Dissertations / Theses: 'Engineering undergraduate students'

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Alsharif, Abdulrahman M. "Perceptions of Undergraduate Engineering Students on Academic Advising." Youngstown State University / OhioLINK, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ysu1589309175110422.

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Murzi, Escobar Homero Gregorio. "Understanding Dimensions of Disciplinary Engineering Culture in Undergraduate Students." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/71775.

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The purpose of this study is to understand how engineering students perceive the patterns of culture at the disciplinary level using Hofstede's constructs (power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity). The methodology design for this study is mixed methods. More specifically, the design of this study is an explanatory sequential design that begins with the collection and analysis of quantitative data from a version of Hofstede's survey developed by Sharma (2010), followed by subsequent collection and analysis of qualitative data, with the qualitative analysis being informed by preliminary results from the initial quantitative phase. Results from the quantitative study led to a review of the literature regarding Hofstede's main critiques and how other authors have successfully implemented his model in different contexts, and qualitative data collection with semi-structured interviews with undergraduate students. There are three aims of this study, which are addressed and presented in three separate manuscripts. The first aim (Manuscript 1) was identifying if Hofstede's theory of dimensions of national culture can map to academic disciplines. Results from surveying 3388 undergraduate students provided scores on Hofstede's dimensions for each major. Responses matched the national culture of the students rather than the disciplinary culture; therefore, Hofstede's theory didn't map to explain cultural differences in academic majors. The second aim (Manuscript 2) of this study was to review the extensive available literature regarding the critiques of Hofstede's model and its implementation in different settings. Results provided with conceptual, and methodological critiques and misuse of his theory that allowed us to understand the value of his model to understand cultural differences at the national level, as well as the value of the dimensions to inform our qualitative research design. The third aim (Manuscript 3) of this study was to explore students' perceptions of disciplinary engineering culture and how it compared to other disciplines using a qualitative interview protocol that provided rich findings that complement the quantitative results. Results from interviewing 24 students in industrial and systems engineering, electrical and computer engineering, marketing, and industrial design provided with valuable information on how students perceive their disciplinary culture in terms of what it is valued, how they learn, how it is taught, why they learn, how it is going to be used in the workplace, and the reason for select the major. Implications for research and practice in the engineering education field are provided to inform how to make decisions on engineering curriculum, and engineering classrooms and try to find ways to improve some of the issues that engineering education has been facing for the last decades.
Ph. D.

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Mamaril, Natasha Johanna A. "MEASURING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS’ ENGINEERING SELF-EFFICACY: A SCALE VALIDATION STUDY." UKnowledge, 2014. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/edp_etds/19.

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The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate engineering self-efficacy measures for undergraduate students (N = 321) and to examine whether students' engineering self-efficacy differed by gender, year level, and major. The relationships between engineering self-efficacy and academic achievement and intent to persist in engineering were also investigated. Data from engineering students from two southeastern universities were collected in spring 2013. Exploratory factor analyses resulted in a unidimensional general engineering self-efficacy scale and a three-factor (i.e., research skills, tinkering skills, and engineering design) engineering skills self-efficacy scale. Multivariate analyses of variance revealed that self-efficacy did not differ by gender or year level. Students in different engineering sub disciplines reported different levels of tinkering self-efficacy. Multiple regression analysis showed that engineering self-efficacy measures predicted academic achievement outcomes but not intent to persist in engineering. Engineering self-efficacy significantly contributed to the prediction of achievement after controlling for prior achievement. Research funded by the National Science Foundation, EEC Award No.1240328.

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Mohammed, Abdul Majid. "Integrated technologies instructional method to enhance bilingual undergraduate engineering students." Thesis, Brunel University, 2014. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/10488.

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Mathematics permeates almost every aspect of human life and it is a skill much needed by the increasingly complex technological world. It is necessary that this essential skill must be properly developed among students to prepare them for future academic and professional careers. An assessment of the research-based instructional strategies blending with old traditional methods with the modern technological development is a must. Due to the complexity of mathematics learning and the varied learning styles of learners, an integration of appropriate multiple instructional strategies into mathematics education will positively impact mathematical achievement of students. The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of the use of Integrated Technologies Instructional Method (ITIM) as a supplement to the traditional lecture method on mathematics achievement of the Integral Calculus students at the College of Engineering, University of Ha'il, Saudi Arabia. The ITIM includes the four instructional strategies such as the use of the Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, the collaborative learning, the bilingual support and the study support. Different types of academic supports have been used to examine their effects on students achievement in mathematics. Mathematics, the bedrock of science and engineering, is considered a very important indicator of a student's academic success in professional higher education. Undergraduate engineering students' low achievement in the first year mathematics is an issue demands much attention. The study was undertaken to address students' weak background in mathematics and particularly their high failure rates in this particular course. A total of 218 undergraduate engineering students, comprising of both the experimental and the control groups, were involved in this experimental design study. The control group was taught by the traditional lecture method whereas the experimental group was exposed to the ITIM as a supplement to the traditional lecture method. Apart from the effects of the use of ITIM, students' performance in the previous courses (covariates) such as mathematics, computer, and the English language were compared with their final grades of the Integral Calculus course. The final grades of students were taken as the dependent variable and the ITIM and students' scores in the previous courses as the independent variables. It has been noticed from the literature review that the application of only one instructional strategy does not address the needs of the diverse learning styles of students. A mixed mode method, quantitative and qualitative, was used to collect and analyse data. The quantitative data instruments included students' final exam grades and the student questionnaires. Interviews with students were used as qualitative tools of data collection. An independent t-test, ANOVA, univariate analysis and the stepwise multiple regression analysis were performed to determine the overall statistical significance. The study concluded that there was a statistically significant difference in the performance of the experimental group of students' in terms of their end-of-course grades compared to that of the control group. The regression model revealed significance of covariates on the dependent variable. However, no significant relationship was found between the mathematics achievement and attitudes towards the use of ITIM. The study was an attempt to demonstrate the suitability of the instructional strategies on the bilingual Arab undergraduate engineering students; however, they can probably be applicable to other bilingual students.

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Brown, Philip Reid. "Content and Choices: An Exploration of Career Goals in Undergraduate Engineering Students." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/70879.

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The careers that students pursue after graduating from engineering programs are a central component to engineering education. However, we lack perspective on how students, the main stakeholder of the engineering education system, describe the goals they have for their post-graduation careers and make choices related to those goals. As a first step in closing this gap, I explored the different types of career goals that students have, investigated how students connect different types of goals to choices they make in engineering programs, and developed a survey instrument for future research on career goals. My sequential mixed methods study consisted of three phases. In the first phase, I analyzed interview data via the constant comparative method to explore the different types of career goals that students described. In second phase, I used the types of goals identified in phase one to analyze how students described connecting their career goals to choices they made as undergraduates in longitudinal interview data. In the final phase, I adapted the ideas from phase one and phase two into a quantitative survey instrument, which I piloted for validity and reliability. My study produced four main outcomes. The first outcome was identifying two distinct types of career goals held by students including goals about the jobs students want post-graduation and goals relative to job attributes rather than specific jobs. The second outcome was that students connected both types of career goals to choices they make in the present academic context. The third outcome was that career goals and their connection to choices students make could be measured in a valid, reliable survey instrument. Finally, my results suggest that there may be differences in the ways that male and female students describe their career goals and the ways that career goals are connected to choices. These outcomes have broad implications for students, educators and researchers in the engineering education system.
Ph. D.

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Aleisa, Ahmed. "Improving the Education for Undergraduate Students in Saudi Arabia Universities." Digital Commons at Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School, 2015. https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/etd/337.

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This report will focus and analyze the differences in the educational system in various countries specifically Saudi Arabia and the United States of America. It will be composed of multiple aspects of research which will be implemented in the body of the report as well as offer solutions pertaining to the change of the Saudi Arabian educational system. The results of a survey will be included to better analyze the perspectives of the general public. Other countries' educational systems will be used in order to compare and broaden the research which will be used as key for better analysis of the problem following with solutions. The main objective of this report is to present a process for change of the educational system in Saudi Arabia by using other educational systems as various cases of study.

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Campbell, Christopher David. "Evolution in engineering dispositions and thinking among culturally diverse students in an undergraduate engineering programme." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/54122.

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This study investigated the evolution in engineering dispositions and thinking among culturally diverse students through their enculturating experiences in team-based engineering design courses in second year electrical and computer engineering. Ethnographic methods (participant observation, semi-structured interviews) were employed to collect data in classrooms, labs, and project rooms over a seven-month period. Five culturally diverse students’ trajectories illustrate the processes and products of the evolution of students’ engineering dispositions and thinking. Five key conditions for students in navigating a shift from traditional to team-based project modes of study were identified: i) being willing to buy into working as part of a team, ii) being willing and able to claim a viable role as an engineer, iii) grappling with competing identities in becoming an engineer, iv) navigating different perspectives on engineering projects, and v) being able to self and co-regulate while under a complex, heavy workload. Cultural, language, and personal factors mediated culturally diverse students’ capacities to satisfy these five conditions. The study offers the following implications for fostering the engineering dispositions and thinking of culturally diverse students: i) explicit and meaningful orientation of students towards team-based project modes of study; ii) fostering of metacognitive awareness and capacity with respect to teamwork processes; iii) harnessing cultural diversity for promoting intercultural skills; iv) focus on English language competencies for functioning in formal, informal, and non-formal academic contexts; v) formative and summative assessment to support this mode of study; vi) self-regulation and socially shared regulation skills for sustaining the success of individuals and teams. The study offers the following implications for employing the theoretical framework in future research: i) greater clarity on the evidence required to identify stages of change; ii) greater clarity on establishing the existence and nature of inner contradictions that drive change; iii) exploration of methodological opportunities and limitations on capturing change in students. This study offers an exemplar for researching evolution and change in students in complex educational contexts.
Education, Faculty of
Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of
Graduate

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Call, Benjamin J. "Spatial Ability Degradation in Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Students During the Winter Semester Break." DigitalCommons@USU, 2018. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7391.

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Spatial ability represents our ability to mentally arrange, rotate, and explore objects in multiple dimensions. This ability has been found to be important for engineers and engineering students. Past research has shown that many interventions can be created to boost an individual’s spatial ability. In fact, past research has indicated that engineering students significantly increase in spatial ability without an intervention while they are enrolled in certain engineering courses. Some researchers have claimed that the spatial ability boosts are permanent after an intervention. However, most researchers do not check the validity of that claim with continued assessment after more than a week past the end of an intervention. Additionally, if engineering education researchers are trying to measure the impact of their separate spatial ability intervention while the participating engineering students are actively enrolled in engineering courses, a confounding variable is introduced as the courses can impact students’ spatial ability. To resolve this, the work presented in this paper reflects research on engineering students’ spatial ability maintenance during the winter break between semesters. It was found that newer students exhibit spatial ability improvement during the break, while older students maintain their spatial ability at the same level. A deeper statistical analysis revealed that there are other factors that play a role in spatial ability changes over the break that are more significant than how far students had progressed in their studies. Those factors include with academic performance, the sex of the students, playing music during the break, and prior life experiences.

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Yeaman, Adetoun Oludara. "Understanding Empathy in the Experiences of Undergraduate Engineering Students in Service-Learning Programs." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/99038.

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In an increasingly globalized world and with rapid advancement in technology, there is a need to grapple more intently with social implications of engineering and technology. In the engineering community, these trends direct us to more critically consider how engineering and technology affect humanity and to interact effectively in diverse populations. Empathy, an ability that is central to the process of understanding and considering others, has been recognized as a valuable competency in the education of engineers. In engineering education specifically, several studies have pursued definition of empathy in the engineering context and its importance in engineering curriculum. Studies suggest that service learning is a useful pedagogical approach for supporting students in the development of social competencies, including empathy. However, it is not clear how this development happens. In this dissertation, I sought to understand engineering students' experiences in a service-learning context to learn the ways in which empathy emerged in their descriptions and the elements of participants' experiences that shaped their empathy development. My participants were fourteen engineering students from two institutions, a small private university and a large public university, with both groups involved in at least one-semester of a service-learning course. I describe my phenomenological approach to this investigation and share my findings. Notably, I found eight main themes in my investigation of the role of empathy within the service-learning experiences described namely: changing perspective about others, having a sense of responsibility to others, keeping an open mind, inquiring of stakeholders, seeing others' points of view, understanding others' situations, being able to adjust goals and compromise and recognizing and/or welcoming difference. Additionally, I found both elements of participants' experiences designed into the course and those that were unprecedented relevant in shaping their empathy development. I also discuss the implications of these findings for engineering education and practice.
Doctor of Philosophy
In an increasingly globalized world and with rapid advancement in technology, there is a need to think more intentionally about social implications of engineering and technology. These trends make is necessary for the engineering education to incorporate critical consideration of how engineering and technology affect humanity and how to interact effectively in diverse populations. Empathy, an ability that is central to the process of understanding and considering others, has been recognized as a valuable competency in the education of engineers. Studies suggest that service learning is a useful pedagogical approach for supporting students in the development of social competencies like empathy. My aim in this dissertation was to understand engineering students' experiences in a service-learning context to learn the ways in which their descriptions reveal empathy and the elements within their context that shaped empathy development. My participants are fourteen engineering students from two institutions, a small private university and a large public university, with both groups involved in at least one-semester of a service-learning course. Having explored students' experiences, I discuss key findings about how and within which contexts empathy came to play in these experiences. There are many different ways that empathy can play a role within students' experiences in a service-learning context and many facets of an experience help draw out more empathic practices. In this dissertation, I discuss implications of these findings for engineering education and practice.

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Speelman, Nicole Lynn. "A Lab to STEMulate Undergraduate Students into Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Majors." Wright State University / OhioLINK, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1239390958.

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Van, Heerden Karen Ilse. "A phenomenological investigation into undergraduate students' experience of acquiring the discourse of engineering." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003581.

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The area of discourse acquisition and writing in higher education has become a much researched field. In South Africa the interest in discourse acquisition and writing has been partly in response to the change in student profile, particularly over the past ten years. While South African researchers and academics are increasingly focusing their interest in discourse acquisition and writing on the unique circumstances here, they rely on theories based on research done in very different social contexts. These theories are not necessarily universally appropriate. South Africa is currently undergoing a period of transformation in higher education aimed at greater access and equity for black students and academics. The accompanying sense of frustration and disillusionment among students and academics underlines the need to reappraise all aspects of higher education. Much of the research on discourse acquisition and writing is undertaken in arts programmes: vocational fields - such as engineering education - tend to be neglected. If the envisaged growth in science and engineering education is to be realised, it is essential that research in discourse and writing be undertaken in engineering programmes. This study investigates discourse acquisition as experienced by students in a South African engineering faculty. The experiences of six final year technikon students are investigated to gain a better understanding of what it means to acquire the discourse of engineering. The phenomenological method used requires that the researcher suspends or brackets a priori theoretical notions or pre-conceptions so that that which the students experience, rather than what the researcher expects in terms of theory, can emerge. What emerges from the students' experiences is partially congruent with established discourse and writing theories. However, some of the student experiences of discourse acquisition differ in significant ways from what is described in mainstream writing and discourse acquisition theory. The differences in the manner in which these students experience their acquisition of engineering discourse leads to a new understanding of the phenomenon. The students do not experience the alienation or struggle described in mainstream theoretic accounts of discourse acquisition. Students' approaches to writing are affected by their awareness of their multiple identities and the different locations in which they learn. Their approaches to writing are significantly different in some respects from descriptions in mainstream theories in some respects. The description of their experiences gives a different understanding of what it means to acquire the discourse of engineering, and may contribute to the reappraisal of engineering education in a contemporary South African context.

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Entsminger, J. R. II. "Stereotype Threat| A Qualitative Study of the Challenges Facing Female Undergraduate Engineering Students." Thesis, Northern Illinois University, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10260434.

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From a sociocultural point of view, this qualitative case study explored how upper-level, female undergraduate engineering students perceived the possibility of or experience with stereotype threat as shaping their experiences. The study also investigated how these students explained their reasons for choosing their engineering major, the challenges they encountered in the major, and their reasons for persevering in spite of those challenges. Using Steele and Aronson’s (1995) stereotype threat theory as a framework, and considering the documented underrepresentation of females in engineering, the study sought to examine how stereotype threat shaped the experiences of these students and if stereotype threat could be considered a valid reason for the underrepresentation.

The study was conducted at a large, four-year public university. First, students in the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology completed the Participant Screening Survey. Based on responses from the survey, six female engineering students from the college were identified and invited to participate in the study. The participants came from the following majors: Electrical Engineering, Industrial and Systems Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. After receiving the study consent letter and agreeing to participate, the students were involved in a 90-minute focus group meeting, a 45-minute one-on-one interview, and a 30-minute follow-up interview.

After conducting the data collection methods, the data were then transcribed, analyzed, and coded for theme development. The themes that emerged coincided with each research question. The themes highlighted the complex interactions and experiences shared by the female engineering majors.

The female students were enveloped in an environment where there existed an increased risk for activating stereotype threat. In addition, the female students described feeling pushed to prove to themselves and to others that the negative stereotype that ‘females are bad at engineering’ was untrue. The findings illustrated the need for systematic changes at the university level. Intervention recommendations were provided. In regards to female underrepresentation in science fields, including engineering, stereotype threat certainly had the potential to cause the female students to question themselves, their abilities, their choice of an academic major, and subsequently remove themselves from a hostile learning or working environment. Thus, educational institutions and workplace organizations are responsible for not only educating themselves regarding stereotype threat, but also for taking steps to alleviate the pernicious effects of stereotype threat.

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Smith, Courtney Shaleah. "The Intersecting Perspective: African American Female Experiences with Faculty Mentoring in Undergraduate Engineering." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/56490.

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The value of diversity in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields has long been a leading topic of discussion among campus administrators and government officials. However, the number of African American women in STEM, and the engineering field in particular, has seen little growth over the past twenty years. To change this trend, there must be enhanced efforts to provide an environment and resources to support the retention of these women, and mentoring can play a key role. To gain a better understanding of the mentoring needs of these women, this research investigates the mentoring experiences of 16 current senior African American female engineering students. What is clear is that African American women have a unique set of experiences based on the multiple sets of identity groups that they claim membership in. Intersectionality emphasizes the implications of the multiplication of these identities and how that multiplication impacts experiences. This research, addresses the intersection by exploring faculty mentoring relationships, with particular focus on the implications of having a matched (same race and gender) or an unmatched mentor. Current research is inconsistent on the benefits of each type. Using phenomenography, this investigation of the various aspects of mentoring relationships that are salient to 16 African American women in engineering uncovered seven categories of mentoring: Guide, Proactive Supporter, Reactive Listener, Nurturer, Just in Time, Caring, and Role Model. Variation across these mentoring categories were reflected in the mentoring aspects that participants perceived. This set of interpersonal (listen, invested, and shared experience) and professional (development, opportunity, advice, and example) aspects depicted a set of mentoring types that varied in comprehensiveness. Additionally, variation in the race and gender of each mentor across each category suggested some trends surrounding the mentor characteristics that most frequently provided certain aspects. However, all of the categories that emerged were perceived to be effective. It is desired that the results of this research will impact the ways in which faculty understand the needs of African American women in engineering.
Ph. D.

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Chintapalli, Srikar. "Communication Protocols on the PIC24EP and Arduino - A Tutorial for Undergraduate Students." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin15051272759207.

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Chadha, Deesha. "Considering a teaching framework to support the development of transferable skills in engineering undergraduate students." Thesis, University of Surrey, 2005. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.417509.

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Joseph, Jacob David. "Beyond academic preparation: Anticipatory socialization, values, and the experiences of undergraduate male African American engineering students." W&M ScholarWorks, 2014. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1550154101.

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Jahangiri, Nooshin. "An exploration of female students' choices, experiences and future aspirations of studying undergraduate mathematics and engineering programmes in Iran." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2019. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/an-exploration-of-female-studentsa-choices-experiences-and-future-aspirations-of-studying-undergraduate-mathematics-and-engineering-programmes-in-iran(6675e98e-1903-4cbe-b81e-9f3773e163a8).html.

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This study investigates the relationship between gender and participation in mathematics and engineering undergraduate degree programmes in Iran. The number of female students enrolling in Iranian Higher Education (HE) is relatively high and this remains the case in mathematics and most engineering programmes. However, the number of female graduates gaining employment in engineering and STEM-[science, technology, engineering and mathematics] related jobs in Iran remains relatively low, with gender discrimination in recruitment practices identified as a key barrier. This presents a contradiction which makes Iran a particularly interesting context to study gender in mathematics and engineering in HE. This study adopts a narrative inquiry approach to investigate how Iranian female students studying mathematics and engineering describe their choice of subject, experience of studying at university, and their future aspirations. It seeks to investigate how the social, cultural and historical structures of Iranian society shape the way these students narrate their identity as a mathematics or engineering student. In-depth analysis highlights how they position their degree as offering more or less 'capital' (Bourdieu) which resources their future identities of becoming successful career women in STEM-related professions. In doing so, these women feel able to navigate barriers to success by using their capital to improvise and exert agency over their future trajectories. In sum, I suggest the predominance of 'moving abroad' as a theme across the interviews is a consequence of the aforementioned contradiction between their desire to become successful career women whilst facing gendered discrimination in the labour market.

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Mogashana, Disaapele Gleopadra. "The interplay between structure and agency: How academic development programme students 'make their way' through their undergraduate studies in engineering." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16601.

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Includes bibliographical references
The interplay between structure and agency: How Academic Development Programme students 'make their way' through their undergraduate studies in engineering. This study explores and seeks to explain the ways in which a group of Academic Development Programme (ADP) students 'made their way' through their studies in engineering at the University of Cape Town. Underpinned by Bhaskar's realist philosophy of social science, the study uses Margaret Archer's morphogenetic realist social theory to explore the interaction between the university (social and cultural relations) and the students (agential relations). Data was generated through a series of three interviews with each of 12students in the fourth year of their studies and through an analysis of selected university documents. Margaret Archer's morphogenetic approach, which allows for the temporal analytical separation of structure, culture and agency, provides methodological and analytical tools to investigate interactions between their respective emergent properties. It posits that structure and culture predate the actions of agents who transform it. As such, structural and cultural emergent properties condition the situations in which agents find themselves. Furthermore, agents' personal emergent properties, such as corporate agency and reflexivity, allow them to deliberate on their courses of actions. Key to this theoretical approach is the notion that structure and culture do not act in a deterministic way; their properties can only become powers when they are activated by agents' projects. With regard to structure, it was found that the combination of a fragmented curriculum, a shortened examination period, and unfavourable examination timetables all served as potential constraints to students' projects. With regard to culture, it was found that the ideas of mainstream students and lecturers about ADP students exacerbated such ADP students' experiences of marginalisation and exception. Moreover, the study found that the mainly black student enrolment of the Academic Support Programme for Engineering in Cape Town (ASPECT) was experienced by students as racial prejudice. While the findings suggest that students thus found themselves in extremely constrained circumstances, they were also found to have exercised corporate agency and different modes of reflexivity to overcome some of their constraining circumstances. Following an analytical process of retroduction, the study suggests that the ADP, although it facilitated students' entry into the university, simultaneously positioned them within a situational logic of constraining contradiction and as such exacerbated their experiences of exception. Moreover, it is argued that, although the university has made major structural changes to accommodate students from disadvantaged educational backgrounds, the ideas that shape the ADP space perpetuate the view that these students have an educational' deficit'. In conclusion, the study suggests that higher education should reconsider the idea of separate programmes, as their inherent situational logic appears to work against some of their fundamental goals, which are to facilitate redress and to widen participation.

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Mayat, Nafisa. "The attitudes of academics to accomodating physically disabled students into the undergraduate civil engineering programme in the Faculty of Engineering and Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7478.

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Includes bibliographical references (leaves 54-61).
Disabled students face a number of challenges in accessing equitable education within higher education institutions. The University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, as stated in the Policy on Students and Staff with Disabilities, is committed to making tertiary education accessible and inclusive for all students. However, it has been observed that physically disabled students are under-represented in the science and engineering fields, as there is a misconception that disabled students cannot fulfil all the criteria required to complete these programs. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the attitudes of academics to the possibility of admitting physically disabled students with the Undergraduate Civil Engineering Programme at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. A qualitative approach was adopted where data was collected by carrying out in-depth interviews with five permanent full - time academics within the Civil Engineering Programme. The participants included 2 professors, 2 senior lecturers and one lecturer who have been teaching courses in Civil Engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal for periods between 3 and 20 years. The results of the study revealed that the academics interviewed all displayed a positive attitude in accommodating physically disabled students within their program. However, some challenges were identified, which included site / field work in the curriculum. All the participants indicated that these challenges can be met and are willing to provide the support that may be required by physically disabled students. Recommendations were made, that it implemented, will result in changes being made not only to the physical environment, but also as to how curricula can be planned and delivered.

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Gavin, Kiera(Kiera A. ). "An exploration and review of ethics instruction methods for undergraduate engineering students and an examination of the MIT Mechanical Engineering Department's current practices in teaching ethics." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2020. https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/127920.

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Thesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, May, 2020
Cataloged from the official PDF of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (page 28).
All accredited undergraduate engineering programs are required to teach ethics based on the ABET mandated Student Outcomes. How programs choose to do this is highly variable, but curriculum typically falls into one of three categories: the case method, theory-based method, and professional codes method; despite their prevalence in contemporary teaching, each of these methods has its flaws [1]. One school of thought argues that teaching the ethical thought process as a parallel to the engineering design process is the most effective way to communicate ethics to engineering students [2-5]. In order to understand what mechanical engineering students at MIT take away from their ethics education, a survey was sent to all students who had completed the most recent semester of one of the MIT Mechanical Engineering capstone courses. 52% of students responded, revealing a large variation in understanding of ethics and engagement with the ethics components of the course. Recommendations are made for changes to the ethics components of the course curriculum, aiming to improve the deficiencies highlighted in the survey and approach ethics instruction through the design process lens.
by Kiera Gavin.
S.B.
S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering

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Czaplinski, Iwona. "An analysis of learning networks of STEM undergraduate students to promote active learning." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2020. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/201510/1/Iwona_Czaplinski_Thesis.pdf.

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This thesis addresses educational design issues related to the value of networked learning practices and the understanding of learning activities within an ecological framework. It responds to the need to make it possible for first-year university students to become autonomous lifelong learners, capable of tackling complex problems. High-level goals of this kind require course, curriculum and learning environment redesign. Major contributions reveal how wide the gulf is between a number of aspects of existing practice and the intention to help students become autonomous learners, and how a well-theorised analysis of current learning arrangements can provide vital information for educational (re)design.

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Black, Arianna Louise. "Evaluation of the AWARES Mentorship Program on Female Engineering Students’ Career Self-Efficacy." The Ohio State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1587054612430114.

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Goff, George Ahmad IV. "The Influence of College among Undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Majors on Career-Decision-Making Self-Efficacy." University of Toledo / OhioLINK, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1458463422.

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Lőrincz, Máté János. "Narrowing the gap between smart metering and everyday life : comfort, cleanliness and smart metering technologies in undergraduate students' households." Thesis, Keele University, 2017. http://eprints.keele.ac.uk/4364/.

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Smart meters measure aggregate energy consumption for an entire building. Recent literature suggests that disaggregated information describing appliance-by-appliance electricity consumption is more effective than aggregate information (Kelly et al. 2016, Fisher 2008). The thesis therefore investigates the potential for aggregated and disaggregated energy metering data but takes a different angle by trying to understand how newly established student households use energy in their daily lives and whether this can be changed with smart electricity display meters. The interdisciplinary methodology involved video recorded guided tours, focus groups, semi-structured interviews, photographs, video diaries and metered energy data. The data was collected in three phases. Initially, a video recorded guided tour was carried out in each student household to find out how students are sensing their environments as they move inside the house and how they are maintaining these environments through the sensory aesthetic of the home. This was followed by focus group sessions and semi-structured interviews in each household to find out how electricity was implicated in everyday practices. Next, students received three different types of smart electricity display monitors, aimed at assessing the implication of disrupting practices by real-time metering feedback. The central finding of this work is that practices-that-consume energy cannot be reduced to attitudes or intentions. This finding is nuanced by an extended discussion on the relationship between practices and the temporal structuring of practices. The research identifies other types of feedback (such as social, material and sensory) that influence the energy use in practices or substitute practices for other non-energy using practices, suggesting that there are no simple technological or behavioural fixes. More profoundly, this thesis suggests that policy should focus on connection between practices, rather than technological performance or what consumers think about electricity display monitors. The thesis concludes by discussing a re-framing of policy expectations; identifying the ways in which smart metering data could target domestic practices and its influencing elements potentially constrain or catalyse a transition towards a more sustainable way of living.

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Carbajal, Sandy C. "Exploring the undergraduate experience of Latina students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors| Motivators and strategies for achieving baccalaureate attainment." Thesis, California State University, Long Beach, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1598628.

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Drawing from Latino/a Critical Race Theory and the related Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) model, I concentrate on three forms of CCW—aspirational, navigational, and resistance capital—for this qualitative study on the undergraduate experience of Latina students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors, focusing on strategies and achieving baccalaureate attainment. I interviewed ten Latina students and asked them questions regarding their educational experiences in STEM majors, what contributed to their degree completion, and the strategies they employed for achieving baccalaureate attainment. I identified and described six themes within the study (the underrepresentation of Latinas in STEM majors, the lack of preparation by academic programs for upper division courses, motivators, involvement, time management, and support networks) that, when combined, contributed to participants’ degree attainment. This study concludes with implications for policy and practice that would allow universities to better assist Latinas in STEM majors to achieve baccalaureate attainment.

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Gaskins, Whitney. "Changing the Learning Environment in the College of Engineering and Applied Science: The impact of Educational Training on Future Faculty and Student-Centered Pedagogy on Undergraduate Students." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1396533191.

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Javidi, Giti. "A comparison of traditional physical laboratory and computer simulated laboratory experiences in relation to engineering undergraduate students conceptual understandings of a communication systems topic." Scholar Commons, 2005. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/2936.

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This study was designed to investigate an alternative to the use of traditional physical laboratory activities in a communication systems course. Specifically, this study examined whether as an alternative, computer simulation is as effective as physical laboratory activities in teaching college-level electronics engineering education students about the concepts of signal transmission, modulation and demodulation. Eighty undergraduate engineering students participated in the study, which was conducted at a southeastern four-year university. The students were randomly assigned to two groups. The groups were compared on understanding the concepts, remembering the concepts, completion time of the lab experiments and perception toward the laboratory experiments. The physical groups (n=40) treatment was to conduct laboratory experiments in a physical laboratory. The students in this group used equipment in a controlled electronics laboratory. The Simulation groups (n=40) treatment was to conduct similar experiments in a PC laboratory. The students in this group used a simulation program in a controlled -PC lab. At the completion of the treatment, scores on a validated conceptual test were collected once after the treatment and again three weeks after the treatment. Attitude surveys and qualitative study were administered at the completion of the treatment. The findings revealed significant differences, in favor of the simulation group, between the two groups on both the conceptual post-test and the follow-up test. The findings also revealed significant correlation between simulation groups attitude toward the simulation program and their post-test scores. Moreover, there was a significant difference between the two groups on their attitude toward their laboratory experience in favor of the simulation group.

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Kittidhaworn, Patama. "An assessment of the English-language needs of second-year Thai undergraduate engineering students in a Thai public university in Thailand in relation to the second-year EAP program in engineering." Morgantown, W. Va. : [West Virginia University Libraries], 2001. http://etd.wvu.edu/templates/showETD.cfm?recnum=2020.

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Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2001.
Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 122 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 92-97).

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McKinney, Victor John. "An exploratory case study on the preparation of undergraduate civil engineering students at the University of Cape Town to contribute to an inclusive society for people with disabilities." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20355.

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Based on the experiences of the researcher who is a quadriplegic, people with disabilities still encounter many challenges within the built environment. As civil engineers play a central role, this study set out to address the question - How are undergraduate Civil Engineering students at the University of Cape Town (UCT) being prepared to contribute to an inclusive society that accommodates people with disabilities? Based on a conceptual theoretical framework that draws from a broader context of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, a production line analogy was adopted to explore the resources, approaches and experiences of key stakeholders involved in the preparation of the students. The adopted model recognised the students as the "raw materials", the graduates as the "products", UCT as the "factory", the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) as the "quality controller", the Engineering Industry "utilised and refined" the product, while people with disabilities were the "consumers". A qualitative, exploratory, multiple case design was utilised incorporating interviews with representatives of UCT, the Engineering Industry, and people with disabilities, while the contents of the website of ECSA was reviewed. ECSA has a transformation agenda that does not explicitly identify issues about disability. However, there were opportunities to incorporate the concept of Universal Design (UD) into the exit level outcomes of the undergraduate civil engineering programme. Furthermore, while UCT, Industry and people with disabilities identified legislation around disability as a major resource for the training of students, and UCT and Industry shared an open minded approach to the concept of UD, its inclusion in the education programme is still lacking. There was a conspicuous gap for collaboration between the stakeholders, which seem to hinder the adoption of a multidisciplinary approach in the preparation of the students. The study highlighted the need to formalise a platform that brings the key stakeholders together in the preparation of civil engineering students to contribute to the development of an inclusive society that accommodates people with disabilities.

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Solomonides, Ian Paul. "Learning intervention and the approach to study of engineering undergraduates." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.308312.

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He, Xingxi. "Haptics augmented undergraduate engineering education implementation and evaluation /." Ohio : Ohio University, 2003. http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/view.cgi?ohiou1175092399.

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Minichiello, Angela L. "Towards Alternative Pathways: Nontraditional Student Success in a Distance-delivered, Undergraduate Engineering Transfer Program." DigitalCommons@USU, 2016. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/4950.

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Today, postsecondary engineering education stands perched on the edge of transformation. A precursor to impending change is national recognition that nontraditional students—adults and working students with socioeconomic backgrounds not currently well-represented in engineering education—possess untapped potential to improve the diversity as well as increase the size of the U.S. engineering workforce. To support nontraditional student participation in engineering, a qualitative investigation was undertaken to examine the ways in which nontraditional engineering undergraduates defined and experienced success during their engineering education. It is thought that, through a deeper, richer understanding of the ways in which the nontraditional engineering undergraduates overcome barriers and experience success, newer, more impactful alternative pathways that assist nontraditional students in becoming part of the engineering profession can be envisioned and developed. During this study, 14 nontraditional student participants were purposefully sampled from the population of undergraduates who participated in a distance-delivered, alternative engineering transfer program offered at a western, land-grant, public university between 2009-2015. Qualitative data from in-depth interviews were used to co-develop life history–style narratives for each of the participants. Completed narratives chronologically ordered and richly described the participants’ experiences leading up to, happening during, and occurring after their engineering education. Narrative analysis revealed that the nontraditional student participants viewed their own educational success contextually, relationally, and in terms of their long-term goals for social mobility through engineering careers. Additionally, the distance-delivered alternative engineering transfer program was seen to promote their educational success in three ways: a) working to promote long-range career goals through job market signaling, b) enabling academic bootstrapping in an adult learning environment, and c) maintaining connection to community-based support through place. Recommendations for engineering programs that seek to broaden nontraditional student participation are offered.

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Kockelbergh, David. "The origins of student misunderstanding of undergraduate electrical machine theory." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2014. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/16072.

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This thesis is concerned with student understanding of key concepts in electrical engineering teaching within higher education. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many students struggle to understand threshold concepts and therefore encounter difficulties in learning theoretical models which are underpinned by such theoretical concepts. This research utilised a mixed methods approach to investigate the factors that influence student understanding of key theoretical concepts within electrical engineering. The initial study used a questionnaire to evaluate student understanding of concepts which were identified by teaching staff as being core to a particular module. The study identified that students commenced the module with poor understanding and that instruction on the module ELC040 Electrical Machines and Systems did not lead to improved understanding of core concepts. This suggests that the roots of student misunderstanding lay elsewhere. Desk research was subsequently employed to explore the sources of student misunderstandings. Performance data was analysed and demonstrated that the roots of the student misunderstanding of Electrical Machine Theory lay in the pre-requisite module Electrical Power B. Students routinely failed to achieve high levels of understanding in this module and as a result were unable to successfully build upon it in the third year module. Semi-structured interviews were then undertaken with Part C students who were undertaking the Electrical Machines and Systems module. In addition, structured interviews were administered with the Part B students. The interviews aimed to establish the study practices adopted by students across both years. The study showed that students found the ELA001 module difficult, and the majority believe that most other students felt the same way as they did. Students provided evidence of poor study techniques, by reporting last minute sessions to complete coursework and last minute revision for exams. This research informed the development of an interactive learning tool which was piloted on a small cohort of students. The research has also established that there are many influences on the development of student understanding of threshold concepts within electrical engineering and argues for a more active style of teaching in order to address student misunderstanding.

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Hipple, Dean A. "Re-entry training and education for returning sojourner undergraduates of French grandes écoles." Scholarly Commons, 2002. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/562.

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This study is a design and delivery of a comprehensive re-entry training program which has been implemented to meet the needs of returning French engineering grande ecole undergraduate sojourners. With particular attention to the historical and specific character of a grande ecole's interdependent relationship with industry and professional training as an integral part of the educational design, this program has been specifically conceived as a semiautonomous, in-house institute for advanced intercultural training and studies with the combined aims of a) meeting the immediate and longer-term needs of returning sojourners and b) enhancing intercultural awareness at the school generally. This study focuses specifically on the re-entry program delivered by the newly created Winter Institute of Intercultural Communication (WIIC) as the capstone innovation in the broader developmental curriculum redesign scheme for grande ecole students. The Institute now provides the necessary re-entry follow up after an extensive pre-departure training program and six months experience abroad as well as providing a workshop for moving on to more advanced levels of intercultural communication issues.

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Hipple, Dean A. "Re-entry training and education for returning sojourner undergraduates of French grandes écoles : a thesis." Scholarly Commons, 2001. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/562.

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This study is a design and delivery of a comprehensive re-entry training program which has been implemented to meet the needs of returning French engineering grande ecole undergraduate sojourners. With particular attention to the historical and specific character of a grande ecole's interdependent relationship with industry and professional training as an integral part of the educational design, this program has been specifically conceived as a semiautonomous, in-house institute for advanced intercultural training and studies with the combined aims of a) meeting the immediate and longer-term needs of returning sojourners and b) enhancing intercultural awareness at the school generally. This study focuses specifically on the re-entry program delivered by the newly created Winter Institute of Intercultural Communication (WIIC) as the capstone innovation in the broader developmental curriculum redesign scheme for grande ecole students. The Institute now provides the necessary re-entry follow up after an extensive pre-departure training program and six months experience abroad as well as providing a workshop for moving on to more advanced levels of intercultural communication issues.

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Williams, Paul T. "Investigating the innovation capabilities of undergraduate engineering students." 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/22275.

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This thesis describes a method for measuring the innovation capabilities of mechanical engineering students and presents the results of a yearlong experiment. A review of relevant literature shows that it is unclear whether the innovation capabilities of engineering students increase or decrease over time. Experiments were conducted at two universities in which students were asked to redesign an everyday electromechanical product in a sketch-based concept generation activity. Student participants were also asked to complete a self-efficacy survey. Nearly one thousand concepts were generated from a combination of freshmen and seniors. The concepts were evaluated for originality, technical feasibility, and innovation characteristics by multiple raters. At both schools, the findings suggest that the senior-level engineering students are more creative than their freshman-level counterparts without sacrificing technical feasibility. Additionally, the seniors rated higher for originality at the end of the semester than they scored prior to taking their senior design class. These results suggest that the mechanical engineering curricula, and especially the senior-level Engineering Design courses, are having a positive effect on student creativity.
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Almeida, Claudia Da Silva. "Religious Orientation and Pressure in Undergraduate Engineering Students." Thesis, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10539/2113.

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Student Number : 9805453M - MA research report - School of Human and Community Development - Faculty of Humanities
In recent years, there has been increased interest among multidisciplinary researchers in looking at the relationship between religion and health, with the bulk of the literature indicating that religion has largely positive effects on mental health (Masters, Hill, Kircher, Benson & Fallon, 2004; Pieper, 2004; Smith, McCullough & Poll, 2003). Hence this study has chosen to focus on the relationship between undergraduate students’ perceptions of religious orientation, as defined by Allport and Ross (1967), and their perceptions of pressure – a form of stress identified by Weiten (1988). Questionnaires comprising of the Religious Orientation Scale, the Pressure Inventory and demographic information in terms of age, gender and religious affiliation were administered to undergraduate engineering students at the University of the Witwatersrand to explore religious orientation and pressure respectively. The sample consisted of 76 undergraduate engineering students at the University of the Witwatersrand. The results revealed that in this sample religious orientation had no influence on perceptions of pressure. In terms of the demographic variables, neither age nor gender was found to influence students’ perceptions of religious orientation or pressure, respectively. However a significant difference was found between religious affiliation and both religious orientation and pressure. More specifically religious affiliation showed a significant difference in terms of intrinsic religious orientation, selfimposed pressure, pressure in intimate relations and total pressure.

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Recla, Benjamin Jeremiah. "Developing a Practical Wind Tunnel Test Engineering Course for Undergraduate Aerospace Engineering Students." Thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/149345.

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This thesis describes the development and assessment of an undergraduate wind tunnel test engineering course utilizing the 7ft by 10ft Oran W. Nicks Low Speed Wind Tunnel (LSWT). Only 5 other universities in the United States have a wind tunnel of similar size and none have an undergraduate wind tunnel test engineering course built around it. Many universities use smaller wind tunnels for laboratory instruction, but these experiments are meant to only demonstrate basic concepts. Students go beyond conceptual learning in this wind tunnel test engineering course and conduct real-world experiments in the LSWT. This course puts knowledge into practice and further prepares students whether continuing on to graduate school or industry. Course content mainly originates from the chapters in Low Speed Wind Tunnel Testing by Barlow, Rae, and Pope. This is the most comprehensive book that addresses the specific requirements of large scale, low speed wind tunnel testing. It is not a textbook for novices. The three experiments used in the course are modeled on actual experiments that were performed at the LSWT. They are exactly what a commercial entity would want performed although the time scale is drastically reduced because of class requirements. Students complete the course with a working knowledge of the requirements of large scale, low speed wind tunnel tests because they have successfully performed real-world tests and have performed data reduction that is needed for high-quality industrial tests.

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Jones, Theresa Louise. "Instructor expectations in a project-based undergraduate mechanical engineering classroom." Thesis, 2003. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/utexas/fullcit?p3116405.

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Ferguson, Sarah Kiersten. "Reframing the c onversation : faculty mentoring undergraduate women students in engineering." Thesis, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/ETD-UT-2011-05-3059.

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Women and members of underrepresented populations remain a relatively small proportion of the engineering faculty and students on university campuses. The lack of diversity potentially reduces the number of innovative and diverse perspectives contributing to these fields. One critical area missing in the research literature concerns faculty mentoring of engineering undergraduate women students. This qualitative study explores the narratives of six engineering faculty member mentors, two student affairs practitioners, and three undergraduate women student mentees and their mentoring experiences in a large public research university. Drawing on relevant frameworks from best practices in mentoring and pedagogy, this study will reframe the conversations surrounding faculty mentoring of undergraduate students by utilizing a feminist lens, which seeks to explicitly address the need to create and sustain an inclusive and engaging classroom environment and mentoring relationships. The following research questions guided the study: 1) how do mentors and mentees make meaning and conceptualize the act of mentoring, 2) how are these mentoring relationships situated within the context of the institution in which they are embedded, and 3) what implications emerge for retention and representation of underrepresented students for faculty mentors and student mentees? With this in mind, a feminist lens was useful for expanding the ways in which mentoring is conceptualized and explored because traditional approaches did not effectively explore or capture the benefits received by the participants. The engineering faculty mentor and undergraduate student mentee participants largely formed mentoring relationships informally, often through a connection established in a classroom. Faculty members were purposeful and thoughtful in their pedagogical choices, fostering an engaging and supportive classroom environment. Unlike the research literature, these faculty mentors perceived real benefits from mentoring undergraduate students. In addition, the faculty mentors participating in this study were particularly aware of the challenges and opportunities facing women and underrepresented undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty in engineering.
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"The Characteristics and Experiences of Successful Undergraduate Latina Students Who Persist in Engineering." Doctoral diss., 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.14767.

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abstract: Females and underrepresented ethnic minorities earn a small percentage of engineering and computer science bachelor's degrees awarded in the United States, earn an even smaller proportion of master's and doctoral degrees, and are underrepresented in the engineering workforce (Engineering Workforce Commission, [2006], as cited in National Science Foundation, 2012; United States Department of Education, [2006], as cited in National Science Foundation, 2009a; United States Department of Education, [2006], as cited in National Science Foundation, 2009b). Considerable research has examined the perceptions, culture, curriculum, and pedagogy in engineering that inhibits the achievement of women and underrepresented ethnic minorities. This action research study used a qualitative approach to examine the characteristics and experiences of Latina students who pursued a bachelor's degree in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University (ASU) as part of the 2008 first-time full-time freshman cohort. The researcher conducted two semi-structured individual interviews with seven undergraduate Latina students who successfully persisted to their fourth (senior) year in engineering. The researcher aimed to understand what characteristics made these students successful and how their experiences affected their persistence in an engineering major. The data collected showed that the Latina participants were motivated to persist in their engineering degree program due to their parents' expectations for success and high academic achievement; their desire to overcome the discrimination, stereotyping, and naysayers that they encountered; and their aspiration to become a role model for their family and other students interested in pursuing engineering. From the data collected, the researcher provided suggestions to implement and adapt educational activities and support systems within the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering to improve the retention and graduation rates of Latinas in engineering at ASU.
Dissertation/Thesis
Ed.D. Higher and Postsecondary Education 2012

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Hayward, Lauren J. "Students' perceptions of distributed pair programming in an upper-level undergraduate software engineering course." 2009. http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-03272009-112301/unrestricted/etd.pdf.

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"Introducing Unsaturated Soil Mechanics to Undergraduate Students Through the Net Stress Concepts." Master's thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.21029.

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abstract: The purpose of this research was to introduce unsaturated soil mechanics to the undergraduate geotechnical engineering course in a concise and easy to understand manner. Also, it was essential to develop unsaturated soil mechanics teaching material that merges smoothly into current undergraduate curriculum and with sufficient flexibility for broad adaptation by faculty. The learning material consists of three lecture modules and a laboratory module. The lecture modules introduced soil mechanics for the general 3-phase medium condition with the saturated soil as a special case. The three lecture modules that were developed are (1) the stress state variables for unsaturated soils, (2) soil-water characteristic curves, and (3) axis translation. A PowerPoint presentation was created to present each module in an easy to understand manner so that the students will enjoy the learning material. Along with the lecture modules, a laboratory module was developed that reinforced the key aspects and concepts for unsaturated soil behavior. A laboratory manual was created for the Tempe Pressure Cell and Fredlund SWC-150 device (one-dimensional oedometer pressure plate device) in order to give the instructor and institution a choice of which testing equipment best fits their program. Along with the laboratory manuals, an analysis guide was created to help students with constructing SWCCs from their laboratory. A soil type recommendation was also researched for use in the laboratory module. The soil ensured acceptably short equilibrium times along with a wide range or suction values controllable by both testing equipment (Tempe Pressure Cell and Fredlund SWC-150). A silt type soil material was recommended for the laboratory module. As a part of this research, a smooth transition from unsaturated to saturated condition was demonstrated through laboratory volume change experiments using a silt soil tested in an oedometer-type pressure plate device. Three different experiments were conducted: (1) volume change for unsaturated soils in response to suction and net normal stress change, (2) volume change for saturated soils in response to effective stress change, as determined using unsaturated soils testing equipment, and (3) traditional consolidation tests on saturated soil using a conventional consolidometer device.
Dissertation/Thesis
M.S. Civil Engineering 2013

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"Examining Undergraduate Engineering Students' Knowledge, Beliefs, and Attitudes Regarding Affirmative Action Admissions Policies: A Hierarchical Regression Analysis." Doctoral diss., 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.53459.

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abstract: Affirmative action is an education policy adopted by higher education institutions in the 1960s, where an applicant’s race is taken into account to some degree when being evaluated for admission to a college or university. The practice of affirmative action, or race conscious-admissions, has been repeatedly challenged in the legal system and remains a controversial and polarizing topic amongst the general public, campus leaders, and policy makers. Despite a vast amount of research on the effects of affirmative action policies on student and institutional behaviors and outcomes, such as college applications and enrollments, considerably less research has examined students’ attitudes towards race-conscious admissions policies. Even less research has focused on students in academic disciplines, especially STEM or engineering. Likewise, there is a paucity of research that explores students’ perceptions and knowledge of how affirmative action is implemented in practice. To address these gaps, this study investigates undergraduate engineering students’ knowledge of and attitudes towards affirmative action admissions policies in higher education. The Student Attitudes Towards Admissions Policies Survey (SATAPS) was designed to assess students’ knowledge of and attitudes regarding affirmative action practices in higher education admissions. This survey was administered to undergraduate engineering students and a comparison group of education students at 42 colleges/universities in the United States. Data were analyzed utilizing confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical regression. Results demonstrated that students have low levels of knowledge about affirmative action, and have misconceptions about how the policy functions in practice. There was no difference in engineering and education students’ level of support for affirmative action; however, underrepresented minority students in engineering were more supportive of affirmative action. Results also indicated that students’ beliefs and values were the strongest predictors of attitude towards affirmative action, so much so that this negated the significance of demographic and personal characteristics, which was observed in the majority of previous studies. Results highlight a complicated relationship between demographic characteristics, personal variables, knowledge, institutional context, beliefs/values, and attitude towards affirmative action admissions policies in higher education.
Dissertation/Thesis
Doctoral Dissertation Educational Policy and Evaluation 2019

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Brookins, Bari. "Now I Understand! Success Factors among High-Achieving Undergraduate Hispanic Students Majoring in Engineering at a Research University." Thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2012-08-11537.

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This dissertation examined the perceptions of high-achieving undergraduate Hispanic students majoring in engineering with regard to their academic success. As the largest and fastest growing minority group in the US, Hispanics are underrepresented among the racial and ethnic compositions of students enrolled in undergraduate engineering programs. Factoring in the overall decline in the number of graduates in engineering, as well, enhances the challenges this will bring to need for a racially and ethnically representative US workforce. While engineering is an academically demanding discipline, some students not only succeed, but excel. To understand the factors that contributed to their academic success, seven high-achieving undergraduate engineering students were interviewed to examine their undergraduate experiences at Texas A&M University. This qualitative study utilized semi-structured participant interviews as the means of data collection to gather information. Through the process of content analysis, four key themes emerged: (1) Versatility: That's a different way of seeing things that I never thought of before, (2) Individuality: I've gotten more a sense of who I am, (3) Essence: That's just how we are, and (4) Successful Study Strategies: I realized if I wanted to continue not having to relearn and relearn, I should just learn. Findings from this study suggest that Texas A&M should emphasize engagement opportunities through the use of freshman Learning and/or Living-Learning Communities to improve the acclimation of new students into the University as well as assist them in forming the type of peer relationships that can increase the likelihood of academic success. In addition, the University should make a variety of academic assistance measures available to these students early in their academic careers to activate successful study strategies and accomplishments.

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Kahveci, Ajda Southerland Sherry A. Gilmer Penny J. "Impact of a women's program for science, mathematics and engineering on undergraduate women activity systems on the periphery /." Diss., 2005. http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-07082005-003623.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2005.
Advisors: Dr. Sherry A. Southerland, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Middle and Secondary Education, and Dr. Penny J. Gilmer, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept 19, 2005). Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 249 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

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(11186220), Julianna Gesun. "Beyond Surviving: Developing and Testing a Model of Thriving for Engineering Students." Thesis, 2021.

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The goal of my dissertation is to take a step toward shifting the narrative in engineering from “surviving” to “thriving” so that more engineering students can reach their full potential in college and beyond. Many engineering students experience barriers such as the hardships of engineering culture, which are exacerbated for women and underrepresented racial/ethnic minorities(such as Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students). These barriers are well documented in research and well discussed in interventions to support engineering student success, under the assumption that helping students cope with these cultural and systemic barriers will, by itself, lead to their success. My research on engineering thriving challenges this assumption by asserting that the skills engineering students need to succeed academically, socially, and personally differ from the skills they need to “survive” cultural and systemic barriers.

This dissertation employs an exploratory multiphase research design, with three studies, to develop a model of thriving for undergraduate engineering students. The first study consists of a scoping literature review of 68 papers to define and characterize engineering thriving as the process in which engineering students develop and refine competencies that allow them to function optimally in engineering programs. From this definition, the second study employs a Delphi process with 47 experts to develop a model of engineering thriving that includes 1) internal thriving competencies; 2) external thriving outcomes; 3) engineering culture, systemic factors, resources, context and situation; and 4) how these three broader categories function together. The third study tests some of these relationships proposed in the model of engineering thriving using structural equation modeling(SEM) on a large dataset of responses by over 2,000 undergraduate U.S. engineering students to a survey that measured various constructs associated with thriving. Findings from the SEM analysis suggest that gratitude was one of the most important competencies for engineering student thriving, and that a holistic model approach accounted for 79% of the variance in engineering students’ belongingness and 25% of the variance in perceptions of faculty caring(two external thriving outcomes).

Understanding and supporting more engineering thriving has positive implications for students, recruitment and outreach, and engineering programs. Thriving is multidimensional and, thus, supporting engineering students to achieve traditional success metrics (such as academic performance and graduation) goes hand in hand with supporting their personal and social development and wellbeing. Recruitment and outreach of K-12 students can benefit from viewing engineering as an attractive and inspirational career, combating negative stereotypes that currently deter students from pursuing engineering. Engineering programs can benefit from developing a reputation and culture of thriving. However, cultural change requires the collective investment from all members of the engineering community.

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Oltean-Dumbrava, Crina, and K. Galloway. ""Moving closer" maximising benefits to university courses, students and employers through undergraduate civil enginering placements." 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/5456.

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yes
This project built on research from university and employer perspectives exploring relationships between expectations of employers, professional bodies, students and universities on what constitutes a good work placement. Qualitative information on good practice was gathered in order to identify areas for improving placement practice and to illuminate employer engagement processes. Impact and benefits of different approaches to placements and curricula and/or staff Continuing Professional Development (CPD) implications were identified, together with recommendations on how improvements in understanding are shared and disseminated among employer groups and universities. Findings included that, although there were already guidelines on placement practice from a number of bodies, good practice identified at a wide range of points seemed more the result of academic staff drawing on their own experience, formed in the light of good knowledge of professional institution requirements, rather than use of guidelines. Employers mentioned professional institution requirements almost as a matter of course. That guidelines are not used as intended by those that produce them may be a general tendency, but this project¿s guidelines specifically reflect the organised voice of employers thanks to the involvement of their senior groupings, Sector Skills Councils and similar, in addition to individual employers. This project¿s guidelines are also more up to date than others identified, including particular issues affecting provision of placements that may face universities over the next few years. Students seem to recognise the benefits of placements more in retrospect than in advance. Some universities seem more flexible than others, adapting provision of placements as economic and other conditions have changed and to meet the needs of employers and placements. As one employer put it, ¿employers gravitate towards universities that make it easier¿. Employers also want to see academic credit awarded for placement learning and understandable processes with which they can help in support of this. The guidelines will be made available through a number of channels.
Royal Academy of Engineering

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Kim, Su Yeon. "A Comparison of Education, Business, and Engineering Undergraduate Students’ Internet Use and their Experience, Confidence, and Competence in Using New Literacies of the Internet." Thesis, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2011-05-9223.

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This study explored beginning and advanced pre-service teachers’ Internet use and their experience, confidence, and competence in using new literacies of the Internet. In addition, this study compared the pre-service teachers to same-aged business and engineering students. Through using an online survey, this study recruited 1350 students from the various disciplines. This study conducted comparisons between a) underclassmen across the three majors, b) seniors across the majors, and c) underclassmen and seniors within the majors. This study found that as digital natives, education, business, and engineering students used the Internet frequently. However, they were relatively unfamiliar with using new literacies of the Internet during their high school and university educational experiences. Overall, the three majors’ students were confident but they were not competent in using new literacies of the Internet including locating and evaluating information on the Internet. Comparisons between and within the majors revealed that education underclassmen were less confident and competent than engineering underclassmen peers and senior education students in evaluating information on the Internet. Education seniors were comparable to business and engineering seniors in their confidence and competence in both locating and evaluating information on the Internet. The findings imply that teacher educators need to understand the weaknesses of their pre-service teachers and provide them with appropriate opportunities and training to know how to effectively use and furthermore teach new literacies of the Internet.

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(11210097), Rene Alexander A. Soto Perez. "Undergraduate engineering student misconception regarding complex circuits: The case with solid-state device circuits." Thesis, 2021.

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Undergraduate engineering students usually face difficulties understanding electric circuit concepts. Some of those difficulties regard with misconceptions students bring into the classroom and develop during the learning process. Additionally, the increasing complexity of the topics along the fundamental electric circuits course constitutes another factor to those difficulties students experience. Another component we can add to this equation consists of the need of modernize and actualize the curriculum to meet the society’s demands of the next taskforce. Therefore, it is important to investigate the conceptual difficulties students experience when they analyze complex electric circuits. In this dissertation, I identify what those conceptual difficulties are when undergraduate sophomore engineering students attempt to analyze solid-state device circuits. The context of this research comprises a modernized version of the traditional fundamental electric circuits course. This modernized version includes DC analysis, 1^st order transient analysis, AC, and solid-state device analysis.

This dissertation took the form of three individual but complementary studies. Each study contributes to partially answer the overall research question. However, each study answered its own research problem. The first study attempted for identifying what concepts beginning students find challenging regarding semiconductors physics, diodes, and transistors. The second study identified student’s misconceptions when they analyze two solid-state device circuits, one with a diode, and the other with a transistor. The final study looked for determining what misconceptions students use at both earlier and more advances stages along the course. This study also searched for understanding how students move through conceptual changes along the semester.

The general findings comprise three main points. First, students bring misconceptions into the classroom probably built from their previous experiences. Second, they also can develop those misconceptions through the learning process. This is particularly key regarding the relatively new and complex topics from student’s perspectives. Finally, language plays an important role on the kind of misconceptions students develop. How students perceive the professional community use language contributes to either consolidate or modify old misconceptions or develop new ones.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Engineering undergraduate students'

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