Design Instructors and Project Mentors to Deal with Difficult Students and Problem TeamsAbstractCapstone project mentors have a responsibility to facilitate engineering student developmenttoward professional practice. Due to the open-ended nature of the design problems addressed, thefrequent use of a team-structure to complete capstone design projects, and the coupling ofindividual student grades with team outcomes, capstone instructors may be faced with differentstudent/team management challenges than their colleagues who teach traditional lecture-basedcourses. It is not uncommon for capstone design course instructors, program directors, and teammentors to get involved in resolving team conflicts, counseling team leaders in
materials developed for this program.Teachers/Instructors Recruitment and SelectionThe program targets teachers/instructors who 1) are teaching math, science, or career andtechnology education (CATE) and/or involved in robotics-related activities such as BoostingEngineering, Science and Technology (BEST) competitions. Instructors from institutions withhigh percentages of minority and socio-economically disadvantaged students were encouraged toapply. A flyer was designed and direct emailed to over 800 STEM teachers and administrators atschool districts and two-year colleges in Texas. In addition, information about the program wasdistributed via ASEE’s Engineering Technology Division’s listserv (ETD-L) and at the annualHigh Impact Technology Exchange
Computer Science and Engineering to address further topics on responsibilities andexpectations for students in computing. The two-semester capstone senior design sequence(4316/4317) emphasizes an extended design experience in a team setting, but had the additionalresponsibility for delivering substantial knowledge and assessing student achievement on non-technical student outcomes.This situation often led to uneven coverage of the non-technical topics from semester to semesterdepending upon the instructor. Students also found it very challenging to balance betweenlearning the technical topics and soft topics simultaneously. The topics covered in theprofessional practices course provide a just-in-time coverage of the topics most needed at thisstage
collaboration between the School of Engineering and the local community hasbeen positive and very successful. In this paper, several Senior Design projects are discussed.The assessment and evaluation of ABET Student Outcomes using the Senior Design course ispresented and discussed as a means of directly measuring curriculum success. Engineering’sSenior Design course has had a direct impact on the local community, often with a significantreturn on investment for industrial partners. The significance of this community engagement hasresulted not only in the employment of all of our seniors at graduation, but also in the program’srapid growth.1. IntroductionWestern Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois was granted permission to create a new Schoolof
recruited from areas that aretargeted by this SRN. During the fall online course, teachers learned about climate and energy.During the winter online course teachers focused on the environmental impacts of oil and gasdevelopment and met graduate student researchers with the SRN project. The spring onlinecourse will focus on teaching controversial topics and best practices for curriculum developmentand will be led by SRN network curriculum design experts. A workshop in the spring will bringteachers and SRN researchers together to discuss ideas for classroom activities that bring thescience and engineering of the project to middle and high school learners. During July, teacherswill be in residence at an SRN host facility and will work in collaboration
learning. The labs aim to address the need for combiningmultidisciplinary theoretical knowledge with practical hands-on experience and are specificallyfocused on involving undergraduate students in research and preparing them for the capstonesenior design project class. Each of the labs is related to one or two recently published by thefaculty papers, which the students are asked to get familiar with before each lab session.Preliminary results on the learning outcomes, based on students’ perception were assessedthrough anonymous survey questions. Next, the desired learning outcomes from facultyviewpoint, regarding critical thinking, responsibility for one’s own learning and intellectualgrowth were assessed through anonymous survey. The latter
between science and technology, and understand or apply the engineering designprocess, recognizing design constraints and trade-offs of each design.8 Unfortunately, thereexists a lack of access to adequate resources – including qualified STEM teachers.9According to the National Science Board (NSB), teacher quality is one of the most importantfactors that influence student learning, and ongoing professional development is one of thefactors that affect teacher quality. The NSB cited work done by researchers Boyd, et al.;10Clotfelter, Ladd, and Vigdor;11 Goe;12 Guarino, Santibanez, and Daley;13 Hanushek;14 and Harrisand Sass15 that corroborates the positive impact that high-quality teaching has on student
; Engineering Economics (EE), OperationsResearch (OR), and Management Science (MS) are addressed and synthesized. Educational Page 26.1452.2benefit from integrating known academic areas, overlaid with a Design Dependent Parameter(DDP) paradigm, should be of value to graduates destined for professional engineering practice.Although sometimes incorrectly called systems engineering, SA is demonstrated to be necessarybut not sufficient for teaching and practicing SE. The system design (or synthesis) process leadsand sets the pace. Stumbling through the system design space with an evaluation ‘compass’ helpsconverge system design in the face of multiple
: Guidelines for projects supported by the bureau of justice assistance. (1989). Washington, DC: The Institute.25. Lawanto, O., & Stewardson, G. (2013). Students' interest and expectancy for success while engaged in analysis- and creative design activities. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 23(2), 213-227. doi: 10.1007/s10798-011-9175-326. Adams, K., & National Center on Education and the Economy. (2005). The sources of innovation and creativity. Washington, DC: National Center on Education and the Economy.27. Worthington, R. L., & Whittaker, T. A. (2006). Scale development research: A content analysis and recommendations for best practices. The Counseling Psychologist, 34(6), 806
the Associate Dean for Student Affairs in the UMass Amherst College of Engineering. She has over 30 years experience in recruiting, retaining and graduating engineering students. From 2003 through 2007, she also served as Director of Education, Outreach and Diversity for CASA - an NSF Engineering Research Center. She has been a Co-PI and Program Director for several previous CSEM and S-STEM awards. Page 26.1543.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2015 The Impact of Federally Funded Scholarship Programs on the Success of Transfer Students at a Public
Page 26.145.2 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2015 Active Engineering Education Modules: A Summary of Recent Research Findings AbstractThe landscape of contemporary engineering education is ever changing, adapting and evolving.As an example, finite element theory and application has often been included in graduate-levelcourses in engineering programs; however, current industry needs bachelor’s-level engineeringgraduates with skills in applying this essential analysis and design technique. Engineeringeducation is also changing to include more active learning. In response to the need to introduceundergrads to the finite
higher education. She has designed, developed and managed degree, and certificate programs, and has experience as an online instructor, and mentor and trainer of other online instructors.Dr. Thema Monroe-White, SageFox Consulting Group Thema Monroe-White is a senior evaluation and research consultant at SageFox Consulting Group. Prior to joining SageFox, Thema worked as a researcher and evaluator in the areas of mental health, STEM education and commercialization. She has taught in the K-12 environment, served as an instructor and invited guest lecturer for courses in leadership, statistics and cross-cultural psychology at the undergradu- ate and graduate levels. Thema completed her Master’s Degree in Developmental
college students: exponential attrition,lack of social and academic integration, lack of awareness of academic options, and low self-efficacy.Although much research has been conducted on successful recruitment and retention strategiesfor students at four-year universities, there is scant information on the practices that aresuccessful for community college students. As the STEM Center has moved forward with newinitiatives, data collection and research have been key components of all programs and servicesoffered.2. Exponential AttritionThe PCAST report identified retention efforts in the first two years of college as a key and costeffective strategy for increasing the overall number of STEM graduates.2 Unfortunately,traditionally underrepresented
offering access to rapidprototyping equipment and conceptual design spaces coupled with a unique culture that can betransformative to its users.8 The concept of the university maker space is young, with the firstdating back to roughly 2001 at MIT.9 Consequently, the full effect and impact of these spaces isnot yet fully understood. The research presented in this paper is a first step toward doing just thatby creating a review of the existing state of university maker spaces found through universitywebsite searches. This list will take into account a number of different characteristics, bothunique and common, across university maker spaces in order to create a baseline that can be usedto discover and capitalize on practices being implemented with
. The Integrative GraduateEducation Research and Traineeship on Magnetic and Nanostructured Materials (IGERT-MNM)is a collaboration between Purdue University, Cornell University, and Norfolk State Universityto train interdisciplinary science and engineering doctoral students for future roles as leaders inthe materials science and engineering fields. As part of this socialization into future careers,students proceed through a variety of modules. This paper specifically covers student learning ina pedagogy module, which introduces students to best practices in teaching and learning.Graduate student reflections on the development of high-school level student and teacher scienceand engineering activities were analyzed via thematic coding methods in
research on women in science and engineering into practical tips for faculty mem- bers. She earned M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Cognitive and Human Factors Psychology from Kansas State University and a B.A. in psychobiology and political science from Wheaton College in Massachusetts.Greg Pearson, National Academy of Engineering Greg Pearson is a Senior Program Officer with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in Washing- ton, D.C. Greg currently serves as the responsible staff officer for the NSF-funded project ”The Status, Role, and Needs of Engineering Technology Education in the United States.” He is also study director for the Chevron-funded project, Guiding Implementation of K-12 Engineering in the United States. He
industry and the benefits received by educationalinvestments is limited and therefore the samples for this research are taken from industrialalliances, the case study of one company and current graduate students.This paper provides insight from members of the Buying and Information Group (BIG), astrategic alliance of twelve independent welding gas and supply companies located throughoutthe United States. The BIG group meets on a regular basis to discuss best practices within theindustry. While all of the companies within the BIG group provided information regarding theirviews on educational support, only half of the companies financially support education of theiremployees. Only Red Ball Oxygen provided us with permission to name its company in
anecdotallyvalidated by many school hiring practices. Second, we did not want a school’s ranking to beimpacted by its own decisions; the ranking of a program has to be validated by decisions ofothers. Hence, we only consider the incoming edges of our hiring graph, i.e., only the Ph.D.shired by other programs impact its ranking. Third, the hiring graph is somewhat self-consistent inthe sense that we don’t need any external input in the process of ranking. For example, if we wereto consider hiring by industry, we would need to somehow have a notion of the relative value of a“Google hire” versus an “IBM hire”. Fourth, since the hiring slots tend to be few and expensive inresources, we postulate rankings based on hiring decisions are harder to “game”.There are
received a BSE from Princeton in 1992 and PhD from MIT in 1997. He has worked in commercial software development and run his own company. He is currently an assistant professor in the Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering department at Iowa State University, as well as Associate Director of ISU’s Virtual Reality Application Center and its Graduate Program in Human Com- puter Interaction. His research focuses on technology to advance cognition, including interface design, intelligent tutoring systems, and cognitive engineering.Dr. John Jackman, Iowa State University John Jackman is an associate professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering at Iowa State University. His research interests
withinternational collaborations, preparing for an international conference, observations as youtravel, challenges, and expectations.2. a) What did you learn from the Wednesday plenary and the Women in STEM and Diversitypanels? b) Is there a research benefit to meeting someone in person versus using technology toconnect?3. a) Please describe the impact of having a mixed group of faculty (external to your university)and graduate students. b) Has this trip facilitated any collaborations or research ideas that moveyou closer to your academic goals? c) How can an excursion like this one contribute to career-life balance? Page 19.30.104. How does this picture of
Curriculum MaterialsDe Putter . International Journal of Science Education Vol 34.3 Knight, D. W. (2007). Improving Engineering Student Retention through Hands-On, Team-Based, First Year Design Projects. International Conference on Research in Engineering Education (pp. 1-13). Honolulu, HI: American Society for Engineering Education.4 Del Vitto, C. (2008). "Cross-Cultural "Soft Skills" and the Global Engineer: Corporate Best Practices and Trainer Methodologies. Online Journal for Global Engineering Education Vol. 3 Iss. 1, 1-9.5 Kedrowicz, A. A., & Taylor, J. L. (2013). Engineering Communication and the Global Workplace. International Professional Communication Journal, 81-105.6 National Academy of Engineering
the kiosk staff, public relations, amongothers. The students would work in close coordination with these other teams. The studentsattended bi-weekly “all hands” meetings, where they would regularly report on their progress.This is in addition to the in-class presentations associated with the Senior Design course.The students were charged with the technical design and specifications of the energy kiosk.Many factors would influence the design, including: best practices of energy development workin LEDCs; international and local electrical codes; component availability; and non-technicalconstraints and considerations. The scope of the project and the composition of the project teamprovided an enriching learning environment for the students.3
identified in their review of the literature.In another evaluation of undergraduate research experiences, Zydney and colleagues examinedthe impact of undergraduate student research by way of a comparison group with undergraduatestudents who had not participated in a research experience during their college tenures 11.Students who participated in research described the experience as very important to theirundergraduate educational experiences; students engaged in research experiences for longerperiods of time also indicated a greater perceived benefit of engaging in research than studentswho engaged in such research for shorter periods of time. In addition to these findings, studentswho engaged in research were more likely to pursue graduate
practical and intellectually appropriateresearch design?In this paper, we consider one such idea: The prevailing stigma of research conducted on smallpopulations in research on equity. Whatever its source or however explicit (or not) its ideologicalorigins, disregard of the “small n” population as non-meaningful reproduces a marginalization ofstudents. It also casts particular human experiences as aberrant by virtue of statistical rarity. Butmost profoundly, researchers’ definition of small or large “ns” reiterates the value or necessityfor established categories (say, racial demarcations, or binaries of ability and disability), whilewe instead believe that critical reflection on categories is necessary for any address of power andprivilege. Our
26.726.4commitment for indigenous communities. She articulates “an indigenous research agenda”focused around conducting community research, tribal research, and “Insider/Outsider” research,which talks not just about the subject of study and the methods by which researchers approachthe study, but how making just choices in our collective designs has the potential to subverthistorical research practices that have their roots in colonialism. For Tuhiwai Smith and others inthis movement, justice is at the heart of their research endeavors in order to counter hegemoniccolonial narratives about indigenous and subordinated people. So, put plainly, to do otherwise isto ignore decades of critical research decrying the flaws of research done with a
framework for quantifying simulateddesign problem complexity, we present a metric of complexity, tractability 𝑻, supported by datafrom real student work on a simulated engineering design problem.TheoryEngineering Design EducationDesign is a critical part of the engineering profession [1], [2]. As a result, design is a centralfocus of engineering education in terms of teaching, learning, and assessment [3], [4]. In a recentstudy, Sheppard and others [5] interviewed faculty and students about the field of engineeringand concluded that design is the most critical component of engineering education. One facultymember asserted that “guiding students to learn ‘design thinking’ and the design process, socentral to professional practice, is the
directly addressed needs she had identified in her industry experience and her plansfollowing her PhD directly related to the outcomes of her research work2. For those returnerswho decide to return to a position outside of academia in industry or government aftercompleting their PhD, their past experience likely enables them to advance in their careers morerapidly to higher positions with greater impact than their direct-pathway peers are able to do. Inaddition to returners’ rich work experience, they represent a largely untapped source of potentialengineering graduate students. The National Science Foundation has called for additionalpathways to and through advanced engineering programs5. Engineers with advanced training arecrucial for success in
’ self-confidence. Infact, without self-confidence, it is difficult for a person to do any of these things.While there are all of these positive impacts of a high level of self-confidence, it is also possible tobecome over-confident, or to have a false confidence or bravado that is not based on truecompetence or mastery of one’s profession. If self-confidence becomes over-confidence, theengineer may lose the ability to accept criticism that improves the design or product. Thisbehavior may occur in design team meetings when engineers, in their zeal to promote and selltheir innovation, blind themselves to valid concerns or valuable modifications regarding theconcept or product that could make it even better. For recent engineering graduates, who
Paper ID #11720Factors Impacting Retention and Success of Undergraduate Engineering Stu-dentsDr. Stephen J Krause, Arizona State University Stephen Krause is professor in the Materials Science Program in the Fulton School of Engineering at Arizona State University. He teaches in the areas of introductory materials engineering, polymers and composites, and capstone design. His research interests include evaluating conceptual knowledge, mis- conceptions and technologies to promote conceptual change. He has co-developed a Materials Concept Inventory and a Chemistry Concept Inventory for assessing conceptual knowledge and
bridge program, and interspersed with a summer internship. The over-arching goal of the SwE-LA Program is to increase the number of highly skilledsoftware engineers in the workplace through a Master’s of Software Engineering byrecruiting talented US liberal arts graduates, especially women. As shown in Figure 1, theover-arching goal is decomposed into four underlying objectives: 1. Recruit the Best: Recruit talented liberal arts students through a broad marketing program, including press releases, relationships with liberal arts colleges, and direct marketing. 2. Ensure Academic Success: Ensure academic success through a program designed for bright, liberal arts grads with quantitative skills but little or no