Scholarly Works, Engineering Education

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Research articles, presentations, and other scholarship

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Advancing flexible electronics and additive manufacturing
Espera, Alejandro H., Jr.; Dizon, John Ryan C.; Valino, Arnaldo D.; Advincula, Rigoberto C. (Iop Publishing Ltd, 2022-06-01)
There is high interest in the synergism of thin-film and flexible electronics with additive manufacturing. This review primarily focuses on the prospective developments in convergence with flexible electronics manufacturing technologies. Specifically, this paper covers the latest 3D printing and hybrid manufacturing technologies, the utility of specific types of materials, their functionalization and characterization, post-processing and testing strategies toward fabricating robust and application-specific flexible electronics. Besides exploring the advances in this area of research-it also highlights the limitations and gaps that have been observed in the previous years that will challenge and offer opportunities for advancing research and development. Lastly, the future of 3D-printed flexible electronics is discussed in the aspects of customizability, scalability, and its game-changing and state-of-the-art potential for intelligent sensing, instrumentation, and wearables for various medical, engineering, and industrial applications.
Advancing Sustainable Development: Emerging Factors and Futures for the Engineering Field
Burleson, Grace; Lajoie, Jason; Mabey, Christopher; Sours, Patrick; Ventrella, Jennifer; Peiffer, Erin; Stine, Emma; Stettler Kleine, Marie; MacDonald, Laura; Austin-Breneman, Jesse; Javernick-Will, Amy; Winter, Amos; Lucena, Juan; Knight, David B.; Daniel, Scott; Thomas, Evan; Mattson, Christopher; Aranda, Iana (MDPI, 2023-05-11)
This study set out to identify emerging trends in advancing engineering for sustainable development, supporting the engineering workforce to address wicked problems, and strengthening pathways between engineering education, industry, and policy. The following question guided this work: What are the emerging factors impacting the future of global sustainability efforts within engineering, and how can these be amplified to increase the impact of engineering for sustainable development? Using an adapted Delphi method with surveys, focus groups, and member-checking interviews, we hosted the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) 2022 Engineering Global Development (EGD) Stakeholder Summit. The summit convened industry leaders, innovators, and academics to explore emerging factors impacting the future of global sustainability efforts in engineering. This manuscript synthesizes emerging trends and proposes recommendations for engineering, particularly in the specific focus area of engineering for sustainable development (e.g., ‘humanitarian engineering’, ‘global engineering’). Critical recommendations include the adoption of emerging cultural mindsets, which include: (1) take an interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder approach, (2) consider dynamic and interconnected systems, (3) increase humility and intercultural competence, (4) prioritize diversity and inclusion, (5) increase localization and center community perspectives, (6) challenge the perception that engineering is neutral, and (7) broaden the goals of engineering. Ultimately, this study highlights pathways forward for the broader engineering community to more effectively contribute to advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Assessing learning processes rather than outcomes: using critical incidents to explore student learning abroad
Davis, Kirsten A.; Knight, David B. (Springer Nature, 2022-03-18)
There is an increasing emphasis on assessing student learning outcomes from study abroad experiences, but this assessment often focuses on a limited range of outcomes and assessment methods. We argue for shifting to assessing student learning processes in study abroad and present the critical incident technique as one approach to achieve this goal. We demonstrate this approach in interviews with 79 students across a range of global engineering programs, through which we identified 173 incidents which were analyzed to identify common themes. This analysis revealed that students described a wide range of experiences and outcomes from their time abroad. Students’ experiences were messy and complex, making them challenging to understand through typical assessment approaches. Our findings emphasize the importance of using a range of assessment approaches and suggest that exploring students’ learning processes in addition to learning outcomes could provide new insights to inform the design of study abroad programs.
Assessing systems thinking: A tool to measure complex reasoning through ill-structured problems
Grohs, Jacob R.; Kirk, Gary R.; Soledad, Michelle M.; Knight, David B. (2018-06)
An increasingly important aim of higher education is to develop graduates capable of addressing complex, interdependent problems. Systems thinking is a critical interdisciplinary skill that describes the cognitive flexibility needed to collaboratively work on problems facing society. Although institutions of higher education are asked to develop systems thinkers and many programs strive towards such an aim, mechanisms to assess this competency are lacking. This paper (1) presents a framework for operationalizing systems thinking competency, and (2) shares a novel scenario-based assessment tool based on the framework. The paper describes the iterative development of the community-level problem scenario and associated scoring rubric based on a set of 93 student responses. Appendices contain the full tool consisting of the problem scenario, scoring rubric, and other guiding documents to enable others to adopt the tool for research purposes or to assess student outcomes from university programs.
Assessing the Impact of IRES on Researchers, Research Outcomes, and Students: A Case Study Approach
Knight, David B.; Sanderlin, Nicole; Davis, Kirsten A. (Virginia Tech, 2020-09)
IRES programs seek to develop globally connected future researchers while also facilitating broader long-term collaborations between U.S.-based and international research groups. Faculty and student exchanges are expected to result in international linkages between the researchers that bring new insights and methods to U.S.-based research projects, leading to transformative research. In this project, we conducted a comprehensive evaluation of IRES programs through a case study analysis. The nine selected cases focused specifically on engineering-focused IRES experiences for ease of comparison. Case studies included interviews with all U.S. PI’s, a selection of additional international and U.S. faculty researchers, and select student alumni for a total of 59 interviews across the nine sites. Our analysis highlights the variety of approaches different IRES programs have taken, which we hope will be helpful for institutions proposing new IRES programs as well as for NSF program officers who work with IRES PI teams. We highlight best practices in developing research exchanges, the return on investment of such programs, as well as ideas from program leaders and participants in how to structure such experiences for students as well as faculty and institutions both on the U.S. and international sides to achieve a range of outcomes.
The assessment cycle: Insights from a systematic literature review on broadening participation in engineering and computer science
Holloman, Teirra K.; Lee, Walter C.; London, Jeremi S.; Hawkins Ash, Chanee D.; Watford, Bevlee A. (American Society for Engineering Education, 2021-09-14)
Background: In the field of engineering education, assessment and evaluation have been given insufficient attention as they relate to broadening participation. We posit that this lack of attention negatively impacts our ability to develop and implement sustainable solutions at scale. Purpose: The purpose of this article is to explore the presence of an assessment cycle in the literature related to broadening participation in engineering. The assessment cycle refers to the process by which assessment/evaluation is planned, enacted, and used to improve educational processes. Scope/Method: The scope of this study was influenced by it being situated in a larger study focused on broadening participation of Black Americans in engineering and computer science. We completed a literature map that illuminated a subset of literature broadly related to assessment/evaluation, and subsequently conducted a systematic literature review of 33 publications reporting on assessment/evaluation efforts. Our analysis of these efforts was grounded in a six-stage assessment cycle. Results: The results of this study highlight common publishing practices related to the assessment cycle in the context of broadening participation. We find that assessment/evaluation is generally published at the program level, focused on student development or academic success as a proxy for program effectiveness, and concentrated on positive claims. Conclusion: There is room to significantly improve how assessment/evaluation information is published. By highlighting productive and unproductive publishing practices related to assessment/evaluation, this research has important implications for the use and publishing of assessment/evaluation, particularly as it relates to broadening participation in engineering.
Before and After: Team Development in Virtual and In-Person Transfer Student Engineering Design Teams
Van Tyne, Natalie (2022-08-23)
This Evidence-Based Practice paper contains the similarities and differences in team development among first-year engineering design teams containing transfer students in the online Fall 2020 and in-person Fall 2021 semesters. These two different course environments were expected to produce different experiences in team development between the two cohorts. While this study involves only transfer students, based on currently available data, a similar study could be conducted after the Spring 2021 semester with first-year students who began college at their current institution. My research question is: • How do team development experiences differ under virtual and in-person conditions, respectively and in comparison? The conceptual framework for this inquiry is based on the Tuckman model of team development. This model consists of four stages that Tuckman and others have demonstrated that teams exhibit during their duration: Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing. This model originated with adult teams in the workplace, but is equally applicable to non-self-selected engineering student design teams. Team members tend to view themselves as individuals rather than as part of a cohesive unit in the Forming and Storming stages. As they transition to the Norming stage, they accept the premise that the team can accomplish more together than if each member acted in isolation. Even if a team forms a contract or charter during the Forming stage, which states how they will operate as a team, the ways in which they actually operate tend to become apparent during Norming. By the time that a team reaches the Performing stage, each member has a clear vision of what the team does and can do, and uses the relationships among team members to accomplish tasks more or less efficiently. The five- or six-member student design teams were assigned through a skills and personality assessment at the beginning of the fifteen-week semester, using the CATME® team formation survey. The CATME results were checked against the students' self-reported data about their current skills in writing, speaking, and engineering graphics before the students were formally assigned to their teams. Research methods followed an explanatory sequential design, in which the results of one or more quantitative methods are used to inform the choice of one or more qualitative methods to collect and analyze data. Quantitative data were collected and analyzed using a 32-question survey about team development stages, followed by qualitative analysis of team-based written artifacts. Available written artifacts included the following: • a team contract, developed by the team during Week 4 of the semester; • a CATME® peer review, administered online during Weeks 7 and 8; • team-based commentary about the results of the team development survey, noting similarities and differences among team members' results, as part of a project and team status update submitted during Week 12; • team-based commentary about additional progress toward team development since Week 12, as part of the final project and team status update submitted during Week 15, and • a final CATME® peer review, administered during Weeks 14 and 15. By Week 12, many online and in-person teams in both cohorts were in strong agreement about their team's development stage as either Norming or Performing. This is a positive outcome, given that the teams had only three weeks remaining to complete the design project and the course. Both types of teams also provided evidence of the following attributes of successful teams, as identified in recent literature: collective efficacy, psychological safety, resilience, individual performance, and communication. However, extensive response bias in survey responses and team-based evaluations indicated that certain online and in-person teams may have been viewing their team's development less realistically because they were required to report on similarities and differences among team members' survey results as part of a homework assignment, and wanted to omit negative results. Certain survey questions were also reported to have been interpreted in different ways by team members.
Believing the Results: Validation of the Tuckman Team Development Questionnaire for Use with Engineering Student Design Teams
Van Tyne, N. C. T.; Chowdhury, T. M.; Kim, D.; Ortega, J. D.; Soledad, M. (ASEE Conferences, 2023-06-25)
Bridging the Gap: Early Education on Robot and AI Ethics through the Robot Theater Platform in an Informal Learning Environment
Mitchell, Jennifer; Dong, Jiayuan; Yu, Shuqi; Harmon, Madison; Holstein, Alethia; Shim, Joon Hyun; Choi, Koeun; Zhu, Qin; Jeon, Myounghoon (ACM, 2024-03-11)
With the rapid advancement of robotics and AI, educating the next generation on ethical coexistence with these technologies is crucial. Our research explored the potential of a child-robot theater afterschool program in introducing and discussing robot and AI ethics with elementary school children. Conducted with 30 participants from a socioeconomically underprivileged school, the program blended STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) with the arts, focusing on ethical issues in robotics and AI. Using interactive scenarios and a theatrical performance, the program aimed to enhance children’s understanding of major ethical issues in robotics and AI, such as bias, transparency, privacy, usage, and responsibility. Preliminary findings indicate the program’s success in engaging children in meaningful ethical discussions, demonstrating the potential of innovative, interactive educational methods in early education. This study contributes significantly to integrating ethical robotics and AI in early learning, preparing young minds for a technologically advanced and socially responsible future.
Building a Sustainable University-Wide Interdisciplinary Graduate Program to Address Disasters
Paretti, Marie C.; Deters, Jessica; Webb, Margaret; Menon, Maya (2022-08-23)
Disasters continue to devastate communities across the globe, and recovery efforts require the cooperation and collaboration of experts and community members across disciplines [1-3]. The Disaster Resilience and Risk Management (DRRM) program, funded through the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Traineeship (NRT), is an interdisciplinary graduate program that brings together faculty and graduate students from across one large, mid-Atlantic university in order to develop novel transdisciplinary approaches to disaster-related issues. The project seeks to improve understanding and support proactive decision-making relative to disaster resilience by establishing a sustainable transdisciplinary graduate education and research program capable of developing the next generation of researchers, educators, and decision makers. In this paper, we briefly describe the program’s goals and current status, then focus on the supports and barriers to helping graduate students develop interdisciplinary professional identities, drawing on frameworks for identity-based motivation to guide our analysis. As we have reported elsewhere [4], annual interviews with program participants suggest that while some students experience substantial interdisciplinary identity development, not all students who join the program want to become interdisciplinary scholars, and even some of those who do seek such development experience multiple institutional and structural barriers. Given the extensive investment in interdisciplinary graduate programs nationally, we argue that a deeper understanding of how and why graduate students do – and perhaps more importantly, do not – develop interdisciplinary identities can help inform future development of interdisciplinary programs.
Career Paths of Engineering and Computer Science Doctoral Recipients
Knight, David B.; Borrego, Maura; Grote, Dustin (2022)
Catalyzing Organizational Change for Equity in Graduate Education: A Case Study of Adopting Collective Impact in a College of Engineering
Lee, Walter C.; Holloman, Teirra K.; Knight, David B.; Huggins, Natali; Matusovich, Holly M.; Brisbane, Julia (MDPI, 2024-03-10)
Graduate education in engineering is an extremely challenging, complex entity that is difficult to change. The purpose of this exploratory research paper was to investigate the applicability of the Collective Impact framework, which has been used within community organizing contexts, to organize the change efforts of a center focused on advancing equitable graduate education within engineering. We sought to understand how the conditions of Collective Impact (i.e., common agenda, backbone organization, mutually reinforcing activities, shared measurement system, and continuous communication) could facilitate the organization of equity-focused change efforts across a college of engineering at a single institution. To achieve this, we took an action research approach. We found the Collective Impact framework to be a useful tool for organizing cross-sectional partnerships to facilitate equity-focused change in graduate education; we also found the five conditions of Collective Impact to be applicable to the higher education context, with some intentional considerations and modifications. Through coordinated efforts, the Collective Impact framework can support the goal of reorienting existing decentralized structures, resource flows, and decision processes to foster bottom-up and top-down change processes to advance equitable support for graduate students.
Characterizing capstone design teaching: A functional taxonomy
Pembridge, James J.; Paretti, Marie C. (2019-04)
Background: Capstone design courses represent a critical juncture in students' development at the transition from school to work. However, few studies have systematically explored teaching in this context, leaving a significant gap in our ability to concretely describe faculty practices in ways that support subsequent explorations of the relationships between teaching practices and learning outcomes. Purpose/Hypothesis: The aim of this study was to develop a comprehensive description of the pedagogical practices used by capstone design faculty from a functional perspective and provide researchers with a framework for subsequent work. Design/Method: This study used qualitative methods to analyze interviews with 42 capstone faculty; the participants represent a stratified purposeful sample of respondents to a national survey. Analysis focused on descriptive coding, beginning with a priori codes, to define broad functions, supplemented with emergent coding to identify concrete practices used in the capstone context. Results: The study resulted in a model of capstone design teaching that includes nine functions (challenge, protect, coach, promote employability, provide exposure, provide role models, accept and confirm, counsel, and build rapport) and 28 associated practices. Conclusions: Capstone faculty use a range of practices designed not only to coach students through the engineering design process but also to more broadly prepare students for workplace practice and build their identity as engineering professionals.
Community-engaged heat resilience planning: Lessons from a youth smart city STEM program
Lim, Theodore C.; Wilson, Bev; Grohs, Jacob R.; Pingel, Thomas (Elsevier, 2022-10-01)
While recognition of the dangers of extreme heat in cities continues to grow, heat resilience remains a relatively new area of urban planning. One barrier to the creation and successful implementation of neighborhood-scale heat resilience plans has been a lack of reliable strategies for resident engagement. In this research, the authors designed a two-week summer STEM module for youth ages 12 to 14 in Roanoke, Virginia in the Southeastern United States. Participants collected and analyzed temperature and thermal comfort data of varying types, including from infrared thermal cameras and point sensors, handheld weather sensors, drones, and satellites, vehicle traverses, and student peer interviews. Based on primary data gathered during the program, we offer insights that may assist planners seeking to engage residents in neighborhood-scale heat resilience planning efforts. These lessons include recognizing: (1) the problem of heat in neighborhoods and the social justice aspects of heat distribution may not be immediately apparent to residents; (2) a need to shift perceived responsibility of heat exposure from the personal and home-based to include the social and landscape-based; (3) the inextricability of solutions for thermal comfort from general issues of safety and comfort in neighborhoods; and (4) that smart city technologies and high resolution data are helpful “hooks” to engagement, but may be insufficient for shifting perception of heat as something that can be mitigated through decisions about the built environment.
Comparing Self-Report Assessments and Scenario-Based Assessments of Systems Thinking Competence
Davis, Kirsten A.; Grote, Dustin; Mahmoudi, Hesam; Perry, Logan; Ghaffarzadegan, Navid; Grohs, Jacob; Hosseinichimeh, Niyousha; Knight, David B.; Triantis, Konstantinos (Springer, 2023-03)
Self-report assessments are used frequently in higher education to assess a variety of constructs, including attitudes, opinions, knowledge, and competence. Systems thinking is an example of one competence often measured using self-report assessments where individuals answer several questions about their perceptions of their own skills, habits, or daily decisions. In this study, we define systems thinking as the ability to see the world as a complex interconnected system where different parts can influence each other, and the interrelationships determine system outcomes. An alternative, less-common, assessment approach is to measure skills directly by providing a scenario about an unstructured problem and evaluating respondents' judgment or analysis of the scenario (scenario-based assessment). This study explored the relationships between engineering students' performance on self-report assessments and scenario-based assessments of systems thinking, finding that there were no significant relationships between the two assessment techniques. These results suggest that there may be limitations to using self-report assessments as a method to assess systems thinking and other competencies in educational research and evaluation, which could be addressed by incorporating alternative formats for assessing competence. Future work should explore these findings further and support the development of alternative assessment approaches.
Comparison of transfer shock and graduation rates across engineering transfer student populations
Smith, Natasha L.; Grohs, Jacob R.; Van Aken, Eileen M. (2021-10-20)
Background Increasing the persistence of engineering transfer students can help meet the US national priority of increasing the number of engineering graduates. Many transfer students experience a decrease in their grade point average (GPA) at their receiving institution, known as transfer shock, which can lead to them leaving the institution. This GPA decrease is found to be more prevalent in engineering transfer students. Purpose/Hypothesis The purpose of this study is to analyze a single institutional dataset to determine when transfer shock occurs, how it differs among engineering transfer student subgroups, and if transfer shock is a predictor of graduation within 4 years in engineering. Design/Method A 10-year dataset with 789 engineering transfer students was used in this study, and the engineering transfer students were split into four subgroups. Multiple statistical analyses were conducted, including Welch's F-test, chi-square, and logistic regression, to understand differences in transfer shock during the first three terms of enrollment as well as 4-year graduation rates among each subgroup. Results Transfer shock extends through the first three post-transfer terms, resulting in transfer norming. The engineering transfer student subgroups experience different levels of transfer norming; however, the subgroups were not predictors of graduation. The predictors were the transfer GPA and the transfer norming in the first three post-transfer terms of enrollment. Conclusions Engineering transfer students are not a homogeneous population; there are key differences between lateral and vertical transfer students. More strategic, longitudinal programming and decision-making should be considered by institutions.
The correlation between undergraduate student diversity and the representation of women of color faculty in engineering
Main, Joyce B.; Tan, Li; Cox, Monica F.; McGee, Ebony O.; Katz, Andrew (2020-10-21)
Background Despite the critical role of faculty diversity in the persistence and academic experiences of undergraduate students as well as in the development of engineering innovations, women of color (WoC) faculty are still underrepresented in engineering programs across the United States. Purpose/Hypothesis This study identifies whether the demographic composition of undergraduate engineering students is correlated with the representation of WoC faculty. It also highlights the institutional- and departmental-level factors that contribute to the race-gender diversification of the engineering professoriate. Design/Method Informed by organizational demography as the theoretical framework, the methods include linear and logit regression analyses. Data come from the American Society for Engineering Education, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, and the American Community Survey, and include engineering departmental-level observations across 345 institutions over 12 years. Results Engineering departments that award more bachelor's degrees to women African American/Black undergraduate students are more likely to employ relatively more African American/Black women faculty. This positive relationship is also found among Asian Americans and Hispanics/Latinas. Conclusions Research findings demonstrate the relationship between engineering undergraduate composition, as well as other departmental- and institutional-level factors, and the prevalence of WoC faculty. The findings highlight important areas for stakeholders and academic administrators to consider when developing strategies and programs to diversify the composition of engineering faculty.
Definitions of Interdisciplinary Research: Toward Graduate-Level Interdisciplinary Learning Outcomes
Borrego, Maura Jenkins; Newswander, L. K. (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010)
Combining the interdisciplinary studies (primarily humanities) literature with the content analysis of 129 successful National Science Foundation proposals written predominantly by science and engineering faculty members, the authors identify five categories of learning outcomes for interdisciplinary graduate education: disciplinary grounding, integration, teamwork, communication, and critical awareness. They identify important parallels between humanities-based descriptions of interdisciplinary integration and implicit graduate learning outcomes hinted at by engineering and science faculty who more frequently work in teams. Applying the lens of interdisciplinary studies (humanities) to science and engineering provides important depth and focus to engineering and science interdisciplinary learning outcomes, particularly in detailing integration processes.
Development and Analysis of a Spiral Theory-based Cybersecurity Curriculum
Back, Godmar V.; Basu, Debarati; Naciri, William; Lohani, Vinod K.; Plassmann, Paul E.; Barnette, Dwight; Ribbens, Calvin J.; Gantt, Kira; McPherson, David (2017-01-09)
Enhance cybersecurity learning experiences of students at Virginia Tech’s large engineering program
The Development of Remote Laboratory Sessions at the Stability Wind Tunnel of Virginia Tech During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Szőke, Máté; Borgoltz, Aurelien; Kuester, Matthew; Intaratep, Nanyaporn; Devenport, William J.; Katz, Andrew (2021-01-01)
This paper discusses the remote delivery of wind tunnel experiments performed at the Stability Wind Tunnel of Virginia Tech, in April 2020, during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. The originally in-person laboratories were transformed to entirely remote sessions, on a time-frame of a few weeks, to ensure the delivery of the laboratory sessions and the safety of all participants via social distancing and the use of widely-available video conferencing software. The paper outlines the structure of the laboratory sessions, comprising the tour of the facility, data acquisition, and data visualization alongside with all information technology components used to ensure the successful remote delivery of the laboratory sessions. After the two-week-long experimental campaign, participating students provided feedback on the efficacy of the laboratories via a detailed questionnaire. It was found that the students were highly satisfied with the remote delivery of the laboratory sessions but showed a preference for in-person laboratories.

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