Developing an Environmentally Friendly Engineering Ethic: A Course for Undergraduate Engineering Students

An undergraduate course designed to develop a new, environmentally-friendly, engineering ethic is described. The various components of the course are: individual and societal values clarification, the current state of the environment, critical and creative thinking skills development and conflict resolution. For each component, the rationale is given along with activities and evaluation of the unit.     

Hands‐On CFD Educational Interface for Engineering Courses and Laboratories

This study describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of an effective curriculum for students to learn computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in introductory and intermediate undergraduate and introductory graduate level courses/laboratories. The curriculum is designed for use at different universities with different courses/laboratories, learning objectives, applications, conditions, and exercise notes. The common objective is to teach students from novice to expert users who are well prepared for engineering practice. The study describes a CFD Educational Interface for hands‐on student experience, which mirrors actual engineering practice. The Educational Interface teaches CFD methodology and procedures through a step‐by‐step interactive implementation automating the CFD process. A hierarchical system of predefined active options facilitates use at introductory and intermediate levels, encouraging self‐learning, and eases transition to using industrial CFD codes. An independent evaluation documents successful learning outcomes and confirms the effectiveness of the interface for students in introductory and intermediate fluid mechanics courses.     

Developing Critical Writing Skills in Engineering and Technology Students

This study culminated in the development, refinement, and evaluation of a system of writing instruction that allows even instructors without great confidence in their own writing abilities to help students develop better, more effective writing skills and strategies. The system consists of two components and works backwards, starting with teaching students the assessment strategy (rubric) to be used in evaluating their work. Therefore, the first system component or rubric becomes a guide to teach students how to connect their ideas (sentence subjects) in sequence without ambiguity or implied connectivity. The second component of the system consists of written assignments initiated with “work orders” that state specifically what is expected of the student in each paragraph and includes formatting instructions. Finally, the system was designed for use in any technical curriculum by engineering and technology instructors and incorporates research findings and suggestions by four influential professional writing associations: 1) the college teachers of English for Science and Technology (EST), 2) the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Committee on Assessment, 3) the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and 4) Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC).     

我国高等教育工业工程专业实验室建设模式浅析

针对我国高校工业工程专业实验室建设的现状,指出了存在的五大问题,从工业工程学科特点和专业教学与科研要求出发,提出了工业工程实验室建设规划的科学依据,并提出了一些实验室建设的思路.     

现代工业工程专业实验室的规划趋势

着重分析了工业工程专业实验室规划的七大趋势,并结合学院实际介绍了工业工程实验室的建设情况。     

浅谈工科学生创新能力的培养

主要从教育思想、课程体系、实践教学、考核方式等方面对工科专业学生创新能力的培养进行了探讨。     

Virtual Engineering Laboratories: Design and Experiments

This paper describes the creation and testing of computer-simulated laboratories for use in undergraduate engineering education. The design and implementation of a ‘virtual laboratory’ that closely mimics the capabilities of a physical laboratory is explained. Experiments that compare time and learning gains of students using physical and virtual laboratories are discussed. Experimental results indicate that students who use the virtual laboratory prior to a physical laboratory are able to complete the physical laboratory in a much shorter time, require less assistance, and also report that they are very satisfied with their laboratory experience.     

工业工程专业实验室建设现状分析及其实验模式研究

通过对国内工业工程专业实验室建设现状的分析,将工业工程实验室分成示范型实验室、综合型实验室、验证型基础实验室和规划设计阶段实验室4种类型。从工业工程学科特征、人才培养目标及培养要求出发,确定了工业工程实验内容的构成为基础IE实验和现代实验。在此基础上,建立了工业工程实验模式,即教学型、综合型和平台型3个层次的实验模式。     

浅谈检测机构对标准文件的管理

标准是检测机构开展工作的重要技术文件。     

Technology and the Engineering Method for Non-Engineering Students

This paper describes the structure, material, and techniques used in a course that introduces non-engineering students to the tasks and tools of the engineering profession. The primary components of the course include differentiation between engineering and science, heuristic and computational problem solving, experimentation, conservation principles, and a design experience.     

控制图在检测实验室质量控制中的应用

0前言 在ISO/IEC 17025<检测和校准实验室能力的通用要求>中,技术要求的第9个要素"检测和校准结果质量的保证"(即5.9条)要求实验室在实际可行的情况下采用统计技术对检测结果数据进行技术核查,以监控检测的有效性,预防问题的发生.目前,各检测实验室正开始积极探索统计技术在检测质量控制方面的应用.本文通过运用 (-X)-R控制图分析钢勾心抗弯刚度的检测数据,说明控制图在检测实验室质量控制中的应用.     

刍议5S管理在实验室中的活用

探讨了5S管理的本质要求及其在实验室管理中的灵活应用。通过实施5S管理的整理、整顿、清扫活动,认真执行所制订的规章制度,规范实验室人员的行为,自觉养成良好的习惯,并不断持续改进,从而全面提高检测质量和效率。     

浅谈检测实验室中管理的作用

实验室认可作为我国认证认可制度中的一部分,在社会各领域中起到相当重要的作用。如何管理好实验室,使其最大限度地发挥作用,已经成为检测实验室管理工作中的一项重要课题,也是保证认证认可制度信用中的重要一环。因此,不断提高实验室管理水平,对实验室有着重要的意义和作用。文章通过对检测实验室的内部和外部的管理进行了分析和探讨。     

Preparing Students for Engineering Design & Practice

In 1995, the American Society of Civil Engineers sponsored an Education Conference to recommend changes for the Civil Engineering educational program. In addition, various other studies, such as that conducted by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), investigated methods to strengthen undergraduate education. The present investigation of Lamar University students and alumni suggests that both practicing engineers and undergraduate/graduate students perceive that 2 design considerations or constraints presently have been and should be incorporated into the engineering design sequence at a high level. They include Engineering Codes and Standards, and Manufacturability (Constructability). In contrast, both students groups and practitioners rate two other design constraints: Social Ramifications, and Political Factors, at a relatively lower score. The foregoing design constraints are among those that have been adopted by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) as criteria that should be considered in the major design experience or course in order to satisfy the requirements of an accredited engineering degree.     

Developing and Assessing Statewide Competencies for Engineering Design

An assessment system was developed and piloted in Washington state to evaluate the engineering design competence of community college transfer students and continuing students at Washington State University (WSU) and the University of Washington (UW). A multiple measured approach was employed consisting of a multiple-choice assessment, a team design performance assessment, and an essay, each administered to junior level students at WSU and UW. These assessments covered important design and design-related outcomes valued by the engineering community in Washington and expected of junior level engineering students. Scoring criteria were developed by engineering faculty for the team design and essay components. The assessment results provide faculty and other decision makers at community colleges and four-year institutions with data they need to determine the extent to which students are meeting design competency expectations. Moreover, the approach described in this paper illustrates how institutions can productively address the ABET Engineering Criteria 2000 requirements by developing the assessment support that engineering educators need to make informed programmatic decisions and achieve continuous quality improvement.     

Engineering Use of the Wiedemann Effect

The Wiedemann effect is considered for metrological support to monitoring the physicomechanical and geometrical parameters of engineering components.     

Characteristics of Freshman Engineering Students: Models for Determining Student Attrition in Engineering

Nationwide, less than half the freshman who start in engineering graduate in engineering, and at least half of this attrition occurs during the freshman year. Clearly, the freshman year is critical for both academic success and retention of engineering students. Such success depends not only on the knowledge and skills learned during this first year, but also on the attitudes individual students bring with them to college. Hence, if these attitudes can be measured before beginning college, we can develop more targeted programs for reducing attrition and improving academic success. Further, by measuring changes in student attitude over the course of the freshman year, we can develop better methods to evaluate engineering education programs. To learn more about these attitudes and how they impact upon retention, we undertook a three-year research effort. First we identified attitudes incoming students have about the field of engineering, their perceptions about the upcoming educational experience, and their confidence in their ability to succeed in engineering. These attitudes were then related to performance and retention in the freshman engineering program. To accomplish this, a closedform survey was developed, tested and administered to the 1993–94 and 1994–95 freshman engineering classes. This study demonstrated that student attitudes can provide an effective means for evaluating aspects of our freshman engineering program, particularly those relating to issues of attrition. Specifically, students who left the freshman engineering program in “good academic standing” had significantly different attitudes about engineering and themselves than those possessed by other comparison groups: students who stayed in engineering and students who left engineering in “poor academic standing.” We developed regression models to predict attrition and performance in our freshman engineering program using quantified measures of student attitudes. Implementation of the models has allowed freshman advisors to better inform students of opportunities that engineering offers, to devise better programs of study that take advantage of students' varied interests, and to set retention goals that are more realistic.     

Developing a Comprehensive Assessment Program for Engineering Education*

This paper provides an overview of one institution's efforts to establish a comprehensive assessment program for continuous improvement of engineering education. A five step systematic process to develop an integrated assessment program from identifying educational objectives to applying measurement methods is explained in detail. Activities to encourage faculty participation and commitment are outlined. Four integrated assessment processes used by both faculty and students to assess and provide performance feedback are described. The focus of these assessment methods is on the measurement, development, and improvement of student learning outcomes aligned with ABET Engineering Criteria 2000. Preliminary results and lessons learned from the overall experience are highlighted.     

Improving the Academic Environment for Women Engineering Students Through Faculty Workshops

In this paper we examine the low numbers of women represented in engineering curricula and some of the factors that help to explain their under representation. We examine some of these factors including: isolation, not seeing the relevance of highly theoretical basic courses, negative experiences in laboratory courses, classroom climate and lack of role models. An outline is presented for two engineering faculty workshops, con ducted at the University of California-Davis, designed to help faculty members understand these issues and develop new strategies for overcoming factors that discourage their female students. Evaluation results are presented along with a series of recommendations for planning, implementing and evaluating these types of workshops.