historical actors clearly understood theirefforts along these lines, we want to suggest that from another perspective the division betweendescriptive and prescriptive efforts may be somewhat blurrier. Responsible dam engineerswould no doubt heed the ethical mandate for public safety, health and welfare, which mandatepresupposes the possible co-existence of dam and safe public. Any dam is projected as comingabout either through safe or unsafe engineering practices, and in a non-trivial sense this isprecisely how dams come to be. Yet, consider that both the safe and the unsafe dam exclude thefreely flowing river from reasonable existence. That engineering codes of ethics have never, toour knowledge, included instructions to “reflect on who benefits
accountability pressures for reading andmathematics3, 7. Integration of STEM subjects has been suggested as a way to address thechallenges of diminishing instructional time while providing students with the opportunity forengaging in realistic and multidisciplinary contexts that reflect real world problems. With manystates adopting the NGSS8, curricula for integrating engineering with an explicit focus onteaching science are needed.PictureSTEM is a curricular development project aimed at creating STEM integration moduleswith an explicit focus on engineering design, as well as standards-based mathematics andscience, for grades K-5. The PictureSTEM units were developed to meet this need for explicitSTEM integration modules that meaningfully teach each of
them a wealth of learning and experiencethat may reflect their diverse backgrounds. Similarly, faculty may also bring new knowledgeinto their role as instructors, often borne from their international experiences. With the potentialfor so many differences in knowledge and perspective, the prospect for learning barriers to affectthe inclusivity of classroom instruction is high. Accordingly, the richness of perspectives may belost if effective efforts are not made to create a safe environment with a sense of belonging andcollective ownership.2As a first step toward investigating the effects of diversity on the interface between students,instructors and the learning environment, a group of instructors at Northeastern University inBoston
several subsystems on a team with four or five other peopleusing suite of tools is too great,” 21 and provides the following advice, “to become competent ineach one of these areas—application and integration, team work, and tool use—students needtime, repeated experiences, and a lot of reflection on the learning.” 21 The goal of this researchproject is to create active-learning activities that create meaningful connections betweenengineering science and engineering design that teach students to apply and integrate when‘doing design’. This goal is well summarized by Dym as there must be, “a change in attitudetoward a more explicit and visible role for design as being ‘what engineering is all about.’Analysis unquestionably retains its centrality
uncertain and perhaps even unwilling toembrace sustainability (at least, the environmental pillar) as a valid and valuable part of theirengineering curriculum. Combined with the relatively weak power of ethics (includingsustainability) over personal and business interests,8 students may see sustainability as a noblebut vague and entirely unreachable state of affairs.Previous research studies in engineering education have highlighted the fact that students oftenbring into the classroom views of sustainability that reflect both the broad and confusingdefinitions of sustainability in national and global circles and a narrow view of what engineersare capable of impacting and desiring to contribute to improved sustainability practices
scale.However, there are a number of sub-components within each factor. For example, sub-components of Level of Academic Challenge are higher-order learning, reflective and integrativelearning, learning strategies, and quantitative reasoning. Overall, the NSSE measures a wholehost of students’ experiences. However, the primary focus of PosSES is on students’ engagementin out-of-class activities. One other difference between the two instruments is that the NSSE isadministered to first-year students and senior-year students, while PosSES can be administeredto first-year through senior-year students. PosSES includes all of these high impact activitiesalong with others we identified through reviews of the literature, web searches, and a Q-studyusing focus
before thesetendencies turn into actual departures. Such early career studies require looking at motivation,because motivation is a critical determinant of future behavior.Although all motivation theories share the common goal of connecting people’s behaviors tospecific motivations, self-determination theory (SDT) is particularly useful because it drawsimportant distinctions among the types of motivations that people experience.15,16 SDT identifiesa continuum of motivation types, ranging from controlled to autonomous. Autonomousmotivations are distinguished from more controlled motivations in that they are driven byinternal rewards rather than external and reflect that an individual is self-directing his or herbehaviors, resulting in greater
: ❏ It involves the management of natural resources ❏ It directly impacts energy use ❏ It directly impacts land use ❏ It directly impacts water use ❏ It has social impacts ❏ It has economic impacts ❏ It is related to urban planning ❏ Other:Learning Reflections – First Response In order to understand participants’ first reactions to each of the learning activities theywere involved in, we asked them to complete a “quick and dirty” written response sheet whichasked them to rate the primary learning activity of the day (on a scale of 1 – 5 with 5 being thebest) and to record something they thought they had learned and would “take away” from theactivity. Respondents
as non-engineering courses in the College. Several members of the EngineeringFaculty Curriculum Committee thought the Minor was more appropriate in the Business School.The debate was heated, but the Minor was narrowly approved by one vote. The narrow successof the vote was a clear reflection of the views of the college. The domain of engineeringleadership was new at the time, and there were no other programs available to offer to faculty asbenchmarks of value or success. Reluctance, by many in the College of Engineering, to includenon-technical courses at that time was not unexpected. Industry champions, incased within theLeonard Center, were critical to the acceptance of the program.The hard work of figuring out the details of each course
parents’ expectations, what appealed to them most, and what they were mostconcerned about.Semi-structured interviews were conducted with faculty at mid-semester. These interviewsaddressed faculty’s experience with students and other faculty, and their beliefs about what wasgoing well and what could be improved for next time. Researchers also attended and took notesat faculty reflection sessions. Finally, class observations were conducted to inform ourunderstanding of the other data sources.Data AnalysisDescriptive statistics were used to summarize closed-ended survey data. Qualitative data frominterviews and open-ended survey items were analyzed using the constant comparative methodfor naturalistic inquiry [27], to discover themes related to
learnedprogramming skills. Kai’s experience with Lego Robotics is an example of this. When askedwhat he learned from participating in an informal learning experience, Kai responded, “Well Idid learn how to program Lego Robots.”Some of the children are learning very hands-on, practical skills as they engage in engineeringthrough informal experiences, while others are wrestling with conceptual ideas. Alexander isactive in 4-H, and he has done many projects in electricity. Marcus has a great interest inphysics, and learns most of his engineering ideas from his participation at local universityoutreach programs and his interaction with tutors and experts. In Table 3, we share two examplesof what students or parents reflect on as their learning, and include an
project around a topic that appeals to them. When students follow theirpassions, the passions of their teammates, or work on a topic that, for them, will make a Page 26.990.4difference in the world, their intrinsic motivation increases.8,12 Experimentation and iteration inthe context of the project, and reflecting (in a safe environment) on the failures that ensue,completes what Neck et al. refer to as a “virtuous cycle,” that equips students with confidenceand knowledge that they can apply next time.8,12By integrating entrepreneurship into engineering, students are likely to be more connected totheir learning and thus are more likely to
country, but it is a major barrier at my institution.I otherwise believe that advocacy needs to be a formalized institution-level mission and goal, andit must be genuine. If it is not for the right reasons (such as public relations), then thoseindividuals within the institution will see through it and potentially lose confidence and morale.It cannot simply be words or data; there has to be action, and institutions cannot fake this. I alsobelieve that it is a barrier if the leaders of the institution do not speak and act consistentlybetween their public and internal personas. These leaders cannot speak of how important equityis and then internally emphasize efforts that do not reflect this
expressed concerns that students may consider just getting feedbackon "if they did the problem right" as pertaining to these questions. Again, these are issues relatedto student interpretations of the items, so the cognitive interview data was assessed for anysimilar discrepancies; however, none seemed apparent. Hence, these items were seen asfunctioning as intended.As for overall functioning and validity of the SCAEI, all of the content experts stated that theSCAEI would be informative for guiding self-reflection on their own teaching. Some of thecontent experts also said they could see themselves using the SCAEI for education researchpurposes.During the item alignment study, one content expert initially interpreted the "active" dimensionof the
developing since the 1970’s, led largely by Dr. David Kolb; this theory is based “ona learning cycle driven by the resolution of the dual dialectics of action/reflection and ex-perience/abstraction” 43 . The importance of experiential learning has been discussed for themedical field 1;3;9;15;18;33;61 , engineering 2;19;76;84;85 , leadership roles 16;29;32;34 , and general edu-cation 7;58;86;87 . For further reading on broad applications of the experiential approach, Kolbhas compiled bibliographies containing numerous works spanning decades 44;45;46;47 . Burger found that experience with actual work is one of the strongest factors affectingcareer choice 22 while Tuss concludes that “experiential education strategies will strengthenschool science
which students intended to persist in their major. In thecivil and architectural engineering course, students also wrote a reflective essay where they Page 26.1449.6indicated their intent to stay or leave engineering; this information was used to compare with thesurvey data.Data analysis to compare the pre- and post- survey results used two methods. First, Wilcoxontests were used to compare pre- and post- responses from the same students. The Wilcoxon testwas used because it is suitable for ordinal data and does not require normally distributedresponses; this is in contrast with the more traditional paired t-test. In the case of the civil
profession have come to a growing recognition of the importance engineers’communication skills, the teaching of these skills has steadily moved from the periphery to thecenter of engineering curricula guidelines. Yet the growing body of research in this areaindicates that too often communication learning is still relegated to service courses or is taught ina manner that does not reflect current knowledge about writing pedagogy. Faculty may bereluctant to incorporate writing assignments into their courses or do it in an ineffective mannerbecause of time constraints and large courses, especially at the lower levels. This research beginsan investigation of the use of peer review to mitigate some of these concerns while incorporatingcontemporary writing
reflection as science teachers take on engineering asrecommended by the NGSS. This study suggests that identifying engineering epistemologies willbe an important part of engineering integration in science classes; recognizing conflicts betweenteachers’ priorities and the goals of reform curriculum could help to improve the frequency ofteacher use of engineering. Literature Review In this literature review I build a rationale for my study by reviewing the purpose ofadoption of engineering by science educators including the NGSS reform initiative backgroundand its purposes; engineering education and the role of engineering design in the NGSS; andteacher reform implementation including science
life; 2) To positively contribute to retention and transferthrough active involvement in a research mentorship program at a baccalaureate-granting Page 26.1576.5university, and 3) To provide academic and professional development to students through theresearch experience and seminar to orient students to university life and to the culture of researchin their disciplines.With a transfer rate of 69.1%, the goals of the program are being realized, as reflected in themajority of the students who opt to enter a 4-year school the semester after SCCORE or whogain a committed intent to do so after they return to complete their community college
students was rated very low in the area of “Impact of Solutions,which possibly indicates an area for further emphasis in course coverage. Faculty Evaluation of the EPSA ImplementationAfter reflecting upon the Fall 2013 EPSA sessions, the instructor expressed several concernsabout the implementation. Recommendations to address each concern were proposed: Concern #1: Do we need two practice sessions or is that overkill?Recommendation: Do only one practice session and two record sections. Allocate some general class time after the session to exchange general feedback on the process, the outcomes, and the lessons learned.Action: This was incorporated into the 2014
, unsuccessfully. Hazel then completes the task alone. After this, Page 26.1256.6Hazel does more checking in with Olive, asking her if ideas make sense. Hazel’s explanations toOlive are presented colloquially, reflecting Hazel’s awareness of Olive’s lack of experience. Foralmost all of the coding in the first two days, Hazel types the code while Olive looks onattentively, sometimes with Hazel narrating her actions. Olive’s contributions are mainlybrainstorming ideas for the final project and helping to Google questions.On the second day, they begin putting together the mechanical arm. Olive immediately takes thelead in constructing it, though Hazel
’ communication and teamwork skills4. It can also enhance students’ intrapersonal skills by promoting self-efficacy, character building, and resilience5. All of these traits are commonly cited desired attributes of a global engineer working in a multi-disciplinary world, and are reflected in engineering accreditation requirements today6-8. Project-based learning in particular can simulate an industry-like environment for students, to facilitate the development of the skills required for practicing professional engineers. In project-based learning, students are formally instructed to ensure they have the foundation of knowledge needed to work on and complete the project assigned9,10. Emphasis is
and theirperformance was about the same on each area. A high mismatch indicates that a student foundsome material more challenging than other material, and their performance on gradedassignments reflects that. As a practical matter, the minimum value for 𝑆!,! is zero (the studentperforms exactly the same on each topic area) and the maximum mismatch could be as large as800 or 900 (for a student whose performance is wildly erratic across topical areas). In this study,the minimum mismatch score was 52.5, the mean was 248, and the maximum was over 700. Theclass average mismatch 𝑆!,!"#$$ , calculated via equation (1) using class averages on each topicarea in the j and k summations, was about 130, corresponding to just less than ½ letter
betterunderstand the challenges facing the creation of inclusive and effective educationalopportunities. In engineering, four interrelated factors have been noted as barriers to thepersistence of academically talented students that face financial limitations, as is the case formany of our multicultural students20, 21, 22: ● Lack of Engagement/Sense of Belonging ● Underdeveloped Professional Work Ethic & Goal Setting Page 26.1751.5 ● Insufficient Opportunities to Gain Practical Competence & Reflect on Learning ● Working for PayTalented young women, as well as multicultural students, too frequently pursue careers in otherfields or
Semantics Belief Statements). In order to “clean up” the databefore analysis, the values of the survey were made consistent. In order to encourage participantsto reflect on each pair in the STEM Semantics Survey, some values are switched. For example, a7 might be a very positive reflection of science in one question (ex. “Fascinating”), but a verynegative one (ex. “Unappealing”) in the next item. Therefore, all of the values were firstconverted so that very positive = 1, and negative = 7. For each statement, a lower score wouldtherefore correspond to a higher level of interest in the subject area. The survey wasadministered immediately at the beginning of the engineering activity and was the last actionitem in the program. This testing sequence
are opposed, there istension in the evaluative process.For the purposes of this study, we have chosen to observe students’ relationship to engineeringethics by looking at how they engage in ethical reflection as a team, in the situation of their Page 26.728.3actual project work. This is an alternative to the more common approach of focusing onindividual students and attempting to measure their understanding with an artificial instrument(such as a survey). We suggest that the dual-process account discussed above works as well forteams as for individuals. This study is thus firmly situated in the approach of “team cognition”(Salas & Fiore
may be more appealing and more readily accepted and adopted by some individualsthan others – as anecdotal evidence collected from design classrooms and design thinkingworkshops seems to indicate. The aim of this study is to determine whether student receptivity todesign thinking might be linked to individual cognitive characteristics that reflect innatestructural preferences. This research could help educators determine the most appropriate designmethodology based on the cognitive preferences of their students, as well as the need to teachcoping strategies when students are required to engage in design activities that do not align withtheir natural cognitive preferences.Our work presents the results of data gathered during a design thinking
problem solving process.IntroductionComputational Science and Engineering (CSE) has emerged as an important tool to solvecomplex engineering problems1. Engineers need an ability to use computational tools, integratedwith strong problem-solving skills, to tackle complex problems 6, 15, 16. For example, in MaterialsScience and Engineering, a sub discipline called Computational Materials Science3 has beenestablished. This trend is reflected in educational settings too --- there has been a call to integratecomputational tools and methods into different disciplinary engineering curricula sooner andoften2. Aligned with this idea, the department of Materials Science and Engineering at JohnsHopkins University started a novel computational course for its
activities when necessary Reflection Procedural Quality efficiency Page 26.747.5 GeneralityResearch MethodThe design-based-research (DBR) method was applied, which intertwined the three goals ofresearch, design, and pedagogical practice in
, through case-study analysis, we present potentialpathways towards including affect and identity in how we model engineering students’ moraland ethical reasoning about socio-scientific issues.Specifically, we present two case-study accounts of how future engineers think about anengineer’s responsibility towards the social and global impact of their work. The case studiesdraw from video-taped semi-structured interviews of two undergraduate students whom we'll callTom and Matt. In the interviews, Tom and Matt reflected on the use and impact of weaponizeddrones in the US war in Afghanistan. Through investigating how they think about the socialimpact of drone warfare and how they think about the responsibility of engineers involved in thedesign of