A shortage of science and engineering professionals has led to an effort to engage and retain higher education students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors in the United States. School reformers call on faculty members to shift their teaching practices towards evidence-based instructional strategies that involve…

This thesis contains two areas of research. The first part contributes to the field of engineering mechanics. This research investigates the thermomechanical shape memory behavior of shape memory alloy (SMA) springs. As SMA springs undergo stress- and/or temperature-induced phase transformation, they experience varying combinations of axial,…

To be technologically and engineering literate, people should be able to "make" or produce quality solutions to engineering design challenges while recognizing and understanding how to avoid hazards in a broad array of situations when properly using tools, machines, and materials (Haynie, 2009; Gunter, 2007; ITEA/ITEEA, 2000/2002/2007).…

This paper reports the results of a study of engineering students' approaches to an open-ended design problem. To carry out this, sketches and interviews were collected from 9 freshmen (first year) and 10 doctoral engineering students, when they designed solutions for orange squeezers. Sketches and interviews were analysed and mapped with a…

Documentation of ideas and the engineering design process is a critical, daily component of a professional engineer's job. While patent protection is often cited as the primary rationale for documentation, it can also benefit the engineer, the team, company, and stakeholders through creating a more rigorously designed and purposeful solution.…

K-12 standards and curricula are beginning to include engineering design as a key practice within Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. However, there is little research on how the youngest students engage in engineering design within the elementary classroom. This dissertation focuses on iteration as an essential aspect…

The recent changes taking place in the European higher education systems leads to less stable, less secure and less attractive working conditions for academic teachers. Nonetheless, it is observed that the academic profession is attractive for young talented people. The research was aimed at studying educational biographies of engineers who took…

Science and technology are so intertwined that "technoscience" has been argued to more accurately reflect the progress of science and its impact on society, and most socioscientific issues require technoscientific reasoning. Education policy documents have long noted that the general public lacks sufficient understanding of science and…

Across disciplines, male faculty spend more time on research than female faculty. Yet, women tend to teach and mentor students more hours than men (Misra et al. in Glob J Eng Educ 14(1):119-131, 2011). These disparities play pivotal roles in tenure and promotion decisions wherein research and leadership roles are most valued (Green in J Soc Work…

One effort to reducing air pollution and global warming in recent years has centered on the replacement of fossil-fuel-burning vehicles with alternative energy options such as electric-powered transportation. In fact, electric vehicle technology is one of the fastest-growing, and ever-evolving, sectors of the energy industry (TR Fastenings, 2019).…

The final year design project is one of the most important components of any undergraduate engineering program. Fair and efficient project allocation procedures can be vital in ensuring a great student experience and exceptional learning out of these projects, which then could contribute in shaping students' future prospects. In this paper, we…

Young children engage in pre-engineering thinking and play in their day-to-day activities. However, early childhood teachers often miss opportunities to facilitate and extend this type of play. In order to support teachers in this undertaking, the current study aimed to answer the question: What does pre-engineering thinking look like in…

The purpose of this article is to challenge the idea of incompatibility between links to research and links to professional practice in engineering education. The concept of 'academic drift' is introduced, both related to drift towards theory and towards research links in the curriculum. Empirical data were collected through a case study conducted…

This work presents a laboratory to help chemical-engineering students understand the basic concepts of corrosion. This laboratory has been performed since academic year 2011-2012 in the framework of the subject "Design of equipment and installations" for the third year of the Chemical Engineering Degree of the University of Castilla-La…

Hands-on laboratory experiences are a key part of all engineering programs. Currently there is high demand for online engineering courses, but offering lab experiences online still remain a great challenge. Remote laboratories have been under development for more than 20 years and are part of a bigger category, called online laboratories, which…