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Articles 1 - 5 of 5
Full-Text Articles in Education
Strengthening Undergraduates’ Appreciation Of Engineering Ethics Through A Simulated Stakeholder Meeting On Offshore Wind Energy Development, Maija A. Benitz
Strengthening Undergraduates’ Appreciation Of Engineering Ethics Through A Simulated Stakeholder Meeting On Offshore Wind Energy Development, Maija A. Benitz
Engineering, Computing & Construction Management Faculty Publications
The need for deepening students’ appreciation for the importance of engineering ethics remains ever present. However, accomplishing this learning outcome can be challenging, as the principles often come across as abstract and distant to many undergraduates. To combat these challenges, a group-based assignment and corresponding in-class role-playing activity were developed for an upper-level ocean engineering elective course, based on a local case study about offshore wind energy development. The new pedagogical approach aims to present engineering ethics in a more tangible and relatable way by requiring students to role-play a real-world scenario from their own university’s backyard. Students worked on …
Bridging Education And Engineering Students Through A Wind Energy-Focused Community Engagement Project, Maija A. Benitz, Li-Ling Yang
Bridging Education And Engineering Students Through A Wind Energy-Focused Community Engagement Project, Maija A. Benitz, Li-Ling Yang
Engineering, Computing & Construction Management Faculty Publications
Regional growth in offshore wind energy development, changes to the state’s K-12 science standards, and a desire to deepen undergraduate student learning coalesced to inspire an interdisciplinary community engagement project bridging university courses in engineering and education. The project consists of three main activities: a professional development event for local fourth grade teachers, five classroom lessons designed and taught by undergraduate engineering and education majors, and a final celebration event, all focused around the topics of wind energy and engineering design. This spring, the project was carried out for the third consecutive year, though each year’s implementation has been unique …
Adapting A Community Engagement Project In Engineering And Education To Remote Learning In The Era Of Covid-19, Maija A. Benitz, Li-Ling Yang
Adapting A Community Engagement Project In Engineering And Education To Remote Learning In The Era Of Covid-19, Maija A. Benitz, Li-Ling Yang
Engineering, Computing & Construction Management Faculty Publications
In the spring of 2020, our interdisciplinary community engagement project, bridging courses in engineering and education, was midway through completion when we abruptly transitioned to remote learning due to COVID-19. Remote learning poses unique challenges to community engaged courses that are often inherently interactive and social. We quickly pivoted our project, which originally sent undergraduates into fourth grade classrooms to teach about wind energy and engineering design. Student reflection papers illuminate challenges to skill development and negative socioemotional consequences. Our findings provide insight and suggestions for future implementations of community engagement projects in the era of remote learning.
Teaching Wind Energy To Engineering And Education Undergraduates Through Community Engagement, Maija A. Benitz, Li-Ling Yang
Teaching Wind Energy To Engineering And Education Undergraduates Through Community Engagement, Maija A. Benitz, Li-Ling Yang
Engineering, Computing & Construction Management Faculty Publications
Rhode Island's adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards in 2013 [1] established a pressing need to provide elementary schools with support for integrating engineering in our local district's classrooms. Wind energy was identified as an appropriate instructional topic, both for its relevance to Rhode Island [2], and for its strength as a tool for studying the engineering design process. Education and engineering undergraduates collaborated to educate local fourth graders about engineering design and wind energy. While supporting the need for engineering education in the community, this project also deepened learning for both education and engineering students at Roger Williams …
Living-Learning Communities Improve First-Year Engineering Student Academic Performance And Retention At A Small Private University, William J. Palm, Charles R. Thomas
Living-Learning Communities Improve First-Year Engineering Student Academic Performance And Retention At A Small Private University, William J. Palm, Charles R. Thomas
Engineering, Computing & Construction Management Faculty Publications
Living-Learning Communities (LLCs), in which students share a residence, one or more classes, and extracurricular activities, have been shown to improve first-year student engagement, academic performance, and retention in non-engineering fields. Research on Engineering LLCs has focused primarily on student engagement. Two studies to examine performance and retention found that LLCs had little effect on first-semester grades but increased first-year retention in engineering by 2 to 12%. Unfortunately, one of these studies did not control for differences in incoming student characteristics, and another used a comparison group that differed little from the LLC group, possibly causing them to understate the …