Conference Session

Undergraduate Recruitment

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Patricia R. Backer, San Jose State University; Rona Tamiko Halualani, San Jose State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

authors examined datafrom student Longitudinal Assessment of Engineering Self-Efficacy (LAESE)surveys. Despitethe shrinking number of women engineering students at San José State University , the self-efficacy levels of the women engineering students were high. The authors can surmise thatwomen who choose to study engineering at SJSU feel confident in their abilities to succeed inengineering and or project such confidence given the male-dominated terrain of Engineering.A. Theoretical basis for the researchThere is little empirical research on the specific impact of cultural attitudes about gender roles ongirls’ interest and career choice in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)fields, particularly about STEM interest and career

Conference Session

Research Informing Teaching Practice II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sensen Li, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Sean P. Brophy, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

 underpinning of pseudo peer diagrams, as well as the use of Classroom Presenter 3 in our futureresearch.AcknowledgementsThis research was made possible with a grant from the National Science Foundation (AwardNumber – DUE-0817486)Bibliography[1] Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998a). Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment in Education: PrinciplesPolicy and Practice, 5(1), 7–73.[2] Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998b). Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment. PhiDelta Kappan, 80(2), 139-147.[3] Heritage, M. (2010). Formative assessment and next-generation assessment systems: Are we losing anopportunity? A project of Margaret Heritage and the Council of Chief State School Officers (Paper prepared for theCouncil of Chief

Conference Session

NSF Grantees' Poster Session

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary R. Anderson-Rowland, Arizona State University; Armando A. Rodriguez, Arizona State University; Richard A. Hall Jr., Cochise Community College; Phil Blake McBride, Eastern Arizona College; Rakesh Pangasa, Arizona Western College; John M. Saber, Mohave Community College; Clark Vangilder, Central Arizona College; Anita Grierson, Arizona State University

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

haveearned an MBA or have gone on to graduate school part-time. This program builds on12prior/current National Science Foundation (NSF) CSEMS/S-STEM/S-STEP projects ($6.715M)addressing lower-division, upper-division, and CC transfer needs.The CIRC/METS (C/M) Program has had a profound impact upon its scholarship students.Nationally, “transfer GPA shock” is a drop in GPA of a half to a full grade point upon transfer to Page 25.899.7a university from a CC. Since students start their University GPA from scratch, this drop can bedevastating. After Fall 2010, a study was done with the 16 new upper division transferscholarship students compared with the 183

Conference Session

Considerations for the Collection Conscious Librarian

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Theresa M. Calcagno, George Mason University; Jessica Bowdoin, George Mason University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

AC 2012-5576: MEETING THE TEXTBOOK NEEDS OF ENGINEERINGSTUDENTSMs. Theresa M. Calcagno, George Mason University Theresa Calcagno is the Liaison Librarian to the Volgenau School of Engineering at George Mason Uni- versity in Fairfax, Va. Prior to that, Calcagno was a Research Librarian for an engineering project con- sulting firm.Mrs. Jessica Bowdoin, George Mason University Jessica Bowdoin is currently the Head of Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery at George Mason Uni- versity. She has served in this role since June 2008. She was previously the Distance Education Librarian and Head of Interlibrary Loan at East Carolina University, and a Reference Librarian at the College of William and Mary. She obtained

Conference Session

Ethics and Technology

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ahmed S. Khan, DeVry University, DuPage; Aram Agajanian, DeVry University, Chicago

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

, network engi- neering, fiber optic communications, technology and society, and project management. He also advises students on their senior design projects. He is author of ”The Telecommunications Fact Book, 2E,” ”Nan- otechnology: Ethical and Social Implication,” and co-author of ”Technology and Society: Crossroads to the 21st Century,” ”Technology and Society: A Bridge to the 21st Century,” and ”Technology and Society: Issues for the 21st Century and Beyond.” He is a member of ASEE and a Senior Member of IEEE.Dr. Aram Agajanian, DeVry University, Chicago Aram Agajanian is a Senior Professor at DeVry University in Chicago. He holds a B.S. in electrical en- gineering from the University of Rochester, a M.S. in

Conference Session

Curriculum and Facility Developments for Innovative Energy Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Abul K. M. Azad, Northern Illinois University; Clifford R. Mirman, Northern Illinois University; Avinash Varma Gadiraju; Chester D. Kolodziej, Freedom Field Renewable Energy, Inc.

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

- Engineering Economy  TECH 484 – Energy Management  TECH 496 - Industrial Project Management (Capstone experience)  Three Technical Electives related to energy and the environment2.3 Student Recruitment Page 25.1008.4Due to the State of Illinois rules, all new programs must receive Board of Education approval,and as such, the two new Liberal Arts programs that were created have just received approval tobe offered. The new Technology program received approval last year, and is in its first year ofbeing offered. Recruiting for these programs is relatively simple; they are selling themselves!The

Conference Session

International Division Poster Session

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Xavier Shastri Domnique Henry, University of Maryland, Eastern Shore; Abhijit Nagchaudhuri, University of Maryland, Eastern Shore; Madhumi Mitra Ph.D., University of Maryland, Eastern Shore

Tagged Divisions

International

oftourism, urbanization, and agriculture have resulted in reduced biodiversity, land degradation,hydrological changes, and reduced water quality. The need to protect valuable resources withoutstalling national development has lead to the implementation of the sustainable island resourcemanagement mechanism (SIRMM) project in the twin-island nation. The SIRMM, a projectbased largely upon remote sensing (RS) and geographical information systems (GIS), seeks todocument the islands’ resources and will allow for integrated ecosystems management in allsubsequent major development. To date, most of the terrestrial resources observed from the RSaerial imagery have been confirmed via extensive surveys. However, those resources occurringbelow the waves have

Conference Session

BME Course and Curriculum Development

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steve R Marek, University of Texas, Austin; William Liechty, University of Texas, Austin; James W. Tunnell, University of Texas, Austin

Tagged Divisions

Biomedical

design paradigm ● Hands-on and problem-based learning ● Development of team-building skills ● Recognition of creativity in engineering designThe drug-delivery module is the first of three sections in this new course, which leads thefreshmen students through several aspects of design in the biomedical engineering field, andexposes them to all three tracks in The University of Texas at Austin BME department. Sincethis module is the first in the series, it has the most rigorous (i.e. least open-ended) project Page 25.345.3guidelines. The students are introduced to the concept of engineering design, but in a directedmanner. Unlike the later

Conference Session

Laboratory Development in ECE I

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jae-do Park, University of Colorado, Denver

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

implementation of the instructional electric machine laboratory is describedin this paper. The objectives of this project are to upgrade 50-year old laboratory equipmentand to provide students with hands-on experience on up-to-date electric machines, drives andinstruments, as well as to improve their understanding of the theory learned from lectures.Instead of the systems especially designed for educational purpose, off-the-shelf industrialdevices have been selected for the experiments to make them more realistic and thus closer towork situations, as well as more cost effective. Experiments, hardware components,instruments and student feedback about the laboratory course offered are presented.1. IntroductionThe importance of power engineering education

Conference Session

Understanding Our Students II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy S. Van Arsdale, University of California, Riverside; Thomas Stahovich, University of California, Riverside

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

Department at the University of California, Riverside. Page 25.478.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2012 Does Neatness Count? What the Organization of Student Work Says About UnderstandingAbstractStudents have long been taught that neatness counts. But does it? In this project, we seek tounderstand how the organization of a student’s solution to a problem relates to the correctness ofthe work. Understanding this relationship will enable us to create software to provide earlywarnings to students who may be struggling in a course. In this study, students in

Conference Session

Energy, the Environment, and Nano Technology

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lawrence Holloway, University of Kentucky; Yang-Tse Cheng, University of Kentucky; Donald G. Colliver P.E., University of Kentucky; Aaron Cramer, University of Kentucky; Paul A. Dolloff, University of Kentucky; Bob Gregory, University of Kentucky; John George Groppo Jr., University of Kentucky; Yuan Liao, University of Kentucky; Stephen M. Lipka, University of Kentucky; Jim Neathery, Unversity of Kentucky; Johne M. Parker, University of Kentucky; Vijay Singh, University of Kentucky; Joseph Sottile, University of Kentucky; Timothy R.B. Taylor P.E., University of Kentucky; Rodney Andrews, University of Kentucky

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

communicate in both directions, providing the institute with information from their home departments about potential problems, as well assisting the institute in seeking solutions to problems that can work for all parties. It's important that the representatives are self-chosen and thus motivated to put in the time and effort needed to launch such a project. The current leadership team (which corresponds to the coauthors of this paper) came together based on a shared commitment to power and energy education, and began working together as participants on the grant proposal. A challenge for the future will be to determine how to maintain an effective core leadership team, as additional faculty outside the initial team become interested

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bonnie H. Ferri, Georgia Institute of Technology; JillL L. Auerbach, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

. Page 25.89.2A primary goal of this research is to develop a model for widespread use of portable laboratoriesthroughout the curriculum as a way of enhancing lecture-based courses. This approach has thepotential to have extensive impact on student learning and mitigate the challenges and resistancefaced by other engineering education reforms. The limited development required forincorporating hands-on experimental platforms for engineering students to use in the classroomor to take home shows promise towards reaching a realistic modification of lecture-onlyengineering courses6-11. The Finite State Machine Module described in this paper is one of the modules developed aspart of a project funded by the NSF CCLI program to develop labs

Conference Session

What Are We Learning About Co-op and Experiential Education Experience?

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Marshall, University of Southern Maine

Tagged Divisions

Cooperative & Experiential Education

a meaningful job while going to school and testing degree interests in real-world situations. Co-op students frequently qualify for higher starting salaries after graduation because of their experience. Many organizations participate in the co-op program to develop future employees, offering permanent positions to numerous former co-op students after graduation. Fellowships are typically a merit-based scholarship, or form of academic financial aid. They may provide students and scholars with support to pursue independent or guided research projects of value to the granting agency.Rational for a Graduation RequirementNetworkingOne of the most powerful networking tools available for engineering

Conference Session

Learning and Assessment I

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sriram Sundararajan, Iowa State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

, Page 25.104.8a project report etc. This approach is consistent with the notion of direct assessment andleverages the fact that the instructor is going to evaluate the chosen component irrespective ofthe assessment need, since it contributes to the course grade. The instructor is also asked to set acriteria that reflects the demonstration of the particular outcome. For example an instructor,having chosen a homework on uncertainty analysis as the activity to reflect ability to applyknowledge of mathematics and engineering, may set the criteria for attainment as a 75% score onthe HW. This criteria is instructor dependent since instructors are in best position to judge thedifficulty level of the problem. Finally the instructor simply reports the

Conference Session

Outreach, Engagement, and Undergraduate Research

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Natalie Barrett, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

take up to four coursesincluding this one. All of the students in the program also participate in an industry project ledby an engineer from a local corporation. One major limitation is that there will only be about 16hours of instruction time for this course.ContentCurricular PrioritiesWiggins and McTighe (1998) discuss three facets of understanding to help learners graspmaterial. The first is enduring understanding and these are the big ideas that the learners shouldbe able to understand even if they have forgotten the course details. The second is important to Page 25.115.2know and this is important knowledge and skills that is considered

Conference Session

Spatial Visualization

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Diarmaid Lane, University of Limerick; AJ Hamlin, Michigan Technological University; Norma L. Veurink, Michigan Technological University; Niall Seery, University of Limerick

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Design Graphics

about orthographic projection. Studentsurveys and classroom observations were recorded by the teachers.High levels of student motivation were observed during both phases and the studentsevidenced a clear understanding of the picture plane and its relationship with perspectivedrawings. The paper also reports that a number of ergonomic improvements which weremade to the sketching equipment (subsequent to ‘Phase One’) were beneficial and that theseenabled more controlled and reflective exploration of complex geometries. The manner inwhich students completed the activity during both phases of the study varied. Some studentsperformed the exercise in a slow, controlled and reflective manner, resulting in sketcheswhich were precise, with significant

Conference Session

Outreach, Engagement, and Undergraduate Research

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Matthew A. Carr, U.S. Naval Academy; Jim Cowart, U.S. Naval Academy

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

this project was to develop anunderstanding of how the original engines worked. This paper provides authentic design andoperating data collected from historical documents for an actual Newcomen engine andillustrates the thermo-fluids analyses of this reverse-engineering portion of the design project.Today’s students should be aware of significant historical developments as part of theirengineering education. The types of analyses included in this paper allow for relatively easyintegration into existing thermo-fluids courses and, at the same time, allow for development ofan appreciation for the history of steam engineering and its contribution to the engineeringprofession.introductionThe year 2012 marks the tercentenary of a significant

Conference Session

Hands-on Laboratory and Design Experiences in Environmental Engineering

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sudarshan T. Kurwadkar, Tarleton State University; Daniel K. Marble, Tarleton State University; Jennifer T. Edwards, Tarleton State University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

Society for Engineering Education, 2012 Summer Merit Camp and Environmental Communication Week: Targeted Approaches to Environmental Engineering EducationAbstract:This paper discusses the effectiveness of two targeted approaches, a three-week paid summercamp for high school junior and senior students selected based upon proficiency in high schoolmath and science classes and teacher recommendations and an environmental communicationweek targeted toward general university students, in promoting environmental education ispresented. The environmental communication week was a cross-collaborative environmentaleducation project involving lectures from experts in related fields and interactive activitieshighlighting the importance of green

Conference Session

ADVANCE and Related Faculty Issues

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Karen Chang Yan, College of New Jersey; Lisa Grega, College of New Jersey; Suriza VanderSandt, College of New Jersey; Diane C. Bates, College of New Jersey; Elizabeth Borland, College of New Jersey; Karen Elizabeth Clark, College of New Jersey; Amanda Norvell, College of New Jersey

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

years agoand can thus make more detailed analysis of faculty accomplishments according to gender,discipline, and length of service.Qualitative Interviews Research for the Gender Equity Interview Project was carried out in Fall 2010 and ananalysis of the data was performed in Spring 2010 to identify policies and practices that produceand reproduce gender inequality. All of the female professors and a comparable number of malefull professors from NSF-supported disciplines were asked to participate in interviews abouttheir career histories, with particular attention to the process of promotion to full professor (seeTable 1 for sample information). All of the female associate professors eligible to apply forpromotion and a comparable group

Conference Session

Research on Engineering Design Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ryan C. Campbell, University of Washington; Ken Yasuhara, University of Washington; Cynthia J. Atman, University of Washington; Sheri Sheppard, Stanford University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

coverage of these important broader considerations, andthus to provide opportunities for broader ways of thinking in engineering education. Commonapproaches to teaching engineering design incorporate some of these ways through project-basedlearning, which finds instantiation in senior capstone design projects [6, 7], first-year cornerstonedesign projects [7], and service learning [7, 8]. Closely related, the Aalborg problem-based learning(PBL) model also focuses on contextualizing learning and problem-solving [9]. Litzinger et al.’s[10] discussion of expertise and engineering education emphasizes the importance of the “context-rich, multifaceted problems” commonly embedded in all of these approaches.Empirical research on engineering design

Conference Session

Training and Mentoring of Graduate Teaching Assistants

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Raslinda Ghazali, Purdue University; Heidi A. Diefes-Dux, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

students to develop team, communication,ethical reasoning, and societal and global contextual analysis skills. Therefore it issuggested that engineering schools focus more on outcome-based approaches bypromoting flexibility and creativity in student projects.2 In some ways, theserecommendations denote a growing emphasis on design and open-ended problem solvingas opposed to the traditional close-ended problems.To respond to these recommendations, it is crucial to prepare engineering GTAs toperform effectively in new and challenging learning environments. Since training isconsidered an important part of the GTA experience, it would be very beneficial tounderstand the training needs that can contribute to GTAs’ professional growth.Generally, there

Conference Session

Interdisciplinary Education in Engineering Technology

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Barbara L Christe, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis; Steven J. Yelton P.E., Cincinnati State Technical and Community College; Roger Bowles, Texas State Technical College, Waco

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

harmonize academic programs. This extensive project will offer a set ofvoluntary guidelines that be used by institutions to develop course content and prepare studentsfor national certification. Combined with an overarching discipline name, hospital and industryemployers hope to better evaluate programs and graduates.1 Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI). (2011). What is a BMET? Retrieved fromhttp://www.aami.org/resources/BMET/whatis.html2 ABET. (2012). Accredited Programs Search. Retrieved fromhttp://main.abet.org/aps/Accreditedprogramsearch.aspx3 ABET. (2012). ABET Member Societies. Retrieved from http://www.abet.org/abet-member-societies/4 BMES. (2012). About BMES. Retrieved from http://www.bmes.org/aws/BMES/pt

Conference Session

Learning and Assessment III

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Horacio Vasquez, University of Texas, Pan American; Arturo A. Fuentes, University of Texas, Pan American; Robert A. Freeman, University of Texas, Pan American

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

becausethis project is in progress. The purpose of this work is to increase passing rates, reduce thenumber of students that drop, and increase the average grade of the students that pass Statics;consequently, improving retention of engineering students. The online assessments intend toengage students in solving problems about fundamental concepts throughout the semesterinvolving not only recently studied concepts but also integrating previously learned concepts topromote knowledge retention and emphasize its relevance in subsequent parts of the course.There is great satisfaction when students in Statics are able to analyze and solve a variety ofmachine, frame, and truss problems applying and integrating the fundamental concepts andprocedures they

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Engineering Potpourri

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Irina Nicoleta Ciobanescu Husanu, Drexel University; Michael G. Mauk, Drexel University; Patrick lee Kirby, Drexel University; Bailu Xu

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

concepts related tothermo-fluids and heat transfer areas.Course Development and ImprovementThermodynamics and Heat Transfer Laboratory is a three hour-credit junior to seniorundergraduate core curriculum course designed for all Engineering Technology (ET) students. Page 25.843.3Our ET program majors range from mechanical engineering technology, electrical engineeringtechnology, industrial engineering technology and biomedical engineering technology. Also, thiscourse is one of the main precursors of the capstone Senior Design course. The Senior Designencompasses a student-led team project that has as a main outcome demonstrating a workingprototype

Conference Session

Innovations in Computing Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

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

Tagged Divisions

Computing & Information Technology

Politehnica University of Timisoara, Timisoara, in 1992, and a M.E.Sc. degree and a Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of the Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, in 1999 and 2004, respectively. He was with the Applied Electrostatics Research Centre and the Digital Electronics Research Group, the University of Western Ontario, where he worked on industrial projects and taught. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics, State University of New York at Oswego. Ieta is a member of Professional Engineers of Ontario.Dr. Carolina C. Ilie, State University of New York, Oswego

Conference Session

Engineering Education and Comparative Studies at Universities throughout Asia, Far East

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Samuel Ratnajeevan Herbert Hoole P.E., Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

International

Kilinochchi were alienated by thegovernment for the faculty.It was the time when civil engineering was booming through river diversion projects in SriLanka and jobs in the Middle East and Africa. Thurairajah had come from an older era wherecivil engineering had large labs with models of fluid channels almost 40 m long. Accordinglyland had been allocated as recommended. But Thurairajah could not build up the faculty eventhen. Although the government approved the faculty with the assumption of protection from theIndian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), the Tamil Tiger rebels began an insurgency against theIPKF disrupting the region with a bloody secondary conflict.5 Thurairajah was wooing this writeron a visit to California in 1989 to come as a department

Conference Session

ERM Potpourri

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Anthony Gregerson, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Sean Franey, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

educationalprocess, including methods of classroom assessment.In their seminal book on the reasons students give for leaving STEM fields, Seymour and Hewittfound that engineering students cited a ‘curriculum overload’ and ‘overwhelming pace’ incourses as being key factors in the decision to switch majors for 45% of students surveyed [3].Workload-related complaints were the second most common reason for engineering students toleave their field and ranked significantly higher for engineers than for science and math majorswho cited it only 25% of the time.In engineering courses, the period of greatest overload often comes in the final weeks of thesemester, when students must wrestle with homework assignments, semester-long projects andresearch papers, and end

Conference Session

Design in Engineering Education Poster Session

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Florian Misoc, Southern Polytechnic State University; Jeff Wagner, Southern Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

engineering, power systems engineering,where energy conversion concepts are the foundation of those programs, emphasis on powerelectronics requires an in-depth knowledge and skills, which can only be acquired through abalanced lecture-lab combination. While courses of power electronics have been an integralcomponent of electrical engineering and/or engineering technology programs, the lecture &project scheme has been the dominant method of course material delivery. Thus, it is uncertain todetermine what practical skills were acquired, through any power electronics course that does notinclude a formal laboratory component.Previous researchPrevious research has determined that the practicum/laboratory experience is instrumental in thegraduates

Conference Session

Orienting Students for Lifelong Learning Success

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michelle Spence, University of Toronto; Jason A. Foster, University of Toronto; Robert Irish, University of Toronto; Patricia Kristine Sheridan, University of Toronto; Geoffrey Samuel Frost, University of Toronto

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

learning indirectly from their teammates didnot give them sufficient understanding to be able to use the skills.Second, students found that having Stations at specific physical locations constrained teams fromexploring the spectrum of resources available in the library. For example some students mightspend the entire activity at a computer terminal or in the book stacks, and never visit physicaljournals or the reference desk. Having the students restricted to a given physical location did notpromote exploration and serendipity.Third, despite that the activities were intended to link to the students’ upcoming design projects,the students did not always see the relevance of the Stations. The Station that received the mostnegative student response

Conference Session

Learning and Assessment II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Randy Dean Kelley P.E., University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

enforces the material in the students’ intellect.2Other objectives include working with others in groups. There exists a perception thatengineering students lack personal skills in social situations. Many times perception is reality.By working in groups, students develop valuable inter-personal skills that will greatly aid themin the future. Also in engineering, a students’ ability to develop solutions to complex problemsis extremely important for their future. By allowing them to struggle with a problem, developsthese types of skills.“Mini” Research Project GuidelinesTo limit the amount of extra work for the students and instructor, the “mini” research paperswere limited to five double spaced pages excluding cover page, table of contents