Cornerstone Design Research Articles

Eurocentric epistemologies in engineering: Manifestations in first‐year student design teams and consequences for student learning

AbstractBackgroundExisting research points to the role of Eurocentric epistemic values—scientific objectivity, value‐neutrality, depoliticization, and technical rationality—as a cornerstone of engineering ways of thinking, knowing, and doing. However, less is known about the role of Eurocentric epistemologies in team communication and decision making.PurposeThe purpose of this study was to examine how dominant Eurocentric epistemologies shape individual‐ and team‐level design thinking and, by extension, students' learning in engineering design education.MethodThis work draws on a critical ethnography in which I observed three focal design teams during a semester‐long design project in a cornerstone design course. Following the conclusion of the design project, I conducted semi‐structured interviews with each member of the focal teams, asking students to reflect on incidents, their thinking, and team dynamics during the individual and team design processes.FindingsAt the individual level, students' concerns about adhering to Eurocentric epistemic values made them hesitant to pursue design ideas. These concerns also shaped their design thinking, communication, and decision making at the team level, leading students to withhold or not advocate for ideas. Finally, students appeared to leverage the normative supremacy of Eurocentric epistemologies in engineering rhetorically to exert influence over their team's design decisions.ConclusionsIf engineering education is to create a more just and inclusive learning environment for engineering students, we must construct learning environments that allow students to draw on all their epistemic resources during the learning process. This study suggests the dominance of Eurocentric epistemologies is a barrier to that end.

Can We Get an Intervention, Please? The Utility of Teaming Interventions on Engineering Design Student Psychological Safety

Abstract Research on psychological safety has been growing in recent years due to its role in promoting creativity and innovation since teams with high levels of psychological safety feel safe to express ideas and opinions. However, there is limited evidence in how to facilitate or build it within teams, particularly in an educational context. This paper was developed to respond to this research void by identifying the impact of teaming interventions aimed at improving psychological safety in engineering design student teams. Specifically, we studied two cohorts of students in a cornerstone design class (N = 411 students), one who received a series of video interventions and introduced role playing (intervention) and one who did not (control). These role assignments—referred to as the lenses of psychologically safety—were created to promote key leadership attributes that have been shown to be crucial in facilitating psychologically safe teams. To compare the utility of the intervention, psychological safety was gathered at five key time points of a multi-week design project. The results identified three key findings. First, the interventions were successful in increasing psychological safety in engineering teams. In addition, the results indicated the utility of the lenses of psychological safety throughout the design process. Finally, the results identified that groups who used these lenses had higher perceptions of psychological safety in their teams. Overall, these results indicated that psychological safety can be improved in engineering education through the intervention methods described within.

Opportunities for the use of routinely collected data for the generation of large randomized evidence in Colombia

Randomized clinical trials are the cornerstone design for the evaluation of the safety and efficacy of health interventions. Furthermore, morbidity and mortality rates could be reduced if evidence of better interventions is sought and used to inform medical practice. However, only small to moderate, yet worthwhile, effects can be expected from such interventions. Therefore, moderate random error and moderate biases must be avoided during the design, conduct and analysis of trials. Routinely collected data, such as vital statistics, hospital episode statistics and surveillance data, could be used to enhance recruitment and follow-up a large number of patients, reducing both random error and moderate biases. Here, we discuss the opportunities and challenges for the use of these data for clinical studies in Colombia.

INTEGRATING DIVERSITY OF USERS’ HUMAN FACTORS INTO A CORNERSTONE ENGINEERING DESIGN COURSE

The instructors of the undergraduate cornerstone design course in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Ryerson University aim to integrate diversity and inclusion into students’ design education. Our goal is to provide resources that students can use to understand human capabilities and limitations, so their designs are better suited to a wide range of users. The project was broken down in four phases: Phase 1 consisted of scoping deliverables and background research; Phase 2 included courseware development; Phase 3 employed the courseware into the Fall 2019 offering of our cornerstone design course; and Phase 4 reviewed and analysed student’s work to determine the efficacy of the courseware. To initiate this effort, we focused on three Human Factors: vision, hearing, and strength. We created a process whereby students could assess these Factors quantitatively for specific interactions and use the assessments to justify specific functional requirements and constraints of theirown designs.

Supporting Authentic Problem-Solving Through a Cornerstone Design Course

We have developed an assessment of authentic problem-solving in chemical engineering, which we used to measure students’ problem-solving at the beginning and end of a cornerstone design course. We measured how much problem-solving students learned, and how these students compared with data collected from seniors at the beginning of the capstone design course. Our results indicate the importance of cornerstone design courses, and highlight the need to better integrate problem-solving into the undergraduate curriculum.

Synchronous Transmissions in Low-Power Wireless

Low-power wireless communication is a central building block of cyber-physical systems and the Internet of Things. Conventional low-power wireless protocols make avoiding packet collisions a cornerstone design choice. The concept of synchronous transmissions challenges this view. As collisions are not necessarily destructive, under specific circumstances, commodity low-power wireless radios are often able to receive useful information even in the presence of superimposed signals from different transmitters. We survey the growing number of protocols that exploit synchronous transmissions for higher robustness and efficiency as well as unprecedented functionality and versatility compared to conventional designs. The illustration of protocols based on synchronous transmissions is cast in a conceptional framework we establish, with the goal of highlighting differences and similarities among the proposed solutions. We conclude this article with a discussion on open questions and challenges in this research field.

THE ROLE OF MAKERSPACES IN INCLUSIVITY IN ENGINEERING

The University of Ottawa Faculty of Engineering is home to multiple rapid prototyping facilities and entrepreneurship spaces. These include a makerspace, a machine shop and a design space for any student to use free of charge. First- and second-year students also take courses in the Makerlab, a sister facility to the Makerspace, which introduces them to collaborative project-based learning, engineering problem-solving and prototyping in a cornerstone design course. Maker communities and makerspaces are known to be inclusive, welcoming and low-risk, high-reward environments. The objective of this paper is twofold: the first is to understand how strongly engineering students feel included in the making and engineering communities how those feelings vary as a function of different factors, and the second is to see if intervention through engineering design improves inclusivity. This analysis was done with Kruskal-Wallis tests. Factors considered were gender, year of study, program of study and country of origin. A baseline test was done at the beginning of the semester with the students using two different perceived group inclusion tools. A second test was then done at the end of the semester to determine if feelings of inclusion had changed.

TEACHING ASSISTANT TRAINING IN ENGINEERING DESIGN

The Faculty of Engineering at the University of Ottawa is home to multiple rapid prototyping facilities and entrepreneurship spaces. These include a makerspace, a machine shop and a design space for any student to use free of charge. First- and second-year students also take courses in the Makerlab, a sister facility to the Makerspace, that introduces them to collaborative project-based learning, engineering problem-solving and prototyping in a cornerstone design course. Each three-hour weekly lab has a teaching assistant (TA), typically a graduate student, and a project manager (PM), typically an undergraduate student who has taken the course previously. They are responsible for teaching the lab content and guiding the students through their design process. Since design courses are weighted heavily toward projects and labs, this evidence-based practice paper is part of a study that has the goal of understanding, via student evaluations, the impact of TA and PM training on their performance. This paper presents an analysis of the impact of TA and PM training, based on the students’ evaluation of their TA’s and PM’s performance. Factors considered were the amount of training received by the TAs and PMs, the type of training and the satisfaction of the students. The students were surveyed to gauge their satisfaction with the quality of their TAs and PMs, and the survey results were compared with a number of outcomes.

INTEGRATING MAKERSPACES INTO ENGINEERING DESIGN

Makerspaces are informal sites in which people with similar interests can collaboratively build creative projects by using emerging technologies. In recent years, makerspaces have been created on most campuses and often linked to STEM learning practices. However, integrating makerspaces in engineering curriculum is often not done formally. In this paper, we discuss how the University of Ottawa integrated its makerspace into its cornerstone design curriculum and its design challenges. Cornerstone engineering design includes first- and second-year courses where students learn and apply design knowledge while working in teams. Each team is expected to develop three prototypes during the semester and solve a design problem for a client. Maker components are integrated in the labs, where many makerspace technologies, such as 3D printing and laser cutting, are taught and used in the development of the prototypes. In addition, the makerspace offers a yearly multidisciplinary client-based design challenge that is open to all students. This paper explores the integration of maker ideology and technology in curricular and extracurricular design activities. The paper outlines the connection between making and engineering design, the maker capacity for inclusion and sharing, the role of making activities in developing the identity of future engineers and the integration of course work into the makerspace.

Using Kolb’s Learning Cycle to Improve Student Sustainability Knowledge

Engineers are increasingly called upon to develop and implement innovative solutions that serve a growing population, while simultaneously exploiting fewer resources and minimizing environmental impacts. As such, improvements in undergraduate curricula are needed to train students to operate under a sustainable development paradigm. A learning-cycle-based sustainability module was adapted and implemented in a cornerstone design course within a civil engineering program at a large, research-intensive institution in the United States. One cornerstone cohort participated in a peer-lecture version of the module, while the second cohort participated in a peer-discussion version. Concept maps, scored using three different methods, were used to measure changes in students’ sustainability knowledge. A self-report survey was used to measure changes in students’ perceptions of their sustainability knowledge and skills. Students in both the peer-lecture and peer-discussion cohorts demonstrated improved sustainability knowledge networks and confidences after participation in the module. However, peer-lecture students showed greater improvements in knowledge connectedness (a feature of expert-like knowledge) than peer-discussion students. Regardless of cohort, cornerstone students demonstrated greater gains in knowledge and confidence than did a cohort of capstone students who participated in an earlier implementation of the module. Future implementations may be most impactful if the peer-discussion format is integrated into early design courses.

Engineering design pedagogy: a performance analysis

Cornerstone design courses have become a major part of engineering curricula, where students with different personality types and learning styles work together to design, develop, build, and demonstrate the functionality of a prototype within the duration of a term. This study analyzes student and team performance against gender, personality types, and learning styles in a second-year engineering design course. Further, the correlations between several assessment mechanisms are studied, and the effects of three different instructional design approaches on students’ performance are explored. Data have been collected on student performance and psychometrics, including marks, gender, personality type, and learning style from 2001 to 2018. To identify students’ personality types and learning styles, Myers–Briggs Type Indicators (MBTI) and Neil Fleming’s Learning VARK tests were administered. To evaluate students’ performance in the course, a number of assessment mechanisms have been defined. Several statistical methods are used to analyze data, and to determine correlation between datasets. Over nearly two decades of marks, gender, MBTI, and VARK data for 2637 students are presented for an engineering design course. The results demonstrated that there was no significant difference in performance across most assessments based on gender or gender distribution on a team. A better performance was observed from VK bimodal and quadmodal learning styles in most assessment mechanisms. Further, certain MBTI groups, namely, judging types outperformed their peers in engineering design assessments, with interesting interplay between MBTI dimensions for specific assessments and team dynamics. Traditional assessment mechanisms, such as engineering notebook and design proposals, are shown to be good predictors of student success. Lastly, scaffolded design activities and front-loading of lecture content were shown to be beneficial for student learning. There is negligible performance difference between female and male students in the engineering design course. Students whose preferred learning styles align with the assessment themes showed better performance in the course. The outcomes of this paper can be readily applied by instructors for design of assessment mechanisms, course materials, team formation, and instructional design.

A Cornerstone Design Module in First Year Engineering

This paper describes a new five-week cornerstone design module at the conclusion of first year engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC).The objective of this cornerstone module is to bringtogether the multiple course themes—developed over the preceding six modules and 18 academic weeks—into a single, integrative and culminating experience. The module builds on the previous course topics, andspecifically emphasizes design, stakeholder consultation, prototyping, sustainability, and communication in a unified project experience. Through a mix of analytical and physical prototyping, teams design a pilot rainwater harvester system for small, remote communities. Teams specify the system components in their design, and submit those through an online form. All systems are then simulated off-line in a detailed MATLAB model that tracks weather, physical performance, cost, maintenance, healthand safety risks, and more. The culminating event for the module is a formal oral presentation followed by a timelapse video of the simulations of the different teams’ rainwater harvester system designs.The outcomes to the module have been very positive.The module has successfully run for three years with over 400 teams. Feedback through surveys shows students find the cornerstone project meaningful and helpful in developing their ability to use simulation and numerical modelling in design. Students have also rated the module highly in terms of the relevance to their degree, and the importance of the learning outcomes to engineers.Primary challenges noted to date include inequities instudent workload within a team, due to shifting priorities as final exams approach, and ability to update the project each year to maintain a new challenge for each cohort.

Enhance Engineering Design Education in the Middle Years With Authentic Engineering Problems

Engineering design has been a requirement in the curriculum for engineering accreditation since the mid-90 s. This emphasis on engineering design has introduced significant changes to engineering curricula in freshmen and senior years with many engineering programs offering capstone (senior) and/or cornerstone (freshmen) design courses. Yet design-related content and experiences in the second and third years of the engineering curricula remain less common due to the heavy emphasis on fundamental engineering science courses in the middle years. This study investigated the possibility of developing design ability (thinking, process, and skills) in one of these courses. The method used was to incorporate real world, open-ended problem solving, specifically authentic engineering problem centered learning (AEPCL), into a junior-level heat transfer course. AEPCL uses authentic engineering problems (AEPs) as the backdrop to develop students' design abilities through solving open-ended, ill-structured problems. Results indicate that students who experienced AEPCL showed better design abilities than comparable students who did not experience AEPCL. Through AEPCL, students learn how to collect better information, make more reasonable assumptions, engage in better processes, and arrive at a more plausible, error-free, and high-quality solution in engineering design.

Experiences of First‐Year Engineering Students Working on Ill‐Structured Problems in Teams

AbstractBackgroundAs engineers solve problems that are ill‐structured and require collaboration, a common goal of engineering programs is to develop students' competencies for solving such problems in teams, often using cornerstone design experiences.PurposeWith the goal of designing effective learning environments, this study identifies qualitatively different ways that engineering students experienced ill‐structured problems while working in teams.Design/MethodThis phenomenographic study employs interview data from 27 first‐year engineering students. Iterative data analysis resulted in categories of student experiences and their logical relationships.ResultsSeven categories describing collaborative, ill‐structured problem‐solving experiences emerged: completion, transition, iteration, organization, collaboration, reasoning, and growth. These categories are organized in an outcome space along dimensions we call reaction to ambiguity and use of multiple perspectives that can be used to frame students' perspectives from less comprehensive to more comprehensive.ConclusionsFirst‐year engineering students experience team‐based, ill‐structured problem solving in a variety of ways. The resulting outcome space is of practical use to educators who teach courses involving collaborative, ill‐structured problem solving.

PROMOTING INTERCULTURAL EXCHANGE THROUGH A CORNERSTONE ENGINEERING DESIGN PROJECT

Abstract – First-year engineering students at Vancouver Island University in Canada and second-year engineering students at Tra Vinh University in Vietnam have been brought together to work on a cooperative cornerstone design project as a means to introduce intercultural competencies early in the students' academic experience. Student teams at each institution were partnered, whereby a design proposal developed by a team at one institution was constructed by their partner team at the other institution. Each team provided stakeholder input early in the design stage, and team pairs established a change management structure to respond to challenges occurring during the construction phase of the project.
 We explore the challenges and successes of the students experience as they navigated the linguistic, cultural, technical, and geographic barriers towards successfully completing this major design project.

Building a doorbell for deaf people: Motivational electronic experiment for freshmen

Renewed emphasis on (capstone or cornerstone) design courses and application of educational and learning researches are just two of the changes that Engineering Education has been through recently. Despite the many possible approaches in Inductive Learning, the fact is that students’ expectations of teaching, learning and technology have hardly changed over the years. This paper presents a lab experiment on assistive technology for deaf people to help build freshmen motivation and to address electronics concepts as early as possible in an engineering course. Learner satisfaction was evaluated by a 16-item questionnaire completed by 67 students from two distinct undergraduate programs. Learner satisfaction was assessed as a set of four dimensions: ‘Content’, ‘User Interface’, ‘Ease of Use’ and ‘Enthusiasm and Motivation’, all evaluated in a seven-level Likert Scale (ranging from ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’). Reported scores of ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ Likert-scale options are 77%, 62%, 56%, and 76%, respectively, for ‘Content’, ‘User Interface’, ‘Ease of Use’ and ‘Enthusiasm and Motivation’ dimensions. We believe that similar scores on related dimensions are good tokens of the overall consistency of the results. In summary, students seem satisfied with the doorbell lab experiment, but improvements should be made on user interface and ease of use aspects in future versions of the experiment.

Impacting the Community through a Sophomore Design Experience

Cornerstone design at James Madison University is a two-semester, client-based service learning project. Each year, sophomore engineering students work to design human-powered vehicles for a community member with needs very different from their own as a result of cerebral palsy. This paper provides a reflection of the fifth iteration (2013-2014) of this year-long sophomore design experience with the overarching goal to provide a transferable model such that other engineering programs may learn from our lessons and develop their own service learning experience. The reflection contained in this paper was catalyzed through participation in the National Science Foundation-funded Integrating Design and Community Engagement within the Curriculum Workshop hosted at Purdue University from June 19-20, 2014. In addition to reflection on the course, the paper provides insight into course coordination and assessment, and lessons learned over the past five years.

SELF- AND PEER-ASSESSMENTS OF TEAM-EFFECTIVENESS IN A FIRST YEAR ENGINEERING DESIGN COURSE

Many first-year design courses in engineering take place in large classes (100-1000 students), where a significant portion of the student’s course grade is attributed to a team project. In these large classes most students receive limited, or no, personalized assessment or feedback to guide their ongoing learning of effectiveness in teams due to resource constraints (e.g. limited interaction time with instructors or teaching assistants). As a result, students are not provided a foundation upon which to continuously improve their effectiveness as they participate in different teams throughout their degree. A web-based tool is being designed to create a safe, virtual environment in which students can learn about their team-effectiveness competencies through the use of self- and peer-assessment in their project teams [1]. Specifically, this intervention provides students with a team-effectiveness framework to create a common language by which structured feedback can be provided based on observable behaviours and competencies.A pilot study to assess the utility of this framework in facilitating useful feedback was tested in the Winter 2012 term of a 250 student cornerstone design course, Praxis II, in first year Engineering Science. The objective of the study was to assess whether students can be guided to provide useful feedback on team-effectiveness to their teammates using our team-effectiveness framework.

REVERSE ENGINEERING: TENSION RATCHET DISSECTION PROJECT

We are a group of engineering students, in our first year of undergraduate study. We have been selected from one thousand first year students and have competed and won the PACE competition. All engineers share a common general first year, but we have been accepted into Civil and Mechanical engineering. This project was assigned as the final project in the Design and Graphics course. The project we are tasked with, called the Cornerstone Design Project, is to first dissect a product, discover how it works, dimension each part and create a fully assembled model using CAD software (Solid Edge V20 in our case). As part of discovering how it works we must benchmark it so the device can be compared with competing products. The goal of the project is to develop a full understanding of part modeling and assembly in Solid Edge, learn proper measurement techniques, and learn the process of reverse engineering and product dissection. All of these tasks were stepping stones to help us fully understand how the device, and all its components, work.

Electronic Pathology Reporting: Digitizing the College of American Pathologists Cancer Checklists

Electronic Pathology Reporting: Digitizing the College of American Pathologists Cancer Checklists