The U.S. must find ways to engage all of its population in advancing scientific and technological work. This must include efforts to admit and educate a more diverse array of students in terms of pre-college opportunity and preparation, as well as provide supportive environments and experiences to help these students succeed. For these efforts to…

Background: Metacognitive processes have been linked to the development of conceptual knowledge in STEM courses, but previous work has centered on the regulatory aspects of metacognition. Purpose: We interrogated the relationship between epistemic metacognition and conceptual knowledge in engineering statics courses across six universities by…

An implementation of the journal club model to develop confidence in academic skills across speaking, writing and integrity domains, as well as socialising journal club members to academia, is reported. A journal club was established in a Foundation Year (Pre-undergraduate) context for ten physical scientists. A mixed-methods approach was used to…

Additive manufacturing (AM) and 3D printing (3DP) offer unique opportunities for experiential learning and practical application in engineering education. In developed countries, AM is integrated into engineering education to train mechanical engineers. However, existing research has not investigated the integration of AM and 3DP into higher…

While decades of research from cognitive psychology provided insight into effective learning strategies for long-term learning, there is a discrepancy between what research recommends and what students do. We investigated first-year engineering students' knowledge and use of learning strategies, and how they experience and adapt to learning…

Creative thinking is a key focus in twenty-first century higher education, yet engineering students are often seen as lacking creativity due to traditional training approaches. To address this issue, this study examines the effectiveness of project-based learning (PBL) integrated with Scamper--a creative thinking tool--and Trello--a project…

In 2018, the U.S. Federal government published a STEM education strategy report outlining a vision with three goals (building a strong foundation for STEM literacy, increasing diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM, preparing the STEM workers for the future) for providing Americans access to high-quality STEM education and acquisition of future…

This meta-analysis synthesized 18 qualified studies, resulting in 29 effect sizes. This study involved a total sample of 1,280 students to evaluate the effectiveness of Engineering Design Process (EDP)-based instructional approaches in STEM education. Eligible studies were systematically selected through inclusion and exclusion criteria following…

Awareness of best safety practices in the industrial sector will allow students in chemistry and chemical engineering programs to apply these approaches to their own safety assessments. Process safety is a critical function within the pharmaceutical industry to ensure safety when performing reactions. An introduction to process safety and a series…

The rapid development of technology and information has influenced students' learning styles and has led to a shift in information seeking from printed books to e-books. This study aims to measure students' knowledge and skills, attitude, and website knowledge competency on the ionic liquid material. The study involved 47 students of the Diploma…

This paper shows a teaching experience related to the use of computed tomography in the teaching of concrete for undergraduate students of the civil engineering degree. This experience reveals that computed tomography is a powerful tool to facilitate the understanding of all those aspects related to the microstructure of concrete, thus…

Despite an increasing focus on integrating engineering design in K-12 settings, relatively few studies have investigated how to support students to engage in systematic processes to optimize the designs of their solutions. Emerging learning technologies such as computational models and simulations enable rapid feedback to learners about their…

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Citadel transitioned from a face-to-face to an emergency online modality. We conducted a study to track changes in self-directed learning readiness (SDLR) among engineering students during the Spring 2020 semester, including trends based on demographic, performance, and cognitive load factors. SDLR was…

The effect of digital tools (pre-lab videos and 3D models of experimental equipment) on student's performance of a typical lab assignment was studied quantitatively; for some students, these digital tools replaced physical access to the equipment. These students also participated in focus groups and gave good suggestions to make the digital tools…

High structure course design involves scaffolding students' learning via pre-class content acquisition and assessment, in-class active learning exercises, after-class review and assessment, and frequent summative assessments. Research has demonstrated the efficacy of high structure courses including improved student performance, reduced…