Jonathan Stolk

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Verified

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• Ph.D.
• Professor at Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

This research paper describes and compares the learning beliefs of faculty and students at an engineering college. The ways faculty and students conceptualize learning, including their epistemological beliefs and views on 'effective' pedagogical strategies, play an important role in how they interpret and engage in curricular change. Despite the im...

This research-to-practice paper presents a framework that breaks down the complex constructs of learner autonomy and instructor autonomy support into actionable course design and pedagogical decisions. Grounded in self-determination theory for motivation and self-regulated learning theory, the framework encourages instructors to consider various ar...

This paper presents the results of an ongoing effort to integrate hands-on machining, analysis and design experiences in several courses in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Ten inexpensive, desktop computer numerical control (CNC) prototyping machines have been introduced to provide students with d...

This mixed-methods study investigated college students' self-directed learning (SDL) skills, attitudes, and beliefs over time, beginning with the start of their first year and continuing to the beginning of their fourth year. Validated quantitative surveys were utilized to compare two cohorts of engineering students at different institutions over t...

Background Research illustrates that student motivations influence learning engagement, persistence, and achievement in powerful ways and that positive motivations are linked to deeper learning, critical thinking, pro-social behavior, and better performance. Most studies of learner motivation, however, are conducted outside of STEM and are focused...

This research paper examines students' situational, or activity-level, motivations in STEM classrooms, with a focus on gendered patterns of motivation in different pedagogical environments. The dataset includes over 5000 unique responses to the Situational Motivation Scale (SIMS), an instrument that measures four types of motivation (intrinsic, ide...

Because engineering faculty seldom use research-based instructional strategies, the engineering education community has become increasingly concerned with how to help faculty sustainably integrate education research into their teaching practices. We developed the Intrinsic-Motivation (IM) Course Design Method to make motivation theory accessible to...

Work-in-Progress. “I felt so dumb, and it's not fair that I cannot grasp this information to save my life, and other people can with no problem.” Why do some students feel empowered in the classroom, and feel they have control over their own learning, while others do not? Our qualitative investigation is a part of a larger mixed-methods study about...

Instructors often cite student motivation as a critical component of successful learning experiences, or a key barrier to student engagement in the classroom. Given motivation's influence on identity and well-being, and the important relationships between motivation and learning outcomes such as creativity, critical thinking, self-regulation, and p...

Work in Progress. Introductory, or “weed out” chemistry courses are well-known for deterring undergraduate students from pursuing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields. Specifically, students' motivations resulting from experiences in these courses can influence STEM retention. Using grounded theory, our preliminary analys...

In this Work-in-Progress paper we examine students' situational motivation in introductory STEM courses through analysis of survey responses about students' experiences in a required course at each of two large public institutions. The students in each course convey different perceptions of course relevance: learning-performance relevance and tempo...

This research paper investigates the relationship between two of the most ubiquitous classroom activities – lecture and discussion – and their correlation to student motivation. This investigation uses a dataset from 27 introductory STEM classes across 7 institutions that participated in weekly surveys, in which students listed the activities they...

Today’s engineering graduates face an evolution of global priorities that places a greater emphasis upon sustainability, community, and well being. Overcoming the complex challenges of this shift will require engineers to display agility, resilience, intrinsic drive, and an ability to continually grow and develop—capacities that are currently under...

It is well established that active learning helps students engage in high-level thinking strategies and develop improved cognitive skills. Motivation and self-regulated learning research, however, illustrates that cognitive engagement is an effortful process that is related to students’ valuing of the learning tasks, adoption of internalized goal o...

The learning goals of students are not only essential for personal guidance, but they also provide educators insight into individual approaches to learning and student self-perceptions. In this study, the learning goals of students in an introductory project-based materials science course were analyzed to determine differences by gender. Student go...

Early analysis does not support a link between students' motivation levels and their survey participation rates, suggesting that repeated sampling throughout a semester may be more capable of documenting a representative cross-section of student experiences than we originally expected.

Understanding student motivation is an essential aspect of effective course design. Since motivations are related to learning outcomes ranging from critical thinking to creativity to lifelong learning, helping students develop positive motivations toward learning is critical for the engagement and success of tomorrow's STEM graduates. In this works...

Despite the recognized importance of self-directed and lifelong learning for today's graduates, the processes by which learners become self-directed, and the roles that pedagogy and learning climate play in these processes, remain unclear. To better understand students' growth as lifelong learners, we conducted a two-year pilot study of engineering...

A capacity for self-directed learning (SDL) and lifelong learning is widely recognized as an important outcome for today's engineering graduates. Key to SDL is the development of self-reflection abilities, which enable students to critically evaluate learning tasks and contexts, to adjust and adapt their self-regulatory processes to new environment...

The low-cost intrinsic motivation (IM) course conversion project is an effort to create a new system of course design that focuses on creating scalable and sustainable courses that emphasize promoting students' IM to learn. Unlike many course design methods such as idea-based learning, project- or problem-driven learning, or “flipped” classrooms, w...

The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering (Olin) are establishing a student-centered hands-on interactive approach to engineering education (similar to Olin's) at UTEP, where it will reside in UTEP's innovative B.S. in Leadership Engineering (LE) program. The goal of the proposed collaboration is to c...

Investigations of the relationships between contexts in which learning occurs and students’ behaviours, cognitions and motivations may further our understanding of how instruction is related to students’ development as self-regulated learners. In this study, student self-regulated learning strategies in problem-based learning and project-based lear...

Promoting a sense of societal connectedness is critical in today's engineering educational environment. The NAE's Grand Challenges for Engineering point to broad human concerns - sustainability, health, vulnerability, and joy of living - and human connectivity as the future of engineering problem solving. Engineering studies, however, are often pre...

Although lifelong learning is among the most critical skills required of today's engineering graduates, the complex processes through which individuals develop the attitudes, beliefs, and skills of lifelong learners remains unclear. Instructors have only begun to understand the impacts of academic background, institutional climate, and pedagogy on...

Although self-direction is among the most critical skills required of today's engineering graduates, the complex processes through which individuals develop the attitudes, beliefs, and skills of lifelong, self-directed learners remains unclear. In this ongoing mixed-methods investigation, we draw on existing motivation and self-regulated learning t...

The type of motivation that a student evinces can shape such outcomes as academic engagement, performance, and satisfaction. In this paper we explore student motivation using cluster analysis, a quantitative method that has been proven useful in examining group-based motivational profiles within academic settings. We apply a range of clustering tec...

Calls for educational reform emphasize the need for students to develop a capacity for lifelong learning. Lifelong learners may be characterized as curious, motivated, reflective, analytical, persistent, flexible, and independent-traits that are critical for success in today's globalized economy. Stakeholders in engineering education recognize that...

The purpose of this paper is to examine ways in which pedagogy and gender of instructor impact the development of self-regulated learning strategies as assessed by the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) in male and female engineering students. One hundred seventy-six students from four universities participated in the study. Wit...

Paul Revere’s greatest contributions to American history resulted not from one heroic midnight’s work, but instead from a lifetime of technological and managerial innovation that helped define America’s transition from craft practices to industrial capitalism. Starting as a silversmith, Revere expanded his product line and use of machinery after th...

Calls for educational reform emphasize the need for students to develop a capacity for lifelong learning. Lifelong learners may be characterized as curious, motivated, reflective, analytical, persistent, flexible, and independent - traits that are critical for success in today's globalized economy. Engineering educators and ABET recognize that stud...

Engineers today must be able to communicate and collaborate in teams. They also must be comfortable making adjustments within the team to maintain flow and progress toward project goals. With these goals in mind, students in a first-semester engineering seminar course were asked to videotape a team meeting in their design course and to write a self...

Calls for educational reform emphasize the need for student-centered learning approaches that foster lifelong learning. To be a lifelong learner includes characteristics consistent with those of self-directed learners, such as being curious, motivated, reflective, analytical, persistent, flexible, and independent. Instructor support of students' se...

Calls for educational reform emphasize the need for student-centered learning approaches that foster lifelong learning. To be a lifelong learner includes characteristics consistent with those of self-directed learners, such as being curious, motivated, reflective, analytical, persistent, flexible, and independent. Instructor support of students’ se...

Calls for educational reform emphasize the need for student-centered learning approaches that foster lifelong learning. To be a lifelong learner includes characteristics consistent with those of self-directed learners, such as being curious, motivated, reflective, analytical, persistent, flexible, and independent. Educational research has shown tha...

Calls for educational reform emphasize the need for student-centered learning approaches that foster lifelong learning. To be a lifelong learner includes characteristics consistent with those of self-directed learners, such as being curious, motivated, reflective, analytical, persistent, flexible, and independent. Educational research has shown tha...

Many studies have illuminated our understanding of the kinds of competencies and behaviors exhibited by effective designers. Against the backdrop of global challenges made more urgent by unintentional negative impacts of engineered products and systems, however, we are left to deduce that our ways of educating engineering designers is fundamentally...

In this paper we present the results of a study on engineering students' characterizations and critiques of self-directed learning experiences in their classrooms. Using a social-cognitive conceptual framework for examining self-directed learning processes, we analyze qualitative survey responses from a gender-balanced group of engineering students...

The paper is grounded in the premise that learning occurs within a dynamic system of social and ecological interactions in the learning environment. Our intent is to open the conversation about hose ac, as engineering educators, design effective learning experiences for this dynamic system, particularly in light of the deeply ethical, adaptive expe...

Curriculum reform is a complex process. It is commonplace to focus on the proposed content of curricular change, and certainly effective change requires a well-conceived core. Yet the factors leading to successful curricular reform extend far beyond the content and organizational structure of the new curriculum. In this special session, we will use...

Students' development of self-directed and lifelong learning capacities is vital for their success in today's engineering environment. Instructors play a critical role in influencing outcomes related to self-directed learning (SDL) through their design of courses that support students' transitions from controlled to autonomous learning behaviors. Y...

Students’ development of self-directed and lifelong learning capacities is vital for their success in today’s engineering environment. Instructors play a critical role in influencing outcomes related to self-directed learning (SDL) through their design of courses that support students’ transitions from controlled to autonomous learning behaviors. Y...

Thermal management is a critical concern in the design and performance of electronics systems. If heat extraction and thermal expansion are not properly addressed, the thermal mismatch among dissimilar materials may give rise to high thermal stresses or interfacial shear strains, and ultimately to premature system failure. In this article, we prese...

We educators face a pressing need for our courses and curricula to turn out more creative people. Unfortunately, most of our undergraduate engineering environments provide few opportunities for students to engage in creative processes. Engineering instructors habitually design courses that are loaded with instructor controls. Faculty tell students...

The twenty-first century challenges engineering educators to design learning experiences to strategically and holistically target students' development, including cognitive, psychomotor, social and affective domains. We propose a guide for the design process. The Four-Domain Development Diagram (4DDD) is a synthe-sis of learning theory and empirica...

For the past two years, the Cal Poly Materials Engineering department has been on an endeavor to create a modern, innovative curriculum to train a more diverse set of materials engineers for the global and complex world of the 21st century. The traditional lecture and laboratory activities have evolved into more open-ended, project-based experience...

We educators face a pressing need for our courses and curricula to turn out more creative people. Unfortunately, most of our undergraduate engineering environments provide few opportunities for students to engage in creative processes. Engineering instructors habitually design courses that are loaded with instructor controls. Faculty tell students...

A decade or more has passed since publication of most calls for reform in engineering education. In the ensuing time, there has been significant work on the design, implementation, and transferability of appropriate methods and techniques - accompanied by, in most cases, little discussion of the values and beliefs of the people involved. But many t...

Researchers have developed numerous theories and developmental models to describe self directed learning, lifelong learning, and self-regulated learning. The literature includes a large body of research that illustrates the cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, affective, and behavioral attributes of self-directed learners; the influences of soci...

Self-directed learning is a key competency in life-long learning, an outcome often cited for engineering education, and is dependent on students' motivation, meta-cognition, and self-regulation with regards to a learning task. Few studies have addressed the aspects of engineering learning environments that promote the development of self-directed l...

Student development of self-directed learning skills is critical for success in today's rapidly-changing engineering world. The details of how instructors may best foster engagement in life-long learning, however, are unclear; many educators have struggled to define, implement, and assess lifelong learning in engineering curricula. We present a fra...

Against a backdrop of compelling societal needs, graduates in science and engineering now must master their disciplines and demonstrate a sophisticated level of cognitive, affective and social development. This has lead a number of national and international commissions on science and engineering to urge educators to re-think the way in which STEM...

ABET, ASEE, and the wider engineering community have long acknowledged the potential benefits of interdisciplinary education, including the opportunity to develop non-technical skills such as communication and teamwork while cultivating a broader awareness of the ethical, societal, historical, and environmental impacts of engineering work. Instruct...

The challenges of the 21st century create an imperative for engineering educators: to design learning experiences that result in engineering professionals with a sophisticated level of cognitive, psychomotor, social and affective development. We propose a tool for the design process. Our systemic model of development (SMD) is based on a large body...

The literature consistently reports that students express some degree of discomfort when they are thrown into self-directed learning environments. In this paper, we present the preliminary results of an investigation of the causes of student discomfort in several different self-directed project-based courses. Our results suggest that student motiva...

Curriculum development efforts often focus on delineating content within associated constraints: "how can I/we best design a course to cover a set of topics in the time available?". Such an approach is clearly productive, but it can easily lose sight of the people involved and their values. In this interactive session, we explore the importance of...

Imagine a course block in which students discuss the cultural implications of 17th century iron working in North America in one hour, and design experiments to examine connections between composition and strength in modern steel padlocks immediately afterwards. In the Paul Revere: Tough as Nails course block, students don't just study materials sci...

A capacity for self-directed, life-long learning is often cited as a critical skill for tomorrow's engineers. The student response to high levels of self-directed learning, however, is not always positive, particularly in introductory level courses. Some students enthusiastically embrace the control over their learning in open-ended situations. Oth...

A capacity for self-directed, life-long learning is often cited as a critical skill for tomorrow's engineers. The student response to high levels of self-directed learning, however, is not always positive, particularly in introductory level courses. Some students enthusiastically embrace the control over their learning in open-ended situations. Oth...

Over the last two years Olin College has been defining and implementing a provisional system to develop and assess student competency levels. The system particularly emphasizes the importance of creating a community of practice that includes not only faculty but also staff and students. In this paper we provide an overview of the design process, an...

In 1997, the F. W. Olin Foundation of New York established the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, Needham, MA, with the mission of creating an engineering school for the 21st century. Over the last five years, the college has transformed from an idea to a functioning entity that admitted its first freshman class in fall 2002. This paper descr...

Over the last twenty years, NSF and the engineering community have called for systemic changes in engineering education, including an emphasis on contextual understanding; increased teaming skills, including collaborative, active learning; and an improved capacity for life-long, self-directed learning. In addition, ABET has called for engineering g...

To date, many processes have been used for the preparation of ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) artificial muscle membranes from conductive metals and perfluorosulfonic polymers such as Nafion. The most widely used of these methods is the platinum plating process, which involves chemical reduction of ionic salt solutions. Although these chemical...

Imagine a course block in which students discuss the cultural implications of 17th century iron working in North America in one hour, and design experiments to examine connections between composition and strength in modern steel padlocks immediately afterward. In the Paul Revere:Tough as Nails course block, students don’t just study materials scien...

Olin College sophomores participate in integrated course blocks that merge technical content with business, arts, humanities, and social science topics, allowing students to work on engineering projects that have broader implications than the purely technical. In this paper, we present Paul Revere: Tough as Nails, a multidisciplinary course block t...

This article discusses the session made to share the first few chapters of the Olin story in a way that is both interesting and useful for educators from other institutions. Olin is currently developing and implementing an innovative curriculum that combines best practices from many other institutions with new, pedagogically sound ideas and approac...

Nanocrystalline Ag–Fe–Ni powders were produced by a reduction of the aqueous metal ion solutions with sodium borohydride and then converted to fine-grained silver–Invar alloys that offer attractive thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties. The samples were characterized by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, wavelength dispersive...

Heat dissipation and thermal expansion mismatch are extremely important issues in many electrical and electronics applications, and the materials used for thermal managementin such applications have attracted a great deal of attention in recent years. The move in the microelectronics industry toward higher circuit board chip densities and packagele...

The chemical reduction of Cu2+, Fe3+, and Ni2+ ions with sodium borohydride in aqueous solution followed by heat treatments at 300–900°C in a H2 atmosphere was investigated to obtain nanocrystalline Cu–Fe–Ni, which may have low thermal expansion and enhanced thermal and electrical conductivities. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction,...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 155-159).