Conference Session

FPD IX: Research on First-year Programs Part III

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stanley M. Forman, Northeastern University; Susan F. Freeman, Northeastern University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

thesesoft skills are being successfully learned and transferred to the students.6,12 The focus of thiswork is on what is not being learned, what is still lacking as students move through ourprograms.An example of the Unwritten Syllabus can be found in lessons learned by first-year studentsgrappling with course policies and procedures that are different than they have previouslyencountered. Course policies may be listed in the written syllabus or may only be explainedverbally at the start of a semester. An example of a new procedure deals with the oft-repeatedquestion: “When is it due?” High school teachers often take on the role of ‘reminder-in-chief’,posting due dates in the classroom and frequently pointing them out. This does not match theadult

Collection

2012 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Alexey Yamilov

  Teaching an Undergraduate Nanotechnology Course Online Alexey Yamilov Department of Physics, Missouri University of Science and Technology Rolla, MO 65409AbstractWith a support from National Science Foundation, an upper-level undergraduate online course“Nanostructures: An Introduction” was developed and taught as a component of MissouriPhysics Collaboration and Missouri Alliance for Collaborative Education (MACE) initiatives.Students from six different university campuses throughout the state of Missouri haveparticipated. This paper describes the choice of delivery technology as well as adapting thecourse content and assessment strategy for the

Conference Session

Trends in Mechanical Engineering: Curricula and Courses

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Simin Hall, Virginia Tech; Catherine T. Amelink, Virginia Tech; Deyu Hu, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

analyses in nuclear power generation plants. She has been designing online courses since 2006. In 2010, with an education grant from Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) she completed the online design of the graduate nu- clear engineering certificate program. In 2011, the new education grant from NRC, allowed initiating the design of two new nuclear graduate courses for the Master program. Her applied research in education is in cognitive functioning using online learning technologies. She has redesigned two undergraduate courses in thermodynamics for online/distance delivery at the ME Department at VT. She is a co-author on a chapter that is published in the book titled ”Cases on building quality distance delivery

Conference Session

Methods, Cases, and Directions

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Pil-Won On, University of Missouri, Columbia; Luis Occena, University of Missouri

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy, Engineering Management, Industrial Engineering, Systems Engineering

-through video clip (instructor’s video recording demonstrating howto work on the course), a link to an introductory activity (introduce yourself), and a link to asyllabus which contains a syllabus quiz. The syllabus quiz covers important points that studentsshould be informed before starting the course. With unlimited attempts, the completion of asyllabus quiz with 100% success releases the first learning module.Course EvaluationThe renovated course was offered first time during the fall 2011 and students were asked to Page 25.787.5participate in the study that reflects on their experience of the online course delivery. Ananonymous survey was

Conference Session

Ethical Cases and Curricula

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kenneth R. Leitch P.E., West Texas A&M University; Rhonda B. Dittfurth, West Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

coursework online. Ethics instruction can be readily implemented in an onlinelearning environment.This paper will address the author’s experience in instructing engineering ethics at multiple universities in thetraditional lecture format and compare and contrast that experience with offering an online engineering ethicsformat. The author will describe engineering ethics course construction for use with traditional in-seat lecture andonline instruction. Student scores appear to indicate that this topic can be implemented successfully online or in-seat. Online instruction allows for greater flexibility for students to fit required coursework into busy schedules.IntroductionThe Engineering and Computer Science (ECS) Department at West Texas A&M

Conference Session

Using Computers, Software, and Writing to Improve Mathematical Understanding

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bipin K. Pai, Purdue University, Calumet

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

conducting exams online.METHODOLOGYThe course grading policy is explained to the students at the start of the semester and thebreakdown is as follows. The mid-term and final exams count for 35% and 40% of the totalgrade respectively. Both exams are given in a face-to-face class session. Of the remaining 25%,homework and online quizzes count for 20% and the online discussions count for 5% of the totalgrade. The syllabus explained all the requirements, including the policies and expectations foronline activities.The Numerical Methods course is divided into four modules. The first module introduces thestudents to Taylor series, finite difference calculus, interpolation and extrapolation. The secondmodule deals with roots of equations, solutions of

Conference Session

Graduate Education and Undergraduate Research-related Issues

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Vladimir Genis, Drexel University; Jay J. Bhatt, Drexel University; Shawn A. Woodson, Drexel University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

hard time finding scholarly articles and research papers on this topic.I was wondering if you could please help me with this.”3. Course Management Systems.Since course content, syllabus, lectures, and other important documents will be available throughthe online course management system, it makes sense that even library instruction and referencebe embedded through course management systems. Appropriate course web pages and researchguides can be linked through these systems providing easy access to students. Course specificonline books can also be linked so that students can access them through the course web pages.Faculty members in collaboration with the engineering librarian can identify appropriate onlinebooks or book chapters for their

Conference Session

BME Course and Curriculum Development

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steve Warren, Kansas State University

Tagged Divisions

Biomedical

this increased interest in biomedical research and education has led to new opportunities,the participation of such a diverse group of students in this Introduction to BiomedicalEngineering course has made the assignment of syllabus topics a challenge. The biomedicalengineering topic set already presents a breadth versus depth tradeoff, and the participation ofstudents with backgrounds in multiple areas of engineering further increases pressure on theinstructor to include topics that make the course relevant to each of these students. This situationis further complicated by (a) differences in student preparation related to subjects such as biology,mathematics, electronic circuits, and programming, (b) variations in students’ core interests

Conference Session

Thinking About the Engineering Curriculum

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Geoffrey L. Herman, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Mark H. Somerville, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering; David E. Goldberg, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Kerri Ann Green, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

identifying the strategic core, we discussed what topics and activities students couldchoose. The negotiable elements reinforce the strategic core, but give students autonomy topursue personal purposes and competencies. For example, students could choose to take thehour exams or they could choose to create design projects or education resources. Page 25.357.93.3.3 Create course structures To present the strategic core and the negotiable elements in a way that supportedstudents’ sense of competence, we required students to create three learning agreements thatwould replace the normal course syllabus. These learning agreements would be

Conference Session

FPD IV: Innovative Curriculum Elements of Successful First-year Courses

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robin A.M. Hensel Ed.D., West Virginia University; Ordel Brown Ph.D., West Virginia University; Mary L. Strife, West Virginia University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

andtechnical papers which not only inform their research11,12 but provide high quality examples ofvarious types of technical communication13.The first engineering problem solving course that first-year students take at West VirginiaUniversity, a large land-grant university in the mid-Atlantic region, requires students to write atleast two technical reports. Students, typically, have difficulty with the following: (1)understanding the parts of a technical report; (2) defining and avoiding plagiarism; (3) evaluatingtheir online sources; and (4) finding appropriate sources from which to perform a literaturesearch for background information on their assigned topic.To address these issues, engineering faculty collaborated with campus librarians14,15 to: (1

Conference Session

Trends in Mechanical Engineering: Trends and Tools

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Amanie N. Abdelmessih, Saint Martin's University; Irina Gendelman, Saint Martin's University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

distance learning. Distance learning appealsto mature working students and their employers as it does not disrupt the working day. Bourneet. al.1 discuss the impact of online learning on continuing education of graduate engineers anddegree seeking engineering students. They recommend that engineering colleges explore,implement, and extend blended learning and the collection of data and distribution of knowledgeabout successes and failures, as well as to continue to build-out the use of technologyimplementations that increase the quality of online courses. Mulligan et. al.2 describe case Page 25.1224.2studies for teaching online Manufacturing

Conference Session

Computer and Informtion Technology-related Issues

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Warren Rosen, Drexel University; M. Eric Carr, Drexel University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

describes the development of a new graduate engineering technology course inadvanced networks for industrial environments. The course is intended to provide an in-depthoverview of high-performance wired and wireless networks for industrial control,communications, and computing. The emphasis is on understanding current and newly emergingnetwork architectures, protocols, and technologies in terms of performance, network services,ease of implementation, maintenance, reliability, risk, and cost. The course is currently offeredentirely online. To address the challenge of providing hands-on experience with networkprotocols, experiments with two industry-standard modeling and evaluation tools, OPNET’s ITGuru and Wireshark, are used. In addition, Adobe

Conference Session

Innovations in the IE Curriculum

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Denise H. Bauer, University of Idaho, Moscow; Jessica L. Heier Stamm, Kansas State University; Lesley Strawderman, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy, Engineering Management, Industrial Engineering, Systems Engineering

AC 2012-4451: A REVIEW OF CAPSTONE COURSE DESIGNS USED ININDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING PROGRAMSDr. Denise H. Bauer, University of Idaho, Moscow Denise H. Bauer received her Ph.D. in industrial engineering from Pennsylvania State University in 2007. She received a M.S. in industrial engineering as well as a B.S. in engineering dcience from the University of Tennessee. Bauer’s research in engineering education centers around the use of technology mainly as a means of communication for remote engineering group work. She received a NAE CASEE postdoctoral fellowship to study what communication methods students used to communicate with group members during online classes and their feelings on their importance. She is also

Conference Session

Spacecraft Design Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael A. Swartwout, Saint Louis University; Sanjay Jayaram, Saint Louis University

Tagged Divisions

Aerospace

, technical challenges that crop up in I&T can extend the phase well beyond 5years.In Fall 2011, we offered the first course: Integration & Test of Space Systems with an enrollmentof nine undergraduates. In this paper, we will provide an overview of the objectives, syllabus andassessment of this course in spacecraft integration & test. We will place this course in the contextof aerospace engineering at our university and our other systems-engineering courses andintroduce the hands-on work done through the Research Laboratory and the COPPER satellite.We will assess the results of the first course and provide lessons learned and future work.Our first offering had mixed results; in addition to the typical mid-course corrections that

Conference Session

ETD Design I

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Aurenice Menezes Oliveira, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

describe in this paper is offered as a core-course for EET majorsand a service course for other majors (non-EET). Historically, introductory courses in electricalengineering and electrical engineering technology not always have been adequate to satisfy thegoals of providing a foundation for EET majors, while providing some EET knowledge and toolsneeded for other majors to support their field of study3. We continue to struggle with the task ofimparting knowledge to students who often have little interest in the material, and who are veryimpatient. We also are often faced with the decision of covering only the most basic informationon most topics in the syllabus or focusing on communicating a comprehensive understanding ofa subset of topics. Some

Conference Session

Ethics Education, Global Health, and Outreach in BME

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael J. Rust, Western New England University; Steven G. Northrup, Western New England University

Tagged Divisions

Biomedical

the state of economic development in the region. Additionally, the studentsparticipated in service learning activities at a mission-operated farming cooperative. Theseactivities were designed to reinforce the socioeconomic aspects of global health from theperspective of the Guatemalan scenario, which had been introduced during the lecturecomponent of the course. Several cultural activities were also planned, including visits to a Page 25.75.6market and a Mayan burial ground.There were several products required of the students during the field experience. The studentsmaintained daily journals of their experiences as well as an online blog

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching Transportation and Geotechnical Engineering

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rhonda K. Young, University of Wyoming; Kristen L. Sanford P.E., Lafayette College; Shashi S. Nambisan P.E., Iowa State University

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

Hoel, a popular and broadly used book across the nation, wasused as for the course. While the book has significant breadth and depth of coverage of topics,the topics included in the course were limited both in breadth and depth. Instructor preparedhandouts were used as supplementary core reference materials. These were posted online usingthe IT system adopted at the Institution.The nationwide initiative to develop knowledge tables and learning outcomes influenced thetopics addressed and the instructional approach adopted. This included refining the breadth anddepth of topics addressed and relating the course objectives to the outcomes listed in Table 1.The student learning objectives for the course (excerpted from the syllabus and assignments

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bonnie H. Ferri, Georgia Institute of Technology; JillL L. Auerbach, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

courses.The feedback from the students and from the faculty using these modules has been so positivethat the state machine modules have now become mandatory for the course and have becomepart of the revised syllabus starting in Fall 2012. While protoboards themselves were only a toolto address the true topic of physical state machines, students did receive a valuable introductioninto physical systems. A modification that we have adopted in future offerings of the course has Page 25.89.12been to allow students to finish the lab in TA office hours if they did not finish the lab duringclass period. The fastest students start finishing the lab in about 25

Conference Session

Research Informing Teaching Practice II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Renata A. Revelo Alonso, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Michael C. Loui, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

Page 25.1320.8engineering design tradeoffs. Faculty can aid students in making a habit of refocusing back to“big ideas” throughout the course by intentionally making connections between smaller andbigger ideas. For instance, in the design of a project, the assignment might ask students to run acost-benefit or design tradeoff analysis as part of a report. Additionally, students can find reallife engineering projects in newspapers or online articles and reflect on how the skills they arelearning in the classroom present themselves outside of the academic realm6.LimitationsOne of the limitations in this study is in the nature of the course. Although ECE 101 follows apre-defined syllabus and has had similar course objectives over the years, like

Conference Session

Engineering Technology Curriculum Innovations

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julie M. Little-Wiles M.S.M., Ph.D. (A.B.D.), Purdue University, West Lafayette; Stephen Hundley, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis; Wanda L. Worley, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis; Erich J. Bauer, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

learning management system in relationship to faculty in theSchool of Engineering and Technology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis(IUPUI). Survey questions focused on two main areas of inquiry, faculty usage and facultyperceptions of the learning management system. Researchers also gave faculty the opportunity torespond to four open-ended questions including what they liked most and least in the system,suggestions for improving their use of the learning management system, and finally, how theycould use the learning management system more effectively in their courses. The last section ofinquiry concentrated on faculty’s perceptions of online courses to help researchers gaugeinterest, experience, and opinions on the subject as

Conference Session

Innovative Curriculum in Engineering Technology

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Pamela S. Frinzi, Southern Polytechnic State University; Scott Larisch, Southern Polytechnic College of Engr and Engr Tech

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

online, with laboratories being offered in a ‘low-residency’format. This low-residency format will require students to complete a group oflaboratory assignments on two or three Saturdays during the semester. Weanticipate future efforts to offer both the lectures and laboratories completelyonline.SPSU’s approach, in collaboration with the TCSG, to the development of thesecourses was to require consistency in the format of each of our courses byimplementing a standard template. This will facilitate courses to have the samelook, feel, tools, and structure. Faculty developing these courses must havecompleted our Teaching Academy for Distance Learning (TADL) training courseprior to writing courses. To ensure quality course development and structure

Conference Session

Innovative Teaching in Architectural Engineering

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Blythe Marlow Vogt, Kansas State University

Tagged Divisions

Architectural

Page 25.1335.4 5. Syllabus and internet classroom was updated for online learning with assistance from on- campus instructional developer 6. Online message board became a required activity for the course and points were assigned to capture student engagement. Message board postings were required from students in one of three forms each day. (a) question (b) response to student question (c) helpful hintCourse offering/usage statistics were documented: 1. Online classroom was visited maximum of 89 times by a single student in 21 day offering period, the minimum was 35 visits 2. The highest traffic times were 2pm (92 visits), 5pm (81 visits), 11am (74 visits) and 9pm (71 visits) each day 3. The highest

Collection

2012 Spring ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference

Authors

Martene Stanberry

should with your colleagues andpeople in the community. The first day of classes I introduced myself and made myexpectations and standards known. I gave all students a syllabus that clearly outlined my officelocation, office hours, prerequisites for the course, course objectives, the grading policy andgrading scale which will be used to determine their grades, online resources that supplement thecourse content, and a list of problems to do for practice to reinforce what is learned in theclassroom. This served as the contract between the students and I and it gave students a chance tokeep track of where they were throughout the semester and determine what they needed to do inorder to excel in the course. In addition, from the very first time I

Collection

2012 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Martene Stanberry

should with your colleagues andpeople in the community. The first day of classes I introduced myself and made myexpectations and standards known. I gave all students a syllabus that clearly outlined my officelocation, office hours, prerequisites for the course, course objectives, the grading policy andgrading scale which will be used to determine their grades, online resources that supplement thecourse content, and a list of problems to do for practice to reinforce what is learned in theclassroom. This served as the contract between the students and I and it gave students a chance tokeep track of where they were throughout the semester and determine what they needed to do inorder to excel in the course. In addition, from the very first time I

Conference Session

Learning and Assessment I

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John K. Estell, Ohio Northern University; John-David S. Yoder, Ohio Northern University; Briana B. Morrison, Southern Polytechnic State University; Fong K. Mak, Gannon University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

Course Outcomes.Learning: Building the Electronic Course PortfolioAs part of the assessment process, each faculty member is responsible for producing a courseportfolio. The course portfolio contains students’ key assignments as a means to directly assesstheir attainment of course outcomes which in turn correlate to student outcomes. In the past, eachfaculty member was required to submit an objective evidence folder at the end of each semesterthat contained key assignments, the syllabus, and FCAR to be used at the yearly review.Gannon’s ECE Department uses EvalTools®15 – an online program assessment toolset – thatreplaces the functionality of Blackboard® for daily classroom lesson and assignment activities;additionally, it tracks key assignments

Conference Session

Accreditation and Outcomes-based Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sandra A. Yost, University of Detroit Mercy; Laurie A. Britt-Smith, University of Detroit Mercy

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

as an on-demand consultant to thefaculty members in departments delivering the targeted courses. At the end of the semester, asecond meeting with each Chair/Director took place to assess progress toward a systematic androbust process for assessing the Core Outcomes addressed by the targeted courses.5.3 Introduction to Philosophy (PHL 1000)In the original collection of syllabi, only one PHL 1000 syllabus was available. Because this is arequired course for all undergraduate students, multiple sections are offered, and several full-timeand part-time faculty participate in teaching the course. After identifying PHL 1000 as a targetedcourse in this study, the first author requested and obtained from the department Chair the PHL1000 syllabi from

Conference Session

FPD VII: Research on First-year Programs Part II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julie M. Little-Wiles M.S.M., Ph.D. (A.B.D.), Purdue University, West Lafayette; Stephen Hundley, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis; Wanda L. Worley, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis; Erich J. Bauer, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

tools withtheir courses? And does this embracement and usage change over time?This study examined both the embracement and usage patterns of a group of freshman studentswith an online learning management system in the School of Engineering and Technology atIndiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) through their first 18 months. Asurvey was administered twice, once following the first semester of the freshman year and oncemidway through the first semester of the sophomore year. The survey questions focused onevaluating the amount of engagement and usage of the learning management system. Severalopen-ended questions concentrated on learning what students found especially difficult innavigating the environment; how they perceive

Conference Session

Professional Issues in Ethics Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Heather E. Canary, University of Utah; Joseph R. Herkert, Arizona State University; Karin Ellison, Arizona State University; Jameson M. Wetmore, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

://www.serceb.org/dualuse/welcome.htm)and the NIH Office of Extramural Research online module “Protecting Human ResearchParticipants”(http://phrp.nihtraining.com/users/login.php). Using publically available onlineresources created some challenges. For examples, updating of resources meant that theinstructors could not rely on the content or location of the assigned materials to remain stablebetween syllabus development prior to the start of term and the date students completed or triedto complete assignments. Some students also had trouble accessing materials, especially videoclips. On the positive side, students received their CITI Program RCR training certificates as partof the course. Starting in June 2010, our institution has required all graduate

Conference Session

Orienting Students for Lifelong Learning Success

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary L. Strife, West Virginia University; Robin A. M. Hensel Ed.D., West Virginia University; Marian G. Armour-Gemmen, West Virginia University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

students in at least 14 sections, it was apparent thatthis model would not work. So, two engineering librarians teamed up with the group ofinstructors to provide library information modules for the course.Technical writing is an essential skill for developing and practicing engineers. Engineering 101is a freshman-level engineering problem-solving course at WVU which requires students to writeat least two technical reports. Past experience indicates that students typically have difficultyunderstanding the function and content of the parts of a technical report, defining and avoidingplagiarism, evaluating the validity and veracity of online sources, and finding appropriatesources to use in research background information on an assigned topic. The

Conference Session

Simulations and Visualizations

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Goodarz Ahmadi, Clarkson University; Suresh Dhaniyala, Clarkson University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

knowledge of particle measurement techniques to plan and conduct an ambient aerosol measurement campaign near the University. The students analyzed their data and compared it to measurements from nearby monitors and related the data to national standards.As the next step, the course material is being prepared for online posting and adapted for integration with the theoretical modules described earlier.COURSE WEB EFFECTIVENESS:The effectiveness of the course website was assessed in two ways:1. Usability tests were conducted on an early version of the site and conducted again onthe revised version of the site. In both tests, participants were given tasks to find coursematerial and use the calculation model available on the site. The purpose