Conference Session

Innovative Curriculum in ET

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

William Stanley; Paul Kauffmann; Gary Crossman

. However, there is no clear evidence thatwould suggest that either approach is superior to the other since much depends on thedirection an individual follows in his or her career path.For quite a few years, Old Dominion University engineering technology students havehad some of both approaches. Since a significant portion of our students enter as transferstudents at the junior level, the freshman enrollments do not justify special courses.Instead students take fairly conventional basic Precalculus courses and, in the past, havetaken two three-credit Introductory Calculus courses. This was followed by a junior-levelmathematics course developed by the Mathematics Department consisting of specialtopics suited for engineering technology students. This

Conference Session

Related Engineering Programs

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

Laurie Cormier; Kelly Clark; Emily Ryan

are also doing a great service to the community inreaching out to young students. By getting undergraduates involved in engineering outreach, theywill be more likely to continue doing outreach later in their careers. Interacting with both facultyand graduate students at Tufts, and local industry people, undergraduates learn how to continueoutreach past the undergraduate level. Page 8.1218.3Engineering outreach also introduces undergraduates to the application of their engineering “Proceedings of the 2003 American Society of Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society of

Conference Session

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

Timothy Wheeler

SPIRIT students– and interest on the part of NASA.Unplanned student-initiated additions to SPIRIT Project payloads have increased the sense of“ownership”. They were significant sources of pride even for students who were not involved instudent-initiated projects themselves. The program should remain flexible as long as possible, inorder to include such ideas9.Project lengthThe duration of a SPIRIT project was set at three years because of the guidelines set for theoriginal funding opportunity. This length of time coincides with an undergraduate career so theopportunity is there for students to grow with the payload. By this model, students would join assophomores and would be developing their design skills as the payload takes shape. It is

Conference Session

K-12 Outreach Initiatives

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

John Schemmel

. While positive feedback continues to be received it has becomeapparent that there remains a need for other educational resources. These resources can be usedin the K8 classroom, at a Career Day presentation, as a Boy/Girl Scout activity, and the like.Given this feedback, the decision was made to create a selection of lesson plans, again, ageappropriate and focused on Civil Engineering.One motivating factor for creating these lesson plans was a need to provide the end user aselection of self-contained educational units which introduce children, and young adults, to theprofession of Civil Engineering. Forty-five lesson plans have been created where each lessonutilizes only readily available materials, each requires little or no cost for materials

Conference Session

Manufacturing Systems Design

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

Linards Stradins; Richard Rothaupt

both sexes may securesuch instruction and training in industrial and related lines of educational effort as will enablethem to become efficient industrial, social, and economic units within their environment.” UW-Stout has transformed over the years from a vocational training and teachers college into auniversity that provides many specialized professional degrees for careers in business, industryand education. The principle of ‘learning by doing’ is expressed in UW-Stout's philosophy of a‘hands-on, minds-on’ education and has been an integral part of undergraduate and graduateeducation since the school’s inception. This ‘hands-on, minds-on’ philosophy has beenincorporated wholly into the curriculum of Stout’s recently ABET accredited

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

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

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

Conference Session

International Engineering Education I

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

David Holger; James Melsa; Loren Zachary

ACHIEVING A GLOBAL ACADEMIC INDUSTRIAL NETWORK FOR STUDENTS AND FACULTY James L. Melsa, Dean David Holger, Associate Dean Loren Zachary, Assistant Dean College of Engineering Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 50014 Abstract It is clear that the engineer of the 21 st century will be required to spend an appreciable portion of his or her career in an environment rich with a variety of global connections

Conference Session

Graduate Student Experiences

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

Paul Bishop; Gary Lewandowski; Joel Fried; Carla Purdy; Anant Kukreti

oneducational issues by a distinguished engineering educator helps to facilitate both faculty andstudent involvement. Overall, this program provides a richer, more supportive environment forgraduate students, with opportunities for mentoring by multiple mentors, and thus increases thechance of retention.1. IntroductionPreparing Future Faculty (PFF)1 is a ten-year-old national initiative designed to improve thegraduate educational experience, to encourage more Ph.D. students to consider academic careers,and to better prepare the next generation of college and university professors to meet their manyresponsibilities. A PFF program has three main features

Conference Session

Global Issues in Engineering Education

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

Heinz Luegenbiehl

it is questionable whether a strictly Americancontext for engineering practice still exists, even for engineers who practice solely in the U.S. Welive in an era of global interdependence which is reflected in the working environment of typicalAmerican engineers. Often these engineers work for multinational corporations which employengineers from a variety of cultural backgrounds, both here and abroad. Even if that is not the case,their employers are likely engaged in contractual or trade relationships with companies in othercountries. Further, the mobility of contemporary engineers makes it increasingly likely that duringtheir career they will work for a foreign employer, either in the U.S. or abroad. Perhaps most important to

Conference Session

New Electrical ET Course Development

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

David Border

three-semester co-operative education component, emphasison application over theory has proven beneficial to our students. With the rise of networkingapplications, and the “network appliance” in both corporate, manufacturing and consumerenvironments, our students need additional communication systems preparation. This isparticularly critical for ECT graduates that seek a career in an Information Technology field. Inthis employment sector they will compete for jobs with recent graduates from other institutionsthat may already hold an IT industry related certification. These certifications can be either Page 8.333.1closely tied to the

Conference Session

Capstone Design and Engineering Practice

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

David Harris

-hour difference can be one reason for that. Besides, this project was a part of HMC but not for METU. But, for sure this project was useful for my future career because I learned that no matter what the distance is between the partners teamwork can be achieved and the result was pretty good. I learned how to work people who I don’t know anything about. The main problem was the time difference between two countries. In order to connect by phone or netmeeting either they should stay at night or we should wake up at early morning. So connection with netmeeting was restricted. But the connection with netmeeting was more efficient as we can

Conference Session

ASEE Multimedia Session

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

Thomas Jewell

long-termdata on how terms abroad experiences have influenced the lives and careers of Union’sgraduates. A survey to develop base-line data will be sent out later this winter.Preliminary results from that survey should be available by June and will be presented atthe poster session.Future DevelopmentsIt is the goal of the engineering programs at Union to have sufficient number and varietyof foreign experiences available to allow all students to participate in a program that is ofinterest to them and meshes with their professional and personal interests. In a period offiscal belt tightening, it is unlikely that many additional terms abroad will be developed.Mini-terms are certainly an option. However, they are highly dependent on

Conference Session

Quality & Accreditation: Outcome Assessment

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

Fazil Najafi; Nick Safai

the overall IHE ’s students department. informa tion, office of Graduate Minorit y• Provide web-site research and enrolment objectives. information r esources statistics. • Career and with security placement workshops including MGS • Time management handbook, etc. workshops

Conference Session

Quality & Accreditation: Outcome Assessment

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

Julie McBride

the further development and improvement of the program. • The outcomes important to the mission of the institution and the objectives of the program are being measured.Examples of evidence that can be used in assessment documentation are student portfolios,including design projects; nationally normed subject content examinations; alumni surveys thatdocument professional accomplishments and career development activities; employer surveys; and Page 8.134.2“Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education

Conference Session

Learning and Teaching Issues

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

Glenn Ellis; Alan Rudnitsky; Borjana Mikic

Table 1). Student confidence increaseddramatically. At the beginning of the semester only 11% of the students in the class agreed orstrongly agreed with the statement, “I feel confident in my skills, abilities, and knowledge inengineering.” At the end of the course, 81% agreed or strongly agreed. The number of studentswho agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, “I am committed to a career in engineering”rose from 56% to 69%.Students perceived Objectives 1, 2, 3 and 5 to be the most effectively achieved. These were alsothe objectives in which concept maps played the largest role. But how much of the success inmeeting these objectives was due to the use of conceptual frameworks? In a mid-semestersurvey students were asked to rate the

Conference Session

Design for Community

Collection

2003 Annual Conference

Authors

Rex Ramsier; H Michael Cheung; Edward Evans; Francis Broadway; Helen Qammar

deeperunderstanding of the subject material through their attempts to explain the material to the lower-level students. Case studies have shown that this is a legitimate form of learning and it’seffectiveness stems from the circulation of knowledge among the team. If successful, thiscooperative learning environment quickly generates positive interdependence since each teammember needs to learn from the others for both individual and team success.As students progress through the program they will have repeated practice at developing the so-called career skills of teamwork and communication. According to Reynold’s (1965) model ofdeveloping competency, consistent and reliable performance of a skill occurs after a number ofattempts since competency rises just