Work in progress: Hybrid lab for engineering learning

This paper describes the implementation of a hybrid platform for experimental activities in engineering courses. The proposed platform can be used as a remote or face-to-face laboratory;it may also be ideal for the new normal after the Covid 19 pandemic. The proposal has the purpose to help engineering teachers to build this hybrid laboratory without specialized knowledge, requiring little time for its implementation and practically no economic investment. To validate the proposal, the process to build the course of a hybrid laboratory for Control System course is described in this paper, which is expected to have experimental activities within the university and from home. After the implementation, the full functionality of the laboratory will be carried out both in its remote and face-to-face format. © 2023 IEEE.

Electric Vehicle and Electrical Engineering Teaching Experience During Pandemic Disease

During the three years of Pandemic Disease, the world of academic teaching has had a substantial change. The usual in-person or face-to-face teaching has been transformed into online teaching. For electrical engineering, the instruction usually includes heavyweight experiments or practical tests;therefore, online teaching faces challenges. A recent electric vehicle course has been proposed in the Master level and the challenge of the course is reported in this paper. The experience that has been encountered is discussed and the proposed method of teaching is described in the paper. Useful experience and learning outcomes are listed. Data are collected before and after the Covid-19 teaching. It is found that online education did not deteriorate the learning outcome. © 2022 IEEE.

The concerns and perceived challenges that students faced when traditional in-person engineering courses suddenly transitioned to remote learning

This research evaluates the impact of switching college engineering courses from in-person instruction to emergency remote learning among engineering students at a university in the Midwest. The study aimed to answer the question: What were the concerns and perceived challenges students faced when traditional in-person engineering courses suddenly transitioned to remote learning? The goal of this study is to uncover the challenges students were facing in engineering online courses and to understand students' concerns. Our findings can help improve teaching instruction to provide students with previously unavailable educational assistance for online engineering courses. We collected online survey responses during weeks 8 and 9 of the academic semester, shortly after the COVID-19 shutdown and emergency transition to remote learning in Spring 2020. The survey included two open-ended questions which inquired about students' feedback about moving the class online, and one two-item scale which assessed students' confidence in online engineering learning. Data analysis for the open-ended questions was guided by the theoretical framework - Social Cognitive Career Theory [1] that explores how context, person factors and social cognitions contribute to career goals, interests and actions. A phenomenological approach [2] was conducted to understand the experience of these students. Open coding and axial coding [2] methods were used to create initial categories then themes related to students' concerns and challenges. Data from the two-item scale was evaluated using descriptive statistics: means, standard deviations, and ranges. Four main themes with separate sub-categories emerged from the student responses: 1) Instructor's ability to teach course online (Instructional limitations, Seeking help, Increased Workload), 2) Student's ability to learn online (Time Management, Lower engagement and motivation, Harder to absorb material, Hard to focus, Worry about performance), 3) Difficulties outside of class (Technology issues), and 4) No concerns. Students seemed more concerned about their ability to learn the material (48% of responses) than the instructor's ability to teach the material (36% of responses). The instructional limitations or lack of instructional support (22% of responses) and time management (12% of responses) were among the major concerns in the sub-categories. The results from two-item scale indicated participants' s confidence in their ability to master their classroom knowledge was at an intermediate level via online instruction (6/10), and participants' confidence in the instructor's ability to teach knowledge in online classes is moderate to high (7/10). The results align with the open-ended question response in which students were somewhat more concerned about their ability to learn than the instructor's ability to teach. The themes and analysis will be a valuable tool to help institutions and instructors improve student learning experiences. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022.

Gender Differences in First-Year Engineering: Peer Connections in the time of COVID-19

Connection with peers is one of the most important factors in determining the persistence of students in engineering. During the COVID-19 pandemic, engineering classes transitioned to fully online learning. Little research has been done on the effect of online learning on students' social networks. This study sought to understand the factors that affect the connections students are making within a first-year engineering course at The Ohio State University. The study included the university's honors and standard offerings of the course. Participants were sent a Qualtrics survey that included ranking their level of connection to every student in each class on a scale from 0 (Don't Know) to 4 (Strong connection). Students were also asked Likert scale and opinion questions on their feelings of belonging in engineering and online learning. In total, there were 32 usable responses. Overall, females self-reported a higher average number of “Strong” and “Good” connections than males. A Mann-Whitney U test showed that this difference in number of connections was significant. To assess which factors affected the number of Strong and Good connections students self-reported, several ANOVA tests were conducted. These tests found that gender, feeling supported in the class, and class offering (honors vs. standard) yielded significant differences between groups. The study also found that out of all classes, over 85% of students strongly agreed that they would have formed better connections with their peers had their classes been in person. Because a majority of each class did not participate in the survey, the conclusions on gender and connections were limited to the students who responded. Future work will include creating social network diagrams in order to visualize connections within each class. Future work should also collect additional responses and include follow-up interviews to better understand student perspectives on connections and virtual learning. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022

Comparing Student Outcomes From Four Iterations of an Engineering Learning Community

This Complete Evidence-based Practice paper evaluates the impact of learning communities on the academic success of first-year engineering students. The Engineering Learning Community (ELC) at a large urban university is a program that purposefully recruits talented high school applicants with financial need. The ELC enrolls these applicants into cohort-specific sections of classes and provides mentoring and additional resources for the students' first year of college. The results of the first three years of the ELC program were presented at ASEE 2020. Currently in its fifth year, the ELC program has undergone numerous revisions and improvements based upon student and faculty feedback, best practices, and increased financial resources. The main feature of the fourth year ELC program is the addition of up to $20,000 in scholarship from a S-STEM NSF award. Another significant change in the fourth year is the re-design of the mentorship program. COVID-19 hit in the second semester of the fourth year of ELC and added its own challenges to the program. The impact of COVID-19 on the students' response to the pandemic has been studied as well. To take a first look at the efficacy of the ELC program over four iterations, grade point averages (GPAs) of ELC students from each cohort were compared. We hypothesize that students from cohort 4 will have the highest overall GPA given that they have accessed the most recent iteration of the ELC, which includes scholarship funding, improved student-to-mentor ratios and a newly redesigned special topics course. Analysis of Variance of GPAs reveals that cohort 4 has a significantly higher GPA after one year in the ELC than cohorts 2 and 3, but no significant differences between other cohorts were found. Further analysis shows no significant differences in high school GPA between the cohorts, indicating that the improvements in cohort 4 are not due changes in recruiting practices. Additionally, ELC cohort 4 showed greater academic resiliency during COVID-19 than their non-ELC counterparts, as revealed through statistically significant lower utilization of the modified grading policy, as well as higher observed completion rates in Spring 2020. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021

Introducing Simple Harmonic Motion - A Teaching Module in a First-Year Engineering Course

This work-in-progress describes a unique teaching method used for explaining Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM) to engineering and mathematics students in the COVID-19 learning environment. First Year Engineering Student (FYES) retention and overall success is predicated on their recent academic success in high school. Too often a struggling first semester student has limited knowledge of how a mathematical equation relates to a physical concept, for example, SHM. Student-centered active learning, in which students are asked to “do” something beyond listening and note taking, as this paper suggests, should be used in STEM courses, especially during the COVID-19 learning environment. A freshman engineering student typically takes Algebra/Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus or Calculus where functions are presented. They often do not make the 'link' between an equation and the physical system. The teaching method used for explaining SHM uses the sine wave function, MATLAB, a smartphone as well as the new experiment along with lessons learned. Through practical lecture material on wave motion and hands-on experimentation, during the COVID-19 learning environment, freshmen student learning is enhanced. Survey results from a freshmen engineering course are compared against upperclassmen in mathematics courses and the overall response is favorable. Course modules were taught in the Problem Solving for Engineers course for freshman and in the mathematics department two courses: Applied Mathematics and Partial Differential Equations for upperclassmen in Fall of 2020. The Problem Solving for Engineers course teaches students how to apply mathematics to the real-world including problems encountered in everyday life. Most of the students are considered underrepresented. Students were surveyed on their understanding of SHM including the frequency, period and the meaning of a sine wave function. SHM was conceptualized in terms of a mass-spring system using a Smartphone to measure displacement and acceleration. Survey results indicate that 'hands-on' exercises are necessary to increase the learning effectiveness of freshmen and understanding of SHM. Student feedback on the hands-on experiment was positive among 94.5 % of the students. The authors would like to present the paper as a poster. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021

Transitioning to a Virtual Engineering Summer Bridge Program: Planning and Implementation (Experience)

This paper discusses the transition of an established residential Summer Bridge Program to a virtual learning experience due to the COVID-19 restrictions of summer 2020. The program aims to increase retention of first-year engineering students through a curriculum focused on academic readiness in math and chemistry, professional development, familiarity with campus and available resources, and a broad-based knowledge of engineering fields and the engineering design process. Outside of the curriculum, participants build community and a sense of belonging with social, professional development, and philanthropic programming. With the constraints of remote instruction, math readiness and community building were prioritized as crucial outcomes for participants in the virtual experience. Due to concerns about student retention and program completion, special consideration was given to designing the curriculum and schedule of this virtual program, and to fostering student and family engagement leading up to the program. Various models for math instruction, interpersonal engagement, and academic support were considered during planning. In the implemented program, participants were enrolled in one of three math courses based on preassessment exam results. To increase peer-to-peer engagement, each student participated in a team-based design project and group mentoring. Current engineering students were hired as coaches to facilitate mentoring group discussions and help provide oversight during project work. Additional student staff served as dedicated tutors assigned to one of the math courses. Tutors were made available both inside and outside of class to provide tutoring and mentorship. The program was administrated via synchronous Zoom conferencing with supplemental content provided through the University's course management system (CMS). Physical program materials were distributed by mail before and throughout the duration of the program. Post-program survey data and anecdotal feedback indicate that participants' confidence in their preparedness to pursue an engineering degree increased following completion of the program. While the available data also suggest participants were able to make social connections with select peers and staff, considerable work can be done to diversify and increase social connections during future virtual programs. Additional redesign of program content will also focus on increasing activity-based learning. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021

Design and Manufacturability of Medical Ventilators from the Perspective of a Global Automotive Footprint

During the past year, the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic caused disruptions in business, engineering, manufacturing, and numerous other modern-day economies. The Manufacturing Institute estimates approximately 2.4 million jobs in the global manufacturing industry will remain unfilled by 2028 if urgent actions are not taken in the halls of academia to educate greater numbers of manufacturing engineers. To this end, we have developed and implemented a split-level (i.e., undergraduate/graduate) course during the fall 2020 semester in the mechanical engineering department. The course is titled Global Manufacturing and is hinged on formal paradigms that comprise various types of manufacturing systems. The course is centered on realistic contractual conditions and project deliverables (i.e., medical ventilators) to a medical supplier, whereas the team is assumed to emulate a global automotive manufacturer. The projects are organized into student teams for realistic implementation and to meet a societal need. The course underpins students with exposure to concepts of acquiring intellectual property, from the design of an embedded system including the human machine interface (HMI), to testing and validation. An in-depth study of assembly lines, lean manufacturing, determination of production capacity, sequential operations, and economic calculations are presented. Students are presented with urgent societal needs and learn to address design requirements and imperatives in a timely and cost-effective manner. This paper reports the experiences of students making engineering, business, manufacturing, and supplier related decisions to deliver the medical ventilators for patient use. The assessment consists of sequential activities that are commonly utilized in innovation, production, and launch processes for a new consumer product. The course instructor formulates student teams such that individual skills, interests, and competencies are balanced. The educational objectives from prerequisite and co-requisite manufacturing courses are utilized. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021

A Pilot Study Investigating STEM Learners' Ability to Decipher AI-generated Video

Artificial intelligence (AI) techniques such as Generative Neural Networks (GNNs) have resulted in remarkable breakthroughs such as the generation of hyper-realistic images, 3D geometries, and textual data. This work investigates the vulnerability of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learners to AI-generated misinformation in order to safeguard the public-availability of high-quality online STEM learning content. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased STEM learners' reliance on online learning content. Consequently, safeguarding the veracity of STEM learning content is critical to ensuring the safety and trust that both STEM educators and learners have in publicly-available STEM learning content. In this study, state-of-the-art AI algorithms are trained on a specific STEM context (i.e., climate change) using publicly-available data. STEM learners are then randomly presented with authentic and AI-manipulated STEM learning content and asked to judge the authenticity of the content. The authors introduce an approach that STEM educators can employ to understand correlations between STEM learning topics such as climate change, and students' susceptibility to AI-driven misinformation. The proposed approach has the potential to guide STEM educators as to the STEM topics that may be more difficult to teach (e.g., climate change), given students' susceptibility to AI-driven misinformation that promotes controversial viewpoints. In addition, the proposed approach may inform students themselves as to their susceptibility to AI-driven STEM misinformation so that they are more aware of AI's capabilities and how they could be utilized to alter their viewpoints on a STEM topic. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021

Action Research Revelations: The Challenges and Promises of Implementing Informal STEM Experiences in K-12 School Settings (Work in Progress, Diversity)

Catalyzing Inclusive STEM Experiences All Year Round (CISTEME365) is a multi-year, multi-pronged project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). We worked with K-12 school educators to improve their understanding and promote practices that purposely influence students' science, engineering, technology, and mathematics (STEM) interests and career trajectory. We also supported creating and implementing out-of-school STEM clubs that offer students inquiry-driven engineering design and other hands-on STEM experiences throughout the school year. As part of our larger project goals, we tasked a networked community of middle/high school teachers, counselors, and administrators to develop action research projects to improve STEM equity within their schools. We provide initial findings on school educators' experiences and perspectives implementing informal STEM learning within their schools through initial coding and analysis of document materials and transcripts. These materials reveal how unique school characteristics (i.e., support from multiple school educators, clear STEM club leadership roles, and intentional recruitment strategies) hinder or aid in successfully implementing informal STEM learning opportunities. With the COVID-19 pandemic unfolding, some school educators revealed the difficulty of setting up and transitioning their STEM club to a virtual format. Other school educators also remarked how shifts in their educator mindsets from our CISTEME365 STEM equity content led to reimagined instructional strategies that supported their students' STEM interests and awareness. Our study highlights the power of action research and a community of practice for implementing school-based, informal STEM opportunities. By exposing school educators to a broader set of STEM career pathways, emphasizing the field of engineering, our work aims to promote a pluralistic understanding of STEM career pathways for both K-12 educators and students. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021

Progress in the Nationwide Dissemination and Assessment of Low-Cost Desktop Learning Modules and Adaptation of Pedagogy to a Virtual Era

The development of tools that promote active learning in engineering disciplines is critical. It is widely understood that students engaged in active learning environments outperform those taught using passive methods. Previously, we reported on the development and implementation of hands-on Low-Cost Desktop Learning Modules (LCDLMs) that replicate real-world industrial equipment which serves to create active learning environments. Thus far, miniaturized venturi meter, hydraulic loss, and double-pipe and shell & tube heat exchanger DLMs have been utilized by hundreds of students across the country. It was demonstrated that the use of DLMs in face-to-face classrooms results in statistically significant improvements in student performance as well as increases in student motivation compared to students taught in a traditional lecture-only style classroom. Last year, participants in the project conducted 45 implementations including over 600 DLMs at 24 universities across the country reaching more than 1,000 students. In this project, we report on the significant progress made in broad dissemination of DLMs and accompanying pedagogy. We demonstrate that DLMs serve to increase student learning gains not only in face-to-face environments but also in virtual learning environments. Instructional videos were developed to aid in DLM-based learning during the COVID-19 pandemic when instructors were limited to virtual instruction. Preliminary results from this work show that students working with DLMs even in a virtual setting significantly outperform those taught without DLM-associated materials. Significant progress has also been made on the development of a new DLM cartridge: a see-through 3D-printed miniature fluidized bed. The new 3D printing methodology will allow for rapid prototyping and streamlined development of DLMs. A 3D-printed evaporative cooling tower DLM will also be developed in the coming year. In October 2020, the team held a virtual implementers workshop to train new participating faculty in DLM use and implementation. In total, 13 new faculty participants from 10 universities attended the 6-hour, 2-day workshop and plan to implement DLMs in their classrooms during this academic year. In the last year, this project was disseminated in 8 presentations at the ASEE Virtual Conference (June 2020) and American Institute of Chemical Engineers Annual Conference (November 2019) as well as the AIChE virtual Community of Practice Labs Group and a seminar at a major university, ultimately disseminating DLM pedagogy to approximately 200 individuals including approximately 120 university faculty. Further, the former group postdoc has accepted an instructor faculty position at University of Wisconsin Madison where she will teach unit operations among other subjects;she and the remainder of the team believe the LCDLM project has prepared her well for that position. In the remaining 2.5 years of the project, we will continue to evaluate the effectiveness of DLMs in teaching key heat transfer and fluid dynamics concepts thru implementations in the rapidly expanding pool of participating universities. Further, we continue our ongoing efforts in creating the robust support structure necessary for large-scale adoption of hands-on educational tools for promotion of hands-on interactive student learning. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021