Conference Session

Survivor: The First Few Years

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elizabeth Creamer, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Tonya Saddler, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Margaret Layne, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

recognized as one of the strongest influences on academic scientists’ and engineers’productivity1 and satisfaction2. Perceptions of climate reflect policies, practices, and interactionsat both a local level, as within a lab or department, and at more global level of the college oruniversity. The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE), anemerging voice from Harvard University about faculty careers, measures climate to include (a)personal and professional interactions with colleagues, (b) opportunities for collaboration, (c)sense of fit, (d) intellectual vitality of the senior faculty, (e) fairness of evaluation, (f) equitabletreatment, and (g) support for professional development. Perceptions of climate at the more locallevel

Collection

2008 Spring ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference

Authors

theexisting plug flow activated sludge tanks, and development of an educational poster explaininghow nitrogen is removed in the wastewater treatment process.Informal feedback and assessment data indicate that the service-learning projects have beenextremely helpful in exposing students to professional practice issues in the water quality field,in deepening student understanding of water and wastewater treatment processes, and ininspiring students to use their technical expertise to serve the public. The Civil Engineeringfaculty hopes to expand involvement in service-learning projects in the future.BackgroundService-learning has been defined as “a method of teaching, learning, and reflecting that tiescommunity service with academic learning outcomes

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

theexisting plug flow activated sludge tanks, and development of an educational poster explaininghow nitrogen is removed in the wastewater treatment process.Informal feedback and assessment data indicate that the service-learning projects have beenextremely helpful in exposing students to professional practice issues in the water quality field,in deepening student understanding of water and wastewater treatment processes, and ininspiring students to use their technical expertise to serve the public. The Civil Engineeringfaculty hopes to expand involvement in service-learning projects in the future.BackgroundService-learning has been defined as “a method of teaching, learning, and reflecting that tiescommunity service with academic learning outcomes

Conference Session

FPD9 - First Year Learning & Assessment

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gary Halada, State University of New York at Stony Brook

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

instructors and students,must include specific examples related to the skill set the course is intended to provide. Ibelieve that student responses to these skill set-specific examples also reflect students’ beliefin their abilities to learn and solve problems in areas beyond traditional engineeringapplications. 2. Course Design to enhance student self-belief in learning ability:There are many references regarding the value of problem-based, active learning environmentsfor improvement of student comprehension and engagement.9,10,11 The results of a recent studyby Braxton, et al., suggest that development of an active learning approach in courses directlyenhances student perception of learning gains, which in turn helps students to view

Conference Session

Improving the Teaching Skills of Graduate Students

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Montgomery, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

these panels.Use of student journalsAn important element in teaching is the opportunity to reflect on the teaching experience.Participants are given an opportunity for reflection through required journals at various points inthe class. The five required journal assignments are: Journal 1 - Reflection on outstanding college professors - Name four adjectives that you feel define an outstanding college professor. Thinking back to outstanding college professors you've encountered in the past, cite at least one specific example of actions that exemplify each of the four adjectives. Journal 2 – Learning theories - Choose the learning theory/model (Felder Soloman, Myers

Conference Session

Accreditation and Assessment Concerns in Civil Engineering Education

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thuy Nguyen, University of Texas at Austin; Kathy Schmidt, University of Texas at Austin; William O'Brien, University of Texas at Austin

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

Technology). This literacy variable is concerned with learners’ awareness of various available technologies that could be used to improve their work as well as their social life and self-improvement. It also reflects the willingness to explore and adopt technology. Mature students become aware of state-of-the-art technologies relevant to their professional domain and personal needs. They are also receptive to change in their existing ways of doing things as well as to the adoption and adaptation of new technologies for better work performance. • Literacy 2: Operational Skills. This literacy variable reflects the understanding of learners about the purposes and functionality of various technologies, the

Conference Session

Project-Based Learning in ECE Education

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Saeed Khan, Kansas State University-Salina; Greory Spaulding, Kansas State University-Salina

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

destructively interfere with one another.In designing the first section of the large antenna, we followed the design guidelines ofthe standard cantenna2. With the exception of the first section (smallest of sections), allother sections carry multiple modes and the number of modes in any section isproportional to the diameter. The large number of modes in the last section allows a fielddistribution that permits highly directive radiation patterns. Our version consists of sixdifferent cylindrical sections connected together by six 3-inch 34˚ flared or conical Page 13.270.3sections (Figure 2). Flared sections were used to minimize reflections at the junctions.The

Conference Session

Problem Solving and Misconceptions

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mica Hutchison, Northwestern University; Ann McKenna, Northwestern University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

ensure that they differed only in their degree of structure. During their firstencounter with each problem, students were given up to one hour to work on their designsolution. To provide the opportunity for reflection that is true of real-life problem-solvingsituations, students were also asked to revisit each problem several days later; again being givenup to one hour to work. To control for effects that might arise due to the order in whichproblems were solved, half of the participants solved the ill-structured problem followed by thewell-structured problem. The remainder of the participants solved the problems in reverse order.Students’ design solutions were analyzed to determine the degree to which they exhibitedknowledge-application

Conference Session

Best of the NEE

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Norman Fortenberry, National Academy of Engineering; Tylisha Baber, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

refined by Shulman into “scholarship of teaching andlearning” and “scholarly teaching”[3]. The former is essentially the scholarship of discoverywithin the domain of education[4]. Our focus here is on the latter, “scholarly teaching” which isdistinguished from “teaching” by its focus on teaching practice and learning outcomes, groundedin disciplinary content and pedagogic knowledge, reflective critique, commitment tocommunication to peers and openness to peer evaluation([2], pp. 87-88). Scholarly teaching holds thepromise of enhanced student learning through rigorous faculty attention to learning. Becausetenure and promotion depend upon evaluations of scholarship and because compared toevaluation of the scholarships of discovery and synthesis

Conference Session

Mechanical Engineering Technology Curriculum

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jorge Alvarado, Texas A&M University; Angie Hill Price; Michael Johnson, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

tasks successfully.Case Study: Design, Build and Test a Lab-Scale Passive Cooling SystemBrief introduction of Passive Cooling SystemPassive cooling systems are used in commercial, industrial, and residential applications tominimize the amount of heat being transferred across walls and roofs without making use of anactive mechanical (vapor-compression) system. Several systems have been designed and used in Page 13.375.3the past including green roofs, reflective paints, and those based on evaporative cooling17.Recently, Alvarado and Martinez18 designed, built, and tested a passive cooling system thatconsisted of a combination of materials that

Conference Session

Service Courses for Non-Engineers

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Krupczak, Hope College; David Ollis, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

were identified:The Technology Survey Course, The Technology Focus orTopics Course, The Technology Creation Course (Design Course), The Technology Critique,Assess, Reflect, or Connect Course. The technology survey courses offer a broad overview of anumber of areas of engineering and technology. The technology or topics or focus course isnarrower in scope and develops one well-defined area. The engineering design course, ortechnology creation, places an emphasis on the engineering design process to developtechnological solutions to problems. The last model to emerge is concerned with assessingtechnological impacts, connecting technological developments to other areas of society, historyand culture, or reflecting on engineering in a broader

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

A.E. Schuster; J.A. Sanchez; C.W. Swan; J.L. Durant; D.M. Matson

water filters were functioning. Theteam explained the process for using presence/absence water tests and recording test results. It was clearthat water quality testing was an extremely unfamiliar process, and the board members had manyquestions. This training meeting was one of the longest, and even after a full day of construction it lastedwell into the evening. However, it was also one of the most important meetings of the trip. Thediscussions that resulted from board member questions produced a collaborative atmosphere in whichthere was little boundary between the project team and the water board.ReflectionThe following is a reflection from Veronica Chouinard (Mechanical Engineering, Tufts ’03) leader “Establishing a water board is

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Marie-Pierre Huguet; Tom Haley; Sehnaz Baltaci-Goktalay

threshold for verifying that an outcome has been achieved (versus in-class discussions which take more time with fewer participants); o discussion boards allow students to “gather their thoughts”, and even facts, before making a comment (versus in-class fumbling and opinionating); o discussion boards allow time for reflection – students reflecting for a few days on what they posted versus what their peers posted (versus what they do and don’t remember from class to class); o instructors have a permanent and easy to review log of the discussion for assessment and their own reflection on (versus an audio or video tape of class).A student’s success in the course meant that the student was successful in

Conference Session

Tricks of the Trade I

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Aly Tawfik, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Janis Terpenny, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Richard Goff, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

, and then appliedthese during the Friday class. These adjustments were based on instructor reflections, peersuggestions, and students’ feedback. The workshops are the active learning sessions for the“Engineering Exploration” class, which is a core introductory engineering course for all first-year engineering students at Virginia Tech. The study was performed over the fall semester of2007. Statistical tests and measures show that while the two similar workshops belonged to thesame population, with respect to means and standard deviations of the learning outcomemeasures, they significantly differed with respect to students’ satisfaction. Statistical methods forappropriate analysis of data are also reported.BackgroundThe Engineering Exploration

Conference Session

Engineering Professional Development for K-12 Teac

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephen Krause, Arizona State University; Robert Culbertson, Arizona State University; Marilyn Carlson, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

solving, and engineering design is promoted usingteam-based, inquiry learning pedagogy with contextualized content in MSP-created modules.The unifying concept of function, developed in the initial Functions and Modeling course, isintegrated into science and engineering topics in the subsequent courses. Professional learning Page 13.241.2communities are supporting teachers in adapting their new knowledge and instructionalapproaches to their own classroom practice by engaging them in deep reflections on theirinstruction and their students' learning. Math, science and engineering are connected byknowledge and use of function. The concept of function

Conference Session

Emerging Issues in Engineering Education Research and Pedagogy

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joachim Walther, University of Queensland; David Radcliffe

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

semester longself-recording followed similar trigger statements. They recorded and reflected on criticallearning events during their time in industry and related these back to their prior learning atuniversity. The self-recording consisted of a weekly submission of one complete account of acritical incident each week for twelve weeks.3.2 Data AnalysisThe focus transcripts were analyzed using the qualitative data analysis tool NVivo7.40-42 The textwas coded on two levels of increasingly abstract interpretation from what Geertz22 calls“experience-near” to “experience-distant concepts”.As illustrated in Figure 1, the level of topic coding included clusters of educational influencesand work situations (for clarity the names of the coding clusters and

Conference Session

Innovations in Biological/Agricultural Education-II

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Abhijit Nagchaudhuri, University of Maryland Eastern Shore; Madhumi Mitra, University of Maryland Eastern Shore; Lurline Marsh, University of Maryland Eastern Shore; Craig Daughtry, United States Department of Agriculture; Tracy Earle, University of Maryland Eastern Shore; Jurgen Schwarz, University of Maryland Eastern Shore

Tagged Divisions

Biological & Agricultural

); ‚ Field scouting with hand held GPS, SPAD METER, etc.; ‚ Environmental monitoring; ‚ Aerial imaging using a variety of platforms (UAV, robotic helicopter, etc.); ‚ Advanced software in image analysis and GIS. AE ROStudents will get anopportunity to actively Students reflect on their learningexperiment with

Conference Session

Case Studies & Engineering Education Around the Globe

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adnan Zahed; Abdullah Bafail; Reda Abdulaal; Ali Al-Bahi

Tagged Divisions

International

evenly belong to a single culture;culture #1. The high power index (80 versus 40 for the US) is reflected in a tendency towardscentralized power with hierarchies in organizations. This reflects the importance of thecommitment of the chairman of the department as a key element in the success of the process.The lower individualism index (38 versus 91 for the US) explains a striving for the maintenanceof ‘face’. In fact the ABET committee, unconsciously, used some sort of the fear of shame, toconvince others to achieve the behavior that is desired!The relatively lower masculinity index (53 versus 62 for the US) is translated into some modestyand tenderness. Every one wants to please others, remains ready to do some extra work withoutmaterial

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

Design Communications

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephen Ekwaro-Osire, Texas Tech University; Innocent Afuh, Texas Tech University; Peter Orono, Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

students are involved in active learning by being connected with libraries and being taughtsoft skills during their training.4-6 They will build upon these skills, horn them and evolve intolifelong learners. Sapp et al.7 used a treasure hunt assignment to teach students various sources of engineeringinformation and its contents. Slivovsky et al. 8 presented methods and strategies of integratingreflection into engineering design class. The engineering design notebook was one of thereflection methods developed and a well defined rubric was used to analyze it. The reflectiveexercises presented were successively shown to guide the students in their reflective thinkingduring the design course. Well formulated design notebooks have been shown to

Conference Session

Innovations in the ChE Laboratory

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Felecia Nave, Prairie View A&M University; Michael Gyamerah, Prairie View A&M University; Irvin Osborne-Lee, Prairie View A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

shift of students who would normally pursue careers inchemical engineering degrees to bio-related departments (i.e. biomedical, biological,bioengineering, etc.) has had an significant impact.3 To address this issue, many chemicalengineering programs have changed their names and updated their curriculum to reflect theshared focus on biology and engineering.Worldwide, the fastest growing global biotechnology marketplace includes approximately 4300companies in 25 nations with revenues estimated at over $40 billion.4 The biotechnologyindustry clusters have identified workforce development as the second or third largest hurdle tocommercialization and economic success.5 Hence, the survival, maturation and success of thebiotechnology industry is

Conference Session

Design in Freshman and Sophomore Courses

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steven Shooter, Bucknell University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

. characteristics reflecting characteristics reflecting thePerformance reflecting a development and reflecting highest level beginning level movement toward mastery of of of performance. mastery of performance. performance

Conference Session

FPD9 - First Year Learning & Assessment

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jim Chamberlain, Clemson University; Lisa Benson, Clemson University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

approaching the exit surveys, we were especially interested in the hand-writtencomments that were made to these latter two questions. All students were asked torespond to the first question. Responses to the second question tended to be either furtherelaborations of the first question response or incidental comments, both positive and Page 13.643.4negative, about the General Engineering program or other engineering programs withinthe college. In both cases it can be assumed that students were not given, and did nottake, much time to think through reasoned, reflective responses. Rather we assume thatwe are reading first-impression, instinctive reactions that

Conference Session

Entrepreneurship Education: Unique Approaches

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Shawn S Jordan, Purdue Univeristy; Robin Adams, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

participants and spectators to watch. In addition, students have opportunities to apply thetechnical skills they have learned in the classroom in an application where creativity is king butreliability is key.This paper takes the reader on a journey through the author’s experiences leading a RubeGoldberg team through winning the national championship in 2006. This paper is the result of adeep iterative reflection, assisted by a collaborator in order to pull out the aspects of thisexperience that illuminate lessons related to design knowledge and learning. The aim of thispaper is to identify important areas for future research and build a foundation for a future bookintended to engage young learners in innovation and creative problem solving in a

Conference Session

Emerging Issues in Engineering Education Research and Pedagogy

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Walden, University of Oklahoma; Cindy Foor, University of Oklahoma; Deborah Trytten, University of Oklahoma

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

work builds upon results presented in the Annals of Research in Engineering Education [23-25]. The personal reflections that were solicited for AREE, were specific to the production of theJEE paper that the invitation was based on. This paper provides a broader perspective thatfocuses on the development of the entire research team instead of just the process of developinga single paper. We’ll present the description of the evolution of the research team as a series oflessons learned. Lesson 1 – Embrace new ways of thinking about the world – paradigms, methodologies, andtheoretical frameworksLike many engineers (and other non-social scientists), we were trained and previously practicedin a positivist paradigm, the underlying basis of the

Conference Session

Engineering in Middle Schools

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Reid Bailey, University of Virginia; Susan Donohue, University of Virginia

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

2:30 Robotics 2:30 Day 2 - Line Final Presos Following and Demos 3:00 3:00 3:30 3:30 Reflection Reflection Reflection Reflection Recognition Pick-up Pick-up Pick-up Pick-up Pick-up 4:00 4:00

Conference Session

Learning to Communicate with Engineers and Non-Engineers

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Laura Wilson, University of CIncinnati; Teresa Cook, University of Cincinnati; Jo Ann Thompson, University of Cincinnati; James Everly, University of Cincinnati

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

develop an integrated program of mid-level writing instruction in the technical disciplines. A multi-faceted program emerged:collaboration among writing faculty and technical faculty; development of interdisciplinarywriting instruction in mid-level technical courses; the utilization of grading rubrics to enhancethe importance of writing and communication skills in technical courses; the formation of adiscourse community; and the creation of e-portfolios to enhance reflection and illuminateconnections among the students’ technical and Humanities courses.IntroductionThis paper describes how the College of Applied Science writing faculty joined forces withengineering technology faculty to research innovative practices in the teaching of writing in

Conference Session

Experiential and Service Learning

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James Ejiwale, Jackson State University; Della Posey, Jackson State University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

as “a form of experiential education where learning occurs through a cycle of action andreflection as students work with others through a process of applying what they are learning tocommunity problems, and at the same time, reflecting upon their experience as they seek toachieve real objectives for the community and deeper understanding and skills for themselves.”It is essential therefore to provide a structured environment in which participants will be able todiscover their own styles of leadership, what works for them, new approaches to explore throughconstructive criticism from the learning communities that includes faculty, students (peergroups), and the community they serve.Service learning at Jackson State UniversityThe mission of the

Conference Session

Engineering in the Elementary School

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christine Cunningham, Museum of Science, Boston

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

has worked, what has not, and ongoing challenges. Constructive, critical team andindividual reflection and critique have helped us to distill some successful strategies. The paperbelow captures some of what we have begun to understand. It outlines some of the organizingprinciples and structures that guide our professional development programs, challenges that weencounter, opportunities that arise, and differences that we have observed between elementaryand secondary professional development. However, we still have much more to learn! The EiEteam is continually tweaking our existing programs or experimenting with new professionaldevelopment offerings as we seek to improve and expand our knowledge, programs, andresources

Conference Session

Two Year College Tech Session II

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dan Dimitriu, San Antonio College; Jerry O'Connor, San Antonio College

Tagged Divisions

Two Year College Division

; • experiences or incidents that reflected ideas discussed in class; • thoughts, feelings, and values derived from their service activities; • what was learned.These weekly reports formed the basis for each team’s final written project report and oralpresentation to the entire class. Each student presented a portion of the final team report andincluded operations and procedures that were characteristic to their site, as well as theirpersonal reflections on the activity. Finally, an open forum was provided for the entire classto discuss their ideas and exchange lessons learned during the project. Students completingthe project were recognized in front of the entire class and were presented with certificates ofappreciation.Because of liability