Engineering Technology Courses Research Articles

Simulation-Based Learning and Argumentation to Promote Informed Design Decision-Making Processes within a First-Year Engineering Technology Course

Analyzing the integration of scientific knowledge to guide decision-making processes supporting design challenges in engineering education is critical. However, effectively engaging in informed design decision-making processes is challenging, particularly in the context of online education. Simulation-based learning can bring authentic design practices to online education, but effective guidance and scaffolding must be provided to learners. Therefore, this research investigates the implications of integrating simulation-based learning with an argumentation framework to guide students in incorporating scientific knowledge into their design decisions, particularly in designing energy-efficient housing. This study took place during online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was implemented within a first-year engineering technology undergraduate course. It aimed to analyze students’ decision-making processes when designing a zero-energy home for a Midwestern city using Aladdin, an integrated CAD/CAE platform that can be used to design a structure and simulate its function within a single system. This study investigates how students informed their decision-making processes in design for energy-efficient homes and the recurring trends in students’ designs related to economic decision making and energy science. The overall results show how cost constraints significantly influenced students’ observation and argumentation processes during their design challenge, highlighting the pivotal role of economic considerations in shaping their decision making. Moreover, the findings underscore the importance of holistic approaches in providing insights into teaching strategies for online learning, particularly in navigating the intersection of scientific and economic factors in design challenges.

Examining Student Perceptions of Engagement and Learning in a Flipped Introductory Agricultural Mechanics Course

Active, student-centered approaches to teaching and learning in university classrooms have been given greater focus in recent years. Consequently, the use of flipped classrooms in American universities has proliferated considerably. Evidence suggests that flipped classrooms have been successfully employed in agricultural coursework, such as university-level agricultural mechanics courses. Theoretically underpinned by Murillo-Zamorano et al.’s (2019) Flipped Classroom in Higher Education model, the purpose of our study was to determine students’ perceptions of their engagement and learning in a flipped introductory-level agricultural mechanics course taught at Illinois State University. We used a valid and reliable electronic instrument to collect data from 61 undergraduate students over the course of four semesters. Our findings indicate that using a flipped classroom design to deliver an introductory-level agricultural mechanics course is a worthy endeavor that can positively impact students’ course experience. We are seeing similar results each semester, which suggest that our students prefer this teaching style over a traditional lecture style. The lead author intends to continue teaching the AGR 130: Introduction to Agricultural Engineering Technology course with a flipped classroom design for the foreseeable future. Our recommendations include: (1) instructors of introductory-level agricultural mechanics courses consider using a flipped classroom approach and (2) replicating our study to further examine this topic.

Digital transformation in engineering education: Exploring the potential of AI-assisted learning

This research explored the potential of artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted learning using ChatGPT in an engineering course at a university in South-east Asia. The study investigated the benefits and challenges that students may encounter when utilising ChatGPT-3.5 as a learning tool. This research developed an AI-assisted learning flow that empowers learners and lecturers to integrate ChatGPT into their teaching and learning processes. The flow was subsequently used to validate and assess a variety of exercises, tutorial tasks and assessment-like questions for the course under study. Introducing a self-rating system allowed the study to facilitate users in assessing the generative responses. The findings indicate that ChatGPT has significant potential to assist students; however, there is a necessity for training and offering guidance to students on effective interactions with ChatGPT. The study contributes to the evidence of the potential of AI-assisted learning and identifies areas for future research in refining the use of AI tools to better support students' educational journey. Implications for practice or policy Educators and administrators could review the usage of ChatGPT in an engineering technology course and study the implications of generative AI tools in higher education. Academics could adapt and modify the proposed AI-assisted learning flow in this paper to suit their classroom. Students can review and adopt the proposed AI-assisted learning flow in this paper for their studies. Researchers could follow up on the application of ChatGPT in teaching and learning: teaching quality and student experience, academic integrity and assessment design.

Improving Accuracy of Self-and-Peer Assessment in Engineering Technology Capstone

Contributions: This article presents the findings of a study on the impact of instructional interventions (training and additional requirements and prompts) to improve the quality of students’ self-and-peer assessment in a capstone engineering technology course. Background: Historically, students in this course inflated rating values in comparison to the rubric, which specified what behaviors would “meet” or “exceed” expectations. Intended Outcomes: This study addresses the following research question: what is the impact of the interventions on student self-and-peer assessments? This is explored through comparing the distribution of peer-assessment and self-assessment ratings between different iterations of the course design, as well as the distribution of ratings across the duration of the year-long project experience. Application Design: Several instructional interventions aimed at self-and-peer assessment training were developed and implemented to improve the accuracy of student ratings over the course of four years. Interventions included adding lectures about the comprehensive assessment of team member effectiveness (CATME) scale; encouraging students to review the CATME rating scale prior to self-and-peer assessment; implementing a new component that is a team communication plan into the team reports written at each of six “gates” across the year-long project; requiring students to define the levels in the rating scale for their own team; and providing ongoing faculty feedback on team communication plans, team defined rating scales, and overall team performance. Findings: A comparison of student ratings across and within years indicated that the interventions were successful in moving the distribution of ratings toward the center, or “meets expectations.” Findings align with the existing literature and may be relevant across disciplines.

Analysis of Engineering Technology Students’ Digital Footprints in Synchronous and Asynchronous Blended Courses

The advent of Covid-19 provided an enormous academic and logistical challenge to almost all academic institutions in the United States and around the world. As a precautionary measure surrounding the novel coronavirus and in line with recommendations from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at that time (spring 2020), most higher education institutions in the United States shut down campuses and completed the second half of the spring 2020 semester virtually. During the fall 2020 semester, when relatively more was known about the virus, some institutions started with face-to-face classes but had to switch to virtual learning after noticing a spread of the coronavirus on their campuses. Others adopted a blended approach that supplements face-to-face meetings with virtual learning synchronously or asynchronously. Whichever approach adopted in place of the traditional face-to-face meetings did not necessarily solve the challenge faced by Engineering Technology programs, which typically infuse hands-on learning in most of the courses in their curriculum. Due to the applied nature of engineering technology, it is important to ensure that students stay engaged with creative ways to learn by doing. And to ensure that the students do not miss critical course content in virtual and blended engineering technology courses, it is vital that the students maintain high interactions with online resources such as class video recordings. This paper reviews students’ patterns of interactions with course videos to assess its impact on the academic success of engineering technology students in some upper-level blended courses delivered during the spring and fall 2020 semesters.

Engaging Renewable Energy Education Using a Web-Based Interactive Microgrid Virtual Laboratory

Microgrids are the main building blocks of future smart grids. They provide a promising solution for integrating renewable energy sources and distributed power generation into the power grids. The high penetration of renewable energy sources and their intermittent nature have brought about significant challenges to the control and operation of microgrids. In recent years, an enormous amount of research has been conducted on microgrid dynamics, stability analysis, power management, and control. However, there has been limited effort to integrate cutting-edge technologies into classrooms and laboratories. Many academic institutions face special challenges in establishing microgrid laboratories because of the rapid development of technology, cost, and space requirements, as well as daily and seasonal variations in renewable energy sources. Virtual and remote laboratories have become widely accepted for conducting experiments in higher education. A virtual laboratory is particularly suitable for renewable energy-based microgrids to overcome cost, space, and time restrictions. In this study, a web-based virtual laboratory for microgrids with renewable energy sources was designed and used for renewable energy education. The virtual laboratory was developed using the LabVIEW, Microsoft® .Net Core, and MATLAB/Simulink®. Innovative courseware was developed around the virtual laboratory and used in several engineering technology courses to teach topics including solar and wind power, data acquisition, DC-DC converters, battery management, and microgrids. The evaluation showed that the virtual laboratory greatly increased students’ awareness, interest, and knowledge of renewable energy. It provides an interactive and convenient tool to engage students to experiment with renewable energy and microgrids.

Gamification Approach towards Engineering Students' Engagement in Online Learning

Many engineering students might encounter difficulties understanding certain topics of related courses. They feel frustrated when the teaching method is dull, and the teaching materials are not attractive. All these may lead to the demotivation of the students toward the courses. Fortunately, there are tons of teaching techniques that are introduced to help in boosting students' engagement in the classroom, such as inquiry-based learning, project-based learning, service-based learning, and others. These techniques require the student's engagement, which eventually improves students' concentration while motivating them to practice critical thinking skills. It may promote positive learning experiences. However, engineering courses comprised of various complicated theories, calculations, projects, and assignments, which may burden some students. Furthermore, in addition to the COVID 19 pandemic, the students only attend their classes online, making the learning process even more independent and challenging. Therefore, this study aims to explore the gamification approach for engineering students to increase their engagement while learning online. A batch of 116 students from the Bachelor’s Degree of Engineering in Electrical and Electronics offered by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) are invited to participate in this study. A gamified learning model that consists of four stages is created in the online platform for the second-year KNR2443 Electrical Engineering Technology (EET) course. This gamified learning model integrates students’ rank, interactive map, and video guide. A survey related to gamification is collected from the EET students who completed the gamified learning model. The results are generally positive and indicate the gamification approach can potentially improve the engineering students’ engagement and enjoyment in the learning process.

Design and implementation of virtual laboratory for a microgrid with renewable energy sources

AbstractGrowing demand for energy consumption worldwide has led to an increase in carbon emissions, which have significant effects on climate change. There is an urgent need for clean and renewable energy sources. However, most renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, have very high initial costs, especially when used as a principal source. Distributed power generation using solar and wind power provides an effective solution to reduce the dependency on conventional power generation and to increase the reliability and quality of power systems. A mixture of distributed energy generation systems and loads can then be connected to form a microgrid. Virtual and remote laboratories are becoming widely accepted to conduct experiments in higher education. A virtual laboratory is especially suitable for the renewable energy‐based microgrid to overcome cost, space, and time restrictions. In this paper, the design and implementation of a web‐based virtual laboratory for a microgrid with renewable energy sources is presented. The virtual laboratory was developed using LabVIEW, Microsoft.Net Core, and Matlab/Simulink. Innovative courseware was developed around the virtual laboratory and used in several engineering technology courses to teach topics, including solar and wind power, dc‐dc converters, battery management, and microgrid. The assessment shows that the virtual laboratory greatly increased students awareness, interest, and knowledge in renewable energy. It provided an interactive and convenient tool for students to experiment with renewable energy and microgrid.

Project-based Approach to Engineering Technology Education

Abstract The paper contains an overview of the history of engineering education in the United States. It also explains the differences between engineering and engineering technology from an historical perspective. The similarities and differences between those two programs are also being addressed. The article also explains the concept of the project-driven approach in teaching engineering technology courses. The procedure to secure and administer funding for the projects is also addressed. The paper also includes some practical guidelines for implementing a project-based approach.

Integrating ALN into an Independent Study Distance Education Program: NVCC Case Studies

This paper describes eight ALN courses developed under various Sloan Foundation-funded degree program initiatives at Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) Extended Learning Institute (ELI). These chemistry, engineering, mathematics, and information technology courses offer useful lessons about what makes ALN courses successful. The courses incorporated ALN into an independent study format to increase interaction among learning participants while maximizing learner convenience and flexibility; some courses also focused on both online and in-person collaboration. A wide variety of other course design and delivery strategies contributed to the courses' success. The results of this study indicate that ALN courses can be viable and successful for community college students and that ALN can succeed in a distance education program delivered in an independent study format to motivated learners. NVCC/ELI's experience also suggests that ALN works within a multiple media approach to course design and delivery; that faculty selection, support, and development are critical factors in assuring quality ALN courses; that a wide variety of best practices can result in successful ALN courses; and that the learning effectiveness of ALN courses will continue to improve as better tools, content, and support are developed.

Of Grades, Activities and Learning Styles: Correlation in a Civil Engineering Technology Course

Of Grades, Activities and Learning Styles: Correlation in a Civil Engineering Technology Course

A Comparison Of Delivery Formats To Encourage Student-Centered Learning In A Power Engineering Technology Course

This paper describes a student-centered approach to a power engineering technology course using the flipped or inverted classroom as well as active learning in the form of group discussions and team problem solving. The study compares student performance and perceptions of a traditional, teaching-centered classroom to two different flipped courses: one using video lectures and one using a media-enhanced electronic textbook. The authors compared courses in the areas of 1) student performance on multiple choice and numerical analysis problems, 2) students’ perceptions of course delivery format and satisfaction with the course and instructor, and 3) technical content coverage. Results show little difference in student achievement between the course formats, strong negative reactions by students to unfamiliar instructional methods, and little difference in content coverage. The authors believe that the outcomes of this study can be attributed to the benefits of small class sizes (n<12), which naturally enable active learning to be utilized without the need for rigid and formal course structure,

An Exploratory Pilot Study of Student Learning Experiences in Engineering Technology Courses Designed to Promote Creativity

We report on the findings from an exploratory pilot study using the experience-sampling method (ESM) and interviews to examine learning in two undergraduate engineering technology courses designed to promote creativity. Results of the ESM analysis showed that students’ positive experience decreased slightly in the first course and increased slightly in the latter course. Surprisingly, both instructors’ presence caused students to report lower levels of willingness to express a creative idea and feel like other students were really listening. Interviews revealed student perceptions about the importance of creativity as essential to the engineering industry and beliefs about being creative in the classroom during the stages of the design process, which relies heavily on group work. Discussion builds on these themes for facilitating creative classrooms emphasizing work with peers as an integral part of curricular and instructional design.

Enhancing Students’ Understanding in Integral Calculus through the Integration of Maple in Learning

Students entering engineering and engineering technology courses at the university are expected to be competent in mathematics. This is due to the fact that mathematics, including calculus is a primary gateway to an engineering and engineering technology careers. However, the issue of under preparedness of students with diversity in mathematics background enrolling these two courses is at an alarming rate. One factor which can be improved to minimize this gap is to enhance the teaching technique of the subject. With the evolution of various forms of technology, a new approach of teaching integral calculus was developed in this study. Accordingly, this paper discusses the process of integrating Maple software in the teaching of the first year integral calculus topic. In addition, this paper also discusses how this approach can help to deepen the engineering technology students’ understanding in integral calculus topic at the university. Two groups of Technical Mathematics 2 with various mathematics backgrounds were randomly chosen to undergo the treatment. As an initial measurement, a pre-test on integral calculus was administered to these students to check their integral calculus background. The highest mark for the test was far below the passing mark, indicates that students involved in this study have a minimum understanding in secondary school integral calculus. These students were exposed to the treatment for five weeks. At the end of the treatment a post-test was administered to see the effect of the treatment on students’ understanding in integral calculus. Students in the experimental group were found to outperform their peers in the control group in both constructs investigated in this study. The effectiveness of the use of the technology in learning this topic may be enhanced further if its prerequisite topics were also exposed to the same strategy.

Competition as an Innovative Student-centered Learning Method for Open-ended Laboratory Work

One of the courses introduced to second year students of Civil and Structural Engineering program at the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering is Civil Engineering Materials and Technology. One of the learning method components is the laboratory work where students do practical work in designing and testing concrete. Improvements on method of handling the laboratory work have been done to facilitate student-centered learning process. One such method is to give open ended project. Meanwhile, a small number of the second year students are actively participating in sustainable concrete cube, concrete canoe and concrete Frisbee competition held by American Concrete Institute (ACI) Malaysia Chapter, Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi Petronas Malaysia. Analysis on the cognitive, psychomotor and affective domain of learning achieved by these few students, the department decided to adopt this innovative student-centered learning for Civil Engineering and Materials Technology course laboratory work.

Implementing a cooperative learning model in universities

In the past few years, many students have begun to lose interest in science and information and engineering technology courses because they find them too boring and hard to learn. To strengthen this field of education and stimulate students’ motivation and interest in learning, this study introduces a theoretical pedagogical framework based on cooperative learning theory and tailored to the realities of the university education system in China. In the framework, a group in a class is treated as a system that goes through different stages and is subject to different input instructions and output outcomes. Based on this structure, teachers’ interventions serve as feedback for controlling inputs to promote the correct operation of the system. This study aims to promote the development of a cooperative learning model for university students. A case study of the application of the framework shows that it has positive and active effects on student learning.

Immobilized alpha-Galactosidase in the Biochemistry Laboratory

This laboratory experiment was designed to demonstrate the application of immobilized galactosidase in food industry to hydrolyze raffinose family oligosaccharides in soymilk. This laboratory experiment was conducted for postgraduate students of biochemistry and developed for graduate and undergraduate students of biochemistry, biotechnology, chemical engineering, and food technology courses. The students were able to compare the hydrolysis of raffinose family oligosaccharides by free and immobilized-galactosidase. This experiment illustrates the basic concept of immobilization and its application.

Comparative academic performance of engineering and technology students at Deakin University, Australia

Students completing three-year engineering technology and four-year professional engineering undergraduate courses may undertake a number of common study units. To gain an objective understanding of the academic performance characteristics of both student groups in the engineering and technology programs at Deakin University (Australia), a study was undertaken of close to 9000 unit enrollments. It was found that: overall the BTech withdrawal rate was about 20% higher than for BE students; the rate of withdrawal was significantly different between the two student groups; the grade distribution for completing students was not significantly different between the two groups; the mean final grade was not significantly different between the two student groups; the failure rate was not significantly different between the two student groups; and the overall wastage rate (withdrawn rate plus fail rate) was significantly higher for BTech students. Other related results are also reported.

Bringing theory and reality together through CIM

Computer Controls and networks are at the heart of CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing) cells. The interdisciplinary nature of CIM cells brings Computer Science students together with Engineering Technology and other students face to face with real world problems. Texas A&M University Corpus Christi is currently developing a funded CIM cell laboratory that will be used in three Computer Science courses and four Engineering Technology courses. The courses include Manufacturing Processes, Programmable Logic Controllers, Control Systems, Capstone Projects, Systems Programming, and System Analysis and Design. The Mechanical Engineering Technology students benefit from the study of mechanical components, the design of tooling and fixtures, the selection of material handling equipment, pneumatic actuators and clamps, and the relationship of material selection to the manufacturing process. The Control Systems Engineering Technology students study the use of sensors, data acquisition, actuators, networking of equipment, robot controllers, programmable logic controllers, and the communication of the cell with overall factory operations. The Computer Science students will focus on the development of controlling algorithms, cell control, user interfaces, networking, and the manipulation and analysis of the data collected. The students of each of the three majors will benefit from working in interdisciplinary groups to solve real-world-like problems. [6,7]

Cognitive ability, learning potential, and personality traits as predictors of academic achievement by engineering and other science and technology students

The aim of this study was to evaluate a battery of tests to be used as part of the process of selecting students for engineering and other science and technology courses at a tertiary institution. The predictor variables included Grade 12 results for Science, English and Mathematics, the General Scholastic Aptitude Test Senior, the Senior Aptitude Test and the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, South African 1992 version. The Learning Potential Computerised Adaptive Test (LPCAT) developed with disadvantaged students in mind, was also included. The average performance for first-year subjects at technikon was used as the criterion variable. Results indicated that school achievement was the best predictor while the GSAT Verbal Scale contributed more than the other psychometric tests to the variance in academic achievement. However, English proficiency seemed to influence performance on both predictor and criterion variables, and some recommendations are made with regard to the importance of enhancing language proficiency when teaching in a multi-cultural context. South African Journal of Higher Education Vol.15(1) 2001: 171-179