) lessons that inspire place attachment, sustainability meaning making, environmental science literacy, and civic mindedness. The development of this professional development resource is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. DUE-1609219 and DUE-1915313.Item Thinking Beyond the Service Course Model: Intentional Integration of Technical Communication Courses in a BME Undergraduate Curriculum(ASEE PEER, 2022-08-23) Stella, Julie; Higbee, Steven; Miller, Sharon; Technology and Leadership Communication, School of EngineeringContemporary engineers must be confident communicating technical and non-technical information to diverse audiences. Traditional curricula may rely on highly generalized communication courses, which are not targeted to the disciplinary content or communication needs of specific engineering fields. To better prepare engineering undergraduates, students may benefit from a curriculum that deconstructs boundaries between disciplinary content mastery and effective communication. Here we describe efforts to intentionally develop and pair technical communication courses with existing biomedical engineering (BME) laboratory courses. To achieve this, interdisciplinary faculty came together through a Community of Practice to design and implement a curriculum that maximizes the benefit of writing instruction through strategic timing and more field-specific relevance. Our work developed a strategically timed integrated curriculum wherein two one-credit technical communication courses replaced an existing 2-credit technical communication course requirement—in the new model, students take a one-credit technical communication course in their sophomore year and a one-credit technical communication course in their junior year. By integrating the courses earlier in the program, we highlight how BME sophomores are now able to apply writing skills immediately to classroom assignments and continually grow their communication skills over the course of the program. Additionally, the integrated curriculum limited the genres of writing to those commonly found in the BME field (industry and academia), with an emphasis on writing as both a process and a product. We will share the changes made within both the engineering and technical communication courses. Briefly, students completed culminating overlapping assignments that were drafted and polished in the TCM class then submitted for a technical grade to the BME course instructor. Throughout, our approach focused on building student-student, student-instructor, and instructor-instructor relationships. Classroom communities and student-student relationships were grown and nurtured through technical peer review, collaborative writing, and team membership (e.g., roles, relationships, management, leadership). In the faculty Community of Practice, key strategies included: 1) integrated, ongoing, and consistent assessment of written and oral communication student deliverables, and 2) a shared content-related vocabulary provided continuity and connections among technical skills and communication to augment the student experience. Here we describe efforts to intentionally develop and pair technical communication courses with existing biomedical engineering (BME) laboratory courses. To achieve this, interdisciplinary faculty came together through a Community of Practice to design and implement a curriculum that maximizes the benefit of writing instruction through strategic timing and more field-specific relevance.Item Organizational Supports and Developing a Healthy Workforce: A Case Study of Wellness Factors and Leadership(IGI Global, 2022) McCart, Andrew; Bergman, Matt; Green, Ehren R.; Rose, Kevin; Technology and Leadership Communication, School of EngineeringThis case study seeks to understand workplace wellness activities in organizations in Southern Indiana and Greater Louisville. Utilizing the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Workplace Wellness Health Scorecard, a 125-question survey that covers a diverse set of workplace wellness initiatives, twenty-four organizations participated in the study, with one to four participants from each organization. This study looks at the question of context and how an organization’s supports impacts the health of their workforce. The results found that leveraging the knowledge of experts, implementing a variety of wellness programs, removing obstacles to wellness, and having a caring attitude toward employees lead to a higher score regarding organizational supports on the CDC Health Scorecard.Item Defining the Presence of Misrecognition in Multilingual Organizations: A Literature Review(IGI Global, 2022) Mires, Erin; Bergman, Matt; Green, Ehren R.; Rose, Kevin; Technology and Leadership Communication, School of EngineeringResearch indicates the multilingual aspects of organizations can create power divisions and rules that drive workplace practices. From an international human resources development perspective, language management is strategic and planned through the headquarters of the organization. Yet the rational ideas of organizational members are what are truly valued in multilingual workplaces. These rational ideas create power struggles and biases that are formed against individuals who possess certain linguistic capabilities, regardless of the individual’s other traits or accomplishments. These biases have been labeled the phenomenon of misrecognition. This literature review explores the presence of misrecognition in multilingual organizations. A need to determine how the phenomenon of misrecognition exists in multilingual organizations was discovered.Item Characteristics of two outstanding elementary teachers of mathematics: Implications for teacher education(2021) Feikes, David; Walker, William S., III; Sorge, Brandon H.; Technology and Leadership Communication, School of EngineeringThis study identifies characteristics of two “outstanding” elementary teachers of mathematics who were different in style and who taught in different settings. The intent is to determine what characteristics make these different teachers outstanding in hopes of helping preservice teachers improve their teaching of mathematics. Preliminary findings indicate that both teachers were (1) focused on children’s learning of mathematics; (2) focused on the mathematical solution methods used by students; (3) believed that all of their students could learn mathematics; (4) were enthusiastic and dedicated to the profession of teaching; and (5) cared deeply about their students and emphasized the necessity of building relationships with them.Item Four-Phase Intergroup Dialogue Inclusivity Posters(IUPUI Intergroup Dialogue, 2018) Gentle-Genitty, Carolyn; Renguette, Corinne; Griffith, Daniel; White-Mills, Kim; Wright, TamraItem Replication of a Tutor-Training Method for Improving Interaction Between Writing Tutors and Stem Students(2020) Hazelton Jones, Laura; Weissbach, Robert; Meckley, Jon; Renguette, Corinne; Sorge, Brandon S.; Rothrock, Matt; Pflueger, Ruth C.; Ice, Danielle; Dasgupta, Annwesa; Technology and Leadership Communication, School of Engineering and TechnologyThe improvement of tutor training programs can impact the important work of writing centers. Tutors often feel less comfortable tutoring in genres different from their own discipline. A previous study introduced an assignment-specific tutor training model to improve writing center tutoring sessions between engineering students and writing tutors. The results of the previous study indicated a valuable addition to the resources available for engineering students. This model has now been replicated at two universities to assess the potential for wider dissemination. Preliminary data analysis suggests a relationship between initial tutor rating of student work, student perceptions of tutoring, and tutor perception of student engagement in the tutorial. Plans for future research include continued replication and expansion to test larger sample sizes, analysis of impact within and adaptations for other STEM areas, and continued study of the impact on tutoring team projects.