We present an assignment that requires students to apply their knowledge of the social psychology of attitudes and persuasion to critique and redesign a public service announcement. Students in a 200-level social psychology course evaluated the assignment by indicating their overall attitudes toward the assignment. Students rated the assignment…

This paper presents a study about learning and the problem solving process identified among junior high school pupils participating in robotics projects in the Lego Mindstorm environment. The research was guided by the following questions: (1) How do pupils come up with inventive solutions to problems in the context of robotics activities? (2)…

In the test-driven society in which teachers teach, many art teachers are encouraged to create interdisciplinary units that fuse art with reading and writing. In this article, the author presents a unit which fosters appreciation of Sandra Cisneros' writing and encourages students to portray her words in their own three-dimensional designs.…

RefWorks is ideally suited for undergraduate students with team-based research projects as part of their course assessment. The Dorothy Hill Physical Sciences and Engineering Library at the University of Queensland taught students from three engineering courses how to use RefWorks to manage project references and to create team-based…

This study examined the experiences of students in an active learning group work exercise in an introductory food microbiology course involving the study of foodborne pathogens. Small groups were required to access, analyze, and present information regarding a single food poisoning bacterium. The presentations contained features and…

This is the first of two articles in which the author shares experiences gained from the development and delivery of a business/industry project-based capstone course. The course integrates research, proposal development and design experience based on knowledge and skills acquired in earlier coursework. The course also incorporates standards and…

Although the potential of peer assessment activities in promoting student learning and fostering student cognitive development has been widely studied and well documented across the world, it is unclear how peer assessment may benefit students of diverse achievement levels. This study examined this issue via a mixed methodology approach that…

After 10 years of organizing the Cybertech robotics competition, this paper presents this unique and innovative educational experience of teaching engineering at Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (UPM), Spain. Cybertech is not only a well-known robotic contest in Spain due to the "Robotaurus" bullfighting, but is also a whole academic…

Dissatisfaction with the quality of student group work, in terms of content and process, from both academics and students, is a constant challenge to the development of appropriate teaching, learning and assessment strategies. Developments in Web 2.0 technology could potentially offer a solution. This paper explores the experience of full-time…

This article shows a concrete and easy recognizable view of a cumulative distribution function(cdf). Photograph views of the search tabs on dictionaries are used to increase students' understanding and facility with the concept of a cumulative distribution function. Projects for student investigations are also given. This motivation and view helps…

This paper is about using projects for assessment of student learning in different courses of an Information Systems (IS) program. An overview of the role of educational projects in student learning is presented. The various aspects of defining standardized rubrics across an IS program are discussed. A methodology for the use of such rubrics in…

Identity is the focus of the middle-school visual arts program at Cambridge Friends School (CFS) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Sixth graders enter the middle school and design a personal logo as their first major project in the art studio. The logo becomes a way for students to introduce themselves to their teachers and to represent who they are…

Judge Harry T. Roman, an electrical engineer and inventor himself, has selected the best entries in the 2007-2008 "Tech Directions" Inventors Award Competition. This year's challenge called for students to devise new uses for the common Ping-Pong ball. Of the results, the judge notes "The ideas submitted were most interesting, with a high number…

Compared to the learning that occurs in most engineering courses, the learning that occurs in design courses is more dependent on students, and less dependent on instructors. Because typical course evaluations are instructor-centric and do not provide information about students' contributions to their learning, we developed a supplemental…

This paper describes a novel outreach approach to high school and middle school students to familiarize them with engineering functions and methods. In this approach students participated in a seven-day summer research camp and learned many engineering skills and tools such as CAD solid modeling, finite element analysis, rapid prototyping,…