Hands-on Learning in Multiple Courses in Electrical and Computer Engineering

It has been reported that persistence rate of engineering students is relatively low. Several new pedagogical paradigms have been proposed to improve engineering education, such as the use of “hands-on” tools to change the learning style in the engineering classroom to more engaging teaching pedagogies. An approach that is being used to engage and retain electrical and computer engineering students is the Analog Discovery board (ADB). The paper describes the hands-on learning experiences of students who used the ADB in multiple courses. The paper discusses (i) the various laboratory experiments and class projects performed by the students, (ii) the knowledge and skills learnt by the students and (iii) the lessons learnt by the instructors while introducing ADB into freshman and junior level courses in the electrical and computer engineering. Preliminary data indicate that students are benefiting from the use of the ADB. Students report increases in their interest in subject content, motivation to learn, and confidence in their ability to learn.Cockrell School of Engineerin

Emerging cad and bim trends in the aec education: An analysis from students\u27 perspective

As the construction industry is moving towards collaborative design and construction practices globally, training the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) students professionally related to CAD and BIM became a necessity rather than an option. The advancement in the industry has led to collaborative modelling environments, such as building information modelling (BIM), as an alternative to computer-aided design (CAD) drafting. Educators have shown interest in integrating BIM into the AEC curriculum, where teaching CAD and BIM simultaneously became a challenge due to the differences of two systems. One of the major challenges was to find the appropriate teaching techniques, as educators were unaware of the AEC students’ learning path in CAD and BIM. In order to make sure students learn and benefit from both CAD and BIM, the learning path should be revealed from students’ perspective. This paper summarizes the background and differences of CAD and BIM education, and how the transition from CAD to BIM can be achieved for collaborative working practices. The analysis was performed on freshman and junior level courses to learn the perception of students about CAD and BIM education. A dual-track survey was used to collect responses from AEC students in four consecutive years. The results showed that students prefer BIM to CAD in terms of the friendliness of the user-interface, help functions, and self-detection of mistakes. The survey also revealed that most of the students believed in the need for a BIM specialty course with Construction Management (CM), Structure, and Mechanical-Electrical-Plumbing (MEP) areas. The benefits and challenges of both CAD and BIM-based software from students’ perspectives helps to improve the learning outcomes of CAD/BIM courses to better help students in their learning process, and works as a guideline for educators on how to design and teach CAD/BIM courses simultaneously by considering the learning process and perspectives of students. © 2018 The autho

Digital Systems Teaching and Research (DSTR) Robot: A Flexible Platform for Education and Applied Research

The DSTR (pronounced “Disaster”) robot has a strong history of being adaptable to different user’s needs, and there are many opportunities ahead that indicate that the sky, quite literally, is not the limit for this robust platform. This paper provides a historical perspective on the development of the DSTR robot as a collaborative design developed by the Mobile Integrated Solutions Laboratory (MISL) at Texas A&M University and ASEP 4X4 Inc. Texas Instruments has been a major partner in the integration of the control electronics, and Texas Space Technology Applications and Research (T STAR) LLC has played a significant role in the propagation of the DSTR robot as an adaptable applied research/education/STEM outreach platform. The paper will present examples of the strong industry-academic relationships that allow the DSTR robot to be utilized in a multitude of experiential learning environments. In addition to a number of STEM outreach activities, the DSTR robots are being used in the Introduction to Engineering course at Blinn College and in the Freshman Engineering curriculum at Texas A&M University. DSTRs have also been selected by NASA scientists as a low-cost lunar sample collector. The paper will also discuss the newly developed DSTR-E (DSTR Engineering) unit which requires students to perform several engineering tasks during the build process. The paper will also include the lessons learned from initial design through its transfer to the private sector for commercialization and future plans.Cockrell School of Engineerin

Fun and Interactive Activities for an Introductory Computer Science Course of 200 Students

Research has shown that students learn and perform better in learning environments that are interactive [1]. Teaching a freshman-level introductory course in computer science (CS) can be challenging, because most students are unaware of what computer scientists do and have never been introduced to basic computer science concepts. Using a series of hands-on interactive activities throughout the semester can introduce CS topics in a fun way while relating the topics to familiar everyday experiences. All the activities listed below do not require a computer lab, are extremely cost-effective, and require minimum preparation: (1) Understanding Variables and Arrays with Paper Bags [2], (2) Branching and Looping Statements with Starburst Candies [2], (3) Loops with Music [3], (4) Arrays with Tissue Boxes, DVD Sets, Paper Plates, and other Household Goods [2], (5) Monsters Hate Chocolate: Learning Try/Catch Blocks [2], (6) General Class Structure with Bags, Boxes, and a Bin [2], (7) Dr. Doolittle’s Vet Office: Learning Classes with Stuffed Animals [2], (8) Sorting Algorithms with Paper Bags [3, 6, 7], and (9) Recursion Introduction: Simple Tower of Hanoi with Colored Paper [3]. The authors designed these activities to be done with a variety of age groups and various numbers of students, however, the activities have never been tired with classes larger than 50 [2, 3]. This paper will explore the challenges and logistics of adapting these activities to a forum style lecture hall with approximately 200 students in attendance. Additionally, any revised activity instructions from [2, 3] will be provided.Cockrell School of Engineerin

Taking root: Librarians help new Forestry students create a learning community

Librarians have studied and discussed library anxiety ever since Constance Mellon coined the term in 1986. While it may be challenging for librarians to imagine any anxiety about coming into a library and using the available resources, students experience a multitude of stressors as they embark on their college journey. Many are taking college-level courses for the first time. Some might have a roommate they know, or not. (Sometimes the ones you know are a bigger problem than the ones you do not.) Some may be juggling a full course load with work or family responsibilities. Many are on their own for the first time in their lives. The library may be a draw for some as a place to study or explore in this new environment. However, getting up the nerve to step outside of what is known, and inside somewhere new, can be quite intimidating

"This is not 13th Grade": Making the Transition to College through Coding

The Summer Coding Academy 2017 at the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) was designed for the first-year freshman and transfer students with a declared Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) major. The camp participants were from diverse STEM fields that included engineering, biochemistry, nuclear medicine science, biology, computer information systems, meteorology, and 3-D animation & game design. The objectives of the camp were (1) to improve the student’s preparation for a rigorous STEM degree, (2) to increase their skills in communication and data analytics through coding and robotics. This paper describes the teaching materials that we utilized, the results of students evaluations, lessons learned and the future work.Cockrell School of Engineerin

Product Focused Freeform Fabrication Education

Presented in this paper is our experience of teaching freeform fabrication to students at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, and to high school students and teachers. The emphasis of the curriculum is exposing students to rapid product development technologies with the goal of creating awareness to emerging career opportunities in CAD/CAM. Starting from solid modeling, principles of freeform fabrication, to applications of rapid prototyping and manufacturing in industry sponsored product development projects, students can learn in-depth freeform fabrication technologies. Interactive course content with hands-on experience for product development is the key towards the success of the program.Mechanical Engineerin

Promoting academic excellence amongst the engineering students

This paper describes activities carried out by the College of Engineering at Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) in order to promote academic excellence amongst the engineering students and to enhance their academic standings. The issues affecting the academic performance are briefly discussed. The activities involve all students majoring in Electrical, Mechanical and Civil Engineering at UNITEN. The discussions highlight some examples of the orientation and motivation programs, student support system, engineering related enrichment activities and outcome-based education. The objective of this paper is to share the experiences gained when conducting these activities and how they benefit the students

Detecting Health Problems Related to Addiction of Video Game Playing Using an Expert System

Today’s everyone normal life can include a normal rate of playing computer games or video games; but what about an excessive or compulsive use of video games that impact on our life? Our kids, who usually spend a lot of time in playing video games will likely have a trouble in paying attention to their school lessons. In this paper, we introduce an expert system to help users in getting the correct diagnosis of the health problem of video game addictions that range from (Musculoskeletal issues, Vision problems and Obesity). Moreover, this expert system provides information about the problem and tell us how we can solve it. SL5 Object expert system language was used to design and implement the expert system