Engineering Commons^™

Using An Engineering Design Process To Bring The Local Community Into The Technology And Engineering Education Classroom, James M. Baker

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This plan B project documents the practice of using an authentic project to teach an engineering design process to high school pre-engineering students and documenting the project preparing a manuscript for journal publication.

The manuscript prepared for publication explores the details of working with local business owners and teachers from different departments and curricular foci to design, fabricate, and install an illuminated sign for a local business. This sign project was presented by an alum of the school to provide an authentic project for multiple courses to collaboratively create a solution for a local community business. Twenty-five students in two …

A New Computational Intelligence Approach To Predicting The Machined Surface Roughness In Metal Machining, Ning Fang, P. Srinivasa Pai

Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Machined surface roughness is an important parameter used in the evaluation of the surface integrity of machined parts and components. This paper proposes a new computational intelligence approach to predicting the machined surface roughness in metal machining. In this approach, wavelet packet transform (WPT) is incorporated into artificial neural networks (ANN) to develop two ANN models for predicting average roughness Ra and root-mean-square roughness Rq, respectively. Each model has eight inputs, including the cutting speed, the feed rate, energy of wavelet packets for three cutting force components, and energy of wavelet packets for three cutting vibration components. Forty-five machining experiments …

Supporting Adolescent Metacognition In Engineering Design Through Scripted Prompts From Peer Tutors: A Comparative Case Study, Kristin Marie Strong

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In 2013, developers of the Next Generation Science Standards implemented national K-12 directives and elevated engineering design to the level of scientific inquiry. Teaching design, however, is challenging to educators due to the complex nature of design problems, which cannot be solved via simple algorithms. Solving design problems requires a more reflective and iterative approach that emphasizes metacognitive skills like planning, monitoring, and taking another person’s perspective. Educators are further challenged by children’s immature metacognitive skills, which may be insufficient to engage in the entire design process.

A qualitative study of paired seventh graders demonstrated a pragmatic learning activity for …

Spatial Ability Degradation In Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Students During The Winter Semester Break, Benjamin J. Call

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Spatial ability represents our ability to mentally arrange, rotate, and explore objects in multiple dimensions. This ability has been found to be important for engineers and engineering students. Past research has shown that many interventions can be created to boost an individual’s spatial ability. In fact, past research has indicated that engineering students significantly increase in spatial ability without an intervention while they are enrolled in certain engineering courses. Some researchers have claimed that the spatial ability boosts are permanent after an intervention. However, most researchers do not check the validity of that claim with continued assessment after more than …

Incorporating Drones In My Classroom: Survey Data From High School Teachers 2018, Tyson Sorensen, Kelsey Hall, Olivia Horning, Joshua Dallin, David Francis

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Survey data collected from 69 high school and middle school teachers. Survey gauges intentions of integrating drone curriculum concepts into the classroom.

Dataset includes summary data, raw data and survey instrument.

Hidden Curriculum Awareness: A Comparison Of Engineering Faculty, Graduate Students, And Undergraduates, Idalis Villanueva, Marialuisa Di Stefano, Laura Gelles, Katherine Youmans

Engineering Education Faculty Publications

In order for an engineering academic body (e.g., facultyand students) to navigate their surroundings, they must first become aware of the hidden curriculum around them. Hidden curriculum represents how particular assumptions, values, attitudes, and beliefs about schooling manifests in practice. When understood, these types of lessons or messages allow students, faculty, and staff to more easily navigate the academic and socio-political customs needed for success.

As part of a larger study, a total of 224 participants across 57 engineering programs in the United States and Latin America were asked to comment on a survey that asked respondents about the expectations …

Uncovering The Hidden Factors That Could Compromise Equitable And Effective Engineering Education, Idalis Villanueva, Janice Mejia, Renata A. Revelo

Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Literacies are central to the social and cultural practices that are intertwined with identities, who gets to participate in engineering, and the knowledge that is valued in the discipline. However, identifying these literacies is not a straightforward process for engineering faculty. The purpose of this workshop is to help engineering faculty identify equity- oriented literacies that challenge hidden curriculum frameworks in engineering and influence engineering identity formation.

Critical Theoretical Frameworks In Engineering Education: An Anti-Deficit And Liberative Approach, Joel A. Mejia, Renata A. Revelo, Idalis Villanueva, Janice Mejia

Engineering Education Faculty Publications

The field of engineering education has adapted different theoretical frameworks from a wide range of disciplines to explore issues of education, diversity, and inclusion among others. The number of theoretical frameworks that explore these issues using a critical perspective has been increasing in the past few years. In this review of the literature, we present an analysis that draws from Freire’s principles of critical andragogy and pedagogy. Using a set of inclusion criteria, we selected 33 research articles that used critical theoretical frameworks as part of our systematic review of the literature. We argue that critical theoretical frameworks are necessary …

“There Is Never A Break”: The Hidden Curriculum Of Professionalization For Engineering Faculty, Idalis Villanueva, Taya Carothers, Marialuisa Di Stefano, Md. Tarique Hasan Kahan

Engineering Education Faculty Publications

The purpose of this exploratory special issue study was to understand the hidden curriculum (HC), or the unwritten, unofficial, or unintended lessons, around the professionalization of engineering faculty across institutions of higher education. Additionally, how engineering faculty connected the role of HC awareness, emotions, self-efficacy, and self-advocacy concepts was studied. A mixed-method survey was disseminated to 55 engineering faculties across 54 institutions of higher education in the United States. Quantitative questions, which centered around the influences that gender, race, faculty rank, and institutional type played in participants’ responses was analyzed using a combination of decision tree analysis with chi-square and …

An Experimental Comparison Of Student Motivation Between Two Computational Thinking-Based Stem Activities: Vex-Based Automation And Robotics And A Quadcopter Activity, Cory J. Ortiz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to compare student motivation between two junior high level computational thinking based STEM curricular activities. These two activities were a newly developed quadcopter based curriculum and a VEX based curricular activity developed for Project Lead the Way’s Gateway to Technology – Automation and Robotics course. Student motivation was assessed using an assessment called My Class Activities which broke motivation into four constructs: interest, challenge, choice, and enjoyment.

This study assessed students in three schools in a northern Utah school district. Students were assessed after receiving each curriculum. Assessment responses were then coded and analyzed. …

A Comparison Of The Effects Of Enhanced Hands-On Intervention Versus Textbook Interventions To Understand Student Misconceptions In Particle Dynamics, Gang Liu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The present dissertation research examined the effects of applying the enhanced hands-on intervention to reveal and correct student misunderstandings of the concepts in engineering dynamics, especially particle dynamics. We involved 36 student volunteers for three different research topics. The student participants were divided into two groups in each research topic: enhanced hands-on intervention and pure textbook groups. An interview and intervention was conducted with each participant individually.

The author introduced the “Think-Aloud” method with two kinds of interventions mentioned above. The participants were required to speak out their thought process loud as they worked on the two sets of assessment …

Attracting Secondary Students To Stem Using A Summer Engineering Camp, Murad Mahmoud

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this research was to study the benefits of having middle school students attend a summer camp focused on the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). A lot of research funding is being used in such camps to help get more students into STEM fields as there is a lack of graduates in those fields. Therefore, it is important to understand the benefits and effectiveness of such camps.

Students, teachers and parents were involved in this research. Students and teachers attended a one-week engineering camp at Utah State University while parents were involved via a blog …

Senior Computer Science Students’ Task And Revised Task Interpretation While Engaged In Programming Endeavor, Andreas Febrian

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Developing a computer program is not an easy task. Studies reported that a large number of computer science students decided to change their major due to the extreme challenge in learning programming. Fortunately, studies also reported that learning various self-regulation strategies may help students to continue studying computer science. This study is interested in assessing students’ self-regulation, in specific their task understanding and its revision during programming endeavors. Task understanding is specifically selected because it affects the entire programming endeavor.

In this qualitative case study, two female and two male senior computer science students were voluntarily recruited as research participants. …

What Does Hidden Curriculum In Engineering Look Like And How Can It Be Explored?, Idalis Villanueva, Laura Gelles, Marialuisa Di Stefano, Buffy Smith, Renetta G. Tull, Susan M. Lord, Lisa Benson, Anne Therese Hunt, Donna M. Riley, Gery W. Ryan

Engineering Education Faculty Publications

This work in progress paper describes the initial stages of a project which aims to characterize the mechanisms of hidden curriculum (HC) in engineering and identify methods for exploring this phenomenon. To effectively study the complex nature of HC, this work brings together researchers with a range of expertise (sociology, engineering education, engineering, statistics, policy analysis, curriculum and instruction) to develop a holistic approach to explore HC in engineering. This work describes the process of gathering input from this multidisciplinary team as well as the literature to develop a mixed-method instrument and model to explore the mechanisms behind HC in …

Utah Agriculture Teachers’ Perceptions Of Teaching Urban And Non-Traditional Agriculture Content, Ashlee Cromer, Kelsey Hall, Tyson Sorensen, David Francis, Joshua Dallin

Applied Sciences, Technology, and Education Student Research

While agriculture teachers may focus on guiding students into agricultural and natural resource career pathways, many have expressed the need to prepare existing and upcoming agricultural educators with a more extensive set of skills and knowledge to better prepare students for a broader scope of career opportunities in agriculture. Agricultural education programs are expanding across the country, including more programs in urban areas, but agricultural education teachers often have little exposure or experiences related to less traditional agricultural careers that might be found in urban areas. Furthermore, agriculture teachers are often prepared to teach agricultural content through coursework that is …

Providing Professional Development To Educational Professionals For Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Uavs) In Agriculture., Ashley Cromer, Tyson Sorensen, Kelsey Hall

Applied Sciences, Technology, and Education Student Research

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also called drones, have been used commercially since the early 1980s. Today however, practical application for UAVs are expanding faster than ever in a variety of industries. UAV technology has given the agriculture industry the possibility of a technological makeover. Specifically, UAVs give the opportunity for improved crop supervision, soil and field analyses, and the ability to more closely and timely monitor crops (Mazur & Wisniewski, 2016). In order to keep up with increasing demands, agriculture has to utilize every technology available to the industry. Based on a global report published by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), the market …

Promoting Mathematics Education In Dual-Language Education Programs In Spanish Towards A Growing Understanding Of Engineering, Marialuisa Di Stefano, Idalis Villanueva

Engineering Education Faculty Publications

This work addresses the lack of a national guidance for the integration of mathematics and engineering in the Dual Language Education (DLE) programs in Spanish. Participants will learn about the impact of DLE programs on Latina/o students, and explore potential guidelines and strategies to implement mathematics and engineering in DLE schools. Educators and program developers, advocating for the integration of STEM knowledge in DLE programs in their district(s)/school(s), would particularly benefit from this session.

Students' And Instructor's Perspective On The Use Of Blackboard Platform For Delivering An Engineering Course, Jacek Uziak, M. Tunde Oladiran, Edmund Lorencowicz, Kurt Becker

Engineering Education Faculty Publications

The use of Information Technology (IT) has been growing over the years in various human endeavours. It has also been adopted in education sector for teaching and learning. Various studies have been conducted to assess the effectiveness and acceptance of e-learning strategy by students. In particular, the current research is an attempt to obtain students’ and instructor’s perspective on the use of Blackboard software. The technology is a course management system used in a blended learning mode to deliver a third year mechanical engineering course at the University of Botswana (UB). In terms of students’ views, the study covered a …

The Development Of A Learning Dashboard For Lecturers: A Case Study On A Student-Centered E-Learning Environment, Harry B. Santoso, Alivia Khaira Batuparan, R. Yugo K. Isal, Wade H. Goodridge

Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Student Centered e-Learning Environment (SCELE) is a Moodle-based learning management system (LMS) that has been modified to enhance learning within a computer science department curriculum offered by the Faculty of Computer Science of large public university in Indonesia. This Moodle provided a mechanism to record students’ activities when engaged in learning with e-Learning software. However, while the software captured the data and presented it adequately, there is room for enhancement and further refinement. The purpose of this research is to investigate and understand lecturer needs as they monitor student activities in SCELE and then develop a learning monitoring tool capable …