Engineering Education Commons^™

Software Education For Changing Computing Technology, Steve Eugene Watkins

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Software education has been dominated by procedural-based programming languages such as BASIC, FORTRAN and C, and before that, the assembly languages. The primary reason that this methodology has held such sway in education was that it allowed quick action for the first major users of computers. This approach was the most straight-forward means of utilizing hardware that, over the last 60 years, has gotten faster and more complex through smaller and more densely packed elements. However, traditional advances as described by Moore’s law are now reaching both physical and economic limits. Pure object-oriented programming approaches offer benefits for hardware that …

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 …

Creativity And Innovation: A Comparative Analysis Of Assessment Measures For The Domains Of Technology, Engineering, And Business, Tyler Lewis

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this literature review is to investigate and discuss: (1) the characteristics measured by innovation assessments, and (2) the comparison of characteristics measured by creativity assessments with those of innovation assessments. This will be done by: (1) collecting creativity and innovation assessments, and (2) comparing and contrasting the characteristics measured by each assessment. This study reveals that innovation assessments do not measure the innovation process in its entirety. The findings show that creativity and innovation assessments lack in assessing the entire innovation process, assessing the innovation process on an individual level, and assessing an individual's change or growth …

Ole Miss Engineer 2011-2012

Ole Miss Engineer

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Barriers To Independent Study And Learning In First Year Undergraduate Engineering Students?, Robert Martin Morris

Papers, presentations and other resources

This mixed method case study was carried out in the Technological University Dublin, Ireland and was conducted with the co-operation of four experienced lecturers of engineering and three groups of first year undergraduate engineering students.

The main aim of the research was to identify factors which represent barriers to the independent study and learning of first year engineering students.

Many first year engineering students do not return to college for the second year of their programmes. Many reasons for this are identified in the research, including the failure of students to pass assessments and exams as a result of the …

A Comparison Study Of Project-Based-Learning In Upper-Division Engineering Education, Ron Ulseth, Bart Johnson, Rebecca Bates

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

A new model for engineering education was launched in January 2010 in northeastern Minnesota. The Iron Range Engineering (IRE) model is a project-based-learning (PBL) methodology that focuses on producing graduates with integrated technical and professional knowledge and competencies. A unique and important element of the IRE model has 100% of IRE student learning taking place in the context of industry projects. Students at IRE are upper-division engineering students who transferred from Minnesota community college lower-division engineering programs. To understand the impact that IRE methodology may have on preparing engineers with the competencies needed for the future workplace, a comparison study …

The Iron Range Engineering Pbl Curriculum: How Students Adapt To And Function Within Pbl, Rose M. Marra, Betsy Palmer, Ron Ulseth, Bart Johnson

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

Iron Range Engineering is a unique complete-PBL curriculum for upper division students. Rather than studying about engineering in traditional engineering courses, IRE students solve complex and ill-structured industry problems in mining, milling, and manufacturing industries. To support students’ transition to PBL and to facilitate deep approaches to learning technical and professional competencies required for the engineers of the future, faculty have created a variety of structures. This paper describes IRE’s PBL implementation and reports the results of a qualitative study of their students.

Student Launch Initiative: Boosted Dart Rocket, Charger Rocket Works

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Student Designed Solutions For In-Orbit Detection And Tracking Of Small Orbital Debris, Lisa Tunstill

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Engineering Content With Technology Education Programs, Todd D. Fantz, Petros J. Katsioloudis

STEMPS Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Case Methods In Civil Engineering Teaching, Timothy A. Newson, Norbert J. Delatte

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

English: There have been significant changes in undergraduate civil engineering curricula in the last two decades. Key issues for university curriculum committees are selection and transference of appropriate skills and attributes for students to succeed in the industry. Despite significant changes occurring in teaching theories, civil engineering education still relies heavily on deductive instruction. Case-based teaching is one of the most widespread forms of inductive learning and this paper describes the differences between two of the most familiar types: 'case-histories' and 'case-studies'. These methods are presented using the Kansas City Hyatt Regency walkway collapse as an exemplar. The benefits of …

Successful Engineering And Technology Student Mobility: Key Student Perspectives And Quality Determinants Before, During And After Student Exchange Under The Atlantis Programme, Mike Murphy, Donal Mchale, Michael Dyrenfurth

Conference papers

In this paper, we describe the lessons learned, and determinants of quality, from two Atlantis programmes. Additionally our two student authors will share key student perspectives relevant to student mobility: (1) before they visited the partner university, (2) while they were studying at the partner university and (3) after they returned to their home university. Purdue University and the Technological University Dublin, together with the Hochschule Darmstadt and Pennsylvania State University, were successful in securing an Atlantis mobility grant [1] for four years to support student and staff mobility between the United States and Europe. The programme has just completed …

Formative Assessment Practices In Built Environment Higher Education Programmes And The Enhancement Of The Student Learning Experience, Lloyd Scott, Chrisopher Fortune

Conference papers

It is widely accepted across Higher Education (HE) that assessment has a strong link with learning and a key factor in this link is formative assessment. Formative assessment is generally defined as an activity taking place during a programme or unit of learning with the express purpose of improving and enhancing student learning. However, there is still considerable disagreement over the roles of lecturers and students in this process. It is therefore very important to understand how lecturers in built environment (BE) undergraduate education perceive their own roles and the role of their students in using assessment strategy to deliver …

Year Seven Annual Report: Activities, Findings And Evaluators' Reports, Ncete Faculty

Reports to NSF

The National Center for Engineering and Technology Education (NCETE) is a collaborative network of scholars with backgrounds in technology education, engineering, and related fields. Our mission is to build capacity in technology education and to improve the understanding of the learning and teaching of high school students and teachers as they apply engineering design processes to technological problems. This year’s accomplishments include: completion of doctoral dissertations and post-doctoral research; continuation of research program; exploration of a strategic alliance of engineering and technology education groups in major doctoral-degree-granting universities; development of a caucus on high school engineering design challenges; and ongoing …

Effect Of Freshman Chemistry On Student Performance In Sophomore Engineering Courses, Michael A. Collura, Shannon Ciston, Nancy Ortins Savage

Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Faculty Publications

The role of first year chemistry courses in engineering programs varies somewhat across programs and disciplines. Clearly most engineering majors will encounter chemistry topics of a general nature in some of their upper-level course work. The purpose of requiring chemistry in the first year, however, goes well beyond learning chemical concepts. As a quantitative science, chemistry requires the use of math, principally algebra, on a regular basis in solving various problems. Students should gain an appreciation of the importance of units in solving problems should come to understand the difference between implicit and explicit properties and should develop other quantitative …

A New Model Of Project Based Learning, Ron Ulseth, Jefferey E. Froyd, Thomas A. Lotzinger, Dan Ewert, Bart Johnson

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

A new model for engineering education has been developed and funded. The model is 100% project based learning (PBL) where the students develop their own learning objectives. The projects are authentic needs contributed by collaborating industries. Students monitor the acquisition of 32 technical competencies and all of the design and professionalism competencies required of new practicing engineers. The reasons for the new model, description of the model, research supporting the model, methods for evaluating the model and its transportability are discussed.

Entrepreneurship In The Iron Range Engineering (Ire) Model, Dan Ewert, Ron Ulseth, Bart Johnson, Jeff Wandler, Andrew Lillesve

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

The aim of this paper is to describe a new model for engineering education that has entrepreneurship, in its many form, as a focus. Issues involved with integrating student-based entrepreneurship into the educational process are also described.

Developing And Assessing Stem Curriculum With The Intent Of Promoting Technological Literacy, Scott Bartholomew, Geoff Wright, Ron Terry

Faculty Publications

Developing and Assessing STEM Curriculum with the Intent of Promoting Technological Literacy Technological literacy is a key component of President Barack Obama’s $260 Million STEM educational initiative (Office of the Press Secretary, 2009). Central to his plan is STEM teacher training and curriculum development. Both of these issues were addressed and are currently being measured by the research outlined in this paper. Spring2010 a collection of technology and engineering education graduate students developed with mentoring from two technology and engineering education professors 20 lesson unit and lesson plans promoting technological literacy. The lesson plans are currently being used and assessed …

Connecting Science With Engineering: Using Inquiry And Design In A Teacher Professional Development Course, Louis S. Nadelson, Patricia Pyke, Janet Callahan, Anne Hay, Joshua Pfiester, Mark A. Emmet

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

The engineering design process has evolved over time to be the central and effective framework that engineers use to conduct their work. Logically, K-12 STEM professional development efforts have then attempted to incorporate the design process into their work. There has been little in the STEM literature, though, of the explicit measurement of the growth in design process knowledge. Our study presents findings of significant improvements in knowledge of the design process that resulted over the course of a recent summer STEM institute and professional development program among K-5 teachers.

As more emphasis is placed on integrating STEM into the …

Asynchronous Use Of Engineering (Materials) Education Videos, Craig Johnson, Arthur D. Morken

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Engineering education delivery is dynamic and increasingly asynchronous. An observation that students had very different levels of knowledge and skills as they progressed through our programs, led the authors to use audio/visual media as a leveling intervention. In this effort the authors collected data to determine if audio/visual media can be used to increase performance in the development of a program related task and guide students to higher levels of learning on Blooms Taxonomy through the development of student created learning aids.

One specific need was reflected in the disparate skills of our majority component of ‘transfer’ students in our …