Conference Session

Research in Minority Issues

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jorge Alvarado, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

process. Figure 1 shows how the recruiting process wasrecently coordinated between a leading minority institution and Texas A&M Universityin 2005. The recruiting of an undergraduate student interested in undergraduate researchactivities was coordinated at the lowest level: faculty-to-faculty. This provided a uniqueopportunity to select a research topic of interest for both faculty members and the studentwell in advance.As part of the coordination process, the faculty member at the leading minority institutionagreed to let potential applicants know about the USRG program and discussed possibleresearch topics before the students applied. From that point on, it was the soleresponsibility of the applicant to apply, Figure 1, and to specify a

Conference Session

FPD1 -- Implementing a First-Year Engineering Course

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Hagenberger, Valparaiso University; Barbara Engerer, Valparaiso University; Doug Tougaw, Valparaiso University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

their feedback and were extensively debated inthe committee.Several criteria emerged from the discussion:• Students should not have to select their engineering major before they arrive on campus.• The course must continue to include a lab/project component.• If possible, the large lectures should be eliminated.• The teaching load credits for the course should not be significantly increased.• The course should emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of engineering.From this input, the nine initial possibilities were reduced to the five shown below, each ofwhich would correspond to a total of three credit hours:Option 1: Large lecture two days a week and small labs once a week. Three weeks spent on each engineering major. (Current model

Conference Session

Faculty Development Toolkit

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jerry Samples, University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

characteristics that the best instructors/teachers/professors possess.The Literature:Skilling [1] begins his book: Do you teach? Views on college teaching, with the “ElevenCommandment for Teachers.” He states that, “The good teacher likes his students and enjoyshelping them, understanding their thoughts and feelings. You [the good teacher] should: 1. Remember the students whom you teach, for they alone are a measure of your success. 2. Forget yourself, for your own excellence is good only as it helps your students. 3. Consider the purpose of your teaching, and show the student a goal as far ahead as you both can see. 4. Accept him as he is and improve him as you can; the student is guided by intellect but driven by emotion – to

Conference Session

FPD2 -- Highlighting First-Year Programs

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kristin Wilhelm, University of Virginia; Benjamin Kidd, University of Virginia; P. Paxton Marshall, University of Virginia

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

made a lasting impact. Questions sought to address the maindesign project (building, working with clients and deadlines) and the less glamorous (in students’minds) but equally important class discussions and required paperwork. While personalrelationships developed and maintained with the students led us to believe that we would findthat the class was a hit because it was fun and creative, one of our main goals when creatingsurvey questions was to ensure that they were not ‘leading.’ To that end, the final survey was amix of open-ended short answer questions (Part I) and questions asking for answers scaled from(1) strongly disagree to (5) strongly agree (Part II). Of the forty students enrolled in the class,there were twenty one responses

Conference Session

Mentoring Graduate Students

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Shashi Marikunte, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale; Frances Harackiewicz, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale; John Nicklow, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale; Lizette Chevalier, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

asked questions (FAQ’s). Theeffectiveness of the seminar was measured through a series of evaluations and feedbackfrom students. This paper presents the outcome of this training seminar series and itseffectiveness/challenges in meeting the objectives.Keywords: Graduate Training Seminar, Laboratory Instruction, ProfessionalDevelopment, Teaching Assistant Training, Teaching Methods, UndergraduateEducation.IntroductionMany universities across the country are relying significantly on graduate teachingassistants (TAs) to fulfill their mission of undergraduate education. This reliance ongraduate teaching assistants, in general, is due to the reduced appropriations for highereducation and has increased significantly over the last decade.1 - 5 It has

Conference Session

Building Communities for Engineering Education Research

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Heidi Diefes-Dux, Purdue University; Robin Adams, Purdue University; Monica Cox, Purdue University; Deborah Follman, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

: COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVESAs a result of taking this course, the participants will develop the knowledge and skills to:1. Define engineering and the engineering method, and list attributes of engineering as a profession.2. Describe the context of engineering education in the US and globally3. Describe the history, the present, and the future scenarios of engineering and engineering education4. Summarize "state of the art" or "best" practices for teaching and learning engineering5. Describe drivers and opportunities that are enabling engineering education research6. Map the landscape of engineering education research at Purdue7. Describe the elements of an engineering education research study8. Articulate a clear personal teaching philosophy

Conference Session

Sustainable Engineering

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Janet Baldwin, Roger Williams University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

are so limited, cost-effectiverainfall catchment systems have been chosen for the proposed solution to the water supplyproblem. Rainfall catchment systems have enjoyed increasing popularity internationally,especially in similar dry climates with low population densities. Rainwater can provide arelatively safe source of water for a range of purposes including drinking, washing, bathing, andgardening. For example, in South Australia, 37% of the population uses rainwater as a source ofdrinking water [1].While in Brazil, I will be working directly with an engineer from the Brazilian Rotary Club ofCampinas Alvorada. I will assist the installation of the rainfall catchment systems and theevaluation of the suitability of the systems. The systems

Conference Session

Best Practices and Structuring for Aerospace Curricula

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ismail Orabi, University of New Haven; Corinne Lenk, Smith College

Tagged Divisions

Aerospace

education [1-4]Course FormatThe participants in this project were offered the opportunity to sign up for a Special StudiesCourse ENGR400. Computer programs such as SolidWorks and AutoCAD as well as toolsstudents were exposed to in other courses were made available to students involved with thiscourse in order to give them an opportunity to utilize and enhance their skills with these tools.They took the initiative to discuss their project with many of their teachers in other coursesacross the engineering program. These discussions brought many novel ideas into the projects.ENGR400 consisted of the NASA projects, a weekly 2-hour seminar during which different

Conference Session

Integrating Research Into Undergraduate ECE Education

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Daniel, Ohio State University; Ronald Reano, Ohio State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

areas. The ultimate goal of the project was to block electromagneticsignals in the cell phone frequency range using this FSS. The project not only trained theundergraduate how to build and test a prototype FSS, but taught the undergraduate how toconduct research that involves four major steps: (1) concept/design, (2) simulation, (3)fabrication, (4) test. Technical writing and reporting is covered through the development of theePortfolio. The overall concept of the Research on Research program is shown in Figure 1.This paper will describe just how the ePortfolio was used to organize the participants’ researchand how it addressed common barriers to undergraduate research. The paper will then explain indetail the miniature electrical engineering

Conference Session

ECE Curriculum Innovations

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa Huettel, Duke University; April Brown, Duke University; Leslie Collins, Duke University; Kip Coonley, Duke University; Michael Gustafson, Duke University; Jungsang Kim, Duke University; Gary Ybarra, Duke University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

. Page 11.90.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2006 A Novel Introductory Course for Teaching the Fundamentals of Electrical and Computer Engineering AbstractThe Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department at Duke University is undergoingextensive curriculum revisions incorporating both new content and organization and innovativeteaching methods. The cornerstone of the new curriculum is a theme-based introductory courseentitled Fundamentals of ECE. To introduce students to the major areas of ECE in their first yearof study, this course has been organized around three concepts: 1) how to interface with thephysical world, 2) how to transfer/transmit energy

Conference Session

Assessment Methods

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Virendra Varma, Missouri Western State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

administering exit examinations that have been prepared in house bydepartmental faculty.What we learned by reverting back to the internally-developed exit exams was that externally-normed tests are not always the best route to assess student knowledge due to the followingreasons: 1. The emphasis of your educational goals and objectives may not match the content of the nationally-normed tests. 2. Many employers of ET graduates do not emphasize certifications from AIC, NICET, SME, etc. but it is advisable to obtain FE/EIT credentials, if allowed, at an early date. Many states do not allow ET graduates to take the FE/EIT examination, the State of Missouri being one of those that does not allow. With some work experience, some

Conference Session

Sustainable Engineering

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Martha Garcia-Saenz, Purdue University-North Central; Maria Consuelo Garcia Alvarez, Universidad La Gran Colombia

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

and doubled the cost of the gassystem.The idea for the projectThe main idea for this project came up after an inventory of low-income housing in Bogotá, doneby the same authors of this document.1 The study’s main focus was to design more comfortablehouses from a thermal point of view, but finding that these low-income houses did not havewater heaters, gave the authors the idea for the project presented in this document.Students from an “Installations for Alternative Energies” class at the School of Civil Engineeringof La Gran Colombia University had the opportunity to apply some what they were learningabout solar energy on a project that at the same time would significantly improve the lives oflow-income people. Student had to go beyond

Conference Session

Effective & Efficient Teaching Skills

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Scott Hamilton, U.S. Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

treat you as though you are whatyou are capable of becoming, I help you become that (Goethe).[1] This seems to imply apowerful charge to those of us dedicated to teaching. How often do we hear “that is just the waystudents are today”? Upon returning to teaching in the fall of 2003, after a six-year break, theauthor began to question whether he could change this behavior, or did he really have to acceptit? Page 11.319.2The author noted two disturbing trends upon his return to the classroom. First was that hisstudents were not exercising the level of care with their assignments that should be required ofyoung engineers. The author taught seniors

Conference Session

Teaching Design

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ann McKenna, Northwestern University; James Colgate, Northwestern University; Gregory Olson, Northwestern University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

conceptual change level, instructors should present information byincorporating real life applications or uses so that students see the relevance of the information.Since all of the IDEA design projects are actual design problems with real clients and users,“relevance” is embedded in the project work. Students consult with clients to define the projectgoals, meet with users to get feedback on different design ideas, and ultimately create solutions(often working prototypes) that are given to the client to be implemented and used. Throughthese authentic design activities students see first-hand the impact of their design solutions, andthe relevance of their work in a broader context.Table 1 provides three examples of IDEA projects and the

Conference Session

Student Misconceptions and Problem Solving Abiltiy

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Prince, Bucknell University; Margot Vigeant, Bucknell University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

. Ongoingwork will refine the existing activities, as well as test the effectiveness of new activities for Page 11.1390.2thermodynamics courses designed to reduce misconceptions about entropy.IntroductionRecent research emphasizes the critical importance of conceptual learning. Indeed, of three keyfindings in the National Research Council’s study on how people learn [1], the first finding is theneed to draw out and engage student preconceptions and the second finding highlights the needfor students to understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework. In short,meaningful learning in science and engineering requires that students master

Conference Session

FPD6 -- Early Intervention & Retention Programs

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cindy Foor, University of Oklahoma; Susan Walden, University of Oklahoma; Tyler Combrink, University of Oklahoma; Lindsey McClure, University of Oklahoma; Deborah Trytten, University of Oklahoma

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

being seven ages. ~William Shakespeare-All the World’s a Stage from As You Like ItWilliam Shakespeare’s As You Like It begins with a soliloquy called “The Seven Ages of Man,”that addresses human transitions from infancy to childhood to schoolboy to young lover andbeyond.1 With all due respect to Mr. Shakespeare, we are borrowing the metaphor of a stage andactors to frame an interpretation of the responses of 185 engineering and physics undergraduatesto the question: “What advice if any would you offer incoming students to the College ofEngineering?” Unlike Shakespeare who characterized his schoolboy as “creeping like a snail,unwillingly to school,” we found undergraduate engineering students to be eager for thetransition to

Conference Session

Embedded Computing

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rathika Rajaravivarma, Central CT State University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

communicationshas become a critical part of the global infrastructure. In Academia, a course incomputer networks is widely taught as part of various Computer Science andComputer Engineering undergraduate and graduate curricula, as either anelective or a required course. The need for networking expertise with hands-onexperience is addressed by the computing curricula 2001 (CC2001) 1, developedby the Joint IEEE Computer Society/ACM Task Force, that a net-centriccomputing is included as a key area in the Computer Science body of knowledgeand that all programs include networking topics. The networking field hasgrown so vast and continues to mature that creative ways of introducing thecontent and engaging the students are needed to enhance the

Conference Session

BME Curriculum Development

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thomas Harris, Vanderbilt University; Sean Brophy, Purdue University; Robert Linsenmeier, Northwestern University; Alene Harris, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Biomedical

,education, and technology have collaborated in developing in developing, delivering, andrefining workshop experiences for engineering faculty. These workshops provide both contentand process knowledge needed to develop modules that incorporate current HPL learning theory(Bransford, et al.1), integrate technology , and guide the participants in developing modules fortheir own courses.Workshops generally were constructed along the following lines: • Participants assessed their personal goals for the workshop. • Workshop leaders briefly reviewed results from previous use of HPL Legacy Cycle class lessons to establish credentials for workshop. • Workshop leaders briefly reviewed HPL theory and Legacy

Conference Session

Global Engineering in an Interconnected World

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kurt Rosentrater, USDA-ARS; Radha Balamuralikrishna, Northern Illinois University

Tagged Divisions

International

of society. From the inception of this country,engineering and technology have been cornerstones upon which the U.S. has flourished. Withthis growth over the years, coupled with increasing industrialization, population, andconsumption, several critical challenges have arisen. These include pollution, environmentaldegradation, raw material depletion, increasing dependence on foreign supplies of nonrenewableresources, and national security concerns, to name a few.For example, the quantity of oil imported into the U.S. for transportation fuels has been steadilyincreasing during the last 20 years (Figure 1); now the nation is highly dependent on importedoil. In fact, it currently imports more than 60% of its yearly petroleum requirements

Conference Session

NEW Lab Experiments in Materials Science

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary Vollaro, Western New England College

Tagged Divisions

Materials

to the success of this activity is gained from two surveys, i.e., 1) to determine if they had the qualities to be an engineer and 2) to see change in knowledge of the engineering profession (a before and after look). Overall, as all participants reflect on this activity, positive feedback from the girls is sensed by the excitement in the room as they share their design projects with others, enthusiasm of our WNEC engineering students as they leaving saying they would like to help again next year, and parents and Girl Scout leaders leaving the activity with smiles, and positive comments.II. Objective The objective of this yearly outreach program is to educate young girls in 4th through 6th grade about the engineering profession. Our

Conference Session

Technical Issues in Architectural Engineering I

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jeanne Homer, Oklahoma State University

Tagged Divisions

Architectural

and methods to contribute to a resulting architecture that is a betterexpression of its culture, building methods, and technology. As stated by Viollet-le-Duc, “Themeans of healing this rupture could only be an education in which the architect is taughtengineering as well as art, and, optimally, the engineer learns how to practice his craft withappropriate artistry.” 1 Viollet’s theories are easily applicable to present day, because the basis ofhis ideas calls for the incorporation of new technologies and new materials into architecturaldesign. “A little reflection will show us the interests of the two professions will be best saved by their union…Whether the engineer acquires a little of our knowledge and love for artistic

Conference Session

Using Teams, Seminars & Research Opportunities for Retention

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

De'Jeune Antoine, Xavier University of Louisiana; Mica Hutchison, Purdue University; Deborah Follman, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

) were male; 20% (n=33) were minorities (African American, Native American, andHispanic American) and 80% (n=128) were Caucasian. While the majority of the participants(85%, n=137) were students enrolled at the host institution, fifteen percent (n=24) of theparticipants visited the program from other institutions. Table 1 depicts the demographics for the40 students that made up the sample population for this study. Table 1. Demographics of sample population. Men Women # in % of # in % of Sample Sample Sample Sample Caucasian 16

Conference Session

ECE Curriculum Innovations

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joseph Holmes, AcuityEdge, Inc.; Hisham Massoud, Duke University; Steven Cummer, Duke University; John Board, Duke University; Kip Coonley, Duke University; April Brown, Duke University; Michael Gustafson; Leslie Collins, Duke University; Lisa Huettel, Duke University; Gary Ybarra, Duke University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

four core courses. In order to achieveour goals, and to carefully ensure consideration of tradeoffs associated with the redesign, wedeveloped a series of roles to effect the organization necessary for the reform process. The keyroles that have been developed and assigned are (1) course leader, (2) theme team, (3) approvalteam, (4) advisory team, and (5) project manager. In the paper, the roles and responsibilities ofeach of these groups in the process is also described.To proceed with the redesign of the core, the course leaders were responsible for developing thecourse content, syllabus, homeworks, tests, and lab manuals in concert with their course team.Course leaders met separately with their course teams, and then periodically the course

Conference Session

Programming for Engineering Students

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Lusth, University of Arkansas

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Annette Mallory Donawa; Clifton Martin, Morgan State University; Carl White, Morgan State University

-preparedness is a need that must be addressed in order to elevateminority representation amongst Ph.D. recipients.1 Differential efforts expended on students,discriminatory treatment, in combination with factors specific to the student, interact to produceacademic under-preparedness. However, a number of factors correlate with academicbackground and preparation.Preparation in Schools and Differential Access to Knowledge Several studies have indicated that students of high socioeconomic status engage in morecomplex problem-solving and exercises in leadership development, thus learning how to beleaders, while their counterparts of low socioeconomic status do repetitive drills and learn how tobe followers. Further, the school curriculum appears to

Conference Session

Global Engineering in an Interconnected World

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kenneth Van Treuren, Baylor University; Steven Eisenbarth, Baylor University; Cynthia Fry, Baylor University

Tagged Divisions

International

solvesocietal problems (i.e. clean water, energy, food, health problems, etc.). The paper will addresssome of the issues related to engineering in the global context and how Baylor University isapproaching the integration of this subject through its curriculum and extra curricular activities(i.e. language requirement, interdisciplinary overseas summer school, classroom exercises, andappropriate technology studies/trips) and what is planned for the future (School Committee onGlobal issues, Advisory board activities, and Classroom Activities).IntroductionThe U.S. production of scientists and engineers has continued to fall in relative terms whencompared to Asian rim countries.1 For example, in 2005 Indian schools awarded approximately112,000 engineering

Conference Session

Interdisciplinary Education in ET

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jeffrey Evans, Purdue University; Matthew Kirleis, Purdue University; Casey Smith, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

well as those from others, where technical languages and dialects are different. This paper describes the problem and subsequent design, implementation and sys- tem characterization activities undertaken. New and innovative test and measure- ment techniques were developed, requiring creative solutions using and stretching those learned in the classroom. Descriptions of the obstacles, methods, lessons learned, and throughput improvement results are presented. This work has provided a unique op- portunity for interdisciplinary collaboration and research and development experiences for undergraduate students.1 IntroductionThe area of chemical analysis is growing rapidly, supporting areas related to Bio

Conference Session

Improving the Mathematical Preparation of Students

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mark Inlow, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

. Time Series Plot of Temperature vs. Days into the Year 80 Temperature (degrees Fahrenheit) 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1 18 36 54 72 90 108 126 144 162 180 Days into the YearAlthough there is a trend in

Conference Session

Network Administration and Security

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Recayi 'Reg' Pecen; Paul Gray; Jin Zhu, University of Northern Iowa

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

science majors in the College of Natural Sciences. This paper also reports recentlydeveloped curriculum for the NaSA major and lists program requirements in detail. The authorsalso intend to discuss the curriculum with similar institutions and consider their suggestions forthe program enhancement.I. IntroductionAccording to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, computer support specialists and systemadministrators are projected to be among the fastest growing occupations over the period of2002-2012 1. Due to this reason there are a number of Bachelor of Science in AppliedNetworking Technologies and System Administration degree programs developed andestablished all over the U.S. as well as Europe and Asia 2-3. There are also a number ofinformation

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Margot Vigeant, Bucknell University; Richard Moore, Bucknell University

interested students in the College of Arts and Sciences. The course is run in a modularformat described in Vigeant et al [1-3]. The course format is summarized in Table 1.The first course module introduces engineering and each of the six engineering disciplines taughtat Bucknell and features a team-project where students suggest improvements to the Bucknellcampus to enhance mobility for persons who use wheelchairs [1]. The second, third, and fourth Page 11.1133.2modules consist of student selected, discipline related seminars. Eight different seminars areoffered, each representing a different area of interest within the College of Engineering [2