Engineering Commons^™

Pso Scoring Instruction Guide, Adrian Gentry, Tiantian Li, Eric Holloway, Kerrie A. Douglas, Julie P. Martin

School of Engineering Education Working Papers

This document is a scoring guide to assist higher-education administrators, faculty, and researchers who wish to use the Professional Skills Opportunities instrument (PSO). There are four aspects, or factors, that the PSO is intended to measure relative to engineering undergraduate students’ opportunities to practice professional skills and an overall PSO score. Detailed scoring instructions are provided. The PSO was developed to assess students’ opportunities to develop and practice a range of professional skills. Utilizing a rigorous instrument development process, the PSO was shown to be a tool that can reliably and validly be used to assess engineering undergraduate students' professional …

Climate Justice In Engineering Education, Tyler J. Morgan, Donna Riley, Caroline M. Camfield

Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship

The goal of this research is to design a learning module for Purdue first-year engineering (FYE) students to learn climate fundamentals, and the role of engineers in responding to climate justice challenges. There is a lack of climate material within these classes currently, leading to a lack of climate conscious engineers in the future. The project entailed reviewing and synthesizing a wide variety of previous research on climate change education in engineering, including key learning objectives and their assessment. Because one of the key foci of the first-year engineering sequence relates to data analysis and management, we focused our work …

Characterizing Students’ Engineering Design Strategies Using Energy3d, Jasmine Singh, Viranga Perera, Alejandra Magana, Brittany Newell

Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship

The goals of this study are to characterize design actions that students performed when solving a design challenge, and to create a machine learning model to help future students make better engineering design choices. We analyze data from an introductory engineering course where students used Energy3D, an open source computer-aided design software, to design a zero-energy home (i.e. a home that consumes no net energy over a period of a year). Student design actions within the software were recorded into text files. Using a sample of over 300 students, we first identify patterns in the data to assess how students …

The Influence Of Connecting Funds Of Knowledge To Beliefs About Performance, Classroom Belonging, Dina Verdín, Jessica Smith, Juan Lucena

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

First-generation college students in engineering accumulate bodies of knowledge through their working-class families. In our ethnographic data of first-generation college students, we identified tinkering knowledge from home and from work, perspective taking, mediational ability, and connecting experiences as knowledge sources brought to engineering. The purpose of this paper was to understand how first-generation college students’ accumulated bodies of knowledge (i.e., funds of knowledge) support their beliefs about performing well in engineering coursework, feeling a sense of belonging in the classroom, and certainty of graduating. Data for this study came from a survey administered in the Fall of 2018 from ten …

The Relationship Between Engineering Identity And Belongingness On Certainty Of Majoring In Engineering For First-Generation College Students, Dina Verdín, Allison Godwin

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

This paper seeks to understand the factors that support first-generation college students’ certainty of majoring in engineering. Data used in this study came from thirty-two four-year ABET- accredited institutions across the United States which has a total sample of 790 first-generation college students. We used the frameworks of engineering role identity and sense of belonging to understand the factors that influence first-generation college students’ certainty of majoring in engineering. Certainty is referred to as the degree of confidence or decisiveness an individual has with regard to their chosen occupational plans. First, we examine how first-generation college students’ engineering role identity …

Board 51: An Initial Step Towards Measuring First-Generation College Students’ Personal Agency: A Scale Validation, Dina Verdín, Allison Godwin

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

This research paper describes the development of a scale to measure how first-generation college students use engineering as a tool for making a difference in their community and world or personal agency. Personal agency is a capability that every individual holds; it is described by Bandura as an individual’s beliefs about their capabilities to exercise control over events that affect their lives through purposeful and reflective actions. Agentic actions allow students to explore, maneuver and impact their environment for the achievement of a goal or set of goals. This study identifies how cognitive processes of forethought, intention, reactivity, and reflection …

Eager: Broadening Participation Of First-Generation College Student, Jessica M. Smith, Dina Verdín, Juan C. Lucena

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

No abstract provided.

Recognizing Engineering Students’ Funds Of Knowledge: Creating And Validating Survey Measures, Dina Verdín, Jessica M. Smith, Juan Lucena

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

This research base paper examines students who are the first in their families to attend college. Our research seeks to understand the role students’ funds of knowledge makes in first-generation college students’ undergraduate experience. Funds of knowledge are the set of formal/informal knowledge and skills that students learn through family, friends, and communities outside of academic institutions. This paper reports funds of knowledge themes relevant to first-generation college students in engineering and the process of gathering validity evidence to support the funds of knowledge themes.

Using ethnographic and interview data, six themes emerged: connecting experiences, community networks, tinkering knowledge, perspective …

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 …

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 …

Why This Flip Wasn't A Flop: What The Numbers Don't Tell You About Flipped Classes, Heather Noel Fedesco, Troy Cary

IMPACT Publications

This paper details the conversion of a large, required Civil Engineering fluid mechanics course into a more student-centered, active learning-oriented course through the flipping of one lecture per week. In the flipped class, students collaboratively solve homework problems in groups while receiving “expert” feedback from instructors and TAs. To offset the lost lectures, some course material that has been delivered in traditional lectures has been placed online in the form of short videos and textbook readings, with low-stakes quizzes for assessment.

Student learning gains were quantitatively assessed by comparing quiz and final exam scores for three semesters (1 pre-flip and …

Work In Progress: Rigorously Assessing The Anecdotal Evidence Of Increased Student Persistence In An Active, Blended, And Collaborative Mechanical Engineering Environment, Jennifer Deboer, Nick Stites, Edward J. Berger, Jeffrey F. Rhoads, Charles Morton Krousgrill, David B. Nelson, Craig Zywicki, David A. Evenhouse

Freeform Publications

This work in progress describes an ongoing study of an active, blended, and collaborative (ABC) course environment used in a core mechanical engineering course. This course has built on the growing body of literature citing active learning (Freeman et al., 2014), blended structures (Bowen & Ithaka, 2012), and collaborative engagement (Jeong & Chi, 2007) as positive influences on college and university science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) outcomes. For the last six years, “Dynamics”, a core mechanical engineering course at a large public university, has utilized in-class activities, frequently-watched problem-solving videos, and a collaborative blog space to realize an ABC …

Peer Evaluation Of Team Member Effectiveness As A Formative Educational Intervention, Nathan Mentzer, Dawn Laux, Angelika Zissimopoulos, K. Andrew R. Richards

IMPACT Publications

Peer evaluation of team member effectiveness is often used to complement cooperative learning in the classroom, by holding students accountable for their team contributions. Drawing on the tenants of self-determination theory, this study investigated the impacts of formative peer evaluation in university level team-based design projects. The hypothesis was that the introduction of formative peer evaluation cycles would result in a more student-centered learning climate, increased competence, reduced doubt, and improved student learning. Two semesters were compared in this quasi-experimental study where results of peer evaluation became modifiers to students’ grades in the final project. In only one of the …

Analyzing An Abbreviated Dynamics Concept Inventory And Its Role As An Instrument For Assessing Emergent Learning Pedagogies, Nick Stites, David A. Evenhouse, Mariana Tafur, Charles Morton Krousgrill, Craig Zywicki, Angelika N. Zissimopoulos, David B. Nelson, Jennifer Deboer, Jeffrey F. Rhoads, Edward J. Berger

Freeform Publications

The Dynamics Concept Inventory (DCI) is a validated assessment tool commonly used to evaluate student growth within core, gateway-level mechanics courses. This research explored the evaluative use of this tool within the context of Freeform – an emergent course system that buttresses active class meetings with blended and collaborative virtual learning environments, themselves founded upon extensive multimedia content and interactive forums – at Purdue University. The paper specifically considers a number of related issues including: (i) the thoughtful development (via expert content validation) and statistical reliability of an abbreviated DCI instrument, which is more amenable to in-class implementation than the …

Assessing Impact Of Exposure To Cyberphysical Systems On Student Interest In Information Technology Careers, Mayari I. Serrano Anazco

Purdue Polytechnic Masters Theses

The main purpose of this project is to determine if the use of Information Technology (IT) tools, specifically cyberphysical devices, in outreach sessions will promote interest of young individuals in pursuing IT careers. The Diversity office of Purdue’s College of Technology offers a number of outreach sessions to a variety of target populations throughout the year. Each department in the college has an opportunity to present a session related to a field of study offered by the department. The research was carried out thru the Spring 2015 semester during the DOiT and Vision outreach programs offered through the college’s Diversity …

Adventures In Paragraph Writing: The Development And Refinement Of Scalable And Effective Writing Exercises For Large-Enrollment Engineering Courses, Rebecca R. Essig, Cary David Troy, Brent K. Jesiek, Josh Boyd, Natascha Michele Trellinger

IMPACT Publications

Adventures in paragraph writing: the development and refinement of scalable and effective writing exercises for large enrollment engineering courses. The ability to communicate effectively is a highly desirable attribute for today’s graduating engineers. Additionally, the inclusion of communication components in technical courses has been shown to enhance learning of technical content and can be leveraged to satisfy non-technical learning outcomes. However, the incorporation of such components in undergraduate engineering curricula remains challenging due to resource limitations, credit hour crunches, and other issues. This paper presents the design considerations and preliminary results from our ongoing work to create an effective, transferrable, …

Factors Of Group Design Decision Making, Andrew Jackson, Nathan Mentzer, Angelika N. Zissimopoulos

IMPACT Publications

Design is a decision-making process. Designers make decisions between alternative solutions,decisions about feasibility of individual solutions, decisions about narrowing or broadening the problem scope. They also make logistical decision about when teams will meet, how decisions will be made. Recent analysis of high school student design activities revealed that groups and individuals are not spending much time on decision processes and it can be assumed that the faculties of beginning college students are in a similar vein. In the past year changes were made to a freshman level design thinking course to improve student approaches to decision making.Accompanying these changes, …

Why Do Indiana Pre-Service Technology Education Majors Choose The Profession, Traves L. Freeland

Purdue Polytechnic Masters Theses

The purpose of this descriptive study was to look at the factors that influence pre-service technology education majors to choose to become teachers. The pre-service teachers of three Indiana technology education teacher preparatory programs were given an internet survey to collect demographic data and determine what factors influence current pre-service teachers. The results of this study were compared to the results from a study done by Harris (2007). The findings resulted in similar factors that were the most common identified as being influential. Those factors included personal interest or hobbies, high school or middle school teacher, and past experiences in …

Theoretical Foundations For Effective Stem Learning Environments, Aran W. Glancy, Tamara J. Moore

School of Engineering Education Working Papers

No abstract provided.

Intelligent Shelter Allotment For Emergency Evacuation Planning: A Case Study Of Makkah, Kwangsoo Yang, Faizan Ur Rehman, Hatim Lahza, Saleh Basalamah, Shashi Shekhar, Arif Ghafoor

Cyber Center Technical Reports

Given maps of an evacuee population, shelter destinations and a transportation
network, the goal of intelligent shelter allotment (ISA) is to assign routes, exits and shelters to evacuees for quick and safe evacuation. ISA is societally important due to emergency planning and response applications in context of hazards such as floods, terrorism, fire, etc. ISA is challenging due to conflicts between movements of evacuee-groups heading to different shelters and transportation-network choke-points. State of the practice based on Nearest Exit or Shelter (NES) paradigm addresses the former challenge but not the latter one leading to load-imbalance and slow evacuation. Recent computational …

Sustainable Purchasing Practices: An Investigation Into Current Industry Awareness And Practice., Francis X. Palisi

Purdue Polytechnic Masters Theses

This research study illustrates the growing importance of sustainable purchasing practices and answers two important questions: what is the current awareness of U.S. organizations on sustainable purchasing practices with regards to evaluating, selecting, and retaining suppliers and to what extent are these practices being implemented? The research conducted is based upon an in-depth literature review of green purchasing and sustainability initiatives. With an ever increasing global economy with no intention of slowing down it is ever important to look towards sustainability practices and the biggest impact organizations can make is in the purchasing department. The researcher begins by explaining their …

How Much Do U.S. University Students Know, And Want To Know, About Sustainability And Green Building? The Findings Of A Survey, And Possible Implications For General Elective Curricula., Jeremy R. Farner

Purdue Polytechnic Masters Theses

Using the survey approach, this investigation examined the attitudes and interest of college students at two universities in different geographic locations within the United States. Approximately 24,000 students from all disciplines and majors at Weber State University (WSU) in Utah, and 4,000 at Purdue University in Indiana, were invited to participate in a study to determine current knowledge, familiarity, and interest in topics within the sustainability and Green Building educational arena. The goal of this study was to determine what students already know, would like to know, and how much interest there would be in developing …

How Do Millennial Engineering And Technology Students Experience Learning Through Traditional Teaching Methods Employed In The University Setting?, Elizabeth A. Howard

Department of Computer Graphics Technology Degree Theses

The purpose of the study was to document and analyze how Millennial engineering and technology students experience learning in large lecture classrooms. To help achieve this purpose, perceptions Millennials have toward traditional teaching methods employed in large lecture classes were analyzed and discussed. Additionally, this study documented how Millennials experienced technology within large lecture classrooms. A learning model depicting how Millennials experience learning within the large lecture classroom was created based on the results of this study. This model employed three separate tools utilized within the large lecture classroom. These tools: Lecture, Technology, and Homework, work together to synthesize learning …

How Much Do U.S. University Students Know, And Want To Know, About Sustainability And Green Building? The Findings Of A Survey, And Possible Implications For General Elective Curriculum., Jeremy R. Farner

Purdue Polytechnic Masters Theses

Using the survey approach, this investigation examined the attitudes and interest of college students at two universities in different geographic locations within the United States. Approximately 24,000 students from all disciplines and majors at Weber State University (WSU) in Utah, and 4,000 at Purdue University in Indiana, were invited to participate in a study to determine current knowledge, familiarity, and interest in topics within the sustainability and Green Building educational arena. The goal of this study was to determine what students already know, would like to know, and how much interest there would be in developing …

Library Scholars Grant Presentation, Brent K. Jesiek

Library Scholars Grant Program

The primary goal of this project is to document the historical development of computer engineering as a distinct academic discipline and professional specialty in the United States, from the origins of the field in the 1940s to the early 2000s. My research is more specifically focused on three main contexts: a) the computer industry, b) professional organizations and sub-groups, and c) academic departments, degree programs, and curricula.