Jacob Moore - Penn State Mont Alto
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Jacob Moore
Penn State Mont Alto
Mechanical Engineering
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Papers by Jacob Moore
Advancing Personalized Engineering Learning via an Adaptive Concept Map
Concept maps are effective interventions in providing students with a holistic understanding of a...
more
Concept maps are effective interventions in providing students with a holistic understanding of a domain while also allowing understanding of relationships among parts and across the engineering curricula. Yet when the domain of application is large, concept maps become overburdened with too much information and complexity. A function of the individual learners' cognitive load abilities, this phenomenon (termed "map shock") results in student disengagement and reduction of expected learning gains. This limitation prevents the creation of concept maps that provide a unified framework for engineering knowledge across courses and curricula.
Promoting Conceptual Understanding via Adaptive Concept Maps
Towards an" Adaptive Concept Map": Creating an Expert-Generated Concept Map of an Engineering Statics Curriculum
Concept maps are graphical representations of cognitive knowledge structures. Although they were ...
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Concept maps are graphical representations of cognitive knowledge structures. Although they were originally developed as a way to follow and understand changes in student knowledge, they have proven to be effective instructional tools. Concept maps consist of labeled nodes that represent concepts, or perceived regularities or patterns, and links that are labeled to indicate the relationships between the nodes. Current work with concept maps is limited to small maps that cover only sections of a class or the entire class at a high level of abstraction. Due to problems in interpreting concept maps with numerous nodes and links, maps of larger domains are limited in the detail the can represent. The authors are exploring the use of interactive digital tools as a way to present large-scale concept maps that organize information and show connections across the curriculum without overwhelming the user visually. As an exemplar, the authors have chosen the content in an engineering statics course. If successful, the concept mapping tool could be used to cognitively link information between courses in engineering mechanics and then across the entire engineering curriculum. As the first step in this process, the authors set out to capture an expert's knowledge of engineering statics in the form of a course-wide concept map. This paper details the process of capturing expert knowledge of a course and organizing this information into a concept map that accurately represents the information taught in the course.
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The concept of 'map-shock' limits the usefulness of large concept maps, reducing processing effectiveness among learners.
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The Ethics Education Requirement: An Examination of Ethics Education in Engineering Colleges
Public Knowledge
, 2009
Softening the Sciences: Methodological Barriers to Interdisciplinary Research in Engineering Education
Public Knowledge
, 2011
Work in progress—A mixed-methods study of the effects of first-year project pedagogies on the motivation, retention, and career plans of women in engineering
by
Marie Paretti
and
Jacob Moore
Abstract Our research project compares two first-year engineering course project pedagogies to id...
more
Abstract Our research project compares two first-year engineering course project pedagogies to identify approaches that enhance the likelihood of women continuing in engineering majors and entering engineering careers. Specifically, we compare the problem-based learning (PBL) model to a more general experiential learning approach centered on the engineering design process, referred to here as the traditional engineering design model (TED).
New Faculty Experiences with Mastery Grading
Proceedings of the 2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition
, 2015
A Mastery Learning Approach to Engineering Homework Assignments
Proceedings of the 2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition
, 2015
Promoting Conceptual Understanding in Engineering Statics Through the Use of Adaptive Concept Maps
Proceedings of the 2013 ASEE Annual Conference
, 2013
In this paper, the authors discuss their continuing work on a NSF TUES Phase 1 project in which t...
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In this paper, the authors discuss their continuing work on a NSF TUES Phase 1 project in which they are exploring the feasibility and effectiveness of a scalable concept map as an organizational tool for a digital textbook.  This tool, termed the Adaptive Map, is designed to promote students’ conceptual understanding by using an expert-generated concept map as an advance organizer.  Because large concept maps become visually cluttered and are therefore less effective as learning tools, information visualization techniques have been employed to visualize the digital concept map content.  These techniques structure the visual organization of the map for the content based on the users’ current focus, which provides them context for detailed content information while also managing the cognitive load imposed on the learner.  The authors are exploring the tool’s effect on conceptual understanding and cognitive load.  To measure the tool’s effect on conceptual understanding, researchers are using verbal explanation sessions, and the Statics Concept Inventory.  To measure cognitive load, researchers used self-reported values of mental effort during the data collection sessions, which were designed to ensure that students needed to explore content using the Adaptive Map or their regular textbook.  Preliminary results indicate that if students are given an opportunity to adapt to the radically different format of the Adaptive Map, they prefer the Adaptive Map tool to their traditional paper textbook.  The data also seems to suggest that the students studying with the Adaptive Map tool tend to focus more on conceptual knowledge, where students studying with the traditional paper textbook tend to focus more on procedural knowledge.
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The Adaptive Map tool, tested on Statics course participants, showed potential for enhancing conceptual understanding compared to a traditional textbook approach.
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Translating Educational Theory Into Educational Software: A Case Study of the Adaptive Map Project
Proceedings of the 2013 ASEE Annual Conference
, 2013
n this paper, the authors describe the development of an instructional software, where developers...
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n this paper, the authors describe the development of an instructional software, where developers engaged in the process of translating educational theory into a cyber-learning tool, and the challenges encountered in evaluating its usability and effectiveness of the tool as a learning aid. Specifically, the authors reflect on their experience in creating the “Adaptive Map” – an instructional software designed to help students gain conceptual understanding of large stores of content information. This concept map-based system explicitly shows how discrete concepts are linked to the whole of the course with a large node-link diagram. This explicit mapping of expert knowledge structures has been shown to promote conceptual understanding in students. Because concept maps become visually cluttered and unusable when they get too large though, an interactive visualization tool was developed to maintain the advantages of concept maps as learning tools while managing the visual clutter in maps that cover entire courses or even an entire curriculum. In this paper, the authors discuss the process they took in integrating the educational literature with the information visualization literature to understand how to best make an information visualization that addresses educational goals. Results from a heuristic analysis using Munzner’s four level validation framework for an information visualization are also presented.
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Using expert-generated concept maps improves students' content retention and understanding by organizing information contextually.
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Fatigue Characterization Of 3D Printed Elastomer Material
by
Jacob Moore
and
Christopher Williams
Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium
, Aug 20, 2012
The Objet PolyJet 3D Printing process provides the ability to print graded materials featuring bo...
more
The Objet PolyJet 3D Printing process provides the ability to print graded materials featuring both stiff and elastomeric polymers. This capability allows for a variety of new design possibilities for additive manufacturing such as living hinges, shock absorbing casings, and integrated gaskets. Such design features typically rely upon the ability of traditional elastomers to experience large and repeated strains without permanent deformation or damage. However, voids and other flaws inherent to many Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes can have a significant negative impact on the fatigue life of elastomeric AM materials. In this paper, the authors seek to fill a gap in the literature by characterizing the fatigue life of a direct 3D printed elastomer, and the multi-material interface. Based on the results, the authors offer advice for improving fatigue life of printed elastomeric components.
Problem-Based Learning: A Student Perspective on the Role of the Facilitator.
Proceedings of the 2011 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition
, 2011
Problem-based learning (PBL) is a pedagogical approach that has been identified as promoting lear...
more
Problem-based learning (PBL) is a pedagogical approach that has been identified as promoting learning outcomes consistent with ABET criteria. Although the learning benefits of PBL have been well documented, little is known about the effects of PBL on students’ motivation and engagement in learning. As  problem-based approaches are becoming more widespread in use
across engineering programs and curricula, it is particularly  important to understand the impact that such approaches have on students’ motivation. As part of a larger mixed methods study, this
paper focuses on the critical element of team facilitation. Specifically, we examine how students perceive the role of facilitators and how these perceptions influence student motivation. Grounded in the MUSIC Model of Academic Motivation, we present findings from interviews conducted with first-year engineering students at two different research sites. State U1 participants are engaged in a well-established PBL-based course. State U2 participants are engaged in a course that uses a project-based approach to integrate design projects into the class (termed traditional engineering design, or TED, for this study). We conducted semi-structured interviews with eleven men and eight women from State U1 and three men and eleven women from State U2 at the end of their first year. Audio recordings were transcribed and then analyzed using MAXQDA coding software. We developed codes inductively through the data and based on relevant literature. Our findings demonstrated that participants at both sites viewed the facilitator (PBL) or workshop leader (TED) as the grading authority, although it was most salient for the TED participants from State U2 and for participants in only one of the six PBL groups at State U1. For most participants at State U1, however, the more dominant  function of the facilitator was modeling the engineering problem solving process. These State U1 participants also expressed feelings of empowerment and were motivated to put more effort into their coursework through the engagement of faculty in the learning process.
Using Wikis as a Formative Assessment Tool for Student Engineering Design Teams
by
Jacob Moore
and
Marie Paretti
Due to its focus in project-based learning, design educators must provide individual coaching and...
more
Due to its focus in project-based learning, design educators must provide individual coaching and mentoring of student teams as they progress through their design efforts. In order to increase the quantity and quality of design mentoring, the authors have implemented the use of Wiki websites as a medium for providing formative assessment for student design teams enrolled in a sophomore-level Mechanical Engineering design course.
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Students using Wikis provided and received more meaningful feedback compared to non-Wiki sections.
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Work in Progress: A Mixed-Methods Study of the Effects of First-Year Project Pedagogies on the Motivation, Retention, and Career Plans of Women in Engineering
by
Jacob Moore
Marie Paretti
, and
Brett D . Jones
Frontiers in Education Conference
, 2010
Our research project compares two first-year engineering course project pedagogies to identify ap...
more
Our research project compares two first-year engineering course project pedagogies to identify approaches that enhance the likelihood of women continuing in engineering majors and entering engineering careers. Specifically, we compare the problem-based learning (PBL) model to a more general experiential learning approach centered on the engineering design process, referred to here as the traditional engineering design model (TED). We hypothesize that the PBL model, with extensive faculty facilitation, will increase the likelihood of women persisting in an engineering degree, achieving higher grades in future classes, and going into engineering careers. Our research is grounded in motivational theory, and particularly in a model that integrates aspects of existing theories including participation-identification, expectancy-value, and self-efficacy. We are testing this integrated model and the research hypothesis through a longitudinal, mixed-method analysis, with data collected from five cohorts at two large research universities.
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