Conference Session

Programming for Engineering Students II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jayaraman Jayaraman Thiagarajan, Arizona State University; Kostas Tsakalis, Arizona State University; Andreas Spanias, Arizona State University; Harvey Thornburg, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

BLOCK DIAGRAM FRONT PANEL Figure 1. Illustration of components of a VI.2. LabVIEW in Signals and Systems LabVIEW enables users to develop applications that are interactive, executed in paralleland multicore. LabVIEW programs are called Virtual Instruments (VIs). Each VI has three mainparts: the block diagram, the front panel and the icon/connector. The block diagram contains theactual graphical code, while the front panel is the user interface. Controls and indicators on thefront panel allow the user to input data into or extract data from a running virtual environment.Each VI in turn can contain sub VIs and other structures. This hierarchical programmingstructure allows code reusability

Conference Session

Embedded Computing

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Swanbom, Louisiana Tech University; Davis Harbour, Louisiana Tech University; Hisham Hegab, Louisiana Tech University; Danny Eddy, Louisiana Tech University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

attributes defined by TheEngineer of 20209 in ourstudents. As the studentsmove through the sequence,a steadily increasing levelof independence is requiredfrom the students as theydesign and build projectswith a steadily growingdegree of complexity. Intheir first course, freshmenundertake a centrifugalpump project10. In thesecond course, the pumpsare used to circulate saltwater in a “fishtank”- asystem (see Figure 1) inwhich the students use amicrocontroller to controlthe temperature and salinityof a small volume of water Figure 1 – Temperature and Salinity Controlled Systemusing temperature andconductivity sensors that they make and calibrate as part of the course content. The final courseof the freshman year requires the students to

Conference Session

Tablet and Portable PCs for Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ricky Castles, Virginia Tech; Eric Scott, Virginia Tech; Jenny Lo, Virginia Tech; Vinod Lohani, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

facultymembers, 16 graduate teaching assistants (GTAs), and 12 undergraduate graders. Two facultymembers act as the course coordinators and two GTAs are assigned workshop coordinationresponsibilities. One undergraduate grader coordinates the grading work of all graders and workswith faculty and GTA coordinators in facilitating grading work. Table 1 gives the progression ofTablet PC/DyKnow based instruction activities in EngE1024 over the last three years.This course serves as the test site to try and implement various pedagogical experiments targetedat enhancing engineering instruction. Best practices are then communicated to faculty colleaguesin other departments and those teaching subsequent courses within the same department.Electronic Grading

Conference Session

Computational Tools and Simulation II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brianno Coller, Northern Illinois University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

-time. On the surface, though, it has much of the look and feelof a commercial video game. A screen shot of the game, EduTorcs, is shown in Figure 1.Students do not “play” the video game in the usualway. They interact with the game through a softwareinterface. Instead of spending countless hours,joystick in hand, honing one’s eye-hand coordinationand reaction skills, the mechanical engineeringstudents improve their “driving” skills by applyingengineering analysis to the problem. They writedriving algorithms in C++, and their programs getlinked to the game at run time. Although they drive avirtual car in a virtual world, students solve authenticengineering problems. To succeed in the gamestudents must think and act like engineers.We originally

Conference Session

Computational Tools and Simulation I

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nabil Lehlou, University of Arkansas; Nebil Buyurgan, University of Arkansas; Justin Chimka, University of Arkansas

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

whichstudents at different locations can greatly benefit by accessing remote laboratory equipment andobtaining hands-on experience [1-7]. Not only that, but Web technology is also able to providenew teaching techniques that are appealing to students [5]. On the other hand, RFID is one of the new technologies that is more visible than ever and hasa high potential of being used extensively in the near future. The existence of RFID laboratoriesin educational environments will serve the purpose of providing testing results and conclusions,as well as giving the involved students the opportunity to obtain hands-on experience, making Page 14.209.2them

Conference Session

Computational Tools and Simulation I

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Stanley, Kettering University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

was found that the students’ qualitative understanding of particle kinematics andkinetics was significantly improved by using the program. The students consider the softwareeasy to use and recommend it to instructors who teach introductory Dynamics classes.In this paper, the software functionality will be explained. The results of the subjectiveassignment will be detailed, and pedagogical advantages will be clarified via survey results andthe comments of students.1. IntroductionIn typical Dynamics courses, most homework problems require the student to solve for a givenvariable at an instant in space and time. The professor typically assigns a set of homeworkproblems and the students solve each problem by hand. The student knows that his or

Conference Session

Software and Hardware for Educators II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Patrick Cunningham, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Shannon Sexton, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Julia Williams, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

reasons for this include the learning curve for usingtablet PCs effectively and the limited but quickly growing body of research supporting theireffectiveness.There has been much work at our school since 2003 studying the implementation of tablet PCs inthe classroom and DyKnow Vision collaborative software.1-4 In these studies the instructor hashad a tablet PC and the students have had tablet PCs, laptops with Wacom slates, or no computerduring lecture. The DyKnow Vision software enabled implementation of a variety of classroomassessment techniques and electronic collaborations between students and between students andthe instructor. This study focuses on instructor use of a tablet PC for lecture delivery whilestudents only have hard paper copies

Conference Session

Computational Tools and Simulation III

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lok PASUPULETI, Northern Illinois University; Omar Ghrayeb, Northern Illinois University; Hubert Ley, Argonne National Laboratory; Clifford Mirman, Northern Illinois University; Young Park, Argonne National Laboratory

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

Conference Session

Computer Education Innovations

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Charles Lesko, East Carolina University; John Pickard, East Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

Life in the fallof 2008, a short series of course assignments were developed to present and demonstrate the newvirtual spaces to a sampling of students. Two courses, one a Technology Management graduate-level course and the second a Network Technologies undergraduate course were presented withthe assignments and then surveyed. There were a total of twenty-nine graduate and twenty-oneundergraduate students that were surveyed for this initial effort (see Table 1). The survey resultsand analysis presented here will focus on the collective responses of the total populationsurveyed. Although there were some noted differences between the two populations, it was notthe goal of this exercise to evaluate those differences. The data is presented however

Conference Session

Programming for Engineering Students I

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Arlen Planting, Boise State University; Sin Ming Loo, Boise State University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

are likely to need in the workplace [1], and the time required to producecode for each new device in assembly results in the course becoming more software-orientedrather than focusing on the hardware and devices. However, using the C language only is notconsidered practical for teaching microprocessors since assembly is the language of theprocessor and thus is necessary for understanding how the microprocessor works. Simplyrewriting device code in C without applying software engineering principles [2] yields poorquality code that is difficult to maintain and cannot be readily targeted to other platforms.However, by selectively applying some of the object oriented principles [3] that can be found inthe Linux kernel and device drivers, the C

Conference Session

Computational Tools and Simulation I

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sam Shearman, National Instruments

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

14.430.2Figure 1, An example signal processing concept demonstration that examines Kaiser-Besselwindow FIR filter design.Figure 1 shows an example signal processing concept demonstration built using LabVIEW. Theexample explores Kaiser-Bessel window FIR filter design, examining the relationship betweenfilter design parameters and magnitude response. Controls on the left allow the student to modifyfilter order and beta values to specify a trial low-pass filter design. A graph on the rightdynamically plots the magnitude response of the design in decibels as a function of normalizedfrequency. Exploration is possible on the graph, in that the user can zoom in / out by modifyingthe ranges of the plot axes. Doing so enables the user to see details in the

Conference Session

Programming for Engineering Students I

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ed Crowley, University of Houston

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

Systems (CIS) program. Currently, our undergraduate program is undergoingABET accreditation while our graduate specialization curriculum is certified by the NSAthrough the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS).The focus of our four, three graduate hour, class specialization is enterprise securityassessment and evaluation. Three of the courses have published technical goals. [1] Froma technical perspective, our learning outcomes include a variety of areas including:computer security, network security, applied cryptography, and Internet security.Consequently, the learning modules that we have developed may be utilized in a numberof technical areas. For example, our colleagues in Computer Engineering Technologyhave incorporated several of

Conference Session

Software and Hardware for Educators II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Walter Schilling, MSOE

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

experiences withsuch a system, whereby a separate graphics tablet is interfaced with a university issuedlaptop. Things gone wrong, as well as things gone right, with such a system will bedeveloped.1. IntroductionIn the past few years, there has been significant interest in the usage of tablet PCs inengineering education. Tablet PCs offer significant advantages for professors. Digitalinking, interactive drawing, and grading have all been shown to be practical uses fortablet PCs by instructors1. Students like digitally inked lectures, as they can be rapidlymade available for review after class in note and video form, and depending on thetechniques used can be readily replayed as a study tool2,3. Through the usage of theproper software, interactive

Conference Session

Embedded Computing

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christopher Korpela, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Robert McTasney, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

tools to quickly generatedesigns, an FPGA platform provides the necessary flexibility to quickly produce a workingsystem. Students are able to easily modify and adapt their designs for a specific application. Wedemonstrate that multiprocessor systems can be developed, implemented and studied byundergraduate students due to the availability and accessibility of design tools and FPGAdevelopment boards. Further, these systems enhance the learning of multiprocessors and aptlycompliment advanced computer architecture courses covering topics to include shared memory,synchronization, sequential consistency, and memory coherency.1. IntroductionThe last few years have seen a dramatic increase in the capabilities and performance of softprocessor cores in

Conference Session

Embedded Computing

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yoon Kim, Virginia State University; Shahzad Akbar, Virginia State University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

toelectrical signal conversion.IntroductionBridge integrity is an issue of national priority following the Minnesota bridge collapse1, shownin Figure 1 and the subsequent publicity that a significant percentage of the nation’s bridges arein need of repair2. Page 14.417.2 Figure 1: Collapse of the Minneapolis, MN Bridge 1The frequency of bridge inspection and subsequent repair is hindered by the lack of funds,personnel and suitable technology to routinely monitor the bridge’s structural integrity.Computer engineering can help solve this problem; it is a discipline that combines both computerscience and electrical engineering and

Conference Session

Robots in Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alexander Mentis, United States Military Academy; Charles Reynolds, United States Military Academy; Donald Abbott-McCune, United States Military Academy; Benjamin Ring, United States Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

successes other educators have had in integrating roboticsinto their curricula and overcome some of the difficulties that have been encountered.1. IntroductionThe motivation to create a wrapper for the iRobot® Create’s serial command Open Interfacespecification initially came from a desire to improve the way we teach abstraction, modularity,and encapsulation in our CS1 curriculum. In addition to the treatment we give to those topicsduring normal lecture hours, our students also participate in a two-hour lab, with a graded take-home portion, in which they are expected to use an instructor-provided package to solve aproblem. Our CS1 course assumes no prior programming knowledge other than a broadly-scoped information technology course taken by all

Conference Session

Computational Tools and Simulation III

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Priya Goeser, Armstrong Atlantic State University; Wayne Johnson, Armstrong Atlantic State University; Felix Hamza-Lup, Armstrong Atlantic State University; Ivan Sopin, Armstrong Atlantic State University; Carlos Sanchez, Armstrong Atlantic State University; Patrick Hager, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

traditional, in-class lecture-based model since spring 2005 with assignments,projects and written exams used as assessment tools.The course learning outcomes include the students’ capacity to: (1) analyze and predict material structure at the atomic, molecular and macroscopic levels (2) analyze and predict material performance based on material properties (3) perform design, safety and failure analysis for specific materials (4) analyze and predict material properties for materials selection and design applicationsOne approach to learning objective (2) is through the discussion of a material’s propertydetermination using a tensile testing machine. However, this is often difficult for students tocomprehend and visualize given the complexity of

Conference Session

Computer Education Innovations

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thomas Cochrane, University of Canterbury

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

members and thelecturer. The evaluation allows the presenter (student) to obtain feedback on their oralpresentation skills and on the technical merits of the material presented.ViP was programmed in object oriented MS Visual Basic 2005 dotNET. It requires a PC withPowerPoint installed, a webcam (built-in the computer or external), and microphones/speakers.Video feed from the webcam is automatically detected by the software. A simple and userfriendly graphical user interface minimizes the software learning curve; effectively allowing newusers to immediately start creating presentations.Creating a ViP presentation:A new ViP presentation is created by starting the ViP program and clicking on the program’screate tab (Figure 1). The user can then

Conference Session

Software and Hardware for Educators II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eric Wiebe, North Carolina State University; Chia-Lin Ho, North Carolina State University; Lisa Bullard, North Carolina State University; Dianne Raubenheimer, North Carolina State University; Jeff Joines, North Carolina State University; Carolyn Miller, North Carolina State University; George Rouskas, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

Carolina State UniversityJeff Joines, North Carolina State UniversityCarolyn Miller, North Carolina State UniversityGeorge Rouskas, North Carolina State University Page 14.356.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 Computing Across Curricula: The View of Industry LeadersAbstractWith the aim of preparing students for pervasive, advanced computing in the workplace, aproject funded by the National Science Foundation CISE Pathways to RevitalizedUndergraduate Computing Education (CPATH) was initiated in 2007. Themultidisciplinary project has two overarching goals: (1) create a computational thinkingthread in the engineering

Conference Session

Embedded Computing

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steven Barrett, University of Wyoming; Jeffrey Anderson, University of Wyoming; Jerry Hamann, University of Wyoming; Robert Kubichek, University of Wyoming; Suresh Muknahallipatna, University of Wyoming; John Pierre, University of Wyoming; David Whitman, University of Wyoming; Cameron Wright, University of Wyoming

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

our constituents in the field who requestedengineers be better prepared to design industrial systems controlled by PLCs.BackgroundIn the February 2008 IEEE-USA Today’s Engineer Online, Mike Anderson, Chief Scientist ofthe PTR Group, Incorporated wrote a definitive article entitled, “Help Wanted: EmbeddedEngineers - Why the United States is losing its edge in embedded systems…[1]” An abbreviatedversion of the paper was later published in the IEEE-USA Today’s Engineer Digest in March2008 [2]. In the article, Anderson describes the prevalent use of embedded systems in a widevariety of industries and notes that on average the citizen of an industrialized nation comes intocontact with over 48 embedded systems everyday [1].To be considered an

Conference Session

Programming for Engineering Students II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John K. Estell, Ohio Northern University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

of the friends of that individual; this constitutes a form of viraladvertising, complete with a ready-made link back to the group. Additionally, by making thegroup “open”, a prospective group member has the ability to look around prior to making acommitment. It should be noted that, regardless of the degree of openness, an administrator doeshave the ability to remove a group member if circumstances warrant it. At this point, the alumnigroup is active and its page is visible to those who have been permitted access. Figure 1 showsthe Facebook Group page established for the alumni of the Ohio Northern ECCS Department. Page 14.358.4

Conference Session

Robots in Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ryan Meuth, Missouri University of Science and Technology; Paul Robinette, Missouri University of Science and Technology; Donald Wunsch, Missouri University of Science and Technology

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

Science educators: "Now CSresearchers are working with scientists from other fields to make robots become practical andintelligent aides"1. Robotics can apply to lessons across several different disciplines inengineering, science, math and business.2,3 Whole institutions are being created to educatestudents in the robotics field.4While some educators are discussing the inclusion of robotics into existing curricula, others arewriting about the changes required to teach robotics as a major5. Dr. McKee describes three basicdivisions robotics education should have: designing and building robots, programming robots forpractical situations, and making robots act more human. He also believes that education inrobotics should start with practice and work

Conference Session

Programming for Engineering Students II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

ansgar neuenhofer, California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

Ly d1 1 2 d3 y d2 d4 x LxFigure 1: Sample finite element mesh and four-node element with eight degrees-of-freedomLet us consider the simple finite element mesh above consisting of 80 four-node elements and 99nodes. We use the standard four-node element with two degrees-of-freedom per node (eight de-grees-of-freedom total), the displacements in the horizontal and vertical directions. The structurethus has 198 degrees-of-freedom. For the sake of argument, we place the 8x8 element stiffnessmatrix k of element 24 (the element

Conference Session

Computational Tools and Simulation II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Anatoliy Protasov, National Technical University of Ukraine “KPI”

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

discontinuity.Problem statementThe 2D model of a TO will be discussed below in details. A cross-section of the cast-iron 8 x4 cm rectangular block, which has 2 cm in diameter blister filled with air, will be used as amodel. The temperature of one of the block surfaces is 873 K. The other three block surfaceshave ambient temperature -293K. Temperature distribution on the block surfaces could bedetermined according to the heat-transfer properties of cast-iron material and air. Theseproperties are presented in the handbook.Simulation techniqueThere is a need to activate the FEMLAB Graphical User Interface (GUI) to start simulation.A figure of the Model Navigator panel appears after the GUI activation (see Fig.1). It isnecessary to mark the button 2D and choose

Conference Session

Computational Tools and Simulation I

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dianne Raubenheimer, North Carolina State University; Jeff Joines, North Carolina State University; Amy Craig, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

throughdecision support systems (i.e., to become “power users” not programmers). Emphasis is placedon the analysis of data in order to make more efficient and effective decisions. The coursesemploy a series of “in-class labs”, integrating the traditional lab and lecture sessions into one,and all in-class activities are done on student-owned laptops [1, 2]. The labs are crafted tocapture the student’s attention the entire time owing to the large distraction of having acomputer. Many of the homework assignments and case studies come from industrial sponsoreddata and represent real world situations. Course content as well as teaching methodologiesemployed and developed have been described in earlier research [1, 2]. Even though this courseis offered in two

Conference Session

Computational Tools and Simulation II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jiang Zhou, Lamar University; Paul Corder, Lamar University; Hsing-wei Chu, Lamar. University; X. Chang Li, Lamar University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

and interest [1]. In order to help the students better understand theconcepts and topics in system dynamics, a series of MATLAB based graphical user interfaces(GUIs) and models have been developed. Multi-layered graphical user interfaces have been usedin classroom teaching, including time and frequency response of first and second order systemsdue to a variety of different input conditions and initial conditions, for both one degree offreedom and two degrees of freedom systems. In this paper, selected example GUIs areintroduced and displayed. The graphical user interfaces present data in a form so that studentscan immediately see the effects of changing system parameters as they relate to frequencies,damping, and even the principles of

Conference Session

Programming for Engineering Students I

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Melinda Hess, University of South Florida; Autar Kaw, University of South Florida; Corina Owens, University of South Florida

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

, including supplementing readingassignments, class presentations, and problem assignments. A seven-point scale was usedfor these items ranging from Truly Inadequate (value = 1) to Truly Outstanding (value =7). In addition, five open-ended items asked for specific feedback on the textbook,PowerPoint presentations, multiple choice tests, and e-books. A final open-endedquestion request general comments if the reviewer was so inclined. Reviewers addressedboth technological aspects of the module as well as the content, including layout,formatting, presentation of problems, and organization of materials.The four faculty members represented varying degrees of experience, from 2 years to 36years, and all had taught a Numerical Methods course within the last

Conference Session

Robots in Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kenneth Fernandez, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center; Richard Fischer, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center; Paul Drews, Missouri University of Science and Technology; Amir Mobasher, Alabama A&M University; Maegan Grady, Saint Mary's College, University of Notre Dame; Robert Rucker, Vanderbilt University; Jessica Tham, Louisiana Tech University; Thomas Bierbower, Randolph High School

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

theaccomplishments of one of three robotics teams that participated in the summer roboticsworkshop in 2008. The program which is administered by NASA's Office of Education placesstudent teams at several NASA Centers engaged in robotics work. Robotics Team 1 at theMarshall Space Flight Center located in Huntsville, Alabama was assigned to the Self-AwareSurface Networks (SASN) project. The SASN project is studies the use of networks to gatherdata from scientific instruments and to control robotic vehicles in scenarios similar to thoseanticipated when NASA returns to the moon or beyond. SASN project has a fleet of eight (8)small MARCbot robots acquired from the U.S. Army which have been modified with a prototypecommunications network. The project also has a

Conference Session

Embedded Computing

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yul Chu, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

2006-12: A CLASS PROJECT FOR LOW-POWER CACHE MEMORYARCHITECTUREYul Chu, Mississippi State University Page 11.14.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2006 A Class Project for Low-Power Cache Memory ArchitectureAbstract This paper presents a class project for a graduate-level computer architecture course. The goalof the project is to let students (two or three students per team) understand the concept ofcomputer hardware and how to design a simple low-power cache memory for future processors.The project consists of three different tasks: 1) Design - Designing a low-power cache memory(instruction or data) at the abstract level after literature research; 2) Code

Conference Session

Issues in Computer Education

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John K. Estell, Ohio Northern University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

of a Java certification guidebook in a third quarter introductoryprogramming course; the students have previously had two quarters of instruction in the C++programming language. The guidebook, "A Programmer's Guide to Java Certification," byMughal and Rasmussen,1 was used in conjunction with a traditional textbook to provide acomplete treatment over the course material. This guidebook was written to provide coverageover the certification objectives of the Sun Certified Programmer for the Java 2 Platform(SCPJ2) 1.4 Exam. However, the preface to the book makes it clear that it is not meant to be acomplete Java reference, nor is it meant to be a book on teaching one how to program. Instead, itemphasizes the salient features of the Java