Browsing by Author "Engineering Technology, School of Engineering and Technology"
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Item 148. Exploring the Impact of College Students' COVID-19- and Capitol Insurrection-Related Horizontal and Vertical Collectivism/Individualism on Emotional Reaction to Those Events(Elsevier, 2022) Sorge, Brandon H.; Fore, Grant; Williamson, Francesca; Angstmann, Julia; Hensel, Devon J.; Engineering Technology, School of Engineering and TechnologyPurpose: While many studies have explored individuals’ feelings related to recent national events, none have explored the relationship of individualism and collectivist leanings caused by these events on the individuals emotions related to those events. For this research we specifically focus on the COVID-19 Pandemic and the January 6 Capitol Insurrection. Methods: Data were collected from college students at a small, private midwestern private university over a 10-day period at the end of January and the beginning of February 2021. A Qualtrics survey was sent to 1,041 students who had completed a similar survey 5 months earlier related to their feelings about the COVID-19 pandemic. We used a subsample (N=314 students; 74.2% female; 83.4% White; 0.6% freshman, 24.5% sophomores, 34.7% juniors and 29.3% seniors) who provided complete data. Measures included horizontal (“We are the same, high freedom, equality”) and vertical (“I am different, Authority ranking, high freedom”) individualism as well as horizontal (“We are the same, share, less freedom”) and vertical (“I am different, sharing, authority ranking”) collectivism. Participants also provided data on the positive and negative affective responses to COVID-19 and to the January 6 Capitol Insurrection. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate the direct effects between individual and collectivism and the affective responses to each event (all standardized; Stata v. 17.0). Global fit was evaluated using the chi-square test and the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). Local fit was addressed using the Comparative Fit Index (CFI) and the Tucker Louis Index (TLI). We also investigated group differences by gender (male/female) and race (minority/white) where significant overall direct effects were observed. Results: Fit indices (Chi-sq[df]: 60.99[31], p<.001; RMSEA[90% CI]: 0.046[0.035-0.076); CFI: 0.972; TLI: 0.905) suggested the specified model provided a good fit to the data. Higher COVID VI was associated with higher positive (B=0.12) and negative (B=0.15) affective reactions to COVID (B=0.12). Higher Capitol HI and HC were both associated with higher positive (both: B=0.21) and higher negative (B=0.12-0.23) affective reaction to the capitol riots. Higher COVID VI was associated with lower negative affective response (B=-0.16) to COVID. We observed no gender or race/ethnicity differences in these significant effects. Conclusions: Students who felt more strongly that people were the same (horizontal individualism and horizontal collectivism) were more likely to have both strong positive and negative emotions to the Janury 6th insurrection. For COVID-19 negative feelings, students whose feelings towards COVID were more individualistic had mixed results. Those who believed people are different (vertical individualism) were more likely to have lower negative feelings towards COVID-19 while those who believed people are the same (horizontal individualism) had greater negative feelings. These data have implications for scaffolding young adult support in advance of future socio-political emergencies.Item Analysis of the Flow Performance of the Complex Cross-Section Module to Reduce the Sedimentation in a Combined Sewer Pipe(MDPI, 2020-11) Ji, Hyon Wook; Yoo, Sung Soo; Koo, Dan Daehyun; Kang, Jeong-Hee; Engineering Technology, School of Engineering and TechnologyThe difference in the amount of stormwater and sewage in a combined sewer system is significantly large in areas where heavy rainfall is concentrated. This leads to a low water level and slow flow velocity inside the pipes, which causes sedimentation and odor on non-rainy days. A complex cross-section module increases the flow velocity by creating a small waterway inside the pipe for sewage to flow on non-rainy days. While considering Manning’s equation, we applied the principle where the flow velocity is proportional to two-thirds of the power of the hydraulic radius. The flow velocity of a circular pipe with a diameter of 450 mm and the corresponding complex cross-section module was analyzed by applying Manning’s equation and numerical modeling to show the effects of the complex cross-section module. The tractive force was compared based on a lab-scale experiment. When all conditions were identical except for the cross-sectional shape, the average flow velocity of the complex cross-section module was 14% higher while the size of the transported sand grains was up to 0.5 mm larger. This increase in flow velocity can be even higher if the roughness coefficient of aging pipes can be decreased.Item Are Recent Terrorism Trends Reflected in Social Media?(IEEE, 2017-10) Terziyska, Ivana; Shah, Setu; Luo, Xiao; Engineering Technology, School of Engineering and TechnologySocial media plays an important role in shaping the beliefs and sentiments of an audience regarding an event. A comparison between public data sets that have holistic features and social media data set that include more user features would give insight into the spread of misinformation and aspects of events that are reflected in user behavior. In this research, we compare the trends identified in the public data set - Global Terrorism Database (GTD) with the trends reflected through the social media data obtained using the Twitter API. The unsupervised learning algorithm Self-Organizing Map (SOM) is used to identify the features and trends summarized by the clusters. The results show discrepancies in the features and related trends of terrorism events in the GTD data set and obtained Twitter data set to suggest some media bias and public perception on terrorism.Item Art, Architecture, and Community: Create Spaces to Highlight Local Talent(ASEE Peer, 2020-06-22) Nickolson, Darrell D.; Pruitt, Katie; Engineering Technology, School of Engineering and TechnologyThe paper will focus on a two-semester service-learning project in which Architectural Technology Students are partnering with a local entity called Reclaiming Community. Reclaim is a subsidiary of a larger local organization with a mission to bring about sustainable regeneration, improvement, and management of the physical environment through their Art Shed initiative. Each semester will develop a separate set of shed designs, with separate assessment methods and outcomes. The over-arching goal of the project is revitalizing the neighborhoods that will house these sheds, and encourage the love of art and design in area. Sheds are designed with the intent that after a certain about of time in residence the materials will be recycled for custom designed furniture. Utilizing the evidence-based design process (EBD) students will collaborate with Reclaiming project organizers to identify goals for the destination points. Sheds are studied and designed utilizing varying roof styles and interactive design ideas. Through this process each student will design a version of the shed, creating detailed instruction manual with materials and construction methods, and do a miniature 3D study model of the shed. Community partners from the reclaim project will play an integral role in reviewing the design process of the sheds, giving critical feedback for revisions and use. This is a very important part to ensure the evidence basedesign strategies are effectively solving the design problem. Assessment methods include our institutions Start/Stop/Continue along with customized end of course survey specifically aligned with this project. The community partners will also assist in development of end of course surveys, further integrating them into the culture of the course. The Start/Stop/Continue assessment is a student-centered mid-semester assessment of the project and its process. The completed paper will include the assessment results and course/project modifications carried into the second part of the semester. The customized end of semester course survey will allow the community partner along with the faculty member to specifically target questions at the students participation in the project and the outcomes. Results will be used for phase two of the project to take place in the spring semester.Item Attention Mechanism with BERT for Content Annotation and Categorization of Pregnancy-Related Questions on a Community Q&A Site(IEEE, 2020-12) Luo, Xiao; Ding, Haoran; Tang, Matthew; Gandhi, Priyanka; Zhang, Zhan; He, Zhe; Engineering Technology, School of Engineering and TechnologyIn recent years, the social web has been increasingly used for health information seeking, sharing, and subsequent health-related research. Women often use the Internet or social networking sites to seek information related to pregnancy in different stages. They may ask questions about birth control, trying to conceive, labor, or taking care of a newborn or baby. Classifying different types of questions about pregnancy information (e.g., before, during, and after pregnancy) can inform the design of social media and professional websites for pregnancy education and support. This research aims to investigate the attention mechanism built-in or added on top of the BERT model in classifying and annotating the pregnancy-related questions posted on a community Q&A site. We evaluated two BERT-based models and compared them against the traditional machine learning models for question classification. Most importantly, we investigated two attention mechanisms: the built-in self-attention mechanism of BERT and the additional attention layer on top of BERT for relevant term annotation. The classification performance showed that the BERT-based models worked better than the traditional models, and BERT with an additional attention layer can achieve higher overall precision than the basic BERT model. The results also showed that both attention mechanisms work differently on annotating relevant content, and they could serve as feature selection methods for text mining in general.Item Authenticating Users Through Fine-Grained Channel Information(IEEE, 2018-02) Liu, Hongbo; Wang, Yan; Liu, Jian; Yang, Jie; Chen, Yingying; Poor, H. Vincent; Engineering Technology, School of Engineering and TechnologyUser authentication is the critical first step in detecting identity-based attacks and preventing subsequent malicious attacks. However, the increasingly dynamic mobile environments make it harder to always apply cryptographic-based methods for user authentication due to their infrastructural and key management overhead. Exploiting non-cryptographic based techniques grounded on physical layer properties to perform user authentication appears promising. In this work, the use of channel state information (CSI), which is available from off-the-shelf WiFi devices, to perform fine-grained user authentication is explored. Particularly, a user-authentication framework that can work with both stationary and mobile users is proposed. When the user is stationary, the proposed framework builds a user profile for user authentication that is resilient to the presence of a spoofer. The proposed machine learning based user-authentication techniques can distinguish between two users even when they possess similar signal fingerprints and detect the existence of a spoofer. When the user is mobile, it is proposed to detect the presence of a spoofer by examining the temporal correlation of CSI measurements. Both office building and apartment environments show that the proposed framework can filter out signal outliers and achieve higher authentication accuracy compared with existing approaches using received signal strength (RSS).Item Building capacity for socio-ecological change through the campus farm: A mixed-methods study(Taylor & Francis, 2022) Williamson, Francesca A.; Rollings, Amber J.; Fore, Grant A.; Angstmann, Julia L.; Sorge, Brandon H.; Engineering Technology, School of Engineering and TechnologyGiven the ongoing socio-ecological crises, higher education institutions need curricular interventions to support students in developing the knowledge, skills, and perspectives needed to create a sustainable future. Campus farms are increasingly becoming sites for sustainability and environmental education toward this end. This paper describes the design and outcomes of a farm-situated place-based experiential learning (PBEL) intervention in two undergraduate biology courses and one environmental studies course over two academic years. We conducted a mixed-method study using pre/post-surveys and focus groups to examine the relationship between the PBEL intervention and students’ sense of place and expressions of pro-environmentalism. The quantitative analysis indicated measurable shifts in students’ place attachment and place-meaning scores. The qualitative findings illustrate a complex relationship between students’ academic/career interests, backgrounds, and pro-environmentalism. We integrated these findings to generate a model of sustainability learning through PBEL and argue for deepening learning to encourage active participation in socio-ecological change.Item Circuit Troubleshooting Based on Applying Lean Six Sigma Techniques: American Society for Engineering Education(ASEE, 2017) Cooney, Elaine M.; Yearling, Paul Robert Antony; Huehne, Karl Jackson; Engineering Technology, School of Engineering and TechnologyThis paper presents Lean Six Sigma techniques and methods that Electrical Engineering Technology (EET) students have found useful in their in-class circuit troubleshooting activities.When students are first learning circuit analysis and fabrication, they often lack the skills totroubleshoot failed circuits based on a specification. In addition to presenting the tools used in the instruction of the test student group this paper also describes how the Lean Six Sigma method were used to arrive at the optimal course content. For this paper, two student groups, in an EET laboratory experience, are compared based on the primary metric number of failed attempts to meet circuit board test specifications. The student test body was divided into two groups. A control course section group, where no troubleshooting instruction was given and designated the “As Is” state. The second section group, “Improved State” was given an extensive troubleshooting methodology as part of their initial training. The primary metric, number of failed attempts to meet specification, was chosen as it is easy to measure by student Teaching Assistants (TA) and was also used to assess the Sigma process capability for each group. The Sigma capability of each group provided a further measure of the overall success of the intervention. The authors quickly realized that students in the control group were making two classic types of errors. Many students were making a rule or knowledge-based error, where students were not following the instructions for the specific circuit fabrication and test. This type of error was addressed by improving instructional material and adding root-cause analysis checklists to the course content. The second type of observed error, where a student is incorrectly applying a base skill to the construction protocol, is classified as event-based and is more difficult to resolve. Theoretically, there can be many possible solutions to an event based error. Perhaps there may even be no optimal solution to the error, or “right answer,” just a work around that students must find. To address this type of error students were instructed how to apply Lean Six Sigma tools such as root-cause analysis and Failure Modes and Effects (FMEA) matrices in their problem-solving sessions. Also, Sneak Analysis was included to address typical design flaws.Item Clear Advantages to Studying Abroad: So Why Aren’t Students Enrolling?(ASEE, 2019-02-01) Fox, Patricia; McIntyre, Charles; Engineering Technology, School of Engineering and TechnologyToday’s employers are looking for graduates who possess technical skills, work effectively in teams, think critically and communicate effectively, especially across cultures in addition to other qualities. One of the most important skills a person needs in order to be successful in today’s global economy is understanding and working with different cultures. To begin to understand cultural differences, it is important to have cultural training and to experience another culture in that particular country. One of the best ways for students to experience another culture is to take part in a study abroad course and to immerse themselves in another country’s traditions and customs. The Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Fellowship Study Abroad Program Report concluded, “What nations don’t know can hurt them. The stakes involved in study abroad are that simple, that straightforward, and that important. For their own future and that of the nation, college graduates today must be internationally competent.” 5 Not only should graduates be internationally competent, research indicates links between studying abroad and improved graduation rates, as well as employability. 13 While the total number of students in the US studying abroad is still relatively low, at approximately 10% of the total student population, this number is actually at all-time high, which also takes into count students at community colleges. Another study, Gaining an Employment Edge: The Impact of Study Abroad on 21st Century Skills and Career Perspectives, indicated that with “study abroad there was a positive impact on the development of a wide range of the 21st century skills, expands career possibilities, and has a long-term impact on career progression and promotion.” 14 Currently, at the author’s institution 9% of the total enrollment studies abroad. This number is close to the national average of 10%, however, in the School of Engineering and Technology only 1.8% of the total student population currently studies abroad. Why are the national numbers so low and even much lower in Engineering and Technology? This paper will explore what employers are looking for in graduates, how can study abroad help students achieve success, and the benefits of studying abroad for both the employer and the student. The paper will look at some reasons why students might not take advantage of study abroad programs and what can be done to change the attitudes of faculty and students on the value of studying abroad to increase the preparedness of students for a career in the 21st CenturyItem Collaborating With Writing Centers on Interdisciplinary Peer Tutor Training to Improve Writing Support for Engineering Students(IEEE, 2018-01) Weissbach, Robert S.; Pflueger, Ruth C.; Engineering Technology, School of Engineering and TechnologyIntroduction: Faculty members have little time and usually lack expertise to provide writing feedback on lab reports. Sending students to a writing center, an existing resource on virtually all college campuses, could fill that gap. However, the majority of peer writing tutors are in nontechnical majors, and little research exists on training them to provide support for engineering students. Research question: Can peer writing tutors without technical backgrounds be trained to provide effective feedback to engineering students? About the case: Previously, sending students to the writing center was ineffective. The students did not see the value, and the tutors did not feel capable of providing feedback to them. To remedy this situation, an interdisciplinary training method was developed collaboratively by an engineering professor and the writing center director. Situating the case: Researchers have suggested that effective writing center help for engineering students is possible, and the authors have designed an interdisciplinary training method that has produced positive results. Supporting literature includes the use of generalist tutors, writing in the disciplines, genre theory, and knowledge transfer. Methods/approach: This was a three-year experiential project conducted in a junior-level engineering course. The assignment, a lab report, remained the same. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from students and tutors. Results/discussion: Tutor feedback and student satisfaction significantly improved. However, a few students who were satisfied overall still expressed interest in having their reports reviewed by a tutor with a technical background. Conclusions: Interdisciplinary tutor training can improve the feedback of peer writing tutors, providing support for faculty efforts to improve student writing. The method requires minimal faculty time and capitalizes on existing resources.