Paper ID #15487The Charles Sturt University Model - Reflections on Fast-track Implementa-tionProf. Euan Lindsay, Charles Sturt University Professor Euan Lindsay is a Mechatronic engineer, a discipline that integrates computers, electronics and physical hardware. Prof Lindsay’s PhD investigated whether remote and simulated access alternatives to the traditional in-person laboratory experience could provide the same learning outcomes for students. Prof Lindsay’s work in Remote and Virtual laboratory classes has shown that there are significant differ- ences not only in students’ learning outcomes but also in their
demonstrates thecompetency and also if the pass/fail bar has been set appropriately.The course syllabus for ENCN470 states: “Much of a professional engineer’s work relies less onthe “technical” skills and knowledge developed at university and more on the “professional”competencies in which that technical knowledge is applied. This is reflected in the CompetencyProfiles developed by IPENZ for graduate engineers; it includes the following items: Investigation and Research Risk Management Teamwork Communication The Engineer and Society”The IPENZ Competency Profiles map well with some of the ABET Criterion 3 a – k StudentOutcomes as well as with the ASCE 2nd Edition Body of Knowledge (BOK) outcomes withrespect to professional
freshman or capstone engineering classes that have a fairly broad scope of learningobjectives. This paper describes the design and assessment of a service-learning module in arequired junior-level course in probability and statistics for engineering students at a large publicuniversity, which typically enrolls 90-100 students. This course is ideal for service learningbecause students struggle with the material, complaining it is “too theoretical”, and can feelanonymous in a large lecture course. Yet, there are few examples of how to successfullyintegrate service-learning ideas, including reflection activities, into a high-enrollment course thattraditionally focuses heavily on quantitative fundamentals.This paper details the design, student work
question to assess understanding of the relation between form and forces in a suspension bridge. Image: Maria Garlock 4. To encourage experiential learning. Here we use a sequence of polling questions to guide students through an interactive lecture demonstration or handson activity. Encouraging experiential learning through lecture demonstrations and handson activities We typically implement an interactive lecture demonstration in three stages: predict experience , , reflectand [3]. In the first step, students make their predictions about the outcome of an experiment or
the content and spirit of the BOK as much as possible.The BOK is a formal embodiment of what the U.S. Civil Engineering Profession values in itsstudents and practitioners.While ABET accreditation may be viewed by some as a compliance activity, at its heart is anassessment program to demonstrate continuous improvement in student learning. It is axiomaticthat students learn better when they know the expectations or goals of the particular learningactivity. In terms of performance, the program outcomes represent the faculty’s learningexpectations of the student. Since the department’s student learning outcomes (SLOs) areconstructed to reflect the ASCE BOK, they are also a representation of the profession’sexpectations of the students
groups were presented with an Owl’s Dilemma at the beginningof each week or Concept. The dilemma was presented in an inquiry-based fashion for Group Aand required that they share their thoughts about the dilemma. Group B, on the other hand wasjust presented with the dilemma and not asked to comment on it. Both groups were asked toreflect on Owl’s Solution at the end of each week or Concept. Figure 10 shows the percentage oflearners in each group who reflected on Owl’s Solution. Group A learners were consistentlymore likely to reflect on Owl’s Solution than Group B learners. In weeks 5 and 6, 12.9% and15.4% more learners from Group A reflected on Owl’s Solution than learners from Group B.This indicates that Group A learners were more engaged with
students directly,and also the faculty indirectly – resulting in a more inspiring classroom environment. Simplystated by Harold Hongju Koh, “Theory without practice is as lifeless as practice without theory isthoughtless 15.”It is well researched and documented that problem based learning is well suited for engineeringprograms for students to engage in complex, ill-suited, and open-ended problems to fosterflexible thinking and support intrinsic motivation 16. These characteristics in turn can increaseopportunities for group discussion over potential solutions, provide opportunity for criticalinstructor feedback, and essential self-reflection of the learning.A. Kolb and D. Kolb define Experiential Learning Theory as the “process whereby knowledge
thestudents’ general sentiment towards the probabilistic assessments. Through formal and informalfeedback, many students reported that they did not appreciate losing points due to selecting theincorrect answer. This inherent consequence in the probabilistic MC method used in CE404 mayhave tainted some of the students’ views towards the assessment technique, which is reflected inthe student survey data.1. Increases the student’s level of critical thought throughout the courseAs seen in Figure 4, only 29% of the class felt as though probabilistic multiple choice questionsincreased their level of critical thought while 39% of the students felt the questions did notincrease their level of critical thought. However, comparing the end-of-semester
cross-section of societyacross gender, racial, political, and cultural boundaries. Although specific demographicdata were not collected in these specific classes, the University of Idaho’s undergraduatestudent population of approximately 8,800 students consists of a gender breakdown thatis approximately 60% male and 40% female, and a student ethnicity that is 77% white,9% Hispanic or Latino, 5% International, and 9% representing other affiliations.7The civil engineering students noted that there was a strong sense of community at theUniversity of Idaho, likely linked to the small, college-town setting. While some studentsenjoyed smaller class sizes others reflected that the classes were large and unfocused onthe student. This was influenced by
left ACT,SEN, VIS, and SEQ represent active, sensing, visual, and sequential learning styles, respectively.On its right REF, INT, VRB, and GLO represent reflective, intuitive, verbal, and global learningstyles. Based on their submission, each student was assigned single number representing eachrow of the figure. Numbers on the left side of the figure were assigned negative values. As anexample, the student submitting Figure 1 was assigned the set of values [5, -1, -9 -1] indicatingthat he or she was demonstrated a moderate preference for reflective learning, slight preferencefor sensing and sequential learning and a strong preference for visual learning. Such analysis wasconducted for each individual student who participated in a group that
a. Define civic action and reflect on personal role b. Connect and extend knowledge to civic engagement and serve others5. Service Learning 26-28 c. Communicate differing perspectives of communities and cultures d. Collaboratively work across and within a community to provide a serviceThe rubric was created by the authors for this study and for use at Clemson University toevaluate GCS projects based on the 5 GCS program competencies. The rubric criteria weremined and adapted from best practices in the literature.Rubric ApplicationTo demonstrate the use of the proposed rubric, the
webinar, there was not a lot of discussionsolicited, as the focus was to get the final outline approved.Overall assessment/reflectionEach member of the management team was asked to share their reflection on the process, andsome of these reflections are shared in the following list. “The biggest challenge in the process was remembering we were writing a model course for new infrastructure instructors, not the Best Infrastructure Course Ever (which, of course, each participant believes she or he had already written and is currently teaching!).” “Remaining focused on the objective helped prevent “my way or the highway” attitudes from intruding. This is not a process for stubborn people. Compromise and consensus requires each
engineering”, including 20 attitudes (Table 1): “commitment, confidence, considerationof others, curiosity, entrepreneurship, fairness, high expectations, honesty, integrity, intuition,judgment, optimism, persistence, positiveness, respect, self-esteem, sensitivity, thoughtfulness,thoroughness, and tolerance.”2, p. 148 Interestingly, the attitude entrepreneurship is omitted fromthe list in Appendix O of the BOK2, p. 172; this is perhaps indicative of the difficulty in convergingon a single set of appropriate or desirable attitudes. Some of these attitudes are reflective of a“People Mind” as described by Goldberg and Somerville12, such as consideration of others.Despite the seeming certainty of the list of important attitudes that were articulated for
already been tasked with designing slabreinforcement for flexure and shrinkage/ temperature, beam reinforcement for positive/negativeflexure and shear, as well as column reinforcement for flexure-axial and shear individually. Yet,the interaction or continuity of this reinforcement to tie the entire structural system together isoften not well understood, but is critical to the performance of the building’s design.The one-way slab model, shown in Figure 8, aims to clarify all of the aforementioned concepts ina way that directly reflects reinforced concrete design practice and is clear to students. Themodel was constructed by the University of Illinois Department of Civil & EnvironmentalEngineering (CEE) Machine Shop using funding from the
helped them to create model materials for an infrastructure course and to acquire toolsand materials to teach their courses (80%). Perhaps most importantly, the majority felt that theworkshop helped them to build relationships with others interested in infrastructure education.Reflecting on the CIT-E Community of PracticeThe CIT-E Community of Practice is evolving over time. Early work revolved around coalescingaround ideas and generating materials and is moving toward broader dissemination. CIT-E CoPmembers are participating at varying levels of effort and involvement. Those in the midst ofteaching an infrastructure course or preparing to teach the course are most engaged in the workof the community. In reflecting on their participation
design in their respective field.The American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) and the World Federation ofEngineering Associations state that engineers “strive to comply with principles of sustainabledevelopment”5 and “maintain and continuously improve awareness and understanding ofenvironmental stewardship, sustainability principles and issues related to your field of practice.”6 To prepare students for future professional practice, FGCU along with many otherinstitutions of learning, has an increased focus on sustainability in engineering with drivingforces present to incorporate concepts of sustainability into the undergraduate curriculum. Thegeneral topic of sustainability integration in engineering curricula is reflected
. He is a consulting geotechnical engineer in Michigan. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2016 Accreditation Insights and the Next Body of KnowledgeAbstractThe American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) organized the Civil Engineering ProgramCriteria Task Committee (CEPCTC) in October 2012. The CEPCTC charge was to determine ifthe current ABET Civil Engineering Program Criteria (CEPC) should be changed to reflect one ormore of the 24 outcomes of the second edition of the Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge. Aftertwo years of work, a proposed CEPC was approved by the relevant ASCE committees andforwarded to ABET for approval and incorporation into accreditation criteria. Two previous
regulations (writing assignment 2), withpersonal opinions and reactions to the case, offering time for reflection of some of the conceptsexplored in the class. This combination (sometimes more elegantly achieved than others) isexemplified by this submission to the forensic engineering assignment: These improvements are relatively inexpensive from an economical point of view… the state will definitely not be happy with these extra expenses, so this is controversial… the construction team could be at a high risk of losing their engineering license and the media will most likely stir up some harsh and unnecessary labels to them…This student is reflecting on many of the case study’s key ideas, but struggling to articulate hisideas
(VTECC) and CATALYST Fellow at the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology (ICAT). Her research interests include interdisciplinary collaboration, design education, communication studies, identity theory and reflective practice. Projects supported by the National Science Foundation include exploring disciplines as cultures, interdisciplinary pedagogy for pervasive computing design; writing across the curriculum in Statics courses; as well as a CAREER award to explore the use of e-portfolios to promote professional identity and reflective practice. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2016 Disciplinary Influences on the Professional Identity of Civil Engineering
passivelearning is actually associated with a decrease in course performance.2,3 Conversely, activelearning includes the use of pedagogical strategies that encourage student engagement withcourse material. Research shows that when students reflect, discuss, ask questions, or pose andresolve problems, they stand a better chance of actually learning and understanding coursematerial, compared to a traditional lecture wherein they passively receive information from theinstructor.4 More specifically, when students are actively involved in their learning process, theyreceive a host of benefits including improvements in retention of information,5,6 examperformance2,7 and thinking and writing skills8 to name a few.Of course there are some challenges associated
support this, Hithcock & Hughes also argue that reflecting, criticising and putting forward a more informed view to the educational process would be possible by doing research in education. Consequently, the educational practice could benefit from the outcomes of such research. Also, there has been strong links between research in education and the research traditions of the social sciences which both are complex and complicated themes 15. v. The final shift entitled the influence of ‘Information, Computational and Communication Technology (ICCT)’ on engineering education.Having the above shifts in engineering education in mind, it is believed that individuals differin regard to what mode of instruction
toaccount for labor rates, retainage, overhead, bonding, and rentals to determine whether or not hemust use credit or cash to purchase the pre-arranged material order for the following month.Traditionally, the winner for each project of the K’NEXercise was the group that has the lowest“construction costs” from the event, which directly relates to the minimal use of credit,accurately ordering materials, minimizing the use of labor and equipment, and not being fined byOSHA for unsafe working conditions. Teams that did not win the K’NEXercise had todeliberate on their results in a reflective essay.As is likely to happen when young adults are allowed to compete, and additional homework isthe price of failure, there are always those that cry foul when
analysis noted that “creativity or innovation appear in the rubric of onlyone outcome and in the discussions of only five outcomes.” It concluded that “the reportgives minimal attention to creativity/innovation. It does not present creativity/innovationas an essential element of the CEBOK.” A similar, in-depth analysis could be done forthe capabilities and competencies listed in Table 1.The seven elements in Table 1 warrant consideration by ASCE as it examines theCEBOK2 for two reasons. First, the EBOK and ECM source reports post date by,respectively, five and seven years, the 2008 publication of the CEBOK2. Some aspects ofthe world of engineering education and practice change rapidly and, therefore, the twonewer documents may reflect what are now
policy.IntroductionThe subjects and competencies we choose to include in our civil engineering courses andcurricula typically reflect one or more factors. We may choose to teach a subject because it isexplicitly required by the ABET accreditation criteria, because our alumni and the employerswho hire our graduates tell us they want our graduates to have specific skills, and/or because wefeel the topic is part of the historical body of knowledge to which every civil engineeringgraduate should be exposed. This paper proposes that a new topic and skillset should be addedto our civil engineering curricula—Prevention through Design—despite the fact that none of thethree typical curricular motivations apply.Prevention through Design (PtD, also called Design for
-term process of defining mutually agreeableGraduate Attribute Profiles and Professional Competency Profiles for the three principalcategories of practitioners—engineers, engineering technologists, and engineering technicians.The Graduate Attribute Profiles are three sets of assessable outcomes, each of which reflects agraduate's potential to acquire the competence necessary to practice within a given category. TheProfessional Competency Profiles define the elements of competency that a practitioner isexpected to demonstrate at the time of attaining registration.* The IEA Graduate Attribute andProfessional Competency Profiles are, by design, applicable to all engineering disciplines. TheIEA adopted the first version of these profiles in June
summary thatprovides an assessment of student performance and is mapped to reflect linkage with appropriate1-22 outcomes.The entire departmental assessment process is predicated upon twenty-two outcomes developedand adapted from ABET, Criterion 3, student outcomes A-K2 and ASCE Body of Knowledge1.Each outcome provides a succinct statement describing material students are expected to learnover a four-year development period before graduation. Attainment of proficiency for eachoutcome is measured using Embedded Indicators based on mapping to the six levels of Bloom’sTaxonomy15,16. Table 2 summarizes the CEE Department nine professional skills relatedoutcomes. Course Embedded Indicators on tests, assignments, and projects are used to evaluateCEE
would probably be less likely to recognize its value. These observationsby the students about their perceptions before and during the travel could in part be due to thedomestic nature of the project. They may have perceived the travel experience to be less valuablebecause of staying in the U.S. and merely traveling to another part of the country. Even so, theyall agreed that, based on what they learned upon project completion, they value the travel muchmore and would take the time in the future to meet design colleagues face-to-face and completesite visits, if funds were available.ConclusionsWe have reflected on the findings of the interviews, on their observations of learning while theprojects were under way, and observations from prior inter
students to how their understanding and enthusiasm were effected by using K’nexFinally the students were asked to respond to the following multiple choice question: What statement below most accurately reflects your opinion of using K’nex pieces in atechnical engineering course? a. They are useful and enhance the learning experience b. They are not particularly useful but they are fun and enhance the learning experience. c. They neither supported nor detracted from my learning experience d. The requirement to use K’nex posed a needless constraint that detracted from my ability to conduct a seismic experiment
descriptivestatistics and look for trends in student comments about the materials and their learning. Thesurvey has been the least useful aspect of the assessment, with some courses having low responserates. Open-ended reflections have been useful for insights into the impact of the materials onstudent attitudes.5.2 Assessment ResultsPiloting and assessment of materials is in its second year. Materials have been used at all theuniversities in the project, in courses with a variety of topics and levels. Class sizes have rangedfrom 12 to over 80 students. Results from 12 different courses (some of them in multiple terms)have been completed (Table 2). All the measures have found improvement in the post-intervention papers over the pre-intervention papers. Of
necessary.Figure 5 summarizes the results for modules taught by two different instructors. Module 4B wastaught by one of us and Modules 5B and 6B were taught by the other (these are the same resultsshown in Figure 4). The differences in these plots are more easily observed and reflect thedifferent module designs used by the instructors. The instructor for module 4B focused on designand the role of empathy. The instructor for modules 5B and 6B focused on a particular area ofengineering (geotechnical engineering), including a three-week project related to that area. Section 5A Section 6A Designintegral Designintegral