Engineering Education Commons^™

Investigating Potential Gender Differences In First-Year Engineering Students’ Academic Motivation And Homework Submission Behavior, Cara Mawson, Cheryl Bodnar

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

Previous studies have shown that there exists a difference in undergraduate students’ academic motivation based on gender. Specifically, females have been shown to be more extrinsically motivated than their male peers in a university setting (D’Lima, et. al, 2014). However, little research has been done to examine the effects of gender relevant to academic motivation in gamified systems. The study of gamification systems is important due to the increase in their use within educational activities. This study leverages the Jones MUSIC Model of Academic Motivation and gamification profiles to answer the research question: How does gender influence student behavior and …

Student Perceptions Of An Entrepreneurial Mindset And Its Relevance To Engineering Careers, Alexandra Mary Jackson, Samantha Resnick, Rebecca Hansson, Cheryl Bodnar

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

Development of an entrepreneurial mindset (EM) has been a focus that has gained traction within engineering over the last decade. Thus, undergraduate engineering curricula have been modified to address EM development Curriculum modifications can include assigning hands-on projects with entrepreneurial elements, devoting entire courses to developing students' entrepreneurial skills while working with real world companies, and even creating degree programs with entrepreneurship in engineering as the focus.

Literature on EM has shown that there are a variety of methods for defining EM depending on the stakeholder. However, there has been limited research on how students understand and define EM, which …

Perceptions Of The Engineering Curricula From Women And Lgbtqia+ Students, Stephanie M. Lezotte, Harriet Hartman, Stephanie Farrell, Tiago Forin, Theresa F. S. Bruckerhoff

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

The National Science Foundation’s Revolutionizing Engineering and computer science Departments (RED) grant was awarded to the Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Department at Midsized MidAtlantic University in 2016. This RED grant enables the institution to improve the inclusion of underrepresented and underserved engineering students over the course of five years. One of the ways our RED research team implemented this grant was to conduct climate surveys distributed to all engineering students to document students’ academic preparation and participation, feelings of otherness in the College of Engineering, engineering self-efficacy, sense of inclusion and belonging in the College of Engineering, and their …

Tinkering With Theoretical Objects: Designing Theories In Scientific Inquiry, Shakayla Moran, Leslie Atkins Elliott

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

The EDISIn Project (Engineering Design in Scientific Inquiry), taught in an undergraduate teacher preparation program, is investigating where engineering design opportunities emerge within contexts of scientific inquiry, with implications for how science teachers might productively engage in engineering design in their science courses without compromising on either the science or the engineering. In some inquiries, the opportunities for engineering were obvious, particularly with respect to novel experimental designs and in developing physical representations of models. In other inquiries, however, the investigations were either largely theoretical or the experimental designs were readily developed without a need for deliberate attention to design …

Solar Energy Certificate For Engineering Technology Students, Jesus A. Gonzalez-Rodriguez, Immanuel Edinbarough

Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

Solar Energy is the fastest-growing energy resource in the United States and the world. This industry just hit an important milestone in 2019 of completing two million solar systems installations in the country and is expected to duplicate this quantity by 2023.

Organizations and home and business owners in our South Texas region are starting to recognize the benefits of this type of renewable energy. And with the drop in the cost of the components and installation of the solar system, the future for this industry seems promising.

Our Program of Engineering Technology, which is part of the College of …

Development And Implementation Of An Assessment Model In A Sophomore Electromechanical Systems Design Laboratory For The Etac-Abet Accreditation, Lili Ma, Benito Mendoza, Lorrington A. Hamilton, Luis Alberto Aponte, Sergey Drabkin, Mauricio Cardena

Publications and Research

In the field of assessment in higher education, practitioners regularly mention two features as key for success at implementing a sustainable assessment model, i) it has to be faculty-driven, and ii) it has to become part of the curriculum. This paper describes an assessment model incorporating these features. The model was developed and implemented for assessing both the ETAC-ABET Program Criteria for an associate degree in Electromechanical Engineering Technology program and the new ETAC-ABET (2019-2020) student outcome (2), which regards students' ability to design systems, components, or processes for well-defined engineering technology problems appropriate to the discipline. This paper describes …

Assessment Of Creative Thinking In An Introductory Robotics Course Using Final Project, Lili Ma, Jose Reyes Alamo, Yu Wang

Publications and Research

This study describes development of an assignment (the final project) used for assessment of creative thinking in an undergraduate robotic course. Robotics inherently demands creativity, requiring exploration and investigation among several different methods to eventually generate a satisfactory solution. Assessment of students’ creative thinking fits naturally into our robotic course, which has a 2.5-hour lab session each week for students to work on physical/simulated robots. Students are asked to complete three projects over one semester. This paper describes the re-design and fine-tuning of the final project such that assessment of creative thinking can be incorporated into this robotic course as …

Practicing Self-Regulation Of Cognition And Motivation During Problem Solving In Engineering And Mathematics, Oenardi Lawanto

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Design-Based Research: Students Seeking Co-Op In Refined Educational Model, Dennis Rogalsky, Ron Ulseth

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

This research paper continues a longitudinal implementation of a design-based research (DBR) study/implementation for a new co-op centric educational model. This is a benchmarking study by the university program.

The new model is an adaptation of two recently recognized (by a 2018 MIT report) emerging world-leading engineering educational models, Charles Sturt University (Australia) and Iron Range Engineering (Minnesota). Adapted from Charles Sturt is the co-op model whereby students spend an initial on-campus period and then combine co-op work placements and on-line learning all the way to degree completion. Adapted from Iron Range are the curricular strategies that empower a graduate …

Student Perceptions Of Connections Between An Introductory Dynamic Systems Class And Co-Op Work Experience, Diane Peters

Mechanical Engineering Presentations And Conference Materials

This work focuses on connections that students see between co-op work assignments and a specific class in their mechanical engineering curriculum, typically taken in the second half of their junior year or the first half of their senior year. Students in the course wrote an essay, as a required assignment, in which they reflected on the links between their co-op work and the course, and were asked for permission to use those essays in the professor’s research on this topic. Analysis of the essays shows that students typically did see connections; in many cases, these were connected to the course …

Confidence Of Graduate Students In Engineering Masters’ Programs: A Comparison Of Returners And Direct-Pathway Students, Diane Peters, Elizabeth Gross

Mechanical Engineering Presentations And Conference Materials

Confidence is a critical factor in the success of graduate students; those who are not confident of their ability to succeed will have greater difficulties in persisting and graduating with the degree that they seek. Therefore, cultivating confidence is an important part of equipping graduate students for success, and the question of where confidence comes from is an important one. In this study, 300 graduate students were surveyed, including both returners (students with a gap of at least five years between completing their undergraduate education and starting graduate study) and direct pathway students (students with a gap less than five …

Development Of An Online Course In Research For Undergraduate Students, Diane Peters, Ronald Kumon, Garielle Feeny

Mechanical Engineering Presentations And Conference Materials

This Work in Progress paper will cover the development of an online course in research practices for undergraduate students. Active participation in research is an important part of experiential learning, which can help to prepare students for careers in a variety of settings including industrial R&D departments, academia, and government research labs. Undergraduate students’ research experiences may be limited in their value, however, by the learning curve students face as they begin to conduct research. The quality of their training may also be limited, with some receiving excellent training and orientation from a strong research lab or faculty mentor, and …

Assessing Intuition Used Among Undergraduate Engineering Technology And Engineering Students, Melissa Cai Shi, Therese M. Azevedo, Anne M. Lucietto

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Intuition plays an essential role in decision-making and is independent of an analytical way of thinking that is considered a gut feeling. Individuals can shape their intuition, and each field of study develops a variety of skills and trains students for a way of thinking needed for that specific area. A focus on undergraduate engineering technology students and comparing them to undergraduate engineering students allows this study to examine the types of intuition used by these two groups. The Types of Intuition Scale (TIntS), an established, validated instrument, which categorizes intuition into inferential, affective, holistic abstract, and holistic big picture …

Development Of A Smart Grid Course In An Electrical Engineering Technology Program, Murat Kuzlu, Otilia Popescu, Vukica M. Jovanovic

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Electric power systems courses have been traditionally offered by electrical engineering technology programs for a long time, with the main objective to introduce students to the fundamental concepts in the field of electric power systems and electrical to mechanical energy conversion. A typical electric power systems course covers a variety of topics, such as general aspects of electric power system design, electric generators, components of transmission and distribution systems, power flow analysis, system operation, and performance measures. In the last decades, electric power systems have significantly modernized alongside with requirement of improvement in system efficiency, reliability, cybersecurity, and environmental sustainability. …

Minority Graduates In Engineering Technology: Trends In Choice Of Major, Yury Alexandrovich Kuleshov, Emily Rada, Anne M. Lucietto

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

The paper presents a demographic analysis of college graduates in engineering technology (ET). The paper intends to investigate the graduates’ background, population, and choice of major. Graduates in ET are a much smaller population than those found in other Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs. Little publishing exists about who they are and how long it took to pursue their degree while examining other available demographic data. The delineation of this paper does not include computer science and computer technology programs. Several opinions exist about who these students are, where they come from, and what interests them. The paper …

Exploring Young Women’S Interest In Fluid Power With Workshop Experiences, Anne M. Lucietto, Jennifer D. Moss, Jose M. Garcia, John H. Lumkes

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Fluid power is not an engineering topic usually presented to students in grades K-12. However undergraduate students in various programs are required to learn this concept. Evidence exists that indicates college students are more easily engaged when fluid power has been introduced earlier in their schooling. Thus, a variety of organizations are beginning work toward providing programs to creatively present the topic to younger students. After an examination of existing literature, we found minimal evidence of this type of work having been carried out and reported on. This study examines data from workshops designed to introduce fluid power to middle …

Modernization Of Scienttific Mathematics Formula In Technology, Iwasan D. Kejawa Ed.D, Prof. Iwasan D. Kejawa Ed.D

Department of Mathematics: Faculty Publications

Abstract
Is it true that we solve problem using techniques in form of formula? Mathematical formulas can be derived through thinking of a problem or situation. Research has shown that we can create formulas by applying theoretical, technical, and applied knowledge. The knowledge derives from brainstorming and actual experience can be represented by formulas. It is intended that this research article is geared by an audience of average knowledge level of solving mathematics and scientific intricacies. This work details an introductory level of simple, at times complex problems in a mathematical epidermis and computability and solvability in a Computer Science. …

Expanding A Mechanical Engineering Technology Curriculum To Include Additive Manufacturing, Hamid Eisazadeh, Mona Torabizadeh

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Additive Manufacturing (AM) has become a game changer for the manufacturing industry. With growing implementation of AM in various industries, it is the responsibility of different levels of education to expose students to AM technologies and to integrate AM into their curriculum. It is well known that students who gain the skillsets of today’s industry have a better chance in getting a competitive job. In response to this need, a new senior level elective course on AM, has been developed for the first time in Old Dominion University (ODU) region in the South. The course was developed and taught by …

The Influence Of Participation In A Multi-Disciplinary Collaborative Service Learning Project On The Effectiveness Of Team Members In A 100-Level Mechanical Engineering Class, Stacie I. Ringleb, Pilar Pazos, Julia Noginova, Francisco Cima, Orlando Ayala, Krishnanand Kaipa, Jennifer Kidd, Kristie Gutierrez

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Engineers need to develop professional skills, including the ability to work successfully in teams and to communicate within and outside of their discipline, in addition to required technical skills. A collaborative multi-disciplinary service learning project referred to as Ed+gineering was implemented in a 100-level mechanical engineering course. In this collaboration, mechanical engineering students, primarily in the second semester of their freshman year or first semester of their second year, worked over the course of a semester with education students taking a foundations course to develop and deliver engineering lessons to fourth or fifth graders. Students in comparison engineering classes worked …

Women And Bipoc In Aerospace: Where Did They Come From And How Did They Get Here?, Tracy L. Yother, Anne M. Lucietto, Geanie Umberger, Mary E. Johnson

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

The low number of women and black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) compared to their population, is well-documented in engineering, engineering technology, and other STEM fields. Through this and ancillary documentation there is agreement that increasing the numbers of women and other minorities in these areas will enhance productivity and the breadth of new innovation. Many efforts have been made to increase the number of women and BIPOC in STEM fields. The result of those efforts has been disappointing as they have resulted in minimal growth in engineering and virtual stagnation in other areas of STEM. The aviation and …

Study Of Organizational Knowledge Retention Practices In The Utilities, Eric G. Barnfather Jr., Kelly A. Mcfall, Anne M. Lucietto

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

One key to the successful and long-term survival of an organization involves knowledge capture and retention. The knowledge may include company secrets, lessons learned, and hard-earned best-practices that are lost, forgotten, or disorganized in the event of staff loss or early retirement. In the United States, the aging workforce poses a specific difficulty vis a vie utility workers. Many are quickly approaching retirement and operations staff are heavily impacted by this movement. Properly capturing and retaining employee’s tacit knowledge is a labor-intensive task as it is usually transferred through personal observation with demonstration, mentors, apprenticeships, or on-the-job training. Consequently, articulating …

The Development Of Techie Times, Brian D. Tedeschi, Julia K. Miller, Anne M. Lucietto, Nancy L. Denton

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Summer 2020 provided the motivation and opportunity to move summer outreach programs into the virtual world. Faculty and students in the Purdue University School of Engineering Technology moved face-to-face programs into a middle school program called Techie Times. This program was designed to provide students with an organized platform occurring just before the school year started, allowing them to learn at home, working with family, or independently. The program was designed to take place nonconsecutively over eight days, covering five various STEM topics. Some of these activities were already a part of the middle school curriculum; others were not. That …

Academic And Industry Collaboration: A Literature Review, Anne M. Lucietto, Diane L. Peters, Meher Rusi Taleyarkhan, Shelly Tan

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

As part of a larger project determining best practices for establishing and maintaining effective, sustainable, collaborative relationships between academic and industry professionals, this review will outline the available materials and, conversely, the multiple gaps that exist regarding course content, methods of teaching, and practical experience relating to preparation for careers in engineering and engineering technology. Currently, there is no clear agreement on which principles and practices best enable industrial partners and academic institutions to establish and maintain mutually-beneficial partnerships. In fact, there is no clear definition in the literature of what a mutually-beneficial partnership entails, across the full range of …

Active Experiential Learning At A Distance, Zach Schreiber, Robert J. Herrick, Anne M. Lucietto

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

E-learning became the mode of instruction for students worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instruction was forced onto numerous online platforms quickly, some seamlessly and some not. For those not well versed in online education, the move of all forms of education, including hands-on, laboratory experiential learning, deprived students of new experiences, skills, and knowledge due to a lack of provisions to perform remotely. Uncertain of the pandemic’s duration as well as the future of hands-on education, these authors investigated new technology, equipment, and experiments that would provide a hands-on laboratory experience performed by students at a distance. In response to …

Senior Elective Communications Systems Courses As Pathways To Capstone Projects In Electrical Engineering Technology Program, Otilia Popescu, Murat Kuzlu

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

In any engineering program the capstone project is the most comprehensive work completed by the students, and is regarded as the pinnacle of their engineering studies, with all their course work culminating with this major design, implementation and reporting product. Coming up with the actual topic of the project is sometimes the most difficult part of the project, especially in programs where the project topics are not solely proposed by the faculty, and they are for the student and advisor to develop together. This is especially the case of engineering technology programs, where a large percentage of students have work …

A Look Into Increasing The Number Of Veterans And Former Government Employees Converting To Career And Technical Cybersecurity Teachers, Vukica M. Jovanovic, Michael Anthony Crespo, Drew E. Brown, Deborah Marshall, Otilia Popescu, Murat Kuzlu, Petros J. Katsioloudis, Linda Vahala

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

The current state of technology with recent explosions in the digital processing of paperwork, computer networking use, and online and virtual approaches to areas, which until very recently had traditional and non-computerized ways of operating, led to a steady increase in the demand for jobs in the area of computer science and cybersecurity. The education system, the pipeline for the incoming workforce, needs to keep up with this tremendous pace in technology and the job market. The current K-12 school system has been extensively challenged to fill out necessary positions in order to address the increasing need for programs that …

Journal Of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-Peer) Annual Report From January 1, 2020 To December 31, 2020, Senay Purzer, Kami N. Schwatz

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

Over the last ten years, the Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER) has been disseminating research that seeks to investigate, enhance, and transform pre-college engineering education and, ultimately, to create an engineering‐literate society. The 2020 annual report presents readership metrics and statistics of the decade, trends and metrics on J-PEER's authorship in 2020, and our reflections on the last year.

Universal Biological Motions For Educational Robot Theatre And Games, Rajesh Venkatachalapathy, Martin Zwick, Adam Slowik, Kai Brooks, Mikhail Mayers, Roman Minko, Tyler Hull, Bliss Brass, Marek Perkowski

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

Paper presents a concept that is new to robotics education and social robotics. It is based on theatrical games, in motions for social robots and animatronic robots. Presented here motion model is based on Drift Differential Model from biology and Fokker-Planck equations. This model is used in various areas of science to describe many types of motion. The model was successfully verified on various simulated mobile robots and a motion game of three robots called "Mouse and Cheese."

More Than Mechanisms: Shifting Ideologies For Asset-Based Learning In Engineering Education, Brian E. Gravel, Eli Tucker-Raymond, Aditi Wagh, Susan Klimczak, Naeem Wilson

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

Learning spaces, the practices in which people engage, and the representations they use are ideological. Ideologies are coherent constellations of values, beliefs, and practices that impose order on how disciplines like engineering operate. Historically, engineering spaces have been dominated by a relatively technocratic, rationalistic, and exclusionary ideology, but more recent attention to asset-based approaches to engineering education offers transformative promise. Asset-based ideologies can reshape images of legitimized engineering practice, recasting engineering education to disrupt dominant exclusionary ideologies. This paper describes an assets-based learning space, SETC, that recaptures the imagination of engineering for technological and social change. Drawing from extensive ethnographic …

Making Makers: Tracing Stem Identity In Rural Communities, Jessie Nixon, Andy Stoiber, Erica Halverson, Michael Dando

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

In this article, we describe efforts to reduce barriers of entry to pre-college engineering in a rural community by training local teens to become maker-mentors and staff a mobile makerspace in their community. We bring a communities of practice frame to our inquiry, focusing on inbound and peripheral learning and identity trajectories as a mechanism for representing the maker-mentor experience. Through a longitudinal case study, we traced the individual trajectories of five maker-mentors over two years. We found a collection of interrelated factors present in those students who maintained inbound trajectories and those who remained on the periphery. Our research …