scholarly journals DEVELOPMENT OF “INTRODUCTION TO ENGINEERING” COURSES FOR FIRST YEAR ENGINEERING STUDENTS: A FOCUS ON STUDENT ATTITUDES

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel B. Frey ◽  
Ryan Banow
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Time Management ◽  
Student Attitudes ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Well Being ◽  
First Year ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
College Of Engineering

Many students entering an engineering program have a strong appreciation of the importance of math- and science-based skills for their future career as an engineer, but often have little grasp of what it means to be entering a professional college.  For this reason, many engineering programs in Canada include some form of an “Introduction to the Engineering Profession” in their first-year program.  The University of Saskatchewan’s College of Engineering has been working toward the launch of a completely redesigned first year program.  This project has afforded the College an opportunity to apply a novel and transferable approach to shaping this “Introduction to the Engineering” experience.  The structure of the proposed new first year program has allowed for short and intensive “Introduction to Engineering” modules, which bookend each of the regular session terms.  This timing makes them an orientation for the program, allowing for timely deep dives into matters of importance to engineering students: study skills, time-management, teamwork, self-assessment, support services, student well-being, ethics, academic integrity, and health and safety.  The timing of the modules also allows for completion of term-long assignments and reflection on both personal and academic growth. This paper describes the process employed to develop the course learning outcomes, schedule of topics and activities, and syllabi.  The process focused on over-arching target attitudes, such as “I am on the path to becoming a professional”, and ensured constructive alignment between these attitudes and the learning outcomes, learning activities, and assessment.  The nature of the process made it easy to clarify what was essential to include in the courses, and to make a compelling case for the importance of the courses in the context of a myriad of foundational technical topics.   

scholarly journals Self-assessment based on language learning outcomes: a study with first year engineering students

2010 ◽  
pp. 133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pilar Durán Escribano ◽  
Joana Pierce McMahon
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Bologna Process ◽  
First Year ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Assessment Practice ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Language Courses ◽  
The Bologna Process

As the Bologna Process moves forward, changes in European systems of higher education are expected. The introduction of the ECTS focussing on the students’ achievements described in terms of the learning outcomes and competences acquired is one of the innovations. This process, encouraged by Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, signifies a change in teaching focus, from an input model to an output one, which promotes self-assessment in a flexible curriculum, in this case adapted to student’s language profile. To illustrate this new approach in language learning, a pilot experience with Technical English mining engineering students is discussed, with special attention to learner reflection and self-assessment practices. Students’ progress in self-assessment, based on the introduction of learning outcomes in specific language courses, is analysed to conclude that personal engagement and clear purpose -specified in terms of learning outcomes- seem to have become relevant components to student's self-assessment practice.

Implementation of the Second-year course in an Engineering Professional Spine

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umar Iqbal ◽  
Deena Salem ◽  
David Strong
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Research University ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Employability Skills ◽  
First Year ◽  
Computer Engineering ◽  
Core Courses ◽  
Second Year ◽  
First Time ◽  
Academic Year

The objective of this paper is to document the experience of developing and implementing a second-year course in an engineering professional spine that was developed in a first-tier research university and relies on project-based core courses. The main objective of this spine is to develop the students’ cognitive and employability skills that will allow them to stand out from the crowd of other engineering graduates.The spine was developed and delivered for the first time in the academic year 2010-2011 for first-year general engineering students. In the year 2011-2012, those students joined different programs, and accordingly the second-year course was tailored to align with the different programs’ learning outcomes. This paper discusses the development and implementation of the course in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department.

First-Year Engineering Computing Courses in Canadian Engineering Programs

1969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Maw ◽  
Janice Miller Young ◽  
Alexis Morris
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Expected Value ◽  
Knowledge Development ◽  
First Year ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Digital Computation ◽  
Pedagogical Philosophies ◽  
Introductory Computing

Most Canadian engineering students take a computing course in their first year that introduces them to digital computation. The Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board does not specify the language(s) that can or should be used for instruction. As a result, a variety of languages are used across Canada. This study examines which languages are used in degree-granting institutions, currently and in the recent past. It also examines why institutions have chosen the languages that they currently use. In addition to the language used in instruction, the types and hours of instruction are also analyzed. Methods of instruction and evaluation are compared, as well as the pedagogical philosophies of the different programs with respect to introductory computing. Finally, a comparison of the expected value of this course to graduates is also presented. We found a more diverse landscape for introductory computing courses than anticipated, in most respects. The guiding ethos at most institutions is skill and knowledge development, especially around problem solving in an engineering context. The methods to achieve this are quite varied, and so are the languages employed in such courses. Most programs currently use C/C++, Matlab, VB and/or Python.

Replicating Anatomical Teaching Specimens using 3D Modelling Embedded within a Multimodal E-Learning Course: A Pre/Post Study Exploring the Impact on Medical Education during COVID-19 (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsea Stunden ◽  
Sima Zakani ◽  
Avery Martin ◽  
Shreya Moodley ◽  
John Jacob
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Student Attitudes ◽  
Congenital Heart ◽  
Secondary Outcome ◽  
First Year ◽  
Undergraduate Medical Students ◽  
E Learning ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had significant effects on anatomy education. During the pandemic, students have had no access to cadavers, which has been the principal way of learning anatomy. We created and tested a customized congenital heart disease e-learning course for medical students that contained interactive 3D models of anonymized pediatric congenital heart defects. OBJECTIVE To assess if a multimodal e-learning course contributed to learning outcomes in a cohort of first year undergraduate medical students study congenital heart diseases. Secondarily, we assess student attitudes and experiences associated with multimodal e-learning. METHODS The pre/post study design involved 290 first year undergraduate medical students. Recruitment was conducted through the course instructors. Data were collected before using the course and after using the course. The primary outcome was knowledge acquisition (test scores). The secondary outcome included attitudes and experiences, as well as time to complete the modules, and browser metadata. RESULTS A total of 141 students were included in the final analysis (N=141). Students’ knowledge significantly improved by an average of 44.6% when using the course (SD 1.73, Z = -10.287, p < 0.001). 88.26% of students were highly motivated to learn with the course and 93.5% of students reported positive experiences with the course. There was a strong correlation between attitudes and experiences, which was statistically significant (rs = 0.687, p<0.001, N = 122). There were no relationships found between change test scores and attitudes or experiences (p>0.05). Students most frequently completed the e-learning course with Chrome (77.3%), and on Apple MacOS (61.0%) or Windows 10 (36.9%). Most students had devices with high-definition screens (83.0%). Most students (58.9%) completed the course in under 3 hours. CONCLUSIONS Multi-modal e-learning could be a viable solution to improving learning outcomes and experiences for undergraduate medical students, who do not have access to cadavers. Future research should focus on validating long-term learning outcomes. CLINICALTRIAL n/a

scholarly journals Creativity in Design Engineers: Attitudes, Opinions and Potentially Influential Factors

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Neufeld ◽  
Omid Mirzaei ◽  
Mark Runco ◽  
Sean Maw
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Initial Study ◽  
Influential Factors ◽  
Measurement Tool ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Design Engineers ◽  
Creativity Research ◽  
College Of Engineering

Is creativity important in engineering design? If it is, then why do most undergraduate engineering programs spend so little time teaching creativity? And therefore, as a result of our programs, do our students emerge more creative, less creative or no different compared to when they arrived? If creativity is worth developing, can we accurately measure it in our students, and can we enhance it systematically?These were some of the questions that motivated the initiation of a creativity research program in the College of Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan. The assumption was that creativity is important in engineering, especially in design. The intent was to understand how we could assess creativity in our students and then enhance it.The focus of this initial study is a precursor to many of these more applied questions. We had students and faculty from a variety of Colleges, including Engineering, answer an online survey that probed attitudes towards creativity, respondent personality characteristics, opinions regarding conditional influences on creativity, and potential demographic factors influencing the creativity of individuals. As well, we employed a validated creativity attitudes and beliefs measurement tool (rCAB) as an accepted benchmark for assessment.The survey included both closed- and open-ended questions. The results from some of the open-ended questions have been analyzed to determine emerging groups of similar types of answers, and then efforts have been made to relate the groups in a meaningful framework.The results for the Engineering students are emphasized, but they are also compared with students and faculty from other Colleges. Closed questions were analyzed using inferential statistical tests (distributions, means, standard deviations, t-tests, ANOVA, Cronbach’s alpha), while the open-ended responses are compared more qualitatively when they cannot be quantified easily.The survey went through ethics approval and was distributed in the latter half of the Fall 2015 term.

Engineering Innovation in Biomedical Nanotechnology

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eniko T. Enikov ◽  
Zoltán Szabó ◽  
Rein Anton ◽  
Jesse Skoch ◽  
Whitney Sheen
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Qualitative Assessment ◽  
First Year ◽  
Nanoscale Science And Engineering ◽  
Training Project ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Nanoscale Science ◽  
College Of Engineering ◽  
Student Projects ◽  
Institutional Challenges

The objective of this National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded undergraduate engineering training project is to introduce nanoscale science and engineering through an innovative use of a technical elective sophomore-level mechatronics course, followed by an Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET)-mandated senior-level engineering capstone design project. A unique partnership between University of Arizona’s department of surgery, its neurosurgical division, and the College of Engineering presents a creative environment, where medical residents serve as mentors for undergraduate engineering students in developing product ideas enabled by nanotechnology. Examples include: a smart ventricular peritoneal (VP) shunt with flow-sensing; a bio-resorbable inflatable stent for drug delivery, and a hand-held non-invasive eye tonometer. Results from the first year of the student projects, as well as qualitative assessment of their experience, is presented. Several institutional challenges were also identified.

EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF CONTEMPORARY PRINCIPLES ON LEARNING AND TEACHING A FUNDAMENTAL FIRST-YEAR ENGINEERING COURSE

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. X. Zhang ◽  
C. Yang
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Team Work ◽  
Independent Learning ◽  
First Year ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
Teaching Principles ◽  
Engineering Mechanics ◽  
Teaching Pedagogies

Statics is the most fundamental component of Engineering Mechanics, and it is usually delivered in the first year in a common core course for engineering programs. The delivery of this key unit to the fresh first-year engineering students is very challenging and thus teaching pedagogies, strategies and methods should be further developed in response to the challenges in this important course which critically facilitates the transition of the students from high school to university and establishes their foundation knowledge on Engineering Mechanics. This paper reports the effective implementation of contemporary learning and teaching principles in a first-year core engineering course-Statics. The learning and teaching activities designed in this course include independent learning and collaborative learning, problem and project-based team work and peer learning, and progressive assessments. Effective teaching pedagogies, strategies and methodologies are developed on the basis of these educational principles to engage and motivate the first-year engineering students at most. The proposed methodologies are demonstrated effective in engaging a medium to large size class and the results of formal course surveys demonstrate the efficiency of these methods.

scholarly journals GEODETIC SURVEYING STUDIES FOR CIVIL ENGINEERING STUDENTS AT TALLINN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

2012 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-91
Author(s):  
Nelli Ustinova ◽  
Vello Kala ◽  
Tarvo Mill ◽  
Artu Ellmann
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Field Survey ◽  
Civil Engineering ◽  
Modular System ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
University Of Technology ◽  
Optical Theodolite ◽  
Geodetic Surveying

Studies in the Tallinn University of Technology are based on a modular system, where geodetic surveying comprises a self-contained study module in the curricula of all civil engineering specialities. Due to geodetic surveying being taught to all first year students of civil engineering, it serves as a touchstone to test a student's suitability for an engineering specialism. Future civil engineers are taught basic geodetic measurements and how to use optical theodolite, levelling instrument and laser level. The paper gives an overview of geodetic surveying lectures, laboratory classes and field survey camp. Teaching and assessment are based on learning outcomes. Students who have passed the exam are allowed to participate in the summer field survey camp, the aim of which is consolidating the knowledge acquired throughout the year and practising teamwork.

scholarly journals Biomedical graduate student experiences during the COVID-19 university closure

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0256687
Author(s):  
Janani Varadarajan ◽  
Abigail M. Brown ◽  
Roger Chalkley
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Health ◽  
Time Management ◽  
Well Being ◽  
First Year ◽  
Biomedical Sciences ◽  
Spring Semester ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
The University ◽  
Senior Students ◽  
Remote Learning

COVID-19-associated university closures moved classes online and interrupted ongoing research in universities throughout the US. In Vanderbilt University, first year biomedical sciences PhD students were in the middle of their spring semester coursework and in the process of identifying a thesis research lab, while senior students who had already completed the first year were at various stages of their graduate training and were working on their thesis research projects. To learn how the university closure and resulting interruptions impacted our students’ learning and well-being, we administered two surveys, one to the first year students and the other to the senior students. Our main findings show that the university closure negatively impacted the overall psychological health of about one-third of the survey respondents, time management was the aspect of remote learning that caused the highest stress for close to 50% of the students, and interaction with their peers and in-person discussions were the aspects of on-campus learning that students missed the most during the remote learning period. Additionally, survey responses also show that students experienced positive outcomes as a result of remote learning that included spending increased time on additional learning interests, with family, on self-care, and for dissertation or manuscript writing. Though a variety of supportive resources are already available to students in our institution, results from our survey suggest enhancing these measures and identifying new ones targeted to addressing the academic and emotional needs of PhD students would be beneficial. Such support measures may be appropriate for students in other institutions as well.

scholarly journals Understanding Barriers to Student Success: What Students Have to Say

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Kuley ◽  
Sean Maw ◽  
Terry Fonstad
Keyword(s):  
Student Success ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
Directed Learning ◽  
College Of Engineering ◽  
The University

This paper focuses on feedback received from a set of qualitative questions that were administered to undergraduate students in the College of Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan, as part of a larger mixed methods study. The larger study aims to identify what characteristics, if any, can predict or are related to student success; The “start-stop-continue” method was utilized to assess student perceptions about  their success in the college as a whole. The students were asked: Are there any specific things that you can think of that act/acted as barriers to your success in engineering (stop)? What could the college do/change to make first year more successful for engineering students (start)? Is there anything in your engineering degree so far that you feel is done well and helps students succeed (continue)? Students identified the quality of instruction early in their program as well as adjustment to college workloads and self-directed learning as the most significant barriers tostudent success.

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