bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An Analysis of B.S.E.E. Degree Completion Time at Ohio University
Authors: Giesey Jeffrey J. , Manhire Brian 
Published: January 2013

AbstractIn response to a state mandate to consider time‐to‐degree, a transcript analysis was performed on BSEE graduates at Ohio University to determine the time it took them to obtain their degree. It was found that the average student took 5.15 years and 15.6 quarters to graduate. Major causes of students taking more than four years were failing, withdrawing from, and repeating courses, enrolling in an insufficient number of hours per quarter, and taking free electives. Also, it was found that hours lost when transferring institutions and changing majors, taking English as a second language (ESL) courses, and stopping out delayed some students. Students in the top quartile of GPA finished significantly sooner than other students while students with non‐ESL remedial courses and students who participated in cooperative education were not delayed. Implications of these findings for Ohio University and other programs are discussed.
How Genre Choices Effect Learning in a Digital Environment
Authors: HAILEY CHRISTINE E. , HAILEY DAVID E. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractA growing body of research supports the claim that media choices make little difference in a student's ability to learn material. This paper defines the term, “genre,” relative to instructional materials and presents quantitative studies, conducted between 1994 and 2000 that indicate genre choices may impact learning. Media choices matter to the extent they permit or preclude appropriate genres. To effectively design digital instructional material, we submit that educators should begin by identify the critical genres and select appropriate media to deliver them.
Stereotype Threat and Women's Performance in Engineering
Authors: BELL AMY E. , SPENCER STEVEN J. , ISERMAN EMMA , LOGEL CHRISTINE E.R. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractRecent research has demonstrated that stereotype threat—the concern that others will judge one negatively due to a stereotype that exists about one's group—interferes with women's performance on standardized math and engineering exams. In the current research we find that when a shortened version of the Fundamental of Engineering Exam is described as a test that is diagnostic of ability (i.e., when stereotype threat is high) women perform worse than men on the test. When stereotype threat is reduced, however (by characterizing the test as non‐diagnostic or as not producing gender differences), women do just as well as men. The implication of these results for improving the engineering education environment is discussed.
The Effect of a First‐Year Integrated Engineering Curriculum on Graduation Rates and Student Satisfaction: A Longitudinal Study
Authors: OLDS BARBARA M. , MILLER RONALD L. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractThis paper reports on the long‐term results of a two‐year experiment conducted in the 1994–1995 and 1995–1996 academic years in which a group of “average” engineering students was recruited for a first‐year program that integrated curricula and fostered a learning community. Students who participated in the Connections program graduated at a significantly higher rate than their peers and reflected retrospectively that the program had a strong positive effect on their college careers.
Qualitative Methods Used in the Assessment of Engineering Education
Authors: LEYDENS JON A. , MOSKAL BARBARA M. , PAVELICH MICHAEL J. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractThis article clarifies key concepts that undergird qualitative research, which is being used increasingly as engineering educators improve classrooms, programs, and institutions. The paper compares quantitative and qualitative research, describes some qualitative data collection strategies used in engineering education, addresses methods for establishing trustworthiness, and discusses strategies for analyzing qualitative data. Also included are illustrative examples of recent engineering education research that features qualitative data analysis and mixed‐method (quantitative and qualitative) approaches.
Using a Nationwide Internet‐Based Bridge Design Contest as a Vehicle for Engineering Outreach
Authors: Ressler Stephen J. , Ressler Eugene K. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractThe West Point Bridge Design Contest is a nationwide competition intended to increase middle school and high school students' interest in engineering. Unique among national engineering competitions, it entails no cost to participants, is entirely Internet‐based, and is achievable by any student with a Web‐enabled computer. By leveraging information technology, a project team of just three people has provided an engaging engineering design experience to over 30,000 students in the past two years. The project receives financial and promotional support from the American Society of Civil Engineers and private industry. Feedback from contestants and teachers indicates that students' interest in engineering is positively affected by their participation in the contest.
Foundational Aspects of Student‐Controlled Learning: A Paradigm for Design, Development, and Assessment Appropriate for Web‐Based Instruction
Authors: Dearholt Donald W. , Alt Kerry J. , Halpin Regina F. , Oliver Richard L. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractThis paper presents a strategy for the design and organization of materials for Web‐based instruction (WBI) founded upon cognitive modeling for the identification and organization of the major concepts in the domain of interest, based upon the Pathfinder paradigm. The original purpose of the Pathfinder paradigm was to model aspects of human semantic (associative) memory. A brief introduction to the Pathfinder paradigm is presented, and the rationale for its use in WBI is discussed. The development of this paradigm for WBI, in the context of eliciting and representing knowledge from domain experts, and its use in a pilot study is described. The domain used for the pilot study was the A* search algorithm, embedded within an introductory course in artificial intelligence. Assessment of the paradigm is also discussed, and preliminary methods are applied to the pilot study.
Relationships Between Engineering Student and Faculty Demographics and Stakeholders Working to Affect Change*
Authors: Johnson Michelle J. , Sheppard Sheri D. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractRecent data suggest that the United States is unable to meet the demand for individuals well prepared to contribute to science, mathematics, and engineering with their native workforce. Low participation rates of females and underrepresented minorities in these fields are major factors contributing to this situation. This study tracks the progress of the high school class of 1990 through the engineering pipeline and beyond, specifically focusing on the progress of female and underrepresented minority students within the class. Points along the pipeline where the participation rates of students dropped significantly are identified as critical decision points and factors contributing to students leaving at these decision points are discussed. Key stakeholder groups working with underrepresented minority and female students at these critical decision points are identified. The intent of this paper is to create a synthesized, national picture of the student and faculty who make up engineering schools in the United States, and of the stakeholder groups actively working to change this picture.
Integrated Virtual Learning System for Programmable Logic Controller*
Authors: Hsieh Sheng‐Jen (Tony) , Yeehsieh Patricia 
Published: January 2013

AbstractA integrated virtual learning system is being researched and developed to teach students about programmable logic controllers (PLCs). This system, called the Virtual PLC, incorporates intelligent tutoring system, simulation, and animation technologies. This article describes the development and evaluation of modules on PLC timer and counter instructions. These modules were first developed using an intelligent tutoring system (ITS) authoring tool and animation tools. After the concept was proved positively, a Web‐based ITS was developed to incorporate both modules. The authoring tool‐based ITS timer modules were evaluated with 90 undergraduate manufacturing engineering students in 2002. The Web‐based ITS timer and counter modules were evaluated by 38 undergraduate students in 2003. In both cases, students made statistically significant learning gains as a result of taking the modules, and rated the modules positively in terms of ease of use and understanding, clear objectives, amount of interaction, ability to motivate, relevance, and pace.
Comparison of Student Learning in Physical and Simulated Unit Operations Experiments
Authors: Wiesner Theodore F. , Lan William 
Published: January 2013

AbstractIndustries are tending toward computer‐based simulation, monitoring, and control of processes. This trend suggests an opportunity to modernize engineering laboratory pedagogy to include computer experiments as well as tactile experiments. However, few studies report the impact of simulations upon student learning in engineering laboratories.We evaluated the impact of computer‐simulated experiments upon student learning in a senior unit operations laboratory. We compared data on control and test groups from three sources: 1) a comprehensive exam over the course; 2) a questionnaire answered by students regarding how well the areas of ABET Engineering Criterion 3 (a‐k) were met; and 3) oral presentations given by the students. Our results indicate that student learning is not adversely affected by introducing computer‐based experiments. We therefore conclude that, while the tactile laboratory should remain in the engineering curriculum, the pedagogy can reflect the increasing use of information technology in the manufacturing industries without compromising student learning.
The Intellectual Development of Science and Engineering Students. Part 2: Teaching to Promote Growth
Authors: Felder Richard M. , Brent Rebecca 
Published: January 2013

AbstractAs college students experience the challenges of their classes and extracurricular activities, they undergo a developmental progression in which they gradually relinquish their belief in the certainty of knowledge and the omniscience of authorities and take increasing responsibility for their own learning. At the highest developmental level normally seen in college students (which few attain before graduation), they display attitudes and thinking patterns resembling those of expert scientists and engineers, including habitually and skillfully gathering and analyzing evidence to support their judgments. This paper proposes an instructional model designed to provide a suitable balance of challenge and support to advance students to that level. The model components are (1) variety and choice of learning tasks; (2) explicit communication and explanation of expectations; (3) modeling, practice, and constructive feedback on high‐level tasks; (4) a student‐centered instructional environment; and (5) respect for students at all levels of development.
Kirkpatrick's Level 1 Evaluation of the Implementation of a Computer‐Aided Process Design Tool in a Senior‐Level Engineering Course
Authors: Diefes‐Dux Heidi A. , Samant Charuta , Johnson Tristan E. , O'Connor Debra 
Published: January 2013

AbstractComputer simulation tools are frequently used in engineering design work, and undergraduates are often trained to use these tools as they learn to design systems. The use of new tools in the learning environment should be evaluated to assure that the students are able to use the tools effectively. This study details and demonstrates the use of a Kirkpatrick's Level 1 Evaluation to assess the effectiveness of an instructional environment in which students learn to use a computer simulation tool to perform engineering design work. Specifically, an evaluation was conducted to look at student perceptions of FOODS‐LIB—a steady‐state food process design tool, its user's manual learning modules, and the implementation of FOODS‐LIB in a senior level design course. This evaluation was triangulated with an instructor's assessment of student products generated as the students used the learning modules and designed an ice cream manufacturing process using FOODS‐LIB.
Effect of Guided Research Experience on Product Design Performance
Authors: Okudan Gül E. , Osif Bonnie 
Published: January 2013

AbstractDesigning, generally, requires a team effort. Consequently, several variables affecting team performance have been studied, such as team composition, female/male ratio in the organization, and teamwork skills training. This study furthers this effort by investigating the effect of guided external research during the concept generation phase of the design process. The premise of the study is that as resources increase in number and complexity, and time constraints pressure an overcrowded curriculum, professors are challenged to find new methods to train students in the skills needed for the constantly changing workplace.One technique to address this issue, a creative collaboration and its impact on design team performance, is discussed in the paper. First, the approach for incorporating guided research into curriculum is explained, and then the results of the study are presented, which indicate that a higher design performance can be achieved when guided research is added to design teaching.
Influence of African American Engineering Student Perceptions of Campus Climate on Graduation Rates
Authors: Brown A. Ramona , Morning Carole , Watkins Charles 
Published: January 2013

AbstractAfrican American undergraduate engineering student perceptions of institutional and personal/social campus climate factors were investigated to determine how these perceptions influence academic performance and institutional graduation rates. Data collection was accomplished through use of a quantitative and qualitative survey instrument administered to a national sample of subjects. The research discovered wide variation in individual institutional African American graduation rates and differences in rates among groups of institutions categorized by their academic selectivity or their designation as a Historically Black College and University. Students at institutions in the higher of the academic selectivity categories had higher graduation rates. However, students enrolled in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities category had more favorable perceptions of their college experience and had higher grades than students attending other institutions. After controlling for institution category, higher graduation rates were associated with students' lower perceptions of racism and discrimination and with students' greater institutional commitment.
Student Assessment Precision in Mechanical Engineering Courses
Authors: Green Sheldon I. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractStudent performance on mid‐term quizzes and final examinations was compared for several core undergraduate courses. A statistical comparison of the grades of students on these two tests showed only a modest correlation between grades. The modest correlation may be attributed to several factors: inaccurate grading of examinations, differences in the material tested on the mid‐terms and finals, and sampling error due to the small numbers of questions on examinations. Evidence is presented that sampling error is the primary source of the low correlations. In practice, the modest correlations of mid‐term quiz and final examination grades imply that the grades assigned to students are some aggregate of a true measure of the ability of students and randomness. The randomness arises because the instructor selects a particular subset of the course material for examination, not complete coverage of the course by question of all levels of difficulty.
Effects of Behavioral Anchors on Peer Evaluation Reliability
Authors: Ohland Matthew W. , Layton Richard A. , Loughry Misty L. , Yuhasz Amy G. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractThis paper presents comparisons of three peer evaluation instruments tested among students in undergraduate engineering classes: a single‐item instrument without behavioral anchors, a ten‐item instrument, and a single‐item behaviorally anchored instrument. Studies using the instruments in undergraduate engineering classes over four years show that the use of behavioral anchors significantly improves the inter‐rater reliability of the single‐item instrument. The inter‐rater reliability (based on four raters) of the behaviorally anchored instrument was 0.78, which was not significantly higher than that of the ten‐item instrument (0.74), but it was substantially more parsimonious. The results of this study add to the body of knowledge on evaluating students' performance in teams. This is critical since the ability to function in multidisciplinary teams is a required student learning outcome of engineering programs.
A Comparison of Group Processes, Performance, and Satisfaction in Face‐to‐Face Versus Computer‐Mediated Engineering Student Design Teams
Authors: Whitman Lawrence E. , Malzahn Don E. , Chaparro Barbara S. , Russell Mark , Langrall Rebecca , Mohler Beth A. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractIndustry often requires engineers to work in teams. Therefore, many university engineering courses require students to work in groups to complete a design project. Due to the increasingly global nature of engineering, opportunities for students to navigate the issues of distance, time, culture, language, and multiple perspectives associated with virtual teams are becoming particularly desirable. To understand students' experience with virtual teams in a graduate course on principles of lean manufacturing, a group of researchers at a midwestern university compared the project performance, selected group processes, and satisfaction of students randomly assigned to face‐to‐face and computer‐mediated communication design teams. Students in both the face‐to‐face and computer‐mediated communication design teams performed equally well on the final project, and reported similar patterns in group processes with a few exceptions. Students in face‐to‐face design teams were more satisfied with the group experience than those in the computer‐mediated communication design teams; however, all reported an overall positive experience.
Experiences with Formative Assessment in Engineering Classrooms
Authors: Roselli Robert J. , Brophy Sean P. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractAssessment in many engineering courses is mostly summative in nature. We have introduced an electronic Classroom Communication System (CCS) into undergraduate engineering courses to provide students with formative assessment on a regular basis. Experiences with the system are presented, including both student and instructor evaluations. Students like it because it is anonymous and lets them know in a timely manner when they have difficulty understanding new concepts. The system also helps inform the instructor about student comprehension of various concepts, well in advance of an examination, resulting in better retention of fundamental concepts. The system can help an instructor adjust the pace of the course to match the aptitude of the students. Therefore, instructors might reduce the variance in students' conceptual understanding of fundamental concepts early in the course, allowing for more uniform coverage of advanced topics later in the course.
Using Online Nominal Group Technique to Implement Knowledge Transfer
Authors: Tseng Kuo‐Hung , Lou Shi‐Jer , Diez C. Ray , Yang Hung‐Jen 
Published: January 2013

AbstractPresented in this study is an online Nominal Group Technique (NGT) platform for implementing knowledge transfer. A platform was developed to record the experimental experiences of thirteen Information Technology (IT) experts from academia and industry. We found that an online NGT platform could provide formal activities for promoting knowledge transfer in pursuit of consensus at a distance. Internalization of knowledge resulted from the review and rethinking process when applied to solution priorities. The results of this study have implications for users to initiate knowledge transfer at a distance for students conducting a capstone project with industry, for industry/academia research projects, and on industry projects between faculty and industry personnel. The processes of providing knowledge creation, interaction, and internalization were shown to lead to knowledge transfer for consensus building. The implementation efficiency was mainly contributed to by platform recognition, an important outcome when constructing information platforms for transferring knowledge among industry engineers, engineering students, and engineering educators.
First Steps in Understanding Engineering Students' Growth of Conceptual and Procedural Knowledge in an Interactive Learning Context
Authors: Taraban Roman , Anderson Edward E. , DeFinis Alli , Brown Ashlee G. , Weigold Arne , Sharma M.P. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractThe development of procedural knowledge in students, i.e., the ability to effectively solve domain problems, is the goal of many instructional initiatives in engineering education. The present study examined learning in a rich learning environment in which students read text, listened to narrations, interacted with simulations, and solved problems using instructional software for thermodynamics. Twenty‐three engineering and science majors who had not taken a thermodynamics course provided verbal protocol data as they used this software. The data were analyzed for cognitive processes. There were three major findings: (1) students expressed significantly more cognitive activity on computer screens requiring interaction compared to text‐based screens; (2) there were striking individual differences in the extent to which students employed the materials; and (3) verbalizations revealed that students applied predominantly lower‐level cognitive processes when engaging these materials, and they failed to connect the conceptual and procedural knowledge in ways that would lead to deeper understanding. The results provide a baseline for additional studies of more advanced students in order to gain insight into how students develop skill in engineering.
Faculty and Student Attitudes Toward Community Service: A Comparative Analysis
Authors: Bauer E. Heidi , Moskal Barbara , Gosink Joan , Lucena Juan , Muñoz David 
Published: January 2013

AbstractThe Humanitarian Engineering initiative, sponsored by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, at the Colorado School of Mines, is creating a program that will support engineering students in understanding their responsibility for solving community development problems that exist throughout the world. As part of this effort, data has been collected on faculty and student attitudes using the ‘Community Service Attitudes Scale,” developed and validated by Shiarella, McCarthy, and Tucker. During the fall 2004, 78 students and 34 faculty members responded to this instrument. Statistically significant differences were found between the attitudes of students and faculty, males and females, and among different age groupings with respect to service activities. A general finding was that faculty displayed better attitudes toward community service than the students.
A Strategic Analysis of Korean Engineering Education Based on Two Satisfaction Scores
Authors: Lee Seung Yong , Yoon Jae Yong , Kim Tae Hyun , Sohn So Young 
Published: January 2013

AbstractStudent avoidance of science and engineering fields is a significant problem that can hinder national competitiveness. In this study, a structural equation model is used to propose two scores to measure student satisfaction with Korean engineering education: the P‐score, a measure of the students' satisfaction with aspects of their personalities, and the M‐score, a measure of the students' satisfaction with aspects of their majors. Using these two scores to assess the students' satisfaction with engineering education in Korea, several strategic approaches to improve student satisfaction with Korean engineering education are proposed.