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What better way to engage fifth-grade students in science and engineering practices than to use paper airplanes to encourage them to question, explore, create, and test designs! This multi-day unit draws from a fourth-grade curriculum (Pearson 2012) aligned with the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States 2013) used in teacher education methods classes and taught to grade 5 students. In this article, we share an integrated unit that includes reading selections about Amelia Earhart and the forces involved in paper airplane flight, an overview of how we used paper airplanes in an experimental design process, and how we helped students develop conclusions based on the claims, evidence, and reasoning framework (CER; McNeill and Krajcik 2012).

A concern that has been raised with the transition from pen and paper examinations to electronic examinations is whether this will make cheating easier. This article investigates how teachers and students perceive the differences in ease of cheating during three types of written examination: paper exams, bring your own device e-exams and e-exams using university-owned devices. It also investigates perceptions about the effectiveness of some typical countermeasures towards cheating across these examination types. A mixed-method approach was used, combining questionnaires and interviews with students and teachers in the authors' own university. A total of 212 students and 162 teachers participated in the questionnaire survey, and then, a more limited number were interviewed to get a deeper understanding of the results. Six-different cheating practices were considered -- impersonation, forbidden aids, peeking, peer collaboration, outside assistance and student-staff collusion and seven different countermeasures were considered -- proctors, biometry, mingling, shuffling, random drawing, sequencing and broadcasting. Both students and teachers perceived cheating as easier with e-exams, and especially with bring your own device. They also thought some countermeasures would be easier to implement with e-exams.

Collaborative learning is well-established as a method to improve student learning and retention in engineering classrooms. One problem with collaborative learning is difficulty maximizing engagement of all students during group activities. We tested a change in implementation of collaborative problem solving sessions (Workshops) in a first-year Calculus for Engineers course. Previously, students sat at tables and worked together in small groups to solve provided problems, with each student ending the class period with her or his own written solution. The innovation in this study had students solving the same problems in the same small groups, but working together on the chalkboards, with each group ending the class period with a mutually agreed upon solution. Data collection to assess the innovation included student surveys, TA feedback, and observation and video recording of Workshop sections. The data support this innovation as a way to increase student collaboration and engagement during collaborative problem solving.

It is generally perceived that a substantial number of engineering faculty are still unaware of alternative educational methods, and many who are aware of them choose not to incorporate them into their approach to teaching. There are several likely reasons for this inertia, aside from the inevitable human resistance to change. The primary focus of imparting information is restricted to fulfilling the course requirements and, the upcoming term end examination. It is imperative to adopt a change from teaching to learning paradigm engaging the students in Higher Order Thinking Skills. Knowledge and technological advancements are changing the role of engineering and engineering faculty in the society. Engineering Education reforms need to focus on inductive teaching and stimulated learning. Students should be taught critical thinking skills and creative thinking skills to keep pace with the rapidly changing engineering profession. This paper reports the study done to test and explore the faculty awareness of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives in the cognitive domain and Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) and to evaluate question papers set by engineering faculty with respect to HOTS as proposed by Bloom's Taxonomy. Various active learning strategies to enhance critical thinking skills and creative thinking skills of the students are recommended for use by the faculty in their interactions with the students.

It is essential to establish a multi-dimensional postgraduate quality evaluation system for student assessment and training. This study aimed to explore the construction of the multiindex and hierarchical comprehensive evaluation system for postgraduate training in science and engineering based on the Context, Input, Process, Product (CIPP) model using Analytic Hierarchy Process. It involved 756 postgraduates in physics and engineering who were randomly selected via the Internet. Data were collected from the questionnaire about postgraduates' basic information. After collection, Factor Analysis was used to verify the rationality of the design of second-level and third-level indicators, and adjust the corresponding weights. On this basis, Cluster Analysis was used to classify the training quality of the postgraduates based on their scores on academic ability, basic quality, and social ability indicators. The results revealed that the index system includes 4 first-level indicators,12 second-level indicators and 36 third-level indicators, and different weights being assigned to the indicators according to their influence on the training quality of postgraduates in science and engineering. This study also provides some reference for the quality of science and engineering postgraduate training in Chinese universities by proposing relevant measures, which could be interesting also for international audience.

In this article, we report on sixth-grade students' responses to a set of problem activities that required the application of mathematics, science, and engineering knowledge in designing and constructing a paper bridge that could withstand an optimal load. Increasing students' application and awareness of their disciplinary learning and how they are applying this in an integrated STEM activity remains a challenge for educators. In addressing this issue, we included a focus on knowledge reflection and knowledge scaffolding through thought-provoking student workbooks. Among the findings are students' capabilities in planning, designing, reflecting, constructing, and redesigning. Students' planning indicated that they could justify their proposed bridge type/s, which often included a combination of types, by referring to their STEM understandings. At the same time, students remained cognizant of the problem boundaries. Students' design sketches indicated an awareness of the problem constraints, an understanding of basic engineering principles, and an application of mathematics and science knowledge. Students' reflections on their actions helped them to improve their bridge constructions. Suggestions are presented for knowledge scaffolding to facilitate the flexible and innovative application of STEM learning to new problem situations.

Mentzer and Becker (2011) and Becker and Mentzer (2012) demonstrated that high school students engaged in engineering design problems spent more time accessing information and spent more time designing when provided with Internet access. They studied high school students engaged in an engineering design challenge. The two studies attempted to apply the same research methodology as was used in previous work by Atman to facilitate comparison between high school students and experts. The 2011 study included Internet access, but the 2012 study did not. Their work showed that with Internet access, students spent an average of 137 minutes engaged in designing a playground and students allocated 47 minutes (35%) to information access. Without Internet access, similar students from the same schools on the same design problem spent an average of 92 minutes of which, 10 minutes (10%) was dedicated to information access. With limited computer access or limited time to enable students to access a computer in some classrooms, the research questions guiding this study are: (1) What information do high school students spend time accessing during an engineering design challenge? How much information comes from paper-based resources as compared to the Internet?; and (2) How much time do they spend accessing information? What is the balance of time spent accessing information from paper-based sources as compared to the Internet? Findings and implications of this research on student learning are discussed. Recommendations for future research are also offered. (Contains 5 tables and 1 figure.)

We investigated research processes applied in recent publications in the "European Journal of Engineering Education" (EJEE), exploring how papers link to theoretical work and how research processes have been designed and reported. We analysed all 155 papers published in EJEE in 2009, 2010 and 2013, classifying the papers using a taxonomy of research processes in engineering education research (EER) (Malmi et al. 2012). The majority of the papers presented either empirical work (59%) or were case reports (27%). Our main findings are as follows: (1) EJEE papers build moderately on a wide selection of theoretical work; (2) a great majority of papers have a clear research strategy, but data analysis methods are mostly simple descriptive statistics or simple/undocumented qualitative research methods; and (3) there are significant shortcomings in reporting research questions, methodology and limitations of studies. Our findings are consistent with and extend analyses of EER papers in other publishing venues; they help to build a clearer picture of the research currently published in EJEE and allow us to make recommendations for consideration by the editorial team of the journal. Our employed procedure also provides a framework that can be applied to monitor future global evolution of this and other EER journals.

The paper rocket activity described in this article effectively teaches the engineering design process (EDP) by engaging students in a problem-based learning activity that encourages iterative design. For example, the first rockets the students build typically only fly between 30 and 100 feet. As students test and evaluate their rocket designs, they iteratively design improved rockets that will fly over 200 feet. The secret of success is simply the EDP: investigating the weaknesses of a rocket, designing and building a new prototype, evaluating its success, and collaborating and using conclusions to iteratively build additional and more successful rockets.

Problem-solving is a key engineering skill, yet is an area in which engineering graduates underperform. This paper investigates the potential of using web-based tools to teach students problem-solving techniques without the need to make use of class time. An idea generation experiment involving 90 students was designed. Students were surveyed about their study habits and reported they use electronic-based materials more than paper-based materials while studying, suggesting students may engage with web-based tools. Students then generated solutions to a problem task using either a paper-based template or an equivalent web interface. Students who used the web-based approach performed as well as students who used the paper-based approach, suggesting the technique can be successfully adopted and taught online. Web-based tools may therefore be adopted as supplementary material in a range of engineering courses as a way to increase students' options for enhancing problem-solving skills.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educators are facing the challenge of attracting more students. The disparity between the need for engineers and the enrollment of engineering students is growing (Genalo, Bruning, & Adams, 2000), and career aspirations of high school students are inconsistent with the employment projections for engineering-related careers (Sanoff, 2001). One solution to this problem is to infuse engineering content into K-12 curriculum. The curriculum unit presented in this article introduces middle school students to basic engineering concepts, i.e., the engineering design process, through an activity of making recycled paper. Hands-on activities and classroom presentations are combined, and the process of engineering design and mathematical analysis is presented in a real-world context.

Publishing research papers in English journals is now a requirement for many scientists in developing countries. Writing journal papers in English, the lingua franca of the scientific world, however, often places an additional burden on non-native speaking scientists in EFL settings due to their lack of English proficiency. With these concerns in mind, this paper investigates science journal paper writing in an EFL context, Korea. Two types of questionnaires were administered, one to graduate students and the other to the faculty members of a science and engineering graduate school in Korea. In addition, students and faculty members were interviewed. The results of the questionnaires and interviews showed that the linguistic elements of journal papers were the most problematic areas, while the meta-linguistic features of papers such as the overall structure and paragraph development were perceived to be the most important features of journal papers. The results also revealed that the graduate students and professors were at a disadvantage when writing and publishing papers in English. Suggestions for further research and pedagogical implications are provided. (Contains 5 tables.)

In this project, we explore the use of threshold concept theory as a design basis for development of Interactive Virtual Laboratories in thermodynamics. Thermodynamics is a difficult subject for chemical and biological engineering students to master. One reason for the difficulty is the diverse and challenging set of threshold concepts that they must coherently synthesize and be able to apply in a diverse range of contexts. Based on our experience and from reports in the literature, we have identified a set of threshold concepts we propose are critical for mastery of thermodynamics. To help students better learn these concepts, we have been developing Interactive Virtual Laboratories. This paper describes the development and initial investigation of two such laboratories. They are available for instructors to use through the AIChE Concept Warehouse website (http://cw.edudiv.org/). The Interactive Virtual Laboratories are a series of two-dimensional simulations designed to address the targeted threshold concepts. The design of these laboratories is based on allowing students to see and explore alternative representations of the phenomena that they are learning. They allow inquirybased, scaffolded activity, and each has several activities that provide multiple representations. These activities guide students to perform virtual experiments, and also to place the virtual experiments in the context of the concepts that they are learning. They explain concepts in a way that is less abstract and more intuitive to students by providing a dynamic representation of phenomena at a molecular level. Students are expected to answer numerical questions and, whenever possible, predict and explain the effects of macroscopic changes (i.e., pressure, temperature, composition, energy) based on observations of molecular properties. In the study reported in this paper, we investigate how students experience the laboratories and whether the students perceive the simulations are beneficial towards learning. The two interactive virtual laboratories studied address the concepts of Pv work and reversible processes. Eight participants took part in the clinical study outside of the engineering classroom. All students had previously taken a thermodynamics course and had access to a thermodynamics textbook and the internet as they completed the laboratory. A "think aloud" protocol was used where students were audio recorded as they verbally described their actions in completing the laboratory. The transcribed audio recordings together with video recordings of the computer screen on which they worked were analyzed. After completing the laboratory, a semi-structured interview asked participants about their perceptions of the simulation's effectiveness, their previous thermodynamics experience, and a brief assessment of what they learned. All interviews were transcribed for analysis. The participants generally responded positively to the simulations. Seven out of eight students explicitly stated that the dynamic simulations helped them visualize and engage with the processes more than they could with the static depictions in books or lecture. However, some difficulties were observed, including interacting with the interface and understanding specifically what a question was asking. One participant found the interactivity to be unintuitive. We also noticed a relation between how the participants framed knowledge and their approach to completing the laboratory. Students who activated more sophisticated frames typically completed the simulation more quickly and accurately than those with more naive frames. Students who did not do as well tended to focus on trying to identify equations they had used in the past, even going so far as to use them in an unsuitable context. On the other hand, students who completed the simulations accurately and more quickly appeared to integrate what they were seeing on the screen with their foundational conceptual knowledge to form new understanding.

Laboratory courses can be difficult to fit into an engineering program at a liberal arts-focused university, which requires students to be exposed to appropriate breadth, as well as sufficient depth in their engineering education. One possible solution to this issue is to integrate laboratory exercises with lecture in a "studio" format, in which students apply lecture concepts directly to in-class assignments. Another possible solution is to give students "take-home" laboratory assignments. Both of these methods have shortcomings: the studio format takes away valuable lecture time, and the take-home format provides limited access to the instructor. As such, this work presents a mixed learning method that includes lectures and laboratory work in both the studio and take-home formats, implemented in a junior level signal processing course. Students learn skills during lecture in studio laboratory exercises, and apply these skills to two in-depth take-home projects. Students refine their applied skills during projects, thereby informing a better studio lab experience. In order to assess the student's developed skills, project results are delivered as research papers formatted to comply with IEEE standards, which are submitted for blind review to several faculty members, as well as their peers. Reviewers employ a prescriptive rubric to rate papers as accept/revise/reject and provide associated comments. To assess the success of this mixed learning method, the overall ratings for the research papers from the first project will be compared to the second project, accounting for project complexity. The chief contribution of this work is the presentation of a method for providing laboratory instruction in a mid-year DSP course, demonstrating that this method may be adapted for other courses at similar institutions.

There is an increasing sensitivity to the challenges posed by the language of examination papers and of instruction in scientific subjects, especially for non-native speakers of English. It has been observed that in addition to technical subject-specific vocabulary, non-technical words such as instructional verbs have been sources of difficulty, and there are indications that other "ordinary" English words cause problems. For many years the aerospace industry has striven to make its manuals understandable and unambiguous to non-native speakers, a goal shared by writers of examination papers. To achieve this, the industry uses Simplified English, a controlled language with limited vocabulary and restricted grammatical rules. While recognising the limitations of this approach, the authors considered that by testing examination papers against the rules of Simplified English, it might be possible to identify areas of potential difficulty for non-native speakers. This paper describes the results of a study which tests past examination questions using software based on AECMA Simplified English, the controlled language in established use in the British aerospace industry. The results identified many lexical items which were not in the original list of "Approved words". Some of these were technical words and others were non-technical terms which are in common use in an engineering context. However, some were potential problem sources, including implicit instructions and vague or ambiguous words. Software alerts that related to sentence structure, in particular those related to sentence complexity, indicated that some sentences had additional problems. (Contains 1 note.)

Active learning pedagogical practices are more effective than instructor-centered teaching in building students' knowledge, skills, and understanding of engineering content and concepts. As such, a large-scale professional development (PD) program was created to move faculty toward the use of active learning. The project aimed to engage faculty in active learning best practices through workshops and communities of practice to shift their attitudes, beliefs, and practices toward active learning strategies. This paper examines how and to what extent participation in a large-scale PD program shifts faculty awareness of, attitudes towards, and use of active learning. As such, this paper offers a model and evaluation framework for a large-scale PD program, which can be adapted to PD programs in engineering and across other STEM disciplines. In total, 82 faculty members from seven engineering disciplines participated in the PD program, comprising workshops and communities of practice sessions. Multiple assessments were utilized or created to measure the extent of faculty change using Roger's diffusion of innovation model for individual change and Coburn's cultural change model for organizational change. Faculty awareness, beliefs, and classroom practice shifted from instructor-centered teaching toward student-centered active learning. Instructors progressed moderately well through Rogers' five stages of individual innovation change and fulfilled the three tenets of Coburn's organizational change model. There were only minor shifts in student achievement, particularly for smaller classes, possibly due to insufficient time for instructors to fully implement active learning practices. The PD program influenced the initiation of a sustainable community of new and continuing active learning practitioners in the College of Engineering.

This study investigates research writing anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs among English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) graduate students in engineering-related fields. The relationship between the two writing affective constructs was examined and students' perspectives on research writing anxiety were also explored. A total of 218 survey responses from engineering graduate students at Taiwanese universities were analyzed, along with qualitative data from open-ended questions and semi-structured interviews. The findings show that while master's and doctoral students felt a similar moderate level of writing anxiety, senior doctoral students were more self-efficacious about writing research papers in English than their junior counterparts. Overall, students with higher writing self-efficacy felt less apprehensive. Additionally, among the individual variables, experience in writing for publication better predicted writing anxiety and self-efficacy than students' self-reported English proficiency and the number of writing courses taken. The qualitative findings indicated various sources of graduate-level writing anxiety, including insufficient writing skills in English, time constraints, and fear of negative comments. Furthermore, composing different sections of a research paper provoked different levels of anxiety due to the variations in the rhetorical purposes and discourse structures of particular sections. Implications on dealing with research writing anxiety are also discussed.

In this article I present an activity introducing statistical concepts to engineering students to help them develop inductive reasoning and problem-solving skills.

The present research refers to the assigning of a hands-on group project to freshman engineering students, evaluating their performance, and deriving conclusions on student benefits and educational advances. The research procedure included action plans for the instructor and the students, instructions to the students on performing the work, organizational instructions to the teams and reporting guidelines, and evaluation of the success of the project. The main outcomes refer to the team co-operation, the performance of tasks, the quality of results and the reporting effectiveness. The "paper beam" project benefited the student's learning and proved the need of complementary learning styles in teams, of the appreciation of quality performance and results, as well as of the accuracy in project details. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

Investigating the content presented at annual national conferences is regarded by many as a valid means for revealing patterns within a given professional organization concerning their interests, issues, concerns, priorities, and research foci, which collectively present an opportunity to provide future direction for the organization. As a result, scholars across many different disciplines have conducted such investigations in an attempt to gain insights into their professional organizations (e.g., Berryman, 1982; Conger, 1997; Fetro & Droplet, 1991; Kiehn & Kimball, 2008; Price & Orman, 2001) and provide guidance based on the resultant patterns. Findings from such analyses of conference content are instrumental in documenting patterns relative to past trends within the field, organizational alignment with larger national trends, and using them to suggest future directions for professional organizations. In the field of technology and engineering education, the Mississippi Valley Technology Teacher Education Conference, today referred to simply as the Mississippi Valley Conference (MVC) is the oldest continuous conference with an entire century of content available for analysis. The MVC marked its 100th meeting in the fall of 2013, presenting not only a significant historical milestone but also a unique opportunity for investigating the extent to which this individual conference may have influenced the profession as a whole. This paper takes advantage of this opportunity by presenting an analysis of 100 years of discussion topics as a means for understanding the significance of the past century of meetings and to offer organizational insights that may prove valuable in guiding future directions for both conference and profession writ large.

This article evaluates the use of biweekly deadlines called "Sprints" to scaffold the development of conference papers in graduate-level courses in econometric modeling and electrical engineering through analysis of faculty assessment reports, observation notes, and transcripts of two audio-recorded class sessions. Data were analyzed to identify Tardy's (2009) four dimensions of genre knowledge: subject-matter, rhetorical, process, and formal knowledge. We found that Sprints provide consistent opportunities for students to provide and receive helpful formative feedback that builds disciplinary genre knowledge in each of the four dimensions. We conclude by recommending strategies for maximizing Sprints' benefits while minimizing potential drawbacks in graduate courses across disciplines.

Peer review has been the focus of an ongoing study at a series of recent annual conferences of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE). A further development of this study has been to explore the perspective/s of the authors of these conference papers and the impact that peer review can have on their development as researchers. This paper uses the identity-trajectory framework to illustrate relationships between peer review and academic identity construction for engineering education authors in the AAEE community. Participants' responses illustrate how various aspects of responding to reviews and writing reviews for other authors, contribute to the development of the networking and intellectual strands of their academic identity as engineering education researchers. We suggest that members of the global engineering education community should be mindful of how they write their peer reviews of conference papers to ensure the opportunity to constructively contribute to their peers' successful transition into this different research paradigm is not missed.

Research article publication is often considered a critical indicator of academic institutions' success and productivity. It improves the institution's reputation, attracts talented students and faculty members, and increases the institution's chances of receiving funding opportunities from different funding agencies. This paper provides a reliable and sustainable methodology for improving the quality and quantity of research article publications for engineering institutions in India. The various tools, techniques, and initiatives that promote research culture and improve its outcome in terms of research papers are also discussed. A case study of Pimpri Chinchwad College of Engineering (PCCOE), Pune, India, depicts how predictive, prescriptive, descriptive, and diagnostic data analytics approaches help to identify the barriers in the research article publications in academic institutions and provides the ways to overcome them. It also helps to set the publication targets and develop the path to perceive the targets. The outcomes and effectiveness of the case study are discussed using the papers published in Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases. The challenges, opportunities, and recommendations are also provided for the smooth and effective implementation of the developed methodologies.

Traditional engineering education (Eng. Ed) has received criticism for restricting student learning and experiences to practical skills development while ignoring the significance of fostering cognitive skills that encourage higher order thinking, criticality, and self-reflexivity. Imaginative education (IE) has emerged as a consideration for replacing such skills focused engineering curricula with interactive, engaging, and student-centered pedagogical approaches. However, existing literature on the topic as well as Egan's (1997) own explanation of the five stages of understanding (somatic, mythic, romantic, philosophic, and ironic) are mainly focused on K-12 contexts, leaving limited resources and insights for higher education contexts. This calls for theoretical and practical expansion of the topic where development and implementation of IE-informed Eng. Ed for adult engineering students remain the focus. To respond to this call, this conceptual paper focuses on two main points. First, it attempts to unpack the theoretical underpinnings of the five stages of IE to understand what each stage means for educators and learners in higher education engineering contexts. Second, after outlining the challenges that traditional Eng. Ed is facing in a globalized world today and the initiatives from the field to address them, it discusses the promises IE can bring to make Eng. Ed more effective, inclusive, and relevant. Overall, the intention in this paper is to turn to the theoretical tensions that may emerge when considering IE as an approach to re-imagine and expand Eng. Ed.

This study reports on a systematic review of the current status of technology education in primary schools and the terminology used in the fields of technology and engineering education. Additionally, this review highlights crucial aspects of teaching and learning that must not be overlooked when outlining the current state of technology and engineering education, such as students' and teachers' personal factors, classroom communication, and teacher professional growth. Following PRISMA guidelines, two electronic databases were reviewed, Web of Science and Education Resources Information Center. The literature search identified a total of 1206 papers, 125 from Web of Science and 1081 from ERIC. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 33 papers were selected and evaluated in depth. The results show that research on technology education in primary schools is a growing field of interest but fragmented in focus. Our review is the first to indicate the wide range of technology and engineering education definitions. We also highlight the large heterogeneity of studies focusing on students' and teachers' personal factors and classroom interactions, a finding that may be explained by the unclear concepts and aims of technology and engineering curricula. This study contributes to and supports research and policymaking to better understand the current status, heterogeneities, and challenges in technology and engineering education in primary schools. In addition, we provide first insights to support professional development efforts targeting teachers' technology acceptance and improvement of their technology-related teaching practices.

The architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) education communities are increasingly facing challenges caused by social, technological, economic, environmental, and political changes. Addressing these issues requires AEC educators and practitioners to systematically rethink and reform many of their current practices. Anecdotal evidence in AEC education already exists with respect to pedagogical improvements made by individual technologies such as immersive computing, artificial intelligence, robotics, big data, cyberinfrastructure, and photogrammetry. However, an effective learning-centered environment is more complex than what any single technology can accomplish. In addition, the relationship between technology-intensive learning and digital inequity in AEC education remains, to the most extent, unclear. We envision the next-generation learning-centered environment for AEC education to be technology-intensive, interdisciplinary, industry-linked, and equitable. This paper aims to present a shared vision of the next-generation learning-centered environment for AEC education. To achieve this goal, two interrelated workshops were organized with the participation of different stakeholders, including researchers, educators, and professionals from multiple disciplines of architecture, engineering, construction, computer science, learning science, education, and social sciences. This paper is based on the combined outcomes of the two workshops, organized in four themes: (1) AEC curricula and industry practice, (2) technology and learning, (3) interdisciplinary education, and (4) digital inequity. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by creating a pathway to timely reflect on new learning strategies, new technologies, and future industry and societal needs in AEC curricula, thus producing a more adaptive AEC workforce for the 21st century. The findings of this work can be adopted by educators to develop a roadmap for creating the shared vision of the next-generation learning-centered environment for AEC education.

Biomedical engineering (BME) spans a wide range of research fields and professional activities. Most BME departments use a seminar series to introduce graduate students to exciting research conducted outside their own university, learn about professional opportunities, and enhance their understanding of related topics (e.g., ethics in BME, engineering education, entrepreneurship). However, even a stellar lineup of expert seminar speakers cannot appeal to all graduate students--even though the information presented may be very important to that student in the future. Can we initiate active learning assignments to increase student engagement with all speakers? Our BME department developed a strategy to scaffold active learning activities to enhance student engagement in the graduate seminars. All speakers supplied three papers for advance reading and students were required to generate questions based on reading the papers. The questions were provided to the speakers in advance of the seminar. Both students and speakers submitted short reflection surveys after the seminar. With increasing graduate experience, students were also required to critique the articles, evaluate presentation styles, and answer the questions of other students. The requirement to read the papers and generate questions definitely increased student engagement with the speakers. The increased personal engagement was evident in the critical thinking by the students as they subsequently discussed trends in different fields, evaluated presentation styles, and learned about different career opportunities. The increase in student engagement had the added benefit of creating a positive impression of our students with the speakers visiting from other institutions.

Hands-on laboratory courses seldom appear in biomedical engineering (BME) graduate programs, thus limiting graduate students' ability to acquire wet laboratory skills like cell culturing. At large, BME graduate programs rely on ad hoc training provided by senior graduate students; however, this method cannot be extended to new or non-BME laboratories, which generally lack senior personnel adequately trained in cell culture techniques. This paper describes a graduate student-led, five-session workshop that introduces cell culture fundamentals to interested students with little to no prior experience. The workshop employs novel teaching techniques, such as near-peer and collaborative learning, to enhance students' understanding and knowledge retention. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this initiative, students assessed their confidence levels with concepts and skills related to cell culture via pre- and post-workshop surveys, where significant improvements in cell culture-related concepts and skills were reported upon completing the workshop. Finally, this paper presents some challenges and reflects on insight gained from this initiative, thus providing a template for implementation at other institutions interested in enriching their graduate student education.

This article investigates citation and research collaboration habits of faculty in four engineering departments. The analysis focuses on similarities and differences among the engineering disciplines. Main differences exist in the use of conference papers and technical reports. The age of cited materials varies by discipline and by format. Regarding faculty connection with other subjects, the study finds that aerospace and mechanical engineering faculty collaborate more often with researchers outside their fields, while civil and environmental faculty, as well as electrical and computer engineering faculty, are more likely to cooperate with peers in their fields. Lists of highly cited journals are generated. The paper also provides suggestions for collection management, research assistance, and outreach efforts.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to deliver a roadmap that displays pathways to develop sustainability skills in the engineering curricula. Design/methodology/approach: The selected approach to enrich engineering students with sustainability skills was active learning methodologies. First, a survey was carried out on a sample of 189 students to test the current sustainability literacy and determine the roadmap starting point. Next, a scientometric study regarding active learning methodologies was executed. A total of 2,885 articles and conference proceedings from the period 2013-2016 were retrieved from the Web of Science database. The records were then imported into text mining software to undergo a term clumping process. Annual knowledge clusters based on key terms were outputted. Finally, a roadmap was created by experts based on the annual knowledge clusters. Findings: Four annual pathways were created along the roadmap to develop sustainability skills during the four-year college course in engineering. The first consisted on promoting a recycling campaign through a circular economy. The second aimed at creating educational videos regarding sustainability. The third reinforced reasoning and argumentative skills by preparing a debate on environmental issues. The last path assumed that the student is working in internship programs and prepared him/her to apply environmental management models to solve sustainability issues within the company. Research limitations/implications: Roadmaps should be updated approximately every two years to reflect novelty. The proposed methodology shows an easy way to create them. Practical implications: Results from this paper, as well as the proposed methodology, can be applied to any organization forming individuals: from primary school education to employee training programs in organizations. Social implications: The development of sustainability skills has a direct, positive impact on professional decision-making and, ultimately, on the environment. Originality/value: This paper presents a roadmapping process to develop sustainability competences throughout engineering college education.

Can anonymous written feedback collected during classroom assessment activities be used to assess students' cognitive development levels? After library instruction in a first-year engineering design class, students submitted minute papers that included answers to "what they are left wondering." Responses were coded into low, medium and high categories correlated to cognitive stages following a codebook that was developed based largely on Perry's model and on two semesters' worth of prior student feedback. Preliminary analysis suggests that subjects exhibit characteristics in keeping with the range of cognitive levels identified by previous research at this institution, but that they tend to be weighted toward the lower end of the spectrum. While this study does not reveal cognitive development levels as reliably as the work of previous researchers, it does propose an easy method for identifying general cognitive development levels of student cohorts and offers recommendations for using this knowledge to improve instructional effectiveness.

This paper reports on research that extends knowledge about higher education students' perceptions of online engagement. In particular, the study aimed to identify what students thought engagement was and how they experienced it. Understanding students' views about online engagement will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the topic and should assist instructional designers to support academic staff to develop online courses that are more likely to engage their students. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study found that students felt most engaged with learning when doing practical, hands-on activities. Additional findings from the qualitative and quantitative data are highlighted, with some differences between the students' perceptions in the different types of data, particularly concerning social engagement. This suggests that further research is warranted. The paper offers several practical implications for student learning.

Over the last two decades, a remarkable number of studies have examined the role of engineering education in supporting knowledge and skill building among children. In this paper, we present a synthesis of this literature to evaluate the added value of pre-college engineering design experiences at the elementary level, and ways researchers have gathered evidence of children's development of this knowledge and skills. We have conducted a systematic literature review. The initial search across four different databases with relevant keywords resulted in over 3000 journal articles and conference papers. In a two-rounds screening, by applying the inclusion criteria first to titles and abstracts, and then to the full text, 78 peer-reviewed publications were included in this systematic literature review. We summarized and synthesized empirical evidence of student learning and engagement in engineering design activities, and approaches they were assessed and elicited. The thematic analysis revealed five categories of knowledge and skills: (1) disciplinary content knowledge; (2) engineering design practices, (3) engineering thinking skills; (4) professional skills; and (5) career awareness. Additionally, the assessment and evaluation approaches that were used for each of these categories were identified and discussed. The findings provide collective evidence of variety in student learning opportunities but also suggest the need to carefully define these knowledge and skills. Since a wide range of evaluation approaches were used to capture similar outcomes, we conclude that it is imperative to develop a shared research agenda by carefully defining the knowledge and skills we expect children to learn.

This paper examines a PBL project module "Sustainable Urban Transformation" in an Urban Design master's education. The module combines urban design and hydrology engineering. Within the module, students are supported by lectures and study circles on various dimensions of sustainability, especially vis-a-vis climate change. However, they are left with the freedom to choose how they balance between design and engineering approaches when they give a physical form for sustainability in the site transformation projects with which they work through the semester. This paper discusses the development of their skills building on three Aristotelean concepts: techne (engineering), poiesis (aesthetic form-giving), and phronesis (making of ethical judgments). The last two concepts, the paper argues, are especially important when at issue is design education. Based on an analysis of the student projects in Fall 2022, the paper examines whether and how the students manage to find a balance between engineering skills, on the one hand, and aesthetic creativity and ethical judgement, on the other hand, in their project work.

This paper presents a reflective analysis of a novel approach to Problem-Based Learning (PBL) to teach abstract concepts in a large-class setting, specifically tailored for a third-year required undergraduate course, "Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering." The primary objective is to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes by employing forensic case studies-based learning, also known as murder mysteries. This unique adaptation of PBL offers a fresh perspective on teaching abstract concepts by introducing real-world engineering failures relevant to the topic. Students then identify potential reasons for failure, rank them, and cooperatively explore them. By progressing from the known to the unknown, students develop a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental principles they later encounter. by progressing from the known to the unknown This approach overcomes the limitations of traditional teaching methods that introduce abstract concepts before presenting real-world examples. The murder mysteries capture students' attention and interest, allowing them to experience the process of doing real-world engineering. Consequently, the course rating improved significantly, achieving the highest score in the last twenty years - 4.9 out of 5.0, well above the average course rating of 3.8 during the same period. The paper delves into the background, methodology, challenges, and reflections on implementing and evaluating this engaging and effective PBL adaptation in a large-class setting for teaching abstract concepts in engineering.

This paper describes the course design and evaluation results for an online continuing education program designed for working engineers. Engineering educators have long recognized the value of reducing the gap between the classroom and work environments. Implementing experiential learning in the undergraduate classroom brings much needed context to engineering students who may otherwise lack these real-world opportunities. Continuing education programs face the opposite challenge, where educators strive to bring the course content to working engineers who are already enmeshed in real-world contexts. This program was designed for busy working professionals and contextualizes theoretical concepts of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) with practical application of digital engineering tools. Online delivery enables engineers to learn while remaining in the context of their work environment. The authors describe their collaboration process in the design of this continuing education course. Course survey results provide data to evaluate the course design and to better understand how this nontraditional audience uses continuing professional development courses to stay abreast of technological change. Learners indicated through their survey responses that the course was a positive experience and met their learning goals. However, most students did not continue with the multi-course certificate program and left the program after only one course completion. Higher education institutions are uniquely positioned to create courses and programs that aid this nontraditional audience, the engineering workforce, in adapting to continuously changing technology and engineering practice. This paper presents lessons learned and recommendations for engaging with the community of working engineers as continuing education learners.

The purpose of this study was to examine any differences in test scores between three different online versions of the Mental Cutting Test (MCT). The MCT was developed to quantify a rotational and proportion construct of spatial ability and has been used extensively to assess spatial ability. This test was developed in 1938 as a paper-and-pencil test, where examinees are presented with a two-dimensional drawing of a 3D object containing a cutting plane passing through the object. The examinee must then determine the cross-sectional shape that would result from cutting along the imaginary cutting plane. This work explored three versions of this test (the original and two adapted versions), administered online, to see if there were any differences on the versions regarding student performance. Versions differed in the linework quality displayed as well as shading shown on the surfaces. This study analyzed statics students' scores on the three online versions of the MCT and on the original paper version of the MCT to identify which version of the test may be most optimal for administering to engineering students. Results showed that there was a statistically significant difference in students' scores between multiple versions. Understanding which representations of the MCT items are most clear to students will provide insights for educators looking to improve and understand the spatial ability of their students.

Many non-native English speaking (NNES) graduates are required to write academic papers in English; consequently, recent research in the past decade has been devoted to investigating the usefulness of genre-based Writing Instructions (GBWI) on learners' writing cultivation. There is little specific guidance, however, on how GBWI can be employed in online learning environments. The study aimed to design an e-learning tool with a Chinese-based interface and to evaluate its perceived usefulness on users' English academic writing development. Needs analysis and GBWI were employed as the main approaches for the system development, for which 32 participants involved in the trail. The results indicate that the participants considered the system useful and helpful while learning English academic writing and extract the design principles derived from the empirical results in the study. The findings provide both learning content developers and e-learning tool designers with developmental insights for graduates to acquire academic writing ability in English. In conclusion, this study contributes to the understanding of GBWI acting on the NNES engineering graduates' development of English academic writing knowledge and skills with the development of e-learning tools.

Background and Purpose: As a growing number of instructional units have been developed to promote young children's scientific and engineering practices (SEPs), understanding how to evaluate and assess children's SEPs is imperative. However, paper-and-pencil assessments would not be suitable for young children because of their limited reading and writing skills. To explore the assessments for SEPs available for young children aged 3-8 years, this study reviewed assessments of young children's SEPs reported in empirical studies, and analysed the characteristics of these assessments to delineate how young children's SEPs have been measured. Methods: We followed the procedures of a systematic review proposed by Zawacki-Richter et al. (2020). The EBSCOhost database was used to gather empirical studies in education and psychology. A total of 46 articles published from 2003 to 2020 met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Findings: The findings indicated that of the eight SEPs suggested by the National Research Council (2012), "Analysing and interpreting data" was assessed the most, followed by "Using mathematics and computational thinking, Constructing explanations and designing solutions," and "Planning and carrying out investigations." A majority of assessments were designed for children of 4, 5, and 6 years old and used paper-based visualizations and real objects to present the tasks and items. Additionally, due to the verbal or performance nature of the SEPs, the assessments collected different types of data as evidence to evaluate children's SEPs. Performance-based assessments were the most common, followed by multiple-choice, ranking, and oral responses. Conclusion: The findings of the reviewed assessments revealed a variety of performance expectations of SEPs and suggested that some SEPs are measurable and developmentally appropriate for young children. Also, the availability of assessments is uneven in different types of SEPs, and more assessments for information communication and modelling practices are needed.

Background: Training both pre - and in-service teachers who are capable of planning and enacting engineering design-based science instruction are critical for integrating engineering into K-12 science curricula. Purpose: This study investigates pre-service teachers' efforts to integrate engineering into their lesson plans. Sample: 13 pre-service chemistry teachers, enrolled in a 13-week engineering-infused integrated STEM course, were the participants of the study. Design and Method: Considering the purpose of the study, qualitative design was deemed to be the best fit including qualitative data collected through lesson plans and reflection papers. To assist pre-service teachers' learning, 13-week engineering-infused integrated STEM was started with the information about the engineering profession and how engineers work. Additionally, pre-service teachers engaged in six integrated STEM activities including engineering design cycle. After each activity, the participants were asked to write a reflection paper on what they learned about engineering, the engineering design process, and integrated STEM. Finally, the participants had three chances for analyzing strong and weak integrated STEM lesson plans and planning integrated STEM lesson planning experience with mentors. The pre-and post-course lesson plans (n=26) were analyzed using existing codes from the related literature, which is a deductive coding process. Later, an inductive approach was used to determine the categories of engineering integration into the lesson plans. Four categories (ranging from a complete engineering lesson to a science lesson with no engineering link) were formed. Reflection papers were used to support the findings. Result: The results showed that none of the pre-plans included engineering. However, after participated in a 13-week integrated STEM course, all post-course lesson plans integrated engineering through the use of engineering design processes to some extent. Conclusion: The training with different experiences seems promising for pre-service teachers to learn engineering integration into STEM lesson plans.

Architectural education shares much in common with engineering, including the use of a culminating capstone experience in the final year. The form of this experience varies, with the research-based thesis and final-year project being most common. This paper explores the literature on traditions of enquiry and the meaning of research in various fields and the evolution of the 'thesis' and 'final year project' approaches over time. It then briefly summarises empirical research conducted on a case study institution struggling to bridge gaps in understandings of these distinct forms of learning and teaching. Throughout, the paper presents a comprehensive set of diagrams to explain various paradigms and positions on research and design education. These diagrams depict processes used in architecture, engineering, and natural sciences to conduct research and generate designs. A new model is proffered to help unify competing conceptions of the final year project and thesis, for the case study institution and beyond.

Purpose: Researchers have opined that the quality of commitment to pedagogical approaches by lecturers is one of the most important factors in determining student academic success. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the mediating effect of research informed teaching on the relationship between lecturer commitment to use of pedagogical approaches and teaching quality, with a view towards enabling delivery of high quality teaching and learning in HEIs. Design/methodology/approach: The research is based on an online survey of the perception of 186 undergraduate and postgraduate students in four major UK universities. Covariance-based structural equation modelling (SEM) methodology was used to quantity and clarify the influence of lecturers' pedagogical attributes on teaching quality, mediated by research-informed teaching. Findings: Findings reveal that--lecturers' pedagogical attributes have significant positive effect on teaching quality, research-informed teaching have significant positive effect on teaching quality, lecturers' pedagogical attributes have weak positive effect on research-informed teaching, and research-informed teaching partially mediates (indirect effect) the relationship between lecturers' pedagogical attributes and teaching quality. Practical implications: Structural equation models are useful for clarifying concepts in pedagogy and have implications for education managers on how to improve teaching and learning in HEIs. Originality/value: The paper presents a unique quantitative model for measuring the degree of teaching quality in universities.

Using Chinese language teaching in an engineering department as an example, this paper explores how language teaching can meet the challenges of globalisation and the advancement of technology by fulfilling its educational function as described in Byram's model of intercultural communicative competence. By adapting theories and practices from counselling psychology, the proposed curriculum focuses on emotions to help learners uncover emotional barriers that arise when confronted with differences. It will support learners in raising awareness and developing their capacity to negotiate differences, leading to more effective cooperation with others. The paper discusses the use of experiential exercises in the classroom. They include those developed in Chinese language pedagogy, namely the performed culture approach and those developed in humanistic psychotherapy, such as body psychotherapy. The aim is to help learners notice their own feelings, attitudes, and behaviour as well as the otherness of the other in the classroom. This approach is powerful because it is in the here and now. It utilises movements and different senses as well as cognition. It helps uncover barriers to intercultural communication hidden under the surface by making the unconscious conscious. Reflection is a key part of this process. Learners are expected to reflect on their own thinking and feelings and to make sense of the dynamics in the classroom. Learners are expected to develop reflexivity, subjectivity and intersubjective awareness while acquiring linguistic competency and social cultural rules of use.

The Human Resources Development Service of Korea developed a digital exam for five representative engineering categories and conducted a pilot study comparing the findings with the paper-and-pencil exam results from the last three years. This study aimed to compare the test efficiency between digital and paper-and-pencil examinations. A digital examination was conducted with 93 participants through two rounds of test-status measurements. We collected the following data: early check-out rate, pass rate, and the average total response time per grade. The composition ratio of each question type in the digital exam was determined per the "Exam Operation Regulation" and selected from a databank spanning five years by experienced instructors. The early check-out rate of the digital exam at the Engineer level was 90% (percentage points), approximately 15%p higher than that for the paper-and-pencil exam, but the pass rate was low (9.8%p); the response time per question for the digital exam was approximately 0.2 min shorter. The results for both exams were similar in the Industrial Engineer category. The early check-out rate did not positively affect the exam pass rate, but the time taken depended on the number and characteristics of the subjects. It is necessary to improve the simplification and convenience of digital examinations, optimize test environments, and establish operation and management systems in line with the change in the Korean Technical Qualification Framework. We also suggest a gradual shift to digital examination by developing questions and tools using technologies to accurately measure individual abilities.