Conference Session

Recruitment, Retention, and First-year Programs in ECE

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Constance D. Hendrix, U.S. Air Force Academy; Marcus L. Roberts, U.S. Air Force Academy; William J. Eccles, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Jeffrey Butler, U.S. Air Force Academy; Randall Deppensmith, U.S. Air Force Academy

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

waste of time. 35% Figure 6. Course Reflection, Fall 2011.Motivational Challenges"Electrical Engineering?" "Electronic Systems?" "We have to take an engineering course? But,I'm an English major." "Why should I care about engineering?" These are common reactionsfrom students on Lesson 1 of this 40-lesson course. Indeed, these are valid questions. So duringLesson 1, each instructor is challenged to convince these students that this course is relevant.Then, during every succeeding lesson, they continue to motivate the students to learn and to beinterested, not just regurgitate information. Unless a student is motivated to learn the material,the information presented is unlikely to be committed to

Conference Session

FPD I: Research on First-year Programs Part I

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kerry Meyers, University of Notre Dame; Victoria E. Goodrich, University of Notre Dame; Natalie Gedde, University of Notre Dame

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

programs being used this semester.” – Current Student Assistant Page 25.1026.8When asked what skill they felt the improved most upon, many of the survey respondentsindicated they improved their technical skills, communication, teaching, or their ability toexplain things multiple ways: “I became much better at helping others look at problems in new ways.” – Former Student Assistant “My ability to connect and explain problems to someone who did not have as strong a technical background.” – Former Student AssistantSeveral of the post graduate survey respondents were able to look reflectively at the experiencegained from their

Conference Session

Lessons Learned through Community Engagement of Engineering Students

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Robert Foster, George Fox University; Gary E. Spivey, George Fox University

Tagged Divisions

Community Engagement Division

by the seemingly rigid nature of the “gates” - knowing that engineeringdesign is more flexible in its iterative process. Looking back, the instructors made the mistake ofassuming that students understood well the engineering design process and could operate wellwithout this linear structure.Assessment of the course was provided via open-ended written reflections. Students indicatedthat the documentation requirements were overwhelming the service and design aspects of thecourse. In spite of their frustration with the documentation, students indicated that they valuedthe service aspect of the course.The instructor’s assessment mirrored that of the students. The focus of the course was incorrect.In the pursuit of providing resources to help

Conference Session

Pedagogical Approaches for Software Engineering

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Clifton L. Kussmaul, Muhlenberg College

Tagged Divisions

Software Engineering Constituent Committee

Techniques(s)Students Improve learning outcomes. Average grades. Qualitative assessment of selected assignments. Improve affective outcomes. Current (e.g. SIR-II4), existing (e.g. TDS22), & custom instruments. Improve recruiting & retention. Course enrollments & major/minor counts.PIs & Develop & refine PAs. Quarterly activity reports, peer review, interviews.Project Improve faculty affective outcomes. Reflection, interviews.Team Enhance PAs (e.g. with Quarterly activity reports, peer review, interviews

Conference Session

Linking Engineering and Liberal Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

J. Ledlie Klosky, U.S. Military Academy; Scott M. Katalenich, U.S. Military Academy; Steven D. Hart, U.S. Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

25.1122.4surrounding the bridge and the many others like it? Upon reflection, it is less clear where theblame lies; society selected that person to lead, and the politician holds a degree in law from avery well-respected institution. The politician learned what we (those charged with providing anadvanced education) had deemed important: an introduction to science, likely very little onengineering as a discipline, and almost certainly little or nothing about infrastructure.To explore this further, the authors searched for infrastructure courses offered to undergraduatesnot taking a technical degree and came up largely empty-handed. Though the engineeringcommunity is clearly moving to provide infrastructure programs related to civil engineering,sustainability

Conference Session

General Topics in Graduate Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elizabeth Basha, University of the Pacific; Luke S. Lee, University of the Pacific

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

better reflects theneeds of industry. In fact, it is well-recognized that modern engineering problems are difficult tosolve within the scope of a single discipline and require individuals and teams to possess adiverse skill set and the ability to effectively integrate those skills to solve a problem1,2.Engineers who can cross the boundaries of traditional disciplines and integrate existingknowledge and create new knowledge are increasingly being sought1.The importance of interdisciplinary collaboration is particularly relevant in graduate engineeringeducation where research experience is paramount to development and integration of knowledgeand skills. The need for interdisciplinary collaboration in engineering education and research isdriven by

Conference Session

Innovative Uses of Technology and Techniques for Laboratory Exercises

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ghassan T. Ibrahim, Bloomsburg University; Aaron J. Homiak, Geisinger Health System; Alexander Hallden-Abberton, Bloomsburg University; John R. Pulaski

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

-conceptStudents’ Response and evaluationAt the end of the course, a student survey was conducted to evaluate the educational outcomes ofthe project. The survey included the following questions: 1. How did the senior design project (SDP) reflect on your learning process? 2. How did the SDP reflect on you ability to reason and make quick intelligent decisions considering the time constraint imposed? 3. Did the SDP provide a venue to expand your learning and apply the knowledge gained in the program to solve real world problems? 4. Was the short time constraint imposed a motivating challenging experience 5. Did the PDR and CDR report writing and presentation has added value to the SDP learning outcome 6. How well

Conference Session

General Topics in Graduate Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Matthew Pariyothorn, Texas A&M University; Robin L. Autenrieth, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

years prior to summer 2006 are incomplete, so those data are not included inthis analysis.Applicant TrendsAs depicted in Figure 1, our state and national recruiting efforts implemented for summer 2009resulted in an increase in the total number of applications as well as the number of applicationsrepresenting non-Texas A&M institutions. These trends reflect the shift in recruitment effortsfocused on non-Texas A&M students. Our goal is not to decrease the pool of Texas A&Mapplicants, but to increase the pool of non-Texas A&M students. Figure 1 Applicant Institutional Representation. 160 140 Number of Applicants 120

Conference Session

Systems Engineering Curriculum and Programs

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adeel Khalid, Southern Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management, Industrial Engineering, Systems Engineering

cooperative learning. These approaches go beyond traditional lectures typical of ArtHistory classes. Students in art appreciation classes consider the visual arts from multipleperspectives including concepts, interrelationships and relevance to different disciplines and witheveryday life. Many strategies support and reinforce critical thinking that is essential to alldisciplines including systems engineering.The following examples illustrate some of the active and cooperative learning techniques15. 1. Affective Response - provides an emotional or evaluative response to material. Students look at works of art and note the reaction/response they have to the image/artwork. They reflect on what they see and what has been discussed regarding

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education I

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert O'Connell, University of Missouri, Columbia; Pil-Won On, University of Missouri, Columbia

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

work by all students and for the convenience of rearrangingclassroom desks into tidy squares for group work. Both classes were given instruction, during afull class period at the beginning of the semester (with regular reminders throughout thesemester), on what was expected of them during group work. Those expectations included: 1-following a simple problem-solving scheme, which included brief individual reflection, briefgroup brainstorming to decide a solution approach, and then interactive work with discussion Page 25.1241.4until the problem is solved; and 2- using good interpersonal team skills, which includedspeaking, listening, and peer

Collection

2001 Annual Conference

Authors

Durward Sobek

subjective evaluations, and what the instructor predicts will bechallenging for students may in fact be quite easy for them, and vice versa. The reason thatstudents on average scored higher and spent less time on the problems could simply reflect that thelater problem was easier for the students than the earlier problem. Asking students for theirassessment of difficulty is problematic as the tool is designed to make problem solving easier, soin fact students may perceive the problem to be easier than they might have otherwise--wewouldn’t really know. Or, some students may have found the problem more difficult because theywere simultaneously learning the new method. Thus, we did not attempt to measure problemdifficulty through student assessment.An

Collection

2001 Annual Conference

Authors

George York, U.S. Air Force Academy, CO; Cameron Wright, U.S. Air Force Academy, CO; Michael Morrow, U.S. Naval Academy, MD; Thad Welch, U.S. Naval Academy, MD

. The y-axis is non-normalized beam energy. On the x-axis, 1 <= x <=50 are the beams left of broadside and 52 <= x <= 101 are the beams right of broadside, and beam51 is broadside (or n = 0). The signal in Figure 2 is located at beam 30 (21 delays left of center),which equates to θ = arcsin (21 50 ) or θ = 24.8° left of broadside. Beam 92 shows a reflection froma wall. The display can be modified to show angle directly, but this format is instructive for thestudents. Our students discover the usefulness of 101 beams using a four-element array, alongwith other beamforming considerations such as the effect of the number of sensors, the sensorelement spacing, and the sensor element weighting on the resulting beam characteristics.We

Collection

2001 Annual Conference

Authors

John Chandler; A. Dean Fontenot

by our expanding useof information technology. A number of reports by the National Telecommunications andInformation Administration conclude that income, ethnicity, and gender are primaryfactors determining upon which side of the digital divide a household is located. Thesefindings demonstrate that low income, minority, and single-female-parent households aresignificantly more likely to be included among the “have-nots” 2, 3, 4. A study by the Cityof Lubbock substantiates these findings and demonstrates a wide disparity in the use ofcomputers and information technology between predominately white, middle-to-upperincome neighborhoods and neighborhoods in which the demographics reflect a highpercentage of either low-income, Hispanic, or

Collection

2001 Annual Conference

Authors

Caroline Hembel Beard

further indicator of an institution’squality and effectiveness. When completion numbers and transfer numbers are available, everyprogram will use the favorable numbers to highlight its strengths; and its competitors — within andoutside the institution — will look for something in the numbers to make them look superior bycomparison. For better or worse, all institutions with transfer programs must track and report theircompletion rates, and those rates need to reflect a positive success rate for the institution. Simplyreporting the number of students who officially complete probably will not accomplish that goal.Criteria for determining how transfers should be reported are documented in Lines 11-17 of theIPEDS- GRS-1(10-1-1999) instructions (page

Collection

2001 Annual Conference

Authors

Geoffrey Bland; Abhijit Nagchaudhuri

about an object withoutbeing in physical contact with the object. Aircraft and satellites are the common platforms fromwhich remote sensing observations are made. The two modes of remote sensing may be broadlyclassified as active, where the sensing is achieved by transmitting energy to, and receivingenergy from the sensed target (e.g., radar, lidar etc.), and passive, where the energy source is thesun. This paper describes a NASA-UMES collaborative project primarily involving passiveremote sensing experiments using reflectance patterns in the visible region of theelectromagnetic spectrum using color and monochrome cameras on board a payload attached to atethered blimp.The spectral information captured by the cameras has been successfully

Collection

2001 Annual Conference

Authors

James Thom; Caroline Hoy; Raymond Thompson

forboth recruiting and training for many years. While these motivators are not exclusive to males,they do in general appear to be stronger motivators for males than females.This traditional approach to recruiting makes the assumption that young men and young womenare the same, and are most strongly motivated by the same factors. This philosophy of havingno difference in recruiting motivations reflects much of the philosophy of the IndustrialPsychology work of the 1970’s.1 Most of the Industrial Psychology research done with regardto human resource management in job selection and job evaluation, stressed gender equivalencyas a main issue. That human resource work very strongly discouraged any dissimilar evaluation

Collection

2001 Annual Conference

Authors

Richard A. Kolk; Claudio Campana; Jun Kondo; Devdas Shetty

is measured using aposition sensing detector (PSD) device. The PSD outputs a voltage proportional to theintensity of the light cast upon it. The light source, a laser similar to the type used foroverhead presentations, is fastened to the base of the MTD and aimed at a mirror attachedto the mass. The laser is adjusted until the reflected beam just hits the center of the PSDwhen the mass is motionless and in its normal position. As the mass moves around itsnormal position the reflection angle changes which, in turn, changes the area (intensity)of the light hitting the PSD and hence its voltage. Aside from the initial “tuning” of the Page 6.710.6

Collection

2001 Annual Conference

Authors

Frederick Orthlieb

markets. Such grants offer faculty and their students theopportunity for a more traditional, extended research experience, with adequate time to reflect on alternativeapproaches, design of experiments, interpretation of data and the technical and societal significance of findings.While undergraduate faculty are at some disadvantage in proposing such research unless their laboratories areparticularly well-equipped by virtue of ongoing graduate research activity, faculty who are willing to pursueresearch on industrially-significant topics that "fall in the cracks" among higher-priority R&D goals can use thesesources to develop a program of specialized, frequently methodological research work as a means of steadysupport for undergraduate

Collection

2001 Annual Conference

Authors

Masoud Rais-Rohani

corresponding chapter in any textbook on the subject. These tutorialnotes highlight the important aspects of a particular subject, and are accompanied by pertinentmathematical equations and figures. In some cases, these notes are supplemented byFlash/Shockwave® animation. For example, in the discussion of vectors in the ConcurrentForce Systems module, an animation applet is used to demonstrate the individual direction anglesof a vector as the user changes the direction of the vector with the mouse pointer. Theaccompanying Cartesian vector equation shown at the bottom also changes dynamically. Thistool helps students in visualizing the correct way a direction angle is measured, and in seeing thechanges in direction reflected in the Cartesian vector

Collection

2001 Annual Conference

Authors

Medhat Morcos; David Soldan

may be matched with a particular deliverymedium based on their learning styles and on their lives. For distance learning to succeed, ithas to have institutional reward systems that reflect distance-learning activity. This paperprovides a comprehensive review of the use of distance learning in engineering curricula andcontinuing education.I. IntroductionTechnology has enabled a radical shift in the way education for people of all ages can beaddressed. In an age of life-long learning and increasing globalization, distance learningalternatives appear destined to become even more important to educational institutions of alltypes. Distance learning technologies provide the means whereby learners can interact withpeers, resources, and experts

Collection

2001 Annual Conference

Authors

Lynn Mack; James Wood

terms. Noprogrammatic or faculty interaction occurs between general education and engineeringtechnology "divisions." The invisible barriers between courses and disciplines is typically felt bystudents when taking required general education courses; the connections to their chosen area offocus in engineering technology is most often difficult for students to see. To improve theeducation and workplace readiness of technicians, artificial discipline and faculty barriers mustbe removed. In industry, technicians will be expected to operate in a more fluid, non-compartmentalized setting, integrating skills from many disciplines (mathematics, science,communications, and technology) to solve problems. An educational model that reflects theworkplace by

Collection

2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Robin H. Lovgren; Michael J. Racer; Anna P. Phillips

, distribution, service industries, manufacturing, and communications, to name only a few.2. The existence of this program will also be of benefit to other programs in the Collegeof Engineering.3. Recognize the special needs of an urban university. Be aware as well as responsive.The success of the program hinges on the quality of the faculty. It is these who will beasked to ensure that the previously mentioned goals are met. In this regard, theevaluative measures employed within INSE will be developed with this vision in mind.The quality of each faculty member will reflect his contribution to this vision of INSE. Page 5.311.3Our statement was

Collection

2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Valana Baxter; Mark R Henderson; Jim Baxter; Alan de Pennington

success of this project and the experience, in general. Because of great distances and times and also because of large schedule differences between the US and UK academic calendars, the teams lost track of some of the project milestones and subtasks. As can be seen from the abbreviated schedule above, each project update reflected that the team was behind its original design and manufacturing plan. The reasons were many, but the overall problem was communication. When the schedule began to slip, at one location, that part of the team was hesitant to admit it and increased their efforts to catch up. The schedule slippage, though, is sometimes due not to amount of work, but amount of coordination. For example, the two halves of the

Collection

2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Zheng-Tao Deng; Abdul R. Jalloh; Amir Mobasher; Ruben Rojas-Oviedo

Session 1566 Implementation of a Systems Approach For Curriculum Design Ruben Rojas-Oviedo, Z.T. Deng, Amir Mobasher, A. Jalloh Mechanical Engineering Department Alabama A&M University, Huntsville, AL 35762 E-Mail: rojaso@asnaam.aamu.edu; aamzxd01@asnaam.aamu.edu; amobasher@aamu.edu; ajalloh@aamu.eduAbstractNowadays, engineering professional practice has reached a substantial level of sophisticationdistinct from the old practices, that reflected compartmentalization . This progress has cameabout by a better understanding of a

Collection

2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Manuel D. Rossetti; Harriet Black Nembhard

5.687.2philosophy and a statement of your expectations of the students. You should make it clear thatthe students’ participation during class activities is expected and that participation is an integralpart of the learning experience in your course. Depending on the level of the students you maywant to include some sort of bonus system to reward those students who enthusiastically engagein the process. talking/ listening writing reading reflecting Figure 1: Elements of active learning.Cooperative Learning BackgroundSmith (1994) describes cooperative

Collection

2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Nicole DeJong; Ken Van Treuren; Don Farris; Cindy Fry

in the fall of 1999 indicated they had word processing experience with a 4 rating for theirability. In addition to design project submittals, the students use word processing for twolaboratories and some homework assignments. Usually, the students divide the task of writingvarious report sections for the design submittals, and the team leader is then responsible forintegrating the report. The quality of the report is generally a reflection of the team’s planning.Teams that allow themselves adequate time to finish the report generally do a good job. Someteams are busy trying to compile the report minutes before it is to be turned in. These teamsgenerally do not have a coherent report. Teams are encouraged to have several team membersread

Collection

2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Natasha Balac; Daniel M. Gaines

students build a line following robot. In fact, they have been using mobilerobots for several years now. We are also discussing the possibility of using mobile robotsin the introductory AI class.The students were in unanimous agreement that they had learned things through the useof mobile robots that they would not have learned otherwise. 42% strongly agreed withthis statement.5.5 Question 6: Suggestions for Using Mobile RobotsThe final question asked students if they had any suggestions for using mobile robots inthis course.Three students suggested changing the project so that it consisted of a series of smallerassignments or labs that reflected recent topics in the course. We agree this is a good idea,but it does detract from the objective of

Collection

2001 Annual Conference

Authors

Marilyn Smith

memorize have little basisfor the transfer of information from one class to another (near transfer) or from school to work(far transfer)10. To master this material, a major investment of time by the student is required –even by "talented" students11. Again, in an adaptive integrated curriculum, near and far transfercan be made routine and much less costly. Singley et al12 describe the time required to learn thematerial as being proportional to the amount of material to be learned. This assertion isinteresting in that it reflects the traditional view of sequential learning. The authors’ experiencewith an iterative scheme13, 14 is that a re-organization of the order of presentation, homework andevaluation schemes can produce a large increase in the

Collection

2001 Annual Conference

Authors

Ash Miller; Jeffrey Honchell

compare actual test results for accuracy.The following test and simulation (using Ansoft HFSS simulation software) datainvolved a 3 GHz Microstrip Patch Antenna. The plot, of Figure 6, shows the scatter Page 6.195.11parameter S11 for the Patch Antenna. This parameter conveys the amount of input Proceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2001, American Society for engineering Educationreflection at the feed point. Ideally, the amount of reflection should be at a minimum forthe antenna design frequency (3 GHz). Taking at look at the illustration, the least

Collection

2001 Annual Conference

Authors

Brian Copes; Willard D. Bostwick; Kenneth Rennels; Douglas Acheson

Page 6.205.2Applied Statics, Tool and Fixture Design, and Manufacturing Processes. With the adoption ofProceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright© 2001, American Society for Engineering Educationthese new technologies and the change of instructional focus, the name of the program was alsochanged to Technical Graphics (TG) to more accurately describe the program while at the sametime reflecting industry trends.That same semester, area high school instructor Brian Copes was asked to teach a drafting courseat his institution using AutoCAD® software. Having never used AutoCAD®, Mr. Copes enrolledin one of the new TG courses (TG106 - Technical Graphics I) at IUPUI. While using Web