Engineering Education Commons^™

Establishing Doctoral Programs In Electrical Engineering, Materials Science And Engineering, And Computing In An Emerging Research Institution: Lessons Learned And Best Practices, Janet Callahan, Cheryl B. Schrader, Darryl P. Butt, Timothy Anderson, Tammi Vacha-Hasse, Amy J. Moll

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Over the past decade, three doctoral programs have been launched at Boise State University. The first doctoral program established was in Electrical and Computer Engineering, selected because of the need for a trained workforce in the region. The other two doctoral programs, Materials Science and Engineering, and Computing, were from the start designed as interdisciplinary degree programs. That is, they were designed for the participation of not just program faculty within the division, but for the participation of program faculty with related research interests in other departments at the university. This paper presents the steps taken to launch the programs, …

Calculus Reform: Increasing Stem Retention And Post-Requisite Course Success While Closing The Retention Gap For Women And Underrepresented Minority Students, Doug Bullock, Janet Callahan, Jocelyn B. S. Cullers

Mathematics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Boise State University (BSU) implemented an across-the-board reform of calculus instruction during the 2014 calendar year. The details of the reform, described elsewhere (Bullock, 2015), (Bullock 2016), involve both pedagogical and curricular reform. Gains from the project have included a jump in Calculus I pass rate, greater student engagement, greater instructor satisfaction, a shift toward active learning pedagogies, and the emergence of a strong collaborative teaching community. This paper examines the effects of the reform on student retention. Since the curricular reform involved pruning some content and altering course outcomes, which could conceivably have negative downstream impacts, we report on …

An Assessment Framework For First-Year Introduction To Engineering Courses, Senay Purzer, Kerrie A. Douglas, Jill A. Folkerts, Taylor V. Williams

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

In this evidence-based practice paper, we describe an assessment framework that applies to first-year introductory engineering courses. First-year engineering courses cover a variety of learning objectives that address both technical and professional outcomes outlined in ABET. These courses also often involve open-ended design and modeling projects. The assessment of multiple competencies along with open-ended design can be a challenging task for educators. In this paper, we describe a framework that guides instructional processes for effective assessment for student learning. This assessment-centered teaching and learning framework helps connect specific learning objectives to broader learning goals or competencies and on-going formative feedback …

Board # 102 : Pecase: Implementing K-12 Engineering Standards Through Stem Integration - An Executive Summary Of The Products And Research, Tamara Moore, Kristina Tank, Aran Glancy, Elizabeth Gajdzik

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

This executive summary of the grant, PECASE: Implementing K-12 Engineering Standards through STEM Integration, comes at the conclusion of the project. The purpose of the grant was to develop a definition and explore the practice of engineering in K-12 STEM classrooms. The definition was then used to assess curricula, policy documents, teacher practice, and student learning. Through this work, the definition was then used to help with the framing and development of curricula for K-5 classrooms. The resulting curricula are called the PictureSTEM units. These instructional units for K-5 classrooms utilize engineering design and picture books to teach young students …

A Content Analysis Of How Engineering Is Assessed In Published Curricula, Kerrie A. Douglas, Tamara J. Moore, Hillary Merzdorf, Tingxuan Lee, Amanda C. Johnston

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

A Content Analysis of How Engineering is Assessed in Published Curricula (Fundamental)

The purpose of this proposal is to present research findings concerning how and what about engineering is commonly assessed in well-known engineering or integrated STEM published curriculum. Two of the major shifts brought about by Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are an increased emphasis in students’ capabilities to perform higher-level reasoning skills and integrate content understanding into science practices. At the same time, NGSS has made engineering integration into science education a priority, and it is an exciting time of reform as schools are exploring curriculum resources and …

A Cross-Sectional Study Of Engineering Identity During Undergraduate Education, Allison Godwin, Walter C. Lee

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

This research paper explores students’ engineering, mathematics, and physics identities across the four years of undergraduate engineering education. The focus of this work are subject-related role identities, or how students position themselves and are positioned by others as the kind of people that engage in engineering, mathematics, or physics. An identity as an engineer is a role identity because it embodies a specific character that an individual plays within a social sphere. In this case, the social sphere is in the process of becoming an engineer. Other research has focused on identity development of engineering students, often either early in …

A Learning Trajectory For Developing Computational Thinking And Programming, Sean B. Brophy, Tony A. Lowe

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

A learning trajectory for developing computational thinking and programming This research study identifies the relationship between students’ prior experiences with programming and their development of computational thinking and programming during their first year engineering experience. Many first year programs teach students basic programming constructs using languages like MATLAB or LABView. The reason for this is because the disciplinary schools expect students to transform the constitutive properties that model a system’s behavior into a computer model they can use to analyze a system’s performance. Some undergraduate engineering students are entering college with strong computational backgrounds, while others are not. Peer learning …

Approaches To Coaching Students In Design Reviews, Robin Adams, Tiago R. Forin, Cole H. Joslyn

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Design reviews offer a unique window into understanding how design teachers help their students develop as designers. They are a prevalent practice for helping students develop design thinking expertise, although their structure and content may vary across disciplines. Understanding the teaching that occurs during design reviews can illuminate the ways teachers support students in becoming design thinkers. In this paper, we extend prior work to illustrate disciplinary perspectives of how design teachers help their students develop as design thinkers. The guiding framework is design pedagogical knowledge (PCK), the content-specific and practice-based specialized knowledge of teaching design. We analyzed five sets …

Board # 114 : Progress Toward Optimizing Student Team Skill Development Using Evidence-Based Strategies, Matthew W. Ohland, Daniel M. Ferguson, Misty L. Loughry, David Jonathan Woehr

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

The broad goal of this work is to study the effectiveness of various teamwork training interventions. This research requires the use of a common model of teamwork and a system for training, collecting ratings data, and providing feedback. We will leverage the NSF’s prior investment in the CATME system, which meets the research criteria and automates some of the data collection and feedback, which will aid in executing the research protocol consistently. Seven empirical studies will determine the effect sizes of training, practice in teams, practice rating, and feedback interventions on cognitive development (improvement of team skills) and metacognitive development …

A Systematized Literature Review: Defining And Developing Engineering Competencies, Hossein Ebrahiminejad

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

Essential competencies have been identified for engineers working in industry. These competencies include (but are not limited to) critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, and communication. Engineering education research has shown, however, that engineering undergraduate students often fail to develop these crucial competencies. The industry has also noted that recent graduates exhibit competency gaps. To address these gaps, it is important for higher education institutions to seek to understand the competencies identified as necessary in the industry. Moreover, one could argue educational institutions should develop and assess students’ competencies based on these professional demands. This research systematically reviews literature related to this …

Board # 113 : Eegrc Poster: Characterizing Trade-Off Decisions In Student Designers, Molly Goldstein

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

Although design and decision-making are intertwined for practicing engineers, students from elementary school through college and graduate schools are not taught to think through uncertain situations (Howard, 2007) in which information is limited or outcomes are not guaranteed. Trade-offs are a complex element of decision, as the decision-making weighs possible outcomes against their respective costs (Otto &Antonsson, 1991). Although much is understood about how professional designers’ behaviors as compared to novice designers and students (Atmen et al., 2007; Crismond & Adams, 2012; Cross, 2003), there is little research regarding making trade-off decisions from middle school and high school to college. …

Ten Years Later: Where Are They Now?, Janet Callahan, Donna C. Llewellyn, Vicki Stieha, Ann E. Delaney

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper explores the educational and career trajectories of the alumnae of an outreach activity for girls. The outreach activity was originally developed using an integrated marketing approach to attract girls into engineering programs.¹ The program, a two day, overnight experience for rising 9^th, 10^th and 11^th grade girls, focuses on showcasing engineering as an exciting, creative activity, including activities developed from that perspective. Started in 2005 and held annually since then, a total of over 500 girls have participated, with approximately 85% of them coming from Boise State University’s immediate metropolitan area. Facilitated by …

Higher Education Capacity Building In Water Resources Engineering And Management To Support Achieving The Sustainable Development Goal For Water In Pakistan, Steven J. Burian, Mercedes Ward, Tariq Banuri, M. Aslam Chaudhry, Sajjad Ahmad, Bakhshal Lashari, Rasool Bux Mahar, Davey Stevenson, Jim Vanderslice, Kamran Ansari, Munir Babar, Abdul Latif Qureshi

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals requires a multi‐pronged approach, with a key element being the development of a trained Community of Practice to sustain the advances in the relevant sectors. The engagement of higher education as a catalyst in the development and capacity building of the next generation of professionals and citizens comprising the Community of Practice is essential to meet the challenges of poverty, climate change, and clean water and to sustain those advances past 2030. This paper describes a capacity building program funded by the United States Agency for International Development to partner the University of Utah, in …

Preliminary Findings Using Growth Mindset And Belonging Interventions In A Freshman Engineering Class, Jinny Rhee, Camille Johnson, Clifton Oyamot

Faculty Publications, Mechanical Engineering

Engineering is typically plagued with lower graduation rates and larger achievement gaps compared to other majors; the projected demand for its future graduates lends to the urgency in reversing these trends. Holding a growth mindset, or a belief that intelligence is mutable, and a feeling of belongingness are keys to persisting in and graduating from college. In prior research, improvements in retention and graduation rates have been found following minor interventions, particularly among some underrepresented populations of students. The current study explored whether similar interventions could be effective in increasing retention and graduation rates among underrepresented populations of engineering and …

Flipping Stem Classrooms Collaboratively Across Campuses In California, Laura Sullivan-Green, Ravisha Mathur, Andrew Feinstein

Office of the Provost Scholarship

San José State University, in partnership with California State University-Los Angeles and Cal Poly Pomona, was awarded a prestigious 2015 First in the World grant, sponsored by the Department of Education. The multi-campus effort is focused on bringing the flipped classroom model to seven STEM gateway courses over three years that have high failure rates through collaborative efforts from faculty on the three partner campuses. SJSU, CSULA, and CPP are all designated Hispanic-Serving Institutions and Minority-Serving Institutions, though their demographics are very different. High impact practices like the flipped classroom approach have been shown to increase URM student success and …

Collaborative Research: Ehr Core: Exploring The Emotional And Motivational Lives Of Undergraduate Engineering Students, Idalis Villanueva

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Data‐Enabled Cognitive Modeling: Validating Student Engineers’ Fuzzy Design‐Based Decision‐Making In A Virtual Design Problem, Golnaz Arastoopour Irgens, Naomi C. Chesler, Jeffrey Linderoth, David Williamson Shaffer

Publications

The ability of future engineering professionals to solve complex real‐world problems depends on their design education and training. Because engineers engage with open‐ended problems in which there are unknown parameters and multiple competing objectives, they engage in fuzzy decision‐making, a method of making decisions that takes into account inherent imprecisions and uncertainties in the real world. In the design‐based decision‐making field, few studies have applied fuzzy decision‐making models to actual decision‐making process data. Thus, in this study, we use datasets on student decision‐making processes to validate approximate fuzzy models of student decision‐making, which we call data‐enabled cognitive modeling. The results …

Logic Tiles, Andrew Wheeler, Tristan Lennertz

Computer Engineering

This project was originally conceived by Professor Andrew Danowitz as he considered the restructuring of the introductory digital design course at Cal Poly. As it stands now, students apply their knowledge of boolean algebra and combinatorial logic through the programming of a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) using a Hardware Descriptive Language (HDL). While this is the industry standard for designing large, complex digital circuits, and is an fundamental skill to learn, there is a lack of actual circuit building in the process that can cause a disconnect from theory to application for students who have little-to-no experience with digital …

Examining Engineering Technology Students: How They Perceive And Order Their Thoughts, Anne M. Lucietto, Jennifer Drapinski Moss, Mark French

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

The lack of rigorous research focused on engineering technology students leaves administrators and practitioners in this area without adequate resources to advise and guide this unique population. This absence of research can most likely be attributed to smaller student populations as compared to other related fields, receiving attention, such as engineering. A preliminary systemic review reveals that research defining whom the engineering technology students are and how they think is largely unavailable. This study is expected to further improve our understanding of engineering technology students and how they change over time. Both freshman and senior engineering technology students were asked …

Initial Survey Of Engineering Technology Capstone Courses And Teamwork Building Using Catme, Anne M. Lucietto, Andrew Simon Scott, Kenneth A. Connor, Frederick C. Berry

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

This paper represents a first step in what is to become a multi –institutional initiative focused on identifying best practices for developing and improving teamwork skills within the Capstone experiences of engineering, technology and computing programs. Teamwork in this paper is defined and measured as the dimensions measured by the CATME Peer Review [1], which is currently used by thousands of technology and engineering instructors and institutions worldwide. The CATME Peer Review measurement tool is used to collect self and peer evaluations of team members’ contributions on five different teamwork dimensions [2]. These teamwork dimensions are 1) pose the knowledge, …

Overview Of Game And Content Design For A Mobile Game That Will Prepare Students In Calculus And Physics Prerequisites To The Engineering Curriculum, Katherine Smith, John Shull, Patrick Sean Heaney, Yuzhong Shen, Anthony W. Dean, Jennifer G. Michaeli

VMASC Publications

As part of a research project which assists veterans as they exit the military, complete engineering degrees, and enter the workforce as engineering professionals, a range of serious games for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education is under development. The current focus of this development is CAPTIVATE, a serious game to assist student veterans in mastering the calculus and physics skills that are necessary prerequisites to the main engineering curriculum. Building on the development and lessons learned from MAVEN, a game developed previously to help student veterans master precalculus skills, the design and initial implementation for CAPTIVATE involves careful …

Main Campus And Remote Campus Engineering Technology Students: How Are They Different?, Anne M. Lucietto, Sarah E. Leach

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Engineering Technology students are underrepresented as compared to other Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors. In particular, they are a very small, often neglected population of which little is known to those outside their field of study. One large Midwestern University is studying their engineering technology student population to further understand how best to serve these students. The intent is to improve student services, learning opportunities, and environments with a goal of improving student skills and knowledge. The ultimate objective is to send them into the workplace more fully prepared for the challenges they will encounter. Due to the …

Engineering Technology Graduate Students: Roles Professional Societies Havein Their Formation, Anne M. Lucietto, Diane L. Peters

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

In recent years, there have been several research projects focused on returning graduate students in engineering, those who have significant industry experience before beginning their graduate studies. These projects have focused on both the masters and doctoral levels and have looked at research, coursework, benefits of attending graduate school, and the cost of going back. One of the existing papers has looked at the ways in which professional organizations look on returning students, and how their membership policies affect these students. The issue of how returning students see themselves within professional societies was not addressed. As of yet, none of …

Engineering Technology Students - How Do They Compare To Other Stem Students?, Anne M. Lucietto

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

For many years, students interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors were easily identified. However, since the realization that the US has a low number of students enrolled in STEM programs, great effort has been expended to encourage youth to pursue careers in these areas. Because of these broad-based efforts, the demographics of students moving into STEM are different from those in the past. There is a noted lack of diversity in students majoring in engineering technology; this is not as prevalent in other STEM fields.

Engineering technology students belong to a unique group. They are formally trained …

A Survey Of Women In Academia And The Role Of A Multidisciplinary Professional Society, Daniela Faas, Anne M. Lucietto, Gretchen L. Hein, Lucy Lenhardt, Christi Patton Luks, Beth A. Myers

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is a global professional society of over 30,000 members with a mission to “Stimulate women to achieve full potential in careers as engineers and leaders, expand the image of the engineering profession as a positive force in improving the quality of life, and demonstrate the value of diversity”1. SWE is an organization that is deeply rooted in industry. The founding members were employed by firms that are a result of the industrial revolution, and thus the focus of its membership is on those that work for industry, consultants, and often themselves. This focus has …

Board # 100 : Research Design, Data Collection, And Assessment Methods For An Integrated Stem Education Model (Work In Progress), J. Geoff Knowles, Todd R. Kelley, Euisuk Sung, Jongseong Choi

Technology Leadership and Innovation Faculty Publications

The goal of this research is to assess the effectiveness of an integrated STEM education model. The study is being conducted under a three-year NSF-ITEST funded project (award #1513248), Teachers and Researchers Advancing Integrated Lessons in STEM (TRAILS). This research incorporates engineering design as a STEM subject integrator and scientific inquiry to provide an authentic learning context for promoting 21st century skills and connections in STEM learning. In addition, the study seeks to assess effective strategies to increase STEM self-efficacy within science (biology or physics) and engineering technology education (ETE) teachers, and advance students’ learning of STEM content at schools …

Understanding Young Students' Problem Solving Pathways: Building A Design Process Model Based On Sequential Analysis, Euisuk Sung, Todd R. Kelley

Technology Leadership and Innovation Faculty Publications

Many STEM-related K-12 education standards, such as the Next Generation Science Standards, Standards for Technological Literacy, and Common Core Mathematics Standards, place great emphasis on designing as a way of delivering their core concepts. However, the classroom delivery of core design concepts has been the focus of very few studies. Particularly, most design-based lessons use a design process model, which poses a challenge for many engineering and technology educators. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the actual process of engineering design using the sequential pattern analysis method. The researchers collected ten Concurrent Think-Aloud (CTA) protocols from fourth …

Supporting Veteran Students Along Engineering Pathways: Faculty, Student, And Researcher Perspectives, Brian J. Novoselich, Janice Leshay Hall, Keith A. Landry, Joyce B. Main, Anthony W. Dean

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Student veterans, with their highly technical military training, may help remedy national level gaps in qualified science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workers. Recent military education benefits and military end strength reductions have the potential to bolster the nation’s engineering technician, engineering technologist, and engineer (ETETE) workforce. Recent work by the National Science Foundation indicates that supporting veteran students towards ETETE careers involves three key tasks for educators: 1) building early awareness of ETETE pathways; 2) ensuring academic recognition for prior military work experience; and 3) providing seamless support from government agencies, academic institutions, and industry. Many veterans experience an …

Effect Of Cohorts On Student Retention In Engineering, Patricia Backer, Cindy Kato

Faculty Publications

Project Succeed is a campus-wide initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Its focus is to improve the 5-year graduation and retention rates and close the achievement gap for Under-Represented Minorities (URMs) across all majors at San José State University (SJSU). There are three major goals: strengthen SJSU’s core academic performance in retention and graduation; provide an improved supportive environment for URM students; and enhance the delivery and integration of academic and co-curricular support services. For Fall 2015, newly matriculated students in the College of Business, College of Engineering, and Child and Adolescent Development Department (CHAD) were assigned schedules …

Improving Student Engagement In Engineering Using Brain-Based Learning Principles As Instructional Delivery Protocols, John Solomon, Vimal Viswanathan, Eric Hamilton, Chitra Nayak

Faculty Publications, Mechanical Engineering

This paper presents a study on the academic engagement issues of the upper level engineering students in an HBCU (name of the university will be added later) and strategies implemented to overcome these issues using brain based learning principles as instructional delivery protocols. Although student engagement issues inside engineering classrooms have several components, we focus our attention in this paper mainly on two issues: the dis-engagement arising due to the lack of understanding of pre-requisites and insufficient mathematical skills of students reaching junior and senior engineering classes. A previous pilot study confirmed that a large fraction of students who reach …