Collection

2004 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Thomas Mertz

never intended that the projects be done totally during class and yet moststudents think this should be the case. They perceive the class sessions as time set aside to workon the project rather than time to meet in teams to plan and allocate the work to be done outsideof class. To combat this in future semesters, I plan to assign the project even earlier and adopteven more suggestions of Felder and Brent [2, 4], such as requiring non-binding peer ratingsearlier in the course, allowing firing and quitting of team members, having the teams regularlyassess their performance and using class time to discuss and promote effective team dynamics.The SurveysAt the end of each of three semesters, the freshman participants were surveyed to ascertain

Collection

2004 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Suzanna Long; David G. Spurlock

by 2010; and 473,000 by 2015. Areas most at risk for outsourcing are those thatare not tied to the firm’s core competencies or needed to facilitate strategic planning.8 The shift to a flat or horizontal structure is primarily a response to global competition.Flattening the organizational structure streamlines management functions and shifts decision-making authority to lower levels. Synergy between former competitors is increasing as verticalintegration becomes less beneficial in modern economic structures. In the past, firms controlledthe entire production process from raw materials to marketing. However, diversification hasmade specialization on core areas, along with outsourcing a greater mechanism of efficiency. Proceedings of

Collection

2004 ASEE North Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Dale N. Buechler

their calculus and differential equation/linear algebra classes takenat other institutions. Other students went out of their way to take calculus and differentialequations at another school or technical college to get a better grade only to find later that theywere ill-prepared for their upper-division engineering coursework to follow. One more similartrend observed was the night and day difference in the degree GPAs between those whofinished in less than 5 years and those who finished in 5 years or greater as shown in Table 6.The first plan of action is to share these results with our mathematics department and thedirector of student services for our engineering college. Then they will be shared with ourfaculty and at institutions with similar

Collection

2004 ASEE North Midwest Section Conference

Authors

William E. Howard; Joseph C. Musto; William C. Farrow

installed in onelaboratory. We plan to make greateruse of this tool in the coming year,with the software available over theMSOE network. SolidWorksexperience is not a necessaryprerequisite for use of the motionanalysis if the component part filesare provided to the students. Thestudents can be taught how toassemble the parts and prescribe Figure 11 COSMOS/Motion Modelmotion in a one-hour session. of Cylinder MechanismConclusionsAs CAD and dynamic analysis software has become more powerful, more affordable, andeasier to use, its potential for use in dynamics and mechanism and machine design courses hasrisen. Well-planned usage of these tools can be an effective supplement to the

Conference Session

Building Bridges with Community Colleges

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Gordy Skattum; Clifford Mirman

Total 18 Fall Semester - Year 2 Spring Semester - Year 2 AMT 240 CNC Programming II 3 AMT 249 Cost Estimating for Manufacturing 3 AMT 247 Manuf. Methods and Proc Planning 3 AMT 243 Cellular Manuf. and Mat Handling 3 CDT 146 Hydraulics and Pneumatics 3 CDT 211 Industrial Organization / Operation 3 QLT 106 Metrology 3 QLT 102 Fundamentals of SPC 4 GEN ED Science requirement 4 GEN ED Elective 3 Total 16

Conference Session

Leadership in the Curriculum

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Anna Phillips-Lambert; Charles Camp; Paul Palazolo

two courses, a series of projects are utilized throughout the semester demonstrating Page 9.300.6the activities of a project management team in a simulation-type atmosphere. Project activities Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright @ 2004, American Society for Engineering Educationinclude reviewing of plans and specifications for a construction project (ex: medium-sizecommercial building, warehouse, residential home), developing an estimate, preparingappropriate bid documents, developing a project schedule, updating project schedule

Conference Session

Teaching Strategies in Graphics

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Satyajit Verma

through a series of Design Levels and Option Areas (See Table I).Incentives were available to the participating teams as they completed various levels, in theforms of certificates of participation, program T-shirts, patches, monetary awards, and travelgrants. The Design Challenge process culminated in presentations of the proposed designs asAutoCAD drawings to a gathering of academic and NASA professionals at the TSGC DesignChallenge Showcase. The level of complexity of the design projects presented at the Showcasecorresponded to the academic experience of the students, and in keeping with the coursecontents. Thus some teams had worked two semesters on the project and some teams planned to

Conference Session

Writing and Communication II

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

John Spinelli

importantly, the presentation is video-taped,and the student is provided a copy of the VHS tape to watch in private. After watchingtheir tape, students fill out their own self-review form, and are then given the reviewsfrom the class and the instructor. Armed with all of this feedback, each student writes aone page “plan for improvement” used in preparing their second presentation. Theirgrade on their second presentation largely reflects the degree to which they improved inareas identified on their plan. The second presentation is also video-taped and peer-reviewed, and each student hands in a one page self-critique. One of the most rewarding aspects of teaching this course has been to watch thesignificant, and sometimes astounding

Conference Session

Innovative Teaching Methods in Engineering Economy

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Donald Merino

engineering core course for allengineering students that uses Engineering Economy (a prerequisite course) to economicallyassess their Senior Design projects. The teams develop a five year business plan that showshow their design concept can become a commercial product, process or service. For the class,project teams must gather relevant data, use creative higher order thinking and transferknowledge gained to perform an authentic assessment of the economic feasibility of their real-world product, process or service. This process is similar to other Project Based Learningactivities (Moursund 1999).Students in the Engineering Economic Design class were required to work in teamsthroughout the course. These teams were the same teams and for the same

Conference Session

Minorities in Engineering/Technology

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Farid Tranjan; Catherine Blat; Patricia Tolley; Deborah Sharer

consistentfor many years, are distressing when one considers that 28% of the Charlotte population isAfrican American1, North Carolina is home to Cherokee and Lumbee Native Americans, andmost recently there has been explosive growth in the Hispanic American population in theCharlotte metropolitan area.Over the last few years, the College has developed a recruiting plan to attract qualified andtalented undergraduate students, particularly underrepresented minorities. It has alsoimplemented several programs which, according to assessment data, are having a positive impacton undergraduate retention. These programs are especially important for underrepresentedminority engineering students as the graduation rate for students of color in engineering is

Conference Session

How We Teach Problem Solving?

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Amy Miller; Maher Murad; Robert Martinazzi

successfully in high school are insufficient in the demanding college atmosphere. Inaddition, for many, it is the first time that they are managing their time and responsibilitieswithout the aid of their parents.In business and industry, setting and charting goals has long been recognized as an effectivebusiness practice. According to Jeffery Mayer, author of Setting and Achieving Your Goals,“When you know what you want, and have created a plan to get you there, everything else fallsinto place.”(1) It is always advantageous for students to learn what will be expected of them inindustry.Suggested in the paper is a method that empowers professors to have an influence on the habitsof freshmen. Freshmen will be expected to set goals, assess their progress

Conference Session

Energy Projects and Laboratory Ideas

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Richard Engel; Peter Lehman; Charles Chamberlin; Angi Sorensen; Andy Sorter

and natural gas distribution system. In the twelve-week project period, theinterns examined the existing equipment and design constraints, gathered appropriate data,developed and presented preliminary designs to park staff, and completed a final project report.Early in the project period, the interns and their mentors from SERC met with park staff to tourthe two sites and examine the existing equipment. Park staff planned to build a new building toreplace the outmoded campground restroom and asked the UNPEPP interns to specify solarelectric and solar water heating systems for the new facility that would perform better than theexisting systems. Equipment at the site included a simple batch solar water heater and a 400-Watt (W) solar electric

Conference Session

Knowing Students: Diversity & Retention

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Steven Zemke; Donald Elger

are rare in undergraduates, we need to grow them in our mentors. Additionally,we need to grow these skills as students graduate. We need a low cost, but highly effectivemeans to grow mentoring skills. Furthermore, since mentoring happens in the dynamics of aconversation, the skills growth process needs a “real-time” component.We believe that mentors can grow their skills quickly by reflecting on their performanceimmediately following a mentoring session and “scripting” more effective practices. The“scripts” are pre-planned responses the mentor will use in future mentoring situations. Thementor also relies on peer observer feedback recorded during the mentoring session to guide thewriting of the scripts. The scripts are then reviewed before

Conference Session

Design Experiences in Energy Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Alan Scaroni; David DiBiase; Jonathan Mathews; Sarma Pisupati

, bicycle, and other forms of transportation. To do this, call yourlocal public service bus office or school bus garage and ask how big the average bus tankis, how many people can ride on a full bus, and the average gas mileage of a bus? Call themaintenance division at an airport to get similar information for an airplane. Call shops oruse your own information sources to get data on cars, motorcycles, and other vehicles.Record all the data in the chart.Which form of transportation is most energy-efficient? What other factors must youconsider in choosing transportation? Which form of transportation do you choose mostoften, and why?Activity 3: Planning Your TripsThe purpose of this activity is to determine if planning a route helps save energy

Conference Session

State of the Art in Freshman Programs

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Edward Evans; H. Michael Cheung; Rex Ramsier; Francis Broadway; Sandra Spickard Prettyman; Helen Qammar

their role is primarilyas an observer of effective interaction and judge of how well team members are participatingduring the meeting. Mentors provide immediate feedback to the team at the end of each meeting.Each week, the team submits meeting minutes and an updated project work plan to the projectinstructors. Students are asked to submit individual work logs describing their weekly activities Page 9.685.2“Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Education”as well as reflective journals. The project

Conference Session

Attracting Young MINDs

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Dara O'Neil; Gordon Kingsley; Donna Llewellyn; Marion Usselman

play within STEP. Thus,aggregate narratives are developed for Fellows, Teachers, Coordinators, and Advisers. A varietyof data sources are used in this study including:• Semi-structured interviews with Fellows, teachers, advisers, coordinators, and STEP administrators.• Surveys of Fellows following the summer training programs for STEP.• Document reviews of the action plans for each high school.• Document reviews of lesson plans and assessment tools developed by the STEP Fellows.• In-class observations of the STEP Fellows.• Review of journals maintained by the STEP Fellows of their experiences within the high schools.Input from high school students was also compiled through presentations and information fromthe STEP Fellows, such as

Conference Session

Assessment & Quality Accredition in Engineering Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

John Rowe; Tim Mulroy

there's lotsof things, but it's difficult to say what.Interviewer With lots of meetings you got to know lots of people?B Yes, I made lots of contacts.Interviewer Was it difficult being in places for only 2 weeks at a time?B It was weird, you don't get to know people over a long time, before you move again. Iwas staying in hotels by myself. It was a bit boring sometimes.D In my previous jobs, I've been more involved in the electronics side of things. When Igot to [automation and control company], it was more of a software job - project planning, sofrom that point of view, I think I've learned about how projects are run, and a lot more aboutsoftware. It was still some electronics, but more general engineering practices

Conference Session

Learning & Teaching Issues

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

James Houdeshell

conclusion was based on the results from an administered problem solving testanalyzed with the use of multiple regression. From the results it is clear that the use of conceptmaps can significantly enhance student performance. The cited studies all reported enhancementin the participants' cognitive skills due to the use of concept maps. These improvements includedincreased planning and organizing skills, improved recall of instructional materials, andenhanced problem solving skills. The pivotal work conducted by Schwartz and Bransford in the systematic development ofthe protocols for the successful application of concept maps is summarized in the followingparagraphs. The stated goal of Schwartz and Bransford's study was "to begin a

Conference Session

Capstone Design II

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Karen Davis

weak for each outcome, worded exactly as in Criterion3. In addition, the students are asked to rate the importance of the outcome. The springsurvey is administered by the College of Engineering (CoE) to all graduating seniors inengineering degree programs, and it uses a scale of 5=yes, definitely (excellent), 4=aboveaverage (good), 3=average, 2=poor, 1=no, not at all. The spring survey asks questionsthat reword the outcomes. The question corresponding to outcome 3(i), lifelong learning,for example, asks directly about plans to pursue formal study. “An appreciation for, andability to engage in, lifelong learning” may involve less formal and equally validchannels.2.1 Self-reported Achievement and Importance DataThere are several ways to analyze

Conference Session

International Engineering Education I

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Yuko Hoshino; Masakatsu Matsuishi; Wayne Sanders

engineering, and is based onthree pedagogical concepts; the plan-do-check-act cycle, hands-on exercises, and cooperativelearning. Students are asked to design and build bridges from 900mm x 2mm x 2mm strips of balsawood. The goal is to build a strong bridge using as little material as possible. See figure 3.On the first day of the course, each student is asked to design and build one bridge. Aftercompleting the bridge, he/she applies loads on the bridge until it collapses. The design is thenanalyzed to find out where the bridge failed.At the end of the first day, students are assigned to teams. Based on the experience gained the firstday, each team tries to design and build a stronger bridge to withstand a heavier load. By learningthrough experience

Conference Session

Lighting the Fire: REU

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Mark Evans; Ronald Welch

was an attempt to predict the results of cone penetrationtests performed in soils containing oversized particles in the field. Photos showing specimensetup are shown in Figures 1 and 2.Students were involved in all phases of this project. The summer began with a big-picturebrainstorming session, first briefing students on technical material that was well-established inthe field, and then discussing unknowns and opportunities for the summer project. Students wereinvolved in the brainstorming, decisions as to the project scope, and project planning andexecution. Three specimens were setup and tested during the six-week summer period, aconsiderable feat given that planning and material procurement was started the first week, andgiven the large

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Frederick Stern

experiments. Students analyze and relateEFD results to fluid physics and classroom lectures, including teamwork and presentation ofresults in written and graphical form. Implementation described based on results for anintroductory level fluid mechanics course, which includes complementary CFD laboratories forthe same geometries and conditions. The laboratories constitute 1 credit hour of a four credithour 1 semester course and include tabletop kinematic viscosity experiment focusing on UAprocedures and pipe and airfoil experiments focusing on complementary EFD and CFD. Theevaluation and research plan (created in collaboration with a third party program evaluationcenter at the University of Iowa) is described, which focuses on exact descriptions of

Conference Session

K-12 Outreach Initiatives

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Steven Fisher; Jed Lyons

has been used for both formative and summativeassessment of the program.Program DescriptionThe GK-12 fellows at this university include graduate and advanced undergraduate students fromthe disciplines of chemical, civil, computer, electrical, environmental and mechanicalengineering. A four-part educational plan was used to develop their teaching skills andknowledge.Formal coursework. During the fellow’s first semester of project involvement, they participatedin a field-based university-credit course developed by a coPI of the GK-12 grant. The course,“EDTE 701-Special Topics in Teaching Science,” consisted of two facets: formal instruction andpracticum. Throughout the semester, the fellows met each week for two hours of formal in

Conference Session

Learning & Teaching Issues

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Vikas Jain; Durward Sobek

Session 1331 The Engineering Problem-Solving Process: Good for Students? Durward K. Sobek II, Vikas K. Jain Montana State UniversityAbstractAs part of an ongoing effort to better understand student problem-solving processes to open-ended problems, we have coded 14 mechanical engineering projects (representing about 60journals) according to abstraction level, design activity, planning, and reporting. We alsodeveloped quantitative outcome measures that are reported in a separate submission to thisconference. We then developed a computer model of the journal data that correlates

Conference Session

Minorities in Research

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Gbekeloluwa Oguntimein

,”according to the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) “Educating For the21st Century: The Maryland Plan for Postsecondary Education 3 .” In 1993 Morgan State University was funded through the Office of NavalResearch’s (ONR) Infrastructure Support Education Program (ISEP) for multifacetedintervention and outreach programs with Dr. P. Mack as the principal investigator. Thisgrant was implemented in order to strengthen and integrate the University’s science,engineering and mathematics (SEM) projects and initiatives directed at increasing thenumber of minority students who graduate prepared to effectively contribute to the SEMworkforce. The primary objectives of the program were to:1. To double the number of SEM degrees awarded to African

Conference Session

Trends in Construction Engineering I

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Sunil Sinha; Randolph Thomas; John Kulka

socialimpact awareness and ethical behavior into professional practice. The challenge engineeringeducators face is to develop strategies that will raise the awareness of students regarding ethicalissues related to construction at the same time that they are developing their technical expertise.Education has a special opportunity to train people to live and work in accord with societalvalues. Construction Courses in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at thePennsylvania State University focus on the planning, organization, monitoring and control of theconstruction projects. The emphasis of these courses is on engineering design of constructionprocess. The student gains the knowledge necessary to apply engineering principles in

Conference Session

ERM Potpourri

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Glenn Ellis; Baaba Andam

understanding. They individually rankeach program’s humanness and list its strengths and weaknesses. Later this information isshared and discussed by the class.Once students have completed the previous activity, they are then ready to begin a more in-depthinvestigation of chatterbots. In this assignment students choose one of the chatterbot programsthat they have already worked with and write a paper describing in detail the logic it uses toimitate conversation. Key to this assignment is the student’s effort to develop a logical plan ofquestioning that exposes the chatterbot’s programming logic. For example, part of a line ofquestioning could be the following questions. 1. Are you alive? 2. Are you alive? 3. You are alive

Conference Session

Innovative Graduate Programs & Methods

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Jennifer Dockter; Carol Muller

inengineering and related sciences, including planning and implementing a pilot program to linkgraduate students and pre-tenure faculty with tenured faculty in one-on-one e-mentoringrelationships.Present State of Knowledge in the FieldThe underrepresentation of women in science and engineering, both in industry and in highereducation, has negative implications for the future technical work force, for equal opportunity,for individuals, and for the disciplines and professions themselves. In academic science andengineering, women comprise less than 20% of faculty positions in 4-year colleges and onlyapproximately 22% of full-time senior faculty appointments in life sciences 1, despite that fieldbeing the scientific and engineering field graduating the

Conference Session

Electrical & Computer Engineering Poster Session

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Mohammad Alam

Education___________________________________________________________________________ Program Objectives3 1. To provide a comprehensive educational program in Computer Engineering, founded upon strong basic instruction in science, mathematics, and hardware and software engineering fundamentals. 2. To provide students with the background, means, and opportunity to plan and conduct experiments and to apply appropriate techniques for data collection, analysis, and interpretation. 3. To develop within students necessary computer engineering design skills, including the capacity for problem formulation, background research, solution generation, decision making, implementation, communication, and teamwork. 4. To continuously refine the curriculum

Conference Session

Unique Courses & Services for Freshmen

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Catherine Blat

help students implement effective study, test taking, time management, organization,planning, and networking skills. Mentors meet with groups of 3-4 students, who are enrolled insimilar courses, for one hour per week throughout the semester. Students voluntarily participatein mentoring for as many semesters as they feel they need the support. In some cases,probationary students are required to regularly meet with a mentor as a condition of continuedenrollment or readmission to an engineering program. Generally, though, only about 5% of theparticipants are required to attend MAPS in any given semester. Virtually all of the studentsparticipate on a purely voluntary basis.Mentors provide a variety of support mechanisms and regular, constructive