Engineering Education Commons^™

The Potential Of The Implementation Of Offline Robotic Programming Into Automation-Related Pedagogy, Max Rios Carballo, Xavier Brown

Publications and Research

In this study, the offline programming tool RoboDK is used to program industrial robots for the automation sector. The study explores the feasibility of using this non-disruptive robot programming software for classroom use; assesses how well RoboDK can be used to program various robots used in the industry; creates and tests various applications; and pinpoints technical obstacles that prevent a smooth link between offline programming and actual robots. Initial results indicate that RoboDK is an effective tool for deploying its offline programming code to a Universal Robot, UR3e. There are many potential for advanced applications. The goal of the project …

Contextualizing And Integrating Practices: Reclaiming Authenticity Lost From Translating Workplace Engineering Practices Into K-12 Standards, Anne E. Leak, Lindsay M. Owens, Kelly Norris Martin, Benjamin M. Zwickl

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

K-12 students need to become familiar with engineering because 21st-century careers integrate engineering practices across all science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. While the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) emphasize learning real science and engineering practices, further work is needed to authenticate engineering for K-12 education. The NGSS are presented in a way that merges a single general practice with a core disciplinary idea and cross-cutting concept. Based on this framing and underlying epistemology, NGSS engineering practices are often implemented as overgeneralized, isolated, and largely context-neutral. Yet, in the STEM workplace, practices are rarely done in isolation from one …

Empowering Student Success: Unlocking The Potential Of Project-Based Steel Design Education, Aly Mousaad Aly

Faculty Publications

In the pursuit of student success, it is essential to acknowledge that a singular teaching style does not universally cater to all students. The educator's crucial role lies in creating an optimal learning environment that fosters students' endeavors to excel. This endeavor transcends mere classroom success or employment prospects, encompassing a broader impact on societal well-being. An experiential learning approach, where students actively engage in practical tasks, emerges as the most effective mode of instruction. Integrating project-based learning activities into the curriculum holds immense potential for enhancing student learning. Additionally, the utilization of analysis software tools like FTool and STAAD …

Learning In Transition: Developing And Employing Pedagogical Supports To Enhance Student Learning In Engineering Education, Eleazar Marquez, Samuel Garcia

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Scholarly research indicates that classroom environment and conditions influence the degree of student learning, levels of engagement, and overall success in engineering education. In the wake of COVID-19, educational institutions transitioned to fully online delivery that disrupted traditional and effective channels of communication enacted in classroom contexts. For a substantial number of faculty members, this rapid transition to a fully remote instructional context marked the start a novel style of teaching and learning environment, a grand departure from the traditional, direct face-to-face setting. Such rapid and disruptive change required creative solutions to routinized instructional practices and compelling faculty to adjust …

Bend And Not Break: Examining Hispanic Engineering Student's Academic Challenges During Covid-19, Eleazar Marquez, Samuel Garcia

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Student success in higher education remains an area of interest, particularly for underrepresented minorities. Studies reveal that while Latino college enrollment has increased, retention rates continue to be an ongoing struggle. Several factors that attribute to such low rates include academic self-concept, family support, cognitive mapping, managing resources, background characteristics, and separation and maintenance of family ties. In the wake of COVID-19, most institutions responded by terminating in-person instruction, mandating to seek off-campus housing, and shifting to a fully remote context. As such, students were unable to utilize campus resources and engage in established educational campus practices. In this research …

Keeping Calm And Staying Balanced: Exploring The Academic Pressures Faced By Engineering Students To Attain High Grades And Their Impact On Mental Health, Eleazar Marquez, Samuel Garcia

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Studies reveal that grades have a short-term impact on students’ self-efficacy, motivation, and decision making. Earning high grades has become a focal point for engineering students to secure three types of opportunities: internships, post-graduation employment, and graduate school acceptance. Nonetheless, the desire to attain a competitive grade-point-average may lead to negative psychosocial effects such as increased mental exertion, physical exhaustion, anxiety, and overall lack of work-life balance. In this paper, the authors extend their prior study on the impact of grades in engineering education. The first study was conducted in the spring of 2019 at a tier one, small private …

Leveling The Playing Field: Enacting Equitable Pedagogy To Teach Rigid Body Dynamics, Eleazar Marquez, Samuel Garcia

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Research examining the quality of engineering programs across different instructions of learning has revealed that no two programs are alike. Each program has unique and distinctive features that influence the quality and rigor of education that students receive. Institutional culture, leadership, faculty preparedness, funding and many other factors influence program quality. Additionally, researchers have also noted that many institutional gaps and equity related issues are persistent and troublesome facets that further exacerbate the academic gaps in STEM education. It is within this context, that students attending top tier universities will likely have remarkedly vast academic experiences in terms of level …

Overlooked, Underlying: Understanding Tacit Criteria Of Proposal Reviewing During A Mock Panel Review, Randi Sims, Kelsey Watts, Evan Ko, Rebecca Bates, Gary Lichtenstein, Karin Jensen, Lisa Benson

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

This research paper study was situated within a peer review mentoring program in which novice reviewers were paired with mentors who are former National Science Foundation (NSF) program directors with experience running discipline-based education research (DBER) panels. Whether it be a manuscript or grant proposal, the outcome of peer review can greatly influence academic careers and the impact of research on a field. Yet the criteria upon which reviewers base their recommendations and the processes they follow as they review are poorly understood. Mentees reviewed three previously submitted proposals to the NSF and drafted pre-panel reviews regarding the proposals’ intellectual …

Introducing Ros-Projects To Undergraduate Robotic Curriculum, Lili Ma, Yu Wang, Chen Xu, Xiaohai Li

Publications and Research

This paper describes three MATLAB-ROS-based simulation projects developed for an undergraduate robotics course. The Robot Operating System (ROS) is an open-source framework that helps researchers and developers build and reuse code between robotics applications. Adoption of ROS in the undergraduate curricula is still rare due to its demanding requirements of C++/Python/Java programming skills and familiarity with Linux. Recently, MathWorks released its ROS Toolbox, making it easier to interact with simulators like the Gazebo and ROS-supported physical robots. The MATLAB-ROS-Gazebo simulation platform allows students to utilize other MATLAB Toolboxes, such as Image Processing, Computer Vision, Visualization, and Navigation Toolboxes, for fast …

Impact Of Perceived Stress During Oral Examination On Student Performance Outcomes, Alex M. Phan, Minju Kim, Marko V. Lubarda, Curt Schurgers, Huihui Qi

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Perceived stress plays an important role in student performance during examinations. There has been substantial research on how examinations impact students' emotional experiences in diverse academic contexts in connection to validity, reliability, and equity of assessment. The potential of some exams to produce increased anxiety in a portion of students has been recognized as a serious threat to these three assessment attributes. In light of this, the need for further studies on the impact of perceived stress on student performance is critical with the recent rise in interest in oral examinations as an assessment tool for large undergraduate courses. This …

From Rote Learning To Deep Learning: Filling The Gap By Enhancing Engineering Students' Reasoning Skills Through Explanatory Learning Activities, Huihui Qi, Minju Kim, Yu Li, Carolyn L. Sandoval, Curt Schurgers, Marko Lubarda, Xuan Emily Gedney, Saharnaz Baghdadchi, Alex M. Phan

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Rote learning refers to the superficial learning of concepts and procedures, typically by brute memorization and with little integration into existing cognitive schemas, resulting in poor knowledge retention and inability to apply the knowledge in new and evolving contexts. With rote learning, students usually learn declarative and procedural knowledge but usually do not pay attention to conditional knowledge (when to use what knowledge). As a result, they usually can replicate the problem-solving process in a familiar context but are unable to transfer the knowledge and use the concept for a new application.

This paper explores the use of explanatory learning …

Peer Oral Exams: A Learner-Centered Authentic Assessment Approach Scalable To Large Classes, Marko V. Lubarda, Alex M. Phan, Maziar Ghazinejad, Nathan Delson, Saharnaz Baghdadchi, Curt Schurgers, Minju Kim, Josephine Relaford-Doyle, Carolyn L. Sandoval, Huihui Qi

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Peer oral exams, a cross between oral exams and peer assessment, were designed and implemented in a high-enrollment undergraduate computer programming course for engineers. The intention was to leverage the educational and implementational advantages of both evidence-based approaches simultaneously. Oral exams, for instance, have been argued to promote conceptual understanding, self-reflection, communication competency, and professional identity formation in students – but their deployment in large classes is resource-demanding and nontrivial, stifling their broader adoption. Peer assessment, on the other hand, is highly scalable and affords students many potential educational benefits of its own, including the benefits of peer-enhanced learning, more …

Development Of A Raspberry Pi-Controlled Vex Robot For A Robotics Technology Course, Lili Ma, Justin Bartholomew, Yu Wang, Xiaohai Li

Publications and Research

This paper describes the development of a Raspberry PI-controlled VEX robot for an undergraduate robotic course. The Raspberry PI controls the mobile base built using the VEX robotics kit without using the Cortex micro-controller that comes with the kit. The aim is to create a physical robot that is manageable, easily replicable, and capable of performing advanced robotic control tasks such as vision-based control.

The constructed robot adopts the great features of the PI and the VEX hardware. Firstly, the VEX hardware consists of various sensors and actuators for students to practice the construction and assembly of an autonomous robot. …

Impact Of Critical Narrative On Students’ Abilities To Recognize Ethical Dilemmas In Engineering Work, Jeff Brown, Chad Rohrbacher, Taylor J. Mitchell, Dr. Leroy Long Iii, Jenna Korentsides, Joseph R. Keebler

Publications

This study aims to investigate the impact of exposure to critical narratives on students' abilities to recognize ethical dilemmas and broader impacts in engineering work. Critical narratives are place-based stories that engage students and help them enhance their critical thinking skills by making connections between the narratives, broader impacts of engineering work, and their responsibility to address these issues. The effectiveness of the critical narrative intervention was assessed by implementing discussion-based assignments around three critical narratives, which required students to listen to the narrative, respond to focus questions, engage with their peers, and reflect on the process. The intervention was …

Research Development & Early-Career Faculty: Catalysts Of Change For Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In Stem, Monica Castañeda-Kessel, Idalis Villanueva Alarcón, Ryan Berke

Office of Research Faculty and Staff Publications

Problem Statement: Early-career science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) faculty members are often challenged when identifying authentic diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals, objectives, and tasks for their research grant proposals. Advancing DEI has not been one person’s job but rather the responsibility of a highly organized network within a system. Research development professionals have been and will continue to be critical resources for developing DEI plans and broadening participation. Their value is partly due to relationship-oriented processes that research professionals cultivate and shepherd as well as the inherently cross-disciplinary nature of the day-to-day work. Observation: In FY 19, 53% …

Factors Influencing Student Outcomes In K-12 Integrated Stem Education: A Systematic Review, Kadir Kozan, Secil Caskurlu, Siddika Selcen Guzey

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

Earlier integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education research has shown effects on students’ attitudes toward STEM careers, actual and perceived learning, and interest in pursuing a STEM career in their future endeavors. The current systematic review purported to review the recent K-12 integrated STEM education research to determine (a) the factors that influence student outcomes and (b) the general characteristics of reviewed studies. Overall, the results (a) showed that most studies focused on integrating at least three subject areas; (b) highlighted four main factors (i.e., instructional, teacher-related, student-related, and extracurricular factors) that jointly influence student outcomes; and (c) …

A Primer On Working With Longitudinal Student Unit Records, Russell Long, Richard A. Layton, Marisa K. Orr, Susan M. Lord, Matthew Ohland

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Longitudinal, student-level data are a rich resource for characterizing how students navigate the terrain of higher education. Learning to work effectively with such data, however, can be a challenge. In this paper, we share some of our experiences over years of conducting research with the Multiple Institution Database for Investigating Engineering Longitudinal Development (MIDFIELD). MIDFIELD contains individual student-level records for all undergraduate students at 19 US institutions with over 1.7 million unique students. This paper focuses on our lessons learned about processing longitudinal data to prepare it for analysis. We describe and define the steps that we take to process …

Tank Level Controller Plc Lab, Siddhi Upadhyaya, Teghvir Grewal

Electrical Engineering

The California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo’s Electrical Engineering Department is currently developing lab experiments for the new EE435 (Industrial Power Control and Automation) class. In order to support these efforts, fourth year Cal Poly students are expected to develop laboratory experiments that will be conducted during this new class for the semester system. The lab experiment focused on in this project is called the Tank Level Controller. This experiment will introduce EE 435 students to Schneider Electric Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) hardware and software, which is prominent in the automation industry.
This experiment will require students to develop …

Cybersecurity In Industrial Automation Lab Design For Ee 435, Jules Khalil Emile Hajjar, Emily Zhou

Electrical Engineering

This project involves the creation of an instructional laboratory aimed at teaching cybersecurity for industrial automation applications. Specifically tailored for Electrical Engineering students at Cal Poly, the experiment focuses on configuring the Modicon M580, a PLC from Schneider Electric, and serves to introduce students to relevant cybersecurity protocols and techniques. This project will be implemented into the EE435 (Industrial Power Control and Automation) course curriculum upon Cal Poly’s transition to the semester system.

Industrial Automation And Controls Lab: Smart Led Dimmer Control, Trevor J. Beck

Electrical Engineering

Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) are rugged industrial computers used extensively in many industries for automation and control. EE 435 is a course being developed to introduce students to PLCs. This project will focus on one section of the course, with the primary objective being to control the brightness of an LED based on input received from an ambient light sensor. The control logic will use a PLC with analog input and output modules to interface with the sensor and actuator hardware. The light sensor will output 4-20mA proportional to the intensity of visible light, measured in lumens. The analog input …

Battery Hardware Simulator, Kian N. Orang, Marcelo Garcia

Electrical Engineering

This project aims to develop a battery hardware simulator, which will serve as a tool for studying microgrids. The primary objective is to create a simulation system that can emulate various battery technologies that are used in microgrids, including lithium-ion and lead acid. By utilizing this battery simulator, Cal Poly students can safely test battery management systems and battery-sensitive electronics without the inherent risks associated with real batteries. Our project implemented this design with a 4-quadrant programmable power supply (ITECH) connected to an AP Systems grid tied inverter. The power supply acts as the battery which can receive or supply …

Board 342: Moving Toward Transdisciplinary Learning Around Topics Of Convergence: Is It Really Possible In Higher Education Today?, Greg Strimel, Douglas Edward Pruim, Deana Lucas, Todd R. Kelley, Jung Joo Sohn

Technology Leadership and Innovation Faculty Publications

There have been numerous demands for enhancements in the way undergraduate learning occurs today, especially at a time when the value of higher education continues to be called into question. One type of demand has been for the increased integration of subjects/disciplines around relevant issues/topics—with a more recent trend of seeking transdisciplinary learning experiences for students. Transdisciplinary learning can be viewed as the holistic way of working equally across disciplines to transcend their own disciplinary boundaries to form new conceptual understandings as well as develop new ways in which to address complex topics or challenges. This transdisciplinary approach can be …

Exploring Senior Chemical Engineering Students’ Approach To Process Safety Decision Making, Jeffrey Saunders Stransky

Theses and Dissertations

Despite investments in chemical process safety education, evidence suggests that engineers’ decision making may contribute to process safety incidents. Currently, limited educational endeavors in process safety decision making exist, raising the need for a better understanding of how to prepare chemical engineering students for industry decisions. This dissertation fortifies current process safety education through three studies involving senior chemical engineering students. Study One developed the Engineering Process Safety Research Instrument (EPSRI) through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Educators may use the EPSRI to evaluate their students’ moral development. Study Two evaluated a digital process safety game, Contents Under Pressure, on …

Journal Of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-Peer) Annual Report From January 1, 2022, To December 31, 2022, Senay Purzer, Brooks M. Leftwich

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

In this annual report, we present our reflections on 2022 along with the Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (JPEER) readership trends and authorship metrics. In 2022, J-PEER published two issues in volume 12 comprised of 17 articles. The second issue of the year included a special issue on the impact of COVID-19 on education, marking the impact that the pandemic had on pre-college engineering education.

Egg Drop Challenge, Admin Stem For Success

STEM for Success Resources

This interactive activity plan challenges students to build a container using limited materials that will protect a raw egg from a 4-6 foot drop.

How Students Investigate: Understanding Students’ Use Of Scientific Schemas In Open-Ended Labs, J. Alexander Wall

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

Schema provides a theoretical framework for understanding the nature of science, inquiry, and open-ended labs. These topics have been emphasized in the state standards, especially in high school sciences. In this study the researcher took field notes, collected lab write ups, and conducted focus group interviews to understand students’ use of schema related to open-ended labs. These data were analyzed with the constant comparative method to generate themes. The author describes the major findings with parallel narratives, one focused on a student’s confusion and the other focused on a student’s understanding. The author concludes by advocating for science teachers to …

Using Self-Efficacy Theory To Design Arduino Instruction For Novices: A Replication Study, Donald M. Johnson, Michael Pate, Christopher M. Estepp, George Wardlow

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

A replication study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of an instructional treatment based on self-efficacy theory when used with novice Arduino microcontroller users. Students (n = 32) in an introductory university agricultural systems technology course participated in a lesson on Arduino microcontrollers, circuit breadboarding, and Arduino programming which included four hands-on practice tasks, designed to provide students with positive mastery, vicarious and social persuasion experiences. Next, students completed a laboratory activity and were provided additional opportunities for mastery, vicarious, and social persuasion experiences. The one-group pretest-posttest design indicated the instructional treatment had significant (p < .001) and large effects in increasing students’ interest in Arduino, breadboarding self-efficacy, programming self-efficacy, and Arduino knowledge. These findings were consistent with the original study and provided additional evidence for self-efficacy theory as an effective model for developing instruction for novice Arduino users. Students’ written comments provided additional insight concerning the instructional treatment.

An Investigation Into Perceptions, Expectations, And Development Of Professional Skills In Engineering Students, Morgan Kathryn Green

Theses and Dissertations

Upon graduation from an undergraduate institution, engineering graduates are expected to have a baselevel skill in technical skills related to their discipline. Teaching technical skills comes naturally to engineering programs as the conceptual understanding of the material form the foundation of engineering ability. However, engineering graduates also are expected to have a baselevel of professional skills, which are more subjective in nature and do not have a standardized approach for teaching or assessing them at the undergraduate level. An investigation into current perceptions of professional skills by relevant parties is an initial step in providing more structure to professional skills …

Where Did They Come From? Why Did They Go? How Engineering Students’ Perceptions Cultivate Experiences And Influence Behaviors, Sara Campbell Vick

Theses and Dissertations

Engineering undergraduate students have opinions and perceptions of engineering disciplines and engineering undergraduate students do not always matriculate and graduate in precisely the same discipline. Understanding how these two characteristics of engineering undergraduate students interact to inform behaviors is important for engineering educators and administrators to increase and improve recruitment and retention among their students.

This dissertation approached each characteristic of engineering students, first separately and then together. A nationwide survey of undergraduate engineering students found significant differences in how students perceive various engineering disciplines along several paired-term anchored scales. These differences were equally significant when scores were considered in …

Assessing What We Value: Interactions Between Student Perceptions Of Assessments In The Calculus Classroom And Their Future-Oriented Motivation, Catherine Kenyon

All Dissertations

This work investigates interactions between first-year engineering (FYE) student perceptions of Calculus exams, their perceptions of the future, and their levels of math test anxiety. All phases of this study were conducted at a very high research (R1) institution with a common FYE program and coordinated Calculus courses. An initial pilot study explored how FYE students perceive the purpose of taking Calculus exams and how math test anxiety may play a role in these students’ perceptions of exams and their future in engineering. A second pilot study expanded on these results concerning student perceptions of Calculus exams and math test …