bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Logging, Violence and Pleasure: Neoliberalism, Civil Society and Corporate Governance in West New Britain
Authors: Lattas Andrew
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT The postcolonial world of Melanesia is made up of diverse experiments, which combine modern and customary technologies of power into new hybrid assemblages. In the 1990s, there occurred a proliferation of landowner companies in rural New Britain. This happened in a context of neoliberalism where the state divested itself of many functions and services by allocating these to a supposedly more efficient private sector. In the Kaliai area, this new economic partnership between state and capital gave rise to more militarised forms of policing, which sought to protect logging by a large Malaysian company from growing local unrest. Supplementing these coercive state actions were private strategies, which used sorcery to intimidate opponents to logging as well as rivals within the landowner company. Opponents were bought off and alliances created through using customary exchange relations as well as through modern gifts of money, western goods and commoditised pleasures.
The Sun and the Shakers, Again: Enga, Ipili, and Somaip Perspectives on the Cult of Ain Part One
Authors: Biersack Aletta
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT In the middle 1940s, at a time when white people were just beginning to penetrate the western highlands of what would become Papua New Guinea, a cult spread quickly among Engas, Ipili speakers, and Somaips. In the seminal article ‘The Sun and the Shakers' published almost 40 years ago, Mervyn J. Meggitt would call this cult the ‘Cult of Ain.’ The cult's core feature involved a massive sacrifice of pigs to the sun in an attempt to enlist the sun's aid. Participants stared at the sun and shook, entering a trance‐like state. While massive pig sacrifices to the sun occurred in all cult variants, local versions of the cult differed in emphasizing one or two themes: acquiring wealth (pigs and pearlshells but also white manufactured goods) and/or ascending to the sky. Interpretations of the cult reflect this variation, some focusing on apparent cargo cultic dimensions while others train on the cult's millenarian aspects. This reprise of Meggitt's article argues that the themes of wealth acquisition and ascent to the sky were at base the same, intelligible with respect to the cosmological discourse that so clearly informed all the cult's manifestations (hence the emphasis upon the sun), a discourse that this article attempts to interpret. This, the first of a two‐part article, summarizes what is known of Cult of Ain variants, highlighting the features other reporters have emphasized as well as those that may provide insight into underlying cultural and even transcultural logics.
How Asabano Children Learn; or, Formal Schooling amongst Informal Learners
Authors: Little Christopher A. J. L.
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the way in which Asabano children of Papua New Guinea (PNG) learn. The question of how Asabano children learn is interesting because parents believe children to be incapable of heeding instruction, and so they consciously do not attempt to teach children and may even intervene to stop activities that they see as educational. Thus, with little or no instruction, children come to possess a rich corpus of skills and knowledge. To explain how this is possible, I draw upon the concepts of guided participation and play, illustrating that the routine arrangements of children's lives are critical to their education and enculturation. This traditional Asabano system of education contrasts starkly with the formal schooling system in the village, which I argue should better address the local socio‐cultural context
Is the Aboriginal Landscape Sentient? Animism, the New Animism and the Warlpiri
Authors: Peterson Nicolas
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT It is now commonplace for some anthropologists, and others, to say that for Aboriginal Australians in the remote regions, the landscape is ‘sentient’, however, what that means is not always clear. Are the anthropologists using this term metaphorically or do they understand Aboriginal people to be animists? The ‘new animists' have no doubt that the anthropologists are describing what they call the ‘new animism’. Much of this literature refers to the Warlpiri or their near neighbours. Here I examine the evidence for whether Warlpiri speakers are animists.
An Analysis of Arrow and String Bag Craft Variability in the Upper Sepik and Central New Guinea
Authors: Fyfe Andrew , Bolton Jill
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT This paper describes an analysis of relationships between language, geography and material culture in the upper Sepik region of New Guinea. We used Mantel tests and principal coordinate analysis to assess and compare the associations between arrow and string bag crafts and language and geographical distance. The Mantel tests resulted in a significant association between each class’ craft variability and both geographical distance and language, however, after statistical control was applied to either of the independent variables only a significant association with geographical distance remained. We argue that these results indicate craft techniques were readily disseminated and that craft distributions are unlikely to reflect any deeper historical relationships between groups. The spatial autocorrelation of arrow crafts was particularly great. A comparison of the principal coordinate analysis plots indicates a greater degree of diffusion and synthesis had taken place between lowland and highland arrow craft traditions. We conclude that the more intensive learning regimes needed to master string bag craft techniques, as well as a greater degree of interdependence between string bag components, had ensured more abrupt differences between bag types resulting in a more moderate degree of spatial autocorrelation.
All Things Depending: Renewing Interdependence in Oceania
Authors: Osorio Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwo'ole
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT Despite the enormous efforts made to civilize the Hawaiian, the Maori, the Samoan, and Fijian, Islanders have not forgotten all of their stories and in fact many Pacific peoples are in a position to recover much of the knowledge that sustained communities for thousands of years. There is hope in what we have done to reclaim our heritages—finding our voices in our languages, stories, and songs, our perspectives in our arts and literatures, our muscle and will in our own political advocacy and pursuit of our rights in courts and international arenas. There is need, however, for a new vision that reunites human beings with all of their relations in the world, a vision necessary to sustain a very difficult struggle.
Borderwork in Indigenous South‐Eastern Australia1
Authors: Morris Barry
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT This article provides some reflections on borderwork derived from social anthropological research with Indigenous people in south‐eastern Australia (S.E. Australia). In post‐settler states, borderwork traverses a range of fields—employment, health, education and politics. It engages both Indigenous and the non‐Indigenous who grapple with the issues associated with socially and culturally liminal spaces. Borderwork provides a focus on the way boundaries are continually constructed as well as dismantled and reconstructed as a result of historical, political and social change. The article draws upon the work of Bourdieu (2000) to interrogate the ‘naturalisation’ of conditions that give rise to particular interpretive frameworks and the specific relations of power that legitimate one interpretive framework over others.

‘First Nations people are border workers by the nature of their aboriginal claims and their persisting marginalization…’ (Celia Haig‐Brown, 1992:230)
Going for Wombat — Transformations in Wirangu and the Scotdesco Community on the Far West Coast of South Australia
Authors: Monaghan Paul
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT Becoming an object of touristic interest is only one of a series of ways that Aboriginality is being transformed in contemporary Australia, as the space opens up for individuals and groups to reposition themselves as Aborigines within the nation, with a distinctive culture in various forms. The nation's appetite for Aboriginal ‘culture’, within desirable limits (Povinelli 2002) and energised by a sentimental politics (Cowlishaw 2010), continues to grow. There is, however, a destructive flip side to the politics of difference being played out within Aboriginal societies. This is evidenced by the many battles for access to or control of ‘cultural’ resources for their commercial benefits or collective survival value. In many places communities or groups are faced with the terrible choice of distinction or extinction (Comaroff & Comaroff 2009). That is, they must find, and make alienable, something distinctive about themselves or face collective extinction. How one Aboriginal community is responding to these threats and challenges is the subject of this paper. This paper also adds to the growing literature on ethno‐commercialisation by focusing on the central role of language in these processes.
Managing ‘Aboriginal selves’ in South‐Western Sydney1
Authors: Yamanouchi Yuriko
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT This paper explores Aboriginal people's multiple sense of selves in suburban situations. While the Aboriginal self has been usually conceived as forged through relationships with kin, in the contemporary world, Aboriginal lives are constrained by a genealogical understanding of Aboriginality, that is, one based on descent. This understanding is endorsed by the state system, by Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal organisations, and by non‐Aboriginal people. In the suburbs there are different ways in which people come to understand and identify their Aboriginalty. Drawing on ethnographic field‐work in south‐west Sydney, this paper explores these forms of identity, how they are perceived, and the effects this has on their sense of self. The focus is on two individuals with different backgrounds and understandings of what it is to be Aboriginal. The increasing role of Aboriginal organisations to offer new forms of relatedness is also discussed.
You gotta throw away culture once you become Christian: How ‘culture’ is Redefined among Aboriginal Pentecostal Christians in Rural New South Wales
Authors: Ono Akiko
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT This paper is an ethnographic and historical exploration of Aboriginal Pentecostalism, which permeated quickly into the Aboriginal community in rural New South Wales in Australia during the early twentieth century. Today the Aboriginal Pentecostal Christians in this region renounce Aboriginal ‘culture’. This, however, does not mean they reject Aboriginality. By examining Malcolm Calley's ethnography on the mid‐twentieth century Pentecostal movement in this region and drawing upon my own fieldwork data, I show the way in which this group of Aboriginal Christians of mixed descent in a ‘settled’ part of Australia have maintained Aboriginality and reinforced attachment to the community through faith in the Christian God, whilst, paradoxically, developing strong anti‐culture and anti‐tradition discourses. This paper advocates shifting the study of social change from a dichotomised model that opposes invading moral orders against resisting traditional cultures, to one that examines the processual manifestations of the historical development of vernacular realities.
The ‘Society’ at Bora Ceremonies: A Manifestation of a Body of Traditional Law and Custom in Aboriginal Australia relevant to Native Title Case Law
Authors: Kenny Anna
Published: January 2013

Anthropologists working on native title cases in Australia are commonly asked to identify the Aboriginal ‘society’ that holds the body of laws and customs that confer land ownership rights on certain groups of people. In this paper I investigate how the early documentation of bora initiation ceremonies is relevant to understanding contemporary Aboriginal societies and the normative laws and customs that give rise to rights and interests in land. The vast ethnographic oeuvre of R.H. Mathews (1841–1918) includes detailed documentation of bora gatherings, which allows the reconstruction of the wider social reaches of people's networks in the lower Darling Downs of eastern Australia, and can in turn be understood as the ‘society’ so often sought in current native title case law.
Risk and the Sacred: Environment, Media and Public Opinion in Bali
Authors: Warren Carol
Published: January 2013

This exploration of controversies over environmental regulation in the Indonesian province of Bali traces the relationship between the media, environmental attitudes and Balinese identity, focusing on the religious dimension of that identity and the ways in which this has become bound up with conceptions of environmental imbalance and a popular critique of capitalist development on the island. The fusion of cultural and environmental metaphors of ‘erosion’ and ‘preservation’ in public discourse is striking in the Balinese case, since sites of great spiritual significance are also attractive to investors for their aesthetic appeal and heritage value (Verschuuren et al. 2010). From the earliest emergence of environmental conflict on the island, the emotive power of cultural identity became intimately connected with environmental politics. This article traces several of the pervasive and interconnected dichotomies ‐ sacred and profane, cultural value and economic interest, environmental preservation and use (exploitation), certainty and uncertainty (risk) ‐ that characterise debates surrounding environmental regulation and development on the island.
Science in Dispute: Debating the Authority of Knowledge in an Environmental Contestation
Authors: Tuckwell Erin
Published: January 2013

This paper is an examination of science, as it is understood and contested between conservationists and developers in an application to construct a salt mine in Western Australia. If the salt mine were to go ahead, it would have become the largest salt mine in the world, adjacent to a World Heritage Area. Thus, the application triggered significant local interest in the potential environmental impacts on surrounding ecological systems. As the only means for the public to have an impact on decision‐making is through the environmental approvals process, much of the debate revolved around the validity and legitimacy of knowledge gained through ecological science. This paper focuses on the ways in which the conservationists and developers moulded and shaped scientific knowledge to fit their opposing beliefs, values, and aims. However, rather than focus on the overtly political manipulation of science, I examine why particular interpretations of science are considered legitimate by some participants in the dispute, while others are not. In particular, I ask, what does it take for particular scientific ‘facts' to be considered legitimate? To do so, I examine how the conservationists and developers came to conceptualise and frame science within the dispute. I argue that for members of either group to consider any scientific knowledge legitimate, it is first judged on its ability to resonate with their own worldviews, experiences, and aim.
Teaching versus Research—Incompatibility or Overemphasis?
Authors: Myers Phillip S.
Published: January 2013

There is a perceived conflict between teaching and research. Is this perceived conflict the result of basic incompatibility between teaching and research or over emphasis on one or the other of the two factors? An analysis of the different audiences to which Professors profess is presented, and it is concluded that the problem is under emphasis on teaching. This under emphasis on teaching results from a lack of commitment of resources to evaluating and rewarding formal classroom teaching, the avoidance of painful decisions, and time pressures. The challenges are to develop and apply an accepted procedure for measuring the quality of teaching, to provide realistic opportunities for continued professional development, and to provide the time required to meet both research and teaching expectations, especially for probationary faculty. Suggestions for meeting these challenges are made.
The Functionary, the Citizen, and the Engineer
Authors: Bella David A. , Jenkins Chris H.
Published: January 2013

Knowledge and action rest upon a background of shared expectations. ‘Technology’ refers to a particular background of expectations. Key words are: efficiency, productivity, utility, order, control, and objectivity. If, however, such expectations are carried too far, the behavior of mere functionaries becomes established: one becomes preoccupied with the completion of assignments with no time or inclination for the asking of troublesome questions. This paper examines one of the consequences of such behavior.

A model is presented illustrating how organizational systems selectively distort assessments. Within such systems, favorable information is more likely to survive and thus a distorting tendency emerges. Such systemic distortions do not require individual fraud or deceit; the ‘normal’ behaviors of functionaries suffice. We claim that these functionary practices arise from taking the technological expectations too far. Examples are presented. Suggestions on avoiding functionary behavior and systemic distortions are discussed. We suggest that greater emphasis be given to the notion of ‘citizen engineers’.
An Integrated Approach to Graduate Education in Manufacturing Systems—The U.T. Dallas Model
Authors: Cherrington Blake E.
Published: January 2013

A graduate program in Manufacturing Systems has been designed by the faculty of the University of Texas at Dallas and a fourteen member industrial advisory committee using a top‐down approach. By establishing an independently administered program with it's own faculty, it was possible to design “de‐novo” a highly integrated set of new courses in a structured curriculum built around the central theme of the design of computer supported/controlled systems for engineering and manufacturing. There are nine required courses organized under the categories of manufacturing processes, process control, computer systems, product design, manufacturing systems, and business principles. A manufacturing project caps off the curriculum.
Architecture for a Successful Computer‐Integrated Manufacturing Program in a 4‐year College or University
Authors: Pardue Mark D.
Published: January 2013

Computer‐Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) has over the past decade become a key component in revitalizing U.S. manufacturing industry. To support much of this CIM activity, colleges and universities have started CIM‐related courses and programs. A major problem that these schools have had is in determining the structure of their “CIM” program. This paper will discuss the major factors to be considered in developing the overall architecture for a CIM Program in a 4‐year institution, detailing goals and objectives, participants and leadership roles, and the major components for a successful CIM Program. Curriculum issues are not discussed, as any specific curriculum will vary depending upon the degree program.
Teaching Writing in Required Undergraduate Engineering Courses: A Materials Course Example
Authors: Baren Robert
Published: January 2013

In order to prepare engineering graduates with the communication skills required on the job, a communications center was established within the Engineering College. One of the main goals of the Center has been to develop writing skills. To achieve this goal one group of courses in Materials Science incorporates a major research paper. Significant feedback, both from the instructor and the University Writing Center is provided to the students while the paper is in preparation.
A Freshman Engineering Design Course
Authors: Dally J. W. , Zhang G. M.
Published: January 2013

At the University of Maryland at College Park, a new freshman engineering design course introduces design through a project approach. This approach has three phases: design, manufacturing and assembly. First, students learn basic engineering concepts by designing a simple product. Next, they manufacture and/or procure the product's components. Finally, they assemble the components and test the finished product. Since drawings for this product are part of the project, students must also learn entry‐level computer graphics. Reaction to teaching design so early in the engineering curriculum has been extremely favorable. Students are highly motivated by the design approach and, as a result, learn engineering fundamentals, develop critical thinking skills, learn to cooperate as team members and gain practical hands‐on experience.
Development of an Air Quality Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign
Authors: Larson Susan M. , Rood Mark J.
Published: January 2013

Interdisciplinary curricula, such as environmental engineering, are faced with the challenge of developing unified sets of courses for students from a variety of academic backgrounds. In addition to providing a rigorous technical education, engineering education should foster development of the professional skills that students need in the future, such as laboratory, computer, communication and teamwork abilities, and independence and creativity.

This program improvement project integrated traditional lectures with carefully designed assignments, experiments, and demonstrations to teach principles of air quality in environmental engineering. Computer simulations helped students develop a better intuitive understanding of fundamental air quality phenomena. Field trips served to illustrate applications of classroom concepts, and an instructional laboratory was developed to teach students the essential techniques of air quality monitoring.

The classroom and laboratory were also used as a supportive environment in which students learned professional skills applicable to graduate studies or professional employment. Students wrote “journal articles,” complete with peer review and revisions as part of a term project. Laboratory projects were used to introduce students to the techniques of writing proposals, and a professional style “class conference” gave students practice in making scientific presentations.
A European Outlook on Engineering Design in Education
Authors: Eder W. Ernst
Published: January 2013

An attempt is made to provide a comparison with the situation concerning engineering education in a part of Europe. The survey outlines general aspects of pre‐professional and professional education for engineers, particularly with respect to engineering design, and indicates some historic and current developments in design thinking and theory.
Senior/Sophomore Co‐Class Instruction: Teaching Interpersonal Management Skills in Engineering
Authors: Tao Bernard Y.
Published: January 2013

As society becomes increasingly technology‐oriented, there is a growing demand for engineers and scientists to take a greater role in decision‐making processes. The future success of our engineering graduates will increasingly depend on not only solid training in scientific and engineering principles, but also a more rigorous education in interpersonal management skills (IPMS). Co‐class instruction of sophomore and senior engineering students provides an efficient educational structure to incorporate IPMS education into an existing engineering curriculum. Co‐class instruction provides opportunities for senior students to experience direct subordinate supervisory technical management, develop project management skills, formally evaluate personnel performance and improve faculty/student contact. Younger students gain opportunities to see how their engineering education is applied and gives them an opportunity to network with graduating students. Co‐class instruction did not significantly increase instructor workload, but does require that one instructor teach both sophomore and senior classes concurrently. Given the similarity in engineering curriculum structure, this method should be easily applicable to a wide range of engineering disciplines. Results indicate that students are highly receptive to co‐class instruction, with excellent feedback.
Barriers to Increased Engineering Graduate Enrollments: Counterforces and Their Implementation
Authors: Batson Robert G. , Merritt Thomas Wayne , Williams Carl F.
Published: January 2013

This paper highlights the role of the faculty member in recruiting students currently enrolled in B.S. programs in engineering and the sciences into full‐time pursuit of a graduate‐level engineering degree. The faculty member is demonstrated to be in a unique position to influence such students, providing strong counterforces to a confluence of attitudes and pressures experienced during the B.S. experience which effectively create a barrier to full‐time engineering graduate study. We analyze this barrier via the method of force field analysis, and demonstrate that effective recruitment into full‐time graduate study must be based on a four‐fold strategy of education, expectations, improved B.S. experience and better control of the B.S. environment. Approaches to implement these strategies are discussed.
Factors Affecting the Permanence of Occupational Health and Safety Topics in Engineering Courses
Authors: Gute David M. , Rossignol Annette MacKay , Hanes N. Bruce , Talty John T.
Published: January 2013

This paper presents an evaluation of the permanence of changes introduced within the curriculum of the College of Engineering at Tufts University. These changes involved the integration of occupational health and safety engineering resource materials into existing course work. Employing this model, Tufts faculty members developed their own lectures, case studies and laboratory materials for integration into existing courses. The evaluation, that was based on structured interviews of participating faculty and the Dean of the College, suggests that the permanence of changes to curriculum is influenced by a set of intramural parameters within the academic milieu (student interest, available class time, interest on the part of the faculty and administration) as well as by extramural factors such as the increasing prominence of legal liability of practitioners, growing interest on the part of employers and lack of readily usable materials in standard texts concerning occupational health and safety. Recommendations for future activities in these areas are offered and discussed.
Changes Among ASEE Creativity Workshop Participants
Authors: Wilde Douglass J.
Published: January 2013

In 1989, 1990 and 1991 the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) sponsored a two‐week summer workshop on “Integration of Creativity into the Mechanical Engineering Curriculum” at Stanford University. As part of a demonstration of individual differences in information‐seeking and decision‐making, the Myers‐Briggs Type Indicators (MBTI) were determined at the beginning and end of the workshop for 22 of the participants and the 3 facilitators. From each MBTI score was computed a “Creativity Index” (CI) developed by the Institute for Personality Assessment (IPAR) from studies of several hundred creative people in various creative professions. On the average, the mean CI for the workshop participants increased, statistically significantly, from a number typical for engineering students to one more characteristic of practicing architects.
The E4 Introductory Engineering Test, Design and Simulation Laboratory
Authors: Quinn Robert G.
Published: January 2013

Abstract

At a time when we can least afford it, mastery of experimentation among practicing engineers is fast becoming a lost art. Within the undergraduate engineering curriculum there has been a continuous decrease in emphasis in the study and practice of experimentation over the past several decades. The Introductory Engineering Test, Design and Simulation Laboratory is an important and unique component of the “Enhanced Educational Experience for Engineers,”—Drexel's E4 program—which attempts to reverse this trend in a substantial way. It is based on three premises: that experimentation is a critical and distinguishing element of the profession; that experimental skills require time to develop; and that entering students are interested in laboratory work. Thus it provides early, continuous and significant laboratory experiences for all students regardless of major throughout the freshman and sophomore years. The nature of the program and facilities are based on a perspective which recognizes the rich diversity of engineering experimentation yet emphasizes its common elements. The laboratory facilities and program can be incorporated in most lower‐division programs creating the potential for significant improvements in the upper division. The results of our experience since 1989 indicate that the laboratory provides a rich learning environment in which most students achieve or exceed the educational and performance objectives. Equally important, student response is enthusiastic and they have found the laboratory to be a place for them to have a lot of fun becoming engineers!
The Fluid Jetster: A Water‐Powered Wheeled Vehicle
Authors: Birky K. , Wright S. , Lowe C. , Hudspeth R. T. , Guenther R. B.
Published: January 2013

Abstract

The fluid jetster is a water‐powered, wheeled vehicle designed, constructed, and tested by students in a fluid mechanics course in the Civil Engineering (CE) curriculum at Oregon State University during the junior year. Students design and build a fluid jetster powered solely by water from a reservoir connected to a nozzle and mounted on a wheeled platform. The project includes both theoretical and experimental design requirements. This project provides a significant learning opportunity for students to apply the fundamental principles of fluid mechanics, to compare both Lagrangian and Eulerian dynamics, to work with peers, and to experience the connections between theory and design applications.
A Model Curriculum for a Capstone Course in Multidisciplinary Engineering Design
Authors: Miller Ronald L. , Olds Barbara M.
Published: January 2013

This paper describes our efforts to develop a curricular and pedagogical model for teaching multidisciplinary design to sen ior‐level undergraduate engineering students. In our model, we address concerns of industry and engineering educators about the often narrow technical confines within which engineering design is currently taught. Our two‐semester design sequence employs multidisciplinary teams of students working with faculty managers for industrial clients to solve complex, open‐ended problems possessing numerous technical and non‐technical constraints. After a two year pilot phase, the multidisciplinary senior design (MSD) course sequence is now offered to qualified Colorado School of Mines seniors each academic year and fully meets the senior capstone design requirement in each of the participating academic departments.

An on‐going formative and summative evaluation process allows us to monitor the perceptions and knowledge levels of our students compared with students completing traditional discipline‐specific design courses. Our students, faculty, and clients overwhelmingly agree that multidisciplinary design teams tend to produce better engineering designs because of the broader range of expertise available to the team. MSD students strongly agree that higher order thinking skills such as open‐ended problem‐solving abilities, engineering analysis, and engineering synthesis are important aspects of the design process. Students also rate the course highly and indicate satisfaction with the course structure and curriculum. In addition, project clients are pleased with the quality of the final designs they receive from our students. Our experience has led us to conclude that undergraduate engineering students can thrive in a carefully designed multidisciplinary environment.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering Design for Sophomores at Purdue University
Authors: Starkey John M. , Ramadhyani Satish , Bernhard Robert J.
Published: January 2013

Universities play a key role in developing future engineers who understand the full scope of the product realization process, and are well equipped to produce effective, creative solutions to open‐ended problems. A key step toward instilling the problem‐solving mind‐set in students is to lay the proper foundation early. Thus, a new cornerstone course, Introduction to Mechanical Engineering Design, has been developed in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University to bridge the gap between the freshman science and mathematics courses, and the more traditional mechanical engineering core courses such as thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, and machine design.

This paper presents the goals of the new sophomore course, some details of its implementation, and results of the first three offerings. The primary goal of the course is to teach the students effective strategies for solving problems that have many acceptable solutions. This goal is met by a mixture of design theory presentations and design practice in a carefully guided semester‐long project. Distinction is made throughout the course between effective problem‐solving strategies for single‐solution problems, common in math, physics, and chemistry courses for example, and multiple‐solution problem‐solving strategies. Results from the first three offerings of this course indicate that it is changing the way students approach problems in their later courses. Plans for future revisions of the course are also included.
Building the Confidence of Women Engineering Students With a New Course to Increase Understanding of Physical Devices
Authors: Henderson Jerald M. , Desrochers Debra A. , McDonald Karen A. , Bland Mary Margaret
Published: January 2013

This paper discusses the first two offerings of an experimental course designed to overcome women engineering student's anxiety and intimidation about using mechanical and electrical devices. The design and implementation of the initial course are presented, the changes that were made in the second offering of the course are discussed, and feedback from students in the course is summarized. Principles and guidelines applicable to educational experiences aimed at addressing women engineering students' anxiety about hardware that were observed and developed by the authors are presented and discussed. Finally, future activities and plans are outlined.
A New Model For Integrating Engineering Into the Liberal Education of Non‐Engineering Undergraduate Students
Authors: Ettouney Osama M.
Published: January 2013

In this paper, I will discuss a new model that integrates engineering into the liberal education of all undergraduate students, regardless of their majors. The model was proposed in 1992 by the Manufacturing Engineering Department at Miami University and was approved as part of a new plan for liberal education for all students. The objective of the model is to provide students with an opportunity to learn about the engineering profession and design, including its links to technology and society. To achieve this objective, the new model includes: a 3 credit hour course, with lab, to learn about engineering and technology and their impact on society; a 3 course, 9 credit hour sequence to study, in‐depth, engineering methods and modeling; and a 3–4 credit hour, two‐course, senior capstone. The implementation of the model started in the Fall of 1993. A mechanism has been developed for assessing this model and its impact on students' learning and understanding of engineering, the classroom‐learning environment, and its ability to attract and retain women and minorities to engineering.
How Well Is Engineering Education Incorporating Societal Issues?
Authors: Vanderburg Willem H. , Khan Namir
Published: January 2013

The formal undergraduate engineering curriculum of a leading North American university was examined in terms of the extent to which students learn to incorporate an understanding of how technology affects human life, society and the biosphere into engineering theory and design in order to ensure a greater compatibility between technology and its contexts. Faculty publications and theses were also examined. Given current economic, social and environmental trends and policies, the study shows cause for deep concern, while at the same time identifying a largely untapped potential for engineers to assist society in overcoming some of its current challenges while helping to reduce the drop‐out rate and attract more persons to engineering.
Engineering Design: Content and Context
Authors: Moriarty Gene
Published: January 2013

Abstract

Within engineering design a distinction can be made between content and context. Content is embedded within context. The content is normally emphasized as the essence of engineering design. Content includes the steps and processes involved in carrying out an actual design. The context is the world out of which the need for the design arises in the first place and in which the implemented design will eventually function. I argue that context should have more focus in design education. I suggest that breakdowns and breakthroughs are events which bring context into view. Some essential contexts are discussed and some procedures for integrating context into engineering design education are offered.
Personal and Professional Enrichment: Humanities in the Engineering Curriculum
Authors: Arms Valarie Meliotes
Published: January 2013

Abstract

The Drexel E4 approach to engineering education has evolved from emphases on teamwork and course integration to include an emphasis on faculty development through the Personal and Professional Enrichment component. One of the four components of the curriculum which are described elsewhere, the Personal and Professional Enrichment Program, encompasses a short orientation course and the year long Humanities sequence. The orientation course, taught by all the team members, provides a forum for faculty as well as students to discuss personal and educational goals. It also provides faculty with a social arena which has become important in developing and maintaining the strong sense of community the team shares. The faculty have profited from talking about themselves as individuals, as much as the students who have discovered professionals as role models—concerned citizens and parents, and lifelong learners. Students are introduced to engineering as a profession that requires not only technological skills but also an awareness of ethics, of the need for lifelong learning, and of the importance of Humanities. It is important to note that the technical faculty teach the introductory course and thus themselves attest to the value of humanistic concerns throughout the entire program. Continuing the integration of goals as well as subjects, the Humanities curriculum includes the traditional sequence in reading, writing, and research skills with an emphasis on technical writing, visuals and oral presentation skills. Meritorious texts are chosen to highlight humanistic concerns about the impact of technology so that students recognize the engineers' obligation to the world we all share. By enhancing communication skills, developing an awareness of audience and expanding their imagination, students gain confidence in expressing creative and responsible attempts at solving engineering problems.
Toward a Strategy for Teaching Engineering Design
Authors: KOEN BILLY V.
Published: January 2013

Abstract

Design is behavior. Therefore, it can best be understood by means of behavioral theory and must be taught in a way consistent with the theory of behavior modification. This simple fact appears to have been overlooked by most, if not all, engineering educators who teach design courses or write textbooks on engineering design. This article examines this thesis and its relationship to engineering heuristics by considering specific examples taken from current practice in engineering design education.
A Flexible Multimedia Instructional Module for Introductory Thermodynamics
Authors: Cobourn W. Geoffrey , Lindauer G. C.
Published: January 2013

Abstract

Instructional modules for introductory thermodynamics which are multifaceted and sufficiently flexible to adapt to the various learning styles of most engineering students are currently being developed at the University of Louisville. Flexibility is incorporated through the utilization of computer controlled interactive multimedia displays, which include full motion graphical images and sound. This technology makes it possible for the instructor to present information in a manner that is faster, more visually appealing, more organized, more detailed, and more open to student interaction than the student lecture format. The instructional modules under development will allow the instructor to implement several different types of classroom activity during a single class period. These include audio‐visual presentations, problem solving sessions, and question and answer sessions using electronic acquisition of the student responses, as well as the usual lecture type of presentation. Parts of the module are available outside of the classroom as computer based tutorials. The module chosen for initial development was the “First Law of Thermodynamics for a Closed System.” The first version of this module has been completed and given preliminary trials in the classroom. This module includes optional material on the historical development of the first law of thermodynamics, and also a variety of optional problems, exercises, and short quizzes. Students have responded very favorably to the new system. Completion of the rest of the modules for the course is planned for the near future.
Some Ideas on the Teaching of Engineering Science: A Student Centered Approach
Authors: Catalano George D.
Published: January 2013

In an effort to enhance learning in the engineering science classroom, several instructional techniques, including mind‐or concept mapping, a variation of the one minute paper termed a “discovery sheet,” and the inclusion of discussion of the nature of scientific paradigm shifts, which have been used successfully are described. A cast study is also included.
Engineering Cooperative Education: A Statistical Analysis of Employer Benefits
Authors: Friel Terri
Published: January 2013

This article describes the methods and results of research conducted using a survey of cooperative education directors to statistically test conclusions drawn from previously conducted studies. The perspective of employers of engineering cooperative education students is examined. Benefits to employers and problems experienced by employers that support engineering cooperative education are identified and analyzed for their statistical significance. The problems experienced by employers is a new perspective that has not previously been discussed by other cooperative education studies.
Computer Process Control Program
Authors: Wood Reg K.
Published: January 2013

The curriculum for a unique four year engineering program at the University of Alberta, known formally as the Computer Process Control option for the B.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering is presented. Content of the program is compared with the Instrument Society of America recommended program in “Instrumentation and Control Systems Engineering”. The program is also compared with two Control Engineering programs in the USA.
Improving the Academic Environment for Women Engineering Students Through Faculty Workshops
Authors: Henes Robby , Bland Mary Margaret , Darby Jeannie , McDonald Karen
Published: January 2013

In this paper we examine the low numbers of women represented in engineering curricula and some of the factors that help to explain their under representation. We examine some of these factors including: isolation, not seeing the relevance of highly theoretical basic courses, negative experiences in laboratory courses, classroom climate and lack of role models. An outline is presented for two engineering faculty workshops, con ducted at the University of California‐Davis, designed to help faculty members understand these issues and develop new strategies for overcoming factors that discourage their female students. Evaluation results are presented along with a series of recommendations for planning, implementing and evaluating these types of workshops.
Something Old, Something New: Integrating Engineering Practice into the Teaching of Engineering Mechanics
Authors: Miller Gregory R. , Cooper Stephen C.
Published: January 2013

This paper presents a multifaceted method for teaching engineering mechanics designed to satisfy the following set of desiderata: (1) integrate engineering practice into the teaching of engineering science; (2) address a wide set of learning styles; (3) provide opportunities for practice in group work and learning; (4) promote communication and synthesizing skills; (5) engage students in the teaching and learning process; (6) maintain traditional achievement levels with respect to traditional measures; (7) motivate students to continue their engineering studies; and (8) maintain reasonable resource demands. Consistent with this variety of objectives, the approach presented here is composed of a variety of ingredients. In addition to the standard homework problems and exams, these ingredients include design projects, group work, basic competency exams, computational environments for simulating and visualizing phenomena, multimedia instructional tools, hands‐on experiences, and student presentations. This educational model is intended to be suitable for teaching engineering mechanics in general, but this paper focuses on a particular sophomore‐level mechanics of materials course in which the method has been implemented, refined over several years of classroom use, and tested relative to traditional approaches. The paper describes the and techniques that together make up the method, followed by summaries of the results of evaluations that have been applied to the course.
Integrating Professional Experience in Geotechnical Class Designs
Authors: Gunaratne Manjriker
Published: January 2013

A significant proportion of younger engineering educators engaged in teaching design oriented courses have little or no industrial experience. Thus, directions for merging professional experience with engineering science in class designs have become a chief concern in engineering educational forums. As one way to address this issue, students in a geotechnical course having both engineering science and design content presented their design projects to an audience of practicing geotechnical engineers. The results of this trial clearly revealed specific areas of a student design where professional judgment based on firsthand experience or other exposure is essential. The experiment also furnished an opportunity for industrial representatives to view the university's geotechnical curriculum and its preparation of students as future engineers. Above all, a dramatic improvement was noticed in the students' motivation to accomplish the class design projects in a successful and timely manner.
Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Controls Laboratory
Authors: Johnson Stanley H. , Luyben William L. , Talhelm Donald L.
Published: January 2013

An interdisciplinary controls laboratory has been developed at Lehigh University for teaching system dynamics and controls to senior undergraduate students from the various departments in the engineering college. A team effort was successful in planning, designing, funding, and constructing the experiments. After students learn control theory in courses offered in the individual departments, they jointly conduct experiments on realistic processes and devices that represent common control problems in the three engineering disciplines: chemical, electrical and mechanical. The students sare grouped into interdisciplinary teams to encourage cross‐fertilization. The laboratory has been operational for three years, and the response from the students has been very positive.