Contribution: This article presents an engineering outreach activity that aims to teach K-12 students how to develop a tendon-based soft robotic finger. The primary objectives of this STEM activity are to introduce students to the fundamentals of soft robotics, its interdisciplinary nature, and to offer them a hands-on and engaging learning…

Contribution: Internships designed to provide training and an initial period of contact with industry, prior to a computer science engineering capstone project, have a very positive impact on both industry and academic capstone projects. Background: Internships and capstone projects are widely used to integrate work-related learning in computer…

Contribution: This article illustrates a theoretical model and an analytical tool for understanding the influence of diverse elements of the project-based learning (PBL) environment on engineering identity development in students. Supportive elements in three dimensions that contribute to students' identities as future engineers are identified to…

Contribution: This paper qualitative research delineates the thinking and behavioral patterns that reflect students' advanced level of epistemological thinking in project-based learning (PBL) activities and the associated impact factors. Background: PBL has been widely adopted in engineering education for its effectiveness in improving students'…

The increasing complexity of the new breed of distributed intelligent systems, such as the Internet of Things, which require a diversity of languages and protocols, can only be tamed with design and programming best practices. Interest is also growing for including the human factor, as advocated by the "ambient intelligence" (AmI)…

This paper presents the introduction of problem-based learning (PBL) in a power electronics course at the University of Oviedo, Gijon, Spain, by means of two practical projects: the design and construction of a switching-mode power supply (SMPS) prototype and the static study of a dc-dc converter topology. The goal of this innovation was for…

This paper describes a novel Electrical Machine and Power Electronic Training Tool (EM&PE[subscript TT]), a methodology for using it, and associated experimental educational activities. The training tool is implemented by recreating a whole power electronics system, divided into modular blocks. This process is similar to that applied when…

This paper documents several years of experimentation with a new approach to organizing and managing projects in a software engineering course. The initial failure and subsequent refinements that the new approach has been through since 2004 are described herein. The "constrained and guided" approach, as it is called, has helped to reduce…

Like many engineering programs in Europe, the final part of most Swedish software engineering programs is a longer project in which the students write a Master's thesis. These projects are often conducted in cooperation between a university and industry, and the students often have two supervisors, one at the university and one in industry. In…

This paper describes the first phase of a Mechatronics Curriculum Development effort--the design of an "Introduction to Mechatronics" course, the infusion of mechatronics activities throughout the curriculum and in outreach activities, and assessment results. In addition, the relevance and impact of such a curriculum on the education of engineers…

This paper presents the strategies used for effective teaching and skill development in integrated circuit (IC) design using project-based learning (PBL) methodologies. It presents the contexts in which these strategies are applied to IC design courses at the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia, and the National Institute of Applied…

This paper describes the second and third phases of a comprehensive mechatronics curriculum development effort. They encompass the development of two advanced mechatronics courses ("Simulation and Modeling of Mechatronic Systems" and "Sensors and Actuators for Mechatronic Systems"), the formulation of a Mechatronics concentration, and offshoot…