relationship has evolved over six years andcontinues to be a vital part of both the school’s success and provide further insight into researchbased approaches to elementary integrated STEM using engineering. Page 25.260.5 Samples of Student Work STEM NotebooksKindergarten: Designing igloos Page 25.260.6Second grade: Reflection after engineering activity Page 25.260.7Third Grade: Design processKindergarten: Use the materials available to build a town
,PBL is open-ended and contextualized, and student learning is driven by the problem itself.Research shows that compared to traditional lecture-based instruction, PBL improves students’understanding and retention of ideas, critical thinking and problem-solving skills, motivation andlearning engagement, and the ability to adapt learning to new situations – skills deemed criticalto lifelong learning9 - 15.With PBL, students learn the process of learning in addition to course content by engaging in asystematic and reflective process that begins with problem analysis, whereby small teams ofstudents work collaboratively to dissect a problem, identifying what is known, what needs to belearned, situational constraints that might apply, and other
experience at a level at which they are capable with supportstructure provided by instructional staff that students may apply and reflect upon with theirteammates and classmates. The layers and learning activities that exist within a term-lengthproject-based learning environment also present adequate opportunities to address learningobjectives at many levels5. Scaffolding does not have to be comprised solely of direct instructorinteraction; in the cornerstone laboratory, scaffolding may take the form of texts, handouts,guides, diagrams, slides, notes, kitted equipment, a controlled work or laboratory environment,prepared data collection tools and equipment, prescribed, limited analysis tools and approaches,an introductory setting with instructor
pre and posttest, displayed in Appendix A, was administered to the participating studentsimmediately before instruction, with the posttest done within a few hours after the lesson due toscheduling. This was used to gauge student knowledge, but does not reflect attitude. Poor performanceof the pretests was anticipated, as the students were unlikely to have had prior exposure to thepresented concepts. The average pretest score for the sampled classes was 20, whereas the posttest was64 (standard deviation ~20 points for both). Most critical was the understanding of power beinggenerated by generators and not simply existing by flipping a switch, which is reflected in question 2.This targeted question of power generation was answered as a 2:1
common assumption of a positive interest rate,money grows to a larger value as it moves forward in time and shrinks as it moves back in time.This is reflected in the (P/F,i,N) and (F/P,i,N) factors which are generally introduced when discussingthe notion of interest. As these serve as the basis for all other factors, they are the only factorsthat need to be explicitly covered in classroom material. Once understood, the mechanics ofmoving money through time can be easily illustrated on a spreadsheet, without the use of factors.Furthermore, this author would argue that one can build intuition merely by working lots ofproblems – even if the actual calculations are performed on a spreadsheet. In terms of intuition,an engineer that can build
specialized stabilized 3-phase power supply.Future activities planned for summer and fall 2012 will concentrate on integration of SELmicroprocessor-based relays with lab subsystems and deployment of synchrophasor technology. Page 25.956.8Educational importance and student feedbackDuring the course of the work on the senior design projects using joint Smart Grid laboratory,students reflected on their educational experience: This project offers a deep understanding of how the micro-grid works, by providing educational knowledge through a theoretical approach, as well as hands on approach working with the equipment directly. This
. Then we either derive or write out the equation,maybe do an example, and finally students answer conceptual questions and/or solve problems.What is missing is the piece where students reflect on the meaning of the equations. Redish4 Page 25.477.2suggests that we need to “find activities that help our students build knowledge intointuitions/understanding.” This is what we are trying to achieve through having students writeequations in their own words. Our hypothesis is that by giving the students continuous practice inwriting they will gain conceptual understanding that will be reflected in their problem solving.MethodologyWe are conducting
well as teachesstudents professional skills and technical content 5,14. These professional skills include:communication (written, verbal, presentation), organization and time management, research andinquiry, self-assessment and reflection, group participation and leadership skills 14,15.With guidance from some of the most respected leaders in engineering education, a new model,Iron Range Engineering (IRE), has been developed to utilize industry-based PBL for design,outcome-based assessment, just-in-time interventions, self-directed learning, and emphasis onreflection 16. This new model for engineering education has been funded and began delivery inJanuary 2010. This model is a complete PBL program in which students work with industry ondesign
videos, and web resources. Andthen, they reflect on their understanding of main concepts by trying out a reading quiz that hasbeen revised to focus on main concepts of the week. When they complete the reading quiz with100% success, the access to an assignment is released. The second part of learning materialssuch as instructor’s notes about important points, problem-solving demonstration videos, andpublisher’s resources is tied into a problem-solving activity through an assignment inBlackboardTM. When students achieve at least 50% of success on the assignment, the access to aweekly test is released. The 50% success on the weekly assignment is determined so that amoderate level of understanding is accomplished without making it prohibitive for
Page 25.1039.3continually return”[14]. Statements about aims naturally reflect the belief and value systems ofthose that make them so it is not to be expected that there will be a set of aims that will satisfy alloutcomes even within the education of engineers [15]. But this does not deny the importance oftrying to formulate aims because to cite Noddings again “we need to talk about aims becauseaims provide criteria by which we judge our choices of goals, objectives, and subject content.” Ifwe change the direction of the discussion such that developing aims is “directed (moregenerally) at the larger society and its policies” then “as we ask deeper questions about ouraims- why are we doing X? – we uncover new problems and new possibilities for
they are a typical workplace writing task, but research rarely explicitly addresses howwriting tips reflect what practitioners actually write. Some instructors have substantialexperience in industry, but others do not.As Donnell, Aller, Alley, and Kedrowicz have argued, a much-needed step in improvinginstruction concerns determining the specific characteristics of successful engineeringcommunication for different settings, whether in academia or industry. 9 They warn about thedifficulties of interpreting what is said by managers in surveys. A more direct route tounderstanding the features of workplace writing is to study the writing itself. We therefore haveundertaken a project to collect writing from numerous civil engineering firms and
, rural, and minority communities. Family Math and Family Science offerpublications and program delivery in both English and Spanish to assist in reaching diverseaudiences.In its report Changing the Conversation: Messages for Improving Public Understanding ofEngineering9, the National Academy of Engineering concluded the public image ofengineering needed to reflect the optimism and aspirations of students and needed to beinclusive. Some common misconceptions include: (1) engineering work is a sedentary deskjob, (2) engineering is strongly linked to math and science, but not to other vital aspects, suchas creativity, teamwork, and communication, and (3) engineers are not seen as directly helpingpeople. NAE observed that many kids want a well
oftenhave college-educated parents who can help them navigate the transition into university.Regardless of this apparent advantage, our experience is that Honors students too often leavewithout completing an engineering degree. Thus HEP students, just like their PROMEScounterparts, benefit from participation in a community of peers and supportive faculty and staffirrespective of family support or financial circumstances. Page 25.749.2 Participation in both of these communities is voluntary and therefore one might argue that anydifferences in outcomes for participating students are a reflection of self-selection. Our dataindicate that there is no
during andat the end of project, and hidden costs associated with building green. Page 25.810.5In additional to the project management challenges, awareness about sustainability is lackingamong the general public as well as the practitioners. In a survey12 conducted to exploreawareness about sustainability, out of a sample of 693 Saudi Arabian Engineers, 52.2% of theparticipants were not aware of the issue of sustainability and had not heard of the term before.However, more than 70% of the participants agreed that sustainable housing will save energyand will reduce the bills 12. This further reflects the limited availability of local expertise
; despite enrolling in a sustainability-themed first-year program, theyproved susceptible to the belief that an overemphasis on sustainability might prove detrimental totheir overall learning.Student feedback also reflected positively on the extracurricular activities hosted during the firsthalf of the academic year. These included a welcome cookout, field trips to nearby state parksand other wilderness areas, weekly faculty-student lunches, decision-making meetings and guestpresentations at Blumberg Residence Hall, and participation in the campus Day of Service. Topromote community involvement and professional development in sustainability, several HEREstudents and faculty attended a local Greentown conference where speakers and workshopsfocused
. This is due to the emphasis onearly prototyping, quick feedback and incremental development. It still might not be thefavorable method for use in large scale industrial development projects where formalprocedures might still be preferred, but the pedagogical advantages in mechatronics educationare valuable. Incremental development and rapid prototyping for example gives manyopportunities to reflect and improve. The Scrum focus on self-organizing teams also providesa platform to practice project organization, by empowering students to take responsibility forthe product development process.Among the results of this study, it is shown that it is possible and favorable to integrate Scrumin a mechatronics capstone course and that this can enhance
. The more ways we find toprocess information the stronger learning (i.e., neural connections between brain cells) becomes.Research is proving that to enhance learning, we should be involving students in lessons by Page 25.469.2providing a non-threatening environment which allows them time to ask questions, seek solutions,reflect, share thinking about a theme or topic, and respond to other's viewpoints.In short, as teachers, we need to be able to accomplish learning by doing. Action helps to growthe brain. The real value of subject matter can be heightened for students through activitiesthat combine the classroom instructional context with real
their instruments publicly available9, 17. In addition, one of the authors of the paperhas access to an instrument from a similar study by having worked as part of the research teamthat conducted that study2. Given the advances in technology, only the overall design of thesurvey was replicated but the exact questions were changed to reflect newer technologies. Surveyquestions were based on a Likert Scale and coded so that positive outcomes were represented byhigher response values. Two separate groups of students participated in the survey which washosted on a commercial survey-hosting website which the host university maintains a license.The survey was administered on two separate occasions, once in April 2010 and then again inMay 2010. In
Observation constructive feedback to other student teachers, receive constructive feedback on your own teaching, reflect on how you can use the feedback you receive to improve your teaching.The first one-hour session begins with an introduction to The TEAK Project and motivation forthe overall workshop. Participants are given time during the session to consider what topic theywould like to address for their 15 minute microteaching exercise, as well as who their targetaudience will be. Depending on the workshop participants, the target audience may range fromelementary school students (for participants who will be teaching at summer camps or outreachprograms) to college students (for
are quite similar to mind maps8, though the context of application is different.Mind mapping activities are often done during discovery, where one is trying to understand anew domain. As examples, students may create a mind map to diagram comprehension ofreading a textbook chapter, or business analysts might create a mind map as part of an ideageneration or business modeling activity during requirements elicitation. Concept mapping, atleast in our context, is an activity that attempts to reflect the structural aspects of a student’sevolving conceptual understanding. Note in this description that we do not say that concept mapsthemselves are an assessment of any kind; indeed they can be interpreted in many ways. Forinstance, student teams
communication skills), accounted for11.49% of the variance.A similar factor analysis procedure conducted with only Senior Design students resulted in thesame factor components and structure; therefore, mean factors scores were also calculated forSenior Design students on each of the 4 factors. Because Senior Design students were all 4th or5th year students (while Enterprise participants included freshman through seniors), differencesin factor scores between Senior Design and Enterprise students (seniors only) were examinedwith ANOVA. Table 1 provides the mean factor scores for senior-standing Enterprise andSenior Design students across the four factors (6 point scale, ranging from -3 to +3, withnegative numbers reflecting disagreement that program
developed the Academic Self-Efficacy Scaleand the Professional Self-Efficacy Scale. The Likert survey responses were used to generate thesemi-structured interview protocol to more fully investigate the impact of their participation ontheir perception of engineering.Two areas of particular interest are: 1) what professional skills were gained as a result ofparticipating, and 2) the impact of CDS on persistence to pursue engineering professionally. Allparticipants were interviewed to gain a deeper understanding of their survey responses. Closeexamination of their surveys and interviews may provide a key to motivating more youngwomen to persist in engineering as a career.The construct of perceived Self-Efficacy reflects an optimistic self-belief15
about orthographic projection. Studentsurveys and classroom observations were recorded by the teachers.High levels of student motivation were observed during both phases and the studentsevidenced a clear understanding of the picture plane and its relationship with perspectivedrawings. The paper also reports that a number of ergonomic improvements which weremade to the sketching equipment (subsequent to ‘Phase One’) were beneficial and that theseenabled more controlled and reflective exploration of complex geometries. The manner inwhich students completed the activity during both phases of the study varied. Some studentsperformed the exercise in a slow, controlled and reflective manner, resulting in sketcheswhich were precise, with significant
instructors and students, or of the leaders of such influential bodies as ABET, theNational Academy of Engineering, or the American Society for Engineering Education, are not Page 25.1348.2in question. We cannot presume to know what any individual thinks without asking her or him,nor whether the pronouncements one might make in a professional capacity reflect one's ownbeliefs. Instead, this paper considers how the formal expression of professional aims embodied inABET's accreditation criteria, in university engineering department documents, and in writing onthose criteria by educators, helps to promote certain, ideologically narrowed approaches
to determine the oral presentation grade. Near the completion of the course, the attributes and characteristics sheets originally prepared and submitted by each student, but now including all of the comments from their group members evaluating the student‟s performance as PM, are complied and given back to the students. Therefore, at the conclusion of the course, students have a clear record of their individual performance as PMs as measured against their own initial list of the attributes and characteristics of a ‘good’ PM. This seems to be an extremely effective summary document as part of this approach to introducing, stressing and measuring project management performance.Student Reflections
impact the lean tools can bring about. Consequently, lean simulation games havegained a special role in training workshops and educational programs of lean manufacturing.A lean simulation game typically contains a series of operations that reflect real-world tasks ofwork. In a simulation, several phases of lean implementation are carried out step by step todemonstrate the impact of lean. The simplified tasks allow the participants to learn the leanconcepts and skills in a reasonably short time. Many lean simulation games have been developedin the past. Verma5 reviewed 17 popular lean simulation games, such as the TimeWiseSimulation of the Lean 101 training program, Aircraft Simulation developed by Lean AerospaceInitiative (LAI), and some games
STEM professionals.The 2006 report, Investing in America’s Future 12 , discussed the need to develop collaborationsbetween engineers and K-12 educators to provide authentic opportunities to build scientific andtechnological knowledge. RU RET-E aimed to provide such an opportunity by immersingteachers in engineering research during the six week summer program. Approximately 80% ofteachers’ time was spent in the research component.A review of adult learning theories5,6 suggests recognizing adult learners as experiencedindividuals who have valued knowledge, utilizing experience as a learning tool, promotinglearning through reflection and inquiry, and providing situated learning contexts. As such, RURET-E provides opportunity for teachers to share
concrete gravity systems, an understanding oftimber, steel and concrete lateral systems, structural material finishes and connections, tallbuildings, long span structures, cladding and deep and shallow foundation systems.These course learning outcomes and outlines reflect a rigorous architectural engineeringapproach that the ARCE faculty believes is appropriate for the course. However the classes havetypically also included content and approaches intended to both inspire the ARCH and CMstudents and provide skills specific to their future careers. This is reflected in the methodologiesused by individual instructors.Methodologies. Several types of classroom methodologies have been used by instructors. Allhave been successful in meeting the learning
the tablets with them at the end of class. A graduate student wasassigned to support the instructors with the software and technology during the first few weeksof the semester. The five instructors had varying titles and levels of teaching experience, whichare summarized in Table 1.As is reflected in Table 1, there were two graduate teaching fellows or graduate students whohad the appropriate background in probability and statistics to teach the course. These studentshad expressed an interest in learning how to teach at the college level. Both had taught thiscourse in the previous semester. There were two adjunct or part-time teaching faculty who taughtthe course. One had three years of experience and had previously taught this course four
incorporated international or liberal artscourses into their curriculum. Lastly, participation in RSAP also impacted future career goalsand broader ideas about what it means to be a ‘global engineer’. As one student explained, “themain thing I’ve noticed [after the program] is I have considered more employment abroad…Iwould not have done that otherwise.” Students also expressed a strong awareness of the globalaspects of engineering as they reflected on their disciplines. As one student described, “it’s justanother day in the office when you are talking to people in India and getting items fromShanghai. You definitely need to be open to it and know not to be afraid to interact with othercultures…you just never when it’s going to pop up, you just have