Date of Award:

12-2025

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Engineering Education

Committee Chair(s)

Oenardi Lawanto

Committee

Oenardi Lawanto

Committee

Angela Minichiello

Committee

Wade Goodridge

Committee

Cassandra McCall

Committee

Assad Iqbal

Abstract

In education, assessments are used to evaluate student learning (e.g., tests and assignments) or in the form of formative assessment, to both assess and support learning through feedback and reflection. One of the most important aspects of formative assessment is feedback, which encourages self-reflection during the learning process to develop student confidence, engagement, and academic performance. Also, formative assessment helps students to take ownership of their learning by assessing their problem-solving strategies and then working towards a greater learning outcome. Prior research has shown that the Need for Cognitive Closure (NFCC) level, gender, and prior academic achievement level can influence students' responses to feedback in ways that ultimately change the cognitive engagement.

This research explored the influence of formative assessment on cognitive engagement of undergraduate engineering students during problem-solving activities, considering differences in their gender, Need for Cognitive Closure (NFCC), and prior academic achievement levels. However, all students respond to formative assessments differently during the problem-solving task depending on several traits (i.e., gender, NFCC, and prior academic achievement levels). Need for Cognitive Closure (NFCC) is a psychological construct that refers to an individual's desire for a firm answer to a question and an aversion toward ambiguity or uncertainty. Individuals with high NFCC are motivated to make quick decisions and prefer structured, predictable environments, while those with low NFCC are more comfortable with ambiguity, open-endedness, and prolonged information processing. Low NFCC students are more open to alternative ideas, comfortable with uncertainty, and tolerate ambiguity during the problem-solving task.

The study took place at a public land-grant university in the western United States. America. Participants were undergraduate engineering students and enrolled in an engineering mechanics statics course. All undergraduate students were surveyed for demographic data as well as the measurement of NFCC. Based on this survey data, eight student participants were chosen based on gender (females and males), NFCC level (high and low), and academic performance (high and low), and they took part in deeper qualitative analyses. The eight participants completed two problem-solving tasks individually. The first problem-solving task was without formative assessment, while the second problem-solving task incorporated formative assessment. During both problem-solving task sessions, students verbalized their thoughts. These sessions were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using the ICAP framework to identify the modes of engagement, such as Passive (listening or reading), Active (writing, following problem-solving steps without giving reasons), or Constructive (providing reasons and making connections with prior knowledge). The analysis examined the shift in students’ cognitive engagement during the first and second problem-solving tasks.

The research findings suggest that formative assessment fostered cognitive engagement for all participants; however, students with low NFCC and low prior academic achievement demonstrated higher, deeper-level cognitive engagement. These students showed surface-level cognitive engagement during the first problem-solving activity but exhibited a significant shift to deeper-level cognitive engagement after receiving formative assessment, which is a more analytical and reflective form of engagement. Although high NFCC students who prefer structure demonstrated significant change in cognitive engagement after they received feedback, the shift was mainly the reduction in passive cognitive engagement and a slight increase in constructive engagement.

Furthermore, female participants experienced greater changes in cognitive engagement after receiving formative assessment, thinking more about what they learned, and demonstrating more constructive engagement with less passive engagement. Male participants continued to display improvements as well, but it was less than female participants. This could be because female students were using formative assessment to reaffirm or modify their prior understanding, while male students may have had to reorganize their structure around the new learning techniques. Also, constructive engagement of high and low prior academic achievers was almost equally improved after receiving formative assessment during the second problem-solving task. However, lower prior academic achievers demonstrated slightly higher constructive engagement as compared to higher prior academic achievers, which indicates that the usage of timely and clear formative assessment can help students think more deeply about the content to assist with their learning.

The research findings suggest that although formative assessment supports cognitive engagement and deeper learning, cognitive engagement is dependent on students' traits, and an effective formative assessment should be structured and customized according to students’ diverse learning needs. Also, teachers should use formative assessments in daily instruction to provoke deeper, more reflective engagement. It further confirms that the use of assessment practices inclusiveness and equity, should be utilized appropriately to address diverse learners' outcomes.

Download

Available for download on Sunday, December 01, 2030

Share

COinS

Copyright for this work is retained by the student. If you have any questions regarding the inclusion of this work in the Digital Commons, please email us at .