was converted to a flipped classroom environment for half of the course material. The mainobjective of this research pilot project is to investigate the impact of video length and videoactivities on the retention and understanding of Gen-Z engineering students for a software-basedsimulation course. Results show that students are more likely to watch medium-length videos thanshort-length videos, but those who do watch short-length videos have better learning outcomes.KeywordsGeneration Z, flipped classroom, engineering education, video length1. IntroductionThe engineering students today are from Generation Z, the cohort of individuals born from 1996-2010 [1]. They are high-efficiency multi-taskers with 8-second attention spans, typically
strong professional and supportive network of industry partners that workalongside faculty in creating learning environments that are typical of a particular occupation. Toengage students the inclusion of the following activities are paramount: 1) creating a strongcohort framework for students, 2) developing mentor relationships, and 3) hosting co-curricularactivities to promote interaction, learning, and exchange. Student support is aimed to create astrong network that connects students to each other and their faculty, the college, and theinstitution as a whole. This is the main drive of increased participation and once this is completethen students are expected to start engaging in co-curricular activities. These activities are
research on the factors that influence retention in engineering. Johnsonand Sheppard [1], in their study of the 1990 high school class through undergraduate engineeringmajors and beyond, identified points where the numbers of engineering majors dropsignificantly. Much past research has focused in students who leave engineering and why theyleave [2].In a research study across 17 universities, Besterfield-Sacre et al. [3] found that women hadlower self-confidence about their studies than men. Women and URM students often feelexcluded from engineering due to negative social cues from faculty and students [4], [5], [6],[7]. For STEM undergraduates, the first two years of most STEM fields focus on students“passing” gateway courses in Calculus, Physics
to best improve student learning, not on whether to improve student learning.AbstractThis paper asserts that programs should shift emphasis from just assessment data collection andembrace a culture that uses assessment and evaluation to guide continuous improvement.Programs often spend time and effort collecting data to satisfy the requirements of ABET’sharmonized Criterion 4, Continuous Improvement [1], but do not realize the benefits of doingthis work. Unfortunately, many programs either collect more data than necessary or collect datathat provide little insight on weak points of their students’ learning as related to studentoutcomes. Other programs, for a variety of reasons, miss opportunities to improve
districts, museums, botanical gardens, zoos, universities, corporations, and Army tank maintenance training. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2020 Streamlining the Process of Evaluating the Educational and Diversity Impacts of Engineering Research Centers through a Common Assessment InstrumentIntroductionThe National Science Foundation (NSF) has funded 74 nationwide Engineering ResearchCenters (ERC) since 1985. These ERCs have been leading forces in conducting advancedcomplex multidisciplinary research to address critical engineering challenges [1]. A core featureof ERCs is improving engineering education and diversity experiences internally within thecenters
be utilized. Future plans and goals are also discussed.IntroductionThe project presented in this paper focuses on providing a collaborative distance learninginfrastructure to high schools and community colleges in rural and underserved regions that alignwith the funding provided by a US Department of Agriculture Distance Learning andTelemedicine (DLT) grant.High schools and community colleges in rural and underserved communities often face greaterbarriers to providing the high-quality STEM education required to produce skilled graduatesprepared to enter the workforce [1]. School districts in these communities often face issues suchas technology gaps, lack of nearby resources, cultural challenges, small class sizes, and shortagesof STEM
chosen water body. This projecthas allowed for the development of multidisciplinary research and experiential learning frameworkto engage students at UMES within and outside the classroom. Many different components ofengineering design, environmental sciences, and other related fields are integral to this project. Anoverview of the design challenges and accomplishments of the team are provided in this work.Introduction:STRIDER project has been ongoing at UMES in collaboration with USDA EMFS Laboratoryscientists and staff since 2014 and has provided a platform for experiential learning, research, andengineering design with the overarching goal of semi-autonomous sampling and water qualitymeasurements in relevant water bodies [1, 2]. The design
-FSU College of Engineering and itis offered every semester. The class is delivered with a weekly 50 minutes lecture and a weeklylab of 2 hours and 45 minutes. For the labs, the class is divided into smaller sections of typically20 students each and working in groups of 2. There is a main instructor for the class and lab withan additional teaching assistant (TA) for each lab section.The semester-long class is divided into 2 main parts. The first half of the semester introducesstudents to C programming and the second half focuses on microcontroller programming,sensors, and actuators. Table 1 summarizes the topics covered in the class. Each laboratorycontains a set of activities that students are expected to complete during the lab and a set
procedures, deciphering what equations to utilize to completetheir analyzes, and completing the report. As such, the authors structured the new manual intothree, step-by-step segments to improve the efficacy of the lab and decrease the amount of timespent in a one-hour credited lab: (1) Objective, (2) What to Include in Lab Report, and (3)Procedures and Calculation. The improved manual also included incorporating technical analysesthat were related to the strength of materials course. As such, a survey was conducted with a cohortof 43 students to gauge responses and further understand their perspectives regarding the modifiedlab manual. Results indicate that the sections of the improved manual were clear and easy tofollow, made an excellent job
students and 50 faculty who participated in the external deploymentsand submitted meaningful feedback. The data we collected informed improvements made to themodules. Faculty who wish to integrate the modules within their courses in the future will gaininsight into successful practices and pitfalls to avoid.IntroductionThe movement to impart an entrepreneurial mindset to engineering students is rapidly gatheringmomentum. Forty-seven institutions, ranging from large public universities to small private ones,are a part of the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) [1]. Collectively, thousandsof engineering faculty at these institutions are developing an entrepreneurial mindset in hundredsof thousands of students by modifying their course
Student and Practitioner Approaches to Systems Thinking: Integrating Technical and Contextual ConsiderationsSystems thinking is recognized as a critical skill for engineers tasked with addressing complexproblems in contemporary society [1] – [3]. Often, engineering definitions of systems thinkingforeground the ability to account for relationships between different technical components of aproduct or process. However, these definitions frequently underemphasize how technicalelements of a solution influence and are influenced by contextual and human aspects of aproblem, such as the cultural, political, and economic context, required to successfully address aproblem [4] – [6]. While there has been national attention [7], [8] to the
. Mean overallattitude of participants undergoing YouTube intervention was improved by a normalized gainfactor of 0.15 with a small effect size (Hedge’s g = 0.35). Improvement was most prominent inattitudes towards personal application and relation to real world connection with normalized gainof 0.49 and small effect size (Hedge’s g = 0.38).IntroductionComplex problem-solving skills are valued in today’s workplace and predicted to be the mostprevalent type of skill needed to thrive in the 2030 workforce [1]. Most instructional approacheslimit students’ ability to transfer learning by focusing on only course-specific information. Recentefforts incorporating Accrediting Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) standards thatemphasize problem
a case-study approach to the course. In both courses,textbooks are not required, and recommended texts are instead cited throughout each course. Inboth courses, the recommended readings are from Ratner [1], Dee [2], Saltzman [3], Enderle [4],Callister [5], Temenoff and Mikos [7], and several journal articles.Collaboration, and team based assignments have been shown to improve student learning withdiversity of the team being a high indicator of student success [8]. Several studies suggest thatpedagogies emphasizing collaboration provide an opportunity for students to apply theirknowledge and skills while also preparing them for the realities of twenty-first centuryprofessional settings [9-12]. Additionally, problem-based learning has been
problem-solving review sessions. Quantitativesurvey responses showed significant gains in confidence after FE topic review activities andrelatively consistent benefits in FE test performance associated with confidence ratings andmetacognitive reflection ratings. The present methods and findings provide a tentative model forongoing course assessment that could aid engineering educators in strengthening instructionalpractices.IntroductionOne of the most influential models for problem-solving is Polya’s [1] 4-step model: 1) Understandthe problem, 2) Develop a plan, 3) Carry out the plan, and 4) Look back. The model requiresproblem-solvers to be deliberate, critical, and reflective in their behavior. More generally, each steprequires problem-solvers
. The primary objectives of this study are: 1) introduce the LEED Lab, 2) describe acourse that adapted the LEED Lab to an actual case, and 3) share lessons learned, including studentfeedback. At the beginning of the semester, a university building was selected and fundamentalinformation, such as drawings and energy consumption data, were collected. Then, studentsanalyzed the building’s sustainability performances, following the eight categories of LEED v4for Building Operations and Maintenance (LEED O+M): (1) Location and Transportation (LT),(2) Sustainable Sites (SS), (3) Water Efficiency (WE), (4) Energy and Atmosphere (EA), (5)Materials and Resources (MR), (6) Indoor Environmental Quality (EQ), (7) Innovation (IN), and(8) Regional Priority
inland lake toinvestigate the occurrence of algal bloom in the past decades, and further relate the risk of algalbloom to land cover and land use pattern observed within the watershed. Upon the completionof the project, students have practiced using ArcGIS, Google Earth Pro, and EPA Water QualityPortal for map design, landscape inquiry, and water quality data analysis. In the fourth week,participants presented their project findings to the workshop advisors. The follow-up monitoringof participants’ academic and research success were conducted to provide feedback on theworkshop design, implementation and improvement. The paper presents the overall design of theworkshop, and highlights the preliminary evaluation of the workshop.1. Introduction1.1
and engineering, which include: formal productdesign techniques, realistic constraints on product design - manufacturability, reliability …etc., applying statistics to the analysis of engineering problems, and interpersonal skills tofunction in a complex organization. [1]Capstone project experiences, also known as senior design projects or senior capstone projects,are critical to undergraduate engineering and engineering technology education. They arerequired to provide undergraduate students with the opportunity to solve open-ended real worldproblems in their respective engineering disciplines prior to graduation. They are also requisiteby the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) for accreditation ofundergraduate
undergraduate years with myriad systems, resources, and interventions, each designed tohelp students be successful in their studies. Increased efforts are being made to ensure qualitylearning environments that include “solid and effective teaching, strong levels of studentengagement, deep learning, and value-added skills development” [1]. Despite these initiatives,the undergraduate engineering experience remains primarily lecture-based and teacher-centred,with more than half of all instructors concerned that their students are ill-prepared for the rigorsof engineering [2]. A recent survey of engineering students confirms that their undergraduateclasses are lecture-based and that learners are experiencing cognitive overload in these content-intensive
, fabrication, and testing as Capstone ExperienceAbstract The impetus of capstone experience is to allow a student to use knowledge they havecultivated and skills they have gained to design and develop a solution to a problem or toinnovate an existing artifact for better performance. The University of Georgia (UGA) recentlystarted a Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Collegiate Design Series (CDS) specificallythe Formula SAE (FSAE). The CDS “competitions take students beyond textbook theory byenabling them to design, build, and test the performance of a real vehicle and then compete withother students from around the globe in exciting and intense competitions” [1]. The FSAEactivities align with the capstone experience
mathematicalmodeling and developing specific content knowledge, and how engineering can provide avaluable context for the application of mathematical modeling.Introduction Mathematical modeling is a critical component of math, science, and engineeringeducation [1]–[7]. Both the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) and theNext Generation Science Standards (NGSS) emphasize the importance of mathematicalmodeling [1]. Mathematical modeling in the classroom helps to develop the critical thinking andmath skills required for engineering [2]. It allows students to “revise their preconceptions and…understand the underlying principle[s] of mathematics” [8] and integrate topics similar toprofessionals in the field [1]. Students are expected to
education have reverberated through industry andgovernment with increasing intensity over the past few decades (e.g., [1], [2]). Engineeringprograms have responded to the growing recognition of the need to foster students’ ethicaldevelopment and awareness of societal impacts in a variety of ways [3]-[5]. Without consensuson how engineering ethics should be taught or which outcomes the instruction should aim toachieve, different approaches have been implemented with varying perceptions of efficacy [6].Engineering ethics and societal impacts (ESI) integration strategies include ethics across thecurriculum (intentional distribution of content throughout the engineering coursework),standalone ESI-related courses (required or elective), and modules in
of engineering as a profession, and belongingness andinclusion, as associated with work within makerspaces. We found significant positivecorrelations among the variables, positive levels of motivation, growth mindset, knowledge ofengineering as a profession, and belongingness. We found differences in levels for gender,engineering majors, and student class standing. We discuss the implications for our findings inthe context of undergraduate engineering student learning in makerspaces.IntroductionMakerspaces, a location with tools (electronic and hand) for rapid prototyping, have becomemore widely used in undergraduate engineering preparation programs [1]. There is a generalexpectation that students using the makerspaces will gain deeper
engineering, if such courses even exist. At the same time,universities are often interested in providing their students with diverse learning opportunitiessuch as service learning, both domestically and internationally. However, students often lack theproper experience or training to deal with complex ethical, cultural, or societal situations thatwill likely be encountered or the resources to properly participate while carrying out service-learning projects [1].Numerous studies have been conducted to investigate the impact of various pedagogical andcurricular approaches on the transfer of knowledge in ethics and social justice in STEMdisciplines, often with disappointing results [2]–[5]. However, it may be that we are notmeasuring concepts of ethics
) and the summer offerings (over 6 or8 weeks) with small sample sizes (n<20 for each section) were compared without findingapparently significant differences. Details on course structure and other lessons learned regardingteaching foundational courses like this one online are offered.BackgroundOnline learning is an increasingly common methodology for teaching University courses,building on the distance learning pedagogies of previous decades. In engineering, the concept ofonline learning is not new [1] , but there is little work specifically examining the effectiveness ofonline chemical engineering courses. Additionally, the complexity of courses offered on anaccelerated timeline as in the case of a summer course schedule compared to
that students positively perceivedflipped and active learning techniques.1. IntroductionThe benefits and effectiveness of active learning for student problem solving, conceptual gains, examscores, and engagement are well established [1]–[5]. Despite the known benefits of active learning, lecture-based teaching in STEM is still the prevalent approach, with active learning, in general, propagating at aslow rate [5]–[7]. But, with advances in technologies and ideologies, online education has gained morepopularity and acceptance among students. This acceptance has encouraged instructors in differentdisciplines to adopt flipped instructions in their classes [8]. The flipped classroom is not equivalent tomerely online videos; instead, the key point
Polytechnic InstituteMelissa Shuey, Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteMarta TsyndraMakayla Wahaus, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Makayla Wahaus received her Bachelors of Science in Sustainability Studies and Applied Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2020. After completing her senior thesis, ”Community Supported Agriculture in the NY Capital Region: Pathways, Economics, and Community”, she plans to farm with a local CSA producer while navigating to her desired career path. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2020 Student Perspectives on Navigating Engineering PathwaysLike many of the National Academy of Engineering’s consensus studies, the 2018 Pathwaysreport [1] tells
, students with highlevels of financial need (such as those who are eligible for Pell grants), and non-traditionalstudents [1]–[3]. Prior research (explored in more depth in the literature review section of thispaper) has also shown that peer networks can provide crucial support to the aforementionedstudents, and play an important role in the success of all incoming students.To address the previously mentioned challenges, Boise State University developed a summerbridge program, RAISE, that combines an on-campus component with a multi-day outdoorexperience (See [4] for more background on this program). The on-campus portion of theprogram focuses on relationship-building among STEM students, building skills and awarenessof campus resources for
Genaro Zavala is a Full Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the School of Engineering and Sciences at Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico. He collaborates with the Faculty of Engineering of the Universidad Andres Bello in Santiago, Chile. Professor Zavala is National Researcher Level 1 of the National System of Researchers of Mexico. He works with the following research lines: conceptual understanding, active learning, development of assessment tools, faculty development and studies in STEM. Genaro Zavala was appointed to the editorial board of the Physical Review Special Topics-Physics Education Research journal of the American Physical Society for the period 2015 to 2018, vice president of the
Engineering Education, 2020 Student responses to active learning strategies: A comparison between project-based and traditional engineering programsIntroductionOver the past three decades, engineering education has experienced calls for innovation in termsof effective teaching and learning. One of the reformations is to introduce active learning in theclassroom to promote students’ engagement. Different from traditional teacher-centered lectures,active learning [1] focuses on students’ participation, peer-to-peer interaction as well as learningreflection and metacognition [2]. Including a wide range of teaching strategies, such as groupbrainstorming, jigsaw discussion [3], think-pair-share [4], and problem-based
students show small to medium negativeeffects for questions related to climate and inclusion as they make progress through the coursesequence. These results indicate that we require further interventions to improve the sense ofcommunity among our students.Introduction and MotivationThe number of AP CS exams offered and passed still lags other AP exams, and the number ofwomen and URM students who pass the AP CS exams is even smaller. [1] URM women areparticularly under-represented in these exams. AP exams are not the deciding factor in highschool students’ decisions about what to study in college, but they are an indicator of how broadlyacceptable different fields are to different social groups. [2] Visualizing the AP exam data,[3] wesee that many