Engineering Commons^™

Improve Or Perish, Revisited -- Again, Johnny J. Moye, Petros J. Katsioloudis

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The article reviews the articles "A Major Problem in Education: Improve or Perish," by M. Ray Karnes and "Improve or Perish-Revisited," by John V. Gallagher.

Simulation And Visualization Enhanced Engineering Education- Development And Implementation Of Virtual Experiments In A Laboratory Course, Sushil K. Chaturvedi, Kaustubh A. Dharwadkar

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents results from a National Science Foundation grant titled "Simulation and Visualization Enhanced Engineering Education", funded by the EEC division. Although the scope of the project is quite broad, embracing a wide range of courses in three engineering disciplines, the present work describes the results obtained from application of simulation and visualization for development and implementation of web-based virtual engineering laboratories. The present work leverages the advancement in hardware and software technologies to map physical experiments into web-based virtual experiments that can be used to enrich student's laboratory experience. Four physical experiments in the thermo-fluids laboratory course have …

Design And Implement A Cost-Effective Wireless Communication Project On A Pic Training System, Steve Hsiung, Walter F. Deal, Lacides Agustin Osorio, Mathew Henderson

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Wireless communication becomes popular and widely used in almost every electronic product in our daily life. The RF communication is one of the major wireless applications in consumer products. Usually, it is integrated with an embedded system (microcontroller) to control various applications such as temperature sensing, data logging, data exchange, actuator activation, and user interaction wirelessly. A project based model can be used as an effective instructional strategy to enhance learning about complex RF concepts and technologies. The project method can lead to improved understanding and create interest by actively engaging the student with hands-on and problem solving and critical …

Strategies For Using Technology When Grading Problem-Based Classes, Susan L. Murray, Ruwen Qin, Ivan G. Guardiola, Abhijit Gosavi

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

More and more work is being done today using technology. Email and digital drop boxes are useful tools for professors; however the challenge comes when one is teaching a quantitative class. The issue of using technology to manage work in a quantitative class is increasing as more engineering programs embrace distance education. In this paper we will review the advantages and disadvantages of several methods of collecting, grading, and returning homework assignments to students. The techniques considered include faxing, PDF grading using a Wacom Tablet, and various email approaches. Student survey results are also included in the paper.

Multidisciplinary Engineering Systems 2nd And 3rd Year College-Wide Courses, Kevin Craig, Mark L. Nagurka

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Undergraduate engineering education today is ineffective in preparing students for multidisciplinary system integration and optimization - exactly what is needed by companies to become innovative and gain a competitive advantage in this global economy. While there is some movement in engineering education to change that, this change is not easy, as it involves a cultural change from the silo approach to a holistic approach. The ABET-required senior capstone multidisciplinary design course too often becomes a design-build-test exercise with the emphasis on just getting something done. Students rarely break out of their disciplinary comfort zone and thus fail to experience true …

Building A Successful Transatlantic Collaboration In Engineering/Technological Education; Lessons From A Six Year Journey, Donal Mchale, Mark Mcgrath, John Lawlor

Conference Papers

This paper reflects on key learning’s from the first six-years (2004-2010) of the development of a collaborative journey of two trans-Atlantic higher-educational institutions. It describes the progress towards building a sustainable and innovative international educational partnership in Engineering/Technological education between the Technological University Dublin,DublinIrelandandPurdue University,Indiana,USA.

In particular, the paper provides insight into the iterative stages of development of this relationship. It reflects on some of the key challenges and it recognises the critical enablers of success. It focuses on challenges and solutions in the following six important areas

(i) The partnership initiation stage. Key considerations and important enablers of future …

Engineering Education Collaboration: Innovative Pedagogical Methods For High School And University Environmentalists, Leslie Hadaway, Megan Urbaitis, Regina Lamendella, Daniel B. Oerther, Andrea C. Burrows, Mike Borowczak, Anant R. Kukreti

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents an innovative teaching approach, how it is implemented, student response results of the implementation, and the assessment of impact on student learning. The findings are based on surveys given to the students after each lab lesson taught in partnership with university (Project STEP) and community members. The purpose of this paper is to showcase authentic molecular technology research methods that have been incorporated into a high school level water quality study in cooperation with a watershed restoration program. Typically, water quality studies focus on chemical analysis such as pH, dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, orthophosphates, nitrates, temperature, …

A Framework To Develop Lifelong Learning And Transferable Skills In An Engineering Programme, Gavin Duffy, Brian Bowe

Conference papers

Engineering programmes have a strong reputation in the delivery of technical knowledge and skills. Graduates need equally high levels of competence in personal and professional skills to not only meet the existing requirements of employers and professional bodies but to also help them manage the inevitable changes that society is facing in an increasingly populated world. The need to move from traditional to student-centred learning is discussed in the context of engineering education. The use of group-based, problem driven learning facilitates high integration of technical and non-technical knowledge and skills and requires more engagement with the programme from today’s student. …

Broadening Ethics Teaching In Engineering: Beyond The Individualistic Approach, Eddie Conlon, H. Zandvoort

Articles

There is a widespread approach to the teaching of ethics to engineering students in which the exclusive focus is on engineers as individual agents and the broader context in which they do their work is ignored. Although this approach has frequently been criticised in the literature, it persists on a wide scale, as can be inferred from accounts in the educational literature and from the contents of widely used textbooks in engineering ethics. In this contribution we intend to: (1) Restate why the individualistic approach to the teaching of ethics to engineering students is inadequate in view of preparing them …

International Study Abroad In Engineering/Industrial Technology: Through The Eyes Of Students, Michael Dyrenfurth, Robert Herrick, Donal Mchale, Richard Hayes, James Barnes

Conference papers

Faculty and programs in engineering/industrial technology often promote international exchange and study abroad as a desirable component of a university experience— particularly in this increasingly globalized world. But, what do students who have actually had such experiences perceive? How do they view such experiences, before, during and after the event? The following paper evolved from the experiences of four universities collaborating on an EU-FIPSE funded Atlantis project called DETECT that consist of the partnerships of four Engineering/Technology Educational institutions; Hochschule Darmstadt in Germany, Technological University Dublin in Ireland, and Pennsylvania State University & Purdue University from the USA.

What New Faculty Need To Know, But Don't Know To Ask, Susan L. Murray, Elizabeth A. Cudney, Suzanna Long, Katie Grantham

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A smooth transition to life at an academic institution and the surrounding community is essential to the professional careers of new faculty members. The transition begins during the hiring process and startup package negotiations. Once at an institution, aspects of academia including teaching, proposal writing, and the tenure process inevitably generate issues and concerns for new faculty members. Research has shown that mentoring new faculty members early in their academic career can have significant impact on professional success. This is especially true at a research-based institution where the demands of funded scholarship add an extra level of complexity. A survey …

Sustainable Design: A Case Study In Energy Systems, Eugene Coyle, Marek Rebow

Books/Book chapters

Since the publication of the UN climate report in 2007, most countries now agree that recent climate change has occurred as a result of human intervention and that it will require fast and profound measures to reduce this negative imprint imposed upon nature. Central to this is the need to radically reduce CO2 emissions resulting from combustion of carbon-based energy resources to meet global energy demands. Greater measures must be taken to develop new non-combustion based technologies, in addition to using low-carbon energy resources. Increasing energy efficiency and using energy wisely will also feature in reducing emissions. Sustain-able Energy is …

The Dsp Of Money, Thad B. Welch, Cameron H. G. Wright, Michael G. Morrow

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper discusses a simple framework that can be used to connect a significant number of the tools and techniques developed in a first course in either discrete-time signals and systems or digital signal processing. While this framework is not revolutionary, it allows for the rapid placement of new material into the course’s context. Additionally, a simple model of an unstable financial system allows for a rapid introduction and overview of the course while observably increasing student interest and motivation. In these challenging economic times, it is somewhat reassuring to know that some unstable financial accounts are actually a good …

Implications Of Philosophy For Engineering And Engineering Technology Bachelors Programs, Michael Dyrenfurth, Mike Murphy, William Grimson

Conference papers

This paper raises the question: What is philosophy and then, after describing its branches and school, it extends the definitions to implications for the practice of engineering and engineering technology education. It folds the definitions against the work of engineering faculty. The latter was described as including curriculum development, teaching, mentoring/advising, research/scholarship, and engagement. Sample codes of ethics are shared for engineering technology students and professionals.

Formulating A Conceptual Base For Secondary Level Engineering: A Review And Synthesis, Rodney L. Custer, Jenny L. Daugherty, Joseph P. Meyer

Reports of Center Studies

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education across the K-16 spectrum. While much of this interest has concentrated on science and mathematics, technology and engineering are emerging as authentic educational problem solving contexts, as well as disciplines in their own right at the K-12 level. Over the past 20 years, the technology education field has concentrated on defining and implementing a set of content standards, the Standards for Technological Literacy (ITEA, 2000) (STL), with mixed results. On a national scale, the field continues to evolve from its historical industrial arts …

The Nature And Status Of Stem Professional Development: Effective Practices For Secondary Level Engineering Education, Rodney L. Custer, Jenny L. Daugherty

Reports of Center Studies

Recently engineering has emerged on the K-12 scene as a potentially important content area. However, K-12 teachers typically lack sufficient backgrounds to effectively integrate engineering into their classrooms. Thus teacher professional development is of critical importance. Although there have been several initiatives emerge to assist teachers in teaching engineering-related curriculum, there has been little empirical research generated. For example, little is known about best practices, engineering pedagogical content knowledge, or effective design principles for engineering professional development. Although there is a general consensus in the literature concerning a set of principles that differentiate effective teacher professional development (i.e., Garet, Porter, …

Liberal Studies In Engineering And Technology, William Grimson, Michael Dyrenfurth, Mike Murphy

Books/Book chapters

No abstract provided.

Philosophy Matters In Engineering Studies, William Grimson, Mike Murphy, Steen Hyldgaard Christensen, Erik Erno-Kjolhede

Conference papers

This article explores the rationale for including in an integrated five-years Masters Engineering programme liberal arts subjects, in particular Philosophy and the History of Science and Technology. We argue that the tools of philosophy should be used to provide additional insight into how engineering was and is 'performed'. We first review the challenge, next we present some results of an empirical case study carried out at AU-IBT in Denmark. The purpose of the case study was to examine a sample of engineering teachers´ attitudes towards the relevance and scope of liberal arts subjects for engineering students. Finally we conclude with …

Responses Of Engineering Students To Lectures Using Powerpoint, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

This contribution reports on, reflects on and evaluates engineering students responses to the use of PowerPoint in a lecture environment, compared to a more traditional lecturing approach. The contribution concludes that, on average, students value PowerPoint based lectures both as a means of better understanding the material and for the mediums structural and organisational advantages. Students also strongly favour the PowerPoint lectures being available on-line and that a paper copy of the PowerPoint presentation be distributed at the lecture.

Enhancing Learning On A First Year Engineering Programme With A Student Design Project, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

This contribution reports on, and evaluates, the use of a design project for enhancing student learning on a first year module in electrical engineering at Dublin Institute of Technology. The project objective, as outlined to the students, was to design and build a, possibly innovative, everyday device that can generate electricity from sources of “free energy”, so as to encourage first year engineering students to use their natural design creativity in a freeform, brainstorming manner. The project allows students to further develop their academic interests, assists student retention and facilitates student interaction, among other advantages. The work encourages students to …

An Integrated Simulation Design With Three-Dimensional Motions And A Hydraulic Stewart Simulator, Cheng Lin, Gene Hou, Yuzhong Shen, Hector Garcia

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

This paper presents an integrated design process and tests of a Stewart simulator with a virtual visualization tool, which uses Virtools to create and generate three-dimensional motions. An inverse kinematic algorithm is written to convert each visualized motion to the displacements of six cylinders in a Stewart motion simulator. Information of the displacements is then transferred through the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) to a personal computer which has the LabVIEW software. An NI USB-6251 data acquisition device is applied to interact with the LabVIEW program and the Stewart hydraulic simulator. The approach presented in this paper to function an old …

Dependable And Certifiable Real-World Systems – Issue Of Software Engineering Education, Andrew J. Kornecki

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - Daytona Beach

Embedded software and dedicated hardware are vital elements of the modern world, from personal electronics to transportation, from communication to aerospace, from military to gaming, from medical systems to banking. Combinations of even minor hardware or software defects in a complex system may lead to violation of safety with or even without evident system failure, a major problem that the computing profession faces is the lack of a universal approach to unite the dissimilar viewpoints presented by computer science, with its discrete and mathematical underpinnings, and by computer engineering, which focuses on building real systems and considering spatial and material …

Encouraging Lifelong Learning For Engineering Management Undergraduates, Susan L. Murray, Stephen A. Raper

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The current ABET guidelines place an emphasis on life-long learning for our undergraduate students. What is life-long learning? How can we encourage students to consider global issues, current events, or even anything "that isn't going to be on the next test"? In this paper we present survey results evaluating habits of undergraduate students entering an engineering management program and seniors related to life-long learning including attending professional society meetings, reading trade publications, reading business related books, and other learning outside of the classroom activities. This paper also presents a two semester effort to increase life-long learning activities among undergraduate engineering …

The Current Generation Of Integrated Engineering Curriculum, Michael A. Collura, Samuel Bogan Daniels, Jean Nocito-Gobel, David Harding

Engineering and Applied Science Education Faculty Publications

In September of 2004 our university adopted the Multidisciplinary Engineering Foundation Spiral Curriculum as the basis for disciplinary engineering programs in Chemical, Civil, Electrical, Mechanical and General Engineering. The curriculum includes a sequence of first and second year engineering courses, matched closely with the development of students’ mathematical sophistication and analytical capabilities and integrated with course work in the sciences. Students develop a conceptual understanding of engineering basics in this series of courses which stress practical applications of these principles. The new curriculum was designed to provide students with a multidisciplinary perspective while developing basic engineering skills and fostering an …

Engineering Management And Industrial Engineering: Similarities And Differences, Cassandra C. Elrod, Ashley Rasnic, William Daughton

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

Engineering Management is a broad and diverse field of engineering, thereby making it difficult to define exactly what the degree encompasses. At the same time, the somewhat related degree of Industrial Engineering is better understood. Some universities offer a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Management with an emphasis in Industrial Engineering, while others offer a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering with an emphasis in Engineering Management. In today's world of competitive academia, many wonder if these degree fields are similar enough to be used interchangeably or if there is a distinct difference separating the two degrees, making …

Experiences Of Assessment Using Multiple Choice Questions On A First Year Engineering Module In Electrical Engineering, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

This contribution will report on, and evaluate, the use of multiple-choice questions, in both continuous assessment and terminal examination modes, on a first year module in electrical engineering at Dublin Institute of Technology. The author’s experiences are that multiple-choice questions tend to be student friendly (e.g. given a choice in a terminal examination, students will opt to attempt the questions with multiple choice parts). The author has used the assessment method over three academic years, and some assessment data is reported and analysed in the contribution. The pedagogical approach is explicitly pragmatic.

Addressing Student Retention In Engineering And Engineering Technology Through The Use Of A Multidisciplinary Freshman Course, Anthony Dean, Bonita Anthony, Linda Vahala

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

The Engineering Fundamentals Division of the Batten College of Engineering and Technology (BCET) at Old Dominion University administers a freshman engineering course sequence, along with four engineering departments (Mechanical Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering) and the Department of Engineering Technology (which offers degrees in Mechanical Engineering Technology, Civil Engineering Technology and Electrical Engineering Technology). The two course sequence, Exploring Engineering and Technology I and II, involve the five departments in teaching at least one five week module in each of the two courses. Each department generally involves the students in a basic design …

Introducing Freshmen To Construction Estimating And Scheduling Using K'Nex Bridge Kits, Carol Considine, Vernon Lewis

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

The College of Engineering and Technology at Old Dominion University has developed project-based courses for freshmen engineering students in order to engage them in engineering early with the goal of increasing retention. The courses are divided into three five-week modules that are distributed among the various departments within the college. The Engineering Technology department is responsible for two of the five week modules. One module is comprised of all the engineering technology curriculums; civil, electrical and mechanical, and the other module is strictly a civil engineering technology project.

The civil engineering technology project is focused on the construction industry. Students …

Enhancing Student Learning In Engineering Technology Programs? A Case For Physical Simulations, Alok Verma

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Physical simulations have a proven record as a teaching tool. Concepts that are often hard to grasp are made easy by the use of physical simulation activities. The constructivism learning theory suggests that people learn better by actively participating in the process of learning. According to the Encyclopedia of Educational Technology, "Simulation-based learning involves the placement of a student into a realistic scenario or situation. The student is then responsible for any changes that occur as a result of their decisions." A number of physical simulation based tools have been developed by the author for use as instructional tools to …

A Labview-Based Virtual Instrument For Engineering Education: A Numerical Fourier Transform Tool, Levent Sevgi̇, Çağatay Uluişik

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Engineering is based on practice. The minima of this practice should be given during the university education. This has become more and more comprehensive and expensive parallel to high-technology devices developed and presented to societies. Computers, microprocessor-based devices, programmable systems on Chip (PSoC), etc., make engineering education not only very complex but interdisciplinary as well. Building undergraduate labs has become more and more expensive if only physical experimentation and hands-on training are targeted. On the other hand, simple, comparatively much cheaper software may turn a regular personal computer (PC) into a virtual lab. The key question therefore is, to establish …