Digital Commons Network^™

Syllabus Design For Place-Based Gen-Ed Courses, Andy Oler, Yunxiao Liu

Publications

No abstract provided.

Instilling An Entrepreneurial Mindset In A New Generation Of First-Year Engineering Students Through A Graphics Course Project, Lulu Sun, Leroy Long Iii

Publications

Each year, an increasing number of engineering start-up companies emerge in the U.S. and around the world. Innovation and entrepreneurship have never been so pronounced, especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. How can we train engineering students to be more entrepreneurially-minded so they are well-equipped to become global innovators? Engineering educators can use entrepreneurially-minded learning activities to help students develop an entrepreneurial mindset, which is a set of beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. At a mid-sized Southeastern private institution, we used an open-ended team project and an end-of-semester poster competition within a freshman-level engineering graphics course to encourage …

Infographic: Enhancing Engineering Students’ Communication Skills Through A Team-Based Graphics Course Project, Leroy Long Iii, Kari L. Jordan, William Wanyagah

Publications

This infographic supports the article Enhancing Engineering Students’ Communication Skills through a Team-Based Graphics Course Project which can be accessed here: https://commons.erau.edu/asee-edgd/conference70/papers-2016/5/

What Is Humanistic Stem And Why Do We Need It?, Debra T. Bourdeau, Beverly L. Wood

Publications

Getting students who are planning on technical careers to value their general education courses, particularly in the humanities, is not an easy task. The experiences of two professors from disciplines that cross the so-called divide between STEM and Humanities motivate not only a series of courses blending the two to the advantage of their own students but also a virtual pedagogical community to support efforts taking place elsewhere.

Infographic: Career Competencies Of Erau Student-Athletes, Melanie Canfield, Leroy Long Iii, James J. Pembridge

Publications

This infographic includes five word clouds containing the perceived career competencies of student-athletes at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU). Embry-Riddle is a mid-sized private Southeastern university that competes in the Sunshine State Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division II. Findings from one-on-one interviews with 16 current or past ERAU student-athletes led to the creation of the infographic's five word clouds. Among ERAU student-athletes, the most commonly perceived career competencies are a) career preparation, b) professionalism, c) communication and d) collaboration.

Infographic: Stem And Medical Careers Related To Sports, Melanie Canfield, Leroy Long Iii

Publications

This infographic includes science, technology, engineering, math and medical (STEMM) careers related to sports. The targeted audience for the infographic is college counselors, professors, coaches and student-athletes who pursue STEMM degrees while playing a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sport. The infographic may also be useful to K-12 students, parents, teachers and coaches. A job description, average salary, and undergraduate major are listed for a variety of careers such as data scientist, video game designer, sports engineer, sports economist, physical therapist, and mental health clinician.

Asynchronous Electronic Feedback For Faculty Peer Review: Formative Feedback That Makes A Difference, Chad Rohrbacher

Publications

This case study at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach campus (ERAU-DB) describes the process of facilitating a faculty peer observation model that uses asynchronous electronic feedback through the Teaching Partners program offered by the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE). This practical, hybrid model of peer observation builds on practices found in current models and uses digital recording and web-based software to encourage faculty feedback that will positively impact their pedagogical practice. The results of this study suggest to truly cultivate a dialogue between faculty and/or education developer in the process, the goals should be clearly stated, the …

Stem And Sustainability: Creating Aviation Professional Change Agents, P. Clark, Doreen Mcgunagle, L. Zizka

Publications

With the evolution of the workforce and the growing needs of the aviation industry, a clear need for concrete sustainability initiatives and actions have emerged. Sustainability in this sense becomes a matter of survival. For this reason, in this chapter, we will attempt to close three gaps in current sustainability studies: Theory vs practice, intention vs behavior, and education vs workplace.

Our purpose is to develop a ‘simple’ strategy for integrating all three pillars of sustainability into STEM HE programs that create authentic engagement and real buy-in from the students that are then replicated in the workplace. Based on the …

Arriving At A Better Answer: A Decision Matrix For Science Lab Course Format, Emily K. Faulconer, Laura S. Faulconer, James R. Hanamean

Publications

At first glance, scientific laboratory experiences might appear to be challenging to move to the cloud. Skeptics may point to sensory feedback limitations and inequivalence of student outcomes. However, emerging data increasingly provide evidence that scientific laboratory courses are not only amenable to online learning, but also can deliver student outcomes at or above traditional in-person courses. In identifying a science lab format, each institution weighs factors like lab course goals, budget, program growth, access, and safety. This article presents a single case study and a decision matrix for how one institution informed their choice for the modality of a …

In Support Of Scholarly Teaching, Emily K. Faulconer

Publications

Whether you are a college science teacher who has embraced education as a second discipline or you are teaching science teachers, the SoTL (scholarship of teaching and learning) and DBER (discipline-based educational research) publications are key resources to support your scholarly teaching, providing actionable ideas for your classroom.

Undergraduate Research For Online Students, Emily K. Faulconer, Amy B. Gruss

Publications

Since the term “high impact educational prac-tices” (HIPs) was coined in 2008, it comes up often in SoTL research and professional devel-opment. Undergraduate research is one of the commonly listed HIPs. The profes sional and personal benefits to studentsP are numerous, including increased perAsistence, self-confi-dence, career preparation, enhanced mentori©ng relationships, development of transferable skills, networking opportunities, and balancing of intellectual independence and collaboration skills (Council on Undergraduate Research, 2017; Lopatto, 2006, 2010; Madan & Teitge, 2013).

Infographic: Stem All-Stars, Mckenna James, Leroy Long Iii

Publications

In this infographic, professional athletes with degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) are displayed. For a variety of sports, the achievements, awards, and degrees of professional athletes are shown. Each of these professional athletes prove that students can study STEM while also being a successful athlete. Whether they studied mathematics, psychology, or aerospace engineering, these athletes from various racial/ethnic backgrounds rose to the challenge and achieved greatness in the classroom and in their sport. Due to the lack of female professional sports, the representation of professional female athletes is not shown. This infographic is meant to encourage youth …

The Privilege Against Cellphone Incrimination, Bryan H. Choi

Publications

No abstract provided.

Crashworthy Code, Bryan H. Choi

Publications

Code crashes. Yet for decades, software failures have escaped scrutiny for tort liability. Those halcyon days are numbered: self-driving cars, delivery drones, networked medical devices, and other cyber-physical systems have rekindled interest in understanding how tort law will apply when software errors lead to loss of life or limb.

Even after all this time, however, no consensus has emerged. Many feel strongly that victims should not bear financial responsibility for decisions that are entirely automated, while others fear that cyber-physical manufacturers must be shielded from crushing legal costs if we want such companies to exist at all. Some insist the …

Powerful Speakers And Their Listeners, Helen Norton

Publications

In certain settings, law sometimes puts listeners first when their First Amendment interests collide with speakers’. And collide they often do. Sometimes speakers prefer to tell lies when their listeners thirst for the truth. Sometimes listeners hope that speakers will reveal their secrets, while those speakers resist disclosure. And at still other times, speakers seek to address certain listeners when those listeners long to be left alone. When speakers’ and listeners’ First Amendment interests collide, whose interests should prevail? Law sometimes – but not always – puts listeners’ interests first in settings outside of public discourse where those listeners have …

Negotiating The Lender Of Last Resort: The 1913 Federal Reserve Act As A Debate Over Credit Distribution, Nadav Orian Peer

Publications

“Lending of last resort” is one of the key powers of central banks. As a lender of last resort, the Federal Reserve (the “Fed”) famously supports commercial banks facing distressed liquidity conditions, thereby mitigating destabilizing bank runs. Less famously, lender-of-last-resort powers also influence the distribution of credit among different groups in society and therefore have high stakes for economic inequality. The Fed’s role as a lender of last resort witnessed an unprecedented expansion during the 2007–2009 Crisis when the Fed invoked emergency powers to lend to a new set of borrowers known as “shadow banks”. The decision proved controversial and …

The Right To Explanation, Explained, Margot E. Kaminski

Publications

Many have called for algorithmic accountability: laws governing decision-making by complex algorithms, or AI. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) now establishes exactly this. The recent debate over the right to explanation (a right to information about individual decisions made by algorithms) has obscured the significant algorithmic accountability regime established by the GDPR. The GDPR’s provisions on algorithmic accountability, which include a right to explanation, have the potential to be broader, stronger, and deeper than the preceding requirements of the Data Protection Directive. This Essay clarifies, largely for a U.S. audience, what the GDPR actually requires, incorporating recently released …

The Architecture Of Drama: How Lawyers Can Use Screenwriting Techniques To Tell More Compelling Stories, Teresa M. Bruce

Publications

Hollywood writers have a secret. They know how to tell a compelling story—so compelling that the top-grossing motion pictures rake in millions, and sometimes billions, of dollars. How do they do it? They use a simple formula involving three acts that propel the story forward, three "plot points" that focus on the protagonist, and two "pinch points" that focus on the adversary. The attached Article argues that lawyers should build their stories in the same way Hollywood writers do. It deconstructs the storytelling formula used in movies and translates it into an IRAC-like acronym, SCOR. Attorneys who use SCOR will …

Drugs' Other Side Effects, Craig J. Konnoth

Publications

Drugs often induce unintended, adverse physiological reactions in those that take them—what we commonly refer to as “side-effects.” However, drugs can produce other, broader, unintended, even non-physiological harms. For example, some argue that taking Truvada, a drug that prevents HIV transmission, increases promiscuity and decreases condom use. Expensive Hepatitis C treatments threaten to bankrupt state Medicaid programs. BiDil, which purported to treat heart conditions for self-identified African-Americans, has been criticized for reifying racial categories. Although the Food & Drug Administration (“FDA”) has broad discretion under the Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics Act (“FDCA”) to regulate drugs, it generally considers only traditional …

Musical Source Separation: An Introduction, Estefania Cano

Publications

No abstract provided.

A Simple Graphene Nh3 Gas Sensor Via Laser Direct Writing, Dezhi Wu, Qianqian Peng, Shan Wu, Guangshun Wang, Lei Deng, Huiling Tai, Lingyun Wang, Yajie Yang, Linxi Dong, Yang Zhao, Jinbao Zhao, Daoheng Sun, Liwei Lin

Publications

Ammonia gas sensors are very essential in many industries and everyday life. However, their complicated fabrication process, severe environmental fabrication requirements and desorption of residual ammonia molecules result in high cost and hinder their market acceptance. Here, laser direct writing is used to fabricate three parallel porous 3D graphene lines on a polyimide (PI) tape to simply construct an ammonia gas sensor. The middle one works as an ammonia sensing element and the other two on both sides work as heaters to improve the desorption performance of the sensing element to ammonia gas molecules. The graphene lines were characterized by …

Fiber Element-Based Nonlinear Analysis Of Concrete Bridge Piers With Consideration Of Permanent Displacement, Mokhtar Ansari, Farhad Daneshjoo, Amir Safiey, Naser Safaeian Hamzehkolaei, Maryam Sorkhou

Publications

Utilization of fiber beam-column element has gained considerable attention in recent years due mainly to its ability to model distributed plasticity over the length of the element through a number of integration points. However, the relatively high sensitivity of the method to modeling parameters as well as material behavior models can pose a significant challenge. Residual drift is one of the seismic demands which is highly sensitive to modeling parameters and material behavior models. Permanent deformations play a prominent role in the post-earthquake evaluation of serviceability of bridges affected by a near- fault ground shaking. In this research, the influence …

Integrated Health Monitoring And Reinforcement Of Transportation Structures With Optimized Low-Cost Multifunctional Braided Cables, Ibrahim Karaman, Darren Hartl

Publications

The objective of this research study is to design, fabricate, and characterize multifunctional high strength and self-sensing braided cables and structures using novel Fe-based shape memory alloys (SMAs). The system exploits unique properties of recently developed low-cost super-elastic FeMnAlNi SMAs, which enables excellent super-elastic properties, high strength, and self-sensing in structural health monitoring (SHM) systems. This novel material technology can be coupled with modeling efforts that allow for accurate prediction of both the materials and structural response during sensing. At the conclusion of the project, we have demonstrated that with careful design of processing parameters, it is possible to control …

Investigating Problem Of Distracted Drivers On Louisiana Roadways, Xiaoduan Sun

Publications

Due to the escalating usage of cellphone and social networking, distracted driving is and will remain as one of the most serious problems faced by Departments of Transportation (DOTs) and law enforcement agencies. Under the aim of in-depth investigation of distracted driving crashes in Louisiana, the specific objectives of this study are: (1) reviewing the crash reports for the quality of distracted driving crash reporting, (2) analyzing distracted driving-related crashes through regression model and data mining algorithm to link the severity of distracted driving crashes with the contributing factors collected in crash data, (3) investigating the observable characteristics of distracted …

Population Demographics Of Sauger And Simulated Effects Of Minimum Length Limits In The Kaskaskia And Ohio Rivers, Gregory Whitledge, Kasey Seibert, Neil Rude, Devon Oliver, Alex Loubere, Justin Seibert

Publications

Sauger Sander canadensis are a popular sport fish native to large turbid midwestern rivers and are in decline across much of their range due to habitat loss and exploitation. Specifically, within the lower Kaskaskia and Ohio rivers, Sauger are managed under different harvest regulations and a knowledge gap exists regarding the current status of both populations as well as the effects of the harvest regulations on the size and age structures of both populations. We collected Sauger by nighttime boat electrofishing during early winter 2014–2016 and used otoliths to age all fish. Sauger stocks in both rivers exhibited fast growth …

Standardization Roadmap For Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Version 1.0, Kristine Kiernan, Christian Janke, Kenneth Witcher

Publications

This Standardization Roadmap for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Version 1.0 (“roadmap”) represents the culmination of the UASSC’s work to identify existing standards and standards in development, assess gaps, and make recommendations for priority areas where there is a perceived need for additional standardization and/or pre-standardization R&D.

The roadmap has examined 64 issue areas, identified a total of 60 gaps and corresponding recommendations across the topical areas of airworthiness; flight operations (both general concerns and application-specific ones including critical infrastructure inspections, commercial services, and public safety operations); and personnel training, qualifications, and certification. Of that total, 40 gaps/recommendations have been identified as …

Relationship Between Road Network Characteristics And Traffic Safety, Hatim Sharif, Samer Dessouky

Publications

The Transportation and Capital Improvement of the City of San Antonio, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and other related agencies often make several efforts based on traffic data to improve safety at intersections, but the number of intersection crashes is still on the high side. There is no one size fits all solution for intersections and the City is often usually confronted with doing best value option analysis on different solutions to choose the least expensive yet more advancements. The goal of this project was to obtain the relationship between road network characteristics and public safety with a focus on …

Use Of Ultra-High-Performance Fiber-Reinforced Concrete (Uhp-Frc) For Fast And Sustainable Repair Of Pavements, Shih-Ho Chao

Publications

This research presents a new methodology, which enables streets, roads, highways, bridges, and airfields to use an advanced fiber-reinforced concrete material, which can delay or prevent the deterioration of these transportation infrastructure when subjected to traffic and environmental loadings. The major problem of concrete is its considerable deterioration and limited service life due to its brittleness and limited durability. As a result, it requires frequent repair and eventual replacement, which consumes more natural resources. Ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHP-FRC) introduces significant enhancement in the sustainability of concrete structures due to its dense microstructure and damage-tolerance characteristics. These characteristics can significantly reduce …

Simplified Approach For Structural Evaluation Of Flexible Pavements At The Network Level, Mena Souliman, Stefan Romanoschi, Samer Dessouky

Publications

Currently, there are few available simple procedures to identify structurally weak pavement sections utilizing Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) data at the network level (e.g., city, state or province). A simple method is required to determine the structural condition of pavement sections that can be directly implemented and automated in current pavement databases. The objective of this research study is to develop a simple analysis method to determine the structural condition of pavement sections utilizing the currently available non-destructive testing (NDT) deflection measurement devices at the network level that can be directly implemented and automated in the database of a typical …

A Comprehensive Reliability-Based Framework For Corrosion Damage Monitoring And Repair Design Of Reinforced Concrete Structures, Homero Castaneda, Aydin Karsilaya, Ayman Okeil, Mahmoud Reda Taha

Publications

In this work, we developed a comprehensive framework for corrosion management of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. This framework includes critical steps of an effective approach to quantify the damage evolution as well as providing the timeframe for effective maintenance/repair strategies for corrosion assessment in RC structures. The framework included several activities including the use of indirect and direct inspection tools, theoretical development for damage prediction, experimental measurements and theoretical development of repair time based on reliability. The uniqueness of the framework is the integration of deterministic modeling of corrosion damage evolution by using mechanistic analysis with statistical modeling on corrosion …