Conference Session

New Program/Course Success Stories

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Josh Humphries; David Radcliffe

typically involves experimentation, simulation or an industry-based investigation. Itis undertaken individually and is usually worth a quarter of the credit for the year. In addition,senior students typically undertake a team based capstone design project, also worth one quarterof the credit for the year. Unlike their peers in the humanities and the social sciences,engineering students do not normally have a course on “research methods”. Rather, preparationfor undertaking a research thesis is assumed to accumulate from their exposure to researchmethods in laboratory classes (experimental and computer based) throughout their degreeprogram. This can be considered a shortcoming as we become more intentional about developingthe research capabilities of

Conference Session

Assessment Issues II

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Ramon Vasquez; Anand Sharma

led to thedevelopment of assessment tools and strategies package. These were adopted for common useby all programs with each one at liberty to modify or be selective about the recommendedmethods or tools. The package contained an outcomes assessment matrix, an assessmentstrategies matrix, and various custom-designed assessment forms for integrating ethics, oral andwritten reports, teamwork, peer evaluation, course/project evaluations, exit survey, alumnisurvey, employer survey, and internships. Felder and Brent11 have also reported on a strategy forintegrating program-level and course-level activities to fulfill the ABET criteria.Principal Drivers for ChangePeggy L. Maki12, Director of Assessment, AAHE, stated, “All too frequently higher

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Wesley Bliven; Elizabeth Eschenbach

answer.ObservationsThis section will first present the feedback we have received from the participants on theirexperience in our class. The lessons we have learned in teaching will be explained.Teacher/participants Attitudes and FeedbackFeedback from teachers rate the Mechanical Dissection as one their favorite aspects of theRedwood Science Institute. Many teachers gain confidence in their ability to use tools and theirdiagnostic abilities. We have received testimonials from teachers that use mechanical dissectionin their classes ranging from 2nd grade to 8th grade. Teachers say the activity provides anotherapproach for students to learn, as some students are not able to focus on reading and writing, butbecome extremely focused when dissecting their device

Conference Session

Unique Courses & Services for Freshmen

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Audeen Fentiman; John Demel; Richard Freuler

different varieties of trees.Figure 2. The 2002 FEH Robot Final Competition.In addition to the design/build/document project experience, FEH students can read and createsketches and CAD drawings, write computer programs in C/C++ and MATLAB, and go into alab and take and analyze experimental data.When the students interview with companies as they seek co-op or internship appointments, theyare encouraged to take their final report and project notebook to the interview so that they candiscuss what they have accomplished in a team project. Most interviewers are impressed that a Page 9.271.6 Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Peter Wiesner; Karen Miu

filtering sites on the Webthrough a review process. One drawback of the Scout Reports is that they are issuedonce and not updated.Another approach to vetting websites is provided by an organization called Fields ofKnowledge, which claims that “…robotic keyword searches, popularity gauges, in-housegeeks, paid rankings in search-engine results, and by-chance browsing have gainedalarming leverage upon students' search for knowledge.” This organization urges thatprofessors and other accredited scholars must vet knowledge and asserts that academicauthority is being usurped by “technonauts.”10 Fields of Knowledge provides a Web-based industry-sponsored service called Infography that invites professors, librarians, andother research scholars to write

Conference Session

Improving Teaching & Learning

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Dennis Truax

of peer knowledge, to action-based learning, andfinally to the use of work-integrated learning in which students are asked to reflect on theory interms of their experience.5Integral to this process is an effort to provide a learning experience that meets the educationalneeds of the student from a technical perspective. In fact, this author contends that the laboratorydesign can address several of the accreditation process mandates. Specifically, accreditedprograms must demonstrate that their graduates have: • an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering (ABET Criterion 3a), • an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as analyze and interpret data (ABET Criterion 3b

Conference Session

Retention: Keeping the Women Students

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Rose Marra; Cherith Moore; Mieke Schuurman; Barbara Bogue

academic achievement (e.g. 17) and to career choice (e.g. 21).Literature about the experiences of women in engineering frequently addresses self-efficacy andits related constructs (e.g. confidence, self-esteem). In terms of self-appraisal, a general patternof loss emerges throughout the engineering education. Women enter engineering reporting highlevels of self-confidence and self-esteem 22. Their self-confidence declines precipitously duringthe first year and, although it does begin to elevate, it will never again reach the same heights 10.During this time, women compare themselves unfavorably to their male peers and judgethemselves more harshly than the men judge themselves 23. Women are aware of this andidentify low self-confidence as a major

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Tim Ameel; Ian Harvey; Bruce Gale

course was taught, but it was found that thehomework questions from the book were not well suited to the class, poorly written, inconsistentwith the textbook itself, and structured inconsistently such that it was challenging for students tofeel comfortable with the questions. Thus, during upcoming classes, the instructor hasdetermined to write his own homework problems to complement the text, lectures, and labs.During the last three weeks of the course, design problems were assigned that allowed thestudents to integrate all of their learning to date, instead of homework from the text. The designproblems proved to generate a number of very creative solutions. They were also excellentpreparation for the final exam, which involved a design problem

Conference Session

Assessment & Quality Accredition in Engineering Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

John Rowe; Tim Mulroy

variety of workingenvironments, mostly within England but with a significant number working in other countries.In program documentation, the advantages of placement are celebrated and attempts to quantifythe learning outcomes achieved have been made. However, because of the wide variety ofgeographical and cultural locations, work environments and the faculty lack of day to daycontrol once a student has been placed, it is difficult to write these learning outcomes from anevidence base.In this paper a qualitative approach has been used to illuminate the academic, personal andprofessional development of students resulting from the placement experience, based on theanalysis of semi-structured student interview data. This paper reports upon the

Conference Session

Technological Literacy I

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Paul Predecki; Albert Rosa; George Edwards

, local companiesand non-profits advocates to provide key lectures. Who we invite depends on the Issue. Oneperson we always invited was the Head of freshmen English who reminded students themechanics of how to write good policy papers. There are two teaching assistants assigned perquarter to help with the various duties especially setting up the laboratories and observing in theseminars.V. Course ContentThe following section outlines the content and syllabus for each module. Since the content ofthe first three modules remains mostly constant the following represents what has been deliveredthroughout the various yearly offerings. The Issue module varies greatly and what is describedrepresents a general philosophy of what is typically covered. A

Conference Session

Student Teams & Active Learning

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Jeannie Brown Leonard; Janet Schmidt; Linda Schmidt; Paige Smith

Listener, Fact Seeker, Innovator and GoalDirector). While roles such as these speak to the group process part of the ideally functioningteam, engineering educators have overlooked another set of important team roles. These areroles related to the accomplishment of the engineering project and require specific skills such asdesign (“Design Specialist”), construction ability (“Builder”), report writing (“TechnicalWriter”), or computational expertise (“Number Cruncher”). These roles are distinguishable fromthe group process roles noted above which directly impact group dynamics and harmony.Adoption of specific functional roles by students in teams can impact their subject mattermastery. Unlike the team model typically used in the corporate world that

Conference Session

Women in Engineering: Faculty/Curriculum

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Heidi Diefes-Dux; Brenda Capobianco; Judith Zawojewski; Margret Hjalmarson; P.K. Imbrie; Deborah Follman

-ended survey items) was conducted via open coding15. We marked segments of data by attachingcode words (abbreviation of key words) to those segments, and retrieved all segments identifiedby the same code or by a combination of code words. Examples of codes generated from studentinterview data included “RW-APP” and “PRAC-EXP”. These codes indicated that studentsassociated the MEA’s as providing “real world appeal” or “practical experiences.” We thenorganized and re-organized our segments of coded data into categories. To determine theplausibility of our categories, we employed the process of peer debriefing whereby we consultedwith other members of the research team. These consulting sessions allowed us to uncoverpatterns and emerging themes

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Toshiyuki Yamamoto; Kazuya Takemata; Masakatsu Matsuishi

Copyright ø 2004, American Society for Engineering Educationin groups to tackle an engineering topic relating to daily life. Each group chooses an engineeringtopic related to daily life, defines its domain, and solves problems that may have multiplesolutions. After choosing a topic, the students in a group hold brainstorming sessions, define thedomain of the topic, work on the most optimal solution and its design, refine the design, presentthe results in class, and evaluate each group member’s contribution by peer evaluation. Mostgroup activities go beyond the in-class meeting hours. The following photos are snapshots takenin the study lounge. Students are actively engaged in their projects. Figure 1. Snapshots of Group Activities in the 24-hour

Conference Session

Engineering Education in Muslim Worlds: Introductory Workshop

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Sedki Riad; Mostafa Kamel

.‚ Lecture delivery and testing modes that encourage self-learning and practical problem solving, rather than memorizing notes and solving boilerplate problems.‚ The existence of modern laboratories and workshops and their maintenance.‚ Faculty members and assistants that are in touch with their peers in reputable universities abroad so as to learn about modern trends in curricula development, delivery technologies, student evaluation methodologies and needed supplementary material.‚ Student per class densities that allow meaningful interaction between students and faculty members, as well as actually performing practical experiments rather than watching technicians perform experiments.‚ The present outdated structure of

Conference Session

Engineering Education: An International Perspective

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Waddah Akili

? What will be their nature? What percentage of the grade will depend on exams? How will other indicators (homework, participation, attendance, projects, etc.)be counted towards the grade? It is equally important that the instructor provides periodic assessment of students’ performance during the semester. The intent is: (1) to alert those that have fallen behind, and at the same time, (2) motivate “achievers” to stay the course.4) A “Back up” Plan to Assist Slow Learners and/or Potential Switchers: Many students are in engineering for a variety of reasons. Some are in because of peer pressure, or for other known or unknown reasons. They are not sure of their capabilities, having negative perception of the “class environment” and

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

J. Keith Clutter; Alberto Arroyo; Amir Karimi

Conference Session

New Ideas in Energy Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Timothy Skvarenina

Education”the card they were holding to stand up as I went through the questions. This way the students were notreporting their own answers. The results were quite revealing. Of 54 students in the class: ! 42 said they would report ethical misconduct where they were employed ! 52 admitted to downloading music and not buying the CD ! 40 admitted to downloading movies ! 29 admitted to cheating on an exam or quiz ! 19 said they would report someone they knew was cheating on an examThe class was concluded with a short “quiz.” I asked each student to reflect and write down the twomore important things they learned from the discussion in class. A number of students were surprisedat how wide spread the