Factors Influencing Conceptual Understanding in a Signals and Systems Course

Abstract

Previous studies show that many engineering undergraduates lack conceptual understanding of signals and systems. Although there is evidence that teaching style impacts conceptual understanding, there are few studies that investigate other reasons that some students understand the concepts while others do not. This paper tests how well a subset of factors from the Model of Educational Productivity (student ability and motivation, instructional quality and quantity, and home, peer, and classroom environment) explain the variance in signals and systems conceptual understanding at the end of an introductory undergraduate course. We present results from a linear regression model on data collected from surveys and concept inventories (n = 124) that show the hypothesized factors explained 28% of variance in post-test conceptual understanding. Further, two of the factors were significantly predictive of conceptual understanding: ability (p < 0.01) and motivation (p < 0.10).