Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Programs: Multidisciplinary Projects with Homes in Any Discipline

A survey of papers in the ASEE Multidisciplinary Engineering Division over the last three years shows three main areas of emphasis: individual courses; profiles of specific projects; and capstone design courses. However, propagating multidisciplinary education across the vast majority of disciplines offered at educational institutions with varying missions requires models that are independent of the disciplines, programs, and institutions in which they were originally conceived. Further, models that can propagate must be cost effective, scalable, and engage and benefit participating faculty. Since 2015, a consortium of twenty-four institutions has come together around one such model, the Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Program. VIP unites undergraduate education and faculty research in a team-based context, with students earning academic credits toward their degrees, and faculty and graduate students benefitting from the design/discovery efforts of their multidisciplinary teams. VIP integrates rich student learning experiences with faculty research, transforming both contexts for undergraduate learning and concepts of faculty research as isolated from undergraduate teaching. It provides a rich, cost-effective, scalable, and sustainable model for multidisciplinary project-based learning. (1) It is rich because students participate multiple years as they progress through their curriculum; (2) It is cost-effective since students earn academic credit instead of stipends; (3) It is scalable because faculty can work with teams of students instead of individual undergraduate research fellows, and typical teams consist of fifteen or more students from different disciplines; (4) It is sustainable because faculty benefit from the research and design efforts of their teams, with teams becoming integral parts of their research. While VIP programs share key elements, approaches and implementations vary by institution. This paper shows how the VIP model works across sixteen different institutions with different missions, sizes, and student profiles. The sixteen institutions represent new and long-established VIP programs, varying levels of research activity, two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), and two international universities1. Theses sixteen profiles illustrate adaptability of the VIP model across different academic settings

Service-learning in engineering: analysis of students experiences in development cooperation

Peer ReviewedObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::4 - Educació de QualitatObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::6 - Aigua Neta i SanejamentObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::3 - Salut i BenestarObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::13 - Acció per al ClimaObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::17 - Aliança per a Aconseguir els ObjetiusPostprint (published version

Service-learning experience through outreach and engagement with science and technology museums

The paper describes and analyzes the service-learning experiences of various engineering students in two science and technology museums, over the years 2020, 2021 and 2022. The experience was based on the design and implementation of education and outreach activities and scaffolding material was provided. Student learning was significant not only in terms of content but also in terms of generic and transversal competencies. In addition, this service-learning model shows a good potential to address some of the problems in engineering today, such as the declining interest in engineering among school students. Thus, it can be a win-win model for all the agents involved: museums, university, the student himself and society in general

Retrospective Analysis of Participatory Decision-Making in a Park\u27s Construction in Lafayette, Indiana

The Creative Park project has been an ongoing collaboration between Purdue Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS), Faith Community Development Corporation, and the residents of Lincoln Neighborhood in Lafayette, Indiana. It was initiated by Faith in 2017 as an open-ended attempt to increase local children’s interactions with creative and complex thinking as well as decreasing time spent indoors at the Hartford Hub. Through several iterations of designs, an interdisciplinary team with one consistent member has developed a plan to build a treehouse-themed park to be constructed in spring 2020. Throughout this time two major themes have arisen: that the collaboration with Lincoln residents is both complex and important to maintain the nature of the project, and the park project has connections to feelings of inequality, stagnation, and colonization for the neighborhood that are underdiscussed. Almost all interactions between EPICS and Lincoln residents is facilitated through a neighborhood meeting group that was resurrected in fall 2016, a semester before the project began. This limits the scope of discussion of the project as only regular attendees can participate and is likely to skew perceived opinion because of the demographic differences between the neighborhood and meeting group. Lincoln is considered one of the poorest neighborhoods in Lafayette as well as being predominately black compared to adjacent neighborhoods. Discussions in the meeting group acknowledge lack of income growth compared to Wabash neighborhood, continued neglect by the City of Lafayette, and decisions by powerful forces resulting in maintenance of the status quo. The Creative Park itself hopes to provide an asset to the community according to their desires without requiring investment of funds by residents. Whether this primary goal will be a success is yet to be determined, but the relationship between EPICS and the community has already been cemented over the last four years

Requirements Engineering for Globally Distributed Teams using Scaled Agile Framework

As large organizations are striving to deliver software at a faster pace and to keep up with the latest trends, they are in a transformation stage of adopting to Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). SAFe is a framework for implementing agile practices at enterprise level and it provides a roadmap for portfolios, programs and teams. Large organizations adopting to SAFe are facing challenges in coordinating, planning and managing requirements, as they work with globally distributed teams. The goal of this thesis was to improve the Requirements Engineering (RE) process using Scaled Agile Framework in globally distributed teams. The main research method used in this thesis was action research, an iterative approach which combines theory and practice. The empirical study was conducted in a large project that used SAFe and had eight globally distributed teams. In order to investigate the challenges faced by globally distributed teams, analysis of the existing literature and RE process flow in SAFe was important. It served as a good input to understand which good RE practices can be applied in the empirical study. The results of the study show that visually representing requirements as models and sharing domain and system knowledge through Community of Practice (CoP) reduced ambiguity in requirements. The good RE practice applied in SAFe, of working and improving collaboratively with the globally distributed teams helped in better coordination and managing of requirements. In addition to this, it was also essential to have SAFe training to develop clear and shared understanding of the framework and RE process. The lessons learned from the empirical study indicate that a well-organized PI planning is the key RE practice of SAFe in providing the big picture of requirements to all members in distributed teams. In addition, Community of Practice (CoP) can be a key RE practice of SAFe in sharing knowledge such as business domain, system knowledge, skills and techniques, and experiences

Engineering\u27s Effects on Communities through an Ethical Framework

Engineering is at the forefront of innovation and progression in our society, but often has various impacts on the communities in which projects take place. This article focuses on several ethical guidelines established through education and engineering’s effects on surrounding communities. Ethics inside of community actions and approach will also be explored

The PEEC Experiment: Native Hawaiian and Native American Engineering Education

PART I: Context 1. Engineering for Native nations: Origins and goals of the Pre-Engineering Education Collaboratives (PEECs)PART II: Culture matters 2. Recognizing history: Indigeneity matters 3. Moving beyond cultural sensitivity: Developing culturally responsive programs for and with Native engineers 4. Invoking cultural relevance at tribal colleges: Grandmother’s way is important5. Discovering what works: STEM pedagogy and curriculum development for Native Americans6. Exploring indigenous science and engineering: Projects with indigenous rootsPART III: Providing support for Natives in Engineering7. Finding an Engineering identity: A Native American PEEC leader’s experience8. Outreaching to K-12 and tribal schools in PEEC9. Establishing who leads: Hawaiian-serving community colleges or tribal colleges as leaders10. Discovering how and how well Native-Hawaiian community colleges work with a mainstream university in Hawai‘i11. Assembling interconnected networks for advancement in engineering: Champions and community12. Increasing enrollment and graduation through teaching and learning strategies: Experiential learningPART IV: Transforming institutional politics13. Transforming through institutionalization and replicability of PEEC14. Obtaining permission to work on reservations: About IRB/RRB regulations15. Involving STEM teachers with tribal faculty in PEEC: Joining forces to serve undergraduatesPART V: Learning from experience16. Joining forces with unexpected PEEC-enhancing projects along the way: Unforeseen alliances in South Dakota 17. Promoting Native women: An underutilized resource 18. Succeeding with students: PEEC student stories19. Measuring outcomes20. Implementing through low-cost solutions21. Useful references22. Contributors23. Epiloguehttps://openprairie.sdstate.edu/cvlee_book/1000/thumbnail.jp

In Search of Something More: My Path Towards International Service-Learning in Engineering Education

My personal and professional travels led me toward global education, in particular the University of Dayton (UD) program Engineers in Technical Humanitarian Opportunities for Service-Learning (ETHOS). I do not believe I ever intended to become part of an international engineering education program. In fact, I think the international piece was just a bonus. What really drew me to the ETHOS program was what initially draws our students to the program - a desire to help people. In order for the reader to understand how I ended up being involved in global education through the ETHOS program, I must first explain where I came from, my rather unusual career path and the Marianist Spirit that is UD. The reason for this is that my upbringing makes my later involvement in an international program somewhat iron ic. My very early experiences as a practicing engineer guided me towards the path of enginee ring education in the first place and, in particular, my approach towards engineering education. My somewhat unusual career path had a huge impact on what I value as an engineer and educator and my willingness to take career risks as an untenured professor at UD. These career risks came in the form of breaking many of the unwritten (and sometimes even clearly stated) rules associated with the pursuit of an academic career. Most importantly, however, the unique culture at UD provided me with the passion, opportunity and support to not only grow the ETHOS program but to also grow with the ETHOS program