experience with Electrical and Mechanicalengineering students enrolled in one course. The biggest conclusion from their study was thatstudents struggled to manage their time appropriately to finish the projects, but were able tocomplete them on time. In this case, the students were charged with creating a complete roboticsystem, not just a subsystem component that would interface to a base unit. They alsohighlighted the importance of using PBL as a tool to put the theoretical content of a class into areal life context.Maxwell and Meedem3 reported in their article the perceptions of students who participated in a1999 robotics competition. One of the students reported enjoying learning to work in a team. Thestudent also reflected on the importance of
could be configured to transmit when the UAV experiences loss of power orwhen an accelerometer senses an impact. The operator components are the receiving antennaand receiver. A highly discernable antenna pattern is needed for the receiving function. The on-board power needs for the transmitter are defined by the search limits. Power concerns arerelated to the maximum distance between the operator and the crashed UAV and to the desiredsearch time. The procedure for the transmitter hunt is influenced by the antenna characteristics,the supporting electronics, and the environment. For instance, direction finding is complicatedby obstacles or terrain that block line of sight and introduce multipath reflections. An appropriate frequency of
a lifelonglearner. This suggests that the modern engineer is becoming increasingly similar to the systemsengineer and designer, and makes sense considering the growing complexity of our technologicalsystems and manufacturing processes. The need for systems thinking and design thinking isbecoming ever more relevant to modern engineering and the education of the next generation ofengineers must reflect this vital new aspect of modern engineering. Figure 1. Systems thinking vs. Design thinking Systems thinking Design thinking Ability to Take Holistic View
reflect this variability in expected Page 25.725.7learning. Besterfield, et al. directs readers to a web site with example rubrics for evaluating theattributes along this type of scale.4Having decided on the attributes and levels of learning, the next step is to select and developinstruments that balance the need for good information and practicality. The TIDEE group did anextensive review of the design and education assessment literature and chose four types ofassessment
, using a textthat is internationally recognized and implemented is invaluable to our students.Finally, the SEBoK is available to all of our students online, free of charge. With the rising costof tuition and fees associated with post-secondary education, it is nice to offer students a reprievein the cost of their textbooks. A quick on-line search of some of the top systems engineeringtexts reveal that the cost of a new systems engineering text is in excess of $100, with severalbooks in excess of $150. Also, the fact that the SEBoK is available online offers numerousbenefits. It is accessible anywhere, anytime a student has internet access. It is regularly updatedto reflect the latest processes and techniques important to the implementation of
curricula can be easily replicated at other institutions. Undoubtedly, there will bemany challenges to overcome in the near future to achieve the level of success set by BGREEN.However, all the participating investigators understand the requirements, work and effort neededto make a multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional approach like BGREEN a success.Acknowledgement - This project is funded by a grant received by the United States Departmentof Agriculture under the Hispanic-Serving Institutions Education Grants Program. The findingsand the views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect theposition of the United States Department of Agriculture
: assuring that new faculty whoteach the course (one of two in a given semester out of a total of six to eight faculty teachingthe course) know the whole system well; that students choose truly challenging projects (sincesome shoot low); and mostly assuring that the final results entirely pleased the client. Clients'most frequent complaint is that ―students design solutions and start implementing them—andthen leave us holding the bag when they graduate.‖ (Such comments might reflect on thelevel of client involvement.)ConclusionThe qualitative and quantitative results presented here reveal that the Systems EngineeringCapstone Course makes a difference in engineering students who take it. The all-roundpurpose of a capstone course is to integrate
, therefore making it important to both academicians, as well as, practitioners. EM as aformal degree has been present since the mid 1940s 3 and currently, there are more than 100universities in the US offering an undergraduate and / or graduate program in EM. EM programswere historically embedded within the departments of industrial engineering, depending upon theuniversities 4. However, in order to reflect the gradual shift from manufacturing to turn-keysystems integrators in a global economic environment, many more universities are aligning theirEM programs with their systems engineering program 5.Importance of Analyzing FailuresFailure analysis is the process of collecting and analyzing data to determine the cause of afailure. It relies on
” [6]. Thefollowing list compiles a number of significant advances:Systems Engineering competenciesAccording to the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge book (SEBoK) [6], SE compe-tencies reflect the individual’s Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Attitudes (KSAAs), whichare developed through education, training, and on-the-job experience. According to the samesource, ”For an individual, a set of KSAAs enables the fulfillment of the competencies neededto perform the tasks associated with the assigned systems engineering role”. A set of SE competencies form a SE competency model which reflects the individual’sKSAAs. The KSAAs are in turn related to different roles in the company or the project, sothat they are associated to a set of tasks. A
reflected the average of thetotal number of attempts for that assignment. For example, if a student scored 80, 90, and 100for the three assignment attempts for Homework #1, the Homework #1 assignment score wouldbe 90. If another student scored 90 and 100 and used only two attempts for Homework #1, thenthe assignment score would be a 95. Students quickly realized that in this scenario they wouldearn a higher score if they repeated the assessment a third time to earn a second 100 and increasethe average.Because these homework assignments were identical for each student and the questions hadmultiple choice answers, the instructors realized that either guessing or the sharing of answersamong students was possible. To counteract the effect of this
process, calculate takt time, and identify how to Balance and 6Sthe process.Week 5 concluded with a lecture on designing a test plan which would help the students with thetest day for the navigation challenge. The lecture emphasized the importance of testing andcreating a design which is flexible enough to account for reasonable variability. The studentswere assumed to have no statistical training and therefore, the lecture reflected their level ofcomprehension. Students were encouraged to think of the program they had created so far fortheir maze competition and what problems they could face if the maze was designed in a certainway which they had not yet anticipated. F. Week 6On week 6, students were given a brief overview of Systems
). Page 25.225.6 It is important that the aims and objectives of discovery approach are reflected in everyaspect of the learning environment created. The creative new approach should documentaccomplishments at the upper levels of Bloom's Taxonomy Triangle (Bloom, 1956 & 1976;Boud & Feletti, 1991). Scholars in the area of cognitive science and educational psychologyhave identified four features that clearly separate a problem-based curriculum from a traditional,topic-based curriculum (Nickerson, et. al. 1985).Assessment Procedure Assessment of the Discovery approach was carried out by the author using severalproven, well established and widely recognized tools (Rowntree, 1977). Sample quizzes, homework assignments
.114] were developed to measure systems thinking competencies in contexts beyond self-reported attitudesand behaviors. The problem scenario is a hypothetical vignette that asks students to consider multipledetails in an ill-structure problem context. The scenario provides information that possibly representsengineering and technical skills, economic feasibility, ethical considerations, and cultural sensitivity,which can be considered when studying potential solutions [21, p. 114]. "The Village of Abeesee has about 50,000 people. Its harsh winters and remote location make heating a living space very expensive. The rising price of fossil fuels has been reflected in the heating expenses of Abeesee residents. In fact, many
. • Resource Material: Most established and long-running courses in engineering or otherwise, tend to take the approach of selecting a course textbook and to utilize all the instructor resources, presentation slides and test banks provided by the publisher. While instructors do customize course content to reflect their personal teaching styles or to incorporate contemporary trends and developments in the field, this is still optional. But with the engineering core courses, particularly with the objective of introducing appropriate systems engineering knowledge, generating instructional material not found in the course textbook is imperative and no longer an option. This also means generating assignments
evaluationcontext 0 2 20 0 reportAssessment of SO(i)SO(i) includes a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning. InCapstone II, students must reflect upon the project they just completed and state what they woulddo differently if starting over again. Table 7 shows the results of this assessment. All six (100%)of groups performed satisfactorily or better on this factor. Table 7: Results of assessment of SO(i) AssessmentCriteria Unsatisfactory Marginal Satisfactory Excellent Tool Commentsi - a recognitionof the need for,and an ability toengage in life
project is supported in part by National Science Foundation award # 1229744. The HPC Page 26.652.10cluster is funded by NSF MRI project with award # 1332566. Opinions, findings, andconclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do notnecessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.Bibliography1. Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) http://www.tacc.utexas.edu2. B. B. Brey, “Intel Microprocessors Architecture, Programming, and Interfacing”, 8 th edition, Prentice Hall, 2008 (ISBN: 0-13-502645-8).3. M. Feldman, “HPC Going Embedded”, HPC Wire, Dec. 01, 2011; http
jointcooperative project.The project commenced with instructors studying SEDI documentation developed during theprior work along with an assessment of current SE content in the two capstone design courses.Particular SE topics needing to be added to Aerospace Vehicle Design I and Aerospace VehicleDesign II were identified, and a new syllabus was created for each course to reflect addedcontent. In the design elective, the existing topics related to SE were aligned with the new skillsidentified in Aerospace Vehicle Design I with additional changes to existing SE lecturesproposed.Systems Engineering Concepts Addressed in the CoursesIn Chaput’s 2013 document, he defined SE as a rigorous, disciplined, and systematic engineeringapproach to design, development
hands-on laboratory exercises and real-world examples of aircraft and space missions, which willbe used to illustrate the use of the analytical techniques and demonstrate the relevance of thematerial.Entrepreneurial MindsetIn terms of student learning outcomes, the term “Entrepreneurial Mindset” goes beyond someonebecoming an entrepreneur and creating or starting a business venture. This is also reflected in whatindustry needs as skillset in future workforce. Thought sound technical background and Page 26.1454.3understanding is essential to having a successful engineering career, engineers find remarkablesuccess when they couple
Keating 38 39; Keating Methodology semiautonomous subsystems et al. 40Classification Systems-based Description Primary Proponents Methodology Critical Systems A process of critical reflection based on a set of boundary Ulrich 41 42 Heuristics questions that examine the legitimacy of designs by contrasting what ‘is’ proposed versus what ‘ought’ to be Organizational Makes explicit individual and organizational models that enable Argyris and Learning organizations to make
process of testing and refining the design. The testing isconducted in a small arena similar to that used in the competition. A reasonable lunar simulantwas created using fly ash, sand, and gravel. The original test pit was roughly 15 feet long, 10 feetwide and covered with one foot of simulant. Recently, it was modified to have an area that isapproximately three feet deep to allow testing of a system designed to dig icy regolith—regolithmore than one foot below the surface. This area contains regolith with larger rocks to moreaccurately reflect the icy regolith used in NASA’s competition arena. The pit dimensions aresufficient for the creation of a small obstacle course to test the drivability of the robot in the lunarregolith. In addition, the
nature. The final project report includes a section where the students areencouraged to reflect on the quality of their experience as it pertains to their understanding ofsystems engineering. Student surveys are also conducted in an effort to assess the impact of thecourse and elicit feedback on how the course may be improved.Previous Design Explorations in Engineering Education via Systems EngineeringCourses involving integration and testing of complex hardware systems are not new toengineering education. In 2012, faculty at St. Louis University reported on a systems engineeringcourse where students gained hands-on experience with the development of a small satellite.They claim, “It is very important to use real hardware for practicing the
do not reflect the official policy orposition of the Air Force Institute of Technology, United States Air Force, Department of Defense,or United States government.
, design and policy for sustainable energy systems. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2018 The Use of Systems Engineering Principles to Improve Learning Outcomes in a Multidisciplinary CourseAbstractAs individual engineering disciplines and applications mature, there is an increased need formultidisciplinary education and application competencies. As an example, a course on modernautomotive vehicles must now incorporate electrical propulsion in addition to mechanicalpropulsion to reflect the current state of the art. Systems engineering provides a framework forteaching a multidisciplinary approach in the design and analysis of these complex systems. In thisstudy, the hypothesis that
tosystems engineering in this paper. Planning for this new academic track took place in Fall, 2011;the pilot of the Introduction to Systems Engineering course occurred in Spring, 2012 and Fall,2012. The course is consciously structured after the introductory course at the University ofVirginia (UVa), the transfer target for a majority of PVCC students, to ensure that the transfercredit is accepted and students are prepared for success. Based on our experiences in the pilots,the syllabus became slightly modified to prepare students for study in other undergraduateprograms in systems engineering. Course goals, objectives, and content are described. Finally,we offer student reflections on their experiences and course utility as they prepare to
to tame the “chaos” and generatenon-intuitive insights. Successful communication of goals and benefits would ensure thatstudents not only learn through experience but also achieve the second level of reflection neededto recognize what they learn and carry it forward.Term project. The most effective tool for making engineering systems thinking less abstract wasthe term project. Using a term project provides context that helps students learn to recognize Page 25.797.8systems and systems behavior and to apply engineering systems evaluation and design tools.Systems thinking is inherently process-based. In this course, it is not so much the
supervised by an engineering systems Ph.D. student or faculty member, and wereconducted in small teams over the course of the entire semester. The projects served to engagethe students’ interest and provided real-world examples for applying the concepts and methodsintroduced in the lectures. This two-pronged approach is illustrated in Fig. 2. Page 25.840.6Figure 2. Two-pronged approach to course design: theoretical instruction and practical applicationThe lecture topics were selected carefully to reflect the introductory level of the course, but alsoto enable the students to acquire understanding of important concepts related to complex,sociotechnical
environment of this first course consisted of implementing multiple facets ofeducation technology and methodologies as the courses consisted of distance learners as well ason campus students. This created a unique environment for the application of “learning bydoing” as students were geographically dispersed throughout the continental United States.Hence, the course contained both a lecture component and out of class meetings. The course wastaught through Cisco WebEx®, which is an online meeting and video conferencing tool. Allcourse lectures were recorded and archived in order to assure students had the capability toreview covered lecture material or reflect upon class discussions regarding the design of thisimmersion-training vest. The class was
. Some of the responses: ‘best chance to understandthe material’, 78%; liked the incremental testing aspect, 56%; benefited from the study routine,44%. Other benefits that students noted were: learned and applied time management skills, 78%;increased individualized time with the instructor, 56%; enhanced presentation skills, 56%.Students’ reflections on the structureThis was an innovative method for teaching an engineering class. None of the students hadencountered a format like it before. Students in the topic group were forced into variousstrategies in order to perform. An unarticulated goal of the format was to create a learningcommunity. Toward this end students were encouraged and did form both formal and informalstudy groups. In the
the Arena® simulation environment, reflects both thesemodels of operations to provide a means of comparison for futurechanges and improvements. The difference between the two models liesin the use of the ticket counter scheduling. The number of ticket countersin the current system model is fixed at two ticket counters per air carrier.Each ticket counter has two physical positions and is able to serve twocustomers at any one time.The per-use model was found to scale very well during the simulationexperiments. The ability to reassign a ticket counter to a different aircarrier in order to meet the passenger input demands greatly reduces high Fig. 2. DTCIS
SE.Every viable, mission-oriented, business entity – e.g., services organizations, non-profits, et al –serves a purpose, has interfaces with external systems in its operating environment – e.g.,customers, suppliers, competitors, et al, and produces performance-based outcomes – e.g.systems, products, services, and behaviors – that are delivered to or sold in the marketplace forsome form of return on investment (ROI) or to provide service benefits. This view is reflective ofthe mindset that SE applies only to physical systems and products such as cell phones,computers, etc. without recognition that organizations are also systems that produce products andservices for both external and internal customers and users.To illustrate the two organizational