Engineering Commons^™

Teaching To Develop Perspective, Skills, Confidence, And Identity As Problem-Solving Engineers, Russell Kirk Pirlo

Research and Reflection on Learning and Teaching in Higher Education

The “core” of an engineering degree program typically comprises the concepts, equations, and technical skills needed, as well as their practical application to common problems of the profession. This core is then divided into the “content” that must be covered in each course. It is widely recognized, however, that successful individuals do not thrive as professionals on content alone. Thus, there is significant and increasing emphasis across higher education to “educate the whole person.” These efforts aim to develop “deep” qualities like grit, critical thinking, perseverance, learning from failure, valuing diversity, teamwork, leadership, curiosity, recognizing opportunity, creating value, and acting …

Work In Progress: Students' Perception Of Collaborative Online International Learning, Philip Appiah-Kubi, Jennifer Nichwitz

Engineering Management and Systems Faculty Publications

Teaching and learning in the digital age harness the opportunities created by internet technologies to distribute and learn various information all over the world. This is commonly referred to as connectivism, and it values the impact of stakeholder information appraisal skills, virtual and personal communication skills [1], and the sense of cultural awareness. Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), a type of connectivism, typically involves instructors and students from at least two geographically and culturally distinct areas who collaborate virtually on a common project for four or more weeks.

The objective is to create a culturally diverse virtual environment where students …

A Review Of A Collaborative Online International Learning, Philip Appiah-Kubi, Ebenezer Annan

Engineering Management and Systems Faculty Publications

Globalization has exacerbated the need for engineers who are capable of working in a cross-cultural environment. Multinational companies continuously seek for engineers who are interculturally competent and capable of conducting business successfully in a cross-cultural environment. However, the skills required to be successful in a multicultural environment are difficult to be taught in the traditional classroom. One of the most effective approaches to acquiring intercultural competency skills is through experiential learning. It is, therefore, not surprising that most colleges all over the world are devoting resources towards the internationalization of their classrooms and the campus community. This ensures that students …

A Transdisciplinary Collaboration And Innovation Education Model And Experience, Brian Laduca, Michelle Hayford, Adrienne Ausdenmoore, Jerome Yorke, Kevin Hallinan, Rebecca Blust, Anne R. Crecelius, Philip Appiah-Kubi, Jennifer Katz-Buonconintro, Jana Bennett, Jackie Marshall Arnold, Connie L. Bowman, Castel Sweet

Engineering Management and Systems Faculty Publications

As the interconnectedness of the world grows, the need to prepare college students capable of addressing complexity likewise grows. In this context, the University of Dayton has developed and tested a transdisciplinary model for education. This model links multiple classes from different disciplines via a common theme and within a common space. It also employs an educational model premised on the following trajectory: disciplinary content development / transdisciplinary observation (empathy); transdisciplinary disruption leading to “A-Ha” observations which transform the disciplinary directions; and lastly transdisciplinary informed design and research. Central to this model is a 3,500 square foot common space used …

Multivariate Analysis Of Students Perception On Teaching With Client Based And Non-Client Based Team Projects, Philip Appiah-Kubi

Engineering Management and Systems Faculty Publications

The classroom experience has evolved from traditional lecture, PowerPoint and whiteboards to a more active environment where students and instructors work together on hands-on activities to achieve the course objectives. Various names have been given to this pedagogy; experiential learning, project based learning (client based versus non-client based), active learning, and problem based learning are a handful of names used to describe this evolving pedagogy. The main challenge faced by educators in educating undergraduate students to be independent thinkers and problem solvers has been the driving force fueling the shift in pedagogy. This research looks into student’s perception on project …

Enhancing Students Learning And Assessment Through Positive Reinforcement, Philip Appiah-Kubi

Engineering Management and Systems Faculty Publications

Students’ understanding of class material, and knowledge retention are assessed through homework, exams, and a host of other methods. None of these forms of assessment is intrinsically paramount to the others; however, the benefits depend on how well they are used. A good assessment depends on the purpose and learning objectives, and one way of maximizing the benefits of assessment is to involve students in the assessment methodology. This paper evaluates the benefits of having students prepare some of the questions for their final exams. Generally, students put in more effort when they understand that they are in charge. Each …

Industry-University Collaboration: A University Of Dayton Model, Guru Subramanyam

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper introduces industry-university collaboration activities currently in place at the University of Dayton's School of Engineering. These collaborations are important to prepare industry-ready graduates who excel in technical, entrepreneurial, and leadership skills. One of the key curricular components is the industry-sponsored multidisciplinary projects. Industry involvement in advisory committee, strategic research partnerships, and other forms are discussed.

Leveraging Students’ Passion And Creativity: Ethos At The University Of Dayton, Margaret Pinnell, Malcolm Daniels, Kevin P. Hallinan, Gretchen Berkemeier

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

The Engineers in Technical Humanitarian Opportunities of Service-learning (ETHOS) program was developed in the spring of 2001 by an interdisciplinary group (electrical, chemical, civil and mechanical) of undergraduate engineering students at the University of Dayton (UD). ETHOS was founded on the belief that engineers are more apt and capable to appropriately serve our world if they have an understanding of technology’s global linkage with values, culture, society, politics, and the economy. Since 2001, the ETHOS program at UD has grown and changed.

From conceptualization, to implementation, to maturation and national recognition, the program has addressed challenges of academic acceptance, programmatic …

Bridging The Gap Between Engineering Design And Pk-12 Curriculum Development Through The Use The Stem Education Quality Framework, Margaret Pinnell, James Rowley, Sandi Preiss, Rebecca P. Blust, Rebecca Beach, Suzanne Franco

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper will describe a unique partnership among the Department of Teacher Education and School of Engineering at the University of Dayton (UD) and the Dayton Regional STEM Center (DRSC). This partnership resulted in the development of the STEM Education Quality Framework (SQF), a tool to guide educators in teaching, learning and refining STEM education. The SQF resulted in a variety of educational tools, including a STEM curriculum template, that was implemented in the DRSCs teacher professional development and curriculum development program entitled the STEM Fellow Program. The STEM Fellow program was later modeled in a unique, NSF sponsored six …

By Design: Ethics, Theology, And The Practice Of Engineering, Brad Kallenberg

Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Both engineering and human living take place in a messy world, one chock full of unknowns and contingencies. "Design reasoning" is the way engineers cope with real-world contingency. Because of the messiness, books about engineering design cannot have "ideal solutions" printed in the back in the same way that mathematics textbooks can. Design reasoning does not produce a single, ideally correct answer to a given problem but rather generates a wide variety of rival solutions that vie against each other for their relative level of "satisfactoriness." A reasoning process analogous to design is needed in ethics. Since the realm of …

Designing For Success: Developing Engineers Who Consider Universal Design Principles, Kimberly Edginton Bigelow

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Engineers must design for a diverse group of potential users of their products; however, engineering curricula rarely include an emphasis on universal design principles. This research article details the effectiveness of a design project implemented in a first-year engineering course in an effort to raise awareness of the need for engineers to be more inclusive when designing. Students were asked to apply universal design principles to redesign an engineering laboratory to make it more usable to all, including individuals with disabilities who use the room. A representative from the university’s disability services staff, as well as individuals with first-hand experience …

Engineering Innovation And Design For Stem Teachers And The Stem Quality Framework, James Rowley, Sandi Preiss, Margaret Pinnell, Suzanne Franco

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

The backbone of economic growth in the United States relies on engineering innovation. However, engineering innovation cannot occur without engineers and scientists. Unfortunately however, many K-12 students do not have a good understanding of the engineering design process or the vast field of engineering. As a result, many students lose interest in math and science and do not pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields. This paper will describe a unique partnership among the Teacher Education Program and School of Engineering at the University of Dayton (UD) and the Dayton Regional STEM Center (DRSC). This partnership initiated with the …

The Theological Origins Of Engineering, Brad Kallenberg

Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Knowledge of our roots can sometimes help us figure out how we ought to proceed. Many claim that engineering began in ancient antiquity with the Egyptian pyramids, Archimedes' inventions, or the Roman aqueducts. Others give contemporary engineering a more recent history, tracing its origins to the Industrial Revolution or the Enlightenment. Yet what is often overlooked is the fact that contemporary engineering owes part of its identity to medieval monasticism.

The advantage of remembering this history is the bearing it has on the questions "What is engineering for?" and "How ought engineering be practiced?"

Michael Davis makes the claim that, …

A Systems View Of Time-Dependent Ethical Decisions, Hamid A. Rafizadeh, Brad Kallenberg

Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Every ethical situation has a "system" characteristic with a group of human and nonhuman elements linked in a variety of interactions and interdependencies. The system allows the elements to act in part or as a whole towards achieving a spectrum of goals, objectives, or ends. The systems view asserts that any local and bipolar understanding of an ethical situation would be deficient as it would neglect certain interactions and interdependencies as well as overlook differing orientations of agents towards different goals and objectives. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the need for a systems-based view of ethics.

Encyclopedia Of Mathematics And Society: 'Engineering Design', Kimberly Edginton Bigelow

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Engineers design everything from automobiles and bridges to prosthetic limbs and sporting equipment. Designing is different from simply building in that it requires the adherence to a very systematic, yet iterative, process known as the “engineering design process.” This process is to engineers what the scientific method is to scientists-guiding steps that help ensure that the end result is the best it can be. When a new product is created without following the steps of the engineering design process, there is a higher likelihood that the product designed will lack some important aspect: the end product may not appropriately account …

A Catholic And Marianist Engineering Education, Kevin P. Hallinan, Margaret Pinnell

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

The School of Engineering at the University of Dayton (UD), a Catholic and Marianist University, boasts large enrollments of 1,300 undergraduate and 350 graduate students out of a total of 7,000 undergraduates and 3,000 graduate students. It also boasts a faculty very active in research, which, under the umbrella of the University of Dayton Research Institute, is funded at a level of $100 million per year.

In the past decade, the University of Dayton has sought to better articulate the impact of its Catholic and Marianist traditions, and faculty have been challenged to embody these traditions. University mission statements and …

Gains In Knowledge And Perception Of Engineering After Participation In An Engineering Design Web-Experience Are Gender-Dependent, Kimberly Edginton Bigelow, Gail Wheatley, David Tomasko

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Web-based activities have the potential to teach engineering in both formal and informal science education settings, maximizing outreach efforts. To date, many activities available on the internet teach about engineering, but few allow students to truly “do” engineering.

This project utilized web animation and interaction in the design of a web-based experience focused on engineering design. In this activity, targeted toward middle school students, users played the role of engineer and engaged in the process of designing a cell phone for the older adult market. It was hoped that this web-based activity would increase participant understanding of what engineering is …

Reflections Of College Students Promoting Engineering Through Biomechanical Outreach Activities Indicate Dual Benefits, Kimberly Edginton Bigelow

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Recent work by the National Academy of Engineering revealed that the public has a poor understanding of what engineers actually do on a day-to-day basis. This issue is compounded for non-traditional fields in engineering, such as biomechanical engineering. This is particularly problematic as such fields could draw interest from students not interested in traditional engineering careers, resulting in increased diversity.

To address this, mechanical engineering students taking an elective course, Biomechanical Engineering, were given an outreach assignment to teach at least one individual under the age of 18 about the field of biomechanical engineering through a hands-on activity. Students worked …

The Girl Scout Climbing Wall Multidisciplinary Service-Learning Project, Margaret Pinnell, Corinne M. Daprano, Gabrielle Williamson

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

The Girl Scout Wall (GS Wall) project was implemented in two classes at the University of Dayton (UD): a Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) course, and a Health and Sports Science (HSS) course, and Sport Facility Management. The MAE course, Introduction to Materials, is a three-credit, third-year required course where students learn about the basic structure and properties of materials as well as the principles of material selection. The Sport Facility Management course is a three-semester hour, required HSS course where students are introduced to the processes of planning, constructing, equipping, maintaining, and managing sport facilities.

Civilizing The Civil Engineer: How A History Course Can Serve As A Curriculum Capstone, John Alfred Heitmann

History Faculty Publications

Beginning in 1989 and then every other year thereafter, a unique course dealing specifically with the history of civil engineering has been taught to all civil engineering majors at the University of Dayton. What has evolved over time -- in response to student feedback, ongoing reform in the curriculum, and a maturing of faculty expertise -- is a course in the history of civilization that has as its major focus the discipline of civil engineering.

In reality, what happens in the classroom is a far broader learning experience than either the disciplines of history or civil engineering could provide standing …