Journal Publications by Rebecca Reck
IEEE Transactions on Education, Apr 12, 2017
Course objectives, like research objectives and product requirements, help provide clarity and di... more Course objectives, like research objectives and product requirements, help provide clarity and direction for faculty and students. Unfortunately, course and laboratory objectives are not always clearly stated. Without a clear set of objectives, it can be hard to design a learning experience and determine whether students are achieving the intended outcomes of the course or laboratory. In this paper, a common set of laboratory objectives, concepts, and components of a laboratory apparatus for undergraduate control systems laboratories were identified. A panel of 40 control systems faculty members completed a multi-round Delphi survey to bring them toward consensus on the common aspects of their laboratories. These panelists identified 15 laboratory objectives, 26 concepts, and 15 components common to their laboratories. Then an 45 additional faculty members and practitioners completed a follow-up survey to gather feedback on the results. In both surveys, each participant rated the importance of each item. While average ratings differed slightly between the two groups, the order in which the items were ranked was similar. Important examples of common learning objectives include connecting theory to what is implemented in the laboratory, designing controllers, and modeling systems. The most common component in both groups was MathWorks software. Some of the common concepts include block diagrams, stability, and PID control. Defining common aspects of undergraduate control systems laboratories enables common development, detailed comparisons, and simplified adaptation of equipment and experiments between campuses and programs.
Electronics, Jul 4, 2016
Instructional laboratories are common in engineering programs. Instructional laboratories should ... more Instructional laboratories are common in engineering programs. Instructional laboratories should evolve with technology and support the changes in higher education, like the increased popularity of online courses. In this study, an affordable and portable laboratory kit was designed to replace the expensive on-campus equipment for two control systems courses. The complete kit costs under {\$}135 and weighs under 0.68 kilograms. It is comprised of off-the-shelf components (e.g., Raspberry Pi, DC motor) and 3D printed parts. The kit has two different configurations. The first (base) configuration is a DC motor system with a position and speed sensor. The second configuration adds a Furuta inverted pendulum attachment with another position sensor. These configurations replicate most of the student learning outcomes for the two control systems courses for which they were designed.
Conference Papers by Rebecca Reck
Proceedings of the 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, 2019
It can be a daunting task to identify, compare, and select a tool to assist with the task of prov... more It can be a daunting task to identify, compare, and select a tool to assist with the task of providing feedback and grades to students. There are multiple tools available that have varying capabilities and cost. Of the available tools, some are provided within course management software (e.g. Blackboard, Moodle), third party plagiarism checking (e.g. TurnItIn, SafeAssign), commercial tools for feedback (e.g. GradeScope), and tools for very specific assignments such as automatically grading coding assignments (e.g. automatic graders for code). While each of these tools has the potential to reduce the time spent by instructors, providing effective, timely feedback to students should still be the focus.
This paper will review commercially available products that can assist or automatically grade assignments and provide feedback to students. First, each tool will be categorized based on features. The categories will include plagiarism checking, assignment creation with feedback, assignment feedback and rubrics, and automatic grading for specific assignments. Then the tools in each category will be compared based on publically available data. Some of the comparisons within a category will include cost, detailed features specific to the category, instructor interface, and student interface. Finally, the author will select a tool from each category and provide additional details through case studies. The case studies will be based primarily on instructor experiences, however, student feedback will be provided when available. The goal of this study is not to necessarily recommend one tool, but to bring important information into one place to make it easier for instructors to compare and select the tool that will work for them, their students, and their course.
Proceedings of the 2018 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 2018
This innovative practice work in progress paper examines the student and faculty reactions after ... more This innovative practice work in progress paper examines the student and faculty reactions after a pilot implementation of Cody Coursework for submission of MATLAB scripts in a senior level dynamic systems and control systems course. The goal in implementation was to increase students' use of scripts in MATLAB and reduce the amount of time instructors spend grading open-ended design problems. The pilot was evaluated with reflections from the faculty team shared in a post-course discussion. Students in the course were also asked to complete a survey after the course. Additionally, scores on two assignments from before the pilot study were compared to scores during the pilot. Based on the pilot implementation, it was determined that Cody Coursework reduced the grading load of the instructors and the students were generally satisfied with the tool.
Proceedings of the ASME 2018 Dynamic Systems and Control Conference, 2018
DC motors are popular for many engineering applications such as robotics, aerospace, home automat... more DC motors are popular for many engineering applications such as robotics, aerospace, home automation, and many others. As such, they are also popular systems for undergraduate examples and instructional laboratories in engineering. Many of these examples use a standard first-order model of a DC Motor using first principles modeling to derive the parameters. However, not much emphasis is placed on how well these models match the actual data. In this paper, six DC motor models, including three frequently found in textbook examples, will be compared to recorded data from actual DC motors in order to develop a model that represents the actual physical behavior of a DC motor. The models that were developed from the data rather than first principles matched the data more closely for the angular velocity output of the motor. Finally, the best models will be used to simulate a closed-loop position control of the motor and match the performance to recorded data.
Proceedings of the 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, 2018
Control systems courses are often highly theoretical and focused on mathematical derivations. Som... more Control systems courses are often highly theoretical and focused on mathematical derivations. Some students express difficulty connecting the theories to practice due to this emphasis. By the time a student reaches their senior year of undergraduate studies in the United States, they have inevitably encountered a control system in their daily lives (e.g. kitchen appliance, automobile, house HVAC system) or in an internship or co-op job. Yet, many students do not readily recognize these connections either. In previous semesters, students have said it was difficult for them to understand how to apply control systems topics in their field.
Based on this feedback, I considered course improvements to address this deficiency. Looking closer at the feedback, I identified two possible causes for learning difficulties: lack of connections to prior knowledge and lack of motivation for the topic. According to Ambrose, Bridges, DiPietro, Lovett, and Norman (2010), sufficient and accurate connections to prior knowledge can support learning. Therefore, helping students accurately identify interactions with courses topics in everyday life should aid learning. Additionally, based on theory expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation, it follows that a student will likely be less motivated to learn a topic that they cannot identify as being useful in achieving a future goal (Ambrose et al., 2010). Therefore, it is important to show how engineers apply course topics to the designs and projects.
I elected to add a new assignment and short presentation to the course. The learning objective of the assignment is for each student to investigate one real-world application of a concept in the course. To achieve this objective, students write a one-page summary describing how their real-world application applied to a course topic. Then, to leverage the diverse experiences of students in the course, each student shares their application with everyone in a short TED-style talk on the last day of class. Overall, this quiz has been successful in my course. An unanticipated benefit of these new activities is that I also have a wider selection of practical control system applications to share in the course in a subsequent semester.
In this paper, I will describe the assignment and presentation in more detail, share the breadth of examples I have received in the first four semesters that I have taught the course, and informal feedback I have received about the course and assignment from students and other faculty members.
Proceedings of the 2017 IEEE Frontiers in Education (FIE) Conference, 2017
Proceedings of the 2017 Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 2017
In the literature, there are many examples of control systems laboratory experiments and equipmen... more In the literature, there are many examples of control systems laboratory experiments and equipment. However, the information provided about these laboratories is not consistent. This paper applies a common framework for control systems laboratories to compare six existing low-cost laboratory kits for control systems and mechatronics. The framework contains learning objectives, components of a laboratory apparatus, and concepts for undergraduate control systems courses. It was developed based on a series of surveys of the control systems community. Additionally, a procedure is provided for how to apply the common framework for new laboratory developments and to improve consistency and ease of comparison of laboratories in the future. Due to diversity and differences between the disciplines that teach control systems, this procedure is provided as a guide rather than a prescriptive set of instructions. While using the procedures, instructors may select from the items on each list of the common framework to develop an effective laboratory experience for their students but are encouraged to explain the rationale for which items were selected when sharing their laboratory experience with other instructors. While previous literature has lacked the consistency of details, the goal of this paper is to show how this common framework can be applied in the future to increase understanding and transferability of control systems laboratories across institutions and disciplines.
Proceedings of the 2017 ASEE Annual Conference, Jun 24, 2017
Many studies suggest that teamwork in hands-on manufacturing is beneficial to learning soft skill... more Many studies suggest that teamwork in hands-on manufacturing is beneficial to learning soft skills and manufacturing minded thinking for college level engineering students. Studies also show that a confidence gap exists between men and women in engineering in hands-on and “tinkering” abilities. In classroom exercises involving hands-on tasks, men often step up in groups to perform tasks such as machining and, due to a lack of ability and/or lack of confidence, many women step back and let the men take over. All-female group projects have been devised to study the benefits women can gain from hands-on experience in a variety of tasks from a Mini-Baja team to coding workshops. While those past projects had a focus on group work, this project revolves around individual tasks in order to get female STEM students comfortable with hands-on manufacturing processes. The focus on individual work rather than group work was intended to push participants outside of their comfort zones, give them a greater sense of confidence in their own skills, and evaluate the benefits of individualized hands-on learning.
With funding from the Dean of Students and the Women Resource Center of Kettering University, and help from technicians in the Mechanical and Industrial Manufacturing Engineering departments, twelve students participated in one of two manufacturing activities: MIG welding or lathe/mill machining. All planning, evaluation, and analysis for this project were performed by an undergraduate student. The six students in the MIG welding group had hands-on training from university technicians on MIG welding and air and electric power tools. They applied their newly-learned metal shaping and joining skills to a design project utilizing horseshoes to create projects from useful wall-hooks to geometric designs. The other six women in the machining group each machined their own bolt and nut from raw round aluminum stock. The participants had a unique opportunity to perform the manufacturing processes, encouraging a level of comfort and knowledge of manufacturing techniques and a unique appreciation of modern automated manufacturing.
The outcomes of this project were evaluated by a survey in which the participants assessed the value, engagement, content, benefit, and quality of the event on an agree/no opinion/disagree scale followed by several free response questions. The evaluation had no personal identifiers, but the organizer noted their grade level to see if the participants’ current knowledge base and experiences had an effect on their outcomes. All of the participants enjoyed the event and rated us favorable across all categories. In the free response section, students talked about a growth in confidence, wanting more events like this, and enjoying being able to create on their own with minimal help from technicians. This paper will hopefully help universities create similar programs, and push for exploration of individual projects in creating confidence.
Proceedings of the 2017 ASEE Annual Conference, Jun 24, 2017
During my first year as a faculty member, I used several features of Google Apps to help stay org... more During my first year as a faculty member, I used several features of Google Apps to help stay organized and streamline my workflow. Some of these ideas were obvious, while others took time to figure out. Since Gmail and Google Apps were already in place on my campus, it was an obvious starting point. I keep everything I am working on in Google Drive so that I have access to it from all of my devices. I keep track of everything that happens at a specific time with Google Calendar. I also use Reminders in Google Calendar to remind me of paper and grant deadlines. The Goal feature is also helpful for tracking daily writing and exercise goals.
For research, I use Google Docs to write conference papers collaboratively. I also save all of the papers I am working on in Google Drive. I also started a place to keep literature relevant to my research and a document to capture potential research questions and projects. I also have a folder in Google Drive where I save copies of potential grants or conferences of interest. I have a spreadsheet to track the budget and expenses from my start-up fund. Finally, I started a research portfolio that allows me to track and record research activities for annual reviews and eventually my tenure portfolio.
For teaching, I created a Google Doc for each lecture with my lesson plan. When I co-teach a laboratory with someone else, we share all of our materials (e.g. rubrics, assignments, and handouts) for each experiment in Google Drive. The shared folder allows both of us to make changes from anywhere and the other person always has the latest versions. When I give a group project in class, I also create a folder for each team to use. I have found it is helpful to create the folders so that they each have a unique name in my Google Drive. I can also track, if necessary, which team members have been contributing to the project. I have also started a teaching portfolio in a Google Doc. With my teaching portfolio, I also save all the raw data from grade books and evaluations that will eventually be added to my teaching portfolio.
For service, I have a portfolio to track service contributions for tenure. I also keep notes and minutes from meetings that I attend. I also have a folder on Google Drive for each organization I am a member.
This paper will include lessons learned and best practices from the above applications of Google Apps.
Proceedings of the 2016 IEEE Frontiers in Education (FIE), Oct 12, 2016
The Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering department at the University of Illinois at Urb... more The Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has five major research areas: data analytics; decision and control systems; design and manufacturing; financial engineering; and operations research. During the summer of 2015, faculty and graduate students from each of the last four areas designed mini-projects and assignments to cover the research areas of the department in a required first-year course. The goal of the designed course was to provide a comprehensive overview of the department and an engaging experience for first-year students. Project-based learning and Kolb's cycle for experiential learning were used to inform the structure of the course. Pre-surveys and post-surveys were administered to gather feedback from students in the course. On the surveys, students reported an increase in understanding of each of the research areas and a positive experience in the course.
Proceedings of the 2016 American Control Conference (ACC)
Course objectives, like research objectives or product requirements, help provide clarity and dir... more Course objectives, like research objectives or product requirements, help provide clarity and direction for everyone involved. Unfortunately, course and instructional laboratory objectives are not always clearly stated. Without a clear set of objectives, it can be hard to design course materials and determine if students are achieving the intended outcomes of the course or laboratory. This study seeks to define a common set of laboratory objectives, concepts, and components of a laboratory apparatus for undergraduate control systems instructional laboratories. A group of control systems faculty, from a variety of institutions, completed a multi-round survey in order to bring them toward consensus on the common aspects of their laboratories. While there will be variation between control systems courses and laboratories, defining the common aspects will form a basis of comparison for experiments and equipment going forward. These common aspects can also be used as a guide to develop new equipment and experiments with wide applicability, which will aid in sharing and reapplication at other institutions.
Proceedings of the 2016 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition
Professional societies fulfill many roles for their members. For underrepresented groups, the dif... more Professional societies fulfill many roles for their members. For underrepresented groups, the different roles become more important. Despite increasing numbers of women and other underrepresented groups in engineering academia, retention rates of women are still below the national average. Professional societies such as the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) may close the retention gap through community building. Not only do professional societies provide opportunities for networking and career building, but they also provide affirmation that there are others in similar roles. Although there are financial and time constraints to becoming active within a professional society not affiliated with one’s technical area, when academics feel that their involvement is valuable to their career development they will invest necessary time and money into the professional society. Similarities exist between how professional societies retain/attract faculty from underrepresented groups and how universities accomplish the same goal.
This paper focuses on how one professional organization, SWE, is providing opportunities to women in academia that include professional development, recognition/awards, networking, leadership development, and career advancement. These activities will be compared to university initiatives to retain/attract faculty and other underrepresented serving societies to provide an overview of what advantages SWE and other societies offer for the academic members of their organization. SWE is uniquely positioned to provide a community that transcends the organizational boundaries by encompassing technical, service, and professional development areas for women in academia that is inclusive, collaborative, and supportive as well as connected to industry, government and academia on multiple levels.
Proceedings of the 2016 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition
Experiential learning is a process by which a student creates knowledge through the insights gain... more Experiential learning is a process by which a student creates knowledge through the insights gained from an experience. Kolb's model of experiential learning is a cycle of four modes: (1) concrete experience, (2) reflective observation, (3) abstract conceptualization, and (4) active experimentation. His model is used in each of the three studies presented in this dissertation. Laboratories are a popular way to apply the experiential learning modes in STEM courses. Laboratory kits allow students to take home laboratory equipment to complete experiments on their own time. Although students like laboratory kits, no previous studies compared student learning outcomes on assignments using laboratory kits with existing laboratory equipment. In this study, we examined the similarities and differences between the experiences of students who used a portable laboratory kit and students who used the traditional equipment. During the 2014-2015 academic year, we conducted a quasi-experiment to compare students' achievement of learning outcomes and their experiences in the instructional laboratory for an introductory control systems course. Half of the laboratory sections in each semester used the existing equipment, while the other sections used a new kit. We collected both quantitative data and qualitative data. We did not identify any major differences in the student experience based on the equipment they used. Course objectives, like research objectives and product requirements, help provide clarity and direction for faculty and students. Unfortunately, course and laboratory objectives are not always clearly stated. Without a clear set of objectives, it can be hard to design a learning experience and determine whether students are achieving the intended outcomes of the course or laboratory. In this study, I identified a common set of laboratory objectives, concepts, and components of a laboratory apparatus for undergraduate control systems laboratories. During the summer of 2015, a panel of 40 control systems faculty members, from a variety of institutions, completed a multi-round Delphi survey in order to bring them toward consensus on the common aspects of their laboratories. The following winter, 45 additional faculty members and practitioners from the control systems community completed a follow-up survey to gather feedback on the results of the Delphi survey. During the Delphi study, the panelists identified 15 laboratory objectives, 26 concepts, and 15 components that were common in their laboratories. Then in both the Delphi survey and follow-up survey each participant rated the importance of each of these items. While the average ratings differed slightly between the two groups, the order of each set of items was compared with two different tests and the order was found to be similar. Some of the common and important learning objectives include connecting theory to what is implemented and observed in the laboratory, designing controllers, and modeling and simulating systems. The most common component in both groups was MathWorks software. Some of the common concepts include block diagrams, stability, and PID control. Defining common aspects of undergraduate control systems laboratories enables common development, detailed comparisons, and simplified adaptation of equipment and experiments between campuses and programs. Throughout an undergraduate program in engineering, there are multiple opportunities for hands-on laboratory experiences that are related to course content. However, a similarly immersive experience for project management graduate students is harder to incorporate for all students in a course at once. This study explores an experiential learning opportunity for graduate students in engineering management or project management programs. The project management students enroll in a project management course. Undergraduate students interested in working on a project with a real customer enroll in a different projects course. Two students from the project management course function as project managers and lead a team of undergraduate students in the second course through a project. I studied how closely the project management experience in these courses aligns with engineering project management in industry. In the spring of 2015, I enrolled in the project management course at a large Midwestern university. I used analytic autoethnography to compare my experiences in the course with my experiences as a project engineer at a large aerospace company. I found that the experience in the course provided an authentic and comprehensive opportunity to practice most of the skills listed in the Project Management Book of Knowledge (an industry standard) as necessary for project managers. Some components of the course that made it successful: I was the project manager for the whole term, I worked with a real client, and the team defined and delivered the project before the end of the semester.
Proceedings of the 2015 Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)
Lab kits allow students to take home laboratory equipment to complete experiments on their own ti... more Lab kits allow students to take home laboratory equipment to complete experiments on their own time. Kits like these can expand access to hands-on experiences for online courses and to budget-strapped campuses. Although students like these kits, no previous studies compared student learning outcomes on assignments using these new kits with previous laboratory equipment. During the 2014-2015 academic year, we conducted a quasi-experiment to compare students' achievement of learning outcomes. Half of the laboratory sections in each semester used the existing equipment, while the other sections used the new kit. The objectives of the laboratory assignments were the same and the instructions were kept as close as possible between the two groups.
Proceedings of the 2016 International Annual Conference of the American Society for Engineering Management
Proceedings of the 2015 American Control Conference (ACC), Jul 2015
The aim of this research is to expand the access of hands-on controls education at the undergradu... more The aim of this research is to expand the access of hands-on controls education at the undergraduate level with an affordable laboratory kit. A kit was assembled for around $130 while replicating the educational functionality of a typical station in an introductory controls laboratory. The kit consists of a Raspberry Pi, a DC motor, and various circuits required for the lab exercises. Details of each of these components are explained. Additionally, the laboratory experiments tested with this kit are described. This kit replaces expensive equipment with an affordable alternative that can be easily shipped anywhere in the world and used by students who do not have a formal laboratory space to use. The kit greatly enhances the accessibility of the laboratory experience to students in budget-strapped campus laboratories and those participating in distance education.
2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition
A laboratory kit for an undergraduate controls course will be demonstrated. The kit includes a Ra... more A laboratory kit for an undergraduate controls course will be demonstrated. The kit includes a Raspberry Pi (a single board computer), DC motor, and other circuits and sensors. The kit’s custom components were 3D printed. All other components of the kit can be purchased from online retailers such as Adafruit or Sparkfun for a total cost of about $130. This kit could replace expensive equipment with an affordable alternative that can be easily shipped anywhere in the world and used by students with any computer. The low cost and portability of the kit greatly enhance the accessibility of the laboratory experience to students in budget-strapped campus laboratories and those participating in distance education.Five experiments have been designed for this kit: introduction to the sensors, introduction to the equipment, first principles system identification, black box system identification, and proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control. The two introductory experiments enable students to get acquainted to the sensors and the equipment that will be used throughout the course. In the first principles system identification experiment, students measure the motor’s individual parameters including the armature resistance and inductance to create a mathematical model. In the black box system identification, the students confirm their model from the previous experiment by analyzing the step and frequency response of the motor. In the final experiment, the students design, simulate, and test proportional, proportional + derivative, and proportional + speed controllers for the position of the motor. For all of the experiments the students use MATLAB and Simulink to program the Raspberry Pi and collect data.Currently the kit is being tested in a traditional laboratory space with limited contact hours.However, once the kit has been proven effective, pedagogies that take advantage of the size and cost will be explored, such as studio learning, project based learning, or additions to an online course or MOOC. Add-ons will also be designed so that the kit can be used in more advanced controls courses.
2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Jun 14, 2015
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Journal Publications by Rebecca Reck
Conference Papers by Rebecca Reck
This paper will review commercially available products that can assist or automatically grade assignments and provide feedback to students. First, each tool will be categorized based on features. The categories will include plagiarism checking, assignment creation with feedback, assignment feedback and rubrics, and automatic grading for specific assignments. Then the tools in each category will be compared based on publically available data. Some of the comparisons within a category will include cost, detailed features specific to the category, instructor interface, and student interface. Finally, the author will select a tool from each category and provide additional details through case studies. The case studies will be based primarily on instructor experiences, however, student feedback will be provided when available. The goal of this study is not to necessarily recommend one tool, but to bring important information into one place to make it easier for instructors to compare and select the tool that will work for them, their students, and their course.
Based on this feedback, I considered course improvements to address this deficiency. Looking closer at the feedback, I identified two possible causes for learning difficulties: lack of connections to prior knowledge and lack of motivation for the topic. According to Ambrose, Bridges, DiPietro, Lovett, and Norman (2010), sufficient and accurate connections to prior knowledge can support learning. Therefore, helping students accurately identify interactions with courses topics in everyday life should aid learning. Additionally, based on theory expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation, it follows that a student will likely be less motivated to learn a topic that they cannot identify as being useful in achieving a future goal (Ambrose et al., 2010). Therefore, it is important to show how engineers apply course topics to the designs and projects.
I elected to add a new assignment and short presentation to the course. The learning objective of the assignment is for each student to investigate one real-world application of a concept in the course. To achieve this objective, students write a one-page summary describing how their real-world application applied to a course topic. Then, to leverage the diverse experiences of students in the course, each student shares their application with everyone in a short TED-style talk on the last day of class. Overall, this quiz has been successful in my course. An unanticipated benefit of these new activities is that I also have a wider selection of practical control system applications to share in the course in a subsequent semester.
In this paper, I will describe the assignment and presentation in more detail, share the breadth of examples I have received in the first four semesters that I have taught the course, and informal feedback I have received about the course and assignment from students and other faculty members.
With funding from the Dean of Students and the Women Resource Center of Kettering University, and help from technicians in the Mechanical and Industrial Manufacturing Engineering departments, twelve students participated in one of two manufacturing activities: MIG welding or lathe/mill machining. All planning, evaluation, and analysis for this project were performed by an undergraduate student. The six students in the MIG welding group had hands-on training from university technicians on MIG welding and air and electric power tools. They applied their newly-learned metal shaping and joining skills to a design project utilizing horseshoes to create projects from useful wall-hooks to geometric designs. The other six women in the machining group each machined their own bolt and nut from raw round aluminum stock. The participants had a unique opportunity to perform the manufacturing processes, encouraging a level of comfort and knowledge of manufacturing techniques and a unique appreciation of modern automated manufacturing.
The outcomes of this project were evaluated by a survey in which the participants assessed the value, engagement, content, benefit, and quality of the event on an agree/no opinion/disagree scale followed by several free response questions. The evaluation had no personal identifiers, but the organizer noted their grade level to see if the participants’ current knowledge base and experiences had an effect on their outcomes. All of the participants enjoyed the event and rated us favorable across all categories. In the free response section, students talked about a growth in confidence, wanting more events like this, and enjoying being able to create on their own with minimal help from technicians. This paper will hopefully help universities create similar programs, and push for exploration of individual projects in creating confidence.
For research, I use Google Docs to write conference papers collaboratively. I also save all of the papers I am working on in Google Drive. I also started a place to keep literature relevant to my research and a document to capture potential research questions and projects. I also have a folder in Google Drive where I save copies of potential grants or conferences of interest. I have a spreadsheet to track the budget and expenses from my start-up fund. Finally, I started a research portfolio that allows me to track and record research activities for annual reviews and eventually my tenure portfolio.
For teaching, I created a Google Doc for each lecture with my lesson plan. When I co-teach a laboratory with someone else, we share all of our materials (e.g. rubrics, assignments, and handouts) for each experiment in Google Drive. The shared folder allows both of us to make changes from anywhere and the other person always has the latest versions. When I give a group project in class, I also create a folder for each team to use. I have found it is helpful to create the folders so that they each have a unique name in my Google Drive. I can also track, if necessary, which team members have been contributing to the project. I have also started a teaching portfolio in a Google Doc. With my teaching portfolio, I also save all the raw data from grade books and evaluations that will eventually be added to my teaching portfolio.
For service, I have a portfolio to track service contributions for tenure. I also keep notes and minutes from meetings that I attend. I also have a folder on Google Drive for each organization I am a member.
This paper will include lessons learned and best practices from the above applications of Google Apps.
This paper focuses on how one professional organization, SWE, is providing opportunities to women in academia that include professional development, recognition/awards, networking, leadership development, and career advancement. These activities will be compared to university initiatives to retain/attract faculty and other underrepresented serving societies to provide an overview of what advantages SWE and other societies offer for the academic members of their organization. SWE is uniquely positioned to provide a community that transcends the organizational boundaries by encompassing technical, service, and professional development areas for women in academia that is inclusive, collaborative, and supportive as well as connected to industry, government and academia on multiple levels.
This paper will review commercially available products that can assist or automatically grade assignments and provide feedback to students. First, each tool will be categorized based on features. The categories will include plagiarism checking, assignment creation with feedback, assignment feedback and rubrics, and automatic grading for specific assignments. Then the tools in each category will be compared based on publically available data. Some of the comparisons within a category will include cost, detailed features specific to the category, instructor interface, and student interface. Finally, the author will select a tool from each category and provide additional details through case studies. The case studies will be based primarily on instructor experiences, however, student feedback will be provided when available. The goal of this study is not to necessarily recommend one tool, but to bring important information into one place to make it easier for instructors to compare and select the tool that will work for them, their students, and their course.
Based on this feedback, I considered course improvements to address this deficiency. Looking closer at the feedback, I identified two possible causes for learning difficulties: lack of connections to prior knowledge and lack of motivation for the topic. According to Ambrose, Bridges, DiPietro, Lovett, and Norman (2010), sufficient and accurate connections to prior knowledge can support learning. Therefore, helping students accurately identify interactions with courses topics in everyday life should aid learning. Additionally, based on theory expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation, it follows that a student will likely be less motivated to learn a topic that they cannot identify as being useful in achieving a future goal (Ambrose et al., 2010). Therefore, it is important to show how engineers apply course topics to the designs and projects.
I elected to add a new assignment and short presentation to the course. The learning objective of the assignment is for each student to investigate one real-world application of a concept in the course. To achieve this objective, students write a one-page summary describing how their real-world application applied to a course topic. Then, to leverage the diverse experiences of students in the course, each student shares their application with everyone in a short TED-style talk on the last day of class. Overall, this quiz has been successful in my course. An unanticipated benefit of these new activities is that I also have a wider selection of practical control system applications to share in the course in a subsequent semester.
In this paper, I will describe the assignment and presentation in more detail, share the breadth of examples I have received in the first four semesters that I have taught the course, and informal feedback I have received about the course and assignment from students and other faculty members.
With funding from the Dean of Students and the Women Resource Center of Kettering University, and help from technicians in the Mechanical and Industrial Manufacturing Engineering departments, twelve students participated in one of two manufacturing activities: MIG welding or lathe/mill machining. All planning, evaluation, and analysis for this project were performed by an undergraduate student. The six students in the MIG welding group had hands-on training from university technicians on MIG welding and air and electric power tools. They applied their newly-learned metal shaping and joining skills to a design project utilizing horseshoes to create projects from useful wall-hooks to geometric designs. The other six women in the machining group each machined their own bolt and nut from raw round aluminum stock. The participants had a unique opportunity to perform the manufacturing processes, encouraging a level of comfort and knowledge of manufacturing techniques and a unique appreciation of modern automated manufacturing.
The outcomes of this project were evaluated by a survey in which the participants assessed the value, engagement, content, benefit, and quality of the event on an agree/no opinion/disagree scale followed by several free response questions. The evaluation had no personal identifiers, but the organizer noted their grade level to see if the participants’ current knowledge base and experiences had an effect on their outcomes. All of the participants enjoyed the event and rated us favorable across all categories. In the free response section, students talked about a growth in confidence, wanting more events like this, and enjoying being able to create on their own with minimal help from technicians. This paper will hopefully help universities create similar programs, and push for exploration of individual projects in creating confidence.
For research, I use Google Docs to write conference papers collaboratively. I also save all of the papers I am working on in Google Drive. I also started a place to keep literature relevant to my research and a document to capture potential research questions and projects. I also have a folder in Google Drive where I save copies of potential grants or conferences of interest. I have a spreadsheet to track the budget and expenses from my start-up fund. Finally, I started a research portfolio that allows me to track and record research activities for annual reviews and eventually my tenure portfolio.
For teaching, I created a Google Doc for each lecture with my lesson plan. When I co-teach a laboratory with someone else, we share all of our materials (e.g. rubrics, assignments, and handouts) for each experiment in Google Drive. The shared folder allows both of us to make changes from anywhere and the other person always has the latest versions. When I give a group project in class, I also create a folder for each team to use. I have found it is helpful to create the folders so that they each have a unique name in my Google Drive. I can also track, if necessary, which team members have been contributing to the project. I have also started a teaching portfolio in a Google Doc. With my teaching portfolio, I also save all the raw data from grade books and evaluations that will eventually be added to my teaching portfolio.
For service, I have a portfolio to track service contributions for tenure. I also keep notes and minutes from meetings that I attend. I also have a folder on Google Drive for each organization I am a member.
This paper will include lessons learned and best practices from the above applications of Google Apps.
This paper focuses on how one professional organization, SWE, is providing opportunities to women in academia that include professional development, recognition/awards, networking, leadership development, and career advancement. These activities will be compared to university initiatives to retain/attract faculty and other underrepresented serving societies to provide an overview of what advantages SWE and other societies offer for the academic members of their organization. SWE is uniquely positioned to provide a community that transcends the organizational boundaries by encompassing technical, service, and professional development areas for women in academia that is inclusive, collaborative, and supportive as well as connected to industry, government and academia on multiple levels.
flight. Several methods have been proposed to calculate an optimum speed to fly during cruise flight to maximize the range of a particular aircraft. This paper compares six of these methods using the same aircraft model and discusses how to implement these techniques in an autothrottle. Alternative implementations also include adding the algorithm to the Flight Management System to use during flight planning, or to including it in the databases to use during dispatch calculations. The results show that the speeds calculated by these methods are more fuel effcient than the usual cruise operating speed."
flight. Several methods have been proposed to calculate an optimum speed to fly during cruise flight to maximize the range of a particular aircraft. This paper compares six of these methods using the same aircraft model and discusses how to implement these techniques in an autothrottle. Alternative implementations also include adding the algorithm to the Flight Management System to use during flight planning, or to including it in the databases to use during dispatch calculations. The results show that the speeds calculated by these methods are more fuel effcient than the usual cruise operating speed.