and hands-on lab instruction asmany programs were forced to abruptly transition to distance learning. Project-based designintegration using affordable engineering kits presents a practical solution to many of the mostpressing issues facing engineering educators as they continue to refine their approach to coursecontent delivery.Engineering attritionRecent studies have shown that approximately 50% of students who begin their education inengineering programs do not graduate from those programs, and roughly 85% of the studentswho choose to discontinue their engineering education do so within the first two years [1]. Thisproblem is especially prevalent in smaller universities, which demonstrate lower retention overalland often lack the faculty
, service, and career advancement) and provideholistic faculty support in areas such as time management, work-life topics, and well-being [1].From the context of the CTL, the intentional alignment of programs, in which the relationshipsbetween goals and activities of different faculty development programs are considered, helps toidentify strategic approaches to advancing the CTL’s goals. At the same time, from the contextof faculty members, participating in exercises that encourage the consideration of an issue fromboth big picture and granular perspectives and the connections between the factors that impactthe issue can help foster reflection and make visible the role of faculty members in the issue.The objectives of this paper are to 1) present a
Education, 2021 Work in Progress: Wrappers vs. ExpertsIntroductionEighty-one students enrolled in a required, third-year reaction engineering course were thesubjects for this investigation. The author was the instructor for that course and had taught itmore than twenty-five times before this offering. During that span, four substantial pedagogicalchanges occurred. After those changes the effect of completing homework upon an averagestudent’s course score improved by a factor of 2.5 [1].One of those pedagogical changes incorporated homework wrappers into assigned homeworkproblems. Briefly, the homework wrappers asked the students to reflect upon their approach tosolving the problem and their execution of the solution and then
can develop work experiences that fosterincreased student graduation and entry into STEM career pathways. This project, which iscurrently in its first year, seeks to examine how a curriculum that integrates cross-sectorpartnerships to provide work experiences can enhance STEM learning and retention. Usingmixed methods and grounded theory, the project will expand knowledge about: (1) the impact ofcross-sector partnerships that support work-focused experiential teaching and learning; (2)systematic ways to maintain and better use cross-sector partnerships; and (3) the degree to whicha model of work-focused learning experiences can be adopted at other two-year HSIs and byother STEM fields. Baseline data about Hispanic serving identity at the
upon the concepts introduced in earlier courses utilizing tools such as the FBD(while ideally enhancing their engineering judgment simultaneously) until their Capstone course,in which the tools, concepts, knowledge and judgment are all employed in the service of solvingan open-ended problem. Gainsburg 1 presents engineering judgment as the integration of theoryand practicality, which implies that incorporating good engineering judgment requires a strongfoundational understanding of the theory, significant practical experience and being able toconnect the two in order to address an engineering problem. From an instructor’s perspective, itcan be challenging to present a new topic to students, whether in a Statics class or in Capstone,where there
extend the knowledge developed in specific courses in the core curriculum to the more complex, authentic problems and projects they face as professionals. American c Society for Engineering Education, 2021 Work-in-Progress: Computer Simulations to Deliver Inquiry-Based Laboratory Activities in MechanicsIntroductionAlthough students can often use algorithmic substitution and pattern matching to solvemechanics problems, many do not understand the underlying principles [1], [2]. It is critical thatstudents develop a strong conceptual understanding of mechanics to transfer this knowledge tonew types of problems and for follow-on courses [3], [4]. To help
vision for Engineering in the 21stcentury: “Continuation of life on the planet, making our world more sustainable, secure, healthy,and joyful” [1]. To prepare engineering graduates who possess not only strong technical skillsbut also the global awareness and social skills necessary to tackle the challenges, the GrandChallenges Scholars Program (GCSP) was proposed and established by three engineering Deansin the U.S. and endorsed by the NAE as an educational supplement to any engineering programboth within the U.S. and internationally. To date, over 90 institutions have established their ownGCSP. They all aim to prepare graduates who have achieved the following five competenciesidentified by NAE GCSP [2]: 1. Talent Competency: mentored
in appreciation of course relevance of both theengineering course and composition course. This project is significant as the results from thisstudy will be used to better design and link interdisciplinary curriculum and leverage topics inand between all cohorted classes.IntroductionThe importance of writing and communication skills to the academic and professional pursuits offuture engineers is well established. ABET lists an “ability to communicate with a range ofaudiences” as a student outcome for the accreditation of undergraduate engineering programs[1].Writing specialists have long sought to identify and develop “reliable ways” of helping studentsprepare for the writing situations they will likely encounter as engineers [2, p. 318]. Yet
into an REU Site in the U.S. SouthIntroductionParticipating in a research experience for undergraduates (REU) site provides opportunities forstudents to develop their research and technical skills, raise their awareness of graduate studies[1], and understand the social context of research [2]. In support of this mission, our REU site atThe University of Alabama (Sensors, Systems and Signal Processing Supporting SpeechPathology) is exploring research at the intersection of engineering and communicative disorders.Our site has a focused theme of developing technology to support clinical practice in the field ofcommunication sciences and disorders; which is an applied behavioral science that includesscreening, assessment, treatment, and technology
associates to be successful researchers and professionals. At times,faculty members may not be trained to be effective mentors and do not have a toolkit of mentoringskills to rely on when inevitable mentoring challenges occur. While there is significant evidencepointing to the value of promoting strong mentorship for research students, there are very fewmentors who receive effective mentor training and mentors often rely solely on their pastexperiences and on observations of other mentors to build their own mentoring styles [1-2].Therefore, it is vital to provide appropriate training for faculty mentors in effective mentoring sothat they can aid their students to be as successful as possible during their formal studies andthroughout their research
deductive approach (see Figure 1), faculty deliver fundamentals to students,and students are expected to learn applications and develop interpersonal and intrapersonal skillsin the industry. In the integrated approach (Fig. 1), pair-by-pair interactions are introduced:faculty are expected to learn about applications from interactions with industry, students areexpected to learn fundamentals from interactions with faculty, and students acquire interpersonaland intrapersonal skills through interactions with industry. These pair-by-pair interactions haveproven to be partially effective ways of knowledge transfer and skill development, but they lackcoherent and synthetic integration.To enrich the integrated approach, we engaged one more step, bringing
). American c Society for Engineering Education, 2021 Workshop Result: Teaching Structured Reviews to Environmental Engineering Researchers Daniel B. Oerther Missouri University of Science and Technology, 1401 North Pine Street, Rolla, MO 65409AbstractAs part of the 2019 biennial conference of the Association of Environmental Engineeringand Science Professors, a pre-conference workshop on the topic of structured reviewswas delivered to 22 participants. The workshop had three objectives, namely: 1) raisingawareness about the process of structured reviews; 2) demonstrating the process ofstructured reviews; and 3
rules [2] can be included in this ER diagram inthe form of constraints [1]. However, including constraints in this graphical model are just areminder for the programmer to be considered during the database implementation but it is betterto have them included. The problem is that constraint is very rigid and the database becomesprogrammer dependent and there is no grantee that programmer will include them in hisimplementation.An alternative solution for this problem is to implement the constraints in the form of triggers.Trigger is a program and is more flexible than a constraint. Trigger has Event, Condition andAction (ECA) property. When an event take place and consequently a condition becomes true, thetrigger takes action automatically and
however, WEdoes not imply “writing intensive.” Certified WE courses are not meant to be “writing classes;”instead, writing should be one of several instructional focuses, as required by the new WEinitiative.Since this new initiative is taking effect in Fall 2021, the WE Committee has not established thefinal assessment criteria. The plan is to have each program submit an assessment processregarding the WE related learning outcomes.Literature Review:Writing is an important skill that all engineers should have. Its importance is reflected in ABETaccreditation criterion 3 for student outcomes, “an ability to communicate effectively with arange of audiences.”Wheeler and McDonald [1] stated that writing is a useful tool in engineering if developed
and implementing a PD for K-8administrators, teachers, and librarians. Following each of their suggestions, the team’s PDapproach (e.g. mission) is briefly described here. The PI team uses the proposed pedagogicalguidelines for sustaining computer science aspects in K-12 classrooms (Sengupta, Dickes, &Farris, 2018). 1. Reframing programming and coding as ‘modeling’ as the design of mathematical units of measurement of change over time, for the K-12 science classroom; 2. Trans-disciplinary representational and epistemic practices such as design and modeling can help us support continuity in learning experiences across disciplines; 3. The importance of embodied modeling and non-computational materials as representational
in their peers’, lessons.1. IntroductionLearner-centered pedagogy has become increasingly popular in engineering education and isexplored in this evidence-based practice paper. “By incorporating active learning methods intothe classroom, instructors can create opportunities for learning instead of allowing students to sitpassively and learn by absorbing information passed on by the instructor [1].” Active,collaborative learning techniques include in-class discussions, activities and labs, as well asformal team projects [2]. Despite the benefits of this pedagogy, it is not always clear how toincorporate active learning strategies into courses with a high emphasis on technical content or inlarge classes. This paper describes the effectiveness
more likely to endorse the NEP.Introduction Broadening participation and making higher education more inclusive is a nationalimperative, especially within engineering education. Many attempts have been made in recentdecades to make engineering education more inclusive [1]. However, even with these efforts thefull participation of traditionally marginalized students in engineering has yet to be achieved [2].A necessary step towards this goal is changing prevailing beliefs and practices about whobelongs in engineering. To create this change, though, we need a better understanding of how thestructures and practices of engineering are often grounded in the worldview of the dominant,White culture, which marginalizes non-dominant communities
graduating out of the major did not have necessaryexperience or knowledge in robotics. Using best practices in engineering education, the course transitioned from a lecturemodel to a project-based learning model that includes three blocks over a forty-lesson semester:block 1, introductory topics; block 2, robotics design and implementation; and block 3, mazecompetition. Each laboratory includes a brief fifteen-minute introduction to a fundamentalelectrical and computer engineering concept and 3.5-hours of hands-on application. For example,after learning how the average power of a system can be controlled via pulse-width modulation,students integrate motors into the robot and connect each motor to a modern measurement tool toobserve the
mode before the pandemic and synchronous online (SO) mode since the pandemic. Toimprove students’ learning online, instructor has: (1) modified the class delivery by redesigningcourse interface including transparency in homework and adding quizzes to challenge students’understanding of the key concepts, (2) introduced various students’ interaction tools, and (3)provided link or support for students’ personal factors. The class performance was evaluated atthe end of the semester and compared with previous semesters to evaluate effectiveness ofstudent learning in virtual learning environment. To determine students effective learning online,following two questions were posed: (1) Are the students effectively learning the modules and course
decision makers when considering the bestway to serve the educational needs of students.1 IntroductionDuring the best of times, computer science is thought of as difficult to instruct and to learn1,2 anddropout rates in introductory computer science courses are high2. During the current pandemic,about half of U.S. students have moved to virtual schooling attendance because their families orschool district have deemed it the best way to stay safe6. To allow students at high risk or withmid-semester illness to keep up with the class, a parallel Zoom attendance option was offered foreach of my classes. This allowed students to attend lectures remotely in real time and receive thesame instructional input as the students attending in person. To ensure
consisting of 107 total students participated in thisstudy in Winter 2021. The students were first given three concept questions about Newton’sSecond Law before they participated in the IBLA, with a free-response follow-up question askingthem to explain the reasoning behind their answers. These questions were also administered usingthe Concept Warehouse. The first question they were given is shown in Figure 1.Figure 1: Question 1 - See saw question used to evaluate student understanding of Newton’s Second Law, followed by a free-response explanation. Next, the students were given the following question, seen in Figure 2, to assess how theyapply Newton’s Second Law in a different context. Figure 2
concepts in their curriculum. Learning these topics can be difficult because studentstend to draw from personal experience or information from prior courses [1]. To aid in studentlearning, online learning tools can be leveraged to target conceptually difficult topics. TheConcept Warehouse (jimi.cbee.oregonstate.edu/concept_warehouse) is one such tool that gathersa wide range of questions that target difficult concepts across STEM topics from whichinstructors can assign to students [2].Instructors can assign concept questions through the Concept Warehouse before students arriveto class. In this way, instructors can have a better understanding of where student misconceptionson a topic that will be discussed in class occur. In lieu of having students
pandemic challenge.Index Terms — Hybrid, virtual, challenge the academic environment, senior project capstonecourse, endurance, UAV, solar panels, battery, supercapacitor, structures, wireless.1. IntroductionThe hybrid multidisciplinary senior project course curriculum and hardware enable students thatare not allowed on campus to experience laboratory build and test experiences at home in avirtual team environment. This curriculum will include training, hybrid communicationprotocols, design of testing methods and test rigs that can be performed at a student’s residence,purchase of hand tools, small lab equipment and test article materials suitable to be checked-outor mailed to a student’s home for test article manufacture and testing. As stated in
: before the introduction of flipped labs, during a semester with flipped labs and face-to-face instructions, during a semester with a transition to an alternative mode of instructionwith flipped labs, and during a semester with full online teaching with flipped lectures and labs.Our quantitative analysis demonstrated the positive impact of flipped lectures on the outcomesby comparing the data from Fall 2018 to Fall 2020. The surveys reveal the students’ sentimentsand perceptions of the utilized approach. Additionally, we present “lessons learned” based on thequantitative analyses, students’ feedback, and the instructor’s observations that could be helpfulin a face-to-face environment post-pandemic.1. Introduction and MotivationOur institution
courses coupled with a culturallyincongruent and even hostile learning climate.1-4 This loss of talent and diversity in STEM isparticularly critical to address in Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), a growing group ofinstitutions that in the past two decades have increased access for diverse populations aspiring tohigher education. 5 Currently 539 HSIs enroll 3.8 million or 67% of all Latinx undergraduatestudents, as well as large numbers of URM students (underrepresented minority groups ofstudents such as first generation (FG), Black, Pacific Islander, and Native American students).This makes HSIs well positioned to not only diversify but also increase the numbers of collegeeducated STEM professionals.6 But diversity at HSIs does not
, traditionally summarized and/or presented one-on-one withfaculty as individual efforts. Students are expected to use divide-and-conquer approaches todesign parallel programs for speed-up using well-known numerical methods from calculuscombined with algorithms learned in class. To maintain course learning objectives and improveupon them while overcoming the new pandemic limitations, three specific parallel programmingmodifications have been made: 1) All final shared memory parallel programs can now be completed on a home system using equipment that costs less than one hundred dollars or can be completed on the existing CSU cluster. Distributed memory parallel programs must be developed and tested on the CSU cluster using MPI based on
learning, online simulation,microelectronics circuits lab, computer network lab, digital circuit design lab.1. IntroductionAs John Dewey, a well-known educational theorist, emphasized1, “hands-on learning such as labexperiments are essential in education experience.” This principle was challenged whenproviding remote/virtual mode of instructions due to the COVID-19 situation was forced. Thiswas stated in Alexander et al.’s report 2, “Higher education is no longer simply being asked tochange. Change will be forced on it, and not just from the impact of Covid-19.”The challenges on the lab courses were highlighted by Woodley et al. 3, “The challenge is tomove lab courses quickly online and still meet the learning objectives, which exists in all
methods fordata collection and analysis. Lastly, we provide an overview of our findings as it pertains to thechallenges that subjects within the ideation study faced and their recommendations for betterideation. The implications of these findings are relevant to engineering educators, researchers, andcurriculum designers to enable more effective ideation sessions in the classroom.Literature ReviewIdea Generation and Brainstorming EnvironmentBrainstorming is the most common method of idea generation and is prevalent in professionswithin and outside of engineering disciplines. In general, the brainstorming process can be distilledto three critical actions: generating, editing/organizing, and evaluating ideas [1]. There are manyestablished methods
pandemic. Theshift to compulsory online learning may have affected the students’ motivations for and needsfrom online learning, so student feedback about online learning during the pandemic should beexamined. Self-Determination Theory (SDT) is applied as a theoretical framework forexamining student feedback because it addresses motivation. This paper considers the followingresearch questions: 1) How does feedback of students who were forced into online learningduring the COVID-19 pandemic align with established best practices for online teaching?; and 2)How did student feedback on course evaluations change during COVID-19 emergency remoteteaching (ERT)? Three published surveys provide broad context for student feedback during thepandemic, and
understandable.Two primary goals of the course are to make students feel engaged and motivated to learn.Taken all of these challenges and difficulties into considerations, the instructors tried to achievethe following goals when she redesigned this course to become a 100% online course in 2020summer based on the community of inquiry theoretical framework [1]: 1.Cognitive presence: Understand each student’s situation and ensure that the course materials are selected based on students’ background. 2. Teaching presence: Build a supporting instructor-student connection and ensure that each student would have the same access to the learning materials and sources. 3. Social presence: Build a strong student-to-student connection