Human-Technology Frontier: Measuring Student Performance-Related Responses to Authentic Engineering Education Activities via Physiological Sensing

Multi-modal approaches have increasingly shown promise in exploring the human side of engineering via the assessment of authentic responses to learning or working environments. This study explores the utility of non-invasive physiological wrist sensors in measuring the reactive and regulatory responses of a group of 161 engineering students taking an authentic engineering practice exam. The practice exam was categorized into Conceptual problems (e.g., rote memorization) and Analytical problems (e.g., requiring application of learned concepts through equations and free-body diagrams). Responses were measured through electrodermal activity and indicators of performance. Findings identified that the type of practice exam problem, even if designed to be within the moderate range of difficulty, influenced how students reacted to and regulated their performance to the problem (as seen by stronger positive correlations in the Analytical problems) and that these may occur via multi-componential processes.