Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Active Learning Using Model-Eliciting Activities And Inquiry-Based Learning Activities In Dynamics, Jeffrey Phillip Georgette

Master's Theses

This thesis focuses on a year-long project of implementing active learning in undergraduate dynamics courses at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo from 2012-2013. The purpose is to increase conceptual understanding of critical dynamics concepts and to repair misconceptions of the students. Conceptual understanding in Dynamics is vital to understanding the big picture, building upon previous knowledge, and better understanding the behavior of engineering systems. Through various hands-on activities, students make predictions, test their conceptions, and solve real world problems. These active learning methods allow students to improve their learning of Dynamics concepts. Education research on active learning is present in …

Visualizing Mechanics: Improving Student Learning Through Video Demonstrations, Blake A. Wetherton, Olumide A. Awofeso, Carolyn E. Creighton, Adam F. Potrzebowski, Charles M. Krousgrill, Jeffrey F. Rhoads

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The Purdue Mechanics Freeform Classroom (PMFC) is a project that seeks to reform engineering mechanics education by integrating content and technology; enhancing communication between students, their peers, and instructors; accommodating a broader range of learning styles; and facilitating greater depths of understanding. In an attempt to increase the PMFC’s efficacy, a series of demonstration videos has been produced. As demonstrated by the popularity and pervasiveness of websites such as YouTube, short videos have the potential to captivate audiences. As such, these videos have incredible promise in educational contexts. In the PMFC series of videos, entitled Visualizing Mechanics, each imitates the …

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 …

Quantitative Assessment Of Program Outcomes Using Longitudinal Data From The Fe Exam, Joe C. Guarino, James R. Ferguson, V. Krishna C. Pakala

Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

There have been many studies providing details on using results from the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam as metrics for meeting ABET program outcomes¹. However, implementing an FE-based set of metrics poses challenges not limited to assessing validity of results. Programs using FE-based metrics must also determine the position of the metrics in the overall assessment process. We present a method for using FE-based metrics as an integral part of the ABET program assessment process. The principle issues we address are: (1) The validity of using FE metrics for a group of graduating students when not all of …

Web-Based Virtual Learning For Digital Manufacturing Fundamentals For Automotive Workforce Training, Vukica Jovanovic, Nathan W. Hartman

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Automotive manufacturers are experiencing difficulties in hiring highly qualified workers with ability to adopt new technologies fast. This kind of ongoing need for training is slowing innovation. This problem is related to the difficulty in obtaining consistent training resources and services especially with lack of training for advanced manufacturing practices for specialised industry sectors. More and more occupations require degrees higher than secondary education because of the global need for so called ‘knowledge workers’. An example of an interactive learning programme, developed with the support of narrated presentation technology, podcasts and online access has been shown in this paper. Sixty …

Ole Miss Engineer 2012-2013

Ole Miss Engineer

No abstract provided.

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 …

Perceptions Measurement Of Professional Certifications To Augment Buffalo State College Baccalaureate Technology Programs, As A Representative American Postsecondary Educational Institution, Christopher N. Brown

Industrial Technology Theses

The purpose of this study was to assess, measure, and analyze whether voluntary, nationally-recognized professional certification credentials were important to augment technology programs at Buffalo State College (BSC), as a representative postsecondary baccalaureate degree-granting institution offering technology curricula. Six BSC undergraduate technology programs were evaluated within the scope of this study: 1.) Computer Information Systems; 2.) Electrical Engineering, Electronics; 3.) Electrical Engineering, Smart Grid; 4.) Industrial Technology; 5.) Mechanical Engineering; and 6.) Technology Education. This study considered the following three aspects of the problem: a.) postsecondary technology program enrollment and graduation trends; b.) the value/awareness of professional certifications to employers …

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 …

Network-Based Data Collection For A Project-Based Freshman Class, Samuel Bogan Daniels, Cheryl Q. Li, David Harding

Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

The hands-on experience for engineering students is often lacking with class sizes increasing and classroom resources under constant pressure. Even with smaller class sizes and studio classrooms there is only so much equipment and technical support to run experiments and allow for student interaction. Network-based data collection and control may alleviate some of these issues and allow for more hands-on experiences, although remote, in the classroom. This paper discusses the interesting problems and not so obvious pitfalls of setting up some simple network-based data acquisition systems for a multidisciplinary freshman level engineering course. The course as currently taught includes some …

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 …

Implementation And Assessment Of A Virtual Reality Experiment In The Undergraduate Themo-Fluids Laboratory, Sushil Chaturvedi, Jaewan Yoon, Rick Mckenzie, Petros J. Katsioloudis, Hector M. Garcia, Shuo Ren

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Results are presented from an NSF supported project that is geared towards advancing the development and use of virtual reality (VR) laboratories, designed to emulate the learning environment of physical laboratories. As part of this project, an experiment in the undergraduate thermo-fluids laboratory course titled "Jet Impact Force" was transformed into a 3-D virtual reality experiment using the widely used MAYA R and VIRTOOLS R software. In order to facilitate students' interactions with the newly created 3-D interactive, immersive and stereoscopic virtual laboratory environment, the human computer interfaces (HCI) were programmed and incorporated in the simulation software. Two immersion levels …

Feasibility Analysis Of Estrification Systems With Entrainers, Kang Wook Lee

Dissertations and Theses

(Ethyl Acetate) and IPA (Isopropyl Acetate) production systems are studied in terms of the feasibility analysis. It is not feasible to retrieve pure products by a simple reactive distillation for IPA production system because CCR (Critical Composition Region) covers the entire desired binary edge for IPA system. On the other hand, even though CCR does not cover the entire desired binary edge of the EA system completely, internal reflux ratio (IRR) analysis does not allow the production of the pure product via reactive distillation for EA production system. To overcome the restraints, external entrainers are utilized to take advantage of …

Ole Miss Engineer 2011-2012

Ole Miss Engineer

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of On-Line Videos On Learner Outcomes In A Mechanics Of Materials Course, Jeffery S. Thomas, Richard H. Hall, Timothy A. Philpot, Douglas R. Carroll

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Mechanics of Materials course is one of the core engineering courses included in the curriculum of mechanical, civil, mining, petroleum, marine, aeronautical, and several other engineering disciplines. As a core course, the Mechanics of Materials course typically has large enrollment. Initiatives aimed at improving the effectiveness of the engineering core courses can have a major impact on engineering education by virtue of the large number of students affected.

Computers afford opportunities for creative instructional activities that are not possible in the traditional lecture-and-textbook class format. The study described in this paper examines the effectiveness of asynchronous online video that …

Techniques From Workshops On Teaching: Implementing The Concepts And Evaluating Our Approaches, Michael R. Foster, Justin R. Vander Werff

Faculty Publications - Biomedical, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering

The challenges for new engineering educators abound and there are never enough hours in a day or days in a week. Young educators may lack confidence in course subject material given that they have never taught (the topic and/or in a classroom) before. In addition, their knowledge of teaching pedagogy and classroom management strategies often lacks refinement since their education is almost exclusively in a field of engineering rather than education. Teaching workshops have been developed to expose instructors in higher education to practical teaching pedagogy and effective classroom management. These workshops often emphasize research-based methods including use of clearly …

Building A Successful Transatlantic Collaboration In Engineering/Technological Education; Lessons From A Six Year Journey, Donal Mchale, Mark Mcgrath, John Lawlor

Conference Papers

This paper reflects on key learning’s from the first six-years (2004-2010) of the development of a collaborative journey of two trans-Atlantic higher-educational institutions. It describes the progress towards building a sustainable and innovative international educational partnership in Engineering/Technological education between the Technological University Dublin,DublinIrelandandPurdue University,Indiana,USA.

In particular, the paper provides insight into the iterative stages of development of this relationship. It reflects on some of the key challenges and it recognises the critical enablers of success. It focuses on challenges and solutions in the following six important areas

(i) The partnership initiation stage. Key considerations and important enablers of future …

Innovation Skills For Tomorrow’S Sustainable Designers, Julie Linsey, Vimal Viswanathan

Faculty Publications, Mechanical Engineering

Tomorrow’s sustainable designers will need an arsenal of tools for innovation. An approach for teaching design methods and innovation is described. A new approach for teaching design methods based on the use of analogous products to provide concrete experiences prior to the method’s application to a novel design problem was evaluated. Students’ opinions of the various design methods and their perceptions of the class’s influence on their creativity were also measured. Past experiments have shown that the presentation of example solutions has the potential to cause design fixation thus limiting the design solutions considered. Due to this, the teams’ final …

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 …

Uncertainty Analysis And Instrument Selection Using A Web-Based Virtual Experiment, Praveen Malali, Pooja Bais, Robert Choate, Sushil Chaturvedi

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

A methodology has been developed and successfully implemented for transforming physical experiments in an undergraduate thermo-fluids laboratory at Old Dominion University (ODU), a doctoral university, into web-based virtual experiments while the Mechanical Engineering (ME) faculty at Western Kentucky University (WKU), an undergraduate university, have developed and implemented a Design of Experiments (DOE) Plan to assure that graduates of their program have acquired the skills necessary to design and conduct experiments and analyze experimental results. This paper presents details about a web-based virtual experiment designed to teach students about selection of instruments based on the uncertainty estimated from the virtual experiment. …

Ole Miss Engineer 2009

Ole Miss Engineer

No abstract provided.

Ole Miss Engineer 2009

Ole Miss Engineer

No abstract provided.

The Development And Implementation Of A Nanotechnology Module Into A Large, Freshman Engineering Course, Vinod Lohani, Ganesh Balasubramanian, Ishwar Puri, Scott Case, Roop Mahajan

Ganesh Balasubramanian

The development and implementation of a nanotechnology learning module into a freshman engineering course in Virginia Tech’s large engineering program is discussed. This module, a part of a spiral theory based nanotechnology option that will be implemented in the curriculum of the Engineering Science Mechanics (ESM) department at Virginia Tech, was piloted with ~180 freshmen in Spring ’08. The pilot included a prior knowledge survey, a 40-minute in-class presentation on nanotechnology, a hands-on module involving analysis of nanoscale images, plotting of force functions at atomic scale using LABVIEW, and a post-module survey. Students’ misconceptions, observed through the prior knowledge survey, …

System Design And Integration For Repeated Impact Tests, Cheng Lin, Gene Hou, Sebastian Bawab, Timothy Coats, Hesham Nassar

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

The design and integration of an impact-testing machine is particularly for the test of an object which is repeatedly dropped down from a specified height. Four linear actuators with two on each of the two magnetic rails are used to lift up an object weighing up to 70 lbs. Each actuator is powered and controlled by an industrial amplifier. A Programmable Logical Controller (PLC) is applied to activate these four actuators simultaneously and repeatedly. Accelerometers using an National Instruments (NI) data acquisition system are used to measure the impact force during the tests. Students gain design and implementation experiences from …

Ole Miss Engineer 2008

Ole Miss Engineer

No abstract provided.

Product Focused Freeform Fabrication Education, Frank W. Liou, Ming-Chuan Leu

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Presented in this paper is our experience of teaching freeform fabrication to students at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, and to high school students and teachers. The emphasis of the curriculum is exposing students to rapid product development technologies with the goal of creating awareness to emerging career opportunities in CAD/CAM. Starting from solid modeling, principles of freeform fabrication, to applications of rapid prototyping and manufacturing in industry sponsored product development projects, students can learn in-depth freeform fabrication technologies. Interactive course content with hands-on experience for product development is the key towards the success of the program.

How Accurate Is Students’ Self Assessment Of Computer Skills?, Michael A. Collura, Samuel Bogan Daniels

Engineering and Applied Science Education Faculty Publications

Self-evaluation by students is commonly used as a key element in program and course assessment plans. Such instruments are intended to provide crucial feedback for program improvement and thus play a significant role in closing our assessment loop. For many of the program outcomes, self-assessment by current students and graduates augments other, more objective measures. However, for some outcomes there are no practical means of obtaining objective assessment and we must rely on self-assessment. The heavy reliance on this metric begs the question “How accurate is student self-assessment?” This paper provides data from a second-semester engineering course in which students …

The Party’S Over: Sustaining Support Programs When The Funding Is Done, John Gardner, Pat Pyke, Cheryl Schrader, Janet M. Callahan, Amy Moll

Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the lifecycle of an engineering education grant, the phase where best practices are sustained and disseminated is perhaps the most crucial stage for maximizing impact. Yet this transition phase often receives the least attention as project team enthusiasm can wane, while funding tapers off, and faculty priorities are pulled in other directions. There are numerous obstacles associated with sustaining program changes, even those perceived as very valuable. Typical challenges are: What happens when the funding runs out? What grant-developed programs should be sustained by the university? Does the institution need to internally allocate resources in an annual budget large …

Ole Miss Engineer 2008

Ole Miss Engineer

No abstract provided.

An Integrated Simulation Design With Three-Dimensional Motions And A Hydraulic Stewart Simulator, Cheng Lin, Gene Hou, Yuzhong Shen, Hector Garcia

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

This paper presents an integrated design process and tests of a Stewart simulator with a virtual visualization tool, which uses Virtools to create and generate three-dimensional motions. An inverse kinematic algorithm is written to convert each visualized motion to the displacements of six cylinders in a Stewart motion simulator. Information of the displacements is then transferred through the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) to a personal computer which has the LabVIEW software. An NI USB-6251 data acquisition device is applied to interact with the LabVIEW program and the Stewart hydraulic simulator. The approach presented in this paper to function an old …