model ofmanuscript submission and peer-review in the conduct of scientific inquiry.1 The pedagogicalframework draws from the “writing across the curriculum” (WAC) movement’s premise thatverbal and visual composition are an analog for thinking and that communication assignmentscan be used to mediate student learning in complex problem-solving situations.21.1 CPR Components that Enable Learning -- Four structured workspaces perform in tandemto create a rich series of activities that reflect modern pedagogical strategies for usingcommunication in the learning process. Table A summarizes these stages in a typical CPRsession. Table A: Four Structured Workspaces of CPR SEGMENT ACTIVITY
results in written and oral reports.The satellite communications project provides excellent applications of important concepts ofsignals: time shift, amplitude scaling, delay, echoes, and fading. We introduced students to asatellite communication system where a signal is transmitted from a ground transmitter, receivedby the satellite after some delay, and reflected back to the ground receiver. Students analyzed thesignal received by the ground station as the sum of the signal sent from the station and the signalreflected back from the satellite. This interesting project helped students to review sinusoidalsignals, phasors, power, and to understand the effect of delays, echoes and fading. In addition,the students simulated the system using
development of a program related task and guide students to higher levels of learning onBlooms Taxonomy through the development of student created learning aids.One specific need was reflected in the disparate skills of our majority component of ‘transfer’students in our programs. Through informal observations the authors realized students simplydid not have familiarity with the equipment at our facility (as opposed to their previousexperiences elsewhere). In this study, the authors target one simple skill relevant to resistancewelding that could be used as an introduction to metallurgy concepts (welding band saw blades).This student project was used not only to provide students with a practical skill for theirapplications toolbox but additionally as
disadvantages of modified process are discussed.We hope this paper serves as a guideline for course instructors who are considering going agilefor a capstone design course for computer engineers, software engineers, or multi-disciplinaryteams.Crystal Clear ProcessCrystal Clear is designed specifically to work with small to medium sized teams. Some of theproperties of this process include: frequent delivery via 2–4 week iterations; processimprovement via reflection workshops at the end of each iteration; osmotic communication byco-locating teams, and utilizing charts and boards to share information; personal safety; focusthrough a flexible plan that identifies fixed deliverables per iteration; and a technicalenvironment capable of supporting automated
development. Pervasive computingresearch has also been driven by examples like the communicators in Star Trek.10 (A colleaguehas declared for years that the point of engineering is to make life more like Star Trek.) Anexample of a similar course with a broader computing approach, including knowledge bases,web interaction and research, telepresence, virtual reality, and security as well as AI, is given bySanderson.11Course StructureThe structure of the course allows for students to grapple with ethical questions throughdiscussions, reflection papers and longer writing assignments. Technical content that lays thefoundation for an understanding of the state-of-the-art is presented through lectures similar tothose used in typical AI courses, but is tied
students to consider not only technology issues in the Third World but also non-technicalissues of social, economic, cultural, and political concerns. The service learning pedagogicalapproach provides the content, engagement, and reflection components to achieve the successfuleducational goals of the Department.IntroductionThis paper is an update of two past Mid-Atlantic ASEE Conferences papers [1,2]In addition several other papers on the Integrated Projects Curriculum (IPC) and theCollaboratory for Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research ( Collab ) have been written forother national organizations’ conferences such as ASA [3] and AAC&U [4] as well as otherregional conferences such as the St. Lawrence Chapter of ASEE [5]. These papers give
the UWB radar system, whichconsists of two P220s, two horn antennas, a router and a computer to record the data for the bi-static operation. We use high-gain horn antennas for the purpose of increasing signal powerilluminating the target. Figure 1 represents one example of the measurement setup. Figure 1: Human subjects with UWB radar Two human subjects walk in from of the radar with their own walking style. The wholesetup is placed in an open space so that there is no other reflecting object in the neighborhoodthat causes interference except the reflection of the signal from the ground. In order to make thewalking style distinct, one human subject walks with a large arm swing or carries a
and responsibilities asthey relate to the missions of an institution of higher education, along with the type of institutionincluding community colleges, liberal arts colleges, research universities, and minority-servinginstitutions.The institutional data along with program evaluations reflect the efforts of these programs.Application, enrollment, and degree numbers are steadily increasing. The number of studentsparticipating in the program is also on the rise. Continued growth in the number of URMstudents receiving doctoral degrees will provide a more culturally diverse faculty, thus achievingthe AGEP program goals.Significance of Project and RationaleIt is projected that by 2050 the population that is now considered a minority will surpass
discussion of challenges is presented, the research team notes a few things that opticalengineering students agreed were helpful about their previous coursework. Optical engineeringis a hybrid between electrical engineering and applied physics. The NSU optical engineeringstudents complete a two-semester sequence in optics and a semester of materials science beforethey reach the lasers course. Based on these courses, there are a few terms that were notconsidered new or confusing by the students surveyed for this paper. These include reflectioncoefficient, reflectance and reflectivity, crystalline structure, conduction and valence bands,photon, and optical transformation matrix.Two general types of language challenges are discussed. The first is the
showed that this instructional technique significantlyimproved students' ability to answer a second, isomorphic ConcepTest on the same concept,immediately after the first ConcepTest, even though the instructor did not supply the correctanswer to the first ConcepTest. For difficult questions, where only about 20% of the studentsanswered the first question correctly on their own, approximately 55% answered the secondquestion correctly on their own. This improvement demonstrates the value of ConcepTests andpeer instruction for improved learning.Questions that reflect the core concepts of a discipline are believed to be most effective inpromoting conceptual change, especially when answer choices reflect common studentmisconceptions. Eliciting those
Page 22.429.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2011 Design Education for the World of Near Tomorrow: Empowering Students to Learn How to Learn1. IntroductionThe world of technology is becoming increasingly complex and dynamic. The skills that wereconsidered valuable yesterday are becoming the commodities of today and tomorrow [1,2].Looking back at the past 20 years of engineering design and realizing how much the world haschanged it becomes apparent that this change needs to be better reflected in the way engineeringdesigners are educated [3-6]. Complex social networks, consisting of millions of individuals,have formed over the Internet through emerging Web 2.0
USMA teamedwith RPI Faculty to offer students an opportunity to gain experience with the RCF. This experience wasdelivered using multiple videos that first present lectures given by RPI instructors about the concept ofthe lab and then the conduct of the laboratory itself.Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not reflect the position of theUnited States Military Academy, the Department of the Army, or the Department of Defense.This blended learning opportunity enables cadets to broaden the skills and knowledge gained in theclassroom to the laboratory environment. It is essential for the cadets to work with the West Point sub-critical assembly prior to the conduct of this blended learning experience, as it
other states,mostly in the Midwest, were represented. Two of the students had not declared a specific majorin the College of Engineering. The others came from five departments in the College, includingsix students from the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering. All butone of the students continued in the program for the sophomore seminar.Freshman seminarThe fifteen-week freshman seminar consisted of three weeks devoted to each of the four pillarsand three weeks for a course introduction, team building, and reflection. The class met for onehour each week, and the first offering was in the spring semester of 2010. The module for eachpillar followed a KSA approach: knowledge in week one, skills in week two, and abilities
thereforebeen emphasized in a technical course, and a non-technical course was designed to exploresustainability issues in a global development context. Student participation in Engineers WithoutBorders (EWB), a service organization with a mission to provide sustainable engineeringsolutions for developing communities, also provides informal learning opportunities.These three venues provide different contexts in which to understand sustainability. Theirdifferent emphases produce varying perspectives on sustainability and different levels ofawareness, especially about the social impacts of engineering design and practice. This paperprovides a reflection on the ways in which the environmental, social and economic aspects ofsustainability appear to lend
Education, 2011 Mentoring with Index Cards: an Early Introduction to Formative Assessment for New FacultyAbstractThis paper illustrates the experiences of three first-year faculty members as they acclimated totheir new educational environment through an unusual mentoring process involving the humble3-by-5 index card. The faculty members were instructed in how to utilize index cards forsoliciting comments from their students. The cards were then used for formative assessment ineffecting changes in course content through both instructor reflection and discussions with asenior faculty member. The index cards served as an effective framework for developing amentoring relationship, with the senior faculty member providing
obtainedopinions and descriptive data instead of reflective accounts. Interviews are difficult to dobecause people are not always honest or sometimes may not realise or be aware that theyknow something. In addition, the wording and the sequencing of the questions can alterthe answers to the questions.Qualitative studies begin with research questions and the research methodology andmethods are chosen to best answer these questions. The methodology could bephenomenology, case studies, participatory research and/or action research to name but afew. For example, action research is an iterative research process intended to change theresearcher’s own behaviour and hence is often employed in practitioner-based education
see in soap bubbles and the ‘rainbow’ effect in some oil slicks are examples ofthis same thin film phenomenon. Closely related are the iridescent colors that appear on CDsand DVDs, and in some bird feathers, butterfly wings, and some beetles. These result from thematerial having a regular, repeated structural unit that is about the same size as the wavelength oflight – a few hundred nanometers.How does this work?Why does the clear liquid become a colorful film?As the small drop of liquid spreads out on the water, its thickness decreases to a few microns. (Amicron is one thousandth of a millimeter.) The bright iridescent colors in the film result from theinterference of light reflecting back from the top and bottom of this thin film.Most light
relevance of the model to the real world - interpreting and verifying data produced by the modelThe intervention was implemented as the course material in conjunction with the students’ seniorcapstone design work. The general pedagogical approach taken with the activities was to allowthe students to attempt the activities followed by a discussion/lecture about the ideal processes. Page 22.688.3An added reflection component was implemented midway through the course based on instructorfeedback that suggested students were unclear about the purpose of the activities. The activitysimply asked the students to write a short reflection on why the
grade.Thus, it is desirable to develop a method which could be used to more accurately reflect the truecontribution of each student within a group.The instructors tried using several methods to determine the distribution of effort within theteams including merit pay (a form of extra credit based on peer evaluations), team journals(where teams self report the distribution of effort), and computerized team evaluations (e.g.CATME, which won the 2009 Engineering Pathways Premier Software award). All of thesemethods can be used by the instructor to redistribute the group grade based on individual effort.In this research, an automated method of adjusting the group grade is proposed and tested.The new method was developed to adjust grades within each group
could potentially accelerate the student’s learning of selected systems engineeringcompetencies.1.0 IntroductionSystems engineering educators are struggling to address workforce development needs requiredto meet the emerging challenges posed by increasing systems complexity1 and the widening gapin systems engineering expertise in the workforce.2 The systems engineering ExperienceAccelerator (ExpAcc) research project was conceived as a critical response to these needs andchallenges. The project was initiated to validate the use of technology to potentially create anexperiential, emotional state in the learner coupled with reflective learning so that time iseffectively compressed and the learning process of a systems engineer (SE) is
. Page 22.1723.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2011! “The Engineer as Leader” Course Design and AssessmentAbstractA course was developed in response to the needs of industry and society at large. This course istargeted to those developing engineering skills who will, in the near term, assume leadershiproles. This course uses the constructivist pedagogical model and was designed with the goal offacilitating “significant learning experiences.”The basic components of the course are a series of readings (24), videos (14), and interactionswith practicing engineering leaders applying a “leaders teaching leaders” approach (5) used asprobes to elicit responses from students who then reflect upon
detailed version of the paper13.FindingsAnalysis of the data yielded seven qualitatively different ways in which the students experiencedhuman-centered design within the context of “designing for others”. These different ways ofunderstanding are referred to as categories of description. Each category reflects a qualitatively Page 22.1156.5different way of understanding or experiencing human-centered design. Inclusion in the specificcategory was based on the student designers’ understanding of human-centered design as awhole as reflected in the experiences they shared in their interviews. The students themselvesare not assigned to that category, but
“line groups,” that visually correspond to what are commonly known as frieze patterns.Translations, half-turns, vertical reflections, horizontal reflections, vertical & horizontalreflections, glide reflections, and vertical reflections & glide reflections with half-turns constitutea practical visual manner in which to identify them (Table 7). Throughout our travels in Peru,students were on the lookout for examples of all 7 types. Table 7 Frieze patterns and their categorization Basic visual coding of all 7 types of frieze patterns using letters of the alphabet. Eight different Incan frieze patterns (top
pedagogical approaches which nurture these capacities.Traditional engineering curricula fail to adequately address the active, iterative, and process-oriented nature of design found in the ABET definition. The use of cornerstone and capstoneprojects does not sufficiently foster the transfer or application of technical knowledge or providerepeated, meaningful opportunities to practice the behaviors associated with design.Research on how students learn engineering design most effectively call for repeatedopportunities to engage in hands-on, open-ended problems. For example, Prince (2004) suggeststhat design and other engineering subjects are best learnt through hands-on, active pedagogy, e.g.project-based learning.6 Impromptu design exercises reflect
. Further investigation indicated that many FYEstudents could identify the superficial features from the problem statement, but they werenot able to identify the implicit logical steps or deep structure of the problem.Our current data provided the baseline of how FYE students abstract and interpretinformation from a design goal to generate a specific problem statement. We areinterested in treatments to improve students‟ ability to recognize critical features of agiven context and encourage taking multiple perspectives to identify alternative solutions.We are combining the use of graphical representational tools as organizational tools tosupport teams collaboration and we encourage opportunities to reflect and refine theirdesign process. This
the circuit diagrams for the two cases where the digitalI/Os are used in this project [4, 5, 7]. Page 22.270.5 Figure 4 Digital I/Os circuit diagrams for (a) Pushbuttons and (b) Reflectance SensorWhen the pushbutton is connected to a digital I/Os it can be used as a reset or start up controlsignal. In Figure 4 (a) pin PB1 is connected to VCC through the pull-up resistor R (20-50 k)which sets the voltage on the input pin to 5 V, so it reads as a digital 1. Pressing the buttonconnects the input to ground (0 Volts) through a 1 k resistor, which is much lower than the valueof R. This sets the input voltage very close to 0 V, so the pin reads
casestudy on the implementation of CPBL in the Process Control and Dynamics course for third yearchemical engineering students is reported. During the course, students go through six CPBLcycles to solve four problems that cover all the course outcomes in one semester. Selectedconstructs of Pintrich’s Motivated Strategy for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) relevant to aCPBL class, which are intrinsic and extrinsic goal orientation, task value, control of learningbelief, organization, critical thinking, effort regulation and help seeking, were administered todetermine the effect of CPBL. The results showed a significant increase in students’ engagementand motivation in learning. These findings are further supported by students’ reflections made atthe
/she indicated his/her “teaching methods, which do receive very goodratings by the students, were being challenged for no apparent reason”. This response provides Page 22.693.9good information on areas of improvement for future studies.What Students Learned from Doing the Faculty InterviewsAs part of their reporting, students were asked to reflect on what they learned from the interviewexercise. They uniformly reported they enjoyed the exercise and had a good discussion with thefaculty member. In many cases the discussion went well beyond the particular focus of thepublication and, per the classroom discussion, the original time requested
throughtransformation of experience. For him, learning is not a mere transmission of content but aninteraction between content and experience. His model of experiential learning cycle is based onLewin's problem-solving model of action research and drawing and Dewey's concept as well asPiaget. This cycle consists of four steps that delineate how learners transform an experience intoabstract knowledge, which is applicable to future decision-making or problem-solving situations.Those steps are concrete experience, observation and reflection, formation of abstract conceptsand generalization, and testing implications of new concepts in new situations. Kolb alsosuggested specific learning and teaching strategies to be used to facilitate each stage ofexperiential
similarities. To theextent that these factors seem to be correlated with administrative housing, perhaps theinstitutional context has shaped the character of the program more.Table 2 summarizes the data relative to the overall content of the technical curricular componentand the degree to which it reflects required coursework. Table 2(a) gives the relevant data forcomputer engineering programs, while Table 2(b) and Table 2(c) summarize this information forcomputer science and software engineering programs. Some interesting patterns emerge whenthis data is analyzed. First, the relative size of the technical component in the computerengineering and software engineering programs is similar – an average of about 51% of the totalcurriculum is technical in