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Contributions: The underrepresentation of women in computer science (CS) majors has long been a focus of attention in many academic documents, the majority of them from the United States and Europe. There is, however, a lack of information about educational interventions (EIs) for women in computing in Latin America. The contribution of this article is to cover this gap and describe what researchers in Latin American countries have been publishing about the recruitment and retention of women in the CS field. Background: Many EIs targeting female students at different educational levels—K-12, undergraduate, and graduate—have been undertaken to increase the participation of women in computing in Latin America. However, descriptions of these activities rarely are included in international academic databases. Research Questions: This literature mapping addresses two main research questions (RQ) about the topic of women in computing in academic publications in Latin American countries: RQ1) what are the characteristics of the publications about women in computing in Latin America? and RQ2) what are the published interventions to recruit and retain women in computing in Latin America? To answer RQ1, six subquestions were created covering year, language, country of origin, document type, and professional track. Furthermore, for RQ2, two subquestions were created involving educational level and the use of software development with a female theme. Methodology: This investigation used the systematic literature mapping process. To achieve a broad coverage of papers, the following sources were included: Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, EBSCO, the proceedings of the Latin American Women in Computing Conference (LAWCC), and those of the Women in Technology (WIT) workshop colocated with the annual conference of the Brazilian Computer Society (SBC). The included papers were published in the last decade (2010–2020) and written in English, Portuguese, or Spanish. Findings: The literature mapping encompasses 197 academic documents, 48.2% of which were written in Portuguese, 28.7% in English, and 23.1% in Spanish. The papers originated from 15 of the 20 Latin American countries. Brazil and Costa Rica have the highest number of publications overall. The documents describe initiatives to increase the participation of women in computing majors that cover the entire educational spectrum, from K-12 to graduate programs, but papers targeting populations in higher education have started to appear recently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The information and communications technology (ICT) industry is making important contributions to economic growth both locally and globally. There is a high demand for ICT professionals that higher education institutions are still struggling to meet. An effective literature review is an important part of understanding the existing findings and issues in the education of future ICT professionals, and for planning future research directions. This comprehensive study presented here includes a review of 761 papers on the level of summary analysis and 155 papers in depth, according to ten research questions related to: curriculum design and delivery, knowledge and skills of future ICT professionals, teaching methods, collaboration between academia and industry, and future employment and career development of ICT professionals in the labor market. Based on the findings from a content and cluster analysis, the results indicate the need for a more holistic and strategic approach to the education of future ICT professionals, including career development support within formal processes of higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The 41st IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science (ICOPS14) and the 20th IEEE International Conference on High-Power Particle Beams (Beams14) combined for the first time in 2014 as the IEEE ICOPS/Beams meeting. This scientific meeting took place from May 25 to May 29, 2014, in Washington, DC, at the historical Marriott Wardman Park hotel in Northwest DC. Participation included a broad range of scientific attendance, with a total of 566 researchers from 36 countries, with scientists from China, Russia, and Japan making the largest contribution to the international contingent. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Contribution: Prior studies on goal congruity show that students are more motivated to pursue careers that allow them to work with and help others and give back to their community (i.e., careers that afford prosocial value). This paper discovers this same pattern in electrical engineering (EE) and discovers that prosocial affordance beliefs are significantly associated with intensions to persist, while agency beliefs are not. Background: Goal congruity theory finds that people are more motivated to pursue a career if it aligns with values they endorse. This theory can shed light on why some students do not persist in EE because of the stereotype that the profession does not allow working with and helping others. Research Questions: This paper seeks to answer whether EE students perceive the profession as affording prosocial value, and to test associations between prosocial perceptions and motivation to persist in the field. Methodology: The first study in this paper was conducted on students in an introductory EE course ($n\,\,= 79$) that measured affordance beliefs about the EE profession and tested associations with intensions to persist. The second study compared affordance beliefs and trait endorsements held by students in the introductory level course with those in an advanced EE courses ($n\,\,=51$). Findings: Mediation analysis revealed that the more novice students believe that EE allows them to fulfill prosocial goals, the greater their persistence intentions (95% CI: 0.01 to 0.34). This analysis also showed that agency beliefs were not strongly associated with persistence intensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: This paper introduces the real-world limitations and non-technical aspects of power electronics (PEs) projects to students through innovative tutorial activities. Background: Many electrical engineering curricula offer a PE courses (PECs) for third- or fourth-year undergraduate students. Prior research on PEs education mainly focused on improving students’ experimental skills through developing practical experiments, laboratory activities, and problem/project-based learning. An instructional approach that instead employs real-world knowledge and skills is worth evaluating. Intended Outcomes: Students should be able to consider real-world technical and non-technical limitations when applying theory to design PE circuits and converters, and be able to select and carry out appropriate tests to troubleshoot circuits. Application Design: Prior research on engineering education emphasized the importance of introducing real-world limitations to the students as part of their curriculum. This paper suggests that the tutorial activities presented in a PEC can help students acquire skills in designing and troubleshooting a circuit or system according to desired technical aspects, real-world limitations, and available data. Findings: Evidence of the validity of this approach in a PEC at two Australian universities, over four academic years, is provided. Students receiving the new tutorial activities had percentage scores some 10–15 points higher than those who had traditional tutorials. Another evaluation reveals the students’ vibrant participation in the activities during the new tutorial sessions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the problem of estimating a high-dimensional vector of parameters \theta \in \mathbb R^n from a noisy observation. The noise vector is independent identically distributed Gaussian with known variance. For a squared-error loss function, the James–Stein (JS) estimator is known to dominate the simple maximum-likelihood (ML) estimator when the dimension n exceeds two. The JS-estimator shrinks the observed vector toward the origin, and the risk reduction over the ML-estimator is greatest for {\theta } that lie close to the origin. JS-estimators can be generalized to shrink the data toward any target subspace. Such estimators also dominate the ML-estimator, but the risk reduction is significant only when {\theta } lies close to the subspace. This leads to the question: in the absence of prior information about \theta , how do we design estimators that give significant risk reduction over the ML-estimator for a wide range of \theta ? In this paper, we propose shrinkage estimators that attempt to infer the structure of \theta from the observed data in order to construct a good attracting subspace. In particular, the components of the observed vector are separated into clusters, and the elements in each cluster shrunk toward a common attractor. The number of clusters and the attractor for each cluster are determined from the observed vector. We provide concentration results for the squared-error loss and convergence results for the risk of the proposed estimators. The results show that the estimators give significant risk reduction over the ML-estimator for a wide range of \theta , particularly for large $n$ . Simulation results are provided to support the theoretical claims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: This paper found that design experiences can foster engineering identity and belongingness for early career electrical and computer engineering students. Students had different interpretations of what it meant to be an engineer (identity) and their belongingness in engineering. This paper provides novel insights into how students may be developing identities and belongingness in engineering, both critical for student retention and success. Background: Design experiences are crucial for engineering students, both for developing academic competencies and allowing students to see how they can become engineers. Existing literature has mixed results with respect to the influence of team-based design experiences on engineering identity and belongingness. Research Questions: 1) How do design experiences influence early career electrical and computer engineering students’ identification and belongingness in engineering? and 2) How do these students describe what it means to identify as an engineer and belong in engineering? Methodology: The beliefs of electrical and computer engineering students were examined using mixed methods to understand the intersection of design experiences, engineering identity, and belongingness. Findings: Students interpreted their engineering identity and belongingness differently, particularly, with respect to how design experiences can shape these attitudes. Whereas students interpreted engineering identity through their performance and interest in authentic engineering tasks, they interpreted belongingness as a means of comparing themselves to their peers. The findings have implications for engineering education researchers, and design instructors, to foster ways of being and belonging in engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a fractional version of Haemers’ bound on the Shannon capacity of a graph, which is originally due to Blasiak. This bound is a common strengthening of both Haemers’ bound and the fractional chromatic number of a graph. We show that this fractional version outperforms any bound on the Shannon capacity that could be attained through Haemers’ bound. We show also that this bound is multiplicative, unlike Haemers’ bound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: This paper contributes to the literature by confirming the existence, in gender and socio-economic diversified higher educational environments, of differential evaluation ratings given by students to their teachers. Background: Women and low socio-economic classes have historically been under-represented, both as students and teachers. Various policies and measures are being put in place internationally to raise their standing, equity, and success as they progress in their careers. To be effective, the after effects of these policies must be investigated and understood. Research Questions: This paper addressed the question of whether gender and socio-economic differences, in both teachers and students, affect students’ opinion of their teachers in higher education, across a number of disciplines. Methodology: The research analyzed the differentials in students’ ratings of their teachers in five disciplines in the field of education. Data was drawn from student responses to the surveys conducted in a large Indian university at the end of each course unit. The survey questions elicit their perceptions of teaching quality in the disciplines of civil engineering, electrical engineering, computer science engineering, mathematics, humanities and social sciences. This paper analyzes 112 919 and 16 354 complete sets of student ratings, to study the gender and socio-economic diversity based effects respectively. Statistical multivariate and univariate general linear models were used to derive the relevant results and graphs. Findings: The study reveals the existence of socio-economic status bias, gender-typical behavior, gender-atypical behavior, and same-gender and cross-gender biases; these resulted in differential ratings in the disciplines examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to show that individual ambidexterity affects performance in small project-based enterprises. This is consistent with a recent and prominent stream of research that investigates the characteristics of workers as antecedents of ambidexterity behaviors and their effect on performance. We also analyze the role of entrepreneurial intensity as an important context issue that hampers this relationship. We test our hypotheses in the context of Italian television drama series productions, which are small project-based enterprises, by analyzing the careers of 1736 project entrepreneurs who had been working in the industry from 1996 to 2010. Our results suggest that for project entrepreneurs, high diversity in work experiences positively affects the project performance. Moreover, we demonstrate that the industry tenure of project entrepreneurs lessens the main relationship, by reducing the positive effect of entrepreneurial intensity and limiting benefits of ambidextrous behaviors. Our findings allow us to add insights to the entrepreneurship research and individual level ambidexterity theory. First, we contribute to this stream of research by analyzing how the diversity of work experiences at the individual level affects project performance. In doing so, we overcome the prior literature, which limited analysis only to the project portfolio level. Second, we develop a framework that investigates the argument regarding whether and under what circumstances does individual level ambidexterity improve project performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This book comprises a selection of papers presented at the IPET 2008 symposium that took place at the Royal Academy of Engineering in London in November 2008 and at the following workshop at the Colorado School of Mines. It is the second volume in a series that emanated from a workshop on Philosophy in Engineering that took place at the University of Delft in October 2007 and that began a continuing series of workshops named by the acronym IPET followed by the year of the workshop. Prior to that, there had been three significant publications that had illustrated the value of pursuing the relationship between philosophy and engineering, and engineering education. The success of this 2007 University of Delft workshop led to IPET 2008 being held at the Royal Academy of Engineering in London. While the focus of both volumes is on engineering, necessarily many of the papers have implications for engineering education. It would be surprising if the three individuals invited to review this book were able to agree upon a conclusion. They did indeed have different views; this seems to be because their views differed of who was likely to read this book. A reader may infer the editors? intentions from the questions put to Mitcham, but it is harder to infer the intended audience. One of the reviewers takes the view that a collection of papers of the calibre presented will attract a like-minded set of readers, and so responded to the questions put to Mitcham with that group in mind. Another thought the book would be suited to engineering educators more generally, and as a result was effusive in its praise. The fundamental questions that need to be answered are ?What value do these papers have for engineering educators?? and ?What value do they have for their students?? While the editors have not focused on engineering and technological literacy, a number of chapters are of considerable importance to those who promote study in these areas. The chapters on peace engineering and the use of robotics in warfare are examples of this. Of the series of papers on the philosophy of technology adoption over the last two decades, some are summarized in Ch. 23 by Houkes and Pols. This chapter focuses on the designer?user system in terms of what the authors' call Rational Acceptance Technology (RAT), one aspect of which is control. They point out that in designing artefacts, designers hand over a measure of control to the users. RAT requires that the user has partial responsibility for failure. For instance, guarantees and insurance for domestic electrical goods are careful to note improper use as an exclusion from the guarantee. From the reviewers' perspective, the answer to the first of the questions put to Mitcham is that this volume contributes to the establishment of a philosophy of engineering. It now requires an authority to provide a synthesis of the numerous articles that have been published in this area with that in mind. A good starting point would be for the organizers of these and similar workshops to call for some focused review papers, to which the reviewers and readers of this book can look forward to with great anticipation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article is an extension of a work in progress paper originally presented at the conference FiE 2020, Frontiers in Education by (Schirichian et al., 2020), as a result of Schirichian’s master’s in science dissertation. It studies the relations between academic performance, protection factors, life at university, and personal characteristics to understand how they influence students’ academic success in undergraduate engineering programs in Brazil. In this challenging environment, several students overcome these issues and graduate, which indicates that some protection structures allow students to face challenging situations and be successful in their studies. Current research studied the relationships between academic performance, self-efficacy, causal attributions, personal characteristics, and life at university, with a group of 30 students. Models were studied by combining the different variables and aspects evaluated in the research, and the findings show relationship between academic performance and: 1) self-efficacy, causal attributions, and personal characteristics (such as leisure activities, living with their parents, or college accommodations) and those who attended private schools during basic education; 2 protection factors self-efficacy and causal attributions with advancing in the program and the time of enrolment in the university; and 3) the dimensions initiation and persistence, success/internality and failure/internality, indicating that those who perceive themselves as playing a major role in their academic journey tend to have better outcomes. Further results show the influence of social inequalities, particularly for those students who declared themselves brown and who conducted their basic education in public schools (which are generally of lower quality than private ones in Brazil). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important things we in the IEEE Communication Society (ComSoc) do is recognize the contributions of our colleagues to the field and to humanity. Such recognition comes from many quarters, from the Institute, from our Technical Committees, from our Chapters, etc. A major part of this activity involves our Society-wide awards, which are awarded based on nominations received from the membership and administered by the Com- Soc Awards Committee. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Contribution: This study uncovered specific benefits, challenges, and facilitators to participating in undergraduate research for physically disabled students (PDSs) taken directly from students themselves. Background: Disabled students (DSs) earn bachelor’s degrees and gain employment in STEM careers at rates lower than their peers. The paradigm shift in undergraduate STEM education from lecture-based to inquiry-based learning is an opportunity to explore new options for including DSs. Little is known about designing inquiry-based learning settings for DSs. Research Question: This article seeks to increase the understanding of how to support PDSs in inquiry-based settings. Specifically, the authors documented the experiences of PDS in a summer undergraduate research program to uncover: 1) benefits they receive from participating; 2) specific challenges these students face; and 3) novel ways to facilitate participation. Methodology: The authors conducted semistructured interviews of five undergraduate PDS, who participated in a summer research program. The paper reports representative student responses across themes related to benefits, challenges, and facilitators of success in the program. Findings: The students enjoyed many benefits typically gained from undergraduate research, most notably career clarification. Additionally, the students experienced personal growth, including improved self-advocacy, increased confidence in their independence, and greater understanding of limitations. The main facilitator was the positive attitudes of research mentors. A principal challenge was the lack of knowledge about disability in peers without disabilities who participated in the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: This paper shows that participating in a year-round program for African–American male middle school students (ages 10–14) can positively impact their attitudes toward STEM, their confidence in problem solving and team work, and their interest in STEM careers, but may not impact the interest in taking STEM classes to the same extent. Background: Increasing the number of under-represented minorities pursuing degrees in science and engineering through formal and informal learning activities has been a focus in the United States for many years. Efforts to diversify the engineering workforce have often targeted students in high school and college (ages 15–22), with varying success. Intended Outcomes: This program was designed to increase participants’ content knowledge, interest in STEM courses, interest in STEM careers, interest in attending college, and improve their attitudes about STEM. Application Design: Approaches used included: 1) introducing software tools that encouraged critical thinking, creativity and independent learning; 2) integrating engineering and software design processes; 3) providing projects that were age- and culturally-appropriate; and 4) using ethnically matched mentors. Findings: After almost two years in the program participants show improved attitudes toward STEM, more interest and career choices in computing and engineering, and increased interest in attending college. These findings suggested that summer and academic year programs can be effective for cultivating interest in computing and engineering careers, but their impact on interest in studying related subjects may need further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an auto-decision making system, knowledge-based major choosing decision (KMCD), which helps remote students choose their majors. It is built within a first-order reasoning system with an uncertain reasoning function. The knowledge of both students who want to choose their majors and who have finished their studies are used in the decision making process of the system. KMCD provides personalized suggestions to those students who want to choose majors. Both the learning abilities of students and the career prospects of majors are carefully analyzed on the basis of the knowledge in database. As these analyzing results are well utilized in the decision making process of KMCD, it can be expected that the students who take the suggestions will have a better chance to get graduated smoothly and start their careers successfully after graduation. A detailed description of KMCD is given, which shows that the system is actually a reasonable decision making framework with a capability of expansion of other knowledge which is supposed to be useful for major choosing. An experimental study on data of real college students is devised to justify the effectiveness of KMCD. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A shortage of U.S. trained power and energy engineers has been predicted in the near future. One approach to solve this problem involves increasing the number of students choosing to study engineering, especially by exposing more students to engineering at an early age, even before high school. This paper presents the curricula and assessment of two summer programs for middle and high school students. We introduced electric and renewable energy concepts, engineering design, and MicroGrid related projects to the students. The survey results indicate that both programs improved students' levels of engineering knowledge, interest in learning and participating in engineering projects, and their intention to choose an engineering career; however, students' confidence in succeeding in engineering or science did not show improvement, which may impact students' willingness to choose engineering as a major. A positive attitude towards engineering among high school students had improved after the program but not among the middle school group. Improving the image of electrical engineering in general, and power systems engineering in particular, remains a challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An aging workforce and rapid growth in STEM-related occupations provide critical reasons to involve precollege students and teachers in science and engineering activities. Additionally, concerns about climate change and green energy sources provide motivation for students to pursue careers in the electric power industry. NSF-supported FREEDM ERC precollege programs address these issues through three components, which are described in this paper: 1) a Research Experience for Teachers; 2) a Young Scholars commuter program for high school students; and 3) weeklong renewable energy camps for middle school students. Assessment results for the first four years of the effort at four university campuses are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Engineers increasingly work and advance their careers in international business settings. As technical managers, they need management and technical skills when working with different stakeholders with whom they may not share a common first language. Studies have revealed that informal oral communication skills are of prime importance for global engineers who face challenges in building shared meaning and formulating clear messages in meetings with non-native speakers of English. This article proposes that studying the use of multimodal resources (spoken language, gaze, gestures, and objects) in meetings can unpack how work tasks are accomplished in business through different communicative strategies. Literature review: This paper focuses on engineers’ and technical managers’ needs and challenges in professional and intercultural communication where English is used as a business lingua franca (BELF) in multimodal meetings. While multimodal conversation and discourse analytic studies highlight the dynamic nature of meeting interaction, previous technical and professional communication and BELF research on multimodality is limited. Research questions: 1. How do technical managers use multimodal resources to articulate their ideas in BELF meetings with their peers? 2. How does the use of multimodal resources contribute to the construction of shared meaning in explanatory, consensus-seeking, and solution-finding communication? Methodology: This study reports on two case studies and multimodal discourse analysis of video-recorded meetings among technical managers and their peers in four companies. The use of multimodal resources is analyzed in explanatory, consensus-seeking, and solution-finding communication. Results and conclusions: In BELF meetings, assemblages of spoken language, gestures, tools, whiteboard, and documents contribute to constructing shared meaning. This study has implications for global professional and engineering communication. Future research should further examine multimodality in BELF meetings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores what has been the most successful attempt to date to introduce an “escape hatch” into the adjudication process for those on the wrong end of decisions: the area of natural justice. The decisions of the Technology and Construction Court relating to this area reflect the complexity of the key policy consideration underlying them: the extent to which judges should second guess adjudicators when it comes to matters of procedure. The paper argues that the Technology and Construction Court has in recent years reached a high water mark of intervention before being reigned in by the then senior judge of that court and by the Court of Appeal. It suggests that a more stable and predictable position now prevails. That certainty, common approach, and balance have been welcomed by the construction industry. This paper suggests that welcome is a better benchmark of whether the intervention/nonintervention debate has been correctly resolved than any academic or theoretical approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizational leaders routinely note the critical importance of human capital in enabling successful innovation outcomes. However, strategic human resource management (SHRM) practices, especially in large firms, often are not aligned with practices that facilitate breakthrough innovation (BI), where uncertainty, ambiguity, and risk of failure are high. In this paper, drawing from the motivation–opportunity–ability (MOA) framework, we identify and delineate SHRM practices that are likely to affect BI outcomes in firms. These include career risk mitigation, extrinsic rewards (motivation), idea generation facilitation (opportunity), innovation talent development, and managerial ambidexterity development (ability). We theorize that while these SHRM practices may directly affect BI outcomes, these effects are likely to be modulated by the broader organizational context, specifically, the degree of organizational conservatism. We test our hypotheses using survey data collected from 79 U.S.-based multinational firms and find that first, the impacts of career risk, extrinsic rewards, and innovation talent development on BI outcomes vary with the firm's degree of conservatism. Second, developing ambidextrous talent among middle managers positively influences BI outcomes, irrespective of the firm's level of conservatism. Overall, our study provides a basic framework to understand how SHRM practices can be leveraged to influence innovation under varying degrees of conservatism in organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engineering literature mostly focuses on the “objects” and techniques that interest engineers: there are only a few accounts of the people that do engineering work and what that work actually involves. The relevant literature contributes a combination of personal opinion, anecdotal reports, and empirical evidence from quantitative and a few qualitative surveys. Most of the empirical research provides only indirect and limited evidence on engineering work as it is practiced because the survey questions seem to be based on preconceived notions of engineering work. Almost all the papers in the literature that refer to engineering practice aim to provide evidence for changing engineering education or evidence to support a particular set of engineering competencies. From these narrow objectives we can learn a little about engineering work. More empirical evidence is needed before we can work towards a comprehensive understanding, let alone improvement of engineering working methods and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For those authors who have submitted papers recently, you may have noticed some changes in our submission process. As of July 1, IEEE now requires that all authors provide an ORCID at submission. ORCID is short for Open Researcher and Contributor ID, and it serves as a unique identifying number for a researcher so that the various electronic archives can properly attribute authorship of papers to the correct people. This can be thought of as a government identification number that persists for one?s lifetime (like a social security number in the US). It is being put in place to solve the entity resolution problem. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Contribution: This article lends empirical evidence to this research area of factors influencing students’ choice of and success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Background: Understanding these factors is crucial as it informs recruitment and support interventions provided to students and constitutes a premise to improving graduation rates. The social cognitive career theory (SCCT) was used as a theoretical framework to provide insight regarding factors influencing students’ choice of qualifications. Research Questions: What is the state of research on the factors influencing students’ choice of and success in STEM programmes? Which of these factors have interested most researchers? What research themes are covered in articles investigating these factors? Methodology: This study followed the general bibliometric analysis workflow—study design, data collection, data analysis, data visualization, and interpretation. Data collection followed the preferred reporting items for systematic review and metaanalysis (PRISMA) guidelines. From an initial set of 408 articles, 179 related to the theme and were published in the Web of Science between 2004 and 2020. These articles were analyzed using the standard bibliometric metrics. Findings: Findings indicate that this research field is still growing. Thirty-two factors were identified and rated based using an objective assessment criterion. In addition, a classification of the factors is presented based on the SCCT. This study provides a theoretical reference for improving success rates for STEM qualifications and better understanding the theme. The study proposes a research agenda of what future research in the field should focus on, based on current gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engineering education is based on the technical methods in the present form. Information revolution causes to access the technical education materials as a widely spread form by the students. These materials are more effective than the traditional engineering education. Thus, it is necessary to change the engineering education methods from the classical form. General workshop is a first-year course for the engineering students and it is an introduction on the engineering regulations. Nowadays, this course is run to teach the practical training. However, this goal cannot be achieved because of the short period of the course, various topics of the course and improper education methods. In this paper, this course is revised based on the teaching of engineering concepts to the students. Various engineering concepts are explained which can be educated in this course without considerable changes in practice but with magnificent change in the course prospective. It is expected that this new design helps the students more to be familiar with the engineering concepts and methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching problem: Immersive pedagogies—including real-world or client-based projects, case studies, and simulations—have long been used to encourage student problem-solving, analytical thinking, and teamwork in professional communication. Building a connection to the real world has real challenges, however, for both instructors and students. How can we better prepare students for their future careers in our technical communication courses? Situating the case: This paper draws on three areas in the literature to situate the Arisoph case study: First, we discuss the work that has been done with client-based projects and the problems and challenges researchers have found with incorporating these projects into the classroom. Second, we discuss a newer model of workplace simulations, particularly focusing on the work done by Fisher and Russell. Third, we discuss the psychological theories of attribution and reattribution, which provided a foundation for our development of the Arisoph case study. How this case was studied: This paper describes the development of the Arisoph case study, an online client-based simulation course designed for engineering students to learn and practice technical communication. Course development and collection of instructor and student responses took place from 2010 to 2014. About the case: This paper details the development and implementation of the Arisoph case study, which brought the workplace realities of a variety of engineering professions into a classroom filled with engineering majors. The Arisoph simulation was designed to manage student attribution and reattribution, particularly to help engineering students connect the principles and skills learned in technical communication courses with their future careers. The Arisoph case study is a full-semester simulation, where students apply for work in a fictional company and fulfill different roles on professional teams. Each assignment during the semester is situated in the context of the simulation. The major projects for the simulation, however, come from a real client in the engineering field. This unique combination of simulation and client-based projects provides students with greater opportunities for successful reattribution. Conclusions: Initial student reactions to the course show an increased understanding of workplace communication and a greater motivation to produce the best possible product for the client. We hope that long-term studies will show significant carryover of those attitudes into students' careers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Contribution: This paper shows that identification with engineering for engineering graduate students is positively and significantly predicted by engineering interest, competence, recognition, and interpersonal skills competence. Background: Prior studies of engineering identity on undergraduates identified several factors (e.g., engineering interest and engineering recognition) as positive predictors of identification of engineering. Engineering competence, achieved by participating in design projects, is a crucial part of students’ efforts to become more innovative engineers. Identity theory is used to understand undergraduates’ persistence in engineering, as students with stronger engineering identification are more likely to persist. More work is needed focusing on graduate students. Research Questions: Do engineering identity measurement frameworks studied for undergraduate students also apply to graduate students? Do they correlate with intention to complete the degree? What predicts the engineering identity of engineering master’s and doctoral students? Methodology: Interviews informed development and adaptation of a multi-scale survey instrument. Factor analyses identified four factors that relate to graduate engineering identity: 1) engineering interest; 2) engineering recognition; 3) engineering competence; and 4) interpersonal skills competence. Three sequential multiple linear regression models were used to predict engineering graduate students’ engineering identity. Findings: The final regression model, which includes student characteristics and the four factors resulting from confirmatory factor analysis, predicts 60% of the variance in engineering identity—substantially more than similar undergraduate engineering identity models. All four factors were significant and positive predictors of graduate students’ engineering identity. The engineering recognition factor in particular needed adaptation to emphasize peers and faculty members over family, although family remained important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: This paper furthers understanding of how to use studio culture to develop instruction that supports learners’ epistemic development in the context of an engineering senior design course, with a focus on student development of epistemic frames. Background: Current capstone engineering design courses do not integrate the educational theories and practice of cognitive apprenticeship combined with studio culture. Combined, these can be useful constructs for developing instruction that encourages creativity and innovation in a situated, student-centered, and activity-focused environment. Prior research and evidence-based instructional methods from other non-engineering contexts were used to create an instructional environment that engenders epistemic change. Research Questions: How do instructional design methods based on studio culture impact the cognitive and epistemic development of engineering students in a Senior Design course? Methods: This exploratory case study examines the effects of instructional design methods based on studio culture to change an Engineering Senior Design course from lecture-based to activity-based instruction in a collaborative environment. The case study emerges from a design-based research intervention, and uses mixed methods data collection from multiple sources, including video interviews, classroom footage, and written debrief reflections. Data analysis applied an integrated thematic approach. Implications were developed through an emergent coding process. Findings: Cognitive apprenticeship methods used in a studio culture-based classroom provide learning experiences that benefit epistemic and cognitive growth for engineering students in a Senior Design course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the outcome of a summer precollege engineering enrichment program. The purpose of the summer outreach program is to promote and expose pre-college students to electrical engineering concepts and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) topics as well as hands on research projects. The summer program is typically a six-week summer outreach program that attracts U.S. high school students and international students from abroad. Sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and National Science Foundation (NSF), the summer program is generally offered to underrepresented high school students who have completed their junior year of high school and for seniors who plan to attend universities in the fall semester in the area of engineering. The program has demonstrated the potential to attract and graduate talented youth, including college students as mentors, who later enrolled in advanced degree programs at college and university levels. This Pre-College for Engineering Systems is a residential program coordinated by the Center for Energy Systems and Control (CESaC), within the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Howard University. CESaC hopes that this summer program can serve as a national model for increasing the number of underrepresented groups in electrical engineering and system. Based on the objectives and subsequent outcomes, the program can serve as a national model for increasing the number of underrepresented groups in electrical computer engineering with an emphasis in power and energy specialization. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents and analyzes results of two Delphi processes that polled cybersecurity experts to rate cybersecurity topics based on importance, difficulty, and timelessness. These ratings can be used to identify core concepts–cross-cutting ideas that connect knowledge in the discipline. The first Delphi process identified core concepts that should be learned in any first course on cybersecurity. The second identified core concepts that any cybersecurity professional should know upon graduating from college. Despite the rapidly growing demand for cybersecurity professionals, it is not clear what defines foundational cybersecurity knowledge. Initial data from the Delphi processes lay a foundation for defining the core concepts of the field and, consequently, provide a common starting point to accelerate the development of rigorous cybersecurity education practices. These results provide a foundation for developing evidence-based educational cybersecurity assessment tools that will identify and measure effective methods for teaching cybersecurity. The Delphi results can also be used to inform the development of curricula, learning exercises, and other educational materials and policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality of life may be analyzed from different perspectives. In compliance with that, it may be assumed that the social position of the profession has significant impact on quality of life. The paper presents the analysis of the research which aim was to examine the three dimensions of the social position of the engineering profession in the society of post-socialist transformation: material status, social power, and social reputation. We compared the results of the current study with the results of the research that we had conducted in the period when socialist relations still exist in organizations. Moreover, we studied how the engineers perceive these three aspects of the social position of their profession. The first research was conducted in 1998 and the second in 2015. 200 engineers were questioned in 146 companies. The results indicate that the dimensions of social position, such as the material standard and the social influence of engineers in Serbia today are a little more favorable than they used to be at the end of the 90s. Finally, a majority of the engineers from our research believe that their expectations regarding the engineering profession have not been fulfilled and in future, their quality of life may be enhanced in terms of social importance and recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computational thinking and creative thinking are valuable tools both within and outside of computer science (CS). The goal of the project discussed here is to increase students’ achievement in CS courses through a series of computational creativity exercises (CCEs). In this paper, the framework of CCEs is described, and the results of two separate studies on their impact on student achievement are presented. Students in introductory CS courses completed CCEs as part of those courses. Students in Study 1 came from a variety of programs, and students in Study 2 were engineering majors. A profiling approach was used to test whether the impact of the CCEs could be accounted for by differences in students’ motivated and self-regulated engagement. Overall, CCEs had positive impacts on students’ grades and knowledge test scores, and although there were differences in achievement across the profiles, the impact of the CCEs was generally consistent across profiles. The CCEs appear to be a promising way to increase student achievement in introductory CS courses. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses an all-encompassing approach to increase the number of students in engineering through innovative outreach, recruiting, and retention programs. Prior to adopting these programs, the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at the University of Oklahoma (OU), Norman, experienced a reduction in engineering enrollment similar to the trend that has occurred across the U.S. over the last few years. As a result, the school investigated the key factors that influence selection of engineering as a career path and initiated a corrective program to reverse this trend. The program involves focusing on the present through retention, on the immediate future through recruiting, and on the distant future through outreach. The focus of all of these programs is to mobilize the OU-ECE faculty and student body to present advanced engineering technologies, innovative demonstrations, and hands-on activities at a level that the individual student can understand and appreciate. Student surveys and interviews are used to assess the program qualitatively, and OU-ECE enrollment numbers are used as a quantitative assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A variety of terms are used to describe structural characteristics and concepts in the context of disproportionate collapse of structures. Some of these terms, namely collapse resistance, robustness, and vulnerability as well as redundancy, continuity, ductility, and integrity are discussed in this paper. It is shown that they are often used differently by different writers and that there is not always a general agreement today as to their precise meaning. This paper distinguishes these terms and the associated structural characteristics and suggests working definitions. Based thereupon, a general performance-based framework for preventing disproportionate collapse is presented and the methods available for enhancing the collapse resistance of a structure are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a thesis that the word “civil” in “civil engineering” is anachronistic and does not represent the works of the so-called civil engineer. The origin and root of the words “engineer” and civil are traced. Engineer is seen to have its roots via the Greek and Latin in the Sanskrit word jan, meaning life, whereas civil is traced to the differentiation that engineers of the 18th and 19th centuries created from their military engineer counterparts. The word engineer was used as far back as the 14th century, though, much of it in nontechnical terms. The evolution of the practice of civil engineering, and the history of the formation of societies are studied to determine how tasks relate to the word civil. Of particular interest is to see what the practitioners and founders of societies aimed to embody in this field of civil engineering. The paper aims to explore the factors and influences in the practice and naming of the civil engineer. It delves into the roots and origins of the names of a number of engineering disciplines, giving explanations and commentary on the implications of those names, and finds that all those names relate to technical functions. The paper concludes that the name of civil engineering does not represent the functional tasks of the civil engineer, in contrast to names of other engineering disciplines, and is, moreover, out of place with modern times. What’s in a name? This paper seeks to find out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of the first part of the Tools for Enhancing and Assessing the Value of International Experience for Engineers (TA VIE) project, launched in 2018, and outlines a contemporary understanding of global competence for engineers, as understood by European engineering companies. Striving to make engineering education more comprehensively aligned to the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and thereby meeting demands from industry and society, the notion of "global competence" has attracted more and more attention from engineering schools. While there is no universally agreed on definition of global competence, the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) definition, which explicitly combines global awareness and intercultural communication competence with sustainability efforts, seems potentially well positioned to inform higher education institutions' (HEI) global competence education. This is perhaps especially so when it comes to international student mobility, an area which is regularly seen as an important means to enhance global competence while all too often being assessed not in terms of qualitative student development, but in terms of structural indicators. However, in order to assess and improve curricula and mobility programs, the desired learning outcomes must first be specified. Based on research in five European countries (Spain, Italy, Sweden, France and Hungary), this paper details the understanding, requirements and perceived skill gaps of companies hiring engineering graduates, a first step towards improved and assessable global competence education for engineering students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: A hybrid approach involving reduced lecture content with project-based learning (PBL) was introduced to a standalone course in optics at an engineering school not specialized in this area, with promising results. Background: At most schools, optics is an elective “niche” area involving a single senior course. This presents challenges, since the topic has breadth and depth, leaving little time for application projects. Yet, seniors want future applicability. After many years, the instructor questioned his “broad-brush” approach involving many topics with limited application, especially given the role of optics and photonics in technology leadership. A literature search uncovered recent use of project-based methods for optics in K–12 and community colleges but little use in U.S. universities, suggesting an opportunity. Intended Outcomes: The authors intended that achievement and valuation by students would be greater with authentic projects and less content. Application Design: Therefore, an approach that concentrated content and project work on light’s dualistic nature in a mathematically rigorous manner was taken. With reduced content, class time was available for PBL, whereby the problem motivated the content. For light’s wave nature, five lecture weeks were followed by a project simulating the propagation of light. For the particle nature, a circuit design project to implement analog electronic circuits during class occurred after five lecture weeks. Findings: Student interviews and instructor perspectives on impacts of learning, career preparation, graduate school interest, and in-class engagement uncovered encouraging results. A direct assessment showed significantly higher homework scores with the course changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Typically, the underrepresentation of female engineers in education, employment, and leadership is a worldwide social issue. The present study investigates the critical employment challenges and barriers for female engineers in Yemeni's unstable, conservative, and poor society. The quantitative methodology was based on two constructed questionnaires targeting female engineering graduates from 2012 to 2021 at Taiz University and executive HR managers. The results indicated that the ongoing civil war, employability attributes, personal attitudes, low wages, the conservative society, and marriage–family beliefs are the most apparent barriers to female engineers' employment in Yemen. Nearly 40% of female engineers are frustrated with not having a job, almost the same percentage stopped seeking a job, and about two-thirds did not register with government employment offices. This study prompts engineering colleges to frequently update their programs to cope with rapid developments and to include employability courses in their curricula. Furthermore, this study advises female engineers to consult experts before enrolling in engineering programs and to practice training and employability skills immediately after graduation. We want to encourage such social studies in Yemen that are concerned with female issues to underpin their participation in society and to make use of unutilized resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the author provides observations on the state of engineering education and a blueprint for how to shape the future of the profession to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex world. The engineering profession is one rooted in history and accomplishment. Yet engineers-whether civil, electrical, mechanical, structural, or of other engineering subspecialties-share a problem of perception. Many people do not know what engineers do and are not familiar with their challenges or accomplishments. Some may regard an engineering career path with apathy. Engineers themselves can fail to see their work in its fuller social context, resulting in self-reinforcing limitations on the potential of technology. The challenges of a complex, increasingly connected world demand that the engineering profession renew itself continuously, highlight and promote its accomplishments, and cultivate a future generation of engineers. These engineers must be prepared to contribute to substantive deliberations, to lead and shape the issues, identify and solve problems, and find and pursue the opportunities of tomorrow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge contribution in virtual communities is an important issue in the field of knowledge management. Based on Ames's theoretical framework on motivation, we propose a model for knowledge contribution in problem-solving virtual communities (PSVCs). The model includes two second-order individual motivations, with four major mechanisms in PSVCs that are associated with these motivations. Results confirm that only egoistic motives affect members' knowledge contribution in PSVCs. Further, knowledge repository and social identity are found to be important mechanisms for promoting knowledge contribution through egoistic motives. This paper concludes with theoretical and practical implications and provides insights for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores both how male and female high school pupils (15-16 years old) perceive the engineering profession and their willingness to pursue a career in this area. A study was performed around a one-day outreach activity, Girls' Day, organized for the first time in Spain. During Girls' Day, students were exposed to specific activities developed for them in engineering research labs and companies, carried out by young female researchers and professionals. The study, based on two questionnaires answered before and after the activity, focuses on the differences between groups of female and male students having differing degrees of interest in studying engineering. The educational level of mothers, the presence of engineers in families, and perceived family support emerged as important factors influencing the probability of a young person's considering pursuing engineering studies. Nevertheless, the need to expose children to outreach activities at a younger age and to involve the students' families and teachers has become clear. If planned properly and thoughtfully, even a single day's experience can contribute to changing the perception of what an engineer is. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The civil engineering profession has been undergoing an identity search. With the advent of information technology and the global market, competition from engineering offices elsewhere and from other local professions is unprecedented. Technical engineering knowledge is no longer a guarantee for career success; rather a combination of numerous professional skills is required. The growing unease of civil engineers about their undefined role in the knowledge economy has led many to question civil engineering education. Although there is a push to enhance the humanistic and business aspects of the curriculum, there is a shove in the opposite direction to strengthen the technical content and keep abreast of technical change. Discussion of this socioeconomic problem within the ASCE forum has often used linear deterministic thinking that is characteristic of technical problems. Social and economic systems are usually more complex and harder to understand than technological systems. If we start making new policies to address the problems of the profession based on fuzzy, incomplete, and imprecise mental models, we may end up with counterintuitive results. This paper proposes a systems thinking approach to the reform of civil engineering education based on System Dynamics modeling, a feedback-based object-oriented modeling paradigm. Such a tool can capture the dynamic nature of complex systems and the nonlinear feedback loops that are often responsible for counterintuitive results of policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For several decades, the engineering profession has considered techniques to analyze the potential that structures could experience disproportionate collapse and to design them for greater resistance to such collapse. First interest in such design followed the partial collapse in 1968 of the Ronan Point building in London, a high rise residential structure that experienced full height collapse of a portion of the building following a relatively small kitchen-related gas explosion. Interest in collapse phenomena continued to build following the attack on the Alfred P. Murrah building in 1995 and has been at an apex since the collapses of the twin towers at the World Trade Center and the nearby World Trade Center 7 building in 2001. Presently researchers and engineers are studying structural performance during extreme deformations, systems to resist disproportionate collapse, and methods to analyze collapse potential. The goal is to develop techniques to accurately and cost efficiently assess collapse potential and to enhance robustness at appropriate cost. Analysis methods in common use include sophisticated dynamic, nonlinear modeling of structural systems with high-fidelity structural analysis computer software, and simplified approaches that are intended to capture the essential behaviors during collapse scenarios. Unfortunately, the sophisticated approaches require software not normally owned by design engineers, substantial experience in the modeling of collapse phenomena, and time and cost implications that cannot be supported by the present design fees and, indeed, are not warranted for many situations. Simplified analysis methods in common use are generally empirically based. Hence, they do not capture the essential behaviors of collapse mechanisms, and are of uncertain applicability for all but structural systems for which they have been calibrated. This paper presents two energy-based methods that capture the essential physics of collapse phenomena, and have potential to be developed into simplified procedures for collapse potential assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]