Innovation for a Crowded Curriculum: A Textbook Companion for Thermodynamics

Energy is a basic human need; technologies for energy conversion and use are fundamental to human survival. As energy technology evolves to meet future demands for development and ecological sustainability, engineers need to have up-to-date skills and knowledge to meet the creative challenges our energy problems demand. Presently, most thermodynamics education adheres narrowly to an unspoken canon, grounded in 19th century developments of the steam engine in Europe, and subsequent fossil fuel technologies. Some texts have added updates, sidebars and problems on more recent technologies, including renewable energy, but for the most part they have not been reframed around the broader educational outcomes engineers need to attain to create the changes needed for a sustainable and just energy future. A series of learning modules have been designed for compilation in a textbook companion, connecting traditional textbooks with these broader skill and knowledge sets, leveraging pedagogies that foster intentional learning through hands-on and/or independent student explorations. These modules develop moral reasoning, critical thinking, social engagement, and communication skills as essential complements to the energy engineer’s technical expertise. In this seminar, attendees will have the opportunity through an interactive exercise to provide feedback on a module designed with chemical engineering students in mind

Climate Justice in Engineering Education

The goal of this research is to design a learning module for Purdue first-year engineering (FYE) students to learn climate fundamentals, and the role of engineers in responding to climate justice challenges. There is a lack of climate material within these classes currently, leading to a lack of climate conscious engineers in the future. The project entailed reviewing and synthesizing a wide variety of previous research on climate change education in engineering, including key learning objectives and their assessment. Because one of the key foci of the first-year engineering sequence relates to data analysis and management, we focused our work on identifying climate data sets compatible with current curricular materials and application tools in the course. We designed a module to fit within the learning targets of ENGR 132, while also including new learning targets identified in previous research that could be easily implemented within the guidelines of ENGR 132. Climate data forms a useful example of the kinds of complex data management challenges engineers face now and in the future. In particular, the problem of climate change reveals structural inequities that engineers must address in their design of solutions. Climate change is one of the grand socio-technical challenges of our day, and thus has the potential to engage many FYE students in discovering how different disciplines of engineering (and disciplines beyond engineering) can contribute to climate solutions. The module will be delivered to a key faculty member in Engineering Education for further development and implementation in the course

Work in Progress - Designing for Economic Empowerment in Nicaragua

Faculty and students in several disciplines at four institutions in the United States and Nicaragua are collaborating on technology entrepreneurship education for economic empowerment in Esteli, Nicaragua. The project aims to demonstrate a new paradigm for development that is rooted in education. The effort will focus on design and delivery of new curriculum for collaborative, interdisciplinary product development. To demonstrate the curriculum, the effort will launch cross-cultural student teams to identify and develop markets, partners, and technology for entrepreneurial ventures in Nicaragua, utilizing Nicaraguan materials and skills. The envisioned long term goal is local economic empowerment and a sound, collaborative process for technology innovation and product development that is both replicable and transferable. The proposed program includes six sequential phases; phase one is complete and phase two is in progress. This paper discusses the goals, results, and assessment of the first two phases in the context of the ongoing project

Workshop - Feminist Engineering Education: Building a Community of Practice

As a result of a series of papers and special sessions held at FIE between 2004 and 2008, a community of CSET educators interested in exploring feminist pedagogies has formed at FIE. Past participants in these sessions have expressed a desire to learn more about what makes a set of pedagogies feminist. At the same time, there has been an increase in the number of research papers at FIE that draw on feminist research methods or topics. This workshop is designed to meet the needs of members of the FIE community who have some experience with feminist pedagogies or research methods, and who are looking to develop intellectual relationships with others also working in engineering educational research. We will discuss the history of feminist education and feminist research methods in the US, including a connection to science and engineering education; participants will then work in small groups focusing on a sub-topic (feminist pedagogies, feminist research methods, and feminist research topics/content). We invite participants to bring part of a project (such as a syllabus or course plan, assignment, class or research project, research question or protocol) to this workshop; some time will be dedicated to the guided design/redesign of this project

Connections: A Journal of Public Education Advocacy - Fall 2002, Vol. 9, No. 2

President's Message - Wendy D. Puriefoy sees education as the universal liberator and children as our nation's most valuable resource.Richard Riley on Transforming American Education - Don't shortchange adolescents, urges Richard W. Riley, Clinton administration secretary of education, as we build for a knowledge-driven economy.Q&A: Bob Moses - Civil rights activist Bob Moses promotes math literacy as the key to education and economic access.Making It Happen - Phyllis McClure, Title I expert, alerts parents and communities to valuable NCLB-mandated information on schools, districts, and states coming their way.Viewpoint - Boeing Company CEO Philip M. Condit links the need for a worldclass workforce to the need for quality public education.Conversations - Grassroots organizer Donna Cooper, Maryland lawmaker Pete Rawlings, and New York attorney Michael Rebell discuss accountability, adequacy, and fiscal equity as long-term investments in the future of our nation.End Notes - William Novelli, CEO, on how AARP members put lifelong learning into action

Philosophical Perspectives on Engineering and Technology Literacy, I

The belief that engineering and technology are beneficial to all and can improve human lives has inspired the tireless endeavors of many creative individuals throughout history. Engineers and technologists have generally believed that their actions and designs need to be scientifically justified and logically dependable. In addition, due to the pragmatic nature of the field there is also an emphasis on systematic approaches and defining standard practices in engineering. Such a positivist approach is seen in all aspects of engineering and technological ventures. Consequently, such an approach exists in most engineering educators’ perspectives and belief structures regarding the contents of the curricular, student training, and the overall goal of engineering and technological education.https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/ece_books/1000/thumbnail.jp

Colorado River Basin Modeling Studies: Proceedings of a Seminar Held at Utah State University Logan , Utah July 16-18, 1975

Preface: Computer modeling is an important and valuable tool for water resources planning and management. In recent years many different modeling approaches and techniques have been developed. Some have been applied in the Colorado River Basin. A brief and incomplete search showed over fifty reports on modeling in the Colorado River Basin alone. The main motivation for this Seminar was the indication that (1) much duplication of effort is occuring among Colorado River modeling studies due to lack of information and (2) much of the knowledge now available on modeling is not being effectively applied to real problems. The overall goals and broach objectives of this conference were to provide a forum whereby management policies, existing computer modeling techniques, methodologies, and studies applied to the planning, design, construction, operation, management, and development of the water and land resources in the Colorado River Basin might be comprehensively reviewed, discussed, and analyzed, and projections of future needs and trends developed. Specifically, the Seminar appempted to: *Provide a forum for policy and decision-makers and public officials to review, evaluate, discuss, and project the needs and applicability of modeling techniques in river basin planning and management. *Acquaint the participants with the present status and trends in computer models as they are applicable to water resource systems. *Bring a knowledge of the state-of-the-art in computer modeling studies to institutions, agencies, and individuals. *Help participants avoid or minimize duplication of efforts in future work related to the theme of the seminar. *Emphasize the importance of comprehensive systmes analyses, recognizing that subanalysis of a comprehensize system through uncoordinated submodels generally is not sufficient

Comprehensive Approach to Improving Maternal Health and Achieving MDG 5: Report from the Mountains of Lesotho

Background: Although it is now widely recognized that reductions in maternal mortality and improvements in women's health cannot be achieved through simple, vertical strategies, few programs have provided successful models for how to integrate services into a comprehensive program for maternal health. We report our experience in rural Lesotho, where Partners In Health (PIH) in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare implemented a program that provides comprehensive care of pregnant women from the community to the clinic level. Methods: Between May and July 2009, PIH trained 100 women, many of whom were former traditional birth attendants, to serve as clinic-affiliated maternal health workers. They received performance-based incentives for accompanying pregnant women during antenatal care (ANC) visits and facility-based delivery. A nurse-midwife provided ANC and delivery care and supervised the maternal health workers. To overcome geographic barriers to delivering at the clinic, women who lived far from the clinic stayed at a maternal lying-in house prior to their expected delivery dates. We analyzed data routinely collected from delivery and ANC registers to compare service utilization before and after implementation of the program. Results: After the establishment of the program, the average number first ANC visits increased from 20 to 31 per month. The clinic recorded 178 deliveries in the first year of the program and 216 in the second year, compared to 46 in the year preceding the program. During the first two years of the program, 49 women with complications were successfully transported to the district hospital, and no maternal deaths occurred among the women served by the program. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that it is possible to achieve dramatic improvements in the utilization of maternal health services and facility-based delivery by strengthening human resource capacity, implementing active follow-up in the community, and de-incentivizing home births

Mutation of NIMA-related kinase 1 (NEK1) leads to chromosome instability

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>NEK1, the first mammalian ortholog of the fungal protein kinase never-in-mitosis A (NIMA), is involved early in the DNA damage sensing/repair pathway. A defect in DNA repair in NEK1-deficient cells is suggested by persistence of DNA double strand breaks after low dose ionizing radiation (IR). NEK1-deficient cells also fail to activate the checkpoint kinases CHK1 and CHK2, and fail to arrest properly at G1/S or G2/M-phase checkpoints after DNA damage.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We show here that NEK1-deficient cells suffer major errors in mitotic chromosome segregation and cytokinesis, and become aneuploid. These NEK1-deficient cells transform, acquire the ability to grow in anchorage-independent conditions, and form tumors when injected into syngeneic mice. Genomic instability is also manifest in <it>NEK1 </it>+/- mice, which late in life develop lymphomas with a much higher incidence than wild type littermates.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>NEK1 is required for the maintenance of genome stability by acting at multiple junctures, including control of chromosome stability.</p