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Introducing New Engineering Students To Mechanical Concepts Through An “Energy Cube” Project, Micheal P. O'Flaherty, Shannon Chance, Fionnuala Farrell, Chris Montague
Introducing New Engineering Students To Mechanical Concepts Through An “Energy Cube” Project, Micheal P. O'Flaherty, Shannon Chance, Fionnuala Farrell, Chris Montague
Shannon M. Chance
The objective of this paper is to describe a problem based learning module, called the “Energy Cube”, offered by Dublin Institute of Technology that is designed to teach mechanical, building services and manufacturing engineering concepts to first year engineering students. The Energy Cube project gives students hands-on experience in areas ranging from heat transfer, lighting and energy efficiency to industrial and product design. In the Energy Cube, students design and construct (using cardboard, clear plastic, and glue) a model of a building that admits as much daylight as possible while being energy efficient and aesthetically pleasing. The students, working in …
Faculty Role Integration And Community Engagement: Harmony Or Cacophony?, Alan H. Bloomgarden, Kerryann O'Meara
Faculty Role Integration And Community Engagement: Harmony Or Cacophony?, Alan H. Bloomgarden, Kerryann O'Meara
KerryAnn O'Meara
Colleges and universities that aim to sustain or expand community partnerships and institutionalize civic engagement face important faculty challenges. Faculty adoption of community-based pedagogies and research approaches, in turn, faces important practical and conceptual barriers, as engagement activities appear in competition with expected teaching, research, and service roles. Semi-structured interviews with 29 faculty members at one private liberal arts college, all of whom engaged in teaching, research, and/or service in their local community within a broadly supportive institutional environment, explored whether and how faculty achieved integration among teaching, research achievement. Findings reveal three faculty orientations toward integration of teaching, research, …
Stepping Up: How One Faculty Learning Community Influenced Faculty Members' Understanding And Use Of Active-Learning Methods And Course Design, Kerryann O'Meara
Stepping Up: How One Faculty Learning Community Influenced Faculty Members' Understanding And Use Of Active-Learning Methods And Course Design, Kerryann O'Meara
KerryAnn O'Meara
The author assesses what effects the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Teacher Education Collaborative (STEMTEC) Faculty Fellows learning community program had over the course of an academic year on fellows' familiarity with and use of active-learning methods and course design. Based on surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, and analysis of portfolios, the study concludes that the program had significant positive effects on participants' familiarity with and use of active-learning methods. Evidence suggests that fellows made substantial changes to their courses to improve student learning. The author discusses how changes occurred, how they might be linked to improved student learning, and …