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Disrupting Engineering Education
Get PDFTraditional engineering education approaches are recognizable around the world – lectures, tutorials, laboratories, some projects. With the emergence of Industry 4.0, the world in which engineers practice is evolving at an ever-increasing rate, combining a greater focus on complex sociotechnical problems with new technologies and increasingly powerful design tools. In general, the engineering curricula have not adapted quickly to this change, but there is a shift in expectations of who and what engineering students should be. Engineering curricula are becoming more flexible, as are the learning environments in which they are implemented. This chapter draws upon the Doblin 10 types of innovation model as a framework to unpack the different kinds of innovation inherent in these emerging forms of disruption. It identifies that innovation is mostly clustered in the configuration and experience of our degrees, rather than the degrees themselves, and shows that effective disruption requires combining several types of innovation to be successful. The chapter further addresses the disruption process itself, highlighting the continuous improvement mindset that is necessary to commence, continue, and sustain disruptive innovation in engineering education. It identifies potential barriers and how these can be overcome, ending with a call to action
Volume 43, Number 1, March 2023 OLAC Newsletter
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An Archeozoological Analysis of the Vosburg Site in Southern Minnesota
Get PDFThe Blue Earth Oneota is a poorly defined taxon located in southern Minnesota. Few large-scale excavations have been conducted in the Blue Earth region, leading to gaps in the overall understating of western Oneota lifeway systems. This research utilizes archeozoological analysis on the zoological assemblage from the Vosburg site (21FA02), a Blue Earth Oneota site located in Faribault County. The Vosburg site is a large habitation site that has been excavated by Wilford in 1938 and 1947, Dobbs in 1979, and Schirmer in 2012. Legacy data from the 1938, 1947, and 1979 excavations was analyzed and compared to the zoological data from the 2012 excavation. All zoological material recovered during excavation was analyzed. All pieces of bone were identified to the lowest taxonomic level and instances of cutmarks, heat exposure, and other surface modifications were noted. Additionally, floatation of Feature samples was used, and the heavy fractions from the northern half of Feature 1 and Feature 5 were analyzed. Analysis of all bone tools was also conducted. In total, 4,514 pieces of bone were analyzed. The 2012 assemblage yielded the most Osteichthian and Bivalvian remains, confirming the idea that Vosburg was a warm season habitation site. Bison was the most common identifiable species at the site, yet most of the bison assemblage consists of bone tools. This further supports the idea that Vosburg was a habitation site and groups were traveling onto the prairie to access bison. Further survey methods in southern Minnesota need to be conducted to possibly locate kill and butchering sites that may have been utilized by the Oneota groups. Overall, the literature surrounding western Oneota is lacking, further research must be conducted throughout southern Minnesota to fill gaps in the knowledge of Oneota. Additionally, the assemblages from previous Vosburg excavations need to be reanalyzed to draw significant conclusions about the inhabitants of the Vosburg Site
Education Based on Graduate Marginalized Perspective
Get PDFThe United States Education system has received many budget cuts throughout the years. Sixty-six percent of Americans believe that the United States Education system needs major changes or to be rebuilt (Pew Research, 2013). There has been much debate regarding the first step toward reform. To begin to answer this question this research investigated some of the most restrictive educational spaces.
The most available and beneficial first steps to reform lie in the minds and practices within the educational institution. This research could lead to cultivating more inclusive policies and practices, to serve an increasingly diverse student population. Although disciplines such as Gender and Women Studies have begun to embrace the diversity of thought within its discipline, Sociology and most other disciplines have mostly faltered in addressing educational disparities among Black, gender diverse Americans in the classroom.
To cultivate more inclusive policies and practices research garnered from interviews of the most marginalized people inside of graduate education regarding their educational experiences will disclose that hegemonic teaching practices and curriculum perpetuate feelings of exclusion from students of diverse backgrounds. To reduce this exclusion curriculum changes are necessary to reflect the growing diversity in classrooms, in addition to faculty introspection regarding implicit bias in curricular construction and student interaction
Developing a Standardized GIS Model Capable of Identifying Areas to Implement Wind Power Generation Infrastructure
Get PDFThis project involves the use of multi-source GIS data, suitability analysis, and spatial modeling techniques to identify the most suitable areas for improving renewable energy infrastructures, primarily focusing on wind energy, within a given region. Previous literature conducted on the subject matter shows research being done in isolated areas or states. The primary objective of this project is to develop a GIS model and scripting tool that has the capability to test any input region to find the most suitable area within the given region that would be ideal for implementing new wind power infrastructure. The success rate of the model outputs was tested against pre-existing wind power infrastructure. The criteria used for the model were derived from consultations with energy industry experts and previous studies that have investigated building new wind power infrastructure in specified regions. Both the commercial ArcGIS Pro and open-source QGIS software were tested and compared. Results indicated an overall model accuracy of about 78% in both testing sites. The distance to transmission lines was found to be the most important factor affecting model performance. The Python scripting tool developed from the model however aims to be a universal tool that can be used in any region to find the most suitable areas for installing new wind power generation infrastructure
Examining the Effects of a Behavioral Skills Training Package on the Emotional Regulation Skills of a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Get PDFOne of the most common symptoms experienced by individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a difficulty understanding, interpreting, and dealing with one’s own emotions and the emotions of others which often leads to an impairment in regulating emotional experiences. Emotional regulation includes the processes whereby we influence which emotions we have, when we have them, and how we experience and express them. The purpose of the current study is to function as a preliminary analysis to determine if a behavioral skills training (BST) package with video modeling (VM) can be used to increase appropriate emotional regulation skills for a child diagnosed with ASD. In general, the results of this study suggest a possible increase in emotion regulation with results similar to other BST data regarding the addition of a contingency including the use of positive reinforcement for appropriate behavior
Spring 2023 Library Newsletter
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Simulated Mechanical Control of Nitellopsis obtusa under Mesocosm Conditions
Get PDFManagement efforts to control starry stonewort [Nitellopsis obtusa (Desvaux in Loiseleur) J. Groves] have been limited to stressing the thalli and have not been able to directly target the reproductive bulbils. Smaller-scale efforts such as the use of hand pulling can be employed, but hand pulling is not realistic for larger infestations. This research was conducted to test the effects of clipping stress on N. obtusa to provide a baseline for the effect of stress on the production of bulbils and the regrowth of thalli. Mesocosms were set up under greenhouse conditions to test the effects on N. obtusa of simulated mechanical harvesting once, twice, and four times per growing season. Different seasonal timing and frequency of clipping treatments will remove different amounts of thalli biomass. The four-clipping treatment always reduced thalli biomass in this study at both 16 and 52 wk after treatment (WAT) compared with the nontreated reference, but there was no difference among clipping treatments at 52 WAT. At 16 WAT, one clipping reduced bulbil density by 44% (Trial 1) to 50% (Trial 2), two clippings reduced bulbil density by 28% (Trial 2) to 52% (Trial 1), and four clippings reduced bulbil density by 22% (Trial 2) to 88% (Trial 1). At 52 WAT, bulbil densities were 69% and 93% lower than those of the nontreated reference Trials 2 and 1, respectively. Results from this study indicate that clipping may be effective for N. obtusa control and could impact bulbil production
It\u27s Research-Based: Being Responsible Consumers of Reading Research
No full textPoint #1: Teachers and administrators must become informed and responsible consumers of educational research. When somebody says, “research shows this” or “research proves that …” We must always ask, “What research? Give me a citation. Effective for what? At what level? For what purpose? How?” And then we must look at the research study. Point #2: State and federal legislators, those who want to impose mandates on teachers, telling them what and how to teach. Pull your heads out of your collective asses. Do what is right not what is politically expedient. If you’re not going to review the research related to reading instruction, at least call in those who have. Stop making educational decisions based on the testimony of radio journalists. Point #3: We want all students to achieve their full literacy potential. Science of Reading ideologists, I know that’s your intent. It’s a good intent. But intent does not mitigate impact. In five years, when the full impact of what you’ve done will be realized, and people understand just how much time, money, and resources you have wasted, I’ll be doing another podcast. This one will be called, “I Told You So.