Undergraduate Engineering Programs Research Articles

Immersive engineering instruction: Using Virtual Reality to enhance students’ experience in the classroom

With the growing complexity of construction projects, the Architectural, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sector increasingly requires a skilled workforce. This need is magnified by the challenge of less than ideal retention rates in engineering fields, prompting a search for methods to enhance the learning experience. Virtual Reality (VR) has emerged as an effective tool in this context, offering immersive and interactive learning environments that improve the grasp and retention of complex concepts in engineering. This research assesses the benefits of implementing a VR solution for building inspections in an undergraduate civil engineering program. It compares the use of a VR system against traditional desktop-based inspection techniques and considers cognitive load, user experience, and usability aspects of this implementation. Additionally, it examines how students’ spatial abilities affect their performance with both methods. Results demonstrate that VR does not increase cognitive load and is often perceived as requiring less effort by student users. While both the desktop and VR options produced similar usability scores, the VR implementation provided a much more engaging user experience. These results were replicated and echoed in a second study with actual engineering instructors, who likewise held a strong positive attitude towards the VR system, consistent with student attitudes. Taken together, these results highlight the potential for VR to revolutionize educational opportunities, suggesting that its further adoption and exploration should be prioritized as a useful and viable academic tool. Specifically, these results suggest that VR can enhance the learning process in civil engineering and make collaborative virtual building inspections more efficient and engaging.

Enhancing DevOps Engineering Education Through System-Based Learning Approach

Abstract System-based learning (SBL) in engineering domains integrates systems thinking and engineering principles to develop a system. In software engineering, to develop software using the DevOps process, using SBL environment, students gain a comprehensive understanding of the DevOps software development process and apply theoretical concepts to real-world problems by implementing a complete system pipeline, encompassing the design, development, testing, and deployment of software systems. This article introduces an SBL approach to teaching DevOps engineering, addressing the limitations of traditional methods in equipping students with the necessary skills and knowledge. To evaluate the effectiveness of the SBL approach, a case study was conducted to teach a DevOps course within an undergraduate software engineering program. Students completed a project involving the implementation of a system pipeline from requirement gathering to deployment. Results from the case study demonstrate that the SBL approach has improved students’ understanding of DevOps engineering and the software development big picture. The approach enhanced students’ systems thinking and problem-solving capabilities and prepared students for the challenges of a rapidly evolving technological landscape.

A VR-based Industrial Robot Platform for Interactive Teaching Specialized Courses of Mechatronic Engineering

The primary objective of Industry 4.0 is to establish seamless connections between the physical and digital domains. Virtual Reality technology is widely acknowledged as a revolutionary advancement that offers significant technical assistance to many different fields including industry, agriculture and individuals. Since its inception, VR-based education has not gone out of that trend. The paper outlines a methodology for developing virtual interactive applications for the purpose of teaching Mechatronics. Unity software is utilized for creating a three-dimensional virtual robot and its corresponding environment. Subsequently, a user-friendly interface for controlling a robot is constructed. Finally, a lesson plan was developed for the virtual interactive teaching approach in the industrial robot course for the undergraduate Mechatronics Engineering program. The integration of a quantitative evaluation approach, along with the subsequent self-assessment conducted by students upon completion of the module, has unequivocally shown enhancements and efficacy across several competencies with increases ranging from 85 to 92%. The utilization of virtual reality and interactive learning within virtual environments, together with the guidance of instructors, has significantly improved the learning experience and problem-solving abilities of engineering and technology students, enabling them to fulfill the required performance criteria.

The importance of process intensification in undergraduate chemical engineering education

This perspective article highlights our opinions on the imperative of incorporating Process Intensification (PI) into undergraduate chemical engineering education, recognizing its pivotal role in preparing future engineers for contemporary industrial challenges. The trajectory of PI, from historical milestones to its significance in advancing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), reflects its intrinsic alignment with sustainability, resource efficiency, and environmental stewardship. Despite its critical relevance, the absence of dedicated PI courses in numerous undergraduate chemical engineering programs presents an opportunity for educational enhancement. An exploration of global PI-related courses reveals the potential of educational platforms to fill this void. To address this gap, we advocate for the introduction of a standalone PI course as a minor elective, minimizing disruptions to established curricula while acknowledging the scarcity of PI expertise. The challenges associated with PI integration encompass faculty workload, specialized expertise, curriculum content standardization, and industry alignment. Surmounting these challenges necessitates collaborative efforts among academia, industry stakeholders, and policymakers, emphasizing the manifold benefits of PI, faculty development initiatives, and the establishment of continuous improvement mechanisms. The incorporation of PI into curricula signifies a transformative approach, cultivating a cadre of innovative engineers poised to meet the demands of the evolving industrial landscape.

Pelatihan Merencanakan Dan Memasang Panel Surya Di Rumah Hunian

The community engagement conducted by the lecturers of the Electrical Engineering undergraduate program at the Faculty of Engineering, Syiah Kuala University, aims to enhance the income of young individuals in Kopelma Darussalam, Banda Aceh. Recognizing the need for employment opportunities among youths from lower to middle-income backgrounds, this initiative focuses on providing hands-on skills through training in planning and installing solar panels in residential homes. Consequently, young individuals can become skilled workers in solar panel installation, creating job opportunities, and improving their economic well-being. This training aims to address the increasing demand for renewable energy solutions and the growing interest in solar power adoption among homeowners. Participants will learn about the principles of solar energy, site assessment, system design, installation techniques, and safety procedures. After completing the training, participants are expected to be able to design and install solar panel systems, thereby contributing to the promotion of sustainable energy practices and reducing carbon footprint in residential communities.

Effectiveness of Challenge-Based Learning in Undergraduate Engineering Programs from Competencies and Gender Perspectives

Active learning strategies are widely studied, but perspective on their effectiveness in complete undergraduate studies or about their contribution to closing the gender gap are still required. Challenge-based learning has been around for more than a decade. However, results have been collected in limited time and application environments, for example, one semester or one activity in a course. In this work, we present a quantitative study that was applied to results of the National Center for the Evaluation of Higher Education’s Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Standardized General Examination of 4226 students comparing those who received a traditional educational model and those who received a challenge-based learning educational model. A statistical analysis of communication and disciplinary competencies found that the traditional educational model induces a greater marginal significant result in the test. Additionally, we found that female students perform better in communication competencies while male students perform better in disciplinary competencies. Our results confirm that challenge-based learning is as effective as a traditional educational model when applied during complete undergraduate studies while developing competencies like critical thinking, long-term retention, leadership, multidisciplinary teamwork, and decision-making. Challenge based learning is a prolific learning strategy for evolving into a new way of teaching in undergraduate programs.

The Addition of Adaboost to The Use of The C4.5 Algorithm to Improve The Accuracy of Classification of Study Interests

Specialization is one of the important things in focusing the student's field of study. At one university that has a faculty of computer science, there is an Informatics Engineering undergraduate study program which is divided into two specializations, namely intelligent systems and software engineering design. At one university that has a faculty of computer science, there is a bachelor's program in Informatics Engineering which is divided into two specializations, namely intelligent systems and software engineering design. students find it difficult to choose one of the specializations in the informatics engineering study program. To overcome these problems, the authors provide solutions in the form of ideas that can recommend students in determining specialization. In this problem, the algorithm that will be used is the C4.5 algorithm based on forward selection plus adaboost. The results of the specialization classification use the selected attributes and iterate over the cross-validation so as to produce the right accuracy. Testing the C4.5 algorithm produces an accuracy of 93.89% and the C4.5 algorithm based on forward selection produces an accuracy of 94.44% while using the C4.5 algorithm based on forward selection with the addition of adaboost produces an accuracy of 94.63%. Based on these tests, it proves that there is an increase in accuracy by adding selection and adaboost features to the C4.5 algorithm.

Accreditation of undergraduate engineering programs in Canada and what it means for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals

ABSTRACT Achievement of the targets set for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) requires commitment and leadership from governments, and input and feedback from numerous collaborators. Professional engineers are one group of such collaborators who must ensure that their designs, projects, and practices enable sustainable development. This article discusses how the accreditation process for undergraduate engineering programmes in Canada confirms that accredited programmes are preparing graduates for careers in which they will be prepared to meet the challenges of striving towards the targets set by the UN SDGs.

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS FORMED BY BLACK MEN IN UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING PROGRAMS: AN EXAMINATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES

This qualitative inquiry aimed to explore how interpersonal relationships are shaped by the contexts in which Black men enrolled in undergraduate engineering degree programs are learning. There is ample evidence demonstrating the importance of interpersonal relationships for student success and persistence. However, few researchers have focused on the interpersonal relationships formed by Black men in undergraduate engineering programs. We analyzed 14 semi-structured interviews to examine the interplay between Black men's interpersonal relationships and learning environments. Situated in Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory, we identified three environmental influences: (1) student classification, (2) institutional classification, and (3) national events. Our findings may inform efforts aimed at improving the relational experiences of Black men in undergraduate engineering programs.

How syllabi relate to outcomes in higher education: A study of syllabi learner-centeredness and grade inequities in STEM.

Fostering equity in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs can be accomplished by incorporating learner-centered pedagogies, resulting in the closing of opportunity gaps (defined here as the difference in grades earned by minoritized and non-minoritized students). We assessed STEM courses that exhibit small and large opportunity gaps at a minority-serving, research-intensive university, and evaluated the degree to which their syllabi are learner-centered, according to a previously validated rubric. We specifically chose syllabi as they are often the first interaction students have with a course, establish expectations for course policies and practices, and serve as a proxy for the course environment. We found STEM courses with more learner-centered syllabi had smaller opportunity gaps. The syllabus rubric factor that most correlated with smaller gaps was Power and Control, which reflects Student's Role, Outside Resources, and Syllabus Focus. This work highlights the importance of course syllabi as a tool for instructors to create more inclusive classroom environments.

BLACK MALES IN STEM: EXPLORING FUTURE ENGINEERING GRADUATE SCHOOL ASPIRATIONS OF UNDERGRADUATE BLACK MEN

Black males are underrepresented in undergraduate and graduate engineering programs. While a significant amount of research studies have highlighted Black men's challenges in engineering graduate programs, fewer studies have sought to uncover and understand the factors that influence Black males to pursue engineering graduate degrees. As part of a more extensive study, in this investigation we used thematic analysis to understand the factors that might influence 20 Black male engineering undergraduate students to pursue engineering graduate degrees. Although we took an inductive approach to data analysis, we used community cultural wealth to hone our sensitivity to the assets Black males engage in as they pursue advanced degrees in engineering. We developed four themes, which describe what might drive participants' motivations to pursue advanced degrees in engineering in the future: passion for knowledge, financial security and career advancement, early exposure to graduate school, and influence of social networks. The findings of this study may impact intervention design and efforts to recruit and retain Black males in engineering graduate programs.

Implementing Outcome Based Education (OBE) in Textile Engineering Undergraduate Program in Bangladesh

Outcome-based education (OBE), is considered as quality-based education, is an academic concept that includes all the areas of an educational system around goals or results. It has become the necessity of the global academic system at present. Outcome-based education ensures the student and teachers knowledge exchange. It will also satisfy the requirements of the stakeholders during job placement. The employers can easily choose the graduates based on the graduate attributes after the end of their four years engineering study period. It is evident that inclusion of Outcome-based education will have a positive impact on the graduates after their four years of study period that can be applied for the stakeholders. In this paper it was tried to assist the faculty members to prepare themselves for the OBE based education for the department of textile engineering of different universities in Bangladesh.

Fostering Knowledge to Innovation: Enhancing Student Research Experience in Transforming Ideas into Project, Patent and Product

Abstract—This research study focuses on fostering a transformative journey from knowledge to innovation among students by enhancing their research experiences. The process involves converting initial conceptual ideas into tangible projects, which are subsequently developed into design patents, culminating in the creation of market-ready products. The study draws inspiration from the exploration of the critical radius of insulation, undertaken during the sixth semester of a mechanical engineering undergraduate program. This concept was practically applied to mitigate heat losses in household pressure cookers. Notably, a gap in the availability of such products in the Indian market was identified through extensive literature review, leading to the student’s engagement in this project. Encouraged by their mentors, the students presented their innovation to the university innovation, incubation, and research center, successfully obtaining financial backing. This paper comprehensively recounts the entirety of the student’s research journey. It commences with the translation of theoretical curriculum knowledge into actionable research ideas. The subsequent phases encompass various research methodologies, including theoretical analysis and simulation studies. The journey progresses with the execution of experimental approaches, effectively translating findings into design patents and, ultimately, tangible market-ready products. Overall, this research emphasizes the crucial role of research experiences in bridging the gap between theoretical learning and practical application. It underscores the significance of nurturing student’s innovative capabilities within the structured curriculum, contributing to their holistic development as future contributors to academia and industry alike. Keywords—Idea; Energy; Patent; Research; Transformation.

Teaching Thermofluids Sciences from an Interdisciplinary Perspective

Thermal and fluid sciences, as taught in Mechanical Engineering undergraduate programs, have traditionally followed an intrinsic separation. Typically, thermodynamics, heat transfer, and fluid mechanics are delivered as separate courses. The leap from the fundamental thermofluids subjects to the application courses, in which the aforementioned subjects must be involved to obtain optimal thermal systems, demands significant effort from the students to combine all of them together. In this framework, this work presents an innovative approach that combines these subjects following a different learning path, adopting a Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) approach by solving a real and relevant challenge in partnership with both industry and NGO partners. The results, observations, and conclusions of implementing this novel approach for teaching thermal sciences are presented.

WORKSHOP DESIGN KONTEN PEMASARAN DIGITAL MENGGUNAKAN CANVA

This community service activity was carried out in the form of a workshop by the implementing team from the Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Study Program, Faculty of Engineering, Mercu Buana University in collaboration with the Budi Andhika Selaras Foundation. The aim of this activity is to help provide knowledge and skills and train MSME business actors to be more creative and independent in creating interesting and effective Digital Marketing content. This activity method includes 3 stages, namely the preparation stage in the form of identifying target needs, the workshop implementation stage and the evaluation stage of activity results. This workshop activity uses the Canva application, which is a graphic design application that is user-friendly and easy to use, and is considered suitable for MSMEs. This application is practiced directly in the form of content creation training - content such as flyer content, leaflets, banners, promotional videos, etc. Participants who took part in this workshop were 26 MSME workers in the Cinere area in the fields of cosmetics, food, drinks and clothing. As a result of this activity, each participant was able to create marketing content using the Canva application with various designs produced. The evaluation results after the activity took place showed that all participants were satisfied and gave good appreciation to this workshop activity. This activity is expected to provide broad benefits, both academically and in improving the quality of MSMEs in Indonesia.

Teaching Control with Basic Maths: Introduction to Process Control Course as a Novel Educational Approach for Undergraduate Engineering Programs

Teaching Control with Basic Maths: Introduction to Process Control Course as a Novel Educational Approach for Undergraduate Engineering Programs

Student Point of View

At a time when all course instruction had been moved online, it seemed wishful thinking for a group of undergraduate students to begin authentic, independent research. With curious, creative, and motivated mindsets; however, we learned not only that such research was possible during a global pandemic, but that it could provide vital learning opportunities in our careers as students and scientists. Guided by mentors of UW-Madison’s honors biology Biocore program, we worked as a team of three undergraduate scientists and were given significant autonomy over all aspects of our research project. We planned, conducted, and communicated our science and here we provide a commentary of our learning throughout the process, as well as recommendations for instructors of other undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and math programs based on the factors that best facilitated our learning.

Analysis of the graduate and postgraduate courses demand on Feira de Santana industry

The municipality of Feira de Santana plays a pivotal role in the economic growth in the state of Bahia. According to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the municipality has approximately 624,000 inhabitants and a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of around 15 billion Brazilian reais annually, ranking as the 3rd largest in Bahia and the 74th in Brazil. To ensure the continuous economic growth of the municipality, there is a pressing need for a qualified workforce. Therefore, the aim of this study is to systematically examine and analyze the demand for undergraduate and postgraduate programs in the industry of Feira de Santana. The methodology employed was based on data collection, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative approaches, from industries located in Feira de Santana and the microregion within the Portal do Sertão. The project's development encompassed six stages: 1 – selection of the data collection instrument; 2 – formulation of a questionnaire with closed-ended questions; 3 – creation of an electronic questionnaire; 4 – data collection; 5 – data analysis; 6 – presentation of the study’s results at technical and scientific events. Results indicate a demand for undergraduate programs in Engineering or Management and a postgraduate program in the field of Management in the form of MBA specialization. It is noteworthy that currently, the Center for Science and Technology (CETENS) at the Federal University of Recôncavo da Bahia (UFRB) does not offer the community Management courses such as Administration, Accounting, or Economics, nor does it offer postgraduate courses in the same area. Thus, we identified two growth vectors in the project. The first is based on the ongoing expansion of Engineering/Technology courses, such as Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, Automation, and Architecture. The second vector is focused on management courses, as mentioned earlier. A study was conducted to understand the problems and difficulties encountered during the project's execution using quality tools such as Brainstorming (BS), Ishikawa, 5 Whys, 5W2H, and PDCA. A proposed solution was put forth for the continuation of activities. An analytical study was carried out, stratifying the 627 industries in Feira de Santana, and a recommendation of 27 undergraduate courses was suggested to meet this demand. Nevertheless, the results indicate the strengthening of the relationship between CETENS and the industry, a potential improvement in the future employability of CETENS graduates, and the proposal of guidelines for the development and introduction of new undergraduate and postgraduate courses at the advanced campus of CETENS/UFRB.

Education With Experience: Assessment of a Co-op Model in Undergraduate Engineering Programs in Computing

Education With Experience: Assessment of a Co-op Model in Undergraduate Engineering Programs in Computing

Hybrid project-based didactic strategy in mechanical engineering courses

Adopting a didactic strategy that promotes education and autonomous work in the training of an engineering student while it generates academic products for the teacher-student binomial is a real possibility. The application of such a strategy in the hybrid educational model is presented to implement interactive courses in the Mechanical Engineering career at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. The methodological foundation is highlighted as a basis for the pedagogical design of the bimodal courses, and the practical cases developed by the authors in the undergraduate and graduate programs in mechanical engineering under this modality are presented. The research provides the analysis of results obtained from seven subject programs during the last academic periods from the second semester of 2015 to the first semester of 2022. The research based on design specifications, learning objectives, temporal organization, activities, formative and summative evaluation, and a scoring guide proved the efficiency of hybrid format for mechanical engineering courses.