The learning of solving multi-step problems is a relevant aim in chemical education for engineering students. In these questions, after analyzing initial data, a complex reasoning and an elaborated mathematical procedure is needed to achieve the correct numerical answer. However, many students are able to effectively use algorithms even with a…

In this paper, we integrate organizational, engineering education, and educational learning literature to develop a model of student learning so as to research how learning style, behavioral tendencies, gender, and race have the potential to act as facilitators or barriers to the learning process. We argue that the gains in higher-order cognitive…

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…

YouTube Fridays devotes a small fraction of class time to student-selected videos related to the course topic, e.g., thermodynamics. The students then write and solve a homework-like problem based on the events in the video. Three recent pilots involving over 300 students have developed a database of videos and questions that reinforce important…

Learning-by-teaching is a pedagogical approach grossly underused in the education of engineers at all levels. The existing learning-by-teaching literature across all disciplines was reviewed with the intent of formally presenting this teaching method to engineering educators. The review defines learning-by-teaching, presents theoretical support…

This paper proposes that project-based active learning is a key part of engineering education at the middle school level. One project from a comprehensive middle school engineering curriculum developed by the authors is described to show how active learning and state frameworks can coexist. The theoretical basis for learning and assessment in a…

Here I present my work identifying and addressing student difficulties with several materials science and physics topics. In the first part of this thesis, I present my work identifying student difficulties and misconceptions about the directional relationships between net force, velocity, and acceleration in one dimension. This is accomplished…

This study examined the incoming leadership-oriented differences between students (N = 166) enrolled in either an elective leadership studies course (n = 50) or an elective team-based engineering projects course (n = 116) to determine significant predictors of transformational leadership behavior. Participants completed measures of…

Engineers Without Borders USA (EWB) is a nonprofit organization that partners student chapters with communities in fundamental need of potable water, clean air, sanitation, irrigation, energy, basic structures for schools and clinics, roads and bridges, etc. While EWB projects may vary in complexity, they are all realistic, ill-structured and…

Project-Based Curriculum (PBC) is considered one of the most powerful methods in the engineering education where each course or courses-cluster is assigned a design project which considers a series of inter-related concepts that have been shown theoretically for the students. Using this approach, the student will gain the required knowledge in an…

As much as ever before, mathematics teachers are searching for ways to connect mathematics to real-life scenarios within STEM contexts. As students develop skill in proportional reasoning, they examine graphical representations of linear functions, learn to associate "slope" with "steepness" and rate of change, and develop…

In this paper, we describe an approach to analyze 2D truss/Frame/Beam structures under Flash-based environment. Stiffness Matrix Method (SMM) module was developed as part of ongoing projects on a broad topic "Students' Learning Improvements in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Related Areas" at Old Dominion…

This paper describes two case studies where problem-based learning (PBL) has been introduced to undergraduate civil engineering students in University College Dublin. PBL has recently been put in place in the penultimate and final year transport engineering classes in the civil engineering degree in University College Dublin. In this case study,…

This qualitative case study examines the initial implementation of a problem-based version of an undergraduate course in materials science for the purpose of identifying areas of improvement to the curriculum prior to a planned second implementation. The course was designed around problems that students work in small teams to solve under the…

A microelectro-mechanical systems (MEMS) laboratory course (MEMSlab) in the Mechanical and Process Engineering Department at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), is presented. The course has been taught for four years and has been attended primarily by Master's students from mechanical and electrical engineering; since fall…