There has been a significant gap between the tools used for the design of a building's architectural form and those that evaluate the structural physics of that form. Seeking to bring the perspectives of visual design and structural engineering closer together, we developed and evaluated a design tool for students and practitioners to explore the…

This study examined psychosocial factors and structural factors influencing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students' experiences at six historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in different locations (East, West and South) of the United States. The mixed method design allowed different types of data sources to…

A review of the First Year Engineering course sequence at Virginia Tech characterized the current state of ethics education in the program, and informed a strategy to enhance the ethical development of first-year engineering students. This paper reports the results of our initial review of the curriculum, our improvement plan, assessment of our…

Structural engineering can be a rich and exciting context for exploring and learning about the properties of materials. Even a structure as commonplace as a house requires careful consideration of important properties such as strength, stability, and insulation. As a former engineer and current elementary science teacher educator, the author has…

In Germany, there is a shortage of skilled workers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and especially in technology with declining interest in technology and with supposedly fewer teachers in technology education in the next 20 years. The present study examined whether students' interest in STEM is dependent…

South Africa, with its national cultural diversity and post-apartheid challenges and commitments, finds echoes in the European context, especially considering the imperatives of openness and non-discrimination in higher education. With an historical tradition of excellence in engineering education, the emphasis on supporting educationally…

The primary role of a civil engineer is to serve the community; thus, it is essential that students understand the impact of engineering projects on, and the context of engineering projects within, society. One goal of an engineering capstone design course should be to mesh the technical knowledge of the discipline with an encompassing engineering…

Engineering courses typically follow a similar framework for content delivery: preread, lecture, and homework. Innovations are starting to be embraced that increase engagement, student learning, and success. One technique that is being experimented with is the use of the flipped classroom. In the flipped classroom model, students watch videos of…

This paper describes the creation and evolution of an undergraduate dynamics and vibrations course for civil engineering students. Incorporating vibrations into the course allows students to see and study "real" civil engineering applications of the course content. This connection of academic principles to real life situations is in…

Background: The development of employability skills is a concern of educational institutions, which must introduce experiential learning scenarios for undergraduate students. Purpose: This study is aimed at testing the relationship between emotional intelligence and individual task performance in teams, during a recruiting activity for an…

This study draws on basic psychological needs (BPN) theory to investigate multiple ways that perceived relatedness is important for understanding students' help-seeking behavior in college science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. Participants were 590 undergraduates (38% women; 65% European American, 24% Asian/Pacific…

Like many technology teachers, the author, a technology education teacher at Arthur Hill High School in Saginaw, Michigan, tries to stretch his budget by "milking" each student activity for maximum benefit. In the technology department, they use balsa wood towers to teach the basics of structural engineering. To get the most from their materials,…

Backgrounds: This study examined how developing an engineering identity through the interplay between interest, recognition, and performance/competence beliefs and establishing a sense of belonging supported women's persistence beliefs in engineering. Persistence belief in this study is captured through women's certainty of graduating with an…

This paper examines how the structural features of engineering engagement programs (EEPs) are related to the nature of their service-learning partnerships. "Structure" refers to formal and informal models, processes, and operations adopted or used to describe engagement programs, while "nature" signifies the quality of…

Structural concepts are fundamentals of civil engineering for students to learn, for lecturers to teach and for engineers to use. Many students however find it difficult to understand structural concepts due to their abstract nature. "Seeing and Touching Structural Concepts" has been developed as an approach to help civil engineering…