Conference Session

Leadership in the Curriculum

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Anna Phillips-Lambert; Charles Camp; Paul Palazolo

engineering educators can use to Page 9.300.1meet specific needs and to fill specific gaps on a course-by-course basis. Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright @ 2004, American Society for Engineering EducationIs it possible to: (1) meet ABET’s performance criteria (a-k), (2) obtain and incorporate studentfeedback in a flexible curriculum design at the course level, and (3) implement an ongoingsystem of documentation to support (1) and (2)? Can these things be done without sacrificingengineering content within existing engineering courses? Our

Conference Session

Unique Courses & Services for Freshmen

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Denny Davis; Jennifer Light, Lewis-Clark State College

detailed in thispaper. Survey results from LLC students and their non-participating peers were compared andreported along with an evaluation of the survey itself (a copy of the survey is included in theAppendix). Measuring the attitudes and behaviors of students is an often overlooked but extremelyimportant element of learning that occurs during college.1, 2, 3, 4 Common markers of success –grades and retention – do not give a complete picture of a student’s learning. Recently amovement to measure the “missing” aspect of student learning has emerged. Several nationalinstruments including the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), College Student

Conference Session

Computed Simulation and Animation

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Abul Azad

Document: 2004--826A MATLAB/SIMULINK BASED ENVIRONMENT FOR INTELLIGENT MODELLING AND SIMULATION OF FLEXIBLE MANIPULATOR SYSTEMS Abul K M Azad*, M. O. Tokhi§, A. Pathania*, and M. H. Shaheed+ * Department of Technology, Northern Illinois University, IL-60115, USA. § Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, University of Sheffield, UK. + Department of Engineering, Queen Mary, University of London, London, UK.1. IntroductionFlexible manipulator systems are receiving increasing attention due to their advantages

Conference Session

ECE Online Courses, Labs and Programs

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Abhilasha Tibrewal; Tarek Sobh

theprogram objectives and outcomes to specific course materials where they areimplemented. This process also includes browsing the course versus outcomes matrix andindividual course grids. The feedback loop is closed with the evaluation of the courseversus outcomes and outcomes versus ABET criteria matrix. Program objectives andprogram constituents such as the students and alumni are also involved in the process.The achievement of the program outcomes and objectives is at the heart of the assessmentprocess. In this paper, the focus is on the program outcomes and how they are achieved atthe course level.1. IntroductionThe Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) is a professionalaccrediting organization that accredits applied science

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

David Huddleston

Elevation =0 ft Figure 1: Three-reservoir system schematic.Over the years, clever solution techniques have been developed to enable manual solution to Page 9.319.2illustrative examples. Such illustrations include (1) branching pressurized pipe flow between Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Educationthree fixed energy-grade reservoirs, (2) pressurized water distribution networks, and (3)gradually varied open-channel hydraulics. Each of these illustrations is analyzed through

Conference Session

Accreditation and Related Issues in BAE

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Ann Christy

Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Educationexpertise. Multidisciplinary approaches can provide the synergy and spark the creativityrequired to develop workable solutions to the increasingly complex problems of today’s society.Students and faculty must learn to understand and respect their colleagues who study otherdisciplines, and value the contribution those studies may have on their own work.The Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) affirmed the value of severalRenaissance traits by including in their EC 2000 criterion 3 the following:1 (d) an ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams (f) an understanding of professional and ethical

Conference Session

Teamwork and Assessment

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Heather Sheardown; Donald Woods

paper we broaden our view and consider self assessment, not just in the contextof teamwork but rather, in the general context of improving learning, developing selfconfidence and developing skills needed in professional life. In the context of learning,Graham Gibbs [1] says Awhoever owns the assessment, owns the learning.@ To improvestudent learning, Alverno College[2,3] and Boud[4] have used self assessment as anintegral part of learning.First, we define assessment and summarize the principles of assessment. Then weprovide further rationale as to why the development of student self assessment isimportant. We describe an approach we used in the McMaster Problem Solvingprogram[5] to develop skill in self assessment. Finally we summarize the

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Courses and Issues

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

John Mingle; Tom Roberts

of today is occurring in two phases: the informationage that is winding down and the knowledge age that is underway. A century ago, the engineer-ing profession evolved in the industrial revolution and during that time the engineer created andhandled scarce but valuable information.1 Today, such information is common. Consequently,engineers are trained today to primarily handle routine information, and the long-range conse-quences are that the cybernetic revolution with its ever more efficient computers will make engi-neers redundant or obsolete.Engineers must shift into the knowledge age in order to survive as professionals.2 Just as the in-formation age eliminated middle managers, engineers may become expendable unless they em-brace new

Conference Session

Issues in Computer Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

G Murphy; G Kohli; S P Maj; D Veal

courses. These models havebeen used as the pedagogical foundation for both undergraduate and postgraduate curricula innetwork technology and the results evaluated. Work to date suggests that these models stronglysupport student learning at all levels. A wide range of students were analysed and significantlystudents who had studied a number of networking units but had not been taught via these modelsscored lower than novice students taught using such models.1. IntroductionRapid developments in network technology have resulted in the inclusion of ACM/IEEErecommendations for Net-Centric computing within the Computer Science Undergraduate Bodyof Knowledge. Accordingly ACM/IEEE networking curriculum now represents an increasinglysignificant component

Conference Session

Design Throughout the ChE Curriculum

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Pamela Dautenhahn

temperature and pressure, thetemperature and pressure of the feeds along with the feed design compositions and flows, thedesign duties of the exchangers, the reflux ratios, and the number of actual trays and actual feedtray of each tower.The students then have to evaluate these data and determine how to use them for achieving thegoals of the project. They develop the tasks they need to accomplish and a timeline forachieving these tasks. Some of the main tasks and decisions considered by the students for thisproject are listed below. 1. Distinguish between the types of data provided (i.e. is it design data or actual process data) 2. Fill in any gaps associated with the design and operational data, if necessary 3. Evaluate data for

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Toshiyuki Yamamoto; Kazuya Takemata; Masakatsu Matsuishi

Copyright ø 2004, American Society for Engineering Educationin groups to tackle an engineering topic relating to daily life. Each group chooses an engineeringtopic related to daily life, defines its domain, and solves problems that may have multiplesolutions. After choosing a topic, the students in a group hold brainstorming sessions, define thedomain of the topic, work on the most optimal solution and its design, refine the design, presentthe results in class, and evaluate each group member’s contribution by peer evaluation. Mostgroup activities go beyond the in-class meeting hours. The following photos are snapshots takenin the study lounge. Students are actively engaged in their projects. Figure 1. Snapshots of Group Activities in the 24-hour

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

G Murphy; G Kohli; S P Maj; D Veal

andstandards.IntroductionAccording to Nelson and Rice, “…in today’s business world the ideal employee has threecritical components: education, certification and experience…’ 17 . Traditionally the maintask of universities, and their major area of expertise, is the provision of education.Experience is difficult for students to obtain and its provision is likely to become acontributing factor in their selection of courses 1, 8, 14. Certification has been addressed by theindustry itself. Major IT companies are now endorsing training specifically tailored to theuse of their product lines. These include companies such as Cisco, Microsoft and Novell.These companies have implemented 2, 5, 12, or have endorsed their own certificationprogrammes 16 . Such qualifications are known as

Conference Session

Electrical & Computer Engineering Poster Session

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Arthur Brodersen; Cordelia Brown

Retention: I. Success and Failure in the Introductory Course”, Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 82, No. 1, pp. 15-21.3. Felder, Richard et. al., (1994) “A Longitudinal Study of Engineering Student Performance and Retention: II. Differences Between Students from Rural and Urban Backgrounds”, Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 83, No. 3, pp. 209-217.4. Felder, Richard et. al., (1995) “A Longitudinal Study of Engineering Student Performance and Retention: III. Gender Differences in Students Performance and Attitudes”, Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 84, No. 2, pp. 151-174.5. Felder, Richard et. al., (1995) “A Longitudinal Study of Engineering Student Performance and Retention: IV

Conference Session

Academic Standards and Academic Issues

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Craig Caulfield; G Kohli; S P Maj

deadline will onlymake matters worse. The reason lies in the fact that software projects often cannot be brokeninto isolated, independent units of work, meaning that the developers need to coordinate theiractivities at a detailed level. Therein lies an unappreciated communications overhead. Forexample, if a group of n developers need to coordinate their efforts with each other then thenumber of communication paths can be represented by n (n – 1)/2. Time spent navigatingthese paths is time not spent being directly productive.When new developers are added to the equation, the communications overhead is amplified.The new developers are usually not immediately productive because they need to becomeacquainted with the overall aims of the project, its

Conference Session

Materials and Manufacturing Processes

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Min Jou

; Swart7 created a learningprocess based on total quality management (TQM) and critical thinking (CT) concepts (Figure 1). Their studytakes advantage of computer and information technology to enhance the delivery of education throughcomputer-aided teaching and learning tools. A basic proposed framework for the course brings togetherassembled subject material using various media. In order to achieve the effective use of this new teaching andlearning methods, the course proposed includes: on-line lectures, audio-video education tools, interactivecomputer software, on-line assignments and exams, information about faculty, on-line evaluation tools to obtainstudent feedback, and to improve teaching quality. The advance in the optical-fiber network

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Graduate Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Robert Kavetsky

enterprise of science and technology (S&T). Today, DoD must continueto adapt to the current pace of technological change, rapidly integrate new and breakthroughtechnologies into its operational systems, and sustain a research and development environmentthat fosters innovation in order to preserve our significant lead in military capability.1-9 To dothis, DoD must continue to attract and retain the very best scientists and engineers in itsworkforce.2 This is especially true for those scientists and engineers working at the forefront ofemerging S&T, who need a unique set of technical skills in order to transition S&T to the fleet.There are many that truly believe the DoD of the future should simply turn all S&T matters overto academia

Conference Session

BME Assessment

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

David Lalush; C. Frank Abrams; Peter Mente; Marian McCord; H. Troy Nagle; Elizabeth Loboa; Susan Blanchard

represents more than one programmatic outcome.1, 2 In addition, there maybe a great deal of variability in assignment of grades, depending on which facultymember does the grading. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that rubrics offeran excellent method for reducing faculty workload by providing a means to link gradingand assessment.3Faculty members of the Biomedical Engineering (BME) Courses and CurriculumCommittee, which is also responsible for assessment, have worked as a team to developseveral rubrics that are used by individual faculty to grade projects or other samples ofstudent work in several BME courses. Different components of the rubrics can then beemployed in various combinations to assess various programmatic outcomes

Conference Session

The Nuts & Bolts of TC2K

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

David Roth

reviewed to assure an equivalent achievement of program outcomes.Also, they both had to satisfy the requirements of a capstone as required by ABET. Bydefining the two course outcomes as part of the ABET outcome based process, thecourses were recognized as each being a valid capstone experience, although two totallydifferent ways to accomplish the same outcomes. Seniors now have two capstone optionswithin the program; they can complete either the internship course or a senior projectcourse to fulfill their capstone experience as required by ABET criterion. (Nitterright etal, 2002) A direct comparison of course learning outcomes for both capstone options isshown in Table 1

Conference Session

Visualization and Computer Graphics

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Jianping Yue

spatial visualization. Inthis paper, the author first presents the maximum possible number of orthogonal rotational viewsof an object. Analyses are presented for two spatial visualization tests by their representations ofthe possible orthogonal rotations and the difficulty of visualization. Finally, the author makessome suggestions on the improvements of spatial visualization tests based on the possibleorthogonal rotations.1. IntroductionSpatial visualization skills have been considered important in engineering graphics. In the1980’s, computer-aided design (CAD) was introduced into classrooms, along with thedevelopment of computer hardware and software. Nowadays, three-dimensional (3D) solidmodeling CAD is very popular in industrial applications

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Joseph LaLopa; Mara Wasburn

mentor-protégérelationships, and on both intended and unintended consequences of the mentoring program. Onthe basis of interviews with participants, recommendations are offered for improvements thatmight be incorporated in those programs offered at other institutions that are now experimentingwith formal mentoring projects.IntroductionMentoring has a long, rich tradition dating back to Greek mythology. Mentor (in reality thedisguised goddess Athena) was the wise tutor/advisor for Odysseus' son Telemachus in Homer'sOdyssey. In this paper, a mentor is defined as anyone who provides guidance, support,knowledge, and opportunities for whatever period the mentor and protégé deem this help to benecessary.1 The definition was qualified by Haring, who

Conference Session

TYCD 2004 Lower Division Initatives

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Jianping Yue

those majoring in science, technology,engineering, and mathematics. There are also many programs that support the participation ofcollege professors. This paper describes some of NASA’s representative education and researchprograms such as the Undergraduate Student Research Program, Graduate Student ResearchersProgram, Jenkins Predoctoral Fellowship Program, Faculty Fellowship Program, Administrator’sFellowship Program, KC135 Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program, K-12Student Involvement Program, etc. This paper also introduces a variety of other NASA’seducation and research programs.1. IntroductionSince its inception in 1958, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has madeextraordinary achievements in space

Conference Session

Computers in Education Poster Session

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Clark Merkel

quarter with three 1-hour lectures and one 3-hourlaboratory each week. The laboratory content of the course is dominated by learning howto use the Handy Board microcontroller and a variety of sensors and actuators. Thelaboratory sessions are currently devoted to hands-on exercises that provide them withexperience using different sensors and controlling several types of output device with themicrocontroller. The students complete six or seven weeks of canned lab exercises toacquaint themselves with the programming skills and capabilities of the microcontrollerand sensors. They spend three to four weeks designing, programming, and building aproject that requires the microcontroller be used to sense, control, and respond to somedesign problem of the

Conference Session

Instrumentation and Laboratory Systems

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Yan-Fang Li; Sang-Hoon Lee; Vikram Kapila

communication with external devices. In addition, Matlab providesgraphical design tools such as Simulink and Dials and Gauges Blockset. This paper exploits theserial communication capability of PIC microcontrollers and the Matlab software along withgraphical design tools of Matlab to create a Matlab-based graphical user interface (GUI)environment for PIC microcontroller projects. Three examples are included to illustrate that theintegration of low-cost PIC microcontrollers with the Matlab-based GUI environment allowsdata acquisition, data processing, data visualization, and control.1. Introduction Peripheral Interface Controllers (PICs), developed and marketed by MicrochipTechnology, Inc. [1], are inexpensive microcontroller units that include a

Conference Session

New Faculty Issues and Concerns

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

J. Fredericks Volkwein; Linda Strauss; Lisa Lattuca; Patrick Terenzini

conceptual framework for the study of EC2000 assumes that changes in student learning willoccur because engineering programs have modified curricula, instructional practices,institutional policies, and even faculty cultures in a manner consistent with EC2000. Thelinkages are, in this sense, indirect: preparation for an EC2000 accreditation results in curricularand other changes that in turn affect student learning. Figure 1 portrays the hypothesizedrelationships among the new EC2000 accreditation standards, engineering programs, and studentlearning outcomes. To confidently attribute any changes in engineering graduates’ learningoutcomes over time to EC2000, this study examines these potential sources of influence onstudent learning. If the study

Conference Session

ECE Capstone and Engineering Practice

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

John Greco

high-levelbehavior of networks, including their architectures, protocols and performance 1–5.Laboratory work associated with such courses concentrates on software, using eitheravailable network cards as part of a physical network or simulating the behavior of anetwork 6–17. The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department currently offers anetworking course that emphasizes the lower-level operation of a network, including thephysical medium, the packet format, and simplified protocols for Token Ring andEthernet networks. In the laboratory component of the course, students realize each typeof network using a microcontroller in conjunction with peripheral hardware. The

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

John Greco

students to the concept of the data path/controller architecture commonlyused for a digital system, including a general-purpose computer.IntroductionThe game of Nim 1–8 is an ancient game whose playing area consists of several stacks ofpieces. In the original design of the game, there is no restriction on the number of stacks,nor is there any restriction on the number of pieces in each stack. Two players alternatelyremove pieces from the field, removing any number of pieces on each turn, but removingpieces from only one stack. Traditionally, the person removing the last piece loses thegame. Page 9.388.1 Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for

Conference Session

Electrical & Computer Engineering Poster Session

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Karl Stephan

describes an approach to this problem which may be applied insimilar situations in a wide variety of disciplines. The basic idea is to involve the students in aproject that is drawn from their own interdisciplinary program while showing them the need forknowledge from the traditional discipline that is the subject of the course. At Texas State University-San Marcos (which was known as Southwest Texas StateUniversity until Sept. 1, 2003), the first engineering degree program on campus was initiated inthe fall of 2000, a program in manufacturing engineering. For a number of years, Texas State'sDepartment of Technology has offered four-year degrees in industrial technology andengineering technology. As a required part of these programs, a

Conference Session

Programming Issues for Engineering

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

John Estell

visual and event-driven; usually there is a graphical elementsuch as playing cards or a game board, and the play of the game progresses through the handlingof discrete user-generated events. As assignments, games are often challenging to write, butprovide both a definite goal to strive for and a greater sense of accomplishment as the completedprogram actually does something. Furthermore, by providing extra credit opportunities for theimplementation of additional game features, students become very involved in theirprogramming, helping them to learn the concepts taught in the course – and often to learnadvanced concepts on their own. Along with the motivational value of such assignments, thewriting of games promotes strategic thinking [1

Conference Session

Accreditation and Related Issues in ECE

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Hue Van Tran; Steven Reyer; James Friauf; Owe Petersen; Katherine Wikoff

performance, evaluation/feedback, and student self- Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Educationassessment/reflection, it is possible to determine the curriculum’s strengths and weaknesses incourse design and/or student outcomes.Study Findings, Part 1 – The GoodIn writing, the Electrical Engineering curriculum is very strong. Every student takes a freshmancomposition course, a technical composition course, and a writing-intensive introductoryhumanities course. In each of these classes students receive instruction on writing well,including communication theory (such as Aristotle’s communication triangle and

Conference Session

Electrical & Computer Engineering Poster Session

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Fabio Urbani; Juan Iglesias

tomatch the initial requirements. This simulator contains three different optimizing methods: theMonte Carlo Method, the Genetic Algorithm Method, and the Tabu Search Method.In order to approach any FEM problem, four basic steps must be followed: 1. Discretize the domain in which the solution has to be found using a finite number of nodes and elements (either triangular or quadrilateral); 2. Derive the governing equations for a single element; 3. Assemble all the elements in the solution domain; 4. Solve the system of equations obtained using numerical techniques like the Iteration Method or the Band Matrix Method. The former is faster and is usually preferred for a large number of nodes;Differential equations can be