narratives. This study has potential for broad systemic impact bydiversifying pathways to and through engineering programs.During Year 1 (2014-2015) of the grant, we interviewed 23 key informants at our institutions.Key informants include professionals supporting veterans in student veteran success centers,financial aid, advising offices, and other student support services. We identified themes thatshape student veteran experiences on these campuses: the presence/absence of key studentpolicies and services; and gaps in the provision of such services. At each institution, there hasbeen a heightened emphasis on improving services for veterans.In Year 2 (2015-2016), we conducted five focus groups with a total of 21 student veteransengineering students
entry in a public college andtheir exit from the college system up to 6 years after their entry. We supplement this dataset withadditional administrative data from Missouri High School system, as well as with informationfrom the Census Bureau and the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) Common Core.Therefore, the resulting data set provides a comprehensive look at the experiences of students inMissouri from high school through postsecondary education. The resulting dataset includesapproximately 156,000 individual students. We present summary statistics in Table 1.Approximately 55% of the sample is female, 9% black, 2% Hispanic, and 2% Asian.Table 1: Sample Summary Statistics
population to their communities and empower them asemerging researchers through the adoption of cyber physical systems (CPS) technologies,together with qualitative research methods. In short, youth can begin to question and engagewith their environment in a self-directed way. The technology that allows this to happen is therecently developed Sensors in a Shoebox urban sensing kit, a simplified, modular version ofstructural sensing technology. The kit consists of user-friendly, ruggedized sensors that can beinstalled in urban environments to allow communities to measure the world around them,including environmental parameters, noise, vibrations, and motion (Figure 1). These sensors aremodular, allowing them to be adapted for particular uses, such as
American. The students represented a number ofengineering disciplines, such as Mechanical, Civil, Electrical, Chemical, Industrial, Biomedical,Environmental. The interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis of 39 with a focus on themajor selection process.ResultsResearch findings indicate that women are more likely than men to choose Chemicalengineering, whereas Hispanic/Latino students are more likely to choose Electrical or Industrialengineering versus other majors, all else equal. African American students are more likely to choose Chemical or Electrical engineering compared to other majors. Table 1 summarizes the logit regression results. Table 1. Likelihood of Entering Civil, Chemical, Electrical, Industrial, or Mechanical Engineering
Conference, Austin, TX, June.6. Hirsch, L. S., Perna, A. J., Carpinelli, J. D. and Kimmel, H. (2011). “The Effect Undergraduate Research Programs have on Engineering Students’ Attitudes toward Graduate Studies”, Proceedings of the 2011 International Conference on Engineering Education, Belfast, Northern Ireland, August.7. Hirsch, L. S., Perna, A. J., Carpinelli, J. D. and Kimmel, H. (2012). “The Effectiveness of Undergraduate Research Programs: A Follow-up Study”, Proceedings 2012 ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Seattle, WA, June.8. Zhan, W. (2014). “Research Experience for Undergraduate Students and Its Impact on STEM Education”, Journal of STEM Education, 15 (1), pp. 32-38.9. American Chemical Society, retrieved
team of hearing and DHH members includesinstructors in statistics/math, game design instructors with a specialization in educational games,tutors, students, visual learning specialists and American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters.Core objectives include 1) develop a pilot collection of SOLTs and 2) test the efficacy of thesevideos. Along the way, a third objective has emerged: Embed the SOLTs into an interactiveweb-based experience in which students can obtain, describe, and make inferences from sampleswithin a relevant and appropriate context.In the first year of this exploratory project, statistical concepts were selected using multiple datasources and encompass concepts that are built upon throughout the introductory statistics course.The
applications, including surface enhanced Raman scattering and anti-fouling surfaces. He also develops nanotechnol- ogy based lessons that integrate the STEM disciplines and develops human centered design projects that engage students in engineering. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2017 The Effects of Design Thinking Methods on Pre-Service PK-12 Engineering and STEM Teacher Capabilities, Confidence and Motivation in Creativity (Work in Progress)Rationale and BackgroundCreativity is an essential habit of mind for engineers and inherent in the engineering designprocess.1 Creative thinking in design is a focus of engineering education and K-12 engineeringand technology
Approach to Robotics in EducationRobotics content can support a host of educational outcomes including electronics,programming, problem-solving, and design thinking 1. The growing number of robotics toolsfurther enables their use for education: Arduino, Raspberry Pi, LEGO Mindstorms,Fischertechniks, and new crowd-funded options are surrounded by educational tutorials andcontent. In general, robotics activities are diverse and provide solutions to many instructionalneeds. Soft robots are made from soft, deformable gels, liquids, or polymers2 and represent anemerging type of robotics design. We believe soft robotics may enhance student interest andconfidence for STEM to a greater degree than traditional “hard” robotics, made from wood ormetal
pleasedto note that many lively conversations occurred in planned breaks and social events we hadincluded on the program, with shifting perspectives and new collaborations emerging for manyof the participants along the way. In this paper, we report only on the formally structured aspectsof the event. We developed five threads (themes); all components of the conference schedule(including pre-conference communication and during-conference activities) were aligned withthese threads. The five threads were informed by the theory-methods-research questions triangle(figure 1) along with Booth, Colomb, and Williams’s (2008) innovation cycle of educationalresearch and practice (figure 2).Conference threads: 1. What theories inform your work? 2. What
of careers graduates pursue.We begin with the goal of effectively employing the Threshold Concepts Framework to identifytransformative targets for curricular revisions. Our first step in approaching the RED grant fromthe perspective of curriculum develop includes a literature review that both systematicallycanvases existing resources and summarizes and synthesizes themes that enable us to answer thefollowing questions: 1. What research findings have been reported about threshold concepts across disciplines, in the field of engineering, and in electrical engineering, computer engineering, and computer science? 2. What are the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the threshold concepts framework, both in theory and
involved with district-wide initiatives including technology integration, Just In Time Assessments, curriculum pacing guides, and implementation of a research based, hands-on science and engineering curriculum. Mia has also worked closely with FOSS as a professional development facilitator. She also worked with Project WET at the University of Arizona Maricopa County Cooperative Extension as a curriculum developer and professional development faciltator. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2017 Investigating Peer Observers' Perspectives on Middle School Engineering Designers' Communication Challenges (Work in Progress) Author 1, Institution
Education, 2017 High School Science Teachers’ Views of Nature of Engineering and Application of Engineering Design Practices (Work In Progress) Engineering education in K-12 keeps growing as one of the dominant nationaleducational agendas. Although there is some attempt to expand student interest in engineeringcareers, enrollment in engineering programs is low 1, 2,3 . Engineering education in US highschools is important for developing engineering literacy and attracting student passion inengineering careers. Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) underscores the importance ofengineering education in science classrooms 4. In addition, National Academy of Sciences(NAS), National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and Institute of
, 2.5 times greater than the proportion in 2012.Persistence of underrepresented minorities has increased from 29% for those entering in 2011 to50% for those entering in 2013 or after. Unfortunately, total enrollment of underrepresentedminorities has not grown. The recruitment of underrepresented students has proven morechallenging than their retention. Future work will focus on recruitment, including outreach to localhigh schools and the development of bridge and/or transfer programs.IntroductionThe National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, andMathematics (S-STEM) program funds scholarships and support systems for undergraduate STEMstudents demonstrating academic talent and financial need.1 In 2012
electronics is an enabling technology for the smart power system, the smart grid [1]. Powerelectronics studies efficient conversion of electric power from one form to another (e.g., DC toAC). It has applications in a wide-range of areas, from the tiny battery charger in a cell phone tothe small inverter in a solar renewable system [2] to the enormous converters in an HVDCconverter station. Therefore, it is imperative for students who seek employment in the powerindustry to understand the underlying concepts of power electronics. However, students oftenstruggle in understanding power electronics concepts. Increasing this understanding is what thiswork addresses.Power electronics is typically taught as a senior-level course (EE 486 at WSU). It is
transit, into the urban transportation system. This activitydemonstrates a process used by transportation engineers to study the feasibility of retrofitting anurban street with a bike lane. The activity proposed in this paper is different from existingtransportation-related outreach in three main ways: 1) The traffic simulation model can be customized to study a local street that is familiar to high school students participating in the activity. 2) The learning outcomes extend beyond data-driven decision making. The activity highlights the role of engineers in shaping communities and the importance of public engagement. 3) The activity provides a glimpse of a fully automated driving environment to students.A review of the
teacher programs [1].Additionally AILDI was cited in a study by the U.S. Department of Education as one of the tenoutstanding programs for minority teacher preparation in the nation [2]. Pre-college teachers andcommunity college faculty from Native American-serving institutions are recruited to experienceoptical engineering research and learn about techniques to transmit their research knowledge totheir students using innovative methods. Participants take part in AILDI classes tied to scienceeducation, basic optics lessons in the Optics Research Workshop (ORW), a tribal scienceeducation workshop led by Professor Gregory Cajete [3], and a research project facilitated byesteemed UA research faculty. They are given the opportunity to develop their
available to the localcommunity for 3D printing and scanning services. Youth who work in the print shop have theopportunity to 1) develop and maintain technical skills; 2) hone “design thinking” skills throughreal-world problem solving; and 3) develop important soft skills (including working with aclient, creating and sticking to a project timeline, and professionalism).Our research is investigating many areas of maker and design thinking, the impact of maker jobs,and how to establish and maintain a community 3D print shop. This print shop has been designedto be a living laboratory to evaluate commercial and research software for 3D modeling,scanning, and fabrication software with youth performing real-world tasks.Related Work3D Printing and
biweeklyworkshops followed by a semester of six biweekly mentor-supported, disciplinary community-of-practice (CoP) classroom implementation biweekly discussions.In the earlier JTF collaborative project seven materials science faculty participated in theprogramoverafour-yearperiod.Theguidingprinciplesoftheprojectwerebasedontheresearch findings described in the book, How People Learn (HPL).4 The book describedhow cognitive processes act to achieve learning through conceptual change. For moreeffective learning, instructors need to: 1) elicit students' prior knowledge to informinstruction;2)engagestudentstopromoteconceptualchangesotheycanconstructdeepknowledgeorganizedinaconceptualframework;and3
USF, chemical and civil/environmental engineers at ASU, andelectrical/computer engineers at AAMU. Our research questions were: 1) Are there differences in achievement level for various demographic groups when using blended versus flipped instruction for numerical methods coursework at various undergraduate institutions? 2) Do students’ perceptions of the learning environment differ with blended versus flipped instruction in numerical methods coursework at various undergraduate institutions? 3) What do students perceive as the benefits and drawbacks of flipped instruction with numerical methods coursework?By addressing these questions, our goal is to develop recommended practices for teachingnumerical methods and
), with theknowledge and skills to equip their students to become part of a technologically adept workforceas well as informed designers and users of sustainable products. The objectives are: 1) To enhance teacher quality and proficiency in teaching highschool science, 2) To increase the number and diversity of students who study STEM (science,technology, engineering and math) in high school and college and choose STEM-related careersand 3) To equip participating teachers to share their knowledge and innovative, science-basedcurricula within their districts and with a broader, national community of high school STEMteachers. Our rationale for proposing this project is that there is high demand for a scientificallyliterate workforce
with the STEP 1B Engineering Grant hadspecific objectives supporting these goals. They were: (1) develop and maintain an effectiveliaison between BRCC and LSU; (2) utilize scholars in a peer ambassador program facilitatingtransfer success; (3) establish a pre-transfer academic counseling program; (4) expand existingseminars to orient and integrate BRCC and other transfer students into LSU and (5) invite BRCCmath, science and engineering faculty to participate in ongoing Faculty Development.Activities of the program included outreach, professional development, advising, and developingan overall assessment tool. All scholars participated in outreach activities that consisted of Peer-to-Peer talks at BRCC each semester and Shadow Days at LSU for
workforce, and data hasshown that a disproportionate number of women leave the field after only a few years 1. Otherstudies have presented data that supports the hypothesis that girls lose interest in mathematicsand science between grades 6 through 8, due to a lack of support and available female rolemodels 2. Young women entering these fields at college have been shown to benefit frommentoring and collaboration efforts, which help them become strong problem solvers and gainthe confidence needed to succeed and remain in the workforce.This paper details the initial observations of a weekly discussion group of young women in thesciences and engineering. Participants were from a single small campus affiliated with a majoruniversity (Penn State Greater
any suboptimal solution. Once thecase study was developed, the engineering team was given an opportunity to review it foraccuracy and verify its depiction of cognitive barriers in the project.Development of case study These engineers also shared with us BeltLine master plans and documentation packetsthat had been submitted as documentation for several of the Envision credits. These resourceswere used to write a six-page case study about the Historic Fourth Ward Park (included inAppendix 1) to be used as the basis of our Envision teaching module. The case study places students in the role of a project designer during the park’sconceptual phase, and presents context and detailed information about the needs, requirements,and
course participants and the replacement ofwritten instructions with video demonstrations showing how to make the best use of the items inthe physical kit.IntroductionOnline learning is a critical component of higher education in the United States. Allen et. al,operating on behalf of the Sloan Consortium and the Babson Survey Research Group, have beenmonitoring statistics of online education enrollment in the US and producing yearly reports ontheir findings for over a decade [1]. Per their most recent report, as of fall 2014, about 14% of allstudents in higher education in the US, or a total of over 2.8 million students, were takingexclusively distance education courses. A slightly higher number were taking some, but not all,of their higher
same span of time. Much of the interdisciplinary collaboration between majors hashad a significant impact on such. Majors that wouldn’t normal collaborate such as graphic design andelectrical/computer engineering have shown to have had some of the most impressive outcomes in terms ofend design and function. Below are a few photos of the exhibits as they have progressed from year to year toget a conceptual idea of the final product(s), so the reader will have context in which to understand theassessment pieces.Figure 1. Photo of the project in 2011Figure 2. Photo of the project in 2013Figure 3. Photo of the project in 2014Figure 4. Photo of the project in 2016Figure 5. Photo of audience iPad control system (early design phases in Xcode
interest-based framework forengineering challenges. The participants of our activity were between 9-14 years of age andqualified for free or reduced lunch. We recruited them to engage in our engineering activity froma 5-week summer camp focused on positive youth development by engaging students in anumber of physical (i.e., swimming, judo, and basketball) and learning (i.e., videography,financial literacy) activities.The research questions for this study relate to how engagement in these interest-basedengineering challenges: (1) influence students’ perceptions of engineering; (2) appeal tostudents’ diverse interests; and (3) meet intended learning outcomes related to the engineeringdesign process.Conceptual FrameworkThe activities administered as
approach were not mandatory, one of our mainresearch questions centered on whether the students were in fact using them and whether theyviewed the progress reports as stepping-stones. Individual student interviews were thereforeconducted to assess students’ use of and perspectives towards the progress reports and build-as-you-go approach. The assessment analyst talked with individual students during scheduled classmeetings between October and November in the semester. Approximately 30% of the enrolledstudents were interviewed. The following questions in Table 1 were posed to the students: Table 1: Student Interview Questions 1 Do you feel you are using the progress reports as a stepping-stone
students in research groups. This paper presents a user-oriented approach to building a community of ethicseducators in graduate engineering education. We begin the paper by reporting our “userstudy” of engineering faculty’s current approaches, challenges, and needs for teachingethics to graduate students at a large, public research university. Findings of the userstudy guided our design of a workshop on “Ethical Literacy and Ethical DataManagement” that helped engineering faculty members develop conceptualunderstanding and instructional skills for teaching ethical inquiry that are related toparticular areas of engineering research. Design of the workshop sought to meet three objectives: 1) helping participatingfaculty members develop basic
necessitates the development ofonline courses that can allow for the flexibility and convenience these distance learning experiencescan offer, which also can help broaden the participation in engineering education. Thermodynamics isamong the most difficult engineering subjects to teach, 1, 2 especially online, where instructors areunable to demonstrate the overwhelming number of equations and applications as they would in face-to-face lectures. 3,4. This paper describes the design and development of an undergraduate onlinethermodynamics class. It also reports the students’ learning experience with thermodynamics in anonline environment, students’ feedback on the online course, and students’ responses as to whatworked in this particular online course.2
makerspace is shownin Figure 1, and the Greenhouse now exists within the upper left quadrant of the space. The newGreenhouse includes an 80” touchscreen (highlighted in green), movable tables, chairs, andwhiteboards, as well as fixed whiteboards, cork boards, and open storage with light prototypingmaterials. The previous Greenhouse created a scaffolding of community and student events thatis crucial to the structure of the makerspace today.Two staff positions run the operations of the makerspace: a manager and assistant manager.Primary responsibilities of the manager include operations, budget, payroll, hiring, policy andprogram development, outreach, and assessment of the space. Outreach programs includepartnership with the school’s K-12 STEM