Engineering Commons^™

Subjective Wellbeing Of Undergraduate Engineering Students: A Mixed Methods Study, Muhammad Asghar

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

In higher education, the prevalence of mental health issues among students has raised concerns regarding their overall success and wellbeing. While existing research often focuses on identifying and addressing mental health problems, there is a lack of emphasis on understanding the positive contributors to students' mental health. In this study, I expand the concept of mental health beyond the absence of negative mental health states to include the presence of positive mental health aspects through the concept of Subjective Wellbeing (SWB) (feeling that your life is going well, not badly), of engineering undergraduate participants. Both qualitative and quantitative data were …

Understanding Support For Student Veterans And Servicemembers In Public Undergraduate Engineering Programs, Hannah Wilkinson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Current efforts to increase research in diversity, equity, and inclusion in engineering education have included research with military students pursuing undergraduate degrees in engineering at civilian, public academic institutions. In this thesis research, military students are defined as undergraduate students who a) have completed their service in the U.S. Armed Forces and are considered military veterans, and/or b) are current enlisted service members, such as in the U.S. Reserves or National Guard. An emerging topic of interest within the military student literature in engineering education has sought to explore the influence of “institutional agents” within military students’ experiences. The …

Student Reliance On Simulations: The Extent That Engineering Students Rely On The Outcomes Of Their Simulations, Jonathan Anderson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The purpose of this research was to investigate the factors that contributed to engineering education students’ reliance on technology while learning new concepts. The researcher hypothesized that students would give reliance to their technology, even in the face of evidence that the technology was not working as intended. This research used a mixed-methods approach to answer the research questions. Three questions guided the research: (1) How are the participant’s level of automation complacency and the correctness of the simulation that participant is using related?; (2) How is automation bias related to a participant’s ability to recognize errors in a simulation?; …

Understanding The Effects Of A Mobile Flow Visualization Learning Tool On Engineering Undergraduate Interest In Fluid Mechanics, Lori M. Openshaw

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Fluid mechanics is a difficult engineering course that tends to act as a weed-out course for undergraduate students. Despite this, fluid mechanics is critical, with related careers in disciplines such as Mechanical, Aerospace, Civil, Environmental, Biological, Ocean, and Naval engineering. Within these fields, there is a lack of graduates with sufficient fluid mechanics knowledge to fill the available positions. One solution to this career pipeline is to increase student interest and understanding of fluid mechanics.

Efforts to make fluid mechanics more interesting and easily understood include curricular changes such as emphasizing historical aspects of fluids, computer simulations that model complex …

Research Development & Early-Career Faculty: Catalysts Of Change For Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In Stem, Monica Castañeda-Kessel, Idalis Villanueva Alarcón, Ryan Berke

Office of Research Faculty and Staff Publications

Problem Statement: Early-career science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) faculty members are often challenged when identifying authentic diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals, objectives, and tasks for their research grant proposals. Advancing DEI has not been one person’s job but rather the responsibility of a highly organized network within a system. Research development professionals have been and will continue to be critical resources for developing DEI plans and broadening participation. Their value is partly due to relationship-oriented processes that research professionals cultivate and shepherd as well as the inherently cross-disciplinary nature of the day-to-day work. Observation: In FY 19, 53% …

A Questionnaire Survey Of Student Engagement Among First-Generation College Students In Engineering, Abigail Lehto

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

First-generation college (FGC) students are defined as students whose parents do not have a bachelor's or graduate degree. FGC students tend to face more overall challenges in the college environment than their continuing-generation counterparts. Often, FGC students have lower grade-point-averages (GPAs) and are less likely to graduate than their peers. In majors like engineering, the struggles that first-generation college students face can be further magnified. This quantitative study examines the activities FGC students in engineering engage in based on the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Questions from the NSSE cover different educational activities and are categorized into ten educational …