Undergraduate Engineering Students Research Articles

A new perspective on teaching the natural exponential to engineering students

The natural exponential and logarithm are typically introduced to undergraduate engineering students in a calculus course using the notion of limits. We here present an approach to introduce the natural exponential/logarithm through a novel interpretation of derivatives. This approach does not rely on limits, allowing an early and intuitive introduction of these functions. The question behind our contribution is whether one can introduce derivatives using only polynomials and power series? Motivated by an earlier exposure of engineering students to differential equations, we demonstrate that the natural exponential/logarithm can arise from two common differential equations. Our limit-free approach to derivatives provides an intuitive interpretation of , the Euler number, and an intuitive introduction of time constants in first-order dynamical systems.

“Fake It Until You Make It”: Participation and Positioning of a Bilingual Latina Student in Mathematics and Computing

Background/Context: After-school programs that focus on integrating computer programming and mathematics in authentic environments are seldomly accessible to students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, particularly bilingual Latina students in rural contexts. Providing a context that broadens Latina students’ participation in mathematics and computer programming requires educators to carefully examine how verbal and nonverbal language is used to interact and to position students as they learn new concepts in middle school. This is also an important stage for adolescents because they are likely to make decisions about their future careers in STEM. Having access to discourse and teaching practices that invite students to participate in mathematics and computer programming affords them opportunities to engage with these fields. Purpose/Focus of Study: This case study analyzes how small-group interactions mediated the positionings of Cindy, a bilingual Latina, as she learned binary numbers in an after-school program that integrated computer programming and mathematics (CPM). Setting: The Advancing Out-of-School Learning in Mathematics and Engineering (AOLME) program was held in a rural bilingual (Spanish and English) middle school in the Southwest. The after-school program was designed to provide experiences for primarily Latinx students to learn how to integrate mathematics with computer programming using Raspberry Pi and Python as a platform. Our case study explores how Cindy was positioned as she interacted with two undergraduate engineering students who served as facilitators while learning binary numbers with a group of three middle school students. Research Design: This single intrinsic case focused on exploring how small-group interactions among four students mediated Cindy’s positionings as she learned binary numbers through her participation in AOLME. Data sources included twelve 90-minute video sessions and Cindy’s journal and curriculum binder. Video logs were created, and transcripts were coded to describe verbal and nonverbal interactions among the facilitators and Cindy. Analysis of select episodes was conducted using systemic functional linguistics (SFL), specifically language modality, to identify how positioning took place. These episodes and positioning analysis describe how Cindy, with others, navigated the process of learning binary numbers under the stereotype that female students are not as good at mathematics as male students. Findings: From our analysis, three themes that emerged from the data portray Cindy’s experiences learning binary numbers. The major themes are: (1) Cindy’s struggle to reveal her understanding of binary numbers in a competitive context, (2) Cindy’s use of “fake it until you make it” to hide her cognitive dissonance, and (3) the use of Spanish and peers’ support to resolve Cindy’s understanding of binary numbers. The positioning patterns observed help us learn how, when Cindy’s bilingualism was viewed and promoted as an asset, this social context worked as a generative axis that addressed the challenges of learning binary numbers. The contrasting episodes highlight the facilitators’ productive teaching strategies and relations that nurtured Cindy’s social and intellectual participation in CPM. Conclusions/Recommendations: Cindy’s case demonstrates how the facilitator’s teaching, and participants’ interactions and discourse practices contributed to her qualitatively different positionings while she learned binary numbers, and how she persevered in this process. Analysis of communication acts supported our understanding of how Cindy’s positionings underpinned the discourse; how the facilitators’ and students’ discourse formed, shaped, or shifted Cindy’s positioning; and how discourse was larger than gender storylines that went beyond classroom interactions. Cindy’s case reveals the danger of placing students in “struggle” instead of a “productive struggle.” The findings illustrated that when Cindy was placed in struggle when confronting responding moves by the facilitator, her “safe” reaction was hiding and avoiding. In contrast, we also learned about the importance of empathetic, nurturing supporting responses that encourage students’ productive struggle to do better. We invite instructors to notice students’ hiding or avoiding and consider Cindy’s case. Furthermore, we recommend that teachers notice their choice of language because this is important in terms of positioning students. We also highlight Cindy’s agency as she chose to take up her friend’s suggestion to “fake it” rather than give up.

Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Active Learning: A Case Study of Project-Based Learning in Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering

The current investigation is a case study of project-based learning methodology (PBL) applied to one of the most widespread engineering basic courses: introduction to materials science and engineering. The project was conducted with first year undergraduate students of Mechanical Engineering. For this, some of the theory-based class lecture was reduced to fit 40% of a multidisciplinary project that required producing walking sticks and crutches for people with limited mobility while using inexpensive materials and the most preferred solid waste materials. Students participating in this project designed, tested, and evaluated each other’s final product. In addition, students presented a technical report with an extended literature review that included information of the manufactured part. Differing from other PBL studies, the instructor evaluated the students’ progress at four different time points throughout the semester, through a summative evaluation process in which it was certified, through a qualification, in accordance with the learning developed during the mediation process with the students. Students, faculty members, professionals, and local experts in the manufactured parts were given a survey to evaluate the fabricated parts for aesthetics and innovation. A non-profit organization also participated in sensitizing the students to provide better solutions for people with several oral presentations during the class time. To assess the effectiveness of the PBL method, the Mechanical Engineering course was compared to another one using a traditional teaching approach, where the comparison was based on the same exams administered on both study groups. The method implemented in this study has proven to be a good strategy for teaching materials engineering courses, allowing students to participate in interdisciplinary projects. From this experience, it is concluded that it is feasible to implement active methods as an alternative to the courses taught using only traditional methods.

The Effects of Project-Based Blended Learning with Communication Strategy Instruction on English Oral Communication Ability of Undergraduate Engineering Students

Thai undergraduate engineering students seem to have difficulty mastering English oral communication ability. This study investigated the effects of project-based blended learning with communication strategy instruction to develop English oral communication ability of undergraduate engineering students. Four communication strategies, namely asking for clarification, asking for confirmation, circumlocution, and use of fillers and hesitation devices, were taught to 20 undergraduate engineering students inside class. The participants carried out their online tasks and independent project via social platforms (e.g., Facebook, Skype, etc.). Quantitative and qualitative data collection and analyses were conducted. The participants’ pretest and posttest scores were compared using the Wilcoxon signed rank test to examine their English oral communication ability development in six aspects (i.e., range, accuracy, fluency, interaction, coherence, and pronunciation) based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) 2017. The findings revealed that changes in English oral communication ability took place after the participants were taught communication strategies, thus indicating that project-based blended learning with communication strategy instruction could be used to promote English oral communication ability of language learners.

Ted Talks to Improve Oral Skills in Spanish Engineering Students

This paper is characterized by its interdisciplinarity, since it converges in an unusual way for undergraduate engineering students, three aspects of scientific dissemination: the contents of an engineering degree, the transmission of these contents orally in an effective way following the model offered by the TED talks, and the use of oral English as the language of scientific transmission. The main objective of the communication is to highlight the need for the future Spanish engineers to bring their work closer to the general public through oral presentations that, without losing rigour, are brief and entertaining. The core of the study is made up by the analysis of three TED talks related to different fields of engineering degrees. In conclusion, we have tried not only to verify the need for the Spanish engineer to receive specific training in professional oral communication, but, in addition, the close relationship between the necessary tools (the method, the “how” of the transmission of knowledge) and the contents to be transmitted (the subjects of the degree in engineering, the “what” or “crux” of the matter). One part of the problem, of course, is the mastery of English. But no less important is what is known for effective oral communication, in English, in Spanish or in any language.

A Challenge-Based Learning Intensive Course for Competency Development in Undergraduate Engineering Students: Case Study on UAVs

Accelerated advances in science and technology drive the need for professionals with flexible problem-solving abilities towards a collaborative working environment. The advances pose a challenge to educational institutions about how to develop learning environments that contribute to meeting the aforementioned necessity. Additionally, the fast pace of technology and innovative knowledge are encouraging universities to employ challenge-based-learning (CBL) approaches in engineering education supported by modern technology such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and other advanced electronic devices. Within the framework of competency-based education (CBE) and CBL are the design, implementation, and evaluation of an intensive 40 h elective course which includes a 5-day challenge to promote the development of disciplinary and transversal competencies in undergraduate engineering students whilst relying on UAVs as the medium where the teaching–learning process takes place. Within this credit course, a case study was carried out considering the framework of an exploratory mixed-methods educational research approach that sought a broad understanding of the studied phenomena using various data collection instruments with quantitative and qualitative characteristics. An innovative academic tool was introduced, namely a thematic UAV platform that systematically exposed students to the principles underlying robotic systems and the scientific method, thereby stimulating their intellectual curiosity as a trigger to solve the posed challenge. Moreover, students came up with innovative teamwork-based solutions to a designed challenge while having an enjoyable and motivating time flying drones on an indoor obstacle course arranged by themselves. The preliminary findings may contribute to the design of other CBL experiences, supported by technology applied for educational purposes, which could promote the development of more disciplinary and transversal competencies in future engineers.

Knowledge Assessment of Engineering College Students of Vellore City, India Regarding Mental Illness

Introduction: Globally, mental disorders are increasing making a huge impact on health, social, human rights, and the economy where no countries are an exception. Evidence has shown that lack of information leads to poor knowledge even affecting attitudes toward persons with mental illness and stigmatization which affects persons suffering from mental illness, making them less likely to seek help from relevant mental health professionals However, there is scanty evidence on knowledge of college students in Vellore, India. This study aimed to assess the knowledge of engineering college students regarding mental illness. Methods: It was an analytical cross-sectional study conducted among undergraduate engineering students. Total enumeration sampling techniques were applied to collect information from 1140 students. Self-administered Knowledge questionnaire was used to gather information. All those information was entered in Epi-Data and analyzed in SPSS version 16. Results were described by calculating the mean, standard deviation, and percentage. Further Bivariate analysis was done using t-test, f-test, ANOVA, and Pearson’s correlations test as per the nature of variables. Results: More than half (52%) of students had inadequate knowledge regarding mental illness. Branch of study, parent occupation, and education, biology as a study background in higher secondary were found to be detrimental to the knowledge of the mental illness. Conclusions: Poor knowledge of mental illness was found to be prevalent in Vellore among engineering college students. It is recommended to plan courses related to mental health for non-medical college students and provide awareness programs.

“That Was the Biggest Help”: The Importance of Familial Support for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Community College Students

This study reveals the informal instrumental and socio-emotional support that non-traditional (e.g., Latinx, Black, Indigenous, and first-generation), low-income community college students pursuing STEM majors receive from family members that combat experiences of marginalization and contribute toward their self-efficacy. Family support can be particularly important for underrepresented undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) students who are at higher risks of dropping out of their program and experience lower levels of success indicators (e.g., sense of belonging, self-concept, and STEM identity) compared to their white and Asian peers. Utilizing a phenomenological approach, we used open-ended questions during focus groups with community college transfer students to gain their experiences with challenges and feelings of belonging in college and STEM. We apply the funds of knowledge framework to investigate the value family support holds for students in navigating STEM challenges and expand the definition of family to include romantic partners and extended family.

Engineering Student Experiences of Group Work

Soft skills are a crucial component for success in today’s workplace as employers increasingly value work that is collaborative and encompasses diverse perspectives. Despite this, most engineering programs fail to explicitly teach students transferable skills, including the best practices of group work. This research sought to explore how undergraduate experiences of group work change over time. This research also investigated what reflecting on cooperative education (co-op) experiences tells us about teaching group work in academic settings. Despite frequently noting the influence of group work in developing their communication skills and brainstorming ideas over time, students become somewhat more frustrated over time with their experiences of group work, mainly due to conflicting personalities and ideas among team members and/or a “slacker” student. However, our findings also show that students become more confident working in teams over time, as upper-year students were more likely to assume a leadership role and self-reported higher past performance as a group member. This study offers insights into the changing group work experiences of undergraduate engineering students as they progress through coursework and engage in experiential learning and work-integrated learning opportunities, such as co-op placements. The findings of this study can inform educators on how to best incorporate methods for teaching transferable soft skills.

Industrial Processes Online Teaching: A Good Practice for Undergraduate Engineering Students in Times of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic required higher education institutions to change the modality of face-to-face to online learning overnight. Adaptations were needed, particularly in industrial process training in Chemical Engineering and related careers. Students could not access companies and industries for internships or industrial visits, intended to allow undergraduate students to observe the process engineers’ work in professional spaces. This paper describes a pedagogical strategy to overcome this limitation. Here, we report an approach applied in an Industrial Processes course, with students from the 8th to 10th semesters and alumni, from the undergraduate Petrochemical Engineering program at Yachay Tech University (Ecuador). In this course, the students developed group projects involving an industrial process analysis focused on economic sectors of interest in the country. The projects also included a revision of official figures and statistics on production data, consumption, and perspectives of the different markets. The execution of these projects promoted students’ active participation through technical discussions by exchanging ideas. A high level of attendance at synchronic classes reflected a high motivation. Through feedback and interviews, the students’ comments confirmed the relevance and value of the strategy applied in the course.

Smartness in engineering: Beliefs of undergraduate engineering students

AbstractBackgroundModern engineering culture is rooted in assumptions of intellectual superiority. Scholars have demonstrated that smartness functions as an oppressive cultural practice in educational settings. However, the shared ways in which undergraduate engineering students understand what it means to be smart remain largely implicit and unexamined.Purpose/HypothesisWe investigated the beliefs held by students about what it means to be smart and the role of smartness in their undergraduate education.Design/MethodWe conducted one‐on‐one, semi‐structured interviews with 20 students at a predominately White institution. Our team utilized open, descriptive coding to iteratively condense our data into categories, codes, and subcodes, followed by analysis to identify and characterize the participants' commonly held beliefs.ResultsStudents believed that being smart is working efficiently or maximizing outcomes while minimizing effort. Determining smartness as efficiency included social comparison and assumptions about effort, which introduced ambiguity into students' judgments of smartness. The resulting social hierarchy (relative positioning as smart) was commonly believed to enable or restrict access to necessary resources.ConclusionsStudents' belief that smartness is an individual capacity to work more efficiently than others obfuscates the reality of smartness as a cultural practice that is baked into our systems and perpetuates inequity. Without action to reveal and disrupt smartness as a structural and oppressive practice, the status quo of inequitable participation in engineering will persist.

Pengembangan Jobsheet Praktek Instalasi Perumahan Berbasis Trainer Langlois Tae 1-3 M

This research was carried out because in the lighting installation course there is no jobsheet on Tae Langlois 1-3 media, so this study aims to produce a jobsheet for Tae Langlois 1-3 media which is useful to support the learning of residential installation courses. The method in this study is the type of research and development R&D (research and development) using a 4D model, consisting of the define, design, develop and disseminate stages. The sample in this study were undergraduate students of electrical engineering, Faculty of Engineering, State University of Padang who had taken practical housing installation courses. Based on the results of the study, the validity data obtained from the three validators, namely the first lecturer was very valid, the second lecturer was very valid, and the third lecturer was valid. So, the results obtained from the three lecturers can be categorized as very valid. The practicality test will be conducted by a lecturer in the electrical engineering department and 20 electrical engineering students who have taken practical housing installation courses. The practicality questionnaire filled out by the lecturers was stated to be very practical and the results from the respondents were very practical. The effectiveness test was carried out by testing the material using the Langlois Tae 1-3M trainer for 4 meetings with 4 different materials with 10 student participants. From the three tests, it can be concluded that the Langlois Tae 1-3M trainer jobsheet is very valid, practical and effective to be used as a supporting job sheet for housing installation practicum courses.

315 Development of a Mobile Software Application to Promote Education, Self-Care, and Treatment Follow-Up among Puerto Rican Breast Cancer Patients

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: This project will design, develop and pilot-test a Spanish-mobile application for breast cancer patients. It is intended that patients will improve treatment adherence, have a personal information storage system for their follow-up healthcare and can have greater control in the processes of diagnosis, treatment, education, and recovery. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: In the first phase, a team of undergraduate engineering students was recruited to work on the areas of: Front End, Database Development, Security Protocols, and Integration. Team Venus will provide the cancer-related content. In the second phase, the engineering team will identify bugs, usability, satisfaction, and workability of the application among a pilot convenience sample of 20 participants from four cancer clinics and the community. The inclusion criteria are being > 21 years old and having a cell phone. The exclusion criterion is not knowing how/being able to use a mobile application. Participants will complete a questionnaire on sociodemographic data, mobile phone and application use, efficacy, usability, and security. Univariate and bivariate statistical analysis will be performed using SPSS. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: The researchers are defining specific visual and content features they would like the application to have. They are also searching and collecting reliable information about cancer from primary sources to incorporate into the tools available to the application’s users. In addition, they have also begun to identify potential cancer treatment facilities and medical personnel to assist in the recruitment of patients for pilot-testing the application. The researchers have divided them into geographical areas in Puerto Rico and each Team Venus member will approach and orient patients and medical personnel about the project. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: It is intended that patients will improve treatment adherence, have a storage system for their follow-up healthcare and greater control in their processes of diagnosis, treatment, education, and recovery. Future goals include use of the database feature by researchers and expanding the testing of the application with a larger patient-base.

A Comparative Analysis of Errors in the Written Productions of Spanish Undergraduate Engineering Students

Writing is a language skill that for most FL students is quite difficult to master. Especially for undergraduate technical students, who have just finished their compulsory secondary education, this seems to be a challenging task since the presence of difficulties in any FL writing forces them to commit various errors in their written productions. Therefore, what this research paper tries to identify is those errors made by engineering students in a public Spanish Polytechnic University over the last two academic years. We shall attempt to categorise errors based on their source following the comparative taxonomy proposed by Dulay, Burt and Krashen. So, in order to conduct this research, a total of 60 essays undertaken by a number of engineering students were selected taking into account their written productions about alternative fuels in the task assigned during the semester. The main objective of this study is to prove that the results obtained from this analysis have undoubtedly demonstrated that, and here is where it lays the significance of this paper, the majority of errors committed by these engineering students can be classified as belonging to the interlingual category, being the category with the highest number of occurrences, unlike previous researches carried out beforehand. Keywords: analysis of errors, comparative taxonomy, engineering students, types of errors DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-11-08 Publication date: April 30 th 2022

Advancing engineering students’ conceptual understanding through puzzle-based learning: a case study with exact differential equations

AbstractCurrent views on the teaching of differential equations (DEs) are shifting towards the use of graphical and numerical methods. Motivated by recent research suggesting that puzzle-based learning (PzBL) can improve the teaching and learning of STEM subjects and by the lack of relevant studies for DEs, we designed two tasks—sophism and paradox—to explore undergraduate engineering students’ conceptual understanding of a classical topic—exact DEs—and to analyse the process of meaning-making during collaborative learning in small groups. One hundred and thirty-five undergraduate engineering students from a public university in Iran participated. In response to recent research signalling the tendency of the students to procedural learning of DEs, we analyse how the students in our study engaged in small group work on puzzle tasks, gaining a more conceptual understanding of exact DEs and acknowledging the efficiency of PzBL in their responses to a questionnaire and in interviews.

Communication Barriers Among Undergraduate Engineering Students: Assignment Project

This study had twofold objectives first, it explored communication barriers of engineering students that impacted their communication performance and the reasons behind their communication barriers. Engineering students enrolled in communication skills course were drawn as respondents. Research instrument was an open-ended questionnaire. Eighty-three (83) undergraduate engineering students participated in this academic survey. Content analysis approach was implemented for data analysis. Findings show that ‘lack of vocabulary, lack of confidence, language problem, hesitation, poor knowledge, poor preparation, stress, anxiety, poor listening skill, fear of criticism, confusion, poor interest, poor judgement, depression, technical jargon, poor perception and overloaded information’ were communication barriers of engineering students. Moreover, the reasons of these communication barriers were lack of vocabulary, low confidence, hesitation, shyness, poor self-esteem, inferiority complex, fear of criticism, anger, poor language, stage fear, memory loss, poor environment and peer pressure.

Effectiveness of a large-scale implementation of hybrid labs for experiential learning at Imperial College London

Experiential learning is an integral component of engineering education. The Chemeng Remote Experience Augmented through TEchnology (CREATE) labs concept was implemented in the academic year 2020–21 in response to COVID19 for first-, second-, and third-year chemical engineering undergraduate students studying at Imperial College London. Using a range of technologies including pan-tilt-zoom cameras and Microsoft HoloLens 2 to provide real-time views of the lab environment from anywhere in the world. Students could control the experiments remotely while graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) operated the equipment based on the students’ instructions. This study is aimed at assessing the effectiveness of this implementation with a focus on student communication and confidence. Students and GTAs were surveyed at the end of labs, and a year-dependent response was observed. The majority of students (>70%) reported experiencing effective communication with team members and GTAs and there was a strong positive correlation between communication and confidence in applying engineering concepts in the labs (χ2 = 79.96; p = 1.69 ×10−10). 5–10% of students from all year groups reported that they disliked the lack of in-person activities. The majority (>90%) of GTAs assisting with experiments stated that they associated their role in the CREATE labs with that of a facilitator. The overall delivery of CREATE labs during academic year 2020–21 was positively received by both students and GTAs with recommendations for in-person activities for first- and second-year students. With minor modifications, CREATE labs has the potential to prepare students for effective remote communication and gain experience in using smart technologies which are key components of Industry 4.0.

Epistemic outcomes of English medium instruction in a South Korean higher education institution

ABSTRACT This paper explores the epistemic outcomes of English Medium Instruction (EMI) in a South Korean Higher Education (HE) context. In order to understand the epistemic outcomes, the exploration draws on existing conceptualisations of linguistic and symbolic capital, and the literature on epistemic justice. The paper makes use of qualitative interview data generated with ten Business and Engineering undergraduate students. The analysis reveals that students’ use and trust the Korean and English languages differently across EMI situations. This observation is used to identify two undesirable epistemic outcomes, including: (a) how students are prevented from negotiating understanding of HE subject content using their L1, and (b) the wider epistemic implications of English as the language that provides access to HE subject content. Finally, with reference to Fricker’s theory of ‘epistemic injustice’, we reflect on the new theoretical understanding we have developed of epistemic outcomes in this South Korean multilingual HE context.

There is more than one way to force a pendulum

The dynamics of a simple pendulum are often presented to undergraduate engineering students in introductory courses in dynamics. It is usually the first dynamic system considered by students that is modelled by a differential equation. This paper presents the standard material given to students. It is fair to say that students are accepting this material, but many do not fully appreciate its importance as a basis for the analysis of other dynamic models. Students also believe that the behaviour of a forced simple pendulum is obvious and is not worthy of a deep analysis. This paper presents many interesting results that are available in the open literature, but is not usually presented to undergraduate students. Some of these are counter-intuitive results such as unstable points becoming stable when forced and deterministic models giving chaotic pendulum trajectories. Many results demonstrate that simple pendulums are very interesting and worthy of analysis. The extension of a forced simple pendulum to an application that all students have experience of a child playing on a swing is presented. Only a limited analysis of the swing models is presented. This leaves some open questions for students and lecturers alike to explore.

A mobile augmented reality system to conduct electrical machines laboratory for undergraduate engineering students during the COVID pandemic

A mobile augmented reality system to conduct electrical machines laboratory for undergraduate engineering students during the COVID pandemic