Development of a Set of Pre-class Videos for Electromagnetic Theory

One important aspect of experiential learning is allowing students time to reflect on new concepts before the application of the material. Most commonly, this is attempted by assigning readings from a textbook, but research suggests that few students complete these readings. This discouraging fact has prompted the use of other resources, such as videos, to supplement pre-class readings in order to introduce new material. Previous work has been completed by this author to produce pre-class videos for use in an introductory circuits course. This paper extends that work to the development of pre-class videos for a senior level electrical engineering course in electromagnetic theory at Anderson University. Although the videos were developed for this course, many of the topics are also applicable to calculus-based physics courses on electromagnetics. As a result, a sophomore level Physics 2 course made use of some of the videos. To improve upon the existing resources, a set of 15 videos were created for use in an electromagnetic theory class. The videos are freely available on YouTube, without advertisements. This paper describes the conception and creation of these videos. Furthermore, this work contributes to the field of engineering education by providing a freely available set of videos that other instructors may use to increase student engagement and learning. Assessment of the initial use of these videos with a small sample group indicate that the target audience watched the videos, felt that the videos helped them do better in the course, felt better prepared for class because of the videos, and valued the videos as a resource. The results indicate that 100% would recommend the videos to students taking Electromagnetic Theory at another university, and 100% wish they had pre-class videos for their other courses. When asked how much they would pay for the resource, the average response was $45

Does choice of programming language affect student understanding of programming concepts in a first year engineering course?

Most undergraduate engineering curricula include computer programming to some degree,introducing a structured language such as C, or a computational system such as MATLAB, or both. Many of these curricula include programming in first year engineering courses, integrating the solution of simple engineering problems with an introduction to programming concepts. In line with this practice, Roger Williams University has included an introduction to programming as a part of the first year engineering curriculum for many years. However, recent industry and pedagogical trends have motivated the switch from a structured language (VBA) to a computational system (MATLAB). As a part of the pilot run of this change,the course instructors felt that it would be worthwhile to verify that changing the programming language did not negatively affect students’ ability to understand key programming concepts. In particular it was appropriate to explore students’ ability to translate word problems into computer programs containing inputs, decision statements, computational processes, and outputs. To test the hypothesis that programming language does not affect students’ ability to understand programming concepts, students from consecutive years were given the same homework assignment, with the first cohort using VBA and the second using MATLAB to solve the assignment. A rubric was developed which allowed the investigators to rate assignments independent of programming language. Results from this study indicate that there is not a significant impact of the change in programming language. These results suggest that the choice of programming language likely does not matter for student understanding of programming concepts. Course instructors should feel free to select programming language based on other factors, such as market demand, cost, or the availability of pedagogical resources

Writing Children’s Stories to Improve Engineering Student’s Communication with Non-Engineering Audiences

One of the biggest challenges for students in science and engineering is communicating technical information to a non-technical audience. Students may struggle because they are not adept writers, because they cannot divorce the ideas from the jargon, or because they simply don\u27t understand the material well enough to explain it to someone else. To attempt to address this issue, this study proposes the use of children’s stories to help students practice writing for a target, non-technical audience. To measure the efficacy of this method, junior level engineering students in an electronics course in Fall 2018 were asked to write children’s stories to explain the operation of specific electrical devices. The students wrote one story at the beginning of the semester and another at the end of the semester. Using a written communication rubric, the stories were assessed by non-engineers (a biologist, a business person, and a physical therapist) to determine if the stories effectively explain the content to a non-technical audience. Without showing the rubric to the students, qualitative feedback was given on the first stories. By receiving this feedback, average review scores for the second story increased by 28.3%, indicating that the second story better communicated the material to the audience. With promising results, this study will be expanded to other areas of science and engineering

A machine learning approach to classifying algae concentrations

Algal concentrations in marine environments are monitored regularly, as higher concentrations may lead to harmful algal blooms, which negatively impact coastal ecosystems. To identify algae concentration in the field, researchers have developed a handheld, low-cost in-situ device employing spectrophotometry and optical filtering. In an effort to better understand and evaluate the data collected, a pattern recognition method for automatic concentration detection was created. This method employs binary classification to differentiate low and high concentrations. Features for classification were defined by the spectral peaks evaluated, these include: RMS value, distance between edges, variance, and energy

Evaluation of standard municipal energy benchmarking tools

Over the spring and summer 2015 semesters, two undergraduate students completed a full energy audit of two local municipalities in order to provide recommendations for usage reduction. This audit was done as part of a community partnership initiative with Emerald Cities Collaborative, a community development collective focused on promoting sustainable communities through environmental energy education. Utilizing the data provided by a local utility company; students were able to analyze current EPA and DOE online tools for energy benchmarking. These tools are freely available for small local governments. The results of this study suggest that improvements can be made to the existing tools that increase their usefulness to municipalities. Further analysis capabilities beyond what these tools provide were shown to enhance the tools\u27 utility

Stacked modulation in a hall reverberation algorithm

Reverberation is the reflection of sound caused by objects in space, similar to the way the visual world is sensed by the reflection of light. Novel reverberation algorithms are in high demand within the music industry due to changing trends and desire for unique sounds. As DSP hardware has improved, it is easier to implement multiple effects into the same algorithm. This paper presents a hall algorithm augmented with a series of chorus modulation blocks in an attempt to create new sounds. The approach is to add chorus blocks before the early decay phase of the hall algorithm, as well as within the late reverb generation phase. The result is a stacked modulation reverberation algorithm

A mixed learning approach to integrating digital signal processing laboratory exercises into a non-lab junior year DSP course

Laboratory courses can be difficult to fit into an engineering program at a liberal arts-focused university, which requires students to be exposed to appropriate breadth, as well as sufficient depth in their engineering education. One possible solution to this issue is to integrate laboratory exercises with lecture in a \u27studio\u27 format, in which students apply lecture concepts directly to in-class assignments. Another possible solution is to give students \u27take-home\u27 laboratory assignments. Both of these methods have shortcomings: the studio format takes away valuable lecture time, and the take-home format provides limited access to the instructor. As such, this work presents a mixed learning method that includes lectures and laboratory work in both the studio and take-home formats, implemented in a junior level signal processing course. Students learn skills during lecture in studio laboratory exercises, and apply these skills to two in-depth take-home projects. Students refine their applied skills during projects, thereby informing a better studio lab experience. In order to assess the student\u27s developed skills, project results are delivered as research papers formatted to comply with IEEE standards, which are submitted for blind review to several faculty members, as well as their peers. Reviewers employ a prescriptive rubric to rate papers as accept/revise/reject and provide associated comments. To assess the success of this mixed learning method, the overall ratings for the research papers from the first project will be compared to the second project, accounting for project complexity. The chief contribution of this work is the presentation of a method for providing laboratory instruction in a mid-year DSP course, demonstrating that this method may be adapted for other courses at similar institutions

Development of a low-cost, two-degree-of-freedom spring-cart system and system identification exercises for dynamic modeling

Laboratory experiences provide undergraduate engineering students with knowledge that comes primarily from hands-on activity. Some universities may lack necessary funds to utilize some of the equipment used in engineering education; so low-cost alternatives can be constructed. Low-cost laboratory experiences should be designed according to the following requirements: they should provide a framework to assess the achievement of associated learning outcomes, they should provide a visual demonstration of theoretical information, they should be user friendly, and they should provide consistent results. This paper details the construction of a low-cost spring mass damper apparatus and laboratory exercise, for system identification in a dynamic modeling or vibrations course. This paper also describes the methods used for system identification, an assessment framework, and information for accessing the project materials via the author\u27s website and videos on YouTube. The results of an initial test of this laboratory experience with a small student population demonstrate the effectiveness of the lab materials and apparatus in facilitating student learning

Vein detection using vein transillumination and contrast differentiation for practitioner aid

A common problem that medical practitioners experience is the inability to successfully locate a vein for intravenous access procedures. Currently, there are several methods that can allow for increased venous visibility. However, these are expensive processes that involve infrared detectors and high-end processing capabilities. The system proposed can successfully make a clear image of a vein using low-cost, nearinfrared LEDs and photographs taken with a smartphone. The near-infrared lights, when under the correct specifications, will highlight the location of a vein described by the principles of vein transillumination. By applying edge-finding algorithms and contrast differentiation, a clear image and relative location of a vein can be produced to aid practitioners. As a result, low cost materials can capture and process an image of a vein and return the vein location. These results can be applied to current research to create medical devices that aid practitioners in locating a vein and completing intravenous procedures