Education Commons^™

Building A Community Of Mentors In Engineering Education Research Through Peer Review Training, Karin Jensen, Lisa Benson, Kelsey Watts, Gary Lichtenstein, Evan Ko, Rebecca Bates

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

Peer review of scholarship is critical to the advancement of knowledge in a scholarly discipline. Despite this, scholars receive little or no training in effective and constructive peer review. The process of peer review has been routinely criticized in higher education for lack of quality reviews and reviewers, and reviews that are personal and not constructive. As a discipline, engineering education research (EER) benefits from diverse disciplinary backgrounds and perspectives of scholars, and as such relies on peer review of scholarship to generate, interpret, and translate knowledge. Supported by funding through the National Science Foundation, this project is developing, implementing, …

Laying The Foundation For Education 4.0: Access, Value And Accountability, Jennifer Karlin, L. Eric James, Lauren Singelmann, Dan Ewert

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

The complexity of the global problems engineers are working to solve has long been discussed in both engineering and engineering education circles. The Grand Challenges for Engineering are grand because of the complexity of the challenges. While the challenges stand over a decade later, the speed at which the terms in which they are described, the shift from Industry 3.0 to Industry 4.0, has been slow. As the world becomes more deeply connected, as the internet of things becomes more commonplace in all parts of our lives, as technologies like machine learning and cyber physical systems become accessible to even …

Complexity In The Classroom Workshop: Teaching And Learning The Cynefin Framework By Applying It To The Classroom, Jennifer Karlin, L. Eric James, Lauren Singlelmann

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

Complex adaptive systems are both an important fundamental principle in systems engineering education and a reality of all engineering education. The Cynefin framework, as created by Snowden and Boone (2007), is a decision-making tool that helps the engineer recognize the type of system within which they are operating and then respond in a manner that is appropriate for the cause-and-effect relationships associated with that system type. The types of system, or the domains, fall into five categories and their liminal spaces: obvious, where the cause-and-effect relationships are clear to everyone involved; complicated, where the cause-and-effect relationships are clear to those …

A Multi-Decade Response To The Call For Change, Bart Johnson, Ron Ulseth, Mike Raich

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

Engineering and society have always been intertwined, especially with the accepted realization of technology's significant and rapidly increasing influence on the evolution of society. As a profession, engineering has a vital role in sustainably meeting needs and exploring opportunities that are ever changing and evolving. As societal and industry needs have evolved, engineering education itself has raised the call several times for evolving the way engineers are educated; however, the recent history of engineering education is, overall, one of missed opportunities. This was brought to a headline recently as ASEE leadership authored an article entitled “Stuck in 1955, Engineering Education …

Working Full Time And Earning An Engineering Degree: Wellbeing In A Co-Op-Based Engineering Program, Catherine Mcgough Spence, Luke Nyberg, Justine Chasmar, Jodi Nelson, Marissa Tsugawa

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

The purpose of this research paper is to describe how stress manifests in undergraduate engineering students who are working in paid engineering positions while completing their upper-division coursework, through the analysis of reflective prompts on wellbeing, and engineering belongingness. Previous research has identified the culture of “suffering and shared hardship” where heavy workloads and stressful situations are expected in engineering programs and engineering as a discipline. Stress, specifically feelings of being overwhelmed with workload, has far reaching implications for an individuals’ wellbeing beyond academic performance.

We focus on the frameworks of self-determination theory, engineering belonging, identity, to better understand undergraduate …

Understanding Learners' Motivation Through Machine Learning Analysis On Reflection Writing, Elizabeth Pluskwik, Yuezhou Wang, Lauren Singelmann

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

Educational data mining (EDM) is an emerging interdisciplinary field that utilizes a machine learning (ML) algorithm to collect and analyze educational data, aiming to better predict students' performance and retention. In this WIP paper, we report our methodology and preliminary results from utilizing a ML program to assess students’ motivation through their upper-division years in the XYZ project-based learning (PBL) program. ML, or more specifically, the clustering algorithm, opens the door to processing large amounts of student-written artifacts, such as reflection journals, project reports, and written assignments, and then identifies keywords that signal their levels of motivation (i.e., extrinsic vs. …

Building Partnerships To Bridge The Transfer Gap And Increase Student Success, Cody Mann, Andrew Hanegmon, Anthony Venditto, Katherine Ulseth, Frankie Wood-Black, Liz Cox, Michelle Soledad

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

Transfer partnerships continue to be one of the most critical elements of student success. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the bridges and transfer gaps from a two-year college to a university and respect the value of the support and knowledge students are currently receiving at their community college, from the context of the practices and experiences of Iron Range Engineering - Bell. The transfer process, afterall, can be daunting to some students who plan to transition from a community college to a university to finish a Bachelor’s degree. Iron Range Engineering - Bell is a unique, co-op …

Reflections On An Introduction To Project Based Engineering In An Incarcerated Setting, Robert Sleezer, Nicolle Revello, Morgan Round, Kristen O'Connell, Benjamin Orlin, Andrew Roberts

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

Education programs in incarcerated settings have a goal of improving the current and future lives of the currently incarcerated individuals. There are many programs that support earning a GED, associate degree, or baccalaureate degree when incarcerated. The benefits of these programs include improved behavior while incarcerated, reduced recidivism, and broadening the workforce. Generally, the courses offered as a part of these programs are general education in nature. This paper discusses an Introduction to Project Based Engineering taught in a women’s prison setting. Specifically, it explores the course as a case study reflected on from several angles. Each reflection illuminates the …

Design-Based Research: Students Seeking Co-Op In Refined Educational Model, Dennis Rogalsky, Ron Ulseth

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

This research paper continues a longitudinal implementation of a design-based research (DBR) study/implementation for a new co-op centric educational model. This is a benchmarking study by the university program.

The new model is an adaptation of two recently recognized (by a 2018 MIT report) emerging world-leading engineering educational models, Charles Sturt University (Australia) and Iron Range Engineering (Minnesota). Adapted from Charles Sturt is the co-op model whereby students spend an initial on-campus period and then combine co-op work placements and on-line learning all the way to degree completion. Adapted from Iron Range are the curricular strategies that empower a graduate …

Iron Range Engineering - An Overview Of Design And Open-Ended Problem Solving Activities In An Interdisciplinary, Project-Based Learning Program, Elizabeth Pluskwik

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

Project-based learning (PBL) in engineering education is growing at a rapid pace. The Iron Range Engineering (IRE) Program of Minnesota State University Mankato, is an upper division (3rd and 4th year) undergraduate engineering education program based on the Aalborg, Denmark PBL model. Students work in teams to solve industry-sourced projects each semester. The learning of engineering is accomplished in three domains - technical learning of engineering concepts, professionalism, and design, which we call the “three-legged stool” of engineering education. The program promotes entrepreneurial mindset and innovative open-ended problem-solving in context. Fifty students are enrolled in 3rd and 4th-year studies at …

Engineering Students’ Perceptions Of Belongingness In Civil Engineering, Lisa Benson, Candice Bolding, Jennifer Harper Ogle, Catherine Mcgough Spence, Joseph Murphy, Rachel Lanning

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

Prior research shows that engineering students with low feelings of belongingness tend to switch to non-technical majors. With the understanding that aspects of student motivation, identity, and personality, as well as their academic performance, affect their sense of community in engineering, this study seeks to assess these student attributes over time. The context for this study is a single civil engineering program that is undergoing both curricular and cultural changes as part of an NSF-funded project. The data and findings presented here are part of a larger study of how student attitudes and beliefs change during their experiences in a …

Report From The Stem 2026 Workshop On Assessment, Evaluation, And Accreditation, Rebecca Bates, Angela Arnold, Cary Komoto, Peggy Brickman, R. Alan Cheville, Elizabeth Longley, Jose Mestre, Mihaela Sabin, James Warnock

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

A gathering of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) higher education stakeholders met in November 2018 to consider the relationship between innovation in education and assessment. When we talk about assessment in higher education, it is inextricably linked to both evaluation and accreditation, so all three were considered. The first question we asked was can we build a nation of learners? This starts with considering the student, first and foremost. As educators, this is a foundation of our exploration and makes our values transparent. As educators, how do we know we are having an impact? As members and implementers of …