Education Commons^™

Developing Inquiry-Based Laboratory Exercises For A Mechanical Engineering Curriculum, Sriram Sundararajan, Leann E. Faidley, Terrence R. Meyer

Terrence R Meyer

This paper describes the development of two inquiry-based experiments in a mechanical engineering curriculum at a land grant research-intensive university, aimed at providing students with the opportunity to design and perform experiments. One experiment in engineering measurements (system behavior) and one experiment in fluid dynamics were developed. In each case, students working on teams were posed with a scenario and question to answer. For example, in the system dynamics experiment, students were asked to verify that a thermal system and electrical system were mechanically equivalent systems. In the fluid dynamics experiment, students were asked to investigate drag coefficients for flow …

Work Integrated Learning In Stem In Australian Universities: Final Report: Submitted To The Office Of The Chief Scientist, Daniel Edwards, Kate Perkins, Jacob Pearce, Jennifer Hong

Dr Daniel Edwards

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) undertook this study for the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS). It explores the practice and application of Work Integrated Learning (WIL) in STEM, with a particular focus on natural and physical sciences, information technology, and agriculture departments in Australian universities. The project involved a detailed ‘stocktake’ of WIL in practice in these disciplines, with collection of information by interview, survey instruments, consultation with stakeholders and literature reviews. Every university in Australia was visited as part of this project, with interviews and consultation sessions gathering insight from more than 120 academics and support …

Work Integrated Learning In Stem In Australian Universities: Final Report: Submitted To The Office Of The Chief Scientist, Daniel Edwards, Kate Perkins, Jacob Pearce, Jennifer Hong

Dr Jacob Pearce

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) undertook this study for the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS). It explores the practice and application of Work Integrated Learning (WIL) in STEM, with a particular focus on natural and physical sciences, information technology, and agriculture departments in Australian universities. The project involved a detailed ‘stocktake’ of WIL in practice in these disciplines, with collection of information by interview, survey instruments, consultation with stakeholders and literature reviews. Every university in Australia was visited as part of this project, with interviews and consultation sessions gathering insight from more than 120 academics and support …

Improving Engineering Work And Study, Daniel Edwards, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

Daniel Edwards and Jacob Pearce discuss a study that explores the perceptions of the engineering workforce, including engineering education and barriers to participation and career advancement.

Focus Groups For Informing Awpa’S Engineering Workforce Study 2014: Final Report, Daniel Edwards, Jacob Pearce, Kate Perkins, Justin Brown

Dr Jacob Pearce

This report highlights the findings of a project undertaken by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) for the Australian Workplace and Productivity Agency (AWPA) that will contribute to a wider study of the Engineering Workforce. The project involved the development, coordination, implementation of focus groups and the reporting of outcomes in a way that generates first-hand information about the experiences and attitudes of specific groups of people in relation to the engineering labour market – women, mature-age workers and new graduates. The work here also explored the views of the next generation of engineers, gathering information from school students …

Using Theory To Improve Design Instruction In A New Common First-Year Programme For Engineers, Una Beagon, Ted Bruke, Shannon M. Chance, C. Fionnuala Farrell, John Mcgrory

Shannon M. Chance

We represent a group of lecturers teaching a design module in a new common first-year engineering programme, delivered for the first time in the 2014-5 academic year, which provides a single entry point for all honours Bachelor of Engineering majors at our institution. In this paper, we describe the rationale and format of the Design Projects module. We explain how we used theories by Crismond and Adams [1] in the module and what we observed in doing so. The Design Projects module comprises three separate group-based design projects. It has four weekly contact hours over the entire academic year and …

Influence Of Collaborative Learning On Women’S Experiences Of Engineering Education, Shannon M. Chance, Brian Bowe

Shannon M. Chance

In a study of 55 electrical engineering students, Yadav, et al., found learning gains among students in Project-Based Learning (PBL) to be twice the gains of those taking traditional lecture courses. Du and Kolmos indicate group based PBL is more supportive and appealing to women than traditional lecture formats. Savin-Baden posits that female and minority students are more likely to ask questions in non-competitive PBL environments. This study interrogates the claim that PBL is particularly supportive to female and minority students. This work-in-progress uses a phenomenological research methodology to investigate how collaborative learning (in formal as well as non-formal settings) …

Grassroots Or Returning To One’S Roots? Unpacking The Inception Of A Youth-Focused Community Makerspace, Victor R. Lee, Whitney L. King, Ryan Cain

Victor R Lee

In this paper, we describe the individuals and factors contributing to the emergence of a community makerspace in a small city in the United States. As research into how makerspaces have come into existence is still in a nascent stage, this single case study is intended to describe and highlight some of the complexities involved in creating such a facility. Based on analysis of onsite observations, interviews of adults connected with the space, and electronic communications, we present a story of how two co-founders of a youth-focused makerspace went from having initial interest in extracurricular activities for their own children …

Lib 3010 Spring 2015: Students Choose An Image To Represent Patent Searching, Jan Comfort

Jan Comfort

Lib 3010 Fall 2015: Students Choose An Image To Represent Patent Searching, Jan Comfort

Jan Comfort