Principal Investigator: Vinu Unnikrishnan
CoPrincipal Investigator(s):
Organization: University of Alabama Tuscaloosa

Abstract:
This project is aiming at effective course engagement in and out of a class room through a Tailored Instruction and Engineered Delivery approach Using PROTOCOLs (TIED UP). A team of STEM faculty is restructuring three engineering courses into an integrated modular concept format using a model titled Re-structuring Engineering Courses for E-Learning and Integrated Virtual Education (RECEIVE) where complex engineering concepts are presented as networked sub concepts in a webpage, creating a virtual neural space. Each of these inter connected sub concepts is further linked to several learning tools, such as short video lectures, animations, mandatory activities and quizzes whose designs are based on a number of PROTOCOLs that leverage the latest insights from established theories of neuro and cognitive science.

PROTOCOLs are systematic procedures to be followed in a concept delivery using cognitive learning principles. The goal of a PROTOCOL is to enhance students’ capacity to elicit patterns of meaning. Instructional PROTOCOLs for each concept are searching for optimum strategies that possibly create neural networks and synapses that essentially constitute the learning process. Modular breakdown of a challenging engineering concept is providing a better learning experience to students who learn at different paces. The TIED UP is systematically informing students about what to learn in a course as well as how to learn each concept using PROTOCOLs. The broader impact of this project is that it replaces traditional instructional methods with an outcome oriented student centered learning approach using engineered instructional strategies based on neuro-cognitive leaning principles.