Design prototyping methods

textProduct development is often modeled as a cycle between phases of designing, building, and testing. This work will explore early stage build efforts of product design, which is also known as prototyping. Prototyping is a critical determinant of product success. Research shows that different approaches to prototyping can greatly affect design outcome. This work provides an integrated overview, and expansion of the existing work on design prototyping methods. Following the introduction, an extensive literature review of design prototyping tools, techniques, and methods is provided. These sources are indexed and comparatively reviewed. The capabilities of a novel hybrid prototyping technique is explored through a design case study. Next, insights from the review are integrated in a context independent prototyping strategy method. The method is developed with heuristics extracted from the literature, and additional insights from experimental studies. The technique is then experimentally evaluated. Finally, results of an extensive study of an online design repository are provided. The results include five key principles for prototype design and fabrication. The presence of these principles in the repository is validated through a novel crowd-sourced online study. The outcome effects of deploying these principles to design teams is experimentally evaluated. Overall, this research provides a guide to prototyping which includes a systematically indexed review and comparison of the existing work, as well as a novel method, and principles for design and fabrication.Mechanical Engineerin

A relational grammar approach to Kera syntax

Kera is an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Chadic family. Verb morphology includes complex tense and aspect marking. Indication of final grammatical relations is by word order, auxiliary prefix agreement with subject, fused pronouns as direct and indirect object, and prepositions to mark indirect objects and obliques. Body parts serve as prepositions and they govern a locative suffix on the noun phrase which they precedes- A passive construction is described and its analysis defended within the relational grammar framework* Arguments for this analysis are based on term markings discussed above, plus the relative clause formation strategy. Constructions in which initial indirect objects advance to subject are also presented, and it is argued that even though the initial indirect object is a final subject, this is not a case of indirect object to subject advancement; rather the initial indirect object is a direct object at an intermediate level, as evidenced by the fact that the initial direct object is a final chomeur, Benefactives, which are marked the same as final indirect objects, do not advance to direct object or subject. In cases of matrix and embedded clauses sharing a nominal, Kera uses either pronoun replacers, erasure of the downstairs relation, or equi-subject clause union, depending upon the matrix verb and the relations of the shared nominal, A small number of verbs have variant stem forms which are sensitive to the number of their final direct object or subject; evidence is presented that it is the initial direct object to which this stem agreement is sensitive. An unaccusative advancement analysis of certain intransitive clauses is proposed and defended. The ascension of a final downstairs subject is possible from a host that is the direct object of a verb which translates \u27allow\u27; of particular interest is the fact that the resultant multiattachment is resolved by a pronoun replacer in either clause (with the shared nominal a final constituent of the other clause). Ascension of an initial downstairs direct object is possible with a matrix verb that translates \u27hard\u27. This ascension has unusual constraints upon it, which in turn provide an additional argument for the unaccusative advancement analysis of clauses with certain verbs, Kera is shown to have two kinds of possessor ascension: ascension to direct object and ascension to indirect object. Both are subject to the overriding constraint that no ascended possessor may head a subject arc

Using Teacher Logs to Measure the Enacted Curriculum: A Study of Literacy Teaching in Third‐Grade Classrooms

In this article we examine methodological and conceptual issues that emerge when researchers measure the enacted curriculum in schools. After outlining key theoretical considerations that guide measurement of this construct and alternative strategies for collecting and analyzing data on it, we illustrate one approach to gathering and analyzing data on the enacted curriculum. Using log data on the reading/language arts instruction of more than 150 third‐grade teachers in 53 high‐poverty elementary schools participating in the Study of Instructional Improvement, we estimated several hierarchical linear models and found that the curricular content of literacy instruction (a) varied widely from day to day, (b) did not vary much among students in the same classroom, but (c) did vary greatly across classrooms, largely as the result of teachers’ participation in 1 of the 3 instructional improvement interventions (Accelerated Schools, America’s Choice, and Success for All) under study. The implications of these findings for future research on the enacted curriculum are discussed

School Improvement by Design: Lessons From a Study of Comprehensive School Reform Programs

This CPRE report is a reprint of a chapter that originally appeared as Chapter 49 of the Handbook of Education Policy Research, edited by Gary Sykes, Barbara Schneider, and DavidN.Plank and published for theAmerican Educational Research Association by Routledge Publishers in 2009. The reprinted chapter presents key findings from A Study of Instructional Improvement, a study that was conducted under the auspices of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education and directed by Brian Rowan, David K. Cohen, and Deborah Loewenberg Ball (all at the University of Michigan).This study examined the design, implementation, and instructional effectiveness of three of America’s most widely disseminated comprehensive school reform programs (the Accelerated Schools Project,America’s Choice, and Successful forAll) over a four year period that encompassed the school years 2000–2001 through 2003–2004. During the course of the study, data were collected in 115 elementary schools in every region of the United States,with more than 5,300 teachers, 800 school leaders, and 7,500 students and their families participating

Choosing STEM College Majors: Exploring the Role of Pre-College Engineering Courses

Despite the recent policy proclamations urging state and local educators to implement integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curricula, relatively little is known about the role and impact of pre-college engineering courses within these initiatives. When combined with appropriate mathematics and science courses, high school engineering and engineering technology (E&ET) courses may have the potential to provide students with pre-college learning experiences that encourage them to pursue STEM college majors. Our central research question was: What is the nature and extent of any relationship between high school E&ET course completion and subsequent selection of a STEM major in a two-year or four-year college? Using the first and second follow-up datasets of the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, we examined the direction and magnitude of the association between E&ET course-taking in high school and postsecondary STEM program enrollment. We controlled for a wide array of factors identified in the literature as being associated with college major selection, allowing us to better isolate the association between high school E&ET course-taking and college major selection. Overall, students who earned three credits in E&ET courses were 1.60 times more likely to enroll in STEM majors in four-year institutions than students who did not earn high school E&ET credits. This positive, significant association persisted even after controlling for students’ social backgrounds, academic preparation and attitudes during high school, college choice considerations, and early postsecondary education experiences. In combination with a high school college readiness curriculum, E&ET courses potentially contribute in multiple ways to informing students’ selection of engineering and STEM college majors

Maintaining Response Rates In Longitudinal Studies

A recognized problem in mounting longitudinal surveys concerns the costs and difficulties in maintaining response rates over time. This article details the techniques used to minimize response loss in a longitudinal study which maintained an 89% response rate over five interviews covering a fifteen-year period. These techniques centered on two problems common to all longitudinal studies: the difficulties involved in relocating respondents for subsequent interviews, and the necessity of maintaining respondent cooperation over repeated interviews.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69083/2/10.1177_004912418000900104.pd

Using Teacher Logs to Measure the Enacted Curriculum: A Study of Literacy Teaching in Third‐Grade Classrooms

In this article we examine methodological and conceptual issues that emerge when researchers measure the enacted curriculum in schools. After outlining key theoretical considerations that guide measurement of this construct and alternative strategies for collecting and analyzing data on it, we illustrate one approach to gathering and analyzing data on the enacted curriculum. Using log data on the reading/language arts instruction of more than 150 third‐grade teachers in 53 high‐poverty elementary schools participating in the Study of Instructional Improvement, we estimated several hierarchical linear models and found that the curricular content of literacy instruction (a) varied widely from day to day, (b) did not vary much among students in the same classroom, but (c) did vary greatly across classrooms, largely as the result of teachers’ participation in 1 of the 3 instructional improvement interventions (Accelerated Schools, America’s Choice, and Success for All) under study. The implications of these findings for future research on the enacted curriculum are discussed

Designettes: An Approach to Multidisciplinary Engineering Design Education

Design and other fundamental topics in engineering are often isolated to dedicated courses. An opportunity exists to foster a culture of engineering design and multidisciplinary problem solving throughout the curriculum. Designettes, charettelike design challenges, are rapid and creative learning tools that enable educators to integrate design learning in a single class, across courses, across terms, and across disciplines. When two or more courses join together in a designette, a multidisciplinary learning activity occurs; multiple subjects are integrated and applied to open-ended problems and grand challenges. This practice helps foster a culture of design, and enables the introduction of multidisciplinary design challenges. Studies at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) demonstrate learning of engineering subject matter in a bio-inspired robotics designette (MechAnimal), an interactive musical circuit designette, and an automated milk delivery (AutoMilk) designette. Each challenge combines problem clarification, concept generation, and prototyping with subject content such as circuits, biology, thermodynamics, differential equations, or software with controls. From pre- and postsurveys of students, designettes are found to increase students' understanding of engineering concepts. From 321 third-semester students, designettes were found to increase students' perceptions of their ability to solve multidisciplinary problems

Testing in the incremental design and development of complex products

Testing is an important aspect of design and development which consumes significant time and resource in many companies. However, it has received less research attention than many other activities in product development, and especially, very few publications report empirical studies of engineering testing. Such studies are needed to establish the importance of testing and inform the development of pragmatic support methods. This paper combines insights from literature study with findings from three empirical studies of testing. The case studies concern incrementally developed complex products in the automotive domain. A description of testing practice as observed in these studies is provided, confirming that testing activities are used for multiple purposes depending on the context, and are intertwined with design from start to finish of the development process, not done after it as many models depict. Descriptive process models are developed to indicate some of the key insights, and opportunities for further research are suggested