Journal of Engineering Education Transformations

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Using Concept Inventory for Assessing Conceptual Knowledge in the Signals and Systems Course


Affiliations
1 Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Chitkara University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Chitkara University, Punjab, India
2 Department of Psychology, St. Mary MacKillop College, ACT, Australia
     

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The engineering schools usually target problem-solving skills in students instead of conceptual development, which is an essential skill for transformation from novice to professional engineer as per the program objective. Improving a student's conceptual knowledge can help students understand a problem better and develop a better solution. Conceptual understanding also assists students in identifying gaps in their problem-solving techniques. This paper attempts to administer a Signal and System Concept Inventory (SSCI) to test the conceptual knowledge of core concepts of signals and systems course and then identify the correlation of post-test scores with the student's performance in the end-term exam. The result shows that the students who scored above 80% in concept inventory also performed outstanding in the end-term examination. The result also indicates that most of the students able solve questions on background mathematics and pole- zero plots but struggled with convolution and Fourier analysis.

Keywords

concept inventory, conceptual understanding, assessment, engineering education
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  • Using Concept Inventory for Assessing Conceptual Knowledge in the Signals and Systems Course

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Authors

Rashpinder Kaur
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Chitkara University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Chitkara University, Punjab, India
Archana Mantri
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Chitkara University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Chitkara University, Punjab, India
Prathiba Nagabhushan
Department of Psychology, St. Mary MacKillop College, ACT, Australia
Gurjinder Singh
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Chitkara University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Chitkara University, Punjab, India

Abstract


The engineering schools usually target problem-solving skills in students instead of conceptual development, which is an essential skill for transformation from novice to professional engineer as per the program objective. Improving a student's conceptual knowledge can help students understand a problem better and develop a better solution. Conceptual understanding also assists students in identifying gaps in their problem-solving techniques. This paper attempts to administer a Signal and System Concept Inventory (SSCI) to test the conceptual knowledge of core concepts of signals and systems course and then identify the correlation of post-test scores with the student's performance in the end-term exam. The result shows that the students who scored above 80% in concept inventory also performed outstanding in the end-term examination. The result also indicates that most of the students able solve questions on background mathematics and pole- zero plots but struggled with convolution and Fourier analysis.

Keywords


concept inventory, conceptual understanding, assessment, engineering education

References