Conference Session

Software Engineering Pedagogical Approaches

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joanna F. DeFranco, Pennsylvania State University; Colin J. Neill, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Software Engineering Constituent Committee

of social constructivist approachessuch as classroom discussion and experiential learning13,18. Through peer interaction andcollaboration students are able to synthesize and evaluate their ideas collectively10,16,19 and areforced to reflect upon and reason about their ideas at greater depth than when workingindividually17.In contrast, there are numerous studies that show the difficulty students experience working inteams. Student’s frequently cite that they have little influence over their team-mates; they believetheir grade will not reflect their contribution or competence; and the transaction cost ofscheduling meetings, and working collaboratively are not worth the rewards, of which they seefew9. These bad team experiences can have a

Conference Session

New Course Development Concepts in ET

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ronald H Rockland, New Jersey Institute of Technology; Linda Hirsch, New Jersey Institute of Technology; Levelle Burr-Alexander, New Jersey Institute of Technology; John D. Carpinelli, New Jersey Institute of Technology; Howard S. Kimmel, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

each week (or in the case of multi-week modules,for each learning module), individual outcomes were developed, and assessed. Theseweekly/module learning outcomes were related to the overall course learning outcomes.Questions and problems were used to assess the students’ success in developing the skills andknowledge specified by the learning outcome(s) that was related to the various learning objects. For each week (or for each module) students had the ability to upload a “Reflection” document.This document, which was not a required assignment, enabled students to identify problems,concerns or positive results for the week’s learning and assignments. The use of these“Reflection” documents was to identify to the author areas of concerns or

Conference Session

Distance Education and Engineering Workforce Professional Development

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mitchell L Springer PMP, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Gary R. Bertoline, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Mark T Schuver, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Continuing Professional Development

companies. The Land study reflected, while there were titlesassigned to both; the titles of design engineer, senior engineer and engineer were predominatelyassigned to engineering graduates. This, while the titles of engineering technologist,technologist, engineering technician and technician were predominantly reserved fortechnologists; i.e., BS Engineering Technology (BSET) graduates.The findings of the Land study validate the experience of many in business and industry. Thenatural derivation of this previous Land study is to enhance and build on our understanding ofthe identified titles for each; the technologist and the engineer. Subsequently, the next logical

Conference Session

The D/M/A of CE

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Linda Barrington, University of Massachusetts, Lowell; Emmanuelle Reynaud, University of Massachusetts, Lowell; Ella Willard-Schmoe, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Tagged Divisions

Community Engagement Division

national average of 18.8% women inundergraduate enrollment.9BackgroundA commonly utilized definition of service-learning is “a credit-bearing, educational experiencein which students participate in an organized service activity that meets identified communityneeds and reflect on the service activity in such a way as to gain further understanding of coursecontent, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility."10Many past studies, (e.g. Eyler and Guiles11) have shown service-learning to result in positiveoutcomes in cognitive and affective measures for students as well as benefits to the community,faculty, and institution. Astin et al. found with longitudinal data of 22,000 students that service-learning

Conference Session

Retention and Persistence in Engineering

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Geoff Potvin, Clemson University; Zahra Hazari, Florida International University; Leidy Klotz, Clemson University; Allison Godwin, Clemson University; Robynne M. Lock, Department of Engineering and Science Education, Clemson University; Jennifer Dawn Cribbs, Western Kentucky University; Nicole Barclay, Clemson University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

college studies in an engineering Page 23.438.2major with expectations or beliefs about their choice that is not reflected in the realities of thepractice of fully-trained members of these communities4. While a few studies have consideredthe culture of engineering5, the differences between freshman engineering and science students6,and the learning styles and types of students in certain engineering disciplines7-10, this remains anunderstudied area. One limitation of prior work has been the use of samples of limitedgeneralizability, with analyses often sampling students from a single or geographically limitedset of institutions.Theoretical

Conference Session

Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Poster Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Branimir Pejcinovic, Portland State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

device characterization, design and simulation, signal integrity and THz sensors. He is a member of IEEE and ASEE. Page 23.198.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2013 Application of active learning in microwave circuit design coursesI. Introduction and motivationMicrowave Circuit Design is a fairly well established topic for senior undergraduate andgraduate courses and many good textbooks are available1. Topics that are covered vary buttypically include some fundamentals of electromagnetic wave propagation, transmission lines(TL), effects of matching and reflection on TLs, various

Conference Session

Undergraduate Student Issues II

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robin Fowler, University of Michigan; Lorelle A Meadows, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

sense of belonging in their university engineering program. The items were modified slightly to change “Engineering program” to “College of Engineering” to reflect our participants’ university context. Half of the items on this scale were reverse-coded (and were flipped for analysis, such that higher number reflects higher sense of belonging). The Cronbach’s alpha of 0.725 is considered acceptable, though it is the lowest reliability of the constructs measured.• Cost. We measured cost (whether the effort, stress, and time to engage in the engineering program is worth the cost) with a cost scale developed by Parkes and Jones25. This scale, which has been validated with an undergraduate population, but not one of

Conference Session

Micro-Technology and Nanotechnology

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hisham Hegab P.E., Louisiana Tech University; James D Palmer, Louisiana Tech University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

credit hours of approved humanities, arts, and social science courses.An additional six credit hours including an additional English course and a speech course arerequired. NSE students are required to take a technical writing course and technical presentationscourse to satisfy this requirement.Assessment and Continuous Improvement of the ProgramSince the initial establishment of the degree program, the program education objectives haveundergone multiple revisions to better reflect the needs of the program’s constituents as well asmeet refinements in ABET’s definition of program educational objectives. The current ProgramEducation Objectives (PEOs) of the NSE degree program are:Graduates of the NSE Program are expected to within a few year of

Conference Session

ECE Curriculum Improvement

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cordelia M Brown, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Dimitrios Peroulis, Purdue University; Greg Lammers, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Computer Engineering and Prof. Peroulis. Prof. Peroulis also developed thenecessary material (videos, notes, etc.) for teaching this course following a flipped classroomapproach. The goal of this course was to entirely revamp the sophomore curriculum forElectrical and Computer Engineering. Students indicated a lack of understanding of thediscipline of ECE. This failure to see the big picture of the discipline hinted at the need for abroader introductory course with a stronger emphasis on different fields inside of ECE ratherthan a deep exploration of circuit theory.The observation that students in the early stages of their careers do not have a strong grasp ofwhat Electrical and Computer engineers do is reflected in the literature.(Graaf, Wright

Conference Session

Visualization tools, modeling abilities and grading models

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hosein Atharifar, Millersville University of Pennsylvania; Faruk Yildiz, Sam Houston State University; James Richard Knapp Sr., Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Design Graphics

encouraged us to design a survey and distribute it to thedesign and drafting professionals (practicing engineers) in industry as well as the professors ofengineering design and CAD at colleges and universities (our participants from academia). Inthis paper, our goal is to understand the current trends in a variety of topics related to theteaching and applications of CAD. We will study the layout of the survey, the population whotook the survey, and the results and discussion. In the appendix, the open ended comments arelisted with identifying language removed. The important comments as related to this survey areunderlined in the comments.2. Survey and our PopulationOur survey is designed to reflect the viewpoints of the professionals in both

Conference Session

Faculty and Course Evolution: Teaching With Technology, Online Delivery, and Addressing Emerging Student & Industry Needs

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sandra Bird, University of Georgia; Nadia N. Kellam, University of Georgia

Tagged Divisions

Continuing Professional Development

.” When describing his initial experience teaching, heexplains, “my measure of success, well I delivered the material, and the students took the test,and if they don’t perform very well you know then maybe they are poor students.”Dr. Donaldsonm also started his initial teaching by thinking about his instructors: “ whichprofessors did I think were good? What was it they did that I really liked?” One professor hehad “knew everyone’s name in class and during a 1 ½ hour class period called on every singlestudent in that class with a question.” Reflecting on this “although at the time I did not likebeing asked questions …I realized that actually one I paid attention in his class and two it gaveme confidence by answering the question. Like wow I do

Conference Session

Design in Engineering Education (DEED) Engineering Poster Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Patrick Rowsome, University of Limerick; Niall Seery, University of Limerick; Diarmaid Lane, University of Limerick; Seamus Gordon, University of Limerick

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

makea flower that conveyed an emotion and create a scene that reflected that emotion. Work wasdocumented during the process and students were instructed to present their learning duringthe design process through a student-defined criterion referenced e-portfolio. Table 2: Timeline of Project Week Workshop Activity Week 2-5 Students engage in 4 activities that develop the necessary skills and knowledge for the design project. Material processing, material selection, etc. Week 5-12 Students design and realise decorative design projects and complete an e-portfolio in tandem. The e-portfolio and artefact

Conference Session

Chemical Engineering Poster Session & Unit Operations Lab Bazaar

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Landon Mott, University of Kentucky; Jeffrey R Seay, University of Kentucky; David L. Silverstein, University of Kentucky

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

, exploration, conclusion,and reflection. The four inquiry activities are designed to explore key relationships in batchdistillation involving pressure, heating rate, column internals, and reflux ratios, and to alsoconsider the safety and economic factors in batch distillation design and operation. The tutorialand activities (complete with suggested solutions) will be made available to faculty membersupon request while in the refinement and testing stages during fall 2013.IntroductionAs computers have become more capable of accurately simulating complex physical activity,traditional engineering laboratories have moved away from the laboratory and towards the virtualrealm. Using simulation, an exploratory approach to learning is not hampered by

Conference Session

Mechanics, Hands-on Demo - Show & Tell!

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sinead C. MacNamara, Syracuse University; Joan V. Dannenhoffer P.E., Syracuse University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

meet the above goals were:i. Emphasis on self-validation techniques. The instructor emphasized identifying the order of magnitude, direction and other aspects of believability of a mathematical answer. Students were required to estimate answers before attempting homework problems and reflect on confidence afterwards. Students were further encouraged to identify reasons when they DID NOT have confidence in answers on exam questions and some missed points were given back back when a student offered a rationale for why an answer was wrong that displayed good conceptual intuition.ii. Design Competition. Students were required to build a small mobile, sculpture or device that displayed their

Conference Session

Engineering Libraries (ELD) Poster Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Janet Fransen, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

in otherdepartments. This may reflect a stronger preference for print materials than other departmentshave. When paired with the Workstation usage—21 percent of Mathematics faculty membersused a library workstation—it may also reflect the fact that Mathematics is the only science andengineering department with a branch library located in the same building as the faculty offices.In an attempt to determine why digital use (and, by extension, overall use) by the departments ofComputer Science & Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Physics & Astronomy was somuch lower than expected, we looked at actual user counts and access counts for ComputerScience & Engineering. The numbers for digital use were even more startling. Of the 35

Conference Session

Aerospace Division Technical Session 1

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Trevor J. Bennett, Texas A&M University; Kristin D. Nichols, Texas A&M University; Kristi J. Shryock, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Aerospace

thisknowledge and adapt it to changing environments. Table 1 lists several qualities an effectivedesign engineer should possess. These characteristics will be used later as a metric to measurehow well students exhibit these qualities in a design environment. Table 1. Qualities of a design engineer4. The Engineer or Engineering Student should be able to … QUALITY 1. Communicate, negotiate and persuade 2. Work effectively in a team 3. Engage in self-evaluation and reflection 4. Utilize graphical and visual representations and thinking 5. Exercise creative and intuitive instincts 6. Find

Conference Session

Research and Graduate Studies

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Erika A. Mosyjowski, University of Michigan ; Shanna R. Daly, University of Michigan; Diane L Peters, University of Michigan; Steven J. Skerlos, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

think about the length of the survey?  Do you have any concerns about the survey design?Our advisory board did not find significant problems with the survey and made severalsuggestions for improvement. We revised our survey to reflect this feedback. See Table 2 forexamples:Table 2: Examples of advisory board feedback Original Version Suggestion Revised VersionStrategies used to reduce concerns Add question about advisor to this Added question about advisor as adid not include a mention of the section source of supportadvisor“Please estimate the average time Measure these based on work week “Please estimate the average timeyou spend on

Conference Session

Integrating Engineering & Liberal Education

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Pradeep Kashinath Waychal, College of Engineering Pune; Anil Dattatraya Sahasrabudhe, College of Engineering, Pune

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

learning may show the same behavior as retention.We have proposed some modifications to the learning pyramid as shown in figure 2. Various methods likequestioning, reflecting, and experimenting have been incorporated in the Wood’s pyramid. However, no attemptis made to give specific numbers for the effectiveness or retention of learning. The pyramid has the leasteffective method at the bottom which is just passively attending lectures and speeches. That is followed byactively attending lectures - ―actively‖ implying thinking on what is being said and asking questions based onthat. This is superseded by intensely reflecting or experimenting and writing notes. At the next level comessmartly linking the concepts learnt to other related concepts

Conference Session

Materials

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mohamad Dyab, University of Maryland Eastern Shore; Payam Matin, University of Maryland Eastern Shore; Yuanwei Jin, University of Maryland, Eastern Shore

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

that is used for measuring theproperties of different specimens with different materials at high Strain Rate (10 10 .Figure 1 shows the main components of a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar. The main fourcomponents are the Striker, Incident bar, Transmitter bar (Output bar) and Specimen. Thespecimen is placed between the incident and transmitter bar. The striker acts as a projectileapplying a high impact force on one end of the incident bar creating a compressive stress wave.The wave propagates in a uniaxial direction into the incident bar reaching the interface of theincident bar and specimen. A part of the wave reflects back as a tensile wave traveling in theincident bar while the rest continues to propagate into the transmitter bar as a

Conference Session

Socio-cultural Dimensions of Community Engagement

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andrea Mazzurco, Purdue University; James Huff, Harding University; Brent K Jesiek, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Community Engagement Division

better able to identify cultural aspects as relevant factors when solving a given design task? 2. How did students reflect upon the re-evaluation of their proposed solutions as compared to their initial approach?MethodsResearch Context and InterventionData for this paper were collected from a skill session titled “Partnering with DevelopingCountries.” This three hour learning module was open to any student enrolled in the EPICSprogram at Purdue University. The skill session was developed by the first author, incollaboration with the second author and three EPICS teaching assistants, in part to fulfill a Page 23.1017.4requirement of a

Conference Session

CEED - Technical Session 2

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joseph A Raelin, Northeastern University; Margaret B. Bailey, Rochester Institute of Technology (COE); Jerry Carl Hamann, University of Wyoming; David L. Whitman, University of Wyoming; Rachelle Reisberg, Northeastern University; Leslie K. Pendleton, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Cooperative & Experiential Education

predictor of retention was the numberof co-ops in which a student participated. Among the demographic variables, a relatively highGPA was found to be an inducement to persist in engineering and in school. It was also found,at the second survey point of the study, that a student’s prior SAT scores had a measurable effecton retention. Finally, those students who were accustomed to work over a relatively long periodof time were especially more inclined to leave the university compared to those who had lesswork experience in their lifetimes.Among the contextual support variables, support from friends and from one’s college was foundto explain retention at the time of the first survey as students reflect on their freshmen yearexperience. In an

Conference Session

K-12 Professional Development I

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Anant R. Kukreti, University of Cincinnati; Eugene Rutz, University of Cincinnati; Julie Steimle, University of Cincinnati; Howard E. Jackson, University of Cincinnati; Catherine Maltbie, University of Cincinnati

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

-based learning. As shown in Figure 2, the challenge basedlearning process begins with a big idea and cascades to the following: an essential question, achallenge, guiding questions, activities, team projects, determining and articulating the solution,taking action by implementing the solution, reflection, assessment, and presentation. Whenusing this pedagogy, the teacher’s primary role shifts from dispensing information to guiding theconstruction of knowledge by his or her students around initially defined guiding questions.Students refine the problem, develop research questions, investigate the topic, and work out avariety of solutions before finding the most reasonable one. The process demonstrated how theengineering design process, as shown

Conference Session

NSF Grantees' Poster Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Russell Pimmel, University of Alabama (Emeritus); Ann F. McKenna, Arizona State University, Polytechnic campus; Norman L. Fortenberry, American Society for Engineering Education; Brian Yoder; Rocio C Chavela Guerra, American Society for Engineering Education

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

serves at most 55 participates peryear,5 which is a small fraction of the almost 25,000 tenure-track engineering faculty members.22Travel support to bring participants to a face-to-face workshop, even for a couple of daysbecomes prohibitively expensive when the effort is scaled even to accommodate a modestnumber of engineering faculty members.The inadequacy of existing faculty development models is reflected in the lack of evidence ofchanges in student learning,2 the slow adoption of engaging, active-learning methods that havebeen systematically tested and shown to be effective,1, 23 and the stalling of innovation in STEMeducation.29 A recent systematic and fairly extensive observational study provided dataindicating a reliance on the

Conference Session

Outreach to K-12 Females

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christina Kay White, University of Texas, Austin; Richard H. Crawford, University of Texas, Austin; Austin Bates Talley, University of Texas, Austin; Anthony J Petrosino Jr, The University of Texas at Austin ; Kristen Bland, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

arealso influenced by gender roles and social schemas, which is often a strong deterrent fromengineering for girls, as they view engineering as a predominantly male field. So, indicators thathave the potential to have positive implications for girls to make decisions about engineering areincorrectly perceived as barriers, and many times, girls do not give STEM a chance. BeyondBlackboards reaches out to students early with goals to change their perceptions aboutengineering (Eccles et all, 2005; Watt, 2005). Page 23.641.6Beyond Blackboards Page 6 of 25 Figure 2. Eccles Expectancy Value Model with emphasis added to reflect most important

Conference Session

K-12 Professional Development II

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

So Yoon Yoon, INSPIRE, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Yi Kong, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Heidi A. Diefes-Dux, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Johannes Strobel, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

knowledge to prepare their students for the next level.B. Evaluations of TPDMany studies have assessed the quality of TPD with the purpose of improving the effectivenessof TPD for teachers. Indicators to assess the quality of TPD can be professional developmentdesign, delivery, content, context, and outcomes11. For example, Kwakman (2003)12 investigatedthe factors that influenced teachers’ participation in TPD by using surveys and reformulating theTPD activities in response to a qualitative study. Duncan, Diefes-Dux, and Gentry (2011)4focused on the content of engineering TPD on teachers’ recognition and understanding of thenature of engineering by coding teachers’ reflective pre- and post-journal responses. Bredeson(2000)13 assessed the content

Conference Session

Civil Engineering Division Poster Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Natalya A. Koehler, Iowa State University; Charles T. Jahren P.E., Iowa State University

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

comments were tabulated below by each dimension. The dimensions were rated by theparticipants on the rating scale of five (1- not helpful at all; 2-not helpful; 3-somewhat helpful; 4-helpful;5-very helpful). All the users emphasized the content quality (see Table 2).Table 2 Students’ reflections on the content quality of the modules Themes Average Supportive Comments RatingsThe 1). I notice that they (the modules) do teach us.modules 4.8have higheducational 2). Step by step instruction, interactive, user-friendly, keeps you engaged.value 3). The videos are really boring, but the info is good. With my

Conference Session

Assessment of Student Learning 2

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jesse Pappas, James Madison University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

individualfaces many obstacles along the way. Accurate self-knowledge is threatened by self-serving1,2and confirmation3,4 biases, by dissociation between implicit and explicit cognitive processes,5and by our tendency to misconstrue self-relevant information.6 Unfortunately for us, self-understanding may be more important than ever. The complexities of modern social life demandan accordingly complex sense of self,7 and there is evidence to suggest that such complexity isbest complemented by emphasis on acquiring accurate self-knowledge.8,9 Self-reflection andintrospection may provide added insight,10, 11, 12 but essential aspects of one’s own character areoften inaccessible to introspection,13,14 or vulnerable to a host of interpretation biases.15,16, 17

Conference Session

Computers in Education (CoED) Engineering Poster Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Neelam Soundarajan, Ohio State University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

− Centered Centered Reflection− Centered Community Figure 1: HPL Framework for Learning EnvironmentsAccording to HPL, the learning environment and activities should be designed to be: 1. Learner-centered: Account for the knowledge, skills, preconceptions, and common miscon- ceptions of the learners; 2. Knowledge-centered: Help students learn with understanding by thinking qualitatively and Page 23.1391.3 organizing their knowledge around key concepts; 3. Reflection

Conference Session

Training and Mentoring of Graduate Teaching Assistants

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tershia A. Pinder-Grover, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

. Additionally, they areexpected to plan and teach a short lesson that includes active learning to a small cohort of theirpeers. During this practice teaching session, a trained facilitator helps the TA and his/hercolleagues reflect on the strengths of the lesson and any areas of improvement. Although a one-day orientation with a follow-up training module may not be as extensive of training as a week-long orientation or a semester long course, the strategic emphasis on active learning during thisorientation warrants a close review. This paper investigates the following research questionsfocused on TAs and active learning:  How do graduate student instructors describe ‘active learning’ and use these teaching methods in their classes?  What

Conference Session

Secondary (6-12) Outreach

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christine Schnittka, Auburn University; Michael A Evans, Virginia Tech ; Tiffany Drape, Virginia Tech; Samantha Gwai Lan Won, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

., “What’swho’s your favorite pop singer?” Messing around is the term used to describe interactions withtechnology for the purpose of informally seeking information of interest to the individual. In thechat logs, this was represented by quotes such as “What do you know about penguins?” Finally,geeking out describes interactions with technology that are specifically directed towardsincreasing individual expertise and knowledge of a particular subject area of interest. This wouldbe reflected in the chat logs by quotes such as “Our penguin (-shaped ice cube) did better whenwe used cotton balls to insulate.” The HOMAGO framework is descriptive in nature; thus, its usewas analytical in nature as we looked for learning as driven by the appropriation of