Engineering Commons^™

Teaching Analytics Online: A Self-Study Of Professional Practice, Andrew J. Collins, Brandon Butler, James F. Leathrum Jr., Christopher J. Lynch

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

As the COVID-19 pandemic caused severe disruption to education enterprises throughout the world, the main response by educational institutions was to move to online learning environments. The purpose of this study was to understand better how instructors could improve online learning for a professional-level week-long short course in a highly technical area (data analytics), which had, pre-COVID, been a hands-on computer, laboratory-based learning experience. The authors used self-study of professional practice to elicit and understand the major issues and concerns of the transition to an online learning environment. Under the guidance of a colleague in teacher education, three course instructors …

Informal Learning As Opportunity For Competency Development And Broadened Engagement In Engineering, Madeline Polmear, Shannon Chance, Roger Hadgraft, Corrinne Shaw

Books/Book chapters

Informal learning is increasingly being recognized as a way to complement the formal curriculum within engineering and provide additional opportunities for competency development while engaging diverse students. Learning about engineering occurs throughout life, via experiential and spontaneous opportunities that inform our understandings of the world. Learning is not confined to the engineering curriculum and class time but, rather, continues informally and implicitly throughout the daily lives and activities of university students. Often framed in contrast to formal learning, informal learning is more as it represents a significant portion of students’ time and effort and contributes to their persistence, competence development, …

Enhancing Online Hands-On Learning In Engineering Education: Student Perceptions And Recommendations, Dalya Ismael

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Designing effective online engineering courses that include hands-on components or labs requires a thorough understanding of student perspectives and the development of strategies to improve learning outcomes. Despite the growing number of studies on online learning, little information exists on the unique challenges engineering students face in hands-on courses. To address this gap, this study used a questionnaire to gather engineering students’ perspectives on course design and delivery. The findings highlight the challenges faced by students in online engineering courses with hands-on components, such as difficulty in collaborating with peers. To address these challenges, recommendations are proposed, such as incorporating …

Integration Of Omnet++ Into A Networking Course In An Electrical Engineering Technology Program, Murat Kuzlu, Brian Emmanuel Tamayo, Salih Sarp, Otilia Popescu, Vukica M. Jovanovic

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Networking courses are an integral part of electrical engineering technology programs as the majority of electronics in the modern day are required to communicate with each other. They are also getting more attention in manufacturing engineering technology programs because of the development of emerging technologies in Industry 4.0 arena. From laptops, computers, cellphones, modern day vehicles and smart refrigerators, these devices require a certain level of networking in order to communicate with other devices, whether it be locally, or even across the other side of the world. The objective of networking courses in an electrical engineering program is to demonstrate …

Perceived Factors Contributing To The Subjective Wellbeing Of Undergraduate Engineering Students: An Exploratory Study, Muhammad Asghar, Angela Minichiello, Assad Iqbal

Engineering Education Student Research

Engineering education is perceived to be a tough field of study with detrimental effects on the mental health of undergraduate engineering students. High levels of anxiety and depression are reported among this population. Overall, mental health research is often biased toward looking at mental health from a deficit perspective and investigating mental health as a negative phenomenon. This trend also persists in engineering education research. The purpose of this exploratory study, therefore, is to investigate the condition of subjective wellbeing (SWB) of undergraduate engineering students to understand the factors that they perceive as positively contributing to their overall wellbeing in …

Undergraduate Engineering And Education Students Reflect On Their Interdisciplinary Teamwork Experiences Following Transition To Virtual Instruction Caused By Covid-19, Kristie S. Gutierrez, Jennifer J. Kidd, Min Jung Lee, Pilar Pazos, Krishnanand Kaipa, Stacie I. Ringleb, Orlando Ayala

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This study explores undergraduate engineering and education students’ perspectives on their interdisciplinary teams throughout the rapid transition to online learning and instruction from a face-to-face to a virtual format. In this qualitative study, students’ reflections and focus groups from three interdisciplinary collaborations were analyzed using the lens of Social Cognitive Theory. COVID-19 created a dramatic change in the environment such that the most immediate and direct impact on students’ experiences was on the environmental aspects of Bandura’s triadic reciprocal determinism model, which then triggered behavioral and personal responses to adapt to the new environment. Subsequent evidence of reciprocal effects between …

Laying The Foundation For Education 4.0: Access, Value And Accountability, Jennifer Karlin, L. Eric James, Lauren Singelmann, Dan Ewert

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

The complexity of the global problems engineers are working to solve has long been discussed in both engineering and engineering education circles. The Grand Challenges for Engineering are grand because of the complexity of the challenges. While the challenges stand over a decade later, the speed at which the terms in which they are described, the shift from Industry 3.0 to Industry 4.0, has been slow. As the world becomes more deeply connected, as the internet of things becomes more commonplace in all parts of our lives, as technologies like machine learning and cyber physical systems become accessible to even …

Complexity In The Classroom Workshop: Teaching And Learning The Cynefin Framework By Applying It To The Classroom, Jennifer Karlin, L. Eric James, Lauren Singlelmann

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

Complex adaptive systems are both an important fundamental principle in systems engineering education and a reality of all engineering education. The Cynefin framework, as created by Snowden and Boone (2007), is a decision-making tool that helps the engineer recognize the type of system within which they are operating and then respond in a manner that is appropriate for the cause-and-effect relationships associated with that system type. The types of system, or the domains, fall into five categories and their liminal spaces: obvious, where the cause-and-effect relationships are clear to everyone involved; complicated, where the cause-and-effect relationships are clear to those …

A Multi-Decade Response To The Call For Change, Bart Johnson, Ron Ulseth, Mike Raich

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

Engineering and society have always been intertwined, especially with the accepted realization of technology's significant and rapidly increasing influence on the evolution of society. As a profession, engineering has a vital role in sustainably meeting needs and exploring opportunities that are ever changing and evolving. As societal and industry needs have evolved, engineering education itself has raised the call several times for evolving the way engineers are educated; however, the recent history of engineering education is, overall, one of missed opportunities. This was brought to a headline recently as ASEE leadership authored an article entitled “Stuck in 1955, Engineering Education …

An Integrated Engineering Model For Advising, Rebecca Bates, Catherine Mcgough Spence, Darcie Christensen, Robert Sleezer, Jodi Nelson, Ryan Walerius, Rachael Johnson

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

This evidence-based practice paper describes the theoretical foundations of the supportive advising practices used by the Integrated Engineering Department (IE) at Minnesota State University, Mankato. The driving motivation for the advising model is to support the development of student engineers as whole people. Generally in academia, faculty in traditional professor roles serve as formal advisors, mentors, facilitators, evaluators, and coaches and are joined by full-time staff that serve in roles to support student development. Integrated Engineers at Minnesota State University, Mankato are supported to become the engineer they want to be. This paper describes the unique model employed by IE …

Examination Of Ableist Educational Systems And Structures That Limit Access To Engineering Education Through Narratives, Marissa Tsugawa, Brady Webster, Sakshi Solanki, Autumn Cuellar, Catherine Mcgough Spence

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

The purpose of this paper is to examine how higher education systems limit access to engineering education for disabled and neurodivergent engineering students. Throughout this paper we will discuss ableism in higher education systems. Particularly, U.S. institutions and education are designed for non-disabled and neurotypical people rather than with accessibility for all despite legal efforts to improve access to education. We also provide two narratives from the authors that describe their experiences with having a disability and being neurodivergent in engineering education. Finally, we suggest other paradigms and methodologies engineering education researchers can utilize when conducting research on disability and …

A Community Framing Of Integrated Engineering, Rebecca Bates, Susan Lord, Emanuela Tilley, Jenna Carpenter

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

The term “integrated engineering” is being used in new education programs. As a framing concept, we believe it has value for the wider engineering education community. A small group of program heads has facilitated conversations about how integrated engineering could benefit other programs and the community in general. This paper provides background and describes some of the outcomes of past conversations with the goal of including more voices in the conversation and initializing the formal use of integrated engineering as a prompt for improving engineering education.

Building Partnerships To Bridge The Transfer Gap And Increase Student Success, Cody Mann, Andrew Hanegmon, Anthony Venditto, Katherine Ulseth, Frankie Wood-Black, Liz Cox, Michelle Soledad

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

Transfer partnerships continue to be one of the most critical elements of student success. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the bridges and transfer gaps from a two-year college to a university and respect the value of the support and knowledge students are currently receiving at their community college, from the context of the practices and experiences of Iron Range Engineering - Bell. The transfer process, afterall, can be daunting to some students who plan to transition from a community college to a university to finish a Bachelor’s degree. Iron Range Engineering - Bell is a unique, co-op …

Interpreting Multi-Stage Teaching And Learning Initiatives For Mechanical Engineering Students - A Knowledge Management Perspective For Students, Kevin Delaney, Ger Nagle, Mingzhu Chen

Conference papers

Encouraging students to “think differently”, to “think like an engineer”, to “just solve the problem” is challenging and depends upon many factors such as the prior learning and experiences of the particular students involved. Sometimes it is difficult to convince students to really engage with activities outside their own comfort zones if they cannot see the potential benefits that might accrue through such engagement.

This paper describes a paradigm, inspired by knowledge management, which the authors have used to explain the importance of engaging with teaching and learning activities to undergraduate students. More importantly it helps these students to understand …

Flipping The Digital Switch: Affective Responses Of Stem Undergraduates To Emergency Remote Teaching During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Angela Minichiello, Oenardi Lawanto, Wade Goodridge, Assad Iqbal, Muhammad Asghar

Engineering Education Student Research

The Corona Virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) catalyzed a global shift to distance education known as an emergency transition to remote teaching (ERT). While prior research investigates students' experiences during traditional online learning, fewer studies examine students' affective responses (i.e., feelings, emotions) to those experiences, particularly when remote learning is unexpected and unplanned. To understand how science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduates responded affectively to the COVID-19 ERT, researchers generated open-ended survey data with 1340 undergraduates (253 female) in 27 courses across seven U.S. institutions. Using an inductive qualitative approach, researchers developed a three-tier thematic model to synthesize the self-reported reasons …

Secondary Science Teachers’ Curricular Use Of Ngss Engineering Practices, Elizabeth Hasseler, Amy Tankersley, Ana M. Rivero, Lyrica L. Lucas, Elizabeth B. Lewis

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

We investigated how often teachers integrated engineering into science lessons to address Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) performance expectations using data from a multi-year study of secondary science teachers. Only 7.14% of middle school (MS) lessons contained engineering practices. Engineering was included in lessons for students to apply or support the learning of scientific content.

Presider: Amy Tankersley

Mentoring Prospective Engineering Students Through The After School Program "Girls In Engineering" Focused On Building An Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle, Vukica M. Jovanović, Deborah Marshall, Jeff Warren Larson Jr., Abdul Rahman Badawi, Neil R. Stclair, Otilia Popescu, Murat Kuzlu, Petros J. Katsioloudis, Linda Vahala, Michael Anthony Crespo

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

A number of studies by engineering education researchers have pointed out that all-female teams, rather than mixed teams, result in better forms of participation and interaction in engineering related after-school programs and clubs. In particular, for after-school programs or clubs that form in response to a STEM competition, all-female teams have better chances of developing. One such competition, which will be discussed in this paper, is a regional Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) competition in which students from Blind_Review High School have been participating for many years.For each year’s competition, an all-female team of students enrolled in the Career and …

Facilitating Veteran And Adult Students' Learning And Retention In Engineering: Faculty-Student Partnership - A Model Of An Evidence-Based Practice, Kim E. Bullington, Anthony Dean, Cynthia Tomovic, Vukica M. Jovanović, Rafael E. Landaeta

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

With the growing number of adult and military veterans entering higher education, it is important to understand and incorporate the basics of andragogy in curriculum, course development, and the learning environment to facilitate learning and degree completion. Researchers in this S-STEM project funded by the NSF share observations of a student-faculty partnership that resulted from the development of a formal learning community. A series of targeted seminars were conducted that appear to have increased adult and military veteran engineering and technology students’ levels of connectedness and self-efficacy. Results of this pilot study are shared as an evidence-based practice to enhance …

Here You Have To Be Mixing: Collaborative Learning On An Engineering Program In Ireland As Experienced By A Group Of Young Middle Eastern Women, Shannon Chance, Bill Williams

Articles

This research project uses grounded theory to analyze interviews conducted with eight women from Oman and Kuwait. Members of the sample group were studying together at an institute of technology in Dublin, Ireland. The paper reports patterns in 15 interviews collected in the years 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 to provide a longitudinal overview of the experience of the learners. During the coding process, three major themes emerged having to do with the experience of learning with others and/or learning in groups. The first theme involved communication within the group and the group's approaches to working together. The second identified …

Enhancing Preservice Teachers' Intention To Integrate Engineering Through A Multi-Disciplinary Partnership (Evaluation), Francisco Cima, Pilar Pazos, Jennifer Jill Kidd, Kristie S. Gutierrez, Stacie I. Ringleb, Orlando M. Ayala, Krishnanand Kaipa

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Driven by the need to broaden participation and increase recruitment in STEM fields, considerable efforts are underway to promote the infusion of engineering into elementary and secondary grade levels. The benefits of engineering education and the strong support from professional and educational groups are well documented, yet the actual integration of engineering content in the K-12 setting remains a challenge. Pre-college educator programs that train future teachers are a natural target for the integration efforts. Although elementary educators recognize the importance of integrating engineering in their classrooms, they often lack the confidence to teach engineering content. The absence of effective …

Standards For Technological And Engineering Literacy: Addressing Trends And Issues Facing Technology And Engineering Education, Johnny J. Moye, Philip A. Reed

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The article offers information on addressing trends and issues facing technology and engineering education. It mentions future challenges, students need to "have a broad conceptual understanding of technology and its place in society, enabling them to be active participants in the technological world and careful creators and users of technology.

Designing A Week-Long Biomedical Engineering Summer Camp To Increase Young Students’ Interest And Self-Efficacy In Stem, Kayla Ney

Honors Theses

In order to combat the negative feelings many young students have towards STEM, I designed a week-long summer camp that teaches students about biomedical engineering as well as collaboration, communication, and confidence with STEM subjects. This work includes a literature review outlining what STEM is and current issues in STEM education, including disinterest in STEM and attrition in STEM degree programs. The literature review outlines current methods and ideas being utilized to combat these issues, namely, inclusive pedagogical strategies, and how some of these concepts can be applied to the summer camp. The curriculum document included outlines each activity, its …

Towards A Sociotechnical Reconfiguration Of Engineering And An Education For Ethics : A Critical Realist Investigation Into The Patterns Of Education And Accreditation Of Ethics In Engineering Programmes In Ireland, Diana Adela Martin

Doctoral

The focus of this thesis is on the provision and evaluation of ethics in engineeringprogrammes in Ireland, by placing this examinationin the wider cultural context of engineering education.The study benefitted from the support of the national accrediting body Engineers Ireland, and included 23 engineering programmes from 2 institutes of technology and 4 universities in Ireland which underwent accreditation between 2017-2019.By using a Critical Realistframe, the study undertakes a multi-layeredinvestigation of the engineering education system that takes into consideration theindividual level of single agents such as instructors and evaluators, the institutional level comprised of engineering programmes, as well as the policy …

Seventh-Grade Students' Use Of Heat Transfer Conceptions During An Engineering Design-Based Stem Integration Curriculum, Emilie A. Siverling, Tamara J. Moore

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

As the integration of STEM becomes increasingly important in pre-college education, it is important to study models of STEM integration. One model, engineering design-based STEM integration, has shown promising results in terms of student science content learning. This study’s purpose was to explore one student team’s use of heat transfer conceptions as they participated in an engineering design-based STEM integration curriculum. A case study research design, along with procedures from qualitative content analysis, were used to identify scientific and alternative conceptions that the seventh-grade students communicated during the unit. The main result is that the students spoke and wrote about …

Learning To Jump Like Corbin Bleu: The Physics Behind Jump Rope, Caroline Camfield

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This project seeks to determine how engineering can be applied to the sport of jump rope so that athletes may better understand the science behind the sport and apply it to improve their performance in “speed jumping.” This style of jump rope consists of a jumper alternating their feet, with the rope passing under them with each step. Several types of ropes, handles, rope lengths, and widths between a jumper’s handles were tested to determine correlations between each variable and different STEM concept. These findings were then transitioned into a lesson plan so that both the jumpers and coaches could …

An Examination Of The Role Of Spatial Ability In The Process Of Problem Solving In Chemical Engineering, Sheryl Sorby, Gavin Duffy, Norman Loney

Articles

Engineers often communicate with one another through drawings or sketches and understanding technical information through graphical representations is a skill necessary for engineering practice. Well-developed spatial skills are known to be important to understanding technical drawings and are therefore, important to success in engineering. Unfortunately, of all cognitive processes, spatial skills show robust gender differences, favouring males, which could contribute to the underrepresentation of women in engineering. In this research, we administered a test of spatial cognition to students enrolled in a common 3rd year course in chemical engineering . In a second session, students were given a set of …

Teaching Wind Energy To Engineering And Education Undergraduates Through Community Engagement, Maija A. Benitz, Li-Ling Yang

Engineering, Computing & Construction Management Faculty Publications

Rhode Island's adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards in 2013 [1] established a pressing need to provide elementary schools with support for integrating engineering in our local district's classrooms. Wind energy was identified as an appropriate instructional topic, both for its relevance to Rhode Island [2], and for its strength as a tool for studying the engineering design process. Education and engineering undergraduates collaborated to educate local fourth graders about engineering design and wind energy. While supporting the need for engineering education in the community, this project also deepened learning for both education and engineering students at Roger Williams …

Teaching Approximations Of Mechanical Engineering Practice Through Designing And Building Robots: An Approach Inspired By Monozukuri, Kevin Delaney, Ger Nagle

Conference Papers

Engineering design is a complex subject and undergraduate students, having learnt to quantify the performance of specific elements of engineering objects, often find it difficult to integrate these elements into quite basic design concepts. Upon entering the workforce engineering graduates must be able to do a great deal more than solve the technical problems taught in engineering school. To help students develop real-world engineering skills as part of their engineering education, the Mechanical Engineering Discipline in Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) introduced Problem Based Learning (PBL) for Third Year Mechanical Engineering students in 2005.

A recent review of this teaching …

Iron Range Engineering - An Overview Of Design And Open-Ended Problem Solving Activities In An Interdisciplinary, Project-Based Learning Program, Elizabeth Pluskwik

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

Project-based learning (PBL) in engineering education is growing at a rapid pace. The Iron Range Engineering (IRE) Program of Minnesota State University Mankato, is an upper division (3rd and 4th year) undergraduate engineering education program based on the Aalborg, Denmark PBL model. Students work in teams to solve industry-sourced projects each semester. The learning of engineering is accomplished in three domains - technical learning of engineering concepts, professionalism, and design, which we call the “three-legged stool” of engineering education. The program promotes entrepreneurial mindset and innovative open-ended problem-solving in context. Fifty students are enrolled in 3rd and 4th-year studies at …

Doctoral Engineering Grant Writing Experience To Prepare Future Professionals And Faculty, Katherine Smith, Nathapon Siangchokyoo, Erika Gamarra, Ashish Tamhane, Anthony W. Dean

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

While there have been many efforts to broaden opportunities for all STEM students by engaging in interdisciplinary endeavors and education focusing on professional development, there are particular problems facing students pursuing doctoral degrees in engineering disciplines. Doctoral programs of the future need to become better equipped to prepare students for future careers as engineering professionals or faculty. It has been noted recently that many doctoral degree recipients are turning to jobs outside of academia but increases in undergraduate enrollment and the average age of the professoriate indicate an increase in demand for new faculty. Both future faculty and professionals can …