Junior-level Course Research Articles

Memories of a mid-20th century electrical measurements laboratory and its instrumentation

There was a time when undergraduate physics majors took a junior-level course in Electricity and Magnetism, accompanied by a semester of laboratory work, learning to make precision electrical measurements. This laboratory experience is long gone, replaced by coursework in digital and analog electronics. Even the latter has been downplayed in favor of a course in the use of digital computers to solve problems in physics. In this article, I will discuss the course that I took as an undergraduate at Amherst College in the late 1950s and then taught as a young faculty member at Kenyon College in the late sixties. I was a participant in the demise of the E&M laboratory and the rise of the ensuing vacuum tube and digital electronics course. I will concentrate on the precision apparatus, which is presently living out its life in the dusty back shelves of apparatus closets. This may help new faculty members to answer the perennial question: It is attractive, but what is it and how was it used?

Using the Flipped Classroom Model in a Junior Level Course to Increase Student Learning and Success

AbstractEngineering courses typically follow a similar framework for content delivery: preread, lecture, and homework. Innovations are starting to be embraced that increase engagement, student lear...

Exploring the Effects of Additive Manufacturing Education on Students' Engineering Design Process and its Outcomes

AbstractResearch in additive manufacturing (AM) has increased the use of AM in many industries, resulting in a commensurate need for a workforce skilled in AM. In order to meet this need, educational institutions have undertaken different initiatives to integrate design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) into the engineering curriculum. However, limited research has explored the impact of these educational interventions in bringing about changes in the technical goodness of students' design outcomes, particularly through the integration of DfAM concepts in an engineering classroom environment. This study explores this gap using an experimental study with 193 participants recruited from a junior-level course on mechanical engineering design. The participants were split into three educational intervention groups: (1) no DfAM, (2) restrictive DfAM, and (3) restrictive and opportunistic (dual) DfAM. The effects of the educational intervention on the participants' use of DfAM were measured through changes in (1) participants' DfAM self-efficacy, (2) technical goodness of their AM design outcomes, and (3) participants' use of DfAM-related concepts when describing and evaluating their AM designs. The results showed that while all three educational interventions result in similar changes in the participants' opportunistic DfAM self-efficacy, participants who receive only restrictive DfAM inputs show the greatest increase in their restrictive DfAM self-efficacy. Further, we see that despite these differences, all three groups show a similar decrease in the technical goodness of their AM designs, after attending the lectures. A content analysis of the participants' design descriptions and evaluations revealed a simplification of their design geometries, which provides a possible explanation for the decrease in their technical goodness, despite the encouragement to utilize the design freedom of AM to improve functionality or optimize the weight of the structure. These results emphasize the need for more in-depth DfAM education to encourage the use of both opportunistic and restrictive DfAM during student design challenges. The results also highlight the possible influence of how the design problem is stated on the use of DfAM in solving it.

A Team Project that Improves Student Engagement in Large Classes

Our university has grown dramatically over the past several years. Although there is much that is good about this growth, it has also generated growing pains. The increase in student enrollment has outpaced the addition of new faculty and classroom space, and this is reflected in the enrollment doubling in one of our department’s junior-level courses. We share an innovative team project assignment that has successfully improved the level of engagement of students in this large-class format. Readers will find a thoughtfully designed and thoroughly tested model for improving student engagement in their own large classes.

Infusing CURE Into the Medical Laboratory Science Curriculum

Abstract Introduction One of the challenges for Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) educators in a university-based program can be providing meaningful research experiences for all students. The availability of research positions for undergraduate MLS students in individual research labs is limited or not available, often due to time constraints within the MLS course schedule or other variables in the students’ lives outside of academe. Methods This study introduced a CURE (course-based undergraduate research experience) into a junior-level MLS microbiology course, where all students in the junior cohort participated in the same research agenda during the same semester. The objective was to provide equal access and an equitable experience for each MLS student in the cohort. The research question was determined with input from students and instructors and had application within the microbiology course where it was being infused. The study protocol was designed during class time and most tasks were completed in class as well. From a pedagogical perspective, the CURE model is designed around five basic parameters, including (1) use of multiple scientific practices, (2) the outcome is unknown, (3) there is a broader relevance or importance beyond this classroom experience, (4) collaboration is essential among students and instructors, and (5) iteration is built into the process. Conclusion We found this CURE resulted in useful data for both students and other outside stakeholders. This differs from basic inquiry models where students participate in the protocol, including interpretation of the data, but the answer or outcomes are already known by the instructors. While the learning curve for students and instructors can be steep when infusing a CURE into an already heavy content course, the rewards of providing equal access and an equitable experience for the entire cohort are well worth the additional time spent preparing for this challenge.

What a Metal Pipe Can Teach You About Magnetism

Magnets are familiar objects and yet magnetism as a concept remains challenging. A casual search of YouTube for magnets reveals a staggering number of videos, interesting demos involving electric and permanent magnets, and entire channels devoted to various uses for magnets. It is far more difficult to find descriptions that can help students think quantitatively about magnets. The underlying quantum theory of magnetism is usually difficult for students, and even the more vector fields-based classical approach can prove to be challenging. The task, in our opinion, is made easier by learning through experimentation, specifically by exploiting the dipole model of a magnet and using the concept of a magnetic moment to characterize single magnets and magnet assemblies by joining single discs. This work is guided by the idea that a simple experimental setup and a familiar theoretical framework can greatly aid in learning a new concept. In this article we hope to contribute to a growing list of simple experiments suited to a sophomore- or junior-level course in electromagnetism.

Assessment and Characterization of Writing Exercises in Core Engineering Textbooks

AbstractWriting has been identified as a critical skill and element of the engineering profession, yet it is rarely included in sophomore-level and junior-level courses. Textbooks often influence h...

Introducing undergraduate research in Numerical Analysis of Engineering Systems course

Undergraduate research has a significant positive impact on the students’ educational experience but has many implementation challenges in curricular or co-curricular activities. This paper presents an approach for introducing undergraduate research to engineering students in a Numerical Analysis of Engineering Systems course, which is typically a junior-level undergraduate course in most engineering departments. A course project was designed to allow the participating students to work in teams, read an assigned research paper that presents an exact solution of a problem related to smart materials and structures, locate the main equations, and write a computer code that uses these equations to regenerate the published results. Each team of students gave a presentation on the assigned paper, the main equations, the code developed to regenerate the results and graphs, with interpretations and conclusions. The project is contributing to the course outcomes and learning objectives as well as multiple ABET student outcomes. Final survey showed the effectiveness of the proposed project in introducing students to undergraduate research, and giving them the chance to understand the technical and mathematical language used in research papers, and experience working on new challenging problems. The approach does not need involvement of multiple faculty members, or large funds and resources. The theme of the assigned research papers is dependent on the instructor’s field of research. The approach can be easily extended to other courses that teach computational methods and tools. The paper presents sample student projects and lessons learned in implementing the proposed approach.

Implementing Assurance of Learning

Assurance of Learning (AoL) is a critical component of AACSB accreditation because students need to demonstrate skills acquired in the programs they enroll in. The purpose of this paper is to describe how a business school developed its ethics assessment program to fulfill the requirement of AoL when seeking AACSB accreditation. Three learning goals were identified based on the literature, assessment rubrics were created based on learning goals, and a Harvard Business Case was used as the assessment tool. The result of the first round of summative assessments showed that almost all students at least met the standard of these three learning goals. To close the loop, an ethics module and a one-hour video were added to a junior-level course. In the second round of summative assessment, we added a marginal level of competency to the rubric. We conclude with a plan for future student learning and assessment.

A low-cost design experience for junior-level electronics circuits laboratories through emulation of industry-printed circuit board design practice

Over a 2-year period, printed circuit board layout design and test were included in the laboratory portion of the second of two junior-level electronic circuits courses. Printed circuit board design using industry-accepted board specifications and standard industry Gerber file export experience was developed. The students’ printed circuit board design experience emulated real-world situations and cost criteria. The instructor served as the fabricator in this model of the industrial design situation. Students individually used industry standard schematic capture and layout software to develop a printed circuit board for a simplified discrete µA741 operational amplifier. The layout designs were submitted as industry standard Gerber files electronically to the instructor/fabricator for evaluation. Grades were assigned by evaluating the accuracy and cost effectiveness of the design by minimizing traces, reducing printed circuit board geometry, and limiting the number of vias, which ultimately reduces fabricator tooling cost. Feedback was provided by the instructor who acted as the industry fabricator to individual students. A single fabricated printed circuit board, designed by the instructor (and fabricated by a commercial printed circuit board manufacturer), was delivered to students for assembly and test. By delivering a single printed circuit board design to students, fabrication costs can be minimized and students can inspect the delivered board as an exemplar. Assessments of the student perceptions of knowledge of and confidence in applying printed circuit board techniques in designing and releasing a printed circuit board were conducted prior to and after the printed circuit board layout design and test. On a 5-point scale, overall student-reported knowledge increased by 2.14 and overall student confidence increased by 1.20 points. Faculty assessment of knowledge, as measured by scoring short answers to knowledge statements, correlated well with student report and showed an average increase of 2.70.

Year-Long Peer Mentoring Activity to Enhance the Retention of Freshmen STEM Students in a NSF Scholarship Program

The last year of a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded scholarship program was used to provide pseudo-formal peer mentoring activities to engineering, mathematics, and science undergraduates. A one-credit class was used to afford time for peer mentors and mentees to interact. During the fall semester, seniors augmented each week’s topics with personal experiences as to how they used the skill/topic that they had learned in their freshmen class in a future sophomore, junior or senior level course or on their co-op assignment. The last 10 min of every class were used for the seniors and freshmen to have an informal discussion. During the spring semester, the seniors served as an additional technical resource for the freshmen as they completed their class project. All participants found the one-credit class, project and peer mentoring activities beneficial to their education and would highly recommend the experience to incoming students.

Crib sheets and exam performance in a data structures course

In this paper, we study the relationship between the use of “crib sheets” or “cheat sheets” and performance on in-class exams. Our extensive survey of the existing literature shows that it is not decisive on the questions of when or whether crib sheets actually help students to either perform better on an exam or better learn the material. We report on our own detailed analysis for a body of crib sheets created for the final exam in a junior-level Data Structures and Algorithms course. We wanted to determine whether there is any feature of the crib sheets that correlates to good exam scores. Exam performance was compared against a number of potential indicators for quality in a crib sheet. We have found that students performed significantly better on questions at the comprehension level of Bloom’s taxonomy when their crib sheet contained good information on the topic, while performance on questions at higher levels of the taxonomy did not show correlation to crib sheet contents. We have also seen that students at certain levels of performance on the final exam (specifically, medium-to-high performance) did relatively better on certain questions than other students at that performance level when they had good coverage of that question’s topic on their crib sheet.

CPA Examination Preparation and Intermediate Accounting Textbooks -- An Update

This paper is a follow up study to a survey conducted in 1985-1986. The original survey was designed to determine if the intermediate accounting instructors opinion regarding the elimination or combination of the first three or four chapters of intermediate accounting textbook (review chapters) have been changed because of the large volume of new FASB pronouncements and standard that have been added to the intermediate textbook. About 75 percent of the Financial Accounting and Reporting topics listed in the AICPA’s Content and Skill Specifications for the Outlines (updated May, 2009-2010) for the CPA examination are covered in intermediate accounting textbooks. Intermediate accounting textbooks could possibly be supplemented to include even more topics of the CPA examination. The textbooks, however, are already very lengthy. This follow up paper reports the results of a survey of intermediate accounting instructors to assess their reaction to eliminating one or more of the first four chapters of current textbooks; chapters that cover material introduced in prerequisite courses. Almost all (30 of 31) responding instructors were against cutting any topics in these chapters, and almost 71 percent would neither eliminate nor consolidate any of these chapters. In about 87 percent of the schools, intermediate accounting is offered as a junior level course. Very little or no significant difference was found in the treatment of first four chapters, or in total number of chapters covered in intermediate accounting, between schools offering the course as a junior level versus those permitting sophomore enrollments.

Enhancing the Undergraduate Educational Experience: Development of a Micro-Gas Turbine Laboratory

A Capstone C30 MicroTurbine has been installed, instrumented, and utilized in a junior-level laboratory course at Valparaiso University. The C30 MicroTurbine experiment enables Valparaiso University to educate students interested in power generation and turbine technology. The first goal of this experiment is for students to explore a gas turbine generator and witness the discrepancies between idealized models and real thermodynamic systems. Secondly, students measure and analyze data to determine where losses occur in a real gas turbine. The third educational goal is for students to recognize the true costs associated with natural gas use, i.e. the hidden costs of transporting the gas to the consumer. Overall, the gas turbine experiment has garnered positive feedback from students. The twenty-six students who performed the lab in Spring 2014 rated the quality and usefulness of the gas turbine experiment as 4.28 and 4.19, respectively, on a 1–5 Likert scale, where 1 is low and 5 is high.

Student Characteristics and Achievements in Online and On-Campus FCS Courses

With a growth in online course offering in recent years, there is much research focusing on student performance and student learning outcomes. However, research focusing on characteristics and achievement in Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) higher education courses was not found. The purpose of this study was to compare student characteristics and achievements in online and oncampus FCS courses. The original study collected data from students enrolled in either the online or face-to-face section of the same junior-level course so variables were consistent. The study was later extended to another university using the same research set-up, but with a freshman-level course. This small, limited study provides preliminary insights that cannot be generalized, yet allow FCS faculty to distinguish student characteristics and achievements associated with on-campus and online courses. While student characteristics varied slightly, student achievement for online and on-campus students were similar. Additional studies are needed to provide more in-depth comparisons of these delivery systems. Since few FCS studies have reported this topic, the findings from this study provide baseline data for designing more in-depth comparisons of students.

Different approaches to the programming languages course

Consider the poor, beleaguered Programming Languages course! Most computer science instructors would recognize this as a not-unusual computer science undergraduate course, usually at the upper division and often a junior-level course. ACM's Computing Curriculum 2001 (CC2001, http://www.sigcse.org/cc2001/) largely left it out. CC2001 included four example implementations of the intermediate level of the Computer Science curriculum in its Chapter 8. Only one of these four, the intensive systems-based example approach, makes mention of something approaching this course, and that example course's title, CS240s - Programming Languages Translation, might be taken by some to not be the same thing at all. And, CS240s's link is not even operational.

Data for Flipped Classroom Design: Using Student Feedback to Identify the Best Components from Online and Face-to-Face Classes

Colleges and universities have seen considerable enrollment growth in online courses during the past decade. However, online modalities are not optimal for all subject areas or students. There is growing interest in hybrid, blended, and flipped instruction as a way to incorporate the best of different delivery methods. This study investigates and identifies student preferences for both face-to-face and online learning. Participants were undergraduate students from a mix of freshman, junior, and senior level courses. An open response instrument was used to allow broad insights into students’ responses without biasing or limiting the feedback. Results suggest that the most positive impact with face-to-face learning is interaction through class discussions, group projects and other types of active learning. Females responded more positively than male students to interactivity in face-to-face classes. The data further indicates the most positive impact with online learning experiences is the class structure that supports flexibility, organization, and clear expectations. Nontraditional students reported more positively than traditional students about the benefits of flexible classes with clear course structures. This report should be of interest to educators who wish to take a research-based, student-centric, data-driven approach to the design of flipped or hybrid classrooms.

Integrated Service Project for Junior and Senior Students

Project-Based Service-Learning (PBSL) offers a unique and rich educational experience for engineering students. The present work highlights some of its aspects through the discussion of a multi-level design and build project. A service project was assigned to two teams of junior and senior students. The project was to design and build a bubble tower for the local children’s museum. The tower was completed in two phases. In the first phase, it was assigned as a final project in a junior level course. In the second phase, another team of seniors was added to lead the design optimization and building of the tower as their capstone experience. The Service-Learning (SL) nature of the project and having two teams at different academic levels added challenges and benefits to the students. The details of this unique experience are discussed and samples from the students’ work are presented. The project was completed successfully with positive feedback from the students, the customer and the local community. Reflections about this project and recommendations for future use of similar SL are also presented.

Secondary Marketing Research Certificate: Library Collaboration With the College of Business and Marketing Faculty

The Secondary Marketing Research Certificate (SMRC) is a collaboration among the University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries, College of Business Administration, and marketing faculty inspired by the Business Research Essentials program at Goizueta Business Library. Students in junior-level marketing research courses earn the SMRC to enhance resumes and receive 5% of their course grade. The SMRC is a four-module online tutorial in Blackboard, covering company and industry research, market research databases, and consumer data. Each module includes videos, extended transcripts, “Guide-on-the-Side” hands-on activities, and a quiz. Certificates are signed by Business and Libraries deans. The article discusses the SMRC design, creation, and management through collaborative process.

Dragonfly: strengthening programming skills by building a game engine from scratch

Computer game development has been shown to be an effective hook for motivating students to learn both introductory and advanced computer science topics. While games can be made from scratch, to simplify the programming required game development often uses game engines that handle complicated or frequently used components of the game. These game engines present the opportunity to strengthen programming skills and expose students to a range of fundamental computer science topics. While educational efforts have been effective in using game engines to improve computer science education, there have been no published papers describing and evaluating students building a game engine from scratch as part of their course work. This paper presents the Dragonfly-approach in which students build a fully functional game engine from scratch and make a game using their engine as part of a junior-level course. Details on the programming projects are presented, as well as an evaluation of the results from two offerings that used Dragonfly. Student performance on the projects as well as student assessments demonstrates the efficacy of having students build a game engine from scratch in strengthening their programming skills.