Conference Session

Instrumentation and Laboratory Systems

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

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

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

and overestimation of the processing time of thesubmitted jobs in the system.1. IntroductionHigh performance computing offers an excellent vehicle to accelerate computational needs ofscientific and engineering applications. This platform currently can easily be configured withclusters of PCs connected through a high-speed switch on a high-speed network. Such a toolprovides exceptional opportunities to explore numerous projects for educational as well asresearch purposes. We have installed a Beowulf Cluster1 with 16 compute-nodes in ourcomputing lab, and have engaged our students with exciting projects in courses such asOperating Systems, Communication Networks, Parallel Programming, Distributed Simulation,Algorithms, Data Base Management, and

Conference Session

Computer Tools for Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Frank Kowalski, Colorado School of Mines; Susan Kowalski, Colorado School of Mines; Erich Hoover, Colorado School of Mines

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

) techniques.In order to use the InkSurvey tool, Tablet PCs must have internet connectivity and have theFirefox browser installed. There is no additional software required and there is no cost to otherinstitutions for the use of this tool.IntroductionThe past three or four decades have seen unparalleled advances in our understanding of the mindand learning.1 These new theoretical insights are now guiding significant changes in the wayteachers teach, at engineering institutions as well as elsewhere. Many contemporary efforts toenhance learning are based on the constructivist theory of knowledge, that one builds newknowledge and understanding based on previously learned concepts and facts, within the contextof social interaction and agreement.At this same

Conference Session

Mobile Robotics in Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Parten, Texas Tech University; Michael Giesselmann, Texas Tech University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

, students learn that their basic knowledge can be carried over to other devices andsystems. This paper describes a second semester sophomore laboratory project todesign and build an autonomous robot vehicle capable of navigating an outsidearea the size of a small parking lot by guidance from a GPS sensor. The roboticvehicles normally use the frame of remote controlled cars. The students aredivided into teams of 3 to 4 members. The teams compete at the end of thesemester. The winner is the vehicle and completes the parking lot drive in theshortest time.II. Project Laboratories The laboratory structure in the ECE department at Texas Tech University issomewhat different than most university laboratories.1-8 There are five, three hour

Conference Session

Special Session on Fixed-Point Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Anderson, Georgia Institute of Technology; Tyson Hall, Southern Adventist University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

AC 2007-2711: TEACHING HARDWARE DESIGN OF FIXED-POINT DIGITALSIGNAL PROCESSING SYSTEMSDavid Anderson, Georgia Institute of TechnologyTyson Hall, Southern Adventist University Page 12.1360.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2007 Session: 2711 Teaching Hardware Design of Fixed-Point Digital Signal Processing Systems David V. Anderson1 and Tyson S. Hall2 1 Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332–0250, dva@ece.gatech.edu2 Southern Adventist University, Collegedale, TN 37315–0370, tyson@southern.edu

Conference Session

Mobile Robotics in Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Ahlgren, Trinity College; Igor M Verner, Technion--Israel Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

, interviews, and project assessment. In the paperwe report the results of this experiment and, based on those results, propose recommendationsfor fostering self-efficacy in robotics education.IntroductionRecent research has emphasized the role of affect in constructivist learning and revised thetraditional tendency to explore cognitive processes of science and engineering education inisolation from affective functions. Picard et al. [1] call for "redressing the imbalance betweenaffect and cognition" and "constructing a science of affective learning". This study focuses ondeveloping learning technologies, systems, and environments that incorporate affect.DeBellis and Goldin [2] in their study of affect in problem-based mathematical learning

Conference Session

Computer Education Management Tools

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lupita Montoya, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Chris Moore, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

Assistant Professor ofEnvironmental Engineering and a Course Developer from the Distributed Education andMultimedia Department at our institution, worked closely to implement web-based tools andintegrate aspects of social responsibility into an introductory course in Air Quality. For a year,we worked together to transform notes and resources into digital format and tested a number oftools within the available course management system (WebCT) at our institution.The conversion of class notes to digital PowerPoint (PPT) format was undertaken to support adeliberate process-oriented pedagogy that required or strongly encouraged in-class note-taking (amode of cognition or content interaction)1. Students only had pre-class access topartial/incomplete

Conference Session

Web-Based Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andre Encarnacao, University of California, Los Angeles; Paul Espinosa, University of California, Los Angeles; Lawrence Au, University of California, Los Angeles; Lianna Johnson, University of California, Los Angeles; Gregory Chung, University of California-Los Angeles; William Kaiser, University of California-Los Angeles

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

. Much of the success in student learning is attributed to the interactions between theinstructor and students.1,2 It has been shown that when students are actively interacting with theinstructor, they are more engaged in learning.2 These interactions facilitate student participation,attentiveness, motivation and an overall desire to learn3. These are all reasons why interactivity issuch a critical component in student learning.1,4 In typical classrooms, however, interactions areoften one-way and lack feedback to an instructor – an instructor provides a lecture and students arerestricted to only listen. Small interactions are common but still very limited for the followingreasons: 1) limited class time is available for interaction; 2) oral

Conference Session

Programming for Engineering Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brianno Coller, Northern Illinois University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

principles of mechanical engineeringAbstractThe paper describes how a video game is used to teach numerical methods to mechanical engi-neering undergraduates. The video game provides an authentic and engaging context in which tolearn computational techniques and concepts that are often dry and uninspiring. After outlining astudy demonstrating that students in the video game-based course learn more deeply than studentsin more traditional textbook-based courses, we describe how learning outcomes are integrated intothe game-play. We contrast the game-based assignments to typical textbook problems.1 IntroductionFor the past two years, we have been experimenting with a new way of teaching a numericalmethods course to our

Conference Session

Computer Tools for Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jianyu Dong, California State University-Los Angeles; Nancy Warter-Perez, California State University-Los Angeles

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

andimplementation challenges will be discussed for future improvement.IntroductionThe ability to design a system or a component to meet practical requirements is one of theessential skills that students should acquire through engineering education 1-2. To enhance thestudents’ design skills, many engineering educators have proposed various approaches, one ofwhich is Project Based Learning (PBL) 3. PBL has been recognized as an effective way toreinforce course theory and to improve students’ hands-on skills. However, how to incorporatePBL into the curriculum remains an open question. This is particularly challenging on acommuter campus with a 10-week quarter and no teaching assistants, where students are oftennot on campus outside of class hours, there are

Conference Session

Computer Education Management Tools

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Promiti Dutta, Columbia University; Alexander Haubold, Columbia University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

. Specifically, we explore the pedagogic implications ofcreating two types of portals: (1) Course Management System (CMS) for course materials in anongoing semester and (2) Project Archival Tool (PAT) for completed project materials.We apply our proposed methods in a first-year engineering design course taught toapproximately 180 students per semester. The course is project-based and focuses on teachingstudents basic engineering design principles and professional skills. Coupled with these lecturesare additional laboratory components in which students learn to use MathWorks Matlab, acomputational tool, and Alias Wavefront Maya, a 3D design package. The final team-basedproject encompasses skills learned in class applied to a design problem proposed by

Conference Session

Embedded Computing

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Shekhar Sharad, National Instruments

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

AC 2007-1697: TECHNOLOGIES TO INTRODUCE EMBEDDED DESIGN EARLYIN ENGINEERINGShekhar Sharad, National Instruments Page 12.1376.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2007 Technologies to Introduce Embedded Design Early in Engineering Shekhar Sharad Academic Product Manager National Instruments shekhar.sharad@ni.com1. IntroductionWith decreasing cost of silicon and increasing demand on features, almost every device aroundus is becoming “embedded”[1] – from cell phones to irons, from cars to GPS units. Embeddeddevices are

Conference Session

Issues in Computer Education-HDL

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jeff Gribschaw, D/EECS, USMA; Paul Patterson, D/EECS, USMA; Bryan Goda, USMA

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

to improve student proficiencywith these CAD/E tools.Background The original objective of our current research was to develop a set of tools we couldapply to help students learn the software program Active-HDL and the programming languageVHDL. Our intent was to develop these tools within the digital logic thread of our ElectricalEngineering program, and then apply these tools to other software applications and programminglanguages within other threads of our EE program. We believed that we could developinnovative techniques to facilitate improved learning. In our Master Teacher Program, instructors learn about student learning techniques,course analysis and course design.1 One of the requirements is to complete a

Conference Session

Programming for Engineering Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Birmingham, Grove City College; David Adams, Grove City College

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

. These schools also offer a variety of gaming classes.3. Pedagogy and course sequenceThe catalog descriptions for the games courses are given in Figure 1. Each course is three credithours and runs for an entire semester. The first course, Comp 441, is to be taken in the firstsemester, junior year; the second course, Comp 446, is taken second semester, junior year; andthe final course, Comp 447, is to be taken first term, senior year. While we do not have a formalcourse, we are expecting our students to participate in a research project in the second term,senior year, concerning multiplayer gaming or mobile gaming.The courses are all in a lecture format, with some design work done in class. GCC has acomprehensive Tablet PC program, where all

Conference Session

Web-Based Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ahmed Abu-Hajar, San Francisco State University; Michael Holden, San Francisco State University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

critical to thesuccess of engineering curriculums—was developed as a new educational model. CBVCemploys computer animation and other virtual visual tools that cannot be employed in traditionalclassroom settings. In CBVC, interactive questions are integrated within lectures—a model thatreinforces the assimilation of fundamental topics. Surveys conducted on the efficacy of CBVCshow that 80% of students questioned benefit from using CBVC, and 20% believe CBVC mayreplace conventional classrooms.1. IntroductionAt present, many engineering courses mandate the use of computers1.. Computers areincreasingly playing a major role in the learning process, and the number of college students whoown a computer is on the rise. The OpenCourseWare (OCW) Program at

Conference Session

Computer Tools for Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Saroj Biswas, Temple University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

classroom,or if they have missed a lecture altogether. From the instructor’s perspective, it was a greatexperience with better than expected student acceptance and classroom interaction.1. IntroductionInstructional methods have evolved over the ages from traditional writing on blackboard to theuse of cellulose transparencies and overhead projectors to notebook computers and dataprojectors. The latest trend in instructional technology is the use of Tablet PCs and iPods in theclassroom. In recent years, Tablet PCs are making its headway into classroom instruction atevery level, from K-12 to colleges, as well as in business meetings of corporate America. Infact, Georgia Tech has recently announced that all engineering students must use a Tablet PC

Conference Session

Web-Based Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James Squire, Virginia Military Institute; Vonda Walsh, Virginia Military Institute; H. Francis Bush, Virginia Military Institute; Gerald Sullivan, Virginia Military Institute; Anthony English, University of Tennessee-Knoxville

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

shown in Figure 1, and the program and tutorial are available for download athttp://academics.vmi.edu/ee_js/Research/Fourier_Synthesis/Fourier_Synthesis.htm.The application was programmed entirely in C# and consists of a single executable file; it doesnot require an installation program to simplify use and encourage student participation in thetesting procedures. Different versions of the application were designed, each identical except forthe delay. Figure 1. The Fourier Synthesis application program. This program appears to teach how arbitrary periodic functions can be synthesized from sums of sinusoids, but actually tests how learning and enjoyment is affected by delays between user interaction with controls and screen update

Conference Session

Educational Software

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hyun Kim, Youngstown State University; Hazel Marie, Youngstown State University; Suresh Patil, Youngstown State University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

the pump capacity.The development of computational projects and research positively affect undergraduate andgraduate education in this small mechanical engineering program. The use of commercial CFDsoftware enhances students’ learning and understanding of complex flow phenomena. Theexperience obtained through this analysis will be incorporated by expanding the computer use inundergraduate design courses and graduate courses.1. IntroductionDevelopment of a productive research program through a strategic focus on technologydevelopment in emerging areas such as controls and computing has been one of the primarygoals of the mechanical engineering program at this University. In order to accomplish this goaland expedite the development, the program

Conference Session

Special Session on Fixed-Point Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cameron Wright, University of Wyoming; Thad Welch, Boise State University; Michael Morrow, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Gerald Vineyard, U.S. Naval Academy

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

internalize, but demonstrations and laboratory experiences are quite helpful. This paper describes how we teach the concept of frequency shift keying by using a highly successful combination of theory, demonstrations, lab exercises, and real-time DSP experiences that incorporate M ATLAB and the Texas Instruments C67x digital signal processing starter kit.1 IntroductionWhile many communication concepts are difficult for undergraduate students to fully understand,the use of demonstrations and laboratory experiences have been shown to greatly facilitate thelearning process.1–7 This paper describes how to teach the digital communication modulation tech-nique of frequency shift keying (FSK) using a highly successful combination of

Conference Session

Educational Software

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Harry Franz, University of Houston-Downtown; Alberto Gomez-Rivas, University of Houston-Downtown

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

classsize. The student group projects are listed below and are shown in figures that then follow.Automatic Cabling Design project assignment is shown in figure 1-A. The actual student groupwork is shown in figure 1-B. This project determines the actual cable size that will meet thegiven parameters.DC Motor System Load project assignment is shown in figure 2-A. The actual student groupwork is shown in figure 2-B. This project determines which motors are required to “run” to meetthe given load.Automatic Power Factor Correction project assignment is shown in figure 3-A. The actualstudent group work is shown in figure 3-B. This project automatically determines the capacitor

Conference Session

Embedded Computing

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sang-Hoon Lee, Polytechnic University; Anshuman Panda, Polytechnic University; Vikram Kapila, Polytechnic University; Hong Wong, Polytechnic University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

Laboratories in Dayton, OH. His research interests are in cooperative control; distributed spacecraft formation control; linear/nonlinear control with applications to robust control, saturation control, and time-delay systems; closed-loop input shaping; spacecraft attitude control; mechatronics; and DSP/PC/microcontroller-based real-time control. He received Polytechnic’s 2002 Jacob’s Excellence in Education Award and 2003 Distinguished Teacher Award. In 2004, he was selected for a three-year term as a Senior Faculty Fellow of Polytechnic University’s Othmer Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies. He has edited one book and published four chapters in edited books, 1 book review, 39 journal

Conference Session

Computer Education Management Tools

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Phil Rawles, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

configured: student groups and projects. Toconfigure student groups open the “students” table in the database file as shown in figure 1. Figure 1 – Students TableIn the students table you provide the following information for each student: - SID – This is the authentication mechanism the student must enter to log into the system. In a larger system students would log in via pre-existing accounts, but in this small implementation their student ID number will suffice. - GroupNumber – The number of the student’s group - FirstName – The student’s first name - LastName – The student’s last name - GradeID – This is the key for the table and will automatically be entered when you add

Conference Session

Computer Education Management Tools

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard House, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Anneliese Watt, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Julia Williams, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

incorporating communication into technical coursesmay be mitigated by the use of peer review; by setting students up in peer review sessions, they canread and comment on the work of others as a means to improving their own communication skills.Many of us who have employed peer review have seen the benefits firsthand.1-5 The process of readingand reviewing the written documents of other students—submitting their own documents to beassessed by other students, reviewing documents that try to fulfill the same assignment they havewritten—has a measurable impact on the student’s own writing. Studies of peer reviewing strategiesconfirm what many of us have seen in our own classrooms. The process for peer review, with fewexceptions, remains the same. Students

Conference Session

Programming for Engineering Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christian Hipp, University of South Carolina; Veronica Addison, University of South Carolina

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

engineering curriculum both challenges and reinforces students’ priorassumptions.The surveys attempted to measure students’ previous experiences with computers and theirassumptions about how to use them, what students thought computers did well, and when,whether, and why they trusted the results provided by computers. The first two tables displayresults about their computer experience for STEM applications and more generally. The finaltables of questions sought to determine the assumptions students have about the ways computersare used and the kind of problems they can solve and to establish the extent to which studentsplace unreasonable trust in computer-generated solutions. TABLE 1. HOURS/WEEK OF COMPUTER USE1. On average

Conference Session

Mobile Robotics in Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eric Wang, University of Nevada-Reno; Jeffrey LaCombe, University of Nevada-Reno; Ann-Marie Vollstedt, University of Nevada-Reno

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

duringthe spring 2006 semester in order to assess student learning. The new hardware will beintroduced for the first time in the spring 2007 semester. The concept inventories included bothROBOLAB (graphical) and pseudo-code (text-based) questions. The pseudo-code componentwas deemed important in order to quantify the student’s ability to transfer knowledge betweendomains. The key concepts included in the inventory were: goto’s, conditionals, loops, nestedstructures, variables, functions/arguments, and subroutines/subprograms.1. BackgroundThere is a vast history of using LEGO® bricks in education. Projects that use the RCXprogrammable brick have included a wide variety of projects and courses ranging from robotcompetitions1-3 to laboratory

Conference Session

Instrumentation and Laboratory Systems

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Murat Tanyel, Geneva College

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

transforms in the Fall ’06 offering ofELE 402. Section 2 will provide a background for Walsh Transforms and section 3 will describe Page 12.382.2the new routines added to the toolkit. Section 4 will present our explorations in the Walshdomain using these new tools. We will then conclude with a discussion.II. Background on Walsh TransformsFrequency domain analysis of linear channels is the fundamental tool of communicationsengineering. Frequency domain analysis provides many advantages over time domain analysis,several of which are as follows7: 1) convolution becomes multiplication, 2) complicated signals are reduced to a simple

Conference Session

Computer Tools for Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Frank Kowalski, Colorado School of Mines; Julia Williams, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Rob Reed, Hewlett-Packard Corporation; Jim Vanides, Hewlett-Packard

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

evidenced by comparison ofpre- and post-test scores, have been documented in classes at Colorado School of Mines.1 Page 12.1503.2This tool is also designed to allow for differentiated learning, since the instructor can activatemore than one question at a time and each student can choose the question(s) to which they willrespond. Since it is web based, “just in time” (JiTT) polling is easily implemented.InkSurvey is available for free to the higher education community(http://ticc.mines.edu/hp/survey/) and its use will be demonstrated during this presentation.Rose-Hulman Institute of TechnologyPen-based technologies like tablet PCs afford engineering

Conference Session

Computed Simulation and Animation

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andreas Spanias, Arizona State University; Karthikeyan Ramamurthy, Arizona State University; Jayaraman Jayaraman, Arizona State University; Mahesh Banavar, Arizona State University; CHIH-WEI HUANG, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

LabVIEW function,Mathscript node, can be used as well to form and execute a program in block diagram mode. Assuch most or all J-DSP simulations can be translated to Mathscript code, modularly developedfor block execution. Figure 1 illustrates the generation of Mathscript code for a certain J-DSP Page 12.1554.3simulation. The generated code can be obtained by selecting “Export script” feature under thefile menu. The code is then copied and saved as a file and can be subsequently loaded byLabVIEW. Running J-DSP as a signed applet can also eliminate the cut-and-paste process andmake this code export seamless. The details of the interface are

Conference Session

Educational Software

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Smith, U. of St. Thomas - St. Paul

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

computerorganization course, QMCS 300. Several variants exist, each with a different set of instructions,internal registers, and processor cycles or cycles.The “Literacy Version” of the Spreadsheet CPU Figure 1 shows the version of the Spreadsheet CPU used by computer literacy students. Theleftmost column on the spreadsheet, column A, provides the RAM used by the Spreadsheet CPU.Each cell from A1 to A99 represents a single location in RAM. Instructions or data may reside inRAM cells. Each cell has a unique address that is the same as its row number. Since there is no Page 12.117.4row 0 in a spreadsheet, there is no location 0, either. Figure 1

Conference Session

Embedded Computing

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

J.W. Bruce, Mississippi State University; Lee Hathcock, Mississippi State Univ.

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

instructed to describe the product, its market, its high-level operation, and anyother nontechnical aspects. Page 12.596.4Figure 1: Dissection journal: Product IntroductionProduct market and retail informationStudents must determine the product's history, the manufacturer's suggest retail price (MSRP),discounted street price, retail outlets, and if other rebranded or OEM version are available forsale. Page 12.596.5Figure 2: Dissection Journal: Product Market AnalysisDissection Photo JournalStarting with a photo of the product in unopened, retail

Conference Session

Embedded Computing

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Keith Curtis, Microchip Technology Inc.

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

methodology that will allow new engineers tocreate complex, solid code quickly.How can junior engineers quickly develop complex, solid code? Let us start by definingthe specific goals: 1. The methodology must produce code that is capable of multitasking. Today’s electronics do not perform just one task, so engineers must be able to produce code that can accomplish more than one thing at a time. Additionally, being able to replace hardware with software is always a prime consideration in cutting production costs In order to do this, the code must be able to multitask and execute the soft peripherals with other main software functions. 2. The methodology must produce code that is capable of real-time control. The