The ability to graphically depict objects in two- and three-dimensional space is fundamental to engineering design practice. Historically, engineers have used pencil, paper, and erasers to draft preliminary sketches and to transform initial drafts into precise production drawings. With the proliferation of computer-aided design (CAD) software…

Quantum mechanics (QMs) is a foundational subject in many science and engineering fields. It is difficult to teach, however, as it requires a fundamental revision of the assumptions and laws of classical physics and probability. Furthermore, introductory QM courses and texts predominantly focus on the mathematical formulations of the subject and…

Power electronics and renewable energy are two important topics for today's power engineering students. In many cases, the two topics are inextricably intertwined. As the renewable energy sector grows, the need for engineers qualified to design such systems grows as well. In order to train such engineers, new courses are needed that highlight the…

Undergraduate courses in electrical machines often include an introduction to their magnetic circuits and to the various magnetic materials used in their construction and their properties. The students must learn to be able to recognize and compare the permeability, saturation, and losses of these magnetic materials, relate each material to its…

Recent decline of students pursuing engineering degree programs is a great concern for many higher education authorities including Federal and State governments. Existing programs in high schools have not yet produced the desired results. Consequently, a number of initiatives to remedy this situation have been proposed and implemented. One such…

This paper describes a newly designed upper-level undergraduate and graduate course, Autonomous Mobile Robots. The course employs active, cooperative, problem-based learning and is grounded in the fundamental computational problems in mobile robotics defined by Dudek and Jenkin. Students receive a broad survey of robotics through lectures, weekly…

This article describes an implementation of interactive virtual environments that have been designed for supporting the education of technical skills in material processing technology. The developed web-based systems provide the capability to train students in the technical skills of material processing technology without the need to work on…

In the field of electricity markets, the development of training tools for engineers has been extremely useful. A novel experimental economics approach based on a computational Web platform of an electricity market is proposed here for the practical teaching of electrical engineering students. The approach is designed to diminish the gap that…

The use of electronic audience response systems in university teaching is currently increasing rapidly. This paper describes how a consistent use of peer instruction facilitated by an audience response system has been introduced in an introductory engineering dynamics course. Data are presented that reveal that this teaching style leads to an…

The laboratory component of undergraduate engineering education poses challenges in resource constrained engineering faculties. The cost, time, space and physical presence requirements of the traditional (real) laboratory approach are the contributory factors. These resource constraints may mitigate the acquisition of meaningful laboratory…

The topic of alternative energy is not only relevant to a multitude of issues today, it is also an effective vehicle for developing instruction that applies across a variety of content disciplines and academic standards. Since many of the issues associated with alternative energy are open-ended, alternative energy also lends itself to…

This paper explores Mechanical Engineering students' conceptions of and preferences for conceptions of the derivative, and their views on mathematics. Data comes from pre-, post- and delayed post-tests, a preference test, interviews with students and an analysis of calculus courses. Data from Mathematics students is used to make comparisons with…

Vocabulary learning is often perceived as boring by learners, especially for those who grew up in the digital age. This paper reports a study of the usefulness of online games in vocabulary learning for some undergraduate students. Three teachers and 100 engineering students participated in a quasi-experimental study for approximately nine weeks.…

REACH (Reaching Engineering and Architectural Career Heights) is a weeklong summer academy outreach program for high school students interested in engineering, architecture, or technology. Through module-­based instruction, students are introduced to various engineering fields. This report describes one of the modules focused on introducing…

As a profession, engineering is not well understood by the general public. Engineers are perceived as "geeks" who love math and who have few interests outside of technical work. In short, the engineering profession has an image problem. In order to counteract this negative stereotyping, an engineering course for non-majors was developed…