become more prominent in K-12 public education.This emphasis on design and problem solving through applied mathematics and inquiry basedscience are at the center of the National Science Foundation funded project entitled Invention,Innovation, and Inquiry (I3). This project is so named because invention and innovation are thehallmarks of technological thinking and action. This article will describe the background of theproject, how the units of instruction were developed, field testing procedures, findings, andfinally discuss how this curriculum has been implemented in various settings.The purpose of the I3 project was to write ten thematic units that focused on developingtechnological literacy in students, grades 5-6; creating teaching and
2006-1703: DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF VIRTUAL INSTRUMENT (VI)MODULES FOR ELECTRICAL POWER SYSTEMS COURSENikunja Swain, South Carolina State University Dr. Nikunja Swain is a Professor of Computer Science at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, SC. He has over twenty five years of academic experience in teaching various computer sciences, information systems and engineering related graduate and undergraduate courses. He has published a number of articles (45+) in peer-refereed conferences and journals in the areas of Engineering, Management, and Computer Information Systems. He has procured research and development grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of
success. One such group is students who are diagnosed with dyslexia, a learning disabilitythat results in challenges when learning to read. These students often determine very young thatthey are not as capable in learning as their peers because they struggle to master reading. Yet,many dyslexic students are also gifted, and some researchers believe that some dyslexic studentshave a unique capacity to visualize in three dimensions, which ironically contributes to thechallenge of mastering reading in two dimensions. The ability to reason in three dimensions is anadvantage when learning STEM. This advantage should be recognized, developed andencouraged because many of these students may have the potential to be future scientists andengineers.This
to help the instructor and evaluator determine theimpact of the course on these important competencies. For example, assessment of teamworkskills will involve three separate evaluations: instructor, peer and self evaluation. Instructor levelassessment will involve observation of both the formal and informal cooperative learning groupsduring in-class exercises. The data from these observations can be tracked during the term toidentify whether an improvement has been made. Peer evaluation will be accomplished througha form that students will fill out at the mid-term mark and at the end of the term. Self evaluationwill be more qualitative as students are asked to reflect on their performance as a team memberby writing in their academic journals
-based curriculum development process and before they began teaching their students.Consenting students also completed a survey after experiencing the coding lessons their teachersdeveloped and shared their experiences. Data collection included information on teachingmaterials developed by the teachers, teacher-related survey data, and student-related survey data.The data analysis focuses on two aspects of the work, namely the applications developed bythree teachers and their experiences, as well as the findings of their student surveys. While moreteachers and students participated, we were only able to reflect on these three teachers and theirstudents at the time of writing this paper.2.1 Overview of research-practice partnership professional
group field trips, and preparing grant applications throughformal concept papers. In this Work-In-Progress paper, we explain the study design for the near term thatwill examine how faculty have been impacted in their participation in the form of in-depth individualinterviews and a survey. At the time of writing, no direct data has been collected as this data is forthcomingin summer and fall of 2024. Any faculty elsewhere who have struggles in areas of junior faculty mentoring,the balance between research and teaching, and growing interdisciplinary research at your institution maybenefit from the lessons we are learning.KEYWORDSinterdisciplinary; water research; faculty development; community connections; integrated research andeducation
confidently apply the skills several years later when they enter college, even though they maybe eligible to take pre-calculus at that time.This paper presents the results of a diagnostic construction-related math quiz given in a freshmanlevel CM course over five different semesters, illustrating students’ consistent difficultyperforming these math skills. Since it is imperative that students have confidence applyingconstruction-related math skills upon graduation with a construction management degree, thispaper also proposes strategies to improve students’ construction math skills.IntroductionThe 3Rs, Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic, have long been considered foundational skills in oureducation system, even though there has been much debate over the
- Understand the importance of sustainability concepts.• PLO # 2- Acquire scientific knowledge and methods required to evaluate the sustainability of systems.• PLO # 3 - Learn to design, manufacture, and operate processes in an environmentally conducive manner.• PLO # 4- Demonstrate critical thinking skills required to analyze problems in their social and environmental context.• PLO # 5 - Develop economically, environmentally, and socially sound sustainable decisions• PLO # 6 - Evaluate the impact of products, processes, and activities through life cycle assessment• PLO # 7 - Communicate through graduate level oral and writing skills.• PLO # 8 - Demonstrate understanding of professional and ethical
and the high cost of new laboratory equipment has left manylaboratory courses outdated and understaffed.1 Non-traditional teaching methods such asProblem-Based Learning (PBL) provide a way for instructors to give students the hands-on skillsthat they need and develop their critical thinking skills while working within the financialconstraints placed on most courses. PBL is grounded in the idea that students should befacilitated by instructors in self-directed experiments that encourage critical thinking and Page 20.23.2problem solving amongst peers. It has been seen that PBL is an effective method to engagestudents with the fundamental
Mission (M)Senior Society (So)Project Public Need (P)Figure 2: Metrics and Nomenclature for Successful Senior Project As shown in Table 2, sources of measurements can be team members, professors, peers andexternal sources. Each source employs the fixed metrics according to a template and follows theprotocol to estimate the score. Page 23.1108.5Table 2: Multiple Sources of MeasurementsMeasure Source Method TypeFixed Metrics Team Members Scoring Template EstimateFixed Metrics Professor(s) Scoring Template
reading of bothtext and peer-reviewed articles, research projects, and presentations. The classes addressmultiple general education requirements while offering enlightenment and understandingof engineering systems, engineering principles, and design.IntroductionEngineering curricula centers upon the training and development of engineers and followsa cloistered academic approach. Rarely can anyone outside the discipline take engineeringcourses. ABET further reinforces this approach in order to maintain rigor and consistencyin the delivery of course work. Coupled with traditional academic boundaries, a generallack of understanding exists by the general public about engineering systems, basicscientific/engineering principles, and engineering design
move to solving advanced models thatdescribe how the world works. A recent model has been implemented in the college ofengineering at Tennessee Tech (TTU) to base the initial programming experience onhardware in the loop approach where the programming target is a micro-controller. Thiscourse has been offered in both C/C++ and Matlab programming language. From multiple previous implementations, we see that the students that engaged in thehands-on, hardware-based programming activities reported a more positive earlyexperience with programming and its relation to the engineering curriculum relative totheir comparison-group peers. The students participating in the project also reportedimproved confidence in their ability to learn and use
of the curriculum tostimulate learning through independent thinking, communication with peers, and interaction withthe instructor. Voluntary peer tutorials were held each week by outstanding juniors in chemicalengineering who took the course the previous year. Also, short writing assignments were used toprovide the instructor with background information about each student, provide midtermfeedback to the instructor, and to stimulate student thinking about certain tangential aspects ofthe course; like careers, history and famous women in engineering.For the blended instruction course (experimental group), new elements included the following:1) course was set up under university-licensed software as a web-based course using WebCT(even though it
to utilize the tool. Therefore, the logistics ofclassroom integration are greatly reduced. Figure 3.1 depicts the interface with a whiteboard(left) and a chat window (right). In GLASS, the whiteboard is used by the team to collaborativelyconstruct the solution to a given Challenge Problem. The chat window is used by team membersto share resources, discuss their approach to the problem, and reach a consensus when ready tosubmit for grading. Although Google Docs has been adopted in teaching and learning in higher Figure 3.1: Etherpad text-based collaboration tool depicting integrated Whiteboard and Chat windows.education for group projects, collaborative writing, peer review, and others in various disciplines[26-28], Etherpad added increased
– frequent meetings provide all team members with a granular understanding of the project’s statusExisting literature on using Scrum in engineering education deals almost exclusively with upper-division or graduate engineering courses [4]. While this may be an obvious place to utilizeScrum, it should actually be taught across the engineering curriculum. For example, it has beenshown that technical writing is a skill that ought to be taught and reinforced across multipleengineering courses and years [11,12]. For any project management technique to be really useful,we should start teaching it early and reintroduce it often. For these reasons, we have beenimplementing Scrum methodology across several years of our ECE undergraduate program.2.1
conducted in 2016by the University of Washington (UW) Center for Evaluation and Research for STEM Equityfound that awardees “found the grant writing process to be beneficial in helping them refineand package their ideas, build relationships with mentors, and develop literature reviews.Some of the grantees found themselves using parts of their proposal for federal grantproposals.” The UW evaluation also identified the following career impacts from theawardees: Internal and External Collaborations Strengthened, Mentorship by Grant Mentorsand Peers Benefitted Grantees; Increased Confidence in Expertise and Dissemination ofWork; Value and Influence Manifested as Respect, Credibility, and Leadership Potential;Leadership Experience Built Tangible Skills
affective dimension of reentry shock, but the course offers a range ofactivities that help students to re-engage with their experience abroad and to integrate theirinternational experience into their career plans and professional self-presentation. Specifically,the course activities encourage students to participate in several activities that will encouragetheir global orientation, such as serving as an “ambassador”, mentoring a service-learning team,or interviewing a peer or a professional about their global experiences. Finally, the courseincludes structured reflection in the form of a final writing project.15Georgia Tech has long been a leader in international learning. Its International Plan serves as amodel for engaging, as Lohmann, Rollins
the textbook before coming toclass; active learning; undergraduate lecture teaching assistants; distribution and collection ofmaterials as well as post-lecture review of submitted work; making the environment more friendlythrough music and videos; integration of learning communities; and classroom representatives andteam minute papers to create a manageable student feedback mechanism. This paper will presentthe perspectives of a new faculty member teaching for the first time and of more experiencedinstructors of large classes.Introductory CommentsOne can imagine the worries of a new professor teaching for the first time: How do I write agood test? How do I keep the lectures interesting? Are my expectations of the studentsreasonable? What if
learning and offers scheduling flexibility for busy STEM graduate students throughthe innovative use of educational and communication technologies. Grounded in Pask’s modelof conversation theory, the program engages student peers as well as patent and copyrightexperts in conversations using Web 2.0 technologies to encourage and capture group interactionand build critical thinking skills in the intellectual property domains of U.S. patent and copyrightlaw. Student learning and satisfaction were evaluated using pre- and post-tests, rubric-guidedexpert evaluation of conversation transcripts and problem solutions, focus groups, and feedbackforums, all designed to provide guidance for continuous improvement of course delivery andcontent. Investigators
and scholarly approach. The structured framework has guided the comprehensiveexamination of relevant literature in a manner reflective of best practices in scholarly writing. Thereview used research databases, search strings, and inclusion criteria for an unbiased search toprovide a narrative description that elaborates meaning full story about the existing research in thisfield.Search ProcedureMultiple search databases were queried to select papers to write a literature survey. EBSCO host,Wiley Library, and IEEE Xplore databases were selected because they provide the advanced searchoption to apply practically identical search strings to select papers to ensure that the chosen papersalign with the objectives and focus of your research. EBSCO
presentingthe results to the class in an informal setting. The technical publications selected by the studentsinclude books from a wide variety of topics, ranging from artificial intelligence to hybrid vehicledesign and infrastructure issues. Students must relate topics explored within the book withtopics learned in Thermodynamics. Thus, in writing a review, the student combines the skills ofdescribing what is on the page, analyzing how the book tried to achieve its purpose as well as Page 22.1351.3how it relates to Thermodynamics, and expressing personal reactions. A page-long list ofsuggested books is provided to the students at the time of project
haste to complete the exercises. The clarity of text-based exercises can often be an issue. Not every student interprets instructions in the same way. Students read and interpret instructions at different speeds. This results in challenges keeping the class moving through material together. This can exacerbate a weaker student’s understanding of critical concepts as they rush in an attempt to keep pace with their peers. Instructors and TAs are often by-standers when students are working on these exercises. In many cases they are relegated to assisting students understand the instructions rather than engaging them in deepening their understanding of the concepts. This is not the best use of their time and skill
, design, writing, or other performance assessments.7,8,9Bailey and Szabo declare “Rigorously assessing students' design process knowledge is essentialfor understanding how to best create learning environments to facilitate the development of suchknowledge. Such assessment is also quite difficult and hence there is a lack of assessment toolscapable of measuring the design process knowledge of every student in a large college”.28 Thisstatement concisely depicts the wide open field of opportunity for engineering educators todevise, validate, and publish assessment instruments targeting design skills and knowledge.35, 36Some efforts have been made to address this opportunity through the development ofstandardized tests of engineering design skills
either experiences with mentors, peers, and/or other instructors as having influenced theirprocess of preparation, though a large portion of respondents specified that interactions withinstructors influenced their process of preparation, but not peers or mentors. Many respondentsdescribed their experiences in seeking and receiving feedback as a TA from both peers and mentorsas beneficial. A few respondents stated that no one has helped them prepare. Regarding concernsfor a career in academia, many expressed worries regarding the pressures of research, potentiallack in work-life balance, low salaries, and the difficulties of finding a faculty position.Additionally, some expressed concerns regarding the culture of academia; including factors
the new environment,especially with regard to study habits, prioritization of tasks, and time management. Many students fail their firstcalculus course and lose interest in engineering. Many students who have successfully completed themathematics sequence are still unable to apply their math skills in solving physical problems (i.e., wordproblems). Several initiatives have been taken to help students adjust, such as proactive advising, earlyintervention, peer counseling, tutoring and the “Freshman Forgiveness Program.” All these efforts haveproduced some positive results. However, to educate students effectively and provide them with an engineeringeducation for a changing world, the entire curriculum requires careful review and re-design with
of juniorfaculty, many Assistant Professors agonize over writing and submitting their CAREERproposal.The goal of this paper is to present a systematic model for preparing the NSF CAREERproposal. Its objectives are to provide; a historical context for the CAREER program, apedagogical guide to preparing the proposal and supporting documents, and a templatefor writing the CAREER proposal. In the words of an experienced NSF program officer,“if you don’t submit a proposal, your chances of receiving an award are zero.”The CAREER Proposal Sections and FormatThere are 13 distinct sections required in an NSF CAREER proposal. The core of theserequirements are the Project Summary, Project Description, Budget with justification,and the Departmental
workshops for area chemistry andphysics teachers since 2004, reaching almost 370 teachers during that time. For most of theprogram’s history, three concurrent workshops have been offered each summer: one inmechanics, one in introductory chemistry, and an advanced curriculum writing workshop. Thecurriculum workshop is open to any teacher who has completed an introductory workshop andimplemented the Modeling approach. The majority of participants maintain ties after theirworkshops to the local and national Modeling community via active listservs and, primarily onthe local level, special events. Almost one-third of the teachers have taken at least twoworkshops through the program. Given that the workshops consist of three intense weeks duringthe
priorities. Second, most students wanted toimprove their academic writing skills, but few took ownership to write on their own. This is notunusual for busy graduate students, however programs exist to assist graduate students withbecoming better academic writers so a decision was made to include such as effort. To that end,a graduate student writing consultant, one that has been trained in supporting graduate studentsin the writing process, has been brought in to conduct weekly writing sessions with cohort 2where various topics are discussed and writing is peer reviewed. Students are required to engagein both the learning community and writing community in the future. We will continue tooptimize the interdisciplinary graduate education program as we
critical thinking, writing and speaking skills.The paper describes the program, the leadership structure and the training/mentoring model thathas resulted in the current program design and the expanded outreach effort.IntroductionIn the urban communities the underrepresented student is faced with roadblocks that can impedetheir educational development. These roadblocks include inadequate classroom environment,inadequate teacher preparation, inadequate educational tools, as well as any family economic andsocial barriers. Most of these students rarely break through these roadblocks successfully.Consequently, they do not reach their potential to achieve academically. This academic crisis forthe underrepresented student is no more apparent than in the
numerous awards for both teaching and advising, including being named as an NCSU Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor, the ASEE Raymond W. Fahien Award, the John Wiley Premier Award for Engineering Education Courseware, NCSU Fac- ulty Advising Award, National Effective Teaching Institute Fellow, NCSU Alumni Outstanding Teacher Award, George H. Blessis Outstanding Undergraduate Advisor Award, ASEE Southeastern Section New Teacher Award, and ASEE-ERM Apprentice Faculty Grant Award. Bullard’s research interests lie in the area of educational scholarship, including teaching and advising effectiveness, academic integrity, process design instruction, and the integration of writing, speaking, and computing within the