Matching Items (5)
Filtering by
- All Subjects: engineering
- All Subjects: Engineering and technology
Description
Engineering is a heavily male-dominated field and females are significantly less likely to choose an engineering-related major or career path. At the age of six years old, females start believing that their male peers are smarter than them, leading them to pursue less ambitious careers. The children's book Lyla B. An Engineering Legacy was created to encourage more young girls to discover their own potential and pursue engineering as a career. To explore the efficacy of the book on its target consumers, a pilot study was performed with first and second grade children. The participants' engineering knowledge; fixed and failure mindset beliefs; STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) interest, competency, and career aspirations; and stereotype beliefs were evaluated before and after being read the book to determine if the story has a positive impact on children. Additionally, the satisfaction of the participants towards both the book and main character were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Overall, the results of the study suggest that the book has a positive impact on the interest and competency of STEM fields and the stereotype beliefs that the children had towards engineers. The study also suggests that the book decreases fixed and failure mindsets and that the participants were satisfied with the overall concept of the book and main character, Lyla.
ContributorsPiatak, Catherine (Co-author) / Seelhammer, Marissa Leigh (Co-author) / Torrence, Kelly (Co-author) / Miller, Cindy (Thesis director) / Jordan, Shawn (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
This study sought the lived and told stories of Native American women working in engineering and technology so that their voices may be heard in engineering education scholarship and challenge assumptions surrounding universal understandings of what it means to be a minority woman in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The study was directed by two research questions: (1) What are the lived and told stories of Native women in engineering and technology who are leading initiatives to improve their Native communities and (2) How do Native women’s understandings of their identities influence their work and acts of leadership? The study employed narrative inquiry as the methodological framework and was guided by theoretical frameworks of identities as constructed, multiple, and intersectional (Crenshaw, 1989; Tajfel & Turner, 1979), hybridity, and “third spaces” (Bhabha, 2012). The inquiry was also informed by feminist theories of Native scholars (Green, 1983; Kidwell, 1978) and engineering education (Beddoes & Borrego, 2011; Riley, Pawley, Tucker, & Catalano, 2009). The narrative analysis presented three narratives, based upon interviews, field notes, observations, and documents: (1) the story of a Navajo woman working within a large technical corporation (Jaemie); (2) the story of an Akimel O’odham-Mexican woman working within a tribally-owned technical business (Mia); and (3) the story of a Navajo woman growing her own technical business (Catherine). The narratives revealed a series of impactful transitions that enabled Jaemie, Mia, and Catherine to work and lead in engineering and technology. The transitions revolved around themes of becoming professionals, encountering and overcoming hardship, seeking to connect and contribute to Natives through work, leading change for their Native communities, and advancing their professional selves and their Native communities. Across the transitions, a transformation emerged from cultural navigation to leadership for the creation of new hybrid spaces that represented innovative sites of opportunity for Native communities. The strength of the Native spaces enabled Jaemie, Mia, and Catherine to leverage their identities as Native women within the global context of engineering and technology. The narratives denote the power of story by contributing the depth and richness of lived realities in engineering and technology.
ContributorsFoster, Christina Hobson (Author) / Jordan, Shawn (Thesis advisor) / Fixico, Donald (Committee member) / Lande, Micah (Committee member) / McKenna, Anna (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
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 CNC mill is a highly valuable tool for engineering design, allowing for the creation of precise and complex metal parts. However, due to their high cost, many engineers do not have access to these machines until they enter industry, limiting the knowledge and experience of engineering students. This also restricts the level of engineering design they can participate in as they are limited to lower strength materials and processes. To expand the possibilities for engineering students, hobbyists, and small businesses, we created a reliable and affordable desktop CNC mill. Our machine is capable of cutting non-ferrous metals such as aluminum with 70μm repeatable part precision and be compatible with coolant and vacuum systems.
ContributorsHodson, Kenneth (Author) / Altobelli, Seth (Co-author) / Jordan, Shawn (Thesis director) / Sweeney, Rhett (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Engineering Programs (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description
This graduate thesis explains and discusses the background, methods, limitations, and future work of developing a low-budget, variable-length, Arduino-based robotics professional development program (PDP) for middle school or high school classrooms. This graduate thesis builds on prior undergraduate thesis work and conclusions. The main conclusions from the undergraduate thesis work focused on reaching a larger teacher population along with providing a more robust robot design and construction. The end goal of this graduate thesis is to develop a PDP that reaches multiple teachers, involves a more robust robot design, and lasts beyond this developmental year. There have been many similar research studies and PDPs that have been tested and analyzed but do not fit the requirements of this graduate thesis. These programs provide some guidance in the creation of a new PDP. The overall method of the graduate thesis comes in four main phases: 1) setup, 2) pre-PDP phase, 3) PDP phase, and 4) post PDP phase. The setup focused primarily on funding, IRB approval, research, timeline development, and research question creation. The pre-PDP phase focused primarily on the development of new tailored-to-teacher content, a more robust robot design, and recruitment of participants. The PDP phase primarily focused on how the teachers perform and participate in the PDP. Lastly, the post PDP phase involved data analysis along with a resource development plan. The last post-PDP step is to consolidate all of the findings in a clear, concise, and coherent format for future work.
Contributorslerner, jonah (Author) / Carberry, Adam (Thesis advisor) / Walters, Molina (Committee member) / Jordan, Shawn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020