Engineering Commons^™

Comparing Polytechnic And Liberal Arts Institutions: Leaks In The System, Ryan Drew Baldwin

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The United States has long been a pioneer in higher education, yet the last few decades have proven challenging in maintaining its lead in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields (STEM). Students entering postsecondary education and participating in a STEM degree face increased academic rigor and this study’s goal is to better understand factors that influence their retention. There are many psychosocial, environmental, and academic variables that may impact a student’s retention and this study aims to investigate how those variables inform a students likelihood of being retained and if there are meaningful differences between polytechnic and non-polytechnic institutions.

The Water We Were Swimming In: Transgender And Gender Nonconforming Students' Lived Experiences In Engineering., Natalie Saroff Oliner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Few studies address the lived experiences of transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) students in engineering. Grounded in critical trans politics (Spade, 2015), this dissertation contributes to the literature on TGNC students in engineering by examining their experiences negotiating their identities while navigating interrelated systems of oppression in a field dominated by White, heterosexual, cisgender men. Using a critical constructivism framework, I conducted a narrative inquiry to explore the lived experiences of five TGNC students in engineering programs. Participants experienced TGNC oppression at their universities, built LGBTQ+ and TGNC communities, and described more welcoming climates in non-engineering contexts compared to engineering. …

Fundamental Factors For Success: Engineering Faculty And Industry Partners, Molly F. Schaefer

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Partnerships and collaborations between higher education and industry have a long history in the United States. Numerous partnerships have contributed to advancements in the economy, education and training, humanity, and innovation. The subject areas of science, engineering, and technology are fields in which many of the collaborations occur, and many of the partnerships are often initiated and led by a faculty and a member of industry. Yet, it remains unclear how academia and industry achieve successful partnerships when the goals, language, culture, and organizational structures significantly differ from one organization to another. This study examined whether partnerships among engineering faculty …

Contributing To Engineering Colleges Students' Development Through Out-Of-Class Involvement: A Survey Of Chinese Private Colleges' Engineering Students, Wanlu Li

Education (PhD) Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the primary characteristics of engineering college students’ involvement in out-of-class activities (OA) at one private college in China through the use of the translated and culturally adapted Chinese version of the Postsecondary Student Engagement Survey (PosSES 2.1). This study provides the statistical analyses of the survey data completed by 283 senior engineering students on their perceptions about their levels of involvement related to positive/negative outcomes students perceive and affective engagement. Data results showed all levels of involvement have a significant influence on positive outcomes. Besides, active involvement degree, hours, and types of …

Improving Student Success And Engagement In Virtual And Hybrid Classrooms., Sydney Fogo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The following thesis examines virtual classes from the University of Louisville in the Fall 2020 semester to discover points of weakness relative to keeping students engaged in online courses. Three surveys were taken by a select group of participants over the course of the fall semester in order to collect student opinion on specific classes. Interviews were held with a subset of students from the group of participants and also with professors who taught the study’s participants in the fall of 2020. Their responses and conversations were used to determine possible areas of improvement for virtual classes. This information was …

Product Realization Capstone: Element Proof Safety Steps For Willie Price Lab School, Catherine Thomas, Allan Heuerman, Jared Mumme

Honors Theses

The purpose of this document is to describe the process we took to complete our capstone which paired the Center for Manufacturing Excellence with the Willie Price Lab School. The goal of the capstone was to remake step stools for the students of Willie Price, as the last stools failed to withstand weather damage. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic, plans were hindered, shifting the goal from actually producing the steps to creating instructions so that a younger Center for Manufacturing class could complete the production at a later date. Standardized Work Instructions, a detailed production plan, and engineering drawings were …

Understanding Latina Undergraduate Engineering Student Persistence, Yarissa I. Ortiz-Vidal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In summary, this study focused on understanding the persistence of 20 Latina undergraduate engineering students enrolled at two public four-year Hispanic Serving Institutions. Key findings in this study showed that in order to contribute to their own persistence in engineering majors these Latina students activated their community cultural wealth: (a) not only to resist different forms of oppression, but also to thrive and excel in academic settings, (b) to take control of difficult and challenging experiences, (c) to take/receive knowledge from others, but also to give/share their knowledge (cyclical tendencies of CCW), (d) as well as revealing that helping others …

Academic Honesty, Professional Integrity, And Undergraduate Engineering Students: Exploring The Connections, S. Amy Skyles, Jeffrey W. Jennings

Dissertations

One benefit of inculcating professionalism into engineering degree program curricula is a measure of the extent to which future practitioners adopt an engineering code of ethics (Abaté, 2011; Davis, 2006). Studies have indicated more dishonesty among engineering students than other groups of undergraduate learners, but the effects of technology on dishonesty in the classroom was not addressed (Bowers, 1964; McCabe et al., 2012). An explanatory, sequential mixed methods study was designed to explain to what degree course pedagogical practices and attitudes of civil, architectural and environmental engineering students of various academic levels (freshman/sophomore and senior) relate to academic dishonesty. The …

Tabletop Mechanical Tester, Jamie Dombroski, Brian English, Richard Leffler, Andrew Shirk

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The need for hands-on and face-to-face experiences in the engineering classroom is very great. The equations, principles, and concepts can all be learned, but without the visual and tactile application, these don’t always sink in or become concrete. A small-scale tensile test machine was designed, sourced, manufactured, and tested for the purpose of being applied in classroom settings to provide this experience to engineering students. Extensive research was performed concerning tensile machines on the market, the essential elements of which are the load cell, grips, crosshead, extensometer, motor, and frame. The raw materials for the frame were purchased and drawings …

Sustainability Children's Book, Linden Cheek

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

As human driven climate change continues to alter our planet, persuading the general public to adopt sustainable living practices has become increasingly important. Storytelling has long been a part of human culture, and recent studies have emphasized the power of storytelling to influence the audience as a means of changing behavior. This project attempted to teach sustainable principles to primary school children through the creation of a scientific children’s book. The book communicated the maxim of “reduce, reuse, recycle” by tracing a fictitious story of a town where children frequently buy new toys and throw the old toys away. The …

A Comparison Of Traditional Education And Project-Based Education In Construction Management, Trey Miller

Honors College Theses

Construction is a rapidly moving and constantly changing industry. The skills needed to manage the complex task of running a job site safely, on schedule, and within budget, are unique to the field. Construction Management as an academic field is relatively new discipline. Therefore the field is still rapidly evolving. In many cases, classes are taught by engineering professors, which leads to an engineering-focused education as opposed to a Project Management focused education. Therefore Construction Management students are not receiving the “hands-on” experience early enough in their studies. By structuring classes around an applied project, students will attain a more …

Coupling K-12 Music Education With Science, Technology, Engineering And Math (Stem) Curricula: Implementation Of A Stemusic Outreach Program, Mallory Maestri

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Many studies have investigated the effects of music on evoking human emotions and diverse types of brain responses. One study by Juslin and Vastfjall indicates that hearing music can stimulate brain stem reflexes, create emotional contagion, recall episodic memories and provoke visual imagery. Due to the influence music has on human brain waves, researchers have been studying the effect of music on enhancing the spatial abilities of young students. Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) professions rely heavily on spatial skills. Research on the connection of music with spatial skills proposes that when the brain processes rhythm a “mental rotation” …

Pltw Female High-School Students' Supports And Barriers In Choosing A College Degree, Lisa Lubin Rubin

Dissertations

Purpose:The purpose of this mixed-methods research study is to identify and describe the barriers and supports that PLTW female students encounter when pursuing a non-traditional female STEM degree upon graduation from high school.

Methodology:A mixed-method (qualitative-quantitative) research design was chosen for this study to explore barriers and supports of female high-school seniors in PLTW. The qualitative portion of the study was phenomenology. This study explored the supports and barriers of female high-school seniors in PLTW courses when choosing a college degree. The quantitative portion of the study was conducted via a hard-copy survey containing closed-ended five-point Likert scale …

Cross Case Study Of An Elementary Engineering Task, John Heffernan

Doctoral Dissertations

Designerly play has been identified as a fundamental component of childhood learning (Baynes, 1994; Petroski, 2003). However, as students enter grade one and beyond, the increasing academic focus has resulted in the loss of opportunities for designerly play (Zhao, 2012). At the same time, there are increasing calls to increase the number, skill, and diversity of STEM workers (Brophy, Portsmore, Klein, & Rogers, 2008). The robotics based Elementary Engineering Curriculum (Heffernan, 2013) - used by students in this study - and other similar projects have the potential to increase the STEM pipeline but elementary engineering is not well-understood. Research is …

The Development Of Project Grade-Up, Dalin Glenn Williams

MS in Computer Science Theses

The university classroom has greatly evolved from a simple syllabus and in class discussion to the modern online documentation and virtual classrooms. These developments have changed the way students review their grades and balance their workloads. With the plethora of new technologies, students are often burdened with a full school schedule, work, and social events, with few tools to help them effectively understand their grades or manage their time. Current solutions addressing this issue do not present data in an organized way that allows the student to easily comprehend their past performance or up coming work load. Our solution builds …

Design And Evaluation Of The Impact Of A Multi-Agent Control System (Framework) Applied To A Social Setting, Perez Antonio Perez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The objective of this research is to design and analyze the performance of a new mechanism to improve the advising of students in a nontraditional environment. This nontraditional environment includes: a minority serving, commuter campus with a high percentage of transfer students. Specifically, these demographics are unable to keep a tightly controlled cohort of students flowing through to the completion of the curriculum. Students in these circumstances usually have varied course loads and competing priorities due to family and financial needs or other societal responsibilities. Therefore, there is a need for an individualized approach to advising.

University administrations face challenges …

You Kind Of Have To Prove It: Gender Microaggressions Within The Lived Experiences Of Women In Engineering, Crystal Rose Diaz-Espinoza

Doctoral Dissertations

This intrinsic case study explored the lived experiences of women within three engineering majors at a mid-sized institution in the Mid-Atlantic using gender microaggressions (Nadal, 2010; Sue, 2007) as a theoretical lens. Data included individual interviews with 28 participants as well as document review from Web pages and observations from physical spaces within the campus engineering building. Data analysis resulted in seven themes in congruence with Sue’s (2007) taxonomy of gender microaggressions and further established the three levels of gender microaggressions distinguished by Nadal (2010). Findings also revealed that barriers within engineering were less visible or outwardly sexist, and that …

Teacher Influence On Elementary School Students’ Participation In Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics, Courtney Hartman

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of elementary school teachers on encouraging students’ interest and participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. The researcher sought to understand what methods teachers use in their classrooms to encourage students to participate in STEM subjects and programs. This mixed methods study consisted of a questionnaire to collect quantitative data, as well as an interview of selected teachers who participated in the questionnaire to collect qualitative data. The data was analyzed to determine the overall perceptions of teachers regarding the importance of encouraging students to participate in STEM. The qualitative …

Engineering Design: A Cognitive Process Approach, Greg Joseph Strimel

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The intent of this dissertation was to identify the cognitive processes used by advanced pre-engineering students to solve complex engineering design problems. Students in technology and engineering education classrooms are often taught to use an ideal engineering design process that has been generated mostly by educators and curriculum developers. However, the review of literature showed that it is unclear as to how advanced pre-engineering students cognitively navigate solving a complex and multifaceted problem from beginning to end. Additionally, it was unclear how a student thinks and acts throughout their design process and how this affects the viability of their solution. …

Interpreting, Stephanie Jo Kent

Doctoral Dissertations

What do community interpreting for the Deaf in western societies, conference interpreting for the European Parliament, and language brokering in international management have in common? Academic research and professional training have historically emphasized the linguistic and cognitive challenges of interpreting, neglecting or ignoring the social aspects that structure communication. All forms of interpreting are inherently social; they involve relationships among at least three people and two languages. The contexts explored here, American Sign Language/English interpreting and spoken language interpreting within the European Parliament, show that simultaneous interpreting involves attitudes, norms and values about intercultural communication that overemphasize information and discount …

How Engineering Innovators Characterize Engineering Innovativeness: A Qualitative Study, Daniel Michael Ferguson

Open Access Dissertations

The use of science and engineering skills to address the problems of modern society is regarded as an economic strategy in developed countries across the world. However, business and political leaders in the United States feel that we, as a society, do not understand that new global competition can match and even outpace us on innovation. Many of the studies on innovators are not specific to engineers. This study filled a gap in the understanding of what characteristics constitute innovative behavior in engineers.

The purpose of this study was to explore engineers' views of innovation and innovators who create and …

Old Dominion University's Engineering Summer Camp's Effect On Students Interest In Engineering, Clair Dorsey

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

The problem of this study was to determine parents' perceptions of their child's experience in Old Dominion University's engineering summer camps to determine if their child generated an interest in engineering as a career choice.

Defining Characteristics Of An Integrated Stem Curriculum In K-12 Education, Vinson Robert Carter

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to obtain consensus concerning the defining characteristics of integrated STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) curriculum. This study utilized a three round modified Delphi study to solicit recommendations from experts of STEM education in order to: 1) create a set of categorical and defining curricular components needed to develop and implement appropriate integrated STEM curriculum; 2) identify the characteristics that set integrated STEM education curriculum apart from single-discipline curricula; 3) discuss the components necessary to gauge whether an initiative, project, or curriculum should be referred to as integrated STEM education; and 4) examine whether …

The Engineering Design Process As A Model For Stem Curriculum Design, Krystal Sno Corbett

Doctoral Dissertations

Engaging pedagogics have been proven to be effective in the promotion of deep learning for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students. In many cases, academic institutions have shown a desire to improve education by implementing more engaging techniques in the classroom. The research framework established in this dissertation has been governed by the axiom that students should obtain a deep understanding of fundamental topics while being motivated to learn through engaging techniques. This research lays a foundation for future analysis and modeling of the curriculum design process where specific educational research questions can be considered using standard techniques. Further, …

Thermodynamic Based Model Eliciting Activities For Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Education, Paul Nicholas Van Bloemen Waanders

Master's Theses

Undergraduate engineering education is designed to prepare students for their careers. The rise of technology in modern engineering allows for a shift in the way undergraduates are prepared for the modern workplace. Model Eliciting Activities (MEAs) allow students to think critically about their own work and allow instructors to analyze the students’ problem solving methods. To ensure that new MEAs are as effective as possible they are subject to six basic principles: model construction, reality, generalizability, self-assessment, model documentation, and effective prototype.

This document focuses on evaluating new MEAs for their adherence to the six principles from an instructor's and …

An Investigation Of Middle School Student Interest, Perception, And Attitude Toward Technology And Engineering, Kari Marie Cook

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate middle school student perception and attitude toward technology and engineering and to better understand how the gender of the teacher, gender of the student, and information provided in technology classes affected their perception and attitude. To accomplish this, the Technology Attitude Scale, and the Pupil's Attitudes Toward Technology—United States assessment instruments were used to form the basis of a new survey instrument focused on technology and engineering perception, use, and interest. The new survey instrument is called the Technology and Engineering Attitude Scale (TEAS) survey. Multiple 7th grade technology engineering classes from …

An Investigation Of Utah Technology Education Teachers' Acceptance Of An Emphasis On Engineering Education Content, Douglas Ron Livingston

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to collect information documenting Utah technology education teachers' acceptance of an emphasis on engineering content in technology education. The Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) was used to determine the level of acceptance of this change. It was found that a majority of technology and education teachers are more concerned about other unidentified tasks, activities or initiatives than they are about the addition of engineering content to their classes. They were also shown to be concerned with being able to organize, manage, and schedule the change effectively and were found to be least concerned about …

Career Counseling Practices In Abet-Accredited Engineering Cooperative Education Programs, Gary Richard Martin

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to describe and evaluate the career counseling practices in all schools of engineering in the United States with ABET-accredited engineering Cooperative Education programs. Procedure. A thirty-two item questionnaire was developed and sent out to all ABET-accredited Cooperative Education offices. All the engineering coordinators in each office filled out the questionnaire. Eighty-six percent of the schools responded to the surveys. Findings. (1) Most engineering Co-op coordinators have educational backgrounds in engineering and have taken at least one class in career counseling. (2) Co-op coordinators tend to have caseloads and other responsibilities which restrict the …