scholarly journals Implementing a Freshman Engineering Design Experience at the University of Washington

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian C Fabien ◽  
Keon L Vereen
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Computer Aided Design ◽  
Professional Socialization ◽  
First Year ◽  
Team Efficacy ◽  
The Difference ◽  
College Of Engineering ◽  
Poster Presentations ◽  
Socialization Skills ◽  
The University

A project-oriented introductory engineering design course has been developed within the University of Washington’s College of Engineering to enhance the first-year student experience. The role of engineering was de-mystified, explaining the difference between trade specialists and engineers. The students learned that the “art of engineering” is in solving complex problems. Throughout the course, students learned about programming, computer-aided design, and 3D printer technology to assist in the development of team projects. As each new prototype was unveiled, teams learned important lessons about the transition from conception to implementation. One of the biggest outcomes of the course was learning to work effectively in teams. At the end of the course, each team was assessed not only on quality of design project but also team efficacy. The students developed their professional socialization skills while preparing technical reports and oral (PowerPoint and poster) presentations. On the closing day of the program, students presented their group projects in front of campus and industry partners.

scholarly journals A MODEL TO DEVELOP PEER FEEDBACK SKILLS IN FIRST-YEAR ENGINEERING STUDENTS

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Mattucci ◽  
Jim Sibley ◽  
Jonathan Nakane ◽  
Peter Ostafichuk
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Professional Communication ◽  
First Year ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
University Of British Columbia ◽  
Feedback Model ◽  
Poster Presentations ◽  
The University ◽  
Proper Interpretation

Abstract – Giving and receiving feedback is a necessary, but often difficult skill for young engineers to acquire. We developed and piloted the delivery of a feedback model as part of the first-year engineering experience at the University of British Columbia. The approach is based on recognizing feedback as a form of professional communication, and that it requires practice to improve. We wove different aspects of communication skill development through two large newly-designed first-year introduction to engineering courses, building towards face-to-face feedback through a staged series of communication experiences. The full feedback model highlighted the nuances of face-to-face communication, and was called the "3×3", since it includes the three components involved in face-to-face feedback (sender, message, and receiver), each with three associated aspects. The sender uses appropriate words and body language, ensures proper interpretation, and is empathetic; the message is objective and non-judgmental, sufficiently detailed, and contains suggestions for improvement; and the receiver remains open and listening, acknowledges to the sender that they are listening, and clarifies to ensure understanding. Students applied what they had learned through an activity reviewing poster presentations from a major course design project. In the activity, they each had an opportunity to craft a feedback message before delivering the message face-to-face to a peer. Students then reflected on the feedback they received by summarizing the message, recognizing how the sender delivered the feedback, and identifying why the feedback was helpful. Student reflections were analyzed for themes from the 3×3 model. Students found feedback from peers particularly helpful when it was delivered in an appropriate and courteous manner, checked for proper interpretation, provided clear suggestions for improvement, and was coupled with praise of something that was done well. Providing students with a structured model allows them to follow a process in both providing effective face-to-face feedback, but also better appreciate why receiving feedback is beneficial in helping them improve.  

scholarly journals Teaching Design to First-Year Engineering Students

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael McGuire ◽  
Kin Fun Li ◽  
Fayez Gebali
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
Considerable Effort ◽  
Student Teams ◽  
Product Engineering ◽  
Teaching Design ◽  
Integrated Communication ◽  
The University

Design is associated with the invention,planning and building a product. Engineering design, inparticular, takes considerable effort, skills, andintegration of knowledge; hence, it is difficult to teachfreshmen this subject since they have not possessed ordeveloped the proper skill set yet. The Faculty ofEngineering at the University of Victoria has beenteaching engineering design (in two successive courses)to all first-year engineering students. In addition toattending plenary lectures, student teams are working oncompetitive projects in the laboratory, while participatingin highly integrated communication modules. In thiswork, we discuss the curricula of these design courses,model of delivery and share our experience for the pastthree years.

scholarly journals Understanding Barriers to Student Success: What Students Have to Say

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Kuley ◽  
Sean Maw ◽  
Terry Fonstad
Keyword(s):  
Student Success ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
Directed Learning ◽  
College Of Engineering ◽  
The University

This paper focuses on feedback received from a set of qualitative questions that were administered to undergraduate students in the College of Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan, as part of a larger mixed methods study. The larger study aims to identify what characteristics, if any, can predict or are related to student success; The “start-stop-continue” method was utilized to assess student perceptions about  their success in the college as a whole. The students were asked: Are there any specific things that you can think of that act/acted as barriers to your success in engineering (stop)? What could the college do/change to make first year more successful for engineering students (start)? Is there anything in your engineering degree so far that you feel is done well and helps students succeed (continue)? Students identified the quality of instruction early in their program as well as adjustment to college workloads and self-directed learning as the most significant barriers tostudent success.

scholarly journals INCORPORATING A COMMUNITY-BASED RAPID MANUFACTURING FACILITY INTO A FIRST YEAR ENGINEERING DESIGN COURSE

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Wlodyka ◽  
Bruno Tomberli
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
First Year ◽  
Design Tools ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Laboratory Equipment ◽  
Manufacturing Facility ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Design Students ◽  
Manufacturing Technologies ◽  
The University

University engineering departments are often challenged to maintain state of the art manufacturing facilities due to the rapid technological changes that are occurring in industry. Older or obsolete engineering laboratory equipment, manufacturing machines, and design tools are difficult to replace due to limited department budgets, space, and staff resources.At Capilano University, where a hands-on project-based one semester first year engineering design class is offered, the Engineering department has taken a novel approach to meet the above challenge.The Engineering Design students are required to design, build, and test original prototype electrical circuits, and mechanical structures as part of their design projects. Construction of these student-designed units requires a rapid turnaround manufacturing facility to meet the peak demands of the students, capabilities that smaller universities are often limited in their ability to provide.To meet this specific requirement, a community-based private rapid prototyping design and manufacturing facility, Zen Maker Labs, was approached, and a partnership agreement has been developed. The agreement consisted of cooperation between the university and the Zen Maker Lab to support up to 60 engineering design students. The students were provided with tools, safety training, and support for manufacturing. The facility has provided CAD design stations, several 3D printers, laser cutters, and numerically controlled milling machines to support manufacturing of student designs. Access to the manufacturing facility was initially provided on subscription basis, where students used the library to “sign-out” membership cards, and access the facility on a controlled,  supervised basis. The controlling of student numbers through the  university library provided a method for managing student access to themanufacturing facility over a period of 8-10 weeks. This arrangement for laboratory access has recently been expanded through a revised collaboration arrangement, and has provided engineering design students with handson experience with several manufacturing technologies and CAD engineering modelling and design tools.

scholarly journals Design of a Completely New First Year Engineering Program at the University of Saskatchewan

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Maw
Keyword(s):  
Phase I ◽  
Course Design ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
First Year ◽  
Program Structure ◽  
Delivery Methods ◽  
High School Curriculum ◽  
Graduate Attributes ◽  
College Of Engineering ◽  
The University

The rapidly evolving role of the engineering profession in society requires an engineering graduate with a more diverse and robust skill set than ever before. To answer this challenge, the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Engineering has embarked upon a complete redesign of its first year program. This project essentially started from a “blank slate” and posed the question, “If we could design any first year program that we wanted, what would we create?” The outcome of this endeavor is intended to be an extremely effective first year program that excites, engages and inspires students, and that holistically prepares them for the challenges to come in later years. In this paper, we review the broad learning objectives of our new first year, and the values that we applied to our decision making during its design.The overall project consists of three distinct phases: determination of required first year graduate attributes, development of program structure and delivery methods, and detailed course design. Phase I has been completed. It has left us with a detailed inventory of knowledge, skills, experiences, and attitudes, distributed across 23 content categories, that the College wants students to internalize by the end of their first year of study.We will outline the methods that we used to compile and refine this attribute inventory, including multiple approaches aimed at meaningful stakeholder engagement, surveys of existing first year programs across Canada, and an analysis of gaps and redundancies between the Saskatchewan high school curriculum and our existing first year program. We will also describe the 23 content categories used to organize the graduate attributes of the proposed first year program and how these categories are weighted in relative terms.  We share some of our key learnings from Phase I of the project, including which consultation strategies worked most effectively, why we focused on first year graduate attributes and not content, and key elements that will be emphasized in our new program. We will also briefly describe the process by which we are starting to develop the program structure and delivery methods i.e. Phase II.

scholarly journals EXPLORING FIRST YEAR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ STATISTICAL LITERACY: A CASE ON DESCRIBING AND VISUALIZING DATA

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-448
Author(s):  
Ezra Putranda Setiawan ◽  
Heru Sukoco
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Data Visualization ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Descriptive Statistics ◽  
First Year ◽  
Statistical Literacy ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Data Improvement ◽  
The University ◽  
First Year University

Statistical literacy, which is the ability to use statistics in daily life, is an essential skill for facing society 5.0. This study aims to explore first-year university students’ ability to properly use simple descriptive statistics and data visualization. Qualitative data were collected using a set of questions from 39 undergraduate students. Many students were able to calculate various descriptive statistics, but some of them were still unable to determine suitable statistics to describe the data clearly. Related to data visualization, many students failed to provide a meaningful chart that effectively shows the difference between two groups of data. Students with higher statistical literacy tend to use comparison or variability reasoning to determine the usage of descriptive statistics, and use data-based reason in visualizing the data. Improvement in statistical teaching – both in the university and the secondary school – is needed so that the students can use descriptive statistics and data visualization correctly.

scholarly journals Attitudes of Islamic Learning and Education Faculty Students towards English Language at Karachi University

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-96
Author(s):  
Nayab Iqbal ◽  
Kaukab Abid Azhar
Keyword(s):  
Null Hypothesis ◽  
English Language ◽  
First Year ◽  
Education Faculty ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Difference ◽  
A Minor ◽  
The University

The research paper aims at studying the attitudes of the students of Islamic Learning and Education Faculty towards English Language at the University of Karachi. It is based on testing the hypothesis that the students of Islamic Learning Faculty have less positive attitudes towards English language as compared to the students of Education faculty through a survey on first year students of both the faculties. A five point Likert scale was used to conduct a survey on 151 students of the Islamic Learning faculty and 135 students of the Education faculty. The results were calculated using an independent t-test and standard deviation which reveals that there is a minor difference in the attitudes of the student of both the faculties. The students of the Education faculty show more positive attitudes when asked about the importance of English language as compared to the attitudes of the students of Islamic Learning Faculty. However, the difference in their attitude is negligible. As the results reveal minor association between the attitudes of the learners and their faculty therefore, the study proves the null hypothesis which says that there is no significant difference between the attitudes of the students of both the faculties.

scholarly journals Design of a Completely New First Year Engineering Program at the University of Saskatchewan – Part II

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel B. Frey ◽  
Sean Maw ◽  
Susan Bens ◽  
Jim Bugg ◽  
Bruce Sparling
Keyword(s):  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Current Status ◽  
First Year ◽  
Final Exam ◽  
Course Scheduling ◽  
Summative Assessments ◽  
Blank Slate ◽  
College Of Engineering ◽  
The University ◽  
Academic Year

Over the last three years, the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Engineering has embarked upon a complete redesign of its first year common program. This project started from a blank slate and posed the question, "If we could design any first year program that we wanted, what would we create?" The goal is to offer a first year program that excites, engages, inspires, and holistically prepares students for learning in subsequent years. At CEEA 2018, Phase I of this project was reviewed with a focus on the content of the new first year. This year, the focus is on the structure of the proposed program and how it aims to satisfy programmatic design objectives. The proposed first year program is highly modular, allowing for more intentional uses of time during the academic year. Course duration and intensity vary and are selected to best serve student learning, rather than conform to the traditional academic schedule. To provide more timely and targeted feedback, summative assessments occur throughout each term allowing course scheduling to extend into the traditional end-of-term final exam period. This paper presents the current structural design of the new first year and the rationale for its significant features. Some of the program design objectives that have been facilitated by this structure include: • strategic sequencing of learning with opportunities to integrate and reinforce essential skills, • multiple, individualized opportunities for students to stumble and recover, • holistic balancing of content and pacing for better student wellbeing, and • comprehensive, well-timed exposure to wide-ranging programmatic choices for students. Throughout this project, the program structure has evolved continuously. This paper will describe the development process, the challenges faced in that process, and the lessons learned. The paper will conclude by describing the current status of the project, and the focus of work currently being undertaken to prepare for implementation.  

Integrating Technical Communications Into an Early Design Course

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Bannerot ◽  
Chad Wilson ◽  
Colley Hodges
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Writing Center ◽  
Engineering Ethics ◽  
Student Surveys ◽  
Early Design ◽  
University Of Houston ◽  
Course Material ◽  
The Difference ◽  
College Of Engineering ◽  
The University

This paper describes the integration of a significant amount of instruction and technical communications assignments into an early design course in the BSME program at the University of Houston. While many of the examples presented in this paper were initially introduced into the course without outside involvement, many more have been developed and the initial assignments have been improved through collaborations with the recently established University of Houston Writing Center (2000) and the even newer (2004) Technical Communications Across the Curriculum Program in the Cullen College of Engineering. Approximately 55% of an individual’s course grade is based on a variety of team (18%) and individual (37%) writing and presentation assignments. In many ways, these assignments are similar to those given in a traditional technical communications course. The difference is that many of these assignments are directly linked to course material including, the design process, working in teams on design-fabricate-and-compete projects, engineering ethics, and intellectual property issues. The paper provides details of these activities (including examples of assignments) and the results from student surveys requesting feedback on their effectiveness.

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