largerpopulation. The steps for the research method are depicted in Figure 1. Qual. Data Quant. Data Qual. & Qualitative Survey Collection Collection Quant. Claims Hypotheses (Phases 1&2) (Phases 1&2) Findings Figure 1: General research methods strategyFirst, two phases of qualitative research methods were employed. The first phase, a collection ofopen-ended questionnaire responses, assessed (a) the educational gains of EWB-USA membersand (b) descriptions
in-depth literature synthesis to understand different ways in which theseinnovative engineer characteristics were currently identified, and we have begun to assess existingneeds for new engineering innovativeness assessment instruments. Page 24.284.5 3The key findings of our studies co-constructed with engineering innovators are:1. A definition of engineering innovation: Engineering innovators described innovation similarly stating an improvement in a product or process that has value to users and is implemented sustainably and profitably in a
Education Division of the American Institute ofChemical Engineers (AIChE), the discipline’s major professional society. The overall objectiveis to lower the activation barrier for using conceptual instruction and assessment so that manymore chemical engineering faculty will incorporate concept-based learning into their classes.The specific objectives of this project are to:1. Develop the AIChE Concept Warehouse, a flexible database-driven website for conceptual questions in the core chemical engineering sciences. Features of the AIChE Concept Warehouse include: a. Making concept questions available in different formats to facilitate widespread use. b. Allowing integration of questions within a course and from different courses so students
who do particularly well, or who are especially enthused by the project, areinvited to develop a fully functional system using a funded, ten-week independent study.Phase 1 – Concept DevelopmentIn the Concept Development phase, the students are told to envision that they are part of aneducational robotics company and are given a vision statement which states: “Develop amedium-end, educational device that is useful for teaching and integrating principles of biologyand engineering sciences (mathematics, physics, and analysis). The principles should be taughtby actively demonstrating the function, performance, and mechanics of a biological system orphenomenon. Students who use the product will learn by interacting and experimenting with thedevice
action-oriented entrepreneurial mindset inengineering, science, and technical undergraduates. Some skills often associated with theentrepreneurial mindset are effective communication (written, verbal, and graphical), teamwork,ethics and ethical decision-making, customer awareness, persistence, creativity, innovation, timemanagement, critical thinking, global awareness, self-directed research, life-long learning,learning through failure, tolerance for ambiguity, and estimation.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 In 2010, KEENspecifically outlined seven student outcomes pertaining to the entrepreneurial mindset.7 Astudent should be able to: 1. Effectively collaborate in a team setting (teamwork) 2. Apply critical and creative thinking to ambiguous problems
,multi-disciplinary project. The course is offered to engineering students majoring in electrical,computer, mechanical, civil, and engineering education. The expected outcomes are effectivecollaboration and communication, persisting and learning from failure, management, and solvingambiguous problems. In addition, the paper presents all involved details in this project includingthe phases mentioned above, rubrics used for project evaluation, assessment of students’ attitudetoward this activity, assessment of project outcomes, and the related ABET student outcomes.1. IntroductionEducators should always seek opportunities to enhance course material and equip students withskills to help students achieve a successful career after graduation
common pitfalls, we present some teaching and learning strategies wehave developed to address them.IntroductionSimulation plays an important role in engineering education,1 and communications systemseducation is not the exception.2 Using a numerical computing language, students can put inpractice the theory behind communications and signals and systems, easily plot signals and theirspectra, and predict the performance of eventual hardware implementations. Simulation,especially when coupled with a dynamic, scripting language like Matlab or Python, is also a verygood environment for learning and practicing skills such as system debugging and performanceevaluation.A course on communications systems can be organized in myriad ways, and many
to demonstrate an ability toidentify the key elements of effective oral and written communication, write clear andaccurate summaries or proposals, and make an effective oral presentation that addresses theaudience wants and needs appropriately. In 2012, we updated our curriculum and moved thecourse from the second into the first semester so that students would learn the basics ofcommunication skills early in their program and would have ample time to improve theirskills before they graduate. The schedule of the communication skills course was alsoupdated as shown in Table 1. Table 1. Schedule of the communication skills course. Meeting #/topic or activity Practice and/or assignment 1 / Effective communication
contingent onmaintaining the academic robustness and good will of partnering organizations. The project hasbeen deemed successful anecdotally; however, these observations need to be tested with surveysand assessment tools to determine if the project achieved its intended purpose and if it had thedesired impact. The next phase of the project involves surveying the three major stakeholders inthe project: the students, the participating not-for-profit organizations, and the professorsinvolved in delivering the assignment to students. These stakeholder surveys will be todetermine if they 1) deemed this a valuable exercise, 2) felt they achieved the major learninggoals, and 3) believed this project is worth the effort to execute it. The surveys will
. Page 24.293.2World PovertyOne of the motives for our work in the developing world has been to help people get out ofextreme poverty. Compared to the West, the developing world is a place with low income, lowamounts of technology, and frequently unstable or corrupt governments. The figure belowshows the progress that has been made on a global level in decreasing the rate of extremepoverty (living on less than $1.25 per day).Figure 1 Poverty levels over time. Source World Bank 1While world poverty is decreasing when based on the percentage of people living below $1.25per day, this is a bit misleading. The decrease in extreme poverty has not been uniform aroundthe world. This is shown in the table below from the World Bank1
Page 24.294.4General Conditions of Contract Between Owner and Design-Builder (Document No. 535) wereselected as the Design-Build agreement to compare.Comparative analysis has been documented as a technique to offer descriptive comparisons thatallow discovering distinguishable elements (Pickvance, 2001). To perform this comparison, weidentified the following steps: 1. Determining a commensurable subject with which to compare the new AIA document A295. The DBIA document No. 535 was selected. 2. Selection of a comparison framework. The contract outline was selected as a framework of representative construction agreements. Particularly, the following three provisions were selected due to their influence in the success of
and CharacteristicsINTRODUCTIONTechnological innovation and entrepreneurship are widely regarded as key elements to economicgrowth and the creation of new employment. Engineers are often important members, if notleaders, of the teams that make this innovation and entrepreneurship possible. It has become evenmore important for engineering graduates to not only understand business basics, but to be“flexible, resilient, creative, empathetic, and have the ability to recognize and seizeopportunities” 1. To help engineering graduates succeed in this environment, engineering schoolsare creating courses and programs focused on innovation and entrepreneurship, sometimesdrawing from business approaches in doing so 2.In designing these courses and
from the course. Questions in the interviewsare those developed as part of a previous study investigating persistence of conceptualdifficulties for students who have already had a fluid mechanics course. When we compare thetwo sets of interviews we anticipate results will show greater metacognitive skills and retentionin understanding of fluid mechanics concepts for students that had the DLM treatment.IntroductionHands-on active learning has taken several forms over the past decades, with the spectrum ofhands-on active learning ranging from tasks as simple as students briefly discussing their ideason a given topic to courses structured around case studies and group work where students areconstantly engaging and learning from each other.1
that reported nodifference between test modes.1 Regardless of the advance of technology in the 25 years sincethis publication, the comprehensive conclusions of test mode effect studies remain debatable.Lee and Weerakoon2 (2001) and Russel3 (1999) both reported enhanced student performance onpaper over computer while Clariana and Wallace4 (2002) reported enhanced performance on Page 24.297.2computer over paper. Still others continue to report no difference.5,6In considering the inconsistent findings in the literature, one must also consider the variableresearch designs and sample populations used within these studies. For example
infinite, hence it is critical to ask what purposes any suggested information collectionwould achieve. This smart question recognizes that five levels of “information” are available: (1)raw data; (2) real information aggregating raw data; (3) knowledge – the context of realinformation to know what to do with it; (4) understanding – what knowledge means and how itfits in the big picture; and (5) wisdom – transforming understanding into action.The last foudation question of “system thinking” means “how to perceive separate andsometimes irrelevant pieces as a whole system?” This foundation question is derived based onDr. Nadler’s long term observations of the best thinkers in industry. Successful solution creationhinges on taking into account the
video lecture material—learning aids—and will the distance studentsbenefit from the in-class activities. Moreover, are the benefits a function of the course level?MethodDuring the Fall 2013 semester, four courses were selected to evaluate the flipped delivery modefor both on-campus and at-a-distance learners in comparison with a more traditional coursestructure. A list of the courses selected for the study and their corresponding enrollment can befound in Table 1. These courses included an introductory mechanical engineering design course(ME 101), an introductory engineering mechanics course (ENGR 201), a computerprogramming/numerical methods course (ENGR 200), and a junior-level materials sciencecourse (ME 301). All courses included both on
to provide insight intohow different entrepreneurial skills, knowledge and aptitudes can be building blocks of thedefinition of entrepreneurship. Churchill defined entrepreneurship as the “process of uncovering or developing anopportunity to create value through innovation and seizing that opportunity…” (p . 586)1. Thereare four important elements in this definition. The first element highlights an entrepreneur’sability to uncover an opportunity. Few people would disagree that opportunity recognition is animportant skill of an entrepreneur, and this skill is frequently listed as an indicator ofentrepreneurial ability or intention2,3. However, there is some debate as to whether or not this
3.30ServicesPharmacy 2.93 3.22Science 2.91 3.12Technology 2.88 3.12Agriculture 2.79 3.19Engineering 2.89 3.29Table 1- Comparisons of Average University GPAs and Band and Orchestra Students’GPA (2012-13)Given the promising connections between STEM and music, this paper presents resultsfrom first-year engineering student participants in an inaugural course representing acollaboration between the Band and Orchestra department and the College ofEngineering at this same Midwestern university. Explored were the students’ perceptionsabout the extent to which the course
projects that extend beyond a single academic year. Forengineering students, the importance of teamwork, characteristics of productive teams, andmultiple methods of team formation have been addressed in the literature. Such methodsinclude automated assignment,1 random selection,2 an algorithmic approach,3 and a processfor forming high performance teams.4 Although each of these methods of team formationhas its respective advantages, our competitive approach to the placement of engineering Page 24.303.2students on multiyear project teams fits best with a curriculum that features ongoing multi-year projects, and helps balance student-candidate interest
studentspursuing a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) at the University of Southern Indiana, anABET accredited program. It is typically taken by students with a declared emphasis in civilengineering, although it can be taken by any engineering student who has met the prerequisites.Course prerequisites include one semester of general chemistry and fluid mechanics. Anapproximate topical breakdown is provided in Table 1. Fundamental principles comprise 40% ofthe course, including a significant environmental chemistry component. The remainder of thesemester is devoted to applications in the various subfields of environmental engineering, withan emphasis on water and wastewater treatment. The course is 4 credit hours with 3 lectures (50mins) and a single
4730 Embedded Systems • CS 3400 Software Engineering Page 24.306.6 • CS 3520 Database Theory • CS 3670 Network Programming • CS 4470 Artificial Intelligence • CS 4510 Operating Systems DesignTo summarize, the students in the Computer Engineering area of specialization take 36 hours ofgeneral education, 13 hours of Science, 20 hours of Math, 39 hours of computer science, 18hours of engineering requirements, and 15 hours of electives.Table 1 summarizes the curriculum comparison of the Computer Engineering Program andComputer Engineering Area of Specialization in the Computer Science
Page 24.307.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2014 Computer Simulation Tools to Enhance Undergraduate Power Systems EducationAbstractThis paper presents a review of software simulation tools relevant for use in undergraduateelectrical power systems education. A study of the software packages is presented with respectto their utility in teaching according to the Cognitive Domain Hierarchy of Bloom's Taxonomy.1. IntroductionIn recent years a variety of factors have combined to place increasing pressure on the electricpower industry; including increasing electrical energy demand, aging infrastructure, energyindependence and security goals, and increasingly stringent
represent time. f(x,y) is a two-dimensional signal(e.g., image) of variables x and y. In digital signal processing we study discrete-time ordigital signals which can be obtained by sampling a continuous-time (analog) signal. Forthe purpose of discussion in this paper we will follow the notation in reference 1 and usex[n] to represent a digital signal x(nT) where T = 1/Fs is the sampling period (interval)and Fs is the sampling frequency. It is important to distinguish the difference between adiscrete-time signal and a digital one (again for more information we ask readers toconsult reference 1.)One important area in SP is the design/analysis of filters, this is also the topic whichstudents find usually more mathematically challenging. Basically a
Education, 2014 Conceptual Change Across Engineering DisciplinesIntroductionExisting research on conceptual change (i.e. the effortful process of revising or changing one’sfundamental understanding of something) has drawn from various disciplines including physics,biology, mathematics and history. Little research has been done, however, investigating howdifferences in content may affect conceptual change in the various disciplines [1].MethodsThe research described here investigates this question by analyzing data on studentunderstanding of engineering concepts from multiple content areas within the broad discipline ofengineering: mechanics of materials, Boolean logic, fluid mechanics, and transportationengineering. In total, this
that have been developed through decades ofresearch are based on how people learn and are not unique to traditional face-to-face instruction.Effective teaching, both face-to-face and on line, requires that the teacher is knowledgeable aboutbest practice and is skilled in delivery. As noted by Watwood, et.al. [1], the advent of onlineinstruction is “serving to disrupt teaching as we previously knew it.” This provides uniqueopportunities for faculty to learn about effective teaching and provides a new context for applyingthis learning. It also provides significant challenges as many faculty must learn about pedagogy aswell as the technological tools available for both online and face-to-face instruction.In this paper, we discuss both the
practice (e.g. level control, temperature control,reactor design and process economics).Our first year chemical engineering course sequence herein reported engages a large freshmancohort (around 100 students, at present) in team-based, hands-on activities. Evidence suggestsstudents readily “latching onto” key concepts and various aspects of chemical engineeringthrough this “multi-modal” learning approach. Objectives of this method of program integrationinclude: 1) strengthened retention of freshmen in our chemical engineering program, 2) better“visualization” of chemical engineering concepts among chemical engineering freshmen and 3) astronger sense of the application of STEM topics to the professional practice of
engineering education. The study is situated within the context of the Premier Award forExcellence in Engineering EducationCourseware, which from 1997-2012 Figure 1: What is Courseware?highlighted and rewarded teaching “Engineering courseware is computer-basedinnovations associated with technology at educational material that can be used to assista national level. The National engineering students in their learning process….Engineering Education Delivery System Courseware can be used in lectures, during(NEEDS digital library), the precursor to recitation sections, as self-paced study, asthe Engineering Pathway reference material for the student, or as(http
rigorous empirical knowledge base to support the transformation ofengineering education practice. For example, in the opening plenary at the 2011 AmericanSociety for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference, presenters focused onaccelerating the use of research in practice. 1 This investment has accelerated the need to askquestions such as the following: What are the implications for action of our research? Whatgeneral ideas does our community have about how research can promote action? and What canbe done to accelerate the rate at which research is used to transform engineering education? Suchquestions are part of the phenomenon known as translational work, or the work of connectingresearch to action. While such work has always been
). Page 24.314.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2014Considering cognitive load as a key element in instructional design for developing graphicalcapabilityAbstractDeveloping skills of graphical capability have been discussed as core competencies in the contextof general educational provision by numerous authors in recent years 1, 2. The skills associated withthis concept of capability include visuospatial reasoning and problem solving skills. Aligning withcontemporary philosophies of educational provision, the flexible development of these skills is ofcore concern in a dynamically evolving societal context.Given this focus, the nature of instructional design with relation to educational provision is
1 Construction Contract Language; a Growing Impediment to Trust and Cooperation Brian W. Loss and Steve Schaffner Purdue University Page 24.316.2Construction Contract Language 2 AbstractWritten documents that now serve as standard agreements in the construction industry havebecome unnecessarily complicated. As such, they very often fail to represent the actualintentions of the contracting parties. As these writings have evolved, they