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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Hasmik Gharibyan

%,and the average scores for the bottom 1/3 and 1/5 of the class are not much lower: 81.23% and80.57% respectively. However, test results show a different picture: while the class average is75.89%, the average scores for the bottom 1/3 and 1/5 of the class are 60.46% and 55.76%respectively. Note that “bottom” is in respect to students’ overall-grade for the whole course.Overall Grade CalculationThe final grade in introductory Computer Science courses in the United States is typicallyassigned based on the overall grade for the course, which is the weighted average of the scoresfor labs, projects, homework, and tests (i.e. midterm and final exams, lab tests, quizzes, etc.).The distribution of weights in the overall grade calculation varies from

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Monica Palomo P.E.

via a complex, state-of-the-art network of aqueductscomprised of miles of pipelines, channels and tunnels, pumping stations, treatment plants, dams,reservoirs, and hydroelectric plants 1. Over the past several years there has been a significantreduction in the amount of water imported from the Colorado River, the State Water Project, andthe Los Angeles Aqueduct (Owens River Valley). Along the Colorado River, the two waterstorages (Lake Mead and Lake Powell) remain below half capacity 2. In addition, the watersupply from the State Water Project and the Los Angeles Aqueduct has been reduced for theprotection of endangered species and habitat restoration 4,5. Proceedings of the 2015 American Society for Engineering Education Pacific

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Ranjan K Sen

diversity. Recent articles suchas [1] emphasizes the role of Big Data technologies in innovation that is leading us to an“intelligent” economy of smart cars, smart buildings, better healthcare, law enforcement andeducation, productivity gains in economy and new and efficient ways of interacting withcustomers.The requirements for handling structured data with fixed schema, as well as unstructureddata with no fixed schema, and theoretically unlimited volume and velocity of data hasprompted the development of the so called Big Data technologies. Most of these are in theopen source and has been spurring rapid adoption by the industry. Although their availabilityis easy these technologies are based on advanced Information Technology concepts such

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Norali Pernalete; Shima Hajimirza

of academic models for learning-by-doing that we examined, the method iseither practiced as an in-class type of exercise, in the form of laboratory and computer modelingassignments, or as long-term student research projects. Depending on what form is implemented,there are always requirements and upgrades that has to be carried out at different levels forsuccessful results, including:1) Modifying classroom content and presentations to provoke students’ participation2) Restructuring homework assignments and course evaluation system4) Modernizing classrooms and laboratory equipment for facilitating experimental observationand education for students, and providing access to computer-aided design and engineeringprogramming tools.3) Defining

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Eric J. White; George Jing; Sandrine Fischer

word tags). Agiven selection of exercises may be displayed or sorted along any combination of thesedescriptors. As an example, a descriptor could assign to each exercise a simple tag, such as“easy,” “medium,” or “difficult.” Or, a descriptor could serve to assign a topic to each equation,such as “beat frequency” or “kinetic energy.” As a more advanced example, descriptors couldcomprise an educational taxonomy, as we will show in following sections. Figure 1 summarizesthe symbols, equations, exercises, and descriptors implemented in phiMap. Figure 1: Overview of the different data elements implemented in phiMap.As descriptors operate at different granularities, they allow for complex relationships within a setof exercises to be

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Sandrine Fischer; Kelli Yogi; Eric J. White

knowledge (for an overview, see Hoskinson et al.1). Problem solving,whereby one applies abstract principles in an expert-like fashion in order to achieve a goal, playsa central role in this endeavor.In physics, such abstract principles are commonly embodied through equations and instantiatedthrough word problems. Problems often refer to idealized objects or events (e.g., a block slidingon an inclined lane). Yet, rather than eliciting abstract thinking, such problems reinforce roteassociation with formulas and restrict transfer toward “real-life” situations. Many scholars deemidealized problems responsible for students developing a formulaic approach toward problemsolving (i.e., “plug and chug”), and ultimately leaving introductory courses with poor

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Elaine Gilbert

a depiction of the typical RFIreview process. Figure 1.a: Typical RFI Review Process Flow7The RFI discussion forum is a tool that can be used to help solve many of the issues that ariseduring the construction process. It could simplify the communication between the projectdecision makers and it can be applied to any project regardless of size or contract type. Thediscussion forum is intended to be implemented by the stakeholders early on in thedevelopment phase and should be preset with the list of professionals that will have access tothe forum and who will want to receive the RFI alerts and notifications. The discussion forum Proceedings of the 2015 American Society for Engineering Education

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Craig V. Baltimore; James Mwangi

, a mechanism was put in place for market place assessment over a 5 year span. This papergives an account of partnering in course development.MotivationThe more recent discussions in this partnering paradigm shift concern how industry could orshould influence curriculum. At the 2013 Conference of American Society for EngineeringEducation (ASEE), Chinchilla investigated the question as a matter of ethics and saving industrytraining costs 1. Ahzar et. al. noted how the academia-industry partnership can be used toadvance the knowledge base in construction management education 2. This paper demonstratesthe positive affect of an academic-industry partnership and how the curriculum and teaching is Proceedings of the 2015 American Society

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Abdur Rahman Amin

353Introduction: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Itaccounts for about 600,000 deaths each year. It is the leading cause of death of alldiseases in both men and women in the United States 1. One of the most criticalrisk factors for heart disease is hypertension or more commonly known as highblood pressure. Currently there are about 67 million, or about 1 in 3 people, whosuffer from hypertension in America2. The costs of treating hypertension aloneexceed $47.5 billion dollars each year in the United States. Thus, finding cost-effective and innovative solutions to combating this problem are vital. Current blood pressure monitoring systems make use of natural physicalproperties such as wave oscillation

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Jeffrey Ashworth; William Crisler

fractions of funding and faculty attentionwhile undergraduate programs atrophy unless the engineering school deliberately maintains itsidentity as an engineering program rather than an engineering sciences program.There are some questions the engineering education community should be asking over the nextfew years: 1. Do we have the desire to regain our identity and serve our industry customer? 2. Who are we? Scientists or engineers? Graduate programs or undergraduate? What’s our first priority? 3. Can we properly structure a curriculum and a faculty and an academic environment that makes sense for undergrad engineering students and the rookie engineers they’re about to become? 4. Can we recruit and motivate and

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

M. Zoghi; L. Crask; B. Hyatt; V. Luo; W. Wu

that will have great potential to improvemankind’s quality of life. The overarching thematic areas include energy and environment,health, security, and learning and computation. The GCSP has five components: (1)interdisciplinary curriculum, (2) hands-on projects or research experience, (3) entrepreneurship,(4) service learning, and (5) global perspective. The aforementioned roadmap will not onlyenhance students’ skills and knowledge needed to solve complex societal problems, but willprovide realistic and exciting opportunities for students to get engaged.There is an increasing number of engineering programs worldwide adopting the GCSP roadmapwithin their existing undergraduate and/or graduate education. The details of a proposed GCSPin the

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Amelito Enriquez; Nicholas Langhoff; Wenshen Pong; Nilgun Ozer; Hamid Shanasser; Cheng Chen; Hamid Mahmoodi; Ed Cheng; Kwok-Siong Teh; Xiaorong Zhang

engineering teaching institutethat assists community college engineering faculty in developing technology-enhanced instructionusing tablet computers and distance education; and d) alignment of engineering curriculum anddevelopment a joint engineering program among participating community colleges. Theseprograms have resulted in strengthening the community college engineering education pipeline inthe state.1. IntroductionDespite increasingly urgent calls to broaden the participation of underrepresented minorities(URMs include African Americans, Alaska Natives, American Indians, Latinos, NativeHawaiians and Pacific Islanders) in engineering not much progress has been achieved. Since2000, underrepresented minorities’ shares in engineering and the

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Lu Zhang; Mudasser F. Wyne; Alireza Farahani; Bhaskar Sinha; Mohammad Amin

are embeddedinto both the task maps and mapping rules to eliminate seemingly complex mathematical notations.Eventually, 3D animations will be utilized to enhance students’ learning by turning abstractionsinto animated environment and in particular to show the movement of primary keys based on thecardinalities of involved relationships. Assessment activities will also be carried out in the futureto determine the effectiveness of the new approach.1. IntroductionRelational database was first proposed by EF Codd in early 1970s. He laid out the foundation ofdatabase based on relational theories or set theories. Database is generally considered as amultidisciplinary subject, therefore it is also at times termed as database engineering, because

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Norman Ettedgui; Joe Cooney; Brian LaBar; Ernest Frimpong; Gilbert Szeto; Amelito G. Enriquez; Kwok-Siong Teh; Cheng Chen; Hamid Mahmoodi; Wenshen Pong; Hamid Shanasser; Xiaorong Zhang

394 Engaging Community College Students in Engineering Research through Design and Implementation of a Cyber-Physical System for Myoelectric-Controlled Robot Car Norman Ettedgui1, Joe Cooney1, Brian LaBar1, Ernest Frimpong1, Gilbert Szeto2, Amelito G. Enriquez1, Kwok-Siong Teh2, Cheng Chen2, and Hamid Mahmoodi2, Wenshen Pong2, Hamid Shahnasser2, and Xiaorong Zhang2 1 Cañada College, Redwood City, CA/ 2 School of Engineering, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CAAbstractTo

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Gregg L. Fiegel; Nephi Derbidge

focuson the topics listed in Table 1. We present terminology, definitions, concepts, theories, problem-solving techniques, and other information related to these topics using in-class lessons,supplemental notes, and textbook readings. The in-class lessons involve considerable work onthe chalkboard (or white-board) and include frequent student questioning1. The supplementalnotes include learning outcomes, additional details on important concepts, problem solving tips,and examples. We assign textbook readings to support the notes and in-class lessons. Thetextbook is the second edition of An Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering by Holtz et al.2 Table 1 - Essential Course Topics or Learning Modules Topic Number

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Bryan J. Mealy

designers can implement even the most complex digital circuitsusing a combination of basic digital circuits. Figure 1 shows a diagram of FRDD’s basic digitaldesign modules and their relation to digital logic design. FRDD does not emphasize thefollowing topics: Proceedings of the 2015 American Society for Engineering Education Pacific Southwest Conference Copyright © 2015, American Society for Engineering Education 444  In-depth notions of transistors  Function reduction using digital theorems  In-depth function reduction using Karnaugh Maps  References to discrete hardware devices  Uncommon

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Alireza Farahani; Lu Zhang

as a teaching tool in science and mathematics courses.A broad collection of typical problems in mathematics and physical science courses are tested inthe system and the benefits as well as the shortcomings of the system as a teaching resource arediscussed.1. Introduction:Wolfram Alpha is a computational knowledge engine that is implemented based on theMathematica Symbolic Algebra System. Wolfram Alpha’s built-in knowledge and computationalcapabilities and algorithms are implemented in Mathematica. The system is capable of receivinginput in a form of text, image or tabulated data then compute and display answers along withadditional information the system may consider relevant and perhaps useful. The data in thewolfram alpha is organized in

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Baheej Nabeel James Saoud; Brian P. Self; Jim Widmann; Alexa Coburn; Jeffrey Phillip Georgette

) 1, which is a pre- and post-course instrument developed to track how students’conceptual understanding of important topics changes throughout the class. The DCI containsmultiple questions about eleven topics covered in the dynamics curriculum. The conceptscovered by the DCI include those targeted by the hands-on activities we have developed,providing us with additional data to assess whether the activities are working as intended.According to research by Laws et al. 2, students who are taught using the traditional lecture–example problem methods generally have a lower conceptual understanding of course materialthan those engaged in active learning. The data from Laws et al. given in Figure 1 show adramatic increase in concept understanding

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Baird W. Brueseke; Gordon W. Romney

the survey were active instructors with direct knowledge of theirschool’s computer laboratory resources. The project objective was to gather information on a Proceedings of the 2015 American Society for Engineering Education/Pacific South West Conference Copyright © 2015, American Society for Engineering Education 484large variety of topics which affect the provisioning of computer science labs used in highereducation degree programs.This paper categorizes the survey responses into the following topical groups: Group Number Description 1 General

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Zoulikha Mouffak

homework and writingtheir solutions. For effectiveness, homework assignments usually have to be updated everysemester to avoid having students use old posted solutions. Nevertheless, many students findways to cheat using solutions provided by sites such as CourseHero, or Cramster [1]. The goodgrades in homework give them the false impression that they are performing well in the class,until the exams come, and many are deceived. Instructors have long struggled to find ways tomake students learn in a more efficient way, and homework remains a big dilemma suggestingthat its practices should change. New teaching styles have been blossoming during the last fewyears, such as the flipped classroom where homework is no longer a work done at home[2].There

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

John T. Tester

electiveManufacturing Processes lecture. As enrollments increased in the program, the laboratory was re-designated as a separate offering from the lecture and optional—a student could enroll in the lecturefor 3 hours of credit and choose not to enroll in the additional 1 credit hour (3 calendar hours) oflaboratory. The lecture/lab combination was only offered every other year, as was typical for mostME electives in the small programs. Enrollments continued to swell to the point that an ongoing,annual lecture/lab could be offered starting in 2013. With an ongoing annual offering, the authorconsidered a more product-realization experience for the manufacturing lab than was historicallypresented.Other universities have shown a similar emphasis, from a curriculum

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Laith Al Any; Jodi Reeves; Carl Josephson

518 “The H-1B nonimmigrant classification is a vehicle through which a qualified alien may seek admission to the United States on a temporary basis to work in his or her field of expertise. An H1B petition can be filed for an alien to perform services in a specialty occupation, services relating to a Department of Defense (DOD) cooperative research and development project or coproduction project, or services of distinguished merit and ability in the field of fashion modeling… In order to perform services in a specialty occupation, an alien must meet one of the following criteria: (1) hold a U.S. bachelor’s or higher degree as required by the specialty occupation from an accredited

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Taufik Taufik; Dale Dolan

IIntroduction to power electronics and power semiconductor devices. Analysis, performancecharacterization, and design of power electronics converters such as: rectifiers, DC choppers, ACvoltage controllers, and single-phase inverters. Operation of DC motor drives. Use ofcommercially available software. 3 lectures, 1 laboratory.EE 411 Power Electronics IISwitching losses. Analysis, performance characterization, and design of snubber circuits andresonant converters. Operation of DC transmission lines, flexible AC transmission system(FACTS) controllers, three-phase inverters, and AC motor drives. Use of commercially availablesoftware. 3 lectures, 1 laboratory.EE 433 Introduction to Magnetic DesignDesign of magnetic components. Fundamentals of magnetics

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Susan Wainscott; Julie Longo

making the transition from student to independent scholar12.Compounding the apparently common composition anxiety among graduate students in general,there is a prevalent stereotype that engineers are poor communicators. A very pervasive culturalbelief related to communication skills, particularly written communication, exists amongengineers; this is reflected in a currently popular T-shirt, as shown in Figure 1. Proceedings of the 2015 American Society for Engineering Education Pacific Southwest Conference Copyright © 2015, American Society for Engineering Education 532 Figure 1. A popular T-shirt reflecting a

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Estelle M. Eke

to the toolbox.Course StructureThe syllabus covers all items listed in the learning outcomes which state that the student shouldbe able to: 1. Use scalar and matrix operations and linear algebra techniques to solve engineering problems. 2. Generate a Graphical User Interface (GUI) to effectively present solutions in an interactive MATLAB environment. 3. Solve systems of linear ordinary equations using Gauss’ method and, for the special case of a 3x3 system, generate solutions via a graphical method. 4. Read and write MATLAB data files and import data into MATLAB from an Excel spreadsheet. 5. Write programs that involve user-defined functions, loops, and conditional statements. 6. Solve initial value problems using the

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Rose-Margaret Itua; Sharnnia Artis

andethnically underrepresented students in Engineering classrooms. We also discuss our NSF-UCBerkeley funded collaboration on Context-Based Learning and the IEEE Santa Clara Section’ssupport for Engineering for Humanitarian and Social Change Projects at Ohlone College.Female and Underrepresented Ethnic Group Students in EngineeringTo continue advancement in energy science and research and to thrive in a global economy, theU.S. will have to rely on scientists and engineers to develop innovative and high-value-addedproducts and services, as well as improve productivity through the use of technology-basedtools.1 This pipeline of scientists and engineers, with its under-representation of women andunderrepresented minorities (African Americans, American

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Brian P. Self; Jim Widmann; Alexa Coburn; Baheej Saoud; Lindsey Chase

Inquiry-Based Learning Activities (IBLA), which follow the general cycle shown in Figure 1. Present Scenario Intervention Predict Reevaluate Discuss Observe Figure 1. Learning cycle for IBLAs.We first present students with a physical scenario. For example, a solid cylinder and a pipe, eachwith the same outer radius and mass, are placed at the top of a ramp. Which will reach thebottom first (or will they reach it at the same time)? Students must first submit an

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2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Lelli Van Den Einde; Nathan Delson; Sean Patno; Jason Hyunjin Cha; Elizabeth Cowan; Jessica Cho

mainmodifications that were made: 1) the development of assignments that start simple and get morecomplex, 2) an intermediate option to receive a hint (animation) before peeking at the solutions,3) a point system (stars) to encourage students to try without taking hints or peeking, and 4) theuse of a few assessment questions at the end of each lesson where the hint and peek options aredisabled. This paper describes the SVT™ and Spatial Kids™ applications, the enhancements tothe feedback provided to the students in order to promote engagement, and future directions.IntroductionSpatial visualization is the mental representation and manipulation of 2D and 3D shapes. Skillsin spatial visualization have been correlated to high GPAs in math, engineering