Conference Session

New ET Curriculum and Teaching Methods

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Blake, Austin Peay State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

would place thedepartment in temporary locations. The post had recently built a new education center, and thesecond phase of the center was under construction. When the phase two building wascompleted, the Engineering Technology department would move again from the temporarylocations into large new lab spaces in that building. While planning was underway for the firstmove to temporary locations, the department was also working with the architect for the phasetwo project to have the new labs tailored to our needs.The department moved from the main campus in June of 1998. With the initial move, thedepartment entered a transition period, with a gradual shift from offering sixteen week courses toattract students from the main campus to offering all

Conference Session

Information Technology in Nuclear and Radiological Engineering Education

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Altaf Memon, Excelsior College; Li-Fang Shih, Excelsior College; Byron Thinger, Diablo Canyon Power Plant

Tagged Divisions

Nuclear and Radiological

11.447.4 • About the instructor (instructor name, contact info, and office hour) • Course Overview • Course objectives/outcomes • Relationship between Course Objectives and Program Objectives • Required and recommended Course Materials • Library and Reserve readings • Academic Integrity Policy • Course Requirement (Exams, projects, discussions, quizzes, etc) • Course Outline with due date schedule • Grading Policy (weights and Excelsior grading scale)Generally, in the B& T’s online courses, the course content is divided by weekly modules inwhich the students’ access is limited to the previous taught content modules and the currentmodule. In this way, the students can re-visit the previous taught content

Conference Session

Back to Basics in Mechanics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thomas Malmgren, University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

at Johnstown, students areencouraged to use this approach on some of their analysis work on their designs projects. Thiscourse is taken after the students have completed Engineering Statics and while they are takingDynamics and Mechanics of Materials. Typically, their design projects (with students workingin groups of three) involve designing a machine to perform a particular task. Through thesynthesis stage of developing the machine’s layout and configuration, followed by force analysisand kinematic analysis, students often just try to get “something that works.” During advisingsessions, they are encouraged to look at a graphical analysis approach to check their results.Many times this can be an epiphany to the students when they visually

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ken Vickers, University of Arkansas; Ron Foster, University of Arkansas; Greg Salamo, University of Arkansas

curricula by major professor and cohort group manager • Formal planning of research with Microsoft Project, including monthly reporting • Peer mentoring on research planning in student-led weekly group meetings • Research progress summary reports by semester • Resume and curriculum plan updates by semester • Summer short courses on narrow topics using industrial style scheduling • Research presentations on current hot issues using industrial format reporting • Solicitation-style candidacy exam process, with open written source access • Creativity and team building through industrial-style one to two day seminars • Formal summer classes in Ethics, and Proposal Writing and Management • Formal fall/spring

Conference Session

Physical Models and Other Interactive Tools

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gregory Miller, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

make it suitable for both basicand advanced applications. In instructional contexts, in particular, live modeling provides anexcellent framework around which one can design educational activities that encourageexperimentation and exploration, and that can accommodate various learning styles.The work described in this paper is part of an ongoing project, and to date the focus has been ondeveloping the necessary technology and ensuring that the student learning aspect of theapproach is adequate to move on to considering the faculty side of the equation. This paper givesan overview of the computational environment in its current state of development and describesan initial evaluation based on a pilot learning activity. The scope of this pilot

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Curriculum Innovation

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Idir Azouz, Midwestern State University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

must include a blend of courses from at least three traditional engineering disciplines. This was done to ensure that the program is truly an integrated engineering program. The three fields from which courses were selected include Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. These fields were selected based on the survey results received from industry; 2. it must include a strong design component which provides students with exposure to contemporary engineering practices in multidisciplinary fields. In fact, it is in the design sequence that the “integrated engineering” aspects of the program is achieved by giving students the opportunity to work on projects requiring the

Conference Session

Issues in Computer Education

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hasasn Rajaei, Bowling Green State University; Mohammad Dadfar, Bowling Green State University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

scheduling algorithms using multiple-queue4, look-ahead8, 9, and basic aggressive strategy. Our cluster computing lab provides an Page 11.339.2excellent environment for student projects in several of our courses including Operating Proceedings of the 2006 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright À 2006, American Society for Engineering EducationSystems, Data Communication, and Distributed Programming. This paper reports the results ofsecond phase on job scheduling studies in multiprocessor environment.Schedulers employing backfilling algorithms in Distributed-Memory

Conference Session

Interdisciplinary Education in ET

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Blake, Austin Peay State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

college level and by the university’s Academic Council. After beingapproved at all levels, the course was added to the catalog. As with other required courses at thejunior and senior levels, this course was to be offered once a year. The course has now beenoffered in four regular class sections with asynchronous video sections offered in parallel. Also,a few students have completed the course via independent study using videotapes from earlierregular course offerings.Experience With the Course Page 11.764.6The course is taught in a computer lab with projection equipment. In all parts of the course,students are expected to work along with the

Conference Session

Innovative Teaching Methods in IE Education

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Durward Sobek, Montana State University; Susan Freeman, Northeastern University

Tagged Divisions

Industrial Engineering

complete weekly homework assignments, but do not complete a project or take exams.The course does not require a textbook.The two courses cover many of the same topics, but do not completely overlap; although the NUcourse goes into greater depth being a four-credit offering versus one-credit. Table 1summarizes and compares the topical coverage of the courses.Examples of Hands-On ActivitiesTo portray the active learning elements of the courses with greater vibrancy, we describe a fewof the hands-on activities developed and used. Page 11.252.3 Topic Montana State University Northeastern

Conference Session

New Trends in Engineering Graduate Education

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ernest McDuffie; Elaine R. Milliam; Robert Kavetsky; Ronald Bennett; Eugene Brown

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

on a leadership role in their respective communities.The paper will conclude with a discussion of the results of anevaluation of the program which was used to gather both studentand teacher/mentor input at the symposium, a listing of lessonslearned, and plans for the future development and extension of theprogram. Page 11.959.1IntroductionNavy’s civilian science and technology (S&T) workforce numbersome 22,000 strong. Of those some 4,000 charge 50% or more oftheir time to actual S&T projects and are considered to be the corepractitioners of S&T for the Navy. Almost half of those 4,000 holdPh.D.s1 with about half working at the Naval Research Laboratory(NRL) and

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mehmet Ozturk, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

practice using the function generator and theoscilloscope.Simple Diode CircuitsThe objective of this applet shown in Figure 4 is to teach analysis of simple circuits with AC/DCvoltage sources and diodes. By selecting different diode circuits from a pull-down menu, theuser can observe the voltage waveform across a resistor or a diode. The user can change theresistor values, the DC voltage source in the circuit and the turn-on voltage of the diode.One of the key objectives of this applet is to teach the half-wave rectifier. Students also studythe characteristics of this circuit in the hardware laboratory and use this knowledge in themandatory hardware project involving construction of a variable power supply featuring a full-wave rectifier circuit

Conference Session

1st Year Retention Programs for Women Students

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joseph Urban, Arizona State University; Mary Anderson-Rowland, Arizona State University; Faye Navabi, Arizona State University; Debra Banks, Consultant

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

DEBRA L. BANKS, COOL Evaluator and former Director of Evaluation and Assessment for CRESMET (ASU), is now the Director of Outreach and Operations for Innovative Tailor Made Training and Technology (ITTT) in Berkeley, CA. She has been evaluating major school reform and technical programs for 14 years. She has served as a co-PI for several grants including COOL and the METS Project. Page 11.603.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2006 EVALUATING SELF-ASSESSMENT AND A PLACEMENT EXAMINATION FOR A FIRST COURSE IN COMPUTER SCIENCE: HOW DO WOMEN AND

Conference Session

Teaching with Technology in Dynamics and Mechanics of Materials

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rungun Nathan, Villanova University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

was discussed by the whole class. Following the discussion, each studentwas asked to work individually and proceed with the solution to the problem. During thistime, the instructor walked around assessing students’ work and looking for holes in thecomprehension of the concept. Finally the problem was solved in full and was posted onthe web for access outside of class. With the availability of a tablet-pc towards the end offall 2003 – a transition from overhead cameras to tablet was made. The transitionbrought a change in quality of image projection and an overwhelming positive responsefrom the students. The following fall – only tablet-pc was used for all classroominstructions – replacing overhead transparencies and document camera. The

Conference Session

Opportunities for Entrepreneurship Programs

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Evans, University of Texas-Austin; Jennifer Parks, University of Texas-Austin; Steven Nichols, University of Texas-Austin

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

, general entrepreneurshipmarketing and IP. A one-page project summary is submitted mid-semester for what is theessentially the first round of the competition. These summaries are judged by a panel ofprevious competitors and faculty and about 15 teams are chosen to compete in the presentationrounds near the end of the semester. A committee of TES students and the coordinator connectthe 15 teams with faculty or business mentors and work to prepare a 5-page project summarywhich is submitted before the initial dry-run presentations. The dry-runs which are given to apanel of faculty and previous competitors have been shown to have a dramatic impact on thequality of competitions. They are an invaluable educational tool. The teams then compete insemi

Conference Session

Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics Instruction

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephen McClain, University of Alabama-Birmingham

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

function set created provides the minimum number of thermodynamicfunctions required to teach a two-course sequence in undergraduate engineeringthermodynamics. Page 11.65.2Each computational analysis package has strengths and weaknesses when compared to theothers. EES also has the thermodynamic functions discussed here (and functions for many otherfluids). While EES is not a traditional structured programming language, the appearance of EESprograms is similar to the appearance of C or FORTRAN programs, and some users find the unitconversion procedures awkward in EES. MathCAD was chosen for this project because of itsmathematical report appearance

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Benjamin Flores, University of Texas-El Paso; Ann Darnell, University of Texas-El Paso

, a three-phase project. These ideas were based on the literature citing theneed for intensive academic planning through intrusive advising, freshman orientation, academicreviews for low-performing students, special programs that provide academic support includingtutoring, group study, and a study center, a sense of belonging on campus, small classes,exposure to faculty during the first years, supplemental (developmental) educational instruction,meaningful undergraduate research, a freshman seminar course, and support of new teachingmethodologies for faculty.9,10 Cultural changes at the University were led by the UniversityPresident centering on UTEP’s vision and mission of providing quality higher education to adiverse student population

Conference Session

Physical Models and Other Interactive Tools

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ronald Welch, U.S. Military Academy; James Ledlie Klosky

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

confronting engineering topics for the first time; in a sense, they say “Don’tTELL me, SHOW me!”I. IntroductionPhysical models are a great way to both educate and motivate the student and can greatlyimprove student learning. Sound innovative? Sounds new? Not really; these types of techniqueswere in use at the United States Military Academy and nearly every other engineering institutionat the beginning of the 20th century (Figure 1). Hands-on models were once the cornerstone ofevery class in mechanics, but today many classrooms are equipped with only a textbook,chalkboard (if lucky), and a computer projection system. Is this enough? Not hardly! How canfaculty in today’s classrooms foster an atmosphere that is more conducive to student-centeredlearning

Conference Session

Assessing Perceptions of Engineers and Engineering

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sharon Kurpius-Robinson, Arizona State University; Dale Baker, Arizona State University; Stephen Krause, Arizona State University; Chell Roberts, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

polymers and semiconductors. He has co-developed a Materials Concept Inventory for assessing fundamental knowledge of students in introductory materials engineering classes. Most recently, he has been working on Project Pathways, an NSF supported Math Science Partnership, in developing modules for a courses on Connecting Mathematics with Physics and Chemistry and also a course on Engineering Capstone DesignChell Roberts, Arizona State University Chell A. Roberts is an associate professor of industrial engineering. He received his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Virginia Tech in 1991. He has a MS in Industrial Engineering and a BA in Mathematics from the University

Conference Session

Assessment & TC2K Methods

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nirmal Das, Georgia Southern University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

curriculum, and increases incrementally in difficulty. Students write several reports in each of the following courses: TENS 2143 Strength of Materials, TENS 2144 Fluid Mechanics, TCET 3244 Construction Materials, TCET 4243 Highway Design,and TCET 4244 Soil Mechanics and Foundations. Page 11.248.6 Student reports are graded as if they were being prepared by a professional. Students receive detailed feedback, and will meet one-on-one with the instructor to discuss improvements in writing style. Finally, a presentation on a group term project is a major element of TCET 4243. Faculty members establish format and standards for

Conference Session

Factors Affecting Student Performance

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daria Kotys-Schwartz, University of Colorado-Boulder; Lawrence Carlson, University of Colorado-Boulder; Derek Reamon, University of Colorado

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

well as professor of mechanical engineering. He received his M.S. and D.Eng. degrees from the University of California at Berkeley. His primary educational passion is real-world design, and he spent his last sabbatical leave at IDEO in Palo Alto, CA, sharpening some rusty design tools.Derek Reamon, University of Colorado DEREK REAMON is a senior instructor of mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he has taught Circuits and Electronics, Mechatronics, Component Design and the interdisciplinary First-Year Engineering Projects. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. His foremost research interests include assessment

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Theodor Richardson, University of South Carolina; Dayle Lytle, Richland County School District One; Jed Lyons, University of South Carolina; Mitch Wyatt, Richland County School District One

an analysis of the online academy under Page 11.208.2consideration, a discussion of the advised best practices resulting from the study will be includedat each step.The case study on which this paper will focus is the Richland One Virtual Education Resources(Rover) Academy. This is the project of Richland County School District One in Columbia,South Carolina. Rover Academy is being developed to provide students with an increased accessto educational materials and courses not generally offered within their schools. As it currentlyexists, Rover Academy is an intranet environment inaccessible from outside of the school district.This is to pilot

Conference Session

Electromechanical & Manufacturing ET Curriculum

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dale Litwhiler, Pennsylvania State University-Berks

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

differential pressure transducer. The timing, powermanagement, control, measurement and data storage for the entire payload is handled by anembedded PIC™ microcontroller. A rocket launch date is set near the end of the semester with awell-publicized formal countdown commenced well in advance of the launch to help promoteinterest and build excitement for the event. The students are active participants in the launch andrecovery operations. The raw data collected during the flight is uploaded from the payloadmemory for interpretation and analysis by the students. A flight performance report based on thedata is submitted by each student. This paper presents and discusses the details of the rocketsystem, the role of the project in the course and feedback

Conference Session

Student Learning and Teamwork

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jerome Tapper, Northeastern University; Francis Di Bella, Northeastern University; Walter Buchanan, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

seen that evening students are much more grounded in their assessment of theirfuture growth requirements and potential.A good comparison of the day and evening student population is given by the Industrial ControlSystems course sequence as given in the electrical engineering technology program atNortheastern University. Over 200 students have completed this sequence since its inception alittle over 5 years ago. During that time, both day and evening students have participated in thatcourse of study. From an observation of both segments, it can unequivocally be said that the part-time evening students have performed in a far more professional and mature manner. In fact,given the same project material, evening students complete their assignments

Conference Session

New Horizons in Academic Integrity

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Trevor Harding, Kettering University; Cynthia Finelli, University of Michigan; Donald Carpenter, Lawrence Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

variables found in both the academic andprofessional settings that influence particular individuals’ decisions to engage in unethicalbehavior.To understand what motivates a student’s decision to engage in unethical behavior in college andthe connection between this behavior and future unethical behavior in professional practice, theauthors undertook the Work Experience Study (WES) as part of a larger research project. TheWES was designed as an exploratory study to provide insight into students’ decision makingprocesses in instances where they had previously been tempted to engage in unethical behaviorsin college and workplace settings. In short, WES is meant to investigate the usefulness ofseveral important variables involved in students’ ethical

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Evans; Jerry Gabriel, Cornell University

, orwhatever is identified as representing skill tends to vary enormously. As a result, any across-the-curriculum (even classroom to classroom) approach to assessing student learning becomesextremely difficult to fashion simply because we do not agree about what to count specifically,or more generally, what counts as evidence of learning. Furthermore, since the range of teachingand learning situations within which communication is taught and learned – traditionalclassrooms to student team competitions to service-learning projects – are radically different andgrowing increasingly so, that difficulty is certainly amplified. Then, add to this our hope andexpectation that students will learn to communicate across cultural boundaries, to be cognizant ofthe

Conference Session

Design in the BME Curriculum and ABET Assessment

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kay C Dee, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Biomedical

modify existing course assignments, projects, etc. as the basisfor our review whenever possible.We next identified courses which most clearly required students to demonstrate achievement ofour Program Outcomes. Faculty teaching these courses volunteered to save paper or electroniccopies of all the student work submitted (i.e., work from all students in the class) for something(an assignment, a test question, a project, a report) that the instructor believed – if completedcorrectly – would demonstrate achievement of a designated, relevant Program Outcome.Prior to beginning to write our criteria and rubrics, we decided to keep the rubrics as simple aspossible. At this initial stage we were primarily interested in whether a given sample of student

Conference Session

Biology in Engineering

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kurt Rosentrater, USDA-ARS; Kasiviswanathan Muthukumarappan

Tagged Divisions

Biological & Agricultural

Australia Project. Available online: http://data.brs.gov.au/mapserv/biomass/factsheets/Atlas_006.pdf.5. Abbas, C. A. and M. Cheryan. 2002. Emerging biorefinery opportunities. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology 98-100: 1147.6. Audsley, E. and J. E. Annetts. 2003. Modeling the value of a rural biorefinery – part I: the model description. Agricultural Systems 76: 39-59. Page 11.278.137. Annetts, J. E. and E. Audsley. 2003. Modeling the value of a rural biorefinery – part II: analysis and implications. Agricultural Systems 76: 61-76.8. Gravitis, J., J. Zandersons, N. Vedernikov, I. Kruma, and V. Ozols-Kalnins

Conference Session

Use of Technology to Improve Teaching and Learning

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Alley, Virginia Tech; Madeline Schreiber, Virginia Tech; Katrina Ramsdell, Virginia Tech; John Muffo, Virginia Tech; Maura Borrego, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

questions, and a few slides did not have any headlines). The remaining twosections viewed the same information from slides that used succinct sentence headlines.In the slide transformations, other changes occurred such as typographical changes andconversions of bullet lists to more visual evidence. However, for the fifteen slidetransformations considered in this study, the principal change was the conversion of atraditional headline to a succinct sentence headline. After each class period, all four sections of students had access to copies of theslides that the instructor had projected. Then after the five class periods, the students wereasked to recall a set of assertions from those slides. For those in the two sections taughtfrom the

Conference Session

Computer ET Curriculum

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

C. Richard Helps, Brigham Young University; Craig Malquist, Brigham Young University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

that of “Smart Dust”. The SmartDust Project was run by Pister, Kahn and others at Berkeley and had a goal of creating acomputerized ‘mote’ about 1 mm3 with independent power supply and the capability to collectdata and communicate it to other motes13, 15. Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)techniques are used to incorporate sensors and computational capability on the same chip. TheSmart Dust Project produced a number of interesting concepts and derivative projects but did notof itself become a standard. The terminology ‘smart dust’ is now sometimes used in a genericsense to refer to very small computerized motes.Many applications are being proposed to use mesh networking and sensor mesh networks.Firefighting applications have already been

Conference Session

Best Zone Paper Competition

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nathan Klingbeil, Wright State University; Richard Mercer, Wright State University; Kuldip Rattan, Wright State University; Michael Raymer, Wright State University; David Reynolds, Wright State University

Tagged Divisions

Council of Sections

2006-1631: REDEFINING ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS EDUCATION ATWRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITYNathan Klingbeil, Wright State University NATHAN W. KLINGBEIL is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering at Wright State University, and holds the title of Robert J. Kegerreis Distinguished Professor of Teaching. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1998. Professor Klingbeil leads NSF supported research projects in the areas of manufacturing science and engineering curriculum reform. He is the recipient of numerous awards for his work in engineering education, including the CASE Ohio Professor of the Year Award (2005), the