Background: Little is known about how students engage in ethical decision-making, especially when designing in messy, real-life contexts. To prepare ethically competent engineers, educators need a richer understanding of students' ethical decision-making throughout the course of the design process. Purpose/Hypothesis: This study examines students'…

The capstone project in many academic institutions is the high point of undergraduate studies in engineering. The transition of graduates to industry is still not optimal, and there is a disparity between the needs of industry and the actual ability of academia to meet these needs. This study examines the role of the capstone project as a…

This communication provides an initial report of modifications of a pedagogically complex, large enrollment (>200 student), studio-based course in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Compared to face-to-face delivery, course activities were identified as new, modified significantly, or relatively similar. Students were asked to rank eight…

The process of writing lesson plans at the beginning of one's teaching career can be very time-consuming (Arnett-Hartwick and Cannon, 2019); however, the development of sequenced lessons that result in effective learning must be organized and articulate, not done haphazardly. Designing a lesson through a written document can help a teacher see the…

By framing entrepreneurship courses in the context of interdisciplinary team projects, students build important work-related skills whether they pursue an entrepreneurial path or employment after graduation. However, the traditional classroom environment is not conducive to realistic interdepartmental interactions found in most corporations or…

Globally, employability is increasingly becoming an issue of concern in higher education due to demands from the labour market requiring work-ready graduates. In the Global South, particularly South Africa, universities are on a quest to develop competence and improve student employability. This paper is set to investigate the impact of…

Guided by Expectancy Value Theory (EVT), we investigated the association of students' engineering self-efficacy and subjective task values (attainment, intrinsic, utility and cost) to four achievement-related behaviours: choice to take more engineering courses, effort in academic tasks, persistence to complete engineering tasks in the face of…

Many degree-seeking college students struggle academically and ultimately never graduate. Academic challenges and persistence within the major are especially salient issues for students who major in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Academic probation serves as a means for informing students that they are at risk of dismissal, and…

The goal of this study was to identify perceptions of the importance and needs of the essential job competencies required by Korean science and engineering graduates in the context of actual workplaces. We analyzed data from the 11th Youth Panel using the paired t-test, the Borich needs assessment, and the locus for focus model. An important…

Practical strategies for improving individual engagement and performance within an engineering team project learning environment were applied and evaluated. While methodological refinements were required due to the structural challenges and novelty of the practice, positive outcomes such as a perceived increase in engagement and technical…

Developing intercultural communication competence (ICC) is a pursuit that has captured the interest of researchers in several disciplines for a number of decades. The urgency and interest to produce graduates who are ready for the global marketplace has never been more prevalent amongst educators as it is today. This article outlines strategies…

Spatial visualization skills are essential and fundamental to studying STEM subjects, and sketching is an effective way to practice those skills. One significant challenge of supporting practice using sketching questions is the vast number of possible mistakes, making it time-consuming for instructors to provide customized and actionable feedback…

The use of student-centered instructional strategies is a common practice in engineering classes. Instructors often use such strategies to promote greater learning outcomes and student engagement. However, prior research studies also acknowledge students' resistance and lack of motivation towards such innovative strategies. In both cases, the…

Background: Women are underrepresented in engineering. Furthermore, those who enter engineering fields are less likely than men to persist. Although conflict between work and family roles has been a major explanation for this gender gap, there has been little examination of how work and family identities fit with the engineering identity of…

Background: The overarching goal of this study was to explore the underlying mechanism of solving statics or structural analysis problems by utilizing cognitive load theory to examine task characteristics (i.e., the characteristics of instructional materials) with a focus on working memory load (WML) and automaticity. Purpose/Hypothesis: According…