Threshold concept models offer a useful way of understanding aspects of design education. A threshold concept represents a gateway, or portal, to a more developed understanding and level of capability (Meyer, Land & Davies, 2008). Passing through a threshold can be transformative, irreversible, integrative and troublesome. Key transformations…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding of the challenges academics face today in developing a knowledge-based economy. In response to these challenges, the authors developed a collaborative approach to enhancing the learning experience for engineering management (or industrial engineering) capstone design courses. The…

Engineering education researchers are increasingly integrating qualitative and quantitative research methods to study learning and retention in engineering. While quantitative methods can provide generalisable results, qualitative methods generate rich, descriptive understanding of the investigated phenomenon. On the other hand, a mixed methods…

Research has shown that students' identity development is important for students' retention in engineering (Madsen, & Holmegaard, 2010), but for women the cultural representations of the field can create a disconnect that limits their potential identities with engineering (Carlone & Johnson, 2007; Faulkner 2006; 2007; Goldman, 2012; Malone…

This book is designed to build educators' confidence and competence so they can bring STEM to life with young children. The authors encourage pre-K teachers to discover the value of engaging preschoolers in scientific inquiry, technological explorations, engineering challenges, and math experiences based on learning trajectories. They explain the…

Given the growing Latina/o population, increased representation of Latinas in undergraduate engineering disciplines and in leadership roles must occur if the U.S. economy is to remain economically competitive (Franchetti, 2012; Trenor, Waight, & Zerda, 2008). The current lack of Latinas in engineering fields and leadership roles globally is an…

How often are teachers surprised to find out at the end of a learning episode that students have not actually learned? The first Mathematics Teaching Practice from NCTM's "Principles to Actions" asserts that "effective teaching of mathematics establishes clear goals for the mathematics that students are learning, situates goals…

This study examined elementary pre-service teachers' (PSTs) perceptions about norms of interaction to emphasize with fourth-grade students as they worked in teams to solve an engineering design challenge. From analysis of PSTs' lesson reflections and post-unit interviews, the findings revealed a range of PSTs' conceptions for seven social norms of…

The inclusion of engineering in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) as a key component of K-12 science learning has provided both opportunities and challenges for elementary teachers. One challenge is integrating the design thinking processes that undergird engineering with core science concepts and current issues facing scientists and…

In Tunisia, the problem of the professional integration of higher education graduates has persisted since the 1990s. A survey was developed among graduates to determine the indicators and determinants of unemployment among young graduates as part of the quality support program initiated by the World Bank. In this context, we compared the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present pedagogical approaches developed and implemented to deliver sustainable design education (SDE) to second-year undergraduate students on civil engineering programmes in the (then) School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at Newcastle University. In doing so, the work presented offers an example of…

Industrial purification of biomolecules is commonly based on a sequence of chromatographic processes, which are adapted slightly to new target components, as the time to market is crucial. To improve time and material efficiency, modeling is increasingly used to determine optimal operating conditions, thus providing new challenges for current and…

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Grand Challenges provides the theme for this NSFfunded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site. Research topics, with their broad societal impact, allow undergraduate students from multiple engineering disciplines and computer science to work together on exciting and critical problems. The…

Engineers are faced with solving important problems every day and must follow a step-by-step design process to arrive at solutions. Students who are taught an effective design process to apply to engineering projects begin to see problems as an engineer would, consider all ideas, and arrive at the best solution. Using an effective design process…

Despite the growing research that outlines the experiences of Blacks and women undergraduates in engineering, little is known about Black women in this field. The purpose of this qualitative study was to uncover how eight Black undergraduate women in engineering understood their race and gender identities in a culture that can be oppressive to…