Conference Session

New Learning Paradigms I

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rebecca Damron, Oklahoma State University; Karen High, Oklahoma State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

AC 2009-2080: WRITING TO LEARN: THE EFFECT OF PEER TUTORING ONCRITICAL THINKING AND WRITING SKILLS OF FIRST-YEAR ENGINEERINGSTUDENTSRebecca Damron, Oklahoma State University REBECCA DAMRON earned her B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1987 in South Asian Studies, her M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language in 1992 from Oklahoma State University, and her Ph.D. in Linguistics in 1997 from Oklahoma State University. Dr. Damron worked in the writing program in the department of English at the University of Tulsa from 1996-2001, and is currently an Assistant Professor of English and Director of the OSU Writing Center at Oklahoma State University. Her main research interests

Conference Session

New Learning Paradigms I

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Philip Parker, University of Wisconsin, Platteville

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

taught using the control method.As such, this paper helps to address a gap in the engineering writing education literature, in thatfew studies have investigated the effect of various methods in an experimental fashion. Oneexception is the work of Jensen and Fisher,(1) who showed that the use of student peer reviewwas found to be positively correlated with an improvement in student writing proficiency. Thefindings were based on a comparison of scores on a writing assignment at the beginning of thesemester and a writing assignment at the end of the semester for a control section and a testsection.BackgroundThe test method was guided by advice gleaned from the technical writing and engineeringwriting instruction literature. Two very practical

Conference Session

Programmatic Issues in Physics or Engineering Physics

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Teresa Larkin, American University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

. She also enjoys preparing (and especially eating) Indian, Ethiopian, Chinese, and Thai cuisines. Dr. Larkin can be reached at: American University, Department of Physics, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20016-8058; 202-885-2766. [tlarkin@american.edu] Page 14.950.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 Peer Review from a Student PerspectiveABSTRACTWriting has been shown to serve as an effective tool to improve the quality of studentengagement and learning. This paper will provide a strategy in which writing can be used toenhance student understanding within the

Conference Session

Communication and Collaboration

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julie Sharp, Vanderbilt University; Marilyn Dyrud, Oregon Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

communication course for engineering majors at Vanderbilt University School ofEngineering uses student peer reviews to encourage revision of written communication. Using achecklist to rate required components and to write comments, students offer constructivefeedback so that writers can revise the assignment before submitting it for grading. Students’written analyses of each other’s papers can be used in large or small classes to improve writing.This portion of the paper describes effective procedures for including student peer review ofwriting assignments in the classroom, provides examples of useful checklists for rating students’written work, discusses possible issues to avoid, and presents students’ assessment of theprocess.The civil engineering

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Karen High, Oklahoma State University; Rebecca Damron, Oklahoma State University

AC 2009-2450: PAIRED-COURSE AND PEER-TUTORING IMPACT ONCRITICAL-THINKING AND WRITING SKILLS OF FIRST-YEARENGINEERING STUDENTSKaren High, Oklahoma State University KAREN HIGH earned her B.S. from the University of Michigan in 1985 and her M.S. in 1988 and Ph.D. in 1991 from the Pennsylvania State University. Dr. High is an Associate Professor in the School of Chemical Engineering at Oklahoma State University where she has been since 1991. Her main technical research interests are Sustainable Process Design, Industrial Catalysis, and Multicriteria Decision Making. Her engineering education activities include enhancing mathematics, communication skills, critical thinking and creativity in engineering

Conference Session

Assessing Design Course Work

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rhonda Young, University of Wyoming; April Heaney, University of Wyoming; James Kladianos, Wyoming Department of Transportation

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

adviser focused on further approaches to integrating writingprocess and heightening students’ awareness of audience and purpose earlier in the researchprocess. These observations led to the course change described above that assessed draftsections of the report throughout the semester.For the Spring 2009, 1 credit portion of the CDE course three writing assignments are beingadded to the course. The Spring portion of the course was chosen since it is generally lessintensive than the second part of the course, which hopefully allows the students more time toreflect on the writing process. Two of the assignments focus on understanding the content of thewriting and the last assignment is on peer evaluations.The first assignment provides the students

Conference Session

Innovative Instructional Strategies

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Schmeelk, Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar Branch; Jean Hodges, Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar Branch

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

AC 2009-115: WRITING TECHNIQUES FOR IMPLEMENTINGPROJECT-DIRECTED MATHEMATICSJohn Schmeelk, Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar Branch John Schmeelk, Virginia Commonwealth University, Qatar Branch Campus Dr. John Schmeelk is a Professor of Mathematics at Virginia Commonwealth University, Doha Qatar Branch, where he is engaged in applied mathematics, generalized functions, image processing and educational pedagogy. He received his PhD from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He was awarded many summer faculty grants to go to Fort Rucker, Alabama implementing procedures utilizing generalized functions. He has been an invited speaker to conferences in Australia

Conference Session

Writing Is Fundamental

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Beams, University of Texas, Tyler; Luke Niiler, University of Alabama

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

beginning of the senior year. This attrition had multiplecauses, e.g., changing majors, leaving school, or declining to continue participation. This smallsample would provide little assurance that their attitudes and perceptions about writing wererepresentative of the cohort. We believed that the only way to obtain any data representative ofthe peers of our remaining cohort was to invite the participation other seniors who had notpreviously taken part in EWI. In any case, written materials that were solely the work of theremaining cohort were not available to us as the senior design project reports (consisting of amid-year report and a final report) were the work of project teams.Results of Likert scale attitude surveyFive Likert-scale survey

Conference Session

Structural Education Methods

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Anne Nichols, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Architectural

ReviewAbstractCalibrated Peer Review (CPR™) is a web-based software tool for incorporating writingassignments in courses that are not typically writing intensive. The goal is for students to writeand critique the work of their peers on technical topics by learning to calibrate writing samplesand anonymously reviewing a subset of their classmates writing assignments, freeing theinstructor from the time consuming task of grading every student’s work.This tool was used for two terms in a required architectural structural systems course in theMaster of Architecture graduate program at Texas A&M University. The intended studentlearning outcomes were improved written communication of structural knowledge onassessments, particularly essay exam questions, and in a

Conference Session

Mentoring and Development of New Faculty

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Laurie Garton, Texas Engineering Experiment Station; Luisa Deckard, Texas Engineering Experiment Station

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

summary, in bi-weekly peer review meetings with three to four other workshop participants, and in additional meetings with all workshop participants. These activities give investigators the opportunity to obtain substantive feedback on their proposals and to acquire in-depth information on a range of proposal-related issues, such as analyzing the target funding agency’s mission, presenting project ideas to program managers, improving writing and formatting, developing evaluation and assessment components, and preparing budgets. By the conclusion of the workshop, investigators have prepared a complete grant application, which they may then submit to the external funding agency of their choice.• One-on-one consultation – Separately from the

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Arlene Russell, University of California, Los Angeles; Patricia Carlson, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Warren Waggenspack, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge; Warren Hull, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge; william Monroe, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge; Chester Wilmot, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge

Technology.CPR (http://cpr.molsci.ucla.edu/ ) is an online application that enables students to criticallyreview other students’ written assignments as a learning tool for their own written work. Centralto the success of CPR is a process that calibrates a student’s ability to critically review a writtenassignment by having that student evaluate example writing assignments of varying quality.Only after a student has achieved a successful calibration level is that student allowed to proceedto the anonymous peer review of other students’ assignments. Studies have shown that inaddition to improving written skills, the CPR process also enhances student learning of theunderlying technical content.4, 6

Conference Session

Assessing Design Course Work

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Keith Sheppard, Stevens Institute of Technology; Edward Blicharz, Stevens Institute of Technology; Peter Dominick, Stevens Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

AC 2009-1474: PEER AND SELF ASSESSMENT IN DEVELOPING TEAM SKILLSIN A CORE DESIGN SEQUENCEKeith Sheppard, Stevens Institute of Technology Keith Sheppard is a Professor of Materials Engineering and Associate Dean of Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology. He earned the B.Sc. from the University of Leeds, England and Ph.D. from the University of Birmingham, England, both in Metallurgy. As Associate Dean, Sheppard is primarily responsible for undergraduate programs. He is a past Chair of the ASEE Design in Engineering Education Division.Edward Blicharz, Stevens Institute of Technology Edward Blicharz is a Distinguished Service Associate Professor in the Electrical and Computer

Conference Session

Developing Tomorrow's Leaders through Co-op Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adrian Millward-Sadler, Joanneum University of Applied Sciences; Annette Casey, Joanneum University of Applied Sciences; Emilia Bratschitsch, Joanneum University of Applied Sciences

Tagged Divisions

Cooperative & Experiential Education

AC 2009-247: USING WEB 2.0 TECHNOLOGIES IN THE AUTOMOTIVEENGINEERING LANGUAGE CLASSROOM AS A TOOL TO IMPROVEWRITING SKILLS AND PREPARE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS FOR THEINTERNATIONAL WORKPLACEAdrian Millward-Sadler, Joanneum University of Applied SciencesAnnette Casey, Joanneum University of Applied SciencesEmilia Bratschitsch, Joanneum University of Applied Sciences Page 14.1336.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009Web 2.0 Technologies in the Automotive Engineering Language Classroom as aTool to Improve Writing Skills and Prepare Undergraduate Students for theInternational WorkplaceAbstractIn times of multi-national engineering companies and international job

Conference Session

Develop Course / Materials / Topics for a Global Engineering Education / International Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ashley Ater Kranov, Washington State University

Tagged Divisions

International

among four-year higher education institutioncampuses and while there are an increasing number of graduate writing centers nation wide, theyare not legion. The research has generally shown that the writing center peer tutoring model isnot only cost-effective, but also effective in helping students increase their writtencommunication abilities and in fostering the life-long learning skill of seeking feedback fromothers for continual improvement.75, 76Most undergraduate writing centers face the problem of overcoming a wide-spreadmisconception that such centers primarily provide proofreading and editing services, which mostcategorically do not. Rather, their primary purpose is to help the student understand the writingtask, its parameters, and how

Conference Session

Projects and Problems in First-Year Courses

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mehrube Mehrubeoglu, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

taught at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. She has been with Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi since fall of 2005. Dr. Mehrubeoglu's areas of research include machine vision and image processing applications (digital watermarking, degraded fingerprint recognition, object detection and tracking), applications in biomedical engineering, and effective teaching pedagogies. Page 14.44.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 A Lego Robot Project Using Concept Maps and Peer-Led Teams for a Freshman Course in Engineering and Engineering TechnologyAbstractIn this paper, the use of concept maps is

Conference Session

Enhancing Recruitment and Retention in Engineering Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gary Winn, West Virginia University; Laura Winn, Waynesburg Central High School; Reagan Curtis, West Virginia University; Robin Hensel, West Virginia University

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

AC 2009-452: DATA-DRIVEN COMPREHENSIVE MENTORSHIP INENGINEERING: HOW WE ARE ADAPTING THE SOCIAL-STRESS MODEL OFPEER INFLUENCEGary Winn, West Virginia University Gary L. Winn, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Industrial and Management Systems Engineering Department at West Virginia University.Laura Winn, Waynesburg Central High School Laura E. Winn is a senior at Waynesburg High School, Waynesburg, PA and has assisted with the Engineers of Tomorrow summer camp program as a peer mentor.Reagan Curtis, West Virginia University Reagan Curtis, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology in the College of Human Resources and Education at West Virginia University.Robin Hensel, West Virginia

Conference Session

Beneficial Case Studies in AEC Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joseph Betz, State University of New York

Tagged Divisions

Architectural

AC 2009-428: ASSESSING CREATIVITY IN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN:EVIDENCE FOR USING STUDENT PEER REVIEW IN THE STUDIO AS ALEARNING AND ASSESSMENT TOOLJoseph Betz, State University of New York Joseph A. Betz is an architect and Professor in the Department of Architecture & Construction Management at the State University of New York College of Technology at Farmingdale. He received his undergraduate and professional degrees in architecture from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his post-professional degree in architecture from Columbia University. A recipient of the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, he has served as both national Program Chair and Division Chair of the

Conference Session

Innovation in the Civil Engineering Classroom

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Matthew Roberts, University of Wisconsin, Platteville

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

expected, a large portion (40%) of the total project grade is based on the draft. Aguideline entitled “Effective Engineering Writing,” which was adapted from Parker,(8) isgiven to the students (and included as Appendix E).The students turn in one copy of the draft report for the instructor, with all group mem-bers identified. Each group also turns in additional anonymous copies with no identifica-tion of group members. These anonymous copies are randomly distributed to othermembers of the class who have one week to perform a peer evaluation of the draft. Moredetails on the peer evaluation are given in the “Peer Assessment” section below. Thegrade on the final draft is determined using the student peer assessments and a gradingrubric used by the

Conference Session

Improving the Teaching Skills of Graduate Students

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary Lynn Brannon, Pennsylvania State University; Sarah Zappe, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

Observation Project assignment. This Alternate Assignment requires thestudent to attend a teaching and learning workshop or write a paper based on a pedagogicalarticle that they found in an engineering journal such as the Journal for Engineering Education.Because it is important for the student to practice giving a presentation to a group, the studentpresents to the class on the topic they selected for this assignment. This ensures that the non-teaching student has an opportunity to be observed and receive feedback from their peers in theclass. The instructor gives feedback as well in summary statements after the students arefinished.The three assignments, Peer Observation Project, Teaching Observation Project, and the

Conference Session

Curriculum in Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology: Part II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

HongLi Luo, Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

applications ≠ Know the fundamental lossless compression and lossy compression techniques ≠ Know the current image compression and video compression standards ≠ Know the basic technologies in designing adaptive multimedia applications ≠ Know the different protocols for multimedia transmission ≠ Write a simple Internet networking application using socket programming ≠ Know the current peer-to-peer multimedia networking applications ≠ Gain hands-on experiences on multimedia transmission technologiesTo accomplish these objectives, the course is composed of lectures, homework, laboratoryassignments, literature readings and course project. Hands-on laboratories are mainly designed tohelp students get familiar with the multimedia compression

Conference Session

Collaboration, A Cool Tool: Librarians/Faculty/Students Work Together for Quality Results

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Patsy Hulse, University of Auckland; John St George, University of Auckland; Li Wang, University of Auckland

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

expertise in engineering resources and services; and the SLCadvisors provided study skills, writing skills, oral presentation skills and learning support tostudents.As a result of a number of meetings of this team, it was agreed that a formal lectureprogramme of ten lectures backed up by coursework, peer feedback and hands-on tutorialwork would provide a good balance for students during their research.The first lectures covered an introduction to research and the development of objectives andresearch methodology. This was followed up by the various forms of literature review andsome guidance with preparation. Further lectures on writing styles, reporting results,referencing and formatting the final report were delivered at key times during the

Conference Session

Critical Thinking and Creative Arts

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Helen Donis-Keller, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

by engaging in peer criticalcommentary (AHS Foundation Course Commonalities, 2007). My course fulfills the AHScommonality goals but differs in other respects to the AHS foundation courses at Olin and itdiffers considerably with respect to art courses taught at other colleges and universities. In theSeeing and Hearing course students improve their communication skills and develop a personalvision making use of contemporary digital media tools as vehicles for expression. One of theunusual aspects of the course as compared to art courses in other schools is that photography,video, audio and writing are offered in a single course, whereas other schools normally offer asingle medium per course, and they are not structured with engineering

Conference Session

New Trends in CHE Education II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sundararajan Madihally, Oklahoma State University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

researchers and technicians. If theybecome faculty members, they mentor graduate students, teach classes and write proposalsdespite no formal training in any of these roles. Their success in these roles is measured by theirproductivity and ability to bring financial resources. For example, a faculty member is measuredfor tenure on the number of publications in peer-reviewed journals, student evaluation fromdifferent courses they teach and success in obtaining extramural funds. These outcomes dependon the ability of a faculty member i) in coaching graduate students to be productive, ii) in Page 14.79.2teaching courses effectively, and iii) writing

Conference Session

Capstone Design I

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alan Cheville, Oklahoma State University; Steven Welch, Oklahoma State University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

the participants. In early after actionreviews a large number of students alluded to “being so close to success but not making it”.Another common sentiment was that the teams had made a large number of avoidable mistakes,none of which was fatal in and of itself but which in combination doomed the project. Reflectingon these statements and making inquiries of other faculty and students in the program it wasdiscovered that nowhere in the degree program was there formal instruction in the process ofengineering design. Comparisons with programs at peer universities found similar curricula.Information on the design process is available in several textbooks that have been published inthe past five years 3,5.There were two hurdles to adoption of

Conference Session

Tablet and Portable PCs for Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Bowman, Clemson University; Lisa Benson, Clemson University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

Use on Facilitating Student InteractionsAbstractThe objective of this study is to examine how Tablet PCs affect the interaction between studentswhen working in pairs on in-class assignments, and to study the effects of shared Tablet PC useon learning. Prior studies have demonstrated that engaging students in the learning processthrough active discussion and/or problem-solving with their peers improves learning. Tablet PCsallow students to engage in learning activities while using unique digital Inking and sharingcapabilities.In this pilot study, significant differences were observed between students working on paper andTablet PCs (“Paper” and “Tablet,” respectively) in terms of the frequency of observations

Conference Session

New Learning Paradigms I

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Warren Hull, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge; Warren Waggenspack, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge; Lillian B Bowles, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge; David Bowles, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge; Tiffany Walter Choplin, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

many articles and books on writing in various disciplines, led a number of successful grants on communication in technical fields, and served as the Chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication. She was previously a member of the faculty at the University of Minnesota.David Bowles, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge David Bowles is a Technical Communication Instructor in the Engineering Communication Studio at Louisiana State University. He earned a baccalaureate degree in English and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Virginia Commonwealth University. He is a former assistant editor of Blackbird: an online journal of literature and the arts, and his

Conference Session

Liberal Education and Leadership

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julia Williams, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Richard House, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Anneliese Watt, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

AC 2009-1610: COMMUNICATION PEDAGOGY IN THE ENGINEERINGCLASSROOM: A REPORT ON FACULTY PRACTICES AND PERCEPTIONSJulia Williams, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Julia M. Williams is Executive Director of the Office of Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment & Professor of English at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana. Her articles on writing assessment, electronic portfolios, ABET, and tablet PCs have appeared in the Technical Communication Quarterly, Technical Communication: Journal of the Society for Technical Communication, The International Journal of Engineering Education, Journal of Engineering Education, and The Impact of Tablet PCs and Pen

Conference Session

Using Technology to Enhance Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Chen, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

. Instead, thestudents in this section were asked to watch the podcasts (recorded from one of the other tworegular class meetings) within 48 hours of the scheduled class. The topic lasted for three 50-minute class meetings. At the end of the cluster of classes for this topic, a homework assignmentwas completed and a quiz was administered (in person) to each student. Our results show thatenhanced podcasting appears to be a viable means to replace some face-to-face class meetings,but its many pitfalls outweigh its benefits. Students report a perceived decreased amount oflearning that we attribute to the lack of social interactions with peers and instructor and thedecreased motivation level to use the podcasts. On the other hand, enhanced podcasting

Conference Session

Student Learning and Assessment

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andre Butler, Mercer University; William Moses, Mercer University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

Duzer, E., and McMartin, F. "Building better teamwork assessments: A process for improving the validityand sensitivity of self/peer ratings", Proceeding of the American Society for Engineering Education 1999 AnnualConference, 1999.10. Arfken, D., and Henry, J. “A survey of engineers: writing attitudes and productivity”, 1986 Annual Meeting ofthe Southwest Educational Research Association, Houston, TX, 1986. Page 14.52.8 Appendix A MUSE Assessment of BSE Outcome 4 Design and Conduct Experiments and Analyze and Interpret Data

Conference Session

BME Curriculum Development

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Aura Gimm, Duke University

Tagged Divisions

Biomedical

nanomedicine, self-assembly, tribiology, and nanobiomaterialsto learn first-hand the engineering and design challenges. The course culminated with researchor design proposals and oral presentations that addressed specific engineering/design issuesfacing nanobiotechnology and/or nanomedicine. The assessment also included an exam (onlyfirst offering), laboratory write-ups, reading of research journal articles and analysis, and anessay on ethical/societal implications of nanotechnology, and summative questionnaire. Thecourse exposed students to cross-disciplinary intersections that occur between biomedicalengineering, materials science, chemistry, physics, and biology when working at the nanoscale.We will also discuss the lessons learned and changes made