Student Perception of Skill Mastery In A Course Based Undergraduate Research Experience (cure)

A key consideration of all engineering educators is, not just the level of student comprehension, taken through conventional assignments, but also the perception of the student of their own level of understanding of the material. Students should be aware of the limitations of their understanding and the limitations of what a course can cover, when compared to the vast amount of information available in their discipline. This is generally considered to be completed through graded assignments and reflective activities, or an alternative “hands on” laboratory experience. In an undergraduate course on composite material fabrication, students are exposed to experimental design and methods, as part of a course project. Assessment of student comprehension and a self-assessment of experimental design understanding were conducted along three point during the semester; the first, prior to any of the course material, the second, after a conventional lecture format, and the final, after a student project involving experimental design and testing. The intent is to observe any increases in student self-assessment versus their “true” comprehension, and if the student comprehension and self-assessment scores consistently grow throughout the semester at the same rate