Education Commons^™

Community College Engineering Degree Partnerships With 4-Year Universities, Jeffrey Mark Stear

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Increasing the number of STEM professionals and reducing inequities in STEM are national priorities. Community colleges are important to address these concerns because they represent a higher percentage of underrepresented minority (URM) and women students. However, students starting 4-year STEM degrees in community college have had a lower completion rate. Partnerships between community colleges and 4-year universities have the potential to improve success for community college students, but more research is necessary. The purpose of this ex post facto, quantitative, correlational study was to determine the relationships among participation in different types of partnerships between community colleges and 4-year universities, …

Embracing Identities And Affirming Agency: Exploring Effective Mentorship For Women Doctoral Students In Engineering Disciplines Using An Intersectional Lens, Jennifer Brown

All Dissertations

Positive mentoring experiences are crucial for retaining and advancing those who hold marginalized identities in STEM, as they foster a greater sense of belonging and self-efficacy that encourage these students to persist in their fields. Marginalized identities in STEM include, but are not limited to, women, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), low-income, first-generation, neurodivergent, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Oftentimes, these identities intersect, introduce additional nuance in interactions within engineering spaces, and affect the mentoring support that both mentees and their mentors require.

Prior research has shown the reciprocal value that is created when graduate students are …

Addressing Mercury Contamination From Artisanal Gold Mining In Colombia: Pollution Exposure, Health Risk, And Educational Efforts In The Communities Of La Toma, Colombia, Kelli Mccourt

All Dissertations

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) has become a primary environmental and public health concern in the region of Colombia known as Alto Cauca. The predominantly Afro-descendent communities of Yolombó and La Toma in Alto Cauca have experienced pollution linked to the use of mercury in the ASGM process. For the past decade, mercury has emerged as a contaminant of increasing concern in the communities due to its toxicity and ability to bioaccumulate and biomagnify. Likewise, mining in the region raises concerns over the leaching of metals into local waters. Given the complexity of risk and pollution in the communities, …

Re(Engineering) Student Success: Constructing Knowledge On Students’ Experiences In Engineering Education Programs To Encourage Holistic Student Success, Shaylin Williams

Theses and Dissertations

If a group of engineering deans were asked whether students at their institutions were successful and why, what information might they immediately or subconsciously use to measure or gauge the engineering students’ success? If only academic performance outcomes like GPA, individual course grades, or graduation rate race to their minds, then their rationale aligns with the majority of researchers. My research seeks to shift the mindset that frames engineering student success mainly within the boundaries of academic performance measures. By measuring students’ perceived autonomy, competence, social integration and relatedness within their programs, and aspirations after graduation, one can more accurately …

Examining The Influence Of The Classroom Environment On Motivation, Belonging, And Academic Confidence In Engineering Education: A Relational Developmental Systems Approach, Robert O'Hara

All Dissertations

This dissertation explores the impact of the classroom environment on undergraduate engineering students by integrating three manuscripts using the process-person-context-time (PPCT) model within Bioecological Systems Theory. Each manuscript focused on students’ sense of belonging, motivation, and academic confidence. The study confirms prior research suggesting a link between students' perceptions of the environment and their sense of belonging, motivation, and academic confidence. The findings highlight the complex nature of student and classroom environment relationships throughout their college experience. Moreover, the results are demonstrated across different engineering majors. Overall, this dissertation highlights the significance of understanding the complex interactions between students and …

How Students Investigate: Understanding Students’ Use Of Scientific Schemas In Open-Ended Labs, J. Alexander Wall

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

Schema provides a theoretical framework for understanding the nature of science, inquiry, and open-ended labs. These topics have been emphasized in the state standards, especially in high school sciences. In this study the researcher took field notes, collected lab write ups, and conducted focus group interviews to understand students’ use of schema related to open-ended labs. These data were analyzed with the constant comparative method to generate themes. The author describes the major findings with parallel narratives, one focused on a student’s confusion and the other focused on a student’s understanding. The author concludes by advocating for science teachers to …

Extracting A Body Of Knowledge As A First Step Towards Defining A United Software Engineering Curriculum Guideline, Anton Kiselev

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

In general, the computing field is a rapidly changing environment, and as such, software engineering education must be able to adjust quickly to new needs. Industry adapts to technologies as fast as it can, but the critical issue is a need for recent graduates with the necessary expertise and knowledge of new trends, technologies, and practical experience. The industries that employ graduates of computing degree programs aim to hire those who are familiar with the latest technical traits, tools, and methodologies to meet these needs, and the software engineering curriculum needs to respond quickly to these needs. Still, unfortunately, software …

Design Artifacts As Externalized Mental Models Of Children’S Science Concept Development, Christine Mcgrail

Doctoral Dissertations

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) calls for the integration of the practices of science and engineering across all science disciplines beginning in the early elementary grades. Science and engineering education research has determined that engineering design is a productive means for promoting understanding of science concepts. However, design artifacts created during engineering design problem-solving have not received sufficient attention for their potential to embody children’s science understanding. The aim of this study was to examine how conceptual development of the concepts of force and motion was instantiated in design artifacts by early elementary age children engaged in engineering design. …

Increasing The Effectiveness Of K-12 Stem Worshops Through Targeted Context And Creative Technolgies, Melina Lopez

Master's Theses

Economic projections reveal a need for one million more Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) professionals over the next decade than the United States is producing at the current rate. As a result, STEM education is a major focus of recent legislation and funding in Congress as the number of STEM professionals is inadequate to support innovation and the ever-changing economy. In response to the urgent need for more competitive STEM professionals, there has been a widespread implementation of workshops, organizations, and school programs aimed at amplifying K-12 student STEM literacy and interest. Some programs are even created to specifically …

Black Beyond Measure: An Antideficit Exploration Of Cultural Capital Within A National Society Of Black Engineers (Nsbe) Chapter At A Predominantly White Institution (Pwi), Rhonda Harley

Dissertations

Historically, Black students have been excluded from Predominately White institutions (PWI) longer than welcomed to attend and matriculate (Harper et al., 2009). Due to this lack of inclusion, African American students' educational experiences often center on academic disparities, inequality of opportunity, and under-preparedness in career planning within the American education system. While there has been a fair amount of research on the lack of representation of Black students in the engineering disciplines, the heavy focus on quantitative data offers little insight into the unique ways students succeed and overcome institutional and systemic barriers in pursuit of their degree. Undergraduate experiences, …

Design Of A Freight Transportation Outreach Curriculum, Breanna Stoesz

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This project is centered around finding a solution to the shortage of truck drivers within the freight industry. Specifically, this project aims to lessen this shortage by ensuring potential future drivers are aware of the benefits of the industry and are encouraged to consider this career path for themselves. By producing an engaging and educational freight transportation curriculum for middle and high school students to go through in outreach programs, these students would have an increased likelihood of joining the trucking profession and encourage others to become informed about the profession as well. In addition to the direct driving role, …

Virtual Reality As An Education Tool In Biomedical Engineering, Megan Wilkerson

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Virtual Reality (VR) has become more accessible in recent years, both to experience and to create. Various studies have shown that incorporating VR in an educational setting can yield positive results. Virtual reality videos created using course-specific content could prove to be a beneficial educational tool. VR videos were implemented in a remote biomolecular engineering laboratory course. 180° VR videos of lab procedures were recorded and viewed by students using a Google Cardboard headset and their smartphones. After viewing all the VR lab videos, students were given a survey to report their experiences. The survey contained questions used to measure …

Self-Efficacy Development In Elementary-Aged Learners Through Dance As An Algorithmic Thinking Tool, Niva Shrestha

Honors Theses

The purpose of this research is to demonstrate the effectiveness of a transdisciplinary approach in teaching computational thinking through dance to elementary-aged learners, with primary attention to females. With limited literature available on how pre-adolescents begin to construct conceptions of computer science and other engineering domains, including potential career pathways, the incentive of this project was to leverage a day camp for about 20 rising 3rd - 5th-grade learners to assess their identity development in computer science. Modules that teach computational thinking through dance paired with Unruly splats (block-based programmable electronic gadgets) were implemented. By conducting pre-and post-surveys and a …

The Water We Were Swimming In: Transgender And Gender Nonconforming Students' Lived Experiences In Engineering., Natalie Saroff Oliner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Few studies address the lived experiences of transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) students in engineering. Grounded in critical trans politics (Spade, 2015), this dissertation contributes to the literature on TGNC students in engineering by examining their experiences negotiating their identities while navigating interrelated systems of oppression in a field dominated by White, heterosexual, cisgender men. Using a critical constructivism framework, I conducted a narrative inquiry to explore the lived experiences of five TGNC students in engineering programs. Participants experienced TGNC oppression at their universities, built LGBTQ+ and TGNC communities, and described more welcoming climates in non-engineering contexts compared to engineering. …

Impact Of Teaching Practices And Communication Climates On Participation In Computer Science Education, Jackie Krone

Master's Theses

One way to understand teaching is to view it as a people process rather than a presentation of knowledge. It follows that the role of an educator often extends beyond the primary subject matter and into the realm of classroom management. With this in mind, our research aimed to capture the various teaching practices, participation patterns, and communication climates that occur in virtual computer science classrooms. We sought to answer the following research questions related to virtual computer science classrooms at our institution: Who participates in virtual computer science classrooms, and is participation proportional to student demographics? Is there any …

Examining The Relationship Among Perceived Academic Climate, Belongingness, And Engineering Identity, Sumaia Ali Raisa

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

An attempt to cultivate an inclusive learning environment in engineering is trending as a response to women's underrepresentation and a lower retention rate than men undergraduates. This study was situated in such an undergraduate engineering program where interventions were embedded in the course curriculum focusing on cultivating an inclusive engineering identity. Following a sociocultural perspective, the present study aimed to examine the relation of engineering identity with perceived academic climate, sense of belonging, and gender among two engineering cohorts (before covid and during covid context). A total of 482 first-year engineering undergraduates' survey responses were analyzed in this study using …

Study Guide Generation In Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics: A Comparison Between Individual And Group Preparation, William Brown

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Thermodynamics is an essential course in the chemical engineering curriculum. Thermodynamics requires the use of many equations and rules that use subtle concepts from math, physics, and chemistry. To assist students with using these equations and recalling rules on exams, students are often permitted a “study guide” to use on the exams to help avoid rote memorization. Study guide construction is an environment in which students learn, and learning has been shown to improve when collaboration is involved. In this research, students will construct study guides individually for one exam, and in teams for one exam. Students will answer questions …

A Narrative Inquiry Into Veterans In Engineering, Miracle David Solley

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Much research has been conducted on student veterans, in general; however, research on student veterans in engineering majors is very sparse. There is national recognition of the importance of student veterans in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields as evidenced in the passage in 2020 of a bill investigating the lack of veteran students in these fields. This study adds to the literature by answering the following two research questions: What are the experiences of veteran engineering students? How has military service impacted those experiences? Twelve students and five professors from a Doctoral University: Very High Research Activity in …

A Longitudinal Analysis Of Pathways To Computing Careers: Defining Broadening Participation In Computing (Bpc) Success With A Rearview Lens, Mercy Jaiyeola

Theses and Dissertations

Efforts to increase the participation of groups historically underrepresented in computing studies, and in the computing workforce, are well documented. It is a national effort with funding from a variety of sources being allocated to research in broadening participation in computing (BPC). Many of the BPC efforts are funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) but as existing literature shows, the growth in representation of traditionally underrepresented minorities and women is not commensurate to the efforts and resources that have been directed toward this aim.

Instead of attempting to tackle the barriers to increasing representation, this dissertation research tackles the …

Design And Analysis Of The Virtual Reality Welding Training, Ritesh Chakradhar

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Business and Technology at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Science by Ritesh Chakradhar on November 19, 2021.

Contributing To Engineering Colleges Students' Development Through Out-Of-Class Involvement: A Survey Of Chinese Private Colleges' Engineering Students, Wanlu Li

Education (PhD) Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the primary characteristics of engineering college students’ involvement in out-of-class activities (OA) at one private college in China through the use of the translated and culturally adapted Chinese version of the Postsecondary Student Engagement Survey (PosSES 2.1). This study provides the statistical analyses of the survey data completed by 283 senior engineering students on their perceptions about their levels of involvement related to positive/negative outcomes students perceive and affective engagement. Data results showed all levels of involvement have a significant influence on positive outcomes. Besides, active involvement degree, hours, and types of …

Estrategia Para El Fortalecimiento De Las Competencias Ciudadanas De Los Estudiantes De Ingeniería En Colombia. Propuesta A Partir De La Revisión De Las Pruebas Saber Pro En Tres Universidades Privadas Con Vecindad De Comparación., Dario Esteban Recalde Morillo

Doctorado en Educación y Sociedad

Esta investigación doctoral presenta una propuesta de formación ciudadana para los cursos básicos de los programas de Ingeniería en universidades colombianas, con una integración de componentes académicos que necesitan fortalecerse y que están relacionados con la Prueba Saber Pro y con los Resultados de Aprendizaje de la ABET. Para el diagnóstico inicial se revisan los resultados de competencias ciudadanas en las Pruebas Saber Pro de 2016 a 2019 de los programas de Ingeniería en su grupo de referencia a nivel nacional. A través de la metodología de itinerarios categoriales se identifican las variables de estudio para la documentación de conceptos …

Possible Self Dynamics Of Community College Students Engaged In 3d Printing In Informal Environments, Lawrence Ralph Nightingale Jr.

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The overall number of students from diverse backgrounds and women that graduate from community college with degrees in high paying Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines is unacceptably low. The number of opportunities to gain exposure to STEM-based expressions of technology to overcome the dearth of exposure in high school is limited in community college. 3D Printing uses computer-controlled machines to build physical objects one layer at a time starting from the bottom up. The computer-controlled nature of 3D Printing provides a low risk, low cost platform to exercise elements of computer programming and engineering.

This study was a …

The Impact Of A Smartlab Implementation On Rural Schools In North Dakota, Tonya M. Greywind

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This mixed methods quasi-experimental phenomenological study investigated the impact that a SmartLab® implementation had on four rural schools in the state of North Dakota. This study featured semi structured interview questions for facilitators, semi-structured focus group questions for students, and a digital literacy pre and post assessment (DLA) that was administered to students. This study looked at student learning in terms of twenty-first century skills, teacher and student perspectives in terms of student learning as well as teacher perspectives on the impact of the SmartLab® on their own teaching methods.

Two facilitators from two of the four schools were interviewed …

A Statistical Analysis Of The Unm Facets Design Identity & Beliefs Survey Data, Clarissa A. Sorensen-Unruh

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

The NSF-funded FACETS (Formation of Accomplished Chemical Engineers for Transforming Society, NSF Award 1623105) grant aims to transform the undergraduate engineering experience in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of New Mexico to address attrition within engineering majors, especially among underserved populations (Brainard & Carlin, 1998). The UNM FACETS Design Identity & Beliefs survey, an assessment tool used as part of the research of the grant, generated the dataset used in this study. I performed several different statistical analyses on the dataset, including confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), principal component analysis (PCA), and cluster analysis. The …

Understanding Latina Undergraduate Engineering Student Persistence, Yarissa I. Ortiz-Vidal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In summary, this study focused on understanding the persistence of 20 Latina undergraduate engineering students enrolled at two public four-year Hispanic Serving Institutions. Key findings in this study showed that in order to contribute to their own persistence in engineering majors these Latina students activated their community cultural wealth: (a) not only to resist different forms of oppression, but also to thrive and excel in academic settings, (b) to take control of difficult and challenging experiences, (c) to take/receive knowledge from others, but also to give/share their knowledge (cyclical tendencies of CCW), (d) as well as revealing that helping others …

Design Of A Shallow-Aero Ebb And Flow Hydroponics System And Associated Educational Module For Tri Cycle Farms, Julie Halveland

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Tri Cycle Farms, whose main mission is to reduce food insecurity in their community, is a non- profit urban farm in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The “Tri” in their name refers to the three parts of their foundation: giving a third of their yield to volunteers, giving a third to local food pantries, and selling a third to sustain the farm and demonstrate the economy of local food production. They want to expand on the third part and have a vision of building a hydroponic greenhouse with the intention that it will create more crops to sell and give, as well as …

Academic Honesty, Professional Integrity, And Undergraduate Engineering Students: Exploring The Connections, S. Amy Skyles, Jeffrey W. Jennings

Dissertations

One benefit of inculcating professionalism into engineering degree program curricula is a measure of the extent to which future practitioners adopt an engineering code of ethics (Abaté, 2011; Davis, 2006). Studies have indicated more dishonesty among engineering students than other groups of undergraduate learners, but the effects of technology on dishonesty in the classroom was not addressed (Bowers, 1964; McCabe et al., 2012). An explanatory, sequential mixed methods study was designed to explain to what degree course pedagogical practices and attitudes of civil, architectural and environmental engineering students of various academic levels (freshman/sophomore and senior) relate to academic dishonesty. The …

Civil Engineer Company Grade Officer Competency-Based Education Modeling, Scott R. Guerin

Theses and Dissertations

The importance of continuing education for professionals cannot be understated. This importance is doubly true for Air Force Civil Engineer Company Grade Officers who are members of not only the profession of engineering, but also the profession of arms. Air Force senior leaders understand this importance and required an update to the existing developmental education model, with a paradigm shift toward competency-based education and credentialing. Unfortunately, the Air Force Civil Engineer career field does not currently possess the required information to create a model in compliance with the senior leader directives. This research aims at establishing the required characteristics of …

Dual-Axis Solar Tracker, Bryan Kennedy

All Undergraduate Projects

Renewable energies, and fuels that are not fossil fuel-based, are one of the prolific topics of debate in modern society. With climate change now becoming a primary focus for scientists and innovators of today, one of the areas for the largest amount of potential and growth is that of the capturing and utilization of Solar Energy. This method involves using a mechanical system to track the progression of the sun as it traverses the sky throughout the day. A dual-axis solar tracker such as the one designed and built for this project, can follow the sun both azimuthally and in …