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1999 Annual Conference

Authors

W. D. Jemison; W. A. Hornfeck; J. F. Greco; I. I. Jouny

generation of professionals to match or exceed the monumental advances ofprevious generations of engineers. This paper explores the technological, social, andprofessional agents of change which must be recognized and understood in order tosuccessfully meet these challenges. The concluding section of the paper describes theprinciple characteristics of the curriculum in Electrical and Computer Engineering atLafayette College. These features reflect the changes in the professional environmentwhich we believe our graduates will encounter in the years ahead. Page 4.60.1II. Technological Agents of Change"Even when the external and scientific requirements for

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1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Phillip C. Wankat

and make some changes to improve the course.A course headed for disaster can be turned around by such midcourse corrections basedon this formative evaluation. Letting students have input into test dates and due dates ofprojects also reinforces your willingness to listen--and will be greatly appreciated.At the end of the semester ask for student evaluations and reflectively analyze thesuccess of the course. Plan what you will change for the next offering while the pain ofany failures is sharp. The formative and summative evaluations provide the feedbackneeded to improve our engineering design. Page 4.220.2Lectures. For a brief moment in pedagogical

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1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Thomas Zickel; Russell A. Aubrey

with the input. Shorting the swamping resistor has drastically increased Page 4.87.5the gain of the second stage causing the clipping and reflects a change in input impedance backto the first stage. When the second stage transistor (Q2) saturates, its input impedance no longerfollows the small signal model used for calculations and loads the first stage causing it’s outputto clip also. Students home in on this clipped output as a symptom of a fault in the first stageand usually spend the allotted time spinning their wheels before mandatory help is given. Thepositive feedback on this problem is that once students experience the frustration of

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1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Gerald J. Thuesen; William G. Sullivan

wrote the first article forthe Reader’s Forum, “Reflection on Sunk Cost and Abandonment Decision”. This feature wasdropped because of lack of participation.1973The Engineering Economy Abstracts were initiated by Gerald W. Smith. Page 4.232.7Arthur Lesser, Jr. discontinued his role as Editor.1974Ray Lutz, University of Texas at Dallas became the Editor and Nancy Cole (Ray’s wife) becamethe Managing Editor.1999Art and his wife are living in retirement in Ithaca, New York where their son is on the faculty atCornell.Bibliography1. Engineering News and American Railway Journal,Vol. 33, No. 21, May 23, 1895, pp. 886-888.2. “The First Forty Years of

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1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Sue Schroeder; Patrick Daniel; Carole E. Goodson; Susan Miertschin

reflected a mean of 73 with a standard deviation of22. Student reactions were mixed on the use of taped lectures and included the followingcomments. I am weak in math and the video tapes allowed me to go back and review material that was not clear. We need to have more video tapes on all material. The tape on Cramer’s Rule was excellent. The videos were particularly useful for word problems. The video exercise would have worked better using one instructor. I prefer that a human always be available to teach. I did not like using the tapes.The instructors believed that the cooperative learning assignments were valuable. One believedthat it worked best to give all groups the same problems because it

Collection

1999 Annual Conference

Authors

James Corbeil; Dale A. Wilson

of learners using a student-centered approach to teaching. The design,implementation, and quality of curricula are important if the mentor hopes to shift the controland ownership of the learning process to the learner and hence develop “self-growers”. Some ofthe teaching techniques include: problem-based learning, guided-discovery learning, appliedcritical thinking, structured self-reflective thought, journal writing, project work, andcooperative learning.The development of a cooperative learning environment is one of the aforementioned techniquesthat Process EducationTM has adopted to facilitate learning. Performing as groups helps to fosterskills associated with communication, teamwork, and assessment. Within each team, studentsassume

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1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Judy Grimes; Huiming Wang; Virendra K. Varma

Plus. During the first two years of the program, research shows a sevenpercent increase in freshman to sophomore retention rates; a 12.6 percent decrease in the numberof freshmen on academic probation; and, a 42 percent increase in the number of hours studentsutilized the Center for Academic Support. Indirectly, Access Plus is an excellent tool forrecruitment as it sends a very positive message to prospective students.I. IntroductionRecruitment means new business for a school, and greater numbers reflect successful recruitmentstrategies. Every Fall, institutions of higher education are engaged in recruitment activities.These activities require people from the admissions office to participate in college fairs in andout-of-state to attract high

Collection

1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Jerome P. Lavelle; Robert Martinazzi

onpresent, future, and uniform series amounts serves as the basis to perform this simple but eyeopening analysis! Immediately students begin to see and sense the relevance of the material taughtduring the initial classes. One or two page formal reports are required on the assignment with asection for personal reflection on the results. These reports emphasize the student’s need to presenttheir analysis, thoughts and findings in the context of a brief written report.As pointed out by students providing critiques of the course, they never thought of this (prudence ofinvesting early) before and are appreciative of the insights offered through this exercise. Similarremarks are received for each assignment in the “Life Long Learning Experience” series

Collection

1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Daniel Davis

, reasoning skills, communication and problem solvingskills, the ability to work cooperatively and an understanding of the ethical and economic issuesassociated with the application of technology in contemporary society.Connected Curriculum – A More Integrated ProfessionAs The Boyer/Mitgang Report and the other studies suggest, architectural education should beconnected to industry and reflect the conditions of practice. Boyer often said “that architecture,which involves so centrally the integration of many disciplines through the design act, deeplyintrigued him.”7 However, at many schools, those with integrated, well-balanced careers inteaching and practice are becoming increasingly rare.8Our integrated and genuine teacher-practitioner philosophy

Collection

1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Jerome Atkins

measuring progresstoward making programs relevant and attractive to students and connected to the broadercommunity. The assessment framework at the College aims to improve student learningand development, focuses on undergraduate education, recognizes educational breadth,reflects relevance to practice and citizenship, uses validated measures of desired outcomes,offers comparisons to other programs, accommodates future needs and has proven to becost effective in terms of program improvement. The Regents College OutcomesAssessment Framework 3 is seen as fulfilling the ASEE guidelines for designing aframework for engineering education assessment with its institution-specific mission andgoals and institution-wide longitudinal assessment

Collection

1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Robert H. Mayer

relative importance of different design criteria werediscussed and many classroom examples involving design decisions were resolved using adecision-matrix technique.4 Shortly afterwards, design teams were provided with briefdescriptions and sketches of the eight selected concepts and an instructor-generatedeffectiveness matrix. The effectiveness matrix, shown in Table 1, reflects a qualified assessmentof each concept with respect to eight attributes common to ecological restorations. Theseattributes were similar to those used in selecting the reef restoration alternative at the M/VMaitland grounding site. (Please note that entries in the matrix have not been authenticatednor are they claimed to be accurate.)As a third case-study exercise, design

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1999 Annual Conference

Authors

John K. Estell

as exciting as watching paint dry and fails to capture the essence of the programs in action.With the advent of the World Wide Web and the Java-based applet, the programming portfoliocan be revitalized into an interactive format conducive to both student and reviewer.The Portfolio A portfolio consists of a collection of materials assembled over a period of time that isused to both demonstrate and document one’s ability in a particular subject. Portfolios arecommonly used in the artistic professions. For example, photographers who specialize inweddings will present to the inquiring engaged couple an assembled collection of their work. Byconstructing a portfolio photographers have the opportunity to reflect upon their work as theyselect

Collection

1999 Annual Conference

Authors

S. Andrew Hale; Roger Rohrbach; Larry Stikeleather; John Parsons; James Young; Susan M. Blanchard

Engineering at NC State Universitychanged from offering a Biological and Agricultural Engineering (BAE) degree withconcentrations in Biological, Environmental/Soil and Water, Food, and Power and Machinery,which was ABET-accredited under the guidelines for agricultural engineering programs, to adegree in Biological Engineering (BE) that followed the ABET guidelines for biologicalengineering. The revised curriculum offered students a choice of four concentration areas:Agricultural, Biomedical, Bioprocess, and Environmental Engineering. The revised degreeprogram reflected the facultyÀs vision that biological engineering will play an important role inengineering activities in the 21 st century and was also a response to declining enrollments thatbegan in

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1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Marcus Huggans; Nystrom Hal

information most effectively perceived: visual – pictures, diagrams, graphs, demonstrations, or auditory – words, sound? (where the other senses play a minimal role in educational environment). 3) Organization - With which organization of information is the student most comfortable: inductive – facts and observations are given, underlying principles are inferred, or deductive – principles are given consequences and applications are deduced? 4) Processing - How does the student prefer to process information: actively – though engagement in physical activity or discussion, or reflectively through introspection? 5) Understanding - How does the student progress toward understanding: sequentially – in continual

Collection

1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Jerry W. Samples

deadline and multi-process to keepdeadlines in their future. These people are setting goals and priorities and use the deadlines toget things done. When do they relax? The best answer might be… in between events. Thecaution for these people is to be careful in scheduling additional items between major events, asthis is likely to clog the system and cause the stress level to rise precipitously.Others need a fixed schedule with planning time, room for thought, time for execution, and timeto review and reflect. These people set a different series of goals and priorities and deal with Page 4.374.3stress in a far different manner. Their stress may not

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1999 Annual Conference

Authors

David Whitman; Sally Steadman

Fall 1998 GPAs, which include students on the secondfloor, do not reflect higher GPAs for floor residents, has led to the restructuring of theengineering floors and RA duties.ConclusionsImproved retention has demonstrated that the Engineering Floor is an effective method ofimproving student success in engineering programs. The program can be implemented at aninstitution with little effort through the cooperation of Housing & Residence Life, and is awinning situation for both the academic department and university housing. The engineeringcollege increases its student population and the university retains additional students in theresidence halls.In addition to retention, the Engineering Floor provides a mechanism for enhanced

Collection

1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Zbigniew Prusak

the eight professional abilities necessary for an engineer andtechnologist, all have a possibility of development during these projects. Conceptualization,designing, thinking critically and verifying solutions are the abilities that benefit the most. Thedrawback of long learning process necessary for a sophisticated software was largely avoided.More time could be spent on ways of solving a technical problem and on its computationalnature, treating computers as tools not the end result. Students experienced a need for formalplanning of project activities, especially when working in groups.References1. Schon, D.: “Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action”, Basic Books, 1983.2. Baird, W.E., Borich, G.D.: “Validity

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1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Frank E. Falcone; Edward Glynn

, dischargerecords and runoff computations. The instructors provide guidance on technical writing, reportorganization, documentation, data presentation, and the importance of report cohesion. Thereports are designed to be very practical and reflective of products from engineering firmsspecializing in thee technical fields. In order to emphasize the importance of clear and concisetechnical writing, each student reviews and critiques a report prepared by his or her peers. Theinstructors conduct a complete and intensive review of each report and set aside a substantialportion of a laboratory period to discuss the reports with the students. The total projectintroduces the potential civil engineer to a wide range of technical fields in a cohesive andstructured

Collection

1999 Annual Conference

Authors

James Rehg

commands associated with timers and counters.The command groupings reflect the section titles in the AB program reference manual.The screen captures in Figure 2 illustrate the technique to select commands using thesymbol and group listings. (a) (b) (c) Figure 2 (a) Command Index, (b) Symbol Index, (c) Command Group IndexThe Command Index view is obtained by selecting SLC 500 Commands from the mainmenu, and the two remaining indexes illustrated in Figure 2 are selected from the listing Page 4.599.4on the Command Index. Session

Collection

1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Keith V. Johnson

labor yielded success. Since becoming a faculty member, the author’snew philosophy is smart labor yields success. This philosophy reflects the authors new found beliefthat just because you work hard, you are not guaranteed to achieve your career goals. Too often, theburden of being committed to so many committees and trying to keep up with regular duties can beextremely frustrating. Committee assignments can become a burden if they are taken out of perspective, and onedoes not anticipate the amount of work and time involved. As a new faculty member, there is a Page 4.504.3strong possibility that one may be encouraged to serve on

Collection

1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Thomas Walker; Jan Helge Bøhn

and improved textbooks have notproduced much change in the actual content or pedagogy of engineering courses.2 Theengineering classroom has not changed and that is a reflection of the lack of substantive changein how engineering is taught or what is required of engineering students. For example,instructors are not lecturing less because the textbooks are vastly improved and come withmultimedia software. Therefore, students do not use the software3 nor do they take advantage ofthe improved textbook. While much of this might be due to the rise of aliteracy in our culture,4much of it is do to a lack of requirement. Course examinations and homework typically do nottake advantage of the powerful student calculators. Therefore, most of the students

Collection

1999 Annual Conference

Authors

John E. Nydahl; Colin K. Keeney; Ann Peck

important but mandatory in an engineering field;” and “the reasons forhaving a technical writing class are obvious and abundant.” Confirmation of the students’aversion and then conversion to writing are reflected in the following student’s remarks: “This interview confirmed the worst. Engineers have to write a lot. I had realized before there was a certain amount of writing involved in engineering, but I never grasped the full extent of it. Writing is a very significant part for the engineering profession and something that must be taught to insure the success of an engineering student in the real world.”III. Paradigm for Writing in the Linked LaboratoryThe 1992 UW Engineering College alumni survey indicated that they were very

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1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Ronald E. Terry; Kurt Sandholtz

functions than those perceived as high performers in the early stages of their careers -- and that these late-career functions had less to do with technical brilliance than with organizational influence and technical leadership.These observations led to the development of the Four Stages SM Model. The stages reflect theneeds of organizations to have varying job assignments performed by individuals as they earntrust and respect from their peers and supervisors over the length of their careers. The stagesdiffer in tasks, in the types of relationships that individuals form, and in the perspective thatthey have. Table 1 summarizes the characteristics of each stage.Learning how to follow comes before learning how to lead. That’s

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1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Roger Ware; Charles F. Yokomoto

we are and howwe prefer to learn.2.1. The Four Scales of the InstrumentExtroversion (E) Versus Introversion (I). Extroversion describes a preference for directingyour mental energies to the outer world of people and objects, and introversion describes apreference for directing your mental energies to the inner world of thoughts and reflections.Thus, extroverts tend to be action oriented and trust trial-and-error learning, while introverts (I)tend to be reserved and prefer to reflect before acting. Extroverts are described as sociable,external, extensive, and interacting, and they desire a breath of experiences, while introvertsare said to be territorial, internal, and intensive, and they prefer a depth of experiences, beingable to

Collection

1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Marilyn Dyrud

amenable to learning. Even though some problems are apparent, they arenot irresolvable; in fact, these difficulties allow for pedagogical creativity in problem solving.Faculty PracticesDo faculty classroom practices actually reflect what the literature recommends? In an attempt toanswer this question, short surveys were sent to 44 technical faculty at Oregon Institute ofTechnology in civil engineering and several engineering technology programs:mechanical/manufacturing, electronics, lasers, surveying, and computer systems, both hardwareand software; 25 (56.8%) were returned. The survey included a variety of multiple-choicequestions relating to classroom use of student groups, such as how instructors form groups, whatstudents do in their groups

Collection

1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Philip Doepker

Page 4.330.11individual grades. Some believe that one grade should be given based on total teamperformance. Since the course is modeled to reflect industry practices, the philosophy ofgrade allocation also follows industry performance practices. Salary distributions arebased on performance and appraisals of individuals and not on total “team” performance.Thus, some grades are individual grades and others are team grades. Individual gradesare given for development of the specifications, conceptual designs and individual filefolders.Figure 4. Project Grades for Term From Person 1 Person 2 Person 3 Person 4 murphy jones smith einsteinEvaluation1 Person 1 22.00

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1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Deborah B. Kaufman; Hugh Fuller; Richard M. Felder

82.8 31 87.9There were no statistically significant differences between the ratings men and women receivedfrom their teammates, in the ratings they gave to their teammates in either course, nor in theratings men gave to women. (Self-ratings were not included in these tabulations.) The onlymarginally significant gender-related effect was that women gave lower ratings to other womenthan they gave to men in CHE 205, a result that reflected very low ratings within an all-femalegroup that had considerable difficulty working together from the beginning of the semester.These data strongly suggest that gender bias was not a factor in the peer ratings collected in thisstudy.Effects of ethnicity on ratings.Minority students entered CHE 205

Collection

1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Neil D. Opfer; John Gambatese

Program in ConstructionThe genesis of the idea for a graduate construction program at UNLV came from a number ofnational and local sources. Nationally, the construction industry as a whole is becoming highlyspecialized and complex. New types of construction materials, innovative computertechnologies, alternative contracting methods, and involved and demanding business regulationsare but a few aspects of construction that require advanced knowledge. The complexity issimilarly reflected in the variety of courses offered in construction curriculums, the myriad oftopics discussed in construction journal articles, and the almost endless number of constructionindustry associations and related conferences. The increasing specialization and complexity

Collection

1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Sarah E. Irvine; Teresa L. Hein

theirunderstanding of a particular concept or idea. Students are encouraged to reflect on feedbackthey receive and then work to confront any potential difficulties they are having with a particularconcept. When students take time to reflect on their writing and on the instructor-givenfeedback, the folder becomes a highly effective tool in helping them uncover and then wrestlewith their misconceptions while the learning is taking place 23. The writing activities provide awindow into understanding how well students are integrating the new knowledge into their Page 4.500.5existing knowledge schemas, thus providing a valuable tool in encouraging deeper

Collection

1999 Annual Conference

Authors

John Eby; David Vader; Carl A. Erikson

, however, we areoften unaware of the social, economic, political and environmental overtones of our engineering.Working in situations significantly different from their own will give students opportunity todevelop skills of cross-cultural relationships and to reflect on their own experience and culturefrom the vantage point of another. These experiences also enable students to identify and relateto the other in our own culture.Messiah is experimenting with cross-cultural service-learning projects as a means of influencinggraduates toward more responsible engineering. Goals for these projects are to: (1) Createinterdisciplinary learning and service opportunities for Messiah students and faculty. (2)Develop new ways of integrating faith and practice