Engineering Education Commons^™

Sustainable Energy-Efficient Living – A First-Year Project-Based Workshop For Energy Engineers, Melanie Kitzig, Martin Lang, Alexandra Dorschu

Practice Papers

For many engineering students a lack of study motivation plays a significant role in their drop-out process (Heublein 2014). Therefore, students’ motivation to study should be encouraged as early as possible. A proven strategy for increasing the study motivation is the integration of project-based learning (PjBL) in the course of studies (Kokotsaki et al. 2016).

This paper introduces a PjBL-workshop concept which was developed for first-year energy engineering students at a university of applied sciences in Germany. During this one-semester workshop, the students are working weekly as student trainees in a fictitious engineering office. Guided by the teacher as the …

How Does Involvement In Student Associations Contribute To The Development Of An Engineer's Skills? Example Of Magiepoly: Raising Awareness Of Gender Equality Through Games., Vinciane Lamy, Sarah El Addouli, Cathel Zitzmann

Practice Papers

Some engineering students get involved in student associations during their studies. They develop multiple skills such as: leadership and management, communication, project management, supervision and transmission of knowledge, service to others, etc. However, they are not always aware of it. Helphi, a student association of EPF Engineering School, was responsible for organising an afterwork event to be held on International Women's Rights Day. As student members were brainstorming, the idea of a board game, both informative and entertaining came up: MagiePoly was born. MagiePoly is a game, inspired by a wellknown board game, which aims to raise awareness of gender …

Moving Constructive Alignment Beyond The Curriculum: Embedding Mental Health And Wellbeing Into The Uk Engineering Student Experience, India Palmer, Nicky Knowles, Jane Andrews, Robin Clark, Gill Cooke, Graeme Knowles

Practice Papers

This paper addresses the tricky question of how the Engineering Curriculum can be better designed so as to nurture and improve the mental health of university engineering students. Since the end of the Pandemic, the UK has seen an increase in the numbers of young people aged 18-25 self-reporting mental health problems (Young Minds, 2023). Taking a wider perspective, there has been a rise of 450% in the numbers of young people informing UCAS that they have a mental health problem over the last decade (NUS, 2022). Yet, Engineering Education has the lowest rate of self-declared mental health problems on …

Eng+ | Ethics For Sustainable Development In Engineering Programmes A Praxis Report Of Tu Berlin’S Think Tank Technology Reflection, Sabine Ammon, Mareen Derda, Tim Hildebrandt, Stefan Kühne, Nadine Klein

Practice Papers

Many technical universities alike, TU Berlin is in a future-oriented process of programme transformation to invite a holistic perspective on technology which includes critical thinking and ethical reflection. To this end, TU Berlin recently issued a general study guideline calling for an orientation of all programmes toward sustainable development. Accordingly, students should know about the historical, social and cultural contexts of science and technology and learn to reflect on the ethical consequences of their actions. Together with training in good scientific practice, this content should comprise 12 ECTS in each respective BA and MA programme. With only minor integration of …

Nine Years Of Systematic Cad Course Development: What Did We Learn?, Kaur Jaakma, Panu Kiviluoma

Practice Papers

Computer-Aided Design (CAD) plays a vital role in the curriculums of mechanical engineering degree programs, empowering students to conceptualize and visualize their designs, thus enhancing their abilities as engineers. This abstract presents the implementation of a multi-CAD course conducted between 2014 and 2022, catering to hundreds of students from diverse disciplines, including mechanical and civil engineering. Throughout the course, student feedback was systematically collected to assess learning outcomes and measure the effectiveness of different learning tools and methods.

The course employed a range of tools, including automatically graded quizzes and a dedicated CAD model assessment system, which not only lightened …

Improving Motivation And Continuous Assessment In Engineering Classrooms Through Student Response Systems, María Dolores Merchán Moreno, Elena Pascual Corral, Cristina Prieto Calvo, Mario Miguel Hernández, María Jesús Santos Sánchez

Practice Papers

The use of Student Response Systems (SRS) is highly recommended to encourage the active and meaningful learning of students in each lecture. SRS promotes the motivation of students and improves the system of continuous assessment. One of the most popular applications designed for SRS is Socrative (Socrative n.d.). The use of Socrative gives real meaning to continuous assessment, since the teacher has an easily manageable record of the evolution of their students‘learning and will help the teacher to schedule both formative and summative assessment. The application allows the detection of topics that each student may not have understood and determines …

Engineering Education In Hong Kong Secondary Schools - The Applied Learning Course Approach, Ken Hui

Staff Publications

In Hong Kong, the efficacy of engineering education in secondary schools is always difficult to measure. This is mainly because there are limited engineering-oriented subjects and few teachers with backgrounds in engineering. Engineering education is often infused into the curriculum of secondary schools through science, technology and mathematics (STM) subjects. Students’ involvement in engineering related school-based and extracurricular activities are limited. Only a few technical schools in Hong Kong are offering engineering-oriented subjects such as Electronics & Electricity and Technology Fundamentals.

Some previous studies have identified that the lack of engineering education in secondary schools may affect the students’ aspiration …

Graduate School Academic Catalog 2023-2024, Graduate School Of Engineering And Management, Air Force Institute Of Technology

AFIT Documents

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

Assessing Potential Effects Of Climate Change On Highway-Runoff Flows And Loads In Southern New England By Using Planning-Level Space-For-Time Analyses, Lillian C. Jeznach, Gregory E. Granato, Daniel Sharar-Salgado, Susan Cheung Jones, Daniel Imig

Engineering, Computing & Construction Management Faculty Publications

Transportation agencies need information about the potential effects of climate change on the volume, quality, and treatment of stormwater to mitigate potential effects of runoff on receiving waters. To address these concerns, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Federal Highway Administration used the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project tool and the Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model to perform space-for-time stormwater quality analyses. This study indicated that spatial variations in precipitation statistics within and adjacent to southern New England are greater than projected climate-related changes for the centroid of this region. A dilution-factor analysis indicated that highway runoff would become a …

A Community-Driven Process For Developing Nsf Review Panelists, Rebecca Bates, Lisa Benson, Randi Sims, Kelsey Watts, Karin Jensen, Evan Ko, Gary Lichtenstein

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

Peer review of grant proposals is critical to the National Science Foundation (NSF) funding process for STEM disciplinary and education research. Despite this, scholars receive little training in effective and constructive review of proposals beyond definitions of review criteria and an overview of strategies to avoid bias and communicate clearly. Senior researchers often find that their reviewing skills improve and develop over time, but variations in reviewer starting points can have a negative impact on the value of reviews for their intended audiences of program officers, who make funding recommendations, and principal investigators, who drive the research or want to …

Comparing The Meaning Of ‘Thesis’ And ‘Final Year Project’ In Architecture And Engineering Education, Rahman Tafahomi, Shannon Chance

Articles

Architectural education shares much in common with engineering, including the use of a culminating capstone experience in the final year. The form of this experience varies, with the research-based thesis and final-year project being most common. This paper explores the literature on traditions of enquiry and the meaning of research in various fields and the evolution of the ‘thesis’ and ‘final year project’ approaches over time. It then briefly summarises empirical research conducted on a case study institution struggling to bridge gaps in understandings of these distinct forms of learning and teaching. Throughout, the paper presents a comprehensive set of …

Informal Learning As Opportunity For Competency Development And Broadened Engagement In Engineering, Madeline Polmear, Shannon Chance, Roger Hadgraft, Corrinne Shaw

Books/Book chapters

Informal learning is increasingly being recognized as a way to complement the formal curriculum within engineering and provide additional opportunities for competency development while engaging diverse students. Learning about engineering occurs throughout life, via experiential and spontaneous opportunities that inform our understandings of the world. Learning is not confined to the engineering curriculum and class time but, rather, continues informally and implicitly throughout the daily lives and activities of university students. Often framed in contrast to formal learning, informal learning is more as it represents a significant portion of students’ time and effort and contributes to their persistence, competence development, …

Can Designing For Mars Stimulate Our Thinking About Designing More Sustainably For Earth?, Lucy Berthoud, James Norman, Ella Good, Nicola Kent

Practice Papers

This work describes the use of an arts-based project to stimulate creative thinking about design and sustainability for engineering students of all disciplines and years. ‘Building a Martian House’ was a public art project where a house designed for Mars was built in the centre of the city of Bristol, UK. It was conceived by artists, designed by the public, architects and engineers and built by construction companies. In this work, a workshop for students was developed and run based on this art project. Its aim was to use the challenge of designing for Mars as a provocation to thinking …

Problem Solving Skills Deconstructed And Implemented In An Adaptive Learning Tool, Arne Duyver, Jozefien De Keyzer, Els Wieers, Kris Henrioulle, Kris Aerts

Practice Papers

The development of problem-solving skills is an important subject in engineering curricula. Helping novice students develop such skills can be challenging because problem solving is a complex skill in the sense that it is accompanied with an internal thinking process that many experts are even unaware of doing. From a combination of literature and a thinking-aloud exercise with the entire teaching team, a scheme with building blocks and strategies that are commonly used by engineers was constructed. In addition to commonly named steps such as Identify/Define, Plan/Choose, Carry Out/Do and Look back/Inspect the scheme refines the first step into multiple …

Exploring The Application Of Chatgpt In Mechanical Engineering Education, Joan Puig-Ortiz, Rosa Pàmies-Vilà, Lluïsa Jordi Nebot

Practice Papers

The use of language models such as ChatGPT in the field of engineering has gained popularity in recent years due to their ability to assist engineers in their projects and tasks. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of ChatGPT in supporting students' learning in the Mechanism and Machine Theory (MMT) subject. The study involved participants who were asked to interact with ChatGPT to obtain concept clarification and factual information related to MMT.

Our results show that the majority of participants were familiar with ChatGPT and had used it for academic or technical questions. They also found it easy to …

Enhancing Quality Teaching Through Informal Community Learning In Knowledge Centres, Sonia M. Gomez-Puente, Esther Ventura Medina

Practice Papers

Teaching and learning have always been at the heart of the missions of universities. The growing interest nowadays to pay attention to the quality of higher education teaching results in initiatives such as the establishment of Teaching and Learning Centres (TLCs). The Academy for Learning and Teaching (ALT) at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) has recently been created, and it is still under construction, with the purpose of promoting quality of teaching through engaging staff in interaction and in learning lessons from evidence-based educational practices and innovation in engineering education. Furthermore, ALT supports the professional development of faculty teaching staff …

A Critical Approach To Engineering Mathematics Activities For Sustainable Development, Matheus Oliveira De Andrade, Mariam Makramalla

Practice Papers

Engineering projects are frequently experienced through the complexity of knowledge co-production between experts and local communities. This involves an ability to work critically and creatively within unfamiliar epistemologies, drawing from quantitative, social and scientific methods to realise high-impact solutions. In this work-in-progress paper, we put forward a prototype for a case-control study aiming to evaluate student buy-in and learning outcomes for a cross-cultural implementation of critical mathematics approaches contextualised by sustainability challenges. We outline and discuss aspects of mathematical modelling activities that can scaffold an environment where human subjectivity amplifies the quality and relevance of quantitative arguments. As proof-of-concept, we …

Reflections On Engineering Home Lab Kit Use In A Post Pandemic Environment, Joel Ross, Sean Lancastle, Becky Selwyn, Greg Richards, Sarah Jones, Dominic Hardman, James Saunders

Practice Papers

Laboratory experience in engineering significantly impacts upon how students view their courses. Whilst there may be nostalgic memories of what this offered the educator on their own route through further education, it is often far from the modern reality: time bound, pre-configured, minimal student agency over input variables, and something of a data grab and dash.

Home Lab Kits (HLK), one of the innovations whose use was accelerated as a COVID-19 mitigation, have provided some long-term improvements in the educational lab experience of undergraduate engineering students in the School Civil, Aerospace, and Mechanical Engineering (CAME) at the University of Bristol. …

The “Eagle” Approach To Train Electrical Engineers With Collaborative Problem-Solving Skills, Fereshteh Poormohammadi, Merijn Van Deyck, Martijn Deckers, Abdul Saboor, Bowen Wang, Pouya Mehrjouseresht, Zhenda Zhang, Arne Symons, Pieter Pas, Alexander Bodard, Hans Van Rooij, Marian Verhelst, Alexander Bertrand, Ruth Vazquez Sabariego, Panagiotis Patrinos, Peter Coppens

Practice Papers

Engineering education plays a critical role in addressing the ever-increasing environmental and societal challenges, and collaborative problem solving (CPS) is a vital skill for engineers to tackle such complex multidisciplinary challenges and develop high-quality solutions. The EAGLE project at KU Leuven exemplifies CPS implementation in electrical engineering education, providing students with real-world connections and deep learning opportunities to develop teamwork, problem-solving, and negotiation skills.

This paper presents the development and implementation of EAGLE, a year-long hands-on, multidisciplinary challenge in which teams of 10-12 students design and develop an autonomous drone capable of flying to a remote landing station. It focuses …

The Effect Of Campus Praktikum On The Choice Of University Studies, Ester Gimenez-Carbo, M.Francisca Collado López, M.Asunción Torralba Navarro, M. Esther Gómez-Martín

Practice Papers

In some Spanish universities in recent years, there has been a decrease in the number of students, mainly due to the drop in the birth rate and the increase in the number of universities throughout the country. In addition, the number of (unknown)bachelor's degrees that can be studied at university has also increased.

For these reasons, since 2010, an activity called Campus Praktikum has been carried out at the Universitat Politècnica de València to bring the university studies taught at this centre closer to secondary school students. The aim is to show the studies taught at the UPV (mainly engineering …

Enablers And Barriers Of Communication In Virtual Engineering Teams: The Role Of Teamwork Skills And Emergent Conflict, Pilar Pazos, Francisco Cima

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Communication is a critical process that facilitates team members' coordination, expertise exchange, decision-making, and, consequently, team elfectiveness. A focus on effective communication is critical in virtual teams due to their lack of face-to-face interactions and social presence. Communication becomes challenging in remote settings, and specific skills emerge as more essential to success. It is known that effective teams rely on planning, execution, and interpersonal skills to be successful. Still, the specific impact of these skills on virtual team effectiveness is not well understood. Additionally, conflict can emerge as a significant barrier to collaboration for remote teams that can hinder their …

Peer Reviewer Training To Build Capacity In Engineering Education Research, Kelsey Watts, Randi Sims, Evan Ko, Karin Jensen, Rebecca Bates, Gary Lichtenstein, Lisa Benson

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

The Engineering Education Research (EER) Peer Review Training (PERT) project aimed to develop EER scholars’ peer review skills through mentored experiences reviewing journal manuscripts. Concurrently, the project explored how EER scholars develop capabilities for evaluating and conducting EER scholarship through peer reviewing. PERT used a mentoring structure in which two researchers with little reviewing experience were paired with an experienced mentor to complete three manuscript reviews collaboratively. Using a variety of techniques including think aloud protocols, structured peer reviews, and exit surveys, the PERT research team addressed the following research questions: (1) To what extent are the ways in which …

Predicting Engineering Integration In K-12 From The Perspective Of Pre-Service Teachers, Pilar Pazos, Francisco Cima, Jennifer Kidd, Kristie Gutierrez, Dorothy Faulkner, Minjung Lee, Krishna Kaipa, Orlando Ayala

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The integration of engineering content at the pre-college level is gaining global traction as a strategy to improve learning outcomes and to promote inclusion and diversity in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Preservice teacher (PST) programs have become natural insertion points for integration efforts by providing future K-12 teachers with the resources and preparation to teach engineering as part of their academic preparation. There is a need to understand the socio-cognitive mechanisms by which teacher preparation programs can help teachers to integrate engineering in their future classrooms. This work examines how an innovative cross-disciplinary program impacted important social-cognitive drivers …

Shaping A Sustainable Future Through Integrating Sustainability, Creativity And Entrepreneurship In Engineering Education At Aalto University, Paulo Roberto Nicoletti Dziobczenski, Elina Kähkönen, Håkan Mitts

Practice Papers

This paper reports the authors’ experiences integrating sustainability, creativity, and entrepreneurship in engineering education at Aalto University under the project called the Aalto Co-Educator team. The Aalto Co-Educator team was formed to support the university strategy application into education through three main actions: course development, curriculum development and competence development. The goal of this paper is to share engineering educators' experiences in providing sustainability, creativity and entrepreneurship education to engineering students in a rapidly changing nature of work.

A Way To Get Students Consider Ethics And Sustainability In Iot Projects, Jean-Luc Sarrade, Isabelle Lermigeaux-Sarrade

Practice Papers

Sustainability and ethical topics can be embedded and assessed in existing technical courses within an engineering curriculum. This article describes how we integrated a reflection on the importance of ethical and environmental aspects of connected objects through team-based project learning with computer science students in the second semester of their Bachelor degree. Small groups of three were given different projects, in which they had to implement the technical concepts learned in class using both virtual and physical components. The projects followed realistic scenarios chosen at random, each of them using a specific set of sensors and built to question either …

A Framework For Teaching Machine Learning For Engineers, Lauren Singelmann, Jacob Covarrubias

Practice Papers

As machine learning and artificial intelligence become increasingly prevalent in our day-to-day lives, there becomes an even greater need for literacy in machine learning for those outside of the computer science domain. This work proposes a conceptual framework for teaching machine learning to engineering students with the goal of developing the knowledge and skills needed to apply machine learning techniques to engineering problems.

Many machine learning courses in computer science, math, and statistics focus on the theoretical basis of machine learning algorithms and assessment. This framework takes a fundamentally different approach by creating a course structure for machine learning practitioners …

Ethical Concerns And Responsible Use Of Generative Artificial Intelligence In Engineering Education, Aditya Johri, Euan Lindsay, Junaid Qadir

Practice Papers

The use of educational technologies that use elements of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) are becoming common across the engineering education terrain. With the wide adoption of generative AI based applications, this trend is only going to grow. Not only is the use of these technologies going to impact teaching, but engineering education research practices are as likely to be affected as well. From data generation and analysis, to writing and presentation, all aspects of research will potentially be shaped. In this practice paper we discuss the ethical implications of the use of generative AI technologies on engineering …

A New Approach To Encourage The Next Generation Of Female Engineers In Spain: A Young And Fresh Podcast To Attract More Girls To The Field: “Clau, Quiero Ser Ingeniera”, Marta Olea, Francisco Javier Jiménez Leube, Claudia Rebollo

Practice Papers

The underrepresentation of women in STEM fields is a complex issue with multiple factors that remain unclear. At Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), we have dedicated years to devising strategies aimed at attracting more girls to this domain. As the coordinating institution of the EELISA alliance, where we endeavor to define the European engineer, we confront gender inequality as one of the foremost challenges. To address this need, a 4th year student at UPM conceived an initiative: a podcast with three primary objectives. Firstly, it aims to highlight the accomplishments of female engineers who can serve as role models for …

Designing A Curriculum For A Sustainable Entrepreneurship Major: A Case Study, Meri Kuikka

Practice Papers

This practice paper explores the process of developing a curriculum for a sustainable entrepreneurship major program in a higher education institution. The paper aims to address the need for embedding sustainability and entrepreneurship into higher education, considering global challenges such as climate change, social inequality, and unsustainable consumption and production. The paper fills a gap in the existing body of knowledge by providing a case example of a curriculum development process that can be adapted to integrate sustainable entrepreneurship into curricula at other universities.

The paper outlines a three-part curriculum development process which involves identifying stakeholders and clarifying the program's …

Sustainability Leadership For The Energy Transition: A Case Study Of Role-Playing To Enhance Authentic Learning, Anthony Paul Heynen, Elliot J Tonkes

Practice Papers

To lead the energy transition, effective sustainability leadership requires a spectrum of skills, knowledge and understanding across technical, financial and even political disciplines. An innovative, authentic learning initiative has been designed and implemented in which Master of Sustainable Energy students conducted team-based role-playing activities, responding to a realistic, hypothetical energy policy scenario in the form of a government announcement and other mock collateral. Groups were assigned the personas of a range of industry stakeholders and prepared presentations (and accompanying media statements and position papers) for a mock online media conference. The initiative leveraged the diversity of the cohort, enabling constructive …