Senior Projects Research Articles

Listen, talk, understand. Interpersonal communication in a senior project

Studies carried out around the world on the structure of human populations clearly indicate that modern society is “aging”. Demographic indicators show the dynamism of this process, and thus the trend of population ageing will intensify in the coming years. That is why the activation and activity of older people is so important, this is a condition for functioning in society, playing assigned social roles, meeting bio-psychosocial needs and, above all, communicating. Its absence can cause progressive disability, social isolation, loneliness. That is why activating senior projects aimed at increasing independence and counteracting the risk of social marginalization are so important in the lives of seniors. The aim of the research was to establish the factors that determine proper communication with the elderly people. The study involved 86 seniors, participants of the senior project entitled: "Passion - a recipe for eternal youth". A qualitative strategy was used to collect and analyze the data using partially categorized interviews. In order to supplement the information obtained during the interviews, an analysis of the documents held by the senior project organizer was carried out. The presentation of the results of the study was divided into three areas related to communication: listening, talking, understanding. In order to build effective interpersonal communication with seniors, it is important to understand individual experiences, specific needs, expectations and concerns. For seniors in the process of interpersonal communication important elements are: empathy, patience, commitment, as well as understanding their shortcomings related to the aging process. The openness of expressing desires and needs by seniors is fostered by appreciation and listening. In their family environment, they notice a deficit in the area of active listening, as well as the infantilization of the message addressed to them. They emphasize the very important importance of communication in their lives, and identify its lack with loneliness and isolation. They believe that the activity they undertake in the auditory, motor and cognitive spheres affects the slowing down of the aging process, as well as helps in communication. Taking into account the results of the study, it should be proposed to increase the awareness of people working in senior projects on the specifics of interpersonal communication with seniors through the organization of educational trainings in this area, which should be reflected in legal regulations.

Teamwork within a Senior Capstone Course: Implementation and Assessment

ABSTRACTAlthough senior capstone courses and projects globally are growing in popularity for undergraduate students in political science, with the potential to integrate prior curriculum and assess student learning, students generally undertake this milestone as individuals. In contrast, we present a teamwork-based capstone course wherein key student submissions—including the final project—are created in teams. Having conducted this course for several years, we describe in this article how we incorporated teamwork and demonstrate how students evaluate teamwork in in-person, online, and hybrid course formats.

Software Development Methodologies, HEIs, and the Digital Economy

Progressing digitalization of business, economy, and the society places higher education institutions (HEIs) in the center of the debate on how to effectively respond to challenges and opportunities that are thus triggered. Several facets of this process and corresponding challenges exist, including the complex question of how to match students’ skills and competencies with the demands and expectations of the industry. From a different angle, considering the changing nature of work, HEIs are responsible for equipping future employees with skills necessary to work in virtual, distributed, culturally diverse, and frequently global, teams. In the domain of software development, i.e., the backbone of the digital world, the challenge HEIs need to face is paramount. For this reason, the way software development is taught at HEIs is crucial for the industry, for the economy, for the students, and for the HEIs. As there is a tendency in the industry to embrace the scrum method and seek employees equipped with skills necessary for the scrum methodology use, it is necessary to ensure that HEIs offer the students the opportunity to get exposed to scrum. By querying the challenges of switching to agile software development methodologies in senior capstone projects, this paper makes a case that software development and software development methodology form the thrust of a multi-stakeholder ecosystem that defines today’s digital economy and society. In this context, the added value of this paper rests in the elaboration of a method enabling HEIs to move toward scrum in senior projects.

Proactive Learning Culture: Practical Learning and Experience from Research into Senior Projects

Senior projects allow students to move the learning process from basic knowledge to an interdisciplinary approach. The purpose of the research is to survey the attitude and perception as collaboration between researchers and students to develop a clustering model for advisors and students, and to develop factors that are significant to predict the right match in the senior projects course. Data collection was with a questionnaire consisting of 463 samples from 7 administrators, 68 lecturers, 26 staff and 362 students from two universities: The Rajabhat Mahasarakham University, and the University of Phayao. The research methodology is designed and divided into three sections: preparation, implementation, and conclusion. The result shows that the satisfaction and the overall acceptance level were at a high level (mean = 4.04, S.D. = 0.88). Moreover, the developed model has the highest level of efficiency (accuracy = 98.06%). For future research projects, the researchers are committed on the development of learners’ achievement and aims to promote a learning culture based on the results of this research, and active learning of educational institutions.

National Competition and Community Engagement in a Civil Engineering Timber Bridge Capstone Project

A capstone course is an integral part of Civil Engineering (CE) undergraduate education. It requires graduating students to apply knowledge and skills gained from courses in a CE curriculum in a design that mimics 'real world' projects. The scope and level of detail in senior projects can vary noticeably. This paper presents a senior design project in which a group of five students built a pedestrian timber bridge for a local community and participated in the 2019 National Timber Bridge Design Competition. Valuable lessons were learned from both student and faculty perspectives.

Introduction: Special issue on gender and sexuality studies

The articles included in this special issue represent a selection of the thirty four gender and sexuality related projects that were scheduled to be presented at the 2020 Senior Projects Day event at Pacific University’s Forest Grove campus. The papers included in this special issue come from a variety of academic disciplines and speak to a wide range of topics, but unable to be disseminated due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Design and Construction of Cross-Linked PEO with the Integration of Helical Polyurethane as an Advanced All-Solid-State Polymer Electrolyte for Lithium Batteries

All-solid-state polymer electrolytes (SPEs) have been regarded as an advisible alternative for simultaneously overcoming the safety issues and high energy density demands presented in traditional lithium batteries, and they represent the development orientation of energy storage devices. This course describes the preparation of a cross-linked and helical polyurethane modified poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO@HPU) and its utilization as the SPE in lithium batteries, which can be used to teach upper-division undergraduates the principle of energy storage devices and the role of liquid-free electrolytes. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies are used to determine the structure of the polymers. The ionic conductivity, lithium ion transference number, and electrochemical window of PEO@HPU are measured through an electrochemical workstation. The lithium batteries assembled by students are evaluated via a battery testing system. The modification by the special helical polymer obviously improves the electrochemical and battery performance of the PEO-based SPE. Upon completion of the experiment, students will understand the structure–activity relationship in materials science and propose new suggestions for designing advanced SPEs. This experiment requires well-prepared laboratory chemicals as well as long-term processes, so it is suitable to be considered as a project. Meanwhile, it can be also used for senior projects and interdisciplinary projects between engineering and science.

Sustainability awareness in engineering curriculum through a proposed teaching and assessment framework

Engineers play a vital role in enabling the sustainable development of their societies. Thus, it is necessary to teach sustainability in universities, especially for engineering students, for a more sustainable future. The present work aims to measure and enhance engineering students’ awareness of sustainability by monitoring and evaluating learning and student outcomes during the last stages of an engineering curriculum and its culminating major design experience. A questionnaire to assess students’ awareness of sustainability and its tools is implemented. From this empirical study, obstacles to the awareness of sustainability through engineering education are discussed. The analysis of the results of the questionnaire implies the modification of the structure of senior projects and other capstone design courses in order to include a proposed teaching and assessment framework. This framework emphasizes students’ ability to understand and use effective sustainability tools, within the environment of their major design experience. The framework is composed of two paths. The first path concerns course design through which sustainability concepts and methods are included in several course elements. The second path addresses the assessment of the attainment of sustainability objectives by the students.

Student Interior Design Projects in Saudi Arabia

AbstractInterior design students should be able to use research and evidence‐based design outcomes to make decisions that promote health, safety and wellbeing. This approach will contribute to resolving social, environmental and community issues through design‐oriented thinking Accordingly, the aim of this research in a senior design studio course is to promote a better connection to the local environment needs without losing the creativity aspect. This study covered two semesters and used multiple data collection methods, including interviews, observational field notes, discussions and personal reflections. The findings showed that jury critiques and case study analysis were the most beneficial sources of information for students to develop their project ideas and solutions. The paper illustrates processes, products and aspects that are used in senior projects to find solutions to environmental needs. In addition, the study offers lessons learned and reflections to raise students’ awareness of the cultural needs in relation to the interior design field. This study shows findings similar to earlier research that found that students who identified and analysed a local case study understood the design problem better and were creative in linking their project design solution to the society's needs. The study also reveals that students who relied on analysis of well‐defined local case studies developed focused and detailed concepts and design solutions according to the instructor's and jurors’ assessments. The study also contributes to literature by using a multi‐method approach and offers implications for local and international policy‐makers on interior design curricula.

Teaching Academic Research and Writing

In Fall 2016, the Wake Forest University School of Divinity offered a for-credit academic research and writing course for the first time as a way to address concerns regarding the academic preparedness of incoming students. As the subject specialist for the School of Divinity, the author co-taught Introduction to Research and Writing with the School's Academic Skills Counselor, who led the writing portion of the class. As a result of our experience teaching the class, and in consultation with the academic dean, we decided that a two-tier research and writing course structure would best serve the needs of our student population.
 In Fall 2017, we taught the second-tier course, Advanced Research and Writing, which was targeted to students who intended to pursue doctoral work, or who were in the midst of research-intensive independent studies or senior projects. This presentation summary will focus on the syllabus and course structure, including assignments and learning objectives, as well as lessons learned as we look towards the future of the course.

Adjustments of Methodology Planning and Assessment Activities of Senior Projects in the Computer Science Program

Adjustments of Methodology Planning and Assessment Activities of Senior Projects in the Computer Science Program

Colby‐Sawyer's Sustainable Learning Initiative at Franklin Falls

The Sustainable Learning Initiative at Franklin Falls is a long‐term partnership between Colby‐Sawyer College and the nonprofit PermaCityLife that offers students in every discipline experiential learning opportunities to explore, design, and develop sustainable solutions to real and evolving community needs in Franklin, New Hampshire. The initiative pairs intended learning outcomes across campus with the to‐do lists of the project partners working on the sustainable revitalization effort in that city; to date, 265 students have participated in the program. Through the context of classes, internships, and senior projects, students have helped PermaCityLife and local stakeholders with projects such as a locally themed restaurant and microbrewery, volunteer‐run coffee shop, co‐working space, art gallery and music venue, multigenerational mixed‐use housing, permaculture/edible landscaping, expanded bike trails, and a whitewater park. Through this ongoing collaboration, students have had the opportunity to participate alongside residents and business owners in a grassroots effort to reinvigorate a struggling community and help create a model for a resilient, vibrant, diverse, and sustainable city; and, in doing so, learn and practice the skills that prepare them to succeed at all levels.

Effect of Undergraduate Research Output on Faculty Scholarly Research Impact

Abstract
 
 Objective – In the context of the ongoing discourse about the role of Institutional Repositories (IRs), the objective of the study is to investigate if there is any evidence of a relation between undergraduate student activity in an IR and the impact of faculty research. 
 
 Methods – The data used for the study is representative of six academic departments of the College of Science and Mathematics (CSM) at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly). Digital Commons@Cal Poly (DC) is the IR supported by the library. Regression analysis was used to investigate the interdependence between faculty research impact (dependent variable) and undergraduate student repository activity (independent variable). For each department, faculty research impact was quantified as a measure of the citation counts for all faculty publications indexed in Web of Science (WoS) between January 2008 and May 2017. Student repository activity was quantified for each department in two ways: (1) total number of student projects deposited in DC since 2008 (Sp) and (2) total number of student project downloads from DC (Sd). The dependent variable was regressed against each of the two elements of student repository activity (Sp and Sd), and the resulting statistics (sample correlation coefficients, coefficients of determination, and linear regression coefficients) were calculated and checked for statistical significance. 
 
 Results – The statistical analysis showed that both components of student repository activity are positively and significantly correlated with the impact of faculty research quantified by a measure of the citation counts. It was also found that faculty repository activity, although positively correlated with faculty research impact, has no significant effect on the correlation between student repository activity and faculty research impact. 
 
 Conclusion – The analysis considers two distinct groups of publications: one group of student publications (senior projects) from six academic departments, which are deposited in an open repository (DC), and one group of publications (not necessarily represented in DC) of faculty affiliated with the same six departments and whose citation impact is believed to be affected by the first group. The statistical correlation between student repository activity and faculty research impact can be seen as an indication that an active, open IR centered on collecting, preserving, and making discoverable student research output has a positive impact on faculty’s research impact. More research that includes additional factors and uses a larger data set is necessary to arrive at a definitive conclusion.

The Exploration and Practice of CDIO-Based Integration Postgraduate Teaching Mode

Focusing on the problems existing in current engineering postgraduate teaching, a new CDIO-based integration teaching mode is proposed in the paper. This teaching mode creatively combines CDIO, Project-driven and Integration Teaching models together. The course projects are divided into senior and junior projects according to the training objective. Both the senior project and the junior project would be completed in accordance with the steps of concept, design, implementation, operation. The Integration Teaching is adopted in classroom teaching to combine theoretical study with experimental operation and practical application as a whole. The results of the implementation show CDIO-based integration teaching mode would improve effectively postgraduate students' practice ability, innovation ability and scientific research ability. The proposed teaching mode in this paper is not only suitable for the cultivation of all engineering major postgraduate, but also can be applied to undergraduate teaching to promote the cultivation of Engineering Talents.

GPMS: An educational supportive graduation project management system

AbstractSenior Graduation Project highlights a significant milestone for undergraduate and graduate students in their journey of perusing their scientific degrees. It is considered a must‐complete requirement in most colleges. No doubt that managing the educational tasks, such as selecting projects, creating rubrics, scheduling, submitting reports, resource managements, assessment, etc., involved in senior projects can be challenging for students and educators. In this paper, we present an innovative Graduation Project Management System (GPMS) to keep track of different senior project educational processes starting from selecting projects going through grading until assessment. GPMS is equipped with data analytic gadget to monitor students’ pedagogical habits. This online system is based on open source technologies, namely, Java, Apache/Tomcat, WEKA, and MySql database management system (DBMS), and it is very flexible, adaptable, and configurable for most colleges.

Investigating the English Language Structural and Rhetorical Needs of Engineering Students at King Abdul-Aziz University

This study aims at investigating the English language structural and rhetorical needs of engineering students at King Abdul-Aziz University. The instrumentation of the study is a triangulation of: a detailed analysis of the engineering students’ final and most important documents (assignments, senior projects, MS theses and PhD dissertations) in terms of the common grammar and rhetorical mistakes, semi-structured interviews with instructors in the faculty of engineering especially those teaching (X499) (a course in which graduate students develop their senior proposals), and a questionnaire based on previous literature about engineering students' structural and rhetorical needs to be filled by engineering students taking X499. The findings of the study revealed that there are many common mistakes frequently repeated by students in their writings. These findings were confirmed by the interviews with the professors teaching 499 and the results of the questionnaire. The study concluded with a recommendation that all the common mistakes in students' documents, instructors' suggestions and the common structural and rhetorical needs resulted from the questionnaire should be included in a well- designed motivating syllabus to be taught for engineering students.

La enseñanza oficial de cine en España

En este artículo se recoge la historia de la enseñanza oficial de cine en España: los dos centros en los que se llevó a cabo, sus sedes, sus directores y las prácticas de fin de carrera. Todo ello visto desde la división en tres etapas del tiempo de existencia de la enseñanza anterior a su incorporación a la universidad: la etapa fundacional, la edad de oro y la crisis que lleva al cierre. A lo largo de estas tres etapas hubo un cambio de actitud en el alumnado, desde el entusiasmo y la ilusión inicial al desencanto y rechazo absoluto hacia la Escuela en los últimos años.

Structure and Management of an Engineering Senior Design Course

The design of products and processes is an important area in engineering. Students in engineering schools learn fundamental principles in their courses but often lack an opportunity to apply these methods to real-world problems until their senior year. This article describes important elements that should be incorporated into a senior capstone design course. It includes a description of the general principles used in engineering design and a discussion of why students often have difficulty with application and revert to trial and error methods. The structure of a properly designed capstone course is dissected and its individual components are evaluated. Major components include assessing resources, identifying projects, establishing teams, understanding requirements, developing conceptual designs, creating detailed designs, building prototypes, testing performance, and final presentations. In addition to the course design, team management and effective mentoring are critical to success. This article includes suggested guidelines and tips for effective design team leadership, attention to detail, investment of time, and managing project scope. Furthermore, the importance of understanding business culture, displaying professionalism, and considerations of different types of senior projects is discussed. Through a well-designed course and proper mentoring, students will learn to apply their engineering skills and gain basic business knowledge that will prepare them for entry-level positions in industry.

University Industry Linkage Projects Management System

In Universities, controlling or organizing the senior projects, project proposals, thesis and internship of students is being very hard without an online system. If a project brings university and industry together it will be useful to society. But without a bridge this is not possible to students and industry owners. In this case an online system that simplifies processes and brings students, academics and industry together is needed. In this study a web based application is created. There are 5 types of users in this system and when industry has a project and needs employee then it add this project to the system and an academician would be a consultant to this project then students apply to this project. Owners of the industry can make comments about their student employers by this system and can send to the consultant. A case study of this management system was done in Computer Engineering department.

IDEAS: Interdisciplinary Design Engineering and Service

This paper describes the development of the IDEAS: Interdisciplinary Design Engineering and Service program. This program supports and promotes community-based projects as a vehicle for providing students with real-world experience working with clients to solve need-based problems. IDEAS supports senior design projects, an interdisciplinary course on community-based projects, as well as extra-curricular projects through various student organizations. A complete description of the course, common projects and challenges is provided. We describe the benefits of developing long-term community partnerships. Student self-assessments of skills gained shows the course to be successful in providing engineering design experience and soft skills as well as professional sense of the positive societal impact of engineering projects. Course demographics show these projects attract a higher percentage of underrepresented groups than in the overall engineering student population.