Engineering Education Commons^™

Faculty Perspectives On The Impact Of Virtual Office Hours In Engineering Courses, Brooke-Lynn Caprice Andrade, Krishna Pakala, Diana Bairaktarova, Douglas Hagemeier, Harish Subbaraman

Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Instructor-student interaction is an important element of a course design, but office hours can be challenging to attend based on students’ commitments. They have time and space limitations that prevent students from getting the help they need and often garner poor attendance. Virtual office hours can address issues related to low attendance and provide a low stakes environment where unhindered learning can happen. Virtual office hours are flexible, yield productive interactions, and all enrolled students can participate. This study reports on three engineering instructors’ perspectives on the efficacy of virtual office hours compared to the traditional face-to-face interactions with the …

The First Year Of An Undergraduate Service Learning Partnership To Enhance Engineering Education And Elementary Pre-Service Teacher Education, Stacie I. Ringleb, Jennifer Kidd, Pilar Pazos, Kristie Gutierrez, Orlando Ayala, Krishnanand Kaipa

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

This IUSE project was designed to address three major challenges faced by undergraduate engineering students (UES) and pre-service teachers (PSTs): 1) retention for UESs after the first year, and continued engagement when they reach more difficult concepts, 2) to prepare PSTs to teach engineering, which is a requirement in the Next Generation Science Standards as well as many state level standards of learning, and 3) to prepare both groups of students to communicate and collaborate in a multi-disciplinary context, which is a necessary skill in their future places of work. This project was implemented in three pairs of classes: 1) …

Enhancing Teamwork Skills Through An Interdisciplinary Engineering Service Learning Collaboration, Pilar Pazos, Francisco Cima, Jennifer Kidd, Stacie I. Ringleb, Orlando Ayala, Kristie Gutierrez, Krishnanand Kaipa

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The purpose of this research paper is to explore whether participation in an interdisciplinary collaboration program partnering Preservice Teachers (PST) and Undergraduate Engineering Students (UES) results in an increase in teamwork effectiveness. The interdisciplinary collaboration was designed as a service-learning project within existing undergraduate programs that included the development and delivery of engineering content to a K-12 audience. The collaborations were integrated into existing courses in two colleges, engineering and education. The Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS) version of the Comprehensive Assessment of Team Member Effectiveness (CATME) was used midway and at the end of the project to evaluate teamwork …

Upgrading Of A Data Communication And Computer Networks Course In Engineering Technology Program, Murat Kuzlu, Otilia Popescu

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Data network communications is traditionally a course offered by computer engineering technology curricula, with the primary objective to introduce to the fundamental concepts in data communication and computer networks, as well as some level of hands-on component related to this area. Typical topics in such courses are the layered model of data communication, specifically the OSI seven-layered model, Internet routing, communication standards, protocols and technologies, and learning methods used to design the network and send data over the network in a secure manner. In the last decades, the data communication and applications have grown and become ubiquitous in both industry …

Curriculum Development For Robotics Technology Program, Sanjeevi Chitikeshi, Shirshak K. Dhali, Betsey Odell, Vukica Jovanovic, Cheng Y. Lin

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

With a growing need for a more skilled workforce, providing industry-driven and employment centric training services is an important national priority. Over 3.4 million manufacturing jobs will need to be filled across the United Sates over the next decade. The skills gap is becoming greater based on the statistics provided by the Global Robotics Technology Market: Forecast, 2014-2020 published by Research and Markets, reporting that the worldwide robotics market is forecast to grow from the 2015 level of $26.98B to $82.78B in 2020. This 11 % compounded average growth in the next five years is unprecedented. Given the anticipated growth …

Design A Class Infusion Project Of Asme Geometric Dimensioning And Tolerancing Standard, Cheng Y. Lin, Hamid Eisazadeh, Alok K. Verma

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

This paper describes the development of a short course of Geometric Dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) for Mechanical Engineering (ME)/Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) students in their freshman/sophomore classes. This class-infusion project was assisted and validated by an ASME Standards and Certification Engineer and was jointly sponsored by the ASME Committee on Engineering Education and the ASME Council on Standards and Certification. To assess the performance of the project, an instrument was developed with multiple-choice problems and survey questions for the students. The results of a field test in a sophomore manufacturing class are presented. The module is available at the ASME …

What Do Undergraduate Engineering Students And Preservice Teachers Learn By Collaborating And Teaching Engineering And Coding Through Robotics?, Jennifer Jill Kidd, Krishnanand Kaipa, Samuel J. Jacks, Stacie I. Ringleb, Pilar Pazos, Kristie Gutierrez, Orlando M. Ayala, Lillian Maria De Souza Almeida

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This research paper presents preliminary results of an NSF-supported interdisciplinary collaboration between undergraduate engineering students and preservice teachers. The fields of engineering and elementary education share similar challenges when it comes to preparing undergraduate students for the new demands they will encounter in their profession. Engineering students need interprofessional skills that will help them value and negotiate the contributions of various disciplines while working on problems that require a multidisciplinary approach. Increasingly, the solutions to today's complex problems must integrate knowledge and practices from multiple disciplines and engineers must be able to recognize when expertise from outside their field can …

Work-In-Progress: Augmented Reality System For Vehicle Health Diagnostics And Maintenance, Yuzhong Shen, Anthony W. Dean, Rafael Landaeta

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper discusses undergraduate research to develop an augmented reality (AR) system for diagnostics and maintenance of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) employed by U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps. The JLTV’s diagnostic information will be accessed by attaching a Bluetooth adaptor (Ford Reference Vehicle Interface) to JLTV’s On-board diagnostics (OBD) system. The proposed AR system will be developed for mobile devices (Android and iOS tablets and phones) and it communicates with the JLTV’s OBD via Bluetooth. The AR application will contain a simplistic user interface that reads diagnostic data from the JLTV, shows vehicle sensors, and allows users …

The Impact Of A Smartlab Implementation On Rural Schools In North Dakota, Tonya M. Greywind

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This mixed methods quasi-experimental phenomenological study investigated the impact that a SmartLab® implementation had on four rural schools in the state of North Dakota. This study featured semi structured interview questions for facilitators, semi-structured focus group questions for students, and a digital literacy pre and post assessment (DLA) that was administered to students. This study looked at student learning in terms of twenty-first century skills, teacher and student perspectives in terms of student learning as well as teacher perspectives on the impact of the SmartLab® on their own teaching methods.

Two facilitators from two of the four schools were interviewed …

A Statistical Analysis Of The Unm Facets Design Identity & Beliefs Survey Data, Clarissa A. Sorensen-Unruh

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

The NSF-funded FACETS (Formation of Accomplished Chemical Engineers for Transforming Society, NSF Award 1623105) grant aims to transform the undergraduate engineering experience in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of New Mexico to address attrition within engineering majors, especially among underserved populations (Brainard & Carlin, 1998). The UNM FACETS Design Identity & Beliefs survey, an assessment tool used as part of the research of the grant, generated the dataset used in this study. I performed several different statistical analyses on the dataset, including confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), principal component analysis (PCA), and cluster analysis. The …

Understanding Early Childhood Engineering Interest Development As A Family-Level Systems Phenomenon: Findings From The Head Start On Engineering Project, Scott Pattison, Gina Svarovsky, Smirla Ramos-MontañEz, Ivel Gontan, Shannon Weiss, VeróNika NúÑEz, Pam Corrie, Cynthia Smith, Marcie Benne

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

There is growing recognition that interest is critical for engaging and supporting learners from diverse communities in engineering and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics. Although interest research has historically focused on older children, studies demonstrate that preschool-age and younger children also develop persistent, individualized interests in different objects, activities, and topics and that these early interests have important implications for ongoing learning and development. Unfortunately, there is relatively little research on engineering learning in early childhood and almost no work specific to the concept of interest. To begin to address this need, we conducted in-depth case study …

Design Of A Shallow-Aero Ebb And Flow Hydroponics System And Associated Educational Module For Tri Cycle Farms, Julie Halveland

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Tri Cycle Farms, whose main mission is to reduce food insecurity in their community, is a non- profit urban farm in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The “Tri” in their name refers to the three parts of their foundation: giving a third of their yield to volunteers, giving a third to local food pantries, and selling a third to sustain the farm and demonstrate the economy of local food production. They want to expand on the third part and have a vision of building a hydroponic greenhouse with the intention that it will create more crops to sell and give, as well as …

Teaching Learning Newsletter Vol 1 Issue 1, Sastra Deemed To Be University

TLC Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Establishing A Content Taxonomy For The Coherent Study Of Engineering In P-12 Schools, Greg Strimel, Tanner Huffman, Michael Grubbs, Eunhye Kim, Jamie Gurganus

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

Engineering education has increasingly become an area of interest at the P-12 level, yet attempts to align engineering knowledge, skills, and habits to existing elementary and secondary educational programming have been parochial in nature (e.g., for a specific context, grade, or initiative). Consequently, a need exists to establish a coherent P-12 content framework for engineering teaching and learning, which would serve as both an epistemological foundation for the subject and a guide for the design of developmentally appropriate educational standards, performance expectations, learning progressions, and assessments. A comprehensive framework for P-12 engineering education would include a compelling rationale and vision …

Capturing Children With Autism’S Engagement In Engineering Practices: A Focus On Problem Scoping, Hoda Ehsan, Monica E. Cardella

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

In the last two decades, pre-college engineering education has increased, with research on pre-college engineering education emerging as a nascent field. However, limited research, if any, has considered aspects of engineering thinking of children with neurodiversity. In line with calls for broadening participation in engineering education, consideration of neurodiverse children is critical. Among various neurodiverse conditions, the number of children with autism is rapidly growing. In addition, studies have shown that individuals with autism have the potential to perform well in activities that require systematizing abilities. Engineering is one such activity. Prior research has provided evidence of the importance of …

Academic Honesty, Professional Integrity, And Undergraduate Engineering Students: Exploring The Connections, S. Amy Skyles, Jeffrey W. Jennings

Dissertations

One benefit of inculcating professionalism into engineering degree program curricula is a measure of the extent to which future practitioners adopt an engineering code of ethics (Abaté, 2011; Davis, 2006). Studies have indicated more dishonesty among engineering students than other groups of undergraduate learners, but the effects of technology on dishonesty in the classroom was not addressed (Bowers, 1964; McCabe et al., 2012). An explanatory, sequential mixed methods study was designed to explain to what degree course pedagogical practices and attitudes of civil, architectural and environmental engineering students of various academic levels (freshman/sophomore and senior) relate to academic dishonesty. The …

Review Of Living Learning Communities And Their Impact On First Year Engineering College Students, Samantha Schauer, Krishna Pakala, Kim M.B. Tucker

Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Traditionally, first-year college students do not have a community of like-minded peers with whom they are able to learn. Adding to first-year engineering college students’ (FYECS) struggles is the fact that many students do not have a mentor in their related field and are unable to start building their professional repertoire, network, and/or practical skills. Living Learning Communities (LLC) can offer a platform for postsecondary institutions to increase recruitment, engagement, and sense of belonging for students who live in an LLC. LLCs have been described in the literature as themed living and learning communities where students take a common course(s), …

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 …

Integrate A Conflict Resolution Session Into The Freshman Engineering Problem Solving Course To Improve Students’ Ability To Solve Interpersonal Team Conflicts, Xinyu Zhang, Jeremy G. Roberts

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The project-based freshman engineering course entitled “Engineering Problem Solving I” in the Fundamentals of Engineering Program (FEP) at West Virginia University (WVU) requires students to work in teams to complete engineering design projects. Many students are lacking in their team dynamics, particularly in handling inter-team conflicts, which can seriously hinder their learning and future coping with conflict. When a conflict happened within a team, students hesitated to enforce their team charters, which defines the project parameters and the team’s standard of conduct. Some students avoided confronting the difficult team members, some waited for the instructor to handle the issues for …

Civil Engineer Company Grade Officer Competency-Based Education Modeling, Scott R. Guerin

Theses and Dissertations

The importance of continuing education for professionals cannot be understated. This importance is doubly true for Air Force Civil Engineer Company Grade Officers who are members of not only the profession of engineering, but also the profession of arms. Air Force senior leaders understand this importance and required an update to the existing developmental education model, with a paradigm shift toward competency-based education and credentialing. Unfortunately, the Air Force Civil Engineer career field does not currently possess the required information to create a model in compliance with the senior leader directives. This research aims at establishing the required characteristics of …

What's The Buzz?, Christine L. Moskalik

Professional Learning Day

A fun, interdisciplinary, hands-on activity with circuits, engineering, and bees Teachers will learn how to implement an activity with their students to explore circuit basics, energy transfer, and pollination through a hands-on toothbrush-bot activity that is coupled with a fun storyline involving honey bee communication and behavior.

Dual-Axis Solar Tracker, Bryan Kennedy

All Undergraduate Projects

Renewable energies, and fuels that are not fossil fuel-based, are one of the prolific topics of debate in modern society. With climate change now becoming a primary focus for scientists and innovators of today, one of the areas for the largest amount of potential and growth is that of the capturing and utilization of Solar Energy. This method involves using a mechanical system to track the progression of the sun as it traverses the sky throughout the day. A dual-axis solar tracker such as the one designed and built for this project, can follow the sun both azimuthally and in …

A Mobile Learning Community In A Living Learning Community: Perceived Impact On Digital Fluency And Communication, Devshikha Bose, Krishna Pakala, Lana Grover

Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Though mobile devices like smartphones, tablets, and tablet computers have an immense potential for improving student learning, there is little empirical research which reports ways in which students actually use these technologies for learning, especially in fields like Engineering. Based on a social-constructivist approach to learning, the purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate student perceptions regarding changes in mobile device based digital fluency and communication, after participation in a Living Learning Community (LLC) based Mobile Learning Community. This study contributes to existing literature in the field in that it reports student perceptions of how mobile devices can …

Concrete Beam Design: Pouring The Foundation To Engineering In T&E Classrooms, Andrew J. Hughes, Chris Merrill

Educational Leadership & Technology Faculty Publications

Ask a middle or high school student if they could design a concrete beam that weighs only 20 pounds and is 36” long but must hold 600 pounds without failing. What is the student likely to say? What if the student was told that, with some optimized decision making based on relatively straightforward mathematics, their beam could hold 2400 pounds or more? The focus of this article is not on concrete beam design, it is rather an introduction to engineering principles in beam design using a lab activity. The concepts and skills learned in this article will lead students into …

Analyzing Concrete Beam Design: Verifying Predictions In T&Ee Classrooms, Andrew J. Hughes, Chris Merrill

Educational Leadership & Technology Faculty Publications

Design is often accepted as a fundamental aspect of engineering (Dym, et al., 2005). The design process is frequently portrayed as a set of steps. However, the design process is more complex than just a set of steps in a relatively fixed process. The complex nature of design, design thinking, questioning, and decision-making is exactly what technology and engineering classrooms are well suited to address. When addressing the question—“Why is technology and engineering education (T&EE) so important?”—the authors believe T&EE’s importance relates to our discipline’s ability to solve complex problems by balancing theory and practice in engaging hands-on learning scenarios …

Acue Certificate In Effective College Instruction Curated Reflections, Fadi Muheidat

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

The ACUE course is full of useful, best practice, experts’ opinions, and elaborated research on effective teaching. I feel I need another round of reading and watching the videos and classroom scenarios and go through the state-of-the-art techniques and work samples. My peers who participated in this course enriched the discussion and their own experiences best practices. Samples of reflections and implementation strategies listed below.

Peer-Prompted Engineering Design: How Do Adolescents Interact And Strategize?, Kristin Marie Strong, Oenardi Lawanto, Amy Wilson-Lopez

Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Engineering design was integrated into K–12 science education in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013), but teaching design remains a challenge for educators. Design problems are ill-defined, ill-structured, and complex problem-solving tasks. Their solutions require creativity and recursive, metacognitive processes that cannot be taught with simple algorithms. Moreover, adolescents do not demonstrate fully developed metacognitive skills because they are undergoing profound developmental changes. In this comparative case study, we explored how peer-delivered metacognitive prompts supported adolescents during a design challenge. We investigated how scripted prompts sparked reflection and stimulated design changes and identified which prompts were most …

Maker Fridays: Engaging Rural And Underrepresented High School Students In Pre-Engineering Design And Creativity, Michelle Howell-Smith, Kirstie Bash

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

The engineering field struggles to develop sufficient interest and sustained participation across underrepresented demographic groups including women and individuals from rural, Hispanic, or Native American origin. It is critical to foster interest in engineering during formative years when students are deciding career paths. Northeast Community College (Northeast) addressed the shortage of diverse students entering into engineering fields by developing a course to engage rural and underrepresented high school students in maker design and creativity and to determine best practices that attract and retain these students. The Maker Fridays pre-engineering course was part of the Fridays@Northeast program that targets high school …

Graduate School Of Engineering And Management Catalog 2020-2021, Graduate School Of Engineering And Management, Air Force Institute Of Technology

AFIT Documents

The Graduate Catalog represents the offerings, programs, and requirements in effect at the time of publication.

Early Engineering Experience (E3) Initiative, Danielle Nicole Carter, Rafael E. Landaeta

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

This Work in Progress paper details an initiative designed to broaden exposure and attract increased interest in the study of engineering of a minority-serving institution (MSI) with a plurality of races represented. The University's student population where this initiative is being implemented consists of 26.2% African American and 6% that identify with two or more races. In contrast, the College of Engineering in this University is 20% African American; the freshmen class makes up 6.3% of this figure. By USDOE standards, this characterization is indicative of a predominantly white institution (PWI). According to the Bureau of Labor Statics, underrepresented minorities …