Motivating Technical Writing through Study of the Environment

Today’s engineers must be more than just technically competent. To be successful in our increasingly global economy in which teamwork and interdisciplinary interaction are the norm, engineers must have excellent communication skills. In recognition of industry needs, the San José State University College of Engineering redesigned its technical communication course to ensure that students graduate with writing and speaking skills that will transfer readily to their career needs and the global arena. The course aims to motivate students through exploring topics that are meaningful to them and using communication formats that they will see in the workplace. Combing technical communication with study of the environment broadens the course to meet multiple ABET outcomes. This paper describes the course goals, organization, management, selected assignments, and assessment. Assessment data indicate that at the end of the semester students, on average, have gained between 0.8 and 1.1 points on a 12-point evaluation rubric, and have gained an appreciation of the unique characteristics of and need for technical writing

Preparing an Assessment Plan at San Jose State University

The College of Engineering at San Jose State University is scheduled for an accreditation visit in Fall 1999 and has decided to seek reaccreditation under the ABET 2000 criteria. An assessment implementation project has been active for the past two years within the College; with primary objectives of refining missions for programs, defining program outcome objectives, determining which components to assess, and developing appropriate metrics and methods. Longer term objectives of this project are to establish a continuous quality improvement philosophy in the College and to provide information for the ABET accreditation review.This paper is an evaluation of the status of the implementation project to date and summarizes some of the significant results that might be considered by other institutions starting a similar project. The information presented represents results of actual experience with a limited reference to theoretical aspects of assessment. A protocol has been developed for this project which simultaneously educates faculty about assessment concepts while obtaining baseline data required to craft the long term assessment program. A prototype post-graduate assessment survey has been implemented and has had mixed results.Other items presented in this paper include the overall planning and scheduling for the assessment implementation project, structure of the team leading the project, specific activities that have contributed to implementation of the project, and factors under consideration for each major project activity

Curriculum Exchange: Visualization Tools and Online Courses for Teaching about Earthquakes

As part of a national consortium of universities practicing and doing research in earthquake engineering, our site has developed several videos for use in outreach and education. Visualization tools are extremely useful when teaching about how earthquakes shake the ground and the response of buildings to that shaking. Here we present videos that are targeted to specific audiences: (1) Animations of the response of two model buildings to two earthquakes are targeted at grade 6-16 students. The videos were created with data recorded on these test structures from the two earthquakes. The two events were both located directly below the site and had magnitudes M3.1 and M3.6. Animation of the structures was created with Blender (http://www.blender.org/), an open source 3D content creation suite. The animation shows distinct resonances of the structures and seismic wave arrivals are clearly visible. (2) One of the model buildings has a shaker mounted on the underside of its roof. This shaker is a live experiment that runs nightly. We present animation of the vibration of the model building to the shaker experiment (more on this, below). (3) Visualization Services group at the San Diego Supercomputer Center created an animation of the ground excitation at the site from a M4.1 earthquake. Using data recorded in boreholes, the animation clearly shows the amplification of the earthquake signal as it approaches the ground surface. These visualizations created from actual earthquake data provide new insight into ground and structural response to strong shaking. The animations are available on the consortium website and are used as teaching tools for practitioners, K-12 students, and college-level engineering courses. (4) In the summer of 2012, three student interns produced “A Case Study of Earthquake Damage and Repair.” This is a film of the earthquake history a small city in California. In the film, original photographs of earthquake damage are shown along with contemporary views of these buildings. Earth science is part of the 6th grade framework for curriculum in California. This video is available to 6th-grade teachers in California, along with a student workbook. (5) We also present a demonstration of a teaching module for freshman-level college physics and earthquake engineering students. Students are able to log on live to an earthquake site and run the shaker experiment on the model building. After the completion of the experiment, the data from the experiment is stored for the students’ use in homework assignments. The presentation is a demonstration of the live experiment that runs over the internet

Large Research Center Education and Outreach: Lessons from 5 years of Distributed Collaborative Design, Development and Implementation

Paper from the 121st ASEE Annual Conference, Indianapolis. The George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Summation (NEES) completes its tenth year of operation in September 2014. The NEES Center consists of a network of 14 large-scale experimental laboratories that collaborate and share resources in support of research to inform civil engineering practice and reduce losses from future earthquakes. Since the development of the center in 2003, the education, outreach and training (EOT) program has grown from a federation of local outreach activities to an integrated network of “specialists” working together to obtain significant impact towards defined education goals. The leadership of the NEES EOT program has learned from the experience and wisdom of various Engineering Research Centers to establish a focused program to promote a highly talented next-generation research workforce through formal education programs and to increase awareness of earthquake engineering advances through informal learning experiences, webinars for technology transfer, and strong media coverage. The collaboration of EOT specialists, with graduate students, undergraduates and teachers to develop and implement learning experiences has proven to be a highly impactful approach for achieving educational goals of these participants as well as the learners they engage in various learning experiences. This paper describes the critical principles governing the design of an effective education and outreach program by a multi-site, geographically-distributed research center. These lessons will provide a framework for others interested in designing education and outreach programs at future large-scale research centers

Public Works Projects as Vehicles for Engineering Education and Outreach

America is built on small and large feats of public works engineering that, although often taken for granted, affect almost every aspect of our daily lives. So how can we celebrate these marvels of utilitarian infrastructure and use them to teach public audiences about the engineering principles, materials, and human innovations that make them possible? This case study will share how one project addressed these questions by leveraging informal learning strategies, multi-agency collaborations, and new media technologies to explain the history and engineering of one of the world’s most recognizable public work sites: the Golden Gate Bridge. This paper will first discuss the nature of public works projects in general as visible examples of engineering for public benefit and chronicle the development and installation of outdoor exhibits designed to explain factors (historical, engineering, and environmental) that influenced the Golden Gate Bridge’s design and construction. The exhibit includes photographs, text panels, interactive components, and Quick Response (QR) codes linked to additional web-content and language translations - all of which provide on-site visitors, as well as online and school-based audiences, the freedom to direct their own learning. The paper will also share findings from a small international conference that brought pioneers of this field from around the globe together to discuss other iconic public works projects and their experiences leveraging these sites for public education and a professional development course for public works professionals designed to increase professional awareness and elevate the outreach capacity of other sites. Finally, research and evaluation data collected throughout the project from university student participants, public works professionals, and public audiences, will provide a broader view of the project’s impact, lessons learned, and illustrate the inherent potential these projects offer as vehicles for engineering education and broad public engagement

Work-in-Progress: Linking a Geographically Distributed REU Program with Networking and Collaboration Tools

The George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation coordinates a geographically distributed REU program with up to 30 students at 5 to 7 research sites each summer. Creating a sense of cohort and providing opportunities for the students to interact is challenging. The program coordinators have leveraged the NEES hub cyberinfrastructure to engage students in professional development and peer-to-peer interaction. Some experimentation with Facebook to sustain engagement with alumni is underway. Resources include a course management system (Moodle embedded in NEES hub) and a virtual world called Quake Quest. Through the course management system students post a variety of project deliverables and comment on each other’s work. The virtual world is being used to host a virtual poster session during which students can comment on draft posters and presentations before the cohort meets in person at the Young Researchers Symposium at the end of the program. Quake Quest was developed and beta tested in year 1 of the NEES REU, and in year 2 a more functional world was presented to students. Through experience (evaluation) with the virtual world we have learned that students need time to experience the world before using it to present posters. In year 3 will develop a short series of learning activities to foster cohort between the students and provide some interaction with capabilities of Quake Quest before using it in a virtual poster session

Curriculum Exchange: “Make Your Own Earthquake”

A consortium of American universities is involved in earthquake engineering practice and research. Each campus of the consortium participates in outreach and education activities for the local schools and the public. One campus of the consortium, which operates earthquake field sites, designed a K-12 activity called “Make Your Own Earthquake” (MYOE). MYOE involves setting up earthquake field equipment (seismic instruments, data loggers, and computers) in a classroom. Children jump for 10 seconds, see their earthquake trace live on a computer screen and then take home a printed copy of their personal earthquake. Software was developed specifically for this activity. MYOE is used as part of a presentation on plate tectonics and seismicity and also as a station in a science fair. In this activity, students (and their families) engage with earthquake practitioners and explore topics of acceleration, ground motion, building vibrations, geology, and tectonics. Students really enjoy their physical participation in MYOE and often ask to repeat their “earthquake”. Two years ago, a new device became available that made MYOE portable and easy to use. Anew MEMS accelerometer with a USB port can plug into any laptop computer. The device is small, lightweight, and inexpensive. MYOE software is free and downloads easily from the internet. Through outreach efforts, many more teachers and schools are able to run MYOE on their own. With the introduction of the new sensor, other campuses in the earthquake engineering consortium have developed sophisticated activities for Make Your own Earthquake that align with state science standards. The consortium shares educational materials through a central website and K-12 teaching modules are available to the public. Some examples of the use of the new sensor for teaching activities include • A shake table activity where students build small structures with K’NEX and test them • A shake table activity where students compete to build the strongest structure • An experiment where students examine how the amount of energy (amplitude) of a signal changes with distance from the source One campus of the consortium has designed a version of Make Your Own Earthquake that is a stand-alone exhibit in a science museum. The installation includes an instrumented permanent platform for jumping and a touch screen monitor for displaying the earthquake. In the curriculum exchange, we will demonstrate Make Your Own Earthquake on a laptop computer, exhibit videos of the new museum installation and other MYOE activities, and provide links to where the resources can be downloaded. Photographs of Make Your Own Earthquake Students watching while a classmate makes her own earthquake. Students proudly displaying their earthquakes

Curriculum Exchange: “Make Your Own Earthquake”

A consortium of American universities is involved in earthquake engineering practice and research. Each campus of the consortium participates in outreach and education activities for the local schools and the public. One campus of the consortium, which operates earthquake field sites, designed a K-12 activity called “Make Your Own Earthquake” (MYOE). MYOE involves setting up earthquake field equipment (seismic instruments, data loggers, and computers) in a classroom. Children jump for 10 seconds, see their earthquake trace live on a computer screen and then take home a printed copy of their personal earthquake. Software was developed specifically for this activity. MYOE is used as part of a presentation on plate tectonics and seismicity and also as a station in a science fair. In this activity, students (and their families) engage with earthquake practitioners and explore topics of acceleration, ground motion, building vibrations, geology, and tectonics. Students really enjoy their physical participation in MYOE and often ask to repeat their “earthquake”. Two years ago, a new device became available that made MYOE portable and easy to use. Anew MEMS accelerometer with a USB port can plug into any laptop computer. The device is small, lightweight, and inexpensive. MYOE software is free and downloads easily from the internet. Through outreach efforts, many more teachers and schools are able to run MYOE on their own. With the introduction of the new sensor, other campuses in the earthquake engineering consortium have developed sophisticated activities for Make Your own Earthquake that align with state science standards. The consortium shares educational materials through a central website and K-12 teaching modules are available to the public. Some examples of the use of the new sensor for teaching activities include • A shake table activity where students build small structures with K’NEX and test them • A shake table activity where students compete to build the strongest structure • An experiment where students examine how the amount of energy (amplitude) of a signal changes with distance from the source One campus of the consortium has designed a version of Make Your Own Earthquake that is a stand-alone exhibit in a science museum. The installation includes an instrumented permanent platform for jumping and a touch screen monitor for displaying the earthquake. In the curriculum exchange, we will demonstrate Make Your Own Earthquake on a laptop computer, exhibit videos of the new museum installation and other MYOE activities, and provide links to where the resources can be downloaded. Photographs of Make Your Own Earthquake Students watching while a classmate makes her own earthquake. Students proudly displaying their earthquakes