This study involves the development and implementation of a STEM activity containing 3 D printer technology, which is commonly used in STEM education. Out of school STEM courses were organized with seven middle school students studying in the 7th grade and the activities in the course were carried out with a 3D printer. One of the activities in…

This paper reviews an Open University module for distance learning of finite element analysis (FEA) in MEng degree qualifications recognised for Chartered status. Presentation has evolved from physical hard copy study packs to fully online. The emphasis is on understanding limits and assumptions behind all aspects of FEA for safe and effective…

Final course grades and professionalism grades were compared to determine statistically significant differences for (1) students with 90% or higher final course grades, (2) students with 80-90% final course grades, (3) students with 70-80% final course grades, (4) students with 0-70% final course grades, and (5) all students with a final course…

What better way to engage fifth-grade students in science and engineering practices than to use paper airplanes to encourage them to question, explore, create, and test designs! This multi-day unit draws from a fourth-grade curriculum (Pearson 2012) aligned with the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States 2013) used in…

Graphene is a novel material with extraordinary promise in various nano-based applications, including increases in strength, conductivity, filtration, and electrical capacity. Graphene can be synthesized and tested in a wide variety of applications in secondary or undergraduate settings. Allowing students to choose their own application and method…

The purposes of this research were 1) to study whether the use of literature circles improved the English speaking skills of engineering students in the English for Specific Purposes classroom; and 2) to examine students' attitudes towards the use of literature circles in teaching English speaking skills. The study sample consisted of 60…

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, an online inorganic chemistry course for engineering students was set up at Zhejiang University for the 2020 spring semester. In this study, we will be using this course as an example of how to offer efficient methods for online teaching in chemistry. Applications such as DingTalk, WeChat, and the Learning@ZJU Web…

The link between active learning and the development of graduate attributes has been cogently advocated in pedagogical research. Despite the extensive adoption of fieldwork in environmental and social sciences, enigmatically, there are no reported applications of fieldwork in construction and related engineering disciplines. This paper employs a…

Ideas are offered to show how the science of density and displacement can be explored by students from year 5 through to year 7 (ages 9-12) through hands-on investigations to explore possibilities and solve problems. These demonstrate how the insights we gain by viewing a challenge through the multidisciplinary lenses of science, history,…

Purpose: Soil fertility is decreasing in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. To mitigate this trend, various agricultural technologies are available, but their uptake by farmers has been low. Perception of the problem, information exposure, and knowledge play a major role in adoption of technologies. This study assessed empirically the levels of…

Get an inside look at the discourse interactions of third- and fourth-grade students as they consider various design proposals to solve an engineering problem and negotiate a group decision. The authors present possible factors that impact student teamwork and provide recommendations for teachers to develop students' skills for group engineering…

Industrial engineering (IE) involves the design and improvement of integrated systems, such as materials, equipment, or human resources to maximize production of goods and services. In 2011, the Career Cornerstone Center (CCC) found that industrial engineering ranked third among the 17 different engineering fields in jobs filled. That same year,…

The relationship between teaching and research in universities has been widely studied in the higher education literature, but no clear relationship between the two has been identified. Nevertheless, in recent years, research has been linked to a form of teaching that is more focused on the development of competences and learning capacity through…

The advance of digital technology presents an opportunity to equip students with relevant skill sets as "Scientists of the Future" who are able to utilize knowledge at the interface between various disciplines. In this technology report, an open source programming language is used to automate a simple laboratory experiment commonly…

With the increasing complexity of the engineering role, today's graduates must be capable of confronting both technical and societal problems; underpinned by effective teamwork at their core. Problem-based learning has been implemented in engineering to better prepare students for modern industry. However, limited research has examined the complex…