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Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 57 Thursday Sessions

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Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 58 Thursday Sessions

Session T1A: Keynote - "Engineering as a Human Endeavor", William Wulf Chair: Melinda Piket-May and James Avery, University of Colorado at Boulder Time and place: Thursday, 8:30 am - 9:30 am Westminster 3 & 4 KEYNOTE - ENGINEERING AS A HUMAN ENDEAVOR William Wulf, National Academy of Engineering William Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering and vice chair of the National Research Council, the principal operating arm of the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering. He is on leave from the University of Virginia-Charlottesville, where he is the AT&T professor of engineering and applied sciences. At the university he is involved in a complete revision of the undergraduate computer science curriculum, research on computer architecture and computer security, and helping humanities scholars exploit information technology.Dr. Wulf has had a distinguished professional career that includes serving as assistant director of the National Science Foundation; chair and chief executive officer of Tartan Laboratories, Inc., in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, also in Pittsburgh. He is the author of more than 80 papers and technical reports, has written three books, and holds one U.S. patent. Session T2A: Successful Students Chair: Elizabeth A. Eschenbach, Humboldt State University Time and place: Thursday, 10:00 am - 11:45 am Cotton Creek I THE STUDY STRATEGIES OF ACADEMICALLY SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS AT THE COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES Ruth A. Streveler, Colorado School of Mines, Tawni Hoeglund, Colorado School of Mines and Carla Stein, Western Nebraska Community College A 42-item questionnaire was administered to 285 Colorado School of Mines students in sophomore design. Factor analysis was performed, resulting in a five-factor solution. Factors were then correlated with cumulative grade point average. Four of the five factors were significantly correlated to cumulative grade point average. (Three factors were negatively correlated, one positively correlated to grade point.) Step-wise regression was also performed to see the effect of each factor on cumulative grade point average. A RETROSPECTIVE PROFILE OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING GRADUATES FROM THE FAMU-FSU COL- LEGE OF ENGINEERING Leslie Inniss, Florida A&M University and Reginald Perry, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering With the continuing interest in the successful retention of engineering students, particularly underrepresented minority students, many studies have been conducted on the students experiences while in college. The results of these studies have been used to identify factors that will enhance student retention. In this paper we take a slightly different perspective. We will present a retrospective look at 278 students who have successfully completed a bachelor of science in electrical engineering degree program between 1999 and 2002 from the joint Florida A&M University-Florida State University (FAMU- FSU) College of Engineering. Florida A&M University is a historically black university while Florida State University has a majority white student enrollment. Students complete their basic mathematics and science credits at their home university and then enter the joint FAMU-FSU engineering program to complete their remaining degree requirements. This exploratory study is not meant to explain why the students graduated, but rather to offer a comprehensive profile of a successful electrical engineering graduate. WORK IN PROGRESS - CHARACTERISTICS OF STUDENTS WHO FAILED (OR SUCCEEDED) THE INTRO- DUCTORY CS COURSE Judith Gal-Ezer, The Open University of Israel, Tamar Vilner, The Open University of Israel and Ela Zur, The Open University of Israel The Open University of Israel, with its policy of open admissions, offers an undergraduate program of study in Com- puter Science. At the beginning of their studies, students take mathematics courses and the CS1 course Introduction to Computer Science which many students fail. This study attempts to identify characteristics which can predict success or failure in the course in order to identify students who are likely to fail. Assuming that students background knowledge is a predictor of success, we chose to examine the relationship between students prior knowledge and their success in the course. On the basis of our findings we will suggest ways to increase the pass rate in the course.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 59 Thursday Sessions

PREDICTING STUDENT PERFORMANCE: AN APPLICATION OF DATA MINING METHODS WITH AN EDU- CATIONAL WEB-BASED SYSTEM Behrouz Minaei-Bidgoli, Michigan State University, Deborah A. Kashy, Michigan State University, Gerd Kortem- eyer, Michigan State University and William F. Punch, Michigan State University Newly developed web-based educational technologies offer researchers unique opportunities to study how students learn and what approaches to learning lead to success. Web-based systems routinely collect vast quantities of data on user patterns, and data mining methods can be applied to these databases. This paper presents an approach to classifying students in order to predict their final grade based on features extracted from logged data in an education web-based system. We design, implement, and evaluate a series of pattern classifiers and compare their performance on an online course dataset. A combination of multiple classifiers leads to a significant improvement in classification performance. Further- more, by learning an appropriate weighting of the features used via a genetic algorithm (GA), we further improve predic- tion accuracy. The GA is demonstrated to successfully improve the accuracy of combined classifier performance, about 10 to 12% when comparing to non-GA classifier. This method may be of considerable usefulness in identifying students at risk early, especially in very large classes, and allow the instructor to provide appropriate advising in a timely manner. A STRUCTURAL MODEL OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS SUCCESS AND PERSISTENCE Brian F. French, Purdue University, Jason C. Immekus, Purdue University and William Oakes, Purdue University This study examined a model of student success and persistence at two levels: university and engineering major. The model, based on theoretical and empirical evidence, included both cognitive and noncognitive factors. Cognitive factors included High School Rank, Scholastic Aptitude Scores, and University Grade Point Average. Noncognitive factors included motivation, as well as faculty and student integration. Outcome variables in the model were grade point average, enrollment at the university, as well as within engineering. Through the use of path analysis, several significant relationships among the factors were found. For instance, grade point average was significantly related to enrollment in both the university and engineering major. Increased levels of student interactions were significantly related to continued enrollment in engineering. Interestingly, student with higher faculty integration were more likely to change majors. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. ENGINEERING SCHOLARS PROGRAM AT FAU Sam Hsu, Florida Atlantic University, Sharon Schlossberg, Florida Atlantic University and Karl Stevens, Florida Atlantic University A dual-enrollment credit summer program offered by the College of Engineering at Florida Atlantic University for high-achieving high school students is described. Known as the Engineering Scholars Program, and funded partially by the State of Florida Governor s Summer Program, this activity provides gifted students challenging educational opportunities not available in regular high school settings. This program is designed around nine learning objectives that focus upon teamwork, communication, and placement of math and science concepts into the context of real-world problems. Typical course offerings are Automation and Robotics, Electronic Design with Operational Amplifies, Introduction to Inventive Problem Solving, and Introduction to Web Authoring/Programming. Select members of the College of Engineering faculty, assisted by a class mentor, provide instruction for these courses. Program assessment is based primarily on student evaluations. Currently, over 80% of the student participants report a high level of satisfaction with the program. When it began in Summer 1997, the program involved four courses and about 70 students. It has now expanded to five courses and over 100 students, with a wait-list for participation. Session T2B: Assessment and Information Technology Chair: Susan Haag, Arizona State University Time and place: Thursday, 10:00 am - 11:45 am Cotton Creek II WORK IN PROGRESS - NUMBERS ARE NO SUBSTITUTE FOR JUDGEMENT Frank S. Barnes, University of Colorado at Boulder The substitution of numbers for the evaluation of universities, teaching and research, have proven to be a convenient way to avoid the hard work of finding out what the significance of the various activities really are. Common examples where formulas have been substituted for judgment include student teacher ratings, number of pier-reviewed publications, research dollars, student credit hours taught, cost per student credit hour, fraction of the applicants rejected, and average SAT scores. All these numbers can be useful, however; all too often they are used in ways that are destructive. In this paper we will explore some of these issues with the objective of opening the discussion on the use of these numerical measures and to show the need for being able admit that many of these numbers are either subjective or inadequate for making important decisions.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 60 Thursday Sessions

A CD-ROM BASED LABORATORY IN FLUID MECHANICS PART II: COURSE ASSESSMENT AND EVALUA- TION Gary R. Crossman, Old Dominion University and Tarek M. Abdel-Salam, Old Dominion University This paper evaluates an existing distance learning fluid mechanics laboratory, MET 335 and compares it to the on-campus version of the course. The course was developed at Old Dominion University and offered for the first time in the Spring of 2000 as a video-based laboratory on CD-ROM. The overall assessment of the distance learning laboratory is based on a detailed analysis of the different components of student evaluation for the course. The analysis of these results is in turn compared with similar analysis of other existing on-campus laboratory courses taught by the same instructor. The assessment of the distance learning laboratory course shows that the video-taped CD-ROM laboratory is an effective way of teaching this laboratory course. WORK IN PROGRESS - DEVELOPING AND ASSESSING AN ONLINE PORTFOLIO SYSTEM Matthew I. Campbell, University of Texas at Austin and Kathy J. Schmidt, University of Texas at Austin Using project-based education as a model, the Mechanical Engineering department at the University of Texas at Austin is developing a user-friendly, pedagogical structured portfolio tool. While the concept of portfolios is not new, the challenge in this endeavor is to develop a system that is fun and easy to use for the students and provides opportunities for students to reflect on their engineering education goals and experiences. This work-in-progress paper will describe the development of the portfolio system including the issues that arose during the design of the prototype, comments from student focus groups, and plans to enhance the portfolio. WORK IN PROGRESS - AN ONLINE ASSESSMENT SYSTEM TO ENHANCE TEACHING AND LEARNING IN ENGINEERING Betsy M. Aller, Western Michigan University, Colleen Phillips, Western Michigan University, Edmund Tsang, Western Michigan University, Andrew A. Kline, Western Michigan University and Raja Aravamuthan, Western Michigan University This paper describes the development and implementation of an Online Assessment System with Intelligent Support (OASIS), which uses an online decision tree to guide faculty through a library of assessment instruments, ranging from simple checklists to detailed rubrics. The initial focus areas are written and oral communication and teamwork, with planned expansion into the other ABET a through k areas. These instruments can be used to evaluate and grade student performance, assess student learning, and/or provide students with assignment expectations and criteria. Each instrument is annotated with its purpose, application, skill set(s) addressed, and suggestions for usage, with additional comments, resources, and frequently asked questions (FAQs). An overview of the initial development, testing, and implementation of the OASIS system, the evaluation of the system, and its potential for broader application to assessment and accreditation activities, are discussed. CHOOSING APPROPRIATE METHODS FOR EVALUATING AND IMPROVING THE LEARNING PROCESS IN DISTANCE PROGRAMMING COURSES Veijo Meisalo, University of Helsinki, Erkki Sutinen, University of Joensuu and Sirpa Torvinen, University of Joen- suu The University of Joensuu started to offer virtual Computer Science studies to high school students in the surrounding rural area of Joensuu beginning in fall 2000. In this program high school students are studying first-year university level studies in CS over the web parallel with their regular high school studies. Almost half of the virtual CS studies offered focus on programming that has proved to be the most difficult part of this Curriculum. Most dropouts already quit during the first programming course and at the latest during the second one. We ascertained the difficulties in learning programming especially in a virtual learning setting. We used both quantitative (e.g. statistical analysis and analysis of closed questions in questionnaires) and qualitative methods (e.g. interviews, written products, and analysis of open questions in questionnaires) in order to evaluate the study process in the virtual programming courses during the years 2000-2002 and improve the course. It turned out that the use of qualitative methods is essential to explain the quantitative findings. The crucial issue is to distinguish between the needs of quantitative versus qualitative approaches, as well as to integrate them. The goal of the analysis is to improve our formative evaluation system and furthermore, to improve the whole distance learning scheme. ENHANCING ABET EC2000 PREPARATION USING A WEB-BASED SURVEY/REPORTING TOOL Fong Mak, Gannon University, Stehphen Frezza, Gannon University and Wook-Sung Yoo, Gannon University This paper describes the use of an on-line survey and reporting tool to enhance ABET EC2000 preparation and to support consistent student evaluation of instruction. The tool includes interfaces to support chair, faculty and student processes necessary to publish, collect, and report survey information on learning outcomes from individual courses. This work includes tracking relationships of course outcomes to departmental and program outcomes, as well as use of the tool to col-

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 61 Thursday Sessions

lect and analyze data to support continuous quality improvement. The paper also describes an EC2000 process, the integration of the survey and reporting tool into the process, and the benefits derived from its use. Session T2C: Teaching Computer Networking Chair: Victor Nelson, Auburn University Time and place: Thursday, 10:00 am - 11:45 am Meadowbrook I A VISUALIZATION SYSTEM FOR SLIDING WINDOWS PROTOCOLS David Henry, Linux NetworX and Yashwant K. Malaiya, Colorado State University This paper shows how algorithm visualization can be used to teach sliding windows protocols. In the described approach, the student creates and visually manipulates traffic between an abstract sender/receiver pair. This work contrib- utes to algorithm visualization by describing a tool built specifically to teach sliding windows protocols. The Sliding Win- dows Visualization system can be seen at http://www.burgoyne.com/~henryd/master_project. The interaction levels available in the software are described. Finally, we make the claim that sliding windows protocols lend themselves especially to visualization and that algorithm visualization is an important missing link in the teaching of sliding windows protocols. WORK IN PROGRESS - TEACHING WIRELESS NETWORKING AND SECURITY WITH JAVA 2 MICRO EDI- TION (J2ME ) Cheer-sun D. Yang, West Chester University This work-in-progress paper presents a web classroom application to teach wireless data services with Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME). In the past, the evolution of 3G wireless systems leads to the study of various architectures and protocols for implementing data services on wireless devices such as cellular phones, palm computing devices, and wireless LANs. Since 1997, two major specifications have emerged in this area: The Wireless Application Protocol(WAP) and J2ME. Although both WAP and J2ME provide students capabilities to implement data service applications to run on the Internet, the installation process marks a difference in favor of J2ME. In a wireless communication course, J2ME is incorporated to teach a traditionally research-based wireless networking and security course. In summary, this pape describes the protocol structure, the development environment, the emulation software, and the experiences learned. WEB ENABLED REMOTE LABORATORY (R-LAB) FRAMEWORK Ji Hua, University of Massachusetts Amherst and Aura Ganz, University of Massachusetts Amherst In this paper we describe a web enabled remote lab (R-Lab) framework that facilitates remote access to a physical laboratory. This framework enables us to bridge time, space, work force and safety constraints imposed by real laboratory experiments. We have implemented and deployed the R-Lab framework in a Computer Networks lab that includes networking equipment such as routers, switches, wireless access points, etc. The R-Lab framework has the following unique features: 1) It enables real-time collaboration between the students in each group and between the students and the lab instructor. Each member can be located in a different geographical location. 2) The R-Lab architecture can be extended to support other remote laboratories, either in engineering or science fields, where the lab equipment can be accessed and controlled remotely via a programmable interface. AN INNOVATIVE HANDS-ON LABORATORY FOR TEACHING A NETWORKING COURSE Yasuhiro Nakagawa, Chiba Institute of Technology, Hiroshi Suda, Chiba Institute of Technology, Masahiro Ukigai, Chiba Institute of Technology and Yoshiro Miida, Chiba Institute of Technology This paper describes our laboratory experience of teaching a networking course and reactions from students who are taking this course. In this paper, we propose a unique laboratory approach for teaching administrative aspects of computer networking employing virtual machine software. Our laboratory is able to considerably speed up the ability to configure domain networks in various learning situations. The situations are realized by setting pre-configured and non-configured server image files as the virtual machine s disk drive. Pre-configured typical server settings are able to help students to learn network configurations quickly, and to concentrate on their learning objectives. Non-configured ones are able to help students to design and construct an enterprise network from scratch in our laboratory without any risks. LAB EXERCISES AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES FOR COURSES IN COMPUTER NETWORKS David R. Surma, Indiana University South Bend For today's graduates in computer science and engineering, possessing a working knowledge of networking and data communications has become essential. While most computer science and engineering departments offer an upper-level course in this area, many are exploring ways to teach some of this material earlier in the curriculum. Doing this provides an opportunity for advanced study in this area, but it also presents some challenges. One such challenge is how to create labs and activities for students who may not have the typical upper-division course background. This paper presents activities that are suitable for use in a lower-division Computer Networks course or that can be used in programs where access to

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 62 Thursday Sessions

proper lab facilities may be limited. In addition, the projects are designed to use collaborative learning and discovery learning techniques. The structure of these activities is presented and a qualitative discussion of their effectiveness is given. PREPARING FOR TCP/IP: THE ROLE OF CSA Rob Williams, Uinversity of West of England This paper describes one well established casestudy assignment (RingLAN) used within a first year undergraduate Computer Systems Architecture (CSA) module which is a core component for Computer Science degrees. It requires the students to work in small groups and develop a simple ring LAN for transmitting short text messages. The principal aspects of the protocol (packet size and format, addressing method, packet types, checksum and error handling) are specified, but this still leaves the need for inter-group negotiation to ensure reliable inter-operability. Such lab activity introduces students to the basic concepts of end-to-end serial communication, leading into simple packet store-and-forward techniques. While the whole practical exercise is carried out using only PC COM ports it still offers a good challenge for programming skills. Session T2D: Entrepreneurship Chair: Michael J. Pavelich, Colorado School of Mines Time and place: Thursday, 10:00 am - 11:45 am Meadowbrook II HOLISTIC APPROACH FOR TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN ENGINEERING David F. Barbe, University of Maryland, Scott A. Magids, University of Maryland and Karen S. Thornton, Univer- sity of Maryland This paper discusses a comprehensive strategic approach being carried out by the A. James Clark School of Engineer- ing at the University of Maryland for facilitating technology entrepreneurship for undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty in diverse technical disciplines. Our objectives are to foster an increasingly entrepreneurial culture that helps students and faculty understand the fundamentals and feasibility of forming technology enterprise, to help them establish and manage sustainable ventures and to accelerate commercialization of technologies developed on campus. CREATING A VIRTUAL COMPANY AND KEEPING IT "IN THE BLACK" David H. Stone, Michigan Technological University The Wireless Communication Enterprise (WCE) is one of 17 virtual companies in Michigan Tech s Enterprise Pro- gram, launched in the Fall of 2000. The WCE consists of about 70 second to fourth year students committed to developing their entrepreneurial and R&D contract experience for credit in wireless and photonics technologies. While the author is the faculty advisor for the WCE, the students run the company, create their own product development ideas, negotiate contracts, hire and fire employees, participate in profit sharing, and build very strong resumes before they graduate. The WCE business model is to create cash flow through R&D contracts with industry, and use the profits for internal product development initiatives. Ownership of the virtual company is very much in the hands of the students. This paper describes both the philosophical and practical aspects of the implementation and sustained growth of our virtual company. ON SUPERVISING PATENTABLE JUNIOR PORJECTS Joseph Joseph, Oregon Institute of Technology Oregon Institute of Technology is the only public institute of technology in the Pacific Northwest, providing degree programs in engineering , management , communications and applied sciences that prepare students to be effective participants in their professional, public and international communities. The CSET department of OIT has a set of courses meeting the capstone design experience required under ABET. With a view to prepare students for the capstone design experience, a series of courses entitled Junior Projects were added to the curriculum. Thanks to the explosive developments in VLSI, the projects undertaken by students in their junior year have become complex and innovative. This paper describes the challenges faced by the author while supervising junior projects that were not only innovative but patentable. It also throws light on possible solutions to those challenges. WORK IN PROGRESS - ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS THAT LEAD TO INVENTION AMONG ENGI- NEERS: A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION Loutfallah Georges Chedid, Wentworth Institute of Technology and Harvard Graduate School of Education and Barbara A. Karanian, Wentworth Institute of Technology Existing studies of creativity have been carried out primarily by psychologists. While their research has contributed some very enlightening work in attempting to decipher what goes on in the creator's head, the focus is almost entirely on the arts and some of the sciences. The present work in progress considers invention as a form of human creativity within the profession of engineering, a profession closely associated with invention. In a society that increasingly depends on technical solutions to its problems, the need for future engineers who are more inventive and creative is obvious. The scope of this research includes a qualitative search of our general understanding of inventiveness and potential use of that under-

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 63 Thursday Sessions

standing to improve engineering education. A preliminary model is developed of what environmental conditions encourage or discourage invention. Recommendations are generated as to how to foster and encourage invention among engineering students. IMPLEMENTATION AND INITIAL ASSESSMENT OF THE ENTERPRISE PROGRAM AT MICHIGAN TECH Sheryl A. Sorby, Michigan Technological University In 1998 we received funding from the National Science Foundation through the Action Agenda program to assist us in a major overhaul of our engineering curricula. One of the key features of our successful grant application was the implementation of a program we called the Engineering Enterprise. Students elect to join an Enterprise at the beginning of their sophomore year and con tinue to participate within the organization through graduation. As they work in the Enterprise, they should take on increasing responsibility for its operation and management. It is our intent that by the time students are seniors, they will be the enterprise leaders--directing, managing, encouraging, and supervising the sophomores and juniors on the team. In our initial planning, we estimated that each Enterprise on campus would consist of approximately 30 students more or less evenly distributed between sophomores, juniors, and seniors. We also projected that there would be about 30 such enterprises on campus in the steady-state. Students from outside of engi neering, e.g., business, technical communication, computer science, would also be able to partici pate on an Enterprise. The Enterprise curriculum consists of several 1-credit modules of instruction as well as credit for design project work. It is anticipated that students will work on several "real-life" design projects over the course of their three-year involvement in an Enterprise. This paper describes how we went about developing the overall program, highlights our lessons learned, and details some preliminary assessment data obtained. Session T2E: Signals and Systems Chair: James Rowland, University of Kansas Time and place: Thursday, 10:00 am - 11:45 am Waverly INTERACTIVE FOURIER CONCEPTS: COMPUTING TOOLS FOR BUILDING INTUITION Jerry Hamann, University of Wyoming, Robert Kubichek, University of Wyoming and John Pierre, University of Wyoming Fourier concepts for describing the frequency content of signals permeate contemporary engineering and science. The introduction of Fourier series and transforms, as well as discretization and sampling topics, is seen by many educators to be essential for providing the next generation of engineers with a foundation for better understanding the systems they deal with, not to mention the various knobs and functionality provided by contemporary instrumentation. To assist the pedagogical effort, the authors have developed a set of GUI-based applications which allow students to interact with the frequency content of simple as well as quite complex signals. The applications have been constructed using MATLAB, and a com- panion website hosts them. They are "free-for-the-taking," and have been well received in several local forums to date. ASESSING LABORATORY EFFECTIVENESS IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING COURSES Srilekha Srinivasan, UNL, Lance C. Pérez, UNL, Robert D. Palmer, UNL, Michael F. Anderson, UNL and A. John Boye, UNL A laboratory component is being added to a four-course sequence in the undergraduate electrical engineering curriculum at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, in an effort to increase student learning and improve retention of prerequisite concepts. The lab and the study of its effects on achieving the course objectives in an undergraduate level course, ELEC 304 Signals and Systems, and a senior/graduate level course, ELEC 464/864 Digital Communications are discussed. The study uses a mixed method protocol in which the impact of the laboratory experience is measured through quantitative and qualitative techniques. This paper discusses the design of the study and results gathered to date. ADVANCED CONCEPTS IN TIME-FREQUENCY SIGNAL PROCESSING MADE SIMPLE Moushumi Zaman, Arizona State University, Antonia Papandreou-Suppappola, Arizona State University and Andreas Spanias, Arizona State University Time-frequency representations (TFRs) such as the spectrogram are important two-dimensional tools for processing time-varying signals. In this paper, we present the Java software module we developed for the spectrogram implementation together with the associated programming environment. Our aim is to introduce to students the advanced concepts of TFRs at an early stage in their education without requiring a rigorous theoretical background. We developed two sets of exercises using the spectrogram based on signal analysis and speech processing together with on-line evaluation forms to assess student learning experiences. In the paper, we also provide the positive statistical and qualitative feedback we obtained when the Java software and corresponding exercises were used in a signal processing course.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 64 Thursday Sessions

ASSESSMENT OF THE JAVA-DSP (J-DSP) ON-LINE LABORATORY SOFTWARE Andreas Spanias, Professor, Khawza I.U. Ahmed, Student, Antonia Papandreou-Suppappola, Professor and Moushumi Zaman, Student This paper presents assessment results of the Java-DSP (J-DSP) on-line laboratory. J-DSP software has been developed from the ground up at Arizona State University (ASU) to support the computer lab portion of the senior-level DSP course EEE407. The software enables on-line interactive DSP laboratories. Along with the software, we have developed several J- DSP laboratory exercises that have been posted on the internet. Assessment of the EEE 407 labs was carried both on the web and as part of the instructor and class evaluation. The web-based assessments have been organized into: general software assessments, general laboratory assessments, concept-specific lab-by-lab assessments, and differential pre/post assessment for each lab. Statistical and qualitative evaluations have been compiled for all the J-DSP laboratories and are described in the rest of the paper. WORK IN PROGRESS - WEB-BASED VIDEO FOR SIGNALS AND SYSTEMS Alan Desrochers, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Michael Wozny, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute The goal of this project is to enhance the use of class time in a required, junior-level course in Signals and Systems that has an annual enrollment of approximately 300 students. Our approach has been the creation of a web-based roadmap of videostreams that interactively address a variety of course concepts. More than 100 focused (10-15 minute) video lectures/ exercises have been developed and made available on a local website. Students use the videos as a means of supplementing the lecture material with additional illustrative examples. This paper reports on the experiences and the outcomes with this system over the past two years. STUDENT MISCONCEPTIONS IN SIGNALS AND SYSTEMS AND THEIR ORIGINS Reem Nasr, Boston University, Steven R. Hall, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Peter Garik, Boston Uni- versity We report on our ongoing investigation on student misconceptions and their origins within the Signals and Systems module taught in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Signals and Systems, as taught in Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, consists of two parts. The first part, offered in the Fall semester, covers introductory linear circuits; the second part, offered in the Spring semester, covers the analysis of generic continuous-time linear time-invariant systems. During Fall 2002, we conducted clinical interviews to assess student understanding of introductory linear circuits. Fifty-four sophomore students enrolled in Signals and Systems volunteered to take part in this study. The interview transcripts were analyzed, physical and mathematical misconceptions were identified, and their sources were examined based on diSessa's theory of intuitive knowledge, and Chi and Slotta's ontological categorization. In this paper, we report on our results and suggest how this understanding can be used to develop more effective pedagogical instruments designed to enhance student learning. Session T2F: Issues in Designing Computing Curricula Chair: Stephen Seidman, New Jersey Institute of Technology Time and place: Thursday, 10:00 am - 11:45 am Windsor IMPLEMENTING THE INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS KNOWLEDGE UNITS OF COMPUTING CURRICULA 2001 Ingrid Russell, University of Hartford and Todd Neller, Gettysburg College Computing Curricula 2001 (CC-2001) presents a set of curricular recommendations for undergraduate computer science programs. CC-2001 presents a computer science body of knowledge and identifies a list of core topics/units within each component body of knowledge that a computer science program should require. While some of these core units span hours that warrant or are equivalent to a full course, the core units for other areas are significantly less. This paper presents our experiences with integrating Intelligent Systems (IS) core units of CC-2001 into the un-dergraduate curriculum through the more traditional core courses such as discrete mathematics, data structures, and algorithms, thus eliminating the need to require a full course in the area in departments with various constraints that prevent this from being possible. WORK IN PROGRESS - TOP-DOWN LEARNING NAVIGATOR BASED ON THE CELLULAR MODELS Tomomi Abe, Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences, Hosei University, Shuichi Yukita, Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences, Hosei University and Tosiyasu L. Kunii, IT Institute, Kanazawa Institute of Technology A navigator tool for the top-down learning system is presented. Top-down education is the name given to a goal-oriented teaching methodology that let learners focused on the primary interest. It promises better results compared to the traditional bottom-up method. The main feature of the presented navigator tool is its ability to dynamically adapt itself to the learner fs background and interests. This feature is made possible by the cellular model. The cellular models introduce amenably rich structures into the traditional hypertext networks. Without a design principle, the hypertext structure may accommodate either too much links such as a nearly complete graph or too less links with a tree like hierarchy, both of

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 65 Thursday Sessions

which are inappropriate for dynamical adaptation of teaching to the learner fs interests. The cellular models solve this problem by introducing a design principle. We describe not only this principle but also the implementation details based on the cellular databases. TOP-DOWN EDUCATION FOR DIGITAL LOGIC DESIGN COURSE BASED ON CELLULAR METHODS Norihiro Fujii, Computer and Information Sciences Hosei University, Atsutoshi Imai, Computer and Information Sciences Hosei University, Tomomi Abe, Computer and Information Sciences Hosei University, Niki Suzuta, Com- puter and Information Sciences Hosei University, Shuichi Yukita, Faculty of Computer and Information Sciences Hosei University, Tosiyasu L. Kunii, Graduate School of Kanazawa Institute of Technology and Nobuhiko Koike, Faculty of Computer and Information Sciences Hosei University We propose a new top-down eLearning tool for hardware logic design course using the cellular method, where students can keep focusing on their primary interests to achieve complex logic circuits design successfully. At a modern logic design classroom, hardware description languages such as VerilogHDL are mostly used to describe circuits for FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays). These HDL descriptions are wrapped in XML (Extensible Markup Language) with a specially arranged XML vocabulary, in order to share designed modules among students on the Web. Although XML gives us a common and convenient Web framework, it becomes difficult to verify and maintain conformance among designed modules if the system becomes very large. To overcome this problem, we employed the cellular models that ensure the consistency among design modules and support a top-down design methodology. The proposed system is expected to achieve higher efficiency for preparing logic design lecture courses. This paper presents the basic XML vocabulary design to describe hardware modules efficiently, and also presents a sample eLearning courseware on the Web employing this XML vocabulary. DEVELOPMENT OF TOPDOWN COUREWARE BASED ON THE CELLULAR MODELS Shuichi Yukita, Hosei University and Tosiyasu Laurence Kunii, Kanazawa Institute Technology Frameworks for applying the cellular models, proposed by the authors years ago, are investigated aiming to reduce the complexity of courseware design. Development of topdown courseware involves the task of arranging the contents which are logically hypertextualized so that learners can walk through the courses with utmost ease. In many cases, the produced courseware must face with varieties of learners who have different backgrounds, failing often to meet the demands of the majority of both teachers and learners. An ideal solution to this problem is to produce customized versions of the courseware, each of which is so arranged that each learner can maintain and increase one's primary interest and motivation. However, the time complexity involved in such a process is combinatorial, which can be reduced to an amenable task only when, at present, experienced teachers or courseware designers are involved. In general, developing courseware takes much human resources. Using the cellular models, we can save courseware projects from this difficulty. We propose here a courseware design method based on the cellular database technology that greatly reduces the complexity of designing processes in orders of magnitude, aiming to promote the development of courseware for topdown education. WORK IN PROGRESS - COULD COMPUTER GAME DESIGN BECOME A CORE SUBJECT FOR ENGINEER- ING? Paul Coulton, Lancaster University and Reuben Edwards, Lancaster University UK departments offering engineering degrees are struggling to maintain recruitment levels at a time the British government is aiming to increase the number of school leavers entering further education to fifty percent. Although engineering academics sight a number of external factors which contribute to this situation, there appears to be reluctance in addressing the question that the problem may lie in the courses on offer. At Lancaster University we decided to tackle this question by devising courses that could provide students with the necessary skills for a career in engineering and at the same time making them as attractive as possible to prospective students. One such course perspective is that of Computer Game Design , which presents a wealth of opportunity for teaching what may be considered core topics , for future engineers. In this paper offer ways of producing new courses that challenge more traditional approaches to teaching engineering. WORK IN PROGRESS - EXPERIENCES IMPLANTING THE EUROPEAN CREDIT SYSTEM (ECTS) IN THE ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT - UNED Antonio Colmenar, UNED, Jose Bañon, Universidad de Alcala, Daniel Meziat, Universidad de Alcala and Manuel Castro, UNED Nowadays a process of convergence is developing in Europe to create the "university education common area". One of the main target of this process is that all European countries involved in this process adopt a common Credit System called ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) that allows: measure all students academics records in the same ways in different countries and introduce information transparency in the educational programs improving student mobility. ECTS credits represent in one hand the entire time needed by an average student to prepare a course, and in the other give information about the educational programs through the so called Teaching Guides. Because of the significance that this convergence process has to the European Universities, and specially to the e-learning Universities, The Electrical and Computer Engi-

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 66 Thursday Sessions

neering Department of the Industrial Engineering School at the UNED as result from the development of the doctoral thesis titled: "Proposal of design and development of a quality model for teaching/learning processes at a virtual communication element" is making a virtual communication element to implant the Credit System ECTS. After studding the norm and procedures being developed, the main activities made are the development of a virtual tool that allows start and track of these new learning evaluation systems as is agreed by the ECTS credits, and the review of the courses teaching guides in agreement with the creation and use philosophy of this credits. Session T2G: Panel: Colleges of Engineering and Education: Partnering for Effective Community Outreach Chair: Douglas Gorham, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Time and place: Thursday, 10:00 am - 11:45 am Standley I COLLEGES OF ENGINEERING AND EDUCATION: PARTNERING FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNITY OUT- REACH Douglas Gorham, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Pam Cantrell, University of Nevada, John Kleppe, University of Nevada, Carly Hanson, Prince Swope Middle School, Gary Morrison, Mark Twain Elemen- tary School, Wayne Johnson, Executive Director, University Relations Worldwide and Teri Reed Rhoads, Univer- sity of Oklahoma With the growing influence and increasing complexity of technology, the public must have a certain level of technological understanding to make informed decisions and to attain a reasonable quality of life. It is crucial that current and future teachers have the resources, skills, knowledge and support to empower students to make informed decisions as citizens, consumers, and as members of the workforce. Colleges of Engineering and Education can take a leadership role in providing effective outreach programs for the pre-college community. This panel session will feature: 1) a summary of Deans Summit II: Fostering Campus Collaborations attended by deans and faculty from colleges of education and engineering, 2) representatives from colleges of education and engineering describing successful campus collaborations between Colleges of Engineering and Education that have resulted in effective outreach programs to the pre-college community, 3) pre-college educators who have participated in these collaborative programs, and 4) a representative from industry discussing the potential role of the business community in these collaborations. Session T2H: Special Session: Geek Party Tricks: Learning Science And Engineering Through Hands-On Activities Chair: Amy Smith, Massachesettes Institute of Technology Time and place: Thursday, 10:00 am - 11:45 am Standley II GEEK PARTY TRICKS: LEARNING SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING THROUGH HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES Amy Smith, Massachesettes Institute of Technology and Eric Muller, San Francisco Exploratorium Be the life of the party, or at least your recitation section! These simple hands-on activities and demonstrations provide a way to engage your class and are a vehicle to promote more in-depth understanding of basic physics and engineering concepts. In this workshop, we will present our repertoire of geek party tricks used in Mechanics and Materials and other courses at MIT as well as activities and demonstrations that have been developed by the staff at the San Francisco Explor- atorium as part of their teacher outreach program. Session T3A: Approaches Outside the Classroom Chair: David DiBiasio, Worcester Polytechnic Institute Time and place: Thursday, 2:00 pm - 3:45 pm Cotton Creek I ACTIVE AND PASSIVE LEARNING CONNECTIONS TO SLEEP MANAGEMENT James M. Gregory, Texas Tech University, Xuepeng Xie, Texas Tech University and Susan A. Mengel, Texas Tech University Strong evidence exists that active is more effective than passive learning. In fact, passive learning is more sensitive to sleep debt. Efficiencies for passive learning and passive activities, such as driving, are reduced by more than 50 percent with as little as 18 hours of sleep debt. This relationship obviously affects highway safety. Further, the relationship also affects academic success. A sleep model, SLEEP (Sleep Loss Effects on Everyday Performance) Model developed in the College of Engineering at Texas Tech University, is used to predict the growth or decline in sleep debt and to predict resulting performance. It predicts active and passive performance efficiencies, time to fall asleep, and amount of sleep needed as a function of sleep, alcohol, and caffeine inputs. A steady-state form of the sleep model is included in GREG

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 67 Thursday Sessions

(Grade Requirements Evaluation Game). GREG predicts college GPA (grade point average) as a function of several academic management variables including sleep and caffeine. Results from both models are presented. GIVING CREDIT ENTICES MORE STUDENTS TO CHECK THEIR WORK, BUT... David W. Petr, Univeristy of Kansas This paper focuses on the effects of giving students credit for checking their answers. Two semesters of a beginning circuit analysis course are compared. In both semesters, answers on weekly quizzes were graded all-or-nothing in hopes that this would encourage the students to check their work carefully. A previous study of the first semester showed that this was insufficient inducement, so in the second semester, students were required to check their work by allocating quiz points specifically for checking. This resulted in a dramatic increase in the percentage of students who checked their answers on quizzes, but other important goals were not achieved. Specifically, quiz scores were not substantially higher in the second semester, and there were mixed results regarding checking answers on exams. This study also highlights the importance of conducting effective (vs. ineffective) checks and corroborates previous evidence that time pressure is not the primary barrier to checking answers. DEVELOPING RESEARCH USING REFLECTIVE DIARIES Jo Hamilton-Jones, Assistant Director and Torben Svane, Associate Professor Conference proceedings often present successful research and best cases. This paper presents a case that initially did NOT develop as anticipated and reflections as to why outcomes were different than expected. It also suggests important factors to consider before similar activities are undertaken in the future. The case presented investigates reflective assessments for the module Current Issues in Edutainment Software Design , given to seniors in the Edutainment Software Design program at Halmstad University, Sweden. Throughout their program, these students have been indoctrinated to engage in self-reflection. Module assessments included development of both individual and group papers. Moreover, all students should reflect on their own learning process and produce their thoughts in a diary. Analysis of texts indicate that self-reflection on command proved difficult for these students, although they had been trained to reflect. Compared with two other groups lacking a similar, reflective background, instructed reflection seemed easier for untrained students. USING MASTERY-BASED GRADING TO FACILITATE LEARNING Robert L. Armacost, University of Central Florida and Julia Pet-Armacost, University of Central Florida With a traditional approach to grading, a grade is assigned for a particular evaluation instrument (e.g., quiz, homework assignment, test, project, presentation.) In many cases, the material is reviewed following the grading and the student pre- sumably learns from his or her mistakes. Despite the assumed improved knowledge, the student s grade still represents what he or she knew at the time of the evaluation. This paper describes a concept termed mastery-based grading that is intended to actively use the grading system to improve learning. In mastery-based grading, students may re-take examinations as often as they desire in an attempt to improve their grades ideally, until they have mastered the material. The paper reports the results of the use of the method in two offerings of an undergraduate operations research course. The challenges and benefits of using this approach are discussed and suggestions offered for using the approach in other engineering courses. PERSONALIZED EXAMINATIONS IN LARGE ON-CAMPUS CLASSES Guy Albertelli, Michigan State University, Gerd Kortemeyer, Michigan State University, Alexander Sakharuk, Michigan State University and Edwin Kashy, Michigan State University For the past decade we have used examinations that differed for each student: In algorithmic problems the numerical values vary; for conceptual problems a wide set of choices tests the same concept and the order in which the concepts are presented differs. Grading of such examinations has evolved to become highly automated so that the time and effort required is considerably reduced. The preparation of examination materials in a form suitable for optical scanning in a bub- ble sheet format has also evolved and is now at the stage where a large number of question types are automatically format- ted. These advances have facilitated the use of quizzes to promote attendance and transform examinations to become both formative and summative assessment engines. The current formatting is such that online examinations are also facilitated. Session T3B: Assessment Tools Chair: Edmund Tsang, Western Michigan University Time and place: Thursday, 2:00 pm - 3:45 pm Cotton Creek II WORK IN PROGRESS - USING CO-OP REVIEWS AS AN ASSESSMENT TOOL Zhongming (Wilson) Liang, Purdue University Fort Wayne This paper describes our work-in-process of incorporating co-op visits and reviews into program assessment to prepare us for the next ABET review. This one-page paper briefly discusses our co-op visit and review procedure, benefits of using

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 68 Thursday Sessions

co-op visits and reviews for assessment, our methods of doing this assessment, an example result of this assessment and a planned improvement of this assessment method. DEVELOPING TECHNIQUES FOR MEASURING AND ENHANCING STUDENTS COGNITIVE AND META- COGNITIVE SKILLS Wayne J. Staats, College of Charleston, David Dean, Teachers College, Columbia University, Don Miles, College of Charleston, Toni Blum, Stetson University and Ssu-yu Lu, College of Charleston While previous work established that some self-report measures of metacognition correlate highly with programming and other CS skills [2,3], the current pilot project seeks to develop a behavioral task measure of metacognition and to use exercises modeled on this behavioral task to teach and enhance metacognitive skills. These exercises, based on work by Deanna Kuhn at Columbia University, are to be incorporated in an undergraduate computer science program for the purpose of enhancing cognitive and metacognitive skills that have been identified as important for computer scientists [2,3]. First, the pilot study established a baseline comparison between the MSI [2,3,18] and one of Kuhn s most widely used causal inferencing tasks [10,11], dubbed the boat-races (BOATS) task. Second, the pilot study established a baseline comparison between the BOATS model task and several domain-specific tasks developed by the researchers; these domain specific tasked were modeled after the ones developed by Kuhn. Regression analyses were performed, using the BOATS (domain independent) task, the MSI [2,3] scores, and the MCSS [19] scores as predictor variables and performance on the newly created domain-specific tasks as criterion variables. While none of the individual component variables was found to be predictive of exercise task performance, the overall model was significant for at least two of the three domain-specific tasks. Continued research will use these task scores as predictors and Computer Science task performance as criterion variables. Should the exercises prove predictive, they will be used as training tools to develop metacognitive skill. EXPERIENCES WITH THE METACOGNITIVE SKILLS INVENTORY Don Miles, College of Charleston, Toni Blum, Stetson University, Wayne J. Staats, College of Charleston and David Dean, Teachers College, Columbia University Despite the national surge in interest in technology fields, student performance measures continue to reveal that many students lack the analytical skills to complete college level courses in math and computer science. The development of tools for the measurement and enhancement of metacognitive skills will be examined. The primary measuring tool, the Metacognitive Skills Inventory, was designed to measure metacognitive abilities. The inventory consists of two subscales: Decomposition and Confidence. The Decomposition subscale measures the subjects awareness and reported use of the critical problem solving steps. Examples are problem identification, planning of solution strategies, and comparison of these strategies. The Confidence subscale, measures the extent to which subjects are confident in their own problem solving ability. The inventory has been used in studies comparing student grades in college courses, problem solving skills at different levels in various college programs, and student performance on various tests. These tests include the SAT (both verbal and math), the MARS-R math anxiety scales, and the General Expectancy of Success Scale-Revised. The MSI is currently being used as an integral component of current research dealing with the development of training and education programs to increase metacognitive skills. DEFINING, TEACHING AND ASSESSING LIFELONG LEARNING SKILLS Nikos J. Mourtos, San Jose State University Lifelong learning skills have always been important in any education and work setting. However, ABET EC 2000 recently put a new focus on these skills in engineering education. Outcome 3i states the expectation that engineering graduates must have a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in lifelong learning . The paper first defines a set of attributes / skills, which are necessary for students to develop as lifelong learners. It is postulated that the recognition of the need requires skills in the affective domain, while the ability to engage requires skills in the cognitive domain. Next, the paper offers course design elements, which help students develop lifelong learning skills. Finally, the paper presents a method for assessing these skills. Assessment of data from a variety of engineering courses at San Jose State University are presented and analyzed. This assessment method can be used for any of the eleven outcomes in ABET EC 2000, criterion 3. USING CONCEPT MAPS FOR EVALUATING PROGRAM OBJECTIVES Jessica Gerchak, University of Pittsburgh, Mary Besterfield-Sacre, University of Pittsburgh, Larry J. Shuman, Uni- versity of Pittsburgh and Harvey Wolfe, University of Pittsburgh In assessing students conceptual understanding of their engineering discipline, traditional methods such as exams and surveys do not capture the level of knowledge integration that students have obtained about their field of study. At the Uni- versity of Pittsburgh, we are investigating the use of concept maps to measure this knowledge integration as part of meeting program objectives. Unfortunately the qualitative nature of concept maps makes scoring and data analysis laborious. To combat this, a holistic metric was developed that effectively measures the comprehensiveness, structure and correctness of students maps. In the spring of 2000, a sample of sophomore, junior and senior industrial engineering students devel-

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 69 Thursday Sessions

oped concept maps of their field of study). This experiment was repeated in the fall of 2002 with seniors, many of who had participated in the initial experiment as sophomores. When traditional methods of scoring the maps yielded little information of value, a holistic approach was developed in an effort to quantify students conceptual understanding of their engineering academic program. This paper describes the development of the holistic metric and analyzes the scored maps relative to a number of student related factors. Also discussed is how the scored maps can be further used to evaluate programmatic objectives. WORK IN PROGRESS - PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF EXPERIMENT SOPHOMORE EE COURSES James G. Harris, Cal Poly and Kena Burke, Assessment Center In academic year 2001-2002, an experimental yearlong sequence of courses was taught to EE and CPE majors that replaced the traditional circuits and electronics sequence of required courses. The experimental sequence consisted of three quarters, with the first quarter devoted to digital signal processing, and the next two quarters formed from an integrated approach to circuits and electronics. The two sections of students who took the experimental course now are taking the junior year required courses in their major. An assessment is being made to compare the experimental students with a cohort of traditional students. Preliminary results are given for retention rates and for their respective performance in the required junior year courses. Session T3C: Teaching the Computer Science Core 1 Chair: Derek Morris, Rutgers University Time and place: Thursday, 2:00 pm - 3:45 pm Meadowbrook I FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE: IMPLEMENTING THE CC2001 S INTRODUCTORY PROGRAMMING SEQUENCE Jeff Matocha, Xavier University of LA, Andrea Edwards, Xavier University of LA, Marguerite S. Giguette, Xavier University of LA and R. Raymond Lang, Xavier University of LA Xavier University of LA s Computer Sciences and Computer Engineering (CSCE) Department recently assessed its computer science program using both its own assessment data and the Computing Curricula 2001 (CC2001) recommendations. This assessment resulted in changes to Xavier s computer science curriculum. Specifically, the department examined its introductory programming sequence and developed a detailed schedule that addressed both the department s needs and the curriculum recommendations. The previous ACM recommended curriculum suggested a two-course introductory programming sequence; however, since a large number of Xavier s incoming students have no programming experience, the CSCE Department had been offering a three-course introductory programming sequence. This three-course sequence provided time for the faculty to discuss the recommended topics in the detail necessary for our students. The CC2001 recommendations realized that a three-course sequence is more appropriate for the topic coverage needed and provided a curriculum that contained this type of introduction. The Xavier CSCE faculty considered these recommendations and used its experience in working with a three-course introductory sequence to develop a new sequence that includes the topics suggested in the new curriculum recommendations while considering many of the realities of teaching such a sequence to undergraduates with no programming experience. This paper discusses the process used by the department in making the curriculum changes, particularly focusing on the introductory programming sequence. The paper provides the rationale used in developing the course sequence and the specific topics addressed in these courses. A TUTOR FOR COUNTER-CONTROLLED LOOP CONCEPTS AND ITS EVALUATION Garrett Dancik, Ramapo College of New Jersey and Amruth Kumar, Ramapo College of New Jersey We have developed a web-based tutor for teaching and testing counter-controlled loop concepts in C++. The tutor is designed to promote problem-based learning. It repeatedly generates problems, grades user s answers and provides feedback about the correct answers. This paper describes the design of the tutor, outlines a test that we used to evaluate its effectiveness, and presents the results of the test. The test confirmed our hypothesis that using the tutor helps improve student learning. The improvement is statistically significant. This tutor can be used for practice or testing in Computer Sci- ence I. DO CLASS COMMENTS AID JAVA PROGRAM UNDERSTANDING? Eriko Nurvitadhi, Oregon State University, Wing Wah Leung, Oregon State University and Curtis Cook, Oregon State University This paper describes an experiment that investigates the effects of class and method comments on Java program understanding among beginning programmers. Each of the 103 students from CS1 class at Oregon State University was given one of four versions (No comments, only method comments, only class comments, and both method and class comments) of a Java database program and answered questions about the program. The results indicated that method comments do increase low-level program understanding, while class comments did not increase high-level understanding. This raises

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 70 Thursday Sessions

questions about the role of class comments in Object-Oriented programs, as well as the kind of commenting guidelines that should be used in teaching CS1 classes. CLOSING THE CS I - CS II GAP: A BREADTH-SECOND APPROACH Pearl Brazier, University of Texas - Pan American, Laura Grabowski, University of Texas - Pan American and Gustavo Dietrich, University of Texas - Pan American Many students experience difficulty making the transition from a traditional CS I course that consists primarily of learning to program in a high-level language to the higher level of abstraction required in the CS II course. Students also come to the discipline with a lack of understanding of the scope of computer science. A Foundations of Computer Science course as the second course in introductory sequence of three 3-hour courses that essentially covers the material proposed by the Breadth-first approach from Computing Curriculum 2001, incorporates additional programming experience to enhance the skills developed in CS I, introduces the discrete mathematics needed early in the curriculum, and introduces students to social and ethical issues addresses these concerns. The more traditional Programming-first approach to CS I is retained as the first course. The paper will present the curriculum in our Foundations course and review the problems and success we have had with this model. WORK IN PROGRESS - AN INVERTED CURRICULUM FOR CS1 Michael E. Caspersen, University of Aarhus Most introductory programming courses and textbooks are structured according to the constructs of the adopted programming language and not on the basis of those language independent concepts, principles and techniques of programming that the students should master by the end of the course. We present and discuss the inverted curriculum for our introductory object-oriented programming course. and our experiences from teaching this course for four years. We identify four levels for the systematic construktion of programs, and the structure of our programming course is based on these four levels: the modeling level, the design level, the class level, and the algorithmic level. WORK IN PROGRESS - NEW MOTIVATIONS ARE REQUIRED FOR FRESHMAN INTRODUCTORY PRO- GRAMMING Maria Feldgen, University of Buenos Aires and Osvaldo Clua, University of Buenos Aires The perception of software engineering practice prevailing in today's students changed a lot from the image we had of the profession when we began our studies. Freshmen perceive the profession they chose from their experience, where web and games were the most outstanding examples. The first course in programming traditionally addresses examples drawn from Math and Physics, and when motivation is required, from what we consider is the real world of professional development. But this real world is not the image that freshmen have as to what they will be doing for a living. So these kind of examples have lost their motivating power. Programming seems to be no more a vocational training for students pursuing a Software Engineering degree. We introduced web and game programming examples instead of classical programming exercises in our first programming courses. This approach proved to be more motivating to our students. Session T3D: Concept Inventories Chair: Paul MacNeil, Mercer University Time and place: Thursday, 2:00 pm - 3:45 pm Meadowbrook II THE STATISTICS CONCEPT INVENTORY: A PILOT STUDY Andrea Stone, University of Oklahoma, Kirk Allen, University of Oklahoma, Teri Reed Rhoads, University of Oklahoma, Teri J. Murphy, University of Oklahoma, Randa L. Shehab, University of Oklahoma and Chaitanya Saha, University of Oklahoma The Statistics Concept Inventory (SCI) is a multiple choice testing instrument that is being developed to assess student understanding of fundamental statistics concepts and to identify commonly held misconceptions. This study pilot tested the SCI with four different introductory statistics courses with students from a broad range of disciplines. The effects of discipline and gender on performance on the SCI were investigated along with the relationship of mathematics experience, statistics experience, and attitude toward statistics as measured with the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (SATS) [1]. The results of this study indicate that discipline has a small effect on performance on the SCI. Mathematics majors performed significantly better than social science majors, but no other pair of majors performed significantly different. The effect of gender on performance was significant with males outperforming females. SCI scores were positively correlated with mathematics experience and with attitude scores obtained on the SATS. SCI scores were not found to be correlated with statistics experience.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 71 Thursday Sessions

USING A MATERIALS CONCEPT INVENTORY TO ASSESS CONCEPTUAL GAIN IN INTRODUCTORY MATE- RIALS ENGINEERING COURSES Stephen Krause, Arizona State University, J. Chris Decker, Arizona State University and Richard Griffin, Texas A& M University A Materials Concept Inventory (MCI) has been created to measure conceptual knowledge gain in introductory materials engineering courses. The 30-question, multiple-choice MCI test has been administered as a pre and post-test at Arizona State University (ASU) and Texas A & M University (TAMU) to classes ranging in size from 16 to 90 students. The results on the pre-test (entering class) showed both prior misconceptions and knowledge gaps that resulted from earlier coursework in chemistry and, to a lesser extent, in geometry. The post-test (exiting class) showed both that some prior misconceptions persisted and also that new spontaneous misconceptions had been created during the course of the class. Most classes showed a limited, 15% to 20%, gain in knowledge between pre and post-test scores, but one class, which used active learning, showed a gain of 38%. More details on these results, on differences in results between ASU and TAMU, and on the nature of students conceptual knowledge will be described. A CONCEPT INVENTORY FOR HEAT TRANSFER Anthony Jacobi, University of Illinois, Jay Martin, University of Wisconsin, John Mitchell, University of Wisconsin and Ty Newell, University of Illinois Students enter courses in engineering with intuitions about physical phenomena. Through coursework they build on their intuition to develop a set of beliefs about the subject. Often, their understanding of basic concepts is incomplete and their explanations are not correct. Concept Inventories are assessment tools designed to determine the degree to which students understand the concepts of a subject and to identify the bases for misunderstandings. A cooperative effort between faculty at the Universities of Wisconsin and Illinois has been undertaken to develop a concept inventory for heat transfer. The process initiated with student identification of the conceptual problems rather than with faculty perceptions of student misunderstandings. Students then explored areas of conceptual difficulty and phrased questions that would test understanding of the concepts. Students working together with faculty developed a concept inventory for heat transfer. The presentation will report on the experience with using student groups and the resulting concept inventory. COMPARISON BETWEEN PERFORMANCE ON A CONCEPT INVENTORY AND SOLVING OF MULTIFAC- ETED PROBLEMS Paul S. Steif, Carnegie Mellon University Engineering science courses teach students to apply fundamental principles and methods to understand and quantify new, unfamiliar situations. Prompted by the finding that students often have widespread misconceptions regarding basic principles, researchers in physics education have developed concept inventories to assess conceptual understanding. In this paper, we put forth a methodology for exploring the relation between conceptual understanding, as judged by performance on a concept inventory, and efforts to solve to typical, multifaceted problems. Based on an early version of a concept inventory for Statics and a first attempt to employ this methodology, we find there indeed to be correlations between conceptual understanding and other general measures of performance on problem solving, and course success in general. However, we did not find a one-to-one correlation between an apparent understanding of specific concepts and the successful application of those concepts in problem solving. DEVELOPMENT OF A CONCEPT INVENTORY FOR FLUID MECHANICS Jay Martin, University of Wisconsin-Madison, John Mitchell, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Ty Newell, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana Concept inventories are assessment tools designed to determine the degree to which students understand the concepts of a subject and to identify the misconceptions that students hold. The results of a concept inventory can be used to change the methods of instruction to overcome student misconceptions. A cooperative effort between Mechanical Engineering faculty at the Universities of Wisconsin-Madison and Illinois, Champaign-Urbana has been directed toward development of a Fluid Mechanics Concept Inventory (FMCI). Fluid mechanics typically follows thermodynamics in the sequence of courses in thermal sciences, involves both the mechanics and dynamics of fluids, and builds on basic physics and Newto- nian mechanics. This paper describes the process used for development of the FMCI, the details of how we determined the content, and examples of actual content of the instrument itself. DEVELOPMENT OF A CONCEPT INVENTORY FOR STRENGTH OF MATERIALS Jim Richardson, University of Alabama, Paul Steif, Carnegie Mellon University, Jim Morgan, Texas A&M Univer- sity and John Dantzler, University of Alabama With the success of David Hestenes s Force Concept Inventory, many educators are now working on developing concept inventories for other subjects such as math, biology and engineering science. Development of a useful concept inventory is not easy, however. This paper describes development of two concept inventories for strength of materials, the first of which was a failure. Psychometric testing of this concept inventory indicated serious deficiencies. A new and larger

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 72 Thursday Sessions

project team was assembled (including the second author) to develop a better inventory. The results of the psychometric analysis of the first inventory, which showed its shortcomings, are first presented, followed by the improved development procedure for the second inventory. Finally, the lessons learned developing first a failed inventory and then a promising inventory are discussed. Session T3E: Remote and On-Line Laboratories Chair: Jerry Hamann, University of Wyoming Time and place: Thursday, 2:00 pm - 3:45 pm Waverly REMOTE LABORATORIES VERSUS VIRTUAL AND REAL LABORATORIES Zorica Nedic, University of South Australia, Jan Machotka, University of South Australia and Andrew Nafalski, University of South Australia During the last decade the exponential expansion of the Internet has had an enormous impact on the tertiary education sector. The new technology has brought a significant improvement in communication within the academic community and has improved students learning experiences. However, one of the most important factors in forming the engineering graduate qualities is the practical component of the engineering curriculum. Many software packages have been developed for the simulation of real experiments and although very useful, none of them are as effective as learning from undertaking real experimental work. Remote laboratories offer all the advantages of the new technology, but are often a poor replace- ment for real laboratory work. In this paper we present a remote laboratory called NetLab, developed at the University of South Australia. With its specially designed graphical user interface it offers students all the advantages of a real laboratory environment. WORK IN PROGRESS - HANDS-ON REMOTE LABORATORY FOR FRESHMAN ENGINEERING EDUCATION Gregory Tait, Virginia Commonwealth University and Nathan Chao, CUNY Queensborough Community College In this work, we are investigating a new laboratory experience for distance learners by utilizing a set of web-based, hands-on laboratory modules for building and testing a digital programmable robot in our introductory freshman engineering course. This new experience introduces and exposes students to modern technology tools (web-based instruction, interactive tutorials with video and sound clips, visualization applets, on-line quizzes, lab report templates, and the use of computer-controlled instruments for data acquisition) without sacrificing the real hands-on and teamwork aspects. Results from proof-of-concept trials indicate that the approach is most stimulating for an appropriate student target audience under close faculty supervision. A NOVEL APPROACH TO REMOTE LABORATORIES Dervis Z. Deniz, Eastern Mediterranean University, Atilla Bulancak, Eastern Mediterranean University and Gökhan Özcan, Eastern Mediterranean University Remote laboratories are becoming widely accepted in universities for providing distance education and for augmenting traditional laboratories. There is a lot of interest in remote laboratories from pedagogical point of view. In this paper, a novel technique for establishing remote laboratories is presented. The technique used and tools developed are extendable for the provision of different laboratory applications. Central to the idea is an experimentation server designed using a core web technology called the Web-Kernel which provides a common access point for remote experiments. The server supports a number of analog/digital interface cards as well as allowing access to a number of modern laboratory instrumentation including oscilloscopes and signal generators. The web-kernel provides access to web sessions over the Internet from remote student workstations and allows fast, reliable and efficient development of applications. It is expected that the realistic facilities provided within the system will allow it to be used in engineering education. ON-LINE LABORATORY FOR COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS USING J-DSP Youngwook Ko, Arizona State University, Tolga M. Duman, Arizona State University and Andreas Spanias, Ari- zona State University The J-DSP editor was developed at Arizona State University (ASU) to enable students to conduct on-line simulations and experiments in digital signal processing and related subjects. In this paper, we describe a series of J-DSP communications functions and laboratory exercises that have been developed to support the laboratory portion of the ASU communications elective, EEE455. The functionality developed covers both analog and digital communications. The J-DSP communications laboratories include descriptions of relevant J-DSP functions, lab exercises illustrating the key concepts, and a short quiz that captures the main points of the assignment. The J-DSP communication labs have been assigned in EEE 455 and assessment results have been compiled. The students responded to specific questions on the labs and the J- DSP environment in general. Assessment results indicate that the majority of the students responded that the new J-DSP functionality and the associated lab exercises complemented well the theory covered in class and helped them develop intuition on the communications concepts covered in these labs.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 73 Thursday Sessions

ON-LINE LABORATORIES FOR IMAGE AND TWO-DIMENSIONAL SIGNAL PROCESSING Muhammad Yasin, Arizona State University, Lina J. Karam, Arizona State University and Andreas Spanias, Ari- zona State University This paper presents innovative on-line java-based educational DSP software modules that were developed to render possible on-line laboratories for two-dimensional digital signal processing. The developed software modules provide online 2-D DSP capabilities, including 2D signal generation, 2D FIR filter design & implementation, and 2D transforms. On- line image processing capabilities are also provided, including image restoration and enhancement. In order to illustrate 2D concepts graphically, contour (2D) and perspective (3D) plots have also been implemented and incorporated as part of the developed software tools. On-line laboratory exercises have been developed in the aforementioned areas for use in the graduate-level Multidimensional Signal Processing and Image Processing courses at ASU. Statistical and qualitative evaluations are presented to assess the effectiveness of the developed on-line 2D DSP software and laboratories in improving the learning experiences of the students. WEB-BASED SIMULATIONS AND INTELLIGENT TUTORING SYSTEM FOR PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC CON- TROLLER Sheng-Jen ( Tony ) Hsieh, Texas A&M University, Patricia Yee Hsieh, Texas A&M University System Administra- tive and General Offices and Dongmin Zhang, Texas A&M University A Web-based system that includes educational simulations and an intelligent tutoring system has been developed to teach students about programmable logic controllers (PLCs). The system uses Visual Basic, a Microsoft Access database, and Macromedia Flash; and is hosted using Microsoft s Internet Information Services (IIS). An Access database is used to store domain specific knowledge and model student knowledge, and an algorithm asks questions adaptively based on the student model, so that each student receives an individualized practice session. The student interface is easy-to-use and provides detailed feedback about practice question performance and status. Lessons on PLC timer and counter instructions were evaluated by 38 undergraduate manufacturing engineering students. Students made statistically significant learning gains as a result of taking the lessons, and rated them positively in terms of ease of use and understanding, clear objectives, amount of interaction, ability to motivate, relevance, and pace. Session T3F: Web-based Instruction 1 Chair: Kent White, Nicholls State University Time and place: Thursday, 2:00 pm - 3:45 pm Windsor USING SYNCHRONOUS AND ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE LEARNING IN COMPUTER SCIENCE COURSES Judith Gal-Ezer, The Open University of Israel and Dvir Lanzberg, The Open University of Israel This paper describes an experiment we conducted using both synchronous and asynchronous online tools in computer science courses at the Open University of Israel. We believe that computer science courses are appropriate for investigating on-line learning because many of them deal with processes (algorithms, queries on databases, etc.) which are much easier to learn through animated presentations than through written explanations. The success of this experiment encourages us to widen the experiment in the coming semesters. WORK IN PROGRESS - WEB-BASED RESOURCES FOR A COURSE IN NUMERICAL METHODS Autar K Kaw, University of South Florida, Michael Keteltas, University of South Florida, Jai Paul, University of South Florida, James Eison, University of South Florida and Glen Besterfield, University of South Florida Prototype web based resources have been developed for an undergraduate course in Numerical Methods. The web modules are holistic, that is they include pre-requisite information, real-life applications, presentations and notes, simulations, and self-assessment. The student interest and learning are maximized by providing customization of content based on a student s engineering major and computational system of choice. A WEB-BASED MULTI-MEDIA VIRTUAL EXPERIMENT Sushil Chaturvedi, Old Dominion University, Osman Akan, Old Dominion University, Sebastian Bawab, Old Dominion University, Tarek Abdel-Salam, Old Dominion University and Manjunath Venkataramana, Old Domin- ion University A physical experiment from the undergraduate thermo-fluids laboratory titled Venturimeter as a Flow Measuring Device has been chosen for its mapping into the virtual domain, as a computer-based experiment. The virtual experiment described in the present study, combines three unique aspects simultaneously: use of computer generated (virtual) data to recreate the physical phenomenon, virtual experimentation and measurement on a computer screen, and coupling of the virtual experiment with the LabVIEW software to introduce students to digital data acquisition and analysis. The proposed multi-media module has three sub-modules namely, the physical sub-module, the experimental details sub-module, and the virtual experiment sub-module, for introducing students to physical system configuration, experimental procedure, and detailed instructions for conducting virtual experimentation, data acquisition and analysis. The proposed module is

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 74 Thursday Sessions

expected to impact the development of virtual engineering laboratories for web-based distance learning undergraduate engineering programs ACTIVE LEARNING WITH WEB TECHNOLOGY - JUST IN TIME! Eileen M. Cashman, Humboldt State University and Elizabeth A. Eschenbach, Humboldt State University This paper reports on the implementation of a Just in Time Teaching (JiTT) approach at Humboldt State University (HSU) to teach Introduction to Environmental Resources Engineering and Science. Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) is a Web-based classroom strategy that combines active learning classroom activities and World Wide Web resources that are used to enhance the classroom component. At HSU, students complete Blackboard® quizzes that are due by electronic transmission a short time before class begins. Instructors review the responses Just in Time and adjust and organize lessons based on those student responses. Feedback from the students after one semester indicated that 93% thought the JiTT approach improved their learning. The students come to class prepared and already engaged with the material. The instructor has already assessed the students acquired knowledge, as well as misconceptions, and, can better judge how classroom time should be spent. This effort is funded by an NSF CCLI grant. PREDICTORS OF SUCCESS: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF THREADED DISCUSSION FORUMS Maxine S. Cohen, Nova Southeastern University and Timothy J. Ellis, Nova Southeastern University This study constitutes a starting point for gathering better evidence for the effectiveness and appropriate uses of various online learning tools. The research question investigated How valuable are threaded discussion forums as a pedagogical tool in a course delivered via an online modality? was addressed by a longitudinal study in which the performance of graduate students (N=103) on a series of discussion forum assignments was compared to their ultimate success in their program of study. This study lends credence to the belief that discussion forums can indeed play an important role in an online course. A significant correlation was demonstrated between success in an academic program as measured by progress toward completion of degree requirements and GPA and performance in discussion forum assignments as measured by the timeliness of the contributions to the forum and the content of those contributions. Even if the discussion forum assignments do no more than predict success, however, their value is evident, if as nothing more than an evaluative tool. DEVELOPING DYNAMIC EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL WITH INTEGRATED MATHEMATICAL NOTATION FOR WEB-BASED E-LEARNING SYSTEM Iztok Humar, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Matev Pusti ek, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Janez Be ter, Faculty of Electrical Engineering World Wide Web is a dynamic medium that offers simple distribution of interactive materials and multimedia contents. This is especially useful in education, where the ability to reveal extra information on demand is an excellent tool for stimulating and engaging students. At the Laboratory for Telecommunications at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Univer- sity of Ljubljana, Slovenia we have developed and implemented our own e-learning system that supports any Web-based content. Repeatedly requests from several fields of natural science to use our e-learning platform motivated us to develop a strategy for preparing and publishing dynamic and interactive sketches synchronized with mathematical equation derivation and other multimedia elements sound and video. The developed approach is based on experiences of the Department of Electromagnetics from the same faculty, which have published more than 2000 solved problems as static pages on the Web since 1997. Having limited financial and human resources, we decided to use readily available technologies: Macro- media Flash for animations, Design Science WebEQ to dynamically present equations and Input Control integrated with Question Mark for preparing mathematical questions and reporting on assessments. We did not only employ the stated techniques in our e-learning system, but we also added some important new functionality, most notably the synchronization between steps of animation, corresponding equations, sound and other multimedia elements supported by our e-learning system. All these elements are controlled by common navigation controls. We would like to share our experience with developing dynamic interactive multimedia educational material with integrated mathematical notation, because we believe such an application is not limited to our e-learning platform and could be useful in other fields of science and technology. Session T3G: Open Session Time and place: Thursday, 2:00 pm - 3:45 pm Standley I Session T3H: Special Session: Assessment: When is enough, enough? Chair: Dan Budny, University of Pittsburgh Time and place: Thursday, 2:00 pm - 3:45 pm Standley II ASSESSMENT: WHEN IS ENOUGH, ENOUGH? Dan Budny, University of Pittsburgh, Mohan Krishnan, University of Dertoit Mercy, Shuvra Das, University of Detroit Mercy, Mark Paulik, University of Detroit Mercy, Ronald R. DeLyser, University of Denver, Hamid Khan, Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 75 Thursday Sessions

Our Lady of the Lake University, Donald Elger, University of Idaho, Charles F. Yokomoto, Purdue University at Indianapolis, James Rowland, The University of Kansas, Mitchell Litt, University of Pennsylvania and Donald Car- penter, Lawrence Tech This session, is really a faculty development session; it is designed to allow FIE participants to have an open and free discussion on the impact of assessment at their institution. There are a lot of faculty out there struggling with both the requirements and the concept of assessment. Their institutions are teaching them how to collect data, but not explaining why we are doing this, the value of the process, or making sure the process fits the constraints of their university. It appears that the process of collecting data is maturing, but as we develop the measurement tools, what is being neglected? Are we forgetting to explain to the rest of the faculty within the department why this is being done? Are we asking for their input? Are we making sure the assessment tool fits the university and does the university have the personnel to complete the process? Thus, at many schools, faculty are starting to fight against assessment because they see it as another duty the administration is forcing upon them without reward for their efforts. The goal of this session is to allow everyone to express their feelings and hopefully, through the discussion, a balance between Work Expended Doing Assessment and the Benefits of Assessment will be created. Session T4A: Approaches inside the Classroom Chair: Larry Richards, University of Virginia Time and place: Thursday, 4:15 pm - 6:00 pm Cotton Creek I WORK IN PROGRESS - USING PSYCHOTHERAPY TECHNIQUES TO REVEAL MISCONCEPTIONS AND IMPROVE LEARNING Paul Santi, Colorado School of Mines and Michele M. Santi, San Francisco State University When students are aware that they do not understand a concept, the main impediment to developing an understanding is their willingness to ask questions of the instructor or of fellow students. When students think that they understand a concept, but really have some significant misconception lodged in their mental picture of the concept, they may not supplant this misconception for years, if ever. Both situations can be corrected if the students identify the need to ask questions, are brave enough to do so in the traditional academic settings, and if the answers adequately address the actual misunderstanding (which may be different from the question asked). These are many of the same issues faced in group, individual, or family psychotherapy, and many teaching tools can be adopted from this field. The therapist is challenged with the tasks of creating an environment which is supportive and where question-asking is safe, of helping clients to identify and grapple with issues which may be originally hidden from them, and of maintaining open, clear, and honest communication. To encourage productive questions, the classroom environment must be safe for risk-taking, owned by the students, and non- threatening. Examples of how to establish these traits are given. A few therapy concepts which will encourage productive communication in a classroom setting include installation of hope, universality, imparting information, imitative behavior, art therapy, role playing, reframing, use of paradox, use of the miracle question, separating defense mechanisms from coping mechanisms, validation, productive use of silence, demonstrating respect, proper listening, empathy, demonstrating humanness, proper techniques for question-asking, removing authority as a defense, removing obstacles to communication, removing resistance. Examples of the use of each concept to encourage question-asking by students and to reveal misconceptions will be given. APPLYING AND DEVELOPING PATTERNS IN TEACHING Jens Bennedsen, Academic Researcher and Ole Eriksen, Academic Researcher A community of teachers and researchers within computer science has adopted the idea of patterns and developed a set of pedagogical patterns. These patterns capture best practices in teaching. From our research and teaching practice we have observed that pedagogical patterns are useful, but there is a need for concepts and tools to justify and analyse the patterns. In every teaching community there exists a set of values characterizing what good teaching is about. Patterns may be measured by stating which values they imply and to what degree. Considering them as value based patterns in teaching will enrich the notion of pedagogical patterns. Inspired by conditions for learning we identify three values in teaching in the field of engineering-related educations. Further we present a value-based template for guidelines in teaching, causing a better understanding of the patterns and help teachers to develop, apply and communicate patterns. THE DEVELOPMENT OF MANUFACTURING CASE STUDIES William L. White, Lawrence Technological University, Diane M. Schuch-Miller, Greenfield Coalition and Marie D. Lee, Wayne State University In manufacturing engineering education, there is a need for problem-solving projects that reflect real issues to supplement or replace drill and practice problems. Authentic activities offer an opportunity to apply new knowledge and skills to manufacturing engineering problems, test theories, and draw conclusions in a safe environment with the help of peers and mentors. Case studies add relevance and real world context to manufacturing engineering education. At Greenfield Coali-

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 76 Thursday Sessions

tion, two case studies were developed on the basis of real issues faced by the Focus:HOPE Center for Advanced Technolo- gies (CAT), a tier-one supplier to the automotive industry. The first involves superficial irregularity - determining why some, but not all, batches of aluminum manifold castings discolor during machining. The second study involves dimensional irregularities - stabilizing bore dimensions for a pulley used in the manufacture of diesel engines. Both studies require student teams to brainstorm potential causes, generate solutions and select the best method for elimination of the problems. The final deliverable for each case is a report similar to one that might be presented to management of a given organization. By employing case studies in manufacturing engineering education, students learn to apply skills and techniques to new situations just as they would have to perform on the job. WORK IN PROGRESS - CHANGING EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES UNCOVERING THE REAL ISSUES Donald Elger, University of Idaho, Barbara Williams, University of Idaho, Ralph Budwig, University of Idaho, Karen DenBraven, University of Idaho, Steven Beyerlein, Univeristy of Idaho, Michael Dixon, Univeristy of Idaho, E. Clark Lemmon, Univeristy of Idaho, Fritz Fiedler, University of Idaho, Dan Cordon, Univeristy of Idaho, Robert Stephens, Univeristy of Idaho, Terry Armstrong, Univeristy of Idaho and Cori Flowers, Univeristy of Idaho In several past endeavors, we have found that effectively changing educational practices is difficult. Thus, this work seeks to identify the root-cause problems that should be solved in order to effectively change practices of engineering education. To develop insights, we gathered qualitative data from a team of professors during the course of a semester as these professors applied a teaching process that is aligned with modern understandings of human learning. We identified three central issues: (a) most professors believe that the present system is nearly optimal--thus they have little motivation for change, (b) professors need to see potential benefits to balance risk and time commitments, and (c) learning effective teaching practices requires effective facilitation plus significant time and commitment. NEW PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES IN ENGINEERING MECHANICS YIELD INCREASED STUDENT UNDERSTANDING, CONFIDENCE, AND COMMITMENT Glenn W. Ellis, Smith College, Gail E. Scordilis, Smith College and Carla M. Cooke, Smith College The Picker Engineering Program at Smith College has formed a close partnership with Smith s Department of Educa- tion and Child Study and Department of Educational Outreach in an effort to fundamentally change the delivery of the engineering curriculum. This paper presents learner-centered educational strategies used in Continuum Mechanics I, a course that includes topics from engineering statics, dynamics, and mechanics of materials. Pedagogical elements used in this course include a variety of active learning strategies in the classroom, conceptual frameworks and narratives, project- based learning, metacognitive approaches, and an explicit effort to make a connection with other subjects in the liberal arts. An assessment of these strategies based upon the responses of 27 women who have taken the course is presented and shows that these strategies are effective in positively influencing student learning and attitudes. Session T4B: Assessment in Practice Chair: Ronald R. DeLyser, University of Denver Time and place: Thursday, 4:15 pm - 6:00 pm Cotton Creek II WORK IN PROGRESS - EXPANDING OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT USING INPUT FROM STUDENTS, ACCRED- ITATION COMMISSIONS, AND INDUSTRY Paul Stephanchick, DeVry University Kansas City The Electronics Engineering Technology (EET) program at the Kansas City DeVry University campus has an outcomes assessment process designed to validate whether the students are achieving the program goals and objectives. Addi- tional assessment steps continue to be developed and added to the current EET assessment process. The expanded EET assessment program steps are designed to support three specific outcomes: increasing the enrollment of the EET program; providing additional data that will be used in the re-accreditation process; and strengthening the placement of the EET graduates. This work-in-progress develops procedures to gather the appropriate and valid components of an assessment process that monitor the changing EET students program selection criteria, the TAC of ABET and NCA assessment guidelines, and the electronics technology employment requirements. COMPLETING THE CYCLE: MEANINGFUL COURSE EVALUATIONS Timothy J. Ellis, Nova Southeastern University Good educational practice, to say nothing of standards imposed by every regional accrediting association, mandate that an educational institution perform ongoing evaluations of academic programs. Perhaps the most prevalent method in which schools address this mandate is to use a general-purpose smile sheet that attempts to measure the student s satisfaction with the course. This type of evaluation is certainly flawed. Although there have been a number of studies supporting the reliability and validity of these general-purpose instruments, they do not provide the granularity of feedback necessary for the instructor to make decisions regarding changes necessary or desirable in future iterations of the course. This presentation will discuss the results of a study that tested the efficacy of a system for evaluating courses at the design level based

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 77 Thursday Sessions

upon the test matrix approach commonly used in software engineering. Three questions are addressed: 1) what data are necessary for meaningful design-level assessment; 2) how can that data be gathered; and 3) how can that data be inter- preted. WORK IN PROGRESS - THE FACULTY COURSE ASSESSMENT REPORT John K. Estell, Ohio Northern University The Faculty Course Assessment Report (FCAR) is a work in progress that presents a methodology that allows assessment reports to be written in a format conducive for use in ABET Criterion 3 program outcomes assessment. In addition to traditional assessment reporting, the FCAR lists modifications incorporated into the course, reflection on the part of the instructor as to what was effective, and suggestions for further improvements. To assist in program outcomes assessment, additional information is collected in certain specified areas. This facilitates program-level assessment in that, instead of processing raw data, assessors review the pertinent sections of an appropriate set of FCARs, thereby reducing the assessment workload. Reports are collected and disseminated to allow instructors to inspect prior offerings of specific courses and adopt the suggestions presented in the report, thereby improving the course with each offering. This methodology has been found to be effective as part of our assessment reporting process. ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 215 - A CASE STUDY IN ASSESSMENT Harold D. Gilbert, USAFA While assessment is a buzz-word at many universities, the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) has actively applied assessment techniques over the past two decades. This paper addresses the assessment approach, techniques and outcomes that have evolved the required electrical engineering core course for all non-engineering majors, Electrical Engi- neering 215 (EE 215). The statistical data is derived from 8354 cadets, who were enrolled in EE 215 from its initial Spring 1991 offering through Spring 2000. The emphasis is the Spring 2000 semester. The USAFA s automated assessment tool is a macro-driven, excel-spreadsheet that records all graded events and produces objective statistical assessment data. The assessment challenge, facing any academic institution, is to establish cost-effective procedures that provide the necessary assessment outcomes without requiring excessive academic-staff efforts. This case study illustrates example procedures, tools, benefits, and problems in collecting multi-section, core-course assessment data. In summary, the USAFA assessment procedures and developed course material has general academic community application. ASSESSING DESIGN BY DESIGN: PROGRESS REPORT 1 Judith Sims-Knight, UMASS Dartmouth, Richard Upchurch, UMASS Dartmouth, Nixon Pendergrass, UMASS Dartmouth, Tesfay Meressi, UMASS Dartmouth and Paul Fortier, UMASS Dartmouth This paper is a first progress report of a National Science Foundation Assessment of Student Achievement project designed to develop and test assessments of the ABET student learning outcome of an ability to design a system, component or process to meet desired needs. The overall strategy is to use the research on the nature and acquisition of expertise to guide the choice of assessment tools and then to embed those assessments in a course-based continuous improvement loop to evaluate which work best to improve those learning outcomes. So far, the project, which began in June 2002, has yielded prototypes of four assessments and a precursor to a fifth. One of those tools, a multiple-choice test of declarative understanding of design process principles, has been refined and the current version (the third of four versions) exhibits both reliability and validity. WORK IN PROGRESS - A SYSTEMATIC WEB AND LITERATURE SEARCH FOR INSTRUCTIONAL AND ASSESSMENT MATERIALS ADDRESSING EC 2000 PROGRAM OUTCOMES Susan Haag, Arizona State University, Rita Caso, Texas A&M University, Emily Fowler, University of Massachu- setts Dartmouth, Russ Pimmel, University of Alabama and Pete Morley, University of Alabama The engineering accrediting body (ABET) has identified the skills and competencies in which engineering students are expected to be prepared by their engineering programs (EC2000, Criterion 3, a-k). These competencies include several often characterized as soft , open-ended, or non-traditional (i.e., communication, teaming, awareness of global and social impact, etc.), which engineering faculty often profess feeling ill prepared to teach, and less prepared to assess, as classroom or programmatic outcomes. Typically, the traditional sources of engineering assessment tools and models (i.e., test suggestions from engineering texts, and examination problems borrowed and adapted from other faculty members) are poor in resources addressing the soft ABET competencies. For these reasons a group of engineering educators and assessment and evaluation professionals from four NSF Engineering Foundation Coalition partner universities, undertook comprehensive, systematic web and print literature searches, and a survey of first hand information about instructional and assessment materials being used to address the ABET a-k competencies. This paper confines itself to describing the methodology used and the results obtained in the systematic web and literature searches. The paper discusses (1) the extent to which relevant instructional and assessment materials, for each particular ABET a-k category, were found to be publicly accessible online and in libraries; (2) the systematically cumulated impressions of investigators about the utility of the available materials; (3) the extent to which a-k instructional or assessment materials could be readily extrapolated from articles and presenta-

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 78 Thursday Sessions

tion papers addressing ABET assessment; (4) the work undertaken to develop a web-searchable, database of categorized and annotated references to refer engineering educators to appropriate and available materials; (5) the efforts to select, sys- tematize and implement uniform methods for searching, documenting, classifying and compiling search information. Session T4C: Teaching the Computer Science Core 2 Chair: Pearl Brazier, University of Texas-Pan American Time and place: Thursday, 4:15 pm - 6:00 pm Meadowbrook I A DRAWING PROGRAM FOR TEACHING COMPUTER SCIENCE II STUDENTS Kent White, Nicholls State University Students in the introductory computer science classes are usually given relatively small programs that help the students learn new concepts covered in class. The students need to focus on the new material and giving them a large project is counter-productive to them learning the important concepts. I wanted to challenge the students in our second computer science course by giving them a large project without overwhelming them. To accomplish this I gave them a project that was accomplished in various stages throughout the semester. This paper discusses the various stages of the project and how they fit together so at the end of the semester the students had a large comprehensive project. Also, I wanted a project the students would be excited about doing. A drawing project that allowed the user of the program to draw lines, rectangles, ovals, text, and free hand lines with various colors and having the option to fill or not fill closed objects was selected. The finished project covered the following topics from the second computer science class: graphical interface design, event handling, color control, arrays, inheritance, polymorphism and singly linked list. The students were challenged for this project and enjoyed the finish product. A THREE SEMESTER INTRODUCTORY COMPUTER SCIENCE SEQUENCE Kent White, Nicholls State University and Ray Giguette, Nicholls State University ACM guidelines suggest that the introductory Computer Science sequence can be split into three courses, either to introduce more topics, or to cover topics in more depth. We have been applying the second approach for several years. We have found that covering introductory topics in depth greatly reduces the failure rate in upper level courses. We feel that without a minimal level of programming expertise, and the intuition that comes with it, students will have difficulty grasp- ing the advanced concepts, and completing the large software projects, introduced in upper level courses. Our introductory courses therefore stress programming experience, problem-solving skills, object-oriented design, and software engineering principles. Our goal is not to weed out weaker students, but to allow them overcome their weaknesses early in the degree program. An important objective for all three courses is to insure that each introductory class prepares students for the next introductory class. This paper discusses the topics covered in each of the three introductory courses, including sample programming projects designed to give students the tools they need to succeed in upper level courses. EFFECTS OF CURRICULUM ADJUSTMENTS ON FIRST-YEAR PROGRAMMING COURSES: STUDENTS PERFORMANCE AND ACHIEVMENT Isabel Huet e Silva, University of Aveiro, Osvaldo Pacheco, University of Aveiro and José Tavares, University of Aveiro Researchers of the Science Education Department have been working together for the past two years with faculty from the Electronic and Telecommunication Department aiming to explain students failure and drop out rate in a first-year undergraduate programming course at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. Two main variables were significantly correlated with the students failure: the curriculum organization of the course and the teaching methods. In this paper we are concerned with analyzing the curriculum redesign in the area of Informatics, namely at a introductory programming course that took place in 2001/02 and whether it has influenced students achievement and motivation for the course. ENHANCING LEARNING SUCCESS IN THE INTRODUCTORY PROGRAMMING COURSE Ardian Greca, Yamacraw Assistant Professor, Vladan Jovanovic, Professor and James K. Harris, Associate Profes- sor This paper is the follow up of a work-in-progress presented at FIE 2002. The goal of the work is to implement those XP practices that contribute to rapid feedback and learning. Grading is based on student achievement. However, it is very important to ensure that a student s grade is directly related to course content and the amount they have learned. In this paper we present a detailed analyze of the method used along with the assessment of the final method. We also will discuss our evaluation criteria and present the results of evaluation. USING JEROO TO INTRODUCE OBJECT-ORIENTED PROGRAMMING Brian Dorn, Iowa State University and Dean Sanders, Northwest Missouri State University The authors present Jeroo, a pedagogical tool that provides a gentler introduction to object-oriented programming. Jeroo has been developed to help novice programmers learn the basic notions of using objects to solve a problem, learn to

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 79 Thursday Sessions

write methods that support a functional decomposition of the task, and learn the semantics of fundamental control structures. Jeroo s syntax provides a smooth transition to Java, C++, or C#. The user interface has a single window in which everything is always visible. Source code highlighting, simple animation, and a continuously updated status panel provide a rich teaching and learning environment. Jeroo has been class tested at Northwest Missouri State University, and has proven to be an effective tool for working with novice programmers. Used in the first four weeks of a Java programming class, Jeroo produced a significant increase in student comfort and confidence levels, especially among female students. Jeroo and user documentation are available at http://www.nwmissouri.edu/~sanders/Jeroo/Jeroo.html. WORK IN PROGRESS - A CONCEPTUAL PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR TEACHING INTRODUCTORY PROGRAMMING Eman El-Sheikh, University of West Florida Our overall objective is to help students develop the foundational capabilities needed to become successful software developers, that will help them learn how to effectively analyze, design, and implement software systems. The main focus of this paper is the development and use of a concept-based learning tool that helps students acquire effective analysis and design skills for the development of object-oriented programs. Concept maps are tools for organizing and representing knowledge; they enable learners to construct, navigate, share, and criticize knowledge models represented as augmented graphical concept maps. Using the concept map-based tool, students can use concept maps of object-oriented programming to help them solve problems. Session T4D: Gender in K-12 Education Chair: Carla Egelhoff, United States Coast Guard Academy Time and place: Thursday, 4:15 pm - 6:00 pm Meadowbrook II EVALUATING THE BROADER IMPACT OF THE WISE INVESTMENTS SUMMER INSTITUTE FOR K-12 EDU- CATORS Arline Inman, Inman Consulting Group, Mary R. Anderson-Rowland, Arizona State University and Donna Zerby, Arizona State University The Women in Applied Sciences and Engineering (WISE) Investments program is a comprehensive program that introduces middle school and high school teachers, counselors, and students to the exciting and challenging field of engineering and technology. The goal of the WISE Investments (WI) program is to encourage women to pursue a career in engineering and computer science. The WI program begins with a two-week summer institute to educate the teachers on how to integrate engineering and technology into K-12 math and science curriculum. Counselors attend the summer institute to learn about engineering and computer science to counsel students in these areas. After attending the WI training, teacher and counselor teams are formed to present a particular engineering discipline to middle school and high school girls at the WI Saturday Academies held during the school year. The paper reports on the broader impact of teachers who attended the WI summer institute. An external program evaluator has evaluated the WI project for all four years of the program. GIRLS EMBRACE TECHNOLOGY: A SUMMER INTERNSHIP FOR HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS Jacquelyn F. Sullivan, University of Colorado at Boulder, Derek Reamon, University of Colorado at Boulder and Beverly Louie, University of Colorado at Boulder High school girls explore their potential for a career in engineering and technology through developing educational interactive multimedia software during a six-week summer internship. Techno-neutral girls those who do not envision themselves pursuing a career in high-tech, yet have the academic preparedness, curiosity and commitment to complete the internship and produce a successful multimedia product are recruited. The internship experience makes information technology accessible and attractive to the girls via developing creative, hands-on educational software for younger children. The girls develop technical skills in graphic design, user interface development, visual programming, digital image manipulation, multimedia authoring and user testing. The girls were as impacted by the environmental and cultural conditions of the internship including working in teams as they were by the opportunity to learn new technological tools. The internship helped the girls become aware that a technology-based career can be creative and fun while serving the needs of society. SINGLE GENDER PROGRAMS: DO THEY MAKE A DIFFERENCE? Nicole B. Koppel, Montclair State University, Rosa M. Cano, N. J. Institute of Technology, Suzanne B. Heyman, N. J. Institute of Technology and Howard S. Kimmel, N. J. Institute of Technology Over the last two decades much work has been done to address the needs of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) areas and to develop interventions that encourage girls to pursue careers in these areas. A popu- lar solution seems to be "single-gender" education but whether or not the positive results of these programs can be attrib- uted to the single-gender environment is questionable. The Center for Pre-college Programs at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) has offered a "girls-only" Women in Engineering and Technology program (FEMME) since 1981. To

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 80 Thursday Sessions

test the hypothesis that the positive results of FEMME may be due to good educational methodologies, rather than due to the single-gender environment, NJIT developed the Pre-Engineering Program (PrEP). The PrEP and one of the FEMME programs are identical in every way, except for the inclusion of male students in PrEP. This paper summarizes the current research on single-gender education in STEM and the results of our study. GENDER DIFFERENCES IN SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN HANDS-ON LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS Daniel W. Knight, The University of Colorado at Boulder, Lawrence E. Carlson, University of Colorado at Boulder and Jacquelyn F. Sullivan, The University of Colorado at Boulder Women s participation in engineering education is low relative to their presence in the general and college student populations, and it is sometimes assumed that the competitive engineering culture has a detrimental effect on women s confidence in their engineering skills. The described study investigated self-assessed confidence in five engineering skills across three K-16 curricular initiatives conducted by the Integrated Teaching and Learning Program at the University of Colorado at Boulder during a two-year period. In this investigation, attention is paid to gender differences in skills self- assessment and the reasons underlying gender disparity in engineering education. The effects of engineering and pre-engineering curricula on gender, with respect to student confidence in a number of skills necessary to succeed in engineering, are investigated. Results are discussed with respect to the structure of gender-friendly curricula and strategies for closing gender gaps. Suggestions for future research are presented. A.W.E. (ASSESSING WOMEN IN ENGINEERING) DESIGNING TOOLS FOR SUCCESS USING COLLABORA- TION Rose M. Marra, University of Missouri and Barbara Bogue, Penn State University Women in Engineering programs around the United States are a crucial part of our country's response to the need for more women in engineering professions (Mannix, 2001). For Women in Engineering (WIE) programs to be maximally effective, they must have access to validated assessment instruments for measuring the effectiveness of their recruitment and retention activities for women in engineering studies. This paper describes the Assessing Women in Engineering project which is using a unique collaboration between a WIE director and an Assessment specialist (AS) to develop exportable assessment instruments and models for Women In Engineering programs nationwide, thus allowing them to assess their program s activities and ultimately provide data for making well-informed evaluation decisions. WORK IN PROGRESS - THE EFFECTS OF CLASSROOM GENDER DYNAMICS ON ELEMENTARY LEVEL ENGINEERING EDUCATION Brian Gravel, Tufts University, Erik Rushton, Tufts University, Carol Kelley, Center Elementary School and Sima Maitland, Center Elementary School This work in progress is a study to examine the effect of gender dynamics in elementary level engineering education. Three experimental populations are created to investigate the impact gender has on attitude and performance in elementary aged students. Small groups in each population are required to design and build a contraption capable of meeting a defined set of requirements. To reinforce previous curriculum work, each group must utilize simple machines in their designs. Pop- ulations will be observed by educators and Tufts University GK-12 Graduate Fellows for motivation, self-determination, and overall interest in the project and classroom dynamics. This study will provide insight into appropriate gender make-up and structuring in the classroom to achieve successful integration of engineering concepts that male and female students can benefit from equally. Session T4E: Interactive Learning Tools for EE Topics Chair: Marion Hagler, Mississippi State University Time and place: Thursday, 4:15 pm - 6:00 pm Waverly INTRODUCTION TO LABVIEW TWO-PART EXERCISE Sami D. Alsaialy, University of San Diego, Dalia M. Tawy, University of San Diego and Susan M. Lord, University of San Diego At the University of San Diego, we wanted to introduce all electrical engineering (EE) students to LabVIEW without adding additional courses. In Fall 2001, juniors in Electronics performed an Introduction to LabVIEW exercise designed by two EE juniors. Students performing the exercise obtained the amplitude frequency response of an RC circuit using a manually controlled function generator and a computer-controlled oscilloscope. During Summer 2002, two EE seniors improved the LabVIEW program to include measurement of phase, work with a computer-controlled function generator, and have more readable code. In Fall 2002, juniors in Electronics performed a two-week introduction to LabVIEW. The first week was the same as in Fall 2001. In the second week, the two programmers delivered a presentation focusing on the benefits of LabVIEW, a comparison of LabVIEW and other programming languages, and a discussion and demonstration of their enhanced program. Finally, the juniors wrote a simple LabVIEW program.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 81 Thursday Sessions

FOUR-SCREEN REPRESENTATION OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS Iouri Belski, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and Campbell Gray, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technol- ogy Students of electronic circuit design often overlook important aspects of linear circuit performance. Their knowledge of the joint effects of steady-state and transient responses needs improved unification. Mathematical abstractions in transient analysis help students to perform routine algebraic processes, but can obscure engineering issues and trends. The authors experience has shown that the various aspects of circuit response are learned more effectively when incorporated into a standard overall four-screen system representation. This representation gives, at the top, the factorized transfer function H(s), and beside it the pole-zero plot. Below these are the asymptotic Bode plots of magnitude and phase, with a graph of the time response to a unit step on the right. Focussing students attention on this picture has been found to yield improvements in understanding and design capabilities. It also yields interesting surprises, which enliven the learning experience and it forms the basis for exploratory approaches. J-DSP-C, A CONTROL SYSTEMS SIMULATION ENVIRONEMENT: LABS AND ASSESSMENT Thrassos Thrasyvoulou, Arizona State University, Kostas Tsakalis, Arizona State University and Andreas Spanias, Arizona State University This paper presents various on-line computer laboratory exercises and related assessment results for Java-Digital Sig- nal-Processing-Controls (J-DSP-C). J-DSP-C is an object oriented simulation environment that is intended for control systems simulations. All J-DSP-C component functions appear as graphical blocks that can be connected to form a variety of educational controls simulations. Dynamical systems with various interconnection topologies can be developed and simu- lated while results can be examined graphically. J-DSP-C has been designed to be easily accessible through the internet with any computer system equipped with a Java-enabled browser. ON-LINE SIMULATION MODULES FOR TEACHING SPEECH AND AUDIO COMPRESSION TECHNIQUES Venkatraman Atti, Student and Andreas Spanias, student In this paper, we present a collection of software educational tools for introducing speech and audio compression (or coding) techniques to undergraduate and graduate students. These speech processing tools enable on-line simulations of speech compression algorithms that are being used in digital cellular phones, internet streaming applications, teleconfer- encing, and voice over internet protocol (VoIP) applications. This simulation software is accompanied by a series of computer experiments and exercises that can be used to provide hands-on training to class participants. With this on-line simulation tool and a set of well-complemented laboratory exercises, students can easily comprehend the basic techniques involved in speech and audio coding algorithms. Specific functions that have been developed include the typical modules that are usually embedded in CD-players, MP3-players, and mobile phones. Details on the software, exercises, and assessment data will be provided at the conference. INTERACTIVE LEARNING TOOLS FOR ENHANCING THE EDUCATION IN CONTROL SYSTEMS Valeri Kroumov, Associate Professor, Keishi Shibayama, Graduate student and Akira Inoue, Professor In this paper we present a set of tools for interactive learning, which are aimed at improving the understanding of and skills for analysis and design of control systems. The tools are implemented in MATLAB and are enhanced by detailed helps and hints. They can be used by the students for solving seminar problems and individual learning, and can be implemented as a teaching aid during the lectures in classical automatic control. Requirements for developing in-teractive environment in order to cover the needs of the stu-dents are introduced. Both, Japanese and English versions are developed and are accessible to everyone via WWW. The source code is freely accessible for download, too. WORK IN PROGRESS - A 2-D INDOOR RADIO PROPAGATION MODELING BY USING MATLAB FOR CLASS- ROOM INSTRUCTION. Radian G. Belu, Wayne State University, Cosmin Oancea, The University of Westrn Ontarion, Alexandru Belu, The University of Westrn Ontarion and Lucian Cioca, The University "Lucian Blaga" of Sibiu, Romania The paper presents the development of a Matlab simulator for the indoor radio propagation models, used as a teaching aids. The software application is designed to allow the user to select the propagation models, characteristics of the building, transmitter and receiver systems, etc. Session T4F: Web-based Instruction 2 Chair: Teresa Larkin, American University Time and place: Thursday, 4:15 pm - 6:00 pm Windsor

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 82 Friday Sessions

WORK IN PROGRESS - USE OF VISUAL TOOLS IN DISTANCE TEACHING OF COMPUTATIONAL MODELS Judith Gal-Ezer, Open University of Israel and Mark Trakhtenbrot, Open University of Israel, and Holon Aca- demic Institute of Technology We present visual interactive tools for distance teaching in course "Automata Theory and Formal Languages" (AFL) that explores mathematical models of computation. Using the tools, students can interactively explore the various classes of automata and grammars, their properties, expressive power, and transformations. The tools help to get prompt answers to typical questions, and to gain a better sense of concepts that would otherwise remain purely formal. This is especially important in distance education, where traditional difficulties in learning theoretical material become even more severe. Our tools address cognitive and communication aspects of asynchronous learning process. The need in such tools has been recently widely recognized. WORK IN PROGRESS: LEARNING AND COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF A WEB-ENHANCED LINEAR CIRCUITS COURSE Hans H. Kuehl, University of Southern California, Edward J. Kazlauskas, University of Southern California and Lawrence O. Picus, University of Southern California During the past four years, a new version of the basic linear circuits course, which incorporates Web-based learning technology in the homework, has been developed at the University of Southern California. The software used for this purpose is Mallard®, which is especially useful because it has the mathematical and computational functionality necessary for the problems in this course. The current project focuses on the quantitative cost- and learning-effectiveness of the use of this educational technology in this course. Data on two critical issues are being acquired: 1) Whether the course with its substantial online asynchronous homework component is as effective as a traditional synchronous course with similar content but with pen and paper homework; and 2) The comparative costs of the two modes of instruction. The plan is to compare the modified online course with a traditional course on the same material, and to measure cost and learning outcomes in each case during a span of four semesters. Initial results of the comparison are presented. WORK IN PROGRESS - A NEW FRONTIER IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION: IMPORTING COURSES Frank S. Barnes, University of Colorado at Boulder Telecommunication innovations provides major new opportunities to improve the quality of the education we offer our students. On line courses can be accessed by students anywhere at anytime. Many schools are exporting courses via video- tape, CD's or on-line, however very few if any have taken advantage of the new communication technologies to import courses that enhance the quality and diversity of the material they offer their students. Budget limitations and a shortage of qualified faculty often limit the courses that are offered. Some of these limitations could be solved by importing courses from experts in other parts of the country or the world. However, administrative problems and faculty sociology make this difficult. THE RECIPROCITY PROJECT: A P2P APPROACH TO COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENTS FOR LIFE-LONG LEARNING Alain Derycke, Trigone laboratory, Frédéric Hoogstoel, TRIGONE laboratory and Xavier Le Pallec, TRIGONE laboratory The Reciprocity project is an attempt to design new collaborative environments based on the criticisms of the more centralized approaches. The project uses the potential of new Internet Peer-to-Peer middleware to support fully distributed collective activities. Each activity is managed in a distributed approach, and is specified through a set of XML documents, in accordance with our metamodel for collaborative activity. Our motivations for developing this project include a desire to exploit the potential for a more active and collaborative learning process, and a need for the kind of inter-organizational exchanges that could lead to more learners becoming interested in the same topics. Our experience in the use of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) platforms has led us to think seriously about the social value of linking or exchanging learning resources and the necessity of collaborating across organizational boundaries. In these conditions, acknowledging the different actors' contributions becomes essential in order to encourage and empower their participation. EXTENDING ADAPTATION FRONTIERS FOR LEARNING SETS Carlos M. Tobar, PUC-Campinas and Ivan L. M. Ricarte, UNICAMP Several models and frameworks have been proposed for adaptive hypermedia systems, but when it comes to the integration with application models these proposals lack expressiveness, blurring combinations of functional components or information categories, sometimes with abstractions layers. This is very clear for educational applications, where matters such as collaboration and cognitive styles are not cleanly integrated to hypermedia modeling issues. The Extended Abstract Categorization Map is being proposed as a comprehensive framework, considering educational applications, where complementary modeling perspectives are adequately separated but still integrated. The resulting separation of concerns yields a clearer understanding of how adaptation issues can be affected by educational goals.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 83 Friday Sessions

STUDENT-CENTERED LEARNING IN ONLINE AND BLENDED EDUCATION ON COMPUTER INFORMA- TION SYSTEMS Vladimir Uskov, Bradley University The effectiveness of learning and training in many ways depends on increased demand for student s convenience, including his/her time, pace and place of learning. Pedagogical strategies that are based on total use of state-of-the-art technologies such as Internet and the World Wide Web (Web) correspond to the highest level of student s convenience. As a part of the National Science Foundation s grant # 0196015 (2000-2004), Bradley University (BU) and its InterLabs Research Institute (IRI) develop innovative teaching and learning technologies based on four founding principles: 1) student-centered principles of education, 2) Web-lecturing based on streaming multimedia technologies, 3) modularity of learning content based on reusable learning objects (RLO) approach, and 4) equivalence of learning content delivery using traditional in-classroom face-to-face (F2F) education, online education, and blended education. This paper summarizes author s findings on student-centered learning in online and blended education of the BU academic course on Computer Information Systems. Session T4G: Panel: Progress on Concept Inventory Assessment Tools Chair: D. L. Evans, Arizona State University Time and place: Thursday, 4:15 pm - 6:00 pm Standley I PROGRESS ON CONCEPT INVENTORY ASSESSMENT TOOLS D. L. Evans, Arizona State University, Gary L. Gray, Penn State University, Stephen Krause, Arizona State Univer- sity, Jay Martin, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Clark Midkiff, University of Alabama, Branisla M. Notaros, Univ. of Mass, Dartmouth, Michael Pavelich, Colorado School of Mines, David Rancour, Univ of Mass., Dart- mouth, Teri Reed-Rhoads, University of Oklahoma, Paul Steif, Carnegie Mellon University, Ruth Streveler, Colo- rado School of Mines and Kathleen Wage, George Mason University The Foundation Coalition and others have been working on the development of Concept Inventory (CI) assessment instruments patterned after the well-known Force Concept Inventory (FCI) instrument of Halloun and Hestenes. Such assessment inventories can play an important part in relating teaching techniques to student learning. Work first got started two years ago on CIs for the subjects of thermodynamics; solid mechanics; signals and processing; and electromagnetics. Last year work got underway on CIs for circuits; fluid mechanics; engineering materials; transport processes; and statistics. This year work began on chemistry; computer engineering; dynamics; electronics; and heat transfer. This panel session will discuss the progress on these concept inventories. More, importantly, the panelists will discuss the early student data that are emerging from the process of continuous improvement of the instruments. Results will be compared to the data collected by Hake that are segregated by how the content was managed and delivered (e.g., traditional lecture mode compared to the interactive engagement mode, as defined by Hake). Discussions of effective practices for use in the development of CIs will also be discussed. Session T4H: Special Session: Looking for convergence: Laboratory learning and the problem- based classroom Chair: Wendy C. Newstetter, Georgia Institute of Technology Time and place: Thursday, 4:15 pm - 6:00 pm Standley II LOOKING FOR CONVERGENCE: LABORATORY LEARNING AND CLASSROOM LEARNING Wendy C. Newstetter, Georgia Tech and Jennifer Turns, University of Washington Over the last two years we have been conducting NSF-sponsored research on learning in engineering research laboratories so as to identify the activities and tools used to support engineering learning outside the classroom. At the same time, we have been using a Problem-based Learning approach in our undergraduate biomedical engineering curriculum. Our goal is to identify ways in which these two sites for learning converge and diverge. Session participants will help us with this task by examining and analyzing data from both sites.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 84 Friday Sessions

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Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 85 Friday Sessions

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Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 86 Friday Sessions

Session F1A: Courses for K-12 teachers Chair: Hamid Khan, Our Lady of the Lake University Time and place: Friday, 8:30 am - 10:00 am Cotton Creek I DESIGNING A GRADUATE EDUCATION COURSE FOR DESIGN, ENGINEERING, AND TECHNOLOGICAL CONCEPTS FOR K-12 TEACHERS Chell Roberts, Arizona State University, Dale Baker, Arizona State University, Stephen Krause, Arizona State Uni- versity, Antonio Garcia, Arizona State University, Sharon Robinson Kurpius, Arizona State University, James A. Middleton, Arizona State University, D. L. Evans, Arizona State University, Mary R. Anderson-Rowland, Arizona State University, Debra Banks, Arizona State University, Cheryl Gengler, Chandler Unified School District, Peter Crouch, Arizona State University and Senay Yasar, Arizona State University Arizona State University has had several programs for in-service training of teachers, counselors, and administrators to better understand Design, Engineering, and Technology (DET). However, a need was identified to develop pre-service or graduate courses for education majors that addressed DET concepts and linked them to science and technological standards. A team of educators from the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the College of Education designed a pilot graduate education course for DET Concepts for K-12 teachers. Sponsored by a National Science Foundation planning grant, the team formulated a needs assessment questionnaire during Fall 2002 with K-12 teachers to evaluate teachers perceptions, knowledge, and need of DET. The results of this survey were incorporated in the designing of the graduate course Bridging Education and Engineering. This paper will describe the course objectives, the course content, the labs, and the assessment. Some preliminary observations are also offered. ENGAGING HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH: OUR EXPERIENCE Donald D. Morrison, Tampa Preparatory School, Stanley C. Kranc, College of Engineering, University of South Florida and Carlos A. Smith, College of Engineering, University of South Florida During the summer of 2002, the College of Engineering at USF implemented a research experience for high school and middle school teachers, aimed at making engineering accessible to students at an earlier level. This paper reports the experience of one such teacher-faculty member pair from the group. The teacher participated in a research project to improve the placement of utility distribution systems routed along the transportation right-of-way. The individual selected had interests at the society/technology interface, and a background in American history. The teacher not only participated in the research study but also extended this engagement to include the cultural implications of the development of utility infrastructure. The principal result of this interaction has been the preparation and delivery of two extended lesson plans intended to introduce the subject of infrastructure technology to high school students in the context of history classes rather than traditional science/math instruction. WORK IN PROGRESS - WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND COLLEGE OF EDUCATION COLLABORATIVE EFFORT TO ENHANCE STUDENT LEARNING Andrew Kline, Western Michigan University, Carol Crumbaugh, Western Michigan University, Paul Vellom, Western Michigan University, Edmund Tsang, Western Michigan University and Bill Cobern, Western Michigan University This paper describes an ongoing project funded by the National Science Foundation Bridges for Engineering Education program at Western Michigan University (WMU). Six faculty members from the College of Engineering and Applied Sci- ences (CEAS) and three faculty members from the College of Education (COE) are jointly developing an Introduction to Engineering course for elementary education students and first-year engineering students whose field of study is unde- cided. The Introduction to Engineering course: (1) Models the practice, behavior, and attitude of an engineer, and (2) Builds the skills necessary to perform the work of an engineer (problem solving, communication, teamwork, and engineering design). The outcomes of the course for the pre-service teacher training education students are that they will be capable of describing the work of engineers and technologists to K-12 students, and can use stimulating examples of real-world engineering and technology in teaching the mathematics and science topics that will be required of them. For the first-year engineering students, the outcomes include being motivated to continue in an engineering curriculum, and to provide opportunities to practice fundamental skills necessary to be successful in engineering studies. WORK IN PROGRESS - BRIDGES WITH ENGINEERING TO TEACH AUTHENTIC INQUIRY-BASED MATHE- MATICS AND SCIENCE COURSES TO MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS Anant R. Kukreti, University of Cincinnati, Shafiqul Islam, University of Cincinnati, Richard A. Miller, University of Cincinnati, Karen Davis, University of Cincinnati, Edward N. Prather, University of Cincinnati, Thaddeus W. Fowler, University of Cincinnati and Suzanne W. Soled, University of Cincinnati The paper presents the development and implementation of National Science Foundation funded GK-12 Fellows Project STEP, which is designed to educate, nurture, and facilitate engineering, and science and technology education uni-

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 87 Friday Sessions

versity students (ten graduates and three undergraduates) into becoming educators and bringing their experiences and knowledge into six secondary schools in Cincinnati. Seven University of Cincinnati (UC) faculty members, fifteen secondary school teachers, and a dedicated graphics/web developer have worked in teams with the graduate and undergraduate fellows to design, develop, and implement hands-on activities and technology-driven inquiry-based projects, which relate to the students community issues, as vehicles to authentically teach STEM skills. The Fellows are trained to create and implement these activities by taking a new education course, and field practicum. The paper presents how the project has evolved over the first year, the activities developed and implemented, and the findings from the whole experience. AN ENGINEERING AND EDUCATION INTERDISCIPLINARY LEARNING EXPERIENCE Denise Martinez, Tarleton State University and Kathy Horak Smith, Tarleton State University In order to remain competitive as a nation and increase our technology capable workforce, it is important to motivate children at a young age towards science, mathematics, and engineering. One of the best ways to do this is through their teachers. However there is typically a large gap between engineering students and elementary education students. In order to maximize the impact teachers may have on children, this gap must be closed. In the fall of 2002, an interdisciplinary project was conducted between freshmen engineering students and senior EC-4 (Early Childhood through 4th grade) pre- service teachers at Tarleton State University. The main objective was for the engineering students to explain and demonstrate fundamental physics concepts to the education students, who then disseminated the activities to kindergarten teachers for use in their classrooms. For the engineering students, it was a chance to solidify their knowledge of fundamentals by having them explain concepts in general terms and relate them to common phenomena. It was also an exercise in effective communication with a non-technical audience. For the education students, it was exposure physics concepts which could be directly incorporated into fun, motivating, elementary school activities. Session F1B: EE Topics 1 Chair: Barry Farbrother, Ohio Northern University Time and place: Friday, 8:30 am - 10:00 am Cotton Creek II THE DEVELOPMENT OF A POWER ENGINEERING CONCENTRATION Thomas E. Salem, US Naval Academy and John G. Ciezki, US Naval Academy In response to current and future demands upon the Navy for technical expertise in the power and power electronics fields, the Electrical Engineering Department at the United States Naval Academy has launched an initiative to develop a power engineering concentration within the EE major. To formulate and develop this concentration, priorities for student learning have been established within a twofold mission statement: to develop and equip future Naval Officers and to produce competent and qualified future civilian engineers. From this perspective, course content, sequencing, laboratory experiments, classroom demonstrations, and student research and design projects have been proposed. Along the way, attention was given to structuring the class material within the framework of learning objectives and outcome assessments necessary for meeting ABET accreditation. This paper will present a detailed discussion on this process highlighting the selections made, emphasizing the goals and objectives for student learning, and presenting a status update on the implementation of this effort. DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING COURSE INNOVATIONS FOR POWER ELECTRONICS PRACTICE Jorge Pontt, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, José Rodríguez, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María and Rodrigo Huerta, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María This paper describes a new course on Digital Signal Processing for Power Electronics Practice for undergraduate students of Electronics Engineering at Federico Santa María University of Technology. A comprehensive program was designed to develop practical experience on power electronics by employing a low-cost complete DSP-based module, based on the Texas Instruments TMS320F241 digital signal processor, developed by two graduate students. This new program has been successfully applied in lab activities on power electronics equipment such as single-phase inverters, single- phase boost rectifier and others. Two applications are described with methods and tools. Strengths and weaknesses of the proposed approach are analyzed integrating teachers perspectives and students feedback. WORK IN PROGRESS - DISCRETE AND COMPLEX PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC DEVICE CIRCUIT PROJECTS FOR A COURSE IN DIGITAL ELECTRONICS Mark A. Jupina, Villanova University This paper provides an overview of the laboratory projects in a digital electronics course where creative combinations of hardware illustrate important concepts in digital system design. The lab component of the course also gives the students an opportunity to learn how to prototype and troubleshoot board-level applications and designs involving timers, serial and parallel data circuits, memory circuits, analog/digital conversion circuits, and complex programmable logic devices. In the first-half of the semester lab projects use discrete chips only. In the first lab project students measure the digital properties of inverters. The next several lab projects involve the construction of a data bus circuit using tri-state registers, counters,

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 88 Friday Sessions

decoders, timers, and SRAM chips. In the second-half of the semester lab projects use discrete chip/components interfaced to the Altera UP 1 CPLD development board. Mice or keyboards, sonar sensors, and ADC and DAC chips are interfaced to the UP 1 board. STUDENT GENERATED COURSE DEMOS Robert W. Heath Jr., The University of Texas at Austin and Kathy J. Schmidt, The University of Texas at Austin Actively engaging engineering students in classroom instruction often results in project-centered activities. Generally these projects are selected because of student interest or topic availability. In an advanced graduate level course, EE 381K- 9 Advanced Digital Signal Processing, in the Department of Electrical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, students are assembling technology-based projects that will be used by other students in the class and in subsequent years. Thus, these projects serve a dual educational purpose: to teach those students who are creating them and to serve as resources to teach future students. This paper describes some of the challenges of developing student generated educational projects and course demos. Outcomes and observations are presented based on a trial run in the fall 2002 class. Specific topics such as the parameters of the assignment, necessary incentives, and mechanisms for collecting feedback are discussed. Numerous suggestions for incorporating these ideas into other classes are provided. HARDWARE HOMEWORK AS ACTIVE AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING FOR FIRST YEAR STUDENTS IN ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING Marion O. Hagler, Mississippi State University Outside the class meeting time, first year students in an introductory course in electrical and computer engineering course buy parts, solder together circuits, make measurements on the circuits with sound cards in their PCs, and submit for evaluation both the circuits and the documents that compare their measurements with calculations and simulations. Stu- dents use a digital multimeter that they purchase to investigate KVL and KCL in a two-loop resistive circuit, a BJT DC amplifier, and an RS latch. They document their work with a word processor and a spreadsheet. They use, in addition, MATLAB, PSpice, and an audio editor to investigate digital and analog implementations of an RC low pass filter, and an inverting op-amp integrator. Based on four semesters of experience at Mississippi State University, the paper reports student performance on the projects, student evaluation of the projects, cost to students, and describes the projects in more detail. Session F1C: Computer Architecture Chair: John Carpinelli, New Jersey Institute of Technology Time and place: Friday, 8:30 am - 10:00 am Meadowbrook I A VISUAL INSTRUCTION SET ARCHITECTURE AND SIMULATION TOOL FOR COMPUTER ENGINEERING EDUCATION A. Yavuz Oruç, University of Maryland and Emre Gunduzhan, Nortel Networks This paper presents a holistic approach to develop a visual simulation system for computer engineering education. This approach starts out with a visual instruction set architecture, and plans to build the other layers of computers by moving up and down from such an instruction set architecture specification in a simulation environment. As a step in this direction, an instruction set architecture, called CodeMill, has been developed and used successfully in teaching computer organization courses at the University of Maryland as well as computer science classes in a number of secondary school programs, and is being extended to include compiler and operating systems layers into its simulation environment. The paper describes the CodeMill and its simulation environment, and presents a road map for expanding it into a comprehensive system for learning core computer engineering concepts with hands-on tools. LESSONS LEARNED FROM TEACHING COMPUTER ARCHITECURE TO COMPUTER SCIENCE STUDENTS Mitchell D. Theys, University of Illinois at Chicago and Patrick A. Troy, University of Illinois at Chicago Computer science students require more detail about computer architecture then a black box approach can provide. Teaching the appropriate level of detail and assuring that students understand why the subject is taught are nontrivial tasks. In the Computer Science Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago the approach taken is to present the material from the typical three course computer architecture sequence as a two course sequence. In addition, a variety of simulators are utilized to strengthen the material and help control the topic flow. The simulators used include a programmable logic array software package, a MIPS assembly simulator, and a locally created control code simulator. Teaching the two course sequence has proven challenging. This paper presents lessons learned concerning: (1) the level of coverage required; (2) the simulators used, (3) how to maintain topic flow; and (4) future plans for improving the sequence.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 89 Friday Sessions

WORK IN PROGRESS - COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE EDUCATION: APPLICATION OF A NEW LEARNING METHOD BASED ON DESIGN AND SIMULATOR DEVELOPMENT Carlos A. P. S. Martins, PUC Minas, Christiane V. Pousa, PUC Minas, Milene B. Carvalho, PUC Minas and Dulcinéia O. Penha, PUC Minas In this paper we present an application of a new learning method of computer architecture, based on design and simulator development. Our main goals are to improve and optimize the learning process. DCMSIM: DIDACTIC CACHE MEMORY SIMULATOR Eduardo S. Cordeiro, Graduation Program in Computer Science, Italo G. A. Stefani, Graduation Program in Com- puter Science, Tays C. A. P. Soares, Graduation Program in Computer Science and Carlos A. P. S. Martins, Grad- uation Program in Computer Science / Post Graduation Program in Electrical Engineering We present a functional and structural didactic simulator of Cache Memory Systems developed at the Pontifical Catho- lic University of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The development occurred during the undergraduate Computer Architecture discipline, in the Computer Science course. Its implementation is one part of a new didactic method, in which developers (students of the Computer Architecure discipline) must learn the concepts and theory of the discipline topics to correctly apply them in the simulator. In our simulator, DCMSim, there are features to allow students to construct and verify knowledge, testing and comparing several different configurations and memory access traces. COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE SIMULATION APPLETS FOR USE IN TEACHING Roland Ibbett, University of Edinburgh and Frederic Mallet, University of Edinburgh Visualisation of the activities which occur inside a computer is an important aspect of computer architecture education. At the University of Edinburgh we are using a Hierarchical Computer Architecture design and Simulation Environment (HASE) to build a number of architectural models for use in research and teaching. A new facility within HASE, Java- HASE, allows models to be translated into applets which can be accessed via the WWW. JavaHASE applets are programmable simulation models in which the code and data memory contents can be altered, the simulation re-run in the applet and the results used to visualise the activities taking place within the model (data movements, state changes, register/memory content changes, etc). These applets are being used in various ways in teaching. Session F1D: Gender in Undergraduate Education Chair: Maxine Cohen, Nova Southeastern University Time and place: Friday, 8:30 am - 10:00 am Meadowbrook II WORK IN PROGRESS - FIT(FACULTY IN TRAINING): CULTIVATING WOMEN UNDERGRADUATES FOR PROFESSORIAL CAREERS Idalia Ramos, University of Puerto Rico at Humacao, Alexandra Valdés-Wochinger, University of Puerto Rico at Humacao and María Vega, University of Puerto Rico at Humacao The University of Puerto Rico at Humacao is a public undergraduate institution with approximately 4,300 students. We have established a program to encourage and guide talented women undergraduates as to pursue faculty jobs in science and technology. As part of the program the students participate in leadership workshops, seminars, undergraduate research and mentoring, and interact with role models from academia and industry. They are also supported in their transition to graduate school by providing language laboratories and training for GRE exams and graduate schools admissions protocol. We have now a three years longitudinal study. Three former participants are currently in graduate schools across the nation with the commitment to return, teach and do research at their Alma Matter. The program is part of an institutional effort to change the status of women in the science faculty supported by NSF ADVANCE and the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao. EMPOWERING FEMALE STUDENTS: SWE VS DISCIPLINARY ORGANIZATION PARTICIPATION Harriet Hartman, Rowan University and Moshe Hartman, Ben-Gurion University Participation in student chapters of professional organizations can be considered a form of self-help expected to enrich students through extra-curricular activities, social support and networking. For female students, affiliation with the disciplinary professional organizations (e.g., ASME, IEEE, AiChE, etc.) offers the benefits of networking with co-ed students and faculty on the basis of substantive interests in their major; while affiliation with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) offers the benefits of interdisciplinary networking with other female students and faculty in a safe environment. The current paper focuses on the differences between female undergraduate engineering students who choose one or the other type of affiliation or no affiliation, and the effect of affiliation on engineering outcomes such as engineering self- confidence, satisfaction with the major, involvement in extra-curricular activities, and commitment to the major and the profession. Data are taken from an NSF-funded survey of engineering students at Rowan University during the 2000-1 and 2000-2 academic years.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 90 Friday Sessions

BREAKING THE SILICON CEILING: WOMEN IN ENGINEERING FRESHMEN SEMINAR Aura Ganz, University of Massachusetts, Sussanah Howe, University of Massachusetts, Vanessa Rivera, University of Massachusetts and Yuechun Chu, University of Massachusetts In this paper we describe a pilot study for freshmen women engineering students we launched at the College of Engi- neering at UMass Amherst in the fall of 2002. This pilot study, which targeted increased retention of women in engineering, was comprised of the following three main elements: a weekly seminar, use of Pocket PCs and a web-based information and exchange center. The students' feedback to our seminar was very positive. The students noted that the seminar allayed their fears and concerns about pursuing engineering, provided a (classroom and online) forum for networking with their peers and other women engineers. This pilot study is the first step in a longitudinal study that will include a series of such seminars as well as follow up assessment provided by the seminar participants throughput the engineering program. We hope that this seminar can serve as a model for women in engineering retention programs and can be deployed at other universities. INCREASING WOMEN'S IMPACT ON TECHNOLOGY: THE UTEP-VDC SITE Patricia A. Nava, University of Texas at El Paso, Virginia Granda, University of Texas at El Paso and Benjamin Flores, University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) has established a Virtual Development Center (VDC) Site to provide an opportunity for women in the larger community to participate in the creation of technology applications that will benefit the community. The VDC is a consortium of nine universities sponsored by the Institute of Women and Tech-nology, whose goal is to increase the impact of women on technology. In this paper, we discuss the UTEP-VDC Site experience, which revolves around a pre-capstone design course and serves as a venue to develop VDC team mem-bers professional skills. Then we discuss the Innovation Workshop, in which non-technical women from the commu-nity participate in the development of need-based ideas for applications of technology. Next, we describe the selected project, along with lessons learned. Lastly, we provide a model for describing how this type of course serves as posi-tive reinforcement tool for retention and promotes a culture change within the university that highlights the importance of diversity. INNOVATIVE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN IN STEM: RESEARCH INTERNSHIPS IN SCI- ENCE AND ENGINEERING (RISE) Janet A. Schmidt, Clark School of Engineering,University of Maryland, Paige E. Smith, Women In Engineering, Kristen E. Vogt, Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland and Linda C. Schmidt, Clark School of Engi- neering, University of Maryland A commonly known fact is the relatively small percentage of women represented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This well documented but little understood phenomenon is a cause of great concern to STEM educators. Based on the available literature on barriers to women's success in STEM, an innovative educational intervention has been developed at the University of Maryland (UM). In the second year of implementation, Research Internships in Science and Engineering (RISE) is designed to facilitate mentoring and role modeling for women at all levels of higher education: from incoming first year students, undergraduates, and graduate students to female faculty members. RISE is a two tiered program consisting of Level One, The First Year Summer Experience (FYSE) focusing on incoming first year students and Level Two, Summer Research Teams focusing on upper-level undergraduates, graduate students and faculty. Developed to address several major barriers that women face in STEM fields, evidence of program impact based on the first year of implementation will be provided. Session F1E: Soft Skills for Engineering Graduates Chair: Dan Moore, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Time and place: Friday, 8:30 am - 10:00 am Waverly AN ABET-BASED SEMINAR COURSE Rachid Manseur, University of West Florida The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) requirements for accreditation changed in many ways starting in the year 2000. New accreditation rules require evidence that engineering students acquire a broad education that goes beyond traditional engineering topics and includes areas such as ethics, team work, oral communication, lifelong learning, and an awareness of the impact of engineering on society to name just a few. ABET also requires a process for continuous assessment and improvement of the educational program. This article describes a seminar course established to address some of the new ABET requirements and help achieve department-stated outcomes and objectives. THE INFORMED ENGINEER Maliaca Oxnam, University of Arizona Future engineers need an education program that can provide them with the breadth of knowledge necessary to be knowledgeable and productive contributors to both the workplace and to society. In short, engineers need information.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 91 Friday Sessions

Unfortunately, most technical science courses don't require assignments that involve information research. It is even more unfortunate, that due the heavy technical nature of their curriculum, students are often only exposed to these information retrieval skills a few times in their college career. The Association of College & Research Libraries and the American Association for Higher Education endorsed Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education to describe essential skills that a student should possess to effectively identify the need for and utilize information. These standards correlate with several of the ABET evaluation criteria. This paper will both examine these relationships and explore the need for engineering students to master information competencies. WORK IN PROGRESS - DEVELOPING A SENSE OF PURPOSE IN GRADUATING ENGINEERS Kevin Bolding, Seattle Pacific University While some graduating engineers have a highly-developed sense of purpose and direction for their careers and lives, many students are merely aware that they possess valuable technical skills and enjoy working on engineering projects. At Seattle Pacific University, our mission includes not only training technically competent engineers, but also preparing them with a sense of purpose developed from our Christian worldview. To this end, we have added a significant component to our senior design courses that engages students in discussions and reflective writing about their purpose in becoming an engineer. Drawing on the concept of vocation, we examine and discuss ways that an engineer can find significance in his or her career that goes beyond simply having a good job that pays well. We hope that after completing this course, engineering students will be better prepared to find a particular career that fits their life goals, graduates will have a better sense of purpose in their work, and practicing engineers will be more motivated to make transformational changes in their workplace.. This work-in-progress presents our curriculum components and provides an early look at the student outcomes. ENHANCING COMMUNICATION AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE SKILLS IN AN INTRODUCTORY ENGI- NEERING COURSE Julia Pet-Armacost, University of Central Florida and Robert L. Armacost, University of Central Florida One of the major requirements of today s employers is for their new hires to have excellent communication and professional skills. These skills include writing, speaking, listening, presenting, working in multidisciplinary teams, engaging in life-long learning, and exhibiting professional and ethical behavior. These skills have been clearly identified by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology as being essential for all engineering graduates, but tend to be very difficult to teach and embed in the curriculum. This paper describes how to structure an introductory course in the major that would help to teach communication and professional practice skills in the context of the student s chosen major. The objectives of this course are to provide students with an exposure to the entire domain of the discipline in order to set the stage for the remaining curriculum, and to develop the students skills in, and awareness, sensitivity, and understanding of professional practice and communication skills. REAL-WORLD ENGINEERING: A COURSE FOR MASTERS STUDENTS HEADED FOR INDUSTRY Sally A. McKee, Cornell University and Diane M. Kubarek, Cornell University This paper describes an experimental, project-oriented course whose technical content focuses on the interface between hardware and software. The underlying agenda for the course is to teach students in one semester as many skills as possible for succeeding in industrial engineering environments. In essence, we are functioning as part of a small company for one semester. The non-technical portion of the course focuses on communication in speaking and writing: within a project team, with rotating Project Leaders , among separate teams, and with the CEO (the first author). The students themselves are helping to create the project part of the course, and the Cornell Academic Technologies Center (via the second author) is supplying tools to enable and evaluate the communication portions of the course. Guest speakers from diverse branches of high-tech industry provide perspective and advice on career paths for graduates with engineering degrees. Session F1F: Design Competitions Chair: Alan Clements, University of Teesside Time and place: Friday, 8:30 am - 10:00 am Windsor CONSTRUCTING A COMPUTING COMPETITION TO TEACH TEAMWORK Alan Clements, University of Teesside Education has often been concerned with transferring information to students rather than building skills they need to thrive in today s world. Employers are as interested in a student s ability to work effectively in a team as in their technical ability In 2000 the Computer Society set up a design competition to promote the very skills students require in the workplace. Unlike competitions stressing fast thinking under pressure, the Computer Society s competition operates over six months and requires four undergraduates to specify a computer-based solution to a problem, build a system, test it, and then document it. Students are given an open-ended problem in December and asked to exhibit a working product at the World Finals in June. Students submit 30-page reports covering the design and testing of their system. Moreover, the students should employ good software engineering practice. The top ten teams demonstrate their projects to an international

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 92 Friday Sessions

team of judges. At the World Finals students have to demonstrate an ability to sell their product to the world by multimedia-based presentations, short promotional films, or even role-playing. The paper discusses the competition s background, its development, and its future direction. WORK IN PROGRESS - PROGRAMMING CONTESTS IN ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENTS Cheryl L. Morris, IBM Canada Ltd. and Gabriel M. Silberman, IBM TJ Watson Research Center As part of IBM s commitment to supporting Open Source technology, a new programming competition has been established to promote the use of Eclipse, an open source platform designed to help developers work with tools from multiple vendors, in an integrated fashion. Developers can use Eclipse to create a wide variety of applications, from web sites to wireless programs to C++ programs and more. Dozens of leading tool vendors are already building tools based on the Eclipse platform. (www.eclipse.org ) ROBOTICS CONTESTS AND COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING EDUCATION Chan Jin Chung, Lawrence Technological University and Lisa Anneberg, Lawrence Technological University Autonomous robotics systems encompass the rich nature of integrated systems that includes mechanical, electrical, and computational components. Robotics has been used as a carrot to attract students to the science and engineering career and there have been various autonomous robot competitions. Research oriented competitions are also organized to promote the development of robotics technologies. As a result, competitions can provide many benefits to students, academia, industry, and society at large. In this paper, current status of robot competitions world wide for computer science education and research are summarized. Especially, the concept and results of Robofest (www.robofest.net) started at Lawrence Tech University since 2000 are introduced. Then detailed methodologies and environments to introduce robotics in traditional computer science classes are suggested. As a conclusion, future directions regarding robot contests for computer science education and research will be discussed and suggested. COMPUTER SYSTEMS DESIGN COMPETITION AT BYU Michael J Wirthlin, Brigham Young University The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at BYU has created a new senior project class for computer engineering students. This project class provides a multi-disciplinary team design experience for students interesting in the design of computer-based systems. The structure of this class is organized around the Computer Society International Design Competition (CSIDC) sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society. Students participating in this class are required to specify, implement, and test a computer-based system involving both hardware and software components. The most successful student team is selected to represent BYU in the IEEE CSIDC competition. This paper will describe the organization of this project class and demonstrate how the CSIDC contest can be used as a model for a senior project design class. Session F1G: Panel: Authoring a Professional Book Chair: James Conrad, University of North Carolina at Charlotte Time and place: Friday, 8:30 am - 10:00 am Standley I PANEL: AUTHORING A PROFESSIONAL BOOK James Conrad, University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Deborah Plummer, IEEE CS Press Editor, Jan Bailey, Wiley STM Books, Mike Williams, IEEE CS Press Editor, Richard Thayer, IEEE CS Press Editor and Ted Lewis, IEEE CS Press Editor This panel is for anyone who has thought about writing a non-classroom book, but may not know where to start. Panel members include authors and publishers. Panel members will briefly discuss publishing topics. Session F1H: Special Session: Addressing EC2000, Item g: Ability to Communicate Effectively Chair: Patricia A. Carlson, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Time and place: Friday, 8:30 am - 10:00 am Standley II CPR : A TOOL FOR ADDRESSING EC2000, ITEM G -- ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY Patricia A. Carlson, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Frederick C. Berry, Rose-Hulman Institute of Tech- nology Our goal is two-fold: (1) to give individuals an opportunity to develop their own position on how writing fits into engineering education, and (2) to introduce participants to an interactive, web-delivered learning environment Calibrated Peer Review developed by the Molecular Sciences Division at UCLA as part of an NSF grant. CPR is a discipline-independent, asynchronous platform for creating, implementing, and evaluating writing assignments, without significantly increasing the instructor s workload.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 93 Friday Sessions

Session F2A: Pre-College Concepts Chair: Abraham Teng, Utah Valley State College Time and place: Friday, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm Cotton Creek I COOL (COMPUTER OUTREACH OPPORTUNITIES FOR LEARNING) DEVELOPMENT AND ASSESSMENT James S. Collofello, Arizona State University, Joseph E. Urban, Arizona State University, Mary R. Anderson-Row- land, Arizona State University, Faye Navabi, Arizona State University, Debra L. Banks, Arizona State University and Doris Roman, Arizona State University The COOL (Computer Outreach Opportunities for Learning) project is concerned with increasing the number and diversity of computer science graduates. To accomplish this objective the project is providing an integrated approach to attracting and retaining students beginning at the high school level and continuing into the university environment. At the high school level, the project is developing and refining an innovative secondary school software development curriculum. This paper overviews the high school component of the COOL project. At the university level, to help the students who do not have the computer skills expected of freshmen, including many underrepresented minority students, a pilot placement exam was developed to help identify students who should take a computer basics course before they undertake a computer science class in C++ or Java. The placement exam was given to two groups of students. An analysis was done on the pre- dictability of the placement exam and suggestions for improvement were explored. In addition, the paper includes an analysis of the effectiveness of academic success workshops designed to help the students with concept building in the Java class. HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ATTITUDES TO AND KNOWLEDGE ABOUT ENGINEERING Linda S. Hirsch, N. J. Institute of Technology, Siobhán J. Gibbons, N. J. Institute of Technology, Howard Kimmel, N. J. Institute of Technology, Ronald Rockland, N. J. Institute of Technology and Joel Bloom, N. J. Institute of Technology The demand for engineers is expected to increase both nationally and in New Jersey. The Pre-Engineering Instructional and Outreach Program, established to enlarge the future pool of engineers in New Jersey, focuses on implementing pre- engineering curricula in middle and high schools and informing students, teachers, parents, and school counselors about the rewards of engineering careers. Along with increased enrollment in college engineering programs, successful outcomes include increased knowledge about engineering careers and more positive attitudes to engineering in high school students. A survey to measure high school students': 1) attitudes to engineering, 2) engineering skills self-efficacy, 3) self-confidence in academic abilities, 4) knowledge about engineering and 5) academic history was developed. The current paper describes the development of the survey. Preliminary results suggest that even students who have positive attitudes to engineering and are considering studying engineering know little about engineering careers and what engineers do. AP MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE COURSES AS A GATEWAY TO CAREERS IN ENGINEERING Mike Robinson, University of Nevada, M. Sami Fadali, University of Nevada, M. Malisa, University of Nevada, W. Johnson, University of Nevada and Ted Batchman, University of Nevada Many high schools offer Advanced Placement (AP) courses in subjects including the sciences and mathematics. Stud- ies have shown that students who take AP classes are more likely to succeed in college. Other studies have shown that failure in engineering education is strongly correlated to deficiencies in mathematics and science. This paper discusses AP classes and their impact on engineering as a career choice for high school students. The paper examines the percentage of female and minority students who took AP calculus and physics in high school and its correlation with choosing engineering and other STEM careers. It also examines the impact of parent profession and income on AP enrollment in calculus and physics. Last, the paper assesses the effect of AP calculus and/or other advanced mathematics courses in high school on retention rates in university level engineering programs. The data for the paper was collected using a survey of AP class offerings in a large Western school district as well as from the College of Engineering in a medium sized Western Univer- sity. INTRODUCING ENGINEERING IN MIDDLE SCHOOLS Laura L. Kosbar, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center The Engineering Your Future program is a collaborative effort amongst IBM, the Colorado School of Mines (CSM), and the Denver Public School system (DPS). As part of this project, an IBM researcher and undergraduate students from CSM visit 25 middle school science classes (~600 students) on a monthly basis to expose the students to various scientific, mathematical, and engineering concepts through hands-on investigations. Each teaching module is designed to engage students in interesting and relevant experiments which demonstrate scientific or engineering concepts that reinforce or enhance the standard curriculum. Repetitive interventions with each class are used to develop relationships between the middle school students, the outreach instructor, and undergraduate student role models . The four participating Denver

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 94 Friday Sessions

middle schools all have high minority (>90%) low-income (>70%) student populations that have demonstrated poor performance on state standardized tests of mathematics and science. WORK IN PROGRESS: OVER-ARCHING CONCEPTS IN K-12 SCIENCE EDUCATION: CONNECTING THE DOTS Joseph Kelly, Eagle High School and John Gardner, Boise State University This is a report of a work in progress at the Eagle High School in Eagle, Idaho and funded by the Micron Foundation. Several science teachers have identified four over-arching concepts that allow students to see the interconnectedness between the various fields of science. These concepts are: Matter, Energy, Force and Change. This approach is currently being applied to Earth Science (grade 9), Chemistry (10) and General Physics (11). Preliminary data from the first year of this program is very encouraging and this exciting idea is being taken up in the Engineering and Education colleges at Boise State University. Session F2B: EE Topics 2 Chair: Hossein Mousavinezhad, Western Michigan University Time and place: Friday, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm Cotton Creek II WORK IN PROGRESS - INTEGRATION OF DATA ACQUISITION HARDWARE INTO AN UNDERGRADUATE DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING COURSE VIA THE CAPSTONE SENIOR DESIGN PROJECT Elizabeth A. Thompson, Indiana University/Purdue University Fort Wayne, Jonathon Acierto, Indiana University/ Purdue University Fort Wayne and Adrian Chavis, Indiana University/Purdue University Fort Wayne This paper discusses a capstone senior design project involving development of a data acquisition system for use in an undergraduate digital signal processing (DSP) course. The project allows undergraduate senior engineering students to merge knowledge of hardware architecture with concepts of Nyquist sampling theorem to explore the relationship between analog and digital signals and develop invaluable insight into the hardware aspects of DSP. The Pentium II PC-based design involves a complete data acquisition system, including a microphone with corresponding conditioning circuitry, an analog-to-digital converter, an 8255 peripheral interface adapter, a user-friendly math intensive software interface, a digital-to-analog converter, and speakers. WORK IN PROGRESS: MULTI-MEDIA EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS FOR MICROELECTRONIC DEVICE COURSES Lili He, San Jose State University Microsoft Power Point (PPT) is used to develop a multimedia teaching and learning tools for microelectronic courses. The physical processes in semiconductor are usually difficult to visualize and to understand for students. The instructor also usually feels not easy to express clear and strong enough to convince the students. The PPT slides developed are to demonstrate the operating principles of solid state devices. It is difficult to imagine a complete transistor energy band vari- ation with different bias conditions where two or more junctions are involved. PPT provides a simple yet useful animated function, which could implement to microelectronic lectures conveniently. It also increases the applicability of the course lectures to web-linked materials which benefit to both students and faculty. WORK IN PROGRESS - ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING SERVICE COURSE IMPROVEMENTS Cliff Grigg, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Edward Wheeler, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology This Work in Progress describes a project being undertaken at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (RHIT) to improve the effectiveness of electrical engineering service courses offered to mechanical engineering students. The authors had taught these courses several times and were dissatisfied with the outcomes. The delivery features of the new course includes: studio format; presentation of material from the viewpoint and in the context of the discipline being served; a variety of active learning strategies; and Web-based learning and assessment tools including on-line quizzes, lecture notes, multimedia simulations, and detailed problem solutions in an intuitive point-and-click format. For the duration of the project, a board will review the educational materials developed, provide information for their continuous improvement, and assure that the materials developed can serve as a model for the development of service courses in electrical systems. LABORATORY DESIGN FOR INTRODUCTORY COURSE OF MICRO-PROCESSORS Shouling He, Penn State Erie Nowadays, most engineering related departments offer microprocessor courses due to the broad applications of computers. However, understanding the basic concept of a microprocessor behind the physical device is a difficult task for most primary learners. Under this circumstance, laboratory exercises are considered to be the essential ap-proach in enabling students to understand the basic structure and functionality of a computer. This paper proposes a way to design laboratories for the introductory course of micro-processors. The emphasis focuses on the exercises of As-sembly language programming and hardware/software co-design such that through the laboratories, students can gradually understand the

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 95 Friday Sessions

fundamentals of microprocessor design. Furthermore, a course project is provided to ascer-tain the amount of knowledge that students have gained from the labs. In review the results of the project as well as the final exam of the course, the design of labs has shown a sat-isfactory result. ADAPTING THE LEARNING FACTORY MODEL FOR IMPLEMENTATION IN A LABORATORY Mukasa E. Ssemakula, Wayne State University and Gene Y. Liao, Wayne State University he objective of the Learning Factory is to integrate a practice-based engineering curriculum that balances analytical and theoretical knowledge with physical facilities for product realization in an industrial-like setting. The Learning Factory model emphasizes practical experience and consequently, all programs that stress hands-on experiences for students are well suited to implementing the model. This paper describes a project whose goal is to adapt the model for implementation in regular academic programs without having to build an actual factory. This was accomplished by modifying five carefully selected courses, leading to the use of coordinated projects across those courses. The projects focus on the making of functional model engines. In these courses, students generate engineering drawings of engine components, produce process plans for and make the components, and assemble and test the engines. This affords students practical experience and understanding of the full range of issues involved in product design, manufacturing planning, fabrication, assembly and testing of functional products. Session F2C: Computer Science Education 1 Chair: Ingrid Russell, University of Hartford Time and place: Friday, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm Meadowbrook I RESULTS FROM USING AN ENVIRONMENT FOR INTERPRETER-BASED PROJECTS FOR THE PROGRAM- MING LANGUAGES COURSE Barbara M. Moskal, Colorado School of Mines, L. A. Smith King, College of the Holly Cross and John Barr, Ithaca College The Multiple Language Environment (MuLE) software tool is designed to support the teaching of programming languages using a combination of comparative and interpretive approaches. Accompanying the MuLE software tool is a user's manual and a selection of pre-developed projects, scheme pre-labs, and testing programs. MuLE projects have been designed to vary in both size and complexity, allowing the instructor to select the appropriate level of classroom implementation. Formal assessment results indicate that students who used the MuLE software tool throughout a semester displayed a greater increase in content knowledge than did students who completed a traditional programming language course. ON MAKING RELATIONAL DIVISION COMPREHENSIBLE Lester I. McCann, University of Wisconsin - Parkside Division is the most intellectually challenging of the basic operators of relational algebra. Although its utility is unquestioned, its presentation by many textbooks, and therefore by many instructors, leaves much to be desired. This paper examines the standard approaches used to express division in relational algebra and SQL, explains the derivation of each, and presents a coherent sequence of examples that we have used successfully to teach division to students in introductory database classes. WORK IN PROGRESS - USING THE NSF DIGITAL LIBRARY TO ENHANCE YOUR TEACHING John Impagliazzo, Hofstra University, John A.N. Lee, Virginia Tech and Manuel Pérez-Quiñones, Virginia Tech This presentation is a work in progress on the launching and continuing development of an educational portal for all areas of computing. The portal is the result of the National Science Foundation s initiative to develop digital content useful for educators, students, and people in industry. One content area of this initiative encompasses areas of computer science, computer engineering, software engineering, information systems, information technology, and all other areas of computing. A consortium of five institutions, each bringing a different perspective to the project, is responsible for acquiring the computing content. Historical developments in computing serve as a theme in the collection of educational resources. The presentation shows how educators can employ the NSF initiative to enhance their teaching. A SIMULATOR SUPPORTING LECTURES ON OPERATING SYSTEMS Luiz Paulo Maia, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ and Ageu C. Pacheco Jr., Federal University of Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ A common problem faced by teachers and Computer Science students is the difficulty in attaining a proper understanding of the real dynamic nature of the computing events involved. No matter how solid the knowledge and the communication ability of the instructor might be as well as the concentration and close attention paid by the students, the proper understanding of the concepts presented is impaired by the implicit static nature of the class or lecture presentation. In the specific case of operating systems, after many years lecturing on the subject, we started looking for a way to improve the

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 96 Friday Sessions

approach in which the concepts and techniques were presented. This paper is the outcome of this research. It implements a simulator (SOsim) with visual facilities to serve as an effective tool for the better teaching & learning of concepts and techniques in modern operating systems, serving as a way to render the whole process more efficient. NON-DETERMINISM IN CS HIGH-SCHOOL CURRICULA Michal Armoni, The Open University of Israel and Judith Gal-Ezer, The Open University of Israel One of the units in the relatively new high school CS curriculum which is being implemented in Israel is a theoretical unit on computational models. It includes deterministic and non-deterministic finite automata, regular and non-regular languages, closure properties of regular languages, pushdown automata, closure properties of context free languages, Turing machines, the Church-Turing thesis and the halting problem. This paper focuses on part of a study we conducted on the unit, dealing with the topic of non-determinism of finite automata. One of the aspects dealt with was how students perceived non-determinism. 339 students were given a relatively complicated regular language, and asked to construct a finite automaton that accepts this language. We found that many students did not choose the easiest way to solve the problem: Many students preferred to construct a deterministic automaton, even though constructing a non-deterministic automaton for the language is much simpler. We analyze and categorize the students' solutions, thus shedding some light on their perception of the abstract concept of non-determinism. Session F2D: Recruitment and Diversity 1 Chair: Larry Whitman, Wichita State University Time and place: Friday, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm Meadowbrook II ENGINEERING AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS (OR DEAN KAMEN S CHALLENGE REVIS- ITED) Bogdan Adamczyk, Grand Valley State University and Shirley Fleischmann, Grand Valley State University What can engineering students and faculty offer to inner city fifth and sixth graders and their teachers and vice versa, what could be the benefit to engineering departments? In this paper we will describe a successful partnership that is now in its third year. The elementary students are from an inner city neighborhood where the high school dropout rate is high about 30%. Using the projects that have been developed as a context, we will describe the history of the partnership, the benefits to all parties involved, and some of the surprises that were encountered. We will also address how this partnership seems to be another answer to the challenge presented to engineering educators by Dean Kamen at the 2001 ASEE Confer- ence in Albuquerque, New Mexico. That challenge was - and still is - to draw promising students from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds into engineering and technically based careers. USING SUMMER CAMPS TO MOTIVATE RURAL STUDENTS IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING Denise Martinez, Tarleton State University and Michael Hibbs, Tarleton State University Tarleton State University serves a rural region southwest of Fort Worth, TX. The youth of this community are often unaware of, or unable to travel to, events intended to engage them in science and engineering based activities. Since students in this area are typically not exposed to these types of activities, they often do not enter a technology career path. This project proposed enhancing secondary science and mathematics education as well as promoting interest in physics, mathematics, and engineering among junior high and high school students using summer camps. While summer camps in science and engineering are not novel in concept, providing this type of opportunity was new to this audience. Thus, this project filled a missing need in the community. BEST PRACTICES IN RECRUITING AND PERSISTENCE OF UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN ENGI- NEERING: A 2002 SNAPSHOT J.A. Youngman, United States Coast Guard Academy and C.J. Egelhoff, United States Coast Guard Academy The US Coast Guard Academy conducted a study of "Best Practices" for recruiting under-represented minorities into engineering among cohort institutions. This paper presents two models that emerged from the study and describes first steps needed before diversity can be achieved. In Model A, the strategy is to attract academically qualified minorities who have the desired standardized test scores, GPAs, and curriculum experiences in mathematics, laboratory sciences, and honors/advanced-placement courses who also seek to major in engineering. Successful recruiting strategies are direct, high touch, high-visibility, and multifaceted. In Model B, the strategy is to recruit educationally disadvantaged students who have demonstrated the aptitude and attitude to succeed. All educationally disadvantaged students, including underrepresented minorities, recent immigrant populations, and even majority males are sought.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 97 Friday Sessions

CONNECTS COMMUNITIES: MAKING CONNECTIONS FOR SUCCESS Marsha Lee, Texas A&M University, César Malavé, Texas A&M University and Jan Rinehart, Texas A&M Uni- versity The CONNECTS Communities consist of first generation, high ability, low socio-economic students. CONNECTS has two primary concerns: 1) providing financial support and 2) creating a community of scholars to help in the transition to college and the commitment to academic excellence. The program consists of several components that are designed to address these concerns: 1) financial support a scholarship is provided for those students who have high financial need. Other considerations of scholarship awards are: first generation, math SAT, parents educational attainment, location of high school, and size of graduating class, 2) community students attend mandatory weekly discussions facilitated by faculty mentors. Discussion topics address the social need and impact of engineering; globalization; and personal development and learning. These discussions allow students to better understand who they are, form connection to an engineering career; and form an academic community. Research, literature and behavior profiles are utilized during seminars to further explore these topics. Future plans include clustering students in the same residence hall and course Learning Community (LC). These LC clustered students are in the same science, mathematics, and engineering courses. In addition, students will attend the same Fish Camp and the Engineering Welcome and participate in mentoring activities with upper division peers and/or industry engineers. In the pilot year of the program 39 students participated. All the students were Pell grant eligible and sixty percent were also first generation college students. The first semester retention rate of these students was 87.2%, while the college-wide retention rate for first semester students is 75%. The average GPA for CONNECTS participants was 2.8 while the average for all first year students in the College of Engineering is 2.54. In this paper, we will present this model program s components and plans for the future. ENGINEERING INSIGHTS: DEVELOPING STEM EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES LEADS TO K-16 PARTNERSHIPS William C. McCarthy, New Mexico State University and Joseph E. Misquez, New Mexico State University RASEM2, a National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored project in New Mexico and west Texas, addresses the unequal representation of students with disabilities in science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines. Therefore, the authors committed to an understanding of pre-college public education which led to the establishment of K-16 initiatives including bridging programs, summer camps, teacher outreach, professional development, mentorships, and research. In addition, the New Mexico Department of Education and Commission on Higher Education together formed a K-16 Part- nership group to study and recommend effective strategies fostering quality teaching and learning in all levels of education. The primary author was selected as member of this group. Particularly interesting was the fostering of relationships between college and pre-college educators and the integration of methodologies pursuant to the K-16 Partnership objectives. Most important involvement in the Partnership fostered a K-12 outreach with the charge to better understand pre-college education. Session F2E: Laboratory Innovations Chair: Al Rosa, University of Denver Time and place: Friday, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm Waverly DEVELOPMENT OF A MULTI-USE CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT CLASSROOM/ LABORATORY Charles McIntyre, North Dakota State University and Gary Smith, North Dakota State University Engineering education requires a combination of classroom training, hands-on experience, and industry participation. In addition, students must become fairly well versed in the use of the technological tools of the trade. In order to accomplish these goals, engineering programs must develop innovation use of space and provide state-of-the-art technologies that can be used by both the students and the instructional staff. The contents of this paper describe: 1) the overall conceptual plan of the CCL, 2) the proposed use of the CCL (use analysis), 3) the equipment and technologies for the CCL, 4) the phased construction schedule, and 5) a summary of the work completed. A CLOSE-RANGE PHOTOGRAMMETRY LABORATORY ACTIVITY FOR MECHANICAL ENGINEERING UNDERGRADUATES Jack Leifer, University of Kentucky This paper describes a new laboratory activity used to introduce undergraduate mechanical engineering students to close-range photogrammetry. Mechanical engineers typically use close-range photogrammetry for the non-contact dimen- sioning of objects ranging in area between 10-3 to 102 m2. It is especially useful in cases where an object is visible but cannot be touched (e.g. a contaminated or fragile part), or has a complex geometry (e.g. collision damage in an automobile). While close-range photogrammetry is widely used in industrial and government laboratories and is commonly taught to civil engineering undergraduates, this technique is rarely discussed in most undergraduate mechanical engineering pro-

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 98 Friday Sessions

grams. Our photogrammetry laboratory was implemented at a very low cost, using a single consumer-grade digital camera with free photogrammetry software downloaded from the Internet (PhotoModeler Lite). Students achieved mastery of the major features of the software after about 2-3 hours of individual practice, using a series of tutorials and example images integrated into the software package. Working in 3 to 4 person groups, they then took a series of photographs of a small part using the digital camera, processed the images using the software, and compared the measurements calculated by Pho- toModeler with those obtained using calipers and micrometers. Issues that affected the students results included (1) quality of the lighting used, (2) camera calibration, (3) number and orientation of images chosen, and (4) ability to discern and consistently mark features of the object that appeared in more than one photograph. In post-project questionnaires completed by the students, most found the lab to be interesting and useful, and a number of them were eager to use the technique to perform measurements and construct solid models for projects they were working on in other classes. WORK IN PROGRESS - LABVIEW IN ENGINEERING LABORATORY COURSES Julie Yi-Zun Wang, Potomac State College of West Virginia University The project is to introduce the National Instruments software LabView to the lower division engineering laboratory courses in Electrical and Mechanical engineering. LabView provides a modern tool to perform the computer-based experiments, date acquisition, and instrumentation measurements. The objectives of this project are: gain hands-on experience; understand how engineering system works; develop technical skills including programming and analysis; provide interactive and remote access to the laboratory facilities at anywhere; share resources with other colleges and universities through the distance learning; and reduce the cost of laboratory equipment. We use ready-to-use examples to build up the electrical/ mechanical systems and perform measurement and analysis. The compute-based experiments can be easily controlled and switched between host and client computers by computer network or internet. INTEGRATED DESIGN LABORATORY Robert Kubichek, University of Wyoming, John Pierre, University of Wyoming, Frank Tuffner, University of Wyo- ming, Jerry Hamann, University of Wyoming and John Steadman, University of Wyoming Workbenches in traditional student electronics laboratories have supported courses primarily in areas of circuits and electronics. Unfortunately, it has been difficult to design meaningful hands-on exercises for other courses such as signals and systems, communications, controls, and digital signal processing using typical workbench setups. This paper describes the development of a new workbench design that effectively supports a wide range of courses in electrical and computer engineering. Each bench is fully integrated through a computer interfaced to IEEE-488-based test and measurement equipment. Additionally, each includes a high-speed data acquisition system as well as an outboard DSP hardware system. This paper describes the test bench setup and illustrates its use by examples from several different courses. AN INEXPENSIVE METHOD TO TEACH HANDS-ON DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS Cameron H. G. Wright, University of Wyoming, Thad B. Welch, U.S. Naval Acadmy and Michael G. Morrow, Uni- versity of Wisconsin at Madison Some of the more subtle concepts related to digital communication systems such as signal constellation imbalance, intersymbol interference, pulse shaping ramifications, and performance with in-band interference are quite difficult for most students to grasp from a textbook or lectures alone. This paper describes an inexpensive approach to providing a real- time, hands-on laboratory experience for the students covering these same topics using the Texas Instruments C6711 digital signal processing starter kit along with custom software the authors have developed in MATLAB and C/C++. Expen- sive specialized test equipment such as a vector signal generator or a vector signal analyzer is not needed using this method. Our initial teaching experience has shown this new method to be highly successful yet very inexpensive when compared to purchasing traditional dedicated test equipment. The software described herein is freely available to educators and students. Session F2F: Computer Engineering Education Chair: James Conrad, University of North Carolina at Charlotte Time and place: Friday, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm Windsor BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN FUTURE SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE ENGINEERS: A CASE STUDY USING THE NIOS SOFTCORE PROCESSOR Jaakko Kairus, Helsinki University of Technology, Juha Forsten, Helsinki University of Technology, Matti Tom- miska, Helsinki University of Technology and Jorma Skyttä, Helsinki University of Technology As digital designs grow both in size and functionality, the importance of software development concepts has increased. This has led to a demand in the industry for engineers with good skills in both electrical engineering and computer science. However, the general trend in undergraduate education has been a divergence of these two historically close fields of study. To have an influence in the opposite direction, a digital laboratory course was reformed at the Helsinki University of Technology. The modernized laboratory course includes exercises on Altera s Nios development platform, which has been

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 99 Friday Sessions

enhanced with a custom-designed expansion board. The exercises include both software and hardware concepts and contribute to a better understanding between future electrical engineers and computer scientists. Based on student feedback, the initial objective of bridging the gap between software and hardware engineers has been achieved. THE GRADUATION THESIS IN THE COMPUTER ENGINEERING PROGRAM AT UNICENP Edson Pedro Ferlin, Centro Universitário Positivo - UnicenP, Valfredo Pilla Junior, Centro Universitário Positivo - UnicenP and José Carlos da Cunha, Centro Universitário Positivo - UnicenP This paper describes the Graduation Thesis Course (GT) of the Computer Engineering Program at UnicenP, an Univer- sity in Curitiba, south of Brazil. The main objective of this course is the consolidation of the several contents and concepts handled throughout the entire Engineering Program. The graduation thesis is an interdisciplinary activity, obligatorily outlined for software and hardware development, the two great subject areas of the Program. Each student develops his own project or in two students' teams during the school year. A professor is assigned for each student's supervision. The supervision begins still in the project s proposal definition phase and lasts until its defense before the Board of Examiners of the GT. The projects evaluation is carried through by the Board of Examiners, which is composed by the faculty, either super- visors or assigned by the Program s Chair. The work themes are proposed by the student, however, subject to the approval, adaptation or substitution on the part of the Commission of the Course. COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE AND ORGANIZATION IN THE MODEL COMPUTER ENGINEERING CURRIC- ULUM Victor P. Nelson, Auburn University, Mitchell D. Theys, University of Illinois at Chicago and Alan Clements, Uni- versity of Teesside In 1998, the Computer Society of the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Association for Comput- ing Machinery established the Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula 2001 (CC2001) to undertake a major review of curriculum guidelines for undergraduate programs in computing. A separate task force was created to focus specifically on Computer Engineering (CPE) and develop a separate CPE volume for the CC2001 report. Computer engineering focuses on the design of computer components and computer-based systems, integrating hardware and software to produce systems that solve real-world problems. With this in mind, the CPE volume includes an outline of the body of knowledge appropriate for undergraduate study in CPE. This paper discusses the Computer Architecture and Organization (CAO) body of knowledge defined in the CPE volume, including a discussion of which CAO topics were selected as "core", i.e. to be included in every CPE program, vs. "elective", to be included or excluded according to individual program objectives. INTEGRATING COMPUTER ENGINEERING EDUCATION WITH A PLATFORM FOR LEARNING Don Heer, Oregon State University, Roger Traylor, Oregon State University, Tom Thompson, Oregon State Uni- versity and Terri Feiz, Oregon State University Computer engineering is predominately taught in a way that separates topics into seemingly unrelated islands of information, where each island is the class in which the topic is presented. When viewed across classes, the topics seem to have little relation to each other. The way topics are presented ignores the need for connection and for integration, which should be at the core of an engineering education [2]. Using a platform for learning across the entire computer engineering curriculum, topics in different classes which seem disconnected can be placed into a unifying framework under which all the topics can be blended into a coherent whole. The platform acts as the consistent reference point that connects the spectrum of topics throughout the curriculum. In the spring of 2002, a new platform for learning, called a Tekbot was integrated into the computer engineering curriculum at Oregon State University. This paper describes how the integration of topics has improved the curriculum and paints a roadmap of how the platform will be used across the computer engineering curriculum. A PERFORMANCE MODELING AND DESIGN ENVIRONMENT FOR SENIOR COMPUTER ENGINEERING UNDERGRADUATES Robert H Klenke, Virginia Commonwealth University, Jason M Blevins, Virginia Commonwealth University, James H Aylor, University of Virginia and Jason J Hein, University of Virginia A Performance Modeling and Design Environment for Senior Computer Engineering Undergraduates This paper describes the development of a modeling and design environment for teaching the concepts of performance modeling of hardware/software systems to senior computer engineering undergraduate students. This environment is being developed to support senior capstone design projects in computer engineering. Portions of this environment are currently being beta tested and educational material, including lecture slides and laboratory exercises based on the use of the environment, are being developed. Session F2G: Panel: Communities of Practice in Engineering Education Chair: Diane T. Rover, Iowa State University Time and place: Friday, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm Standley I

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 100 Friday Sessions

COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION Diane T. Rover, Iowa State University, Bruce Kramer, National Science Foundation, Ruth Streveler, Colorado School of Mines, Jeff Froyd, Foundation Coalition and Karl Smith, University of Minnesota A university is a learning organization in both the traditional academic and contemporary management senses. The social foundation for learning is clearly established, and there are many contexts that support learning formally and infor- mally. This panel will explore the social contexts, or communities, that are in place or have the potential to enrich the academic environment. Panelists bring unique perspectives on higher education, engineering education and research, and communities. Session F2H: Special Session: Service Learning in Engineering and Computer Science Courses Chair: William Oakes, Purdue University Time and place: Friday, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm Standley II SERVICE LEARNING IN ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE COURSES William Oakes, Purdue University The workshop will follow a format of successful service learning workshops conducted by Campus Compact, EPICS and AAHE and will utilize resources from Campus Compact, AAHE, the Michigan Journal of Community Service Learn- ing and other practitioners of service learning in engineering and computer science. Each participant will leave with a packet of resources and examples of successful programs. Session F3A: Pre-College Projects Chair: Kathleen E. Wage, George Mason University Time and place: Friday, 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm Cotton Creek I STANDARDS-BASED ENGINEERING CURRICULA AS A VEHICLE FOR K-12 SCIENCE AND MATH INTE- GRATION Malinda R. Schaefer, University of Colorado, Jacquelyn F. Sullivan, University of Colorado and Janet L. Yowell, University of Colorado After 20 years of efforts to improve K-12 science and math education, concerns loom that today s students show limited inclination to choose engineering and technology futures. With little opportunity to learn how science and math skills translate into professionally useful knowledge, students do not make informed choices about their education options and close off future career pathways. To develop concrete connections for K-12 students between science/math and daily life, the University of Colorado at Boulder s Integrated Teaching and Learning Program s K-12 outreach initiative developed a collection of standards-based, hands-on K-12 engineering curricula. These classroom-tested and affordable curricular units provide K-12 educators and engineering colleges with an effective and sustainable engineering resource, contributing to an improvement in technological literacy as well as expanding the pool of youngsters who imagine themselves pursuing a future in engineering and technology. This paper examines the development of K-12 engineering curricula as an effective vehicle for science and math integration and provides assessment results. USING LEGOS TO INTEREST HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AND IMPROVE K12 STEM EDUCATION Lawrence E. Whitman, Wichita State University and Tonya L. Witherspoon, College of Education Wichita State University is actively using LEGOs to encourage science math engineering and technology (SMET). There are two major thrusts in our efforts. The college of engineering uses LEGO blocks to simulate a factory environment in the building of LEGO airplanes. This participative demonstration has been used at middle school, high school, and college classes. LEGOs are used to present four manufacturing scenarios of traditional, cellular, pull, and single piece flow manufacturing. The demonstration presents to students how the design of a factory has significant impact on the success of the company. It also encourages students to pursue engineering careers. The college of education uses robotics as a vehicle to integrate technology and engineering into math and science preservice and inservice teacher education.. The purpose is to develop technologically astute and competent teachers who are capable of integrating technology into their curriculum to improve the teaching and learning of their students. This paper will discuss each effort, the collaboration between the two, and provide examples of success. UNIVERSITY MENTORING FOR FIRST LEGO LEAGUE Whitney L. Howell, Univeristy of South Florida, Edward J. McCaffrey, University of South Florida and Robin R. Murphy, University of South Florida This paper describes the teaching methods used by the teachers and graduate student mentors for students involved in the FIRST Lego League (FLL) Robotics Competition. Participants in the FLL, aged 9 through 14, were exposed to topics in robotics, artificial intelligence, engineering, biology, and ecology, in order to promote hands-on experimentation and

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 101 Friday Sessions

development of presentation skills. Two important observations for potential mentors from academia are 1) teachers are often unprepared or uncomfortable with robotics and 2) students need more introductory materials, especially with programming and engineering principles, in order to be successful. The methods used to mentor the students are meant to serve as a guide for future guidance in FIRST Robotic Competitions, or other instruction in the areas of robotics, engineering, and programming. All materials discussed are available upon request. THE VIRGINIA MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGINEERING EDUCATION INITIATIVE: USING A SENIOR DESIGN COURSE TO DEVELOP ENGINEERING TEACHING KITS Amanda Kraines, University of Virginia, Kelly L. Klanian, University of Virginia, Leyf Peirce, University of Vir- ginia, Elizabeth Waters, University of Virginia, Kristina Gluchowski, University of Virginia, Kristopher Janezic, University of Virginia, Joshua Labrie, University of Virginia, Jennifer Cunningham, University of Virginia, Hilary Bart-Smith, University of Virginia and Larry G. Richards, University of Virginia At the University of Virginia, we have undertaken a major project to design, implement, test, and distribute Engineer- ing Teaching Kits (ETKs) for use in middle school science and math courses. Each ETK will emphasize the engineering design approach to problem solving. A new senior design sequence for fourth year Mechanical Engineers allowed nearly 30 students to participate in this project. Six ETKs are under development: submersible vehicles, gels and brain perfusion, simple machines, solar car design, design for sustainability, and engineering materials. In this paper, we will review our approach to developing ETKs, briefly describe each of the ETKs, and assess the efficacy of a senior design course for developing instructional materials for middle schools. Under Pressure - the first team to pilot their ETK at a middle school - is featured, and their lesson plans are described along with their assessment methods. USING J-DSP TO INTRODUCE COMMUNICATIONS AND MULTIMEDIA TECHNOLOGIES TO HIGH SCHOOLS Andreas Spanias, Arizona State University, Thrassos Thrasyvoulou, Arizona State University, Yu Song, Arizona State University and Constantinos Panayiotou, Arizona State University This paper describes interactive Java software and modular web content developed at Arizona State University aimed at introducing elements of digital signal processing (DSP), multimedia, and communications technologies to high school (HS) students. The effort is motivated by several needs and trends that include: initiatives for graduating technology-aware HS students, the need to attract HS students from diverse backgrounds to engineering programs, emphasis on mathematics through applications that appeal to high school students, etc. The software used to support this effort is based on an NSF- funded object-oriented simulation environment called Java-DSP (J-DSP). J-DSP was developed from the ground up at ASU and enables simulations and DSP demonstrations over the internet. In addition, exercises and demonstrations can be embedded seamlessly in HTML educational modules. The web modules developed at ASU consist of HS-friendly lessons that contain J-DSP based examples connecting elements of music, telephony, and Hi-Fi entertainment to math and DSP. Efforts are underway to disseminate these materials to Phoenix high schools and assess their impact. Session F3B: Global Issues in Engineering Education Chair: Cesar Malave, Texas A&M University Time and place: Friday, 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm Cotton Creek II PROGRAM IN ENGINEERING FOR DEVELOPING COMMUNITIES: VIEWING THE DEVELOPING WORLD AS THE CLASSROOM OF THE 21ST CENTURY Bernard Amadei, University of Colorado Engineering curricula in modern universities are mostly designed toward solving the problems of the one billion rich but do not address the needs of the five billion poor on our planet. This is unfortunate as the demand of the developing world for engineering solutions is likely to increase in the forthcoming years due to population growth. There is a need for training a new generation of engineers who could better meet the challenges and needs of the developing world. In the Col- lege of Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder, we are developing a new program in Engineering for Devel- oping Communities (EDC). Its overall mission is to educate globally responsible students who can offer sustainable and appropriate technology solutions to the endemic problems faced by developing communities worldwide (including the US). The components of the new program include education, research and development, and outreach and service. WORK IN PROGRESS- K12 IN XXI CENTURY: A CHALLENGE FOR THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES NEW SOCIETY Melany M. Ciampi, Supportnet School of Technology, Claudio da Rocha Brito, Council of Researches in Education and Sciences, Edvaldo Valle, Supportnet School of Technology and Janete Molnar, Supportnet School of Technol- ogy Let s go Folks a very appealing name that is a special K12 program in public schools of São Vicente city. It has been developed and applied by the City Hall education coordination in a joint venture with SUPPORTNET, a private enterprise

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 102 Friday Sessions

with the support of COPEC Council of Researches in Education and Sciences. The main goal of this project is to help students to develop skills to follow carriers of engineering and technology areas. It is based in an integrated educational method using computers as the tools to increment the learning process aiming the betterment of fundamental education system, the K12. It also includes a special space in the schools named Fortress of Knowledge where the students can spend quality time during the week enjoying the learning process provided by the new technology. The good results of this project implementation so far has been so positive that it is going to be amplified to the qualification of poor communities citizens in the city. WORK IN PROGRESS: ENHANCING ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN IBERIAN-AMERICAN COUNTRIES Claudio da Rocha Brito, Council of Researches in Education and Sciences and Melany M. Ciampi, Supportnet School of Technology The contemporary paradigm of education preaches among others requirements the international experience as one of the important skills in the formation of the new engineer. These discussions have been enriched by ASIBEI that is the Ibe- rian American Association of Engineering Education Institutions bringing proposals for a more cooperation between the Iberia Peninsula countries engineering education institutions and the ones of Latin America. The internationalization of engineering education has become one of the main goals for next decade. Mercosul as the result of the expansion of world capitalism over Latin America and the globalization has an important role helping to promote a narrowing of relations between both sides of Atlantic countries. The meetings and discussions of ASIBEI have generated what has been named the Rio Declaration , which consists in some guidelines for future conversations about collaborative programs and similar education system for the acquisition of international diplomas. IN SEARCH OF CONTEXTUAL TEACHING OF PROGRAMMING IN A TANZANIAN SECONDARY SCHOOL Marcus Duveskog, University of Joensuu, Erkki Sutinen, University of Joensuu, Matti Tedre, University of Joensuu and Mikko Vesisenaho, University of Joensuu Teaching programming in non-Western surroundings reveals the cultural roots and dependencies of Computer Science. Both the concepts and the teaching methods of the discipline needed to be rethought in a teaching experiment carried out in Kidugala, Tanzania, among secondary school students. Following the idea of contextualized Computer Science, called eth- nocomputing, we used culturally relevant entry points to teach the basics of programming. HIV/AIDS was chosen as the topic of an Internet site, to be designed and implemented by novice programmers, using the Java language. Analyzed by action research, our experiences indicate a significant motivation among the students to learn programming skills in order to be able to deal with a taboo-like topic on a neutral platform - a computer. The experiment suggests that a culturally relevant entry point, combined with problem-based learning, could challenge novice programmers also in Western societies; a side-effect of studying Computer Science education in a less developed country. GLOBAL NETWORK AND GLOBAL CENTRE FOR PROBLEM BASED LEARNING Flemming K. Fink, Aalborg University, Stig Enemark, Aalborg University, Egon Moesby, Aalborg University and Anette Kolmos, Aalborg University New skills are required of engineering graduates to meet the needs from industry and society - team-working, communication, project management, cross-cultural skills etc. in addition to engineering professional skills. These requirements are met implicitly via the Problem Based Learning concept. Aalborg University has proven to hold a strong position in Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and, an increasing number of universities and engineering schools worldwide are seeking consultancy and co-operation with Aalborg University. On that background the Global UICEE Centre for Problem-Based Learning (UCPBL) is established. This paper describes the UCPBL profile and plan of action. The activities include consultancy for university organisations that are changing from a traditional educational concept to PBL concept, staff development on organisational level, educational level and pedagogical level, a PBL Master programme and short courses. We are involved in (re)-organising universities in developing countries and focus on capacity building. Continuing Profes- sional Development is also a natural task of the centre as one of more aspects of university-industry co-operation. In the paper and presentation we will also mention the global aspect of our work and the establishment of the Global Network on Problem Based Learning and how to be involved in this. Session F3C: Computer Science Education 2 Chair: Ann Gates, University of Texas at El Paso Time and place: Friday, 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm Meadowbrook I WORK IN PROGRESS: A GENERAL-PURPOSE CUSTOM-DESIGNED ASSEMBLER IN C Bo Hatfield, Salem State College, Mei Zhang, Cadence Design Systems, Inc. and Lan Jin, California State Univer- sity - Fresno In this paper, we introduced the design and implementation of a general-purpose assembler that can be written and modified to be adaptive for any given assembly language to generate the target machine code and carry out the execution.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 103 Friday Sessions

The system consists of a parsing module and an execution module. The former generates the target machine code from an inputted assembly language code, and the latter simulates the hardware operation of a computer and executes the instructions. Due to its versatility and flexibility, this assembler allows easy modification to reconfigure itself for implementing any given instruction set architecture. As the major objective of this project, the assembler can help students to learn assembly-language programming and develop an in-depth understanding of its close relationship with the instruction set architecture. RJSSIM: A RECONFIGURABLE JOB SCHEDULING SIMULATOR FOR PARALLEL PROCESSING LEARNING Luís F. W. Góes, Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais and Carlos A. P. S. Martins, Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais In this work, we present and analyze the use of a reconfigurable job scheduling simulator called RJSSim as an aid tool for parallel processing learning. This software is a functional and performance Java-based simulator of job scheduling policies. Our objectives are: to present RJSSim; to show the use of RJSSim and reconfigurability concepts for parallel processing learning. First, we present a prototype of RJSSim and the reconfigurability concept. Then we describe two case studies remarking the main parallel processing concepts and skills students can learn. In the first case study, we analyze two parallel algorithm models. In the second, we do some performance tests among parallel (reconfigurable) scheduling policies and architectures. Then, we analyze the performance through some metrics like response time, idle time etc. Finally we discuss and analyze the use of RJSSim for parallel processing learning. Our main contribution is: an implementation of RJSSim for parallel processing learning. INTEGRATING LINUX INTO A WINDOWS-BASED CAMPUS NETWORK: MODIFYING OPEN SOURCE/FREE SOFTWARE IN SUPPORT OF THE COMPUTER SCIENCE CURRICULUM Kyle R. Blankenheim, US Military Academy and Ryan Tate, US Military Academy Open source/free software can be extremely powerful and valuable at little or no cost. Student familiarity with open source/free software will be essential for success in the future computer science environment. It does, however include some risks: heterogeneous network security concerns, a steep learning curve, and frequent bureaucratic restrictions to overcome. This project overcame these concerns while providing a powerful suite of open source tools to interested students at no cost. More specifically, the software package adheres to security constraints of the institution s existing Windows-based network. Accompanying the package is an easy to follow, web-based instruction manual allowing novice users to install a dual-boot Linux/Windows operating system configuration. Specialized programs validate user authorization and align Linux with existing network security settings. This product answered a genuine need to provide students the opportunity to learn about Linux and its benefits as a fully-featured, application-rich, alternative operating system. The paper includes the results from the initial implementation and fielding of the distribution in the dormitories as well as the specific development, design, and implementation details. The paper will provide a guide to engineers and educators who wish to broaden their computing abilities and opportunities by integrating new computer technologies into an existing network environment. It will describe the analysis, process, and problems associated with selecting and implementing software for a heterogeneous network with administrative concerns. The presentation will include a demonstration of the software package and the web based training program. TEACHING REAL-TIME CONCEPTS IN AN UNDERGRADUATE COMPUTER SCIENCE PROGRAM Ron Schroeder, Southern Polytechnic State University and John Rupf, Southern Polytechnic State University Traditionally, courses in real-time programming and related real-time systems concepts have not played a major role in computer science curricula. However, this somewhat neglected area of computer science has much to offer students, especially when presented late in the curriculum. In this paper we discuss the rationale for including a real-time systems course as a component in a computer science curriculum. We then describe the structure, organization, and content of the course Real-Time Systems that we have taught for the past several years as an upper-level elective to computer science students. In this course, model trains are used as the physical processes that are monitored and controlled by software that students develop using a modern suite of commercially available development tools. Session F3D: Recruitment and Diversity 2 Chair: Autar Kaw, University of South Florida Time and place: Friday, 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm Meadowbrook II A DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS MODEL FOR INVESTIGATING DIVERSITY Alisha A. Waller, Georgia State University The goal of this paper is to present a conceptual model which can be used to investigate many important, complex psy- chosocial issues in engineering education. The model is based on a three-dimensional dynamical systems model and uses the concepts of orbits, perturbations, identity functions, and maximum likelihood estimators. The model is particularly useful for helping engineers to visualize and articulate their identities. Recent research indicates that one of the major contrib-

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 104 Friday Sessions

uting factors to the lack of diversity in engineering is the conflict between non-traditional persons internal identities and the available engineering identities in practice. In order to capture this conflict, the model includes the dimensions of internal perspective (how one feels), projected perspective (how one behaves), and perceived perspective (how others respond). Mathematical identity functions in the three dimensions represent congruence, that is, a lack of contradiction between dimensions. For issues such as self-confidence, gender, ethnicity/race, and sexual orientation, this model is a useful tool to consider how these concepts are constructed within and between individuals. For example, within engineering practice, projecting self-confidence and independence is an important attribute for success; yet, many cultures teach some people (e.g., women and particular ethnic groups) to NOT display self-confidence and to focus on interdependence. This conflict between what the culture of engineering practice expects and what people are socialized to feel is an example of incongru- ence between the internal and projected dimensions. In this paper, I will illustrate the model in detail, applying it to gender and gender s influence in engineering education. In addition, I will discuss the validity of the model and demonstrate its use as a research tool. DIVERSITY IN K-12 INITIATIVES TO ATTRACT A DIVERSE POOL OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS Susan E. Powers, Clarkson University, Mary Graham, Clarkson University, Timothy Schwob, SUNY Potsdam and Jan DeWaters, Clarkson University Faculty and students at Clarkson University have developed a 10-week unit for middle school students to increase their awareness and aptitude for engineering. The unit, entitled Engineering for the Environment, challenges students to reduce solid waste from their community by reusing the waste in the form of a valuable material. Science, engineering and math are integrated to help students learn to transform biodegradable materials into compost and to incorporate non-biodegradable materials as an aggregate in concrete. This unit shows young students that there is a wide diversity in the nature of work done by engineers, and that engineers can indeed help the environment and society messages that are particularly important for young girls. The Engineering for the Environment curriculum will be incorporated into Project Lead the Way s middle school curriculum to balance existing units that focus on mechanical and electrical aspects of engineering. CONCEPTUALISING ENGINEERING SUBJECTS FOR WIDER PARTICIPATION Reuben Edwards, Lancaster University and Paul Coulton, Lancaster University Faced with a decline in engineering undergraduate numbers, government policies encouraging wider participation, and a rapidly changing technological backdrop, we have been pioneering a new academic department in the areas of convergence between electronic engineering, computer science, information systems, and technology, and new media called Communication Systems . This paper discusses the design of undergraduate degree courses that are structured, using an inverted curriculum and problem based learning techniques, to attract a wider audience than the traditional engineering or computer science subjects, demonstrating the success in recruiting students from low participation backgrounds. TEACHING DIVERSITY AT THE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY AND AVIATION Saeed Khan, Kansas State University This paper will describe and analyze efforts made at the College of Technology and Aviation at KSU-Salina to promote diversity appreciation on campus. The discussion will include an explanation of steps taken by the campus diversity committee and methods used in the classroom, toward this goal. A critical look will be taken at the ability of the Multicultural Connection Committee (MCC) initiatives - talks, international food fairs, cultural exhibitions and a multicultural movie to influence technically oriented students who have had very little exposure to diverse groups (as is generally the case in this part of the country). In addition, the author describes his own efforts at increasing diversity awareness and social con- sciousness in his own classes. The key argument here is that it is indeed possible to teach diversity friendliness in the science and technology classroom. INITIATIVES TO INCREASE NUMBER OF ENTRANTS INTO ENGINEERING PROGRAMS AN AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVE Kevin J. McDermott, University of South Australia, Özdemir Göl, University of South Australia and Andrew Nafalski, University of South Australia A knowledge-based society which fosters advances in science and engineering can provide great benefits to its members, including life style enhancements, provision of vital services, and development and maintenance of a strong econ- omy. Paradoxically, interest in engineering education seems to have declined alarmingly, as evidenced by the literature. Some attribute this to a poor image of careers in science and engineering and a narrow and inaccurate picture of engineers in the community, especially among teachers and advisors of the young. The key audiences which must be reached if science and technology are to be seriously regarded in society, and increased numbers of better quality entrants are to be attracted into engineering programs, are government, business and industry, the media and the community, and students, teachers and the education sector. Since each have different values and experiences, differing approaches must be employed. This paper discusses some of the approaches which have been employed within Australia to attempt to redress the problem.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 105 Friday Sessions

Session F3E: Writing Chair: David Kauffmann, University of New Mexico Time and place: Friday, 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm Waverly CALIBRATED PEER REVIEW AND ASSESSING LEARNING OUTCOMES Patricia A. Carlson, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Frederick C. Berry, Rose-Hulman Institute of Tech- nology The need for more focused and less-labor intensive assessment practices has brought new challenges, both for institutions and for individual educators. We elaborate on Calibrated Peer Review (CPR ) an end-to-end computer-mediated learning environment that seamlessly integrates writing as a vehicle for critical thinking into a technical or content course. Developed as a tool to help incorporate writing into the teaching of science, CPR moves well beyond the scope of most web-delivered educational software. We draw from experiences using CPR in two courses offered at Rose-Hulman Insti- tute of Technology, RH131 (Rhetoric and Composition) and ECE 360 (Principles of Engineering Design). We focus on four questions. First, what is CPR ? Second, how does CPR improve student learning? Third, how can CPR measure learning outcomes appropriate for an ABET-style assessment? And fourth, does the system serve as a de facto electronic portfolio in engineering education? WORK IN PROGRESS: INTRODUCING UPPER-LEVEL ENGINEERING STUDENTS TO THE TECHNICAL LITERATURE IN A SPECIAL TOPICS COURSE BY WRITING REVIEW PAPERS ACCORDING TO ARCHIVAL SPECIFICATIONS Dan Cordon, University of Idaho and Steve Beyerlein, University of Idaho Many Technical Elective and Graduate courses use a textbook as the sole source of information. While this is convenient and efficient for engineering fundamentals it prevents students from developing skill sets that will enable young practitioners to interact with emerging research issues. A culminating paper assignment provides an excellent opportunity to strengthen both self-directed learning and technical communication skills. This paper overviews the scaffolding used to improve learning through the use of writing. Through the project, students gained confidence searching and interpreting the technical literature. WRITTEN COMMUNICATION IN A TECHNICAL CONTEXT: MEANINGFUL WRITING ASSIGNMENTS FOR ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS Jeffrey L. Newcomer, Western Washington University, Kathleen L. Kitto, Western Washington University and Barbara Sylvester, Western Washington University We describe writing assignments that have been integrated into technical courses in the Engineering Technology Department at Western Washington University. These assignments serve several purposes, allowing students to increase their understanding of technical material, their critical thinking skills, and their writing skills. By making writing assignments part of the content development of tech-nical classes, student motivation is improved, and so, as a result, is their effort level. These assignments complement the more traditional writing-based courses students com-plete. While writing assignments in technical classes do use lecture time and require additional faculty effort, they are worthy investments in student learning. WORK IN PROGRESS - IMPROVING ENGINEERING REPORT WRITING WITH CALIBRATED PEER REVIEW Burford Furman, San Jose State University and William Robinson, San Jose State University We explored the use of Calibrated Peer ReviewTM (CPR) to improve the writing skills of senior-level Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering students in a course on Experimental Methods (ME 120). We implemented CPR for three writing assignments and pioneered an approach to enable students to submit writing that included graphics through the use of Por- table Document Format (pdf) files. We suspect that CPR did help improve the students writing and critical reading skills, but student surveys showed substantial discontent with its use. OWL: A WISE WAY TO ENHANCE ENGINEERING STUDENTS WRITING SKILLS Erik Fisher, College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Colorado (Boulder), Michael W. Usrey, EnergyWindow, Inc. and Heather A. Beasley, University of Colorado (Boulder) The task of reforming the engineering education system to improve graduates writing skills, while justified, faces significant barriers. The College of Engineering and Applied Science s Online Writing Lab (OWL) at the University of Colo- rado-Boulder is a unique and promising effort that helps overcome such barriers. Rather than rely on the impractical solution of additional required courses, OWL works closely with engineering faculty and students to improve the efficacy of existing technical writing assignments and the quality of written reports. OWL thus capitalizes on a rare opportunity to improve students writing skills and does so within the pedagogical framework of the discipline. Results from student surveys, faculty anecdotes, and informal studies are promising. Voluntary adoption rates and repeat usage by students and fac-

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 106 Friday Sessions

ulty are high. Moreover, students have indicated satisfaction with the system, and student performance has improved dramatically. Session F3F: Web-based Instruction 3 Chair: Robert Herrick, Purdue University Time and place: Friday, 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm Windsor BUILDING MATHEMATICS LEARNING APPLICATIONS BY MEANS OF CONSMATH Miguel Angel Mora, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Roberto Moriyón, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Francisco Saiz, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid In this paper we describe the ConsMath approach to the construction of interactive applications that allow students to learn how to solve problems of Mathematics and related fields that involve symbolic computations. ConsMath is a tool that can be used by tutors in order to build their own sets of interactive problems. It supports a methodology by which, starting from a static document that shows a resolution of a particular problem, a tutor can create a set of interactive problems in two steps. The first step builds a generalization of the problem where the initial formulae included in its statement can be generated randomly. In the second step, the tutor can specify an interactive dialog with a student. The design of this dialog is done in the same context the student will work, and the tutor does not need any technical knowledge in order to accomplish this task. CONSTRUCTION OF A WEB-BASED VIRTUAL CLASSROOM AND ITS EFFECTIVE ANALYSIS Qingtang Liu, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Chengling Zhao, Central China Normal University and Zhongkai Yang, Huazhong University of Science & Technology In classroom, information between teachers and students includes course content and learning scene. Course content is mainly information, and learning scene is assisted information that can effectively prompt learners exchanging idea and acquiring knowledge. A based-web virtual classroom should have the same features. Because of the limitation of bandwith and QoS of network, it is very difficult to transfer teaching and learning information by video in internet. The paper probes into a strategy of developing virtual classroom by the streaming media technologies. By contrast with two kinds of information, the web-based virtual classroom we built includes two parts: Real Time Teaching Environment (RTTE) and Col- laborating Learning Environment (CLE). RTTE transports course content and feedback information into teachers or students. This paper firstly discusses the strategies of creating a virtual classroom for the remote learners. Secondly, it designs the architecture of a virtual classroom. INCREASING INTERACTIVITY IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING Don Millard, Rensselaer and Gerald Burnham, UT-Dallas This paper presents the results garnered from developing and utilizing web-based multimedia educational materials and technologies that were part of a NSF-sponsored Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) grant (DUE 9950356). The twenty-four interactive learning modules (available via: http://www.academy.rpi.edu/projects/ccli) and three newly developed educational technologies operate within a browser environment. This paper presents how the project developments foster scaffolding of basic principles, can be broadly utilized in multiple environments (e.g. studio, lecture, distance learning, etc.), and have improved student performance in electrical engineering courses being offered at Rensselaer and UT Dallas. VIDEOCONFERENCING AND PRESENTATION SUPPORT FOR SYNCHRONOUS DISTANCE LEARNING Richard Anderson, University of Washington, Jay Beavers, Microsoft Research, Tammy VanDeGrift, University of Washington and Fred Videon, University of Washington Synchronous distance education can partner students and professors from different geographic or cultural regions, allowing them to share and learn from each other. Technology must support the sharing of ideas and materials. Using an iterative design approach, we investigated challenges in synchronous distance learning environments through observation of Masters-level courses connecting two learning sites. Through observations, interviews, and surveys we learned of two major challenges: 1. Low-quality audio/video makes interaction difficult and 2. Presentation technologies in distance learning environments make extemporaneous teaching difficult. We developed and deployed a new distance learning system using internet based video conferencing and a pen computer based presentation system. We studied system use in a Masters-level course. Analysis of qualitative data (observation notes, surveys, interview transcripts) collected in the course suggest that technological interruptions increased the feeling of separation between the sites, while the integration of natural handwriting with slides increased flexibility and was perceived positively by students and instructors.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 107 Friday Sessions

USING INTERACTIVE BLACKBOARD CHATS TO PROMOTE STUDENT LEARNING IN PHYSICS Teresa L. Larkin, American University, Sarah Irvine Belson, American University and Dan Budny, University of Pittsburgh The Blackboard Learning System? is widely used on many college and university campuses today. This paper will explore the use of this system as a teaching and learning tool in introductory physics. Particular emphasis will be placed on the online chat feature available through Blackboard. During the fall 2002 pilot semester, students enrolled in an introductory physics course for non-majors at American University made extensive use of live, interactive, online chats when completing homework assignments. These chats were peer-led and instructor-moderated. A Socratic dialogue approach was utilized to help promote deeper understanding of key topics and concepts. To address, in part, the question of whether deeper understanding was actually achieved, results from the Force Concept Inventory (FCI), a widely used multiple- choice, survey-type instrument to assess student understanding of basic mechanics concepts in physics, was used. Pre-/ post-test gains are compared for active participants in the online chats and the class as a whole to help ascertain student understanding. In addition, links to student learning styles are explored to determine whether learning style may be a factor in terms of active participation in the online discussions. Highlights of student perceptions regarding the use of Blackboard technologies, particularly the online chats, will be shared. Session F3G: Panel: Writing a Textbook Chair: John D. Carpinelli, New Jersey Institute of Technology Time and place: Friday, 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm Standley I DISCUSSION PANEL: WRITING A TEXTBOOK John D. Carpinelli, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Alan Clements, University of Teesside, John Demel, Ohio State University, Stephen Seidman, New Jersey Institute of Technology and William Zobrist, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. This session is an interactive panel designed to give potential authors some insight into the process of writing a textbook. The session will describe the basic process for publishing a textbook, from developing the initial idea, to obtaining a contract, to completing the book. Panelists will also share their personal insights on the entire process. This session is designed to be highly interactive and should draw the audience strongly into the discussion. Session F3H: Special Session: Olin College: It's Alive Chair: Jonathan Stolk, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering Time and place: Friday, 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm Standley II OLIN COLLEGE: IT'S ALIVE Jonathan Stolk, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering and Sarah Spence, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineer- ing Title: Olin College: It s Alive Co-organizers: Jonathan Stolk, Asst Prof of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Sci- ence; Sarah Spence, Asst Prof of Mathematics Presenters: List not yet finalized Over the last twenty years, the National Science Foundation and the engineering community have called for systemic changes in engineering education, including a shift from disciplinary thinking to interdisciplinary approaches, increased development of communication and teaming skills, and emphasis on engineering practice and design throughout the curriculum. In 1997, the F.W. Olin Foundation of New York responded to the calls for reform in engineering education by making a commitment in excess of $300 million to establish Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, an entirely new and independent undergraduate institution dedicated to preparing technological leaders for the next century. By starting with a blank slate, the F.W. Olin Foundation hoped to accelerate implementation of curricular reforms. Olin is currently developing and implementing an innovative curriculum that combines best practices from many other institutions with new, pedagogically sound ideas and approaches. In addition, the Olin community is establishing an exciting college environment that obscures the conventional boundaries between curricular and non-curricular aspects of college life. Olin college is student-centered, focused on the growth of the entire person, and driven by innovation and continual improvement. In this session, we will share life at Olin including what we re doing, what s working, and the challenges we re facing. Along the way, we will offer suggestions of potentially transferable curricular, co-curricular, and student life components that may benefit other institutions. Using student artifacts created during Olin s first year, we will paint a picture that shows Olin s approaches to faculty teaming, integrated course blocks, project-centered learning, and multidisciplinary education. We will describe Olin s emphasis on arts, humanities, design, and creativity through our curricular components, co-curricular activities, and passionate pursuits program. We will introduce Olin s assessment and feedback mechanisms, student learning plans, and advising family system. Our goal is to share the first few chapters of our Olin story in a way that will be both interesting and useful for educators from other institutions. We will run this session as a continual block. Presentations, discussions, and question/answer peri-

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 108 Friday Sessions

ods will be interspersed throughout the block. We expect the audience to consist of educators, primarily in the fields of science and engineering; however, our emphasis on integrating arts, humanities, entrepreneurship, and social sciences may attract educators from other fields. Our expectations for this session include disseminating information, offering exportable suggestions, and soliciting feedback and ideas from the audience. We hope that this session will serve as a first step toward Olin s goal of sharing our experiences in a way that benefits other institutions. Session F4A: The Art and Technology of Teaching A Miniworkshop Chair: Bob Herrick, Purdue University Time and place: Friday, 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm Cotton Creek I THE ART AND TECHNOLOGY OF TEACHING A MINIWORKSHOP Robert J. Herrick, Purdue University and J. Michael Jacob, Purdue University Curriculum planning, teaching delivery, and technology tools can synergistically work together to produce a program that will engage, excite, and retain students. Through use of these techniques plus other factors presented in the workshop, the presenters program has experienced significant improvement in student retention and student enrollment growth, well above the national norm. The workshop leaders share their own successes at Purdue University and actively engage attendees to share their experiences. Other workshop topics that are available are listed on the attached page. Workshops can be tailored to the needs of the conference and attendees. Session F4B: Industry Partnerships Chair: Barbara Karanian, Wentworth Institute of Technology Time and place: Friday, 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm Cotton Creek II CEINT INTERNSHIP PROGRAM David C. Pheanis, Arizona State University Arizona State University, Motorola, and Intel have formed CEINT, the Consortium for Embedded and Inter-Network- ing Technologies. CEINT sponsors paid internships for students in Computer Science and Engineering. A student earns three credit hours per term for an internship, and a student can continue an internship for as long as three terms. An intern works 20 hours per week during the spring or fall semester, and 40 hours per week during the summer term. The internships are not just part-time jobs each student participates as a member of a professional design and development team. Each student has an industrial mentor and a faculty mentor. At the end of the term, every student submits a final written report and makes a final oral presentation. In the spring semester of 2003, we had formal presentations from 23 interns. We organized the presentations as a one-day conference, and more than one hundred people attended the talks. INTERNSHIP EDUCATION AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION: THE NASA-UMES SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM (NUSIP) EXPERIENCE I. K. Dabipi, University of Maryland Eastern Shore and J.O. Arumala, University of Maryland Eastern Shore A NASA funded summer internship program at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) was designed to provide some undergraduate Engineering, Engineering Technology and Aviation Science majors very unique professional experiences by matching them with mentors in the NASA Wallops Facilities. Six undergraduate students worked on several projects during a 10-week summer internship program at the NASA Wallops Facilities. The students participated in several activities, held bi-weekly meetings to report on their activities, wrote a final report and made a final presentation to both NASA staff and the UMES faculty. This paper examines the experiences specific to the Engineering and Engineering Technology students that participated in the program and how the internship at NASA has affected their educational objectives. THE POSITIVE INFLUENCE OF COOPERATIVE WORK EXPERIENCE ON THE CAPSTONE DESIGN EXPE- RIENCE OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS Cherian P. Mathews, University of West Florida, Jason Mamaloukas, University of West Florida and Scott Parrott, University of West Florida Undergraduate engineering students who participate in cooperative education (co-op) programs can benefit greatly from their industrial work experience. This paper identifies some of the benefits that two electrical and computer engineering students gained from their participation in the co-op program. Special skills that the students had gained from their co- op experience were evident from the quality of their capstone design project (the design and implementation of a voice- activated remote control unit for a television). Some of these skills include the ability to use contemporary computer aided design tools for design of printed circuit-boards, the ability to populate circuit boards using surface-mount components, and the ability to learn independently, which provides a sound footing for lifelong learning on the part of students.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 109 Friday Sessions

FOSTERING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH INTEGRATING WORK AND FORMAL LEARNING David Radcliffe, The University of Queensland and Allison Brown, RMIT University The Undergraduate Site Learning Program (USLP) is an innovative work-based learning program that addresses the call to develop a broader set of attributes in engineering graduates. Unlike cooperative education programs, site learning can give students full academic credit for their placement without extending the duration of the degree through the use of an innovative learning alignment model. A central part of this program is a unique course entitled Professional Develop- ment in which students articulate and reflect upon the lessons they learn while on placement in industry. Students spend the bulk of a semester on-site often in remote locations, which requires a flexible approach to course operation and fosters independent learning. Thus the USLP challenges both staff and students and produces outcomes that both the alumni and industry value. Session F4C: Computer Science Education 3 Chair: Mats Daniels, University of Uppsala Time and place: Friday, 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm Meadowbrook I TEACHING INFORMATION SECURITY TO ENGINEERING MANAGERS Julie J.C.H. Ryan, George Washington University The concepts and practice of information security have for the most part been contained within Computer Science or Electrical Engineering departments in academia. However, as the information age matures and pervasive IT supports every engineering discipline, a requirement to teach information security to engineering managers emerges. The challenges of presenting concepts, theories, and approaches to engineering managers are many when those concepts have been developed from a decidedly computer-oriented perspective. This paper explores experiences, challenges, and innovative solutions based on the last five years of educational efforts at the graduate level. HARD LESSONS LEARNED USING HARDWARE-ORIENTED CAPSTONE PROJECTS Scott Campbell, Miami University and Ann Sobel, Miami University The details of two software engineering capstone experiences with event-driven, real-time programming for robots are presented. These experiences emphasize the problems that can occur when students are thrust into unfamiliar and non-traditional environments. Despite mixed results, most student teams appreciated working with such an open-ended project. EVOLUTION AND TRENDS AMONG COMPUTER SCIENCE AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING PROFESSION- ALS IN MEXICO (1971-2005) Sergio Ellerbracke Román, Universidad del Valle de Atemajac and Elba Lomelí Mijes, Universidad de Guadala- jara A historical/statistical review shows the total number of bachelor, master and doctoral programs in Computer Science and Computer Engineering In Mexico as reflected in the statistical reports of the National Association of Universities and Institutions of Higher Education (ANUIES) between the years 1971 and 2001. In Mexico, there is a great problem with the name of Computer Science and Computer Engineering Education Programs with at least eighty-four different names. For this reason, it was necessary to classify the programs in four profiles, according to the National Association of Institutions of Education in Computation (ANIEI). These profiles reflect the number of Mexican professionals per state and principle cities. An ANIEI rating of successful conclusions has been included for bachelor programs. Using these ratings, a progno- sis is made for successful termination of studies for the entire country, including states and principle cities, until the year 2005. This leads the writers of the article to an analysis regarding the favorable regions for software development. Finally, a review of curriculum content for Computer Science and Computer Engineering Education in Mexico is made, along with the level of competencies achieved. WORK IN PROGRESS - TOWARDS A STANDARDISED APPROACH TO GENERIC MODULE DELIVERY AND SUPPORT IN THE SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND ENGINEERING AND AN EXAMINATION OF THE MYR- IAD IMPLICATIONS INVOLVED Judith Hopkins, University of Huddersfield This study chronicles the drama played out in universities across the world. Lecturers from varying disciplines and backgrounds attempt to teach subjects using diverse methodologies or no methodology at all. Academia is presently divided into two distinct camps. Those who are in favour of pedagogical training regardless of discipline and believe it enhances and enriches the teaching and learning process and those who simply are not in favour of it. The alarming result has been that in each university, there is no standardization of modules taught or learnt or indeed no formal system of how a module should be delivered to aid module authors and leaders with no requisite pedagogical training. This has increasingly led to falling grades, low retention rates and much disappointment on the part of the raison d etre of the university, its valued clients the students. This study seeks to outline the problem, recommend a solution and propose more extensive utilisation of existing technology that could help to alleviate the problem in some way.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 110 Friday Sessions

GRAPHICAL PROGRAMMING: A VEHICLE FOR TEACHING COMPUTER PROBLEM SOLVING Brian T. Westphal, Univ. of Nevada, Frederick C. Harris, Jr., Univ. of Nevada and M. Sami Fadali, Univ. of Nevada Translating from a problem description given in a natural language to a solution expressed in a programming language requires many complex steps. Though many of these steps can be done mentally for simple problems, the process itself is important when dealing with complicated software. Expressing the process demonstrates not only the complexity of solving a particular problem but also the inherent difficulties in forcing beginners to jump from a problem description to a solution. Our experiences show that using LabVIEW and Alice as graphical foundations, with several carefully designed examples, may help students more quickly learn the process involved in computer-based problem solving than they would with traditional techniques Session F4D: First Year Students Chair: Chris Taylor, Milwaukee School of Engineering Time and place: Friday, 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm Meadowbrook II WORK IN PROGRESS: A CURRICULUM COLLABORATION MODEL: WORKING WITH UPPER DIVISION STUDENTS TO IMPROVE A FIRST-YEAR PROGRAM John Merrill, The Ohio State University, Blaine Lilly, The Ohio State University and Omer Masud, The Ohio State University Since its inception as a pilot program in 1998, the First-Year Engineering Program at Ohio State University has been using a ten-week design-build project that has remained largely unchanged a conveyor/sorter mechanism. In summer 2002, a curriculum team began the task of researching alternatives that would: a) retain the project management features of the existing project, b) require more up-front design before actual construction, and c) draw upon other disciplines not represented in the conveyor/sorter. After reviewing constraints such as cost, space and impact on the curriculum, a roller coaster concept was selected. Through collaboration with the Department of Industrial Systems and Welding Engineering, teams of senior and graduate students built prototypes during 2002-03. Corresponding curriculum was developed to include lab presentations and procedures, which were implemented in Summer 2003. Additional revisions will be made to the lab curriculum and materials (as needed) before going full-scale in 2004. MORE THAN MOUSETRAPS: DATA COLLECTION, MODELING, AND TESTING - A SCALABLE AND AFFORDABLE SOLUTION FOR FRESHMEN DESIGN PROJECTS Brett H. Hamlin, Michigan Technological University and Jim E. Hertel, Michigan Technological University Michigan Technological University is one of the nations largest engineering schools and houses a large common first year engineering curriculum. While many great design projects have been developed for the first year engineering student, many of these are not scaleable to the numbers found in larger programs (800+ students per semester) and may lack critical design process steps. The problem many of these larger programs face is how to provide the eager students with a meaningful design experience that incorporates data collection, analysis, computer modeling, and prototype development. This paper shares an affordable, scalable solution that guides students through, and not around, the design process. It does this by incorporating the often-over-assigned but under-analyzed Victor mousetrap. Modeling process, recommended project deliverables, skills assessment and logistics are also presented. RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF DIFFERENT FIRST-YEAR ENGINEERING SEMINARS Robert Montgomery, Purdue University, Deborah Follman, Purdue University and Heidi Diefes-Dux, Purdue Uni- versity The importance of first-year small group seminars in student retention has been well-documented by many researchers. The offerings of Purdue's Department of Freshman Engineering have varied over the years, with instructors continually striving to improve the format and content of the first-year seminar courses. A recent change to one of these seminars has prompted a preliminary evaluation of seminar effectiveness. Three seminars were investigated: ENGR 104, ENGR 103, and ENGR 100. ENGR 104, Introduction to Engineering and Purdue, is led by peer mentors and provides "survival skills" and insight into being an engineering student from the perspective of upper-division engineering students. ENGR 103, Introduction to Careers in Engineering, covers current engineering issues and/or research topics in addition to college survival skills . ENGR 100, Freshman Engineering Lectures, is a large seminar introduction to the engineering disciplines that is required for all first-year engineering students. It can be taken alone or imbedded in ENGR 103 and ENGR 104. Both ENGR 103 and ENGR 100 are led by engineering faculty from Purdue s schools of engineering. The primary objective of this research is to evaluate the ways the different seminar types (instructor-led versus student-led and small-group versus large lecture) may affect such outcomes as student satisfaction, confidence in major choice, academic performance, and retention in engineering. In this paper, differences in student retention, interest in and understanding of engineering disciplines and careers, and satisfaction with the seminar offering taken among students in the three different seminars will be

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 111 Friday Sessions

evaluated. Furthermore, the extent to which students are sure about their choice of major, to which the seminar contributed to this decision, and to which the seminar aided their academic and personal transition to college will be discussed. WORK IN PROGRESS - INCORPORATION OF FRESHMAN ENGINEERING PROJECTS Laura Wesson, Louisiana Tech University Hands-on projects have been incorporated into the freshmen engineering courses. The topics of the projects were selected to correspond to the material being presented in the math, science, and engineering courses. The major goals were to provide the freshmen students with hands-on experiences early in the freshmen year as well as applying math and science fundamentals to engineering problems. Even though not all of the projects were entirely successful in accomplishing the desired outcome, some of the projects required too much time or did not effectively illustrate the concept intended; the response of the students was encouraging. Changes being considered for the upcoming year include incorporating a material balance project, and including additional writing opportunities for the students. USING 3D ANIMATION PROGRAMMING IN A CORE ENGINEERING COURSE SEMINAR Richard Zaccone, Bucknell University, Stephen Cooper, Saint Joseph's University and Wanda Dann, Ithaca Col- lege A core engineering course plays a vital role in the curricula of schools of engineering. At Bucknell University, Explor- ing Engineering (ENGR100) is the core engineering course where first year students are introduced to the study and practice of engineering and presented with overviews of specific engineering disciplines. In this paper, we describe an innovative approach for the 3-week programming seminar component of ENGR100. This approach makes use of a 3D animation tool for program visualization. Program visualization is used to introduce traditional programming concepts in a short time frame. The primary goal of this approach is to provide: a firm foundation for the novice programmer, a challenge for the experienced student, and a collaborative project experience for all students. A description of the first trial results of this innovative approach is included in the paper. Session F4E: Robotics Chair: Valeri Kroumov, Okayama University of Science Time and place: Friday, 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm Waverly ROBOTIC ASSEMBLY CELL Robert P. Van Til, Oakland University, Sankar Sengupta, Oakland University, Ronald J. Srodawa, Oakland Uni- versity and Michael A. Latcha, Oakland University Results concerning the development of a Robotic Assembly Cell are presented. The main components of the cell are a Kuka KR3 robotic manipulator and an Amtec PowerCube reconfigurable robotic manipulator. This paper presents an overview of the Robotic Assembly Cell as well as results concerning its implementation and use. The various components of the cell were set-up by students as either team projects for their capstone senior design course or as independent senior projects . WIRELESS, WEB-CONTROLLED, BALL-COLLECTING ROBOT: AN ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCI- ENCE CLUSTER COURSE Todd Swift, Loras College and Danial Neebel, Loras College A senior engineering design and a computer science capstone course are clustered for an interdisciplinary experience. In the fall of 2002, students designed and implemented a wireless, web-controlled, ball-collecting robot. A single computer, configured as a web server, controls access and wirelessly sends commands to the robot. Students developed a full set of specifications for the robot and web server system and maintained a project management plan and schedule throughout the semester. Unique aspects of the course include an electronic project log that is shared using a course information system and a peer evaluation system that constitutes a significant portion of the final grade. The course allows students to explore their disciplines further, gain experience working in interdisciplinary teams, and learn the importance of technical communication via a final design report and presentation. Nearly all of the students reported that they learned more working in an interdisciplinary setting than they would have working only in their discipline. A COLLABORATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR LEARNING ROBOT MECHANICS: RIO ROBOTICS ILLUSTRATIVE SOFTWARE Andrei Lobov, Tampere University of Technology, Jose L. Martinez Lastra, Tampere University of Technology and Reijo Tuokko, Tampere University of Technology An educational software package called RIO (Robotics Illustrative sOftware) has been designed and developed in order to provide a web-based learning environment on the subject. RIO integrates the VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Lan- guage) model of the robot manipulator and a Matlab object representing the manipulator s topology and dynamics parameters. The user interface consists of a Java applet displayed by the web-browser along with VRML model. The applet

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 112 Saturday Sessions

provides a connection to the remote host running Matlab . A remote PC runs MJS- Matlab Java Server, which is capable of intercommunicating with Matlab , and receives remote users connections. Matlab holds an object of the manipulator being studied, however the user is able to affect the Matlab object by means of Java applet GUI. Multi-sessions, involving several users, can be connected to the same Matlab object over the Internet simultaneously. AN AUTONOMOUS MOBILE ROBOT DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM FOR TEACHING A GRADUATE LEVEL MECHATRONICS COURSE Dan Hoopes, Master's Degree Candidate, BYU, Tyler Davis, Master's Degree Candidate, BYU, Kelly Norman, Master's Degree Candidate, BYU and Richard Helps, Department Chair Mechatronics is integration of mechanical systems, electronics and intelligent computer control. With advances in computing power, size, and cost, university mechatronics courses can offer more flexible, powerful and up-to-date development environments than traditionally available with pre-packaged robotics kits such as the widely used Handy Board platform. Goals and constraints of teaching graduate-level mechatronics courses to an educationally diverse class of students are discussed. Goals include identifying the purpose of a mechatronics course, educational background of the students, effects of recent technologies on course subject matter, and ideal development environment to create autonomous robots. Constraints arise because of conflicts between two major aspects of mechatronics, mechanical systems and computer systems, and the need to balance these areas in complexity and ease of use for students of diverse backgrounds. Brigham Young University s prototype solution of a PC/104 platform with digital I/O and analog inputs running Linux and communicating via 802.11b Wi-Fi is discussed. PRINCIPLES AND EXPERIENCES IN USING LEGOS TO TEACH BEHAVIORAL ROBOTICS Aaron Gage, University of South Florida and Robin R. Murphy, University of South Florida This paper describes the application of Lego Mindstorms and Vision Command kits as a cost- and time-effective means of reinforcing behavioral robotics principles to students of different disciplines with limited programming skills. As part of a course in robotics, senior undergraduate and first year graduate students in computer science, engineering, and psychology have worked in small groups building and programming robots to perform a variety of tasks, ultimately developing robots for a mock search and rescue operation. This paper discusses the pedagogical principles, the exercises, student reactions, shortcomings, and lessons learned. The laboratory exercises were used to teach students in two locations (Tampa, Florida and Reykjavik, Iceland) with positive student reviews. The laboratory manual is available to teachers by request, along with the instructor's guide to Introduction to AI Robotics. Based on our experiences, we recommend their use. Session F4F: Web-based Instruction 4 Chair: Barbara Thomas, Southern Polytechnic State University Time and place: Friday, 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm Windsor NEW COURSE DEVELOPMENT IN A DISTANCED COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENT Emory W. Zimmers, Jr., Lehigh University, David A. Servas, Lehigh University, Lawrence R. Butler, Butler Engi- neering and Gregory L. Tonkay, Lehigh University This paper describes improvements and innovations in the process of curriculum development in a distanced collaborative environment. The work was completed in a videoconferencing environment that enabled real-time development and capture of work products. The improvements reported were based upon lessons learned developing previous courses using interactive but text-based approaches. New technology that was developed in the interim allowed new approaches to be utilized. The paper also presents example course content and objectives. The design and development of multimedia learning activities for teaching industrial and manufacturing engineering concepts within a real-world manufacturing context is explained. Rapidly evolving computer and communication technologies are utilized to create digital objects for the delivery of video images captured from the shop floor or communicated from remote facilities in real time. These same technologies enable the packaging of digital objects in multiple delivery modes to accommodate the unique needs of individual learners. WORK IN PROGRESS - GROW: A NEW RESOURCE FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING Maliaca Oxnam, University of Arizona Using three core areas of civil engineering as an information base, the Geotechnical, Rock and Water Resources Digital Library (GROW) promotes wide-spread access to an envisioned larger collection of quality civil engineering information and resources that will provide the knowledge base to make citizens more informed about their built-environment. A unique focus of the collection is the attention paid to creating and identifying highly interactive resources that allow the user to engage in active learning of civil engineering systems and concepts. This learning is further supported by the abun- dant collection of additional materials harvested and reviewed for the digital library collection.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 113 Saturday Sessions

LESSONS LEARNED TEACHING ENGINEERING ONLINE TO ARCHITECTURE AND CONSTRUCTION MAN- AGEMENT STUDENTS Vicki May, California Polytechnic State University and Pamalee Brady, California Polytechnic State University The authors taught Timber Structural Systems (an engineering course for architecture and construction management students) online during the summer of 2002. While offering an engineering course online is not a new concept, offering an engineering course that relies on model building and experimentation to non-engineering majors posed many challenges but also resulted in many rewards. Both authors had taught the course previously in a traditional face-to-face classroom setting but neither had ever taught an online course. The lessons learned from this experience, recommendations for faculty teaching similar courses online, and future directions that will be taken by the authors are presented in this paper. FACILITATING EFFECTIVE, GEOGRAPHICALLY DISTRIBUTED ENGINEERING DESIGN TEAMS Barry Davidson, Syracuse University, John Dannenhoffer III, Syracuse University, Geraldine Gay, Cornell Univer- sity, Anthony Ingraffea, Cornell University, Jones Scott, Cornell University, Jae-Shin Lee, Cornell University, Michael Stefanone, Cornell University and Alan Zehnder, Cornell University With recent advances in technology, computer-mediated communications (CMC) are beginning to facilitate effective interactions of geographically distributed scientific research and engineering design teams. However, changes in both the technology and culture are likely necessary for CMC to realize its potential, and a project at Syracuse and Cornell Univer- sities is being conducted to address these required technological solutions as well as the associated behavioral changes. In this project, students at both Universities participate in a senior-level engineering course on thermo-structural design of the lower surface of a next-generation reusable spacecraft. The course requires project work by teams comprised of students from both Universities, and therefore provides the context by which to study CMC, to teach students about collaborative engineering design, and within which to address behavioral changes needed to successfully combine the two. This paper first describes the course and supporting technology. This is followed by a review of qualitative evaluations by students from the two years that the course has been offered. These evaluations indicate that students taking the course receive training not only in discipline specific subject matter, but on working as member of a design team, distributed collaborative engineering, and advanced information technologies that is perceived as valuable educationally and for its expected benefits in their careers. CURATOR: LEARNING OBJECT CONSTRUCTION MATRIX Terence C. Ahern, CSU Monterey Bay, Nancy Van Cleave, Eastern Illinois University, Trey Martindale, East Caro- lina University and Jevgenia Smorgun, CSU Monterey Bay The diversity of skills and knowledge necessary for the success of today's learners has accentuated the need for flexible and targeted instruction. Proponents of ``learning anywhere, anytime'' envision learning objects as integral to the development of future versions of electronic delivery systems. The goal is to make these materials and instructional resources available in a more predictable and standard fashion. The key is not in how the data is stored but in how an educator can locate the most appropriate object for a lesson. Each digital object may be indexed according to various characteristics, but currently these coding schemes are typically proprietary and of limited value. This paper describes the Learning Object Construction Matrix with rationale and introduces Curator, a prototype application developed to support the indexing of learning objects according to this matrix. Session F4G: Panel: Challenges in Teaching Software Engineering Professionals Online Chair: Gregory W. Hislop, Drexel University Time and place: Friday, 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm Standley I CHALLENGES IN TEACHING SOFTWARE ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS ONLINE Gregory W. Hislop, Drexel University, Heidi J. C. Ellis, Rensselaer at Hartford, Paul E. MacNeil, Mercer Univer- sity and Cynthia D. Tanner, West Virginia University This panel will foster understanding of online graduate software engineering education for working professionals. The panelists will address advantages and disadvantages of this increasingly common form of course delivery. The discussion will draw on the panelists' experience delivering a variety of software engineering courses online at four different institutions. The panel will emphasize issues that are common in dealing with the adult working professionals who populate many software engineering graduate programs, and issues that tend to arise due to the nature of software engineering curricular content. The focus will be on courses in which all or almost all of the course activities take place online. That is, these are not face-to-face courses that have been Web enhanced. Rather, they are courses that can be taken by students who are not able to come to campus. In addition, the style of course emphasizes interaction among participants, rather than independent study.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 114 Saturday Sessions

Session F4H: Special Session: The art of getting students to practice team skills Chair: Steve Roach, University of Texas at El Paso Time and place: Friday, 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm Standley II THE ART OF GETTING STUDENTS TO PRACTICE TEAM SKILLS Steve Roach, University of Texas at El Paso, Ann Gates, University of Texas at El Paso, Jacquelyn Sullivan, Univer- sity of Colorado at Boulder, Richard Upchurch, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Karl Smith, Univer- sity of Minnesota The ability of students to work in multidisciplinary teams is a recognized goal of engineering education. There are many challenges to teaching team skills to students and ensuring that students practice these skills during their team projects. This panel session is devoted to exploring issues and sharing best practices in these areas. The session will utilize a team-based approach to explore solutions and approaches to challenges in teaching team skills.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 115 Saturday Sessions

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 116 Saturday Sessions

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Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 117 Saturday Sessions

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Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 118 Saturday Sessions

Session S1A: Faculty Development Chair: David Radcliffe, The University of Queensland, Australia Time and place: Saturday, 8:30 am - 10:15 am Cotton Creek I A PROGRAM FOR FACULTY PEER REVIEW AT NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY Charles McIntyre, North Dakota State University and Sudhir Mehta, North Dakota State University North Dakota State University has recently created the Peer Review of Teaching (PRT) Program which seeks to promote student-centered learning through the use of cooperative peer review teams to promote enhanced teaching methods, techniques, and strategies. The PRT project is a faculty-driven initiative intended to offer individual faculty added feedback related to instruction. Faculty members work together to set goals and to interpret student reactions to instruction strategies. The process is intentionally limited to formative assessment, and the peer assessment data is owned by the individual faculty members. Project participants are required to observe the teaching materials and teaching activity of a peer for at least one class per semester, provide meaningful feedback to his or her peer related to his or her syllabus and teaching strategies, and provide a measure of evaluation and assessment related to enhanced student learning. The contents of this paper document, 1.) the background and development of the PRT program, 2.) the selection and coordination of the peer teams, 3.) the development of the peer philosophy and project deliverables, and 4.) an evaluation and assessment of the PRT program. WEBSITES FOR ENGINEERING EDUCATORS: A BENCHMARK STUDY TO IDENTIFY BEST PRACTICES Jennifer Turns, University of Washington, Michelle Valeriano, University of Washington and Robin S. Adams, University of Washington There are a large number of websites devoted to engineering education issues. In this paper, we evaluate four of these websites using a usability inspection technique. We use the results of the evaluation to provide a benchmark of engineering education websites, in terms of promising design practices and opportunities for improvement. WORK-IN-PROGRESS: DESIGNING A SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR RESEARCH ON ENGINEERING EDUCATION Norman L. Fortenberry, National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering has launched a new center to support research on engineering education. The Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education seeks to a) enhancement the capacity for the conduct of high quality research on engineering education, b) encourage the integration of engineering education research and practice, and c) promote the efforts and interests of relevant stakeholders. This session will present a) preliminary results for an on-going survey of education research priorities, b) an update on plans for a web portal linking journals devoted to education research in science and engineering disciplines, and c) an efforts to incorporate information from outside the engineering community into the our knowledge base. WORK IN PROGRESS - ENGAGING FACULTY IN ACTIVE/COOPERATIVE LEARNING Karl A. Smith, University of Minesota, Jim Morgan, Texas A&M University, Susan Ledlow, Arizona State Univer- sity, P. K. Imbrie, Purdue University and Jeff Froyd, Texas A&M University The Foundation Coalition has been providing leadership in improving engineering teaching and learning in a variety of ways, but especially in Active and Cooperative Learning (ACL). Over 1000 copies of a one-page overview of ACL have been distributed, and it seems to help faculty members get over the activation energy barrier and get started. A CD-ROM and web site (http://clte.asu.edu/active) have been created to help provide further guidance. The site offers advice from engineering faculty on preparing students for teamwork, planning lessons and activities, and managing and assessing cooperative work. It also contains content-specific lessons and activities. This paper describes a process of deepening the development of materials to help faculty engage students in active and cooperative learning. We describe the initial framing around the five essential elements of a well-structured cooperative learning activity, the negotiation process to come up with topics for further development, the back-and-forth between individual and joint work, and the use of eProject for joint work. We will present the five works-in-progress and engage the audience in reflection and discussion about our approach and ideas for reaching more faculty members. WORK IN PROGRESS - WAYS OF KNOWING: WAYS OF PRACTICE Sandra Shaw Courter, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Cid Freitag, University of Wisconsin - Madison and Mary McEniry, University of Wisconsin - Madison Ways of Knowing and Ways of Practice is an on-line professional development opportunity for faculty and instructional staff at the University of Wisconsin Madison. This pilot distance learning experience occurred during Spring Semester, 2003. The project was designed to help faculty 1) engage in reflection and continuous improvement of learning, both their own and their students, 2) facilitate conversations about teaching and learning in the process of building a learning community, 3) create a collaborative learning environment with faculty and peers, 4) build confidence in curriculum development including designing, guiding, and assessing learning, 5) learn with and about technology in the process of Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 119 Saturday Sessions

improving curriculum, and 6) connect teaching and research and bridge the gap between theory and practice. The twenty participants represented ten universities; a team of two from each university included one faculty person from engineering and one from another science, math, or computer science discipline. Specifically, the professional development opportunity explored ways of knowing including theories of learning, learning styles, disciplinary and cultural perspectives and how they inform ways of practice including both teaching practice and engineering practice. Starting with an orientation in Madison, Wisconsin, the experience involved weekly on-line discussions based on readings, a personalized curriculum project, and approximately two to three hours per week commitment on the part of each participant. The Foundation Coa- lition funded this dissemination project. The work-in-progress highlights results from the assessment of this pilot project and next steps based on analysis and reflection. WORK IN PROGRESS - BEYOND INSTRUCTION: FACULTY ADVANCEMENT FROM BEGINNING TO ADVANCED LEVELS Sharon B. Fellows, Binghamton University, Matt Laferty, Binghamton University and Richard S. Culver, Bing- hamton University Much of the research on instructional techniques in engineering education is focused on the Level I teacher. Noted author John Heywood classifies the Level I teacher as a teacher who adapts new instructional techniques and classroom assessments to his or her teaching. This project will enable the Level I teacher to advance to Level II, which, according to Heywood, suggests a teacher who uses teaching and experiential classroom study as research. This project, in conjunction with Heywood s book Curriculum, Instruction and Leadership in Engineering Education will provide a program in module format that leads the Level I teacher through the process to become a Level II teacher. The Level II teacher is defined as one who uses the classroom space as a site of conscious experimentation and research. Classroom strategies, evaluation tools and student learning are all evaluated and experientially tested to maximize and advance student performance and learning for both faculty and students. Session S1B: Student Centered Learning Approaches Chair: Matt Ohland, Clemson University Time and place: Saturday, 8:30 am - 10:15 am Cotton Creek II WORK IN PROGRESS - INTEGRATING SERVICE LEARNING INTO FRESHMAN ENGINEERING COURSES William C. Oakes, Purdue University and P.K. Imbrie, Purdue University This Work in Progress paper describes current efforts in the Department of Freshman Engineering at Purdue University to integrate service learning into its first and second semester engineering courses. All students entering the Schools of Engineering at Purdue University (approximately 1600 per year) do so through the Department of Freshman Engineering. Each student is required to enroll in an introductory engineering course called Engineering Problem Solving and Com- puter Tools, which is offered in both a non-honors and honors format. This work in progress will present two models of integrating service learning into existing freshman engineering courses: one model for the honors program and one for the mainstream engineering course. In the honors course, the service learning is a required extension of the students project where teams present their results at local middle schools and high schools. In the mainline course, the service learning experience is used as an optional experience as part of a learning communities. WORK IN PROGRESS - ROBOTS, PLANTS, AND THE TEN-YEAR-OLD CONSULTANT: TEAMING K-12 AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN COMMUNITY-BASED PROJECTS TO ENCOURAGE STEM Leslie Crowley, University of Illinois, Jon Dolle, University of Illinois, Ann Finnegan, University of Illinois and J. Bruce Litchfield, University of Illinois This pilot program teams undergraduates with K-12 students in service-learning projects. We hope to increase the sup- ply chain of engineering students in general, with a particular goal of increased enrollment of underrepresented populations. By engaging K-12 students in large, real-world "hands-on/minds-on" problems in teams with undergraduate engineering students, it is hypothesized that these younger students will develop both cognitively (as they learn new information, create solutions, and analyze data and alternatives) and affectively (by increasing their excitement and interest in STEM). For more information, see http://ae3.cen.uiuc.edu/epicsk12. SUPPORTING LEARNING ACTIVITIES USING VIRTUAL TOOLS Lucia M. M. Giraffa, PUCRS, Sabrina S. Marczak, PUCRS and Gláucio Almeida, PUCRS This paper intends to describe the design process related to an Algorithms and Programming environment to support the beginner s learning process. The system has a set of tools and functionalities, and agent named AMIGO to help the teacher to organize student s information. The agent s tasks are: collects student profile information, and to organize the tasks related to student s activities and evaluation process. The system framework has a uphold methodology that justify and gives support to the choice made during our design process. We do not intend to show experimental results. We claim that we can build educational environments taking advantages from agents technology, and a mixed methodology based on Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 120 Saturday Sessions

presential and virtual classes. We believe it is not possible to create good and helpful educational software without those premises. THE MIT IDEAS COMPETITION: PROMOTING INNOVATIONS FOR PUBLIC SERVICE Amy Smith, MIT, Amy Banzaert, MIT and Sally Susnowitz, MIT The MIT IDEAS Competition is a unique forum for student enterprise and innovation that encourages teams to devise creative methods to resolve community needs. The IDEAS Competition provides a support network for students to develop their innovative ideas to solve a wide range of technical and social problems that face under-served communities and individuals, in both local and international contexts. By providing constructive criticism, mentors, and development grants to all viable projects, and hosting a poster session at the final awards ceremony, IDEAS helps every team to make significant progress with their project and to publicize their work. The IDEAS Competition fills an important niche on the MIT campus by giving students the opportunity to be creative and to take active leadership roles in a nonacademic setting; exposing them to social, ethical, and political issues; and helping to prepare them to be community leaders on a global scale. DEVELOPING THE REFLECTION COMPONENT IN THE EPICS MODEL OF ENGINEERING SERVICE LEARNING Lynne A. Slivovsky, Purdue University, Frank R. DeRego Jr., Purdue University, Leah H. Jamieson, Purdue Uni- versity and William C Oakes, Purdue University Service-learning is a pedagogy where students engage in service that is linked with the course learning objectives. Research has shown that students participating in service-learning have a higher comprehension of the course material and also develop an awareness of their local community and the issues it faces. Critical to service-learning is a reflective or metacognitive component that provides students with the opportunity to make the connection between the service and the issues related to the service and the course learning objectives. In engineering, there are many examples of integrating community service into courses ranging from freshman introductory courses to senior level capstone courses. Despite successes found in these programs, the integration of effective reflection components remains an area that the engineering education community continues to struggle with. The EPICS program has developed a number of activities and materials to engage students in reflection, with a focus on technical, social, and ethical reflection. This paper will present the development of these materials, results from the current materials, and a discussion of future plans. A PARAMETRIC EXERCISE BASED TUTORING SYSTEM Rosa M. García Rioja, Carlos III University of Madrid, Sergio Guitiérrez Santos, Carlos III University of Madrid, Abelardo Pardo, Carlos III University and Carlos Delgado Kloos, Carlos III University of Madrid A tutoring system based on hierarchically interconnecting a set of parametric exercises is described. Parametric exercises allow for multiple invocations of an exercise with different data, complexity, formulation, etc. An exercise instance is sent to the student, the answers are processed, feedback is returned and a set of values are annotated. A graph is defined to interconnect these exercises. Edges in this graph are labeled so that exercise sequencing is performed based on previously annotated values. This graph is created by a tutor or designer and defines a hierarchical structure that allows exercises to be organized and connected at different levels much the same as how material is organized in a course. The work aims at fill- ing the gap between generic course delivery tools with barely no support for automatic tutoring and sophisticated tutoring systems which are either too specific or too complex for the manage. The system has been deployed in a first year computer architecture course very positive preliminary results. Session S1C: Topics in Software Engineering Education Chair: Daniela Rosca, Monmouth University Time and place: Saturday, 8:30 am - 10:15 am Meadowbrook I INCORPORATING SOFTWARE ENGINEERING PRINCIPLES INTO REAL TIME ENGINEERING COURSES Ted Sarma, Western Michigan University, Massood Atashbar, Western Michigan University and Hossein Mousavinezhad, Western Michigan University One common industrially pertinent area between Electrical Engineering and Computer Science encompasses digital data acquisition, signal processing, communication and control. Students need to be exposed to high-level software engineering practices that are engineering based. An already crowded Computer Engineering program curriculum cannot accommodate each of these courses separately. At Western Michigan University (WMU) a junior level course was created that teaches high-level software engineering best practices using Visual Basic that is applied to these areas. The students were required to maintain assignment logs, which provided a closed-loop feedback mechanism for continuous course quality improvement. This course is highly successful in that the students learn a great deal of information as well as gaining experience in applications that is useful in subsequent course work and careers.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 121 Saturday Sessions

WORK IN PROGRESS: EXPERIENCING REAL-WORLD PROJECTS THROUGH TEAM-BASED COURSES Joo Tan, Mansfield University, Yang Yin, Mansfield University and Saron Ketema, Mansfield University Students of Software Engineering courses need real project experience in academia before entering the software industry. To address this need, a two-course sequence at Mansfield University has been designed to offer students hands-on experience. Students are placed into teams consisting four to six people and are required to assume certain roles. Students work from Project Planning to Conceptual Design in the first course and Detail Design to System Deployment in the second course. Students learn valuable lessons from these courses including team communication, scheduling, technical writing, and teamwork. Professional document preparation and team communication is stressed throughout the courses. We feel that the students are better prepared for the demands of the software industry as a result of taking these courses. WORK IN PROGRESS - ALTERNATIVE DOMAINS AND LEVELS OF UNDERSTANDING FOR SOFTWARE ENGINEERING ASSESSMENT Paul E. MacNeil, Mercer University Assessment usually involves a set of learning outcomes to be assessed and a set of performance levels used to rate achievement in each outcome. Ideally, an assessment approach would support assessment of engineering performance capabilities. This work in progress considers Teaching for Understanding as a basis for software engineering assessment, and finds that it has advantages over approaches based on Bloom s Taxonomy of Learning. Specific examples will be presented at the conference. TEACHING SOFTWARE DESIGN WITH OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE David Carrington, The University of Queensland and Soon-Kyeong Kim, The University of Queensland When an introductory course on software design and testing was revised, it was decided to use open source software tools as the major examples and objects of study. The goal was to expose students to realistic software systems and give them experience dealing with large quantities of code written by other people. Using open source software also has the beneficial effect of ensuring that students are aware of the open source software movement, and opens up opportunities to discuss topics such as software piracy and ethics. TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE IN A WEB APPLICATION DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT COURSE Heidi J. C. Ellis, Rensselaer at Hartford One of the primary objectives of software engineering education is the direct and easy transfer of the knowledge and skills taught in the classroom to the student, and correspondingly into the workplace. Immediate application of classroom knowledge in industry has several benefits including the rapid incorporation of research into industry, potential financial benefit to the employer, and improved professional stature of the student. One pedagogical approach to support this transfer of knowledge is the use of student-defined real-world projects. This paper reports on the experiences gained in knowledge and skill transfer from academia into industry in a graduate-level Web Application Design and Development course taught at Rensselaer at Hartford. THE ROLE OF MODELING IN SOFTWARE ENGINEERING EDUCATION Peter B. Henderson, Butler University In traditional engineering disciplines students are introduced to modeling as a tool for studying/checking the feasibility, functionality, trade-offs, features, design and construction pitfalls, cost analysis, etc. of a system. Physical and/or mathematical models are built to better understand the artifacts to be designed and constructed. In the design, development and maintenance of software systems, constructing a model is not a standard preliminary activity. This is primarily because it is not something software engineers are used to doing and there have not been sufficiently powerful software system modeling tools or techniques available. It is usually impossible to build a physical model of a software system, so any model must be mathematical in nature. The mathematical fundamentals required for constructing models of software systems will be introduced, and it will be shown how they can be used in an undergraduate software engineering or computer science curriculum to introduce students to the importance of modeling. Session S1D: Knowing Our Students 1 Chair: Donald Carpenter, Lawrence Technological University Time and place: Saturday, 8:30 am - 10:15 am Meadowbrook II STUDENT LEARNING STYLES, WEB USE PATTERNS AND ATTITUDES TOWARD HYPERMEDIA- ENHANCED INSTRUCTION Malgorzata S. Zywno, Ryerson University This paper focuses on attitudinal aspects of a four-year research on relationship between learning styles and learning outcomes in a hypermedia-enhanced environment. The research showed that a majority of engineering students had learning styles mismatched with the style of instruction that is still mostly verbal, theoretical, and does not encourage active par-

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 122 Saturday Sessions

ticipation. The author used hypermedia-enhanced instruction in order to provide effective scaffolding for such students. This paper discusses exit survey results showing that students overwhelmingly approved of hypermedia-assisted instruction and web support. This supports the conclusion that educational technology can accommodate a wider variety of learning style preferences, and thus increase learning. ASSESSMENT OF ACTIVE LEARNING WITH UPPER DIVISION COMPUTER SCIENCE STUDENTS Brenda Timmerman, California State University, Northridge and Robert Lingard, California State University, Northridge This paper describes the assessment and evaluation of experiments with active learning techniques performed in upper division Computer Science classes at California State University, Northridge (CSUN). In spite of the traditional views of Computer Science as an individualistic subject matter that attracts introverted, non-social students, the authors used active learning techniques in their classrooms for several semesters with encouraging results. In addition to an improved attitude and stated increased satisfaction, students' test results seemed to show increased comprehension and improved critical reasoning abilities. However, the authors felt the need to further evaluate their experiments for a more objective assessment. As an initial step, the authors conducted a survey of CSUN graduates, now working professionals. The goal of the survey was to determine how well the active learning experiments met the objectives of improved critical analysis abilities that were needed on their jobs, as well as improved communication and collaboration skills. WORK IN PROGRESS - MATH READINESS: THE IMPLICATIONS FOR ENGINEERING MAJORS Lloyd R. Heinze, Texas Tech University, James M. Gregory, Texas Tech University and John Rivera, Texas Tech University Good Math skills are essential to obtain academic success in engineering majors in college. Timing of when these skills are developed, while not a requirement for success is highly correlated with success in engineering programs. At Texas Tech University, Calculus III is a required course for all programs in the College of Engineering except for degrees in the Engineering Technology Department. Success of a C or better grade in Calculus III is usually associated with a future engineering graduate. An analysis was made to determine the probability of completing a C or better grade in Calculus III as a function of starting position in math as an incoming freshman. Texas Tech University has a well established math placement process that regulates the starting position based on math skills. The results of over 4,000 engineering students are presented. WORK IN PROGRESS - NEW QUESTIONS ABOUT LEARNING STYLES Cesar Malavé, Texas A & M University, Renato V. Belhot, Universidade de São Paulo at São Carlos and Reginaldo S. Figueiredo, Universidade Federal de São Carlos Educators are increasingly concerned about the efficacy of their instruction, and are conscious that the challenges facing them will not be met using traditional methods of teaching. Many pedagogical approaches have been proposed to facilitate the achievement of that goal. The one we will explore in this paper is related to the process by which students learn, and is based on the learning styles inventories developed respectively by Felder and Keirsey and on the Kolb s learning cycle. During the last three decades, several successful studies of learning styles have been conducted. Nevertheless, only a few questions have been addressed and most of the studies were of limited scope, brief duration, or narrow focus. This paper will discuss the contribution of a wide mapping of learning styles of former and current engineering students, taking into account gender, culture, ethnicity, nationality, and different teaching methodologies for supporting innovation and reform in engineering education. A RESOURCE FOR TEACHING A LEARNING STYLES/TEAMWORK MODULE WITH THE SOLOMAN- FELDER INDEX OF LEARNING STYLES Julie E. Sharp, Vanderbilt University This paper can serve as a resource for instructors interested in a course module for teaching teamwork skills using the Soloman-Felder Index of Learning Styles (ILS). After presenting a rationale for the module, I suggest in-class activities and homework assignments from which instructors can construct their own module of up to three one-hour segments. This resource is adapted from a module I created for the Vanderbilt Engineering School ES 130 freshman introductory course and has been endorsed by Professor Richard Felder. At his suggestion, I have included a problem-solving exercise with the thinking/feeling dimension of the Myers-Briggs® personality theory, a dimension affecting interpersonal conflicts. ACTIVE LEARNING USING MECHATRONICS IN A FRESHMAN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COURSE Douglas Wolfe, United States Military Academy, Karl A. Gossett, United States Military Academy, Peter Hanlon, United States Military Academy and Curtis A. Carver Jr., United States Military Academy This paper details efforts at the United States Military Academy to employ mechatronics in an active-learning environment. We use mechatronics to teach future Army leaders information technology (IT) and problem- solving with computers, as well as introduce them to autonomous vehicles, sensors, and computer simulation. Cadets are taught a four-step problem-solving methodology to develop and implement the components for a mechatronic device using the Mindstorms Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 123 Saturday Sessions

Lego Robot. After cadets complete problem analysis and design, they code and test their Java programs that control the robot in a graphical simulation environment called Jago. Once cadets are confident in their solution, they download their completed Java program to the Mindstorms robot to verify that their code solves the problem in the real world. The impact on the cadets using mechatronics to solve problems has been very positive, and we are confident that the long-term impact will be substantial. Cadets are exposed to a number of different disciplines, gaining an understanding of how these disciplines work together to develop mechatronic devices. In addition, the robot projects help enforce the problem-solving methodology where cadets analyze, design, implement, and test their solutions. Session S1E: Multidisciplinary Approaches Chair: Stuart Kellogg, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Time and place: Saturday, 8:30 am - 10:15 am Waverly ENERGY: AN INTEGRATED AND NONTRADITIONAL APPROACH John R. Fanchi, Colorado School of Mines The purpose of this paper is to describe a new energy survey course for technical students. The course presents an integrated overview of energy sources that will be available for use in the 21st century. A secondary objective of the energy course is to present the content of the National Academy of Sciences content standards. The course presumes knowledge of college level physics with calculus, and mathematics through calculus of several variables. This level of preparation is not traditional for energy survey courses, but enables a more sophisticated treatment of a wide range of topics that is suitable for technical students. EXPLORING DESIGN THROUGH GAME Eunice Ratna Sari, translate-easy.com A design project is a social process that typically involves social interaction and collaboration among people with different backgrounds. Within the process, the pattern of social interaction and collaboration is not always trivial. To cope with these challenges, a designer needs to be equipped with some good social skills to achieve an optimal professional work quality. Unfortunately, the typical design education is lack of emphasise in the development of social competence. In this paper, we propose a creation of board game as a means of exploring design in a context of a balance design repertoire development within a design education framework. A first-hand experience in the development of 4 Seasons board game serves its purpose to explore design through game. The results, conclusions, and observations of the study were parts of the design and development of the game itself. COMBINING RENEWABLE ENERGY AND DESIGN-FOR-MANUFACTURING RESEARCH IN AN UNDER- GRADUATE RESEARCH PROJECT John T. Tester, Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University s (NAU) College of Engineering and Technology (CET) is integrating the traditional topics involved in design-for-manufacturing research and education with the re-emerging field of renewable energy. In particular, student research projects were conducted for the optimization of injection molding process parameters for a small wind turbine blade to produce the fewest manufacturing defects. The defect of interest was warp the level of part distor- tion predicted after the molding process. Deviation from the designed turbine blade geometry degrades the predicted energy output for the system, thus inspiring this research. The research activities involved manufacturing simulation and design-of-experiments (DOE) in order to create and examine a mathematical response surface. Presented herein is a background to the NAU Sustainable Energy Solutions research and education activities, the particular problem formulation for the undergraduate research, the educational approach necessary to support the undergraduate researchers, the implementation of the research activities, and the project outcomes. CONSUMER PRODUCT DESIGN Sridhar Condoor, Saint Louis University and Jose Quijano, Saint Louis University The paper describes a new course titled Consumer Product Design whose primary emphasis is on innovation. The course is aimed at instilling sharp observation skills and creative thinking in students. The course structure blends theory and practice in the form of a series of design challenges. The lectures dwell into the product design methodology and case studies. The studio work primarily involves the design challenge. The paper describes the motivation for the course, its objectives and the design approach. The design approach consists of three distinct stages - Understand market and/or the current products, Synthesize effective designs and Model the product designs. The paper describes activities in each of these stages with a design case study. The course ties human psychology, business issues and ethics into the course. It enables them to appreciate good design and also, create new innovative products.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 124 Saturday Sessions

WORK IN PROGRESS - RENEWABLE ENERGY BASED CAPSTONE DESIGN APPLICATIONS FOR AN UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY CURRICULUM Recayi Pecen, University of Northern Iowa, Teresa J Hall, UNIversity of Northern Iowa, Fanarious Chalkiadakis, University of Northern Iowa and Ayhan Zora, University of Northern Iowa The senior design project is a capstone course taken in the final year of the Electrical and Information Engineering Technology (EIET) program at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI). The EIET program has been recently updated and is Iowa's first four-year Bachelor of Science degree in the electrical engineering technology area. The program has 2+2 articulation agreements with Iowa community colleges. Introduction of renewable energy applications to electrical engineering technology curriculum at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) has impacted students, faculty, and university community positively and promoted feasibility and adoption of more eco-friendly energy technologies. This paper presents the results of three solar and/or wind power based senior design projects promoting environmentally friendly technologies in Iowa. This paper also illustrates several methods for collaborating with regional corporate partners. The capstone senior projects listed are: (1) design and development of a fiberglass zero emission solar electric boat for Iowa lakes and rivers; (2) computer controlled solar powered outdoor digital display for departmental recruitment; and (3) design and implementation of a wind-solar hybrid power generation and instrumentation station. The first objective of this paper is to show how two of these projects were adapted for the undergraduate teaching and research curriculum. The second objective is to illustrate how student design projects can serve as an excellent marketing tool for engineering and engineering technology programs. Session S1F: International Collaborations Chair: Sally Fincher, University of Kent Time and place: Saturday, 8:30 am - 10:15 am Windsor 2D AND 3D INTRODUCTORY PROCESSES IN VIRTUAL GROUPS Tony Clear, Auckland University of Technology and Mats Daniels, Uppsala University This paper reports upon a collaborative learning trial conducted in 2002 between students at Auckland University of Technology New Zealand and Uppsala University Sweden. The trial design included an initial phase in which virtual groups became acquainted, using different modes of cyber-icebreaker, and a subsequent phase with a common task involving group decision making - evaluating and ranking the different icebreaker experiences. The software used in the trial comprised 1) a custom developed web-based groupware database, and 2) a Java 3D application, employing configurable avatars, which could be manipulated in a virtual world. Each of these applications supported icebreaking activities intended to establish trust between virtual group members, the latter in 3D mode, and the former in 2D mode. The trial process and the software are initially outlined. The evaluation strategy, and approaches to data analysis are then discussed, and the paper concludes with a report of preliminary findings from the trial. GROUP-BASED LEARNING IN INTERNATIONALLY DISTRIBUTED TEAMS: AN EVALUATION OF A CROSS ATLANTIC EXPERIMENT Paulien M. Herder, Assistant professor and Ellen Sjoer, Assistant professor Students from the Netherlands and the USA have collaborated in teams on engineering design formulation. We evaluated how the students, divided into mixed groups, communicated, learned and collaborated. We found that some groups had made explicit arrangements regarding times and means of synchronous and asynchronous communication, complicated by the 6 hour time difference. Simple but highly accessible tools (email and chat) were used most often. We conducted a detailed individual group assessment in which each student evaluated each group member regarding quality of contributions and commitment. We found that local group members were rated significantly higher than non-local ones. Although students felt at ease in their international group, and indicated that they were able to express their opinions, not every group functioned well, as illustrated by the free-riding behavior of non-local group members. Overall, the students recommended that the international collaboration be continued. PERFORMANCE IN INTERNATIONAL COMPUTER SCIENCE COLLABORATION BETWEEN DISTRIBUTED STUDENT TEAMS Martha Lucia Hause, The Open University, Marian Petre, The Open University and Mark Woodroffe, The Open University Technology has developed such that it allows for effective remote collaboration. International collaboration gives students the opportunity to use different technologies for collaboration across time and distance as well as problem-solving experience with different cultures in a team-based environment. This paper investigates the interactions of high and low performing distributed student teams. These teams were involved in a software development project, part of a Computer Science course at two universities. A set of categories was developed for this study to examine the communication produced. This paper tracks the progression and changes in each team s communication via coded categories. In particular, the

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 125 Saturday Sessions

use of communication media available, the amount of communication per team and decision-making patterns throughout the software development process. Results indicate that not only is communication crucial to a team s success but the process and timing of specific actions can have an impact on a team s performance. WORK IN PROGRESS - LEARNING COMPUTER NETWORKS IN AN INTERNATIONALLY DISTRIBUTED COURSE Anders Berglund, Uppsala University Students learning of computer networks has been studied in a project-based course, where master level students in computer science study and work in teams of six. Three of the team members are in Sweden while three are in the US. Together these students are taking a course that is jointly taught by two universities. Results are presented concerning the students perception of the object of their studies: the production of a software system or/and to learn computer science, as well as their experience of collaborating and taking decisions in distributed team, of being graded, etc. Conclusions are drawn as to the relationship between the study environment and the learning outcome and factors that promote good learning are identified. UNDERSTANDING THE GROUP DEVELOPMENT PROCESS IN GLOBAL SOFTWARE TEAMS Mary Z Last, St. Edward's University University graduates need to be better prepared to work in globally distributed organizations. Part of that preparation involves teaching students to work effectively in teams to solve problems. Students also must learn to work virtually, that is, to work across time and distance using electronic communications with little or no face-to-face interaction. This paper describes an empirical study of virtual teams engaged in software development within a distributed project course at the post-secondary level. This research used grounded theory methodology to analyze the electronic communications of virtual teams to investigate how these teams developed. Results of the study indicate that certain communication behaviors and member attitudes affect group development. These findings have implications for how educators prepare students to work in dispersed teams. MEAD, MANAGING EDUCATION WITH TEACHERS AT A DISTANCE Mats Daniels, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden, Xristine Faulkner, South Bank University, London, UK and Ian Newman, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK The MEAD project is aimed at the challenge of getting competent teachers in a rapidly changing area such as computer science which for many institutions is a non-trivial task. Involving teachers at remote institutions might be a solution to this problem. There are, however, many obstacles with doing so, and this paper looks into the teacher aspect of being involved from a remote place in a course, as well as to present the Open Ended Group Project (OEGP) as a suitable education format for such a situation. The first step in this project has been to investigate properties of OEGPs and to see if the concept will fit with the intention of the MEAD project. Some general aspects of OEGPs that are deemed especially promising are presented, many of them based on Runestone which is an OEGP where experience of involving non-local teachers has been gained. The IT project semester is an instance of a course that is run with a non-local teacher. Planning and initial observations from this course are presented. Session S1G: Panel: Initial Experiences in ABET Accreditation of Software Engineering Programs Chair: Mark J. Sebern, Milwaukee School of Engineering Time and place: Saturday, 8:30 am - 10:15 am Standley I INITIAL EXPERIENCES IN ABET ACCREDITATION OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERING PROGRAMS Mark J. Sebern, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Mark Ardis, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Robert Hasker, University of Wisconsin - Plattville, James McDonald, Monmouth University, Donna Reese, Mississippi State University, James Vallino, Rochester Institute of Technology and Stuart Zweben, Ohio State University This panel session reflects on initial accreditation experiences of undergraduate software engineering programs in the USA, from the viewpoint of the programs and evaluators. It is designed primarily for attendees who already have some familiarity with the development and accreditation of undergraduate software engineering programs.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 126 Saturday Sessions

Session S1H: Special Session: Incident at Morales: An Engineering Ethics Video Chair: Michael C. Loui, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Time and place: Saturday, 8:30 am - 10:15 am Standley II INCIDENT AT MORALES: AN ENGINEERING ETHICS VIDEO Michael C. Loui, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, E. Walter LeFevre, University of Arkansas, Steven P. Nichols, University of Texas at Austin, Carl M. Skooglund, Texas Instruments, Inc., Jimmy H. Smith, Texas Tech University, Frederick Suppe, Texas Tech University, Philip E. Ulmer, Consulting Engineer and Vivian Weil, Illinois Institute of Technology The National Institute for Engineering Ethics has produced a new video that dramatizes a fictional but realistic case in which an engineer addresses numerous ethical issues in designing a new chemical plant in Mexico. In a special session at the conference, participants will learn to use a new video to teach professional and ethical issues in engineering effectively, with two basic cooperative learning techniques: generating questions in pairs and structured discussions in small groups. Session S2A: Ethics Chair: Eric Soulsby, University of Connecticut Time and place: Saturday, 10:30 am - 12:15 pm Cotton Creek I MORAL DILEMMAS: ETHICS IN A SENIOR SEMINAR John R. Fanchi, Colorado School of Mines The purpose of this paper is to describe the ethics module in a Senior Seminar for Petroleum Engineering students. The objective of the ethics module is to improve oral and written communication skills by asking the student to discuss the ethical aspects of a moral dilemma. Each student must select a character from a complex situation that has been designed to present a range of moral dilemmas for a large number of characters. The student must select one ethical issue and discuss it relative to one or more ethical codes. Rubrics are used to evaluate student performance. AN EXAMINATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ACADEMIC DISHONESTY AND PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR Trevor S. Harding, Kettering University, Honor J. Passow, University of Michigan, Donald D. Carpenter, Lawrence Technological University and Cynthia J. Finelli, University of Michigan A number of recent studies have found correlations between academic dishonesty in higher education and unethical behavior in the work settings. However, these studies have not explored the causal relationship between the underlying factors that lead to this dishonesty. This realization, and apparently high levels of cheating among engineering students, has lead us to a research hypothesis that decision making patterns about academic cheating among engineering students are positively correlated with those individuals? decision making patterns about work place ethics and responsibility. To test our hypothesis, we have developed an exploratory survey that asks questions about the respondent?s decisions during opportunities to ?cheat? in each of two contexts: college classrooms and work-place settings (with a special focus on engineering work settings). The survey was designed to provide qualitative data that could be used to later develop a more robust quantitative survey. This paper will present only the preliminary quantitative results from this survey. WORK IN PROGRESS - TEACHING PRODUCT LIABILITY AS AN ETHICAL ISSUE IN ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE Joseph R. Herkert, North Carolina State University and Brian M. O'Connell, Central Connecticut State University This paper discusses the ethical implications of product liability and strategies for teaching product liability as an ethical issue to engineering and computer science students. The product liability climate can have substantial impact on the working environment of engineers charged with product safety. Many product liability controversies turn on the notion of standard of care , which has both legal and ethical dimensions. The importance of product liability as an ethical issue can be demonstrated for students by considering the well-known Therac-25 and McDonald's coffee cases as well as less-publi- cized but more common cases involving appliances and hand tools. Such cases not only illuminate ethical issues and dilemmas posed by product liability claims and policy, but also help to clarify the relationship between law and ethics. EMBEDDING ETHICS INTO AN ENGINEERING CURRICULUM Shirley Fleischmann, Grand Valley State University Ethics has long been a required topic in an ABET approved engineering curriculum, but the list of 11 requirements known by most engineering educators as the a-k criteria of ABET 2000 makes it clear that ethics must be far more than simply a topic to be covered somewhere in the curriculum. Teaching ethics is an essential part of teaching professionalism and must be a foundational strand that runs throughout the entire curriculum. In this paper the approach that is under development at the Padnos School of Engineering (PSE) at Grand Valley State University will be described. Students are intro-

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 127 Saturday Sessions

duced to the Honor Concept (which includes an Honor Code) as freshmen. The PSE program requires 1500 hours of co- op experience which is normally divided into three semesters of full-time work alternated with academic semesters during the last two years of the program. This offers the faculty an opportunity to teach ethics as a natural aspect of professionalism through the academic requirements for co-op. These elements and other parts of the approach under development will be described as well as observations about the success of this approach to date. TEACHING ETHICS IN THE ENGINEERING DESIGN PROCESS: A LEGAL SCHOLAR S PERSPECTIVE Vincent M. Brannigan, University of Maryland Engineering ethics are a critical "gap filler" in the regulation of technology. Engineers, as professionals , are given professional autonomy in promoting risky activities, based on a promise that they will act in the public interest. Both regulation and liability put constraints on the design process, but often leave gaps that must be filled by ethical precepts. The conflict between the public s interest and the private interest of the engineer is often most acute in the acceptance or rejec- tion of relatively rare risks with the greatest uncertainty of injury. Rare risk of catastrophic injury can fall "under the radar" of regulatory systems, or technological advances may make regulatory systems obsolete. A key ethical problem can be described as design process failures where engineers wrongfully assume that another party will cope with a risk. Engi- neers must be taught to recognize and deal with ethical problems in product design. In particular reliance on regulatory approval may be insufficient. Design processes that actually Hold paramount the public safety must be the benchmark for engineering ethics. ASSESSING STUDENTS' ABILITIES TO RESOLVE ETHICAL DILEMMAS Mark Sindelar, University of Pittsburgh, Larry Shuman, University of Pittsburgh, Mary Besterfield-Sacre, Univer- sity of Pittsburgh, Ronald L. Miller, Colorado School of Mines, Carl Mitcham, Colorado School of Mines, Barbara M. Olds, Colorado School of Mines, Rosa Pinkus, University of Pittsburgh and Harvey Wolfe, University of Pitts- burgh ABET s accreditation criteria provides additional impetus for preparing engineering graduates to act in an ethically responsible manner. While criterion 3-f requires an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility, this is only the minimum. Ideally, graduates should be capable of moral problem solving, including the ability to recognize an ethical dilemma, analyze the situation, and find a creative middle-ground resolution. An increasing number of engineering programs are offering courses that do, in fact, attempt to achieve this objective, and a few ambitious programs are incorporating ethics across the curriculum. However, methods to assess the effectiveness of these educational efforts remain primitive at best. We describe the first phase of a joint effort at the University of Pittsburgh and the Colorado School of Mines to develop a measurement tool for assessing students abilities to recognize and resolve ethical dilemmas. Pre- and post-tests at the beginning and end of a semester-long course focusing on engineering ethics are used to assess students comprehension, analysis, and resolution of ethical dilemmas. Each test consists of two ethical dilemmas that students address through a response essay that are then holistically graded by using a rubric developed for this purpose, classifying students level of achievement. Results are analyzed using statistical methods to determine if any shifts have occurred to indicate a significant positive change in the un-derstanding level of the cohort. The second phase in-volves the development of a web-based assessment in-strument similar to CSM s Cogitoã that can be easily used by engineering faculty. Session S2B: Teaching Design through Course Projects Chair: Frederick Berry, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Time and place: Saturday, 10:30 am - 12:15 pm Cotton Creek II DESIGN COURSE PROJECTS THAT AID PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES Allen H. Hoffman, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Holly K. Ault, Worcester Polytechnic Institute Several challenging issues must be addressed when developing class projects for introductory and intermediate design classes. The students have limited technical backgrounds. Large course enrollments conflict with the desire to have students work in small teams. Developing design course projects based upon devices to aid persons with disabilities can address many of these challenges. For the past 3 years we have implemented this approach in an introductory mechanical design course (50 students) and in an intermediate level course (20 students). Project topics are readily obtained from local and regional organizations that deliver services to persons with disabilities. Multiple appropriate level projects are simultaneously executed in the same class. Each project focuses on the design process and includes building and evaluating a prototype. Final oral and written reports are required. The nature of these projects also requires that the students address a variety of other issues including application of engineering within a societal context, ethics, confidentiality and professional behavior.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 128 Saturday Sessions

LESSONS LEARNED FROM AN INTEGRATED SENIOR PROJECT Marilyn A Dyrud, Oregon Institute of Technology This paper describes an integrated senior project in civil engineering and focuses on lessons learned from the first-year experience that have been applied to the second, specifically the meaning of integration, faculty teamwork, assessment, and administrative issues. WORK IN PROGRESS - SUCCESSFUL INDUSTRY ADVISORY BOARD INVOLVEMENT IN THE CAPSTONE DESIGN EXPERIENCE Kathleen Ann Kramer, University of San Diego In the wake of EC2000, many engineering programs have created advisory boards for their programs to represent their industry and other constituencies. In many cases, unfortunately, the program has trouble successfully maximizing the benefit that can be obtained from the active involvement of such a board. In the case to be discussed, advisory board activities were deliberately directed to enhance the capstone design experience within an undergraduate electrical engineering program. Topics addressed include the first step in the process: selection of appropriate members for a program-level advisory board. Results observed from activities of the advisory board from involvement in four different areas of the capstone design experience will be presented. The areas of industry advisory board involvement included: input on the selection of appropriate projects, involvement in the selection of appropriate design methodology topics, student project mentoring, and, finally, project review. THE CAPSTONE SENIOR DESIGN COURSE: AN INITIATIVE IN PARTNERING WITH INDUSTRY Kenneth J. Christensen, University of South Florida and Dewey Rundus, University of South Florida In the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of South Florida, we use the required capstone senior design course to help students make the transition from student to industry professional. The course also plays a key role in achieving departmental ABET EC 2000 outcomes. We have partnered with local industry to bring non-proprietary, real-world hardware and software projects to our students. Industry partners contribute projects, mentor students, and give guest lectures. Students work in teams and have milestones and schedules. Project duration is one semester. Final presentations include a project demonstration, user documentation, press release, and poster. We find that our students perform very well when presented with a project that someone at the end truly cares about and will use. Evaluation results show that students see this as a very valuable course in the curriculum for preparing them for industry careers. USING A TAILORED SYSTEMS ENGINEERING PROCESS WITHIN CAPSTONE DESIGN PROJECTS TO DEVELOP PROGRAM OUTCOMES IN STUDENTS Llewellyn Martin William Mann, The University of Queensland and David F Radcliffe, The University of Queen- sland With the shift towards outcomes based accreditation, it is imperative that engineering courses develop their outcomes within students, and not just assess if students possess them. Many attempts have been made to integrate this development within capstone design projects with varying degrees of success. It was found that using a tailored systems engineering process increased the possibility that students developed desired outcomes within their design experience. A set of hybrid attributes was developed by comparing and mapping the ABET program outcomes and the Institution of Engineers Austra- lia s graduate attributes. The tailored systems engineering process was then compared to each hybrid attribute to determine how the process developed that attribute within students. INDUSTRY-ACADEMIC PARTNERSHIPS OF SUCCESSFUL CAPSTONE PROJECTS Jeffrey L. Ray, Grand Valley State University Current engineering curriculums have evolved over the past several years to address multiple concerns raised by industry. Their concerns include interdisciplinary engineering teams, teambuilding, project management, and others directly related to successful engineering careers. In order to better prepare future engineers, universities have implemented a variety of capstone courses to address industry concerns, as well as ABET EC2000 criteria. Capstone courses range in content from teams of students in the same discipline, working on the same or different projects, to industry-sponsored design projects primarily focused on producing paper designs. In very few instances schools require student teams to physically produce their designs. This paper discusses implementation and coordination of the projects, benefits of using industry- academic partnerships for capstone design courses, how the course effectively meets and exceeds industry and ABET concerns, additional benefits for the engineering school and the community. In addition, examples of several projects are presented.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 129 Saturday Sessions

Session S2C: Issues in Software Engineering Education Chair: Heidi Ellis, Rensselaer at Hartford Time and place: Saturday, 10:30 am - 12:15 pm Meadowbrook I C-REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION TEACHING Francisco J. García, University of Salamanca and María N. Moreno, University of Salamanca Requirements elicitation, so directly related to the final success of a software project, is also a complex task. Require- ment certification and validation need the customer and/or user s participation, for which reason software engineers must document the elicited requirements in a user-friendly format. The information, which clients find easier to understand, is gathered in a requirements catalog, usually written in natural language. This kind of requirements representation is often called customer oriented requirements or C-Requirements. Usually, the teaching of the requirement-related topics is more concerned with requirement analysis, especially in modeling issues, than with the elicitation and C-Requirements documentation process. This situation can produce misunderstandings and mistakes in students who try to carry out the requirements elicitation and documentation processes when they have to face a real or proposed software project. In this paper, we will describe a concrete requirements elicitation and documentation method that has been introduced to and accepted by students who take the Software Engineering subject as taught in the context of the Computer Science studies at the Univer- sity of Salamanca (Spain). LEFT CASE - A FREE SOFTWARE COMPONENT-BASED CASE TOOL FOR SOFTWARE ENGINEERING PRACTICE SUPPORT Francisco J. García, University of Salamanca and Iván Álvarez, University of Salamanca CASE tools are an important topic in the curriculum of a future software engineer because they automate the software creation process across the different software life cycle stages, looking for a more systematic software development process and also an increase of software quality. In this work we present Left CASE, a free software CASE Tool developed in the Computer Science Department at the University of Salamanca (Spain). This tool is a component-based framework that covers the software modeling techniques that are explained in the Computer Science studies at our University. Both structured and object-oriented modeling techniques are presented in our curriculum. The modeling techniques that we use are: Data Flow Diagrams, Entity Relationship Diagrams, UML Use CASE Diagrams, UML Class Diagrams, UML Interaction Diagrams and UML States Diagrams. THE AGILE APPROACH IN AN UNDERGRADUATE SOFTWARE ENGINEERING COURSE PROJECT Thomas Reichlmayr, Rochester Institute of Technology The rise in popularity of agile software development methodologies such as Extreme Programming (XP), Crystal, DSDM and Feature-Driven Development has opened an opportunity for the software engineering education community. How can one capitalize on the strengths of agile development models while still appealing to established software engineering practices? The typical introductory software engineering course makes use of a team-based project to reinforce software process activities. The project normally runs for one academic term during which students are led through life- cycle activities using a modified waterfall approach to software development. While useful in teaching software engineering process concepts, this approach limits the team s ability to utilize feedback from downstream process activities. It also limits the students opportunity to understand process improvement from their own experiences. The ability to respond to project change is also dampened by the fact that teams do not have the time or resources in this format to modify, or refac- tor, the design of a project component let alone incorporate a new or modified customer requirement. Agile methodologies promote an evolutionary approach to development using short incremental release cycles. This paper reports on the experiences of conducting a team project in an introductory software engineering course using agile development techniques at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Teams have the opportunity to experience multiple iterations of the software engineering life cycle and evolve a product design that allows for discoveries made during implementation and through the introduction of changing customer requirements. The project integrates the concept of test-driven development. This agile technique addresses testing early in the development process and reinforces the value of unit testing. The incorporation of agile techniques is not only useful for students in an introductory course, but may also be applied to upper division software engineering courses. DESIGN PATTERNS: EVOLVING FROM PASSIVE TO ACTIVE LEARNING James Vallino, Rochester Institute of Technology Students in Rochester Institute of Technology s Software Engineering program gain an appreciation for the importance of design in their second year when they work on a term-long team-based software project. Student comments often express an eagerness to be taught more about the design of larger software systems. Our next course, Engineering of Soft- ware Subsystems, aims to achieve that outcome. This paper describes the evolution of this design course. The course was initially delivered as three one-hour lectures and one two-hour lab per week. Particularly in lectures, the students were not

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 130 Saturday Sessions

engaged to actively learn the material. The course has taken several evolutionary steps moving from its initial low level of active learning to where it now is mostly under the control of student teams participating as active learners. Data from one offering of the course suggests improved course evaluation ratings and a noticeable increase in student appreciation for the textbook. A FRAMEWORK FOR A WEB-BASED TOOLSET TO SUPPORT THE TEACHING OF SOFTWARE AND WEB ENGINEERING Mike Lockyer, University of Teesside, Gary Griffiths, University of Teesside, Barry Hebbron, University of Tees- side and Briony Oates, University of Teesside This paper proposes a framework to support the development and use of tools that support the teaching of software and web engineering. It describes the evolution of tools to support the teaching of software engineering from simple client-side tools that support drawing DFDs and UML diagrams to web-based repositories that support process modelling. The paper specifically introduces the concept of Automated Walkthroughs and describes their use within the WWW. It also describes tools that automatically create Automated Walkthroughs for the World Wide Web (WWW) and their evaluation within a Masters-level software engineering module. Conclusions are drawn about the general applicability of the framework and proposals are made for further work in this area. A CSCW AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOL FOR LEARNING SOFTWARE ENGINEERING Dirk Draheim, Freie Universität Berlin We present PEASE, a web-enabled, process-aware, combined CSCW/project management tool. PEASE is a special- purpose tool that is tailored for the learning methodology EASE. It fosters collaborative learning by strictly supporting the EASE practices. PEASE relies on an versioning data model that enables collective ownership and artifact orientation. Based on that data model, PEASE implements a set of intuitive dialogues that structure the work into fast iterations and tracking activities. Thereby the tool leads the user through the EASE concepts like checkpoints, fixed total number of hours or small changing groups. This makes possible a jump start to EASE. Violations of EASE data constraints are detected and statistical information is displayed. This helps in project tracking. PEASE is integrated with an EASE knowledge base. Session S2D: Knowing Our Students 2 Chair: Richard B. Griffin, Texas A&M University Time and place: Saturday, 10:30 am - 12:15 pm Meadowbrook II WORK IN PROGRESS - MENTORING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN ENGINEERING Jay Banerjee, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez The study presented here is a stepping stone for understanding the process of mentoring in undergraduate curricula with special emphasis in engineering schools. During data collection written documents on mentoring from several engineering schools were gathered. Besides, fax and e-mail messages, telephone conversations as well as direct discussions with some visiting faculty were considered. Three (3) engineering schools from USA and three (3) from Puerto Rico were taken into account. Hence the domain of data is very limited. Yet it gives some results. WORK IN PROGRESS - TRACKING K-12 STUDENTS AFTER PARTICIPATION IN OUTREACH PROGRAMS C. Wayne Unsell, Interim Dean and Carol Dostal, Director Of Outreach Programs The School of Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science (ETCS) at Indiana-Purdue University Ft Wayne (IPFW) has been very successful this past year in efforts related to K-12 outreach. Record participation was achieved in several programs. External funding is required for all programs along with assessment of outcomes. Potential donors and university administrators will want to know What happens to the students that participate in our programs? Do they enroll in engineering, technology, or computer science programs after high school? This work in progress will describe a new program, INSITE, which is presently in the development stage. INSITE will involve student participants in outreach programs with ETCS throughout high school. MAKING A MID-COURSE CORRECTION: TRYING TO SALVAGE A COURSE IN TROUBLE Larry G. Richards, University of Virginia In the fall semester of 2002, I had my most problematic class in recent memory a required Probability and Statistics course for Mechanical Engineers. Ninety-two students took the class- most of them were second year ME majors. The overall performance of these students on the first test was miserable. After the first test, I administered two surveys of study habits and behaviors, and asked the students to complete the Learning Styles Inventory (LSI) and forward their results to me. Most students complied with these requests. I also introduced some remedial measures, tried to instill greater awareness of necessary study habits, conducted more active exercises in class, and provided more extensive review prior to each test. For the final exam, I allowed additional time for all students to complete the exam. In this paper, I will report the

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 131 Saturday Sessions

results of the two surveys and what they revealed about my students study practices. Finally, I will discuss why current students seem to differ from previous generations in terms of study habits and behaviors, commitment to academic concerns, and motivation. GRADUATE-UNDERGRADUATE INTERACTION IN WIRELESS APPLICATIONS RESEARCH AND DEVELOP- MENT Simon G. M. Koo, Purdue University, Adegbile Adewunmi, Purdue University, Jeongjoon Lee, Purdue University, Yat Chung Lee, Purdue University and Catherine Rosenberg, Purdue University The School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University is offering a new Mobile Communications Project class for junior and senior undergraduate students. Students work in teams to design real-world applications for different mobile communications technologies. The Wireless Application Development group is composed of several teams that aim to develop state-of-the-art wireless applications for IEEE 802.11 based mobile devices. Each of these undergraduate teams in this group is led by a graduate student, under the supervision of the professor. The research and development projects conducted in this group have led to a couple of conference papers and a journal paper in the past semesters. This paper describes the projects done in this group by the undergraduate students, presents the graduate student advisory experience, and the graduate-undergraduate interaction throughout the process, and suggests methods for such interactivity to be productive. It also discusses the impact of such interactions on the undergraduate students as well as on the graduate mentors. WHAT IS GOOD TEACHING OF COMPUTER NETWORKS? Anders Berglund, Uppsala University In this paper it is argued, based on theoretical as well as empirical grounds, that a university teacher in computer networks can improve students learning by being aware of the different ways in which the students understand the concepts that he or she teaches. The distinct, qualitatively different, ways in which students understand the network protocol TCP (Transmission Control Protocol), have been revealed in a research project, performed with a phenomenographic qualitative approach. The perceptions of TCP held among the students have been evaluated, based on situational appropriateness and richness. The results indicate that all the ways in which TCP is understood in the group are relevant during different phases of a software development project, and with different tasks at hand. Thus, a teacher should encourage students to understand what he or she teaches in different ways and should help them to choose in a relevant way between these perceptions. These results are also related to current research into students learning, which clearly demonstrate that teaching, based on results of this type, promotes better understanding. Session S2E: Technology for Teaching Chair: Tom Lookabaugh, University of Colorado Time and place: Saturday, 10:30 am - 12:15 pm Waverly WORK IN PROGRESS - USING COMPUTER ASSISTED CLASSROOMS Dan Budny, University of Pittsburgh, Rich Colwell, University of Pittsburgh and Dan Derence, University of Pitts- burgh Over the past 3 years the University of Pittsburgh has moved its Freshman classes from a traditional classroom setting to a new computer assisted learning environment. This paper will discuss how Math, Chemistry, Physics and Engineering have modified their course content from a traditional lecture setting to a active learning environment and how the technology in the classroom has been used to assist in the instruction. SOFTWARE FOR TAKING NOTES IN CLASS Nigel G. Ward, University of Texas at El Paso and Hajime Tatsukawa, NTT Communications Although digital devices are replacing paper and pencil in ever more domains, class notes have so far resisted this trend. In part this is because class notes and the note-taking process are unique and different from the tasks supported by existing software. A system to support classroom note-taking should embody seven design principles. A prototype system based on these principles was used in the laboratory and in the classroom by three long-term users. Some users prefered note-taking with the system over pencil and paper, suggesting that taking lecture-notes with the computer is feasible. INCREASING STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN A NETWORKED CLASSROOM Thomas Gross, ETH Zurich, Levente Szekrenyes, ETH Zurich and Cristian Tuduce, ETH Zurich Many students own notebooks, and many lecture halls are equipped with a wireless local area network, so student notebooks provide a convenient platform for various in-class activities. We report here on a simple tool that uses this platform to increase student participation. An instructor can perform instant in-class assessments, solicit questions about the material, or gauge the student's perception of the lecture's speed. Responses are collected without revealing the student's identity and stored on the instructor's machine or a remote server. If appropriate, the responses are electronically tabulated (e.g.,

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 132 Saturday Sessions

multiple-choice questions or self-confidence surveys). The instructor always maintains control and decides when an assessment or query is posted, how long the students are given to respond, and if summaries are shared with the class. Also, even in the most computer-savy environment, not all students bring a computer to class, and we discuss how to deal with this issue. WHERE ARE YOU? WIRELESS WAY'S TO ENHANCE COLLABORATION Arnold Neville Pears, Uppsala University and Marc-Aurele Brothier, S h o c k f i s h SA Location independent learning is a feature of emerging wireless and pervasive networking environments currently appearing in educational institutions in the Nordic countries. At the same time as mobility is increasing, online forms of communication are enhancing our ability to construct new types of learning spaces. In these new learning networks local and remote learners combine via a combination of virtual and face to face interactions. As learners become more mobile locating other learners becomes an interesting issue, with concommittant implications for collaborative behaviour. This paper describes a prototype position aware ICQ like collaboration tool, "Where Are You" (WAY). WAY provides users, who have a wireless device that complies with the IEEE802.11b (Wi-Fi) standard with the ability to locate themselves and their work-mates in buildings that have a wireless LAN infrastructure and a WAY server. The intent is to assist people working in large campus buildings to locate one another and services that are in their local environment. WORK IN PROGRESS: "VIDEO FAQS -- INSTRUCTION-ON-DEMAND" Kenneth L. Alford, United States Military Academy Video FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) are short, locally-produced "movie files" that can be made available to students online, over a campus network, or on disk. Each Video FAQ answers a specific question or teaches an individual skill. Video FAQs are easy to create and can provide targeted, high quality "instruction-on-demand" to students. They can also help conserve valuable instructor time. This paper and presentation will present lessons learned and discuss the creation, use, and benefits of Video FAQs. WORK IN PROGRESS: SUPPORTING LEARNER-CENTERED INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY THROUGH ENGINEERING CAPSTONE PROJECT ELECTRONIC PORTFOLIOS Jonathan U. Dougherty, The Pennsylvania State University and M. Kevin Parfitt, The Pennsylvania State Univer- sity The Department of Architectural Engineering at Penn State University is committed to adopting learning-based Infor- mation and Communication Technologies as a part of the senior capstone design experience, a yearlong course sequence taken by all fifth year students. The pilot program of this educationally motivated initiative focuses on the application of student-generated electronic portfolios. These web-based portfolios, called Capstone Project Electronic Portfolios, will provide a multi-faceted benefit to the students, the faculty, the department, and potential employees of AE graduates. This paper will introduce the initiative and provide insight into effectively utilizing modern technologies for teaching and learning in engineering capstone design courses. Session S2F: Web-based Instruction 5 Chair: Terence Ahern, California State University Monterey Bay Time and place: Saturday, 10:30 am - 12:15 pm Windsor THE VIRTUAL CLASSROOM EXPERIENCE Barbara Bernal Thomas, Southern Polytechnic State University Modern technology creates an imperative for increasingly diverse classroom experiences. Both students and faculty can benefit from the constant technological advances occurring today. Students expect their educational experience to include the use of current technology, multimedia presentations of subject content, and engaging learning interactivity. A dramatic benefit can be achieved by the use of diverse tools, such as a classroom web site, email communication between all classroom participants, and other Internet-based technology. These tools enable educational representations in static, dynamic, interactivity, and multi-modal formats to reach the different types of learners in academia. The virtual classroom experiences are linked to the synchronous and asynchronous interaction, the characteristics of online professors and students, and the convenience and flexibility of the virtual classroom. These primary topics and the challenges for the creation, maintenance and assessment of virtual classrooms are addressed in this paper. WORK IN PROGRESS - MODULARIZATION OF ENGINEERING COURSES USING HTML CONTENT Thomas P. Cathcart, Mississippi State University For courses having a strong "hands-on" component, html presentation of lecture material allows class meetings to be used for in-class exercises. When students in the class have divergent vocational interests, this approach (html readings plus structured exercises) is amenable to exercises tailored to the interests of the individual that also meet overall class

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 133 Saturday Sessions

goals. A mathematical modeling course taught with all requisite material available in html can be so structured. Care must be taken to ensure that in-class exercises remain truly parallel. WORK IN PROGRESS - INDIVIDUALIZING LEARNING IN A VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT Fanny Klett, Ilmenau Technical University / Germany The focus of this paper is a learning design model, including techniques, to optimize learning facilities by improving interaction and flexibility in a virtual learning space. PROJECT BASED LEARNING IN INTERNET Domenico Ponta, University of Genoa, Giuliano Donzellini, University of Genoa and Hannu Markkanen, EVTEK Project based learning (PBL) is a well-established reality in engineering education. Internet technologies enhance traditional PBL by offering new resources, tools and services. They add, for instance, the possibility to define distributed projects, where project parts are developed by geographically distant persons or teams.. The paper presents the characteristics and the results of NetPro, an EU-supported project that has created models, methods, tools and learning materials for network-based project learning (NPBL) in engineering education. The models applied are those of engineering work practice, adapted to an educational context. NetPro student teams may form cross-institutional learning communities that share and peer review project deliverables and interact in special interest group discussions. Running pilot projects tests NetPro methodologies and tools. The paper describes in some details the pilot supporting first year courses in the field of digital electronic design. JIT TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT MODULES IN PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS Stuart D. Kellogg, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology With the advent of global competition and process re-engineering, the need for statistical reasoning is becoming increasingly important in a variety of business, managerial, and engineering applications. This paper presents a technology-enabled approach for providing just-in-time training for onsite learners in basic probability and statistics. By modular- izing core concepts, instruction can be modified for students with varied mathematical backgrounds. Online review materials contain applications in business, engineering, and management and address alternative learning styles. Online materials also allow students to navigate through a variety of applications, download multi-media instruction, and complete interactive self-correcting exercises in each of the curricular modules. Session S2G: Mini-Keynote: Professional Development At Construx Software Chair: Stephen Seidman, New Jersey Institute of Technology Time and place: Saturday, 10:30 am - 12:15 pm Standley I PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AT CONSTRUX SOFTWARE Steve McConnell, Construx Software During software gold rushes, commitment-based development and 24-hour hacking marathons prevail. During normal development periods, more sophisticated software engineering approaches are needed, and it turns out that these approaches work better during gold rush phases too. In the absence of widespread university education in software education, Construx Software has developed an innovative, industry leading approach to professional development of software engineers. Construx's program synthesizes reading, directed experience, classes, discussion groups, personal planning, mentoring, and other forms of organization support to bolster traditional forms of on the job training. By basing this professional development program on SWEBOK, Construx is able to leverage this investment in professional development into gains in recruiting, interviewing, performance evaluations, and skills inventory management. Session S2H: Special Session: Designing Education Research: A Mentoring Opportunity Chair: Alisha A. Waller, Georgia State University Time and place: Saturday, 10:30 am - 12:15 pm Standley II DESIGNING EDUCATION RESEARCH: A MENTORING OPPORTUNITY Alisha A. Waller, Georgia State University and David DiBiasio, Worcester Polytechnic Institute The goal of this session is to provide FIE participants with an opportunity to work on the design of an education research project of their choice, with guidance from experienced mentors. This session creates a formal space (both in time and location) for new mentoring relationships to form and research planning work to be done.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 134 Saturday Sessions

Session S3A: Curriculum Integration 1 Chair: Anthony Marchese, Rowan University Time and place: Saturday, 2:00 pm - 3:45 pm Cotton Creek I ENHANCING BIOENGINEERING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENGINEERING MAJORS Vernicka K. Tyson, Michigan State University, Melissa J. Baumann, Michigan State University, Roger G. Baldwin, Michigan State University and P. David Fisher, Michigan State University In response to evolving expectations for its engineering graduates, Michigan State University is developing a plan to enhance undergraduate student learning in the field of bioengineering. Although this paper focuses on enhancing bioengineering opportunities for engineering majors, several lessons have been learned that might be applied as other institutions develop strategies to systemically reform their undergraduate engineering programs. For example, the following factors have been identified that impact the sustainability of curricular-change initiatives: the role of strategic planning within the academic unit and at the institutional level; the leadership role of department chairs/heads and college deans; the role of faculty planning, faculty assessment, faculty development and faculty autonomy; the system of values and rewards for individual faculty and for their academic units; and the role of constituent groups in establishing and evaluating educational program objectives and curricular outcomes. THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII CUBESAT: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING PROJECT Wayne A. Shiroma, University of Hawaii, Aaron T. Ohta, University of Hawaii and Michael A. Tamamoto, Univer- sity of Hawaii Undergraduate engineering students at the University of Hawaii are currently working on the most ambitious project ever undertaken by a multidisciplinary group of engineering students in the university s history: designing and constructing a small satellite that will be launched into low-earth orbit. Over 70 undergraduates and nine faculty advisors are participating in the CubeSat Project, which involves the design, manufacture, and operation of a cube-shaped satellite having a mass no greater than 1 kg and a maximum volume of 1000 cm3. This paper describes the multidisciplinary nature of the project, its relevance to ABET criteria, the integration of undergraduate research opportunities, and the outreach efforts to high school students. USING A DESIGN DOCUMENT TO SUPPORT INTERDISCIPLINARY LEARNING Diane T. Rover, Iowa State University, Julie A. Dickerson, Iowa State University, Carolina Cruz-Neira, Iowa State University, Robert J. Weber, Iowa State University, Kukjin Lee, Iowa State University and Zheng Min, Iowa State University One goal of the project, Wireless Multimedia Communications for Virtual Environments, is to create an integrated educational program in which faculty members in different disciplines work closely together to mentor larger teams of students and create solutions to complex problems that combine human factors, computer graphics, real-time systems, wearable computers, and wireless devices. We are developing new classes at the senior and graduate levels that cover software engineering for virtual environments, the design of practical wireless devices, and the codesign of embedded systems. A key issue that is central to the course development is the strategy for interdisciplinary teaching and learning. Independent of the course organization, the virtual reality research environment is used as a common theme among the courses, thus providing a basis for problem-based learning. In this case, our objective is to define the problem so that students in different engineering disciplines (electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, systems engineering) have the necessary discipline-specific information and also understand the multidisciplinary aspects of the problem. To that end, we have been exploring the design documentation used in the disciplinary areas. In this paper, we present the course development and the use of a design document to support learning objectives. WORK IN PROGRESS - A NOVEL INTRODUCTORY GRADUATE COURSE FOR ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS Thyagarajan Srinivasan, Wilkes University An introductory course intended to enhance the experimental skills, computer application skills, and communications skills of graduate students is described. THE ENGINEERING CURICULLUM FOR 2020: VALUES, VARIABILITY, IMPROVEMENT AND KNOWLEDGE John Hadjilogiou, Florida Institute of Technology Designing an engineering curriculum based on well-established quality principles is the theme of this paper. A curriculum will be presented that is self-sustained and grows to meet and exceed current and future demands. It is based on clear vision, values, variability, knowledge and awareness of the inherent worth of people. It capitalizes on the successful lean production thinking of the automobile industry, proceeds with the Deming philosophy for improving quality, and continues with the inherent human aspect of people. The human aspect utilizes the fact that successful institutions practice their true beliefs rather than simply profess them. This paper concludes by introducing the concept of self-deception to prepare the Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 135 Saturday Sessions

reader to embrace and implement the current proposed solution: a solution that will reverse the continuous escalating cost of our education system by creating an environment of teaming, continuous improvement, flattening the organization, and assigning the faculty to do what they were trained and hired to do, in a happy and healthy productive working environment. Session S3B: Teaching Via Design Chair: P. K. Imbrie, Purdue University Time and place: Saturday, 2:00 pm - 3:45 pm Cotton Creek II WORK IN PROGRESS - INTEGRATING CONCEPTS OF DECISION MAKING AND UNCERTAINTY INTO ENGINEERING DESIGN EDUCATION Sven K. Esche, Stevens Institute of Technology and Constantin Chassapis, Stevens Institute of Technology Engineering design represents a process of decision making under conditions of uncertainty and risk, but today s undergraduate engineering curricula rarely include any principles of decision theory. This paper describes a pilot program that was recently started with the objective to prompt a strategic initiative for the development, implementation and assessment of novel approaches in engineering design education at Stevens Institute of Technology. Starting with a thorough feasibility study in two mechanical engineering courses, the goal will be to demonstrate that the concepts of uncertainty in data, decision theory and optimization can be integrated effectively into undergraduate education. If proven successful, the propagation of the approach to the capstone design sequence in the mechanical engineering department and to the entire engineering curriculum at Stevens Institute of Technology will be considered. A JUNIOR COURSE IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING PRACTICE TO PREPARE STUDENTS FOR THE SENIOR DESIGN EXPERIENCE Ladimer S. Nagurney, University of Hartford To better prepare students for their senior design project the electrical engineering department at the University of Hart- ford has created a course to introduce students to data acquisition, data reporting, and project preparation. The course includes lectures on sensors, acquisition, signal conditioning, calibration, measurement practices, data reporting and presentation. Concurrently the students perform experiments in data acquisition, signal conditioning, and measurements. WORK IN PROGRESS - INTEGRATING MAJOR DESIGN EXPERIENCE THROUGHOUT A SMALL CIVIL ENGINEERING PROGRAM Karen C. Chou, Minnesota State University and W. James Wilde, Minnesota State University A 2-semester course sequence was developed to fulfill the major design experience in a small civil engineering program in a rural area. The goal of this major experience is to emulate the practice of planning and designing of a civil engineering project in a typical engineering office. To achieve this goal, we have involved students from freshman to senior level classes, faculty, and the engineering community. The objective of this paper is to share our first year s experience in teaching this course. TEACHING INTRODUCTORY FLUIDS THROUGH FOUNTAIN DESIGN Adrian Hanson, NMSU, Salim Bawizar, NMSU, Kenneth Stevens, NMSU and Jason Capron, NMSU Neophyte engineering students have difficulty conceptualizing fluid concepts, and have little understanding of the design process. The fountain concept development, proto-typing, design, and fountain building process allows students to experience the iterative nature of design while they developed an intuitive basis for learning and remembering fluids fundamentals. The students were divided into teams and given a budget of $20/team. The final report included concept development, fountain features, design approach, materials list, budget, engineering drawings, and design calculations. The students gave the project a very positive review, resulting in the Civil Engineering (CE) and Engineering Technology (ET) introductory fluids classes using the project during the spring semester 2003. ENHANCING UNDERSTANDING OF CONCEPTS IN MECHANICS OF MATERIALS USING DESIGN Madhukar Vable, Michigan Technological University The growing usage of new materials such as plastics, ceramics, composites in engineering applications; new areas of applications such as electronic packaging, medical implants, explanation of geological movements; increasing popularity of stress analysis techniques such as finite element methods and Moire' interferometry; are all indicators emphasizing the importance of basic concepts taught in mechanics of materials course. Presenting subject matter using generalized concepts with greater applicability is one way of educating students in modern topics without exacerbating the problem of increasing graduation time. The negative impact on student motivation that comes from abstraction in generalization can be mitigated by using design. In this paper, using several examples, it is shown that design can be used not only to show the practical relevance of the fundamental mechanics of materials concepts but equally important design can enhance the understanding of the concepts.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 136 Saturday Sessions

Session S3C: Programs and Curricula in Software Engineering Chair: Fernando Naveda, Rochester Institute of Technology Time and place: Saturday, 2:00 pm - 3:45 pm Meadowbrook I SOFTWARE ENGINEERING BACCALAUREATE PROGRAMS IN THE UNITED STATES: AN OVERVIEW Donald J. Bagert, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Mark A. Ardis, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology There are currently over 20 Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering degree programs in the United States. The first accredited software engineering programs in the U.S. are likely in the 2002-03 cycle, and it is expected that the total number of such programs will continue to see steady growth for several years to come. The authors have provided a comparison of programs in order to determine what trends are emerging, which will benefit both current software engineering undergraduate programs, as well as those institutions which are thinking of creating new degrees of this type. The curriculum content of these programs are broken down by subject area and compared with curriculum models and accreditation criteria. The results of a survey of undergraduate software engineering programs worldwide that was conducted by the authors is used both to provide additional data about the U.S. programs and to compare them as a group to their counter- parts in other countries. WORK IN PROGRESS - THE SWENET PROJECT: BRIDGING THE GAP FROM BODIES OF KNOWLEDGE TO CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT Michael J. Lutz, Rochester Institute of Technology, Thomas B. Hilburn, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Gregory W. Hislop, Drexel University, W. Michael McCracken, Georgia Institute of Technology and Mark J. Sebern, Milwaukee School of Engineering SWENET: The Network Community for Software Engineering Education is an NSF funded project to develop curriculum modules of value to faculty member's desiring to incorporate software engineering concepts in new or existing courses. By design, the modules are self-contained instructional units ranging from a single lecture to approximately one week of course material; in this way, instructors can adopt, adapt, and arrange modules as appropriate to their courses. The original goal was to provide appropriate coverage at the undergraduate level for the areas defined in the Software Engi- neering Body of Knowledge. Recently the focus has shifted to the more focused Software Engineering Education Body of Knowledge developed as part of the Computing Curricula - Software Engineering effort. As such, SWENET is evolving to become a repository of course modules that can support a wide range of educational approaches within the general framework defined by these bodies of knowledge. REPORT FROM THE TRENCHES: APPLYING THE SEEK & SWEBOK TO BSSE PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT Stephen Frezza, Gannon University, Sreela Sassi, Gannon University and Jaehoon Seol, Gannon University This paper focuses on the program development process, and how the Computer & Information Science department utilized the various program and professional requirements sources to develop a BSSE program proposal that is completely accreditable. The requirements sources referenced include the EC2000, CC2001, SEEK, SWEBOK, existing Computer Science courses, available faculty resources and the not-insignificant required university courses. Specifically, this paper describes the use of traceability matrices to map program requirements from the SEEK, SWEBOK and other sources against the courses that form the core of the BSSE program design. The paper also includes a description of various tradeoffs and program design rational used in the process. A COLLABORATIVE BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN SOFTWARE ENGINEERING Gregory W. Hislop, Drexel University, Spiros Mancoridis, Drexel University and P. M. Shankar, Drexel University This paper discusses a new Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering (BSSE) that is offered via a collaboration of three departments of one university. The sponsors span the disciplinary areas of computer science, computer engineering, and information systems. The combination of disciplinary areas helps provide a broad foundation for the program. At the same time, while the idea of joint sponsorship may make sense, putting that idea into practice has its difficulties. Academic units have differences in organizational culture, and disciplines may vary in research tradition and curricular expectations. Administrative issues are also more complicated for a collaborative program. All of these factors may make it more difficult to achieve a satisfactory result. This paper begins with a discussion of the development of the degree program including the process used and issues that had to be addressed along the way. Next, the curricular content of the degree is outlined, with particular attention to contribution and perspective provided by each of the degree sponsors. Finally, the paper discusses initial experiences in offering the degree. SWEBOK GUIDE: AN OVERVIEW OF TRIAL USAGES IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION Robert Dupuis, UQAM, Pierre Bourque, École de Technologie Supérieure and Alain Abran, École de Technologie The SWEBOK Guide is a project of the IEEE Computer Society and is designed to characterize the discipline of software engineering and to provide a topical guide to the literature describing the generally accepted knowledge within the discipline. The Trial version of the SWEBOK Guide has been published in December 2001. The paper reviews a selection Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 137 Saturday Sessions

of the trial usages of the SWEBOK Guide in the field of software engineering education. It also describes the links between the SWEBOK Guide project and other initiatives in the field, notable theComputing Curricula ? Software Engineering. IEEE-CS/ACM COMPUTING CURRICULA - SOFTWARE ENGINEERING VOLUME Richard LeBlanc, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, Ann Sobel, Miami University, Oxford, OH, Tho- mas Hilburn, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL and Andrew McGettrick, University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom An impediment to advancing the state of the software engineering discipline is the inadequate preparation of students entering the profession from undergraduate computing programs. This paper reports on the IEEE-CS/ACM project and the guidance it will provide for developing undergraduate software engineering programs. The organization of the project, its development principles and methods, and the deliverables of the project are enumerated. In particular, the paper outlines the organization and content of the proposed knowledge base for undergraduate software engineering education. Session S3D: Students Working Together Chair: Mary Z. Last, St. Edward's University Time and place: Saturday, 2:00 pm - 3:45 pm Meadowbrook II WORK IN PROGRESS - A SURVEY OF GROUP WORK WITHIN COMPUTER SCIENCE PROGRAMS Kenneth L. Alford, United States Military Academy and Anthony S. Ruocco, Roger Williams University In the business world, computer science majors are increasingly being required to participate as active members of work teams. This work-in-progress involves researching the definition and uses of group work in computer science curriculums in an effort to improve student group work skills. WORK IN PROGRESS - DISTANCE COLLABORATION AND RAPID PROTOTYPING IN A FRESHMAN DESIGN TEAM EXPERIENCE Jack Leifer, University of Kentucky and Jamey D. Jacob, University of Kentucky This work in progress describes an NSF-funded project in which freshman engineering students work as members of geographically-distributed design teams. Students enrolled in the Introduction to Engineering course (EGR101) at either the University of Kentucky s main campus at Lexington, or the Extended Campus at Paducah, have been placed in groups consisting of students from both locations. They were charged with designing a mechanism or assembly using solid-modeling software, and fabricating their design using rapid prototyping equipment at each location. Synchronous communications between non-collocated students is facilitated over the Internet using standard conferencing software, and supplemented by telephone, email, and facsimile. This presentation will summarize the status of this work, and will more fully describe the rapid prototyping equipment, modeling software, and communications tools chosen for this project. WORK IN PROGRESS - DESIGNING A NEW LEARNING ENVIRONMENT IN INTRODUCTORY ENGINEER- ING COURSES AT HUMBOLDT STATE UNIVERSITY Elizabeth A. Eschenbach, Humboldt State University, Eileen M. Cashman, Humboldt State University, Doreen M. Espinoza, Michigan State University and Jeffery W. White, Humboldt State University Faculty in Humboldt State University s Environmental Resources Engineering (ERE) program are revitalizing two introductory courses-- Introduction to Environmental Resources Engineering and Introduction to Design, to improve the retention and recruitment of students into environmental engineering and environmental science programs. Assessment of student learning outcomes, with a focus on student attitudes, is an import aspect of this project. This paper will report on the current progress of the project and the assessment conducted to date. WORK IN PROGRESS - BASIC MECHANICS: LEARNING BY TEACHING Maggie Pollock, University of Glasgow Two distinct teaching styles were adopted for a Basic Mechanics course designed for technology students. The statics section of the course was taught conventionally using lectures and tutorials, whereas the dynamics part was delivered using the concept of learning by teaching . This paper concentrates on the responses, learning outcomes, and strategies adopted by the students on the dynamics section of the course. Using the postulate "What I hear, I forget; What I see, I remember; What I do, I understand" the students, working in small groups were asked to learn agreed topics within the dynamics part of the course and then teach these to other groups of students within their year. The feedback has generally been positive with 82% of the students saying they enjoyed the course. Some of the teaching resources produced by the students are of a very high standard.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 138 Saturday Sessions

WORK IN PROGRESS - CONTINUING STUDY OF IMPROVEMENT ON EXAM SCORES DUE TO IMPLEMEN- TATION OF COLLABORATIVE TECHNIQUES Kenneth Reid, Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) This paper is a report on a continuing study of the improvement on exam scores when collaborative techniques are implemented. A paper originally presented at the American Society for Engineering Education annual meeting (2001) entitled Measuring Improvement Due to the Implementation of Active and Collaborative Teaching Techniques showed a significant improvement in exam scores for a freshman electrical engineering technology course for students using collaborative techniques including group homework, group extra credit assignments and other collaborative exercises in one section of a course. This paper will describe a study of groups of students over two semesters. These students voluntar- ily participated in an out-of-class additional homework group. Exam scores will be compared before and after their participation to see if the implementation of collaborative techniques lead to a marked improvement on exam scores. Session S3E: Undergraduate Research Chair: Lynne Slivovsky, Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo Time and place: Saturday, 2:00 pm - 3:45 pm Waverly WORK IN PROGRESS - UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AND THE ACADEMIC LABORATORY Djafar K. Mynbaev, New York City College of Technology The benefits of research experience for undergraduate students cannot be overestimated. Such an activity not only greatly enhances the students academic performance but also prepares them for their future career fields. On the other hand, research conducted by undergraduate engineering students is particularly difficult to initiate because these students lack the technical background and experience to carry out scholarly work. To achieve reasonable success, we should make use of the background of the students, such as their familiarity with undergraduate-level laboratory exercises. When successfully performed, the students research results not only in personal satisfaction but also in a practical contribution to the academic laboratory. This paper describes how we developed a research component for undergraduate students in the Tele- communications Program at the New York City College of Technology based on a program called the Alliance for Minor- ity Participation in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology (AMP). We describe the AMP program and activities this program supports. We also present the results of student research accumulated over several years. The paper concludes with a description of how the results of student research have been implemented in the laboratory exercises of a regular academic lab. APPLYING RESEARCH METHODOLOGY TO UNDERGRADUATE COURSES Osvaldo Clua, University of Buenos Aires and Maria Feldgen, University of Buenos Aires Students at the School of Engineering of the University of Buenos Aires are requested, in their senior years from a six year program, to produce some research related activities and to write a Thesis. Thesis works are regularly procrastinated because reasons such as being a highly unstructured (and thus unfamiliar) activity, lack of background on how to perform research, workplace pressure or lack of time. In addition, there is a social appreciation of research as a highly difficult task reserved only to Nobel Prize winners. Also research activities were considered as being very different from the daily engineer work. In one of our courses, students get the big picture of concurrent programming fundamentals and its associated caveats and then, to cover a more real world approach. But there are so many approaches that a reasonable selection will allow allotting very few class hours to each of them. We decided to guide some information collecting tasks in the field asking students to use some of the approaches in real world problems and comparing them by developing figures of merit. As an outcome, we found ourselves with some works at the level of a conference paper, that students raised their self-confidence and that the students got the picture on how to use concurrence in the real world problems they chose to study. We also found ourselves developing in our students skills which seems to be more transferable than detail level programming skills and more in line with modern software industry requirement. HOW A FRESHMAN LEVEL RESEARCH INITIATIVE EVOLVED INTO MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEACHING TOOLS Jeffrey R. Mountain, The University of Texas at Tyler, Angela D. Riddick, The University of Texas at Tyler, Sean T. Droptini, The University of Texas at Tyler and John F. Montgomery, The University of Texas at Tyler Increased retention of undergraduate engineering students, particularly women and minorities, has long been a goal of engineering programs. Providing these students with the means and opportunity to pursue research topics of interest, while maintaining close contact with a faculty mentor, is one avenue used to accomplish this goal. When the preliminary research of a freshman-level engineering student, enrolled at the University of Texas at Tyler, stimulated the curiosity of the professor, a much larger project evolved. This paper describes the evolution of a freshman s initial investigation into a proof of concept system for real-time fuzzy logic motor control using a generic, 8-bit microcontroller. The hardware, software and testing data derived from the project have become hands-on teaching tools to demonstrate the fundamentals of fuzzy logic

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 139 Saturday Sessions

control, pulse width modulation, and man-machine systems integration to students in the mechanical and electrical engineering programs. An outline of future research and classroom applications for the developed system is also provided. WORK IN PROGRESS - THE USE OF RESEARCH ACTIVITIES AS LEARNING INSTRUMENT IN ELECTRI- CAL ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE GRADUATIONS Carlos Augusto Martins, PUC Minas, Milene Barbosa Carvalho, PUC Minas, Christiane Vilaça Pousa, PUC Minas and Dulcineia Oliveira Penha, PUC Minas In this paper we analyze the use of research activities as learning instrument in electrical engineering and computer science. This pedagogic approach was applied in undergraduate disciplines, undergraduate teaching assistance and undergraduate research projects. Our main goals are optimize the learning process using research and motivate the use of research activities as learning instrument. Session S3F: Web-based Instructional Tools Chair: Amruth Kumar, Ramapo College of New Jersey Time and place: Saturday, 2:00 pm - 3:45 pm Windsor AUTOMATICALLY GRADING OF STUDENT'S PROGRAMMING ASSIGNMENTS: AN INTERACTIVE PRO- CESS AND SUITE OF PROGRAMS Derek Morris, Rutgers University A system for automatic grading of programming assignments is described here. This grading system consists of a suite of Perl and Java programs, linked by a database, and driven by an interactive, user-grader controlled grading process. The rationale for the process, the process itself - and the process's interaction with the programs, the database, and the user him- self are discussed. This grading system has the ability to discover and accommodate un-anticipated solutions by means of a grading process that is highly interactive with its user - the grader. It also has the ability to automatically accommodate a wide range of simple student errors, which can easily befuddle a more naive grading system. This system has been used since the Spring 2000 semester at Rutgers University, as a core part of the students' performance evaluation activities, in the Introduction to Computer Science course, where it routinely grades some 300 - 600 weekly assignments. A NOVEL WEB-BASED ONLINE EXAMINATION SYSTEM FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION Zhenming Yuan, Hangzhou Teacher's College, Liang Zhang, Hangzhou Teacher's College and Guohua Zhan, Hangzhou Teacher's College Web-based Examination System is an effective solution for mass education evaluation. We have developed a novel online examination system based on Browse/Server framework by state-of-art computer technologies, which carried out the examinations and auto-grading for objective questions and operating questions, such as programming, Microsoft Win- dows operating, CMicrosoft Word , Excel and PowerPoint editing, etc. It has been successfully applied to the distance evaluation of basic operating skills of computer science, such as the course of culture of computer in Universities and the nationwide examination for graduation qualification of high school in Zhejiang Province, China. A TEACHER FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT TO FOSTER REUSABILITY AND LEARNER-CENTERED CUSTOM- IZATION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERACTIVE EDUCATIONAL PACKAGES Dante Del Corso, Politecnico di Torino, Gaetano Morrone, COREP and Emanuela Ovcin, COREP A good teacher is able to "customize" the lesson, in order to fit the requirement and needs of the learners he/she has in front in the classroom. This becomes more difficult and quite expensive in Open and Distance Education, where customization means the development of similar contents in diversified styles. An automated course compilation package which can make this approach affordable has been developed in the 3DE (Design, Development and Delivery - Electronic Envi- ronment for Educational Multimedia) project. The actual preparation of custom courses showed the key role of authoring process and styles, and the related problems. This paper introduces the methodology and de-scribes the development environment designed to assist authors in the creation of highly customized educational material. The goal is to make teachers understand the rela-tions among pedagogical and technical aspects, receive instructions, guidelines and assistance for the development of learning-styles aware material. The environment includes a Pedagogical framework, an Authors' guide, a Classifica-tion guide, and a tool to speed up and ease metadata inser-tion in each learning unit. IMPROVING THE EVALUATION OF PROGRAMMING COURSES Yu-Liang Chi, Dept. of MIS, Chung-Yuan Christian University Distance learning relies upon communication infrastructure to link knowledge providers and requesters who are in two different locations. Several technologies, such as radios, televisions, the Internet, and others, exist through which synchronous or asynchronous distance learning can be pursued. Although new technologies solve the problem of physical separation, issues related to the evaluation of the learners remain problematic. This study proposes an approach for use in Web- based distance learning to evaluate the learning performance of students exclusively on programming courses. Two sys-

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 140 Saturday Sessions

tems on accelerating on-line examination and semi-automatically grading assignments in programming courses are also presented. The proposed method allows students, using a web browser, to take examinations and submit their programming assignments online. Students can immediately obtain their grades. This system was evaluated at Chung Yuan Chris- tian University (CYCU) in the 2002 spring and fall semesters in three programming classes. The evaluations were very positive. CUSTOMER-FOCUSED GRADUATE EDUCATION IN A REAL-TIME DISTANCE ENVIRONMENT Edward F. Mykytka, University of Dayton In January 2001, at the request of Delphi Corporation, the University of Dayton initiated a program to deliver its Master of Science in Engineering Management curriculum live, via the Internet, to engineers at corporate sites throughout North America. Class materials are conveyed in real-time using the PlaceWare® web conferencing system as hosted by RWD Technologies, Inc., while audio is provided by a standard telephone conference call. This program was founded on the success of earlier on-site programs and was developed specifically to support and complement corporate initiatives in innovation and continuous improvement methodologies. Delphi employees who complete their degrees within this program are eligible to be certified as Six-Sigma Black Belts by the company. The major objective of this paper is to chronicle our experience regarding this unique relationship and discuss what has been learned about this mode of distance education. EXPERIENCES IN WEB-BASED GRADING David W. Juedes, Ohio University This paper describes a project to build a web-based grading system and reports on experiences in using a web-based grading system in a sophomore-level course on data structures. The web-based grading system consists of electronic sub- mission and retrieval programs, automated testing and web-based evaluation software, web-based code annotation software, and web-based report generation software. The software was designed with electronic grading and delivery as the primary objective and with course-based assessment as a secondary objective. In addition, the software provides the means to capture electronic examples of student work for assessment and accreditation purposes and the means to create electronic portfolios for individual students. The results of our experience with the web-based grading software in a sophomore-level course on data structures are also described. The software system provided a means to examine detailed information on the overall performance of students on programming projects. In particular, the software recorded information concerning the performance of student projects on test cases and recorded the frequency and type of design and documentation errors. This information was used to evaluate the overall performance of students and to identify common errors that merited additional course time and review. Session S3G: Panel: Computing Curricula 2004: The Overview Project Chair: Russell Shackelford, Stanford Time and place: Saturday, 2:00 pm - 3:45 pm Standley I COMPUTING CURRICULA 2004: THE OVERVIEW PROJECT Russell Shackelford, Stanford, Lillian Cassel, TBA, James Cross, TBA, Gordon Davies, TBA, John Impagliazzo, TBA, Reza Kamali, TBA, Eydie Lawson, TBA, Richard LeBlanc, TBA, Andrew McGettrick, TBA, Heikki Topi, TBA and Robert Sloan, TBA In the fall of 1998, the Computer Society of the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE-CS) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) established the Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula 2001 (or CC2001) to update curriculum guidelines for undergraduate programs in computing. Previous curriculum reports attempted to merge such disciplines as computer science, computer engineering, and software engineering into a single report about computing education. The initial charter of the CC2001 Task Force called for us to produce a single volume. As CC2001 work pro- ceeded, we recognized that the scope of what we call computing has broadened to the point that it is difficult to define it as a single discipline. In light of the broadening scope of computing, the rapid changes in its content and pedagogy, and feedback we received at various conferences, we developed a revised plan. The panel will discuss this plan. Session S3H: Special Session: Why are Some Science and Engineering Concepts So Difficult to Learn? Identifying, Assessing, and "Repairing" Student Misunderstanding of Important Concepts Chair: Ruth A. Streveler, Colorado School of Mines Time and place: Saturday, 2:00 pm - 3:45 pm Standley II

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 141 Saturday Sessions

WHY ARE SOME SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING CONCEPTS SO DIFFICULT TO LEARN? IDENTIFYING, ASSESSING, AND "REPAIRING" STUDENT MISUNDERSTANDING OF IMPORTANT CONCEPTS Ruth A. Streveler, Colorado School of Mines, Mary A. Nelson, University of Colorado - Boulder, Barbara M. Olds, Colorado School of Mines and Ronald L. Miller, Colorado School of Mines This Special Session will provide an active learning environment where participants will (1) be introduced to the idea of difficult concepts in engineering and science, (2) learn how they might use concept inventories for assessing understanding, and (3) begin examining how they can help improve student understanding of these concepts. Session S4A: Curriculum Integration 2 Chair: Madhukar Vable, Michigan Technological University Time and place: Saturday, 4:00 pm - 5:45 pm Cotton Creek I A SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENT IN CURRICULUM INTEGRATION: INTEGRATED SCIENCE & TECHNOL- OGY AT JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY Ronald George Kander, James Madison University In 1988, the Virginia General Assembly created the "Commission on the University of the 21st Century", which challenged each Virginia university to provide leadership in bringing about needed educational reform. In response to this challenge, James Madison University proposed an innovative new major entitled "Integrated Science and Technology" (ISAT). ISAT integrates the study of science, mathematics, and technology in the context of societal and business concerns to uniquely qualify graduates to play a central role in creative scientific and technological problem solving. ISAT graduates are able to creatively solve scientific and technological problems in a real-world context with an appreciation for economic, social, political, and legal constraints. They communicate effectively and work productively in teams with individuals from a variety of disciplines. ISAT has grown from an enrollment of 62 students in its first freshman class (1993), to graduating over 200 seniors in 2002. ISAT has, by all measures, demonstrated a successful implementation of the original program vision. THE INTERDISCIPLINARY UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DENVER Kimberly E Newman, University of Denver, Albert J Rosa, University of Denver, Ronald R DeLyser, University of Denver, Sheila S Thompson, University of Denver and Robert K Whitman, University of Denver As part of an innovative approach to interdisciplinary engineering education, undergraduate students in the Department of Engineering at the University of Denver complete a four-year sequence of specialized courses. In the first two years of the program, students develop team working and communication skills, are exposed to engineering concepts, and apply knowledge and skills in the areas of Mechanical, Electrical, and Computer Engineering. In addition to developing fundamental skills in Engineering and the Sciences, students complete courses in technical writing and public speaking that are closely integrated into the first year engineering sequence. After two years of experience with the three disciplines offered by the department, each student declares a disciplinary focus. The delay in the selection of a program is designed to allow students to have a better understanding of each discipline in order to achieve a broad educational base, and to improve persistence in the freshman and sophomore years. During the remaining two years, interdisciplinary skills are further developed through two design experiences in the junior and senior years. Assessment strategies for the integrated sequence of courses are covered to show how success is measured. MATERIALS SCIENCE IN CONTEXT USING DESIGN PARAMETERS FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Kathleen Leone Kitto, Western Washington University Students enrolled in any introductory course in materials science are for the first time confronted with integrating knowledge of mathematics, chemistry and physics to solve a wide variety of, at times, abstract problems. However, fundamental materials science concepts can easily be placed in context, thereby creating an enhanced learning environment. This paper describes one such contextual arena stringed musical instruments. Any curious individual can be engaged by the seemingly simple question of why does a guitar or a violin produce the sounds that they do? Soundboards are chosen for their specific anisotropic properties and their resonating chambers for their abilities to resonate all the frequencies produced by a music string. Music strings produce sounds because of their elastics constants, densities and composite structures. Violin strings, because they must follow bowing action, are composite structures that must damp signals, while guitar strings resonate as long as possible. This paper provides a detailed description of the specific design issues involving the materials science of stringed instruments. Specific materials science properties are given so that other instructors can use them in their courses. Demonstrations, such as fundamental and resonating frequencies for different string composi- tions, are also described. In addition, the paper contains a comprehensive literature search of the materials science aspect of design musical instruments.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 142 Saturday Sessions

A NOVEL APPROACH TO INTEGRATING DESIGN INTO MANUFACTURING AND MATERIALS EDUCATION THROUGH THE FABRICATION OF A SCALE MODEL CANNON Jeremy lynn Weinstein, Texas A&M University and Richard Griffin, Texas A&M University Prior to 2001 the materials and manufacturing laboratories in Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University were independent initiatives. Recently, these courses have been combined into one entity. It was proposed that if these two courses integrated fully under one project, that the students would better understand the place of materials and manufacturing in design. The proposed project was a 1/8th scale replica of a 12 lb. Civil War Napoleon in a field mount. Existing labs were modified so that each topic contributed to the production of the cannon. Assessment of the lab was performed using three student surveys and two open ended qualitative essays graded using analytic rubrics. Survey results indicate that the students are highly enthused by the new class and feel they have improved in the required subjects. Analysis of the essays shows that the students in cannon class have a better understanding of the role and application of materials selection and manufacturing in design. WORK IN PROGRESS - AN UNDERGRADUATE COURSE IN TECHNOLOGY AND THE POLITICAL PROCESS David R. Luginbuhl, Western Carolina University and Gibbs Knotts, Western Carolina University We are developing a course on Technology and the Political Process to be offered jointly by the Political Science and Computer Science programs at Western Carolina University. The course objective is to understand how the political process has changed as a result of the Internet, the ubiquity of personal computers, and the advent of high performance computing. Students will gain an understanding of how computing technology is applied in a variety of political and government arenas. Course content will include class discussions, collaborative learning approaches, service-learning opportunities, and a research project. We believe that every college graduate should have a practical understanding of both technology and politics and that combining these two areas into a single course effectively introduces undergraduates to both disciplines. Session S4B: Developments in Accreditation and Related Activities Chair: Steve Krause, Arizona State University Time and place: Saturday, 4:00 pm - 5:45 pm Cotton Creek II WORK IN PROGRESS - PERCEPTIONS ON EFFECTIVE ENGINEERING EDUCATION Abdallah Shanableh, University of Sharjah, Maher Omar, University of Sharjah, Bassem Younes, University of Sharjah and Samer Barakat, University of Sharjah In the context of engineering education, excellence is that quality which gives a special value and worth to a particular program. Excellence in engineering education (EEEdu) means different things to different people, but in this paper, EEEdu is considered to be a quality that is achievable through geniune commitment to teacher and student development, program development, teaching innovations, and community service. Using the broad definition of EEEdu, certain perceptions and perspectives of EEEdu from the points of view of: (1) the teacher; (2) the student; (3) the community; (4) the employers; and (5) professional engineering organizations were assessed using a survey designed for this purpose. The results support the idea that engineering programs need to be developed and delivered in view of the various opinions on what makes a program distinct, rather than relying solely on the professional and academic views. The results of the survey and study suggest that excellence, in its wider definition, must be pursued as a higher goal and that sustaining excellence requires developing a culture of excellence at the organization level. ENGINEERING ACCREDITATION IN BRAZIL Mauricio Dziedzic, Centro Universitario Positivo and Marcos Jose Tozzi, Centro Univeristario Positivo The accreditation of Engineering programs in Brazil is part of a bigger evaluation scheme devised, primarily, to evaluate the quality of individual programs. The results of this evaluation are also employed for accreditation purposes. The evaluation involves three main areas, which are termed dimensions , viz.: Pedagogic dimension; Faculty dimension; and, Infra-structure dimension. In the Pedagogic dimension, the analysis is focused on the academic administration of the program and its characteristics. In the Faculty dimension, the items evaluated are workload and work experience of each professor, the adequacy of the professor´s academic background with respect to the courses taught, and his professional and scientific production. The Infra-structure dimension evaluates general facilities, library resources, and laboratories. The latter being the one aspect in which specific laboratories characterize the instruments employed for evaluation of different Engineering programs, such as, Civil, Electrical, and Mechanical. WORK IN PROGRESS - A STRUCTURED SURVEY TO INVENTORY EC 2000 INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS Russell Pimmel, University of Alabama, Rita Caso, Texas A&M University, Pete Morley, University of Alabama, Susan Haag, Arizona State University and Emily Fowler, University of Massachusetts -- Dartmouth This is a work-in-progress report on a study using web-based surveys to collect information for a searchable database on instructional material for each of the EC 2000 a-k competencies. Deans and program heads at all institutions with Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 143 Saturday Sessions

ABET accredited programs are being asked to identify instructors who recently taught courses in their curriculum addressing selected competencies. These instructors are being asked to complete a survey on the nature, availability, and effectiveness of the material used in teaching the competency. To date we have responses from 19 instructors. We eventually plan to make the database searchable from the Internet. WORK IN PROGRESS - OBSERVATIONS ON 10 YEARS OF FOUNDATION COALITION CURRICULA CHANGE EFFORTS Jim Richardson, University of Alabama, Prudence Merton, Texas A&M University, Jeff Froyd, Texas A&M Uni- versity and Carolyn Clark, Texas A&M University Faculty at universities participating in the Foundation Coalition (FC) developed innovative freshman and sophomore engineering curricula in the mid 1990s. Since that time, faculty and administrators at those schools have worked to see the new curricula adopted as the standard curricula. Some of the implementation efforts have been successful and some have not all have yielded valuable lessons concerning engineering curricula change. The authors have interviewed over 150 faculty in an effort to study the curricular change processes that occurred on each of the FC campuses. Session S4C: Software Engineering Projects Chair: Michael Lutz, Rochester Institute of Technology Time and place: Saturday, 4:00 pm - 5:45 pm Meadowbrook I AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO INSTRUCTION IN DEBUGGING COMPUTER PROGRAMS Ryan Chmiel, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Michael Conrad Loui, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that formal training in debugging helps students develop skills in diagnos- ing and removing defects from computer programs. To accomplish this goal in an assembly language course, multiple activities were designed in order to enhance students debugging skills. Students completed debugging exercises before developing the code for each programming assignment. Each set of exercises focused on the major topics covered in the assignment. Students also kept debugging logs as they worked on the assignments. In these logs, students recorded both the source of each defect and how the defect was corrected. Students reflected on their approach to each programming assignment and documented their code development and debugging experiences in a reflective memo. Last, for one programming assignment, students worked in teams of four. They identified defects collaboratively using code inspection. Students' responses to these activities have been positive and constructive. INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM TEACHING IMPROVEMENTS James R. Rowland, University of Kansas Interdisciplinary team teaching improvements are described for a sophomore mathematics course on differential equations and linear algebra offered at the University of Kansas every semester in a team environment by mathematics and engineering professors. The five-hour course is required for engineering, computer science, and atmospheric science majors. Significant improvements are described beyond the team teaching experiences reported at FIE 1996. WORK IN PROGRESS - A SOFTWARE ENGINEERING PROJECT COURSE MODEL BASED ON STUDIO PRE- SENTATIONS Thomas B. Horton, University of Virginia and John C. Knight, University of Virginia We present a model for a software engineering project course that has proven successful as the capstone of our required sequence of software courses in our computer science major. It differs from many similar courses because all teams work on the same project, defined by the instructor (not projects for "real" customers). The course's project centers on weekly "studio presentations" during which student teams present preliminary results and receive immediate feedback. This model allows us to efficiently offer a project course for over a hundred students. The nature of the project itself supports other course goals. We believe that our project course model could be adopted and used effectively in computing and other disciplines. WORK IN PROGRESS - THE ELECTRONIC SOFTWARE PORTFOLIO AS AN EXAMPLE OF ACTIVE TESTING Ronald Finkbine, Indiana University Southeast Well-written documentation captures the though processes of software development personnel and is essential for the operation and maintenance of software systems. One of the hallmarks of a well-developed field is the standardization of documentation. The field of computer science has had a small number of attempts at documentation standardization, but each of these is in paper-based form oriented to the presentation of the sample program to the human reader. This paper describes an electronic form of software portfolio oriented to the three perspectives, (1) a human reader, (2) regression test of the sample program against the test suites (set of test cases), and (3) generate upon request random mutations of the sample program and regression test each mutation, thus testing the robustness of the test suite.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 144 Saturday Sessions

DEVELOPING TEAMWORK AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN A MULTIDISCIPLINARY EXPERIMENT Daniela Rosca, Monmouth University The need of producing software engineers with strong teamwork and communication skills has been repeatedly stressed by industry worldwide. ABET includes these skills among the essential ones needed to be mastered by the students of an accredited program. Due to this great emphasis on teaming, communication skills and multidisciplinary work, academia had to respond by finding novel ways to introduce them to students. This paper reports upon a multidisciplinary experiment between software engineering and business management students. They collaborated to produce a software requirements specification for managerial processes involved in hiring and performance evaluation of employees within a firm. A description of the synchronization of the lectures with project deliverables in the two courses, different types of communication needed by students, positive interdependence of the teams across disciplines, and how they contributed to the success of the project will be discussed among other multidisciplinary issues encountered during this experiment. WORK IN PROGRESS - GROWING A SOFTWARE QUALITY CULTURE IN AN EDUCATIONAL ENVIRON- MENT Trudy Howles, Rochester Institute of Technology The technical skills students must acquire in a typical computer science program are often mandated through standards or curricular requirements. How are non-technical skills assessed? Computer science educators must teach and encourage the development of other critical skills needed in the workplace such as personal accountability, a strong work ethic and an ability to deliver on-time and correct work. This paper describes the results of a student survey designed to provoke some thoughts about the evolving work ethic and work culture of today's students. Along with the survey results, the importance in asking the questions and a brief analysis of how the behavior or activity fits into the quality cycle are presented. Finally, a section on continuous improvement strategies is proposed. Session S4D: Student Teams Chair: Dirk Draheim, Freie Universitat Berlin Time and place: Saturday, 4:00 pm - 5:45 pm Meadowbrook II STUDENT TEAM PROJECTS IN A HEAT TRANSFER LABORATORY: A REVIEW OF THE PAST AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS Sameer V Naik, Purdue University, Robert J Schoenhals, Purdue University and Bashar S AbdulNour, Ford Motor Company During recent years, the faculty of the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University has incorporated important changes into its undergraduate curriculum so as to produce engineers ready to meet challenges in the real world. The heat transfer laboratory program has been bifurcated into two parts that compliment one another quite well. The first part consists of a few skill-building experiments that help students to learn methodologies and instrumentation, as well as to assimilate fundamental concepts and acquire capability to model/evaluate thermal systems. The second part of the laboratory work consists of a team project, which provides students an opportunity to integrate their knowledge from current and prior courses to solve open-ended thermal science problems. The pragmatic nature of many of these team projects has attracted industrial collaborators into the program. These collaborators have provided products, and in some cases engineering-staff time, to ensure the success of need-to-know type industrial projects. Modification of the traditional heat transfer laboratory activity within the curriculum has been observed to increase student motivation towards the subject material of the course. During this activity, student teams accrue experience that is extremely valuable to their overall development as engineers. Efforts to sustain and improve the program to keep pace with the changing needs of modern day industry are addressed. Important changes required to enhance future success are also discussed. WORK IN PROGRESS - USING ASSESSMENT TO IMPROVE TEAMS IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION Theodore A. Powers, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Richard Upchurch, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Samantha L. Stokes, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth The growing importance of the use of teams in education and business requires the development of effective and user- friendly assessment and training processes. The objectives of the present study were two fold. The first objective was to design and evaluate a simple and usable assessment and training intervention strategy for improving team functioning. The second objective was to further validate a previously developed self-report measure of team functioning (the Team Process Check) by examining the relation between the measure and objective ratings of the behavior of teams engaged in a design task. The work-in-progress will describe a process for continuous improvement, which includes the systematic assessment of team functioning, and the utilization of that assessment to generate viable improvement plans.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 145 Saturday Sessions

REALITY CHECK: STUDENT REFLECTION ON GROUPWORK David R Chesney, The University of Michigan Often, students are asked to function as a group without any training or experience on how to do so. The objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of students groupwork from three views: student perspective regarding overall satisfaction with groupwork; student perspective regarding overall quality of completed assignments; and faculty perspective regarding overall quality of completed assignments. A class of approximately 25 students was divided into groups of 3-4 students in a senior level, software design course in Computer Science. During the semester, students were given four-30 minute vignettes regarding how to function as a group. Finally, the student s performance (grade received) was compared with their own evaluation of the effectiveness of their group. Also, students were asked to evaluate the vignettes in terms of increasing/improving the productivity of their group. It is expected that students who perceive their group as high-performing will actually receive higher grades. It is expected that the 30 minute vignettes on effective groupwork will improve the quality of submitted work. COLLABORATIVE, GOAL-ORIENTED MANIPULATION OF ARTIFACTS BY STUDENTS DURING STATICS LECTURE Paul S. Steif, Carnegie Mellon University and Anna Dollár, Miami University To apply Statics effectively, students must link the concepts and symbols of Statics to the mechanical paraphernalia of engineering. Forming these links is challenging, however, because the interactions between inanimate objects are difficult to perceive. We have consequently revamped Statics instruction so as to introduce the major concepts of Statics - forces, moments, couples, static equivalency, free body diagrams and equilibrium using simple objects on which students can exert forces and couples with their own hands. Small groups of students manipulate objects in lecture. To guide student interactions with the objects, to lay bare key concepts, and to acclimate students to the representations which are common in mechanics, we have devised multiple choice concept questions implemented through Powerpoint Presentations. Concept questions involve little or no calculation and focus on understanding of concepts. Moreover, insight into the concept questions can be obtained through manipulation of the objects and peer-to-peer discussions. WORK IN PROGRESS - BUILDING ENGINEERING TEAM SKILLS, PHASE ONE: INDUSTRY VALUES AND BEST PRACTICES David M. Bowen, California State University, Hayward We describe the first phase of a multi-year multi-perspective NSF funded study of engineering team skills. The overall goals of the project are: To identify and determine the relative value that industry places on team skills of engineers and to exploit the largely untapped source of know-how embedded in industry best practices; To apply this knowledge to the development of specific tools and materials designed to build engineering team skills in engineering undergraduates, and; To make those teaching methods, exercises and materials available to engineering educators. To accomplish these goals we use a phased approach in both the research component (determining industry values and best practices) and in the curriculum development component. The phased approach allows each activity to be informed by the results of the previous phase(s). PROBLEM CENTRED LEARNING-TO-RESEARCH John Kelvin Pollard, University College London Engineering, information and computer technology education may integrate team skills, knowledge acquisition and understanding by using Problem-Centred Learning to further research. Motivation for exploration and research comes from building self-confidence and self-reliance. Choosing the pedagogy in the classroom can incorporate student energy and enthusiasm in the process stages of research: student initiated ideas, literature survey, mathematical modelling, measurements and writing reports. Teaching how to research may use "research templates" - concept maps to illustrate the vision of systems in which students could participate. Example systems include a general-purpose Data Communications Simulator and a Distributed Process Infrastructure. Three-tier architectures are outlined: a Distribution Aid for Teaching Environments (DATE), Wireless and Web-based monitoring and real-time mobile medical monitoring. Incorporation of the freely avail able and enthusiastic labour of students requires only a shoestring budget. Over the last three years, sixteen different taught-student co-authors have contributed to twelve papers for refereed conferences and journals. Session S4E: Mobile and Wireless Innovations Chair: David Voltmer, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Time and place: Saturday, 4:00 pm - 5:45 pm Waverly

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 146 Saturday Sessions

A LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR MOBILE COMPUTING INTEGRATING J2ME AND SOFTWARE COMPO- NENTS Ivan João Foschini, Universidade Federal de São Carlos and Sérgio Donizetti Zorzo, Universidade Federal de São Carlos This paper describes a dual-module application that allows educational content to be created for Mobile Computing environments, offering the student mobility in the educational process. One of the modules of this application, developed for use with conventional desktops, allows for the creation of Exercise Lists with Multiple Choice and True or False questions. The other module allows Exercise Lists generated by the application to be viewed and the exercises solved through devices that use Wireless Communication to access the World Wide Web, namely Palmtops. The application enables Palmtop users to access educational content regardless of their physical location, using the advantages inherent to Wireless Networks, such as independence from conventional cabled connections and mobility. The second module communicates over the air with a Web Server and with Java Servlets, which are able to correct the student s answers and send him/her a performance report indicating the correct and incorrect answers given. The module developed for desktops also generates statistical reports about the student s performance in solving the exercises of the Exercise Lists, enabling teachers to evaluate students and improve the educational process. The application described in this paper was implemented using the Soft- ware Component-Based technique, exploiting this development technique together with the Java 2 Micro Edition, a version of the Java technology developed specifically for the creation of mobile device applications. INSTRUCTIONAL TESTING THROUGH WIRELESS HANDHELD DEVICES Cerise Wuthrich, Midwestern State University, Ranette Halverson, Midwestern State University, Terry W. Griffin, Midwestern State University and Nelson Luiz Passos, Midwestern State University In the educational field, students and faculty are looking for tools that may help to improve the learning process. Today s students, however, are usually too busy to follow a plan of study. Practice tests and questions are becoming an essential requirement of textbooks to allow the students to evaluate their current knowledge. Wireless access to the Internet has opened the door to a new range of computer applications, designed to satisfy the requirement of mobile users, equipped with a cell phone device. This paper describes the use of mobile devices as a medium for a self-evaluation tool complete with study guidelines feedback. Such an application is designed and implemented using many traditional Web methodologies, allowing a fast transition from the current wired Web system to the cell phone environment. This paper briefly discusses the Web tools used in such an implementation and presents an example of a test-feedback application appropriate for cell phone access. WORK IN PROGRESS - TEACHING WIRELESS COMMUNICATION CONCEPTS AND THEORIES USING COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE Hazem H. Refai, The University of Oklahoma and John E. Fagan, University of Oklahoma Rapid advancements in wireless technologies has demanded that graduating telecommunication engineers to not only be familiar with the concepts and theories behind the technologies but also be trained in them. One approach that could be used to train as well as enhance student comprehension of wireless concepts and theories is the use of commercially available software in the class room. Some software simulation companies support programs designed to make their expensive software available to universities for a minimal fee. The only restriction companies include in the agreement is the sole use of the software for educational purposes. Use of Commercial software in class rooms provides a platform to improve students understanding of wireless theories and exposes them to software that is being used by industry for research and development. Upon graduation, students will exhibit the necessary training to be a skillful engineer. This paper is work in progress to integrate the CelPlan software by CelPlan technologies, Inc. into a wireless communication class. ADDING PDA'S TO YOUR TEACHING TOOLKIT Kenneth L. Alford, United States Military Academy and John M.D. Hill, United States Military Academy This paper describes our experience incorporating Personal Digital Assistants into computer science courses in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. All students at our institution are required to purchase a Personal Digital Assistant. The primary goal of this paper is to provide an overview of some of the many ways that handheld computing devices can be used to supplement curriculum resources and presentation in undergraduate education. This paper discusses four kinds of tools that can be used to create academic resources for students and faculty: (1) programming tools, (2) HTML and XML-based tools, (3) text tools, and (4) calendar tools. We also discuss benefits from providing handheld computing resources and share lessons learned.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 147 Saturday Sessions

ENHANCING THE IN-CLASSROOM TEACHING/LEARNING EXPERIENCE USING WIRELESS TECHNOL- OGY Adegbile Adewunmi, Purdue University, Catherine Rosenberg, Purdue University, Adeoluwa Sun-Basorun, Pur- due University and Simon G. M. Koo, Purdue University The widespread use of wireless technologies in our everyday lives has made their application to electronic-learning (e- learning) environments, such as the classroom, imminent. However, there are several security and authentication issues that must be addressed before wireless devices can be used in any teaching scenarios including those requiring examination/testing. This paper addresses some of the issues that currently hinder (and complicate) the introduction of such devices to the classroom. We discuss and propose solutions to the challenges of providing a secure, non-distracting, web-based wireless environment suitable for both class lectures and quizzing scenarios. We present a novel system which, regardless of class size, authoritatively determines who is logging on to utilize an e-learning application and whether a student is accessing the application from the classroom or otherwise. The system also allows for the instructor to monitor the ways students use their wireless devices, an issue critical to maintaining integrity especially in quizzing situations. In addition to being secure, we propose a system flexible enough to allow an instructor to selectively control Internet, intranet or Virtual LAN (VLAN) resources students have access to. Our proposed system provides a secure and easily adaptable environment that allows for the development of secure e-learning applications which will significantly enhance the classroom experience for both instructors and students. Session S4F: Information Technology Education Chair: Fadi Deek, New Jersey Institute of Technology Time and place: Saturday, 4:00 pm - 5:45 pm Windsor AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCES WITH DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING OF E-COMMERCE DEGREES Andrew Nafalski, University of South Australia and Andy Koronios, University of South Australia This paper reports on the development of professional degrees in the field of electronic commerce in Australia. Pro- grams offered by three Australian universities are discussed comparatively, namely those at the Deakin University, the University of Ballarat, and the University of South Australia. Two programs offered by the University of South Australia - Master of Information Technology (Electronic Commerce) and Bachelor of Engineering (Mobile Electronic Commerce) - are presented in greater detail. CHARACTERIZING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY THROUGH FACULTY RESEARCH Michael G. Bailey, Brigham Young University An area of very lively discussion in the technology education community is the role that academic research should play in our curriculum and our careers. In the emerging academic discipline of Information Technology, the controversy is enlarged by the newness of the field. That is, definitions of academic Information Technology research may vary greatly between practitioners. At a recent conference of Information Technology educators, a survey was taken to determine the attitudes of these professionals and their institutions towards academic Information Technology research. In addition, the survey queries the research topics that Information Technology departments consider to be central to their goals. This paper provides a foundation for further discussions about the role and directions of Information Technology research. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN ACCREDITATION OF COMPUTING PROGRAMS John T. Gorgone, Bentley College, Doris K. Lidtke, Towson University and Jim Leone, Rochester Institute of Tech- nology This paper presents the most recent developments in accreditation of computing programs including: the latest progress on the accreditation of Information Technology (IT) programs including the criteria, the most current information about the accreditation of Information Systems (IS) programs, the recent changes in accreditation of Computer Science (CS) programs, and how you can become involved in accreditation activities. The paper compares the accreditation criteria of all three programs (IT, IS & CS) and focuses on the differences between the accreditation criteria of the programs, particularly Information Technology Criteria. A point-by-point working comparison document is available at: www.it.rit.edu/~leone/ Docs/Accreditation_Comparison.pdf EXCITE: ENABLING X--CAMPUS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION W. Richards Adrion, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Wayne Burleson, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Wendy Cooper, University of Massachusetts Amherst, William L. Israel, University of Massachusetts Amherst, James Kurose, University of Massachusetts Amherst and Kenneth Watts, University of Massachusetts Amherst A partnership of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, other University campuses, and state and community colleges has launched a new kind of undergraduate program in information technology (IT). Project EXCITE (Enabling X- Commonwealth Information Technology Education) is creating a flexible, integrative and innovative curriculum that Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 148 Saturday Sessions

crosses traditional academic boundaries to provide (1) fluency and motivation for students to employ IT effectively for broad social benefit; (2) syllabi and content suited to adaptation and reuse; and (3) new instructional technologies and delivery modes. This report describes efforts to organize the curriculum, encourage new pedagogy, develop multimedia modules, and incorporate assessment throughout the IT program. WORK IN PROGRESS - EFFECTIVE TEACHING IN THEORETICAL IT MODULES Mark Robbins, London Metropolitan University, Igor Schagaev, London Metropolitan University and Jim Yip, London Metropolitan University This paper looks at the competing claims of the subjective needs of the student and the objective needs of the subject and society. We developed an undergraduate course based on our conclusions and a scheme of work to carry the research forward. Session S4G: Panel: Computing Curricula: Computer Engineering Chair: Pradip K. Srimani, Clemson University Time and place: Saturday, 4:00 pm - 5:45 pm Standley I PANEL ON COMPUTING CURRICULA: COMPUTER ENGINEERING Pradip K Srimani, Clemson University, Gerald Engel, University of Connecticut, John Impagliazzo, Hofstra Uni- versity and Andrew McGettrick, University of Strathclyde The purpose of this panel is to provide an up-to-date description of the work done by the task force on Computer Engi- neering curriculum so far and to invite further public comments to be used for the final version of the document. Session S4H: FIE Feedback and Ideas for the Future Chair: Joseph Hughes, Georgia Institute of Technology Time and place: Saturday, 4:00 pm - 5:45 pm Standley II FIE FEEDBACK AND IDEAS FOR THE FUTURE Joseph Hughes, Georgia Institute of Technology This session provides conference attendees an opportunity to offer comments about FIE, including both pros and cons of the conference. In addition, the FIE2004 General Chair and other conference organizers will be present so that attendees can offer suggestions for both content and organization of future FIE conferences.

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 149 Saturday Sessions

Proceedings IEEE Catalog Number: 03CH37487/$17.00 November 5 - 8, 2003, Boulder, Colorado 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference 150