Molecular characteristic of phosphoric acid treated soils

The expansive nature of soils containing high amounts of clay minerals can be altered through chemical stabilization, resulting in a material suitable for construction purposes. The primary objective of this investigation was to study the changes induced in the molecular structure of phosphoric acid stabilized bentonite and lateritic soil using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Based on the obtained data, it was found that a surface alteration mechanism was the main reason responsible for the improvement of treated soils. Furthermore, the results indicated that the Al present in the octahedral layer of clay minerals were more amenable to chemical attacks and also partly responsible for the formation of new products

Exploring Preschool Educators\u27 Funds of Knowledge about Print Literacy Pedagogy through a Narrative Lens

This thesis reports on a narrative case study in which I explored early childhood educators’ (ECEs) beliefs about print literacy and play pedagogies. The purpose of the study was to learn about the ECEs’ subjective views regarding how to support young children’s print literacy; the extent to which ECEs viewed play as a contributing factor in children’s print literacy development; and how ECEs appropriated their understandings of the relationship between play and print literacy. I conducted in-depth, qualitative interviews with six registered early childhood educators (RECEs) employed in privately funded childcare centres in Ontario, Canada. I asked: What can be learned about preschool educators’ funds of knowledge from stories of practice about print literacy pedagogies? What beliefs about the role of play in young children’s literacy are expressed in those stories? What obstacles to enacting play-based pedagogies are expressed? What do stories of practice reveal about the ways in which they value play? And lastly, what do stories reveal about the ways in which beliefs about play mediate planning of curricular experiences? Interviews were transcribed and data were analyzed in a two-stage process. First I identified key issues present in each participant’s stories of practice. I then triangulated the three data sources- interpretive stories, participants’ personal narratives, and my own reflective diaries- in order to further explore these issues using critical analysis. These issues came in the form of motifs or recurring ideas. The study found that ECEs mobilized their knowledge about play and print literacy development within routine practices. Perceived obstacles to play-based pedagogies included: (1) a desire to please students’ parents; (2) an obligation to prepare students for public school; and (3) pressures to conform to the institutional routines that governed individuals’ practices. This study contributed to my understandings of ECE practices. I hope the findings will promote critical dialogue among educators and other education stakeholders. Such a dialogue can lead to improvements in professional development programs and in ECEs’ pedagogical practices with print literacy and play

Development of an Undergraduate Welding Laboratory for Research and Education

The shortage of welders in Hampton Roads area, where many shipyards are located, is becoming severe for shipbuilding in coming years. Many welding engineers graduated from universities located out of state, tend to go back to companies near their home, after receiving couple years of welding experience at Hampton Roads shipyards. Therefore, it is critical to train local welders. In order to address the welding workforce needs of Hampton Roads, the Department of Engineering Technology at Old Dominion University has recently launched an initiative for developing a laboratory for welding processes (LWP) for supporting educational and research activities in its Mechanical Engineering Technology program. This laboratory consists of various welding processes such as gas metal arc welding (GMAW), gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), shielded metal arc welding (SMAW), laser welding, and ultrasonic metal welding. Most importantly, this is the first and only educational institute laboratory in Hampton Roads area that includes equipment for metallography; it is critical for welders to understand the physics behind welding processes. Equipment in this laboratory is intended to provide hands-on training to both mechanical engineering technology and mechanical engineering students by complementing and extending their welding expertise and better prepare students to handle the new industries demanding welding workforce. LWP is also can be used for wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) in order to introduce students to additive manufacturing (AM) technology. It is currently utilized to complement one elective existing course in Mechanical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering Technology programs. The Department of Engineering Technology aims to add 3 more welding related courses in order to offer a welding minor for Mechanical Engineering Technology students. In this paper, we mainly discuss the challenges and opportunities of integrating welding technologies in mechanical engineering technology curriculum based on our experiences at the Department of Engineering Technology at Old Dominion University. We will also present our recent welding processes laboratory initiative and discuss the use of LWP in supporting instruction and research in engineering technology

Supporting Young Learners Through a Multimodal Digital Storytelling Activity

This paper presents the results of a small-scale qualitative case study that explored a tutor’s role in supporting young learners through a digital storytelling (DS) activity through Microsoft PowerPoint. The two children who participated in this study were in grade one and attended private schools in Canada. Participatory observations, field notes, interviews, the children’s narratives, and observational narratives were the primary sources of data. The children carried out a DS activity during three separate sessions for each child that involved planning the story, enacting the story, creating and editing a storyboard with cameras and computers, and lastly, celebrating the stories they produced with their family members. We found that the tutor played an important role in making the activity purposeful, authentic, and passion-led (Anderson, 2016). We also found that the tutor helped the children represent and understand meaning through an integration of modes, supported their use of technology, engaged their interest throughout the activity, and encouraged self-reflection on their narrative writing skills. Our findings point to the need for future research on how digital storytelling activities can be carried out in mainstream classroom settings, where teachers can schedule one-on-one conference sessions to support children as they become multimodal composers

Expanding a Mechanical Engineering Technology Curriculum to Include Additive Manufacturing

Additive Manufacturing (AM) has become a game changer for the manufacturing industry. With growing implementation of AM in various industries, it is the responsibility of different levels of education to expose students to AM technologies and to integrate AM into their curriculum. It is well known that students who gain the skillsets of today’s industry have a better chance in getting a competitive job. In response to this need, a new senior level elective course on AM, has been developed for the first time in Old Dominion University (ODU) region in the South. The course was developed and taught by the Mechanical Engineering Technology faculty with the expertise in manufacturing processes, welding, and material science. The course was available to a wider university population of undergraduate students, from different majors ranging from the Mechanical Engineering Technology program, Industrial Technology program, Career and Technical Education teacher program, and Mechanical Engineering program students at ODU. This course is a part of manufacturing concentration for MET students. The course curriculum includes an overview of various AM processes. It explains how AM enables the creation of complex geometries from the bottom-up, without many of the constraints of traditional manufacturing methods such as machining, molding, and casting and commonly taught machinist approach CAD modelling methodology. This paper discusses the development and implementation of AM course and provide recommendations for improving the course contents (both theory and lab). For comparison purposes, the contents of a similar course developed at a different university is also provided in this study

PRODUCTION OF POLYANILINE COMPOSITE CONTAINING Fe2O3 AND CoO WITH NANOMETER SIZE USING HYDROXYPROPYLCELLULOSE AS A SURFACTANT

In this study, composite of polyaniline containing Fe2O3 and CoO with nanometer size was synthesized by a chemical method using hydroxyl-propylcellulose as a surfactant. The characteristics of products such as morphology and conductivity were studied. The results indicate that, the morphology and conductivity of product are dependent on the surfactant, the type and concentration of metallic oxide

Augmented Reality Integrated Welder Training for Mechanical Engineering Technology

The shortage of welders is well documented and projected to become more severe for various industries such as shipbuilding in coming years. It is mainly because welding training is a critical and often costly endeavor. This study examines the training potential using augmented reality technology as a critical part of welder training for mechanical engineering technology students. This study assessed the performance of two groups of MET students trained with two different methods. One group received training with the traditional method in three sessions. The second group acquired training initially with an augmented reality welding system for three sessions. Then, they were exposed to actual welding training. The results demonstrated that students trained using augmented reality had training outcomes that surpassed those of traditionally trained students. Lastly, the material cost impact of the augmented reality group was significantly less than that of the group with traditional welding training

Augmented Reality Integrated Welder Training for Mechanical Engineering Technology

The shortage of welders is well documented and projected to become more severe for various industries such as shipbuilding in coming years. It is mainly because welding training is a critical and often costly endeavor. This study examines the training potential using augmented reality technology as a critical part of welder training for mechanical engineering technology students. This study assessed the performance of two groups of MET students trained with two different methods. One group received training with the traditional method in three sessions. The second group acquired training initially with an augmented reality welding system for three sessions. Then, they were exposed to actual welding training. The results demonstrated that students trained using augmented reality had training outcomes that surpassed those of traditionally trained students. Lastly, the material cost impact of the augmented reality group was significantly less than that of the group with traditional welding training

Teaching Introduction to Welding in Undergraduate and Graduate Engineering Technology Programs

Recent trends in the industry have led to an increased need for engineers with welding training. Not many universities in the U.S.A. offer welding courses at undergraduate level. Engineers that do not receive education about this complex process, sometimes they make a very costly and dangerous mistake. More profound understanding of the welding process that expands beyond the basic comprehension of technology use is needed for the advanced manufacturing sector. Welding related courses, as it involves the complex interplay of the four states of matter (solid, liquid, gas and plasma) as governed by the laws of physics, need topics such as material science, phase diagrams, phase transformation, heat treatment, and possible failure modes of welds and working with special alloys and material that are difficult to weld. This paper will present two such courses at two different universities, both offered in mechanical engineering technology programs. These courses cover various welding processes, heat flow, residual stress, design, problems, codes, standards, and most importantly metallography