The Development of a Coding Scheme Analyzing Formative Assessment in Undergraduate Engineering Science Courses

Statics, Dynamics, and Mechanics of Materials form the basic sequence of engineering mechanics courses in engineering curricula. Traditionally, these courses have been designated as “engineering science” courses with significantly more emphasis in analysis to reinforce engineering fundamentals, and little to no importance to “engineering design”. With the outcome based approach to undergraduate engineering education adopted by Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology and the framework laid out by Engineering Criteria (EC 2000) significant reform efforts are underway to incorporate design experience throughout the engineering curricula. Most engineering programs across the nation have developed and implemented a freshman design course to introduce engineering design at the beginning of the college experience for engineering majors. To sustain the momentum, it therefore follows that subsequent courses should sustain the design emphasis in the freshman and sophomore years. Design, however, is a time consuming complex iterative process somewhat different from the convergent nature of engineering science. Modern software tools provide a time efficient and pedagogically effective way of integrating engineering design project with the engineering mechanics sequence without compromising the engineering science fundamentals. In this paper design projects that have been integrated in Statics, Dynamics, and Mechanics of Material courses offered by the author using software tools such as Working Model, MD-Solids, Pro-Engineer, Solid-works etc. supplemented by computational tools such as MATLAB and EXCEL are outlined. Discussion based on student feedback and relevance to ABET outcomes is also forwarded.

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Changing the LAB Experience in Undergraduate Engineering

Technology-Enhanced Formative Assessment Practices in Higher Education - Advances in Higher Education and Professional Development ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-0426-0.ch011 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 215-239

Author(s):

Ali Mohamed Habibi ◽

Ann Dashwood

Keyword(s):

Formative Assessment ◽

Remote Access ◽

Individual Student ◽

Pedagogical Practice ◽

Undergraduate Engineering ◽

Electronic Engineering ◽

Use Of Technology ◽

Voltage Division ◽

Collaborative Learning Environment ◽

The Individual

The use of technology to enhance formative assessment in higher education continues to be a challenge regardless of advances in digital capabilities; yet research has shown its potential regardless of discipline. In undergraduate electrical and electronic engineering, which is the discipline focus in this chapter, lab work is an area that can be enhanced in this way but with such an enhancement comes a change in pedagogy from the conventional approach of in-lab physical practical work conducted by the individual student alone or in a group with limited support to one of working collaboratively in remote access laboratories scattered far and wide through an online learning systems that provides access to laboratory infrastructure and learning environments through the internet. In a collaborative learning environment, students work together to solve problems and need to become involved in dialogue to achieve a common goal where they depend on and are accountable to each other. This chapter explores students' experience of a collaborative approach to lab work regarding mastery of the voltage division rule and its relevance to formative assessment using remote access laboratories that depend on technology and internet access. The implications for task design and formative assessment are discussed based on the results of interviews with participating students. The nature of change in pedagogical practice is highlighted as are the implications for the design of formative assessment and the need to work at the level of “feedback markers” that are able to feed forward to progress learning.

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Efficacy of Replacing the Lecture with a Skill in Engineering Science Courses

10.18260/p.23926 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Libby Osgood ◽

Clifton Johnston

Keyword(s):

Engineering Science ◽

Science Courses

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A tool for facilitating the automated assessment of engineering/science courses

International Journal of Electrical Engineering Education ◽

10.1177/0020720920953134 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 002072092095313

Author(s):

Azam Beg ◽

Mouza Alhemeiri ◽

Ajmal Beg

Keyword(s):

Computer Architecture ◽

Online Courses ◽

Traditional Learning ◽

Engineering Science ◽

Practice Test ◽

Science Courses ◽

Software Packages ◽

Questions And Answers ◽

The Creation ◽

Learning Institutions

In recent years, massive open online courses (MOOCs) have become quite popular. Such courses are either completely free or cost nominally. Generally, the MOOCs face the challenge of not being recognized as ‘regular’ courses (i.e., the ones taken at the traditional learning institutions). One of the main reasons for this lack of acceptability is the assessment in an unsupervised environment, which is prone to the problems of test-taker’s online lookups or interaction with others for finding the answers to the test questions. A few ways of alleviating this problem include: limiting the time for answering the questions, the avoidance of repetitive questions, and the creation of a large number of questions. This paper presents a tool named QAgen that enables the automatic creation of a large number of questions and answers related to different topics in computer/electrical engineering (ECE), computer science, physics, etc. Specifically, the tool is related to the courses on digital logic design, computer architecture, etc. The generated questions are in a format that is suitable both for learning management system (LMS) based and/or non-LMS-based assessment in conventional courses or MOOCs. The proposed tool is based on open-source software, thus eliminating the need for any commercial software packages. The underlying principles of QAgen are applicable to other engineering/science courses as well, if the assessment methods require the creation of some connected-object diagrams, tables and equations. For assessing the usefulness of QAgen, practice question sets were created for three different courses. The student surveys for these courses indicated that the questions helped students prepare for actual tests/examinations. Especially favored by the students was the availability of correct answers at the end of each practice test/examination.

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Engineering Science-Led Computer-Aided Design: A Project-Based Approach

International Journal of Mechanical Engineering Education ◽

10.1177/030641909502300301 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 181-193

Author(s):

F. P. E. Dunne ◽

D. A. W. Taylor

Keyword(s):

Active Learning ◽

Project Based Learning ◽

Project Work ◽

Engineering Science ◽

Student Interest ◽

Engineering Project ◽

Design Work ◽

Science Courses ◽

Design Project ◽

Software Packages

A project-based learning approach has been developed in which a commercial CAD package is employed to analyse and redesign a shaft and bearing system which is known to fail in service after short term use. The principal aim of the project is to emphasize the importance of the appraisal of design software packages. The students are required to apply their knowledge and understanding of the relevant engineering science to check and validate the results predicted by the software package. The project is therefore used to emphasize the importance of questioning the output obtained from software packages, and the need for validation. In addition, the project aims to introduce students to the power of the microcomputer in quickly carrying out the many iterative analyses that are often required at the detailed stages of design. The importance of project-based design work in enabling the acquisition of skills, and the development of understanding of fundamental engineering concepts is discussed and an approach is proposed for enabling integration of design teaching with first- and second-year engineering science courses within an engineering degree course. The approach presented seeks to exploit student interest and enthusiasm for engineering project work in order to aid, and enhance the development of understanding for a particular domain of engineering science. The design project considers a ‘real’ design problem, and the hardware is made available to the students for viewing and handling. It is argued that reality plays an important role in maintaining student interest and commitment, which is essential for effective learning in design. The paper gives an overview of the design project, and hence demonstrates how design teaching can provide an integrating theme within engineering science courses. The emphasis of the current approach on student-centred, active learning, rather than the traditional passive learning methods, is also discussed. Finally, an assessment is made of the project-based approach to design teaching and of its ability to develop understanding of engineering principles, to develop skills in CAD, and to maintain student enthusiasm using active learning techniques.

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