The principles, difficulties and challenges in control education are discussed and compared to the similar problems in the teaching of mathematics and systems science in general. The difficulties of today's students to appreciate the classical teaching of engineering disciplines, which are based on rigorous and scientifically sound grounds, are…

Describes an engineering course consisting of a sequence of specific, actual cases, that emphasizes the development of skills in synthesizing information, and in identifying and solving practical engineering problems. (MLH)

A British polytechnic's civil engineering course emphasizing creative problem solving, begun in the late 1960s, has shown that it is possible to increase students' creative ability in the course of a degree program. Research into the identification of students who will benefit from the approach is continuing. (MSE)

This article describes two approaches to learning (in addition to the classic deep and surface approaches) identified in studies of student learning in engineering contexts. The first study identified the 'procedural deep' approach in a group of engineering foundation programme students in the UK, while the second study identified the 'procedural…

This paper describes the use of undergraduate materials multidisciplinary research projects as a means of addressing the growing industrial demand for graduates experienced in working in multidisciplinary teams. It includes a detailed description of a project in which a multidisciplinary team of chemical engineering and civil engineering students…

This paper concerns the analysis of a didactic engineering, the aim of which is to introduce Calculus, at secondary-school level, through the relationship between global and local points of view. It was designed for a graphic-symbolic calculator environment and structured in accordance with a learning trajectory from identifying the graphical…

These proceedings contain the papers of the 16th International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age (CELDA 2019), held during November 7-9, 2019, which has been organized by the International Association for Development of the Information Society (IADIS) and co-organised by University Degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy.…

Discusses general ways to approach and solve engineering problems. Uses the phase plane and perturbation methods to illustrate the qualitative study of equations. (MLH)

Presents six problems from an alternative approach to homework traditionally given to follow-up lectures. Stresses the advantage of longer term exercises which allow for creativity and independence on the part of the student. Problems include: "System Model,""Open-Loop Simulation,""PID Control,""Dahlin…

Shows that upon incorporating an irreversible step into an otherwise reversible Carnot Cyclic process there results a diminution of thermodynamic efficiency and a simultaneous augmentation of the entropy of the universe. (Author/HM)

This paper discusses the benefits of a community of practice (CoP) approach to graduate education in engineering and examines guidelines for implementation. Community of practice theory and applications to practice are presented. Journal clubs, groups of faculty and students who meet regularly to discuss literature, are identified as one specific…

Advances four propositions in an effort to provide a frame of reference for a new generation of interactive engineering graphics scholars. Suggests the integration of traditional engineering graphics with new production tools such as computer-aided design drafting. Proposes that graphics problem-solving educational opportunities be maximized. (CW)

A simplified model of an industrially relevant fluid-particle flow system is analyzed using linear stability theory. Instabilities of the uniform state of a fluidized bed are investigated in response to small flow perturbations. Students are expected to perform each step of the computational analysis, and physical insight into key mechanistic…

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…

Today, product liability cases seem to be increasing rapidly in both number and extent of liability of the manufacturer. Where analysis of defects and failures was once of interest to the enlightened company, it could well become a necessity for survival of all in the future. The materials engineer is likely to find many opportunities for…