This work examines the integration of engineering topics and design in an Advanced Placement (AP) Physics I course as taught in a large urban district in Texas, herein referred to as the school district, and examines whether engineering integrated into physics instruction accomplishes the same educational objectives as dedicated engineering courses such as the Engineer Your World designed by UTeach Engineering Program at The University of Texas at Austin. (Innovative Curriculum for High School Engineering Design, 2013). Observations were conducted in physics classrooms to view the enactment of district prescribed performance tasks. These performance tasks are open-ended, engineering-type challenges involving real-world scenarios in which students generate products. In addition, two AP Physics I instructors from the district were interviewed, one of whom is affiliated with UTeach engineering. A third instructor outside of the district, who teaches physics and Engineer Your World was also interviewed. The findings reported in this work indicate that AP Physics I courses have the potential to include steps of engineering design in traditional physics project-based instruction as well as the opportunity for instructors to utilize engineering-based examples during instruction. However, AP Physics I with its many curriculum requirements and accelerated pace cannot provide an experience comparable to that of an authentic engineering course. A more effective instructional model would be to teach the two courses concurrently, rather than substituting engineering modules in physics courses for an engineering course. To better integrate physics and engineering instruction, professional development geared towards physics teachers interested in incorporating engineering components into their lessons and projects is needed. / text

Problems can be solved using existing knowledge and methods derived from past experiences; and in building design, where buildings are sufficiently similar to those already built, this process can be optimised by creating standardised solutions to common problems. There is significant demand for specialist engineers who can apply these standardised solutions to established problems quickly and accurately; but novel designs generate entirely new problems for which established solutions are not always applicable. Generalist engineers working on novel designs must first define the problems before they can develop options and if necessary, create optimised solutions. Fire safety engineering (FSE) is the process of achieving fire safety in our built environment. The field requires both specialists trained in current practice and generalists skilled in creative and critical thinking. Current fire safety engineering education is mostly aimed at producing specialists, yet there is growing demand for generalists in high-end architecture, hindered by a lack of generalist education. Current education literature in FSE explains in detail what to teach, however they do not explain how to motivate students to learn what is taught; how to create the ‘need to know’ - the purpose that drives learning. The purpose can either be intrinsically motivating (i.e. the subject is interesting) or extrinsically motivating (i.e. if you don’t learn it then you will fail the exam). The former is sustained by autonomy and choice; the latter is sustained by control. Control increases the likelihood that the predicted outcome will be realised, but by definition reduces the likelihood of realising any other outcome, including potential innovation.Initially a study was created to test the effects of creating an autonomous learning environment within a traditional lecture-based ‘fundamentals’ course at the University of Edinburgh. This study, along with observations at a range of US universities led to the formation of an overarching theory of education. Ultimately, purpose is the goal students strive to achieve; autonomy creates the opportunity to think and learn independently; and structure provides the constraints that converge students towards an optimised result, supported by sound evidence and reasoning. Thus the key to generalist education was to provide purpose, autonomy and structure (PAS) in that order. The PAS concept was trialled at EPFL (Switzerland) and the participating students, with no prior knowledge of fire engineering, produced work of exceptional quality. In summary, the present study offers an observational validation that Purpose, Autonomy & Structure (PAS) can be used to effectively support the generalist way of thinking and although the examples given in this paper are related to fire safety engineering (due to the need for generalists in that field), the qualitative evidence on which the conclusions are based is not subject-specific, implying that the PAS methodology could be applied to other disciplines.

To find the beginning of the use of audio-visual aids in the teaching of industrial arts is difficult, if not impossible. The very nature of the work makes the use of audio-visual teaching methods absolutely indispensable. Long before the term "audio-visual aids" had been coined and before any attention had been given to the teaching method, as such, teachers of inudstrial arts were making use of the demonstration, the model, the exhibit, and many other teaching devices since included in the scope of the meaning of audio-visual teaching aids. The objective of this study is to ascertain which one or two, or more, of the many audio-visual aids available to industrial arts teachers, help most to make the subject matter vital and meaningful to the students in each of the subject matter areas included in the industrial arts programs of the junior high schools of Utah.

An essential part of the elementary school curriculum is the creative activity program connected with it. Educators believe that the fullest development of the child can best be attained through a program which provides a series of well selected experiences and activities. At present education considers the whole child-his abilities, needs, and interests-as vital factors in the development of a good curriculum, instead of merely the concrete and formal subject matter. Recently there has been an expressed view, by administrators of elementary school systems and many authorities and industrial arts teachers, that there is a definite need for formulating an effective plan of instruction for industrial arts in the elementary school program. This need has occured because of the varied programs and confusion of current practices that exist in the activity programs of the elementary school, and the belief that industrial arts, probably more than most other subjects, can contribute to the activity program and the development of the whole child. The problem of this study was to procure and evaluate the opnions of industrial arts authorities and the opinions of Utah school administrators on the necessary elements for desirable industrial arts instruction in the elementary schools. This investigation was not attempted for the purpose of developing a course of study of industrial arts to be considered as a part of the elementary curriculum; nor was it the purpose to go into any detail about the innumberable possible problems that would have to be considered in introducing it as a subject ara. The writer limits this study to the evaluation of effective instructional elements that could be incorporated, with modifications, into a plan of instruction for industrial arts in the elementary schools of Utah.

The purpose of this study was to obtain information from Industrial Education teachers in Utah concerning their feelings and attitudes toward conversion to the Metric System in the United States and to determine their present familiarity with that system. The study was also designed to identify potential problem areas which would tend to influence educational programs on the Metric System for Industrial Education teachers in Utah. A select sample of four-hundred twenty-three Industrial Education teachers representing over twenty occupational areas was chosen as the population for the study. Two-hundred ninety-seven usable questionnaires (70.2 per cent) were returned and tabulated as follows 1. the total group of Industrial Education teachers responding to the survey 2. each occupational area was tabulated separately, and 3. each occupational area was compared to the total group of Industrial Education teachers responding to the survey. The study focused on obtaining answers to the five following questions: 1. How familiar are Industrial Education teachers in Utah with the base units of the Metric System? 2. Which subject area teachers have the least understanding of the base units of the Metric System? 3. Which sources of Metric System information have been of greatest value to Industrial Education teachers as sources of general and teaching information? 4. What types of educational programs would be appropriate for familiarizing Industrial Education teachers with the Metric System? 5. Which type s of metric information are currently being used by Industrial Education teachers in Utah? The analysis of the data and the basic findings of the study warranted the following conclusions: 1 . Industrial Education teachers in Utah are in need of instruction in various portions of the Metric System of measurement. Electronics teachers as a group, do not need further instruction, since electronic s is already taught using metric terminology and measurement. 2. Woods teachers do not see the necessity for metric measurement in their occupation, nor do they see economic advantages in the conversion. 3. Curriculum guide s in Utah have been of little value to Industrial Education teachers in Utah, as sources of metric information. 4. Most subject area textbooks are not written in Metric terminology and are of little value to Industrial Education teachers as sources of metric information. 5. The Utah State Board of Education needs to provide additional guidance for Industrial Education programs on conversion to the Metric System of measurement. 6. General informational programs on the Metric System as well as specific instruction on the use and application of the Metric System of measurement are needed by Industrial Education teachers in Utah.

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Since the beginning of the 21st century, the United States has experienced the impact of a technological revolution. One effect of this technological revolution is the creation of entirely new careers related to the field of technology, including cybersecurity. Continued growth in the cybersecurity industry means a greater number of jobs will be created, adding to the existing number of jobs that are challenging an under-educated and under-trained workforce. The goal of this thesis is to increase the effectiveness of cybersecurity education. This thesis studies whether an online course in cybersecurity can be enhanced by offline, in-person activities that mirror traditional classroom methods. To validate the research, two groups of high school students participated in an online course with only one group participating in offline activities. The results showed that the group that participated in both the online and offline portions of the course had a higher percentage of student retention, a more positive mindset towards cybersecurity, and an improved performance in the course.

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The importance of communication in the engineering profession is widely acknowledged by various stakeholders, including industry, academia, professional engineers, and engineering students. Even though alternative strategies to help students improve their ability to communicate professionally have been approached by many engineering programs across the country, research indicates a continued dissatisfaction of employers when it comes to the performance of engineers as communicators in the workplace. This perspective suggests efforts to improve students’ communication skills in universities may be inconsistent with workplace needs, revealing an apparent gap between what is taught and what is expected from engineering professionals. This gap provides an opportunity for additional research to identify the specific communication competencies required for engineers to succeed in the workplace. Particularly, the requirements of industry concerning engineers’ communication skills need to be understood more deeply, so that new educational interventions may be carefully tailored according to employers’ expectations and that both communication and engineering faculty can revisit their strategies to teach students to become better communicators. In order to obtain a deeper understanding of industry’s expectations concerning engineering communication skills, a qualitative research study was implemented to provide a detailed description of the communication skills practicing engineers need while working in industry. The exclusive focus on industry was pursued through the development of case studies. Four industrial segments (High-Tech, Automotive, Aerospace, and Manufacturing) that employ a significant percentage of engineers in the U.S. were selected. Engineers in leadership positions from each of the selected industrial segments participated in in-depth interviews and discussed about the expected engineering communication skills in industry. The results revealed that: 1) oral communication is prevalent in the engineering profession; 2) engineers need to tailor their messages to multiple audiences and to select the most appropriate type of communication medium; 3) written communication is expected to be clear, concise, and precise; 4) global communication is an increasingly demanded requirement in industry.

<p>The thesis aims to evaluate (ground) and influence (inform) the intersection of the Construction Engineering Education (CEE) field with Engineering Education (ENE) by evaluating three research objectives:</p> <ol> <li>Does literature indicate that CEE (Construction Engineering Education) in the US higher education system actively integrate established ENE (Engineering Education) Recommended Practices (RP) pedagogically?</li> <li>Does Purdue’s Division of Construction Engineering and Management (CEM) incorporate Engineering Education Recommended Practices?</li> <li>Can Engineering Education Recommended Practices be applied to CEM courses?</li> </ol> <p>The framework developed to evaluate the research objectives established a mixed-method research approach that employed systematic literature review and action research. The author is motivated to provide students with authentic and centered experiences allowing students to attempt complex activities and fail with a controlled environment before entering the AEC profession. The volume of literature discovered in the research indicates an opportunity to implement and promote ENE RP. The deployment of the CEE-accepted ENE RP demonstrates the agility and impact of the RP options. As a result, the author’s work contributes to the growth of the CEE field, the development of CEM courses implementing ENE RP, and the engagement of the construction student. </p>