Conference Session

Teaching Mechanical Systems: What's New

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Raghu Echempati, Kettering University; Richard Dippery, Kettering University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

AC 2010-1006: TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT EXPERIENCES OF ANUNDERGRADUATE MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DESIGN COURSERaghu Echempati, Kettering UniversityRichard Dippery, Kettering University Page 15.1166.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT EXPERIENCES OF AN UNDERGRADUATE MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DESIGN COURSEAbstractTeaching and learning a fundamental core course such as Mechanical Engineering Design (orMachine Design) continues to be fun but a challenging task for many instructors, as well as forstudents. It certainly helps if an instructor has both hands on and/or professional consultingexperience to share their rich and real-life knowledge to keep

Conference Session

Trends in Mechanical Engineering II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Benson, Kettering University; Ada Cheng, Kettering University; Odesma Dalrymple, ASU Polytechnic

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

wherelearning breaks down or where gaps exist in student prerequisite knowledge. It is believed thatexamining modes of failure (or types of errors) will both inform faculty on the baselinecapability of their student clients and guide the creation of remedies specific to these differenttypes of failures.Background and Relationship to Prior EffortsAs a tool for evaluating student learning within a given curriculum, the mode of failure analysisand the content/skill trajectories proposed are invariably compared to other existing programsand criteria: most notably ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) andSUCCEED (Southeastern University and College Coalition for Engineering Education).Within the SUCCEED structure two methods of

Conference Session

Sustainability, Service Learning, and Entreprenuership

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steven Northrup, Western New England College

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

, manyengineering programs have incorporated international service projects4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11.. In his Ph.D.dissertation regarding humanitarian aspects engineering in the engineering curriculum, Page 15.896.2Vandersteen provides and eloquent history of the evolution of engineering education discussinghow the profession has evolved to see the interconnection between technology and humanity.He further states that the “2000s (have seen an) increased interest in social, environmentalimpact of engineering”12. In fact, six years after the advent of ABET‟s EC-2000, thefundamental change in engineering accreditation, the International Journal for Service

Conference Session

Innovations in Civil Engineering Education III

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ronald Welch, University of Texas, Tyler

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

AC 2010-1392: HOW JUST IN TIME LEARNING SHOULD BECOME THE NORM!Ronald Welch, University of Texas, Tyler Ronald W. Welch is Professor and Chair for the Department of Civil Engineering at The University of Texas at Tyler in Tyler, Texas. Until Jan 2007, Dr. Welch was at the United States Military Academy (USMA) where he held numerous leadership positions within the Civil Engineering Program and the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Virginia. Ron Welch received a B.S. degree in Engineering Mechanics from USMA in 1982 and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana IL in 1990 and 1999

Conference Session

Understanding and Measuring the Impact of Multidisciplinarity

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eli Patten, University of California at Berkeley; Sara Atwood, University of California, Berkeley; Lisa Pruitt, University of California, Berkeley

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

Page 15.1305.6 k) Recognize contemporary and historic bioengineering issues and technological advances, and their impact in a global, economic, environmental, and societal contextResultsOverall, we think the groups performed very well. Their final projects were creative and of highquality. On average, the class was highly visual, mostly active, and slightly sensing andsequential, (Figure 1). This is comparable to what has been found in other studies,8,11-15 althoughthe students in this study were slightly more active and slightly less sensing. The bioengineeringstudents and mechanical engineering students displayed similar learning styles. Fraction of

Conference Session

Thermodynamics, Fluids, and Heat Transfer II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Maixner, United States Air Force Academy; William Parker, Air Force Research Laboratories

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

AC 2010-48: DESIGN OF A MULTI-MODE FINITE-DIFFERENCE HEATTRANSFER PROJECTMichael Maixner, United States Air Force AcademyWilliam Parker, Air Force Research Laboratories Page 15.358.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 Design of a Multi-Mode Finite-Difference Heat Transfer ProjectAbstract: The development of a comprehensive inite-difference project at the end of a heattransfer curriculum is described. The problem requires evaluation of the school’s football ieldturf heating system, incorporates all of the major heat transfer modes (convection, conduction,and radiation), and requires students to investigate both steady state and transient versions ofthe problem

Conference Session

Student Learning and Assessment

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nicholas Harlow, Western Kentucky University; Robert Choate, Western Kentucky University; H. Joel Lenoir, Western Kentucky University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

, designing telecommunication, data communication and information technology equipment.H. Joel Lenoir, Western Kentucky University Joel Lenoir is the Layne Professor of Mechanical Engineering at WKU, and primarily teaches in the dynamic systems and instrumentation areas of the curriculum. His industrial experience includes positions at Michelin Research and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as well as extensive professional practice in regional design and manufacturing firms. Page 15.570.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 Extracurricular Project Enhances Student Learning

Conference Session

IE and the Classroom

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lizabeth Schlemer, California Polytechnic State University; Daniel Waldorf, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Industrial Engineering

the test itself. The Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department at CaliforniaPolytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo has used a content exam for several years. Thispaper will discuss test development, administration, and the role it plays in the assessmentprocess. In addition, the test is evaluated using the standard psychometric techniques ofreliability and validity. The results of the evaluation are used to refine the test. The importance ofthe evaluation of these types of instruments cannot be overstated as they often are used to guidecurricular or other program improvements efforts.INTRODUCTIONThe Accrediting Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) 1 encourages programs to usedirect measures of performance when

Conference Session

Frontiers in Engineering Economy

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ted Eschenbach, TGE Consulting

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy

Analysis 3rd, Prentice Hall, 2005.4. Cooley, Philip L., and J. Louis Heck, "Establishing Benchmarks for Teaching the Undergraduate Introductory Course in Financial Management," Journal of Financial Education, Vol. 22, Fall 1996, pp. 1–10.5. Eschenbach, Ted G., and Neal A. Lewis, “Calculators vs. Factor Tables and Reducing the Financial Arithmetic,” Proceedings of the 2010 IERC National Conference, Cancun, June 2010, CD (submitted).6. Eschenbach, Ted G., Engineering Economy: Applying Theory to Practice 3rd, Oxford University Press, 2011 (in press).7. Gibbons, Michael T., “Engineering by the Numbers,” American Society for Engineering Education, from Profiles of Engineering and Engineering Technology Colleges, 2009.8

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Capstone

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James Palmer, Louisiana Tech University; Hisham Hegab, Louisiana Tech University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

Research Experience For Undergraduates Program In Nano-Technology, Proceedings of the American Society of Engineering Education 2006.6. D. Cordon, B. Williams, S. Beyerlein, D. Elger, Distinguishing Among Processes of Problem Solving, Design, and Research to Improve Project Performance, Proceedings of the American Society of Engineering Education 2007.7. B. Otis, L. Whang, Effect of Library Instruction on Undergraduate Electrical Engineering Design Projects, Proceedings of the American Society of Engineering Education 2007.8. C. Co, B. Turner, and A. Cheville, A Pre-Capstone Course Designed to Improve Student Performance on Open- Ended Design Projects, Proceedings of the American Society of Engineering Education

Conference Session

Outstanding Contributions - Mechanical Engineering Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Willis, Southern Methodist University; Paul Krueger, Southern Methodist University; Alice Kendrick, Southern Methodist University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

texturing, and laser-induced forward transfer. He has received the ASME North Texas Young Engineer of the Year Award, the SMU Rotunda Outstanding Professor Award, and the SMU Golden Mustang Award. He is currently an Altshular Distinguished Teaching Professor at SMU.Paul Krueger, Southern Methodist University Paul Krueger received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1997 from the University of California at Berkeley. He received his M.S. in Aeronautics in 1998 and his Ph.D. in Aeronautics in 2001, both from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). In 2002 he joined the Mechanical Engineering Department at Southern Methodist University where he is currently an Associate Professor. He

Conference Session

Design Projects in Mechanical Engineering II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brent Nelson, Northern Arizona University; Constantin Ciocanel, Northern Arizona University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

AC 2010-1852: CONNECTING EXPERIMENT, THEORY, AND PHYSICALINTUITION IN HEAT TRANSFER WITH A LOW-COST SOLAR WATERHEATER DESIGN PROJECTBrent Nelson, Northern Arizona University Brent Nelson completed his PhD at GeorgiaTech performing interdisciplinary research at the intersection of thermal transport, materials science, and nanofabrication. Before joining the faculty at NAU in 2008, he served as a postdoctoral fellow in engineering education with the National Academy of Engineering CASEE program, during which he worked with the Center for Biologically-Inspired Design at the Georgia Institute of Technology. There he studied the use of Biologically-Inspired Design as a context for studying

Conference Session

Understanding and Measuring the Impact of Multidisciplinarity

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mysore Narayanan, Miami University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

AC 2010-2388: ASSESSMENT OF INSTRUCTIONAL SYSTEMS DESIGNMysore Narayanan, Miami University DR. MYSORE NARAYANAN obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Liverpool, England in the area of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. He joined Miami University in 1980 and teaches a wide variety of electrical, electronic and mechanical engineering courses. He has been invited to contribute articles to several encyclopedias and has published and presented dozens of papers at local, regional, national and international conferences. He has also designed, developed, organized and chaired several conferences for Miami University and conference sessions for a variety of organizations. He is a senior

Conference Session

CE Capstone: Innovations in Learning & Assessment

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ronald Welch, University of Texas, Tyler; Michael McGinnis, University of Texas, Tyler

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

experience centers around a multidisciplinarydesign project (typically a building and site development that also incorporates trafficconsiderations). Ideally, this project is aligned with an actual project being designed orconstructed in the local area, so that at the end of the project students can review parallelplans and designs that have been professionally produced.CENG 4115 begins with a review of the 9 step engineering design process9, andprimarily revolves around targeted submittals at typical early project milestones – 10%and 35%. A discussion of nine primary constraints to engineering design (sustainability,environmental, constructability, economics, ethics, political, social, technology, andpublic health and safety) follows, and these are

Conference Session

Fulfilling the CE BOK2 - Case Studies

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kenneth Fridley, University of Alabama

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

vice chair of the BOK committee and chair of the BOK educational fulfillment committee. Prior to joining the University, Fridley served as the associate dean for research and information technology at the Howard Hughes College of Engineering at the University of Nevada. He also served in various faculty positions at Washington State University, the University of Oklahoma and Purdue University. Page 15.654.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 How the Civil Engineering BOK2 Is Being Implemented at The University of AlabamaAbstractThe

Conference Session

Attracting Young MINDS in Engineering - Part I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Laura Bottomley, North Carolina State University; Jerome Lavelle, North Carolina State University; Louis Martin-Vega, Saigal

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

fundamental engineering skill areas, we are able toimprove interest, excitement and pursuit of engineering as a plan of study and career in newways. This effect is particularly needed among historically under-represented populations inengineering.IntroductionIn the current engineering environment we are faced with several distinct problems with respectto the future development of our workforce. One is that students graduating from our K-12school system, although excellent in recall of fact, are not technologically literate in the broadestsense of the term1. (Note, that this does not mean that US students are not technically capable.Technological literacy equips an individual to confront life situations and enables them toidentify the technological

Conference Session

Construction Classroom Development

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Namhun Lee, East Carolina University; Eddy Rojas, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

Construction

AC 2010-1243: INNOVATIVE AND TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNINGENVIRONMENTS IN CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENTEDUCATIONNamhun Lee, East Carolina UniversityEddy Rojas, University of Washington Page 15.740.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 Innovative and Transformative Learning Environments in Construction Engineering and Management EducationAbstractMost of today’s students have grown up with technology including computers, theInternet, video games, digital recorders or players, and mobile phones.Consequently, it can be argued these students are fundamentally different fromprevious generations in how they learn. Today’s students prefer instantly seeing

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tzu-Liang Tseng, University of Texas, El Paso; Ryan Wicker, UTEP; Rong Pan, Arizona State University; Carolyn Awalt, The University of Texas at El Paso

AC 2010-2101: ENHANCEMENT OF INTERNET BASED LAYERMANUFACTURING FOR ENGINEERING EDUCATIONTzu-Liang Tseng, University of Texas, El PasoRyan Wicker, UTEP Dr. Wicker is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering, appointed 1994, Ph.D. from Stanford University. Dr. Wicker holds the endowed Mr. and Mrs. MacIntosh Murchison Chair I in Engineering and is the Director of the W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation (a premier layered manufacturing Center with 21 layered manufacturing technologies and facilities for advanced manufacturing, reverse engineering, materials analysis and testing, experimental fluid mechanics, and tissue engineering--including scaffold fabrication, polymer synthesis and cell culture

Conference Session

Laboratory Development in ECE

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yakov Cherner, ATeL, LLC; Amin Karim, DeVry University; Ahmed Khan, DeVry University; Gary Mullett, Springfield Technical Community College

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

AC 2010-2327: WEB-BASED INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL LABORATORIES FORELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND MANUFACTURING EDUCATIONYakov Cherner, ATeL, LLC YAKOV E. CHERNER, Ph.D., is the Founder and President of ATEL, LLC. He combines over 25 years of teaching experience with extensive experience in writing curricula and developing educational software and efficient instructional strategies. Dr. Cherner develops new concepts and simulation-based e-learning tools for STEM education that use real-world objects, processes and learning situations as the context for science, engineering and technology investigations. He also proposed and implemented the pioneering concept of integrated adjustable virtual

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jean-Claude Thomassian, State University of New York, Maritime College; Anoop Desai, Georgia Southern University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

complemented by media based instruction to facilitate thelearning of engineering fundamentals with minimal time. The authors intend to repeat thisexperiment over another several years. Experimental results will be shared with the academiccommunity in the future through appropriate publications.References1. P. Cohen, B. Ebeling and H. Kulik, “A meta-analysis of outcomes studies of visual-based instruction,” Educational Communications and Technology Journal, vol. 29, no. 1, pp.26-36, March, 1981.2. J.V. Powell, V.G. Aeby Jr. and T. Carpenter-Aeby, “A comparison of student outcomes with and without teacher facilitated computer-based instruction,” Computers & Education, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 183-191, February, 2003.3. H. L. Chen, L. R

Conference Session

New Learning Paradigms II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa Romkey, University of Toronto

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

instructors understand the role of exploring technology/society interactions in engineering education? ≠ How do faculty describe the process they use in exploring technology/society interactions in their own teaching? ≠ Are there challenges or barriers to teaching about technology/society interactions in engineering education?Where “society” includes both social issues (such as poverty, or environmentalconservation) and social structures (such as political and economic systems).As a lecturer of education and technology & society studies, and an education specialistwithin an engineering faculty, I have become intrigued with the beliefs behind curriculumselection, and also how professors choose to contextualize their

Conference Session

New Learning Paradigms II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Morgan Hynes, Tufts University; David Crismond, The City College of New York; Barbara Brizuela, Tufts University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

the United States (US) K-12 setting is an idea that has been gainingattention as professional and educational groups push for its inclusion into the pre-college STEMclassrooms 1-4. Other countries such as the United Kingdom (UK), Australia, New Zealand, andCanada include design and technology in their pre-college curriculum 5-8.The International Technology Education Association (ITEA) places engineering design withintechnology education classrooms and describes engineering design as demanding “criticalthinking, the application of technical knowledge, creativity, and an appreciation of the effects ofa design on society and the environment” 1. The National Research Council (NRC)3 recognizesthe importance of the relationship between the

Conference Session

Global Engineering Models: Developments and Implementations

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Edmundo Tovar, Polytechnic University, Montegancedo; Nelson Piedra, Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja; Manuel Castro, Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia; Martin Llamas, Universidad de Vigo

Tagged Divisions

International

for its subjects, which constitutes the OCW site for each University.In the current situation, with a growing number of courses publiched, quality ofmaterials becomes as the critical priority. This paper proposes a quality model. Thismodel has been elaborated from an initial survey among Offices of the OCWUNIVERSA Consortium. Later, this model has been applied to determine whichcourses of Engineering have been better evaluated. Page 15.80.2Open Educational ResourcesThe Open Educational Practices and Resources (OER) initiatives seek to useinformation and computing technology to help equalize access to knowledge andeducational opportunities across the

Conference Session

Educational Research

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ruth Streveler, Purdue Universtiy; Alejandra J. Magana, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Karl Smith, University of Minnesota; Tameka Clarke Douglas, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

global reach. Capacity building has also been aided by thecreation of PhD-granting departments of Engineering Education at several US and internationalinstitutions.NSF recently funded a new project to continue and expand the work done by RREE and ISEE.Expanding and sustaining research capacity in engineering and technology education: Building onsuccessful programs for faculty and graduate students (which we will call the RREE2) (DUE-0817461) broadens the Community of Practice (COP) model successfully used to develop the RREEand ISEE programs. Page 15.280.2The RREE2 project has three goals: 1. Design and deliver a new generation of programs to

Conference Session

Graduate Student Experience

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Barrett Caldwell, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

aspects of information flow, task coordination, and team performance as affected by information technology. His research explores human factors engineering principles of how people get, share, and use information well, including the following: • Defining quantitative characteristics of information flow and task coordination in team performance; • Describing effects of tasks, situations, and technologies on effective information exchange in organizations; • Improving user access to information and knowledge to manage events in complex systems. Prof. Caldwell’s research efforts have resulted in over 100 scientific publications. His projects since

Conference Session

Liberal Education for 21st Century Engineering

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cherrice Traver, Union College; J. Douglas Klein, Union College

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

incentives.The three types of integration implemented were guest lectures, course modules, and pairedcourses. These interactions varied in duration and intensity, but all involved both faculty andstudents working together across disciplines to learn about the relationship between some aspectof engineering and technology and a related humanities, science, or social science topic. Thepaper will describe the process for launching the initiative, the incentives used, some specificexamples, and a qualitative assessment of the resulting integration.BackgroundThe world outside academia increasingly values people who can see and communicate beyondtheir own specialty. For example in discussing sources of innovation, Hargadon and Suttonobserve that “the

Conference Session

Developing Young MINDS in Engineering - Part II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Showkat Chowdhury, Alabama A&M University; Mohamed Seif, Alabama A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

AC 2010-2029: ENHANCEMENT OF LEARNING OUTCOME AND RETENTIONOF MINORITY STUDENTS IN ENGINEERINGShowkat Chowdhury, Alabama A&M University Dr. Showkat Chowdhury is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, AL. Dr. Chowdhury has extensive background in teaching undergraduate and graduate students in Mechanical Engineering, and performing research in the fields of Nano-composites, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Heat & Mass Transfer and Combustion. Previously, he worked as a Professor at Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET) and at University of Brighton, U.K. He also worked in the Research Division of Corning

Conference Session

Enhancing K-12 STEM Education with Engineering

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tom Benton, University of Texas, Austin; Taylor Martin, Univ of Texas at Austin

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

AC 2010-2053: SYSTEM SCAFFOLDING OF CONTENT INTEGRATION IN HIGHSCHOOL ENGINEERING AND DESIGNTom Benton, University of Texas, Austin Tom Benton received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas in 1999 and is currently a Masters student in the University's Educational Technology program. He is primarily interested in the development and study of systems that support collaboration between designers while scaffolding elements of the design process.Taylor Martin, Univ of Texas at Austin Taylor Martin received a B. A. in Linguistics and an initial teaching certification from Dartmouth College in 1992, an M.S. in Psychology from Vanderbilt University in 2000, and a Ph.D. in

Conference Session

Engineering in the Middle Grades

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Roy McGrann, State University of New York, Binghamton; Wayne Jones, State University of New York, Binghamton; Susannah Gal, State University of New York, Binghamton; Andy Cavagnetto, State University of New York, Binghamton; Dan Brennan, Broome Community College - SUNY; Thomas O'Brien, State University of New York, Binghamton

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

. Page 15.625.2Introduction Today’s knowledge-based economy calls for constant technological innovation1 toaddress the challenges of energy, physical infrastructure, information and communicationinfrastructure, environment, health, and other as yet unidentified problems.2 Promising solutionswill likely evolve from cutting edge science and engineering in areas such as nano-materials,photovoltaics, low-weight/high-capacity batteries, materials recycling, and flexible electronics.However, such next generation technologies will emerge only if society inspires a broader,diverse group of students to become scientists and engineers to research and develop improvedproducts and processes. In addition, we need to prepare a technologically

Conference Session

POTPOURRI

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Afsaneh Minaie, Utah Valley University; Kirk Love, Utah Valley University; Paymon Sanati-Mehrizy, University of Pennsylvania; Reza Sanati-Mehrizy, Utah Valley University

Tagged Divisions

Information Systems

as physics and chemistry, and are closely tied to particular careers.Both disciplines are evolving rapidly and require students to stay on top of new technologies. Inthe schools studied, biology enrollments by females were equal to or higher than maleenrollments while enrollments of females in computer science in these schools continued todrop7, 9 .Reports from the National Science Foundation (NSF) indicates that there is a “troubling declinein the number of US citizens who are training to become scientists and engineers, whereas thenumber of jobs requiring science and engineering training continues to grow”1. It is crucial thatmore students are attracted to science and engineering fields in order to prevent creating asignificant shortage of