Engineering Commons^™

A Cross-Sectional Study Of Engineering Identity During Undergraduate Education, Allison Godwin, Walter C. Lee

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

This research paper explores students’ engineering, mathematics, and physics identities across the four years of undergraduate engineering education. The focus of this work are subject-related role identities, or how students position themselves and are positioned by others as the kind of people that engage in engineering, mathematics, or physics. An identity as an engineer is a role identity because it embodies a specific character that an individual plays within a social sphere. In this case, the social sphere is in the process of becoming an engineer. Other research has focused on identity development of engineering students, often either early in …

Board # 102 : Pecase: Implementing K-12 Engineering Standards Through Stem Integration - An Executive Summary Of The Products And Research, Tamara Moore, Kristina Tank, Aran Glancy, Elizabeth Gajdzik

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

This executive summary of the grant, PECASE: Implementing K-12 Engineering Standards through STEM Integration, comes at the conclusion of the project. The purpose of the grant was to develop a definition and explore the practice of engineering in K-12 STEM classrooms. The definition was then used to assess curricula, policy documents, teacher practice, and student learning. Through this work, the definition was then used to help with the framing and development of curricula for K-5 classrooms. The resulting curricula are called the PictureSTEM units. These instructional units for K-5 classrooms utilize engineering design and picture books to teach young students …

An Assessment Framework For First-Year Introduction To Engineering Courses, Senay Purzer, Kerrie A. Douglas, Jill A. Folkerts, Taylor V. Williams

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

In this evidence-based practice paper, we describe an assessment framework that applies to first-year introductory engineering courses. First-year engineering courses cover a variety of learning objectives that address both technical and professional outcomes outlined in ABET. These courses also often involve open-ended design and modeling projects. The assessment of multiple competencies along with open-ended design can be a challenging task for educators. In this paper, we describe a framework that guides instructional processes for effective assessment for student learning. This assessment-centered teaching and learning framework helps connect specific learning objectives to broader learning goals or competencies and on-going formative feedback …

A Content Analysis Of How Engineering Is Assessed In Published Curricula, Kerrie A. Douglas, Tamara J. Moore, Hillary Merzdorf, Tingxuan Lee, Amanda C. Johnston

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

A Content Analysis of How Engineering is Assessed in Published Curricula (Fundamental)

The purpose of this proposal is to present research findings concerning how and what about engineering is commonly assessed in well-known engineering or integrated STEM published curriculum. Two of the major shifts brought about by Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are an increased emphasis in students’ capabilities to perform higher-level reasoning skills and integrate content understanding into science practices. At the same time, NGSS has made engineering integration into science education a priority, and it is an exciting time of reform as schools are exploring curriculum resources and …

A Learning Trajectory For Developing Computational Thinking And Programming, Sean B. Brophy, Tony A. Lowe

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

A learning trajectory for developing computational thinking and programming This research study identifies the relationship between students’ prior experiences with programming and their development of computational thinking and programming during their first year engineering experience. Many first year programs teach students basic programming constructs using languages like MATLAB or LABView. The reason for this is because the disciplinary schools expect students to transform the constitutive properties that model a system’s behavior into a computer model they can use to analyze a system’s performance. Some undergraduate engineering students are entering college with strong computational backgrounds, while others are not. Peer learning …

Approaches To Coaching Students In Design Reviews, Robin Adams, Tiago R. Forin, Cole H. Joslyn

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Design reviews offer a unique window into understanding how design teachers help their students develop as designers. They are a prevalent practice for helping students develop design thinking expertise, although their structure and content may vary across disciplines. Understanding the teaching that occurs during design reviews can illuminate the ways teachers support students in becoming design thinkers. In this paper, we extend prior work to illustrate disciplinary perspectives of how design teachers help their students develop as design thinkers. The guiding framework is design pedagogical knowledge (PCK), the content-specific and practice-based specialized knowledge of teaching design. We analyzed five sets …

Identifying Key Factors Of Engineering Innovativeness, Kathryn Jabloklow, Senay Purzer, Daniel Ferguson, Matthew Ohland, Jessica Menold

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Identifying key factors of engineering innovativenessSignificant resources are spent nationally and locally to foster innovation, yet limited research exists onthe personal characteristics of innovators, especially those found in engineering. This three-yearcollaborative research project, currently in its second year, has led to the identification of specificattributes associated with engineering innovators, with the potential to inform a broad range of people,from engineering students to engineering educators to practicing engineers and their managers. Throughthis project, we have developed a socially constructed set of key engineering innovativenesscharacteristics based on the views of a diverse group of engineering innovation experts. We have alsodetermined which characteristics …

Characterizing And Modeling The Experience Of Transfer Students In Engineering—Progress On Nsf Award 0969474, Matthew Ohland, Clemencia M. Cosentino, Catherine E. Brawner, Catherine Mobley, Russell A. Long

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Characterizing and Modeling the Experience of Transfer Students in Engineering— Progress on NSF Award 0969474Quantitative analysis of MIDFIELD databaseOur analysis used records for 94,732 undergraduate students from the Multiple-InstitutionDatabase for Investigating Engineering Longitudinal Development (MIDFIELD). MIDFIELDcomprises a census of undergraduate students who attended 11 public institutions between 1988and 2008. MIDFIELD institutions represent public universities that educate large numbers ofengineering students.From the 977,950 records available, we restricted our sample to those who (1) were domesticstudents (927,350), (2) were in the data set early enough for us to observe the possibility ofgraduation within six years (677,691), and (3) declared a major in …

Factors Associated With Student Participation In Cooperative Education Programs (Co-Ops), Joyce Main, Matthew Ohland, Nichole Ramirez, Trina L. Fletcher, Jake Davis

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Factors that Influence Student Participation in Co-OpsA cooperative education program (co-op) in engineering is a partnership between an academicinstitution and an employer designed to engage students in practical engineering experiencethrough rotations of full-time employment and course study. Co-op employment providesstudents with discipline-relevant professional experience, financial support, and early entry intothe engineering labor force while serving as a recruitment tool for co-op companies. Using asequential mixed-methods approach, this research aims to identify factors that influence studentaccess to and participation in cooperative education programs.The quantitative analysis of co-op participation uses comprehensive, longitudinal academicstudent records from six partner institutions that comprise the Multiple-Institution …