bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Engineering Elective Course Re-design to Promote Student Engagement
Authors: Stubley Gordon D.
Published: April 2017

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for Engineering Design, is a 4th year mechanical engineering elective course. The course goal is for course graduates to be able to effectively use computer simulation tools to select optimal engineering designs based on the analysis of fluid flow performance. After being well received for many years, over several course offerings the class attendance, the student engagement in lectures, the student demonstration of key course concepts in the final summative project, and the student course evaluation scores all dropped.From student feedback to specific questions during the student course evaluation it was found that the students believed that their existing understanding of engineering fluid mechanics was sufficient to make well-informed design decisions and that the emphasized course concepts were not relevant to the engineering design process. This feedback informed a course re-design.After briefly describing the course context and objectives and the motivation theory that guided this course re-design, the two major features of the course re-design, pre/post-test activities and authentic engineering assignments, are described in some detail. Finally the impact of the re-design on student performance and outcomes from three offerings of the re-designed course is presented.
TEACHING TEACHERS TO TEACH CREATIVITY IN AN ENGINEEERING CONTEXT
Authors: Tallman Ken
Published: April 2017

This paper discusses diverse approaches toteaching creativity in the engineering classroom. Theresearch methodology has yet to be determined in detail,but the plan is simple: find out what others are doing intheir classrooms and report back to them and interestedothers. The motivation for this presentation comes fromthe considerable interest our engineering faculty has indeveloping student creativity, matched, I believe, by alike-minded interest shared in many other disciplines.Research that supports this initiative comes from differentfields, but chiefly the field of psychology.
THE FACULTY OF ENGINEERING ATTRIBUTE ASSESSMENT PROCESS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA: SUGGESTIONS FOR CLOSING THE LOOP
Authors: Cicek Jillian Seniuk , Ingram Sandra , Sepehri Nariman
Published: April 2017

This paper describes the findings from athree-year longitudinal study at the University ofManitoba designed to explore how the CanadianEngineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) graduateattributes are manifested and measured in the Faculty ofEngineering’s curriculum. Instructors from theDepartments of Biosystems, Civil, Mechanical, andElectrical and Computer Engineering were asked toconsider the presence of four of the 12 CEAB attributesand their subsequent indicators in one engineering coursetaught in one academic year. Each year, four differentattributes were targeted, chosen to reflect both thetraditional/technical and the professional/workplacecompetencies. Data were collected using a selfadministeredchecklist, which evolved over the three yearsof the study in an effort to more clearly define studentattribute competency levels, and to develop a commonlanguage and understanding in regards to the graduateattributes and the process of outcomes-based assessment.This final phase of the study enables us to understand howall 12 of the CEAB graduate attributes are manifest andmeasured across our engineering curricula, to discussour findings within the context of outcomes-basedassessment and accreditation protocols, and to strategizeways to close the loop.
CO-OP EMPLOYER EVALUATION OF THE GRADUATE ATTRIBUTES: A COMPARISON OF TWO APPROACHES
Authors: Gwyn Margaret L. , Gupta Rishi
Published: April 2017

Cooperative education (co-op) is animportant and mandatory part of undergraduateengineering at the University of Victoria (UVic). Becauseof this close integration with the curriculum, the Facultyof Engineering has chosen to use co-op employerevaluations of students as part of the assessment of theCEAB graduate attributes. This paper will describe thetwo employer surveys currently in use at UVic: oneadministered by the university’s co-op office andrepurposed for attribute assessment; and a second,possibly unique in Canada, designed expressly foremployer assessment of the attributes. Results arepresented from each, showing our employers tend to rankstudents highly in attributes such as Knowledge Base,Ethics and Equity, and Life-Long Learning, but lower inEconomics and Project Management. When results fromthe two surveys are combined, we find systematicdifferences between the responses from the two tools. Weconclude that caution is needed when combining resultsfrom different assessment tools.
TRAINING VERSATILE ENGINEERS: A HISTORICAL AND PRESENT PERSPECTIVE ON THE PLACE OF THE HUMANITES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES IN THE CANADIAN ENGINEERING CONTEXT
Authors: Donald John , Lachapelle Sofie , McIsaac Jacqueline , Abraham Tara , Clemmer Ryan , Gordon Karen , McCook Stuart , Zytner Richard G.
Published: April 2017

The importance of training well-rounded engineers has been discussed by engineering educators since the end of the Second World War. For decades now, the humanities and social sciences have been used to encourage engineering students to develop social competency, ethical awareness, and the ability to express themselves with ease, both orally and in writing. In Canada, the humanities and social sciences are featured prominently in the curriculum as part of complementary studies, which comprises both required and elective courses. How do students understand their experience with the humanities and social sciences during their degree? Do they see the usefulness of the skills and content learned in these fields for the job market? This study constitutes a first step in a larger project exploring these questions. Here we first present an overview of the historical and present debates on the place that humanities and social sciences have in the engineering curriculum. We then report on the feedback obtained from focus groups of graduating students asked about their experience and attitudes relative to “soft skills” graduate attributes and complementary studies. We conclude that the new Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board graduate attribute framework provides an opportunity to assess the role of the humanities and social sciences in the engineering curriculum and suggest possible ways to measurably enhance student experience and learning of non-technical or “soft” skills.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF LIFE-LONG LEARNING COMPETENCIES: POSITIONING STUDENTS FOR SELF-REGULATION
Authors: Aleong Richard J. , Strong David S.
Published: April 2017

Within the engineering attribute of life-long learning is the ability for self-regulation, described as the process in which students plan, monitor, control, and adjust their behaviour to meet specific goals. To be self-regulating requires a degree of self-awareness and self-reflection to build knowledge about the self. This self-knowledge contributes to one’s values, personal identity, and motivational beliefs that may direct academic behaviour. In this paper, we present insight into the implementation of a workshop program designed to engage undergraduate engineering students in a facilitated self-reflective process. The workshop program challenged participants to think about how they see themselves in their engineering education and how they envision the person they wish to become in their future career. The research aims to offer educators with pedagogical insight into students’ sense of self, self-regulating processes, and new ways to promote the skills of life-long learning.
REFLECTING ON WRITTEN COMMUNICATION AS AN EMBEDDED COMPONENT IN UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING CURRICULA
Authors: Moorthy Arun S. , Stiver Warren H.
Published: April 2017

Communication in general and technicalwriting in particular have long been seen as importanthigher order skills for all graduating and practicingengineers. Developing technical writing skills in ourstudents requires a high level of student-instructorinteraction. The interaction needs to provide meaningful,embedded and iterative writing opportunities. Feedbackthat is detailed and timely is essential for successotherwise numerous writing experiences can reinforcepoor writing behaviors. Providing this intensity ofinteraction can be difficult in a technically focused andpacked curriculum. It can be difficult in competition withother time demands on students and instructors alike. Inthis paper, we present opinions on the challenges,opportunities, and approaches in providing technicalwriting education and support for undergraduateEngineering students. We focus primarily in theframework of Engineering curricula at Universities inOntario, but ideas discussed also have applications tohigher-level STEM education in general.
Meaning-making and Lexicogrammatical Accuracy Relationships on Multilingual Engineering Teams
Authors: Kinnear Penny
Published: April 2017

The present reliance on lexicogrammaticalaccuracy seems to be an impoverished construct on whichto assess students’ understanding and students’ ability toproductively interact and use engineering concepts inteam settings. I propose supplementing accuracy with theconcepts of agility and efficacy because meaning-makingseems to be more critical to a student’s ability tosuccessfully engage in the complex process ofcommunication than accuracy alone. However, beforethese can be assessed it is necessary to determine whatmeaning-making, agility and efficacy look like in practice.This study examines emergent meaning-making practicesof video-recorded team meetings in two first-yearengineering design courses. Analysis revealed thatlexicogrammatical accuracy did not reflect a team’s orindividual’s ability to communicate-to make meaning.
DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF SIMULATION APPS AND PHYSICAL TOYS FOR TEACHING EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Authors: Lye Leonard
Published: April 2017

Teaching the design and analysis of multi-factored experiments to engineers is not an easy task and any help that makes the process of teaching and learning those skills in a way that is hands-on, engaging, and memorable is always welcomed. In this paper, iPhone/iPad apps for simulating multi-factor processes that have been developed specifically for teaching experimental design to engineering students will be described. Examples of physical toys will also be described. Feedback from students and industry experts has been very positive.
Evaluation of software tools supporting outcomes-based continuous program improvement processes: Part 2
Authors: Kaupp Jake , Frank Brian
Published: April 2017

The Canadian engineering accreditationboard (CEAB) mandate tasked each engineering programto assess student outcomes in the form of graduateattributes and develop a data-informed continuousprogram improvement stemming from those assessments.Administering, collecting and organizing the breadthassessment data is an extensive process, typicallycentralized through the use of software tools such aslearning management systems (LMS), contentmanagement systems (CMS), Assessment Platforms (AP)and Curriculum Planning & Mapping tools. Thesesystems serve a variety of roles, ranging from coursecontent delivery, e-learning, distance education, learningoutcomes assessment, outcomes data management andlearning outcomes analytics. Vendors have beendeveloping various solutions to accommodate the shifttowards outcomes based assessment as part of acontinuous improvement process.This paper will continue where the original paperpresented at CEEA 2013 left off. It will introduce the newclassifications of tools, how well each tool aligns with theEGAD (Engineering Graduate Attribute Development)project 5-step process and compare and contrast softwaretools supporting outcomes based assessment as part of acontinuous improvement process such as Chalk & Wire,Atlas Curriculum Mapping, Entrada, CoursePeer andother systems.
Designing Age Appropriate Engineering Outreach Activities
Authors: Scherer Martin , Wells Mary
Published: April 2017

For over twenty years, the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Engineering has been running outreach programming directed at elementary youth (ages 6 to 14) through its Engineering Science Quest (ESQ) summer camp program. All the activities are designed to be hands-on with the primary goal to increase participant’s interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). The camp develops themes, such as ‘Outer Space’ to help motivate activity development and provide practical examples to participants.In 2010, the directors of ESQ modified the approach to develop camp outreach activities to ensure they were hands-on engaging activities related to science and engineering but also paid consideration to ensuring a secondary set of goals were met that considered the cognitive development of the children in the camp. The result was the development of hands-on outreach activities that engaged the participants in multiple ways.The motivation behind the development of outreach activities with these secondary objectives in mind were based on observation of past successes and working knowledge of the target audience.It is concluded that in order to make truly engaging and effective programming for elementary aged youth; activity developers should develop hands-on activities that incorporate both the interests of youth and their appropriate cognitive development stage. Using these methods in activity development will lead to an increase in success and a stronger impact of the programming.
ALUMNI SURVEY FOR UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA DEPARTMENT OF BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING
Authors: Mackie M.L. , Mann D.D.
Published: April 2017

This paper presents the results of a survey of61 alumni from the University of Manitoba Department ofBiosystems Engineering. A three-section survey wasdeveloped to evaluate 12 attributes outlined by theCanadian Engineering Accreditation Board. The surveyrequested that alumni assess the 12 attributes in threeways: the importance of each attribute in their currentemployment, the level of preparedness they had receivedin each attribute from their education in the BiosystemsEngineering program, and the competency level requiredin each attribute by their current employment. Using gapanalysis, the level of preparedness received by BiosystemsEngineering alumni was compared with level ofcompetency required in current employment. The level ofpreparedness exceeded competency required on 10 of 12attributes; only attributes of “communication” and“impact of engineering on society and the environment”were found to be deficient using this analysis.Comparison of the importance of attributes to level ofpreparedness showed that level of preparedness ismeeting industry expectations on attributes of “knowledgebase for engineering”, “design”, “use of engineeringtools” with room for improvement on “problemanalysis”, “investigation” and most of the soft skillattributes. Interestingly, alumni who had participated onan extra-curricular team rated their preparedness on“team work” and “communication skills” lower than theoverall response even though these extra-curricularactivities provide real-life experience with theseattributes.
EXAMINING FOURTH YEAR ENGINEERING STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF GRADUATE ATTRIBUTE COMPETENCIES: YEAR TWO
Authors: Cicek Jillian Seniuk , Labossiere Paul , Ingram Sandra
Published: April 2017

As the Engineering Faculty at the Universityof Manitoba shifts its curriculum from an input-based toan outcomes-based pedagogy, data from diverse sourcesare being collected. Among them, indirect data are beinggathered from students using a student exit survey. Thesurvey has been developed over the past three years toexplore graduating students’ perceptions of theiraptitudes and their engineering program’s strengths andweaknesses in regards to the 12 CEAB graduateattributes. It is comprised of the 12 attributes, with eachattribute further defined by six indicators. Theseindicators reflect the levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy ofEducational Objectives in the Cognitive Domain:knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis,synthesis and evaluation. The student exit survey was firstadministered to graduating mechanical engineeringstudents at the end of Fall semester 2012 and then at theend of Fall semester 2013. This paper describes thesecond year of the study, and discusses the datacomparatively with the findings from the first year. Thisstudy offers the Engineering Faculty an understanding oftheir Mechanical Engineering students’ experiences withand perceptions of the CEAB graduate attributes. It willbe used to provide feedback at instructor, program andfaculty levels as the University of Manitoba’s Faculty ofEngineering continues to implement its cycle of programdevelopment and improvement.
NON-LINEAR MODEL OF A SYNCHRONOUS GENERATOR FOR DYNAMIC SIMULATIONS, TRAINING AND TEACHING
Authors: Juste Tsotie Wamba , Gabriel Ekemb , Wamkeue René
Published: April 2017

The development of digital and simulation tools is a major challenge for the teaching of electro-mechanics and related fields, as their suitability depends both on scientific and educational requirements. In this regard, this paper presents a synchronous generator model, developed for the teaching and training in the hydroelectric field. The model developed with MATLAB/SIMULINK and having the characteristics of being dynamic, versatile, flexible and easily integrated in most electrical power generation system using synchronous generator, is made of a mechanical part, an electrical part, and an excitation circuit. It is a dynamic nonlinear model which can perform most of the simulations of real life situations by acting on the load and presenting the resulting curves. Moreover, it allows direct simulation without the need for initial conditions re-evaluation. In this paper, its stepwise system development is covered alongside its subsystems. Our results indicate a successful application of the developed model in a complete hydropower system production, and suggest the importance of such tool.
MAKING CONNECTIONS WITH CASE STUDIES: A STUDENT’S PERSPECTIVE
Authors: Zheng Yaxin
Published: April 2017

Post-secondary engineering students havedifficulty with course concepts due to disconnect betweentheory and practice. Due to its co-op program, Universityof Waterloo students are at a unique position of beingable to put course knowledge into practice shortly afterclassroom exposure. Through the hands-on experiencegained from co-op, students are able to better understandcourse concepts. Case studies serve to replicate thepractical context provided by co-op and work, givingstudents an opportunity to see the real-life utilization ofthe concepts learned from lectures. Our exposure to casesin class greatly increased understanding of courseconcepts among my peers. Cases helped us realize thereal-life relevance of the theories learned in class,confusing information taught in class. As a case writer, Isaw the painstaking effort put into case development, toensure maximum effectiveness. Due to its ability toprovide practical application of knowledge within a shortamount of time, cases are an extremely valuableeducational tool for engineering students.
ENGAGING FIRST YEAR STUDENTS THROUGH CROSSDISCIPLINARY DESIGN PROJECTS
Authors: Marasco Emily , Behjat Laleh , Eggermont Marjan
Published: April 2017

As industries increase their preference forhiring engineers with creativity and innovative problemsolving,post-secondary institutions are developing theirengineering program to incorporate an increased level ofdiversity among new students, widening their appeal tostudents of varied races, gender, talents, and skills.Studies show that grade school students are mostinterested in entering fields that involve creative andsocial aspects, however these are not characteristics thatmany students associate with engineering. Girls inparticular express a preference for careers that involvehelping and working with people, and are less interestedin science and technology careers due to their perceptionsof those fields.Our research also shows that even students whochoose to enter engineering prefer to pursue social andsports-related activities in their spare time, regardless ofgender. This paper demonstrates how engineeringstudent hobbies and interests can be used to createengaging, cross-disciplinary projects for teaching firstyear design principles.
MEASURING THE INFLUENCE OF TEAM FUNCTIONING ON DESIGN PROJECT OUTCOMES
Authors: Ostafichuk Peter M. , Naylor Carol , Fengler Markus
Published: April 2017

The influence of team function on designproject outcomes was examined in this study. Teamfunction was considered across six key dimensions,including unity, communication, distribution ofresponsibility, problem solving, conflict management, andteam self-evaluation. Three different methods were usedto quantify team function: a survey in which students selfratedtheir team’s function, a comparison of performanceon quizzes first performed individually and then as a team(as a measure of the degree of communication, problemsolving, and unity), and an analysis of the differentiationin inter-team peer evaluation scores (as a measure ofdistribution of responsibility, conflict management, andunity). Design project outcomes were measured as acomposite of grades from competition prototypes, writtenreports, oral and poster presentations, and several otherdeliverables. These scores were normalized to removeyear-to-year variability. Statistically significantrelationships between each measure of team function anddesign project outcomes were observed.For each dimension of team function, teams with highaverage self-rating on the survey also had 4% to 6%higher normalized design project scores compared tothose with low self-ratings. On the quizzes, teams thatwere more likely to answer a question incorrectly whenone or more members knew the correct answer(suggesting a lack of communication, unequal input toproblem solving, or reduced team unity) also receivedlower normalized design project scores by as much as4%. The full relationship between this metric and projectoutcome was more complicated though, as the teams leastlikely to answer incorrectly when some members had thecorrect answer performed below average on the projects.Lastly, a trend of decreasing composite project score wascorrelated with increasing inter-team differences in peerevaluation scores (suggesting unequal distribution ofresponsibility, increased conflict, or reduced team unity).Interestingly, teams that did not differentiate peerevaluation scores at all (i.e. each team member receivedthe same peer evaluation score ‘no matter what’) hadproject scores 7% lower on average than teams with asmall non-zero differentiation in peer evaluation scores.Taken together, the results of this study support thehypothesis that team function plays an important role inproject outcomes, contributing better than half a lettergrade difference.
TEACHING AND ASSESING GRADUATE ATTRIBUTES IN COOPERATIVE EDUCATION
Authors: Spracklin-Reid Darlene
Published: April 2017

The Faculty of Engineering and AppliedScience at Memorial University has a long and richhistory of cooperative education. Our students havebenefited from this type of experiential learning and theskills they acquire contribute to the development ofgraduate attributes. To support this process anddocument it for the purposes of accreditation, MemorialUniversity is embarking on a technology-based approachto support students as they develop and applyprofessionalism, teamwork and communication skills in aworkplace setting. This approach is based on soundteaching and learning practice, including a just-in-timeapproach to the delivery of instruction and usingformative and summative assessment techniques.
INITIATIVES FOR ATTRACTING AND RETAINING FEMALE STUDENTS IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Authors: Mohamed Aezeden O.
Published: April 2017

It is well known that female students are underrepresented in several engineering disciplines, for example, in mechanical and manufacturing engineering.These disciplines are not benefitting as much as otherwise possible through the increase of student diversity and higher participation rates by women. For example, engineered products designed by men may have a bias towards features that are potentially more attractive and valued by males. With more female input into an engineering design, products can better represent a wider proportion of the population with improved sales as a result. Better gender diversity in the workplace also brings benefits to the work environment.This paper discusses a number of concepts in materials and manufacturing related courses at Memorial University which aim to improve student diversity, retention and interest among women in engineering.
LEARNING DIGITAL CONTROL DESIGN MADE EASY THROUGH REAL-TIME EXPERIMENT SOLUTIONS
Authors: Cao Yang
Published: April 2017

When teaching digital control course, it s found that students are often struggling with understanding the connection between the underlying mathematics for various control algorithms and their implementation. In particular, the effect of the control algorithm on system seems to be a mystery. Matlab simulation is able to help students better understanding the control system and building up confidence in the effectiveness of the controller. However, simulation alone is not able to get rid of questions such as “is it really going to work on real system?” or “how is it going to work in real-life?”. This paper describes the integration of real-time experiment solutions into the digital control course offered in the School of Engineering at University of British Columbia Okanagan and gives detailed presentations on real-time implementation of digital control algorithms. In particular, implementation of LQG will be demonstrated. The impact on teaching and learning will also be discussed.
INCREASING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN CLASS USING AN OPEN-ENDED STUDENT RESPONSE SYSTEM
Authors: Kietzig A.M. , Orjuela-Laverde M. C.
Published: April 2017

A student response system (SRS) is an adaptation of audience response system technology for the educational environment, designed specifically to enhance interaction and active participation in class. During the fall 2013 term, an open-ended student response system was used in an undergraduate engineering statistics course. Twenty-eight students (57%) completed an online survey at the end of term. Results suggest that the use of questions with an open response system had a positive impact on student engagement and motivation. The results also provide insights for the implementation of student response systems as a way to prompt student/instructor interaction, students’ active participation, peer instruction and group work during class time.
THE LAC-MÉGANTIC TRAIN DISASTER AS A BASIS FOR A DESIGN PROJECT THAT EMPHASIZES SAFETY
Authors: Buchal Ralph O. , Billingsley Nick , Bullock Alex , Poulin Phil
Published: April 2017

Professional Engineers are ethically bound to regard public welfare as paramount, above all other considerations. Public welfare encompasses health, safety, economics, environmental and other considerations. These considerations are stressed throughout the CEAB graduate attributes. However, issues around public welfare are often absent from student learning experiences, particularly capstone design. This paper describes a capstone project motivated by the Lac- Mégantic train disaster. The students involved in this project researched the background of the accident, identified the contributing factors, and developed a problem definition to develop an improved braking system to prevent runaway trains. The proposed solution was a simple pneumatic drive connected to the handwheels of the manual brakes to reduce the time and effort involved in setting the brakes. This design could be retrofitted to existing rail cars at a cost of about $10,000 per car. Future improvements include implementation of a wireless control system to actuate and monitor the brakes from the locomotive cab.
Situated Professional Communication: A Rhetorical Approach
Authors: Owen Corey , Rolfes Debora
Published: April 2017

Using the insights of Situated LearningTheory, Genre Theory, Learning Transfer Theory, andActivity Theory, the authors of this paper reflect on thechallenges of offering a professional communicationprogramme to students from different colleges anddifferent disciplines within each college, and examinehow grounding their programme within the tradition ofrhetoric, and creating a community of practice in whichstudents are apprenticed as rhetoricians, is a potentialsolution to these difficulties.
ATTRIBUTE 7 AND ASSESSING WRITTEN COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN ENGINEERING
Authors: Parker Anne , Marcynuk Kathryn , Graves Roger
Published: April 2017

This paper will focus on Attribute 7,“Communication Skills” – and, specifically, on writtenassignments. This paper has grown out of twoinitiatives, one at my institution and one undertakenindependently as part of a national study. For thefaculty-wide initiative, we are preparing rubrics thatcan be used throughout the faculty as guidelines forattribute assessment in undergraduate Engineeringcourses. However, we have little information onAttribute 7; which courses, for example, target Attribute7 and how is it assessed? What kinds of assignments arestudents being asked to complete? More broadly, whatshould we be teaching and assessing if we choose totarget Attribute 7 in our outlines?Interestingly, it is the independent nationalstudy that may help us in this endeavor. After collectingcourse outlines from all the Engineering departments,we can first determine which courses target Attribute 7and then analyze the written course assignmentsaccording to 20 identifiable variables, such as length,genre and grading criteria. The challenge will be incalibrating Attribute 7 and our undergraduate program,including the undergraduate communication courses inour school that instantiate Attribute 7. In this paper, wewill report on our progress thus far, both in the processof identifying the written assignments our students arebeing asked to do and in the development of facultywiderubrics.Finally, although linking attributes to learningobjectives and determining the levels of communicativecompetence can be very challenging, we hope to showthat these two initiatives may help to make the tasks lessdaunting and more manageable for all the stakeholdersin the education of our Engineering students.
Engineering Student Health and Safety Teaching Modules
Authors: Pasteris Tony , Norval Graeme , Haque Anis
Published: April 2017

Not available
INSIGHTS INTO STUDENT EXPERIENCES WITH MOBILE PLATFORMS AND APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT
Authors: Mahmoud Qusay H. , Zanin Shaun , Bagasan Sacha , Griffith Douglas , Carvalho Justin , Commissio Domenico
Published: April 2017

The proliferation of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers are the newest paradigm shift occurring in the field of computing and engineering education. This paper presents an empirical and comparative evaluation of mobile application development platforms and tools as experienced by five undergraduate students who spent the summer of 2012 learning about and developing mobile apps at the Centre for Mobile Education and Research (CMER.CA), under the supervision of the first author. The students have worked with a wide variety of mobile platforms and tools, and hence the paper provides insights and recommendations into selecting mobile platform(s) to consider using in the Computing curricula.
STUDYROOM: AN APPLICATION FOR STUDENT COLLABORATION
Authors: Emmanuel Alexander , Scharf Kyle , Szabadi Jarred
Published: April 2017

The StudyRoom application is an incentivized knowledge-sharing platform to engage student-to-student interaction. It is designed to allow students to discuss course content with each other by posting questions and answers. In addition, students can also award points to helpful content and earn badges for displaying unique study habits or reaching various achievements. Coupled with the question and answer platform, the application also provides tools for professors to assess their student’s engagement as well as current academic struggles in a quantifiable manner.
MENTORSHIP: LINKING INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS WITH TOMORROW’S ENGINEERS
Authors: Atamanchuk Kathryn , Myles Kristen , Becket Morgann
Published: April 2017

In an effort to work towards the 30 by 30 goalestablished by Engineers Canada [1], the Committee forIncreasing the Participation of Women in Engineering(CIPWIE), an operating committee of EngineersGeoscientists Manitoba, developed a MentorshipProgram aimed at providing female engineering studentswith an opportunity to connect with female professionalengineers to help provide a vision of what a career inengineering might look like. The CIPWIE MentorshipProgram paired 35 female engineering students (betweentheir second and fifth year of studies) with 33 femaleprofessional engineers through both a formal (eventdriven)and informal program carried out over the2015/16 academic year. Surveys were used throughoutthe pilot program to participant feedback. Results of thesesurveys indicate that the program was a success with over90% of participants indicating that they would reapply tothe program in future years.
BENEFITS AND BARRIERS TO INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION FOR CAPSTONE DESIGN COURSE
Authors: Balouchestani Ali Narges , Zhu Sijia , Behdinan Kamran
Published: April 2017

In today’s world, engineering design is being conducted in a global environment. Recent research in engineering education shows that one of the competencies for engineering students is the ability to collaborate and communicate internationally. There is no better place in curricula than the 4th year design capstone to incorporate international experiences for students. University of Toronto has recently started international collaboration in capstone by partnering with universities in China, USA and Singapore. This is problem-based learning that allows students to experience collaboration with international partners. This paper explores the experiences of students in the international capstone design courses. We investigate the challenges, the risks, and the rewards associated with this international and cross cultural collaboration.
Online grading platform: A mixed methods approach to measuring impact on grading experience
Authors: Bazylak Jason , Aleman Kionne
Published: April 2017

Nearly a decade ago a large first year engineering design course moved the collaboratively writtendesign report assignments to an online platform. The switch was made using an existing online wordprocessing tool, Google Drive, that allow for simple sharing and commenting. The students use theonline tool to write their assignments, and members of the teaching team use the same tool to coach andgrade the assignments. Anecdotally there was initially significant evaluator resistance to theimplementation of the online grading platform. This initial resistance has been overcome and the onlinetool continues to be used today. Anecdotal feedback from the teaching team now praises the onlinegrading platform as increasing quality of feedback, but at the expense of increased marking time. Untilrecently the exams in the same course are still written and marked on paper in the traditional style. Forthe first time the teaching team has adopted another online grading platform, Crowdmark. This toolallows for the digitization, online grading, and digital distribution of paper exams. In anticipation ofevaluator resistance, this study will explore how use of this system impacts the quality of the gradingexperience for evaluators, including time on task and satisfaction with the process. This study will use amultiphase mixed methods design with an initial phase of convergent parallel design focusing onquantitative analysis. Time study data measuring time on task for evaluators will be converged with bothquantitative and qualitative survey data collected from the evaluators. In the second phase, individualevaluators who struggled with the online grading platform, indicated either by low marking speed ordirect feedback, will be interviewed. These interviews will be analysed using a qualitative, thematicanalysis to determine the cause and severity of the issues.
A NOVEL PROJECT-BASED MULTIDISCIPLINARY DESIGN EXPERIENCE
Authors: Behdinan Kamran , Balouchestani Asli Narges
Published: April 2017

This paper presents the new multidisciplinary project based course at the graduate level. We explore how this novel course has been evolved from our multidisciplinary capstone course in the undergraduate level. We also introduce a new addition to our framework for multidisciplinary project based design courses, which is the faculty expert zone. This addition will enhance the students' multidisciplinary project based experience by providing a support system for wide ranges of projects that is offered by these courses. We also investigate qualitative and quantitative feedback from our students regarding the proposed framework that reflect students’ experiences
Making Informed Decisions: EXPLORE Engineering Design Program
Authors: Algra Holly , Osgood Libby , MacLean Amanda , Johnston Clifton
Published: April 2017

Decisions must be made at the age of 16and 17 that can have long-lasting effects. High schoolstudents are asked to select a specific degree, auniversity, and sometimes even a specific discipline withvery little basis for making the decision. The EXPLOREprogram was piloted at Dalhousie University in theSummer of 2014 and 2015 to help girls in high schoolmake an informed decision about whether or not topursue an engineering degree.10 students signed up each summer to EXPLOREengineering design in a compressed 2-week schedulewhere they participated in 3 short design projects,culminating in a major project for a client from thecommunity. The girls developed documentation,presentation, leadership, and teamwork skills. Theylearned CAD software, practiced 3-D printing, and wereexposed to robotic programming. They built and tested adesign for a community partner and defended the designto a room of people. The students were introduced tovisualization techniques, the engineering design process,log books, and other essential components that theywould only otherwise encounter during their first year inan engineering program. This paper will document theelements of the course that help the girls make aninformed decision about whether or not to pursueengineering from two perspectives: the instructors' andthe student's.
EVOLUTION OF THE DESIGN ENGINEERING MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
Authors: Bubbar Kush , Dimopolous Alexandros , Gaetz Roslyn , Wild Peter , McWilliam Michael
Published: April 2017

The Design Engineering Mentorship Program (DEMP) is a five-day intensive training program focused on developing appropriate competencies in graduate students required to effectively teach engineering design at the undergraduate level.Evolution of the present program is discussed in context of feedback and observations from the now defunct Design Engineering & Instruction program. The structure of the procedural based DEMP program is fully described including new experiential based workshops on creativity and coaching led by a PCC certified coach.Motivating factors and implementation details of each of the workshops are described in detail in context of the competencies attributed to a design instructor.The first instance of the DEMP program will be offered in September 2016.
THIRD-YEAR INTEGRATIVE PROJECTS FOR COMPUTER AND SOFTWARE ENGINEERING STUDENTS AT POLYTECHNIQUE MONTRÉAL
Authors: Collin Jérôme , Gendreau Olivier
Published: April 2017

This paper presents the most important aspects of the third-year project for students in computer and software engineering at Polytechnique Montréal. In computer engineering, the third-year project mainly focusses on FPGA-based embedded systems, mobile application development (Android application), network communication and protocols, and user interface design. In software engineering, the third-year project mainly focusses on software reengineering (of the second-year project), mobile application development (iPad application), network communication and protocols, and user interface design. The important role of team and project management is also underlined. Teachers’ evaluation of students, as well as students’ evaluation of teachers are discussed.
ENGINEERS TEACHING COMMUNICATION: EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF TA TRAINING ON GRADUATE STUDENT COMMUNICATION, TEACHING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Authors: Dawe Nikita , Harris Jeff , Stevenson Melanie , Tihanyi Deborah
Published: April 2017

The Engineering Communication Programworks with engineering TAs in the Department ofMechanical and Industrial Engineering at the Universityof Toronto to deliver communication instruction in coredesign courses. Engineering TAs’ disciplinary expertiseaffords increased credibility with students, and we havehad consistent anecdotal evidence from TAs that teachingcommunication has made them better communicators.Currently, training involves a combination of instructionand mentorship, both from faculty and each other.Here, we investigate TAs’ increased confidence andskill in communication and teaching: what they finduseful, how the training has influenced theircommunication and teaching practice, and what morethey would like to explore in the future. An initial surveyand discussion found that confidence was shaped byexperience, course-specific training, instructor feedback,and peer learning. We hope to build on these findings infuture through a broader study of TAs in the Faculty andfurther development of our TA training programs
WHY DOES IT MATTER? EXPLAINING THE IMPORTANCE OF COMPLEMENTARY STUDIES TO FIRST-YEAR ENGINEERING STUDENTS
Authors: Donald John , Lachapelle Sofie , Sasso Thomas , Augusto Kyle , Gonzalez-Morales M. Gloria
Published: April 2017

While complementary studies are an accreditation requirement and feature prominently in the Canadian engineering curriculum, focus-group conversations with upper-year engineering students have indicated that a lack of awareness of, and appreciation for, soft skills development often prevents students from benefiting from complementary studies to the fullest. Given this reported difficulty to grasp the importance of complementary studies, a study was undertaken at the University of Guelph using a quasi-experimental design to explore the possibility that triggering self-assessment and awareness about career development early in the engineering curriculum promotes greater engagement with complementary studies and soft-skill development. First-year engineering students took part in a learner-centered activity focused on the importance of complementary studies for the development of soft skills. Through active learning exercises and case studies of successful engineering graduates, who described the skills and knowledge required to perform their daily work, the session was designed to encourage students to develop greater self-awareness and intentionality about complementary studies and their associated graduate attributes. The outcomes of this activity and issues on how to embed it in the Engineering first-year curriculum will be discussed
FROM MECHANICAL ENGINEERING CAPSTONE DESIGN TO DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION
Authors: Dumond Patrick , Lanteigne Eric
Published: April 2017

Traditionally, mechanical engineering capstone courses focused on teaching students the application of fundamental engineering theory to complex mechanical designs. Recently, there has been a transition towards experiential learning initiatives, such as prototyping, in engineering design. This paper looks at the relationship between the mechanical engineering design capstone course and a course in product design and development, which provides students with the opportunity to build prototypes of their designs, at the University of Ottawa. The importance of the traditional capstone course is considered and the implications of implementing these designs are examined. Many capstone design projects would require extensive work so that they could be implemented. A large hurdle appears to exist between analytical design and design implementation, and the term time constraints limit the complexity of designs intended for prototyping. In fact, students require many design iterations before they can build full-scale functional prototypes of their design. Therefore, we have observed that simple products work best for teaching design implementation.
CELBEST Project: Design and Implementation of the First Engineering Education-specific Assessment Tool for Professional Communicative Competence
Authors: Fabretto Cristina
Published: April 2017

Following the 2010 review of engineering programs in Canada by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB), the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Memorial University introduced a number of changes to its undergraduate program in order to align with the new CEAB outcome-based accreditation approach [1-3]. As programs’ accreditation begun to be reviewed for progress toward assessment of graduate attributes (G.A.), the 12 graduate attributes as defined by the CEAB became de facto the undergraduate program outcomes at Memorial. This paper provides an overview of the Faculty’s approach to the development and progressive assessment of communication skills as Graduate Attribute (G.A.: 07) in such a way that is aligned with CEAB accreditation requirements while taking into account the unique challenges and opportunities inherent in its program.
Work-term Experience and Graduate Attribute Assessment in Software Engineering Co-op Program at University of Ottawa
Authors: George Aneta , Peyton Liam
Published: April 2017

A successful co-op program is a partnership between university, student and employer. At the University of Ottawa, we have chosen to use an Employer Evaluation form as a critical component of graduate attribute assessment. We also created a new first year course that introduced students to professional communication and responsibility in order to adequately prepare them for their first work term. The graduate attributes from both the coop work experience and the new course are imported into the Graduate Attributes Information Analysis system (GAIA) we have developed. We show the historical trend analysis at both the course level and the program level generated and provide a sample of how we are using these results to guide improvement of our overall program, as well as the co-op experience of students and employers.
ENGINEERING PERSUASION: TEACHING RHETORICAL SAVVY FOR ENGINEERING LEADERSHIP
Authors: Irish Robert
Published: April 2017

This paper presents the concept of rhetorical savvy as being a valuable ability for engineering students to acquire. Rhetorical savvy is defined in terms of the broader concepts of rhetoric, including two key ideas of“techné” and exigence, to create an understanding of the complex nature of developing rhetorical knowledge. These concepts are used to present an analysis of a course that directly teaches the students to develop theirrhetorical savvy by developing 1) a foundational understanding of their worldview, 2) an analytical understanding of rhetorical approaches, and 3) agenerative understanding of using rhetoric to create responses to rhetorical situations.The concepts are connected to leadership by suggesting the inherently rhetorical nature of leadership, making rhetorical savvy an obvious asset.