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This paper examines the distance learning process by providing an informed student's perspective as well as the instructor's perspective on an Internet-based synchronous distance learning experience. Throughout the semester, the student maintained a class-by-class journal on his experiences and reactions to the Internet-based course. This journal served as a crucial resource in the subsequent evaluation of the virtual classroom experience. The analysis provided in this paper, informed by current research on traditional and distance education, suggests that community, interaction, pedagogy, attention, and feedback play important roles in the success of an Internet-based learning experience. Specific comments by the course instructor, as well as survey results from both students and other instructors for a number of synchronous Internet-based courses, are also presented. This data further illuminates the student synchronous distance education experience and contributes additional insight into the delivery method and its ongoing evolution. The unique observations and conclusions provided here are useful for both instructors and students interested in participating in synchronous as well as asynchronous computer-mediated education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND Engineering graduate education, particularly at the doctoral level, relies heavily on mentored research experiences often conducted in a research group. PURPOSE (HYPOTHESIS) The purpose of this study is to understand how and under what conditions research groups foster successful learning and professional development for graduate engineering students, and how these findings can be used to inform management of engineering research groups to optimize student learning, productivity, and intent to complete the degree. DESIGN/METHOD This study utilizes a sequential exploratory mixed methods design, with nine months of ethnographically guided observations and interviews used to develop an online survey instrument. Data reported in this paper include results from the ethnographic analysis and survey responses from over 800 students at four institutions. RESULTS Key findings from the ethnographic analysis indicate that group size directly influences the mechanisms of student learning. Survey results confirm the prevalence of engineering graduate research groups, as well as several elements common across research groups from different universities and academic departments, including: interactions and communication, access to resources, and role of the advisor. CONCLUSIONS An understanding of the mechanisms for learning in research groups can be used by engineering administrators, faculty members, and graduate students to create an environment that fosters successful learning and professional development. We also recommend practices for ensuring positive experiences for all graduate students, which may ultimately reduce attrition from engineering graduate programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the summer Research Experience for Undergraduates offered by the NSF-sponsored VaNTH Engineering Research Center in Bioengineering, core competency instruction in ethics and communication was integrated into students' research experiences outside of formal courses. This paper describes our instructional approach and presents an initial evaluation of its effectiveness. A simple concept mapping assessment used at the beginning and end of the summer suggests that students made gains in both areas. In ethics, students developed greater awareness of key concepts, such as respect for persons (informed consent), beneficence, justice, and integrity. Gains in communication were more modest, but the maps revealed growth in understanding the importance of audience and the multifaceted nature of technical communication. Overall, the study suggests that students can make measurable strides in core competencies without taking formal courses. Future research should consider integrating components of our intervention into other non-credit experiences for engineering undergraduates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To respond to the digital building environment and Industry 4.0 in building information modeling (BIM)‐based mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems this study developed a new approach to engineering capstone projects. This article reports on a case study of the development of the innovative capstone project for engineering majors, which is based on team‐based learning (TBL) combined with the 360‐degree evaluation feedback method to cultivate students' BIM competency. The data collection and analysis involves a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, which aims to evaluate students' learning outcomes and their BIM competency. The results indicate that TBL, combined with the 360‐degree evaluation feedback in the capstone project, can be highly effective in improving graduates' BIM competency. This study discusses the interoperability of BIM software tools, problems in the process of data exchange, and provides suggestions for improving the course and BIM team collaboration. The research has identified how professional capabilities for students can be enhanced, enabled through a capstone project, and educators are able to deploy the BIM course to develop engineers that closely meet industry needs. The study provides the case for using the capstone project to improve and cultivate engineering students' BIM competency in MEP systems. This study has provided a new paradigm for applying TBL and 360‐degree evaluation feedback to engineering education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digitalization of education is a continuously developing process, aimed at the use of information and communication technologies. However, engineering education utilizes several forms of learning, with laboratory experiments being one of them. The use of digital learning materials (DLM) in labs is still limited due to numerous existing factors. This study investigates students' acceptance of using DLM during laboratory exercises in three universities located in Turkey, Poland, and Bulgaria. A questionnaire was prepared, and a survey was conducted among 625 learners. They were divided into eight categories, based on their engineering area and country. The survey results demonstrate that there is a strong correlation between the students' opinion on DLM and the use of DLM by their lab instructors, which means that their acceptance could be increased if more DLM are integrated in lab courses. The analysis of the questionnaire results also showed that there is a significant difference in the students' opinion on DLM, depending on the engineering area. Students of Food, Chemistry, and Electrical engineering rated the use of DLM quite high (above 4.0 out of 5), followed by the Civil engineering students with average results between 3.5 and 4.0. Respondents involved in Textile, Bio, and Machine engineering were the most skeptical (<3.5). Furthermore, their opinions covered a wide range from "Strongly disagree" to "Strongly agree." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Engineering education research frequently examines students' persistence (or intentions to persist) into engineering careers from engineering school. However, the variety of engineering‐related occupations has increased substantially in recent years, challenging researchers' abilities to discern what constitutes persistence in engineering. Purpose This article investigates the question: How can researchers categorize students' occupational outcomes in terms of engineering relatedness in a manner that enables consistency across future studies and that is informed by enduring conceptions of engineering work? We develop an occupational outcomes typology in response to this question. Scope/Method: We employed systematic literature reviews to substantiate the typology. In total, we reviewed 259 sources published between 1966 and 2016. Review 1 examined sources discussing or debating the presence of unifying occupational attributes across engineering practice. Review 2 examined sources discussing common job functions constituting unifying criteria identified in Review 1. Review 3 examined sources discussing specific work activities associated with functions identified in Review 2. Finally, Review 4 examined job profile data from the year 2017 on 1100 job titles to identify contemporary nonengineering‐titled jobs involving activities similar to activities found in Review 3. Conclusions: Engineering practitioners' possession of design responsibility—their responsibility for products' efficacy and safety through governance of designs (new or existing)—has served as a unifying work attribute over time. We find that the 21st century has given rise to interrelated roles encompassing and surrounding conventional engineering work and propose a typology that categorizes occupations in relation to engineering. The typology offers a responsibility‐based framing of engineering that helps educators illustrate key distinctions among contemporary engineering‐related occupations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Stress is commonly experienced by college students, especially engineering students. However, the role of stress within engineering culture and its implications for engineering programs have not been fully explored in the literature. Purpose/Hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to measure and examine the relationships among self‐reported stress, anxiety, and depression; engineering identity; and perceptions of inclusion of undergraduate engineering students. Design/Method: We validated a quantitative survey instrument built on previously published scales and used it to measure self‐reported stress, anxiety, and depression; engineering identity; and perceptions of inclusion. Results: Our findings indicate that self‐reported levels of stress, anxiety, and depression are high for engineering students. Further, levels of stress and anxiety are significantly higher for female students, while levels of depression are higher for first‐generation students. We find correlations between self‐reported mental health symptoms, engineering identity, and perceptions of inclusion, and these relationships differ by gender. Lastly, we find that students underrepresented in engineering rate their departments as less diverse than their peers. Conclusions: Our results suggest that perceptions of inclusion and engineering identity are related to student mental health, further emphasizing the importance of developing inclusive cultures in engineering programs. The findings suggest that mental health needs greater attention in engineering education, particularly for female and first‐generation students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research in engineering education has highlighted the importance of identity and motivation for a number of student outcomes, including persistence. However, these constructs have often been studied separately, despite theorized and demonstrated connections between students' identity and motivation in other fields. Purpose/Hypothesis: Our study fills this gap by investigating the connections between identity and motivation. We specifically examined the connections between students' engineering role identity and future‐time perspective (FTP; a theory of human motivation) theories to understand students' interest in choosing an engineering major after their first year, which we call continuing engineering major interest. Design/Methods: The data came from a questionnaire distributed during Fall 2015 (n = 2,879). Structural equation modeling was used to understand the connections between the latent factors of engineering role identity and FTP. We also examined the predictive validity of this model on students' continuing engineering major interest. Results: Our results show connections between students' engineering role identity and the domain‐specific constructs of FTP. Identity was fully mediated by students' FTPs, and these perspectives were important for predicting continuing major interest. Engineering role identity measures explained a combined 69% of the variance in the FTP measures, and engineering role identity and FTP measures together explained 14.2% of the variance in engineering major interest. Conclusions: These findings provide empirical evidence for linking identity and motivation in studies of engineering students' career pathways. The results of this work inform how theories of identity and motivation can be used collectively in engineering education research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND ABET-accredited engineering programs must help students develop specific outcomes (i.e., competencies). Faculty must determine the relative emphasis among the competencies. Yet, information is sparse about the relative importance of each competency for professional practice. PURPOSE (HYPOTHESIS) This study synthesizes opinions of engineering graduates about which competencies are important for professional practice. DESIGN/METHOD A survey asked undergraduate alumni of a large public university in the Midwest to rate the importance of the ABET competencies in their professional experience. Responses included descriptions of education, post-graduate work environment, and demographics. Protected, post-hoc, all-pairwise multiple comparisons determined patterns in the importance ratings, for the aggregate, and for descriptive subgroups. RESULTS The lowest-rated competency's mean rating was 3.3 out of 5. Graduates of 11 engineering majors rated a top cluster of competencies (teamwork, communication, data analysis, and problem solving) significantly higher than a bottom cluster (contemporary issues, design of experiments, and understanding the impact of one's work). Importance ratings of five other competencies fell in an intermediate cluster in which importance was statistically tied to either the top or bottom cluster, depending on work environment or academic discipline-not demographics. The clusters were stable over time, that is, over seven survey administrations (1999-2005), years since graduation (0, 2, 6 & 10), and graduation year (1989-2003). CONCLUSIONS Graduates across engineering disciplines share a pattern of importance for professional practice among the ABET competencies that is statistically significant, consistent across demographic variables, and stable over time. This pattern can inform faculty decisions about curriculum emphasis within and across engineering disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND K-12 teachers typically lack formal instruction on engineering. To address this issue, the Institute for P-12 Engineering Research and Learning (INSPIRE) developed engineering academies for elementary teachers. During 2006 and 2007, 40 teachers participating in the academies each completed an engineering photo journal. PURPOSE (HYPOTHESIS) The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of week-long engineering summer academies on elementary teachers' recognition and understanding of engineering in the world around them. DESIGN/METHOD The change in teachers' recognition and understanding of engineering in the world around them was measured by analyzing pre/post academy engineering photo journal entries using the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy as a framework to code the journal responses. Paired t-tests were conducted and effect sizes calculated to determine change from pre to post academy for each academy year, and for each Revised Bloom's Taxonomy Cognitive Level. RESULTS Results showed teachers demonstrated change in understanding after participation in the engineering academies. Further, 2007 teachers showed greater change than did 2006 teachers. Overall, teachers demonstrated significant changes in the Cognitive Levels of Remember, Analyze, and Evaluate during the academies. CONCLUSIONS The photo journal and corresponding coding scheme were used successfully to measure teachers' change in recognition and understanding of engineering. These tools helped INSPIRE researchers to better understand teachers' abilities to communicate engineering ideas. These tools will be useful in classroom settings to assess teacher and student ideas and understanding about engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using multiple quantitative and qualitative methods to examine engineering design learning, we found that students taking a course in engineering design and/or studying engineering for four years acquired engineering design language that is common to a larger community of practice as well as common to their own programs and institutions of higher learning. The study also suggests that engineering design language shapes the knowledge that students have about engineering design. Finally, students did not always put their design knowledge into practice, suggesting the need for educational improvements and research to bridge this gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engineering programs must assess students' abilities to master "criteria 3 a-k." Skills such as teamwork, problem solving, design, and ethical understanding entail learning various processes; hence, assessing these outcomes is better accomplished by focusing on the process rather than the result. Methods for observing students' performance, such as 100 percent behavioral observation, are ideal but expensive. We extend work sampling, an economic industry-based alternative, to observe cognitive and behavioral processes. Specifically, we describe a work sampling methodology to assess students engaged in teamwork. We then determine attributes of teamwork, establish target time proportions using 100 percent observation, and statistically compare the targets to proportions obtained from work sampling intervals to determine the effective interval. The robustness of work sampling is tested in four learning environments. Results indicate that sampling provides a statistically valid alternative for assessing teamwork. However, when observing design and ethical understanding processes, additional research is needed to make work sampling viable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conceptual and procedural knowledge are two mutually-supportive factors associated with the development of engineering skill. The present study extends previous work on undergraduate learning in engineering to provide further validation for an assessment paradigm capable of quantifying engineering students' conceptual and problem-solving knowledge. Eight students who were enrolled in an introductory thermodynamics course and four who were enrolled in the course sequel provided verbal protocol data as they used instructional software. They were compared to existing data from a cohort of eleven science and engineering majors who had not taken thermodynamics. The results replicated earlier findings showing more cognitive activity on computer screens requiring overt user interaction compared to text-based screens. The data also indicated that higher-versus lower-performing students, based on course grades, engaged in more higher-order cognitive processing. There was no evidence that students gained deeper cognitive processing as they advanced through the engineering curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conceptualizing concurrent engineering is an easy task for students, usually. However, they find it difficult to understand the forces preventing concurrent engineering from being supported. In fact, concurrent engineering can seem like common sense, until students experience this exercise. After the exercise, students often have a much greater appreciation for the difficulties and the degree of advantage posed by the use of concurrent engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]