Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Mark A. Shields; Bryan Pfaffenberger

students.TCC 101, Language Communication in the Technological Society, reflects the Division'slengthy experience in this area; for example, the course stresses speaking as well as writingskills, and teaches students how to adapt their messages to the specific audiences that theywill encounter in engineering organizations (including technical peers, technical managers,non-technical executives, and the general public). We chose this course to serve as thefoundation for an experiment in adapting the communications curriculum to the new needsof engineering organizations.The Engineering Career Orientation Project (ECOP), required of all students in ourexperimental sections, is based on the Research Interview Project (RIP), in which TCC 101students

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

D. Raj Raman

course were highly positive,though the survey instrument used was rather blunt, having only six questions, and not explicitlyevaluating course content. The overall teaching effectiveness was rated as outstanding, as was thepreparation and availability of the instructor.When describing phenomena such as convection heat transfer, I had appealed to the students’physical intuition by asking them to do thought experiments. While this technique worked withsome students, it seemed to fail completely with others. I was convinced that this reflected a lackof experience with physical systems, and that the most important thing to do for the upcomingyear was to incorporate hands-on experiences into the course; the development and use of aseries of in-class

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Richard Gilbert; Marilyn Barger, Hillsborough Community College; Renata Engel, Pennsylvania State University

have good control of the course, theclass, the direction and the final outcome of the learning experience, i.e. the course will bewell-managed.The second audit method requirement is also simple to implement. Students must receive anevaluation for the course that reflects their final knowledge of the material in the course. It iscertainly tempting to modify the second requirement to include weightings for how hard astudent tries or perhaps how much more the student would have learned if a harder effort was putforth. Unfortunately both of these conditions reflect on what might have happened and neitherhelps the student focus on what did happen.Expectation modifiers on performance evaluations also lead inevitably to poor classroommanagement

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Barbara Mirel; Atul Prakash; Leslie A. Olsen; Elliot Soloway

collaboration and technical issues they must deal with, students and professors havetraditionally not had the time in one semester to add the activities and resulting documentationthat user-centered design requires. These documents include the following: User and task analyses based on contextual inquiry, activity-based planning, and scenarios. A vision statement tying the product to a market niche and what it takes to fill that niche. High level specifications reflecting users’ points of view, including plans for interfaces. User test plans for prototyping to guide the construction of instruction and interfaces that users need. Progress reports on key trade-offs resulting from negotiating technical and user issues and the rationales behind them

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Scott J. Amos; James L. Otter

being teaching style,organization of materials, assignments and evaluation methods.Dr. Richard Felder, a recognized authority on effective teaching, suggests that traditionalteaching styles do not often match with preferred learning styles. In fact, his studies comparingengineering students’ learning style preference, and engineering and engineering technologyfaculty learning style preference, show that preferences vary considerably between the variousgroups. Dr. Felder's studies show that undergraduate engineering students prefer a learning stylewith an emphasis on sensing, visual, deductive and sequential teaching, with no distinctpreference between active and reflective teaching methods. In contrast, engineering faculty, ingeneral, prefer

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

John T. Bell

ten students who have completed their work on this project provided comments for thepreparation of this paper. Their reflective opinions of the benefits and drawbacks of theirexperience are given below, some quoted exactly and some paraphrased slightly. All studentsquoted have reviewed this document prior to submission of the final copy.Student 1 was one of the first two students working on this project, and is now working as achemical engineer for Michelin Tire Company in Spartanburg, South Carolina. After completingtwo summer half-terms for credit, he continued to work on the project as an hourly paidemployee until his graduation the following spring, during which time he helped direct the workof newer students in addition to his other

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Elizabeth A. Eschenbach

the team makes it clearthat the answer does not reflect the entire team. Each team submits its evaluation electronically,so that the team remains anonymous. This method of requiring the team to reach consensushelps precipitate the most widely perceived positive and negative aspects of the class and theinstructor. (This course evaluation method of using team consensus is similar to one used at thefirst year engineering course at the University of Colorado [6].) The instructor responds to themidterm feedback in the next classroom session. Examples of constructive criticism arehighlighted and the instructor models professional responses to the constructive criticism.Endterm EvaluationAt the end of the semester, each student is again required to

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Janet K. Allen; Farrokh Mistree; David D. Clark; David W. Rosen

. Students are introduced to an often-turbulent imaginary world - Planet Vayu. Theinhabitants of Vayu must solve a serious problem that requires an engineered solution. Studentsdesign and build a solution to this problem. One quarter they may need to build an evacuationdevice, another quarter a device that will transport and drop sleeping potion in enemy territory.Important activities include learning how to observe, reflect and articulate; understand themarket; identify, formulate and solve decision problems that support human decision making;design a process for designing the artifact; design, build and test the artifact; and develop arudimentary marketing strategy (Mistree and Muster, 1984,1985). In this context, the students

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

John Tuttle

disasters. Students can see trend curves as thecodification of the past, helping them to realize trend curves potential and limits. Finally, thereare benefits of pointing out past errors if only to keep from repeating them or reinventing thewheel.Ships are among the most complex systems created by man. Ship design is a creative activity,the development of an integrated system using data from previous designs and tools of varyingdegrees of sophistication. Advanced technology is or should be reflected in the designers' toolsand in his designs. Currently most authors looking at the future of ship design activity focusingon the impacts of advanced technology (1) or total systems approaches (2), few, if any focus onthe designer, the most important

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Mark A. Shields; John P. O'Connell

that thesedifferences merely reflect variations in the approaches, goals and effectiveness of ENGR 164instructors rather than any direct benefits of collaborative PD teaching.Finally, students also responded to questions about the importance of various activities to whatthey learned in ENGR 164, using a scale ranging from “Very Important” (1) to “Not Important”(4). The highest-rated components (based on mean scores) were “group projects” (1.4)“electronic information” (1.5), and “oral presentations” and “workshops” (1.8). The lowest-ratedwere readings (3.4) and lectures (2.8), with class activities (2.1) and individual projects (2.3) inbetween. Students in the design course rated team-based projects more highly than individual

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Ann D. Christy; Marybeth Lima

reported in thispaper. Full results will be presented at the meeting.Cress and McCullough-Cress (1995) define a student portfolio as a systematic and purposefulcollection of student goals for learning, works in progress, peer and instructor feedback, andreflection on the work and processes. The development of student portfolios for AE 625 and BE1252 reflects this definition. Portfolios are a useful tool in assessing learning because theyrequire students to review their work and create their portfolio by engaging in a process ofreflection, selection, and description (Camp, 1990). The use of student portfolios as an effectivemeans of assessment has already been established for those disciplines in which portfolios havelong been used. The purpose of

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

John W. Prados

Session 2577 ABET Engineering Criteria 2000: How We Got There and Why John W. Prados National Science FoundationAccreditation of educational programs in the United States is a voluntary, non-governmental,peer review process, which reflects a professional judgment that certain standards of educationalquality are met. It signifies to prospective students and the public that graduates have achievedan expected level of competence in their fields of study and, thus, acts as a form of consumerprotection. Two forms of accreditation exist: institutional accreditation, which seeks to

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Bob Lahidji

5 Role of Industry The support of local industry is essential for the success of mechanical and electricalengineering technology programs. Local industry can be tapped for financial support and it is agreat source of generating topics for research. Industry can provide students with real-worldproblems to solve in the classroom environment. An industry and a university can work togetheron projects that benefit each other. Personal exchange with industry is another way of enrichingthe curriculum.6Conclusions The manufacturing environment requirements and needs are different than those used adecade ago. The engineering technology education program should reflect the needs and changesof today's industry and prepare young engineer

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Trevor B. Davey; Ngo Dinh Thinh

has not beena system of uniform entrance requirements through the various universities. Until just recently,the credit system was not used and curriculums were very inflexible. The general education (GE)content defined in the American Universities was not part of the curriculum. Unit requirementsfor each degree were substantially higher than in the United States reflecting the method ofinstruction, lack of textbooks and specialization of the curriculums. The Vietnamese participantswere particularly interested in the organization and objective of ABET (Accreditation Board forEngineering and Technology) in the United States as there is no equivalent accreditationstructure in Vietnam. Establishment of a similar organization in Vietnam was seen

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Stephen A. Raper; Susan L. Murray

concern for the environment, quality and ethics. (5)A second definition states Engineering Management is the discipline addressed to making andimplementing decisions for strategic and operational leadership in current and emergingtechnologies and their impacts on interrelated systems. (12)In 1989, IIE prepared the following definition of IE to reflect what the profession would be in2000:Industrial Engineering will be recognized as the leading profession whose practitioners plan,design, implement, and manage integrated production and service delivery systems that assureperformance, reliability, maintainability, schedule adherence and cost control. These systemsmay be sociotechnical in nature, and will integrate people, information, material

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Lynn G. Mack; James C. Wood

content to make it relevant to the demands of the workplace, but it must alsoimplement new pedagogy and current instructional technologies. However, before a reformcurriculum can be developed and taught, there must be a reform-ready faculty to develop andteach the curriculum. These faculty must reflect the interdisciplinary needs of the workplace inthe classroom and model workplace practices. To facilitate an interdisciplinary approach tocurriculum development, the South Carolina Technical College System has begun to developinterdisciplinary teams of mathematics, science, communications, and technology faculty fromeach college.Traditional engineering technology curricula are based on a compartmentalized, discipline-basedcurriculum, delivered in a

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Karim J. Nasr

traversing familiar ground as theyused the underlined hypertexts because the software’s table of contents reflects the standardmaterial coverage of an undergraduate course in Thermodynamics.Helpful Practices for Implementation: One must not underestimate the importance of faculty-student contact, for it sets the tone for students’ drive to experiment with the software. It alsoprovides the instructor with prompt and “fresh” feedback. Students greatly appreciated an initialhelp session on using the software. This initial help session reduces their time investment inlearning the package (learning curve) and smoothes the way for exploration and development ofcognitive skills. Cooperation among students (working in small teams) can ease the transitionfor

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Craig Gunn

ofengineering. Along with the connecting links to the university, the college of engineering, and toall the elements of life as an engineer, students should be given a design experience. This shouldinclude design in classes, design in extracurriculars, and design as part of out of classassignments. A unified course of action will be described which involves all of the aboveconnective elements in the education of the engineer. These elements are combined with theactivities and sections of the Residential Option for Science and Engineering Students (ROSES)program. The ROSES program meets once a week during the semester and is a one credit course.This one credit does not reflect the actual activities of the participants in the ROSES program.Students are

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Kenny Fotouhi

and steer it.Electrical Controlling Circuits The controlling circuit was designed from discrete components and was assembledon two breadboards. These breadboards were located on top of the car for mobility. Thefive photoresistors embedded in the rear section of the car were used as the light (optical)switch. The photoresistors were recessed into wood and the inner diameter of the cavitypainted black to reduce the environmental light reflection. A red ruby laser was used inthis project. When laser light shined on a photoresistor, its resistance dropped from fewhundreds of kilo Ohm to 1.3k Ohm. This drop of resistance was used in a comparatorcircuit shown in Figure 1 to generate 5 volts for the controlling circuits. The

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

P.E., Dr. Henry L. Welch

seemed to be very popular this year which reflects a trendof more fuzzy theory being used to improve automotive performance. Topical Area Spring 1993 Fall 1994 Fall 1995 Power Systems 2 1 Management and Business 1 1 Application Tools 1 Consumer Products1 3 1 2 Adaptive Control 2 1 Neural Networks 3 1 Genetic Algorithms 1 Robotics

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Martha E. Sloan

graduates ofcomputer engineering programs were sufficiently numerous that they began to be reportedseparately in Engineering Education. There were about 1000 computer engineering graduates ayear in the early 1970's--at first only about 1/3 at the BS level and the rest postgraduates. Notuntil 1973-74 did the number of BS degrees in computer engineering narrowly pass the numberof MS degrees, and not until 1976-77 did the number of BS computer engineering degrees--at1280 above 1000 for the first time--exceed the combined total of MS and Ph.D. The earlyemphasis on graduate degrees is not surprising. It reflects the tendency to introduce new Page

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Thomas Lenox; Stephen J. Ressler; Robert J. O'Neill; C. Conley

faculty, add to its attractiveness as a “case-study” for computer Page 2.109.2integration. Beginning in 1992, several papers were published and/or presented on developmentsin computer use within the civil engineering program.1 - 1 1 Even though these papers havedifferent authors, they reflect a common philosophy embodied in the following five principles: Principle # 1. The computer is the engineer’s tool -- not an engineer’s surrogate. Principle # 2. Engineers must be skeptical of computer-generated results and must independently verify and validate solutions. Principle # 3. Engineering faculty should

Conference Session

Integrating Design in Electrical Engineering Curriculum (1232)

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

David J. Ahlgren, Trinity College

notfeasible in the available time when attempted using standard chips, and the emphasis in the firstcourse can be shifted away from wiring and troubleshooting toward system-level design.This paper describes the course and laboratory, presents design projects undertaken in Fall, 1996,and reflects on the results.INTRODUCTORY COMPUTER ENGINEERING COURSEThe goal of the first course in computer engineering at Trinity College, ENGR221L--DigitalCircuits And Systems, is to develop a working knowledge of digital devices and systems in thecontext of computer-aided design. The course covers number systems and codes; BooleanAlgebra and combinational logic; flip-flops, registers and counters; finite state machines;memory devices and systems; programmable logic

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Heather Nachtmann Umphred; Kim LaScola Needy; Jerome P. Lavelle

to keep the cost low for students. In addition, there are a plethoraof engineering economic textbooks on the market. Many of these texts are quite comprehensive.Several of the best texts are revised every few years to reflect new developments and futuretrends in the body of knowledge. Faculty do, however, supplement the single textbook withother material 44% of the time. Figure 5 reflects that class notes are most regularly used as asupplement. From a pedagogical perspective, it would seem beneficial to build a “bank” of classnotes used by faculty to be shared and improved upon by all. Supplement 6% 6

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Mark A. Shields

controlling AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa, aswell as teams that focused on regulating ultrasound technology to reduce selective femaleabortions in India, discovered quickly in their research that deeply ingrained cultural values thatfavored males over females were crucial in understanding the nature of those problems.However, their solution proposals were not always consistent with this cross-culturalunderstanding–emphasizing more education for men and women without recognizing why men,in particular, would probably not want or accept such a critical intervention. As one of the judgeswrote in reflecting on the posters, “. . . [M]any presentations started out with some premise that everyone was assumed to agree with. For example, that it is our job as

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Michael Aldaco

Not servedMiddle-income/class Served Not servedLow-income/disadvantaged Served Not servedThose whose current student selection policies seem to be reflected in Figure 1 might do well totry their hand at answering the following question: What is the justification for serving automatically a privately-schooled African American student whose father is a lawyer and whose mother is a doctor and, at the same time, excluding automatically a low-income, southeast Asian immigrant from a single parent household that is supported by welfare?It is important to note that this question was asked, not just by proponents of 209, but

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

James vanPutten; Brad Mulder; John Krupczak

also given access to the Science DivisionShop which has a vertical mill, lathe, bandsaw, and drill press. To complete their prototypes, anumber of students used other off-campus facilities and equipment which was available to themthrough their engineering internships or acquaintances in the area.Individual Project ResultsThe individual projects proposed and carried out by the students during the Fall 1996 semesterare summarized in Table 2. The projects span a wide variety of topics, and each reflects theindividual interests of the student. Three students chose the default project: an entry for the1996/97 ASME student design contest. Each of these three developed his own entry.Table 2: Summary of Individual Student Projects.Student Project

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

P.J. Fisher; N.J. Quick; S.J. Steiner

Page 2.331.4self-assessment questionnaire, which they may wish to share with their team members. ASEE 1997 Annual Conference June 15-18, Milwaukee, WI, USATime is provided throughout the course for the students to meet, either betweenthemselves or with their mentor, to review and reflect on their performance andachievement to date, both as an individual, and as a team member. In particular, emphasisis given to the definition and follow-through of the process to achieve the task, rather thanthe task alone.On the second day, the teams rotate through three outdoor activities that fully utilise thefacilities of the

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

S. L. Ceccio; G. Tryggvason; Dawn M. Tilbury

social and economicfactors that affect their work, design and creativity, and manufacturing. They do feel,however, that the University has prepared them well in many of the engineering sciencesas well as in mathematics and physics. These results must be interpreted with some caresince graduates are going to feel more strongly the need for skills where they have hadlittle preparation, and have less appreciation for knowledge that has become secondnature. Nevertheless, if there is a shortcoming in the education offered by the University,it is not in the basic science and engineering courses but in the preparation of the more"human" aspect of engineering. These sentiments were also reflected in the responses tothe open ended questions

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Michael Alley

students to build a broad, deep, and precise body ofknowledge from which to draw in performing these assignments. Some might argue that thisbuilding of knowledge detracted from the course goal of fostering critical thinking. However,stressing critical thinking “while de-emphasizing knowledge reduces a student’s capacity to thinkcritically” [Hirsch, 1996]. The outcomes (student papers) reinforced this line of thought. By thethird linked assignment (the argumentative paper), students had acquired enough knowledge thatthey could argue intelligently about the subject—bringing in a variety of evidence and, in manycases, adopting positions that reflected their own thinking as opposed to just repeating theposition of one of their sources