Engineering design that requires mathematical analysis, scientific understanding, and technology is critical for preparing students for solving engineering problems. In simulated design environments, students are expected to learn about science and engineering through their design. However, there is a lack of understanding concerning linking…

This paper investigates iteration and fixation in design by mining digital footprints left by designers. High school students used computer-aided design software to create buildings in an urban area, with the goal of applying passive solar design techniques to ensure optimal solar gains of the buildings throughout a year. Students were required to…

Aim/Purpose: This work aims to introduce and evaluate an instructional strategy that aids end-users with developing their software products during intensive project-based events. Background: End-users produce software in the labor market, and one of the challenges for End-User Software Engineering (EUSE) is the need to create functional software…

Background: Teachers can have a significant impact on student interest and learning in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subjects and careers. Teacher self-efficacy can also significantly affect student learning. Researchers investigated the effects of teacher professional development and integrated STEM curriculum development on…

Microcontrollers are used extensively in transportation and communications technologies, in automobiles to monitor and control engine speed and performance so as to maximize fuel economy and efficiency, and by manufacturing industries to produce "smart" technology. The flexibility, imagination, and spirit that make these tiny devices so…

We have conducted an education project to communicate the wave energy concept to high school students. A virtual reality system that combines both hardware and software is developed in this project to simulate the buoy-wave interaction. This first-of-its-kind wave energy unit is portable and physics-based, allowing students to conduct a number of…

Close to a decade ago, John Hersey High School (JHHS) in Arlington Heights, Illinois, made a transition from a traditional classroom-based pre-engineering program. The new program is geared towards helping students understand the entire manufacturing process. Previously, a JHHS student would design a project in computer-aided design (CAD) software…

Numerous efforts seek to increase awareness, interest, and participation in scientific and technological fields at the precollege level. Studies have shown these students are at a critical age where exposure to engineering and other related fields such as science, mathematics, and technology greatly impact their career goals. A variety of advanced…

Students taking the "How to Make (Almost) Anything" class at Mahtomedi High School in Mahtomedi, Minn. can literally make almost anything--from chess pieces to cups to chairs, and DVD cases to clocks to lampshades--right in their classroom. And besides getting a daily dose of amazement, these students are making history in the first…

A summer bridge program for incoming engineering and computer science freshmen has been used at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 2007 to 2010. The primary purpose of this program has been to improve the mathematics course placement for incoming students who initially place into a course below Calculus I on the math placement examination.…

In this study, the popular Purdue Spatial Visualization Test-Visualization by Rotations (PSVT-R) in isometric drawings was recreated with CAD software that allows 3D solid modeling and rendering to provide more realistic pictorial views. Both the original and the modified PSVT-R tests were given to students and their scores on the two tests were…

While most high school juniors in Howard County, Maryland, were quietly studying in their classrooms, students enrolled in the Energy, Power and Transportation Academy (EPT) of the Applications and Research Lab (ARL), in Ellicott City, were making a lot of noise, welding and cutting away to build an all-terrain wheelchair. The author was a part of…

A comparative study was conducted to compare two approaches to engineering design curriculum between different schools (inter-school) and between two curricular approaches, "Project Lead the Way" (PLTW) and "Engineering Projects in Community Service" (EPIC High) (inter-curricular). The researchers collected curriculum…

The purpose of this study was to better understand cognitive strategies used by high school technology education students who have participated in technology education instruction with an engineering design focus. Specifically, this study evaluated the cognitive strategies of students participating in "Project Lead the Way" curriculum…