Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching Physics or Engineering Phy

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adrian Ieta, Murray State University; Arthur Pallone

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

theenhanced class experience, successes, and shortcomings of the project-based peer-evaluation method used in the classroom. The effectiveness shown in the Optics andMeasurements classes indicates that this teaching approach is more generally applicableto other project-based courses.INTRODUCTIONTeaching engineering and science without laboratory sessions is both challenging and ofdiminished value. It has been reported that project based learning increases interest in thetaught topic, as well as the students’ skills [1, 5, 8]. Epistemological beliefs andinstructional goals can also be related to the use of laboratory activity [6]. Engineering Page

Conference Session

Technology in the Physics or Engineering Physics C

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nataliia Perova, Tufts University; Walter H. Johnson, Suffolk University; Chris Rogers, Tufts University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

- questionnaires.TABLE 1: Multiple–choice results collected from questionnaires given before theworkshop. The results indicate the percent value for each answer.1. A car is moving along a horizontal highway in astraight line at a constant rate of 25 m/s. Itsacceleration is 47 [A][A] 9.8 m/s2 0 [B][B] 9.8 m/s. 41 [C] – correct answer[C] zero. 12 [D][D] 25 m/s.2. A ball is thrown straight upward. What is theacceleration of the ball at the highest point?[A] zero 53 [A][B] 9.8 m/s2 , upward 12 [B][C] 9.8 m/s2, downward

Conference Session

Programmatic Issues in Physics or Engineering Physics Programs

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Anca Sala, Baker College; Raghu Echempati, Kettering University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

methodology for assessing student achievement in one of the Physicscourses in the calculus-based Physics sequence, and the results we obtained for the past twoacademic years. Achievement of each Student Learning Outcome was determined quantitativelyusing a spreadsheet program. A special focus was placed on Student Learning Outcomes directlyrelated to the a)-n) ABET required program outcomes for Mechanical Engineering programs. Wefound the methodology to be very helpful in assessing topics of difficulty for students, and year-to-year trends in student learning.1. IntroductionDirect assessment of student learning outcomes1 is a practice now embraced by a majority ofcolleges and universities with ABET accredited engineering programs. The way

Conference Session

Technology in the Physics or Engineering Physics C

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Raymond Winton, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

complementary MOS transistors (CMOS) in order toachieve high-density circuits with both high-speed and a reduced power budget. Thesefactors are also how we define much of our classroom dialogue in all forms of electrical andcomputer engineering.Driven by demands for smaller, faster, and more extensive circuits, MOS device dimensionshave been reduced to sub-micron levels [1]. At these sizes a few volts of potential producesextremely high electric fields, a factor that is both beneficial and problematic. The highfields are what enables the desired qualities of the MOS device. But the high fields also pushthe analyses well beyond most of the simple physics, which has its laws and roots in low-field laboratory benchwork. So classroom descriptions of the

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching Physics or Engineering Phy

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Matthew Kohlmyer, Georgia Institute of Technology; Michael Schatz, Georgia Institute of Technology; Richard Catrambone, Georgia Institute of Technology; Marcus Marr, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

studentsenrolled in the course, much of infrastructure is necessary for maintaining the course. Ourapproach in implementing M&I was to make gradual changes in all these areas.M&I was first offered at Georgia Tech as a small, pilot section of about 40 students, taught by apost-doctoral fellow hired expressly for the purpose of assisting in implementing and teachingthe curriculum. As shown in Table 1, the number and size of lecture sections using the M&Icurriculum have expanded since then. By spring 2008, approximately 30 percent of students Page 13.707.3enrolled in the introductory physics sequence were in M&I-based sections. The number

Conference Session

Programmatic Issues in Physics or Engineering Physics Programs

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Glenn Ellis, Smith College; Mary Moriarty, Smith College; Gary Felder, Smith College

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

Baccalaureate Colleges from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.Mary Moriarty, Smith College Dr. Moriarty has over 15 years of research, evaluation, and project management experience. Her evaluation work has spanned the areas of science instruction, robotics, technology application, and disability in higher education. She has a doctorate in Educational Policy, Research, and Administration from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and in 2004 was selected as 1 of 15 national participants in a National Science Foundation sponsored Evaluation Institute at Western Michigan University. Her background includes serving as Principal

Conference Session

Technology in the Physics or Engineering Physics C

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Probst, Southeast Missouri State University; Margaret Waterman, Southeast Missouri State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

in the pre-test and post-test means for the sets of questions on the FCI that tested theconcepts taught using the clickers, while no significant difference was found for the sets ofquestions that tested the concepts taught without using the clickers. This suggests that usingclickers in a course like this does indeed improve learning.I. IntroductionPersonal Response Systems (clickers) have been shown to improve learning in various classroomsettings when effectively used.1 After being prompted by a textbook sales representative to trythem, I incorporated use of clickers into my conceptual physics course because I already usedvarious methods to encourage student engagement in my classroom,2 and this seemed like a goodmethod as well. After

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching Physics or Engineering Phy

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Teresa Larkin, American University; Dan Budny, University of Pittsburgh

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

be shared.Highlights of the writing curriculum developed in both the physics and the engineeringclassrooms will be offered. Strategies for effectively dealing with large class sizes will also bepresented. It is anticipated that the writing strategies to be described will provide educatorswithin the domain of STEM education with viable tools to assist them in developing and/orenhancing the use of writing within their own classrooms.I. INTRODUCTIONThe primary purpose of teaching is to facilitate student learning. Traditional teachingmethodologies have been shown to put students in a role of passive rather than active learning[1]. In addition, traditional instructional methods have also been shown to be very inadequate interms of the promotion

Conference Session

Programmatic Issues in Physics or Engineering Physics Programs

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Winston Jackson, California Institute of Technology; Jennifer Franck, California Institute of Technology; James Maloney, California Institute of Technology; Juan Pedro Ochoa-Ricoux, California Institute of Technology; Julian Rimoli, California Institute of Technology; Luz Rivas, California Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

croquet ball, a mallet striking a tennis ball, and a mallet with Velcro striking atennis ball with Velcro (as to coalesce). Each exercise required a typed group report uponcompletion.3.2 Design ProjectTowards the middle of the second week of study, the students were expected to use theirknowledge of physics fundamentals to compete in an engineering design competition. Thecompetition was adapted from a high school competition at the University of Missouri andrequired the students to form teams and compete against one another to design and build acatapult or trebuchet capable of launching a raw egg.1 The students were judged in four distinctareas: proximity in hitting a target 20 feet away, longest horizontal distance from the launch spot,design

Conference Session

Technology in the Physics or Engineering Physics C

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nataliia Perova, Tufts University; Patricia Hogan, Suffolk University; Walter H. Johnson, Suffolk University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

Description Page 13.1369.3A group of science and engineering undergraduate students at Suffolk University is activelyinvolved in work on the project incorporating Portable Multi-Channel Gas analyzer, known asPID102+ and Wireless Data Transmission using Tmote sky devices. This project had two goals:1) Interfacing a microcomputer based radio transmitter/receiver and a GPS chip into an existingengineering device – the hand held gas sensor analyzer, known as the PID102+. (Figure1). 2)Development of a new system for dynamic monitoring and display of multiple gasconcentrations at multiple locations in a large environment.In this project the students

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching Physics or Engineering Phy

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Ross, University of Detroit Mercy; Jenna Ross, Utica Center for Mathematics Science and Technology

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

, persuasivespeaking, and physics. Our unique program targets incoming high school freshmen from adiverse urban population. For several years the physics course was based on a traditionalintroductory college mechanics laboratory curriculum. This curriculum was not inquiry-basedand provided only limited opportunities for students to construct their own knowledge byperforming open-ended activities.Scholarly research into the teaching and, more importantly, the learning of physics has providedvaluable guidance for the design of innovative curricula and pedagogy 1 . The pedagogicalstrategies that are able to demonstrate high rates of student achievement, as measured bystandardized examinations, involve some form of what is commonly called interactiveengagement

Conference Session

Technology in the Physics or Engineering Physics C

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Baha Jassemnejad, University of Central Oklahoma; Wei Pee, University of Central Oklahoma; Mathew Mounce, University of Central Oklhoma

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

custom builtgear box.The team kept an engineering journal which they maintained every day. With this journal they Page 13.697.4were able to document the design, building, and testing of their robot. Charts 1 and 2, Gantt chartand testing data respectively, are two examples of what they recorded in their journal. Thepractice of keeping their engineering journal was difficult for them at first but with constantreminder and the need for them to refer back to their activities they learned quickly journals arean invaluable tool for building as well as later analysis of their progress. Gantt Chart Week 1

Conference Session

Technology in the Physics or Engineering Physics C

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Jonassen, University of Missouri

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

condition. Hume was one of the first modern philosophers to explorecausality. He identified the important attributes of causation [1, p. 116]:“1. The cause and effect must be contiguous in space and time. 2. The cause must be prior to the effect. 3. There must be a constant union betwixt the cause and effect.”That is, causation arises from the empirical relations of contiguity, temporal succession, andconstant conjunction. Spatiotemporal contiguity refers to the repeated and consistent associationsamong causes and effects in space or time. If kicking a ball always results in ball movement,humans induce a causal relationship. Temporal succession (AKA temporal priority) claims thatcauses always precede effects, not the other way around 10. Constant

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching Physics or Engineering Phy

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Jonassen, University of Missouri; Young Hoan Cho, University of Missouri; Carlos Wexler, University of Missouri

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

, dynamics,fluids, oscillatory motion, waves and thermodynamics. Data were collected throughout thespring, 2007 semester.InstrumentsAssessment instruments included standard examinations for the course that included bothquantitative problems and conceptual questions. Embedded within these examinations werecalculation questions (see example in Figure 1) and conceptual questions requiringcomprehension of the relationships among problem elements but no calculations (seeexample in Figure 2). These exams were time-restricted and completed during normalclassroom periods during the semester. Student exam scores were calculated by adding thepoint values achieved by the students on all of the calculation questions plus the conceptualquestions that were

Conference Session

Programmatic Issues in Physics or Engineering Physics Programs

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jeff Jalkio, University of St. Thomas; Arnold Weimerskirch, University of St. Thomas

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

for the implementation of qualityimprovement programs, we believe that much can be learned from the work of manufacturingquality experts such as Juran2, Crosby3, and Deming4. The fact that their work has producedclear, measurable results in many diverse industries has motivated our efforts to apply theirmethods to improving the quality of our graduate and undergraduate engineering programs at ouruniversity. In particular, we have adopted a Continual Improvement Process which employs Dr.W. Edwards Deming’s Plan-Do-Check-Act model to encourage systematic quality improvementin multiple ways within our school.The Deming cycle, shown in figure 1 and also known as the Shewart cycle, and the PDCA cycle