Contribution: Prior studies indicate that students experimenting with characterization of optical planar waveguides use expensive ready-made prism couplers without clear understanding about construction of the entire optical measurement system. This paper presents a cost-effective modified bright-mode prism coupler that helps students learn…

Contribution: The main contribution is to provide practitioners and researchers with an insight in efficiently and effectively employing multi-attribute decision making (MADM) methods in e-learning website selection problems. Background: Advances in information systems and the Internet have resulted in e-learning websites becoming an important…

Contribution: This paper demonstrates curricular modules that incorporate engineering model-based approaches, including concepts related to circuits, systems, modeling, electrophysiology, programming, and software tutorials that enhance learning in undergraduate neuroscience courses. These modules can also be integrated into other neuroscience…

Contribution: A systematic approach to MATLAB problem design and automated assessment is described, based on the experience working with the MATLAB server provided by MathWorks and integrated with the edX massive online open class (MOOC) platform. Background: New technologies, such as MOOCs, provide innovative methods to tackle new challenges in…

Contribution: This paper describes a highly flexible design for a master's-level server administration course that uses updated technologies, addresses the most important course design challenges and extracts useful feedback from student work. The main contribution of this design is eliminating the self-regulation challenge students encounter in…

Contribution: A semester-long project, geared towards a multidisciplinary group of undergraduate engineering students, to design and simulate a large-scale microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) 2-D optical scanner is presented. Background: MEMS component design and fabrication typically requires a cleanroom and costly high-vacuum equipment; these…

Contribution: A novel multidisciplinary undergraduate course on alternative energy (AE) engineering that addresses gaps in current AE education, provides hands on skills, and matches topical coverage with societal needs. Background: Resource depletion and emissions associated with burning fossil fuels have led to growing worldwide interest in…

Contribution: This paper demonstrates positive outcomes from reflection-on-action by engineering students, including meaningful insights on their performance, professional and academic practices, and design knowledge as well as promising preliminary exam results. Background: Literature from the engineering education community underlines the…

Contribution: Interactive learning tools with multiple learning support functionalities are nonexistent in power engineering education. An interactive learning tool for supporting student learning in power engineering is shown to improve analytical skills of students. Background: Power network architectures are becoming increasingly complex,…

Contribution: This paper adds to the results of previous systematic literature reviews by addressing a more contemporary context of introductory programming. It proposes a categorization of introductory programming challenges, and highlights key issues for a research roadmap on introductory programming learning and teaching in higher education.…

Contribution: This paper presents evidence demonstrating ways in which flexible classrooms (which have movable tables and chairs that can be rearranged into different layouts) afford active learning. It highlights the quantitative increase in active learning that occurs for one instructor and discusses how the affordances of the flexible classroom…

Contribution: This paper quantifies the phenomenon of more versus better research output in computing research education and elaborates on how the organizational variable known as cognitive distance plays a fundamental role in mediating such more versus better research output relation. Background: To improve the current educational system,…

Contribution: This paper developed a diagnostic tool to target various learning outcomes of international programs for engineering students, addressing both broad competencies and engineering specific outcomes. Background: Research has shown that international engineering learning activities provide students with opportunities to develop global…

Contribution: There are many on-line resources available to learn about optics and photonics, but no assessment tools exist to evaluate the learning achievements. This paper presents an assessment framework whose validity has been proven on a course with over 70 engineering students. Background: There is evidence that on-line resources complement…

Contribution: Prior studies on tangible versus graphical user interfaces have reported controversial findings concerning children's preferences. This paper shows that their preference profiles in the domain of introductory programming are associated with gender and age for both interfaces. Background: The relevant literature mainly consists of…