Enhancing Engineering Students' Performance on Design Task: The Box of Parts

2017 ◽  
Vol 139 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Bairaktarova ◽  
William Graziano ◽  
Monica Cox
Keyword(s):  
Professional Practice ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Engineering Application ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Design Task ◽  
Correlational Design ◽  
Assembly Instructions ◽  
Mechanical Objects

Most definitions of engineering give machines and mechanical objects a central role. Engineers are makers and users of mechanical objects in their environment. Research supports the notion that interactions with engineered artifacts enhance engineering learning. This study introduces a task simulating a real-world engineering application and uses this task to examine how aptitudes, interests, and direct manipulation of mechanical objects influence performance. We hypothesized that engineering students would generate better assembly instructions when they had the box of component parts (BOP) than when they had the engineering drawing only. We also hypothesized that student's mechanical aptitude (MA) and interests in things each would interact with experimental condition's impact on performance. First-year engineering students (N = 383) created assembly instructions in a mixed experimental and correlational design. A random half was assigned to create instructions with a drawing only, whereas the other half created with both a drawing and a box of component parts present. Assembly instructions were evaluated by professional engineers blind to experimental conditions. They rated instructions from the BOP group as superior to those coming from the control group. Students with greater mechanical aptitude received better evaluations, but there was no evidence the experimental variable was moderated either by mechanical aptitude or by thing orientation (TO). This study suggests that mechanical objects can enhance engineering instruction, especially when they are aligned with professional practice.

CAD Platform Independent Software for Automatic Grading of Technical Drawings

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanchit Ingale ◽  
Anirudh Srinivasan ◽  
Diana Bairaktarova
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Spatial Reasoning ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Spatial Visualization ◽  
First Year ◽  
Spatial Skills ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Pedagogical Tool ◽  
Students Success ◽  
Mechanical Objects

Spatial visualization is the ability of an individual to imagine an object mentally and understand its spatial orientation. There have been multiple works proving that spatial visualization skills can be improved with an appropriate training. Such training warrant a critical place in the undergraduate engineering curricula in many engineering schools as spatial skills are considered vital for students’ success in the technical and design fields [1–4]. Enhanced spatial skills help not only professionals in the engineering field but also everyone in the 21st century environment. Drawing sectional views requires mental manipulation and visual thinking. To enhance students spatial reasoning, one of the authors of this study, conducted a class in spatial visualization. The course-learning goal aimed at improving first-year engineering students’ spatial reasoning through instruction on freehand drawings of sectional view. During the semester, two teaching assistants had to grade more than 500 assignments that consisted of sectional views of mechanical objects. This was a tedious and a time consuming task. Motivated by this experience, this paper proposes a software aiming at automating grading of students’ sectional view drawings. The proposed software will also give live feedback to students while they are working on the drawings. This interactive tool aims to 1) improve the learning experience of first year students, with limited CAD knowledge, and 2) introduce a pedagogical tool that can enhance spatial visualization training.

scholarly journals The Effects of Gamified Flipped Learning Method on Student’s Innovation Skills, Self-Efficacy towards Virtual Physics Lab Course and Perceptions

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 10163
Author(s):  
Hana Dler Ahmed ◽  
Gulsum Asiksoy
Keyword(s):  
Physics Education ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
Flipped Learning ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Laboratory Courses

Laboratory courses are extremely important in Physics education in terms of providing a better understanding of the theoretical course subjects by the students. However, since the COVID-19 epidemic caused education to be carried out remotely and digitally all over the world, practical as well as theoretical courses were moved to digital platforms. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of the Gamified Flipped Learning (GFL) method on students’ physics self-efficacy and innovation skills in a virtual physics laboratory course. The study was carried out with true experimental design and the participants were a total of 70 first-year engineering students, which were randomly divided into two groups. The experimental group was trained with the GFL method, the control group was trained with Classical Flipped Learning (CFL) method. Data were collected from a physics self-efficacy questionnaire, innovative skills questionnaire, and semi-structured interviews form. The research results showed that GFL method has a positive impact on the innovation skills of students although insignificant improvement was introduced by gamified-flipped learning on students’ self-efficacy. In addition, the interviews with the students revealed a positive perception of gamification, by mentioning some important aspects of the process that were extremely beneficial.

The Use of Analogies and the Design Brief Information: Impact on Creative Outcomes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgios Koronis ◽  
Hernan Casakin ◽  
Arlindo Silva ◽  
Jing Wen William Siew
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
The Other ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
Pedagogical Tool ◽  
Analogical Thinking ◽  
Design Task ◽  
Improve Design ◽  
Design Students ◽  
University Setting

Abstract This study is aimed at ways to assess and improve design students’ creative outcomes and assist educators in crafting design briefs for design studios. The procedure entails a controlled yet analytical experiment in a university setting intended to test the potential of using analogical thinking to enhance the Novelty and Usefulness of design solutions. The control group received a brief that contained stimuli in the form of typical examples without instructions to use analogies. A second group was provided with a brief including stimuli elicited by text representations in the form of word pairs, and instructions to use textual analogies. The last group received the same stimuli as the other groups above; however, with instructions to identify negative features before using textual analogies. One hundred and seven first-year undergraduate students took part in the study. The results demonstrated that design briefs with specific instructions to use textual-based analogies contributed to highly novel outcomes. However, when analogies were elicited by statements concerning negative issues of the design task, students were able to produce more useful outcomes. We suggest that textual-based analogies can be employed as a good in-class pedagogical tool for improving novice designers’ creative outcomes overall.

scholarly journals First Year Students Understanding Of Elementary Concepts In Differential Calculus In A Computer Laboratory Teaching Environment

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Naidoo ◽  
R. Naidoo
Keyword(s):  
Blended Learning ◽  
Differential Calculus ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Interactive Learning ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
Computer Laboratory ◽  
Elementary Calculus ◽  
Experimental Group

This paper focuses on blended learning in mathematics I module in elementary calculus, at a University of Technology.  A computer laboratory was used to create a learning environment that promoted interactive learning together with traditional teaching. The interactive learning was performed using projects to optimize the discovery and error diagnosis in an elementary differential calculus class consisting of first year engineering students.  A group of 33 engineering students (the experimental group) completed a project in elementary calculus as part of their course requirement for the mathematics I module in the engineering faculty. The project was designed to support the development of the differential calculus frames “limit of a sequence”, “average rate of change” and “instantaneous rate of change”.  Students were clinically interviewed on their tasks in the project. We also compared a control group of students (randomly selected students) in a completely traditional to the experimental group. Both groups were subjected to the Orton’s test on differential calculus.  Analysis of project work indicated that students have developed specific mathematical mental frames in elementary calculus. The control group exhibited more structural and executive errors than the experimental group. The experimental group tended to describe the concepts using deep structures than surface structures.  Statistically the scores on the Orton’s tests indicated a clear difference between the experimental group and the control group. We can suggest blended learning enhances understanding of key concepts in elementary calculus.

Effectiveness of the Community–Academia Student Tutoring (CAST) program in enhancing students’ practice placement readiness

2018 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 220-226
Author(s):  
Miri Tal-Saban ◽  
Naomi Weintraub
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Anxiety Level ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
Mentoring Program ◽  
Group Program ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Occupational Therapy Students ◽  
Tutoring Program

Introduction Occupational therapy programs include practice education, which is a vital aspect of professional practice preparation. We evaluated the effectiveness of the Community–Academia Student Tutoring program for enhancing occupational therapy students’ perceived readiness for their practice placement, thus reducing their feelings of anxiety. Method The study included 84 first-year undergraduate occupational therapy students aged 21–35 years, of whom 43 participated in the Community–Academia Student Tutoring group program and the rest comprised the control group. Participants completed the Student Self-Competency and Readiness for Fieldwork questionnaire prior to their first practice placement. Findings Anxiety was related to the Student Self-Competency and Readiness for Fieldwork’s components and total score. The Community–Academia Student Tutoring group scored significantly higher ( p < .05) than the controls in the Evaluation and Communication with Patients components of the questionnaire, after controlling for anxiety level. Implications It appears that it is possible to enhance students’ readiness for their practice placement through a structured and intensive community-based mentoring program that is guided by faculty and includes activities of briefing and debriefing, such as the Community–Academia Student Tutoring program.

scholarly journals Hands-On Workshops to Assist in Students' Conceptual Understanding of Heat Transfer

2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher F. Cirenza ◽  
Thomas E. Diller ◽  
Christopher B. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Conceptual Knowledge ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
Time Data ◽  
Graduate Studies ◽  
Traditional Lecture ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Experimental Group

A two-year study was conducted to engage undergraduate mechanical engineering students to approach heat transfer education in an active, hands-on manner and excite them to pursue research and graduate studies in the field. Physical workshops were designed and implemented into junior level heat transfer classes, allowing students to feel and observe heat transfer using heat flux and temperature sensors that provided real-time data. These instruments, coupled with open-ended, challenge-based pedagogy, provided opportunities for students to explore important heat transfer concepts, such as the differences between heat and temperature. The conceptual knowledge of the students was assessed through concept-specific questions. These results were compared to those of a control group who took the traditional lecture without the workshops. The results yielded significantly higher scores for the experimental group in the first year but much less of a difference in the second year, which added video-enhanced workshops in place of the purely hands-on workshops. In addition to concept questions, surveys taken by the students reveal that the students much preferred the workshops in either form over not having them. They also believed the workshops strongly enhanced their learning by giving them a real, hands-on experience.

scholarly journals Auto-feedback to improve academic performance

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 180
Author(s):  
José Manuel Navarro Jover
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Spatial Vision ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
Final Grade ◽  
Technical Drawing ◽  
Final Grades ◽  
Experimental Group

This study was carried out on first-year engineering students in the subject of technical drawing, an eminently practical subject that requires the continuous development of spatial vision and also that students should devote time and effort to it from the very beginning. For the study we designed an auto-feedback activity to be applied to the students in the experimental group. The aim was to determine whether the students improved by this means their capacity for self-regulation and ultimately their academic performance. The students included in the experimental group obtained higher scores in the end-of-year self-regulation questionnaire (78.5) than those in the control group (66.47). There was a highly significant correlation (r=0.60; p<0.05) between the final grade and the class attendance rate. Although the auto-feedback treatment did not directly influence the final grades in the analysis of overall variance, it did have an indirect effect through the attendance variable; the students in the experimental group attended significantly more classes than those in the control group (82.2% vs. 68.6%; p<0.05). In fact, a comparison of the average final grades showed that the experimental group obtained significantly higher marks (6.97/10) than the control group (3.8/10).

scholarly journals Adakah Reka Bentuk Emoji Senyum Dengan Pelbagai Tahap Realistik Pada Poster Bercetak Memberi Kesan Yang Signifikan Dalam Menstimulasi Kesedaran Pengguna?

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Norlida Daud ◽  
◽  
Ahmad Zamzuri ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
Design Choice ◽  
Safety Awareness ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Post Hoc ◽  
Experience Questionnaire

This research was aimed to study the effects of smiley emoji in printed poster with flat and skeuomorphism design approach in stimulating user’s awareness. Six safety awareness posters with six different smiley emoji designs have been developed and tested, i.e. line emoji, coloured line emoji, vector emoji, line and shadow emoji, three-dimensional (3D) emoji and realistic emoji. The quasi-experimental design was applied in answering the research question derived and the data obtained was analysed using one-way ANOVA and post hoc test. 700 first year engineering students from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) were involved as the research sample. Each awareness poster was evaluated by 100 students including a text only poster, i.e. without emoji, as the control group. User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ), specifically stimulation scale, was utilised in obtaining feedback from respondents. In conclusion, this study indicated that the use of smiley emoji in an awareness poster was more effective than poster with text alone. However, the design aspects of the smiley emoji are found to have an impact on users. Therefore, this study recommends coloured line emoji, vector emoji, line and shadow emoji and 3D emoji to be the better design choice for awareness poster in printed form.

scholarly journals Model-Based Teaching and Learning: An Experiential Research of Teaching Engineering Drawing for First Year Engineering Students

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 9363-9367
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
Continuous Assessment ◽  
Engineering Drawing ◽  
Context Model ◽  
Model Based

Technology plays a major role in the easement of teaching and learning in engineering education. Novel techniques adopted in the recent days, have resulted in a huge success on the part of educators. These techniques create a great difference in the instructional delivery, with real-time impact on the understanding and learning of students. In this context, Model Based Teaching and Learning (MBTL) is identified as one such resourceful method to teach certain educational concepts which require imagination. Use of models within the pedagogy of engineering education promotes meta cognitive thinking skills of students. The purpose of this research was to examine the advantages of adopting model – based teaching and learning for the course, Engineering Drawing for first year engineering students. A class of 120 Engineering students during the second semester participated in the research. The students were randomly grouped into two groups of each 60 in order to receive different treatments. The first group was identified as the Control group (CG) which was taught concepts of Engineering Drawing using traditional lecture method, while the second group, the Experimental Group (EG) was facilitated with models related to projection of lines and orthographic projections. The results revealed that using models had a significant impact on the academic achievement of the students. Based on their performance in the continuous assessment, it was concluded that models were very helpful in improving the marks, and also played an effective role in the comprehension of concepts.

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