Section 26.2 Results
The main goal of implementing this survey was to determine the answer to the following question: What response does implementation of the kit yield from students? To answer this question, the 4th question in the course survey will be examined. This question states: "What did you like best about how the instructor taught the course?" Table 26.2.1 and Table 26.2.2 includes examples of questionnaire responses which is in the appendix.
| Semester | Quotes |
| Fall 2019 |
“The course was taught expertly with proper use of in class equipment available and hands on design problems with experiments relative to the material being taught.”
“I like how he introduced us to the Circuit Playground which allowed to be hands-on since none of my other classes are.”
|
| Spring 2020 (Remote Mid-Way) |
“Hands on experience”
“I especially enjoyed the hands-on Fridays portion of the course. The practical knowledge of creating something with the book-learning we gained during the lecture was priceless.”
“Fridays were my favorite days. I got to experience hands on projects where I learned the most from.”
|
| Fall 2020 (Hybrid) |
“I loved the hands on approach to the course. It is the first course, outside senior design, where we had the opportunity to exercise our engineering knowledge on an actual project.”
“The projects! this [taught] a lot of people hands-on skills”
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| Spring 2021 (Hybrid) |
“I liked the hands on aspect of the class the most”
“I wish all other class were taught as well”
“I like that we actually had a hands on project, and several projects that were fun to do”
|
| Fall 2021 | “I love how he tries to engage his students and help them learn real world engineering, not just textbook stuff. He really wants to watch his students succeed inside and outside of the classroom. We need more classes and professors like this in engineering! It was a fantastic class and instructor”
|
| Spring 2022 | “I had no interest in coding or robotics like things but now I do. I grew an interest in coding after absolutely hating it. I love seeing the application of what I’ve learned so far in my degree path. I am a hands-on learner, so the labs and the project were my favorite.”
|
| Fall 2022 |
“The hands on projects and labs”
“Very engaging with the students and cared for each student and wanted to help when needed. Gave good real world applications as well as fun, interesting assignments that helped us students learn.”
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| Spring 2023 | “I love how hands on everything was we would learn about a concept on either Monday or Wednesday and then Friday use that concept on the mini projects”
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| Fall 2023 |
“Dr. Montalvo gives a very calm atmosphere to learn in. He made this subject so much better and enjoyable than I ever would of thought of before starting this class. It has gotten me interested in perusing my own projects using what I learned outside of class as well. Dr. Montalvo also showed us a handful of resources for learning and getting components for our projects, which was fascinating as well.”
“His method of teaching was genuinely stimulating, and encouraged students to learn. This was the only class I actually looked forward to attending”
“Engaging and hands-on”
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| Spring 2024 |
“He makes things that seemed super hard and complicated in circuits, very easy. The labs are very engaging and he is very available and willing to help any time you have questions or issues.”
“Engaging and Funday fridays were actually fun”
|
| Fall 2024 |
“How he engaged with the class.”
“His in class projects”
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| Spring 2025 | “I like how he does a big project with numerous steps throughout the semester. This is very valuable in the design process learning how to keep moving forward but at the same time learning how to troubleshoot when issues do arise.”
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| Fall 2025 |
No quotes this semester due to low response
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Note that certain semesters were during the Pandemic of COVID-19. In the Spring of 2020 the University transitioned to fully online lectures on March 23rd. That was mid-way through the semester. In Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 the students participated in a hybrid lecture format where students were both allowed to come to class as well as remain remote and log on via Zoom. In the Fall 2021 semester, the University returned to fully in person lectures without masks.
To further answer this question, results from the question “How effective was the instructor in helping students achieve course objectives” is shown in Table 26.2.3 also in the appendix. This table shows the response rate per semester as well as average score for the question The last column shows the average score across the department. Spring 2020 has an asterisk because the University of South Alabama created a different course survey due to the onset of COVID-19. Instead the question “Please tell us your perception of the quality of the class prior to the transition to [online] on March 23rd” was used during Spring 2020. As such, the departmental scores are not listed.
| Semester | Response Rate | Average Score (1-5) | Department Avg Score (1-5) |
| Fall 2019 | 22% | 4.20 | 3.63 |
| Spring 2020 (Remote Mid-Way) * | 30% | 4.66* | N/A |
| Fall 2020 (Hybrid) | 46% | 4.64 | 3.57 |
| Spring 2021 (Hybrid) | 45% | 4.75 | 3.73 |
| Fall 2021 | 42% | 4.70 | 4.14 |
| Spring 2022 | 47% | 4.94 | 3.91 |
| Fall 2022 | 57% | 5.0 | 4.0 |
| Spring 2023 | 35% | 4.94 | 3.93 |
| Fall 2023 | 92% | 5.0 | 4.09 |
| Spring 2024 | 55% | 4.81 | 4.12 |
| Fall 2024 | 40% | 5.0 | 4.07 |
| Spring 2025 | 37% | 4.94 | 4.08 |
| Fall 2025 | 11% | 5.0 | 4.01 |
From analysis of the surveys, 4 themes emerged which capture student perceptions of the newly developed course. These include: Teaching Style, Course Design and; Comparison, Balance between Theory and; Application and Connected Learning. Table 26.2.4 shows these four themes with definitions of each. These themes overall represent the perspectives students had on the course based on the survey results.
| Theme | Definition |
| Teaching Style | Instructor teaching style and personality has an impact on course which is sometimes hard to distinguish from the course design itself
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| Course Design & Comparison | Student evaluation of different aspects of the course, including the flipped-classroom design, structure of lecture and class time, as well as specifics of the book. Course is compared to others.
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| Balance between Theory & Application | Students enjoyed the application aspect of the PBL Instrumentation course, but suggested adding more theory to the GitBook provided for the course. Students wanted more harmony between the textbook and the kit.
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| Connected Learning | Students extend learning outside of the classroom and make connections to their personal life
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