Abstract
Previous studies have shown a positive relationship exists between engineering students’ self-directed learning abilities and online learning experience. It was also shown that exam-focused, self-selected learning modules for preparation to take a standardized English test improved awareness of students’ strengths and weaknesses, helped them make informed decisions about their own learning, and improved their test-taking skills. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of using self-directed learning modules (SDLM) to prepare students to take the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam. The SDLM includes micro review and example videos for concepts included in the NCEES Reference Handbook, live/recorded review sessions with students, and FE-style assessments for each topic covered in the FE exam where the problems are drawn randomly from a large bank of problems. The SDLM was implemented in a course to prepare students to take the fundamental engineering (FE) Exam first in person, followed by hybrid and entirely online during the Covid-19 pandemic, which allowed us to evaluate the effect of SDLM to prepare students to take the FE Exam. Evaluation methods include students' feedback in the course evaluations and surveys, history of students’ performance on practice exams as well as FE exam results in each topic area. Results indicate a high level of satisfaction with the FE exam preparation process leading to performance above the national average in most topic areas.