Engineering Commons^™

Strategies For Reducing The Environmental Impacts Of Construction, Jordan Moran

The Professional Constructor

Sustainable building is a complex goal to reach even for the most seasoned project managers. If theyfocus on the ideas to reduce, reuse, and recycle that goal becomes much more obtainable. The project manager mustset his expectations and priorities from the moment the contract is signed to navigate which routes are most possible toachieve given the project scope and delivery method. The key to success is to relay the long term benefits of sustainablebuilding on to the owner, and make them realize that up-front cost should take a back seat to life cycle. This will save theenvironment and the owner’s …

General Interest Articles, The Professional Constructor

The Professional Constructor

No abstract provided.

Contractor Feasibility In Providing Cost Segregation Studies From Detailed Estimates: A Case Study, Ben F. Bigelow, Jeremy Robinson, John Killingsworth

The Professional Constructor

Profit margins are tight for general contractors, averaging under 3% (Construction Financial Management Association). Further, competition for projects can be very fierce, so any opportunity for increased profit or a competitive advantage in bidding bears consideration by general contractors. Cost segregation studies represent such an opportunity but the feasibility of a general contractor providing them has not been studied. A cost segregation study allows a property owner to accelerate the depreciation of certain portions of a building thus reducing tax liability and increasing cash flow. Because the information needed for a cost segregation study can be found in a detailed …

A Framework For Analyzing Intraorganizational Congruence Of Safety Practices On Safety Performance – A Pilot Study Of Construction, Benjamin Hill, Mohammed S. Hashem M. Mehany, Richard J. Gebken

The Professional Constructor

Previous research has determined that improving employee congruence on organizational methods and goals leads to improved organizational performance. This research establishes a comprehensive framework of common and recommended safety practices that can be used for intraorganizational congruence data collection regarding safety practices. The research is also developing a method for congruence calculation and examine the congruence effect on the subcontractor’s safety performance metrics through a pilot study. The established framework identified and organized 170 practices under seven conceptual, safety-practice categories. The congruence analysis and the pilot study revealed several areas of high and low congruency along with significant correlations between …

Factors Of Employee Loyalty Among Construction Management Field Personnel, Estimators & Bim/Design Specialists: Insights For General Contractors, Colby Humphrey, Ben F. Bigelow

The Professional Constructor

Since 2008 construction employment has dropped considerably and has remained below 2007 levels, with construction management positions still about 14% down (U.S. Department of Labor 2015). Despite the boom currently occurring in the construction industry, general contractors (GCs) are finding it difficult to fill project management positions (AGC 2014), and construction firms expect these challenges to continue (Mutikani 2014). With greater demand for managers, retaining quality people is a paramount concern. Everyone knows the adage that “money talks”, but what can a GC do to engender loyalty besides just paying more? To explore that question and attempt to better understand …

Information And Communication Technology (Ict) Literacy: Refining A Construct For Assessment, Louis Michael Verdusco

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This research effort conceptualized, developed, implemented, and examined the psychometric properties of an Information & Communication Technology (ICT) literacy assessment instrument designed for students entering college. This process began with the development of a working definition of the ICT literacy based on the literature and the input of a panel of experts regarding the proposed literacy sub-constructs and the individual test items. A pilot test was conducted to identify areas for improvement. Once these improvements were incorporated, the final assessment instrument was administered to the freshmen class at a private Midwestern comprehensive university with religious affiliation.

The psychometric aspects of …

Identifying Pertinent Elements Of Critical Thinking And Mathematical Thinking Used In Civil Engineering Practice In Relation To Engineering Education, Sharifah Osman, Mohd Salleh Bin Abu, Shahrin Bin Mohammad, Mahani Binti Mokhtar

The Qualitative Report

Engaging critical thinking and mathematical thinking in solving engineering problems is a way of approaching the engineering criteria of Engineering Accreditation Council, Board of Engineers Malaysia. Thus, it is timely and crucial to inculcate the critical thinking and mathematical thinking into the current engineering education. Unfortunately, information about these two modes of thinking in real-world engineering practice is found lacking in the literature. Therefore, this paper focuses on explaining an analytic process in identifying pertinent elements of critical thinking and mathematical thinking used in real-world civil engineering practice. The analytic process, namely open coding is a part of coding process …

Helping Doctors Treat Patients: Professor's Research Sets Groundwork For More Effective Care, Alixandria Reiner

Andrews Agenda: Campus News

No abstract provided.

Off The Lip Conference - Transdisciplinary Approaches To Cognitive Innovation. Conference Proceedings, Sue Denham, Michael Punt, Edith Doove, Martha Blassnigg, Raluca Briazu, Kathryn Francis, Agi Haynes, Guy Edmonds, Adam Benjamin, Matthew Emmett, Iris Garrelfs, Christopher B. Germann, Joanna Griffin, Diane Humphrey, Bryanna Lucyk, Christie Purchase, Rachel Sansone, Emily Baxter, Amy Ione, Frank Loesche, Abigail Jackson, Alexis Kirke, Eduardo Miranda, Luke Rendell, Simon Ingram, Yutaka Nakamura, Gi Taek Ryoo, Eugenia Stamboliev, Michael Straeubig, Chun-Wei Hsu, Pinar Oztop, Mihaela Taranu, Sundar Sarukkai, James Sweeting, Minami Hirayama

Off the Lip Conference - Transdisciplinary Approaches to Cognitive Innovation

The promise of cognitive innovation as a collaborative project in the sciences, arts and humanities is that we can approach creativity as a bootstrapping cognitive process in which the energies that shape the poem are necessarily indistinguishable from those that shape the poet. For the purposes of this conference the exploration of the idea of cognitive innovation concerns an understanding of creativity that is not exclusively concerned with conscious human thought and action but also as intrinsic to our cognitive development. As a consequence, we see the possibility for cognitive innovation to provide a theoretical and practical platform from which …

The Stem Pipeline: Recruiting And Retaining African American Female Engineers, Delores Rice

Journal of Research Initiatives

The purpose of the study was to examine the career experiences of African American female engineers and explore their challenges and support systems during their career development. This qualitative study utilized a life history approach and was designed using basic interpretive inquiry. There were nine African American female participants in the study who currently worked in an engineering field within an engineering industry. Using an ecological model to ground the study, the findings were categorized as macrosystem (environment) or microsystem (individual) factors. The highlight of this manuscript includes a focus on implications, which offer insight into recruiting and retaining African …

Reversing The Tide In Science, Engineering, Technology And Mathematics (Stem): Academically Gifted African American Students In Historically Black Colleges & Universities, Delores Rice, Fred Bonner, Chance Lewis, Mary Alfred, Felecia M. Nave, Sherri Frizell

Journal of Research Initiatives

What started off as a national concern has escalated to the point of crisis (Bonner, Alfred, Lewis, Nave & Frizell, 2009; Chubin & Malcolm, 2008; Hrabowski, Summers & Hrabowski, 2006). The current state of affairs regarding African American participation in STEM disciplines has become one of the thorniest issues of contemporary focus. This article highlights data collected for a NSF Education Research grant. The focus of this HBCU-UP project was to uncover factors contributing to the success of academically gifted (high-achieving) African American students enrolled in engineering programs at the 12 ABET accredited four-year institutions in the U.S. Specifically, this …

Service-Learning And Engineering: Design Projects That Promote Inclusion And Independence, Matthew T. Siniawski

Faculty Pub Night

No abstract provided.

The Development Of Project Grade-Up, Dalin Glenn Williams

MS in Computer Science Theses

The university classroom has greatly evolved from a simple syllabus and in class discussion to the modern online documentation and virtual classrooms. These developments have changed the way students review their grades and balance their workloads. With the plethora of new technologies, students are often burdened with a full school schedule, work, and social events, with few tools to help them effectively understand their grades or manage their time. Current solutions addressing this issue do not present data in an organized way that allows the student to easily comprehend their past performance or up coming work load. Our solution builds …

19. Zoology, Northeastern State University

Oklahoma Research Day Abstracts

No abstract provided.

18. Statistics, Northeastern State University

Oklahoma Research Day Abstracts

No abstract provided.

17. Psychology, Northeastern State University

Oklahoma Research Day Abstracts

No abstract provided.

16. Physics, Northeastern State University

Oklahoma Research Day Abstracts

No abstract provided.

15. Pharmacy, Northeastern State University

Oklahoma Research Day Abstracts

No abstract provided.

14. Optometry, Northeastern State University

Oklahoma Research Day Abstracts

No abstract provided.

13. Mathematics, Northeastern State University

Oklahoma Research Day Abstracts

No abstract provided.

12. Kinesiology, Northeastern State University

Oklahoma Research Day Abstracts

No abstract provided.

11. Genetics, Northeastern State University

Oklahoma Research Day Abstracts

No abstract provided.

10. Forensic Science, Northeastern State University

Oklahoma Research Day Abstracts

No abstract provided.

08. Engineering, Northeastern State University

Oklahoma Research Day Abstracts

No abstract provided.

06. Computer Science, Northeastern State University

Oklahoma Research Day Abstracts

No abstract provided.

05. Chemistry, Northeastern State University

Oklahoma Research Day Abstracts

No abstract provided.

04. Botany, Northeastern State University

Oklahoma Research Day Abstracts

No abstract provided.

Measuring The Effectiveness Of Software-Based Training To Improve The Spatial Visualization Skills Of Students In Stem Disciplines In Higher Education Institutions, Peter Cole

Dissertations

This research investigates how software can be used to teach spatial skills leading to greater success in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematical (STEM) fields. Existing research indicates that spatial skills can be taught and that good spatial skills are common to people who succeed in STEM fields. In this work, a software-only testing system with a direct targeted, training intervention module was implemented to measure and teach spatial skills using mental rotations, which are believed to be one of the most significant indicators of success in STEM fields. Spatial skills were tested using a standardized and validated test that measures …

An Evaluation Of Gamification To Assess Students’ Learning On Their Understanding Of First Year Computer Science Programming Module, Daniel Gebremichael

Dissertations

This research examines the use of gamification to develop an assessment tool, to assess students’ learning of a first year computer science module. The students’ undertaking of the first semester Programming and Algorithms module in 2015 were assessed on their knowledge of the programming language Python. The incorporation of gamification when assessing students can have various potential benefits. The research aims to identify these benefits and issues. Assessments and games have almost opposite effects on opinions on people, as games are usually expected to have an entertainment value but this is not the case for assessments. The research examines if …

Jainism And Nonviolence: From Mahavira To Modern Times, Lana E. Sims

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

The research contained in this paper focuses on the religion of Jainism, its main principle of ahimsa, or nonviolence, and how that philosophy has evolved over the years, eventually inspiring today’s nonviolent movements. First, a look will be taken at the origin of Jainism, with a brief explanation of its most important principles and beliefs. Then, ahimsa is explained as it has been traditionally perceived by Jains. The recent evolution of the meaning of ahimsa and its impact on modern nonviolence movements is discussed, with a focus on the influence of second-generation Jains in the United States on the …