Search

This exploratory study compares how young people (ages 15-16) learn circuitry concepts and layout design principles important to electrical engineering using one of two educational circuitry toolkits: paper circuits and traditional solderless breadboards. Paper-based prototyping kits are representative of a trend that incorporates new materials and approaches to integrating arts into traditional STEM disciplines. Extending prior research on how non-traditional toolkits enhance learning of electrical engineering outcomes, including basic circuitry concepts (i.e., current flow, polarity, and connections), this study examines the material affordances and design choices of the kits that contribute to youth's understanding of more advanced circuitry layout design principles, including space allocation, placement of electronic components, and routing. Results indicate that paper circuits better afford the learning of layout design principles for printed circuit boards (PCBs) with large effect sizes. This study illuminates how the materials of educational toolkits uniquely solicit body- and material-syntonic patterns of activity, and thus differentially engage learners' powerful ideas around circuitry and design principles. This investigation encourages careful consideration of the material affordances of some toolkits over others for learning purposes.

Industrial process heat decarbonization through electrification could contribute significantly to climate change mitigation efforts. In the US industry, thermal processes accounted for more than two-thirds of the total final energy demand in 2021. Cross-cutting electrification technologies like industrial heat pumps are suitable for the process heat supply to several industrial unit operations in a sustainable way while also improving overall energy efficiency. This study employs a bottom-up approach to investigate the techno-enviro-economic potentials of deploying high-temperature and steam-generating heat pumps in US textile, pulp and paper, and automotive sectors in different timeframes. The results show that the annual technical potential energy and CO2 savings by electrifying heat supply are 310 PJ (or 36% of the projected energy demand) and 28 MtCO2 (or 71% of the projected CO2 emissions) in 2050 respectively, however, these incur additional costs in each sector (ranging between 5 and 18 $/GJ). The required heating capacity of industrial heat pumps is estimated at 15 GW, which translates roughly into a market of over 6000 heat pump units and an investment volume of $7 billion in the studied processes. Although there may be individual cost-effective opportunities for electrifying heat supply in specific industrial sites, the overall costs are estimated to be high in the three industrial sectors due to the large disparity between electricity and natural gas prices and low heat source temperatures. To overcome the identified techno-economic barriers, comprehensive action plans for different stakeholders are also given. This study provides novel insights that should inform policymakers’ and executives’ decisions about the electrification of the current and future US industrial heat supply in relevant industrial sectors.

The development of highly specific biomimetic recognition material is a challenge for rapid detection of harmful residues in foodstuff. In this study, a paper-based boronate affinity metal-organic framework/molecularly imprinted polymer microfluidic chip (FZS-BA@MIP) was constructed based on the in situ construction strategy, which was also designed as a highly specific biomimetic recognition module. Here, the homogeneous zeolitic imidazole framework-8 (ZIF-8) membrane served as a great scaffold and enrichment layer. Besides, the recognition layer of MIP was prepared based on a highly oriented boronate affinity surface imprinting strategy. With the aid of the liquid flow channel, the highly specific enrichment and visual detection for antibiotic residues like kanamycin in actual products were achieved on the paper chip module of an integrated lateral flow platform. The whole analysis process could be accomplished within 30 min. In brief, this study offered a new integrated biomimetic recognition platform for visually detecting harmful veterinary residues containing cis-diols, which demonstrated promising commercial value in point-of-care testing of foodborne hazardous compounds.

Hawai'i's diverse population prime it to be an exemplary environment to study representation in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM). In actuality, Hawai'i has low STEMM enrollment and therefore, low representation in STEMM. What primarily inhibits Hawai'i from having a strong STEMM workforce is the lack of education in STEMM, resources allocated to STEMM, and mentorship to succeed in STEMM. Other factors such as cultural values, high costs of living, and geographical barriers also contribute to Hawai'i's low STEMM enrollment. To combat these issues, I offer suggestions to encourage STEMM enrollment, such as directing funds toward after-school education. I also suggest combatting the lack of resources by providing more online opportunities for students and workers. As for Hawai'i's low mentorship, I suggest that more programs be created within communities and universities to create a platform for mentors and mentees to network. This manuscript seeks to highlight these areas of improvement and recognize lessons to be learned from Hawai'i, thus serving as a resource for individuals internationally., (© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Cellular Physiology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Engineers make things, make things work, and make things work better and easier. This kind of knowledge is crucial for innovation, and much of the explicit knowledge developed by engineers is embodied in scientific publications. In this paper, we analyze the evolution of publications and citations in engineering in a middle-income country such as Mexico. Using a database of all Mexican publications in Web of Science from 2004 to 2017, we explore the characteristics of publications that tend to have the greatest impact; this is the highest number of citations. Among the variables studied are the type of collaboration (no collaboration, domestic, bilateral, or multilateral), the number of coauthors and countries, controlling for a coauthor from the USA, and the affiliation institution of the Mexican author(s). Our results emphasize the overall importance of joint international efforts and suggest that publications with the highest number of citations are those with multinational collaboration (coauthors from three or more countries) and when one of the coauthors is from the USA. Another interesting result is that single-authored papers have had a higher impact than those written through domestic collaboration.

The integration of online platforms in (bio)chemical engineering education has increasingly become a matter of fact at all educational levels. Examples such as virtual laboratories in tertiary education have shown their benefits, such as the decreased cost and resources needed as well as providing a safer environment for practical experimentation. However, students or stakeholders are not usually involved in developing the virtual laboratory, even if, when given the opportunity, they can provide valuable feedback for improvement and acquire ownership over the platform. Hence, when proposing a novel educational process virtual laboratory that targets teaching bioprocess modeling to undergraduate students, the best approach is to involve the students in the development as its future users. To this end, in this work, four co-participatory design experiences are presented that show the journey from a paper prototype to an online educational virtual laboratory (www.biovl.com). Qualitative and quantitative data have been collected in two different universities through surveys, semi-structured interviews, and informal conversations among the students and the developer. The students’ perspectives were found to provide valuable feedback about the platform’s content, usability, and functionality. For example, interest in adding bioprocess-related coding activities, or suggesting to change the platform name, were opinions collected and carefully considered. These suggestions can be easily integrated since the software is at the early stages of the virtual laboratory prototype. Although the usability and functionality features of the platform are under continuous advancement, this work’s findings show that the students are interested in contributing to the virtual laboratory’s development. Therefore, it opens the door to modifications and improvements, which are strongly based on the users’/students’ perceptions and perspectives as the virtual laboratory’s co-designers. Although the primary target of the BioVL prototype is to teach bioprocessing modelling, several advanced tools such as virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) are being considered to be included at a future stage. Furthermore, the educational strategy proposed in this work can be replicated by those who want to develop other virtual laboratories.

Background: To accurately measure students' science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) career interest, researchers must get inside the 'black box' to understand students' conceptualizations of STEM careers., Aims: The aim of Study 1 was to explore whether students' conceptualizations of STEM included medical careers. The aim of Study 2 was to explore whether predictors of STEM career interest (e.g., gender and motivation) varied by STEM definition (inclusion/exclusion of medical careers)., Samples: In Study 1, the sample was US college students (N = 125) who were mostly White (80%). In Study 2, the sample was US 10th-grade high school students (N = 455) who were mostly Black (79%)., Methods: In Study 1, students completed an online questionnaire. In Study 2, students completed various measures of math achievement, motivation (science and math expectancies of success, interest and importance value) and career interest with an importance., Results: In Study 1, medical careers were less often classified as STEM careers than traditional STEM careers, but more often classified as STEM than non-STEM careers. In Study 2, science importance value was the only motivational predictor of students' STEM+Medicine career interest, and no motivation constructs predicted traditional STEM career interest. Boys expressed greater interest in traditional STEM careers, while girls expressed greater interest in STEM+Medicine careers., Conclusions: Students' conceptualizations of STEM are not binary. Thus, we recommend researchers are explicit about their definition of STEM with study participants, in their coding and in their publications., (© 2023 British Psychological Society.)

In order to obtain stable and reliable configuration transformation ability, reliability optimization design is regarded as an effective way to reduce the probability of kinematic function failure for the constrained metamorphic mechanism. Based on the structural composition principle of multi-configuration source metamorphic mechanism that can operate in an under-actuated state, the modularized calculation methods are established for the force analysis of augmented Assur groups including metamorphic kinematic joints. According to the equivalent resistance gradient model of metamorphic mechanisms, with considering the uncertainties in the link dimensions, masses, and compliance parameters et al., a probabilistic evaluation method for describing the configuration transformation ability of the constrained metamorphic mechanism is established. Based on reliability evaluation and reliability sensitivity analysis, a reliability optimization design method for improving the configuration transformation ability is proposed, and then the optimization design is carried out for tolerances of random variables focusing on those structural parameters with higher reliability sensitivity, so that the optimized results can satisfy the requirements of both reliability and economic simultaneously. Finally, the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by the illustration of a paper folding metamorphic mechanism. The research provides the foundation of reliability design of metamorphic mechanisms to obtain the high-probability repeated execution ability of configuration transformation, it also has theoretical and practical significance to promote the engineering application of metamorphic mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paper‐based strain sensors (PSS) have broad prospects in disposable products due to their low cost and easy degradation as environmentally friendly materials. Herein, a strain sensor made of a laser‐induced carbonization electrode is created by direct laser writing with filter paper. The conductivity and gauge factor (GF) of this strain sensor are improved by adding lignin and applying strain engineering. This enables the sensor to simultaneously satisfy high sensitivity (GF ≈ 408 and 91) for weak tension and compression strain, respectively, and with long‐term reliability. The tensile strain GF factors of up to 201 are possible, even with a weak tensile strain of 0.00088%. Furthermore, the paper‐based sensor for monitoring physiological activities like finger gestures, pulsing, swallowing, and eye blinking is demonstrated. The facile fabrication and superior performance of PSS fabricated by direct laser writing with strain engineering may pave the way for promising applications of flexible, portable, and wearable electronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay aims to rectify a failure on the part of Western philosophers of technology to attend to the creative philosophical work of Li Bocong at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. After a brief account of Li Bocong's personal contacts with the West and some remarks on his relationship to Marxism, we take up three aspects of his philosophy that can contribute to enlarging Western philosophical thinking about engineering and technology: (1) Li's analysis of engineering as more than design, (2) his argument for the relevance of the sociology of engineering, and (3) his conceptualization of engineering ethics as more than professional ethics., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

In this paper, we explore measurements of design creativity through metrics related to the processes used in designing and relate them to the metrics used in psychology for idea creativity, ie, novelty and fluency. Our goal was to test the reliability of psychometric measures of creativity to assess creativity in team design. We studied 19 teams of 3 professional engineers that engaged in a one hour-long design task. Design tasks have a greater ecological validity than single repetitive tasks like the AUT and the RAT. Engaging in a design task involves a wide range of cognitive activities, which contribute to creative ideation and to expanding the design space. This study focused on the relationship between the teams' design idea creativity and design behaviors during the task. We explored to what extent design collaboration between teammates, design evaluation and the co-evolution of the problem-solution space relate to the psychometric measures of idea creativity. Results suggest no specific trend in the correlation between collaboration and idea creativity as measured by the metrics used in psychology, while more cognitive focus on problem-solution co-evolution negatively correlates with these measures of idea creativity. The paper concludes with potential explanations for this lack of correlation.

This paper explores the transformative potential of Large Language Models Artificial Intelligence (LLM AI) in educational contexts, particularly focusing on the innovative practice of prompt engineering. Prompt engineering, characterized by three essential components of content knowledge, critical thinking, and iterative design, emerges as a key mechanism to access the transformative capabilities of LLM AI in the learning process. This paper charts the evolving trajectory of LLM AI as a tool poised to reshape educational practices and assumptions. In particular, this paper breaks down the potential of prompt engineering practices to enhance learning by fostering personalized, engaging, and equitable educational experiences. The paper underscores how the natural language capabilities of LLM AI tools can help students and educators transition from passive recipients to active co-creators of their learning experiences. Critical thinking skills, particularly information literacy, media literacy, and digital citizenship, are identified as crucial for using LLM AI tools effectively and responsibly. Looking forward, the paper advocates for continued research to validate the benefits of prompt engineering practices across diverse learning contexts while simultaneously promoting potential defects, biases, and ethical concerns related to LLM AI use in education. It calls upon practitioners to explore and train educational stakeholders in best practices around prompt engineering for LLM AI, fostering progress towards a more engaging and equitable educational future.

Nationwide, low numbers of students are entering STEM-related fields. This is especially true for underrepresented populations and students from rural areas where access to STEM enrichment programs is limited. This qualitative study researched the impact of Micro STEM Fests on 1st to 5th grade students and investigated participating teachers' attitudes toward STEM. The Micro STEM Fest kits used for this study include ten engineering and technology challenges. 5th graders studied and practiced these challenges and then led a Micro Stem Fest for 1st to 4th grade students. Survey and interview data were gathered from participating students and teachers in a rural district. Data was analyzed by grade levels and two themes were identified. Firstly, STEM knowledge was built through handling of materials, engaging in the engineering design process, and enjoying the challenge posed by the concept or activity. Secondly, positive attitudes towards STEM were developed because of their participation, evidenced by students' desire for harder challenges, and expressed enjoyment of autonomous creativity with STEM activities. This paper briefly reviews the literature, describes the methodology, defines and discusses the findings, and makes recommendations for future research.