Program - Symposium ZZ: Transforming Education in Materials Science and Engineering

Within the United States, there is great debate about the place of modern information technology (IT) in higher education learning environments. Indiscriminate use of such technology is undoubtedly unwarranted. However, thoughtful IT selection that considers how people learn and extract value from their use of technology is exceedingly justified as it has the potential to benefit higher education in the classroom and beyond. Thoughtful IT selection for engineering education affords opportunities to enhance the explanation of selected engineering concepts, motivate deeper thought and active learning, teach modern engineering practice, increase global engagement, create and strengthen learning communities, and diversify the engineering student population. Examples of such opportunities in materials science education will be presented. Realization of these opportunities requires that faculty receive instructional (re)design support that enables them to enhance their use of technology, grow as educators and researchers, and position students as active learners rather than passive listeners. Realization also requires that students be equipped and trained to use the appropriate IT tool set. As the place of IT in higher education learning environments is carefully considered in light of how people learn, it becomes apparent that instructional (re)design must focus upon the roll of IT not only in the formal class setting but also in its facilitation of informal learning interactions (among students and between students and faculty) and access to co-curricular university resources (like engineering career services). As the overall roll of IT is considered, the magnitude of the opportunity afforded in engineering education begins to come into focus. Over the past decade, the power of computer hardware and software has continued to increase rapidly while the price of such systems has remained constant or even decreased. Simultaneously, high speed internet service (in both hard-wired and wireless form) has continued to expand its reach around the globe. Thus, it is now possible to envision a vibrant engineering education environment in which knowledge flows to and from many locations around the globe in real time, enriching the experience of both faculty and students. While the opportunities for IT to transform modern materials science and engineering education are significant, the addition of technology to the educational environment adds complexity and potentially weak links that can disrupt knowledge transfer and learning. Any implementation of modern IT into higher education learning environments must carefully consider the full infrastructure needed for successful, reliable learning beyond the traditional classroom.

Due to the need of more students in the (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) STEM area of studies. New and innovative ways of attracting students is required for sustaining and inceasing technological advancements in the United Statees. We established a laboratory in an urban connumity center in the City of Huntsville, Al. The facility is situated in a lower income housing environment. This format allow students from nontraditioanl backgrounds with easy access to a supervised science enviornment. The students were introduced to crystal structures, material properties and material characterization. We will report lessons learned, student deveopment and community reaction.

In this presentation we describe our approach to a student-centered interdisciplinary research program in material science. We started our careers by developing individual research programs at three different undergraduate institutions: attracting external funding, building laboratories, and publishing with student co-authors. However, since tenure we have found enormous advantages for ourselves and for our students from working collaboratively. For over a decade we have worked together on a materials research program - synthesis and spectroscopy of rare earth-based sol-gel glasses. Our students have learned valuable lab techniques and have applied their knowledge of chemistry, physics, and numerical analysis to a productive interdisciplinary research program. Research university scientists benefit greatly from the support of working in a group with colleagues in the same field; at 4-year colleges we are often more isolated. By forming a research group, we have overcome the isolation of being the only spectroscopist on campus. We have found numerous advantages of a joint approach to research for faculty at primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs), including: 1) Enhanced student experience. Research students have an opportunity to work at other campuses with faculty and students from other colleges. 2) Increased productivity. By jointly pursuing a research program with shared leadership responsibilities, we are more effective in combining an active scholarly agenda with teaching responsibilities. 3) Expanded resources. Research labs at the individual institutions have different equipment, and by combining resources there is more experimental capability for the group. Student experiences are broadened by the opportunity to work with equipment not available at their home institutions. We have collaborated on all aspects of the research, from planning experiments to writing publications and grant reports. Our laboratories and research backgrounds complement each other so that, combining our resources, we can pursue a multi-pronged approach to our research. We plan for experiments to take place in the labs best equipped to do the specific measurements. The internet provides the ideal setting for group meetings. Student participation has been quite extensive in our collaboration: over 30 undergraduate research students in the last 5 years, including one Apker Award finalist and one NSF Graduate Research Fellow. Our collaborative approach has attracted external funding and has been productive – 9 referred papers, 11 conference presentations, and x student theses in the last 5 years. A web site that highlights student accomplishments can be found at: http://www.phy.davidson.edu/FacHome/dmb/RESolGelGlass/RESGG.htm.

Student energy clubs such as the Berkeley Energy Resources Collaborative (BERC) provide an unparalleled opportunity to engage students outside of traditional avenues such as coursework of and research. BERC provides an ideal forum to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration, and give students promising options to start into their professional life. Through programming such as the Cleantech to Market class, the BERC Energy Symposium, and outreach programs such as Students for Environmental Energy Development (SEED), BERC provides opportunities to mentor and lead students to a successful career. BERC involves a broad spectrum of members within the Berkeley campus community. One example is the Cleantech to Market course, created by BERC, which pairs science and engineering graduate students with MBA students to assess the market potential of cutting edge energy technologies developed at UC Berkeley and LBNL. BERC, as a student organization, was uniquely situated to develop this class to facilitate cross-disciplinary skills transfer outside traditional department boundaries. The BERC Energy Symposium is an annual gathering of students, faculty, and professionals with the common theme of addressing energy issues. The symposium is organized entirely by students and the process of putting together a panel forces the student organizers to think about the core issues to address within a specific field. Through interactions, networking, and panel discussions, the symposium prepares students well for their future careers and continues to engage people in the workforce who want to continue their education. SEED is a K-12 educational outreach program that has been working with local elementary students for three years and is currently developing a high school outreach program. SEED programs offer graduate students the opportunity to practice teaching, presentation, and communication skills which will be critical for their future careers. Additionally, SEED serves to enhance the diversity of future generations of scientists. The program partners with urban schools in Berkeley and Oakland which serve a diverse population of students and gives the K-12 students an opportunity to interact with active graduate student research scientists. In summary, BERC demonstrates how engagement of student organizations can lead to unique personal and professional development opportunities beyond the classroom and laboratory for materials scientists. Using documentation from BERC programs and events, this model could be replicated at other universities to harness student creativity across disciplines by empowering students to explore and develop the opportunities that most interest them. In addition BERC serves as a prime example of how institutional support of student efforts can help them flourish and create novel learning opportunities.

This presentation highlights strategies for K-20 teaching and learning about materials research in informal settings. The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory’s Center for Integrating Research & Learning is in a unique position to conduct programs that reach K-20 students and teachers. As part of a national laboratory the Center provides the infrastructure around which informal education programs are implemented. This includes the Center’s nationally-recognized programming as well as facilitating scientists’ educational outreach in the community. One signature program, Research Experiences for Undergraduates, focuses on encouraging women and other underrepresented groups to pursue STEM careers and has reached approximately 200 students many of whom have pursued careers in research as well as academia. The Research Experiences for Teachers program has provided internships for over 150 teachers; the Center also reaches over 10,000 students each year through school and community outreach. Success of informal education programs relies heavily on establishing strong mentoring relationships between scientists and K-20 students and teachers. The Center’s success at maintaining diverse programming that transforms how materials education is presented beyond the traditional classroom is the focus for this presentation.

This presentation will address issues related to "growing your own" students and faculty. It will include descriptions of programs that have been developed and implemented by the College of Earth and Mineral Science's Office of Educational Equity at Penn State to work with students from grade school through high school to help develop a literacy about the offerings in Material Science and Engineering. The idea is to identify potential populations and help those populations become interested in STEM disciplines.

Cheating among university students is a serious problem and we believe that most university teachers think that measures against academic dishonesty should be prioritized. It is the disciplinary boards of the universities that judges in disciplinary matters and the sentences that they are authorized to impose are restricted to warnings and temporary suspensions, typically one to four months. According to the Swedish statistics, the number of disciplinary board sentences has increased significantly from last year. The purpose of this investigation is to identify and discuss gender aspects on academic dishonesty. We have based our study on statistics from the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education and on information requested from the disciplinary boards of seven Swedish universities for the year 2010. The information we achieved ranged from material covering only the numbers of male and female students that were warned or suspended, to the protocols and decisions from the disciplinary boards. First of all, women are less prevalent in disciplinary matters, which could indicate that women are less prone to cheating: 42% of the students with disciplinary sentences are women, while 59% of all the full time students are women. This is in agreement with most of the research literature, even if it has been reported that women can cheat significantly more than men if the risk of getting caught is low [1]. In order to find out whether the severity of the penalty for cheating is gender biased, we have calculated the ratio of suspended/warned for male and female students. Among the investigated universities we see no trend in this ratio. In some universities female students have a higher ratio and in some universities male students have a higher ratio. Considering that women tend to get less severe penalties for crime than men do, when comparing the same crime [2] – and on the other hand that women are sometimes described in more hostile terms than men when evaluating professors [3], we had expected to see gender bias here. It is, however, relieving to find that the disciplinary system seems fair concerning severity of the penalty for male and female students. Finally, we are carrying out a discourse analysis of disciplinary board protocols where we divide the accused students’ responses in three categories: (i) didn’t understand the rules, (ii) don’t admit any intent to cheat, and (iii) admit cheating. Preliminary results indicate that female students are overrepresented in category (ii), which means that they are more often sentenced even if they deny. Since the possibly not guilty students are to be found in category (ii), this finding suggests that female students are at higher risk than male students of being falsely convicted. [1] J. S. Leming, Journal of Educational Research, 74 (1980) 83-87 [2] A. S. Ahola, Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 16 (2009) S90-S100 [3] J. Sprague and K. Massoni, Sex Roles, 53 (2005) 779-793

The faculty of the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSM&T) have developed a unique integrated undergraduate program. This program integrates research, extracurricular activities, and outreach experiences. Common threads throughout the program are an introduction to the artistic and historical background of Metallurgical Engineering. These activities are designed to develop aspects of the student not traditionally included in engineering curricula, and also to help students understand Metallurgical Engineering through kinesthetic learning. These programs are similar to those envisioned by the National Academy of Engineering in response to their view of the changing needs of engineering, These are described in two books published by the National Research Council and present a vision for and a prescription to educate future engineers. A major focus of the program has been using blacksmithing activities as a way in which curricular, extracurricular and outreach activities can be integrated. We began with a weekly blacksmithing “hammer-in” activity open to all students at SDSM&T. Starting from this platform, laboratories were added to the curriculum in which the effects of blacksmithing on various material properties were investigated. In addition, departmental students and faculty developed a portable blacksmithing laboratory, which has been taken to regional schools and reservations to reach out to students and to invigorate their appreciation for STEM education. The success of these activities led to their incorporation into “Back to the Future” a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) site that focused on understanding new technologies through their historical antecedents. The SDSM&T students that participated in this REU used this experience as part of their junior/senior design courses. This program has increased enrollment in the department and has led to better learning outcomes for the students.