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- Creators: Engineering Programs
Description
The National Research Council developed and published the Framework for K-12 Science Education, a new set of concepts that many states were planning on adopting. Part of this new endeavor included a set of science and engineering crosscutting concepts to be incorporated into science materials and activities, a first in science standards history. With the recent development of the Framework came the arduous task of evaluating current lessons for alignment with the new crosscutting concepts. This study took on that task in a small, yet important area of available lessons on the internet. Lessons, to be used by K-12 educators and students, were produced by different organizations and research efforts. This study focused specifically on Earth science lessons as they related to earthquakes. To answer the question as to the extent current and available lessons met the new crosscutting concepts; an evaluation rubric was developed and used to examine teacher and student lessons. Lessons were evaluated on evidence of the science, engineering and application of the engineering for each of the seven crosscutting concepts in the Framework. Each lesson was also evaluated for grade level appropriateness to determine if the lesson was suitable for the intended grade level(s) designated by the lesson. The study demonstrated that the majority of lesson items contained science applications of the crosscutting concepts. However, few contained evidence of engineering applications of the crosscutting concepts. Not only was there lack of evidence for engineering examples of the crosscutting concepts, but a lack of application engineering concepts as well. To evaluate application of the engineering concepts, the activities were examined for characteristics of the engineering design process. Results indicated that student activities were limited in both the nature of the activity and the quantity of lessons that contained activities. The majority of lessons were found to be grade appropriate. This study demonstrated the need to redesign current lessons to incorporate more engineering-specific examples from the crosscutting concepts. Furthermore, it provided evidence the current model of material development was out dated and should be revised to include engineering concepts to meet the needs of the new science standards.
ContributorsSchwab, Patrick (Author) / Baker, Dale (Thesis advisor) / Semken, Steve (Committee member) / Jordan, Shawn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The following document addresses two grand challenges posed to engineers: to make solar energy economically viable and to restore and improve urban infrastructure. Design solutions to these problems consist of the preliminary designs of two energy systems: a Packaged Photovoltaic (PPV) energy system and a natural gas based Modular Micro Combined Cycle (MMCC) with 3D renderings. Defining requirements and problem-solving approach methodology for generating complex design solutions required iterative design and a thorough understanding of industry practices and market trends. This paper briefly discusses design specifics; however, the major emphasis is on aspects pertaining to economical manufacture, deployment, and subsequent suitability to address the aforementioned challenges. The selection of these systems is based on the steady reduction of PV installation costs in recent years (average among utility, commercial, and residential down 27% from Q4 2012 to Q4 2013) and the dramatic decline in natural gas prices to $5.61 per thousand cubic feet. In addition, a large number of utility scale coal-based power plants will be retired in 2014, many due to progressive emission criteria, creating a demand for additional power systems to offset the capacity loss and to increase generating capacity in order to facilitate the ever-expanding world population. The proposed energy systems are not designed to provide power to the masses through a central location. Rather, they are intended to provide economical, reliable, and high quality power to remote locations and decentralized power to community-based grids. These energy systems are designed as a means of transforming and supporting the current infrastructure through distributed electricity generation.
ContributorsSandoval, Benjamin Mark (Author) / Bryan, Harvey (Thesis director) / Fonseca, Ernesto (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This thesis presents a kit of materials intended to present students with a glimpse of what engineering entails by guiding them through building engineering projects similar to what is in the real world. The objective of this project is to pique the interest of children by introducing them to lesser known engineering related topics, and increasing their literacy of terms and methods engineers use to solve problems. The effectiveness of the kit’s content and teaching methods was tested in a classroom of 6th graders and was measured using the responses from surveys handed out. I found that kit did in fact positively lead to a change in the way the students perceived engineering, and it taught students about new engineering related topics. Students were capable of completing difficult tasks of wiring and coding successfully through the use of detailed instruction. However, the instructions were seen in two opposing views of either being too overwhelming or more guidance was necessary.
ContributorsQuezada, Hebellyn Arleth (Author) / Aukes, Daniel (Thesis director) / Kellam, Nadia (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The relationship between video games and education is something that has been studied extensively in academia. Based upon these studies a new concept was created, gamification. Gamification is the next step in video game research to analyze why video games enhance learning. The interest and research into this concept have developed so much so that it has become its own topic area for research. This study is looking to analyze the effect that gamification has on not only learning, but also self-efficacy. Through a choose your own adventure game, the knowledge and self-efficacy of participants will be examined to observe the differences when learning difficult engineering concepts with and without gamification. It is expected that participants that experienced training through gamification will demonstrate deeper learning and higher self-efficacy than trained through a video. Furthermore, it is anticipated that some video trained participants’ self-efficacy will increase; however, their comprehension will be less than participants trained through gamification. The results of this study can help promote the interest in researching gamification and education, while influencing educators to corporate gamification elements when designing their courses. Moreover, this study continued through adaptation and integration into a statics forces class, investigated if the same results can be found within a classroom setting.
ContributorsKanechika, Amber (Author) / Craig, Scotty (Thesis director) / Roscoe, Rod (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The purpose of this study is to spark a discussion for engineers and their firms to consider the impact of border barriers on wildlife. The focus of this study is to consider if or how engineers make those considerations, such as through design modifications. Barriers block wildlife migration patterns, disabling them from life-sustaining resources. This is particularly important due to an increasing trend in habitat loss, urban development, and climate change. During literature analysis of border barrier impacts, and outreaching to relevant organizations and individuals, there was little to no public documentation or discussion from the engineering community found. Discussion that was found is included in this study, but the lack of connection between conservation and engineering professionals is eminently profound. Therefore, the analysis of studying engineering design considerations additionally studied the relationship between environmental and engineering professionals. Types of research included involves literature analysis of journal articles, reports, project plans for construction, and environmental laws pertinent to wildlife impact.
ContributorsMcMillin, Kaci (Author) / Karwat, Darshan (Thesis director) / Senko, Jesse (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Environmental and Resource Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This creative project is a children’s book designed to teach young readers about engineering through a fictional story about a group of children creating a robot for their school’s show-and-tell. The story aims to teach engineering principles to children in a lighthearted and entertaining form, narrating notions such as the design process, prototyping, specialty fields, and repurposing. Other principles such as learning patience, compromise and teamwork are also conveyed throughout the plot details. Small life lessons that transcend the realm of engineering are also embodied throughout. The plot of the story is a young girl who goes to visit her grandfather who is a garage tinkerer with a love of spare parts. He tells her about his job as a robotics engineer, and she loves it. She goes and tells her friends who decide they want to make a robot for show-and-tell at school. The grandfather agrees to help them build a robot and thus the group of kids are walked through the engineering design process, learning new things (and specialization) along the way. The story ends by revealing that the whole story was a flashback the main character was having as she is about to start her first day at an engineering firm.
ContributorsReed, Shelby Marie (Author) / Oberle, Eric (Thesis director) / Williams, Wendy (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
With the ongoing development of simulation technology, classic barriers to social interactions are beginning to be dismantled. One such exchange is encapsulated within education—instructors can use simulations to make difficult topics more manageable and accessible to students. Within simulations that include virtual humans, however, there are important factors to consider. Participants playing in virtual environments will act in a way that is consistent with their real-world behaviors—including their implicit biases. The current study seeks to determine the impact of virtual humans’ skin tone on participants’ behaviors when applying engineering concepts to simulated projects. Within a comparable study focused on a medical training simulation, significantly more errors and delays were made when working for the benefit of dark-skinned patients in a virtual context. In the current study, participants were given a choose-your-own-adventure style game in which they constructed simulated bridges for either a light- ordark-skinned community, and the number of errors and time taken for each decision was tracked. Results are expected to be consistent with previous study, indicating a higher number of errors and less time taken for each decision, although these results may be attenuated by a
lack of time pressure and urgency to the given situations. If these expected results hold, there may be implications for both undergraduate engineering curriculum and real-world engineering endeavors.
lack of time pressure and urgency to the given situations. If these expected results hold, there may be implications for both undergraduate engineering curriculum and real-world engineering endeavors.
ContributorsEldemire, Kate (Author) / Craig, Scotty D. (Thesis director) / Roscoe, Rod D. (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
All around the automotive industry, the chassis dynamometer exists in a variety of configurations but all function to provide one common goal. The underlying goal is to measure a vehicle’s performance by measuring torque output and taking that measurement to calculate horsepower. This data is crucial in situations of testing development vehicles or for tuning heavily modified vehicles. While the current models in the industry serve their purposes for what they were intended to do, in theory, an additional system can be introduced to the dyno to render the system into an electric generator.
The hardware will consist of electric motors functioning as a generator by reversing the rotation of the motor (regenerative braking). Using the dynamometer with the additional motor system paired with a local battery, the entire system can be run off by their tuning service. When considering the Dynojet and Dynapack dynamometer, it was calculated that an estimated return of 81.5% of electricity used can be generated. Different factors such as how frequent the dyno is used and for how long affect the savings. With a generous estimate of 6 hours dyno run time a day for 250 business days and the cost of electricity being 13.19 cents/kwh the Dynapack came out to $326.45 a year and $1424.52 for the Dynojet. With the return of electricity, the amount saved comes out to $266.18 for the Dynapack and $1161.50 for the Dynojet. This will alleviate electrical costs dramatically in the long term allowing for performance shops to invest their saved money into more tools and equipment.
The hardware will consist of electric motors functioning as a generator by reversing the rotation of the motor (regenerative braking). Using the dynamometer with the additional motor system paired with a local battery, the entire system can be run off by their tuning service. When considering the Dynojet and Dynapack dynamometer, it was calculated that an estimated return of 81.5% of electricity used can be generated. Different factors such as how frequent the dyno is used and for how long affect the savings. With a generous estimate of 6 hours dyno run time a day for 250 business days and the cost of electricity being 13.19 cents/kwh the Dynapack came out to $326.45 a year and $1424.52 for the Dynojet. With the return of electricity, the amount saved comes out to $266.18 for the Dynapack and $1161.50 for the Dynojet. This will alleviate electrical costs dramatically in the long term allowing for performance shops to invest their saved money into more tools and equipment.
ContributorsCrisostomo, Ryan-Xavier Eddie (Author) / Contes, James (Thesis director) / Wishart, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The initial women pioneers in engineering faced many of the same barriers as women engineers today, including stereotypes, unfair treatment in the workplace, restrictions and lack of opportunities, and lack of recognition. Research shows that these barriers are the primary reason why women’s representation within engineering has been low and slow to increase compared to their representation in other fields such as nursing and science. As of 2013, women still only account for 12 percent of all engineers. Yet, despite the barriers and low numbers, women engineers have demonstrated themselves as capable of succeeding just as much, if not more, than their male peers. Some of the ways they have broken the barriers in engineering have been through focusing on proving their merit, finding alternative paths, leveraging government jobs and programs, finding support among other women engineers, fighting for their right to be engineers, and through being satisfied and interested in their work. This thesis analyzes reasons why women have been underrepresented in the field, major achievements from women engineers, and strategies women engineers have adopted to mitigate barriers. The individual profiles of the women discussed in this thesis come from historical research on pioneer women engineers and interviews from modern day women engineers. Their stories help tell the history of how the experiences of women in engineering have changed and remained the same over the past 140 years. The goal of this thesis is to serve as a resource for young women who want to learn more about women in engineering. The history of women engineers is a story worth sharing to everyone because it could inspire young girls to consider engineering as a path for the future and help shift the mindset of members of society to accept and encourage women engineers.
ContributorsDye, Michaela Lynn (Author) / Nystrom, Eric (Thesis director) / Brunhaver, Samantha (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The goal of our research was to develop and validate a method for predicting the mechanical behavior of Additively Manufactured multi-material honeycomb structures. Multiple approaches already exist in the field for modeling the behavior of cellular materials, including the bulk property assumption, homogenization and strut level characterization [1]. With the bulk property approach, the structure is assumed to behave according to what is known about the material in its bulk formulation, without regard to its geometry or scale. With the homogenization technique, the specimen that is being tested is treated as a solid material within the simulation environment even if the physical specimen is not. Then, reduced mechanical properties are assigned to the specimen to account for any voids that exist within the physical specimen. This approach to mechanical behavior prediction in cellular materials is shape dependent. In other words, the same model cannot be used from one specimen to the next if the cell shapes of those lattices differ in any way. When using the strut level characterization approach, a single strut (the connecting member between nodes constituting a cellular material) is isolated and tested. With this approach, there tends to be a significant deviation in the experimental data due to the small size of the isolated struts. Yet it has the advantage of not being shape sensitive, at least in principle. The method that we developed, and chose to test lies within the latter category, and is what we have coined as the Representative Lattice Element (RLE) Method. This method is modeled after the well-established Representative Volume Element (RVE) method [2]. We define the RLE as the smallest unit over which mechanical tests can be conducted that will provide results which are representative of the larger lattice structure. In other words, the theory is that a single member (or beam in this case) of a honeycomb structure can be taken, tests can be conducted on this member to determine the mechanical properties of the representative lattice element and the results will be representative of the mechanical behavior whole structure. To investigate this theory, we designed specimens, conducted various tensile and compression tests, analyzed the recorded data, conducted a micromechanics study, and performed structural simulation work using commercial Finite Element Analysis software.
ContributorsSalti, Ziyad Zuheir (Co-author) / Eppley, Trevor (Co-author) / Bhate, Dhruv (Thesis director) / Song, Kenan (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05