Engineering Education Commons^™

Graduate School Of Engineering And Management Catalog 2017-2018, Graduate School Of Engineering And Management, Air Force Institute Of Technology

AFIT Documents

The Graduate Catalog represents the offerings, programs, and requirements in effect at the time of publication.

Relationships Between Access To Mobile Devices, Student Self-Directed Learning, And Achievement, Scott R. Bartholomew, Edward M. Reeve, Raymond Veon, Wade Goodridge, Victor R. Lee, Louis Nadelson

Applied Sciences, Technology and Education Faculty Publications

Today’s students are growing up in a world of constant connectivity, instant information, and ever-changing technological advancements. The increasingly ubiquitous nature of mobile devices among K–12 students has led many to argue for and against the inclusion of these devices in K–12 classrooms. Arguments in favor cite instant access to information and collaboration with others as positive affordances that enable student self-directed learning.

In this study, 706 middle school students from 18 technology and engineering education classes worked in groups of 2–3 to complete an open-ended engineering design challenge. Students completed design portfolios and constructed prototypes in response to the …

Reconceptualizing Pedagogical And Curricular Knowledge Development Through Making, Steven Greenstein, Justin Olmanson

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

While making is typically tethered to narratives of entrepreneurship and business, it can provide a gateway to meaningful interaction and deepened understanding of both content and pedagogy. In this article we provide descriptions of two courses—one each at the pre-service and in-service levels—that engage teachers in making and design practices that we hypothesized would inform their pedagogical and curricular thinking. With a focus on the design of new tools to support teaching and learning through the use of human-centered design practices and digital fabrication technologies, these courses have teachers exploring at the intersection of content, pedagogy, and making. Specifically, they …

Manual Revision Process For Project-Based Laboratory Instruction, Gene Hou, Feifei Zhong, Orlando M. Ayala

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

A four-step laboratory manual revision process was developed in this study based upon a technical writing process for supporting project-based laboratory classes. The audience and the objectives of this type of laboratory manuals are quite different from those of traditional, descriptive laboratory classes. The project-based laboratory manual has to serve as both an operational handbook and a theoretical textbook. The proposed four-step manual revision process was implemented in the fall 2016 semester in a 3-credit, senior elective class which was built upon a commercially-rated finite element analysis software package. Student surveys and evaluations showed that the revision process greatly increased …

An Integrated Curriculum For Technical Writing In Higher Education In China, Feifei Zhong, Gene Hou

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

This study aims to develop an effective curriculum plan to improve technical writing in higher education in China. The paper first investigated the deficiency in the curriculum design in China for English technical writing by comparing the required courses offered in Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU) in China with those in Old Dominion University (ODU) in US. Questionnaires and interviews were then conducted among studying abroad Chinese students, visiting scholars, English as Second Language (ESL) instructors as well as engineering professors. The collected data revealed that the oversea Chinese students were struggled more with higher order concerns in writing than lower …

Exploring The Relationship Between Immediacy Behaviors And Student Motivation In Engineering Classrooms: Immediacy As A Cause Of Motivation, Andrea N. Barahona Guerrero

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Instructor immediacy is an essential characteristic of effective instructors. Although instructional communication has done extensive research on the impact of immediacy behaviors on students, there is little available research observing immediacy behaviors as predictors of motivation on engineering students. As a result, this study examined the impact of engineering instructors’ use of immediacy behaviors on engineering students’ motivation. The results indicated that verbal immediacy predicted engineering student motivation. The thematic analysis revealed that when students perceived their instructors as helpful, students’ motivation to learn and ask more questions increased. The thematic analysis also observed that when instructors seemed unapproachable, students …

Internet Of Things, John Ritz, Zane Knaack

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The internet has not only made information searching and instantaneous communications possible, it has also expanded the development of smart products that can be connected and controlled over the internet. Automobile manufacturers have used these devices during the past decade to make cars safer and assist drivers with updated information on vehicle operation. Today many more products can be operated and controlled from a smartphone or computer. Depending on your level of desired internet-connectedness, many home products are coming to the market with IoT connectivity. Much data is being collected and acted upon through databases. These developments should enable machines …

Assessing Stem Literacy In An Informal Learning Environment, Maureen Ann Lafemina Cavalcanti

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

This mixed methods study investigated methods for assessing STEM literacy amongst middle grades students participating in an informal learning environment, specifically, a summer STEM camp. Adopting a situated perspective on STEM literacy, this dissertation employed psychometric techniques and discourse analysis to answer the overarching research question: How can STEM literacy amongst middle school students be assessed in the context of a summer STEM camp? An integrated review of literacy within and across STEM disciplines first offered a new direction for conceptualizing STEM literacy. With this understanding, subsequent research methods applied novel approaches for investigating STEM literacy in the context of …

Implementing Peer-Review Activities For Engineering Writing Assignments, Stacie I. Ringleb, Orlando M. Ayala, Jennifer Kidd

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Professional engineers spend a considerable portion of their day writing, yet disciplinary writing skills are not addressed in many engineering courses. This study investigates peer review as a mean to enhance student writing in engineering courses. Students completed formative peer reviews using an online peer review system for a group project in a fluid mechanics course (with online and face-to-face sections) and for an individual writing assignment in a senior capstone class in mechanical engineering. A university-wide rubric for disciplinary writing was used to assess student writing performance on interim and final assignments completed over the course of a semester. …

Wip: Introducing Engineering Principles Into Prek-6 Through A Service Learning Partnership, Stacie Ringleb, Jennifer Kidd, Pilar Pazos

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

We report on an interdisciplinary projet in which pre-service teachers and engineering students worked collaboratively to design and deliver engineering lessons for elementary school students. We describe the approach and preliminary results for two participating populations: Freshmen engineering students and pre-service teachers. Specifically, we explored the following research questions 1) Does the development and implementation of engineering lessons for elementary students affect education students' a) knowledge of engineering; b) beliefs about the incorporation of engineering in elementary school instruction; and c) comfort and motivation teach engineering? 2) What do education and engineering students perceive as the benefits and challenges of …

Longitudinal Academic Performance Analysis Using A Two-Step Clustering Methodology, Volkan Cakir, Adrian Gheorghe

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The present study aims to examine the academic profiles of industrial engineering undergraduate students among a sample group of military college engineering students (N=276) in order to determine the factors impacting academic performance; to compare student groups that were identified by course scores, and to analyse performance changes over four academic years. The study started with data collection, database creation and preparation for clustering study. A two-step clustering methodology was used for grouping courses based on academic performance and context similarities. The clustering methodology results are validated by discriminant analysis. Student movements among clusters over the four years are identified …

Institutionalizing Continuous Improvement Plan In An Engineering Technology Department- Closing The Loop, Alok K. Verma, Stephanie G. Adams, Cheng Y. Lin, Nestor Escobales, Isaac L. Flory Iv

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Continuous improvement is a corner stone of a quality engineering or engineering technology program. Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology requires that a well-planned and implemented continuous improvement plan should be in place. The ABET 2015-16 Criterion 4 Continuous Improvement1 states: "The program must regularly use appropriate, documented processes for assessing and evaluating the extent to which the student outcomes are being attained. The results of these evaluations must be systematically utilized as input for the continuous improvement of the program. Other available information may also be used to assist in the continuous improvement of the program." A successful continuous …

A Mobile Platform Using Software Defined Radios For Wireless Communication Systems Experimentation, Otilia Popescu, Shiny Abraham, Samy El-Tawab

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

A distinctive feature of wireless communication systems is implied by the fact that there is no physical connection between the transmitter and its corresponding receiver, which enables user mobility. However, experimenting with wireless communication systems is mostly done in the lab, where transmitters and receivers are setup on benches, in stationary settings. This prevents students from experiencing fading and other propagation effects associated with mobile wireless channels. This paper describes a mobile platform for wireless communication experimentation that enables students to run experiments beyond the confines of a traditional lab, in realistic settings that cover indoor and outdoor scenarios with …

Physics Identity Promotes Alternative Careers For First-Generation College Students In Engineering, Dina Verdín, Allison Godwin

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

This research study explored first-generation college students’ in engineering post-graduation career intentions based on responses to a quantitative survey. In this paper, we answer the following research questions: 1) How do first-generation college students’ measures of physics, mathematics, and engineering identity constructs differ compared to non-first-generation college students? and 2) How does a physics identity influence first-generation college student’s choice of an engineering major and career aspirations? The data came from the Intersectionality of Non- normative Identities in the Cultures of Engineering (InIce) survey. InIce was completed by 2,916 first-year engineering college students enrolled in four institutions across the United …

Quantifying And Assessing Trends On The National Science Foundation’S Broader Impact Criterion, Dina Verdín

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

The American Innovation and Competitiveness Act (S.3084) reapproved the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) merit review criteria i.e. Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts, called for an update of the policy guidelines for NSF staff members and merit review process participants, and emphasized the importance of transparency and accountability. Evaluating Project Summaries based on Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts has been the standard of maintaining excellence and accountability since 1997. Intellectual merit consists of proposing activities that advance knowledge, while Broader Impacts statements, “describe the potential of the proposed activity to benefit society and contribute to the achievement of specific, desired societal …

Video-Related Pedagogical Strategies In Massive Open Online Courses: A Systematic Literature Review, Nathan Hicks, Wei Zakharov, Kerrie Douglas, Judith Nixon, Heidi Diefes-Dux, Peter Bermel, Krishna Madhavan

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

For engineers who work with rapidly changing technology in multi-disciplinary teams, massive open online courses (MOOCs) offer the unique ability to deliver free, convenient professional development by providing up-to-date information spanning a wide range of disciplines. However, the MOOC boom has not been without its criticisms; many question the effectiveness of MOOCs. In response, many research studies are being conducted across the world to explore the effectiveness of various pedagogical approaches in MOOCs for different stakeholders. As videos constitute one of the most prominent features of MOOCs, it is important to analyse the empirical evidence of best practices for MOOC …

Testing For Measurement Invariance In Engineering Identity Constructs For First-Generation College Students, Dina Verdín, Allison Godwin

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

This work-in-progress research study examines the response patterns of first-generation college students (FGCS) to the engineering identity measures compared to non-first- generation college students (non-FGCS). This work answers the following research question, “Do FGC and non-FGC engineering students interpret the engineering identity measurement items in a conceptually different manner?” We explore if FGCS respond to engineering identity items similarly to non-FGCS and the fairness of using these instruments for FGCS to make claims about this group. The data for this work are from a survey instrument completed by 2,916 first-year engineering college students from four U.S. institutions. We hypothesize that …

Social And Latent Identities That Contribute To Diverse Students’ Belongingness In Engineering, Brianna Benedict, Dina Verdín, Allison Godwin, Thaddeus Milton

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

This work-in-progress (WIP) research paper investigates contributing factors for how students describe what it means to be an engineer and what particular characteristics enable students to belong in engineering. We answer the research question, "What are the key contributing factors that influence how diverse students feel that they belong in engineering?" We used a semi-structured protocol to interview 12 diverse engineering students during Fall 2016 about their pathways into engineering, identities, and belongingness in engineering. The participants were selected from a pool of students who completed an attitudinal survey during Fall 2015 as a part of a larger study. They …

Impacts Of Effective Temperature On Sectional View Drawing Ability And Implications For Engineering And Technology Education Students, Petros J. Katsioloudis

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Temperature can influence thermal comfort, working performance, and social behavior. In a classroom that is slightly cool, an assumption can be made that learning could be affected in a negative way. Considering this, a quasi-experimental study was done to determine if a significant difference of effective temperature have an effect on students’: a) spatial visualization ability, as measured by the MCT and b) ability to sketch a sectional view drawing. While not statistically significant, the students who received treatment using warm water outperformed their peers who received treatment using cold and hot water temperatures, respectively.

Use Of Virtual Reality Head-Mounted Displays For Engineering Technology Students And Implications On Spatial Visualization, Petros Katsioloudis, Mildred Jones, Vukica Jovanovic

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Results from a number of studies indicate that the use of head-mounted displays can influence spatial visualization ability; however, research provides inconsistent results. Considering this, a quasi-experimental study was conducted to identify the existence of statistically significant effects on rotational view drawing ability due to the impacts of the displays. In particular, the study compared the use of three different types of displays; head-mounted, pc dynamic and 3D printed and whether a significant difference exists towards rotational view drawing ability, among engineering technology students. According to the results of this study it is suggested that the impact of the display …