Engineering College Students Research Articles

Technology of application of multimedia tools in the process of preparing students of engineering and construction universities for educational and future professional activities (on the example of integrated lessons from special components and English language)

Technology of application of multimedia tools in the process of preparing students of engineering and construction universities for educational and future professional activities (on the example of integrated lessons from special components and English language)

Developing synchronous and asynchronous online learning models for engineering college students in India: A grounded theory approach

Abstract: The Covid 19 pandemic lockdown in India led the education to move from classroom learning to online learning. This created the need for online learning pedagogies. The current study focuses on developing synchronous and asynchronous models of online learning for engineering students. The data for the current study was collected through interviews of engineering students of different specializations. Transcription of interviews were prepared and subjected to three levels of coding i.e. open coding, axial coding and selective coding in order to prepare concepts. The concepts were then integrated into a model using grounded theory approach. The finding indicate that synchronous mode leads to group learning, peer learning, learning through simulation and effective learning. The asynchronous mode leads to reinforcement based learning. Key words: online learning, engineering, India, synchronous, asynchronous

Research on the improvement of engineering college students’ artistic accomplishment under the new engineering background

The new engineering is the product of interdisciplinary, breaking through the institutional bottleneck and administrative barriers in universities in interdisciplinary, is the new engineering must cross a barrier. Based on the construction of new engineering, this paper promotes the deep cross and integration of engineering and art disciplines. To explore the ways to integrate innovative thinking training into professional education systematically from the aspects of research significance, research status, development plan and effect evaluation, so as to improve the artistic accomplishment of engineering college students.

Killing Two Birds with One Stone: Integration of ESP into EGP for Engineering Students

An increasing number of studies have explored English for specific purposes (ESP) instruction because English communication, especially for semiconductor system engineering college students, is crucial in academic communities and workplaces. However, there are few actual classroom-based studies that last for one semester. The purpose of the present study is to examine how engineering students perceive the integration of ESP into an English for general purposes (EGP) course and how their perceptions shape their educational practices. Among 69 engineering students who had gone through ESP instruction in a real classroom setting, 12 volunteer students participated in this interview, and their responses were triangulated with other data. The findings demonstrated that most engineering students were worried but excited about the ESP instruction at first. They also reported that major-specific terms and resources were difficult to find, yet they admitted it was worthwhile because struggles are part of the learning process. After instruction, they reported that ESP had strengthened their major knowledge as well as their English skills. These findings show the importance of needs analysis, cooperation with content professors, a hybrid form of ESP instruction with EGP, and authentic and simplified ESP resources to make the ESP course feasible for engineering students.

Ascertaining the Inconsistency of AEC Students' Perceptions and Behaviors Regarding Sustainability by Mixed Methods.

University students in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) are the main force and future leaders of the construction industry, and their values shape the model and direction of the industry’s future development. The construction industry is the largest contributor of waste and greenhouse gas emissions. However, there is an inconsistency between AEC university students’ perceptions and behaviors regarding sustainability, which has received little attention. This study attempts to shed light on the root causes of the inconsistency from the psychological perspective, incorporating construal level (CL) theory and psychological distance (PD) theory into situational settings of the experiment. We recruited 556 AEC students from 20 different universities to participate in data collection. Research findings revealed that PD has a significant influence on AEC students’ recycling behavior with variance in the effect of different dimensions, even though CL has no significant impact. Furthermore, findings show that spatial distance poses the greatest impact on AEC student recycling behavior, followed by information distance, temporal distance, experience distance, hypothetical distance, and social distance. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by introducing CL and PD into sustainability perception and behavior research in construction and has practical implications for universities with sustainability curricula in AEC.

Construction of a taxonomy of metacognitive activities to characterize problem solving learning

This article documents the construction of a taxonomy of metacognitive activities that describes the metacognitive skills of university engineering students during problem-solving learning. The methodology used for the construction of the taxonomy was developed considering some requirements raised in the literature, the constant comparison method, and the execution of seven steps. The construction of the taxonomy was necessary given that the problem solving learning implies the participation of metacognitive skills and these are the set of activities that help the student to monitor and control their learning. Metacognitive skills must be evaluated to provide teachers with information to establish their instructing processes, considering the characteristics of the students. It is important to build a taxonomy of metacognitive activities to carry out an appropriate assessment of metacognitive skills that allows specifying the metacognitive behaviors of the students involved in the learning process. The constructed taxonomy contains detailed descriptions of metacognitive activities, facilitating that other investigations use this instrument. The document is written in such a way that it becomes a guide for future studies to have a reference on how to design a taxonomy of metacognitive activities.

Eglish Speaking Anxiety Level And Major Component Of Anxiety Of Undergraduate Engineering Students At Erode Sengunthar Engineering College, Tamil Nadu: A Descriptive Study

Speaking in English causes anxiety in learners’ mind and it acts as a filter. Anxiety impedes speaking in English which is a problem for the learners. This paper is intended to address the problem found in Erode Sengunthar Engineering College students. The study examines the level of anxiety and its major factor that filters the performance while speaking in English inside the classroom. 50 under graduate engineering students attended the study. For data collection a series of questionnaire of FLCAS developed by Horwitz in 1986, based on the Likert 5 point scale was administered. It also focuses on the performance of pupils most of whom feel more anxious about foreign language. The findings of this research reveals that more students are moderately affected . More importantly, the results show that students are extremely concerned about fear of negative evaluation (3.41) and the Exam Anxiety (3.27).

Gender Characteristics on Gaze Movement in Situation Awareness

In large systems, such as nuclear power plants, the operator’s situation awareness is vital to the system’s safety. Since gaze movement is closely related to situation awareness, various studies have evaluated it through gaze movement. The number of female workers is increasing even in large systems, such as nuclear power plants, so it is relevant to compare and analyze the situation awareness and gaze movement characteristics of men and women. In this study, an experiment was conducted to compare and analyze men’s and women’s situation awareness and gaze movement characteristics by making a simulator for emergency scenarios in nuclear power plants. Gaze entropy was used as a measure to indicate gaze movement, while the Situation Awareness Rating Technique (SART) was utilized to measure situation awareness. A total of 20 engineering college students (10 male, 10 female) participated in the experiment. Loss of coolant accident (LOCA), steam generator tube rupture (SGTR), steam line break (SLB), and loss of voltage (LOV) were the nuclear power plant accident situations used as task scenarios for the experiment. For all accident scenarios, the SART score did not show a significant difference between men and women. Shannon entropy, dwell time entropy, and heat map entropy did not show a significant difference between men and women, but Markov entropy was found to be significantly higher in women. In conclusion, there was no significant difference between men and women in awareness of accident situations. In addition, there was no significant difference between men and women in the ratio of viewing the necessary information elements in the situation awareness process. However, it was found that women had more gaze movements between necessary information elements than men.

Effect of Taking the Liberal Arts Course ‘Creative Thinking and Problem Solving’ on the Improvement of Creative Competencies of College Students in Science and Engineering －Focusing on Comparison Before and After COVID-19

This study was conducted to derive implications on how educational activities should be organized and operated for improving creative competency in online class situations by analyzing how it has changed in classes before and after COVID-19. These classes were taken by science and engineering students who took the ‘Creative Thinking and Problem Solving’ subject operated by N University. In order to achieve the goals of this study, a pre-post test related to creative competency was administered at the beginning and end of the semester to 92 students who took the face-to-face class in the second semester of 2019, and to 120 students who took the on-line class in the second semester of 2020. The research results are as follows: Creative competency was significantly improved in the face-to-face class, but not in the online class. Looking at each sub-competency of creative competency, both the challenge spirit and problem solving ability were significantly improved in the face-to-face class. Moreover, the student’s challenge spirit ability was significantly improved in the online class, but their problem solving ability was not significantly improved. These results were similar regardless of whether the instructor changed, or if the students’ grades changed. Also, the students’ gender had no bearing on these results either. Based on these research results, as well as on our educational goals and the content of the classes, the project activities involved in the ‘Creative Thinking and Problem Solving’ subject can be used in online classes in their current form. But this study suggested that strategies for improving students' problem-solving abilities need to be supplemented. Specifically, instructors should increase communication opportunities through the parallel use of the real-time remote video system, and should guide their students to become faithful to the team-based project activities through the sub-session function of the real-time remote video system. To this end, the university may consider changing two credits of two hours into two credits of three hours, or three credits of three hours. Universities also need to operate this subject in connection with extra-activities. It is also necessary for instructors to provide a support environment where students can freely meet using the real-time remote video system, and can engage in solving problems through their own initiative.

Teamwork competency and satisfaction in online group project-based engineering course: The cross-level moderating effect of collective efficacy and flipped instruction

This study examined the relationship between students’ teamwork competency and satisfaction in a synchronous online flipped group project-based course, focusing on the possibility of group collective efficacy and flipped learning to moderate this relationship. We collected data from 19 teams (N = 75 college engineering students) at a science and technology university in Cebu, central Philippines, through a questionnaire survey over a 12-week synchronous online course. Multi-level hierarchical linear modeling test of hypotheses revealed a significant positive relationship between teamwork competency and satisfaction. Similarly, group collective efficacy recorded a significant relationship with satisfaction. At the team level, group collective efficacy and flipped learning moderated the relationship between teamwork competency and satisfaction. Learners in groups with high collective efficacy and online flipped learning showed a stronger relationship than those with low efficacy and conventional online instruction. The findings and discussions provide practical implications and possible interventions teachers could apply to enhance collective efficacy and boost learning satisfaction in synchronous collaborative online learning settings.

Gaming Pedagogy For Effective Learning In Engineering Colleges

Abstract: Our conventional teaching style teaches how to listen, memorize, and how to apply it to the real world. However, it is a good style of teaching, participation of the student in a subject is very less. Most of the time, it is faculty centric. Furthermore, in this style of teaching, practical knowledge is very less, most of them working towards the marks. In order to improve the teaching methods and to reduce the gap between the student and faculty, many academicians did their research in active learning. It improves the quality of teaching, and gave different ambient to the students. In this dissertation, gaming pedagogy is designed for engineering college students. Millennium learners prefer active learning; most importantly, they are visual learners. The mind map is one such technique, here they need to associate something related. Though it is a group activity, it cannot be conducted as a game. Teaching with images arouses their curiosity and if it is clubbed with a game their interest goes infinite. Hence, the pedagogy calledconnexion was designed to attract the diverse learners. Here, the class was divided into groups. One set of students was asked to prepare the task for connexion game called authors, and the other set was simplyparticipants. The authors weaved together the images available in the public domain for finding the concept. Doing so they came up with lots of questions with the items they were exploring and they even developed some good strategies. They also designed clue questions for the participants to answer with the help of the teacher. For this study, connexion game conducted for the subject programming for problem solving using C. For detailed analysis fifty students chosen in our class; Students assessed in a specific concept via a connexion game. From the result, it is observed that ninety percentage of the students actively participated and understood the concept easily. The feedback also collected from the students, it shows that they are enjoying gaming pedagogy. As an end result, this gaming made the authors to think critically and the participants have a good conceptual understanding in addition to a good revision exercise and entertainment for them. Keywords :Teaching, game, connexion, learners, pedagogy.

Mobile Phone Influence on Sexual Behaviour of Undergraduate Students: A Case Study of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya

Purpose: The study sought to examine the influence of mobile phone use on sexual behaviour of university students: a case study of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya. The study specifically, sought to examine the effect of characteristics of mobile phones users, uses and gratification of mobile phones and the frequency of using mobile phones on sexual behaviour of university students in Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya.
 Methodology: The research design that was adopted was descriptive in nature. The study also used both quantitative and qualitative data obtained from the respondents using questionnaires and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) guides. Quantitative data was collected using questionnaires while qualitative data was collected using Focus Group Discussions. The study adopted a stratified random sampling technique to select the sample size from the three strata, which are the various Faculties in JKUAT. The study then used Fisher’s formula to arrive at an adequate scientific sample size of 384 students who were targeted using convenient sampling, that is those that are ready to respond to the questionnaires and the Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). The quantitative data in this research was analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics using SPSS v22.0.
 Results: It was concluded that male students are more likely to use protection consistently compared to female students. In addition, the findings imply that consistency in condom use is a factor that is dependent on the age of the individual. In addition, relationship status is a contributor to the behaviour of the students sexually. For those that are in serious relationships, their use of protection declines due to the build-up of emotional and intimate trust towards each other. The findings likewise indicate that the student’s usage of mobile phones correlates significantly with the consistent use of protection for safe sex. Those students who have had their phones since they joined Campus are more likely to practice safe sex. In addition, heavy users of mobile phones are likely to practice safe sex including those who browse the internet for news updates.
 Unique contribution to theory, policy and practice: The study recommends the media practitioners need to step up the production of morally acceptable media content and offer a platform for advertising and campaigning for sexual conduct by encouraging and stressing the use of protection. The Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education should actively involve the undergraduate students in reproductive information awareness campaigns for ensuring positive attitudes towards responsible sexual behaviour and promoting best sexual practices.

Exploring the antecedents of institutional effectiveness: a case study of higher education universities in India

The significance of Institutional Effectiveness is pivotal to the functioning of an academic institution. The mushrooming of private institutions in the Indian higher education space necessitates exploring its antecedents to ensure quality higher education is imparted by the institution. The purpose of this research endeavor is to explore the impact of Academic Leadership on Institutional Effectiveness with a mediating role of Campus Culture and Faculty Involvement in Decision Making. The study employed a cross-sectional research design and implemented a purposive sampling technique to collet primary data from 80 permanent faculties and 249 students of private engineering colleges located in the Karnataka state of India. Data was collected through a structured questionnaire and analyzed using Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling. Hypothesis shows academic leadership and campus culture has high influence on institutional effectiveness. Faculty in decision making and campus culture partially mediates between academic leadership and institutional effectiveness. The results of FIMIX-PLS and PLS-MGA analysis shows the similarity in the results of total effect and path relationships. This paper provides theoretical foundations and empirical findings on conceptualizing the antecedents of institutional effectiveness. The outcomes of this research serve as significant input to policy makers and higher education institutions to facilitate enhancement of institutional effectiveness.

Individual-level characteristics of environmental sustainability among students in a higher education institution: the role of happiness and academic performance

Purpose Students play an unequivocal role in sustainable universities as they are theorized to embody the mission of a sustainable university through a sustainable lifestyle and spread sustainability practices during their professional careers. Despite this, it is not well known how or why students come to embody a sustainable lifestyle. This study aims to better understand the relationship between happiness, academic achievement and sustainability behaviors among the student population in a Mexican higher education institution. Design/methodology/approach In a questionnaire study, engineering and psychology university students at a large public university in northwestern Mexico answered questions regarding their environmental sustainability behaviors, happiness and academic performance. A stratified random sampling technique was used to obtain the sample population that best represents the entire population. After chi-square tests, it was confirmed that the three variables were independent of one another. Therefore, a series of correspondence analyses were conducted to examine clusters or patterns that could indicate relationships among the three variables. Findings The main finding from this work was that the happiest and most academically astute participants were only slightly environmentally sustainable or not sustainable at all. The lack of environmental sustainability in students from one of the most top-rank sustainable universities in Mexico does not align with previous sustainability reports. External factors to the university, such as cultural values and extreme weather conditions, may have influenced students’ sustainability behaviors. Research limitations/implications As with any other questionnaire study, the provided data is subject to interpretation, judgment and bias. In addition, the environmental and happiness index used in this study are not free of criticizing, and some author had disputed its efficacy. Finally, this study’s findings did not determine any causality or directionality between any of the latent variables. However, causality and directionally between environmental sustainability-happiness and happiness-academic performance have to be found in both directions. Practical implications Despite the unsustainability of students in this study, this study has several contributions. First, it provides an evaluation of a sustainable university from the perspectives and behaviors of students. The views of students as they relate to the complexities and visions of a sustainable university have remained relatively underexamined. Second, these analyses point to specific sustainability-oriented challenges and inadvertent barriers (e.g. extreme weather patterns) toward the embodiment of a sustainable lifestyle. These challenges and barriers suggest that sustainable universities need to address the dynamic changes inherent in sustainable development. Finally, this study indicates that the link between happiness, academic performance and sustainability may be more complicated and driven by cultural and structural barriers. The issue of barriers, as they relate to sustainability behaviors, is highly relevant and presents important opportunities and questions for future research. Originality/value This study provides an evaluation of a sustainable university from the perspectives and behaviors of students. Students’ views as they relate to the complexities and visions of a sustainable university have remained relatively underexamined. Second, these analyses point to specific sustainability-oriented challenges and barriers as they relate to the embodiment of a sustainable lifestyle. These challenges and barriers suggest that sustainable universities need to address the dynamic changes inherent in sustainable development. Finally, this study indicates that the link between happiness, academic performance and sustainability may be more complicated and driven by cultural and structural barriers.

Academic Procrastination and the Stress of University Students of Electronic Engineering from the Callao Region

The purpose of the study is to establish correspondence between procrastination and academic stress in students of the School of Electronic Engineering of a public university in the Callao Region. The research was developed under the positivist approach, quantitative methodology, and basic type, non-experimental and transversal design. The sample consisted of 205 students calculated by simple random probabilistic sampling. Two questionnaire s were applied to evaluate procrastination and stress which were validated by Cronbach alpha with values of .853 and .943 respectively. The results confirm the correspondence between procrastination and academic stress in students (Spearman's Rho,841). The work concludes that greater dilatory behavior, indecisions, lack of punctuality and lack of planning will tend to increase levels of academic stress.

Recognizing the funds of knowledge of first‐generation college students in engineering: An instrument development

AbstractBackgroundStudents who are the first in their families to attend college are an integral part of undergraduate engineering programs. Growing bodies of research argue that educators could better support these students if they understood the unique backgrounds, experiences, and knowledge they bring with them to higher education.Purpose/HypothesisThe purpose of this article is twofold. First, we identify salient funds of knowledge used by a group of first‐generation college students in their educational and work‐related experiences. Secondly, we use the funds of knowledge identified in our participants' experiences to create a survey instrument.Design/MethodA mixed methods approach was used. Ethnographic interview data of six first‐generation college students were used to hypothesize constructs and create survey items. Survey data were collected from 812 students. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to verify the underlying theoretical structures among the survey items and hypothesized constructs.ResultsValidity evidence supported a 10‐factor model as opposed to the hypothesized 6‐factor model. The 10 latent constructs that make up the funds of knowledge instrument are as follows: tinkering knowledge from home, tinkering knowledge from work, connecting experiences, networks from family members, networks from college friends, networks from coworkers, networks from neighborhood friends, perspective taking, reading people, and mediating ability.ConclusionsRecognizing first‐generation college students' funds of knowledge is a first step to creating curricular spaces and experiences that better serve them. A survey scale allows educators to empirically examine how these accumulated bodies of knowledge are transmitted to capital, create advantages in engineering, and provides a useful tool to bridge students' knowledge in the classroom.

Comparing Face-to-Face, Emergency Remote Teaching and Smart Classroom: A Qualitative Exploratory Research Based on Students’ Experience during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted traditional face-to-face teaching worldwide and forced education institutions to adopt new, online teaching formats to enable students to continue with their studies. This research focuses on students’ perceptions of three teaching different modalities: face-to-face (F2F), Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) and Smart Classroom (SC), which were implemented in response to the restrictions enforced to combat the spread of COVID-19. A qualitative study based on two user experience techniques, Pocket Bipolar Laddering and Emotional Appraisal, was carried out on a group of second-year ICT engineering university students at La Salle Campus Barcelona. The former technique consists in identifying a maximum of three positive and three negative salient items, while the latter is intended to rate pairs of opposite feelings. In the SC format, saving time on travel to university was considered an advantage of online learning, while disadvantages included less effective instructor–student interaction, distractions when off-campus and teamwork issues. These shortcomings can be addressed by specific online teaching training to develop a more active form of learning and foment student participation. However, both ERT and SC modalities were considered effective solutions to cope with the social and mobility restrictions imposed during the pandemic.

Analysis of the Value and Advantages of Financial Literacy and Digitalization to the Individual

Digital literacy is the ability to analyse, evaluate and create a teaching and learning media which enables adults and youth to understand complex communication, Aufderheide (1993). Therefore, this research study has examined how digital knowledge could provide an opportunity to learn financial capability. Fintech has transformed the history of the financial sectors and places an individual at significant advantages. However, Bankers, Teachers, Information Technology (IT) professionals and university students were selected for the research study from Bangladesh and England. Interviews were conducted with management level professionals. Survey and test questionnaires were developed and randomly directed to other participants to measure their financial and ICT knowledge. The research findings have found that present financial decision making, and the growth of assets depends on an individual adult’s financial capability.

Word problem solving competencies of BSE 1B – mathematics major students: Basis for remedial and intervention programs

This study aimed at determining the word problem solving competencies of the first year Bachelor of Secondary Education major in Mathematics students in the Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology -San Isidro Campus for the second semester, school year 2020-2021. The study made use of test consisting of 10 word problems to be answered by 33 students with different levels of competency because their different academic backgrounds. The problem-solving competencies of the students were described in terms of their level of comprehension of the problem and the strategies employed in solving. The findings in this study will be used as basis for remedial and intervention programs.

The degree of satisfaction of preparatory year students regarding academic guidance services at prince Sattam bin Abdul-Aziz university: A case study

The focus of this study is to examine the students’ degree of satisfaction towards the academic counseling or guidance services during the preparatory year at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University for the academic year 2020-2021 and report the difference, if any, in the level of this satisfaction based on the difference of the students’ gender. This study used a self-administered survey as an instrument for data collection. The final sample consists of 440 students in Medical and Engineering Colleges. We find that there is a moderate level of satisfaction towards the services of academic guidance offered to the students. In addition, we find that there is a significant difference in the level of satisfaction towards the services of academic guidance by the gender at 5% level. The findings of this study are important for policymakers at the university and college levels. This study suggests that the colleges should increase their academic guidance services offered to students during their studying the preparatory year. Moreover, unifying the level of academic guidance services provided to both male and female sections in a manner to achieve the quality of this service provided to male and female students.