benefits and challenges of creating a multidisciplinarysenior capstone course from the perspective of engineering faculty. From this study five overallthemes emerged: 1.) multidisciplinary courses reflect real world, 2.) students are primarybeneficiaries of multidisciplinary courses, 3.) current university structure and organization cancreate obstacles, 4.) senior capstone is a critical component in engineering education, and 5.)dedication of resources. The paper will conclude with recommendations for working with facultyto create a more multidisciplinary learning environment for students and initial thoughts on thenext steps in the development process.Capstone as Part of Engineering EducationThe requirements of a 21st-century engineer are
colleagues. Yet, teamwork skills are rarely “taught” inengineering curricula; in fact, compared to business representatives, university educators havebeen found to underestimate the value of teamwork KSAs. Instead, students are expected todevelop teamwork and leadership skills via a sink-or-swim approach where they are assignedgroup work and left to perform as they can. Often, these poor teamwork experiences combinedwith the lack of training and opportunities for guided reflection lead to students disliking workingin groups, impacting not just the cognitive but also the affective domain of learning.In response to this identified weakness, a committee of representatives from the Faculty ofEngineering and other support units at the University of
arts majors, aswell as between the liberal arts and the areas of study leading to a major or profession.Our findings suggest that the learning objectives and the pedagogical approaches used in thecourse are adequate for a broad range of non-computer majors. Performance on writing andcomputing assessments as well as final grades (75% of students obtained a grade of C or better)indicated that a vast majority of students successfully achieved the learning objectives. Theseresults were consistent with student perceptions as reflected in an end-of-course survey. There isalso evidence that students satisfactorily integrated creative writing and computer programmingto develop their video game prototypes, making in-depth interdisciplinary connections
places, or community settings. The courseincludes a considerable amount of experiential learning, requiring students to reflect on theirdesign and developmental efforts throughout the semester. Projects which enhance safety,accessibility, or “greener” alternatives to existing devices often serve as potential projects.Each student selects a project from a broad program area such as electricity and electronics,computer systems, or networking. Project topics which bridge multiple program areas orinclude mechanical components are recommended. These projects allow students theopportunity for showcasing their knowledge, skills, and professional work practices.Learning in the capstone course is directed so that it is solution based. Students start off
encountered already in their coursework.First, the students were made aware of the multidisciplinary nature of the nanotechnology whichwas reflected in the diverse group of faculty involved with the summer camp. Next, thepresentation discussed books, TV shows and movies where specific reference to nanotechnologywas made. Students were asked why most of the references in popular media were ominous innature and all students correctly reflected that the reason is because ‘nano’ is too small. Thisperception was juxtaposed with scientific and economic aspects of nanotechnology which areoverwhelmingly positive and optimistic.10 The students participated in an activity where theywere presented with various statements and asked to choose whether these
distanceinformation across the CAN bus. The ultrasonic distance sensor is connected to the transmittingnode. This node will send the distance of the obstacle from the sensor across the CAN bus to areceiving node, which will print the distance (in cm) on the serial monitor. Ultrasonic sensorsconsist of a transducer which is used to transmit the sound pulse and also to receive the echo thatis reflected. Ultrasonic sensors are used to detect the presence or absence of a target componentby using reflected and transmitted ultrasonic waves.Fig. 3: Simple configuration setup with the two nodes and the sensor.Experiment #5: Multi-node CAN network and message filteringObjectives: Students setup a CAN network with more than two CAN nodes. Many CANnetworks operate with
was always available whenever a break was neededfrom the main project or if an intern wanted to work on their soldering skills.Methodology: Assessment of Innovation as a ProcessWe assessed the overall impact of the internship as a learning intervention to supportmultidisciplinary group participation in innovation and individual learning achievements byapplying three different instruments: a) an exit survey focused on relationships betweenemergent group-dynamics and evidence of innovation-in-practice b) regular “audio-diary”journal entries recorded by participants in response to a weekly repeating prompt c) focus groupexit interviews that prompted participants to not only reflect on what they had gained from theexperience but challenged them
demos. 4. Subsystem-level and system-level demos: it was expected that there would be more than one integrated demos of two or more subsystems. 5. Evaluation plan and measured results: a list of specific metrics, at least one test procedure for each metric, desired levels for each metric, and measured levels for each metric 6. Delivery and hand-off: a major point of this whole collaboration was to create a system that would be handed off to L&IT to be polished, deployed, and maintained over time. An official hand-off meeting with discussion and questions was a major milestone for the end of the project. 7. Reflection on the process and productEach of the project milestones was evaluated by a rubric
taken moments before a specific incident to draw conclusionsregarding the location, posture, and conduct of various passengers on a boat. One specificphotograph was used to determine the likely throttle position. However, this information wasobtained from a reflection off a pair of sunglasses (Fig. 3). Students were required to obtain aphotograph from any source that contained a hidden image revealing an interesting fact about thephotograph.Figure 3: Photograph presented during the marine engineering lecture illustrating a hidden imagereflected off a pair of sunglasses. The image on the right show a prop that was used in maritimeaccident reconstruction.The opinions presented during the lectures illustrated that conclusions drawn from analyses
the cross-disciplinary practice model wereapplicable in the undergraduate context. The pilot study also confirmed that collecting dataduring the team process would provide a deeper, more detailed picture of how undergraduatesdevelop as cross-disciplinary team members compared to a retrospective approach. Therefore,my dissertation work uses a real-time approach to collecting data—that is, I utilized weeklyobservations of the team, regular, written reflections by each team member, and periodicindividual interviews with student team members throughout one semester. This real-timemethod, common in ethnographic research,4 provides a rich understanding of how undergraduatestudents develop as cross-disciplinary team members during a cross
outcomes for classes, only competencies acquired by students are reflected. • Lifelong learning skills: the ability to curate learning paths throughout their academic career help students develop skills for ongoing learning.15There are challenges in the adoption of CBE. The lack of a unified model allows institutions totailor the CBE framework to their individual needs. At the same time, this ambiguity requiresfaculty and program designers to start from point zero, thus resulting in obstacles to CBEadoption within the institution. In this paper, we will describe the path we have taken, challengesmet, and lessons learned when designing a competency-based transdisciplinary undergraduateprogram.Program BackgroundThe Transdisciplinary
performed for the project helped in professional readiness. I have frequently performed such comparisons when selecting components such as servo motors and controllers [b]. ” • “All of the members of the group brought different skill sets to the project. This was a benefit as it bought several viewpoints. Working in an engineering field requires much of the same collaboration [c].” • “I have found the design process for this project to have reflected actual engineering design progressions in professional experience since graduation [a, b]. This class was valuable not so much for the technical skills practiced, but in gaining a level of experience and trust in the structured design process as a tool
conflicts between members (and how these were resolved). ii. Team strategy: This component examined whether ECE students had a particular strategy to ensure they were successful at maintaining their microgrids, generating revenue, and successfully fending off (or minimizing the impact of) cyberattacks. iii. Team preparedness: This aspect focused on whether ECE students were prepared, knew the various elements of the Grid Game, and understood what different cyberattacks did to their systems. iv. Methodological issues: This section asked CJ students how they felt about doing handson research, any difficulties they experienced in observing and interviewing ECE students, and also reflections on what
than one type of sensor and theprogramming needs to be more complicated since the goal of the competition is to push anotherrobot out of the arena, and their robots need to be prepared for the variety of strategies employedby the other teams. In the current version of the Robot Olympics, there are five different events: LineFollower, Lane Follower, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Hill Climb, and Tug-of-War. The only sensorneeded for these events is a reflectance (line sensor) and the programming is relatively simple.The first three competitions (Line Follower, Lane Follower, and Rhythmic Gymnastics) testrobot designs the robots more on the electrical/computer engineering side, since their chances aregreatly affected by how they incorporate sensors
differential and the number of legs, and explain why semiconductors are better for this application compared to metals and insulators (i.e., regarding phonons vs. electrons). g. Explain how reducing the dimensions contribute to the performance of thermoelectric devices, including addressing how the importance of the mean-free-path changes at the nanoscale. h. Evaluate the potential impact, challenges, and risks of at least one start-of-the-art application of nanoscale thermoelectrics.7. Nanophotonics a. Explain how photons interact with materials generally, including absorption, emission, scattering, and reflection, and the concept of permittivity. b. Calculate the plasma
, time management, and group problem solving.9 Theimportance of multidisciplinary collaboration is reflected in ABET requirements stating thatengineering graduates should be able to function in multidisciplinary teams.2 However, exposureto multidisciplinary work in the classroom is often limited. Further, many graduating high schoolstudents do not know enough about the various engineering disciplines to make informed choicesabout college majors. This paper describes a week-long, residential summer outreach program called Engineering:Get Into Real Learning (E-GIRL) which was implemented at Texas Tech University (TTU) forthe first time in the summer of 2015. The goal of the program was to enhance interest in pursuingengineering for the group of
name matters. As outlined above, e+ is a specialized design-focused degreeprogram, requiring students to focus in engineering design thinking and doing, and anengineering disciplinary emphasis—while developing a secondary area of expertise via theconcentration. This multifaceted specialization is distinctive amongst the traditional discipline-specific engineering programs in our college. The authors hope that removal of “general” fromthe program name better reflects the unique combination of specificity and customizabilityafforded by the program curriculum and that the renaming will help the program grow in sizeand stature. We also hope that this lesson-learned serves as a cautionary tale to other collegesinterested in creating a new program
the micro- and nanoscales; and must know how to conceive, design, and operate engineering systems of great complexity. They must also work within a framework of sustainable development, be creative and innovative, understand business and organizations, and be prepared to live and work as global citizens. That is a tall order…”Engineering education has progressed with the introduction of different active learningpedagogies over the years, including project-based learning, problem-based learning, service-learning, and peer-led team learning. However, students are still mostly trained to solve welldefined problems which do not reflect the complexities of real-world problems.10 We proposethat translational research can