Engineering Commons^™

A Look At Vocational And Academic Student Backgrounds In Ability To Solve Practical Problems, Gareth Thomson, Mark Prince

Research Papers

While most students in the UK will enter engineering degrees with traditional academic qualifications, a significant proportion will come from backgrounds which use vocational based qualifications to gain entry to degree level study. Indicators show that students from lower socio-economic backgrounds are more likely to be among those using vocational qualifications to gain entry to University and may not progress as well. This is often linked to difficulties in traditional academic elements of the degree such as mathematics where both the content and learning approaches are much less familiar to students with a vocational background. These academic skills are not …

Exploring The Development Of Engineering Design Creativity And The Role Of Spatial Skills In This Process, Clodagh Reid, Sheryl Sorby

Research Papers

This study aims to investigate the development of creativity in engineering education and how spatial skills relate to creativity of design solutions.

Undergraduate students in the first (n=86) and fourth/fifth year (n=48) of their engineering programme were invited to participate. Students completed four spatial tests to precisely measure visualisation skills. In a separate session, students were invited back to solve two engineering design tasks: a ping pong problem where they designed a ping pong ball launcher game to meet specified criteria and a rain catcher problem where they were tasked with developing as many ideas for capturing rainwater as a …

Mentoring Prospective Engineering Students Through The After School Program "Girls In Engineering" Focused On Building An Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle, Vukica M. Jovanović, Deborah Marshall, Jeff Warren Larson Jr., Abdul Rahman Badawi, Neil R. Stclair, Otilia Popescu, Murat Kuzlu, Petros J. Katsioloudis, Linda Vahala, Michael Anthony Crespo

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

A number of studies by engineering education researchers have pointed out that all-female teams, rather than mixed teams, result in better forms of participation and interaction in engineering related after-school programs and clubs. In particular, for after-school programs or clubs that form in response to a STEM competition, all-female teams have better chances of developing. One such competition, which will be discussed in this paper, is a regional Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) competition in which students from Blind_Review High School have been participating for many years.For each year’s competition, an all-female team of students enrolled in the Career and …

An Examination Of The Role Of Spatial Ability In The Process Of Problem Solving In Chemical Engineering, Sheryl Sorby, Gavin Duffy, Norman Loney

Articles

Engineers often communicate with one another through drawings or sketches and understanding technical information through graphical representations is a skill necessary for engineering practice. Well-developed spatial skills are known to be important to understanding technical drawings and are therefore, important to success in engineering. Unfortunately, of all cognitive processes, spatial skills show robust gender differences, favouring males, which could contribute to the underrepresentation of women in engineering. In this research, we administered a test of spatial cognition to students enrolled in a common 3rd year course in chemical engineering . In a second session, students were given a set of …

Task Affect And Task Understanding In Engineering Problem Solving, Oenardi Lawanto, Angela L. Minichiello, Jacek Uziak, Andreas Febrian

Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Within the self-regulated learning literature, motivation is considered to be an essential feature of students’ self-regulatory processes. Additionally, task affect (i.e., personal objectives and task value) is thought to influence students’ self-regulatory processes; insufficient task affect may lead to failures to self-regulate effectively. In a school setting, task affect is a form of motivation for completing the course tasks in order to attain course-level goals that are inherently valued. In this study, motivation is operationalized as students’ personal objectives and task values, and self-regulation refers to students’ understanding of tasks (also called task interpretation skill) involved in a course. This …

Search And Review Of The Literature On Engineering Design Challenges In Secondary School Settings, Matthew Lammi, Cameron Denson, Paul Asunda

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

Engineering design activities offer the promise of enhanced learning and teaching in pre-college science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) settings. The wide variation and lack of coherence in research and practice concerning pre-college engineering design challenges necessitates an investigation of the literature. The overarching research question guiding this search and review of literature was, ‘‘How are engineering design challenges conceptualized in pre-college environments?’’ A search and review coupled with iterative thematic analysis was employed to understand and conceptualize the current body of literature on pre-college engineering design challenges. It is anticipated that this review will provide a general picture of …

Thinking Like A Pro: How Experts And Novices Solve Problems Differently | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Jan. 7, 2016 – Engineering education experts at Utah State University are narrowing in on new insights into why young engineering students drop out of their programs or change majors.

It’s an increasingly important conversation as government and industry leaders push for more college graduates in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, fields. And yet nationwide, only about half of all engineering students complete their degrees.

Exploring The Role Of Spatial Cognition In Problem Solving, Gavin Duffy, Sheryl Sorby, Steven Nozaki, Brian Bowe

Conference papers

While spatial aptitude is acknowledged as a key cognitive ability that accompanies success in STEM education, less is reported about the qualitative differences between weak and strong visualisers in how they approach and engage with assessments in STEM education. In this paper, we study one particular aspect of the STEM curriculum - solving convergent ‘word’ problems in mathematics - in an attempt to discern quantitative and qualitative differences between the approaches weak and strong visualisers adopt when solving these problems. The paper is a work-in-progress that started with a search for suitable convergent mathematics problems which were then presented to …

An Investigation Of The Asit Problem-Solving Method On Middle School Technology Education Student's Ability To Produce Creative Solutions, Jared Aaron Merrill

Theses and Dissertations

This study compared two groups of students being instructed in various methods of problem solving over a two-week period. The control group was instructed using the standard Career and Technology Education (CTE) Introduction curriculum on using brainstorming to solve problems. The treatment group was instructed using a structured problem solving method developed to help focus problem solving on finding a solution that satisfies the conditions. Students were selected from 7th grade students at a suburban middle school in Utah. The independent variable in this study was the type of problem solving instruction received. The dependent variables of interest were the …

Civil And Mechanical Engineering Students Learning Mechanics In A Multidisciplinary Engineering Foundation Spiral, Jean Nocito-Gobel, Gregory Broderick, Samuel Bogan Daniels, Michael Collura, Richard Stanley

Engineering and Applied Science Education Faculty Publications

This paper describes how mechanical and civil engineering students are introduced to and develop an understanding of mechanics concepts through a sequence of integrated courses as part of a new curriculum taken during the freshman and sophomore years. The Multi- Disciplinary Engineering Foundation Spiral is a four-semester sequence of engineering courses, matched closely with the development of students’ mathematical sophistication and analytical capabilities and integrated with course work in the sciences. Students develop a conceptual understanding of engineering basics in this series of courses, which stress practical applications of these principles. Mechanics concepts are introduced in a pair of first …

Creativity: A Framework For The Design/Problem Solving Discourse In Technology Education, Theodore Lewis

Publications

Subjects for which aesthetics and creative performance are critical curricular dimensions (such as art, physical education, music, and technology education), and which are accommodative of students across the range of intelligences (Gardner, 1999) are not readily or completely captured by content standards. Therefore content knowledge in these fields that target student achievement as conventionally conceived must be complemented by treatment of more subjective and elusive goals such as the development of connoisseurship, appreciation, or creative insight. With the publication of standards for the subject (International Technology Education Association, 2000), the need for focus upon creativity in technology education has been …

Privatization Initiatives: A Source For Engineering Economy Case Studies, Paul Kauffmann, Tarek Abdel-Salam, Keith Williamson, Carol L. Considine

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

A case study method which reviews the basic structure of the circular A-76 privatization decision model is discussed. It highlights the possibilities for development of case studies that can challenge student teams to apply engineering economy tools while developing skills in a range of circular areas that are important to undergraduate engineering education and career success in engineering practice. Beyond building quantitative and qualitative business analysis skills, engineering economy cases can enhance student skills in other topical areas such as technical presentations, and report writing. The privatization initiatives and related decision models can also enhance human relations oriented skills in …

Project-Based Introduction To Engineering -- Course Assessment, Samuel Bogan Daniels, Michael Collura, Bouzid Aliane, Jean Nocito-Gobel

Engineering and Applied Science Education Faculty Publications

The School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of New Haven has a newly developed project-based Introduction to Engineering course. This new course plays a central role in the new Multi-Disciplinary Engineering Foundation Spiral curriculum as the first semester course for all engineering freshmen. An assessment process was developed to determine the effectiveness of this project-based course, specifically with attention towards assessing attitudes, impact on retention, problem-solving and engineering foundation topics. This paper addresses the particular portion of the assessment process for the individual course projects and their contribution to the last two assessment categories.

Incorporating Web-Based Homework Problems In Engineering Dynamics, Ralph E. Flori, David B. Oglesby, Timothy A. Philpot, Nancy E. Hubing, Richard H. Hall, Vikas Yellamraju

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

We are involved in a project funded by the Department of Education (FIPSE) which focuses on developing interactive software to improve the teaching and learning of engineering statics, dynamics, and mechanics of materials. This paper presents an overview of this project, discusses its objectives, and focuses on one particular aspect of the project.the use of web-based homework problems as assessment tools to evaluate student learning. The overall project includes creating, for all three engineering mechanics courses, the following web-based learning tools: (a) Animated theory modules, using Macromedia.s Flash development software, which display basic theory and example problems in an engaging, …

Using Spreadsheet Programs In Teaching Machine Design, Cheng Y. Lin, Gary R. Crossman

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

This paper presents an approach on using spreadsheets to teach machine design. It also lists detailed procedures on how to implement the teaching scheme. Results show that spreadsheet programs can help students organize their design procedures. By using the characteristics of spreadsheet programs, students do not have to repeat the same calculation and can get the alternate solution of a design almost instantly when given different values on the inputs. When compared to the method taught by using calculators, students can significantly improve their performance on homework problems and tests. From teaching evaluations, their interest in taking such a course …

Systemic Issues In Asynchronous Delivery Of Graduate Engineering Management Programs, Charles Keating, David Dryer, Andres Sousa-Poza, William Peterson, Robert Safford

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The purpose of this paper is to examine systemic issues that impact the design, delivery, and maintenance of asynchronous engineering management educational products. Asynchronous education continues to rapidly evolve as an alternative to traditional classroom delivery. An asynchronous educational system requires the effective integration of technology, supporting processes, and infrastructure design to prepare, deliver, and maintain asynchronous educational products. Currently, the technological capabilities for delivery of asynchronous education have outstripped the ability to maximize those advanced technologies. To help understand this rift between technology and our ability to deploy that technology this paper examines three critical areas. First, the distinctions …

Applying Informal Cooperative Learning Groups Techniques In The Classroom, Susan L. Murray

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The application of informal cooperative learning (CL) groups techniques in the courses including operation research, and computer simulation, is discussed. The informal CL activities can be accomplished in small groups consisting of two or three students. It increases student participation and revitalizing passive lecturers. Students work example problems or homework problems in groups.

Computer-Aided Instruction In Dynamics: Does It Improve Learning?, Ralph E. Flori

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Since 1992, the authors have been developing and testing BEST Dynamics software (Basic Engineering Software for Teaching Dynamics) with the goal of transforming how engineering dynamics is taught at the University of Missouri-Rolla, USA. This paper introduces the "BEST" Dynamics and its classroom implementation, raises questions concerning the cognitive impact of the software, attempts to classify the type of learning environment used in BEST Dynamics, and gives some new directions that are being taken based on the authors'' observations and experiences.