Conference Session

How We Teach Problem Solving?

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Stephen Silliman; Leo Hubbard McWilliams; Catherine Pieronek

EducationUse of Technology to Improve Student FeedbackThe University of Notre Dame has recently acquired an Audience Response System (ARS) forcourse use. In a companion paper, Silliman and McWilliams4 describe the ARS technology inuse at Notre Dame and present their observations on benefits and limitations of such atechnology in various educational settings.The use of an ARS was an integral component of the College’s response to the issues identifiedin the assessment of EG 111/112. The ARS establishes a means of providing real-time, two-waycommunication between the student and the faculty during lectures. The faculty has a means toengage the student during the large lectures, identify topics that may need to be revisited andgather additional relevant

Conference Session

TIME 2: Laboratories

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Gordon Parker; Paula Zenner

elementsof a curriculum—available to everyone, anywhere. As part of a quarter to semester conversion atMTU a Dynamic Systems and Controls laboratory was integrated with the traditionally requiredtextbook course. The goal of the lab was to illustrate some of the abstract concepts of the courseusing "hands-on” experience. A secondary goal of the lab was to strengthen a student’sunderstanding of Computer Aided Control System Design (CACSD). The second phase of thedevelopment of this lab was to determine and overcome the challenges and barriers ofimplementing the lab remotely. This paper describes our approach to converting traditional on-site control system labs to remote versions. In addition, limitations inherent to remote experimentexecution are

Conference Session

Assessment Issues II

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Kenneth Cox; Janice Bordeaux; David Caprette; Beth Beason; Ann Saterbak

major teaching objectives can be established. Then, changes can bemade to individual courses within and outside of a department to shift to the desired emphasis.For example, a graded assignment has been added in BIOE 342 that helped students improvetheir technical communication skills and their ability to integrate their experimental results.This process provided a solid foundation for beginning collaborative activities such as changingthe context and content of existing separately developed laboratory courses so as to make thempart of an integrated program. However, much work in laboratory redesign to align andcoordinate objectives remains to be done.Development of Web-Based MaterialsWe have developed an interdisciplinary web site for common

Conference Session

ET Capstone Projects

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Chong Chen

, wiring, and troubleshooting. Althoughthe student had many years of industrial working experience, he still learnt a lot from thisproject. He is thinking about to develop the lawnmower into a commercial product that has amicro-controller and sensors. Page 9.1036.7 Proceedings of the 2004American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright©2004, American Society for Engineering EducationReferences[1] Chong Chen, An Automated Inspection System, ASEE Annual Conference, June 18-21, 2000, St. Louis.[2] B.S. Sridhara, Curriculum Integration of Engineering Technology Courses with the Solar

Conference Session

Attracting Young MINDs

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Dara O'Neil; Gordon Kingsley; Donna Llewellyn; Marion Usselman

Partnering Across Cultures: Bridging the Divide between Universities and Minority High Schools Marion Usselman1, Donna Llewellyn2, Dara O’Neil3, Gordon Kingsley3, 1 Center for Education Integrating Science, Math, and Computing (CEISMC) 2 Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL) 3 School of Public Policy Georgia Institute of TechnologyAbstractThe historical mission of most engineering-dominated Research-1 universities is to create newknowledge and to train students in technological fields. In the

Conference Session

Multimedia Engineering Education: Distance & Service Learning, Web-based Projects

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Koichi Iwasaki; Kazuo Morita; Chi Thai

computer andInternet resources such as gigabits network, video conferencing and remote control software. Butwe found that it could be adapted to minimal IT resources such as cable modem at 1 Mbps andaudio-only feedback between teacher and students. System performance and student feedbackfor the first 7-week class period are reported herein. IntroductionOne of the thrusts in the UGA/Biological & Agricultural Engineering Department curriculum isto enhance the experiential learning aspects for our engineering students during class lectures aswell as during laboratory experiments needed for the course. Based on Student Technology feesand departmental funds, the Collaborative Distance Education (CDE

Conference Session

Are Classical Solutions Outdated?

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Marvin Criswell

bending moments and flexural shear. Othermethods then existed (e.g., slope-deflection, direct integration) which for a “reasonable sized realstructure” quickly produce a set of simultaneous equations that was impractical to nearlyimpossible to solve by hand methods. Practical analyses before moment distribution necessarilyhad to be of an approximate nature for most structures.In the moment distribution method, all joints of the structure are initially assumed to be fixed toprevent both rotation and translation. Next, the moments at the member fixed ends resultingfrom the applied loads acting on the beam are determined. In the usual case, the moments fromall members entering a joint do not result in the joint being in equilibrium. The joint

Conference Session

Engineering Education Research

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Turns Jennifer; Atman Cindy; Angela Linse; Karl Smith

).The winds of change in engineering education have been blowing for some time, and thequestion arises “Why hasn’t more change occurred faster?” Wulf’s (2002) “hypothesis is simplythat the faculty don't believe that change is needed. They are following the wise adage, 'if it ain'tbroke, don't fix it.' If one hasn't had recent experience in industry, …, and if the change is amosaic in multiple dimensions whose pattern is hard to discern, then the fact that it's 'broke' isnot easy to see." This allegation of resistance from faculty is ironic given Koen’s (2003) claimthat change is fundamental to engineering; in fact it is an integral part of his definition of theengineering method – “the use of heuristics to cause the best possible change in a

Conference Session

Electrical & Computer Engineering Poster Session

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

John Ciezki; Brian Jenkins; Samara Firebaugh

that row or column is pressed and a logical “low” otherwise. The project is focusedon the design of the filter stages, using both Laplace analysis and convolution to demonstrate anunderstanding of the frequency response of circuits. The students must not only design, buildand test their filters, but also model and analyze the circuit using MATLAB. Elements of theproject, such as the design of an individual filter stage or the use of MATLAB to performconvolution, are integrated into laboratory exercises during the semester. The digital portion ofthe design connects this course with the introductory digital logic course that the students takeconcurrently. This project also introduces students to peak detectors and comparators, whichrelates the

Conference Session

New Electrical ET Course Development

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Biswajit Ray

voltage in steps of 0.5 V until the desired lighting wasachieved.Student feedback on project experienceThe process of developing, implementing, and testing a project from scratch was an excellentexperience for most students. The majority of students were pleased with the project structure,though a few suggested that the project duration within the instrumentation and data acquisitioncourse be extended to at least six weeks instead of the currently allocated four weeks.Qualitative feedback from students is presented below through their comments. Liked working with software and hardware integration Enjoyed working with partner Applying classroom knowledge to real-world examples was interesting Great to have specification

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Programs: Look Ahead

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Steven Johnson; John Weese

(CSAB), the Computing Accreditation Commission(CAC) was created, which deals with the accreditation of programs in computer science.Soon after the reorganization from ECPD to ABET, it was recognized that there was a need forthe accreditation of programs that are related to but different from either engineering orengineering technology. This led to the formation of the Related Accreditation Commission(RAC), which began to function during 1984-1985. The RAC name was changed to the AppliedSciences Accreditation Commission (ASAC) at the time of the merger of ABET and CSAB.With almost two decades of operational experience with the RAC and ASAC, it is mutuallybeneficial for ABET and ASEE to bring an update of the features of this organization to

Conference Session

Experience with Experiential Learning

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Adam McGough; Coral Nocton; Ken Patton; Ismail Fidan

neither the current TTU curriculum nor any other school in the state ofTennessee had an RP laboratory in which to practice8, Middle Tennessee State University,Murfreesboro, TN has recently purchased some rapid prototyping machines for theirmachine tool technology lab. These machines were planned to be used in industrialprojects and senior level capstone courses9. At TTU, all the CAD design labs are currently done with AutoCAD2002 in thecomputer lab, and the CNC production labs cover only Milling and Turning Processespracticing CNCez and MasterCAM. Establishing the RP laboratory and enhancing thecurrent courses with RP help the course instructor to convey the cutting edge technologyto current students in CAD, CNC, and CAM courses

Conference Session

Energy Programs and Software Tools

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Michael Sexton

Institute are exposed to the method ofenergy system design based on system simulation and optimization in several of the required andelective courses in the curriculum. These courses include a required course in Energy ConversionDesign, and elective courses, such as, Internal Combustion Engines and Aircraft Propulsion.These energy systems design courses contain design projects that require the application ofthermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer in the design of energy conversion systemsand system components using simulation and optimization in the design process. Several of thesedesign simulations have been previously published. Sexton [2] described the simulation of a gasturbine engine that was used as a project for a senior energy

Conference Session

Instrumentation and Laboratory Systems

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Alex See

9. Custom-written virtual instrumentation (VI) can be easily delivered by relatively low-cost personal computers (PC). With the use of LabVIEWTM software, it instantaneously transforms the PC into a virtual instrument. It is believed that software is the most important component of a virtual instrument 10. Table 3.1 shows some comparisons between traditional and virtual instruments. As mentioned in 10, LabVIEWTM software is an integral part of virtual instrumentation because it provides an easy-to-use application development environment designed specifically to meet the needs of engineers and scientists. The ease of using LabVIEWTM and rapid prototyping were

Conference Session

Building Bridges with Community Colleges

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

William Blanton

they complete the requirements for graduation at EastTennessee State University. Presently, the Industrial Technology Program has 50 students in itscohort program, and the Construction Engineering Technology Program has 35 students. The Electronic Engineering Technology Program at East Tennessee State University haswatched with envy while these cohort programs have flourished, realizing the dilemma ofteaching a laboratory equipment intensive curriculum using the cohort system, especially off site.Required laboratory equipment is too expensive to be used irregularly and too cumbersome tohaul the back and forth to offsite locations.The Solution ELVIS has left the building! National Instruments has pioneered a new educational suite, NIELVIS

Conference Session

BME Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Marcus Pandy; Anthony Petrosino; Ronald Barr

is based on the widely publicized book “How PeopleLearn” (HPL). The HPL teaching framework presents the learning material as a series ofchallenges that are posed through a “Legacy Cycle.” Three VANTH modules, covering sevenchallenges, were tested in an undergraduate Mechanical Engineering course in Fall 2003. Theclass (N=32) was divided into two groups, control and trial, based on a random assignment.The control group performed the challenge in a traditional way (pencil and paper) while thetrial group solved the challenge using the VaNTH material located at a website. For eachgroup, a pre-test, post-test, and affect ranking were administered. The students were alsosurveyed on the learning effectiveness of the various components of each

Conference Session

Multimedia Engineering Education: Distance & Service Learning, Web-based Projects

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Ismail Fidan

delivery methods (lecture,laboratory, face-to-face discussion) to include educational options ranging from web-basedcourse supplement to the complete delivery of courses online4,5. The choices that faculty mayconsider range from simply posting a syllabus to creating web-based content to enhanceclassroom instruction to exclusive online delivery.While the primary focus of web-based delivery has been in the development of standalone web-based distance education courses, more faculty members are beginning to use the web tosupplement and enhance classroom instruction, creating “hybrid courses”1,4,6. The author haschosen to supplement a traditional face-to-face on-campus CAD (Computer Aided Design)course with an online supplement using WebCT. These

Conference Session

K-12 Outreach Initiatives

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Larry Richards

with science to and even greater degree o More so for science then math, it did not appear that the math aspects were a focus, but an after thought o Most of the ETKs could incorporate math in an applied way that would be incredibly productive to learning. o How can these units be intro/or filter into another unit as a culmination experience o There are ways to integrate Language Arts / Literature and History as well Even if it isn’t included in your units teachers can adapt on their own Reading lists to link science and math to language arts and literatureWhat additional features should we include in the ETKs? For

Conference Session

TC2K and Assessment

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Kenneth Reid; Elaine Cooney

rubrics have been tested by several evaluators for both associate andbaccalaureate level student work. Page 9.239.1 “Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Education”Written Report RubricThis rubric (see Table 1) was developed some years ago to help assess TAC-ABET Criterion 1g,“an ability to communicate effectively.” “Effectively” is a term that must be defined in order todevelop a working rubric. The initial focus during the rubric’s development was workplacewriting, as apposed to academic writing. Of

Conference Session

Technological Literacy I

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Paul Predecki; Albert Rosa; George Edwards

, and possibly a lecture or two on possible scenarios if the issue is not solved. At the end of the course the group papers are graded and returned to the group. A copy is kept on file to share with interested individuals.VI. ConclusionWe have shown that a popular, credible, yearlong course can be developed that helps to educatenon-technologists to make smart decisions regarding technology in their lives and careers. Theoverall course has been extremely successful in meeting its overarching goals. It has beenoffered continually for thirteen years and is scheduled for a fourteenth. It has survived two majortop to bottom revisions of the university’s Core curriculum and it is still viewed as instillingessential integrative

Conference Session

Energy Projects and Laboratory Ideas

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Richard Engel; Peter Lehman; Charles Chamberlin; Angi Sorensen; Andy Sorter

electric energy use at the residence with both an energy audit and direct measurement. They measured, or used the manufacturer’s specifications to estimate, power requirements of specific appliances in the home and estimated the duty cycle of each load from a 2-week survey completed by the ranger. They also measured AC current flowing into the house and integrated over time to estimate total energy consumption in the home.The interns also needed data on the generators’ duty cycles and diesel fuel consumption at EspaLagoon to compare life cycle costs of the existing and proposed systems. The park rangersupplied fifteen months of generator data, and the interns calculated an average duty cycle of 4.7hours per

Conference Session

Capstone Design II

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Vikas Jain; Durward Sobek

outcomes.Development and successful implementation of a versatile capstone course assessment andevaluation system is potentially useful. Lack of effective assessment and evaluation tools canlead to false or inaccurate conclusions about the goodness of design processes. Yet, consideringthe ubiquitous presence of capstone design courses in almost every engineering curriculum,outcomes assessment of these courses is perhaps among the most under-researched topics inengineering education.Cost, time and quality are the three basic performance measures attached to any process. In thecapstone design projects we studied, time can measured in terms of number of weeks of totaldesign time, e.g., one 15-week semester. The cost can be measured by the number of personhours

Conference Session

TIME 4: Pedagogy

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Odis Griffin

proven to be a significant facility and an integral part of our educationalprograms, and we believe it is unique. Students who participate in the design realization projectshoused in the Ware Lab are highly recruited and have no difficulty in becoming contributors inreal-world hardware projects. In addition to the project experience, the large number of toursthrough the Ware Lab, typically several per week, offers the students numerous opportunities tomake short presentations on their projects, thus developing their speaking and presentation skills. Page 9.660.10 Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual

Conference Session

International Case Studies, Interactive Learning, Student Design

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Gary Boucher; Reza Sanati-Mehrizy; Afsaneh Minaie

School of Computer Science and Louisiana State University in Engineering Shreveport Utah Valley State College Shreveport, LA 71115 Orem, Utah 84058Abstract Since our schools do not offer an engineering program, we teach robotic technology withinour computer science curriculum. In the process of teaching robotics technology to students at agraduate or undergraduate level, it becomes necessary to synchronize more than one robotic armfor the purpose of demonstrating the interaction between robots commonly found in industrialsettings. There are several approaches to doing this. The simplest approach is to connect the