Дисертації з теми "Engineering undergraduate students"
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Alsharif, Abdulrahman M. "Perceptions of Undergraduate Engineering Students on Academic Advising." Youngstown State University / OhioLINK, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ysu1589309175110422.
Повний текст джерелаMurzi, Escobar Homero Gregorio. "Understanding Dimensions of Disciplinary Engineering Culture in Undergraduate Students." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/71775.
Повний текст джерелаPh. D.
Mamaril, Natasha Johanna A. "MEASURING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS’ ENGINEERING SELF-EFFICACY: A SCALE VALIDATION STUDY." UKnowledge, 2014. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/edp_etds/19.
Повний текст джерелаMohammed, Abdul Majid. "Integrated technologies instructional method to enhance bilingual undergraduate engineering students." Thesis, Brunel University, 2014. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/10488.
Повний текст джерелаBrown, Philip Reid. "Content and Choices: An Exploration of Career Goals in Undergraduate Engineering Students." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/70879.
Повний текст джерелаPh. D.
Aleisa, Ahmed. "Improving the Education for Undergraduate Students in Saudi Arabia Universities." Digital Commons at Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School, 2015. https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/etd/337.
Повний текст джерелаCampbell, Christopher David. "Evolution in engineering dispositions and thinking among culturally diverse students in an undergraduate engineering programme." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/54122.
Повний текст джерелаEducation, Faculty of
Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of
Graduate
Call, Benjamin J. "Spatial Ability Degradation in Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Students During the Winter Semester Break." DigitalCommons@USU, 2018. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7391.
Повний текст джерелаYeaman, Adetoun Oludara. "Understanding Empathy in the Experiences of Undergraduate Engineering Students in Service-Learning Programs." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/99038.
Повний текст джерелаDoctor of Philosophy
In an increasingly globalized world and with rapid advancement in technology, there is a need to think more intentionally about social implications of engineering and technology. These trends make is necessary for the engineering education to incorporate critical consideration of how engineering and technology affect humanity and how to interact effectively in diverse populations. Empathy, an ability that is central to the process of understanding and considering others, has been recognized as a valuable competency in the education of engineers. Studies suggest that service learning is a useful pedagogical approach for supporting students in the development of social competencies like empathy. My aim in this dissertation was to understand engineering students' experiences in a service-learning context to learn the ways in which their descriptions reveal empathy and the elements within their context that shaped empathy development. My participants are fourteen engineering students from two institutions, a small private university and a large public university, with both groups involved in at least one-semester of a service-learning course. Having explored students' experiences, I discuss key findings about how and within which contexts empathy came to play in these experiences. There are many different ways that empathy can play a role within students' experiences in a service-learning context and many facets of an experience help draw out more empathic practices. In this dissertation, I discuss implications of these findings for engineering education and practice.
Speelman, Nicole Lynn. "A Lab to STEMulate Undergraduate Students into Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Majors." Wright State University / OhioLINK, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1239390958.
Повний текст джерелаVan, Heerden Karen Ilse. "A phenomenological investigation into undergraduate students' experience of acquiring the discourse of engineering." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003581.
Повний текст джерелаEntsminger, J. R. II. "Stereotype Threat| A Qualitative Study of the Challenges Facing Female Undergraduate Engineering Students." Thesis, Northern Illinois University, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10260434.
Повний текст джерелаFrom a sociocultural point of view, this qualitative case study explored how upper-level, female undergraduate engineering students perceived the possibility of or experience with stereotype threat as shaping their experiences. The study also investigated how these students explained their reasons for choosing their engineering major, the challenges they encountered in the major, and their reasons for persevering in spite of those challenges. Using Steele and Aronson’s (1995) stereotype threat theory as a framework, and considering the documented underrepresentation of females in engineering, the study sought to examine how stereotype threat shaped the experiences of these students and if stereotype threat could be considered a valid reason for the underrepresentation.
The study was conducted at a large, four-year public university. First, students in the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology completed the Participant Screening Survey. Based on responses from the survey, six female engineering students from the college were identified and invited to participate in the study. The participants came from the following majors: Electrical Engineering, Industrial and Systems Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. After receiving the study consent letter and agreeing to participate, the students were involved in a 90-minute focus group meeting, a 45-minute one-on-one interview, and a 30-minute follow-up interview.
After conducting the data collection methods, the data were then transcribed, analyzed, and coded for theme development. The themes that emerged coincided with each research question. The themes highlighted the complex interactions and experiences shared by the female engineering majors.
The female students were enveloped in an environment where there existed an increased risk for activating stereotype threat. In addition, the female students described feeling pushed to prove to themselves and to others that the negative stereotype that ‘females are bad at engineering’ was untrue. The findings illustrated the need for systematic changes at the university level. Intervention recommendations were provided. In regards to female underrepresentation in science fields, including engineering, stereotype threat certainly had the potential to cause the female students to question themselves, their abilities, their choice of an academic major, and subsequently remove themselves from a hostile learning or working environment. Thus, educational institutions and workplace organizations are responsible for not only educating themselves regarding stereotype threat, but also for taking steps to alleviate the pernicious effects of stereotype threat.
Smith, Courtney Shaleah. "The Intersecting Perspective: African American Female Experiences with Faculty Mentoring in Undergraduate Engineering." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/56490.
Повний текст джерелаPh. D.
Chintapalli, Srikar. "Communication Protocols on the PIC24EP and Arduino - A Tutorial for Undergraduate Students." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin15051272759207.
Повний текст джерелаChadha, Deesha. "Considering a teaching framework to support the development of transferable skills in engineering undergraduate students." Thesis, University of Surrey, 2005. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.417509.
Повний текст джерелаJoseph, Jacob David. "Beyond academic preparation: Anticipatory socialization, values, and the experiences of undergraduate male African American engineering students." W&M ScholarWorks, 2014. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1550154101.
Повний текст джерелаJahangiri, Nooshin. "An exploration of female students' choices, experiences and future aspirations of studying undergraduate mathematics and engineering programmes in Iran." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2019. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/an-exploration-of-female-studentsa-choices-experiences-and-future-aspirations-of-studying-undergraduate-mathematics-and-engineering-programmes-in-iran(6675e98e-1903-4cbe-b81e-9f3773e163a8).html.
Повний текст джерелаMogashana, Disaapele Gleopadra. "The interplay between structure and agency: How academic development programme students 'make their way' through their undergraduate studies in engineering." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16601.
Повний текст джерелаThe interplay between structure and agency: How Academic Development Programme students 'make their way' through their undergraduate studies in engineering. This study explores and seeks to explain the ways in which a group of Academic Development Programme (ADP) students 'made their way' through their studies in engineering at the University of Cape Town. Underpinned by Bhaskar's realist philosophy of social science, the study uses Margaret Archer's morphogenetic realist social theory to explore the interaction between the university (social and cultural relations) and the students (agential relations). Data was generated through a series of three interviews with each of 12students in the fourth year of their studies and through an analysis of selected university documents. Margaret Archer's morphogenetic approach, which allows for the temporal analytical separation of structure, culture and agency, provides methodological and analytical tools to investigate interactions between their respective emergent properties. It posits that structure and culture predate the actions of agents who transform it. As such, structural and cultural emergent properties condition the situations in which agents find themselves. Furthermore, agents' personal emergent properties, such as corporate agency and reflexivity, allow them to deliberate on their courses of actions. Key to this theoretical approach is the notion that structure and culture do not act in a deterministic way; their properties can only become powers when they are activated by agents' projects. With regard to structure, it was found that the combination of a fragmented curriculum, a shortened examination period, and unfavourable examination timetables all served as potential constraints to students' projects. With regard to culture, it was found that the ideas of mainstream students and lecturers about ADP students exacerbated such ADP students' experiences of marginalisation and exception. Moreover, the study found that the mainly black student enrolment of the Academic Support Programme for Engineering in Cape Town (ASPECT) was experienced by students as racial prejudice. While the findings suggest that students thus found themselves in extremely constrained circumstances, they were also found to have exercised corporate agency and different modes of reflexivity to overcome some of their constraining circumstances. Following an analytical process of retroduction, the study suggests that the ADP, although it facilitated students' entry into the university, simultaneously positioned them within a situational logic of constraining contradiction and as such exacerbated their experiences of exception. Moreover, it is argued that, although the university has made major structural changes to accommodate students from disadvantaged educational backgrounds, the ideas that shape the ADP space perpetuate the view that these students have an educational' deficit'. In conclusion, the study suggests that higher education should reconsider the idea of separate programmes, as their inherent situational logic appears to work against some of their fundamental goals, which are to facilitate redress and to widen participation.
Mayat, Nafisa. "The attitudes of academics to accomodating physically disabled students into the undergraduate civil engineering programme in the Faculty of Engineering and Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7478.
Повний текст джерелаDisabled students face a number of challenges in accessing equitable education within higher education institutions. The University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, as stated in the Policy on Students and Staff with Disabilities, is committed to making tertiary education accessible and inclusive for all students. However, it has been observed that physically disabled students are under-represented in the science and engineering fields, as there is a misconception that disabled students cannot fulfil all the criteria required to complete these programs. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the attitudes of academics to the possibility of admitting physically disabled students with the Undergraduate Civil Engineering Programme at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. A qualitative approach was adopted where data was collected by carrying out in-depth interviews with five permanent full - time academics within the Civil Engineering Programme. The participants included 2 professors, 2 senior lecturers and one lecturer who have been teaching courses in Civil Engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal for periods between 3 and 20 years. The results of the study revealed that the academics interviewed all displayed a positive attitude in accommodating physically disabled students within their program. However, some challenges were identified, which included site / field work in the curriculum. All the participants indicated that these challenges can be met and are willing to provide the support that may be required by physically disabled students. Recommendations were made, that it implemented, will result in changes being made not only to the physical environment, but also as to how curricula can be planned and delivered.
Gavin, Kiera(Kiera A. ). "An exploration and review of ethics instruction methods for undergraduate engineering students and an examination of the MIT Mechanical Engineering Department's current practices in teaching ethics." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2020. https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/127920.
Повний текст джерелаCataloged from the official PDF of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (page 28).
All accredited undergraduate engineering programs are required to teach ethics based on the ABET mandated Student Outcomes. How programs choose to do this is highly variable, but curriculum typically falls into one of three categories: the case method, theory-based method, and professional codes method; despite their prevalence in contemporary teaching, each of these methods has its flaws [1]. One school of thought argues that teaching the ethical thought process as a parallel to the engineering design process is the most effective way to communicate ethics to engineering students [2-5]. In order to understand what mechanical engineering students at MIT take away from their ethics education, a survey was sent to all students who had completed the most recent semester of one of the MIT Mechanical Engineering capstone courses. 52% of students responded, revealing a large variation in understanding of ethics and engagement with the ethics components of the course. Recommendations are made for changes to the ethics components of the course curriculum, aiming to improve the deficiencies highlighted in the survey and approach ethics instruction through the design process lens.
by Kiera Gavin.
S.B.
S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Czaplinski, Iwona. "An analysis of learning networks of STEM undergraduate students to promote active learning." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2020. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/201510/1/Iwona_Czaplinski_Thesis.pdf.
Повний текст джерелаBlack, Arianna Louise. "Evaluation of the AWARES Mentorship Program on Female Engineering Students’ Career Self-Efficacy." The Ohio State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1587054612430114.
Повний текст джерелаGoff, George Ahmad IV. "The Influence of College among Undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Majors on Career-Decision-Making Self-Efficacy." University of Toledo / OhioLINK, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1458463422.
Повний текст джерелаLőrincz, Máté János. "Narrowing the gap between smart metering and everyday life : comfort, cleanliness and smart metering technologies in undergraduate students' households." Thesis, Keele University, 2017. http://eprints.keele.ac.uk/4364/.
Повний текст джерелаCarbajal, Sandy C. "Exploring the undergraduate experience of Latina students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors| Motivators and strategies for achieving baccalaureate attainment." Thesis, California State University, Long Beach, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1598628.
Повний текст джерелаDrawing from Latino/a Critical Race Theory and the related Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) model, I concentrate on three forms of CCW—aspirational, navigational, and resistance capital—for this qualitative study on the undergraduate experience of Latina students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors, focusing on strategies and achieving baccalaureate attainment. I interviewed ten Latina students and asked them questions regarding their educational experiences in STEM majors, what contributed to their degree completion, and the strategies they employed for achieving baccalaureate attainment. I identified and described six themes within the study (the underrepresentation of Latinas in STEM majors, the lack of preparation by academic programs for upper division courses, motivators, involvement, time management, and support networks) that, when combined, contributed to participants’ degree attainment. This study concludes with implications for policy and practice that would allow universities to better assist Latinas in STEM majors to achieve baccalaureate attainment.
Gaskins, Whitney. "Changing the Learning Environment in the College of Engineering and Applied Science: The impact of Educational Training on Future Faculty and Student-Centered Pedagogy on Undergraduate Students." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1396533191.
Повний текст джерелаJavidi, Giti. "A comparison of traditional physical laboratory and computer simulated laboratory experiences in relation to engineering undergraduate students conceptual understandings of a communication systems topic." Scholar Commons, 2005. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/2936.
Повний текст джерелаKittidhaworn, Patama. "An assessment of the English-language needs of second-year Thai undergraduate engineering students in a Thai public university in Thailand in relation to the second-year EAP program in engineering." Morgantown, W. Va. : [West Virginia University Libraries], 2001. http://etd.wvu.edu/templates/showETD.cfm?recnum=2020.
Повний текст джерелаTitle from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 122 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 92-97).
McKinney, Victor John. "An exploratory case study on the preparation of undergraduate civil engineering students at the University of Cape Town to contribute to an inclusive society for people with disabilities." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20355.
Повний текст джерелаSolomonides, Ian Paul. "Learning intervention and the approach to study of engineering undergraduates." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.308312.
Повний текст джерелаHe, Xingxi. "Haptics augmented undergraduate engineering education implementation and evaluation /." Ohio : Ohio University, 2003. http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/view.cgi?ohiou1175092399.
Повний текст джерелаMinichiello, Angela L. "Towards Alternative Pathways: Nontraditional Student Success in a Distance-delivered, Undergraduate Engineering Transfer Program." DigitalCommons@USU, 2016. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/4950.
Повний текст джерелаKockelbergh, David. "The origins of student misunderstanding of undergraduate electrical machine theory." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2014. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/16072.
Повний текст джерелаHipple, Dean A. "Re-entry training and education for returning sojourner undergraduates of French grandes écoles." Scholarly Commons, 2002. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/562.
Повний текст джерелаHipple, Dean A. "Re-entry training and education for returning sojourner undergraduates of French grandes écoles : a thesis." Scholarly Commons, 2001. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/562.
Повний текст джерелаWilliams, Paul T. "Investigating the innovation capabilities of undergraduate engineering students." 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/22275.
Повний текст джерелаtext
Almeida, Claudia Da Silva. "Religious Orientation and Pressure in Undergraduate Engineering Students." Thesis, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10539/2113.
Повний текст джерелаIn recent years, there has been increased interest among multidisciplinary researchers in looking at the relationship between religion and health, with the bulk of the literature indicating that religion has largely positive effects on mental health (Masters, Hill, Kircher, Benson & Fallon, 2004; Pieper, 2004; Smith, McCullough & Poll, 2003). Hence this study has chosen to focus on the relationship between undergraduate students’ perceptions of religious orientation, as defined by Allport and Ross (1967), and their perceptions of pressure – a form of stress identified by Weiten (1988). Questionnaires comprising of the Religious Orientation Scale, the Pressure Inventory and demographic information in terms of age, gender and religious affiliation were administered to undergraduate engineering students at the University of the Witwatersrand to explore religious orientation and pressure respectively. The sample consisted of 76 undergraduate engineering students at the University of the Witwatersrand. The results revealed that in this sample religious orientation had no influence on perceptions of pressure. In terms of the demographic variables, neither age nor gender was found to influence students’ perceptions of religious orientation or pressure, respectively. However a significant difference was found between religious affiliation and both religious orientation and pressure. More specifically religious affiliation showed a significant difference in terms of intrinsic religious orientation, selfimposed pressure, pressure in intimate relations and total pressure.
Recla, Benjamin Jeremiah. "Developing a Practical Wind Tunnel Test Engineering Course for Undergraduate Aerospace Engineering Students." Thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/149345.
Повний текст джерелаJones, Theresa Louise. "Instructor expectations in a project-based undergraduate mechanical engineering classroom." Thesis, 2003. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/utexas/fullcit?p3116405.
Повний текст джерелаFerguson, Sarah Kiersten. "Reframing the c onversation : faculty mentoring undergraduate women students in engineering." Thesis, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/ETD-UT-2011-05-3059.
Повний текст джерелаtext
"The Characteristics and Experiences of Successful Undergraduate Latina Students Who Persist in Engineering." Doctoral diss., 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.14767.
Повний текст джерелаDissertation/Thesis
Ed.D. Higher and Postsecondary Education 2012
Hayward, Lauren J. "Students' perceptions of distributed pair programming in an upper-level undergraduate software engineering course." 2009. http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-03272009-112301/unrestricted/etd.pdf.
Повний текст джерела"Introducing Unsaturated Soil Mechanics to Undergraduate Students Through the Net Stress Concepts." Master's thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.21029.
Повний текст джерелаDissertation/Thesis
M.S. Civil Engineering 2013
"Examining Undergraduate Engineering Students' Knowledge, Beliefs, and Attitudes Regarding Affirmative Action Admissions Policies: A Hierarchical Regression Analysis." Doctoral diss., 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.53459.
Повний текст джерелаDissertation/Thesis
Doctoral Dissertation Educational Policy and Evaluation 2019
Brookins, Bari. "Now I Understand! Success Factors among High-Achieving Undergraduate Hispanic Students Majoring in Engineering at a Research University." Thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2012-08-11537.
Повний текст джерелаKahveci, Ajda Southerland Sherry A. Gilmer Penny J. "Impact of a women's program for science, mathematics and engineering on undergraduate women activity systems on the periphery /." Diss., 2005. http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-07082005-003623.
Повний текст джерелаAdvisors: Dr. Sherry A. Southerland, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Middle and Secondary Education, and Dr. Penny J. Gilmer, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept 19, 2005). Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 249 pages. Includes bibliographical references.
(11186220), Julianna Gesun. "Beyond Surviving: Developing and Testing a Model of Thriving for Engineering Students." Thesis, 2021.
Знайти повний текст джерелаOltean-Dumbrava, Crina, and K. Galloway. ""Moving closer" maximising benefits to university courses, students and employers through undergraduate civil enginering placements." 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/5456.
Повний текст джерелаThis project built on research from university and employer perspectives exploring relationships between expectations of employers, professional bodies, students and universities on what constitutes a good work placement. Qualitative information on good practice was gathered in order to identify areas for improving placement practice and to illuminate employer engagement processes. Impact and benefits of different approaches to placements and curricula and/or staff Continuing Professional Development (CPD) implications were identified, together with recommendations on how improvements in understanding are shared and disseminated among employer groups and universities. Findings included that, although there were already guidelines on placement practice from a number of bodies, good practice identified at a wide range of points seemed more the result of academic staff drawing on their own experience, formed in the light of good knowledge of professional institution requirements, rather than use of guidelines. Employers mentioned professional institution requirements almost as a matter of course. That guidelines are not used as intended by those that produce them may be a general tendency, but this project¿s guidelines specifically reflect the organised voice of employers thanks to the involvement of their senior groupings, Sector Skills Councils and similar, in addition to individual employers. This project¿s guidelines are also more up to date than others identified, including particular issues affecting provision of placements that may face universities over the next few years. Students seem to recognise the benefits of placements more in retrospect than in advance. Some universities seem more flexible than others, adapting provision of placements as economic and other conditions have changed and to meet the needs of employers and placements. As one employer put it, ¿employers gravitate towards universities that make it easier¿. Employers also want to see academic credit awarded for placement learning and understandable processes with which they can help in support of this. The guidelines will be made available through a number of channels.
Royal Academy of Engineering
Kim, Su Yeon. "A Comparison of Education, Business, and Engineering Undergraduate Students’ Internet Use and their Experience, Confidence, and Competence in Using New Literacies of the Internet." Thesis, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2011-05-9223.
Повний текст джерела(11210097), Rene Alexander A. Soto Perez. "Undergraduate engineering student misconception regarding complex circuits: The case with solid-state device circuits." Thesis, 2021.
Знайти повний текст джерелаUndergraduate engineering students usually face difficulties understanding electric circuit concepts. Some of those difficulties regard with misconceptions students bring into the classroom and develop during the learning process. Additionally, the increasing complexity of the topics along the fundamental electric circuits course constitutes another factor to those difficulties students experience. Another component we can add to this equation consists of the need of modernize and actualize the curriculum to meet the society’s demands of the next taskforce. Therefore, it is important to investigate the conceptual difficulties students experience when they analyze complex electric circuits. In this dissertation, I identify what those conceptual difficulties are when undergraduate sophomore engineering students attempt to analyze solid-state device circuits. The context of this research comprises a modernized version of the traditional fundamental electric circuits course. This modernized version includes DC analysis, 1st order transient analysis, AC, and solid-state device analysis.
This dissertation took the form of three individual but complementary studies. Each study contributes to partially answer the overall research question. However, each study answered its own research problem. The first study attempted for identifying what concepts beginning students find challenging regarding semiconductors physics, diodes, and transistors. The second study identified student’s misconceptions when they analyze two solid-state device circuits, one with a diode, and the other with a transistor. The final study looked for determining what misconceptions students use at both earlier and more advances stages along the course. This study also searched for understanding how students move through conceptual changes along the semester.
The general findings comprise three main points. First, students bring misconceptions into the classroom probably built from their previous experiences. Second, they also can develop those misconceptions through the learning process. This is particularly key regarding the relatively new and complex topics from student’s perspectives. Finally, language plays an important role on the kind of misconceptions students develop. How students perceive the professional community use language contributes to either consolidate or modify old misconceptions or develop new ones.