Education Commons^™

An Interactive Exploration Of Gender And Engineering: Unpacking The Experience, Debbie Chachra, Lynn Stein, Alisha Sarang-Sieminski, Caitrin Lynch, Yevgeniya Zastavker

Lynn Andrea Stein

The engineering student experience is understood to differ for male and female students; gendered interactions affect the development of academic and professional role confidence, as well as engineering identity. The purpose of this session is twofold. First, we aim to introduce participants to concepts of gender schemas, privilege, and identity using a range of interactive activities, including brainstorming and structured discussion. Second, we intend to share information about and obtain feedback on a Gender Discussion Exploration Kit, which the participants will be encouraged to review, use, and share at their home institutions.

Integrating Engineering Science And Design: A Definition And Discussion, Benjamin Linder, Woodie Flowers

Benjamin Linder

An important goal of an undergraduate engineering curriculum is to facilitate students' development of an integrated understanding of engineering. Although attempts have been made to integrate engineering science and design curricula, many students are not developing knowledge and skills that synthesize the subjects covered by these two curricula. A few observations of student performance are provided that suggest this lack of integration. A definition of integration is proposed and used to discuss possible reasons why engineering science and design curricula are not well integrated. The definition is based on the observable outcomes and behavior students produce while engaged in learning …

Business Issues In Online Education, Stephen Schiffman

Stephen Schiffman

What are the key business issues institutions are trying to solve in sustaining and growing their online programs? What “value-adding” attributes of online education are as perceived not just by individual learners but more generally by customers and markets? These are some of the topics explored in the report “Business Issues in Online Education” (forthcoming in Elements of Quality Online Education: Engaging Communities, Volume 6 in the Sloan-C series) funded by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and based on my conversations this past year with over 50 interviewees at 25 online programs at eleven prominent not-for-profit higher …

The Olin Curriculum: Thinking Toward The Future, Mark Somerville, David Anderson, Hillary Berbeco, John Bourne, Jill Crisman, Diana Dabby, Helen Donis-Keller, Stephen Holt, Sherra Kerns, David Kerns, Jr., Robert Martello, Richard Miller, Michael Moody, Gill Pratt, Joanne Pratt, Christina Shea, Stephen Schiffman, Sarah Spence Adams, Lynn Stein, Jonathan Stolk, Brian Storey, Burt Tilley, Benjamin Vandiver, Yevgeniya Zastavker

Stephen Schiffman

In 1997, the F. W. Olin Foundation of New York established the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, Needham, MA, with the mission of creating an engineering school for the 21st century. Over the last five years, the college has transformed from an idea to a functioning entity that admitted its first freshman class in fall 2002. This paper describes the broad outlines of the Olin curriculum with some emphasis on the electrical and computer engineering degree. The curriculum incorporates the best practices from many other institutions as well as new ideas and approaches in an attempt to address the …

Aln Business Models And The Transformation Of Higher Education, Gary Miller, Stephen Schiffman

Stephen Schiffman

The ways institutions have structured their initial innovation with online learning vary greatly. Initial business model decisions present different challenges in terms of how institutions will integrate online learning. This paper looks at several common business models and the opportunities and challenges that each presents to institutions that want to fully integrate online learning.

Business Models For Online Learning: An Exploratory Survey, Karen Vignare, Christine Geith, Stephen Schiffman

Stephen Schiffman

Despite the rapid growth in the adoption of online learning, there is a dearth of detailed information on effective business models, business strategies and effective practices on which to build sustainable online education programs. A survey instrument was developed as an initial attempt to define business models and business strategies for online learning. The survey results yielded some interesting data about which online learning financial models seem to have more or less "control" of which business functions. The sample was a convenience one and as such will require further filtering of data. It is also clear that more needs to …

Identifying Successful Business Strategies For Distance Learning, Christine Geith, Stephen Schiffman, Karen Vignare

Stephen Schiffman

Despite the rapid growth in the adoption of distance education, and asynchronous learning networks in particular, there is a dearth of detailed information on effective business models, business strategies and effective practices on which to build sustainable online education programs. What has been published on the business side of online education tends to focus on the costs and economic models, the growing for-profit sector, and new organizational approaches such as spin-offs and virtual university consortia. There are very few detailed, descriptive studies focused on the business models, strategies and effective practices of online education in U.S. degree-granting institutions.

The Olin Curriculum: Thinking Toward The Future, Mark Somerville, David Anderson, Hillary Berbeco, John Bourne, Jill Crisman, Diana Dabby, Helen Donis-Keller, Stephen Holt, Sherra Kerns, David Kerns, Jr., Robert Martello, Richard Miller, Michael Moody, Gill Pratt, Joanne Pratt, Christina Shea, Stephen Schiffman, Sarah Spence Adams, Lynn Stein, Jonathan Stolk, Brian Storey, Burt Tilley, Benjamin Vandiver, Yevgeniya Zastavker

Mark Somerville

In 1997, the F. W. Olin Foundation of New York established the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, Needham, MA, with the mission of creating an engineering school for the 21st century. Over the last five years, the college has transformed from an idea to a functioning entity that admitted its first freshman class in fall 2002. This paper describes the broad outlines of the Olin curriculum with some emphasis on the electrical and computer engineering degree. The curriculum incorporates the best practices from many other institutions as well as new ideas and approaches in an attempt to address the …

A Semi-Automatic Approach For Project Assignment In A Capstone Course, Mark Chang, Allen Downey

Mark L. Chang

This paper presents a semi-automatic approach to assigning students to project teams for a year-long, industry-sponsored senior capstone course. Successful assignment requires knowl- edge of at least individual project requirements, student skills, student personalities, and student project preferences. This mix of hard skills, soft skills, and interpersonal impres- sions requires human involvement to produce a high-quality assignment. The importance of faculty input often requires that the assignment process be labor- and time-intensive.

Our approach attempts to reduce the time required to perform this assignment by selectively automating parts of the task flow. An automated search uses a randomized greedy algorithm …

Work In Progress - Synthesizing Design, Engineering, And Entrepreneurship Through A Mobile Application Development Course, Mark L. Chang

Mark L. Chang

In this paper, we describe our experiences in designing and delivering a course that blends together design, engineering, and entrepreneurship through the use of mobile devices. The significance of this work is in advocating for and demonstrating the motivational and educational benefits of using a mobile platform, and describing how to utilize the mobile marketplace to provide an authentic, real-world experience across these three domains.

A Blank Slate: Creating A New Senior Engineering Capstone Experience, Mark L. Chang, Jessica Townsend

Mark L. Chang

This paper presents some of the challenges, successes, and experiences in designing a new senior engineering capstone program at the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering. Senior capstone design programs in engineering colleges have evolved over many years and are often modified and reinvented to keep up with the needs of both students and external constituencies. Harvey Mudd College’s Clinic program is one of the largest and longest-running capstone programs in the country that relies heavily on industry sponsors to provide real world problems and funding to execute the projects. For many reasons, and in no small way because of …

Work In Progress - Impact Of Early Design Instruction On Capstone Experiences, Mark L. Chang, Jessica Townsend

Mark L. Chang

In the Olin College curriculum, students have significant, early, and continuous exposure to user-oriented design principles. As a result, our students have a very user-centered approach to problem solving that has affected our yearlong, industry-sponsored capstone in several ways. We have reflected on five years of capstone engagements in order to learn how our program has changed because of the design emphasis in our curriculum. The significance of our work is to inform the many departments that are already undertaking design-centric curriculum reform on how they may modify their capstone experiences to best take advantage of new student understanding, and …

A Blank Slate: Creating A New Senior Engineering Capstone Experience, Mark L. Chang, Jessica Townsend

Jessica Townsend

This paper presents some of the challenges, successes, and experiences in designing a new senior engineering capstone program at the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering. Senior capstone design programs in engineering colleges have evolved over many years and are often modified and reinvented to keep up with the needs of both students and external constituencies. Harvey Mudd College’s Clinic program is one of the largest and longest-running capstone programs in the country that relies heavily on industry sponsors to provide real world problems and funding to execute the projects. For many reasons, and in no small way because of …

Work In Progress - Impact Of Early Design Instruction On Capstone Experiences, Mark Chang, Jessica Townsend

Jessica Townsend

In the Olin College curriculum, students have significant, early, and continuous exposure to user-oriented design principles. As a result, our students have a very user-centered approach to problem solving that has affected our yearlong, industry-sponsored capstone in several ways. We have reflected on five years of capstone engagements in order to learn how our program has changed because of the design emphasis in our curriculum. The significance of our work is to inform the many departments that are already undertaking design-centric curriculum reform on how they may modify their capstone experiences to best take advantage of new student understanding, and …

'Kinetic Sculptures': A Centerpiece Project Integrated With Mathematics And Physics, Yevgeniya Zastavker, Jill Crisman, Mark Jeunnette, Burt Tilley

Yevgeniya V. Zastavker

An integrated set of courses, or Integrated Course Block (ICB), developed for incoming first-year students at the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, is presented. Bound by a common theme of `Kinetic Sculptures', the individual courses in this ICB are mathematics (single variable calculus and ordinary differential equations), physics (kinetics and dynamics of linear and rotational motion, thermodynamics and fluids), and an open-ended engineering project. The project part of the ICB allows students to explore the motion through the design of kinetic (moving) sculptures while utilizing the mathematics and physics concepts learned in the accompanying courses. This paper considers the …

Faculty On Integrated Project-Based Learning, Yevgeniya Zastavker, Casey Canfield

Yevgeniya V. Zastavker

This paper examines the experiences, perspectives, and concerns of faculty involved in implementing a first-year integrated project-based engineering curriculum as they attempt to understand and reconcile their own and students’ views, attitudes, and beliefs regarding project-based learning (PjBL). A semi-structured, open-ended interview protocol is employed with seven mathematics and physics faculty participants. Grounded theory is used to identify the following themes: divergence of faculty perceptions regarding the effectiveness of an integrated approach in teaching and learning, the value of projects, and conflicting student expectations.

The Olin Curriculum: Thinking Toward The Future, Mark Somerville, David Anderson, Hillary Berbeco, John Bourne, Jill Crisman, Diana Dabby, Helen Donis-Keller, Stephen Holt, Sherra Kerns, David Kerns, Jr., Robert Martello, Richard Miller, Michael Moody, Gill Pratt, Joanne Pratt, Christina Shea, Stephen Schiffman, Sarah Spence Adams, Lynn Stein, Jonathan Stolk, Brian Storey, Burt Tilley, Benjamin Vandiver, Yevgeniya Zastavker

Yevgeniya V. Zastavker

In 1997, the F. W. Olin Foundation of New York established the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, Needham, MA, with the mission of creating an engineering school for the 21st century. Over the last five years, the college has transformed from an idea to a functioning entity that admitted its first freshman class in fall 2002. This paper describes the broad outlines of the Olin curriculum with some emphasis on the electrical and computer engineering degree. The curriculum incorporates the best practices from many other institutions as well as new ideas and approaches in an attempt to address the …

Improving Automaticity With Basic Addition Facts: Do Taped Problems Work Faster Than Cover, Copy, Compare?, James Cressey, Kristin Ezbicki

James Cressey

This small pilot study compared the effectiveness of two interventions to improve automaticity with basic addition facts: Taped Problems (TP) and Cover, Copy, Compare (CCC), in students aged 6-10. Automaticity was measured using Mathematics Curriculum-Based Measurement (M-CBM) at pretest, after 10 days, and after 20 days of intervention. Our hypothesis was that the TP group will gain higher levels of automaticity more quickly than the CCC and control groups. However, when gain scores were compared, no significant differences were found between groups. Limitations to the study include low treatment integrity and a short duration of intervention.

Rethinking Cs101: Or, How Robots Revolutionize Introductory Computer Programming, Lynn Stein

Lynn Andrea Stein

Introductory computer science education is entrenched in an outdated computational model. Although it corresponds neither to our computing environments nor to our work, we insist on teaching our introductory students computation-as-calculation, a mathematical problem-solving view of the role of the computer program. We can dramatically improve this situation -- and, as a corollary, all of undergraduate computer science -- by focusing on the kind of dynamic, interactive, inherently parallel computation that occurs in spreadsheets and video games, web applications and robots.

Implementation Of Paul Revere: Tough As Nails, An Integrated Project-Based Course On Materials Science And History Of Technology, Jonathan Stolk, Robert Martello

Robert Martello

Olin College sophomores participate in integrated course blocks that merge technical content with business, arts, humanities, and social science topics, allowing students to work on engineering projects that have broader implications than the purely technical. In this paper, we present Paul Revere: Tough as Nails, a multidisciplinary course block that combines an introductory materials science course with a history of technology course and a large scale project. In Paul Revere, students explore connections between historical and technological materials science developments through examinations of Paul Revere's metallurgical work and analyses of the relevant social, environmental, political, and economic aspects that contribute …

Implementation Of Paul Revere: Tough As Nails, An Integrated Project-Based Course On Materials Science And History Of Technology, Jonathan Stolk, Robert Martello

Jonathan Stolk

Olin College sophomores participate in integrated course blocks that merge technical content with business, arts, humanities, and social science topics, allowing students to work on engineering projects that have broader implications than the purely technical. In this paper, we present Paul Revere: Tough as Nails, a multidisciplinary course block that combines an introductory materials science course with a history of technology course and a large scale project. In Paul Revere, students explore connections between historical and technological materials science developments through examinations of Paul Revere's metallurgical work and analyses of the relevant social, environmental, political, and economic aspects that contribute …

Converting Traditional Materials Labs To Project-Based Learning Experiences: Aiding Students' Development Of Higher-Order Cognitive Skills, Jonathan Stolk, Linda Vanasupa, Katherine Chen, Richard Savage, Trevor Harding, Blair London, William Hughes

Jonathan Stolk

Against a backdrop of compelling societal needs, graduates in science and engineering now must master their disciplines and demonstrate a sophisticated level of cognitive, affective and social development. This has lead a number of national and international commissions on science and engineering to urge educators to re-think the way in which STEM disciplines are taught. We have chosen to “repackage” a traditional undergraduate materials engineering curriculum in a form designed to promote the development of higher-order cognitive skills like self-directed learning and design. Classic metallurgy experiments have been converted to project-based learning experiences where students are put in the role …

The Search For Design In Electrical Engineering Education, David V. Kerns, Sherra E. Kerns, Mark Somerville, Gill Pratt, Jill Crisman

Sherra E. Kerns

The importance of "design" in engineering education is well established and a cornerstone of most new engineering curricula as well as accreditation criteria Electrical and computer engineering (ECE) programs view many elements of design in ways similar to other engineering disciplines. However, in some respects other disciplines within engineering, such as Mechanical Engineering (ME), view design in broader terms, and perhaps gain value that electrical and computer engineering educators may miss. This paper describes how design is typically viewed in ECE programs, bow it's viewed in other engineering areas, particularly ME, and suggests some new possibilities for enhancing design education …

The Search For Design In Electrical Engineering Education, David V. Kerns, Sherra E. Kerns, Mark Somerville, Gill Pratt, Jill Crisman

David V. Kerns

The importance of "design" in engineering education is well established and a cornerstone of most new engineering curricula as well as accreditation criteria Electrical and computer engineering (ECE) programs view many elements of design in ways similar to other engineering disciplines. However, in some respects other disciplines within engineering, such as Mechanical Engineering (ME), view design in broader terms, and perhaps gain value that electrical and computer engineering educators may miss. This paper describes how design is typically viewed in ECE programs, bow it's viewed in other engineering areas, particularly ME, and suggests some new possibilities for enhancing design education …

The Learning Commons As A Locus For Information Literacy, Sharon Weiner, Tomalee Doan, Hal Kirkwood

Hal P Kirkwood Jr

Many institutions of higher education are designing spaces to facilitate learning. Libraries have created information or learning commons to support this activity. This article draws from the literature and best practices to explore this new direction. Academic libraries have focused on student learning and the teaching of skills and strategies that develop information literacy competency. Although there is an assumption that learning commons facilitate student learning, there is a need to more closely connect this new environment with information literacy and pedagogy and to demonstrate its merits in enhancing learning. A basic premise is that each learning commons that is …

The Olin Curriculum: Thinking Toward The Future, Mark Somerville, David Anderson, Hillary Berbeco, John Bourne, Jill Crisman, Diana Dabby, Helen Donis-Keller, Stephen Holt, Sherra Kerns, David Kerns, Jr., Robert Martello, Richard Miller, Michael Moody, Gill Pratt, Joanne Pratt, Christina Shea, Stephen Schiffman, Sarah Spence Adams, Lynn Stein, Jonathan Stolk, Brian Storey, Burt Tilley, Benjamin Vandiver, Yevgeniya Zastavker

Brian Storey

In 1997, the F. W. Olin Foundation of New York established the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, Needham, MA, with the mission of creating an engineering school for the 21st century. Over the last five years, the college has transformed from an idea to a functioning entity that admitted its first freshman class in fall 2002. This paper describes the broad outlines of the Olin curriculum with some emphasis on the electrical and computer engineering degree. The curriculum incorporates the best practices from many other institutions as well as new ideas and approaches in an attempt to address the …

The Olin Curriculum: Thinking Toward The Future, Mark Somerville, David Anderson, Hillary Berbeco, John Bourne, Jill Crisman, Diana Dabby, Helen Donis-Keller, Stephen Holt, Sherra Kerns, David Kerns, Jr., Robert Martello, Richard Miller, Michael Moody, Gill Pratt, Joanne Pratt, Christina Shea, Stephen Schiffman, Sarah Spence Adams, Lynn Stein, Jonathan Stolk, Brian Storey, Burt Tilley, Benjamin Vandiver, Yevgeniya Zastavker

Lynn Andrea Stein

In 1997, the F. W. Olin Foundation of New York established the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, Needham, MA, with the mission of creating an engineering school for the 21st century. Over the last five years, the college has transformed from an idea to a functioning entity that admitted its first freshman class in fall 2002. This paper describes the broad outlines of the Olin curriculum with some emphasis on the electrical and computer engineering degree. The curriculum incorporates the best practices from many other institutions as well as new ideas and approaches in an attempt to address the …

The Olin Curriculum: Thinking Toward The Future, Mark Somerville, David Anderson, Hillary Berbeco, John Bourne, Jill Crisman, Diana Dabby, Helen Donis-Keller, Stephen Holt, Sherra Kerns, David Kerns, Jr., Robert Martello, Richard Miller, Michael Moody, Gill Pratt, Joanne Pratt, Christina Shea, Stephen Schiffman, Sarah Spence Adams, Lynn Stein, Jonathan Stolk, Brian Storey, Burt Tilley, Benjamin Vandiver, Yevgeniya Zastavker

Jonathan Stolk

In 1997, the F. W. Olin Foundation of New York established the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, Needham, MA, with the mission of creating an engineering school for the 21st century. Over the last five years, the college has transformed from an idea to a functioning entity that admitted its first freshman class in fall 2002. This paper describes the broad outlines of the Olin curriculum with some emphasis on the electrical and computer engineering degree. The curriculum incorporates the best practices from many other institutions as well as new ideas and approaches in an attempt to address the …

The Olin Curriculum: Thinking Toward The Future, Mark Somerville, David Anderson, Hillary Berbeco, John Bourne, Jill Crisman, Diana Dabby, Helen Donis-Keller, Stephen Holt, Sherra Kerns, David Kerns, Jr., Robert Martello, Richard Miller, Michael Moody, Gill Pratt, Joanne Pratt, Christina Shea, Stephen Schiffman, Sarah Spence Adams, Lynn Stein, Jonathan Stolk, Brian Storey, Burt Tilley, Benjamin Vandiver, Yevgeniya Zastavker

Richard K. Miller

In 1997, the F. W. Olin Foundation of New York established the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, Needham, MA, with the mission of creating an engineering school for the 21st century. Over the last five years, the college has transformed from an idea to a functioning entity that admitted its first freshman class in fall 2002. This paper describes the broad outlines of the Olin curriculum with some emphasis on the electrical and computer engineering degree. The curriculum incorporates the best practices from many other institutions as well as new ideas and approaches in an attempt to address the …

The Olin Curriculum: Thinking Toward The Future, Mark Somerville, David Anderson, Hillary Berbeco, John Bourne, Jill Crisman, Diana Dabby, Helen Donis-Keller, Stephen Holt, Sherra Kerns, David Kerns, Jr., Robert Martello, Richard Miller, Michael Moody, Gill Pratt, Joanne Pratt, Christina Shea, Stephen Schiffman, Sarah Spence Adams, Lynn Stein, Jonathan Stolk, Brian Storey, Burt Tilley, Benjamin Vandiver, Yevgeniya Zastavker

Robert Martello

In 1997, the F. W. Olin Foundation of New York established the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, Needham, MA, with the mission of creating an engineering school for the 21st century. Over the last five years, the college has transformed from an idea to a functioning entity that admitted its first freshman class in fall 2002. This paper describes the broad outlines of the Olin curriculum with some emphasis on the electrical and computer engineering degree. The curriculum incorporates the best practices from many other institutions as well as new ideas and approaches in an attempt to address the …