. Page 24.1118.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2014 Student Perceptions of Connections between Statics Class and Co-op Work ExperienceAbstractIn this paper, a collection of essays written by students at Kettering University in a sophomore-level engineering class, Statics, is analyzed to determine what connections the students seebetween their classroom experience in Statics and their co-op work experience. These studentswere given a class assignment to write an essay in which they reflected on the links betweentheir co-op work assignment and their Statics course. The pedagogical purpose of thisassignment was to prompt students to think in depth about the
formulated with several objectives: • Encourage students to reflect on thermodynamic concepts and link them to more concrete applications. • Enable students to communicate thermodynamic concepts using media or methods they felt comfortable with. • Connect more directly with students in a large lecture environment. • Foster a collaborative learning environment in the classrooms as students engaged with other student projects.The specific project described was also intended to address needed pedagogical elements in theclass. Felder et al. has identified several types of learning styles including visual, verbal, sensing,intuitive, global, sequential, and more.10 Felder recommends that engineering instructors focus noton specific
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
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
outcomes are addressed by each analysis problem. Obviously thedegree to which an outcome is addressed varies from problem to problem - the table does notattempt to quantify this effect. However, even the qualitative analysis can be useful. Outcomes2 and 4 seem to be least addressed. The apparent lack of coverage of Outcome 2 is a reflection Page 24.18.5of the fact that Table 1 only includes the analysis problems; significant coverage of this outcomewas provided by traditional homework problems. The limited coverage of Outcome 4 is notsurprising since developing problems that cross traditional boundaries is not easy. This wasexacerbated in 2013 due
multitude of design artifacts and associatedlearning objects into interactive, museum-like exhibits that can mediate situated learning in thedesign suite, in the machine shop, and amidst a gallery of capstone project posters. This paperreports on initial efforts to implement such a system in support of just-in-time project learning.The system is uniquely designed to operate within our design environment. It has evolved overthe last two decades to reflect shared beliefs about design pedagogy and product realization. Page 24.1060.2Educational SettingOur inter-disciplinary capstone design program has been a catalyst for local design
many activities that follow the 5E’s approach9, and have done so in a traditional coursedelivery structure. The courses have been well-received by students with a range of class sizesfrom as low as 35 to as large as 54 students each semester. Since this is a required course inengineering at University of PEI, the enrolment reflects the variability in annual cohorts.In its original form, the course-work consisted of in-class quizzes on a topic-by-topic basis. Thequizzes made up 40% of the course grade (5 quizzes throughout the term with a “drop thelowest” policy). 10% of the grade was earned by individual solutions of practice problems. Theremaining 50% of the course grades were earned from extensive lab reports from 5 of 6 labsdone through the
Student Outcome 11 ME 4XX outcomesFigure 3: The relationship between course outcomes (far right), student outcomes (center) and program educational objectives.Mapping course outcomes to student outcomesAccordingly the first task was to engage the faculty in mapping each course outcome to studentoutcomes. The oversight team tasked each CDC to establish a set of course outcomes that reflectthe most important topics to be covered by the class, irrespective of who would teach them.Faculty could then additional course outcomes as necessary to reflect personal
progress of students andmaking continuous improvements to the modules. Highlights of this data along with a summaryof the incremental changes to the modules will be presented.Introduction Reflection on the educational landscape in the US has become an increasingly commonsubject of political and household discussion as economic constraints call into question the valueand return on investment provided by higher education. While scrutinizing higher educationwhich has been central to the cultural and technological advancement of civilization solely on amonetary basis might seem irreverent or myopic, the vigorous ongoing debate on education hasundeniably spurred action and innovation. The creation of new educational technologies inresponse to
especially important in an engineer'seducation where time is critical and the direct reflection of the importance of elements in theeducational system must be clearly understood by the student. Page 24.682.3The required courses of the typical engineer offer little room for flexibility. By the junior andsenior years, students are fairly programmed into set schedules. Engineers, then, must beprovided with something that will give them the skills to produce the text needed to survive inthe real world and do it in a manner that requires the least amount of superfluous effort.Supplying large numbers of writing courses will not improve the situation
complex engineering problems.Apart from the core components highlighted above, there is also considerable ongoingexperimentation within the PMFC with other pedagogy-driven instructional elements. Theseinclude: Using the Index of Learning Styles (ILS)4-6 to categorize learning style preferences and tailor information delivery. The ILS is a relatively simple measure of how students prefer to receive information. The survey divides learning style preferences into four domains with opposing descriptors, visual-verbal, active-reflective, sensory-intuitive, and sequential-global. Using these domains, it has been established that students tend to prefer visual, active, and sensory modes, despite the fact
completethe objectives without an unreasonable amount of time so that it does not adversely affecttheir other courses. Proper testing facilities should be available to students throughout theproject so that they can learn to operate them, measure attachment points, etc. Materialsand shop facilities must also be made available if prototypes will be required. Andcertainly the projects must be carefully aligned with the desired outcomes.Third, many students struggle to accurately assess the causes for the difference betweentheir theoretical results and what they find during testing. Taking time in class to reflect onthe possible causes is important. For example, we have found that often the students dothe analysis correctly, but fail to take into
objectives for thispaper was to document the details of what we did to implement the flipped classroom, includingdetails such as software choices, video length, and topic used. Here are the things that we learnedand wished that we had known when we started this. 1. Do not be afraid to try new things. When Prof. DeNucci, first brought this idea to Prof. Swithenbank, she was not excited about this. It was new and different, but after further reflection, she thought “why not give it a try?” This may work for you and it may not, but it was definitely worth trying. We would use this method again after trying it while incorporating some of these lessons learned. 2. Preparation will reduce the amount of time it takes to produce the
) > Thinking (N=14)** (MBTI; p = 0.114, MWp = .046)Machining Analysis Spring 32.41** Extrovert (N=10) > Introvert (N=8)* UoP 20 65.9 87.3 (MBTI; p = 0.034, MWp = .055)during Chip Formation 2013 (p < 0.001) Active (N=14) > Reflective
manufacturing capacity of the MME facilities, and incorporates a hands-onexperience of both undergraduate and graduate students.Our changes impact students throughout the curriculum. First year students work in teams ofthree to design a small projectile launching device equivalent to a child’s toy. Teams workthrough innovation and design processes of problem identification, goal setting, research,prototyping, evaluation, and reflection. Labs during the quarter provide students skills in solidmodeling and projectile motion and design documentation, but the final project requires them tosynthesize these lessons into a single product. Students design the device virtually inSolidWorks, evaluating assembly issues of contact interference and can conduct
the measurements necessary to validate a hypothesis, and Page 24.520.2examine the uncertainty and repeatability of the experimental data. The name of the course waschanged from Thermal Fluids Lab I, to Engineering Measurements Laboratory to reflect thisadditional focus. The enhancements to Engineering Measurements Lab provide more extensivepreparation for higher-level courses where students are responsible for modeling a physicalsystem, designing an experimental test facility, and comparing empirical and theoretical results.Technical communication skills are often cited as one of the most desirable hiring criteria forgraduates of engineering
felt that the instructor’soffer to provide additional stickers to students who performed well on one of the quizzes was usingthe stickers unfairly as a reward. Six students specifically mentioned appreciation for the guidedproblem sets, and two others felt there should be more of them. Finally, two students positivelyindicated that the poster was helpful. Overall, the comments reflected an appreciation for the intentof the tools to improve problem solving. Page 24.238.8ConclusionsIn summary, the struggles of students with understanding thermodynamic principles are well docu-mented. This has a marked effect on their development as problem
to differences in student population (anecdotally,at-a-distance students have family commitments and a full-time job). Additionally, when there isnot a specific class time, students must have exceptional time management skills or they quicklyfall behind. This conclusion is supported by historical completion rates of approximately 65%. Table 2: The grade distribution of ME 101. The first column reflects the percentage of students that do not have to retake the course, students that obtained an A, B, or C. The second column contains the percentage of students that took the final exam, but must retake the course. The final column indicated the percentage of students that withdrew or stopped participating in the course prior to
different models of interpretation. Finally, homework is an assimilativeexperience where the student reflects on learning and practices integrative thinking.Table 1 - Kolb Learning StylesConverging The dominant learning abilities are Abstract Conceptualization (AC) and Active(AC+AE)/2 Experimentation (AE). People with this learning style are best at finding practical uses for ideas and theories. They have the ability to solve problems and make decisions based on finding solutions to questions or problems. In formal learning situations, people with this style prefer to experiment with new ideas, simulations, laboratory assignments, and practical applications.Assimilating The dominant
concepts. Continued poor performance inthermodynamics is linked to students not grasping key concepts and failing to recognize how toapply relevant concepts in solving problems.(1) Many students succeed at algorithmic problemsolving yet have difficulty explaining the physical systems being described by the mathematics.This is reflected in low scores on concept inventory exams which require minimal mathematicalcalculations, but are designed around common misconceptions.(2,3)Poor learning has been linked to not being able to correctly assess the information provided andbegins with a lack of clear understanding of the fundamental concepts. A coherent framing ofproblems is essential to reason through new problems.(4) To address this, teachers often
while the remainderconducted the exercises in the ‘remote’ mode. In both cases, teaching assistant (TA) supervision Page 24.431.8was present for this study and the group size was the same for all the labs (typically 3 students)..We did not modify the laboratory instruction manual to reflect specifics of the virtual controlscreens nor did we establish the rationale for the remote laboratories to the students throughwritten instructions. Students were told that they were participating in a pilot study by the TAsand were instructed to complete a Likert survey querying them on various aspects of thelaboratory experience
-face sessions were recorded and put on line for allstudents. These were the primary lectures for the online students and required no additionalpreparation for the instructor. Several supplementary lectures were also recorded and put on linefor all students to make up for the lack of preparation of some students. In addition, twosupplemental problem assignments of a remedial nature were provided because of the poorpreparation of some students. This also was not an added burden due to the concurrent offeringbecause students in both sections needed that extra help. The need for remedial activities, though,reflects the change of admissions standards in order to reach out to a broader range of students.Finally, the online students needed
mechanical engineering students’ learning strategy andverbal-visual preferences to the demographic variables of gender, age range, class in school,ethnicity, native country, and native language?Learner PreferencesLearning Strategy PreferenceOne way to address individual differences in how students learn and to personalize learningoptions is through the concept of learning style. Learning style (also referred to as psychologicaltype6,7) refers to how students preferentially perceive (e.g., sensory vs. intuitive), howinformation is most effectively perceived (e.g., verbally or visually), how information ispreferentially organized (e.g., inductive vs. deductive), how information is processed (e.g.,actively vs. reflectively), and how understanding
skills is reflected in the performance forStudent Outcome (c) (design of a system, component, or process) and perhaps Student Outcome(k) (use of modern engineering tools). Since this information has been collected before and after Page 24.1320.11the arrival of the design center at Yale, the information will be reviewed to see the changes thatresulted in these two outcomes for courses that are supported by the design center. Thesequantitative results, combined with the artifacts of the design processes detailed above, candemonstrate the level of design skills that is facilitated by the presence of
longer enough to ensure success of the majority ofstudents in the educational environment today. Professors must evaluate techniques and methodsthat can assist in meeting the multiple learning styles of the students in their classes. For thestudent, transformation includes reflection, practice, and creating personal relevancy andmeaning in the learning process. This is the framework of this pilot study on an onlineEngineering Statics class.Literature ReviewOnline courses were created and deployed in numerous fields throughout the 1990s and 2000s.Online engineering courses lagged behind because of the difficulty of converting face-to-facemathematics and science courses to an online format.1 The technology was not advanced enoughto deploy these