Conference Session

FPD1 -- Implementing a First-Year Engineering Course

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jenny Lo, Virginia Tech; Vinod Lohani, Virginia Tech; Odis Griffin, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

2006-982: FULL IMPLEMENTATION OF A NEW FORMAT FOR FRESHMANENGINEERING COURSE AT VIRGINIA TECHJenny Lo, Virginia Tech Jenny Lo is an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. She is the co-coordinator of the first semester engineering course and has been involved with educational projects related to freshmen programs, engineering ethics, and undergraduate research.Vinod Lohani, Virginia Tech Vinod Lohani is an associate professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. He is the co-coordinator of the first semester engineering course and has been involved in many educational research projects including a departmental level reform

Conference Session

FPD7 -- Service Learning

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lorelle Meadows, University of Michigan; Samantha Jarema, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT OF A SERVICE LEARNING PROJECT IN A REQUIRED FIRST-YEAR ENGINEERING COURSEAbstractIn Fall 2004, a service-learning curriculum was introduced in one section of Engineering 100:Introduction to Engineering, at the University of Michigan. Engineering 100 is a required coursefor all first year students and comprises a team project coupled with an introduction to technicalcommunication. The course also includes threads of environmental sustainability, ethics and therole of the engineer in society. As a required course, Engineering 100 has suffered from lowteaching evaluations, despite the efforts of many faculty to actively engage students in thelearning process. Thus, one of the goals of this project

Conference Session

FPD3 -- Professional Issues for First-Year Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Simmons, University of Queensland; Elise Barrella, Bucknell University; Keith Buffinton, Bucknell University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

consistent with criteria set forth by EngineersAustralia and ABET for engineering degree programs. Both organizations encourage arealistic understanding of professional practice, including project management and ethics, andrequire students to be able to work in multi-disciplinary groups and communicate effectively.Although universities have the entire duration of the degree program to meet theserequirements, students benefit greatly from early exposure. The purpose of this study was todiscuss best practices for introductory courses that focus on professional engineering skillsand practice. Through internet-based research, information was gathered about 82 courses atuniversities in Australia, the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. Courses that

Conference Session

FPD9 -- Technology & Textbooks

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Philip Kosky, Union College; William Keat, Union College; George Wise, Union College; Robert Balmer, Union College

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

: Define the problem to be solved; Step 2: Determine the design requirements; Step 3: Generate alternative design concepts. Generation of alternative designs for complex systems: design philosophy and 2 functional decomposition. Introduction to teaming - ‘Waste Ball’ (hands-on exercise). Design process Step 4: Evaluating alternative concepts Characteristics of good teams - ‘Survival’ exercise. The role of ethics - definition, case 3 studies, and professional code of ethics. Keeping a Design Notebook Major design project introduced. Design Notebook review by instructor. Design 4 competition rules and list of parts and materials presented. Design process Step 5: Detailed

Conference Session

FPD7 -- Service Learning

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

P.K. Raju, Auburn University; Chetan Sankar, Auburn University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

: (a) an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering (b) an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data (c) an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability (d) an ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams (e) an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems (f) an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility (g) an ability to communicate effectively (h)the broad education necessary to understand the

Conference Session

FPD3 -- Professional Issues for First-Year Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sven Bilen, Pennsylvania State University; Beverly Jaeger, Northeastern University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

, as theyare encouraged to attend, listen to, and respect their fellow students’ presentations.Table 1. Examples of Categories and Student-selected Topics for One-Minute Engineer Presentations. Demo Minute Newsworthy Word of the Day Biography Flybar1200 pogo stick Hurricane Katrina flooding* levee* Henry Ford physics of guitar strings* Jet Blue emergency landing timbre* Alexander Graham Bell engineered athletic apparel* Boston’s Big Dig traffic routes bionics* George W. Ferris bat-inspired security search* ethics and privacy in security* kinetoscope* Thomas Edison

Conference Session

FPD2 -- Highlighting First-Year Programs

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Howard, East Carolina University; Joseph Musto, Milwaukee School of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

majors after the freshman year.Many freshman classes are intended to develop specific student skills in areas such graphics andcomputer programming. Requirements from the Accreditation Board for Engineering andTechnology (ABET)2 have resulted in the inclusion of topics such as teamwork, ethics, and theengineering profession at the freshman level.Design is also a component of many first-year engineering courses. The inclusion of design atthis level is probably one of the most-discussed topics in engineering education. A commonargument against design content at the freshman level is that without the mathematical andanalytical skills, student design projects tend to trivialize the detailed design steps. Crockett etal3 counter this argument by

Conference Session

FPD2 -- Highlighting First-Year Programs

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Freeman, Northeastern University; Beverly Jaeger, Northeastern University; Richard Whalen, Beverly Jaeger and Richard Whalen are members of Northeastern University's

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Page 11.157.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2006 Active Teaching, Active Learning: Infusing the Design Process in a First-Year CourseAbstractThe overall goals of most first-year engineering design courses are to introduce students to theengineering design process through hands-on learning activities, to familiarize them with thevarious disciplines in engineering, and to inspire and instill an appreciation for the engineeringprofession, its ethics, and practices –all with the hopes of improved retention. At NortheasternUniversity, our team of instructors has developed a set of classroom activities that illustrate eachstep of the engineering design process though exercises which dynamically

Conference Session

FPD2 -- Highlighting First-Year Programs

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jeffrey Connor, Virginia Tech; Vinod Lohani, Virginia Tech; Kumar Mallikarjunan, Virginia Tech; G. Loganathan, Virginia Tech; Jenny Lo, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

curriculum approach. The twentiethcentury psychologist, Jerome Bruner, proposed the concept of the spiral curriculum. Bruneradvocates that a curriculum as it develops should revisit the basic ideas repeatedly, building uponthem until the student has grasped the full formal apparatus that goes with them.5 In theproposed reformulation, a theme of sustainability has been selected to provide a contextualframework. The supporting principles of design, ethics, and a systems approach and cross-cutting skills of communication, teamwork, life-long learning, research experience, and labexperience will be woven throughout the curricula.In the spring of 2005 the department piloted a new model for student instruction in one of thefreshman year engineering

Conference Session

FPD4 -- Real-World Case Studies & Projects

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jason Yao, East Carolina University; Gene Dixon, East Carolina University; William Howard, East Carolina University; Ric Williams; Keith Williamson, East Carolina University; Geoffrey Dieck, East Carolina University; Steve McLawhorn, East Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

University (ECU),freshmen are introduced to engineering topics that include solid modeling, mechanicalengineering, electrical engineering, and design engineering. Robots inherently integrate all thesedisciplines. At ECU, student teams are used in a cohort learning environment to build robots.The robot building project serves as a platform for experiential learning in engineeringdisciplines and also serves to develop problem solving skills, interpersonal skills, and ethics. Arobotics competition is embedded into the introductory class work to increase levels ofparticipation, interest and challenge for the freshmen. During classroom and laboratory exercisesleading up to the competition, students build mobile robots to compete in a treasure-huntinggame

Conference Session

FPD1 -- Implementing a First-Year Engineering Course

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Hagenberger, Valparaiso University; Barbara Engerer, Valparaiso University; Doug Tougaw, Valparaiso University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

freshman engineering course, called “Exploring Engineering,” was created in 1992.The primary goals of the course were to introduce the students to engineering, to help them tochoose a major, and to develop basic computer literacy. The course consisted of two largelectures (attended by every student in the class) and one computer lab (in sections of 20 studentseach) every week. Three of the lectures were devoted to each of our four majors: civil,computer, electrical, and mechanical engineering. Other topics of importance to our studentswere interspersed between the lectures. These included study skills, time management, graphing,statistics, ethics, and engineering careers. Engineering alumni frequently spoke about theircareers and provided valuable

Conference Session

FPD7 -- Service Learning

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Thompson, Purdue University; William Oakes, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans continue to beunderrepresented. Reports by the National Science and Technology Council1 and theCommission for Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering andTechnology 2 identify the societal perils of continued disparate representation across engineeringand the STEM fields. Continued underrepresentation has dire implications for the future of thetechnical workforce as the demand for qualified professionals will outpace the available pool ifthe demographics do not change3. The additional human cost for unequal access that ischaracterized by underrepresentation makes the issue compelling and critical for society and theSTEM fields in particular. Thus, beyond the moral and ethical

Conference Session

FPD3 -- Professional Issues for First-Year Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John-David Yoder, Ohio Northern University; David Sawyers, Ohio Northern University; John K. Estell, Ohio Northern University; Laurie Laird, Ohio Northern University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

onesentence, rather than as part of a complete document, these were primarily used to makesure students understood the concepts, rather than to see if they could really proofread adocument.The major assignment in the proofreading area was that students were asked to discuss acase study related to ethical decision-making in engineering6. Students had the option ofselecting from a variety of cases. Most of the papers written were two to three pages inlength. When the students brought their papers with them on the due date, they were toldto exchange papers with another student. That student was to proofread the paper, notingerrors and possible corrections. When completed, the proofreader would return the paper

Conference Session

FPD8 -- Systems, Nanotechnology & Programming

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Robertson, Arizona State University; Richard Newman, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

develop the lessons learned from each visit. This arrangement provides more scope for visiting industry speakers as well as coverage of ethics and international perspectives. 2. Use of instruments (1 SCH). Our prototype experience indicated that some students were competent to use the normal range of lab instruments; some thought they were but were not and a few were total novices. Since that variety seems normal in freshmen, we plan to run a self-paced lab course. As well as teaching the use of typical lab instruments, it will cover data collection, typical mistakes, recording and presentation. Each student has set tasks to accomplish and the outcomes are all competency-based. 3. An introductory lab

Conference Session

FPD2 -- Highlighting First-Year Programs

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kristin Wilhelm, University of Virginia; Benjamin Kidd, University of Virginia; P. Paxton Marshall, University of Virginia

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

• The tools used by the engineer and other technical professionals; • Interaction of the engineer with the customer and engineering managers to set agreed- upon goals; and • The economic, political, ethical, and social constraints as boundary conditions that define the possible range of solutions for engineering problems and demand the interaction of engineers with the public.Structure/History of the Class “Inside the Box” or ITB, as it is commonly and affectionately called by participants, is acourse that emphasizes all of the above. The brain child of graduate student Benjamin Kidd andAssociate Dean of Undergraduate Programs Paxton Marshall, ITB is offered to First YearEngineering students as a section of

Conference Session

FPD1 -- Implementing a First-Year Engineering Course

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dana Elzey, University of Virginia

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

practice should come together.2,6The re-design of ENGR 162, which will be referred to as ‘162X’, consists of a semester-long designand development project (EIC case study), lecture topics on various technical aspects, lifelonglearning exercises, and project reporting and documentation assignments. The EIC case study, or‘theme’, provides a conceptual framework in which lecture topics, such as design methodology,engineering analysis, estimation, economic analysis, engineering ethics, and so on, are integrated.Figure 1 below, illustrates the theme-based structure of 162X; the design problem is introducedalmost at the outset of the course and is developed (in teams) through well-defined stages, includingproblem identification and definition, concept

Conference Session

FPD6 -- Early Intervention & Retention Programs

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jennifer Light, University of Washington; Laura Girardeau, Washington State University; Jennifer Beller, Washington State University; Greg Crouch, Washington State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Conference Session

FPD7 -- Service Learning

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Kazmer, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; John Duffy, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; Beverly Perna, Tsongas Industrial History Center

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

,ethics, and career development. To provide grounding of the course concepts, two design-build-test hardware projects were also implemented. It is hoped that the course will increase student’sinterest in engineering and thereby improve their likelihood of academic and career success [8].3. ImplementationThe lead author is a full professor, and has taught the introduction to engineering course in thefall semester from 2003 to 2005. The SL projects were implemented in 2004 and 2005, withchanges made pursuant to student feedback and college initiatives. For instructional and researchpurposes, a more structured and conventional “design-build-test” project was also performed.Each of the project assignments will be briefly discussed prior to