Alan Cheville

Work in progress - motivation for mathematics, using design with the Wright State model

The first iteration of a freshman “Applying Mathematics to Engineering Design” Course at Oklahoma State University was based on the successful national model of a Freshman Engineering Math course designed at Wright State University. This course is addresses issues in transfer of mathematics to engineering, motivation, and retention. The course introduces engineering applications to algebra, linear algebra, trigonometry, sinusoids, differentiation, and integration through the use of laboratory design experiences. Students who participated in this course completed several validated assessments including a mathematics attitude survey and concept inventory. Students who completed this course had higher motivation towards and continuing in engineering as compared to a control group of other freshman engineering students. No statistically significant differences were found on the concept inventory in either group.

Work in progress - assessing the engineering curriculum through Bloom’s Taxonomy

This research project examines using a taxonomy-based survey to permit engineering programs to self-assess whether students are given a broad spectrum of learning opportunities. An engineering taxonomy, designed to be compact and simple, identifies seven key engineering ldquoskillsrdquo one conceptual, one factual, and five process oriented skills based on the engineering design cycle. Four levels of mastery are defined, compared to the six originally defined by Bloom. The taxonomy survey has been piloted in an electrical engineering program at a land-grant research university. This paper discusses the validation process and initial results.

Limits and applications of THz time-domain spectroscopy

This contribution focuses on applying the unique optoelectronic THz beam system we have developed to THz time-domain spectroscopy (TDS). The work developing the system is first reviewed. The emerging technique of THz-TDS is introduced, and some past applications are described. We then present a theoretical and experimental comparison between THz-TDS and the well-established Fourier transform spectroscopy (FTS). The extraordinary dynamic range of THz-TDS allows the study of exceptionally optically dense materials; specific past examples and new opportunities are discussed. The topic of difficult samples is explored for samples, such as flames, posing exceptional problems for FTS, but which can be relatively easily measured with THz-TDS.

Explaining education to engineers: Feedback control theory as a metaphor

One of the barriers for engaging engineering faculty in the scholarship of learning and teaching is the challenge of learning a new vocabulary. Becoming fluent in engineering education requires the acquisition of new concepts and ideas that are often expressed in unfamiliar terms. Feedback control is a technical field common to a range of engineering disciplines that can be used as a model to help bridge the conceptual gap between traditional engineering and engineering education. Many of the key elements of engineering education can be represented by the elements of a feedback control system, with their behaviour in a learning environment paralleling their behaviour in a process control context. The feedback control model can be used to explain: the importance of timely feedback to students, the significance of assessment and evaluation in the learning process, the impact of learning styles upon learning outcomes, and the need for student-centered teaching approaches. While both fields have complexities that cannot be captured by simple models, the basic ideas can be explained simply. Feedback control metaphors make the basics accessible to a wider audience of engineering faculty.

Special session - Utopia University-building a roadmap for educating the next millennium's engineers

Ailing multibillionaire P. Oscar Utopia wishes to endow a university in honor of Rose B. Utopia, his beloved wife and long-practicing engineer. He will be at FIE to draw upon the expertise of our community to design the master plan for a university of the next millennium, unburdened by the assumptions of the present and the past. Conference attendees who subscribe to Utopias vision are encouraged to participate in this workshop, challenge the assumptions inherent to the current practice, and brainstorm a plan for educating the engineer of 3030. During this session, we will identify and challenge assumptions that are inherent to the current practice of how we educate engineers. Participants will engage in a series of rapid planning sessions based on the “what if” scenario of being able to establish a new engineering school unfettered by standard constraints of money, facilities, or current educational practice