scholarly journals Impacting the Community through a Sophomore Design Experience

2014 ◽  
pp. 439-459
Author(s):  
Robert L Nagel ◽  
Kyle G Gipson ◽  
Jacquelyn K Nagel ◽  
Thomas Moran
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
James Madison ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
The Past ◽  
Human Powered ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Design Experience

Cornerstone design at James Madison University is a two-semester, client-based service learning project. Each year, sophomore engineering students work to design human-powered vehicles for a community member with needs very different from their own as a result of cerebral palsy. This paper provides a reflection of the fifth iteration (2013-2014) of this year-long sophomore design experience with the overarching goal to provide a transferable model such that other engineering programs may learn from our lessons and develop their own service learning experience. The reflection contained in this paper was catalyzed through participation in the National Science Foundation-funded Integrating Design and Community Engagement within the Curriculum Workshop hosted at Purdue University from June 19-20, 2014. In addition to reflection on the course, the paper provides insight into course coordination and assessment, and lessons learned over the past five years.

Providing Real-World Mechanism Design Experience Through the Early Intervention and Mechanical Engineering (EIME) Project

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen L. Canfield ◽  
Lindsay Smith ◽  
Andrew Bryant
Keyword(s):  
Early Intervention ◽  
Real World ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Everyday Functioning ◽  
Tennessee Technological University ◽  
Novel Applications ◽  
Design Experience

The Early Intervention and Mechanical Engineering (EIME) project provides real-world engineering design experience to undergraduate engineering students while significantly enhancing the services provided to children with special needs in the region surrounding Tennessee Technological University (Upper Cumberland region). These enhanced services are provided through a mutually beneficial collaboration between early intervention and engineering at Tennessee Tech. Engineering students engage in this project as part of a Design of Machinery Course. Student teams are matched with children with needs for novel applications of adaptive and assistive technology to facilitate transitioning of children from early intervention to preschool programs and inclusive environments. The projects are selected to emphasize motion control tasks. Examples include improved mobility, exercise, adaptations for feeding and everyday functioning, and interactive play. The project serves the engineering program by providing real-world design experiences as well as resources to develop and test projects. This paper will describe how the project is integrated into the design of machinery curriculum and present several examples of typical projects. Assessment of student outcomes relative to design and learning experience will be discussed. The paper will conclude with lessons learned and recommendations for future implementation of this project.

scholarly journals SHORT DESIGN PROJECTS FOR AN INTRODUCTORY THERMOFLUIDS ENGINEERING COURSE

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Hastie ◽  
Jan Haelssig
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Team Work ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Design Project ◽  
Introductory Course ◽  
Design Projects ◽  
Second Year

The Faculty of Engineering at Dalhousie University offers a common introductory course that covers the basic principles of thermodynamics and fluid mechanics in a unified manner. This introductory course is a mandatory part of the curriculum for all engineering programs offered at Dalhousie. In this course, students are required to perform six laboratory experiments, and since 2012 students have also completed short, four-week design projects.The short design project helps students to acquire more of the graduate attributes defined by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB), including design, communication, and team work skills. They also provide students with a well-deserved break from purely theoretical work in lectures and tutorials, and a chance to develop some hands-on abilities.This paper describes the lessons learned from the last three design projects, which were focused on modifications to a Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube, design of a pop-pop boat, and design of a double pipe heat exchanger. The primary challenges have been the limited engineering design experience possessed by students in their third semester of studies, the heavy workload that second-year engineering students already have, and the relatively large class size. Even though there are clear challenges related to integrating a design project into a large second-year class, the results seem to indicate that these design projects provide a positive learning experience for the students.

scholarly journals Spaces In-between: Text Poems from Community Practice and Research

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Gerstenblatt ◽  
Diane Rhodes ◽  
Lida Holst
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Community Practice ◽  
Community Members ◽  
University Partnerships ◽  
The Past ◽  
Teacher Researcher ◽  
Fellow Teacher ◽  
Artist Teacher

A commitment on the part of the academy to address social issues has increased over the past three decades, resulting in service learning courses, volunteering opportunities, and community-university partnerships. Faculty, staff, and community practitioners collaborating to lead these efforts often carry enormous responsibility and answer to often competing interests of students, community members, and universities. Using the experience of an scholar/artist/teacher in a university-community partnership founded by the first author in a racially polarized town, this article explores the potential of arts-based methods, specifically poetry and collage, to mitigate the consequence of this work. The format is a dialogue between two engaged teacher/researcher/practitioners and friends to clarify the hidden experience of the researcher with narrative truth to articulate and share not only experiences, but also lessons learned as a contribution to our fellow teacher/researcher/practitioners.

scholarly journals Conceptual Framework for Assessing Process Variables Salient for Service-Learning Experience

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ka Hing Lau ◽  
Robin Snell
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Community Service ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Community Partner ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Data Set ◽  
The Past ◽  
Multi Stakeholder ◽  
Effective Integration

Service-learning is an established pedagogy which integrates experiential learning with community service. It has been widely adopted in higher education around the world including in Hong Kong, yet the key ingredients that determine its successful impacts for its stakeholders have not been fully assessed. This study reviewed the past literature, which indicates the key ingredients that may be found in successful service-learning programmes. We identify six key ingredients: students provide meaningful service; the community partner representative plays a positive role; effective preparation and support for students; effective reflection by students; effective integration of service-learning within the course design; and stakeholder synergy in terms of collaboration, communication and co-ownership. In order to obtain an inter-subjectively fair and trustworthy data set, reflecting the extent to which those key ingredients are perceived to have been achieved, we propose a multi-stakeholder approach for data collection, involving students, instructors and community partner representatives.

scholarly journals Lessons learned about ageing and gerontological nursing in South Africa

Curationis ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Staja Q. Booker
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Nursing Education ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Innovative Teaching ◽  
Gerontological Nursing ◽  
The Usa

Background: The unprecedented global growth in older adults merits high-quality gerontological nursing care. As gerontological nursing grows in visibility in developed and developing countries, nurses must possess a broader worldview of ageing with knowledge of physiological, psychosocial, and cultural issues.Purpose: The purpose of this article is to: (1) highlight lessons learned on differences and similarities in ageing and care of older adults in the United States of America (USA) and South Africa (SA); and (2) provide recommendations on how to advance gerontological nursingeducation in SA.Methods: A two-week international service-learning project was undertaken by visiting SA and learning about their nursing system and care of older adults. Service-learning is an innovative teaching-learning-service method that provided reflective and hands-on experience of gerontological nursing. This article provides a personal reflection of lessons learned about ageing and gerontological nursing during the service-learning project.Findings: Care of older adults in SA is in many ways different from and similar to that in the USA. Consequently global nurses should recognise those differences and provide culturally appropriate care. This service-learning experience also demonstrated the need for gerontological nursing education in SA. Based on this, recommendations on how to infuse and advance gerontological nursing education in SA are provided.Conclusion: Caring for older adults in a global context requires knowledge and understanding of cultures and their values and practices. With a growing population of diverse older adults, there is a need for incorporation

scholarly journals Merging Engineering Education with Service-Learning: How Community Based Projects Encourage Socially Conscious Engineers

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-22
Author(s):  
Aaron Brown ◽  
Michael Bauer
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Engineering Education ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Attrition Rate ◽  
Creative Problem Solving ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Creative Problem

Engineers provide essential services to society, solving pressing challenges through technological inventiveness. Students new to engineering often cite the lure of creative problem solving as attracting them to the discipline. However, traditional engineering curricula typically focus on a narrow application of fundamentals for solving closed-ended problems. Too often, engineering programs do not encourage inventive expression in problem solving. Not surprisingly, the attrition rate for engineering programs is unusually high. Recently, engineering education has shifted its focus to new, more engaging practices that incorporate hands-on methods, boosting prospects for students to engage in creative problem solving. Because service learning provides opportunities for applied work, incorporating it into engineering education programs in can engage students positively and lower attrition rates. Moreover, since engineers are fundamentally involved with social improvement, then engaging students in activities that expand their understanding of the potential impact their skills may impart to a community is not only prudent but best practices. This paper explores two case studies of community-based service learning engineering projects, highlighting community partnerships, analyses and decision-making that helped drive designs and outcomes. It explores how both the communities and students benefitted, focusing notably on the influence these activities had on student understanding of their work, academic and/or professional direction and social consciousness. These are analyzed via longitudinal reporting of students incorporating lessons learned several years post-project. The service learning projects took place in marginalized communities in Denver and Costa Rica. In the Denver project, engineering students designed, built and installed low cost solar heaters into an area with poor housing stock. In Costa Rica, students built a solar water heater for a local school. Keywords: applied learning, engineering education, experiential learning, service-learning.

A 3D, Interactive Virtual Instruction Laboratory and a Virtual Model of a Reactor Control Room

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ye Li ◽  
Imran Haddish ◽  
Xuefeng Zhu ◽  
Yoshinori Satoh ◽  
Rizwan Uddin
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Nuclear Reactor ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Student Population ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Nuclear Engineering ◽  
Operator Training ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Virtual Instruction ◽  
Virtual Lab

Efficient and effective education and training of nuclear engineering students, nuclear reactor operators, their supervisors, and other personnel are critical for the safe operation and maintenance of any nuclear reactor, whether for research or commercial power generation. Radiation and reactor laboratories are a very important part of such training. Recent increase in the student population in nuclear engineering programs has put strains on laboratory resources. This increase in student population, constraints on resources and qualitative improvements in gaming technology have led researchers in the field of radiological and nuclear engineering to explore virtual, game-like models to provide the needed experience [1–3]. Though virtual lab experience may never completely replace an actual physical lab experience in educational institutions, in some ways virtual labs may provide a better experience than limited cookbook style executions in a physical lab or reactor operator training course. We have earlier reported our initial efforts toward the development of a generic virtual and interactive laboratory environment [3]. This virtual lab presents a fully immersive learning experience. We here report the specifics of a radiation lab in which half-life and shielding experiments can be conducted, and simulation-based real-physics data can be gathered.

The Teaching Value of Defining Iterative Design Projects in Serving Capstone Engineering Undergraduate Education

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander V. Mirzamoghadam ◽  
Jacob C. Harding
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
First Year ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Iterative Design ◽  
The Past ◽  
Slip Ring ◽  
Steady State Operation ◽  
Student Team

In the past several years, the traditional fourth year “hands-on” requirement for engineering programs in the US is being satisfied by what is now called Capstone Senior Design Project (herein referred to as CSDP). The engineering CSDP program director sends a call to the local industries within the State for solicitation of project proposals that will be worked on by the interdisciplinary engineering student team. Each industrial participant will have to contribute a preset budget defined by the program to the engineering school for each submitted proposal that has been selected by the student team. Honeywell has been an avid participant in the University of Arizona CSDP program for the past several years. Rather than define a simple CSDP that can be fully completed in the first attempt, the author has sought the value of teaching iterative design to the student team by defining a multi-year CSDP scope, in that after the first year, each successive team learns from the past design and implements its own improvement to the design it inherits. This paper gives an overview of Honeywell’s CSDP titled “Measuring Heat Transfer in Annular Flow Between Co-Rotating or Counter-Rotating Cylinders”. Now in its fourth iteration, each wave of student team has been able to understand the complexity of the design, the challenge of testing for structural integrity, the controllability of implementing a balanced system of heat gain and loss to reach steady state operation, the evolution of starting with slip ring temperature measurements and ending at wireless telemetry, DOE testing to rank influencing variables, and heat transfer correlation of the data relating Nusselt versus Reynolds number. Beginning with the first year CSDP team, this paper covers the design approach selected by that team, its results, and the lessons learned as a result of failure in meeting the full requirements, which is then taken on by the next group of students the following year.

Reforming heat and power technology course using student feedback to enhance learning experience

2020 ◽  
pp. 030641901989993
Author(s):  
Ioanna Aslanidou ◽  
Nathan Zimmerman ◽  
Evangelia Pontika ◽  
Anestis I Kalfas ◽  
Konstantinos G Kyprianidis
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Student Motivation ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Student Feedback ◽  
Educational Goals ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Essential Skills ◽  
Mind Set ◽  
Insight Into

The main outcomes of an engineering course should be for the students to achieve the educational goals, enhance their problem solving capabilities and develop essential skills for their future career. In that context, it is important to understand what motivates the students and what helps them develop an engineering mind-set. This paper discusses the improvement of a course with the use of student feedback to motivate students and help them develop essential skills. The purpose of the paper is to provide insight into how different aspects of the course are linked to the students’ growth. Different activities have been integrated in the course over the past years. The effect these have on the student motivation to follow the course and develop skills, knowledge and interest in the subject is discussed through the analysis of student performance, student feedback and the experience of the lecturers. The improvements in the course based on the student feedback were received positively by the students, whose learning experience improved, even though the workload of the course was high. Their motivation to successfully complete the course has also increased through the changes in the delivery of the course and the support by the teachers. The combination of student feedback and teacher experience is key for the improvement of a course, while ensuring that the students develop their engineering knowledge. Therefore, the teachers should strike a balance between helping the students find the solution and encouraging them to think on their own in order to develop essential skills.

The ASME Student Design Contest as a Transitional Design Experience

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Choate ◽  
Kevin Schmaltz
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Rapid Prototype ◽  
Design Teams ◽  
Program Outcomes ◽  
Design Component ◽  
The Past ◽  
Cad Models ◽  
Course Outcomes ◽  
Design Experience

Teams of Mechanical Engineering students at Western Kentucky University (WKU) participate in the ASME Student Design Contest (SDC) as a component of a Junior Design course. The required course activities include a design review, a mock contest at WKU, and project documentation. Students are also given the option of attending the Regional Conference SDC. Over the past two years, every team has participated at the Regional SDC, with 19 of 27 students attending. Both the 2004 and 2005 WKU teams won the regional competition. The Junior Design course uses the SDC as an intermediate component of a Professional Plan developed and implemented by the WKU ME faculty to assure that program graduates have experienced key areas of the engineering profession and demonstrated the ability to perform in a professional manner. The Professional Component consists of Engineering Design, Professional Communications, Professional Tools, and Ethics. Students receive instruction and practice in all four areas at least once per academic year. With the Engineering Design sequence, freshmen individually build an artifact, sophomores function in design teams, and juniors extend the design experience to an external audience. Technical rigor and faculty expectations obviously rise at each level. The goal is for seniors to be prepared to implement an industry-based project subject to realistic constraints and customer needs. As one of the two design projects in the Junior Design course, the SDC provides a structured design experience with an external flavor. Student teams must demonstrate both problem solving under constraints as well as creativity. To reinforce the economic aspects of design, teams are given a budget, and must fund over expenditures themselves. In addition to the design component of the SDC, the project also includes Professional Communications in the form of design reviews and design notebooks, and Professional Tools such as software for communication, CAD and analytical calculations. The 2005 class has been effective producing rapid prototype components of their designs from CAD models. The Junior Design implementation of the SDC has evolved over the past three years guided by ongoing assessment of both the course and the Professional Component program outcomes. The milestones and associated requirements in the ASME SDC project provides a definitive set of deliverables throughout the progression of the semester long experience. Individual and team performance can be monitored and evaluated with timely feedback, and course outcomes map well into program level assessment. This is a strength of the Professional Component framework that allows for building upon previous coursework, assessing student progress, and adjusting course coverage based on prior assessments to assure that graduating ME students are capable of practicing as engineers.

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