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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Natalie Jorion; Brian Self; Katie James; Lianne Schroeder; Lou DiBello; Jim Pellegrino

error. Thetrue score can be understood conceptually as the examinee’s average observed scores on thesame assessment over an infinite number of times (assuming no test-retest effects).Since the true score cannot be observed directly, various approaches have been developed toestimate the reliability of the observed total score as a relationship between the observed scoreand the true score. Cronbach’s alpha, in particular, measures internal consistency of theindividual item scores that make up the total score. Alpha can range from 0 to 1; an alpha closeto 1 indicates that the items are closely related as a group, suggesting a dominant underlyingconstruct. The formula for Cronbach’s alpha is defined as follows

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Kiran George

a particular course topic as part ofhomework, mid-terms, or final. Once students decide on a topic for the assignment approved bythe instructor, they conduct a thorough review of the latest publications utilizing the onlineresources of the university library such as the IEEE Xplore and submit a formal report withrelevant references.2) The instructor for EGCP 281 course would then compile and link these reports to the coursewebpage, which in turn is linked to the ECS CoursePedia, the online encyclopedia for College ofEngineering and Computer Science (ECS).A sample website layout to illustrate the above described concept is shown below. Fig. 1. Sample website layout for CoursePedia activity3) As all instructors teaching

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Binod Tiwari

academic standings and theirprogresses were monitored. The study result shows that students can improve their academicperformance significantly after being involved in faculty-student research activities. Moreover,students, involved in research, showed more leadership skill as well as advancement to graduatestudies.IntroductionUndergraduate level engineering courses in US are mainly controlled by the accreditation criteriasuch as the one set by the ABET (ABET, 2013)1. The number of semester units that the studentshave to take to graduate bachelor’s degree in engineering mainly ranges from approximately 120to 140 units depending on the program’s requirement for math, science and engineering coursesas well as the general education courses. Time

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Kiran George

scholars towards the ECS ACE scholarship program wasused as the principal operational measure of effectiveness. In Fall 2012, all 23 ACE scholars inthe program were asked to complete a survey during their meeting with the tutors/mentors. Thesurvey included two questions with responses: strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree,strongly agree along with one question with free-response answer.Figure 1(a) summarizes the student response to the first question in survey, “The scholarshipfrom the ACE program helps me cover my “unmet” financial need and allows me to focusdiligently on academics.” Only 70% of the scholarship recipients agree that the program helpsthem cover their “unmet” financial need. One of the primary contributing factors for this

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Vladimir I. Prodanov

ranking.Total of 36 students (47% of 78) report increased efforts; for students ranking in the bottom 1/3of the class this percentage was close to 60%. The disadvantage of using rank-performance plotsas a motivation tool is an increased anxiety.IntroductionHaving high cognitive abilities does not guarantee success in college. Approximately one studentin every five students with GPA of A/A+, and SAT of 1300+ will fail to complete college in sixyears1. Similar statistics can be found elsewhere2 and have been attributed to poor non-cognitiveskills. As depicted in Figure 1, Conley3 identifies four major categories of skills that a personmust possess to be successful in college. The academic behaviors and the contextual skills arecalled “non-cognitive

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Tina Smilkstein

reading on the background by the night before the lab in one or twoparagraphs. The inspiration for the addition of this assignment was the observation that studentsthat had trouble with previous quarter’s subjects were falling behind even further behind andshowed low participation, confidence and success. Retention was assessed using test and reportscores as well as observations of students in later classes. Participation was assessed throughobservation and survey results. Satisfaction was assessed through survey results. Survey resultsshowed that 1/3 of the weaker students increased their participation over other labs in thesections that had prelab statements whereas the section with no statements had zero studentssaying they participated more

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Ibraheem A. Kateeb; Khaled F. AlOtaibi; Larry Burton; Michael S. Peluso; Evelyn R. Sowells

1844. Itwas on this date that Alfred Vail and Samuel Morse used their partially completed electricaltelegraph to send the news of Henry Clay’s nomination from Annapolis Junction, Maryland tomembers of Congress at the Capitol in Washington DC. This was full hour-and-a-half quickerthan the message was able to get to the Capitol by human carrier. It was this event that provedhow much more effective even the most basic telecommunications system was at transferringinformation than any other method used throughout the whole of human history 1.Even as rudimentary as the electrical telegraph was, the cost to build it was prohibitive, somonies had to be appropriated from the federal government. The amount required at the time was$30,000, or close to

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Ibraheem A. Kateeb; Khaled F. AlOtaibi; Larry Burton; Michael S. Peluso; Evelyn R. Sowells

results in a fundamental difference in how safety issues are managed.There is a tremendous difference in how wireless communications companies manage theirservice and instillation work force. As the wire line industry is over a hundred years old, it ismanaged with a more traditional model of service workers who are directly employed by theirrespective companies. The workers tend to be organized into powerful unions, figure 1.The wireless industry is dominated by a complex array of sub-contractors. This is due to multiplefactors including relative newness of the wireless industry as well as the need for a flexible workforce to be highly reactive to large build outs, figure 2. In wire line applications there aredifferent issues that affect metallic

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Kate Disney; Erik Dunmire; Michelle Millea; Larry Owens; Jo-Ann Panzardi P.E.; Liz Rozell

curricula includethe typical support courses of calculus, physics, and chemistry. The EE/CompE modelcurriculum (Table 1) emphasizes the completion of as much lower division GE as possible withjust a few engineering courses in the lower division. There was much discussion among thecommittee members regarding this, but a consensus to add additional engineering courses wasnot reached. Table 1 Draft Model Curriculum Electrical and Computer Engineering 11/9/2012 Version Course Title Semester Units (minimum)Required Engineering Core Courses 7 Introduction to

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Ibraheem A. Kateeb; Khaled F. AlOtaibi; Larry Burton; Michael S. Peluso; Evelyn R. Sowells

new telephone was “destined to be a great institution.” Because of this, manypatrons visited the telephone exchange and sampled telephone services7. These attitudes and government involvement clearly affected adoption rates of the newtechnology. As an example, by 1910 in Muncie, Indiana and Kingston, Ontario, two cities withsimilar demographics, had very significant differences in telephone use among the population,see figure 1 below. In Muncie where there was low rejection of the cables and support poles, theadoption rate of the new technology was three times higher than Kingston, Ontario where therewas more resistance to the aesthetic impact of cables suspended between poles. Figure 1. Percentage of Population that Adopted the

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Jim Herold; A. Zundel; Thomas F. Stahovich

record of every student’s homework,quizzes, midterms, and exams. In total, we collected data from six homework assignments, sevenquizzes, two midterms, and the final exam. Proceedings of the 2013 American Society for Engineering Education Pacific Southwest Conference Copyright © 2013, American Society for Engineering Education 483Figure 1: Typical problem from the Statics course. The problem statement reads as follows, “The device shown isused for cutting PVC pipe. If a force, F = 15 lb., is applied to each handle as shown, determine the cutting force T.Also, determine the magnitude and the direction of the force that

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Nicholas M. Rhodes; Matthew A. Ung; Jim Herold; Thomas F. Stahovich

Using a Lexical and Temporal Analysis of Students’ Self- Explanation to Predict Understanding Nicholas M. Rhodes1, Matthew A. Ung2, Jim Herold1, Thomas F. Stahovich2 1 Department of Computer Science, University of California Riverside 2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California RiversideAbstractNumerous studies have shown that self-explanation can lead to increased learning outcomes.Here we examine how the how the quality of self-explanation correlates with performance. Morespecifically, we examine how the words students use in their self-explanations correlate withperformance on homework. We also examine how the time spent solving

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Sergio Mendez; Lisa AungYong

versus time cooling profile. There is heat conduction through the solid,and convective heat transfer to the ambient air. The students then compare the temperatureprofile with the results from a computer simulation. The two teaching aims are 1) for students toperform a hands-on activity that enables them to make the connection between textbook conceptsand real-world observation, and 2) to give students the skills to employ the state-of-the-art, user-friendly, commercially available computer modeling software, COMSOL Multiphysics. Theeffectiveness of this teaching module was assessed with student opinion surveys. Based on theseresults, we found that this module improved student understanding of heat transfer, and that theirlevel of enthusiasm

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Muge Mukaddes Darwish; Ali Nejat

choice.Preparation of Girls in STEM related Fields:According to the U.S Department of Education National Center for Educational Statistics3 inelementary, middle, and high school, girls and boys take math and science courses in roughlyequal numbers, and about as many girls as boys leave high school prepared to pursue science andengineering majors in college1 see Figures 1 and 2. Yet fewer women than men pursue thesemajors. Proceedings of the 2013 American Society for Engineering Education Pacific Southwest Conference Copyright © 2013, American Society for Engineering Education 512Figure 1. High School Credits Earned in Mathematics

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Gene Fisher

production-quality software product?Unfortunately, the answer to this question in our case was "No". There are a number of reasonsfor the negative result, which will be examined in the paper. The examination will include con-sideration of whether it is reasonable to have product development as the primary focus of a uni-versity course, or if doing so sacrifices other important pedagogical goals.1. IntroductionWe have offered a year-long capstone course in software engineering since the 2000-01 academicyear. The course was introduced at the same time as our degree major in software engineering,which we currently offer in addition to degrees in Computer Science and Computer Engineering.Our capstone has been the subject of a number of previous reports

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Andrew Siefert; Jonathan Hoy; Keith Christman; Kevin R. Anderson

)  Miscellaneous Mounting Hardware/Electronic Components  Overall cost approximately $200 Proceedings of the 2013 American Society for Engineering Education Pacific Southwest Conference Copyright © 2013, American Society for Engineering Education 571 Figure 1- Completed Maze Robot used in Mechatronics ME 499A novice knowledge of the C programming language is required to be up and running whenworking with the ARDUINO. A valuable reference to this end is given by Margolis9.Course Learning ObjectivesThe learning objectives of the ME 499 course were1. Learn how to design, build, program and test an

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Alex Edgcomb; Frank Vahid

for Engineering Education 562 Figure 1: Binary-to-decimal converter activity allows students to toggle each bit of a binary number with a click and instantly show the decimal value.activities are general enough for any discipline, the benefit to STEM-specific disciplines islimited, particularly in the way of feedback to the student.Interactive Web ActivitiesInteractive web activities teach a concept via exploring and tinkering. The interactive elementsare visually easy to identify using standard web interactive elements, such as shadowed buttons.The activities give instant feedback to the student

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Anne Beug; Phillip L. Nico

604Platform ChoiceWe chose Arduino as our experimental platform to study becauseof its growing popularity with electronics hobbyists [14] and recentintroduction into embedded systems curricula [11] [14]. We found adearth of research on using Arduino to teach introductoryprogramming education. The Arduino platform consists of a set ofmicrocontrollers, a programming language and an IDE. Allcomponents of the platform are open source. The language isbased on the Wiring and Processing [1] languages that were createdto teach core programming and computing concepts throughelectronics and visual arts respectively. Arduino as a language is Figure 1: Arduino microcontrollersyntactically similar to C and Java

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Eniko T. Enikov; Jesus Acosta Iriqui

conduct experiments during thesemester and use the device to complete a term project. In addition to significantly reducing thecost of offering an experimental component, the experimental module provided an opportunity todemonstrate a modern approach towards control systems based on computers (digital control).Description of Hardware ApparatusThe experimental setup consists of a small electric motor driven by a 5 V pulse-width modulated(PWM) signal. The motor is attached to the free end of a light carbon rod, while the other end ofthe rod is connected to the shaft of a low-friction potentiometer. The potentiometer is fixed on aplastic stand at the proper height, so that the pendulum can swing freely (see Fig. 1). A 2-inpropeller (model U-80) is

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Milica Markovic

that integrates new education research with visualization and technology is thecomplete overhaul of introductory physics class at MIT22. The novel approach in this paper is thatthe students write code and directly interact with commercially available software by setting upand solving various assigned problems, instead of using pre-built modules.At CSUS, electromagnetics is a one semester, 4-unit course that students take during their junioryear. It consists of a 3-unit class and 1-unit lab. Class is offered in a hybrid format, with lecturesheld both in the classroom and online through Blackboard's ElluminateLive! software so thatstudents can attend classes remotely. Lectures are also recorded for asynchronous access to class.The class is

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Kurt McMullin; Thalia Anagnos; Jan Hustler; Nancy Thomas

, the IHE partner (Institution of Higher Education)9. Initially, the Project Managementteam was hesitant in their expectations that the project would be able to contribute to this goal.However, as the project evolved, it became evident that the IHE faculty was implementingimproved pedagogical practices in their teaching.To achieve their objectives, the Partnership for Student Success in Science (PS3) worked towardthree goals, targeted primarily at the K-8 schools but related to work at the IHE: 1. Raise the overall science achievement in all PS3 schools and narrow the achievement gap between lower-performing, high-priority schools and their higher performing counterparts. 2. Improve the capacity of pre-service and in-service

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

R. Radharamanan

engineering students. From the sample data analyzed, the students improved and/or mastered19 of the 23 professional skills by the senior year, but lack mastery of skills in ConflictManagement, Creativity/Innovation, Persuasion, and Empathy. Incoming freshmen profileconsists of more males than females with poor Problem-Solving skills. The results obtained fromthe sample data analyzed are presented and discussed.IntroductionThe field of entrepreneurship has been defined as the “study of the sources of opportunities; theprocess of discovery, evaluation, and exploitation of opportunities”1. The entrepreneur has beendescribed as “an innovator or developer who recognizes and seizes opportunities, converts theseopportunities into workable and/or marketable

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2013 GSW

Authors

Musab J. Bari; Samir M. Iqbal

Educationcharacteristics of DUT are then measured before probe tips are manually moved to the nextDUT. The probe is moved manually to make connections and to measure properties of DUT.This requires a lot of human time as the user has to peer through the microscope while trying tofiddle with the dials and knobs on micropositioner to move the probe arm so the it can be placedat the desired location. The automation of micropositioners of the probe arm has allowed a greatincrease in the efficiency of the test procedures. Figure 1. Singatone H150 probe station modified with automated probes. Setup A typical probe station houses a stage with a microscope that allows magnified viewingof the DUT. For this

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2013 GSW

Authors

Ronald E. Barr

Saturday Morning Session 1- Faculty Preparing for an ABET Accreditation Visit Ronald E. Barr Mechanical Engineering Department University of Texas at Austin AbstractEngineering faculty must prepare for an ABET accreditation visit every six years. Since theABET process involves demonstration of continuous assessment and improvement, one musthave a plan that begins the process several years before the visit. Many faculty struggle todetermine the best way to prepare for ABET. This is due, in part, to both the complexity

Collection

2013 GSW

Authors

Jonathan Crosley; Vincent Ricketts; Amit Oza; Bernd Chudoba

Saturday Morning Session 1- Student Design Innovation for Electric Aircraft Jonathan Crosley, Vincent Ricketts, Amit Oza, Bernd Chudoba Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department University of Texas at Arlington AbstractIn spring 2012 the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) aerospace engineering senior designcapstone class was challenged to design an electric experimental aircraft that adopts the Spirit ofthe Spirit of St Louis. The mission for this next-generation electric aircraft is to fly along thehistoric Route 66. The spirit of this modern

Collection

2013 GSW

Authors

Raj Desai

. According to Goldratt2 the first step in the Thinking Process is todevelop a list of at least 10 – 12 undesirable effects (UDE) that currently apply to the problem athand. It is helpful to write the current state in a diagram format. This diagram shows a logicalexplanation of the situation (Figure 1 – Current Reality Tree).In figure 1 the undesirable effects (UDE) of starting the mechanical engineering program wasthat it reduced the enrollment in the existing industrial technology program. Once the enrollmentdropped we had faculty leave, and they were not replaced. Putting courses online helped reversethe trend. However, repeating the same courses too frequently meant that the online studentscould not take new courses. We had to develop a plan to

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2013 GSW

Authors

Oscar N. Garcia; Garima Bajwa; Cynthia L. Claiborne; Shanti R. Thiyagaraja; Mohamed Fazeen; Eric H. Pruett

Friday Afternoon Session 1- Faculty Information Theoretic thread of Compression, Encryption, and Error Control for the Cloud Oscar N. Garcia, Garima Bajwa, Cynthia L. Claiborne, Shanti R. Thiyagaraja, Mohamed Fazeen, Eric H. Pruett Electrical Engineering and Center for Information and Computer Security College of Engineering, University of North Texas AbstractThis paper is based on the theme, topics and experiences of a senior/first-year-graduate verysuccessful new course taught during the Fall of 2012 to an enthusiastic small group of seniorsand graduate

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2013 GSW

Authors

Lex Gonzalez; Gary Coleman; Eric Haney; Amit Oza; Vincent Ricketts; Bernd Chudoba; Paul Czsyz

at the University of Texas Arlington (UTA) in order toprovide a conceptual assessment of architecture/concept of operations/technology combinations.The primary challenge has been the exploration of past, present, and future in-space investmentsin the context of mission performance, mission complexity, and industrial capability.Consequently, this study necessitated the use of a simulation capability to assess and visualizethe physical design drivers and sensitivities of the operational and technical domain.The overall goal of the study has been the development of a system with the capability to transferpayload to and from GEO. To this end the following concepts of operations (ConOp) have beenstudied: direct insertion/reentry (ConOp 1), and

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2013 GSW

Authors

Eric Haney; Lex Gonzalez; Amen Omoragbon; Amit Oza; Bernd Chudoba

Friday Morning Session 1- Student Integrated Engineering Database: A 21st Century Decision Aid Eric Haney, Lex Gonzalez, Amen Omoragbon, Amit Oza, and Bernd Chudoba Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department University of Texas at Arlington AbstractThe exponentially increasing amount of information accumulated from past and currentengineering projects has created an environment where retaining and utilizing existingknowledge is paramount. The modern engineer is tasked with leveraging the intellectual andfinancial efforts of legacy projects in order to ensure on-time, on

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2013 GSW

Authors

Eric Haney; Lex Gonzalez; Amen Omoragbon; Thomas McCall; Xiao Peng; Vincent Ricketts; Jon Crosley; Bernd Chudoba

minimum complexity space system intended to put one man in spaceorbit for a limited amount of time. The system comprised of a (1) rocket launcher, and (2) re-entry capsule, both of which heavily leveraged on existing technical and industrial capabilityavailable at the time of design. Mercury was in direct competition at the time of actualengineering to the Soviet Vostok system, which is assessed here in parallel as a reference and forcompetition analysis purposes.Figure 1. Reference Mission for Project Mercury [1]The following is a direct excerpt from the Congressional Panel for Manned Space Flight inOctober of 1958, directly before the official start of Project Mercury. Sections have beenselected here that effectively locked the mission and the