bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Comparing the Undergraduate Experience of Engineers to All Other Majors: Significant Differences are Programmatic
Authors: Lichtenstein Gary , McCormick Alexander C. , Sheppard Sheri D. , Puma Jini
Published: January 2013

Background

The authors partnered with the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) to examine how persistence within the engineering major and engagement of undergraduate students in engineering compare to other majors.

Purpose (Hypothesis)

We explored three research questions: How do engineering students rate their college engagement compared to students in other majors? How do engineering persisters, non‐persisters, and migrators compare in terms of collegiate engagement, time on task, and enriching educational experiences? What college engagement factors predict persistence in engineering?

Design/Method

Data are from nearly 12,000 students who completed the NSSE survey in their first and senior years as undergraduates. Surveys were analyzed using ANOVA and Chi‐square calculations to determine whether differences emerged in three dimensions of student engagement based on students' self‐reported major. Due to the large sample, effect size was used to determine statistical significance. Binary logistic regression was used to identify factors that predict persistence among first year students and seniors in engineering.

Results

Results show that engineering majors are similar to non‐engineering majors on most variables. However, engineering majors reported significantly higher gains in practical competence and higher order thinking, but the lowest means on reflective learning and gains in general education. Engineering majors reported significantly more time preparing for class and less time participating in educationally enriching experiences.

Conclusions

We conclude that different educational outcomes between majors are the result of programmatic differences. The packed engineering curriculum requires students to make trade‐offs between gaining practical/marketable skills and participating in educationally enriching activities. We question this trade‐off and suggest alternative approaches.
Constructive Alignment of Interdisciplinary Graduate Curriculum in Engineering and Science: An Analysis of Successful IGERT Proposals
Authors: Borrego Maura , Cutler Stephanie
Published: January 2013

Background

Interdisciplinary approaches are critical to solving the most pressing technological challenges. Despite the proliferation of graduate programs to fill this need, there is little archival literature identifying learning outcomes, learning experiences, or benchmarks for evaluating interdisciplinary graduate student learning.

Purpose (Hypothesis)

The purpose of this study is to understand how engineering and science academics conceptualize interdisciplinary graduate education in order to identify common practices and recommend improvements. Questions generated by an instructional design framework guided the analysis: what desired outcomes, evidence, and learning experiences are currently associated with interdisciplinary graduate education? To what extent are these components constructively aligned with each other?

Design/Method

Content analysis was performed on 130 funded proposals from the U.S. National Science Foundation's Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program.

Results

Four desired student learning outcomes were identified: contributions to the technical area, broad perspective, teamwork, and interdisciplinary communication skills. Student requirements (educational plans) addressed these outcomes to some extent, but assessment/evidence sections generally targeted program level goals—as opposed to student learning. This lack of constructive alignment between components is a major weakness of graduate curriculum.

Conclusions

Current practices are promising. Further clarification of interdisciplinary learning outcomes, coupled with closer alignment of outcomes, evidence, and learning experiences will continue to improve interdisciplinary graduate education in engineering and science. Specific recommendations for engineering and science faculty members are: define clear learning objectives, enlist assessment/evaluation expertise, and constructively align all aspects of the curriculum.
Outcomes of a Longitudinal Administration of the Persistence in Engineering Survey
Authors: Eris Ozgur , Chachra Debbie , Chen Helen L. , Sheppard Sheri , Ludlow Larry , Rosca Camelia , Bailey Tori , Toye George
Published: January 2013

Background

Understanding more about student decisions to leave engineering may lead to higher retention. This study builds on the literature and focuses on the experiences of a cohort of students who aimed to complete their undergraduate work in 2007.

Purpose (Hypothesis)

This paper presents the outcomes of the longitudinal administration of the Persistence in Engineering survey. The goal was to identify correlates of persistence in undergraduate engineering education and professional engineering practice.

Design/Method

The survey was administered seven times over four years to a cohort of students who had expressed interest in studying engineering. At the end of the study, the participants were categorized as persisters or non‐persisters. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used, in conjunction with other approaches, to test for differences between the groups.

Results

Persisters and non‐persisters did not differ significantly according to the majority of the constructs. Nevertheless, parental and high school mentor influences as a motivation to study engineering, as well as confidence in math and science skills, were identified as correlates of persistence. Intention to complete an engineering major was also a correlate of persistence; it appears to decline sharply at least two semesters prior to students leaving engineering. The findings also suggest that there might be differences among non‐persisters when they are further grouped by when they leave engineering.

Conclusions

Facilitating higher levels of mentor involvement before college might increase student motivation to study engineering, and also constitute a mechanism for fostering confidence in math and science skills. Since the intention to complete an engineering degree decreases well before students act, there may be opportunities for institutions to develop targeted interventions for students, and help them make informed decisions.
Challenges to Informed Peer Review Matching Algorithms
Authors: Verleger Matthew , Diefes‐Dux Heidi , Ohland Matthew W. , Besterfield‐Sacre Mary , Brophy Sean
Published: January 2013

Background

Peer review is a beneficial pedagogical tool. Despite the abundance of data instructors often have about their students, most peer review matching is by simple random assignment. In fall 2008, a study was conducted to investigate the impact of an informed algorithmic assignment method, called Un‐weighted Overall Need (UON), in a course involving Model‐Eliciting Activities (MEAs). The algorithm showed no statistically significant impact on the MEA Final Response scores. A study was then conducted to examine the assumptions underlying the algorithm.

Purpose (Hypothesis)

This research addressed the question: To what extent do the assumptions used in making informed peer review matches (using the Un‐weighted Overall Need algorithim) for the peer review of solutions to Model‐Eliciting Activities decay?

Design/method

An expert rater evaluated the solutions of 147 teams' responses to a particular implementation of MEAs in a first‐year engineering course at a large mid‐west research university. The evaluation was then used to analyze the UON algorithm's assumptions when compared to a randomly assigned control group.

Results

Weak correlation was found in the five UON algorithm's assumptions: students complete assigned work, teaching assistants can grade MEAs accurately, accurate feedback in peer review is perceived by the reviewed team as being more helpful than inaccurate feedback, teaching assistant scores on the first draft of an MEA can be used to accurately predict where teams will need assistance on their second draft, and the error a peer review has in evaluating a sample MEA solution is an accurate indicator of the error they will have while subsequently evaluating a real team's MEA solution.

Conclusions

Conducting informed peer review matching requires significant alignment between evaluators and experts to minimize deviations from the algorithm's designed purpose.
Students' Conceptions of Tutor and Automated Feedback in Professional Writing
Authors: Calvo Rafael A. , Ellis Robert A.
Published: January 2013

Background

Professional writing is an essential outcome for engineering graduates and hence a vital part of engineering education. To provide a successful learning experience for students engaged in writing activities, timely feedback is necessary. Providing this feedback to increasing numbers of students poses a major challenge for instructors. New automated systems work towards providing both timely and appropriate writing feedback, but students' views on automated feedback, and feedback in general, are not well understood.

Purpose (Hypothesis)

To contribute to a deeper understanding of students' conceptions of feedback from tutors and an automated system called Glosser, and how these conceptions are related to achievement.

Design/Method

Students in an engineering course worked in pairs to write an engineering report on e‐business. The design of the study involves in‐depth interviews and the analysis employs an approach in which student conceptions of automated feedback are investigated in relation to related feedback from their tutor, perceptions of automated feedback in general, and their academic achievement.

Results

Students' conceptions of feedback vary and can be grouped into cohesive and fragmented, which is consistent with other theoretical models. Close associations were found between more cohesive conceptions of feedback and better academic performance.

Conclusions

A student's conception of traditional and automated feedback is similar, being either cohesive or fragmented. Changing one may change the other. Deep learners see feedback as a way of learning about the topic whereas shallow learners see them as a way to improve the communication aspects of writing. Design considerations based on these results are discussed.
What is an Engineer? Implications of Elementary School Student Conceptions for Engineering Education
Authors: Capobianco Brenda M. , Diefes‐dux Heidi A. , Mena Irene , Weller Jessica
Published: January 2013

Background

Research in engineering education tends to focus on students' factual knowledge about engineering, their interests and attitudes, and on students' conceptions of the engineer and the relation to curriculum development. Thus, it is essential to expand our understanding of students' conceptions about the engineer phenomenon as the foundation for informing STEM education standards and curriculum.

Purpose(Hypothesis)

The purpose of this study was to investigate students' conceptions about engineers specifically: (1) What are elementary school students' conceptions of an engineer? (2) How might students' conceptions vary by grade level, gender, and community setting? (3) What are implications of students' conceptions for engineering education?

Design/Method

This study was descriptive in nature and reflected a cross‐age design involving the collection of qualitative data from about 400 Grade 1 through 5 students from urban and suburban schools located in the Midwest, United States. Data were analyzed using content analysis and statistical testing.

Results

Students conceptualized an engineer as a mechanic, laborer, and technician. Students' conceptions entailed the engineer fixing, building, or making and using vehicles, engines, and tools. Students' conceptions were relatively consistent across urban and suburban school communities with the exceptions that laborer was more common among urban students and technician was more common among suburban students. More than half of the students who drew a person drew male engineers.

Conclusion

A framework for organizing and interpreting students' conceptions is presented. Curricular recommendations and implications are made that build on students' conceptions and reinforce connections between national standards and the engineer concept.
Student and Faculty Interdisciplinary Identities in Self‐Managed Teams
Authors: Mcnair Lisa D. , Newswander Chad , Boden Daniel , Borrego Maura
Published: January 2013

Background

Interdisciplinary teamwork is increasingly important for engineering graduates. Yet, the reality of teaching interdisciplinarity requires faculty and students to navigate structures of engineering pro grams that do not accommodate interdisciplinary work.

Purpose (Hypothesis)

The purpose of this study is to understand how students and faculty negotiate interdisciplinary identities and how self‐managed work teams can be used as a pedagogical strategy for promoting interdisciplinarity. Gee's concepts of affinity identity and institutional identity are used to theorize interdisciplinary teaming.

Design/Method

Multiple data sets from observations and interviews are used to present a case study of one interdisciplinary design course from the points of view of faculty and students. This approach, combined with research literature, is used to propose a pedagogical model for interdisciplinary teaming.

Results

A pedagogical approach of self‐managed teaming can promote interdisciplinary identities if (a) faculty model institutional identities as interdisciplinary researchers and instructors, (b) students are encouraged to perform as decision‐makers in groups constructed through affinity identities, and (c) faculty provide scaffolding for self‐managed teams and encourage valuing of different disciplinary perspectives.

Conclusion

In the midst of an international shift toward interdisciplinarity, structural boundaries within academia present challenges to interdisciplinary collaborations. Gee's identity theory can facilitate our understanding of academic structures, especially in examining how overlapping affinity and institutional identities are at the center of newly formed interdisciplinary spaces. Issues critical to aiding interdisciplinary teaming include conflict management, scaffolding by instructors, and realistic appraisal of disciplinary grounding.
Professional Development Through Engineering Academies: An Examination of Elementary Teachers' Recognition and Understanding of Engineering
Authors: Duncan Daphne , Diefes‐dux Heidi , Gentry Marcia
Published: January 2013

Background

K‐12 teachers typically lack formal instruction on engineering. To address this issue, the Institute for P‐12 Engineering Research and Learning (INSPIRE) developed engineering academies for elementary teachers. During 2006 and 2007, 40 teachers participating in the academies each completed an engineering photo journal.

Purpose(Hypothesis)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of week‐long engineering summer academies on elementary teachers' recognition and understanding of engineering in the world around them.

Design/Method

The change in teachers' recognition and understanding of engineering in the world around them was measured by analyzing pre/post academy engineering photo journal entries using the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy as a framework to code the journal responses. Paired t‐tests were conducted and effect sizes calculated to determine change from pre to post academy for each academy year, and for each Revised Bloom's Taxonomy Cognitive Level.

Results

Results showed teachers demonstrated change in understanding after participation in the engineering academies. Further, 2007 teachers showed greater change than did 2006 teachers. Overall, teachers demonstrated significant changes in the Cognitive Levels of Remember, Analyze, and Evaluate during the academies.

Conclusion

The photo journal and corresponding coding scheme were used successfully to measure teachers' change in recognition and understanding of engineering. These tools helped INSPIRE researchers to better understand teachers' abilities to communicate engineering ideas. These tools will be useful in classroom settings to assess teacher and student ideas and understanding about engineering.
Pre‐Collegiate Factors Influencing the Self‐Efficacy of Engineering Students
Authors: Fantz Todd D. , Siller Thomas J. , Demiranda Michael A.
Published: January 2013

Background

Many engineering colleges have the goal of increasing the quality and number of students choosing to pursue engineering and therefore are heavily invested in programs that expose pre‐collegiate students to engineering. Most commonly, these institutions are involved with summer outreach programs and weekend or fieldtrip opportunities for students to visit engineering campuses, and some curriculum development. A lesser, often untapped resource for engineering colleges is through K‐12 technology and pre‐engineering teacher training.

Purpose(Hypothesis)

This study addresses the long term effects of pre‐collegiate engineering experiences on student selfefficacy. It is hypothesized that the greater the rigor of a pre‐colligate experience, the more it will contribute to a student's self‐efficacy related to engineering studies. The pre‐collegiate experiences examined in this study include pre‐engineering classes, multi‐day programs, engineering hobbies, working in an engineering environment, extra‐curricular engineering programs, and single‐day field trips.

Design/Method

The long term effects of pre‐collegiate experiences were evaluated by comparing the self‐efficacy of firstyear students who had the experiences to first‐year students who did not have the experiences.

Results

Significant differences in self‐efficacy were only found between groups of students who had pre‐engineering classes and engineering hobbies versus students who did not have these experiences.

Conclusion

Based on the findings, engineering colleges with the goal of increasing the self‐efficacy of engineering students should consider focusing resources on developing K‐12 technology and pre‐engineering teachers. Additional recommendations for practice, pedagogical implications, and areas for further research are offered.
Which ABET Competencies Do Engineering Graduates Find Most Important in their Work?
Authors: Passow Honor J.
Published: January 2013

Background

ABET‐accredited engineering programs must help students develop specific outcomes (i.e., competencies). Faculty must determine the relative emphasis among the competencies. Yet, information is sparse about the relative importance of each competency for professional practice.

Purpose (Hypothesis)

This study synthesizes opinions of engineering graduates about which competencies are important for professional practice.

Design/Method

A survey asked undergraduate alumni of a large public university in the Midwest to rate the importance of the ABET competencies in their professional experience. Responses included descriptions of education, post‐graduate work environment, and demographics. Protected, post‐hoc, all‐pairwise multiple comparisons determined patterns in the importance ratings, for the aggregate, and for descriptive subgroups.

Results

The lowest‐rated competency's mean rating was 3.3 out of 5. Graduates of 11 engineering majors rated a top cluster of competencies (teamwork, communication, data analysis, and problem solving) significantly higher than a bottom cluster (contemporary issues, design of experiments, and understanding the impact of one's work). Importance ratings of five other competencies fell in an intermediate cluster in which importance was statistically tied to either the top or bottom cluster, depending on work environment or academic discipline‐not demographics. The clusters were stable over time, that is, over seven survey administrations (1999–2005), years since graduation (0, 2, 6 & 10), and graduation year (1989–2003).

Conclusions

Graduates across engineering disciplines share a pattern of importance for professional practice among the ABET competencies that is statistically significant, consistent across demographic variables, and stable over time. This pattern can inform faculty decisions about curriculum emphasis within and across engineering disciplines.
Framing Faculty and Student Discrepancies in Engineering Ethics Education Delivery
Authors: Holsapple Matthew A. , Carpenter Donald D. , Sutkus Janel A. , Finelli Cynthia J. , Harding Trevor S.
Published: January 2013

Background

The importance of ethics education in professional engineering preparation programs is well established, yet student outcomes remain mixed despite the efforts of engineering educators.

Purpose (Hypothesis)

A long line of research has suggested that students and faculty often have different perceptions of educational efforts and practices. In this study, we consider this as a potential reason for the continued mixed results of engineering ethics education by examining differing perceptions of faculty and students about ethics education and identifying contributing factors to those differences.

Design/Method

We conducted focus groups and interviews with engineering undergraduate students, faculty, and administrators on 18 campuses. Transcripts were analyzed using both deductive and inductive analyses and constant comparison. We identified both themes of discrepancies between faculty/administrator and student perceptions and factors in the educational environment that contributed to those discrepancies.

Results

Discrepancies between the perceptions of faculty/administrators were seen in two forms. Faculty/administrators believed that ethics education encompasses teaching about laws, ethical codes, and other black‐and‐white solutions while also addressing more nuanced ethical dilemmas; students reported only experiencing the laws‐and‐rules approach. Students also did not see faculty as the positive ethical role models that faculty believed they are. Factors that contribute to both types of discrepancies are identified and reported.

Conclusions

This approach can be effective in examining difficulties in teaching engineering ethics. Educators should take steps to understand the different ways faculty/administrators and students perceive ethics education, and how factors in the educational environment contribute to differences in those perceptions.
What Does it Mean to Design? A Qualitative Investigation of Design Professionals' Experiences
Authors: Daly Shanna R. , Adams Robin S. , Bodner George M.
Published: January 2013

Background

Design is essential to the engineering profession and plays a crucial role in preparation for future practice. Research investigating variations of how professional designers experience, give meaning to, and approach design can inform the ways we characterize, assess, and facilitate design learning. This may also have significant implications for preparing future engineering professionals to collaborate within and across disciplines.

Purpose (Hypothesis)

The goal of the study was to reveal and investigate critical differences in how designers from within and outside of engineering disciplines understand what it means to design, and how those understandings are evident in their approaches to and progression through design work.

Design/Method

A qualitative research approach called phenomenography was used to investigate critical variations in how individuals experience and understand design. Twenty practicing designers were interviewed regarding their design experiences, how they approach design, and the ways they understand design.

Conclusions

Six qualitatively distinct lenses on how individuals across disciplines experience and come to understand design emerged, comprising a phenomenographic “outcome space.” These include design as (1) evidencebased decision‐making, (2) organized translation, (3) personal synthesis, (4) intentional progression, (5) directed creative exploration, and (6) freedom. Theoretical implications include an understanding of how design skills and knowledge come together to form a design approach, while practical implications emphasize structuring variation‐based reflection, which can facilitate common ground as a result of recognizing differ “design lenses.”
Online Learning Based on Essential Concepts and Formative Assessment
Authors: Lawton Daryl , Vye Nancy , Bransford John , Sanders Elizabeth , Richey Michael , French David , Stephens Rick
Published: January 2013

Background

Engineers are increasingly learning from online courses, in school and the workplace, using online social and informational networks for instruction and to access expertise. Small effective changes in online learning can have large cumulative impact through‐out an organization.

Purpose(Hypothesis)

This study is a part of a research effort between industry and learning scientists to develop an evidence‐based methodology for online learning. We investigate how learning outcomes are impacted by online courses designed to support feedback and formative assessment during learning.

Design/Method

We compared two versions of an online course derived from identical resources. The new course (treatment) used integrated formative assessments to provide feedback to students during learning; focused video resources to anchor the formative assessments; and an instructional design process based on essential concepts to organize the overall design. The course was implemented with a freely available Learning Management System (LMS).

Results

Treatment course participants learned more overall than did control course participants, with more positive attitudes towards the course content and their future learning. Learning had less dependence on initial knowledge. The collaboration capabilities of the LMS supported course development, but had limited spontaneous use by students during the experiment.

Conclusions

The paper demonstrates that formative feedback and design methods which stress essential concepts can make significant differences in learning outcomes in online courses, a straightforward format for implementation, and ways of measuring effectiveness. Areas for further work are integrating feedback with authentic tasks and mining the data produced by student's online activities.
Understanding the Risk of Attrition in Undergraduate Engineering: Results from the Project to Assess Climate in Engineering
Authors: Litzler Elizabeth , Young Jacob
Published: January 2013

Background

Research on student attrition from engineering has focused on a variety of factors including demographics, campus climate, interactions with faculty and peers, and learning experiences. It remains unclear, however, whether qualitative differences in risk of attrition response patterns exist among students.

Purpose (Hypothesis)

The following research questions are the basis for this study: (1) What can be learned about the risk of attrition from engineering by grouping students using a novel method and multiple measures? (2) How are individual characteristics, student experiences, and perceptions related to qualitative differences among students in their risk of attrition?

Design/Method

Latent class analysis identifies qualitative differences among engineering students on measures of risk of attrition. A variety of covariates predict membership in each class using multinomial logistic regression.

Results

Three latent classes are identified with varying degrees of commitment to degree completion and interest in their engineering major. Individuals who are less confident, experience negative interactions with peers and instructors, and hold negative perceptions of engineering are less likely to be committed to engineering and more likely to be interested in other majors. Student experiences mediate the effects of key individual characteristics.

Conclusions

Certain types of student experiences are pivotal for a student's commitment to the major and commitment to degree completion. The risk of attrition is sensitive to a combination of student characteristics, experiences, and perceptions. The mediated relationships between risk of attrition and individual characteristics re‐iterate the importance of including student experience variables to control for the context of a college.
A Framework for Analyzing Feedback in a Formative Assessment System for Mathematical Modeling Problems
Authors: Diefes‐Dux Heidi A. , Zawojewski Judith S. , Hjalmarson Margret A. , Cardella Monica E.
Published: January 2013

Background

Providing formative feedback on student responses to complex, open‐ended problems is challenging as solutions vary in content and quality. Instructors need to interpret student work and give feedback with high potential to guide students to close the gap between actual and reference level performance. To understand instructor feedback and its impact, a framework for analyzing instructor feedback is necessary.

Purpose (Hypothesis)

The purposes of this study were to develop a framework to analyze instructor feedback on team responses to open‐ended mathematical modeling problems and to demonstrate the use of the framework in investigating formative assessment systems.

Design/Method

To develop the framework, formative feedback from graduate teaching assistants on first‐year engineering student team responses to the Just‐In Time Manufacturing Model‐Eliciting Activity (MEA) was analyzed. The framework in conjunction with a four dimensional MEA Rubric was then used to identify patterns in feedback.

Results

Feedback has both form and substance. Four forms of feedback were identified: comments not intended to prompt change; and questions, open suggestions, and direct suggestions intended to prompt change. The substance was tied to the criteria used to evaluate MEA responses. Results of applying the framework yielded two claims: (1) the rubric criteria influence the form and intent of feedback, and (2) the perceived quality of student work also impacts the form and intent of feedback.

Conclusion

The framework that emerged from this work is a useful tool for investigating instructor feedback in this context. Further, the framework is believed to be extendable to other learning contexts.
An Assessment of Engineering Students' Curricular and Co‐Curricular Experiences and Their Ethical Development
Authors: Finelli Cynthia J. , Holsapple Matthew A. , Ra Eunjong , Bielby Rob M. , Burt Brian A. , Carpenter Donald D. , Harding Trevor S. , Sutkus Janel A.
Published: January 2013

Background

Ethics instruction is an important component of engineering undergraduate education, but little research has identified aspects of the undergraduate experience that contribute most to students' ethical development. Thus, an assessment of the impact of students' experiences on their ethical development is warranted.

Purpose (Hypothesis)

We apply a conceptual framework to the study of engineering students' ethical development. This framework suggests that both formal curricular experiences and co‐curricular experiences are related to students' ethical development.

Design/Method

Using survey data collected from nearly 4,000 engineering undergraduates at 18 institutions across the U.S., we present descriptive statistics related to students' formal curricular experiences and their co‐curricular experiences. Additionally, we present data for three constructs of ethical development (knowledge of ethics, ethical reasoning, and ethical behavior).

Results

For our sample, the quantity and quality of students' formal curricular experiences and their co‐curricular experiences related to ethics was high. The levels of ethical knowledge and reasoning varied, as did ethical behavior.

Conclusions

Our data highlight opportunities for improving the engineering undergraduate/bachelor's level curricula in order to have a greater impact on students' ethical development. We suggest that institutions integrate ethics instruction throughout the formal curriculum, support use of varied approaches that foster high‐quality experiences, and leverage both influences of co‐curricular experiences and students' desires to engage in positive ethical behaviors.
Strategic Pathways for Success: The Influence of Outside Community on Academic Engagement
Authors: Allendoerfer Cheryl , Wilson Denise , Bates Rebecca , Crawford Joy , Jones Diane , Floyd‐Smith Tamara , Plett Melani , Scott Elaine , Veilleux Nanette
Published: January 2013

Background

Engineering students participate in a variety of communities outside of their academic endeavors ranging from family to professional societies. While the degree to which they participate and immediate benefits of participation have been explored, pathways by which participation in nonacademic “outside” communities leads to academic engagement are not as well understood.

Purpose (Hypothesis)

This study seeks to identify outside communities to which students feel most connected and pathways by which these important communities influence students' academic endeavors.

Design/Method

This study uses mixed methods, combining surveys and focus groups. A survey emphasizing measurement of belonging, engagement, and connection to community was collected from over 750 student participants at four different institutions. Focus groups were then used to explore how students' most important communities influence their academic life. Focus group data analysis revealed which needs were met for students through participation in outside communities.

Results

Across all institutions, family is the community to which students feel most connected, with friends being a distant second. Students spoke of communities strategically, identifying needs that they meet through participation in communities and linking their participation with increased ability to engage in their academic endeavors. Most frequently, students' belonging needs were met through participation in outside communities, although safety and esteem needs were also affected.

Conclusions

Our results strongly suggest that, among the many types of needs studied, providing students with opportunities to belong will provide the most return on investment for engagement in academic endeavors.
Engineering in the K‐12 STEM Standards of the 50 U.S. States: An Analysis of Presence and Extent
Authors: Carr Ronald L. , Bennett Lynch D. , Strobel Johannes
Published: January 2013

Background

Federal initiatives promoting STEM education to bridge the achievement gap and maintain the nation's creative leadership inspired this study investigating engineering content in elementary education standards. The literature review concluded that common national P‐12 engineering education standards are beneficial, particularly when amplified by the common core standards movement.

Purpose (Hypothesis)

Compilation and analysis of engineering present in states' academic standards was performed to determine if a consensus on the big ideas of engineering already exists and to organize and present those big ideas so that they can be infused into state or national standards.

Design/Method

Extensive examination and broad coding of mathematics, science, technology and vocational/career standards in all 50 states identified instances of engineering content in existing standards. Explicit coding categorized engineering‐relevant standards by subject area. Manual and electronic content analysis identified key engineering skills and knowledge in existing standards. Inter‐rater reliability verified consistency among five individuals through descriptive statistical measures.

Results

Engineering skills and knowledge were found in 41 states' standards. Most items rated as engineering through strict coding were found in either science or technology and vocational standards. Engineering was found in only one state's math standard. Some states explicitly mentioned engineering standards without any specifics. A consensus of big ideas found in standards is provided in the discussion.

Conclusions

While engineering standards do exist, uniform or systematically introduced engineering standards are less prevalent. Now is the time to move forward in the formation of national standards based on the state standards identified in this study.
The extension of some Orlicz space results to the theory of optimal measure
Authors: Agbeko Nutefe Kwami , Dragomir Sever Silvestru
Published: January 2013

We extend some fundamental results about the Orlicz space LΦ (such as the Jensen and Hölder inequalities, the LΦ Banach spaces and their duals) to Optimal Measure Theory.
Technical Progress and Product Reliability under Competition and Monopoly
Authors: George Donald A. R.
Published: January 2013

Technical progress lowers costs and prices but appears to have an ambiguous effect on product reliability. This paper presents a simple model which explains this observation. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Die Verbrennung
Authors: Schießl Robert , Maas Ulrich
Published: January 2013

Die Verbrennung ist einer der wichtigsten Prozesse unserer technisierten Welt. Ihr Nutzen in Form von Wärme folgt aus der Thermodynamik. Die Ursachen für die bekannten Probleme wie etwa Schadstoffbildung lassen sich nur durch eine detaillierte Betrachtung der chemischen und physikalischen Prozesse verstehen. Die chemischen Elementarreaktionen sind komplex, zudem wechselwirken sie mit physikalischen Prozessen wie der turbulenten Mischung von Stoffströmen und Transportphänomenen. Auch wenn die zugrundeliegenden physikalischen und chemischen Gleichungen bekannt sind, bleibt die Entwicklung genauerer Simulationsverfahren eine Herausforderung. Durch den Einsatz laserdiagnostischer Methoden und fortschrittlicher Modellierungsstrategien als Hilfsmittel für die technische Entwicklung besteht die Aussicht, Verbrennungsprozesse sauber und Ressourcen schonend zu gestalten.
Das neue Bild der Heliosphäre
Authors: Fahr Hans Jörg
Published: January 2013

Das Sonnensystem befindet sich im Inneren einer ausgedehnten Plasmablase, der Heliosphäre. Ursache hierfür ist der Sonnenwind. Bislang ließen sich die physikalischen Zustände und Prozesse an der Grenze von der Heliosphäre zum interstellaren Medium nicht beobachten. Dies änderte sich jetzt mit dem Satelliten IBEX. Er registriert energiereiche Wasserstoffatome, die aus dieser Grenzregion kommen. Überraschenderweise stellte sich jetzt heraus, dass die seit Jahrzehnten prognostizierte Stoßwelle, der sogenannte Interstellar Bow Shock, gar nicht existiert.
Schneller als der freie Fall
Authors: Vollmer Michael , Möllmann Klaus‐Peter
Published: January 2013

Lässt man einen Körper fallen, so beschleunigt dieser auf Meereshöhe in unseren Breiten bekanntermaßen mit etwa 9,8 m/s2. Ist es dennoch möglich, dass unter diesen Bedingungen ein Körper schneller fallen kann? Was auf den ersten Blick paradox erscheint, ist durchaus möglich, wie sich mit Hochgeschwindigkeitsvideos eindrucksvoll belegen lässt.
Ladungsdichtewellen vor dem Sprung
Authors: v. Zimmermann Martin
Published: January 2013

Für das Verständnis der Hochtemperatur‐Supraleitung ist die Kenntnis des Grundzustands, in dem Supraleitung entsteht, von großer Bedeutung. Röntgenbeugungsexperimente am DESY konnten nun in dem Hochtemperatur‐Supraleiter YBa2Cu3O6+x (YBCO) den Zustand einer Ladungsdichtewelle nachweisen, über dessen Existenz schon längere Zeit gemutmaßt wurde.
Schaleneffekte in den schwersten Elementen
Authors: Block Michael , Schweikhard Lutz , Blaum Klaus
Published: January 2013

Am GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt ist erstmals die direkte Messung der Stärke von Schaleneffekten in sehr schweren Atomkernen mit über 100 Protonen gelungen. Durch hochpräzise Massenmessungen an den Transuranen Nobelium und Lawrencium konnten diese Schaleneffekte für 152 Neutronen bestimmt werden. Die Ergebnisse liefern Informationen über die Kernstruktur superschwerer Elemente und dienen dazu, die Vorhersagen über Lage und Ausdehnung der “Insel der Stabilität” zu verbessern.
Burden of Surgically Correctable Disabilities Among Children in the Dadaab Refugee Camp
Authors: Wu Victor K. , Poenaru Dan
Published: January 2013

Background

Surgery is increasingly recognized as a means to reduce the morbidity and mortality of disabling impairments in resource‐limited environments. We sought to estimate the burden of surgically correctable disabling impairments and the cost‐effectiveness of their treatment among children in a large refugee camp.

Methods

This is a chart review of all patients aged 0–18 years from Dadaab Refugee Camp (Kenya) treated at a facility primarily responsible for providing pediatric surgical care in the region. Total disability‐adjusted life years (DALYs) averted were calculated using life expectancy tables and established or estimated disability weights. A sensitivity analysis was performed using various life expectancy tables. Delayed averted DALYs caused by delay in care were also estimated. Inpatient costs were collected to perform a cost‐effectiveness analysis.

Results

Between 2005 and 2011 a total of 640 procedures were performed on 341 patients. The median age at surgery was 4.6 years, and 33 % of the children treated were female. Only 13.5 % of surgeries estimated as required for common congenital surgical conditions were actually performed. The total number of DALYs averted ranged from 4,136 to 9,529 (6.4–14.8 per patient), depending on the calculation method used. Cost‐effectiveness analysis resulted in values of $40–$88 per DALY.

Conclusions

The burden of pediatric surgical disabling impairments in refugee camps is substantial. Surgical intervention to address this burden is both feasible and cost‐effective. Such intervention can significantly decrease the burden of disability among children affected by armed conflicts.
The Formation of a 12‐Hydroxystearic Acid/Vegetable Oil Organogel Under Shear and Thermal Fields
Authors: Co Edmund , Marangoni Alejandro G.
Published: January 2013

External laminar oscillatory shear applied during crystallization in combination with different temperature fields was used to modify the microstructure and physical properties of edible oil organogels. Crystallization at a high cooling rate (30 °C/min) resulted in a spherulitic microstructure with a higher oil‐binding capacity, lower storage modulus and lower yield stress compared with a material (with a fibrillar microstructure) crystallized at a slow cooling rate (1 °C/min). The application of an oscillatory shear resulted in the formation of novel microstructures depending on the cooling regime used. The application of an oscillatory shear (strain > 500 % and frequency = 1 Hz) resulted in the thickening of fibers observed in the slow‐cooled material and an increased incidence of spherulite nucleation in the rapidly cooled material. Increasing the frequency of the oscillatory shear applied did not change the microstructure for the slow‐cooled gel but further increased the incidence of nucleation for the rapidly cooled gel. The application of controlled‐strain oscillatory shear to the crystallizing gel at either cooling rates resulted in an oily and very soft, paste‐like material. This material had a lower storage modulus and poorer oil‐binding capacity compared with the same gel crystallized statically. Reduction of the oscillatory strain from a maximum of 1500 to 500 % moderately mitigated the loss of mechanical properties and oil‐binding capacity although these properties were in no way comparable to those obtained from static crystallization. The study shows that the application of oscillatory shear and different cooling regimes can be used to tailor a crystalline organogel. However, the application of continuous shear must be done with care as application of excessive shear can result in a complete breakdown in gel structure and large amounts of oil loss.
Response of a two-dimensional liquid foam to air injection: swelling rate, fingering and fracture
Authors: Ben Salem Imen , Cantat Isabelle , Dollet Benjamin
Published: January 2013

The response of a two-dimensional liquid foam to a localized air injection is investigated experimentally and theoretically. The experiments show a rich phenomenology, with two essentially distinct behaviours, depending on the injection conditions. At low flux, the injected air forms a central bubble that grows inside the foam and induces plastic rearrangements, without film rupture. This ‘pure swelling’ regime is reminiscent of ductile fracture. In this regime, the central bubble shows fingering patterns beyond a certain velocity. The dependence among the swelling rate, the injection overpressure and the other control parameters, namely cell gap, bubble size and foam area, is captured by a simple balance between the pressure drop and bubble/wall friction under a radial assumption. Fingering is successfully modelled by the linear stability analysis of an azimuthal perturbation of the radial model; yield stress becomes an important parameter to determine the finger width. At high injection rate, films are broken and narrow cracks form rapidly through the foam, reminiscent of brittle fracture. Criteria for the transition between ductile and brittle behaviours are investigated, both at the local and global scales.
Coupled oscillations of deformable spherical-cap droplets. Part 2. Viscous motions
Authors: Bostwick J. B. , Steen P. H.
Published: January 2013

A spherical drop is constrained by a solid support arranged as a latitudinal belt. The spherical belt splits the drop into two deformable spherical caps. The edges of the belt support are given by lower and upper latitudes, yielding a support of prescribed extent and position: a two-parameter family of geometrical constraints. In this paper we study the linear oscillations of the two coupled surfaces in the viscous case, the inviscid case having been dealt with in Part 1 (Bostwick & Steen, J. Fluid Mech., vol. 714, 2013, pp. 312–335), restricting to axisymmetric disturbances. For the viscous case, limiting geometries are the spherical-bowl constraint of Strani & Sabetta (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 189, 1988, pp. 397–421) and free viscous drop of Prosperetti (J. Méc., vol. 19, 1980b, pp. 149–182). In this paper, a boundary-integral approach leads to an integro-differential boundary-value problem governing the interface disturbances, where the constraint is incorporated into the function space. Viscous effects arise due to relative internal motions and to the no-slip boundary condition on the support surface. No-slip is incorporated using a modified set of shear boundary conditions. The eigenvalue problem is then reduced to a truncated set of algebraic equations using a spectral method in the standard way. Limiting cases recover literature results to validate the proposed modification. Complex frequencies, as they depend upon the viscosity parameter and the support geometry, are reported for both the drop and bubble cases. Finally, for the drop, an approximate boundary between over- and under-damped motions is mapped over the constraint parameter plane.
‘Effervescent’ atomization in two dimensions
Authors: Lhuissier H. , Villermaux E.
Published: January 2013

A planar Savart water sheet uniformly seeded with small air bubbles in a large surface concentration is studied as a model experiment of the so-called ‘effervescent’ atomization process. This two-dimensional setup allows for a quantitative observation of all the steps of the sheet’s disintegration into a collection of disjointed droplets. The bubbles are heterogeneous nucleation sites which puncture the sheet with holes. The dynamics of the opening of holes competes with the simultaneous nucleation rate of new holes in a statistically stationary fashion. The liquid constituting the sheet is then transiently concentrated in a web of ligaments of various lengths and diameters, at the junction between adjacent holes. Their breakup produces the final spray. We provide a complete description of the ligament web statistics when nucleation is synchronous, and we show that the drop size dispersion from the breakup of a single ligament is responsible for the shape of the overall spray drop size distribution.