bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Sunrayce '95 Idea: Adding Hands‐on Design to an Engineering Curriculum
Authors: Catalano George D. , Tonso Karen L. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractDuring the 1994‐95 academic year, Catalano taught a first‐time senior capstone design class with the goal of entering a student‐designed and built, solar‐powered race car in the Department of Energy's Sunrayce '95 competition. This course came from an effort to move toward a more fully integrated mechanical engineering curriculum designed to supplement the learning experiences of students in their more traditional engineering courses. In this paper, we summarize the planning for the course, the design and construction phases of the class—especially how students and faculty perceived their design work, the cadets' perceptions of their learning during the class, and experiences of the students and faculty during the race. Teaching this new course provided insights into some of the dilemmas raised when changes to an existing curriculum are made.
The Impact of Cultural Norms on Women*
Authors: Tonso Karen L. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractWomen student engineers' and professors' classroom experiences, especially their everyday interactions with men student engineers and professors, can be negative. This ethnographic study of the discourse used by professors and students during a sophomore design class demonstrates that some women's difficulties are the result of cultural features of engineering that are only rarely open to redefinition by women. In spite of many engineering educators' sincere commitments to improving women's experiences in engineering education, these cultural features diminish the successes of reform‐minded engineering education. I detail how discourse in whole‐class and teamwork settings indicated the cultural norms of engineering talk and how this discourse reinforced traditional practices that were only rarely open to revision. Also, I comment on the use of ordeals in this classroom. My findings suggest that engineering education must change before inclusion of women is realized. In particular, I suggest the changes needed are complex and include 1) more communication about the ways that cultural norms impact women and other marginalized groups, 2) forums where participants can speak openly without fear of retaliation, and 3) attention to changing those policies and practices that send narrow messages about who engineers are and what engineering might be.
Revising a Mechanical Engineering Curriculum: The Implementation Process
Authors: Incropera Frank P. , Fox Robert W. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractIn early 1990, motivated largely by concern for the highly structured nature of engineering education, the faculty of Purdue's School of Mechanical Engineering initiated a two‐year assessment of its curriculum. A principal conclusion of this assessment was that students should have more exposure to open‐ended, cross‐functional problems and that design, interpreted broadly, provided the best platform for launching appropriate curriculum changes. Specific plans for curriculum revision included a) early exposure to design and the product realization process, including issues such as marketing, manufacturing and economics, as well as concept generation, evaluation and documentation; b) integration of design and open‐ended problem solving experiences across the curriculum, including the core engineering sciences courses; c) development of the softer skills associated with communication and teamwork; and d) greater emphasis on engineering practice through increased linkages with industry. To varying degrees, progress has been made on each of the foregoing objectives, and the purpose of this paper is to describe the nature of the curriculum revisions, as well as the process by which an implementation plan was developed. A retrospective assessment of the revisions and the implementation process is also provided.
Hands‐On Experiences: An Integral Part of Engineering Curriculum Reform
Authors: Aglan Heshmat A. , Ali S. Firasat 
Published: January 2013

AbstractThe concept of “hands‐on” experiences, through Mechanical Dissection classes, as a part of engineering curriculum reform is presented. Mechanical Dissection in this context refers to a process of studying the function of a mechanical system and dismantling it in order to see how its specific function is realized. The functions of various components within the artifact and interaction between the components are also studied. Awareness of the design process, multiple solutions to a design problem, and the evolution of the technology of various artifacts and their components are focused upon. This is followed by systematic re‐assembly of the artifact. The courseware and supporting laboratory modules were developed to address specific objectives. They provide the foundation for better understanding of sophomore, junior and senior courses, particularly the design oriented ones. Seven in‐depth dissection modules form the basis of this course. These are a weighing scale, a money sorting machine, an electric lawn mower, an electric hand drill, a gasoline engine, a centrifugal pump and an eighteen speed bike. This course is targeted at freshman or sophomore level engineering students. Some of these modules can be simplified and transported to K‐14 students. Assessment of this course has shown an overwhelming positive response from students in all aspects. This makes the course an integral part of engineering curriculum reform.
Enhancing Civil Engineering Education Through Case Studies
Authors: Chinowsky Paul S. , Robinson Jeffrey 
Published: January 2013

AbstractThe civil engineering profession is characterized by multifaceted, interdisciplinary problems requiring teams comprised of diverse members including technical specialists, designers, and constructors. Unique attributes including location, regulatory agencies, and owner preferences require architecture‐engineering‐construction (AEC) teams to cooperate throughout the design‐build process to ensure that all specifications are satisfied. In contrast, civil engineering education is characterized by disciplinary boundaries which minimize opportunities for civil engineering students to interact with students from architecture or other related disciplines. This paper introduces one approach, currently being implemented at the Georgia Institute of Technology, to reduce these boundaries through the introduction of an interdisciplinary course focusing on the development of civil engineering case studies. Additionally, the paper presents an effort to introduce precollege students to the civil engineering profession through the use of the developed case studies.
A Low‐Cost, Innovative Methodology for Teaching Engineering Through Experimentation
Authors: Cyr Martha , Miragila V. , Nocera T. , Rogers C. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractCombining LEGO® Dacta building blocks with LabVIEWTM software produced a highly successful, low‐cost (less than $500 per station excluding computer) alternative method of teaching engineering through hands‐on experimentation. Dubbed LEGO® Data Acquisition and Prototyping System (or LDAPS), this combination of tools provides a highly capable workbench for students, yet brings a new level of creativity and fun into teaching engineering at the college level. In this paper we present the methodology and describe one class where it is currently in use. Student, faculty, and staff response to the class was very positive, partly due to the popularity of hands‐on engineering and partly because LEGO® blocks allow the students to exercise their creativity and innovation. The strength in the LDAPS methodology lies in the power of the LEGO® bricks and the LabVIEWTM software. LEGO® motors, sensors, and bricks are almost infinitely configurable, making each experiment unique. LabVIEWTM is a powerful, visual programming language in which students can perform advanced signal processing with relatively few programming skills. We are currently extending this methodology to teach engineering to liberal arts majors as well as precollege students.
Integrating Design into the Sophomore and Junior Level Mechanics Courses
Authors: Carroll Douglas R. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractEngineering schools across the country are developing ways of integrating design into their curriculum, and a question that often arises is how to best integrate design into the sophomore and junior level courses. Freshman design projects or mechanical dissection courses are designed to give the students hands‐on experience in conceptual design and construction, with little if any of the mathematical modeling normally used in engineering design. The capstone senior design project is a true engineering design experience, where students draw from their background to conceptualize, analyze, model, refine, and optimize a product to meet design, manufacturing, and life cycle cost requirements. The sophomore and junior level courses should assist students in making the transition from the “seat‐of‐the‐pants” freshman design approach to the engineering design approach required for the capstone experience and engineering practice. This paper summarizes a three year effort at integrating design into the Mechanics of Materials course, but the principal conclusions drawn would apply to most sophomore and junior engineering science courses.
Faculty Reactions to Teaching Engineering Design to First Year Students
Authors: Richards Larry G. , Carlson‐Skalak Susan 
Published: January 2013

AbstractIn 1993, as part of a major revision of our first year curriculum, the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Virginia introduced a new course on Engineering Design. In this paper, we will briefly describe this course, its purpose, goals, content, and methods. However, our primary purpose is to describe the reactions to this course among the faculty who have been called upon to teach it. We observed a high turnover rate among the faculty for this course and wanted to determine the reasons for it. A survey was distributed to all current and past instructors. The attitudes and backgrounds of these faculty influence their evaluations of this course and their willingness to teach it again.
Embedded Computing in the Mechanical Engineering Curriculum: A Course Featuring Structured Laboratory Exercises
Authors: Murray William R. , Garbini Joseph L. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractAn important skill for any design engineer is the ability to embed a computational element into a mechanical product or process. A course in embedded computing suitable for senior undergraduates in a mechanical engineering curriculum is described. The course, which includes both lectures and laboratory exercises, has evolved through our experiences in teaching embedded computing during the past decade and a half. In preparing to modernize this course, we have reexamined the academic ideas on which the course is based and the conflicting issues involved in developing a course in embedded computing with a hands‐on laboratory. These issues and our expectations for the future of embedded computing instruction in our department are discussed.
Assigning Functional Groups: The Influence of Group Size, Academic Record, Practical Experience, and Learning Style
Authors: Hunkeler David , Sharp Julie E. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractThis paper summarizes the results of a four‐year study (September 1992 ‐ December 1995) concerned with the performance of student groups in a senior engineering laboratory course. The investigation was conducted in two stages. In the first two years, the effect of group size, incoming GPA, practical experience, and the gender distribution of each group was investigated. During this period we recorded the Kolb Learning Style Inventory (LSI) scores at the end of the semester and asked students to report on the performance of their groups given their knowledge of the LSI distribution within their team. In the second stage of this study (1994–95) we evaluated the effect of grouping according to LSI, in addition to continuing our study of the effect of group size, academic record, practical experience, and gender distribution. In the final year of the study we took advantage of the disparity in the incoming GPAs of the two sections of the class (Tuesday and Thursday) to evaluate if incoming GPA influenced course grade. The study consisted of four senior classes totaling 110 students in 33 groups. The learning styles distribution of the students resulted in 6% “Type 1,” 42% “Type 2,” 42% “Type 3,” and 10% “Type 4” learners. The metric used to quantify performance was the average final course grade of students within given groups. This course grade was equally weighted between technical and writing components. Our results indicate that the most important positive correlating factor in a group's performance was the group size (four member groups statistically outperformed three member teams at α = 0.05). Although not statistically significant, observable higher average group grades indicated that the following may have an effect on group performance: the inclusion of academically outstanding individuals, the number of members with “good hands,” and the GPA history of the group. Specifically, the inclusion of a student with a GPA above 3.6 improved the performance (average group grade) of the group relative to their abilities as characterized by their average incoming GPA. Students who were good with equipment or had some practical hands‐on experience had a similar positive influence on the group performance. The gender distribution within a group did not have a significant effect on either group performance or dysfunction. Insufficient data were collected to ascertain the relative performance of homogeneous and mixed learning style groups. Since group incoming GPA may be a variable in group performance, student self‐selection is not recommended since it would result in an amplified disparity in the course grades. Indeed, we observed that grouping students by GPA, group size, and LSI resulted in a large number of functional teams, with the final variance in the course grade within a class reduced relative to other courses which have grouped activities.
The Quest for Relevance: Roles for Academia and Industry in Japan and the U.S.
Authors: Yamada Takuto , Todd Robert H. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractWhile U.S. industry is making headway in worldwide markets, much remains to be done. Some have proposed that improving the relevance of engineering education can have a marked influence on the future success of U.S. manufacturing. Some in academia have heard industries' cries for help to improve relevancy in engineering education and have responded with various solutions. Is this the situation in Japan? What is the state of engineering education in Japan? Where is it headed and how does the U.S. compare? We found that industry‐academia relationships like those being strengthened in the U.S. are minimal in Japan. Surprisingly, Japanese industry and academia appear not to be headed in a collaborative direction and are even more detached from one another than in the United States. This paper presents some differences in the way Japan and the U.S. view their roles for academia and industry and their interrelationships. Our objective is to further motivate U.S. educators to collaborate with industry and continue to integrate greater relevancy into engineering education.
Granting of Academic Credit for Work Based Learning in Scottish Higher Education
Authors: Edward N. S. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractThis paper explores the benefits and costs of formal Work Based Learning (WBL) programmes. It is based on my experience and on the responses of participating employers, learners, and academics in a number of Scottish Institutions to an open questionnaire. Benefits to the employer depended on whether the learner was a full‐time student in placement or a company employee in part‐time study. In the former case, employers were often surprised at the contribution made by the student and valued contact with the University. The potential for developing their employees in an environment which allowed theory and practice to be related was valued in the latter case. Academics identified closer links with industry and increasing the attractiveness of their courses among the advantages. Part‐time students often got an opportunity to advance their qualifications which would otherwise have been denied them. These and other advantages both predictable and unexpected are reviewed. Perhaps the most cogent benefit has been that through awarding of academic credit and the more rigorous approach, the aims of less formal industrial placements are now being achieved. All participants reported attendant costs and problems. These included the logistical problems of planning, mounting, and validating credit for what are often individual schemes for each student, and of assessing student performance. Diversion of organisational effort from its business objectives is mirrored in the need for the college to provide alternatives where learning outcomes cannot be met in the workplace. Obtaining equivalence of opportunity and of assessment standards was of major concern to academics and students alike. Incumbent costs to the organisation were mainly the opportunity costs of diverted equipment and staff. Students often had displacement costs in accommodation travel and low pay. Colleges found that the funding attracted by such schemes generally did not match their true costs. The consensus of opinion, however, was found to be that the benefits outweighed the costs. WBL was seen as a useful option provided it was carefully planned and monitored.
Re‐Engineering the Undergraduate Building Construction Program for the 21st Century
Authors: Auchey Flynn L. , Mills Thomas H. , Auchey Gloria J. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractThis paper presents an integrative model developed this past year by the Building Construction (BC) Department at Virginia Tech (VT), designed to help each student master the competencies necessary to succeed in the 21st Century as a building constructor in a changing global market‐place. The curriculum described in this paper presents a dynamic, practical, applied academic model; balances the construction education concepts of practical experience based knowledge with academic inquiry; integrates people and communication skills with the pragmatic building construction skills; and provides a construction program that maintains a strong identity positioned between architecture and engineering. Strategically this task was accomplished by weaving vertical and horizontal integration into the BC curriculum at Virginia Tech. Results of this first year are presented, including lessons learned, external evaluations, and recommendations for adaptation.
How Might Classroom Time Be Used Given WWW‐Based Lectures?
Authors: Wallace David R. , Weiner Suzanne T. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractThis paper investigates how traditional lecture time might be used given the availability of effective web‐based courseware for delivering materials typically presented in the classroom. After providing an overview of web‐based educational materials, the effectiveness of two teaching approaches is compared using a product design lecture on visual prototyping. One group of students prepared for class using web‐based materials and then received a lecture‐style second coverage of the topic in class (web+class lecture). The other group of students prepared for class using the same web‐based materials and then worked with the faculty, applying only a small portion of the subject matter, on illustrative examples (web+limited experience). The two groups then completed an assignment based on the subject matter. The average grade performance of the web+limited experience group was 10.8% higher than for the web+class lecture group. An achieved significance level of 0.001 provides very strong evidence to reject the hypothesis that the two groups performed equally. Analysis of how the two student groups used the web‐lecture resource showed that the form of class instruction had a strong influence on student motivation for independent study. The average time spent in web‐based preparation by the web+limited experience group was 1.6 times greater than the average preparation time for the web+class lecture group. Sixty percent of the web+class lecture group prepared less than the least prepared student in the web+limited experience group. These findings suggest that, if codified materials are primarily delivered using a medium such as the WWW, traditional classroom time might be liberated for potentially higher value‐added activities such as mentoring and experiential activities.
Retention and Performance of Male and Female Engineering Students: An Examination of Academic and Environmental Variables
Authors: Takahira Sayuri , Goodings Deborah J. , Byrnes James P. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractIn the present article, we conducted an exploratory study of student persistence and performance in a key course in the engineering sequence (i.e., Statics). At issue was whether certain characteristics of students (i.e., their gender, SAT‐math scores, GPA) and institutions (i.e., class size, percentage of female enrollment, gender of instructor) would be associated with higher levels of persistence and performance. Students from 48 sections of Statics from 17 institutions were included in the study (N = 4,993 males and 1,123 females). Within‐gender analyses showed that the primary factors associated with persistence were GPAs and SAT‐math scores. Between‐gender analyses revealed that the size and direction of the gender gap in persistence varied across institutions. Factors associated with these variations included the selectivity of the institution and the relative level of female persistence.
No Universal Constants: Journeys of Women in Engineering and Computer Science*
Authors: Ambrose Susan , Lazarus Barbara , Nair Indira 
Published: January 2013

AbstractThis paper describes lessons from stories of thirty‐six women in engineering and six women in computer science narrated in our book on journeys of women in science and engineering.1 These stories underscore the various factors that have been described in the literature as reasons women choose and stay in engineering. This paper discusses several of these factors.Students who reach college are a select group who have overcome the early barriers and are set on a potential track to becoming engineers. The experiences of these women as narrated in the book point to some of the positive and negative factors in the formative stages of their lives. Albert Bandura's model of perceived self‐efficacy is a theoretical framework that may be useful in exploring ways of teaching and advising in engineering schools to better meet the needs of the increasingly diverse student population. This framework is discussed briefly, and its components illustrated by examples from the stories. As college advisors and teachers, we need to reaffirm the methods and thinking students have evolved, but which may be challenged by the system based on a “normative student” model.