The efficiency and popularity of computer-aided design (CAD) packages have been continually improving over the past couple of decades. Most of the graduating engineers are proficient in their use and prefer using CAD models instead of simple freehand sketches to communicate their ideas. While these CAD models can enable better visualization of the…

This article presents an investigation into the environmental impacts of plastic waste and discusses the importance of cradle-to-cradle design thinking. An example lesson is provided that aims to focus students' attention on the influences of design decisions and conceptualizes design as an iterative process, whereas previous solutions may address…

Contribution: A novel multidisciplinary undergraduate course on alternative energy (AE) engineering that addresses gaps in current AE education, provides hands on skills, and matches topical coverage with societal needs. Background: Resource depletion and emissions associated with burning fossil fuels have led to growing worldwide interest in…

In this manuscript, we use the construct of "critical epistemologies of place" to frame our exploration of how to support engineering design among youth who have historically been marginalized from the domain, and its implications for educational settings. We present an in-depth longitudinal case study of one 12-year-old African American…

Experimentation is one of the important strategies used in engineering design to understand the relationship between relevant variables so that they can be manipulated to generate optimized solution for a particular problem or design. The understanding of students' experimentation strategies allows educators to help students improve their design…

In an effort to offer modern and engaging senior design projects, as well as to improve ABET student outcome achievement, students were tasked with proposing their own design project idea for potential use as a senior project. Survey results from two cohorts have indicated that the majority of the students felt they achieved targeted ABET student…

In this article, we outline the key principles of education for sustainability (EfS) that enable us to question the enthusiastic and uncritical promotion of STEM (science, mathematics, engineering and technology) and its offshoot, STEM education, as key contributors to an environmentally sustainable future. We examine the framing of STEM and STEM…

A new chemical engineering faculty member can get a significant career head start by team-teaching the material and energy balance course with a mentor--an excellent instructor who has taught that course many times. The experience gives the mentee modeling and guided practice in research-validated teaching practices, and substantially reduces the…

Modelling is a central activity in practical engineering and something that is also useful in engineering education research (EER). Additionally, qualitative research methods have found important applications in engineering research, although their use in EER has not always been widely accepted. Design science research is a qualitative research…

Homework is considered as a substantial process of learning especially for engineering education. However, due to the fast development of network technology, students now can easily find solution manuals on the internet. While some students use solution manuals to study, there are quite a few students who just copy homework solutions and lose…

An essential part of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is the students' group work. What happens in students' group work when no tutor/facilitator is present is normally a hidden land. Thus, there is limited research on students' interactional way of doing PBL, this study tries to amend this by looking at how students conduct group work without any…

In Spring 2020, the College of Engineering at San José State University (SJSU) conducted a comprehensive analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on faculty who were forced to transition to an online learning environment. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of COVID-19 on faculty teaching methods, assessment methods, and personal…

The research that studies the improvement of elementary school students' science knowledge and the development of elementary students' abilities to use the scientific and engineering practices is restricted. The purpose of this research is to study the effects of an instructional intervention on the knowledge of the students of elementary school…

In addition to well-being, workplace learning has gained increasing interest in supporting employee and organizational development and success. Focusing on specific factors affecting workplace learning and well-being, this study examines the links between individual factors (basic psychological need satisfaction) and environmental factors…

Stanford has always embraced educational change, but not for its own sake. Instead, we have pursued reforms in response to specific problems or to realize definite possibilities. In that sense, our curricular innovations seek to move purposefully from "what is" to "what might be." Such purposeful change is guided by underlying…