Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching Physics or Engineering Physics I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Chih-Hsiung Ku, National Dong Hwa University; Wen-Cheng Chen, National Dong Hwa University; Lee king-lien, Department of Electro-Optic Engineering,National Taipei University of Technology; CHAO-CHIA CHENG, NATIONAL CENTRAL UNIV

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

not in accordance with scientific concepts hasproven to be important in science learning 2.Many studies had verified that students and adults are accustomed to solve problems in physicson the basis of everyday concepts7. Those individual’s conceptions differed from scientificknowledge were often called different term, but the one most common and appealing one is‘alternative conceptions’8. It is helpful for science educator to explore students’ alternativeconceptions. Electricity is one of the basic scientific topics with relevance to every life. To date,there are many studies had been carried out to determine students ’ understanding on electricalconceptions 1, 2, 8, 9, 10. It is found that as students progress through their science

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching Physics or Engineering Physics I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Patricia F. Mead, Norfolk State University; Ruth A. Streveler, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Lauren D. Thomas, Virginia Tech; Candace A. Cobb, Norfolk State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

effective teaching and learning in STEM educationalsettings: curriculum (content), instructional practices (pedagogy), and assessment[1]. Theseelements should be explicitly linked as educators design courses and educational materials.Norfolk State University established Bachelor and Master of Science programs in OpticalEngineering in fall 2003. Optical Engineering is an emerging discipline that bridges Physics andElectrical Engineering principles, and currently only five ABET accredited Optical Engineeringprograms exist in the U.S. As a newly developing area, the curricular structure of U.S. OpticalEngineering programs are somewhat fluid, including a clear understanding of the challengesstudents face as they move through the optical engineering

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching Physics or Engineering Physics II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Baha Jassemnejad, University of Central Oklahoma; Wei Siang Pee, University of Central Oklahoma; Kevin Rada; Montell Jermaine Wright, University of Central Oklahoma, Robotics Research; Kaitlin Rose Foran, University of Central Oklahoma; Evan C. Lemley, University of Central Oklahoma

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

severalthe benefits of hands-on activities in promoting subprojects and areas as illustrated by thelearning in science courses relative to the traditional organizational chart in Figure 1.lecture-only approach at the elementary, middle andhigh school level [1][2][3][4]. Studies at theuniversity level have also suggested improvedlearning outcomes in engineering courses whenhands-on activities are a part of the lesson plan[5][6]. Moreover, these outcomes are in agreementwith what current theories of learning would predict[7]. Project-based learning involving hands-onactivities has been introduced into engineeringcourses to improve student motivation andengagement. A challenge has been to identifyprojects at the freshman level

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching Physics or Engineering Physics I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sudipa Mitra-Kirtley, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Rana Mitra, Southeastern Louisiana University; Maarij M Syed, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

their plots dictate? What willhappen if they use their entire arm lengths instead of the just their forearms? Is it easier to hold theweights at a greater angle from the horizontal? Can this be explained by the “resistive term” of themoment of inertia of the arm about the pivot point? Force sensor  Hanging mass Hinged end Figure 1. A model of a static equilibrium situationAnother experiment that is being developed at SELU involves the leg as the movable “arm”. The samemodels will be used, but now the students will be experimenting by lifting weights with their

Conference Session

Physics Poster Session

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bala Maheswaran, Northeastern University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

ofthe course also performed well in the project that involved math and multi dimensional physics.IntroductionOur freshmen take physics for Engineers (Physics 1) in the second semester of the freshmenyear. Most of our freshmen have high school physics, but their skills are highly dependent on thehigh school they attended and the level of physics that they have taken. They learn electricpotential in their sophomore year. The purpose of this final project was not only to full fill thecurriculum requirement, but also to introduce this multi dimensional, that is the two dimensionaland three dimensional tasks to freshman engineering students to get ready for future courses.The project deals with the calculation of electric potentials for different

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching Physics or Engineering Physics II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adrian Ieta, State University of New York, Oswego; Alex Pantaleev, State University of New York, Oswego; Carolina C. Ilie, State University of New York, Oswego

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

style, and although class levels and disciplines weredifferent, significantly similar positive perceptions were recorded for different criteria.I. INTRODUCTIONMany instructors have difficulties making students read outside the class [1]. We use onlinequizzes for obtaining feedback on the students’ comprehension of topics not yet taught in theclassroom. Variations of the method were originally developed in 1996 at IUPUI and the USForce Academy; the term “Just in Time Teaching” or JiTT was coined. In this approach, studentscomplete online assignments/quizzes [2] by a certain deadline. Instructors adjust lectures “Just intime” not only to cover the curriculum but also to respond to student needs [3] so that thefeedback loop is closed. The end

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching Physics or Engineering Physics II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yumin Zhang, Southeast Missouri State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

states. Following this formula, eachmagnetic dipole or each capacitor can only record 1 bit of information, while each base pair inDNA can record 2 bits of information.Towards the end of the semester, students were required to write a term paper on the applicationof entropy in different areas. The students investigated many interesting topics, such as steamengines, chemical processes, biological systems, neural networks in brain, the birth and death ofstars, black holes, global warming, economics and social organizations, etc. Through this termpaper students expanded their perspective and realized that entropy is a very general conceptwhich may be applied to many seemingly unrelated areas.IV. AssessmentTwo years ago the author taught this course

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching Physics or Engineering Physics II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jeffrey A. Jalkio, University of Saint Thomas

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

uniformprobability distribution with a standard deviation =a/3. Uncertainties are propagated in thesame manner as in traditional error analysis6. For a measurement result y based on a set of ndirect measurements xi through a measurement equation y=f(x1..xn), the expanded uncertainty iny is 2 n  f  n 1 n f f Uy  kp     xi 2  2   xi x j Page 22.1048.3 i 1  xi

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching Physics or Engineering Physics I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adrian Ieta, Oswego State University College; Rachid Manseur, State University of New York, Oswego; Thomas E. Doyle P.Eng., McMaster University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

design the lab space for research became available. While the development of the lab startedon a small institutional grant, proposals for future funding have been submitted to nationalagencies. The successful experience in lab development discussed in this article can be ofinterest to other instructors with similar targets.INTRODUCTIONLaboratory activity is essential for student success and preparation for industry, research, andreal-life work [1, 2]. Setting up a new lab or improving the ones in place [2-4] is always achallenging task. Laboratory development is often one of the important tasks assigned to newfaculty, who normally have good research experience but have not yet acted on their own tomanage funds, select suppliers, make purchases

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching Physics or Engineering Physics II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Ross, University of Detroit Mercy; Meghann Norah Murray, University of Detroit Mercy

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

recognition of their contributionto the emerging field of polymer chemistry, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2000 was awardedto Heeger, MacDiarmid, and Shirakawa “for the discovery and development of electricallyconductive polymers.”1 In the ensuing years the field has experienced tremendous growth.Electroluminescence was reported in large (millimeter scale) anthracene crystals, under theapplication of several thousand volts by Helfrich and Schneider.2 The first rectifying deviceswere developed at Eastman Kodak in 1987 by Tang and VanSlyke.3 These thin film organicstructures exhibited high external quantum efficiency (10-2 photon/electron), luminous efficiency(1.5 lumens/watt), and brightness (103 candelas/m2). The first rectifying devices that

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching Physics or Engineering Physics I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kristi J. Shryock, Texas A&M University; Arun R. Srinivasa, Texas A&M University, Department of Mechanical Engineering; Jefferey E. Froyd, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

physics mechanics skills. The resulting set of physics mechanicstopics for which engineering faculty members expected student mastery are listed in Table 1.Table 1. First-year Physics Mechanics Topics Determined by Engineering Faculty Members Free Body Diagram Newton’s Second Law Newton’s Third LawUsing this set of topics and the original problems to guide the authors about the expectations ofthe engineering faculty members, the authors created a 16-question, alpha version of aninstrument to assess student abilities with respect to expectations. Several of the problems camedirectly from the MBT since faculty had provided a limited set of direct physics mechanics-related questions. The instrument was then reviewed by two of the

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching Physics or Engineering Physics II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Teresa L. Larkin, American University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

student population. Preliminary results suggest that whilefemales have, on average, higher overall grades in the course as well as higher overall GPAs,their gains as measured by the FCI are lower than those achieved by male students. A discussionof the significance of these results will be presented and possible issues related to this apparentgender discrepancy will be proposed.I. INTRODUCTION An essential function of teaching is the promotion and enhancement of student learning.Traditional teaching methodologies have clearly been shown to put students in a role of passiverather than active learning [1]. Traditional instructional methods have also been shown to bevery inadequate in terms of promoting deep learning and long-term retention

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching Physics or Engineering Physics I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daniel Ludwigsen, Kettering University; Janet Brelin-Fornari, Kettering University; Joseph Neal, Kettering University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

value in that, as is stated by,“virtually no meaningful learning takes place.” 1 The previous physics laboratory employed these“cookbook” experiments; students would execute without generating work or procedures of theirown, leading to an inadequate linking of physical laws with work performed outside of theclassroom and poor retention of skills and concepts. This lead to the development of Crash intoPhysics using an inquiry/discovery laboratory style that is based on the lab structure of RealTimePhysics.2An alternative to the expository style that requires more student engagement might be describedas a discovery or inquiry style. A discovery style laboratory has a predetermined outcome,inductive reasoning approach and the procedure is student