Conference Session

Innovations in Biological/Agricultural Education-I

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kurt Rosentrater, USDA-ARS; Jerry Visser, South Dakota State University

Tagged Divisions

Biological & Agricultural

renewable resources to produce fuels, chemicals, and finished products to meet theseincreasing needs. Additionally, popularity is gaining, both in research as well as industry, indeveloping and commercializing biobased products. Within this arena, there are tremendousopportunities for teaching innovations as well. To date, very limited discussions at ASEEregarding these potentials have occurred. The goal of this paper is to discuss possibilities foraugmenting engineering and technology curricula by incorporating various concepts frombiomass processing and utilization. We will discuss three specific topics that are germane to thefields of engineering and technology, and could easily be infused into existing coursework.These include quality control

Conference Session

Innovations in Biological/Agricultural Education-II

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

George Meyer, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Tagged Divisions

Biological & Agricultural

AC 2008-1490: INSTRUMENTATION AND CONTROLS FOR AGRICULTURALAND BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING STUDENTSGeorge Meyer, University of Nebraska-Lincoln GEORGE MEYER, Professor, has taught graduate and undergraduate classes that involve plant and animal growth and environmental factors, modeling, and instrumentation and controls for both agricultural and biological systems engineering students for 29 years. He has received national paper awards and recognition for his work in distance education and has received university teaching awards. His current research include measurement and modeling of crop water stress, fuzzy logic controls for turf irrigation management, and machine vision detection

Conference Session

Biological & Agricultural Technical Session

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kumar Mallikarjunan, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Anand Lakshmikanth, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; John Cundiff, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Andrew Fulton, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Tagged Divisions

Biological & Agricultural

them continuously revisit keyconcepts, which increased in levels of complexity, through a four-year spiral themed curriculum.The focus of the curriculum was on active learning of concepts of design, systems, and ethicsthrough hands-on activities or learning modules as is indicated in figure 1.Figure 1. Schematic representation of the spiral curriculum indicating re-visitation and deepening of concepts pertaining to systems approach, engineering design, and ethicsSome of the activities planned under the DLR project included use of electronic portfolios inengineering instruction, development of student team building software, incorporating researchand cutting edge laboratory experiences into the undergraduate curriculum14. Studies

Conference Session

Innovations in Biological/Agricultural Education-II

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Abhijit Nagchaudhuri, University of Maryland Eastern Shore; Madhumi Mitra, University of Maryland Eastern Shore; Lurline Marsh, University of Maryland Eastern Shore; Craig Daughtry, United States Department of Agriculture; Tracy Earle, University of Maryland Eastern Shore; Jurgen Schwarz, University of Maryland Eastern Shore

Tagged Divisions

Biological & Agricultural

AC 2008-141: SITE SPECIFIC FARMING, ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS, ANDASSOCIATED ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES, PROVIDE A PLATFORM FORACTIVE LEARNING AND RESEARCH AT A LAND GRANT UNIVERSITYAbhijit Nagchaudhuri, University of Maryland Eastern Shore Abhijit Nagchaudhuri is a Professor in the Department of Engineering and Aviation Sciences at University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Prior to joining UMES he worked at Turabo University in San Juan , PR as well as Duke University in Durham North Carolina as Assistant Professor and Research Assistant Professor, respectively. Dr. Nagchaudhuri is a member of ASME and ASEE professional societies and is actively involved in teaching and research in the fields of applied

Conference Session

Innovations in Biological/Agricultural Education-II

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kumar Mallikarjunan, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Christan Whysong, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Jenny Lo, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Tagged Divisions

Biological & Agricultural

the National Science Foundation (NSF), is currentlyunderway. The goal of the DLR program for these two departments is to reformulate curriculawithin the EngE and BSE programs by utilizing a theme-based spiral curriculum approach. Page 13.716.2Jerome Bruner, the twentieth-century psychologist, proposed the notion of a spiral curriculum inwhich basic ideas are visited repeatedly in an increasingly complex manner.3 Figure 1 provides avisual description of the spiral curriculum being implemented by the EngE and BSE faculty.Active learning in the form of hands-on activities is one of the strategies being used to teach themain theme of