Engineering Education Commons^™

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 …

Spot-R By Triax, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

Triax’s Spot-r system was developed to tackle the construction industry’s unique safety and productivity challenges, stemming from a demonstrated lack of total jobsite visibility and automatically collected, easily accessible field data. Spot-r by Triax combines a proprietary mesh network with sensor technology to record and transmit previously unattainable workforce and equipment location, activity and safety data within a defined area – all in real-time.

The Spot-r network is installed around the site and operates in a 900 MHz network, with a subset using a cellular connection to forward Spot-r sensor data to Triax’s custom, cloud dashboard. In the hazardous construction …

Epics: Children's Educational Demonstrations, Aaron P. Kreuter, Ruby A. Wellen, Alexander D. Falkenberg, Jamie M. Arabshahi

Engagement & Service-Learning Summit

No abstract provided.

Purdue’S Biowall, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

Mechanical ventilation, energy recovery ventilation, and infiltration (air that leaks into a building) are commonly used to introduce fresh air. These are all valid approaches, but a living plant-based filter is an innovative complement to these traditional technologies. A Biowall has the potential to improve indoor air quality while reducing the quantity of air needed for ventilation, creating the potential for energy savings. Figure 1 shows a Biowall prototype being evaluated in the ReNEWW House, a research home located near the Purdue University campus (http://www.renewwhouse.com/).

Mdp (Machine Drive Power) Intelligent Compaction Technology, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

Caterpillar developed MDP (Machine Drive Power) technology to fill this gap. Rather than an accelerometer and vibratory drum, it uses the principle of rolling resistance to provide indications of soil stiffness. This allows it to perform more reliably on cohesive and granular soils with less variability than accelerometer systems. It also means that the technology can be used on both vibratory and static drum compactors, which are often used on larger sites. While the technology is quite useful on its own, it is even better as a complementary technology to the existing accelerometer-based systems. Contractors who use vibratory soil compactors …

A Constructivist Approach To The Use Of Case Studies In Teaching Engineering Ethics, Diana Adela Martin, Eddie Conlon, Brian Bowe

Articles

Our paper aims to explore the effectiveness of a constructivist approach to the teaching of engineering ethics through case studies, by putting forward a contextualization of the much discussed case study “Cutting Road Side Trees” (Pritchard, 1992) in light of the constructivist frame suggested by Jonassen (1999). First, we briefly analyse how the use of case studies for the teaching of engineering ethics eludes the complexity of the engineering professional environment before arguing that constructivism is a learning theory that can help to address this complexity. The final section proposes a constructivist reworking of the case method in a manner …

Nádúr Daonna (Natureza Humana): An Intervention To Work With Nature In The Intellectual Development Of First Year Engineering Students, Domhnall Sheridan, Michael Carr

Conference papers

For most of the 20th Century there has been a debate among psychologists, educationalists and others as to whether nature or nurture determined the personality and capabilities of the adult person. Only in the last decade has an answer been found for that perennial question: the adult is the product of both nature and nurture. The genotype, the genetic inheritance from parents provides a template, but the expression of the genotype, the phenotype, depends on the interaction between the individual and their environment. Nothing is written in stone: the young child beginning education has almost infinite possibilities. In order for …

Mens Sana: An Investigation Into The Relationship Between Psychological Traits And Academic Success Of First Year Engineering Students, Domhnall Sheridan, Michael Carr

Conference papers

In 1904, the French government asked the psychologist Alfred Binet to devise a general test of intelligence that could be used to identify pupils who were behind their age cohort, in order to give them extra help to bring their level up to that of their peers. For most of the 20th century, intelligence testing has played a major role in education, unfortunately to categorize pupils at an early stage in the life, rather than to help them. In the last two decades, much work has been done in broadening the testing of students, especially in examining the relationship between …

Multivariate Analysis Of Students Perception On Teaching With Client Based And Non-Client Based Team Projects, Philip Appiah-Kubi

Engineering Management and Systems Faculty Publications

The classroom experience has evolved from traditional lecture, PowerPoint and whiteboards to a more active environment where students and instructors work together on hands-on activities to achieve the course objectives. Various names have been given to this pedagogy; experiential learning, project based learning (client based versus non-client based), active learning, and problem based learning are a handful of names used to describe this evolving pedagogy. The main challenge faced by educators in educating undergraduate students to be independent thinkers and problem solvers has been the driving force fueling the shift in pedagogy. This research looks into student’s perception on project …

Influence Of Cement Type On The Efficiency Of Electrochemical Chloride Extraction, Brian Norton, Sean Bond, Chahrazed Osmani, Niall Holmes

Conference papers

No abstract provided.

Extending Maneuverability Of Internally Actuated Underwater Gliders, An Attempt To Develop An Open Platform For Research And Education, Saeedeh Ziaeefard

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Increasing maneuverability of internally actuated Underwater Gliders (UGs) is inevitable due to high demands in underwater surveillance and reconnaissance missions where agility and stealthiness are the keys to success. High maneuverability is needed to provide the opportunity for optimal trajectory planning, planar motion smoothness, and re-planning adapting to the dynamic environments.

This work explores extending the maneuverability of underwater gliders through coupled improvement in mechanical design, efficient use of internal actuation, and motion planning strategy utilizing flight concatenation. The existence of five flight patterns ``advanced flight", inspired by air gliders, enabled solely by utilizing internal actuation are investigated: Circle, Oval …

Examining Engineering Design Cognition With Respect To Student Experience And Performance, Greg J. Strimel, Eunhye Kim, Scott R. Bartholomew, Diana V. Cantu

Faculty Publications

This study investigated the design cognition and performance results of secondary and post-secondary engineering students while engaged in an engineering design task. Relationships between prototype performance and design cognition were highlighted to investigate potential links between cognitive processes and success on engineering design problems. Concurrent think-aloud protocols were collected from eight secondary and 12 post-secondary engineering students working individually to design, make, and evaluate a solution prototype to an engineering design task. The collected protocols were segmented and coded using a pre-established coding scheme. The results were then analyzed to compare the two participant groups and determine the relationships between …

Adaptive Comparative Judgment For Polytechnic Transformation: Assessment Across The Curriculum, Scott R. Bartholomew, P. E. Connolly

Faculty Publications

The authors are investigating potential applications of adaptive comparative judgment (ACJ) across numerous environments and learning scenarios within the Purdue Polytechnic Institute as part of Purdue’s efforts to transform the undergraduate learning experience. Six courses or program areas were selected for the study, involving a wide variation in subjects, subject matter, and assessment artifacts. The authors anticipate that positive results from these pilot studies will encourage broader and deeper applications of ACJ in the Purdue Polytechnic, across Purdue University, and in other academic institutions. Results from these scenarios will be disseminated in future conferences and scholarly journals.

Fostering Giftedness And Creativity: Implementing Engineering By Design In Kuwait, Nathan Mentzer, Philip A. Reed, Meshari Alnouri, Mohammad Barbarji

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The article offers information on a partnership between the International Technology & Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) and the Sabah Al Ahmad Center for Giftedness and Creativity (SACGC) to support innovation and design education. The partnership is aimed towards the implementation of the Engineering byDesign (EbD) curriculum and contribute towards building a Kuwaiti society that fosters giftedness and creativity.

The Impact Of Functional Modeling On Engineering Students' Mental Models, Jacob T. Nelson

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The ability to understand complexity and think holistically about systems is an increasingly important part of engineering design. This is embodied in the concept of systems thinking, a concept studied primarily in the fields of systems dynamics and systems engineering. Systems thinking ability is built off mental models, a loosely-defined construct people form to make predictions about their surroundings. Methods to evaluate systems thinking and underlying mental models rely primarily on self-evaluative methods such as questionnaires, or detailed simulations of systems or processes; however these methods fail to directly capture students’ design tendencies. This work presents a visual instrument used …

Engineering Identity Development: A Review Of Higher Education Literature, Sarah L. Rodriguez, Charles Lu, Morgan Bartlett

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this systematic literature review was to appraise and synthesize the current scholarship pertaining to engineering identity development within the higher education context and create recommendations for future scholarship within engineering education. A review of the literature concluded that research on engineering identity development has increased over the past ten years, has been conducted primarily with qualitative methods, and has been primarily limited to academic communities focused on mathematics, science, and engineering education. In addition, current scholarship reflected that most of the work in this area has focused on the learning contexts and experiences of women and underrepresented …

Life Is A Lab: Developing A Communication Research Lab For Undergraduate And Graduate Education, Autumn P. Edwards, Chad Edwards, Patric R. Spence

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Tips offered center on classroom discourse, curriculum choices, and potential assignments. In this article, we present tips for creating a thriving undergraduate and graduate communication research lab. Based on our experiences developing and co-directing the Communication and Social Robotics Labs (CSRLs), we offer 10 best practices for acquiring resources and recognition, building a strong lab community, and attaining faculty and student goals for scholarship and beyond. Our overarching approach is framed by Dewey’s (1916) pragmatist educational metaphysic, which stresses student- and subject-centered learning, enlarging experiences, and the co-construction of meaning and knowledge. Although our labs are focused on human-machine communication …

The Link Between Spatial Skills And Engineering Problem-Solving, Gavin Duffy, Sheryl Sorby, Presentacion Rivera Reyes, Tom Delahunty, Lance Perez, Jayashri Ravishankar

Conference papers

Well-developed 3-D spatial skills are correlated with engineering success. However, most studies examining the link between spatial skills and engineering success have been conducted at the macro level, i.e., the link between spatial skills and course grades or between spatial skills and graduation rates. In this research, a more refined approach has been taken. Relationships between spatial skills and success in solving certain types of problems that engineering students commonly encounter are examined. It was found that high levels of spatial skills predict success in solving certain types of engineering problems but not in all types of problems. Data gathered …

Understanding How First-Generation College Students’ Out-Of-School Experiences, Physics And Stem Identities Relate To Engineering Possible Selves And Certainty Of Career Path, Dina Verdín, Allison Godwin, Gerhard Sonnert, Phillip M. Sadler

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

This full, research category study examines how out-of-school experiences in Grades 9-12 predict first-generation college students’ engineering possible selves and certainty of career path. The data for this study came from a large-scale survey on outreach programs which was distributed in first- semester English courses to capture an array of responses from students interested in STEM and non-STEM careers. We used structural equation modeling to examine a set of hypotheses: 1) out-of-school experiences would be mediated by interest and recognition in physics and STEM and no direct effect will be found for out-of-school experiences on physics and STEM identities, 2) …

Engineering Technology And Engineering Program Comparison Of Underrepresented Students In The Same Institution, Anne M. Lucietto, Lesley M. Berhan

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Engineering programs include far fewer African American students than engineering technology students enrolled in four-year programs at universities offering both ABET accredited programs. Several studies show this contrast, suggesting that further research in this area is warranted. The rationale for the higher population of students consistently in one program over the other is generally unknown. While researchers study the engineering population, the engineering technology population goes relatively unnoticed. The effects of a student’s past and current environments in engineering technology are relatively unknown. Researchers developed a survey to gather data from underrepresented populations in universities that meet the noted criteria. …