Conference Session

Mechanical Engineering Division Technical Session 8

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Roman Taraban, Texas Tech University; Edward E. Anderson, Texas Tech University; John Richard Schumacher, Texas Tech University; Hani Dulli; David Lamp, Texas Tech University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

during problem solution in order to analyze, solve, and reflect ona problem. Engineering undergraduates enrolled in physics and thermodynamics reported thefrequency of use of problem-solving strategies, confidence in their ability to solve problems, andanswered demographic questions. Measures of performance included course grades. Factor-analytic methods that were applied to students’ reports of strategy use identified three types ofstrategies, which were labeled Execution, Planning and Looking Back, and Low Confidence inAbility. The three factors were significant predictors of course performance, based on correlationand regression methods that were applied to the data. The study provides evidence that usingproblem-solving strategies improves

Conference Session

Outstanding Contributions to ME Education

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Roman Taraban, Texas Tech University; Edward Anderson; Curtis Craig, Texas Tech University; Jacob Fleming, Texas Tech University; Alli DeFinis, Texas Tech University; Ashlee G. Brown, Texas Tech University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

-solvingmodels. The models are expressed in specific terms, with the goal of making theprocesses of problem solving explicit, and thereby allowing educators to reflect on andincorporate the detailed processes of the models into effective instructional practices.The four models presented here are fleshed out in a manner that strives to present theirelements in a uniform terminology and at a comparable level of expression. Formulatingthis level of descriptive consistency across the four models was a necessary step indeveloping a coding table that would allow a consideration of the adequacy of the modelsand meaningful comparisons of the models to students’ problem solving behaviors, whichreflect the goals of this study summarized above. The problem solving

Conference Session

Mechanical Engineering Division Technical Session 7

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Trung H. Duong, Colorado State University-Pueblo; Nebojsa I. Jaksic, Colorado State University, Pueblo

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

program.According to Kolb [1], students learn best if they are exposed to a four steps/axes learningcycle/spirals, namely, 1- experiencing (concrete experience), 2- watching (reflective observation),3- thinking/modeling (abstract conceptualization), and 4- applying/doing (active experimentation).Various engineering education programs, such as mechanical, industrial, manufacturing, and civilengineering, adopted this learning cycle into their curriculum [2]–[6]. Many educational institutions have implemented robots of some kind, e.g. industrial robotarms, mobile robots, educational robot kits, etc. to support their science and engineering program[2]–[4]. Laboratory exercises and tutorials, educational robotics projects, and open-sourcesoftware and

Conference Session

Mechanical Engineering Technical Session: Dynamics I

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Kamyar Ghavam, University of Waterloo; Homeyra Pourmohammadali, University of Waterloo; Lucas Botelho, University of Waterloo

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2020 A Cross-Cohort Dynamics Project Study Kamyar Ghavam, Homeyra Pourmohammdali, Lucas Botelho Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering Department University of Waterloo, Waterloo ON CanadaINTRODUCTIONEngineering educators are constantly seeking methods to improve the education of their students.This paper will discuss the motivation behind introducing the students to a cross-cohort projectand its effects on the learning outcomes of engineering students.Problem Definition: In undergraduate programs students often work on their projects within theirown cohort. However, this is hardly reflected outside of the

Conference Session

Teaching Mechanical Systems: What's New

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nashwan Younis, Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

the development of stress concentration as well as reinforcing the Saint-Venant’s theory. The paper introduces the visualized photostress images in improving Page 15.1352.3the understanding of SCF near notches/edges.PhysicsThe optical method of reflected photoelasticity is utilized to achieve the goals about someof the above learning outcomes. Most engineering students learn the fundamentals ofoptics in a physics class. They are introduced to the geometrical and physical optics andmost likely will not use the knowledge learned in the rest of the curriculum. A quickreview of the fundamentals of polarized light is linked to the principal strains.In a

Conference Session

What's New in Dynamics?

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Edward Perry, University of Memphis; Jeffrey Marchetta, University of Memphis

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

characterized and reported to the student in terms of each of the followinglearning style pairs: • Active vs Reflective Learning Style • Sensing vs Intuitive Learning Style • Visual vs Verbal Learning Style • Sequential vs Global Learning StyleIn our case we were most interested in the Visual vs Verbal learning style. Page 11.1281.3MethodologyTwo introductory undergraduate mechanical engineering courses, dynamics and fluid mechanics,were selected for this study. The courses were taught by different instructors, both of whom hadtaught the courses a number of times in the past. In each course students were made aware duringthe first

Conference Session

Innovations in Mechanical Engineering Education Poster Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nihad Dukhan, University of Detroit Mercy; Michael Jenkins, University of Detroit Mercy

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

functionality. They also had to provide a technical report ofthe design and construction of it. In addition, they were required to create complete experimentalprocedure, data sheets, and analysis and to describe the requirements for a lab report based on theexperiment that future students can complete and turn in for a grade in the heat transfer lab. Thelast part of the project that challenged the students to reflect on their own learning and the wayfuture students may learn the concepts. The reflection component may not be present in typicalprojects, and/or may not be probed. The learning of the students was probed via a survey of afew questions. The questions asked the students if the project increased their understanding ofthe technical concept they

Conference Session

Teams, Teaching, Leadership, and Technical Communications in Mechanical Engineering

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy J. Jacobs, Texas A&M University; Rachal E. Thomassie, Texas A&M University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

such, departments must find creative and effective ways to providing properadvising and mentoring on these topics.One solution, which by itself provides such a high-impact learning experience, is a student-centered / student-led program to aid the department in providing services to students. Ourdepartment developed a student ambassador program to meet these needs. The main objective ofthe student ambassador program is to provide information about the department, major disciplineand university from a student’s perspective.This paper describes the student ambassador and program in more detail, provides preliminaryassessment of its effectiveness through analysis of the ambassador reflection pieces, and offersguidance on developing and

Conference Session

Dynamics

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andrew R. Sloboda, Bucknell University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

were other subjects discussed during the second half of the project.Midterm Project AssessmentFor the midterm assessment, worth 5% of the course grade, students were asked to address threekey questions with their deliverables: • Is there a clear vision for the roller coaster design? • Are the technical skills necessary to complete the design being developed? • How can the time and resources remaining in the semester be budgeted to ensure a successful project outcome?Each of these big picture questions was explored in more detail by individual deliverables: aproject proposal, preliminary calculations, and reflections. No fixed format was specified foreach of these deliverables, but certain items needed to be included.In the

Conference Session

Trends in Mechanical Engineering I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yunfeng Wang, The College of New Jersey; Christopher Ault, The College of New Jersey; Teresa Nakra, The College of New Jersey; Andrea Salgian, The College of New Jersey; Meredith Stone, Independent Evaluator

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

and successful solutions to engineering problems.All students will: Develop strategies and processes for managing a complex project involving diverse areas of expertise; Page 15.166.5 Develop competencies in collaborative learning and working strategies through interdisciplinary team activities; Develop competencies in fields other than their major.5. Course Objective AssessmentThe objectives of this course are mainly assessed through topic-related graded individualhomework assignments, graded teamwork assignments, self and team evaluation forms, andstudents’ anonymous reflection journals.5.1. Graded individual homework

Conference Session

Mechanical Engineering Division Technical Session 4

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sharon S. Wu, California State University, Fullerton; Yong Seok Park, California State University, Fullerton

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

America’s Promise (LEAP) was able to identify many suchHIPs that are gaining attention [1]. In a subsequent report, Kuh found that students whoparticipated in these HIPs show that they were positively affected by these activities, asmeasured by the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). It was found that these“deep approaches to learning are important because students who use these approaches tend toearn higher grades and retain, integrate, and transfer information at higher rates [2].” Thus,what we set out to do is to apply HIPs to a 300- level engineering course at a state collegelevel and gather data regarding its effectiveness, student reflections, and possible futureimprovements for better learning outcomes.HIPs in a Mechanical

Conference Session

Mechanical Engineering Division Poster Session

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ming Z. Huang, University of San Diego; Elizabeth Reddy, Colorado School of Mines

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

are trained technically, with less focus on critical examinationsof assumptions within engineering practice, and less emphasis on the larger contexts in whichengineering is embedded. With funding from an NSF IUSE/PFE Revolutionizing EngineeringDepartments (RED) grant, our School of Engineering is "revolutionizing" engineering education,with the aim of preparing students to innovate engineering solutions developed within acontextual framework that embeds humanitarian, sustainable and social justice approaches withtechnical engineering skills [1]. This requires an enhanced curriculum with a focus on studentteamwork, a greater consideration of social and economic factors, improved communication withdiverse constituents, and reflection on an

Conference Session

Microcontrollers, Programming, and Data Acquisition

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Matthew Rhudy, Lafayette College; Tobias Rossmann, Lafayette College

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

Musical Analogies as a Teaching Tool for Engineering ConceptsAbstract This project investigated the inclusion of a music laboratory experience within theexisting core Mechanical Engineering curriculum at Lafayette College. Music is a naturaladdition to engineering curricula as it can easily be used to illustrate many different engineeringconcepts. This allows students to think about their engineering topics from a differentperspective, which helps to improve their understanding of these concepts. Additionally, byusing music as a teaching tool, students are also exposed to topics from the art of music.Students completed a survey both before and after the experience in order to reflect on theirlearning. On average, the students reported a

Conference Session

Mechanical Engineering (ME) Poster Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Firas Akasheh, Tuskegee University; Kenneth D Dawson, Tuskegee University; Jonathan Rocha, Tuskegee University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

American Society for Engineering Education, 2013 Comprehensive approach to teaching dynamics of planar mechanisms based on modern learning theoriesAbstractIt is well known that students have different learning styles and for teaching to be effective anon-traditional approaches that can address the different styles should be attempted. Also,according to Kolb, learning is most effective if done in a cycle involving experiencing,reflection, thinking and planning. In this paper, we present an attempt at a comprehensiveapproach to teaching the course Theory of Machines, a standard course in the majority ofmechanical engineering curricula. At the beginning of the semester, students are asked toconceptualize and realize a

Conference Session

Thermodynamics, Fluids and Heat Transfer I

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Devshikha Bose, Boise State University; Krishna Pakala, Boise State University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

success,as indicated by parameters like higher course pass rates, higher Grade Point Averages, creditaccumulation, retention, and graduation rates11. Skills can be taught which are consistent acrossprograms, as well as customized to fit individual courses12. E-portfolios can support assessmentby identifying goals and providing a repository for organizing, storing, and sharing records. It isinstructionally valuable in that students can connect their own work with the broader programexpectations, thus self-evaluating their status. Students can engage in reflection, which maydevelop their critical thinking skills.This study is a follow-up to a previous study made by the researchers13 (see Bose & Pakala

Conference Session

Thermal Fluid Experiment Related

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Melissa M. Gibbons, University of San Diego

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

specific EM student outcomes was performed on the submitted groupwork from a section of the class taught in spring 2020. Rubrics with four performance levels for eachstudent outcome were created. A majority of the groups were proficient or exemplary in six of the EMstudent outcomes assessed, and all of the groups were proficient or exemplary in two. Additionally,the project was qualitatively assessed using student feedback and instructor reflections. Preliminaryresults indicate the project successfully met the stated PBL and EML goals. Future work will befocused on individualizing the EM assessment process and developing a baseline for comparison todetermine the effectiveness of the project at meeting the stated skillset-based course

Conference Session

Communication Across the Divisions II: Communication and Transdisciplinary Pedagogies

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jeffrey J. Evans, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Amy S. Van Epps, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Michael Thomas Smith; Sorin Adam Matei, Purdue University Polytechnic Institute; Esteban Garcia

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering, Liberal Education/Engineering & Society, Mechanical Engineering, Technological and Engineering Literacy/Philosophy of Engineering

Narratives aims to provide students with a toolkit for successfulcommunication in contemporary society and the workplace. This integrated course experience invitesstudents to reflect and use diverse ways of communication in the digital era. During one semester,participants were introduced to oral, written, visual and auditory techniques of communication, anddocumented through various digital media artifacts. Page 26.127.3Our value proposition that artistic storytelling can help students think, communicate and aid in theiremotional wellbeing is backed by a long history of scholarship. Such seminal articles as K. Egan’s“Memory, Imagination

Conference Session

Mechanical Engineering Division Technical Session 9

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Scott Pierce P.E., Western Carolina University; Rungun Nathan, Pennsylvania State University, Berks Campus; William E. Howard, East Carolina University; Brian Sylcott, East Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

willdemonstrate an ability to apply engineering concepts to an area of concentrated study, chosenfrom biomedical engineering, bioprocess engineering, electrical engineering, environmentalengineering industrial and systems engineering, or mechanical engineering.” This outcome isheavily assessed in Machine Design using the final exam as the assessment instrument. ECUalso assesses outcomes f and h using reflective writings on readings and research.Outcomes Most Important to the InstructorsIn the survey, instructors were asked to list the five student outcomes that they considered mostimportant. The responses to this question are shown in Table 3. These responses provide asomewhat different picture of course priorities than the course coverage shown in Table

Conference Session

Mechatronics

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Anca L. Sala, Baker College of Flint

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

of two or three.5. Assignment - section assigns an open-ended activity to be performed by students to furthertheir understanding of the topics and enhance their problem-solving abilities. This activity isideally done during class time, but it can be completed by students outside of class time ifneeded.6. Results and Conclusions - the final section is where students will reflect on their learning byanswering questions and writing a short Conclusions paragraph.Table 1. Modules Developed and Deployed in Academic Year 2011-12Course Module Learning Objectives“Introduction 1. Translational a) Design an experiment to determine the Translational Kineticto Engineering Kinetic Energy Energy of an object moving in

Conference Session

Design Projects in Mechanical Engineering I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thomas Shepard, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; Camille George, University of St. Thomas

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

allowed an objective way to compare performance whileproviding students an opportunity to see multiple solutions to a common problem.The open-ended project relied heavily on team-based learning and allowed students to becreative while addressing issues during the design phase. A student survey and gradedassignment were utilized to assess the resultant student learning. The project culminatedin a final report incorporating three main components: Design Analysis, Lab Analysis,and Reflective Analysis.During this project students were given a first look at topics which will be covered morethoroughly in following engineering courses such as heat transfer and fluid mechanics.Additional benefits of the project included its ability to appeal to a variety

Conference Session

Mechanical Division Poster Session

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Satyajeet P. Deshpande, Kolano and Saha Engineers, Inc.; Mohan D. Rao, Tennessee Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

sound. Figure 1 illustrates how anacoustic material reacts to impinging sound waves. Figure 1: Representation of porous sound absorption materialThe incident wave impacts the face of the material, reflecting some of its energy and sending therest into the material. The energy sent into the material is either transmitted through the material,or absorbed within the porous structure of the material. The sound absorption coefficient is thesum of the percentages of sound that were not reflected. From Figures 1, the sound transmissioncoefficient, τ, is simply the ratio of the sound power transmitted through the material sample intoanother space to the sound power incident on one side of a material sample. Since some soundenergy

Conference Session

Student Learning and Assessment II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Firas Akasheh, Tuskegee University; Denny C. Davis, Washington State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

order to measure the enhanced learning resulting from the experimentalhomework approaches, samples of previous year’s exams are given to the students and theperformance of the study group is compared to that of the previous year’s classes. Furthermore,student reflections on those approaches compared to the traditional common homework style arecollected and analyzed by an independent evaluator to document the impacts of homeworkinnovations.IntroductionHomework is defined as instructor-initiated work to be completed by students outside theclassroom1, 2. It is well-known that homework has become a time-honored widespread learningtool used by instructors, at all educational levels, to improved student learning and achievement.Although homework was

Conference Session

Student Learning and Assessment

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ronald Goulet, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

ofindividualized assignments, the mandatory correction policy and the work of correcting andgrading, especially the surprising reduction of time required to grade, score and return theassignments. The paper also presents the author’s reflections regarding class delivery and studentbehaviors, and results of informal student and instructor surveys.BackgroundThis report pertains to the mechanics of materials, a required core course offered to allundergraduate engineering students of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at theUniversity of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The catalog description of ENGR 246 reads: UTC ENGR 246 Mechanics of Materials, 3 credit hour lecture: Stress-strain concepts and relations. Bending, shear, torsion, and

Conference Session

Why Industry Says that our Engineering Students Cannot Write

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Conrad, Portland State University; Timothy James Pfeiffer P.E., Foundation Engineering, Inc.

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society, Mechanical Engineering

Page 22.1169.2issues of rhetoric (audience, purpose) and analysis (claims, reasoning, evidence)” 9. Although itcan be helpful to think about different categories such as these when responding to writing, wewere concerned by a general sense in engineering education literature that grammar is somehowseparate from the concerns of content, analysis, purpose, and audience.Rather than assuming grammar can be separated from meaning, we decided instead to investigatewhether even sentence-level grammatical choices reflect the content and values of engineeringpractice, and whether different grammatical choices by students are likely to be one factor thatmakes them appear unprepared for writing in the workplace. For the analyses reported here, wefocused

Conference Session

Why Industry Says that our Engineering Students Cannot Write

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kathryn Mobrand, University of Washington; Jennifer A Turns, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society, Mechanical Engineering

students in reflecting on experience, how to help engineering educators make effective teaching decisions, and the application of ideas from complexity science to the challenges of engineering education. Page 22.1257.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2011 Revisiting Communication Experiences to Prepare for Professional PracticeAbstractThe ability to communicate effectively is a critical competency for engineers. According to thefuture envisioned in the Engineer of 2020,1 in ABET criteria for accreditation,2,3 and scholarshipin the fields of

Conference Session

Outstanding Contributions to ME Education

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jakob Bruhl, United States Military Academy; James Ledlie Klosky; Elizabeth Bristow, United States Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

common learning styles of engineeringstudents and traditional teaching styles of engineering professors”21 all of our students completedFelder’s learning styles inventory, wrote about the impact of their learning preferences, and wenoted which learning styles were more or less likely to make use of Video AI. We found that ourstudents were predominately active/sensing/visual/sequential learners (see Figure 7) which issimilar the “average” engineering student according to Felder. 200 180 Verbal 160 Reflective Intuitive

Conference Session

Using Laboratories for Instruction in Mechanical Engineering

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paul E. Slaboch, St. Martin's University; Floraliza Bornasal, Oregon State University; Rico Picone, Saint Martin's University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

will understand the basics of probability, statistics, uncertainty analysis, regression, and correlation; 8. students will be able to write a technical report; and 9. students will understand and be able to communicate the broader context of the course material.These course learning outcomes reflect the nature of the course in Instrumentation andExperimental design that is meant to teach those broad subjects. However, the ideas of signalconditioning, processing and recording, as well as signal characteristics, are all derived out of theelectrical concepts inventory. These concepts in particular overlap with the course learningoutcomes for the course entitled “Mechatronics” which has the following stated course

Conference Session

Thermodynamics, Fluids, and Heat Transfer-Part I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Simin Hall, College of Engineering at Virginia Tech; Catherine Amelink, Virginia Tech; Sam Conn, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

reflective environment. One indelibleaspect of web learning is the opportunity for learners to collaborate during problem solving andactively be involved in their learning. However, Ravert and Evans2 showed that expecting Page 15.12.4students at earlier stages of development to learn from courses based on principles ofnegotiation, shared construction, and peer-to-peer learning could be problematic. Therefore, iftools employed in teaching and learning or instructional design run contrary to students‟epistemic beliefs, it would lead to frustration and distress. Students may require greaterscaffolding with aspects of online teaching mostly those who see

Conference Session

ME Curriculum and Assessment

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christopher E. Larsen, University of Missouri; Rose M. Marra Ph.D, University of Missouri, Columbia; Nai-En Tang; David H. Jonassen, University of Missouri, Columbia; Robert Andrew Winholtz

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

case study, the term learning is a student activity that may includeexplorative strategies, scheduling, or reflection. In contrast, the term instruction is a purposefulfunction of the educator to communicate with learners that often includes scaffolds such asprompting, modeling and phasing task assignments.Literature Review Page 24.1220.2 There is enduring, convincing evidence of knowledge transformation throughcollaboration. When compared to individual learning, collaborative learning has been shown tobeneficially impact learner achievement, self-efficacy, and relationships among learners4. In areview of 168 studies contrasting

Conference Session

Innovations in Mechanical Engineering Education Poster Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cindy Waters, North Carolina A&T State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

Lifelong learning.The basic premise is that an individual learner must actively "build" knowledge and skills 3. Weknow that technology changes with time and an engineer must be motivated to continue to learnand stay current with technology. Constructivism is a method of teaching and learning based onthe principle that cognition (learning) is the result of mental construction, and this construction inquite individual. Knowledge is formed by reflecting on our experiences, by putting informationtogether with what we already thereby we construct knowledge in our head. Thus, we create ourown understanding of the world we live in. Learning is the process of adjusting our mentalmodels to fit with new experiences. Constructivist theorists maintain that