materials and teaching methods.1 While thesematerials and methods are evidence-based and shown to positively affect student learningand educational outcomes, they have been slow to be adopted or disseminated.In an effort to improve curriculum sharing, there is currently a two-part study underway forthe development and dissemination of a web based repository containing curriculummaterials and best practices. These two efforts are in place to understand, facilitate, andencourage sharing of materials and best practices between educators. The first is thedevelopment and refinement of the web-based repository for curriculum materials; thesecond is a study on the curricular decision-making processes of transportation engineeringeducators.The overarching
the areas of integration of computation in engineering curricula and in developing Page 26.1390.1 comprehensive strategies to retain early engineering students. She is active nationally and internationally in engineering accreditation and is a Fellow of ABET and of the AIChE. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2015 Spatial Visualization Skills Intervention for First Year Engineering Students: Everyone’s a Winner!IntroductionThe connection between spatial visualization skills and performance in engineering courseworkis becoming more evident 1-3
acombination of both. Architects present all of the work done during this phase to the client andonce the design concept has been finalized and approved, architects proceed to complete designdevelopment and construction documents for the project. Traditionally hand drawings were theprimary means for “design ideation” [1] and for the creation of construction drawings. Whilehand drawings and sketching are still considered very important for conveying design ideas, withthe advent of computer-aided design (CAD) tools in the late 1980s the focus shifted away fromhand drawing to the use of CAD for two-dimensional (2D) drawing. Now a days it is impossibleto conceive of an architectural practice where CAD tools are not used right from initial
need for automated and scalableassessment mechanisms, to assess large numbers of students without a proportionateincrease in costs. There are four main approaches to this kind of assessment:autograding, constructed-response analysis, automated essay scoring, and peer review.This paper examines the current status of these approaches, and surveys new research oncombinations of these approaches to produce more reliable grading.Keywords: scalable assessment, autograding, constructed-response analysis, automatedessay scoring, peer review, self-review1. IntroductionLimited resources to adequately assess student work are a major problem in highereducation. A 2012 New York Times article [1] on automated essay scoring contains thefollowing anecdote
department in which this course is taught has increased its’ focus on active learning and is moving away from traditional lectures as the primary method of conveying information to students. The departments’ goal is to encourage creativity and develop problem solving skills. However, students are seeking the most efficient ways to garner top grades on exams. Where does this leave the development of critical thinking with respect to the classroom when students are more focused on grades than subject matter mastery? Literature Review The development of critical thinking skills is the “primary goal of higher education” 1. Surveys of faculty have demonstrated that more than 90% of faculty supports this assertion. 2,3 Based upon Douglas’1 findings, there
engineering is an up-to-date issue and is a topic of internationaldiscussions. US, European and Asian researches suggested many innovative ideas that allowfor better international engineering interaction and students’ readiness for the open world [1],[3], [6], [8], [9]. For example corporate education presented by Herman Schneider more thana hundred years ago was successfully implemented as the option for students to gain secondlanguage proficiency and international job experience [3]. Page 26.425.2 Leading Russian universities also take part in the global integration process. Thenumber of international students is increasing from year to year
scientific and engineering principles with the new tools of technology. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2016 Enabling Machine Design Innovation among Freshman Mechanical Engineering Students Anurag Purwar Research Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering Director, Computer-Aided Design and Innovation Lab Stony Brook University (SUNY), New York, USA anurag.purwar@stonybrook.edu1 IntroductionThis paper presents 1) creation and teaching of a newly developed Freshman Design Innovation(FDI) class for Mechanical Engineering students at Stony Brook University (SBU), and 2) Mo-tionGen, a
. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2016 From Assessment to Intervention: Conceptual Understanding of Rate and Accumulation ProcessesThis Work in Progress paper investigates how engineering students think and learn about rateand accumulation processes. Previous research found robust misconceptions about rate andaccumulation processes among sophomore engineering students, leading to the development ofthe Rate and Accumulation Concept Inventory (RACI)1,2. The primary motive for our developingthe RACI was to provide a valid tool that teachers and curriculum developers could use to assessstudent mastery of rate and accumulation processes. The primary goals of the RACI are to assess(1) overall mastery
study their preferences and therefore acquire knowledge to build age appropriate userinterfaces to control the Online Laboratory in order to make these more attractive andtherefore improve the learning experiences.Together with national and international partners we are carrying out a project that placesstudents of technical secondary schools in Austria in the role of remote laboratory developersunder the supervision and tutoring of the project staff. Students are actively involved in thescientific process and actively participate in the acquisition of knowledge.The project pursues three main objectives: 1. Studies on age-appropriate requirements for the use of Online Laboratories at secondary schools. 2. Peer feedback to improve the
fundamentals of business research and formal writingwhile working on the capstone project. This is not a viable strategy when the programsize continues to grow. Hence much is needed to transform the way the capstone projectis executed. The challenges the faculty faces with respect to capstone project are plenty.1) How can the students’ effort in conducting actual research is not slowed down due totheir lack of understanding of business research process? 2) Can we leverage the facetime the faculty have during the residency week to set and manage expectations?, 3) Howcan the faculty makes sure that the students have the right skill set to manage and executetheir projects in a self-directed manner, where the faculty’s role is limited to directing
ASEE2, many traditional electrical engineering programshave begun to grow again in the last several years. The number of BSEE graduates per yearreported to ASEE is shown in Figure 1. At the same time most electrical engineering technologyprograms have either been stagnant or have seen declining enrollments3. While the Power Techprogram at NMU is new, the overall trend in enrollment has been positive. This is shown inFigure 2. These enrollment improvements are similar to several other engineering technologyprograms when adding power systems courses to their curriculum4. While positive, more workneeds to be done to get individual course enrolments to the level preferred by the university(approximately 20 students per course). The oscillation in
/engineering technology course that was designed to support student retention. Anew course could not simply be added to the existing curriculum of the university’s engineeringand engineering technology degrees, however, as state law capped the hours required for anundergraduate degree. Instead, the researchers customized an introduction to the universityfreshman seminar course for engineering and engineering technology majors. This course designadapted elements from successful first-year introductory classes in Engineering and EngineeringTechnology at other universities. Besides fostering a learning community between Engineeringand Engineering Technology students, the objectives of the new course include: (1) introductionof design and problem solving
along theway. We believe that this intentional emphasis on connections between disciplines develops theinterdisciplinary skills and perspectives which are important for graduation, and it lays thegroundwork for interdisciplinary thinking in the workplace.1. Interdisciplinary Learning in Undergraduate EducationUndergraduate degree programs consist of courses for a major and general education courses.Each degree program has learning outcomes mapped to the outcomes of its courses. Ideally,students establish synergistic connections among the different courses in the curriculum.However, abundant evidence suggests that transfer of skills between courses is relatively rare.1-3Students often do not make connections between general education courses and
future activities will be included in this paper. The paper will conclude with theassessment process.IntroductionReplacement of paper-based engineering graphics by its computer-based counterpart expandedthe role of engineering graphics into engineering analysis, virtual and physical rapid prototyping,and computer-aided manufacturing.Graphics instructors have been discussing this evolution and fate of paper based graphics [1] [2] [3].Another critical discussion has been on replacing introductory graphics education withfundamental design education [4][5] or establishing product design/life-cycle management as thefoundation for engineering graphics curriculum [6][7].This paper presents an effort to help engineering students better understand the
representative set of student comments are also presented, which demonstrate howthe concept mapping approach helped students develop better conceptual understanding.IntroductionConcept mapping is a graphical tool for knowledge organization, representation, and elicitation.It has received growing attention and application in STEM (science, technology, engineering,and mathematics) disciplines as an effective instructional strategy to improve student conceptualunderstanding. 1, 2 In concept mapping, concepts are often arranged based on their hierarchicalrelationships to form a map, so students can visualize relationships among different concepts andunderstand the “big picture” of relevant topics. As such, concept maps have long been employedas an
: Implementation of ProjectAbstractThe objectives of our educational research are as follows: 1) Faculty from engineering andfaculty from the social sciences and humanities shall develop strong working relationships andtogether implement and evaluate strategies for working across disciplines. 2) Students ofengineering and their counterparts in the liberal arts and humanities shall engage in peer-to-peerlearning and work together to solve problems. 3) Liberal arts and humanities content will bebetter integrated into the engineering curriculum. 4) Engineering students will understand thevalue and relevance of their General Education. 5) The engineering programs will be betterpositioned to assess their performances on the “soft skills” ABET outcomes (above
condition (IME 140, ME 130) Recognize MMC symbol where specified (IME 143/144, ME 251, IME 335) State Rule #1 for Features of size (IME 143/144, ME 130) Recognize situations when Rule #1 does not apply (IME 428) Locate datums where specified on a drawing (IME 140, ME 130, IME 335, IME 450)Comprehension Classify form, orientation, and location tolerances (IME 140, ME 130, IME 335) Explain or describe allowable form and orientation errors inherent in size tolerances (IME 140, ME 130, IME 335) Explain the concept of a tolerance zone (IME 140, ME 130) Explain the concept of bonus tolerance (IME 143/144, ME 251) Explain or describe the allowable location errors inherent in traditional coordinate location
electrical engineeringand manufacturing engineering programs, ⅓ are working on multidisciplinary teams, and ⅓ aredesigning systems with realistic constraints. Each of the above categories is part of ABET’saccreditation process for engineering programs. Communications skills, the ability to engage inself-directed learning, and the ability to function in a real world work environment (teams andconstraints) are recognized to be areas that traditional engineering training is lagging in.1 Makingoffers a potential lens to highlight those areas which may be lagging in a more traditionalengineering education. Furthermore, as part of ABET accreditation criteria, universities areasked to demonstrate continuous improvement. For many this means opening maker
onunderrepresented and first generation students. With a multiplicity of programs from variousdisciplines, the SRC leadership team recognized a unique opportunity to enrich students’summer experiences, without increasing the workload on each of the faculty mentors. Wedesigned a summer program with two overarching goals: 1) Build interdisciplinary connectionsamong students and programs, and 2) increase students’ professional identity, knowledge, andskills related to research. As the program developed between 2011 and 2015, we fine-tuned theprogram and goals based on feedback, research, and evaluation.StructureOver the past six years, the 9-10 week Summer Research Community has brought togetherstudents across programs and included the following types of
towards more student-centered ends.Changes to the ABET Engineering CriteriaSince practically all engineering programs in the United States, and an increasing numberinternationally [1], are ABET accredited, program review processes have a strong impact on howengineering is constituted and enacted; i.e. what engineering ought to be. When any groupmakes a claim that things should be one way rather than another it is worthwhile to examinethose claims and the position from which they are made. Philosophy is one method of suchexamination. Philosophy has been defined as “truth estimation” where facts, experience,common sense, public opinion, and traditions form the data by which individuals develop a self-sustaining and coherent belief system [2]. The
techniques, use of technology, and demeanor. SeeAppendix A for the form and written observation instructions.During the observation, we explicitly requested that observers take any notes directly on a papercopy of the form instead of on a laptop. We wanted to minimize the feeling that colleagues werebeing judged and preserve an atmosphere of comfort and open learning. The observers are askedto note strengths of the instructor, areas of improvement, and new ideas learned.The post-observation meeting and form should be completed 1-7 days after the session, to ensurethat feedback is provided while the instruction is fresh in both parties’ minds. Post-observation,participants should discuss notes taken during the observation and action steps for both
, the study of axiomatic design typically references two axiomsdeveloped by Dr. Nam P. Suh, engineer and professor at the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology.3 In The Principles of Design, Suh applies a mathematically rigorous approach todetailing axiomatic design.The authors opted to take a different approach in order to better emphasize the more humanelement involved in engineering design. As a result, seven truths of good engineering wereidentified and developed to serve as the foundation for the course: 1) Avoid Selective Use of Existing Data 2) Extrapolate Existing Data into Unknown Regions with Extreme Caution 3) Understand the Design’s Sensitivity 4) When Possible, Always Test in the Physical World 5) Guard
benefitof this simulation is that it enables students to more deeply experience real-world problems withdire consequences that they traditionally know very little about, and to experience some empathyfor those affected by such problems.This paper describes three different crises simulations that we have developed over the last threeyears, outlines the major learning goals, and presents an analysis of the student and volunteerreflections.Literature reviewThe history of using games and simulations for learning purposes is long, and has been discussedextensively in literature. Langton et al. 1 suggest that games were first introduced as trainingtools by and for the military in the 18th century, and it was a century and a half later when gamesand
achieve sharedaims in engineering education: encourage student autonomy and exploration, grow diverselearning communities and environments, and positively impact retention for those students atrisk of leaving.Prior Work on Maker SpacesTo date, there have been a number of studies of academic and non-academic maker spaces thatprovide answers to important questions. To identify best practices for those planning new makerspaces, Wilczynski2 conducted a review of six of the first university maker spaces illuminatingthe need for 1) a clear mission statement, 2) user training, 3) proper staffing, 4) collaboration, 5)alignment with student work schedules, and 6) attention to creating a maker community oncampus. Similarly, Barrett et al.,1 reviewed
Western Reserve University. His aca- demic interests include longitudinal analysis, visualization, semantics, team formation, gender issues, existential phenomenology, and lagomorph physiology. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2016 On the Integration of Ethical, Legal, and Societal Issues into a Computer Science Senior Capstone Program 1. Introduction Topics in professional ethics play an important role in ABET accreditation of computer science programs, where ethical issues are mentioned within three of the eleven ABET computerscience student outcomes. To help address these outcomes and to further develop topics in professional ethics within our program, we
PostsecondaryStudent Aid Study: 2009-2010, conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics(NCES), found that low-income students face higher unmet need than other students. As a result,even though the target population may be receiving financial aid, it does not necessarily meanthat their financial needs are met. Students whose financial needs are unmet by school aidpackages typically will compensate by working part- or full-time, or taking out additional loans.However, working while attending college can have negative impacts. It has been found thatwhile 1 to 15 hours of work per week contributes positively to retention, working more than 15hours per week tends to result in weaker grades and a lower chance of graduation.5 On the otherhand, even
mathclasses taken) to determine the class a student will enter. At the University of Arizona, studentstake either a placement test that covers intermediate algebra skills or one that covers collegealgebra and trigonometry [1]. At St. Olaf College in Minnesota, a combination of student data,including high school rank and GPA, as well as a placement test coupled indicates where astudent is placed [2]. A self-assessment test is given to all incoming students at the University ofSydney to assist them in deciding whether or not to enroll in the highest level math classavailable to freshmen [3]. Other institutions use certain pieces of high school information, suchas GPA and/or standardized test scores [2, 4, 5]. At the study institution, a southern
teaching and learning experience. This paper provides guidelines for working withgraduate teaching assistants by applying the five principles of high-performance engineeringteams described by Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith,1 and adapted by Karl Smith andothers for collaborative learning:2 face-to-face promotive interaction, positive interdependence,group and individual accountability, teamwork skills, and group processing. Perspectives areshared from engineering faculty who work with graduate teaching assistants in lecture,laboratory, and professional skills courses, and consideration is paid to small teams (1-3) andlarge teams (8+) of teaching assistants. Best practices in organization, clarity of expectations,leadership, communication
diversity, and understand their effects in students performance. Isabel received her professional degree in biological engineering at the Pontificia Universidad Cat´olica de Chile and her MA in policy, organizations and leadership studies at Stanford Graduate School of Education. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2016 Redesigning engineering education in Chile: How selective institutions respond to an ambitious national reformIntroductionIn 2012, the Chilean government launched the “Nueva Ingeniería para el 2030” program, whichaims to redesign engineering education, enhance applied research, technology development,innovation and entrepreneurship around engineering campuses.1
workshop in whichstudents engaged in the design thinking process by working through a real world challenge.Student receptivity was evaluated using an ecological mood assessment,1 and cognitivecharacteristics were assessed using the KAI, which evaluates the cognitive styles of individuals2.A statistically significant relationship was observed between cognitive style and the happinessand excitement scores (two subscales of the ecological momentary mood assessment); we feelthat with future experiments, even more correlations might be discovered.1.0 IntroductionAs Dym et al.3 [p. 1] noted in 2005: ―Design is widely considered to be the central ordistinguishing activity of engineering.‖ With the world becoming increasingly globallyconnected, the