Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Courses and Issues

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Wayne Wentzheimer; Jeremy G. VanAntwerp; Douglas A. Vander Griend; Jennifer VanAntwerp

careers and often just did not “get it” as material was traditionally presented.Making room for chemistry began with eliminating a 2-credit, second-semester freshman designcourse. Assessment data indicated students found this course too simplistic and too repetitive ofthe first semester. We feared we were losing some top students due to lack of challenge. Our 3-credit materials science course had some significant overlap in topics with the chemistry wewished to add. By combining the courses, some room was saved. Even more importantly, we feltthat the two disciplines would complement each other and enhance the overall education in both.In a novel approach, the course is team-taught by faculty from chemistry and engineering.The next challenge was

Conference Session

Innovations in Nuclear Education I

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Gary Sandquist; Brian Moretti; Edward Naessens

programs that are relevant to their future careers. The NEcurriculum was developed to meet all ABET accreditation requirements, and will undergo an Page 9.406.2ABET accreditation visit in 2008. “Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Education” In developing the courses to be offered for our nuclear engineering major, we reviewedother ABET certified programs and benchmarked our program against theirs. However, sinceour graduates will serve as officers and leaders in the Army, during each course in

Conference Session

TYCD 2004 Lower Division Initatives

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Eric Granlund

existing product, material or process. Students were askedto describe their idea in a business letter and forward it to industry for evaluation. Insome instances a response from industry was actually received by the students concerningthe feasibility of their ideas. We feel this contact with industry so early in theireducational career was very exciting for the students and may aide in student retention inthe major.The paper also briefly describes an instructional module entitled Design for Manufacturethat was also used in ED&G 100. This module was used in teaching studentsfundamentals of engineering design and design for manufacture. The module wasdeveloped by The New York State Curriculum for Advanced Technology Education(NYSCATE). In this

Conference Session

Leadership in the Curriculum

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Robert Martinazzi; Jerry Samples; Andrew Rose

with fullconfidence in their technical ability and the education they received as undergraduates. Afterobtaining employment, students are very eager to demonstrate their ability and competence.Assigned to a particular project or task the former students quickly delve into their new role,knowing their technical education will provide them with all that is necessary to accomplish theirjob. Working with other technical professionals also gives the students a sense that all will goaccording to the project schedule. They begin to live their career dream envisioned aftergraduation.As problems begin to arise during the course of the project or task, the former student begins toget suspicious of why things are not going as well as was expected. They

Conference Session

Outreach and Freshman Programs

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

John Brader; Jed Lyons

-school activities with two different populations of students and theirdevelopment and implementation of the GK-12 Summer Institute for Teachers. Data from acomprehensive assessment process has been used for both formative and summative assessmentof the program.II. Program DescriptionThe first cohort of GK-12 Fellows at the University of South Carolina included four PhD, fiveMS and two BS/MS students from the disciplines of mechanical, chemical, civil andenvironmental engineering. Student selection criteria included U.S. citizenship, admission to agraduate program in the College of Engineering and Information Technology, disciplinaryknowledge as evidenced by the student's resume and GPA, and a personal statementdescribing teaching and career

Conference Session

International Engineering Education I

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

Melany Ciampi; Claudio Brito

communitiescitizens in the city.1. IntroductionEngineering education in Brazil has been widely discussed because it has been facing a largedecrease in the number of students in engineering programs. Not only because it is one of themost difficult program but also because it is not a so appealing career like marketing, medicineor marine biology (so up to date presently). All these aspects added to the loss of status thatengineer has suffered [01]. The importance of engineering can be observed in developedcountries that have achieved such a social and economical level thanks to the technologydevelopment policies. These policies leaded to the achievement of the best schools and centers oftechnology that receive huge financial aids from the government and

Conference Session

Energy Programs and Software Tools

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

P.S. Lankeu Ngankeu; Michael Sexton

academic interests outside of regular course work * To help students clarify their career goals * To prepare students for graduate study and professional careers * To give students exposure to all parts of the research process * To sharpen critical thinking and creative problem solving skills * To expose students to research in a variety of disciplinesIn an effort to meet these goals the SURI funded research teams that were comprised of one VMIcadet and one VMI faculty mentor, with the cadet being the principal investigator. Cadets andmentors participating in the program each received a stipend. Each project concluded with thecadet writing a research paper that was presented by the cadet at the concluding

Conference Session

Web-Based Instruction

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

Anthony Trippe

to be on-campus only once every six weeks. FlexNet has beenpopular and successful in achieving high levels of student satisfaction. UOP students love themixture of classroom and online delivery. The blended environment of FlexNet is a nice choicefor students who are close enough to a campus to attend every six weeks, but far enough away tonot want to come every week.Blending at Rochester Institute of Technology – Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) hasoffered applied technology education since 1829. Today, RIT is internationally respected as aworld leader in career-oriented and professional education with over 15,000 students seeking awide variety of undergraduate and graduate degrees. After instituting a policy which requiresevery

Conference Session

Writing and Communication II

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Julie Sharp, Vanderbilt University

, letters, short reports, long reports, oral reports, briefings?2. What are some of your reasons for communicating in these tasks and who is your audience?3. How much time per week do you spend planning, writing, and editing documents?4. How much time per week do you spend planning, creating, and presenting oral presentations, either formal or informal?5. How important are communication tasks to your success at work?6. Have you had any formal training or courses in technical communication, speech, or writing?7. What do you wish you had known about communication tasks before you began your career?8. What advice do you have for prospective engineers?After analyzing the sample questionnaires, each group designed their own. Some groupsdesigned

Conference Session

Potpourri of Engineering Mathematics

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Kenneth Siegenthaler

Conference & Exposition Copyright À2004, American Society of Engineering Education”Hexadecimal Math, Random Variables, Gaussian Math, Fourier Tansforms, LinearAlgebra, Logic, Linear Systems, Bessel Functions, Decision Theory, Discrete Theory,Sampling Theory, Laplace Transforms, and Fourier Math[6,7].All of that is in addition to the rudimentary math used everyday. The study ofmathematics is probably a life’s work. The Dean at the Colorado School of Mines hassaid he expects the average graduate to have seven careers in their lifetime. NOT sevenjobs with different companies, seven different careers. Therefore, the emphasis at theColorado School of Mines is on a very solid foundation in mathematics, physics,chemistry, and good

Conference Session

Recruiting, Retention & Advising

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Tremayne Waller; Bevlee Watford

Virginia Tech. Students have the opportunity to become familiar with theseresources such as career services and the cooperative education program, the Center forAcademic Enrichment and Excellence, academic advising and course registration and studentorganizations. Additionally, guest speakers from the local area discuss their leadership skills andwhat company’s expect from college graduates.The students meet weekly with academic advisors. In these weekly meetings, students discusstheir performance in ASPIRE. In this manner, students are pro-actively learning self-disciplinewith respect to accomplishing the requirements of the program. This particular activity wasimplemented following the first year of ASPIRE. It was determined then that unless

Conference Session

International Case Studies, Interactive Learning, Student Design

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Richard Vaz

credit-hour senior year project in the major field. Called the Major Qualifying Project (MQP), this finalproject serves as ECE students’ capstone design experience.The ECE Design course was originally motivated by assessment5 indicating the need to improvestudents’ understanding of the process of design in preparation for the MQP. A second objectivefor the ECE Design course is to assure that students, who typically take the course at the end ofthe second year, are able to apply the fundamentals of ECE in the context of an independent,team-based design project. The course takes place roughly midway through ECE students’undergraduate careers, and is intentionally a formative design experience, rather than asummative capstone design project. At the

Conference Session

NASA Fellowship Program

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Sid Wang; Kenneth Roberts; Joseph Monroe; Ajit Kelkar; Devdas Pai

trained and instructed by faculty mentors on NASA-sponsored Page 9.781.1 1research projects during 8 weeks in the summer. Students were encouraged to pursue advancedtechnical careers via professional development and mentoring activities.NASA PAIR PROGRAM GOALS AND OBJECTIVESGoals:1. To increase the participation of underrepresented minorities and women in MSET disciplines2. To foster the integration of NASA-sponsored research into undergraduate education and promote undergraduate research training3. To increase quality of graduates through enhancement of core courses with research-based learning

Conference Session

Recruitment and Retention

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Elaine Craft

-engineeringtechnology curriculum for slightly under-prepared students. The Technology Gateway integratesthe study of mathematics, communications, and technology (three courses) around industry-typeproblems, providing relevant, hands-on learning experiences, and addressing career exploration.Curriculum products and evaluation data may be found at www.scate.org.IntroductionStudents often fail to make the connections among the various courses within the engineeringtechnology curriculum. Particular difficulty arises with the general education courses of physics, Page 9.478.1mathematics, and communications (English and speech). An engineering technology

Conference Session

Retention: Keeping the Women Students

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

Jackie Sullivan; Daniel Knight

who do not take the course.The projects course has also been found to increase students’ confidence in their own skilldevelopment.3 Students rate their skills at the beginning and end of each semester, and self-reportsignificant increases in communication, teamwork and design skills, as well as knowledge ofengineering methodology and engineering careers. When analyzed by gender, these skill gains heldup for males and females.Even though the FYEP course builds engineering skills and promotes retention for women,important differences have been observed between how men and women behave in the course.Instructors have found that prior to enrolling in the course many women have not tinkered withtools, disassembled gadgets, or built toy models, as

Conference Session

ASEE Multimedia Session

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

John Baker; David Silverstein

; integration of those materials into all four semesters of calculuscourses; and evaluation of student retention of relevant calculus topics in laterengineering courses with and without the aforementioned supplements. During thecourse of this project, these applications and examples will be introduced to area highschool calculus instructors in a workshop format as part of a larger cooperative effort toencourage students to pursue careers in STEM disciplines.Goals and ObjectivesThis project intends to answer the following questions: • What calculus topics are in need of improvement in retention and understanding by students in the mechanical and chemical engineering programs at the University of Kentucky? • Will

Conference Session

Engineering Education; An International Perspective

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

Holger Dahms; Stefan Bartels; John Gassert; Jens Thiedke; Owe Petersen

with a primary focuson applied engineering, business, and the natural sciences. Both institutions are teachinginstitutions with similar missions.Issues and Resolutions 1. Issue: Student Profile Resolution: Engineering students typically are determined to achieve constant academic progress towards graduation. They are less inclined to explore the world at large for the sake of the experience that might be provided. They are reasonably settled on their immediate career path and any exploration should at least provide useful result. Hence, in order to be successful the program had to provide very specific benefits in order to attract a sufficient number of students. Therefore, the program was designed to insure

Conference Session

ASEE Multimedia Session

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

Steven Graham; Ronald Bieniek

Session 2793 Multi-Campus New Faculty Development to Improve the Culture of Teaching William G. Fahrenholtz, Ronald J. Bieniek, and Steven W. Graham University of Missouri-Rolla/University of Missouri-Rolla/University of Missouri-SystemAbstractThe strategic plan of the University of Missouri calls for renewed emphasis on student learningand the creation of learner-centered environments. As major step in achieving this vision, theUniversity of Missouri (UM) system launched the New Faculty Teaching Scholars (NFTS)Program in 2001-2002.1 It is a system-wide development program for early career

Conference Session

A Potpourri of Innovations in Physics

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

G. Burbach

students.The first step in preparing the students for their summer research project was to introduce themto geophysics in general, and to the theory behind the geophysical methods we proposed using.This was done initially through a series of formal seminars which faculty and other students werealso invited to attend. The first seminar focused on geophysics as a broad discipline andintroduced a variety of geophysical methods, types of problems that can be solved usinggeophysics, and research and career opportunities in geophysics. Following seminars focused inmore detail on the theory and practice of the most common geophysical methods.While the seminars laid an important foundation and gave the students a framework to see howtheir project fit into the

Conference Session

Virtual & Distance Experiments

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

Zhixue Wang; Guangpi Lai; Feiyue Wang; A. Terry Bahill; Jeff Goldberg

, userinterface, application and experience in course instruction.1. Introduction To address students' concerns in undergraduate education, the College of Engineering andMines at the University of Arizona conducted a student/faculty survey in which students wereasked to rank the importance of 12 issues in undergraduate education. The survey report hasindicated that our students consider 1) “hands on” experiences with the application ofengineering principles, 2) faculty who communicate course material effectively, and 3) theability to relate studies to career preparation and future employment, as the three mostimportant issues at the College. The clearly showed that students were not satisfied with thecurrent situation at the College in terms of

Conference Session

ASEE Multimedia Session

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

Audeen Fentiman

, faculty and staff from The Ohio State University College of Engineering, with input fromteachers at Walnut Hills High School, reorganized the 2-course college-level Introduction toEngineering sequence (designed to be taught over two 10-week quarters) for presentation overtwo 18-week semesters in high school. The course content was not changed thus making highschool students taking the course eligible for possible college credit.The course had two main components, basic skills and hands-on laboratory activities. In the“basics” portion of the course, students learned skills that would be valuable in engineeringcourses, in an engineering career, and in a wide variety of other courses and careers. Those skillsincluded, teamwork, written, oral, and

Conference Session

ASEE Multimedia Session

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

Lucy King; Jacqueline El-Sayed

function of the grippers. A competitionwas held and the best optimal gripper was chosen based on the functionality and quality of workperformed. The next iteration will include design of experiments to verify gripper functions.The students were enthusiastic in the assessment survey given. Students felt that having to designunder strict budget and time restraints, communicating and working with engineers from differentdisciplines would “greatly benefit their engineering careers.” Through this integrated learningexperience, students gained interdisciplinary design experience to better their proficiency of thereal world, multi-disciplinary design synthesis process.Introduction and BackgroundRecent technological and industrial advancements have

Conference Session

Combining Research and Teaching

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Raul Ordonez; Marianne Cinaglia; Kathryn Hollar; Jess Everett; Joseph Orlins; Kauser Jahan; Mariano Savelski; Linda Head; Stephanie Farrell; Robert Hesketh

studies.INTRODUCTIONResearch experiences expose undergraduate students to the creativity of the researchprocess and enable them to apply their acquired knowledge from formal co ursework.Active research experience is considered one of the most effective ways to attracttalented undergraduates to and retain them in careers in science and engineering,including careers in teaching. Involving undergraduates in research also encourages themto pursue graduate education. The National Science Foundation (NSF) 1 has establishedthe Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program in its efforts to recruitdiverse talented students to engineering and science. A REU site focusing on pollutionprevention was established for three years at the College of Engineering at

Conference Session

ET Graduate Education

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

W. Kaminski

knowledge base. Corporate downsizing, global market pressures, and rapidlyexpanding technology require a new type of engineering technologist, one that can functioncomfortably on a changing career path. This requirement produces the need for the technologistto be a lifelong learner. The tools for life long learning and research are the crux of the MSETprogram. The MSET program is multi-disciplinary, having the specific purpose of broadening thetechnological backgrounds of persons holding Bachelor degrees in the ET or IT disciplines. Page 7.1137.2 Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and

Conference Session

Design for Community

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Brian Thompson; Craig Somerton

bicycle derailleur.One important aspect of this project was an outreach component to Andrew’s middle schoolhome room. Three times the team made presentations to this class of approximately sixty (60)students. The middle school students were engaged by the team and the project, and evenparticipated in some of the design decisions. Our sense was that this activity showed engineeringin a very positive light to the middle school students and most probably opened many of them upto this as a career opportunity. Furthermore the eclectic nature of the project provided a unifyingtheme woven through the fabric of an apparently unrelated middle-school curriculum. Theeighth graders were provided with a panoramic educational vista. This observation was

Conference Session

Knowing Students:Diversity and Retention

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Mary Cummings

an engineering career, only 12% of LD malesexpressed the same interest. Interestingly, 2% of women with learning disabilities wereinterested in a career in engineering, which was the same percentage as the interested womenwithout a learning disability.The 1997 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) defines learning disabilities as “adisorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or inusing language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in imperfect ability to listen, think,speak, read, write, spell or do mathematical calculations…The term does not include a learningproblem which is primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor handicaps, of mentalretardation, of emotional

Conference Session

How are We Faring with EC2000?

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Richard Zollars

, professional and ethicalresponsibilities, and life-long learning). Some examples of questions asked in prior yearsare: 1) List some (if you believe there are any) of the special ethical responsibilities that apply to your profession. 2) Can you recall a discussion regarding ethics you had in the classroom or with a professor while at WSU? What was the issue? 3) What are some of your professional goals and aspirations? 4) What discussion of long-term career goals for people in your profession has occurred in or out of class with your professors?These questions are followed up by additional probes such as: 1) Are you actually talking about these things in classes at WSU? 2) Have you ever talked in courses about ethics? 3

Conference Session

Laptop/Handheld Computing in Education

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

Roy McGrann; Abraham Howell

must be properlyaligned for communication to take place. The possibility of a radio frequency (RF)transmitter/receiver was researched and it was decided that this would be a costly alternative ascompared with the UHF kit.“Exploring Engineering” a case study “Exploring Engineering” was a weeklong event that focused on giving 5th and 6 th gradestudents a more detailed sense of what engineering encompasses and exactly what engineers do intheir careers. Throughout the week students participated in numerous hands-on activities such asbuilding wooden structures to withstand a simulated earthquake and assembling and testingremote-controlled CD-Robots. Exploring Engineering was organized by Eileen C. Way(Professor, Systems Science and

Conference Session

Pre-College Initiatives in Engineering Education

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

Lawrence Genalo

national standards will helpthem to improve the science, mathematics, and technology proficiencies of their students. Theirstudents, feeling more able to solve problems in STEM fields, will be more likely to chooseengineering as a career in greater numbers. Those students who choose to become K-12 teacherswill be more able to introduce STEM topics to their students. Even those who choose not to gointo STEM-related careers or teaching will be more informed citizens.The program presented here is helping to increase the numbers of teachers who are able tooperate in engineering related contexts. Each semester 20 to 30 preservice teachers complete athree-credit engineering course. Each summer 20 to 30 inservice teachers complete a two-creditgraduate

Conference Session

Best Teaching Practices for ABET

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

Mary Crawford, University of Texas at Austin; Kathy Schmidt, The University of Texas at Austin

materials, resume materials, and learning reflections that can follow them throughout their career here at UT and into the world beyond. The Mechanical Engineering department at UT Austin is creating an electronic portfolio system in hopes of encouraging both teachers and students to focus more on projects as a way to foster active experimentation and to help students create artifacts that show their growth and progress along the pathway to becoming an engineer. The FIC is providing technical expertise to build the system and instructional design support to create a tool that can be used for reflective practice throughout a student’s academic career. (For more information, see http