Engineering Commons^™

Project-Based Learning In Non-Traditional Settings In Engineering Education, Mary Foss

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of utilizing the principles of Project-based learning (PJBL) in nontraditional settings in engineering education. There is ample literature related to the usage of PJBL techniques in engineering education but there are also challenges with incorporating PJBL within the curriculum. It is the aim of this dissertation to build upon this understanding of the advantages and limitations of PJBL in engineering education and identify areas within the existing body of knowledge in which more research is needed. This dissertation divides this topic into 4 sub-topics. The first sub-topic explores how PJBL …

Small Gas Engines Interactive Notebook, P. Troy White

STEM & Agricultural Education Curriculum Resources

A Small Gas Engines interactive notebook to help prepare students for the Briggs & Stratton Master Service Technician Exam 1.

Correlation Of Student Participation In Practice Exams And Actual Exam Performance, Antonette T. Cummings

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Publications

Background: Practice exams are a type of formative feedback. These can be administered through learning management systems such as D2L and Canvas as low stakes assessment. This paper intends to show the relationship between students’ participation in online practice exams and their scores on the actual exams.
Research Questions: Does participation in timed, online practice exams correlate with improved actual exam performance on similar questions? Does a correct answer in a timed, online practice exam correlate with obtaining the correct answer on the actual exam on a similar question? Does participation in timed, online practice exams correlate with improved overall …

Implementing Professional Skills Training In Stem: A Review Of The Literature, Ann M. Gansemer-Topf, Qing Li, Shan Jiang, Guk E. Okudan-Kremer, Nigel Forest Reuel

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Publications

Background: Project management and other professional skill training is often lacking in graduate student education, typically as a result of limited resources, lack of faculty buy-in, and narrow focus on thesis research. To address this need and with support from NSF, we are developing the Graduates for Advancing Professional Skills (GAPS) program at Iowa State University. To aid the initial development of this program, we conducted a literature review to understand the current context of the development and implementation of professional skills in higher education curricula, with specific interest in STEM fields.
Purpose: The purpose of our study was …

A Community Of Practice Approach To Integrating Professional Skills Training With Graduate Thesis Research, Shan Jiang, Ann M. Gansemer-Topf, Nigel Forest Reuel, Gul E. Okudan-Kremer, Qing Li, Rebecca Mort

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Publications

Background. It is well recognized that current graduate education is too narrowly focused on thesis research. Graduate students have a strong desire to gain skills for their future career success beyond thesis research. This obvious gap in professional skill training in current graduate study also leads to the common student perception that professional skills beyond academic knowledge should only be gained after completion of thesis research.
Purpose. A new program is being developed to rigorously integrate professional skills training with thesis research. The approach is to establish learning communities of Graduates for Advancing Professional Skills (GAPS) to incorporate project management …

Developing A Substation Design Curriculum For Electronics Engineering Technology, Filipe Santos Araujo, Erik A. Mayer

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Publications

Background: The latest technologies have created an increasing demand for the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. Substations are a crucial segment of our power grid. Substations are used to step-up voltages for the long-distance transmission of energy and to stepdown voltages for industrial and residential use. The demand for substation design curriculum was discussed at a meeting of the Industrial Advisory Committee (IAC) for EET. Members of the IAC consisted of professionals from Black & Veatch and other companies that work with power systems such as substations and switchgear. The curriculum was developed in close cooperation with Black & …

Revising A Portfolio Initiative To Assess Student Progress In A Mechanical Engineering Program, Nancy B. Barr

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Publications

Background: This work-in-progress paper describes an effort to modify a pre-existing course portfolio initiative in a large mechanical engineering undergraduate program to be used for multiple forms of program assessment while maintaining its value as a student learning tool.
Purpose: This paper aims to outline the process that an ad-hoc department committee used to define what it wanted to assess in a required four-course second and third-year problem-based learning sequence by reviewing various rubric options.
Design: Deciding what to assess and what language to use in a rubric involved a series of facilitated discussions.
Results: Following a mock assessment exercise, …

The Investigation Of The Relationship Between Emotional Engagement And Creativity, Elif Elcin Gunay, Chih-Yuan Chu, Liyuani De Jesus Delgado Tapia, Omar El Menoufy, Ani Yam, Shibani Raje, Rafal Jonczyk, Danille S. Dickson, Janet Van Hell, Zahed Siddique, Gul E. Okudan-Kremer

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Publications

Background - One of the most critical challenges in engineering education is improving students’ divergent thinking skills. Usually, we observe students’ fixating on only one single solution for engineering problems. However, their ability to think outside the box and provide alternative solutions should be developed. Research shows that engagement may foster the development of thoughts and boost creativity.
Purpose/Hypothesis – Our aim was to investigate students’ engagement with tasks that inspire different facets of creativity (verbal, numeric, and visual). Considering the role of demographics in student engagement, we explored the relationship between their engagement level and demographic traits such as …

Building Student Persistence With The Use Of Real-Time Feedback On Design Problems, John A. Mirth

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Publications

Background: This paper examines the use of a real-time feedback document to assist students in navigating design problems. The design problems are multi-step challenges that culminate in design specifications for a small system. Each problem can be solved using a predictable sequence of calculations. Students customize their specific problem by inserting their own performance parameters to develop a solution that is unique for each student.
Purpose: Two challenges associated with design problems are those of providing effective feedback to students and of grading final submissions that are unique to each student. The research described proposes the use of a structured …

An Augmented Reality Multimedia Learning Platform Assisting Online Lecture Delivery Of Engineering Classes: An Hvac Course, Huojan Yang, Jiaming Zhao, Tianyi Liang, Siqing Zheng, Nikolas R. Kukert, Jun Kong

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Publications

Background: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has recently resulted in an emergent shift of traditional instruction to (presumably temporary) online delivery, and many students were not able to participate in practical activities (e.g., laboratory experiments) due to inaccessible or unavailable “brick and mortar” laboratories. Purpose: This works-in-progress paper developed a multimedia learning platform with virtual laboratory modules through an Augmented Reality (AR) environment, where virtual objects (augmented components) are superimposed onto a real learning setting during online lecture instruction. Specifically, to facilitate students’ gaining practical skills, a library of virtual objects were established for the main physical components or systems related …

Critical And Liberative Theories: Applications In Engineering Education, Corin L. Bowen, Aaron W. Johnson

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Publications

Background. Higher educational programs in engineering today are seeking to correct disproportionately low enrollment and success rates of minoritized students. However, most diversity-related programming fails to address systems of structural oppression that cause particular students to be underrepresented in higher education. In addition, typical engineering pedagogical methods fail to address the reality and impacts of structural oppression, as educators cannot overcome the effects of structurally oppressive systems through traditional methods of controlling classroom and curriculum.
Purpose. This paper explores the relationship between existing critical and liberative theories and engineering educational systems and re-frames the goals and problems of diversity and …

A Comparison Of Platform Configurations For Robotics Development Within Ros2, Raspberry Pi, Andwebots, Katherine Gisi, Diane T. Rover, Phillip H. Jones Iii

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Publications

Background: The field of robotics continues to expand with new, progressive technologies. The vast ecosystem of robotics, with its countless routes, is initially challenging to navigate. It is even more so during a season of virtual instruction. Creating strategic entrance points for the incoming students merits consideration. Purpose: Our aim is to provide a way for students to explore three critical areas in robotics: the physical robot (hardware), the simulated robot (digital twin), and the operating system and code (controller).
Method: We explore options for integrating two advanced robot development frameworks (i.e. Robot Operating System 2 (ROS2) and Webots) in …

A New Method For Biomechanical Data Acquisition In Remote Laboratory Delivery During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Ahmed M. Sayed

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Publications

Background: Delivery of a hands-on laboratory experience is a real challenge in the present pandemic environment. Many instructors tend to acquire and record experimental data, and then instruct their students to analyze such data to produce results and lab reports in an online course mode. Such a process considerably diminishes students’ motivation, engagement, and eagerness to explore further knowledge, as students appreciate more experimental data that they gather themselves. Such drawbacks are even more profound in a practical field such as biomechanics, where students need to feel the sense of kinematic and kinetic data of their own body motions and …

Proposing An Engineering Gendered Racial Microaggression Scale, Arielle True-Funk, Cristina Poleacovschi, Gloria Jones-Johnson, Scott Grant Feinstein, Meghan Berger

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Publications

Background Minorities in engineering regularly experience negative statements or behaviors of others that disparage them due to their gender, race, ethnicity, or other identity. Students from engineering have cited these persistent subtle negative statements and behaviors, or microaggressions, as reasons for considering leaving engineering programs or the university entirely. Previous measures of microaggressions have not been designed to capture the unique experiences of minorities within the engineering environment.
Purpose This research differs from previous work because it incorporates an intersectional perspective by acknowledging microaggressions are not experienced universally for individuals within all groups or institutions (Crenshaw et al. 1993; Wilkins …

Work In Progress – Building Innovative Curricula For Electrical And Computer Engineering Programs At The University Of Mount Union, Okechukwu Ugweje, Chad S. Korach

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Publications

Background: The University of Mount Union has introduced new programs in Electrical and Computer engineering. In a liberal arts college with unique curriculum requirements, it is challenging to develop a new program in electrical and computer engineering. With several university mandates such as only 4- and 2-credit hours courses only, and Integrative Core liberal arts requirements, designing the new programs in engineering has been challenging.
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the ongoing effort to develop new Electrical and Computer engineering programs at the University of Mount Union. The program curricula are unique as there are no …

Summer Engagement In Cyber Undergraduate Research Experiences (Secure), Douglas W. Jacobson, Diane T. Rover, Joseph Zambreno, Allegra Frickel

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Publications

Background: This virtual initiative, called Summer Engagement in Cyber Undergraduate Research Experiences (SECURE), was established as a response to support students who may have lost summer internships and/or have financial hardships due to COVID-19. Several students in the program were NSF S-STEM scholars, a mix of computer engineering, cyber security engineering, electrical engineering and software engineering students.
Purpose/Hypothesis: The main question addressed by this initiative was whether we could build a virtual undergraduate research experience that enabled students to apply their studies and knowledge similarly as they would in a traditional summer internship. Goals for the experience included providing small-group …

Faculty And Student Perceptions On Shared Teaching Materials For Advanced Manufacturing (Stam): Building Momentum Through Workshops, Richard Wysk, Gul E. Okudan Kremer

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Publications

In this paper, we summarize the outcomes of the two workshops aimed at speeding up the transition of research-based advanced manufacturing knowledge into course curriculum for technology and engineering programs. Advanced manufacturing technologies have opened up the realm for new products that only a decade ago were considered unproducible. For example metals 3D Printing has almost no geometric limitations, which allows engineers to develop mesh–based products. Unfortunately, the educational system that serves to educate the majority of manufacturing technicians and engineers still utilizes many of the same curriculum resources for these emerging areas (textbooks, traditional lectures, etc.), frequently creating an …

A Hybrid Mechanics Of Materials Course Part 1: Evolution Of The Course To Improve Student Performance And Retention, Roy Y. Myose, Foo Ngai Kok, Elizabeth Rollins

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Publications

A hybrid Mechanics of Materials course consisting of recorded lecture videos and face-to-face class meetings was developed. Initial offerings of the hybrid course resulted in a drop in average student performance by – 0.18 grade points as well as a reduction in the student pass rate of 3%. Over time, average student performance in the course improved; however, the student pass rate remained relatively constant. A number of ad hoc internal studies by the hybrid course instructors were conducted to attempt to determine the factors contributing to the reduction in the student pass rate. A test over prerequisite Statics and …

Correlating Mechanics Of Materials Student Performance With Scores Of A Test Over Prerequisite Material, Nicholas Alan Smith, Roy Y. Myose, Syed J. Raza, Elizabeth Rollins

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Publications

Background – It can be difficult to differentiate the effects of curriculum and instructional changes from differences in student preparation and capabilities. Purpose – In this work we will determine whether a test over prerequisite material from Statics and Calculus can be useful in predicting performance in Mechanics of Materials courses.
Method –This “pre-test” involves the application of concepts and knowledge through problem solving rather than multiple-choice questions alone. This pre-test was administered to 692 students in 19 sections taught by three different instructors over four years at Wichita State University.
Conclusions – Results show that pre-test scores given …

Industrial Experience And Disciplinary Knowledge Impact On Creative Outcomes In A Making Context: A Case Study Of Graduate Level Industrial Engineering Course, Wafa Batayneh, Richard T. Stone, Gul E. Okudan Kremer

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Publications

Background: Design and creativity are essential elements of problem-solving.
Purpose: The purpose of the research presented herein is to identify the impacts of learning in different study programs on students’ abilities to generate and implement creative design solutions.
Design/Method: An experiment was designed and conducted within the context of a semester-long graduate engineering course titled “Human-Centered Design and Manufacturing” at a large American public university. The experiment featured classroom data collection from an experimental cohort at four different stages of an intervention using a questionnaire. Results were then compared to those of a control group’s.
Results: Preliminary results showed that …

Staying Connected – Interactive Student Learning During The Covid Transition To Remote Learning, Jeffrey A. Starke, Margaret L. Mcnamara, Richard J. Povinelli, Daniela Castillo-Perez, L. Noelle Brigham

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Publications

Background. How can we transition courses in one week, while maintaining a similar experience for students? This was probably the initial response by faculty across universities as they transitioned to remote learning, mid-semester, in response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Our approach is supported by the ICAP framework which posits that “as activities move from passive to active to constructive to interactive, students undergo different knowledge-change processes and, as a result, learning will increase.” (Chi and Wylie, 2014)
Purpose/Hypothesis. How we could foster students’ interactions with course material, instructors, and their peers using collaborative technology and course activities? It was hypothesized …

A Hybrid Mechanics Of Materials Course Part 2: Study Of The Effect Of A Sudden Change To Fully-Online Format, Roy Y. Myrose, Elizabeth Rollins

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Publications

The recent COVID-19 health crisis caused universities worldwide to move suddenly to an online format during the middle of the spring semester. This change in class format provides a unique opportunity to study the effect of this abrupt shift to online learning on student performance. In order to develop a baseline, the performance of 79 students in two sections of a hybrid Mechanics of Materials course during the face-to-face portion in the spring of 2020 was compared to the past performance of 461 students in 13 sections taught by the same instructor in a similar fashion. Using this comparison as …

Lemons To Lemonade: Refining An Active Learning Course For Delivery During A Pandemic, Jeremy Straub

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Poster Presentations

The Spring semester of 2020 was a time of unanticipated and unprecedented rapid change for higher education in the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic struck the United States midway through the semester forcing colleges and universities to rapidly take courses online with minimal time to prepare. North Dakota was, comparatively, fortunate in that the transition occurred over spring break; however, initially the online period was only supposed to last for two weeks. This poster presents the process that was used to rapidly change an active learning course, which was designed for in person delivery, over to being held entirely online.

Integrating Hybrid-Flexible Course Delivery With General Education Computer Science Courses, Benjamin Bernard, Jeremy Straub

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Poster Presentations

The Hybrid-Flexible (HyFlex) course delivery format was developed at San Francisco State University to make SDSU’s instructional technologies master’s degree program accessible to working adults. Under the HyFlex model, instructors build content for both a fully online course and for a traditional ‘face-to-face’ classroom environment. Both have the same learning outcomes for each week, so that students can move between online and in-person participation in the course seamlessly. This poster covers the adaptation of CSCI 159, Computer Science Problem Solving, to the HyFlex model. The implementation of this course differs from the model in that it was entirely online but …

Development And Assessment Of Courses In Defensive Security And Ethical Hacking, Pann Ajjmaporn, Jeremy Straub

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Poster Presentations

In order to combat malicious actors of the digital age, cybersecurity experts have quickly become essential in almost every company. New employees must be ready to 'hit the ground running' in this dynamic and frequently changing fields. To effectively prepare students for careers in cybersecurity , enhancements are needed to traditional class-based lecture techniques. This work presents and evaluates two different methodologies used in cybersecurity education: a gamification approach which used a capture the flag model and competition -based approach.

A Triz-Based Tool For Remanufacturing Using Additive Manufacturing: Re-Am-Triz, Edward Rojas, Eric Exner, Kundan Paudyal, Omar Al-Araidah, Gul Okudan Kremer

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Poster Presentations

Remanufacturing is a process of returning a used product to at least the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) performance specification from the customers’ perspective and giving the resultant product a warranty that is at least equal to that of a newly manufactured equivalent. Even though there are many benefits of remanufacturing, there are barriers when it comes to its implementation. There can arise contradictions when dealing with different products, or in different steps during the remanufacturing process. A method to solve contradictions like those is TRIZ, which is a problem-solving method that can resolve technical contradictions.

The Challenges Of Engineering Education, Engineering Practice, Code Of Ethics, And Social Justice, Rachel Shannon

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Poster Presentations

Engineering has always been human-centered through the technologies we provide to enrich and make our lives more convenient. The engineering code of ethics uphold that engineers should put “the safety, health, and welfare of the public” first. However, we argue that the code of ethics is not enough, and that we need to reinforce human-centered design in engineering education through designerly ways of thinking, reflective practices, and being more student-centered.

Experiments On The Neurocognitionof Creativity, Rafal Jonczyk, Danielle Dickson, Gul E. Kremer, Zahed Siddique, Janet G. Van Hell

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Poster Presentations

Creative production is often correlated to divergent thinking to produce many different ideas; hence, for the engineering education domain, design learning presents opportunities to enhance divergent thinking.

Development Of Critical Consciousness Scale For Civil Engineering Students, Tonmoy Sarker, Dr. Cristinia Poleacovschi, Dr. Mollie Appelgate, Dr. Kate Swalwell, Dr. Christa Jackson, Dr. Kristen Cetin

ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020 Poster Presentations

Recent research shows the engineers continue to think less critically at the end of their undergraduate engineering degrees and fail ro adhere to their professional responsibility. A key component to addressing these issues includes assessing engineers' critical consciousness (CC). The development of a Critical Consciousness Scale (CCS) is important for civil engineering education as it assists practitioners and educators with better means to assess whether ant interventions (e.g. ABET) and indeed efficacious.

Design Of An Affordable Rotating Drum Electrospinner For Classroom Education, Peder Solberg

The Journal of Undergraduate Research

Electrospinning is a technology used to generate small fibers down to nano-scale size. This method of fiber creation has been around for many years. However, in recent years electrospinning has found increased applications, especially in the area of tissue engineering due to its ability to create fibers with properties similar to the extracellular matrix in tissue. An electrospinning platform can illustrate concepts of engineering, electro-mechanical system design, manufacturing, and biomedical applications in one single package. Hence, it provides an excellent opportunity to integrate into secondary (middle and high school) and post-secondary (undergraduate) technology education.

Furthermore, just as integration of 3D …