Spreadsheets are a core computational tool for practicing engineers and engineering students. While Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, and other spreadsheet tools have some differences, numerous formulas, functions, and other tasks are common across versions and platforms. Building upon learning science frameworks showing that interactive activities…

For the 2020 spring term, courses needed to switch from traditional in-person formats to an online format in about a week due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper presents the process and tools used to flip the course content and deliver a dynamic systems and controls course online. Initial feedback was gathered through end of term evaluations and…

There is growing interest in the engineering education community in "making" and the Maker Movement as a context for young people to learn and develop interest around design and early engineering competencies. Although some researchers argue that making has the potential to serve a liberating and anti-oppressive function in education,…

This article describes how the Sichuan University - Pittsburgh Institute has embraced new methods and new technologies to ensure high-quality laboratory teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Taking Mechanical Measurements 1 course as an example, this paper introduces two lab projects that were successfully transferred into online experiments…

Faculty at Rice University are creating instructional resources to support teaching first-year engineering design using a flipped classroom model. This implementation of flipped pedagogy is unusual because content-driven, lecture courses are usually targeted for flipping, not project-based design courses that already incorporate an abundance of…

This paper documents and assesses the development of a construction safety training module featuring interactive, BIM-enabled, 3D visualizations to test if such a tool can enhance safety training related to scaffolds. This research documents the technical challenges and the lessons learned through the development and administration of a prototype…

In the 2013-2014 school year, we implemented the "flipped classroom" as part of an initiative to drive active learning, student engagement and enhanced learning in our school. The flipped courses consisted of freshman through senior engineering classes in introductory programming, statics/mechanics, mechanical design, bio-thermodynamics,…

We describe the design, development and initial evaluation of an interactive virtual environment whose objective is to help undergraduate students learn and review the concepts and practices of differential leveling. The virtual environment, which includes realistic terrains and leveling instruments that look, operate, and produce results…

Engineering students benefit from an active and interactive classroom environment where they can be guided through the problem solving process. Typically faculty members spend class time presenting the technical content required to solve problems, leaving students to apply this knowledge and problem solve on their own at home. There has recently…

Between 2006 and 2010, sophomore engineering students at four universities were exposed to technologies designed to increase their learning in undergraduate engineering courses. Our findings suggest that students at all sites found the technologies integrated into their courses useful to their learning. Video solutions received the most positive…

During the 2006-2007 academic year, five faculty members from the College of Engineering at Boise State University initiated a curriculum augmentation project using new instructional technologies with the intention to help improve undergraduate engineering students' cognitive and affective preparedness for their classroom learning. The…

This paper is intended for engineering educators, high school curriculum designers, and high school teachers interested in integrating authentic, project-based learning experiences into their classes. These types of projects may appear complex, but have many advantages. We characterize the successful implementation of one such project, the…

This paper describes the creation and evolution of an undergraduate dynamics and vibrations course for civil engineering students. Incorporating vibrations into the course allows students to see and study "real" civil engineering applications of the course content. This connection of academic principles to real life situations is in…

This paper presents a series of illustrative LEGO Mindstorms-based science and math activities, developed under an NSF GK-12 Fellows project, for elementary, middle, and high school grades. The activities, developed by engineering and science graduate Fellows in partnership with K-12 teachers, are grade appropriate, address pertinent learning…

In large lecture courses, it can be challenging for instructors to address student misconceptions, supplement background knowledge, and identify ways to motivate the various interests of all students during the allotted class time. Instructors can harness instructional technology such as screencasts, recordings that capture audio narration along…