Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

E. Carl Greco; Jim D. Reasoner

Improvement in Laboratory Skills and Knowledge Achieved Through Individual Student Lab Participation E. Carl Greco, Jim D. Reasoner Electrical Engineering Department – Arkansas Tech UniversityAbstractIn a fundamental electrical engineering laboratory course, the performance of students in a sololaboratory team organization was contrasted with the performance of students utilizing a multiplestudent lab team model. The students' performance on the laboratory final practicum examprovided an indicator of their individually acquired knowledge and skills. The student'sparticipation individually in lab resulted in marked improvement in the their ability to learnrudimentary

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Colin D. Paul; Melinda B. O'Neil; W. Roy Penney; Bernard J. Van Wie; Paul B. Golter; Robert R. Beitle; Edgar C. Clausen

withinterchangeable cartridges for dye injection into a flow stream; flow measurement with venturi,orifice and pitot tube meters; shell-and-tube, extended area and double pipe heat exchange; andpacked bed and fluidized bed performance. The DLMs are effective learning tools, but are theyuseful in collecting laboratory data?An experimental study was performed to determine the duty of the DLM shell-and-tube heatexchanger, and then to compare the results to theoretical predictions. Although a few minormodifications of the apparatus were necessary in order to obtain accurate data, experimental heattransfer rates on the tube side (539-831 W) were within 15-20% of theoretical predictions.Similarly, experimental heat transfer rates on the shell side (681-1,068 W

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Robert I. Egbert

offered again the spring 2009 semester and there were 22 students enrolled. Allbut one of the students enrolled had already taken the IDS 110 class, so minimal class time wasspent on study habits and campus resources. Instead the additional class periods were used toinvite more guest lecturers from the local engineering community.The end of semester survey of students in this class revealed that these students, like those in theprevious semester, rated the presentations by practicing engineers as best of all the materialcovered in the course. On this survey students were also asked to make suggestions about othertopics to be covered in the course.A number of the students suggested some form of hands on laboratory exercise as part of thecourse

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

George E. Meyer

course.During the first five weeks, there is a concurrent and intensive introduction to LabVIEW alongwith fundamental instruction of instrumentation electronics. LabVIEW Instructional modules andexamples are available at various web-sites for demonstrating and simulating electronic circuitsand responses. Most instrumentation textbooks cover analog and digital principles forinstrumentation but in different orders and formats (e.g. Johnson, 2006, Northrop, 1997).Reinforcement of principles and introduction to practical instrumentation and control examplescan only be offered through hands-on laboratory exercises, demonstrations, and preparation of afinal team project. Laboratory exercises for this course include experiments with temperaturesensing, fluid

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Nicholas C. Vanderslice; Thomas R. Marrero

XI, and of the University of Missouri system, including staff. The goal wasto obtain information on the feasibility of bio-char as a CO2 sequestering agent; as well as tobecome familiar with university research resources.A significant part of the learning for my undergraduate research project was done in various labson Campus. Independent testing of a sample of bio-char (purchased fromBuyActivatedCharcoal.com) was conducted for elemental composition and particle sizedistribution at the Soil Characterization Laboratory in College of Engineering. At the ResearchCore Facilities in the Veterinary Medicine School analysis by TEM (transmission electronmicroscope) was conducted for pore width and elemental composition. In the College of Arts

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

R. Asmatulu; E. Asmatulu; A. Yourdkhani

. • Students, workers, engineers and scientist who are working on nanomaterials and devices are recommended to wear a disposable, typically plastic, body covering over their work clothes during high exposure activities and wear long gloves pulled over sleeves to 5 minimize wrist exposure. Other recommendations can be antistatic shoes to prevent ignition by static charges, sticky mats at laboratory entrances to prevent accidental nanomaterials transfers in and out. • Hazardous effects of nanomaterials needs to be reduced during the production and processing. The waste of nanomaterials should be limited. Outputs are sometimes more hazardous than products or

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Shannon G. Davis; Bryan W. Hill; Carol S. Gattis; Bradley M. Dearing; Christa N. Hestekin; Edgar C. Clausen

-based science activities.This University of Arkansas Science Partnership Program (UASPP), funded by the Arkansas Proceedings of the 2009 Midwest Section Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education 2Department of Higher Education, focused on the professional growth of 6th, 7th and 8th gradescience teachers from 23 partner schools in the NWA-ERZ. The program was organized as aseries of summer institutes and follow-up activities which teamed teachers with engineeringfaculty to improve teaching skills and to increase the teachers’ use, understanding andapplication of hands-on laboratory exercises. It included classroom

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Waleed K. Al-Assadi; Scott Smith

of topic lectures, leaving around 2 weeks for discussion of laboratory assignments and their solutions, holidays, and occasional quizzes. Note that the final exam is scheduled the week after the 16-week semester concludes, and is utilized for each group to present their semester project design. The class requires a substantial amount of laboratory work; however, after successful completion of the course, students are well versed in VLSI design using the Mentor Graphics CAD tools. 1) Introduction to VLSI Systems Lab#1: VHDL coding, synthesis, and simulation 2) CMOS Transistor Theory 3) Fabrication, Layout, and Design Rules Lab#2: gate-level and transistor-level schematics and simulation 4) Analysis of Static Inverter Lab#3: layout of static

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Ray A. Luechtefeld; Steve E. Watkins

surprise that we find fraternity files for examinations, term paper writing services, and plagiarism. Such activities constitute a personally rational response to a reward system which pays off for grades rather than knowledge.”The use of extrinsic motivators, particularly grades, is ubiquitous throughout universities,even though their negative effects on student learning and interest have been documentedthrough hundreds of studies. One of the main findings, confirming Kerr’s comment on“displacement” via Cognitive Evaluation Theory 17 – 22 , is that extrinsic motivators likegrades tend to reduce interest and enjoyment by shifting perceptions of control towardexternal, rather than internal forces.While the laboratory and experimental

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Dan Bumblauskas

adequate library resources. Most universities have some form of anelectronic or e-library available to students (e.g., Iowa State University e-Library, HarvardUniversity Libraries, etc.). This provides the student with a means to search journal articles andarchives. One of the roadblocks to online engineering programs has been the accessibility oflabs. To combat this, some instructors have begun to develop experiment kits which can bemailed to students in advance for completion of laboratory work14.It is important that a student be able to work with faculty and staff remotely in a professionalmanner. Students need to respect remote faculty as they would in an on-campus relationship andlikewise faculty members need to understand the demands faced

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Dennis Audo; Seth O'Brien

see how much tension is required to pull them forward. The propertiesof differing materials are discussed in regards to their properties and to which loads that they aremost capable of holding, either tension or compression.The properties of concrete material are explored along with the ingredients that make upconcrete. Students then go into the materials laboratory and mix up the proportions of rock,sand, cement and water to make up a concrete mix. The students then make a test cylinder usinga plastic mold. Their test specimen is then tested in compression in a later session so they can seehow the strength of their mix is performing.Students are then taken to the computer lab to use AutoCAD Revit Architectural to design theirdream house