areas with poor usability. Initial improvements to theinterface were made based upon feedback from the questionnaire. Page 22.652.2 1. INTRODUCTION The goal of this research project is to test usability of the Risk in Early Design(RED) application when used as an expert knowledge source for tasks previously thoughtto require engineering experience. As technology progresses, it is critical that educationalefforts focus on preparing students to build on the new developments, rather thancontinuously teaching them to “reinvent the wheel.” The teaching of new technology isnot limited to the integration of novel
process’.Many students learn to pass through college by being able to memorize a few formulas, figureout how to find the variables from the givens in the problem, then work out a solution. This ismainly because of the methodical approach to problem solving.There are three large problems here:1. there is no practice of the synthesis of a problem, just the analysis. Even though the principlescan be used for design, they are not presented that way.2. there is no method for solving a problem that is different than what the student has beenexposed to.3. there is no environment to ‘spark’ the students’ imagination and to generate interest in thematerialAlthough the first two are the most important for the students to overcome, if the third
the students finish all the topics in their pie they are given a comprehensive assessment todetermine if they have retained all the items in their pie. The progress assessments mostly givequestions that the students have currently worked on, and some that they are ready to learn. Thecomprehensive assessments give questions on any topic in the pie from the most basic materialto the last item that they learned. If the student earns a 92% or better on this assessment they aremoved to the next course. The 92% is based on percent mastery of the entire course, not 92% ofthe questions correct on the assessment. If they do not get a 92% they relearn the topics they gotwrong, and try the comprehensive assessment again. Figure 1 shows an assessment
campus fromApril 29 through May 1, 2010 to discuss engineering and engineering technology (E and ET)education. Initially, an “Invitation to Participate” email was sent to Deans, Chairs/Heads, andProfessors involved with engineering and/or engineering technology education with a goal ofattracting the participation of 50 individuals. The invitation also encouraged nominations ofother colleagues that would be interested in engaging in E and ET education conversations.Gradually, a pool of forty-five participants was assembled representing thirty-five institutionsfrom twenty-three states. Roughly 37% of participants identified themselves as professors while35% indicated an administrative focus. A handful suggested they currently held
faculty advisors can prepare the students for what to expect in acompany environment. They can work with the students so that they understand how to conductthemselves professionally. In addition, the advisors can work closely with the students toprepare their presentations. They can hold practice presentations and give feedback regardingcontent. One additional area would be helpful to the companies. The faculty liaisons shouldmake the technical leads aware of the academic schedules. They should be made aware ofmidterms, finals, and academic breaks so that the technical leads are aware there may be breaksin the progress of the project. The schedules of MEDITEC projects typically can be workedaround these events with prior knowledge.1. Crockett R
grades) to learn about engineering and experience hands-on labs in auniversity atmosphere. It's an opportunity for students to explore the different types ofengineering available at many universities. The aim of EPIC is to expand the College ofEngineering mission to K-12 students: "To educate students for careers of service, leadership anddistinction in engineering or other fields by using a participatory, learn by doing, ‘hands-on’approach" (Figure 1).Figure 1. High school students in the EPIC summer engineering program do hands-on labactivities to explore different engineering disciplines.The program goal is to inspire a diverse set of students to become engineers, while a secondarygoal is for those students to apply to the College of
analysis, we argue FemProf supports inclusion of women into the engineeringcommunity, and makes explicit the pathway to the professoriate.IntroductionScience in United States contexts has historically been the domain of Caucasian/white males.1, 2With declining enrollments in science and engineering fields in higher education acrossdemographic groups, efforts to increase student diversity have become not only an issue ofequity, but also an issue of fulfilling the industry‘s need for qualified candidates. Multipleprogrammatic efforts have formed to address the disparity in science and engineering byattempting to develop inclusive learning communities that support gender and racial diversity.3, 4At the same time, many concerned with equity in science
life narratives.1 Interview questions included“grand” and “mini-tour” questions, eliciting the chronology of events (e.g. “What happened priorto this event?” “What happened next?” “How did you react?”), and focusing on recent incidentsto elicit as much rich, accurate detail as possible and emphasize actions and events (as opposedto interpretations or judgments). Recommendations by Charmaz (2006) for building rapport, Page 22.660.5maintaining the dignity of the participants, and ensuring a positive interviewing experience forthe participants (e.g., appropriate, timely, probing techniques, validating the perspectives of theparticipants) were also
whether to include a transformation have beenmade using indirect or intuitive mechanisms. We have proposed a novel method whichformalizes this decision [1]. There is precedent for this type of formalization to occur. The recentdevelopment of design methodologies, or tools which aid the designer in concept generation andselection, has followed a similar progression from the intuitive to the formal [2]. Formal methodsretain and broaden the designers innate artistic ability while simplifying the selection process. The experiment described in this paper investigates the effectiveness of our designmethod for making the decision above. The experiment also provided students with an enhancedunderstanding of design. A study was implemented in a
and cleanup inthe Gulf of Mexico became the focus of the national news media.1 A second environmentalevent occurred in Europe in October 2010 - the release of toxic red sludge into the Danube Riverbasin in Hungary.2 The impact of an environmental accident may be widespread, and candevastate not only pristine nature areas and wildlife, but also the social and economic realities ofcommunities adjacent to the accident site. Many of these students have vacationed on thebeaches on the Gulf of Mexico since they were children; this history brings the harsh reality ofthe BP/Deepwater Horizon spill and its devastation on the communities along the Gulf Coast intomuch sharper focus for this generation of students. We believe integrating environmental
visualand verbal protocols were broken down into ten types of procedures which were then locatedbetween three major categories which include; Exploration, Generation and ExecutiveControl (Middleton, 2008, p.197).A sample of the type of data that can be outputted using this scheme is shown in Figure 1.Note the very different types of problem solving strategies applied; where Subject A1 isperceived as a novice and Subject A3 is perceived as an expert. The expert engages insignificant exploration in the beginning and once problem solving commenced the problemwas largely resolved by tentile 4. A more detailed analysis of the research methodologyapplied by Middleton (2008) will be provided later in the paper. Figure 1 – Scatterplot showing cognitive
SAT practice tests each week. They also planned for college and exploredcareers during multiple workshop sessions.Program ResultsThe test results for the 2010 Summer SAT and College Preparation Programs are presented inFigure 1. As illustrated in the chart at right, 83% of students in all 2010 camps who took pre- andpost-tests increased their practice SAT scores. That percentage is up from 67% in 2009, due inpart to extended programming that increased the average number of camp hours. A studentevaluation was also conducted to identify the effectiveness of the Camps. The results of thesurvey are presented in Figure. On student evaluations 72% of students reported improvedreading skills, 75% noted better writing skills, and 89% acknowledged
for thermodynamics, heat transfer, and energy systems. This paper discusses in detailthe thermodynamics subset of functions for gas dynamics calculations.The thermodynamics suite contains functions to compute steam properties, properties ofrefrigerants R22, R134a, R407c, and R410a, properties of calorically imperfect ideal gases,psychrometrics, and the gas dynamics relationships that are the subject of the present paper. Theheat transfer suite contains functions for transient 1-dimensional transient conduction, finefficiencies, heat exchanger effectiveness-NTU relations, convection heat transfer correlations,radiation view factors, and blackbody functions. The energy systems suite adds piping analysismodules and viscous pump corrections
three angles: (1) start with aproblem to be solved, perhaps from children's literature, and challenge students to adjust theprocess to meet the criteria for success OR (2) start with the strange properties the substance hasand come up with a problem the substance solves OR (3) design quality control tests for familiarmaterials. This paper will discuss some of the engineering design projects students can do withoobleck, slime, and play dough.All lessons have been tested in elementary classrooms by the author and other classroomteachers. The author is the coordinator of one school district's STEM curriculum and teachertraining efforts. The district uses a central materials center to store, schedule, and refurbish thematerials kits. The process
Elementary Lessons that Highlight SustainabilityThe Engineering is Elementary (EiE) project has created 20 elementary-level engineering units that integratewith science topics. This session will provide an overview of the EiE materials with a particular emphasis onthe lessons that highlight sustainability and green engineering. These include: 1. Catching the Wind: Designing Windmills (Mechanical Engineering) This unit guides students to think like mechanical engineers as they use their knowledge of wind to design and create machines that can be used to capture wind energy. The storybook "Leif Catches the Wind" reinforces the science concept of air as wind, and introduces the field of
” cluster within the contexts of experiential and problem-based learning theories, andwill document the curriculum used such that its successes may be improved and replicated.2. Overview of High School Summer ProgramCOSMOS is a residential math and science summer camp that provides an opportunity formotivated high school students to work alongside university researchers and faculty to exploretopics that extend beyond the typical high school curriculum. The program encompasses fouruniversity campuses, each offering a variety of clusters in science and engineering thatconcentrate on hands-on activities in laboratory settings highlighting current universityresearch[1]. The objective of the “Earthquakes in Action” cluster described herein is to
Hampshireand California State University, Sacramento (CSUS). The research objectives of the NEESproject include validating hybrid testing techniques to the point of structural collapse bycomparing global and local responses with results from shake table testing previously performedby Lignos et al (2008). This validation experiments consider 1) hybrid simulations where thewhole structure is physically tested and only dynamic effects are simulated in the computer and2) substructure hybrid simulations in which portions of the structure are physically tested andothers are simulated in the computer. Thus, considering the larger goals of the research project,the 3-day engineering workshop curriculum described herein incorporates the theme of studyingthe
supervision of thefaculty members.Lists of all materials needed for teachers to successfully present these lessons were alsodeveloped and included with the plans. In cases where the teachers may not be familiar with howto obtain the materials, a way to procure them was included. Finally, student worksheets andglossaries of terms were developed for each module. Page 22.670.2DescriptionTen modules have been developed to help middle and high school students and teachers betterunderstand the science and engineering concepts related to underwater robotics. The includedconcepts are: 1. Engineering is Everywhere 2. Engineering Design Process 3
questioning of students during the demonstrations to gauge understanding of the sciencebehind them. For school groups, we perform a pre and post survey (based on the introductorytalk and the activities) to determine if they learned such things as the size of a nanometer, whatare some current nanoproducts, what products contain nanoparticles, what is hydrophobic andhydrophilic, what is a smart memory alloy, among others. We only use the results to providefeedback to the program and make changes where needed.Demonstration 1. Ferrofluid – Nanotechnology and MagnetismThe NNIN lesson What does Nanotechnology have to do with Magnetism?- AFerrofluid Activity will give you the background information for the full lesson. It can be foundat http://www.nnin.org
greatly reduces its conductivity. In simple circuitbuilding, it isn‟t necessary to include the insulating dough. However, when making morecomplex shapes and structures to incorporate squishy circuits, insulating dough can be used toprevent short circuits4. This provides potential to develop more sophisticated designs thatincorporate genuine creativity.Making Squishy Circuits3,8Recipes and instructions, which can be found on the project website, to make both conductive Page 22.672.2and insulating play dough are reproduced below:Conductive Dough Ingredients: 1 cup Water 1 cup Flour ¼ cup Salt 3 Tbsp. Cream of Tartar 1
produce parts for direct use; this direct-part production has grown to becomethe second most common application of AM technology 3. This development in AM has atremendous impact on product design and manufacturing, and this impact is predicted to becomegreater in the coming years 4.Having realized the importance of stimulating research and promoting AM, the National ScienceFoundation and the Office of Naval Research sponsored the Roadmap for AdditiveManufacturing (RAM) Workshop in March 2009 to develop a roadmap for research in additivemanufacturing for the next 10-12 years 1. ASTM International, partnering with SME, hasdeveloped standard terminology for AM Technology at the end of 2009, and is developingstandard for this new technology in test
staff before being allowed to work on the machine in an independent Figure 1: Problems seen by students in Robotics class, split into three different disciplinesmode. Teams need to develop some systems engineering skills to successfully integrate thevarious sub-systems together into a functioning robot prototype that is robust. Students quicklylearn that although sub-systems may work well alone when bench-tested, they may not work so Page 22.674.4well when integrated with others. Teams commonly fail to leave themselves enough time for Figure 2: Lab Exercisestesting and
IntroductionDespite steady growth in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) enrollmentin the US in the last three decades, enrollment in engineering still remains inadequate to meetdemand for skilled engineers [1-2]. The National Academies Of Sciences also reported a higherdecline in enrollment for graduate studies in engineering [2],p 83. This seeming apathy forengineering is attributable to a lot of factors including: lack of mathematical savvy, dearth ofqualified and motivated teachers, inadequate pedagogies (not engaging enough), lack ofauthenticity (“real-world” engineering) in the curriculum and pedagogy, faulty social andinstitutional support structures, lack of feeling of self efficacy and, faulty scaffolding andresultant failure
much insight students gained from their writing. We alsolearned that certain aspects of the experience (such as double-blind review) were moredifficult, and other aspects (such as sequencing between chapters) were easier thanexpected. These experiences are guiding further development of the software, which isavailable to any instructor who wants to use it to manage development of a wiki textbook.1. IntroductionIn the middle of the 19th century, a revolution swept through the American textbookindustry, as understanding replaced rote memorization as the goal of education [1]. Nolonger were textbooks written in the catechetical question-answer style, but they nowincorporated word problems that students were challenged to solve. We may be on the
automatically It is easy to separate out students who are at branch campuses if desired Evaluations are no longer “lost” or “misplaced” during distribution/circulation Survey questions can be (and have been) easily changed. Custom surveys or parts of surveys for different needs can be accommodated.Results and DiscussionThe following assessments were made: 1) an analysis of overall response rate trends for thecollege, 2) an analysis of response rates by program, 3) a question by question comparisonbetween paper and on-line numerical responses to questions over two semesters for each type ofsurvey, and 4) a comparison of the total number and length of narrative responses to openended questions.As expected the response rate did
potential to serve as a model for other graduate programs that are trying to engage theirMasters and Ph.D. students in cohort experiences during their graduate careers. Via REACHassessment efforts, benefits of such experiences might be identified for first-time graduatestudents.This paper presents information on the assessment efforts based on field observations of theinteractions of Scholars and mentors at REACH meetings and on activities and one-on-oneinterviews with scholars. To explore the Scholars’ experiences in their transitions to graduateschools and within the REACH program, we prepared the following research questions to guideboth the interview process and data analysis: 1. What are the challenges during the transition from
thepotential of computer games for increasing motivation, as effective teaching and learning tools,and enabling different learning experiences other than traditional teaching methods1-5. Theadvances of computer game-based teaching are in the areas of lower education2 to highereducation3, American history, computer fundamentals, computer programming, science andengineering disciplines3-4, and research in the use of this teaching approach5. The rationale usingcomputer games for teaching may include the following facts1-4: 1. many students are lessmotivated in their traditional teaching learning environment; 2. computer related subjects seemmore interesting; 3. many students have been exposed to a game environment and some of themare even computer
to work in teams to solve two different projects.The first project was mainly related to life cycle assessment (LCA) in which students were askedto perform an LCA for a particular product and provide an analysis of their results. The secondproject involved a presentation to expand one of the main modules of the class. Finally, thecourse was evaluated using student questionnaires and exit interviews. Moreover, one additionalsurvey was sent to the students six months after they took the class to collect data and assessstudent learning.1. IntroductionGiven the finite capacity of the earth, it is recognized that engineers of the future must be trainedto make decisions in such a way that our environment is preserved, social justice is promoted
was in August 2010, in a four-hourconference workshop format at the ASME International Design Technical Conferences, Montreal,Canada. Twelve (self-selected) participants took part. While we were able to predict some of theopportunities and challenges we would face in a four-hour format, the experience also providedseveral additional insights. Our goals for that workshop were toA. Demystify Experiential Learning: While all learning involves some experience, not all experience results in learning, nor does all learning experience constitute experiential learning. Page 22.681.2 1 B. Practice What We Promote: We demonstrated the