Sketching in Design: Easily Influencing Behavior

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Ruocco ◽  
Sophoria Westmoreland ◽  
Linda C. Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Mechanical Design ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Design Problems ◽  
University Of Maryland ◽  
Capstone Course ◽  
Conceptual Design Phase ◽  
Documentation Tool ◽  
The University

Many studies have shown the importance of sketching skill in engineering design, more specifically in the conceptual design phase. Yet, engineering students today clearly have a preference when it comes to design and sketching is not often included in their visual documentation tool kit. The reasons may be that first, today’s contemporary engineering course plan does not include a sketch training course leaving students feeling inadequate to the task. Secondly in such a demanding fast passed global economy, time is of the essence and tools such as CAD, Pro-E, and Inventor offer quick solutions to design problems. Overall students do not appear to appreciate the value of sketching in the design process. This must be changed. This paper presents the results of a study to intervene with the purpose of influencing student use of sketching during design in a senior capstone course at The University of Maryland. The students sketches are reviewed pre and post a specific lesson based on the importance of sketching in mechanical design. This sketching importance lesson changed the content of the sketches when compared to a control group.

scholarly journals Recent Enhancements to the Biosystems Engineering Design Trilogy at the University of Manitoba

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danny D Mann ◽  
Kris J Dick ◽  
Sandra A Ingram
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Professional Communication ◽  
First Year ◽  
Design Problems ◽  
Capstone Course ◽  
University Of Manitoba ◽  
Second Year ◽  
The University

In previous years, several improvements to the teaching of engineering design were made by staff in the Department of Biosystems Engineering at The University of Manitoba. The first innovation occurred when a trilogy of courses spanning the final three years of the program was introduced as a replacement for a single capstone course in the final year of the program. In its original conception, engineering students were to get three opportunities to be involved in design problems originating from industry, with greater expectations with each subsequent experience. A second innovation occurred when technical communication was formally integrated within the trilogy of design courses. This innovation has helped engineering students realize the value of professional communication skills in collaborating with each other and in preparing reports and presentations for an industry client. A third innovation occurred three years ago when the decision was made to allow students to participate in the prototyping of their designs. The so-called “Design Trilogy” now consists of a single course (Design Trilogy I) taken during the second year of the engineering program (which builds upon the first-year design experience with the requirement of a conceptual solution in response to a design problem provided by industry) and two courses taken during the final year of the program. Students are required to have a design completed on paper by the completion of Design Trilogy II and fabrication of the prototype occurs during Design Trilogy III. The student experience in the Design Trilogy, with particular emphasis on curriculum innovations in Design Trilogy III, will be discussed.

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF E-INTEGRAL MAP IN SOLVING INTEGRAL CALCULUS PROBLEMS

2016 ◽  
Vol 78 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nor Hazizah Julaihi ◽  
Tang Howe Eng ◽  
Voon Li Li
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Design ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Design Research ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Integral Calculus ◽  
Text Book ◽  
Mathematics Knowledge ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Integration Techniques ◽  
The University

The existing gap of mathematics knowledge was identified as the major contributor to the decline in the students’ performance on the Integral Calculus at the university level. This phenomenon has led to university students’ difficulties in identifying the correct integration techniques and developing understanding on applications of the Integral Calculus. This study aims to analyse the effectiveness of e-INTEGRAL MAP in the learning of Integral Calculus among engineering students of advanced Calculus class. A total of 118 diploma engineering students were involved in an experimental design research to study on the usage and effectiveness of e-INTEGRAL MAP. Study was performed on 65 students in control group and 53 students in treatment group, using the pre-test and post-test experimental design methodology where the effectiveness of the maps was measured through their performance scores. Findings indicate that both control and treatment groups showed significant differences in post-test scores during the two months study. The majority of e-INTEGRAL MAP users found the maps very useful, helpful, easy to understand and user-friendly because it was systematically designed. In conclusion, e-INTEGRAL MAP significantly improved the students’ performance and understanding on the topic of Integral Calculus as compared to the conventional text-book learning.

Cultivating Students’ Ability of Applying Knowledge in Engineering Design Through Course Project

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jining Qiu ◽  
Bo Zhang ◽  
Huimin Dong ◽  
Yuan Gao
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Mechanical Design ◽  
Gear Train ◽  
Design Problems ◽  
Academic Knowledge ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
University Of Technology ◽  
Engineering Design Problems ◽  
Wind Power Generator

The ability to solve engineering design problems using academic knowledge flexibly is essential for mechanical engineering students and is also quality that employers look for. This paper introduces how students could explore and experience the process of mechanical design in the course project of Theory of Machines and Mechanisms (TMM) in Dalian University of Technology (DUT) through sharing the design process of accelerator (gear-box) in wind power generator by one representative team of students in the course project. Firstly, design requirements are set based on industrial need and the choosing of the best scheme of multi-stage gear train is conducted. Following that is the design of kinematic parameters of gears and the evaluation of selected system. Then, a possible solution to control the input speed of the generator is proposed. In the end, a survey to 279 students who participate in the course project shows the importance of course project in cultivating their ability to apply knowledge in design.

Concepts in Biomimetic Design: Methods and Tools to Incorporate Into a Biomimetic Design Course

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W. Glier ◽  
Daniel A. McAdams ◽  
Julie S. Linsey
Keyword(s):  
Analogical Reasoning ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Biological Information ◽  
University Of Maryland ◽  
Biomimetic Design ◽  
Engineering Problems ◽  
Institute Of Technology ◽  
The Many ◽  
The University

Biomimetic design, the use of nature to inspire solutions to engineering problems, has been practiced on an ad hoc basis throughout human history. Only recently, however, have researchers sought to develop formal tools and principles to effectively tap the wealth of design solutions found within nature. Texas A&M University is developing an undergraduate course to introduce interdisciplinary engineering students to the current concepts, principles, and methods of biomimetic design, as found in published literature. This paper seeks to concisely present the results and conclusions of the many research efforts that will be incorporated into the developing course. The research reviewed in this paper is discussed with some emphasis on its pedagogical implications. Research efforts in applying design tools such as functional modeling, analogical reasoning, and the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) to biomimicry are summarized. This paper also discusses the efforts to develop effective tools to search biological information for design inspiration. As similar courses in biomimetic design have been conducted at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Maryland, the published findings from those courses are also presented.

Book Reviews

2012 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 803-804
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
Gross National Product ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Brookings Institution ◽  
Gross National Happiness ◽  
University Of Maryland ◽  
New Science ◽  
College Park ◽  
The University

Andrew Clark of Paris School of Economics reviews “The Pursuit of Happiness: An Economy of Well-Being” by Carol Graham. The EconLit abstract of the reviewed work begins: Explores the benefits and drawbacks of delving into the policy realm with happiness research and indicators, focusing on whether policy should be concerned with the issue of happiness. Discusses happiness -- a new science; what we mean by happiness -- a ““““theory'' of agency and well-being; happiness around the world -- what we know; adaptation and other puzzles; and gross national happiness versus gross national product. Graham is a senior fellow in Global Economy and Development and Charles Robinson Chair in Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution and College Park Professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland. Index.

Epistemic and relational conflicts in sharing identical vs. complementary information during cooperative learning

2002 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 139-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Céline Darnon ◽  
Céline Buchs ◽  
Fabrizio Butera
Keyword(s):  
Cooperative Learning ◽  
Social Comparison ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Complementary Information ◽  
Relational Conflict ◽  
The Social ◽  
The University

When interacting on a learning task, which is typical of several academic situations, individuals may experience two different motives: Understanding the problem, or showing their competences. When a conflict (confrontation of divergent propositions) emerges from this interaction, it can be solved either in an epistemic way (focused on the task) or in a relational way (focused on the social comparison of competences). The latter is believed to be detrimental for learning. Moreover, research on cooperative learning shows that when they share identical information, partners are led to compare to each other, and are less encouraged to cooperate than when they share complementary information. An epistemic vs. relational conflict vs. no conflict was provoked in dyads composed by a participant and a confederate, working either on identical or on complementary information (N = 122). Results showed that, if relational and epistemic conflicts both entailed more perceived interactions and divergence than the control group, only relational conflict entailed more perceived comparison activities and a less positive relationship than the control group. Epistemic conflict resulted in a more positive perceived relationship than the control group. As far as performance is concerned, relational conflict led to a worse learning than epistemic conflict, and - after a delay - than the control group. An interaction between the two variables on delayed performance showed that epistemic and relational conflicts were different only when working with complementary information. This study shows the importance of the quality of relationship when sharing information during cooperative learning, a crucial factor to be taken into account when planning educational settings at the university.

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