@article{díaz_nussbaum_2024, title={Artificial intelligence for teaching and learning in schools: The need for pedagogical intelligence}, url={https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2024.105071}, DOI={10.1016/j.compedu.2024.105071}, journal={Computers & Education}, author={Díaz, Brayan and Nussbaum, Miguel}, year={2024}, month={Aug} }
 @article{diaz_delgado_2024, title={Artificial intelligence: Tool or teammate?}, volume={10}, ISSN={["1098-2736"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21993}, DOI={10.1002/tea.21993}, abstractNote={Abstract Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies generate increasingly sophisticated non‐human cognition; however, foundational learning theories only contemplate human cognition, and current research conceptualizes AI as a pedagogical tool. We argue that the incipient abilities of AI for mutual engagement with people could allow AI to participate as a legitimate member in social constructivist learning environments and suggest some potential structures and activities to explore AI's capabilities for full participation.}, journal={JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING}, author={Diaz, Brayan and Delgado, Cesar}, year={2024}, month={Oct} }
 @article{diaz_luengo-aravena_barahona_felmer_2025, title={Assessing the impact of online collaborative problem solving on a calculus class for first-year engineering students: A communities of practice lens}, volume={114}, ISSN={["2168-9830"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20622}, DOI={10.1002/jee.20622}, abstractNote={Abstract Background We examine the efficacy of an online collaborative problem‐solving (CPS) teaching approach in academic performance and student connections with other peers, among first‐year engineering calculus students at a Latin American university. Our research uses communities of practice (CoP) to emphasize the social nature of learning and the importance of participation and interaction within a community. Methods The work applies a quasi‐experimental design and social network analysis (SNA). A total of 202 engineering students were instructed using CPS methodology (experimental group), while 380 students received traditional online teaching methods (control group) during one semester in the first calculus class for engineers. Results Results show no significant difference in the grades obtained between the experimental and control groups. However, students exposed to CPS reported a statistically significant higher passing rate, as well as larger and more significant academic and social connections. Additionally, SNA results suggest that CPS facilitated stronger peer connections and promoted a more equitable distribution of participation among students, particularly women, compared to students taught under traditional online teaching methods. Conclusions The study underscores the importance of fostering collaborative learning environments and highlights CPS as a strategy to enhance student performance and network formation. Findings suggest that CPS can improve academic outcomes and promote more equitable learning practices, potentially reducing dropout rates among women engineering students. These findings contribute to the ongoing efforts to address systematic biases and enhance learning experiences in engineering education.}, number={1}, journal={JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION}, author={Diaz, Brayan and Luengo-Aravena, Daniela and Barahona, Pia and Felmer, Patricio}, year={2025}, month={Jan} }
 @inproceedings{díaz_delgado_han_2022, title={BIM: A Bridge to Promote Industry-Academic Partnership in Construction Engineering}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.18260/1-2--40995}, DOI={10.18260/1-2--40995}, abstractNote={of Chile).My interests are focused on studying the pedagogical theories}, booktitle={2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings}, author={Díaz, Brayan and Delgado, Cesar and Han, Kevin}, year={2022}, month={Jun} }
 @inproceedings{díaz_delgado_han_lynch_2023, title={Improving graduate engineering education through Communities of Practice approach: Analysis of implementation in computer science, robotics, and construction engineering courses}, url={https://peer.asee.org/43581.}, DOI={10.18260/1-2--43581}, abstractNote={Abstract This work-in-progress paper reports the early results of implementing Communities of Practice (CoP) as a theoretical framework for designing, evaluating, and redesigning of three highly interactive graduate engineering courses. This NSF-funded research project (IGE program) aims to bridge the gap between university and professional engineering work, establish collaborative partnerships among student and professional communities, and improve multiple-team collaboration in a complex setting. These courses offer us the opportunity to study how students with different backgrounds, knowledge, skills, and programs work in highly collaborative environments, which emulate the CoP of the engineering profession. This work uses class observations, interviews with former and current students as well as the professionals they interact with, surveys, and class materials to analyze and improve these three courses. Using these multiple data resources, we present how CoPs form, how CoPs in different disciplines learn to interact and collaborate, what conditions foster equitable participation by all members of a CoP, and what are some best practices, heuristics, and guidelines for effective academic CoPs. Additionally, we advance CoP theory and methods, by describing existing CoP concepts such as Legitimate Peripheral Participation (LPP) in novel contexts, describing disconnection between communities, and developing interview protocols and social network analysis methods to interpret and evaluate CoP experiences among students and professionals. This paper highlights minority student experience on some of the barriers in their participation in engineering communities and identifies which tools and approaches can be used for effective evaluation of CoP experiences in a classroom environment. The results of this work can be adopted by instructors of other engineering courses}, booktitle={2023 American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference & Exposition}, author={Díaz, B. and Delgado, C. and Han, K. and Lynch, C.}, year={2023}, month={Jun} }
 @article{diaz_nussbaum_greiff_santana_2024, title={The role of technology in reading literacy: Is Sweden going back or moving forward by returning to paper-based reading?}, volume={213}, ISSN={["1873-782X"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2024.105014}, DOI={10.1016/j.compedu.2024.105014}, abstractNote={The announcement of a progressive decrease in digitalization and the reintroduction of paper-based reading and traditional pedagogical methods in Swedish schools has initiated a worldwide debate on the uses of technology for reading in schools. This debate led us to examine the role and effects of technology on reading skills. We initiated the present research by analyzing the integration of technology practices mediated by technology in the context of reading and then expanded into a broader discussion encompassing the pedagogical implications. By reviewing the current literature, three venues of technology usage were identified: assessment, teaching reading using technology, and general uses of technology. Through the assessment lens, there is limited support for reverting to paper-based reading assessments. Four meta-analyses indicated that reading comprehension scores tend to be slightly higher in paper-based formats than on digital devices when the same text is used, but for all students, the same difference is observed. The effectiveness of using technology to teach reading comprehension is relative to the pedagogical approach employed and the specific design of the technology. The evidence indicates that well-designed digital books outperform paper-based reading. Additionally, student-centered practices using technology are associated with higher reading performance rather than reinforcing reading practices. Policy initiatives should proactively support schools and teachers in establishing student-centered technology integration practices. Finally, the extensive data available from the PISA test were widely employed to explore the impact of ICT usage on students' overall performance, yielding contradictory results explained by differences in culture, context, and teacher training.}, journal={COMPUTERS & EDUCATION}, author={Diaz, Brayan and Nussbaum, Miguel and Greiff, Samuel and Santana, Macarena}, year={2024}, month={May} }
 @inproceedings{díaz_delgado_han_lynch, title={Use of Communities of Practice to Analyze and Improve Graduate Engineering Education.}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.18260/1-2--40996}, DOI={10.18260/1-2--40996}, abstractNote={Abstract This work-in-progress paper reports on pilot testing of instruments for an NSF-funded research project that aims to bridge the gap between professional engineering work and engineering graduate education, in accordance with a recent National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine [NASEM] policy document (2018). The project will apply, research, and develop communities of practice (CoP; Wenger, 1998) theory in three graduate classes from three different engineering departments. A community of practice is a group of people who share purposes and methods, which emerge from the needs of a context, with the negotiation of shared meaning and forms of participation. The project will investigate how CoPs form, how CoPs in different disciplines learn to interact and collaborate, and what conditions foster equitable participation by all members of a CoP. Prior research shows that highly diverse communities have optimal team performance and creativity, but only if members feel psychologically safe. Data sources contemplated include personal interviews, classroom observations, a psychological safety survey, survey on perceptions of class, and a CoP-specific instrument, the Community Assessment Toolkit (CAT). In this paper we report on our piloting of the instruments.}, booktitle={2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings}, author={Díaz, Brayan and Delgado, Cesar and Han, Kevin and Lynch, Collin} }
 @article{diaz_delgado_han_lynch_2024, title={Using communities of practice to investigate work-integrated learning in engineering education: a grounded theory approach}, volume={5}, ISSN={["1573-174X"]}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10734-024-01225-x}, DOI={10.1007/s10734-024-01225-x}, journal={HIGHER EDUCATION}, author={Diaz, Brayan and Delgado, Cesar and Han, Kevin and Lynch, Collin}, year={2024}, month={May} }
 @inbook{bernold_díaz-michell_2023, title={A Multi-dimensional Quality Assessment Instrument for Engineering Education}, ISBN={9783031254000 9783031254017}, ISSN={2731-0221 2731-023X}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25401-7_10}, DOI={10.1007/978-3-031-25401-7_10}, abstractNote={The results of teaching evaluations are very often used by universities as a basis for personnel decision making, including promotion and tenure of instructors. The evaluations are commonly based on end-of-semester students’ ratings of their teachers through the qualitative Likert-type Student Evaluations of Teaching (SETs). Unfortunately, research on the validity of the SET-type evaluations frequently produces misleading results. One serious problem is the use of survey questions that are qualitative rather than quantitative, result in evaluations that reflect the students’ personal opinion of the class, rather than the effectiveness of the teaching. The focus of this paper is to present a design for an effective student evaluation that embraces the constructivist approach to teaching. The role of the teacher becomes that of a coach who creates a collaborative work environment, presenting relevant and interesting problems for students to solve. Assessing the educational quality of such a method requires a multi-dimensional instrument that qualitatively measures the effectiveness of both teaching and learning. Our study accentuates the need for an effective, knowledgeable teacher-coach, along with skilled, motivated students, and a supportive cohesive university atmosphere.}, booktitle={3rd International Conference on Science and Technology Education 2022}, publisher={Springer International Publishing}, author={Bernold, Leonhard E. and Díaz-Michell, Brayan}, editor={da Silva, L.F.M. and Ferreira, A.J.M.Editors}, year={2023}, pages={139–151} }
 @book{díaz_delgado_bacher_lynch_han_2023, title={Analyzing the Functioning of a Graduate Class with Multiple Collaborating Groups Using Slack: A Embedded Mixed Methods Research}, DOI={10.2139/ssrn.4581723}, abstractNote={Courses with intra- and inter-group collaboration are therefore essential to prepare STEM students to participate in modern multidisciplinary professional environments. This paper analyzes one such course through a novel theoretical framework of the levels of functioning (individual, within-team, across-team, and whole-group) based on the Communities of Practice theory and Social Interaction Theory. The study examines students’ interaction in a graduate engineering course that communicated through the Slack platform. Social Network Analysis of 5,939 Slack messages exchanged through the semester on channels for individual teams, sets of teams, and the entire class was complemented with qualitative analysis of interviews, class materials, observations, and the content of Slack messages. These findings reveal distinct patterns of intra- and inter-group participation. The study highlights how groups interacted through brokers, boundary objects, and tools. Moreover, subsets of teams displayed extensive interaction concerning related tasks, exemplifying “overlap” connections. Diverse patterns of brokerage were characterized. The paper concludes with a general approach for evaluating courses with multi-group collaboration. This approach can diagnose class functioning in near real-time, especially in hybrid or online courses where communication occurs through online platforms. This methodology holds promise for promoting effective collaboration and fostering teamwork skills among students in STEM fields.}, institution={SSRN}, author={Díaz, B. and Delgado, C. and Bacher, J. and Lynch, C. and Han, H.}, year={2023} }
 @article{díaz_aizman_2023, title={Design and impact of a stoichiometry voluntary online course for entering first-year STEM college students}, volume={8}, ISSN={1109-4028 1756-1108}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/D3RP00179B}, DOI={10.1039/D3RP00179B}, abstractNote={The paper presents the design and evaluation of a voluntary online introductory stoichiometry (VOIS) course aimed at facilitating the transition from secondary to higher education. The course utilized simple analogies and adaptive feedback through a formative scaffolding assessment. The study assessed the effectiveness of the VOIS course through pre- and post-knowledge tests, analysis of students' performance in general chemistry, and course evaluation surveys conducted at a Latin American University between 2019 and 2021. A total of 3995 first-year STEM students enrolled in the course voluntarily, and 358 students successfully completed it. The results showed a statistically significant improvement in stoichiometry-related knowledge, with the pre–post test scores increasing from 4.61 to 6.55 out of 10. The matched sample analysis, which only included students with 100% participation, demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in stoichiometry and related knowledge from 5.31 to 6.61. Furthermore, an analysis comparing the performance of students who completed the VOIS course with those who didn't reveal that the former group outperformed the latter by an average of 10.6 points in the general chemistry course. This statistically significant difference exhibited a large effect size (d = 0.8). In addition, a matching technique was employed to construct a synthetic control group in order to reduce bias in the quasi-experimental design. A successful propensity score analysis was conducted, controlling for variables such as gender, grade in high school, scores in the national test, and student ranking in their high school. The results of this analysis showed a statistically significant improvement of 8.6 points in the general chemistry performance for students who completed the VOIS course compared to those who did not enroll in the course. Furthermore, the feedback from 129 respondents indicated that 80% of the students either liked the VOIS course or liked it very much, with an overall satisfaction rating of 3.1 on a four-point scale. In conclusion, the VOIS course demonstrated positive outcomes in terms of enhanced stoichiometry knowledge, academic performance, and student satisfaction. These findings highlight the potential of online courses like VOIS in facilitating the transition to higher education.}, journal={Chemistry Education Research and Practice}, publisher={Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)}, author={Díaz, Brayan and Aizman, Arie}, year={2023} }
 @inproceedings{díaz_delgado_lynch_han_2023, title={Using Social Network Analysis to Evaluate the Functioning of a Class With Multiple Collaborating Groups}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.22318/icls2023.323952}, DOI={10.22318/icls2023.323952}, abstractNote={This study uses Social Network Analysis (SNA) to evaluate the Communities of Practice (CoPs) formed around a multidisciplinary graduate course in which students work in small teams to complete a class project.Each team has an assigned subtask for the larger project.Students must collaborate within teams to produce their designated component and coordinate across teams to integrate the larger project.Coordination and communication within and across teams were done through the Slack platform.We analyzed messages sent on Slack via SNA, allowing us to evaluate the class participation, communication, and interaction.In this analysis, we identified the three types of group-group interactions described by CoP theory: overlaps, boundary practices, and peripheral connections.We also used the message dates to analyze how group-group interactions and communication changed throughout the course.Researchers can use this methodology to analyze and evaluate courses with multiple collaborating groups and instructors to monitor and improve their classes.}, booktitle={Proceedings of the 17th International Conference of the Learning Sciences - ICLS 2023}, author={Díaz, Brayan and Delgado, Cesar and Lynch, Collin and Han, Kevin}, year={2023}, month={Oct} }
 @inproceedings{díaz_delgado_lynch_han_2023, title={Using mixed methods to evaluate the functioning of an engineering class with multiple collaboration groups}, booktitle={The International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS)}, author={Díaz, B. and Delgado, C. and Lynch, C. and Han, K.}, year={2023}, month={Jun} }
 @inproceedings{díaz_delgado_2022, title={BIM: A Bridge to promote industry-academic partnership in construction engineering}, booktitle={2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition}, author={Díaz, B. and Delgado, Han K.}, year={2022}, month={Jun} }
 @inproceedings{díaz_delgado_han_lynch_2022, title={Use of Communities of Practice to analyze and improve graduate engineering education}, booktitle={2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition}, author={Díaz, B. and Delgado, C. and Han, K. and Lynch, C.}, year={2022}, month={Jun} }
 @inproceedings{bernold_liddihn_aizman_díaz_alarcón_2017, title={First results from building and guiding student teams for project-based learning in a first-semester STEM class}, ISBN={9781510849419}, booktitle={Research in Engineering Education Symposium}, publisher={Research in Engineering Education Network}, author={Bernold, L. and Liddihn, P. and Aizman, A. and Díaz, B. and Alarcón, H.}, year={2017}, month={Jul}, pages={706–714} }
 @inproceedings{aizman_bernold_díaz_alarcon_olivares_mora_2017, title={Introduction to engineering: A STEM-PBL approach}, ISBN={9781510849419}, booktitle={Research in Engineering Education Symposium}, publisher={Research in Engineering Education Network}, author={Aizman, A. and Bernold, L. and Díaz, B. and Alarcon, H. and Olivares, A. and Mora, C.}, year={2017}, month={Jul}, pages={715–722} }
 @inproceedings{díaz_bernold_gonzález_aizman_2017, title={STE (A) M: Art, design, and architecture in the formation of engineers at USM}, ISBN={9781510849419}, booktitle={Research in Engineering Education Symposium}, publisher={Research in Engineering Education}, author={Díaz, B. and Bernold, L. and González, L.F. and Aizman, A.}, year={2017}, month={Jul}, pages={826–834} }