Engineering Education Commons^™

Selecting Effective Examples To Train Students For Peer Review Of Open‐Ended Problem Solutions, Matthew Verleger Dr., Kelsey J. Rodgers Dr., Heidi Diefes-Dux

Publications

Background Students conducting peer review on authentic artifacts require training. In the training studied here, individual students reviewed (score and provide feedback on) a randomly selected prototypical solution to a problem. Afterwards, they are shown a side-by-side comparison of their review and an expert’s review, along with prompts to reflect on the differences and similarities. Individuals were then assigned a peer team’s solution to review.

Purpose This paper explores how the characteristics of five different prototypical solutions used in training (and their associated expert evaluations) impacted students’ abilities to score peer teams’ solutions.

Design/Method An expert rater scored the prototypical …

Effective Integration Of Nasa Stem Curricula Is Allowing Students To Appreciate Earth Science Concepts, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Stanley Schleifer, Krishna Mahabir, Newrence Wills, Matthew Khargie

Publications and Research

NASA Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) Aerospace Academy - MAA is a national, innovative activity designed to increase participation and retention of historically underserved and underrepresented K-12 youth in the STEM disciplines, particularly earth science and human exploration (HEO). HEO is dedicated to informing and educating the public about NASA's plans for a new era in space exploration. Utilization of NASA satellite images, online climate education, space mathematics and other earth science-related resources is allowing students to conduct basic research and prepare themselves for a New York City-wide science competition. In addition to offering school children a solid …

Pushing And Pulling Sara: A Case Study Of The Contrasting Influences Of High School And University Experiences On Engineering Agency, Identity, And Participation, Allison Godwin, Geoff Potvin

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

This manuscript reports on a longitudinal case study of how one woman, Sara, who had previously considered dropping out of high school authored strong mathematics and science identities and purposefully exhibited agency through her experiences in high school science. These experiences empowered her to choose an engineering major in college; however, her introductory university engineering experiences ultimately pushed her out of engineering. Drawing on critical agency theory, we argue that by paying careful attention to how and why women author their identities and build agency through their experiences in high school, we may gain insight into why women may choose …

Self-Efficacy As A Long-Term Outcome Of A General Education Course On Digital Technologies, Renata A. Revelo, Christopher Schmitz, Duyen Le, Michael C. Loui

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

This study investigates the long-term outcomes of a general education course on digital technologies. Through cross-sectional and longitudinal interviews with students, the authors find that self-efficacy is a long-term student outcome. The primary sources of self-efficacy in the course for students were verbal persuasion and mastery experience. Faculty and teaching assistants were key sources for verbal persuasion. Some students experienced a success paradox: they felt successful in the course even though they failed to meet all of their initial expectations. This study can guide faculty in designing a course to promote student self-efficacy.

Targeting All Of Stem In The Primary School : Engineering Design As A Foundational Process, Lyn English

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

With the increased national and international focus on advancing STEM education, it is important to ensure all of its disciplines are represented in the curriculum. To-date, the STEM acronym has been used largely in reference to science, with less emphasis on the remaining disciplines – especially engineering. Yet engineering design, a core component of engineering education, is now seen internationally as a foundational process linking the STEM disciplines, not just confined to engineering. Engineering concepts, design processes, representing, modelling, and innovative design-based problem-solving are all featured within the new Design and Technologies Curriculum. This paper will explore the nature and …

Utilizing Electroencephalography Measurements For Comparison Of Task-Specific Neural Efficiencies: Spatial Intelligence Tasks, Benjamin J. Call, Wade Goodridge, Idalis Villanueva, Nicholas Wan, Kerry Jordan

Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Spatial intelligence is often linked to success in engineering education and engineering professions. The use of electroencephalography enables comparative calculation of individuals' neural efficiency as they perform successive tasks requiring spatial ability to derive solutions Neural efficiency here is defined as having less beta activation, and therefore expending fewer neural resources, to perform a task in comparison to other groups or other tasks. For inter-task comparisons of tasks with similar durations, these measurements may enable a comparison of task type difficulty. For intra-participant and inter-participant comparisons, these measurements provide potential insight into the participant's level of spatial ability and different …

Acer Research Conference Proceedings (2016), Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

The focus of ACER’s Research Conference 2016 will be on what we are learning from research about ways of improving levels of STEM learning. Australia faces significant challenges in promoting improved science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning in our schools. Research Conference 2016 will showcase research into what it will take to address these challenges, which include: the decline in Australian students’ mathematical and scientific ‘literacy’; the decline in STEM study in senior school; a shortage of highly qualified STEM subject teachers, and curriculum challenges. You will hear from researchers who work with teachers to engage students in studying …

Use Of Demographic Faultlines To Predict Teams’ Conflict, Satisfaction And Performance, Marina Pazeti, Isabel Jimenez-Useche

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

During the past decade, industries and businesses have experienced the formation of a global market place. Current tasks require professionals from different fields and with different backgrounds to work together as a team. The goal of this study is to investigate how diversity in teams may impact perception of conflict, satisfaction and performance, in first-year engineering students. Team diversity is associated with faultlines: the potential to form subgroups based on certain characteristics. The strength and width of faultlines in a team is likely to impact the team’s outcomes. In this research, we used demographic characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, language …

Examining Bridges Between Informal And Formal Learning Environments: A Sequential Mixed Method Design, Dagen L. Valentine

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this sequential mixed method study was to identify schools implementing a technology-based engineering design intervention in a way that connects or bridges formal learning environments of the school-day to informal learning environments such as afterschool programs. Further, this study investigated educators’ decisions that enabled or facilitated bridging between formal and informal learning environments. This cooperation and/or linking between informal and formal learning time is bridging. Participants included public schools (n=16) in Eastern Nebraska that incorporated the Nebraska Wearables Technology (WearTec) program at their school, club or Out-of-School-Time program during the 2015-2016 school year. Three of the schools …

Jazzing Up Next-Gen Librarians For Freshman Engineering Instruction Delivery, Marian G. Armour-Gemmen, Chanelle Pickens, Robin A.M. Hensel, Mary L. Strife, Mariam Jalalifard

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Because of the need for science and engineering librarians, both nationwide and at West Virginia University (WVU), a model of Introduction to STEM Disciplines’ Information Use and Mentoring

occurred at WVU. The engineering librarians introduced new resident librarians and a graduate research assistant to the Freshman Engineering program and involved them in teaching several engineering information literacy sessions. The goal of engaging the new librarians into the educational activities was to motivate their learning, gain feedback on current teaching strategies and fresh ideas for possible future implementation, and facilitate buy-in of the need for and role of STEM-specific librarians. The …

Promoting School Earthquake Safety Through A Classroom Education Grassroots Approach, Lelli Van Den Einde, Heidi Tremayne, Thalia Anagnos, James Mallard

Faculty Publications

The earthquake engineering community has recognized that in seismically active regions throughout the United States, hundreds of thousands of students and staff unknowingly study and work in structurally vulnerable school and university buildings. The School Earthquake Safety Initiative (SESI), spearheaded by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), is a collaborative network of diverse, expert, and impassioned professionals who are committed to creating and sharing knowledge and tools that enable broadminded, informed decision making around school earthquake safety. The Classroom Education and Outreach Subcommittee of SESI is tackling the problem of school safety from a grassroots approach, with the goal of …

Development Of An Instrument To Measure The Entrepreneurial Mindset Of Engineering Students, Cheryl Q. Li, Ronald S. Harichandran, Maria-Isabel Carnasciali, Nadiye O. Erdil, Jean Nocito-Gobel

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

This work in progress describes the development of an instrument to measure entrepreneurial mindset of engineering students. The need for developing the entrepreneurial mindset of engineering students is being recognized by many universities. However, very few comprehensive, generalized and well-validated instruments are available for assessing the entrepreneurial mindset of engineering students. Most research and educational efforts focus on the design and implementation of engineering entrepreneurship programs, but assessment practices have not kept up.1-2 There are several reasons for the shortfall in assessment practices: 1) Introducing engineering students to entrepreneurship is a relatively new trend and it will take time for …

Integrating E-Learning Modules Into Engineering Courses To Develop An Entrepreneurial Mindset In Students, Nadiye O. Erdil, Ronald S. Harichandran, Jean Nocito-Gobel, Maria-Isabel Carnasciali, Cheryl Q. Li

Engineering and Applied Science Education Faculty Publications

Engineering graduates who will be leaders in today’s rapidly changing environment must possess an entrepreneurial mindset and a variety of professional skills in addition to technical knowledge and skills. An entrepreneurial mindset applies to all aspects of life, beginning with curiosity about our changing world, integrating information from various resources to gain insight, and identifying unexpected opportunities to create value. The Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) defines curiosity, connections and creating value as three core components of an entrepreneurial mindset. These 3Cs coupled with associated engineering skills forms KEEN’s entrepreneurial mindset framework. An entrepreneurial mindset enables engineers to develop sound …

What Does It Mean To Be An Engineer? A Comparison Of Adult Students At Three Institutions, Tressa Kay Mikel, Pedro Sh Kim, Maria-Isabel Carnasciali, Shannon Ciston

Engineering and Applied Science Education Faculty Publications

Our work is motivated by the need to cultivate a diverse group of talented future engineers. Adult undergraduate students over the age of 25 are an important source of engineers, with life experience that can enhance student experience, but not much is understood yet about this specific group. Adult students face challenges specific to their demographic due to responsibilities in other aspects of their life as employees, parents, spouses, and more. This paper examines adult engineering students’ conceptions of what an engineer is, across three distinct academic environments: a community college, a small private undergraduate university, and a large public …

Longitudinal Success Of Calculus I Reform, Doug Bullock, Kathrine E. Johnson, Janet Callahan

Mathematics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper describes the second year of an ongoing project to transform calculus instruction at Boise State University. Over the past several years, Calculus I has undergone a complete overhaul that has involved a movement from a collection of independent, uncoordinated, personalized, lecture-based sections, into a single coherent multi-section course with an activelearning pedagogical approach. The overhaul also significantly impacted the course content and learning objectives. The project is now in its fifth semester and has reached a steady state where the reformed practices are normative within the subset of instructors who might be called upon to teach Calculus I. …

The Impact Of Volunteering At A Girls Outreach Activity On Community Formation, Donna C. Llewellyn, Janet Callahan, Amy J. Moll, Catherine Rose Bates

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper is focused on exploring the motivation for volunteering at an engineering outreach activity. The outreach activity itself involved a two day, overnight experience for 9th and 10th grade girls that started in 2005, and which has been held annually since that time. The outreach event takes place in Boise, Idaho, and at the time of its onset was the only outreach or camp activity in the state focused on girls or young women. Across ten years, 510 total girls have participated, with approximately 85% of them coming from the immediate metropolitan area. The program was developed with a …

Web Publication Utilized As A Communication Tool For First Year Engineering Students, Hyun J. Kwon

Faculty Publications

© American Society for Engineering Education, 2016. This work in progress (WIP) paper describes the effectiveness of web publication as a communication tool for first year engineering students. Although the importance of generating a professionally written report has not diminished, web publication is quickly emerging as a necessary means of communicating for engineering students. In this digital age, an engineering education should have not neglect the importance of electronic communication and web based knowledge management. Web based publications provide several benefits compared to traditional portfolios: they allow students a means of enhancing visual/multimedia illustrations, provide students a means of developing …

Professional Development For The Integration Of Engineering In High School Stem Classrooms, Jonathan E. Singer, Julia M. Ross, Yvette Jackson-Lee

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

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education in the U.S. is in transition. The recently published A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas as well as the Next Generation Science Standards are responsive to this call and clearly articulate a vision that includes engineering practices as key components. This shift presents significant challenges to school districts owing to a stark lack of research-based engineering-focused instructional materials and corresponding teacher professional development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a professional development program on high school STEM teachers’ ability to enact design-based …

Secure Software Engineering Education: Knowledge Area, Curriculum And Resources, Xiaohong Yuan, Li Yang, Bilan Jones, Huiming Yu, Bei-Tseng Chu

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

This paper reviews current efforts and resources in secure software engineering education, with the goal of providing guidance for educators to make use of these resources in developing secure software engineering curriculum. These resources include Common Body of Knowledge, reference curriculum, sample curriculum materials, hands-on exercises, and resources developed by industry and open source community. The relationship among the Common Body of Knowledge proposed by the Department of Homeland Security, the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, and ACM/IEEE are discussed. The recent practices on secure software engineering education, including secure software engineering related programs, courses, and course modules …

How Engineering Standards Are Interpreted And Translated For Middle School, Eugene Judson, John Ernzen, Stephen Krause, James A. Middleton, Robert J. Culbertson

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

In this exploratory study we examined the alignment of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) middle school engineering design standards with lesson ideas from middle school teachers, science education faculty, and engineering faculty (4–6 members per group). Respondents were prompted to provide plain language interpretations of two middle school Engineering Design performance expectations and to provide examples of how the performance expectations could be applied in middle school classrooms. Participants indicated the challenges and benefits of implementing these performance expectations and indicated personal experiences that helped them to interpret the performance expectations.

Quality of lessons differed depending on the performance expectation …

Development And Implementation Of Problem-Based Chemistry Experiments For Engineering Students In A Multi-Disciplinary Course, Tiffany Hesser, Stephanie R. Bunyea

Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper will describe the implementation and continuing development of five problem based laboratory experiments in a general chemistry course designed specifically for multiple disciplines of engineering students at the University of New Haven. The Problem Based Laboratory Experiments (PBLE) were developed to provide students with the opportunity to perform and develop experimental procedures working in interdisciplinary teams, while achieving a greater understanding of the role of chemistry in engineering fields. In each PBLE, students first complete a traditional chemistry experiment to gain an understanding of the chemical concepts and to become familiar with executing a written procedure with a …

Integration Of General Education Into The Senior Capstone Class In Engineering, Patricia Backer, Laura Sullivan-Green

Faculty Publications

Over the past few years, San Jose State University (SJSU) has mandated that all of the undergraduate degree programs including engineering degrees be set at 120 units. With the existing number of units for the BS engineering degrees, this mandatory requirement has led to new innovations in General Education (GE) at SJSU. We have created a two-course sequence to support the integration of upper division General Education into the engineering major. Advanced GE at SJSU is designed to help students become integrated thinkers who can see connections between and among a variety of concepts and ideas. In the College of …

Developing Appropriate Educational Modules Aimed At Industry - An Example From Surveying At Masters Level, Audrey Martin

Articles

This paper describes the process from inception to completion of developing academic modules appropriate for upgrading survey professionals engaged in the public sector. It focuses on one such module continuing professional development module in ‘Gravity and Height’ for National Mapping, developed by the Technological University Dublin Spatial Information Sciences Group for the National Mapping Agency, Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi) and staff from similar organisations.

Can We Teach A Programming Language As A Second Language?, Lulu Sun, Christina Frederick, Paula Sanjuan Espejo, Rachel Cunningham

Publications

This paper describes a design and implementation of a NSF sponsored project in 2015. This study will test the hypothesis that the use of cognitive frameworks in second language acquisition for the development of a blended learning of programming languages can improve engagement and the learning experience of engineering students. Using this approach will place greater emphasis on problem solving techniques that can be utilized in all courses. The online module consists of a series of short videos (10-20 minutes), online quizzes with tiered questions, and topic specified discussion board led by student researchers. Students’ demographic data, course-related behaviors such …

Lean Six Sigma Journey In A Uk Higher Education Institute: Challenges, Projects, And Key Lessons Learned, Jiju Antony, Elizabeth A. Cudney

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Lean Six Sigma is a powerful methodology for achieving process efficiency and effectiveness resulting in enhanced customer satisfaction and improved bottom line results. Although a number of manufacturing and service organizations are utilizing the power of this integrated methodology, Higher Education Institutions have been slow to introduce and develop this process excellence methodology. The purpose of the paper is to critically evaluate Lean Six Sigma as a powerful business improvement methodology for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of Higher Education Institutions. The paper will explore the fundamental challenges and critical success factors encountered with the introduction and development of Lean …

Systematic Review Of The Funds Of Knowledge Framework In Stem Education, Dina Verdin, Allison Godwin, Brenda Capobianco

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

This theory paper examines literature on the construct, funds of knowledge, as it has been applied in STEM education, with an emphasis on engineering and explores if and how funds of knowledge has been used to understand first-generation college students in engineering. Using a systematic literature review, we describe how the framework of funds of knowledge has been adopted in the engineering education literature. Funds of knowledge is a conceptual framework that has been concerned with social justice issues around validity and impacts of deficit theorizing (a theory that points to the underachievement of minority groups on perceived deficiencies related …

More Comprehensive And Inclusive Approaches To Demographic Data Collection, Todd Fernandez, Allison Godwin, Jacqueline Doyle, Dina Verdin, Hank Boone, Adam Kirn, Lisa Benson, Geoff Potvin

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

In this evidence-based practice paper, we discuss ways for researchers and educators to more sensitively, accurately, and effectively collect demographic information on surveys. Identifying variables that capture diversity more broadly is vital in understanding the variety of ways in which students participate in and experiencing engineering education. We frame this discussion through publically available statistics that suggest the potential error in common approaches employed for demographic collection. While basic questions about participants’ sex and ethnicity are standard items in assessment and data collection, these questions only develop a limited representation and potentially present an inaccurate accounting of students’ social identities …

Voicing The Indescribable - Using Photo Elicitation As A Method To Uncover Belonging And Community, Nicole P Pitterson, Juan D. Ortega-Alvarez, Ruth Streveler, Robin Adams

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

Eleven years ago two NSF-funded programs aimed at fostering the development of a Community of Practice (CoP) among engineering education researchers, the Rigorous Research in Engineering Education (RREE) and the Institute for Scholarship on Engineering Education (ISEE), were initiated. The RREE and ISSE programs involved approximately 200 (147 RREE and 48 ISEE) faculty members in workshops and other professional development learning experiences that helped them become aware of and learn how to navigate the nuances of conducting engineering education research (EER) that met the standards of any scholarly field.

While big-data analytics can be applied to show evidence of a …

A Qualitative Study Investigating How First-Year Engineering Students' Value Beliefs Influence Their Choice Of Selecting An Engineering Major, Juan D. Ortega-Alvarez, S. Zahra Atiq, Hector E Rodriguez-Simmonds

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

First year engineering (FYE) programs are gaining popularity across universities in the United States. In addition to providing general engineering knowledge and skills to undergraduate freshmen, FYE programs also provide students with diverse opportunities to help them select the engineering discipline they will further pursue. The 2014 cohort of the FYE program of a large Midwestern university was the sample used for a two-phased study. The aim of the study was to understand how students make informed decisions of which engineering major to pursue and to help FYE administration to improve the resources they provide students. The first phase of …

The Changing Role Of Professional Societies For Academics, Gretchen L. Hein, Daniela Faas, Anne M. Lucietto, Jacquelyn Kay Nagel, Diane L. Peters, Rebecca M. Reck, Mary C. Vestraete, Deborah J. O'Bannon

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

This research paper describes how professional societies provide services to their members with a focus on the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). Professional societies fulfill many roles for their members. For underrepresented groups, the different roles become more important. Despite increasing numbers of women and other underrepresented groups in engineering academia, retention rates of women are still below the national average. Professional societies such as the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) may close the retention gap through community building. Not only do professional societies provide opportunities for networking and career building, but they also provide affirmation that there are others …