Symposium BI1 : Today’s Teaching and Learning in Materials Science—Challenges and Advances

Over the last 15 years there has been an increased emphasis within engineering education on providing students with the education and training to develop important professional skills in areas such as communication, teamwork, and complex problem solving. The need for these skills has been outlined in a number of reports that illustrate how the complex engineering problems of the 21^st century demand more than technical competence. However, education in these areas is often hampered by rigid curricula and traditional pedagogies. The National Science Foundation Directorate for Engineering is helping to break these barriers through programs that provide support for innovate educational approaches: Revolutionizing Engineering and Computer Science Departments (RED), Research in the Formation of Engineers (RFE), and Research Initiation in Engineering Formation (RIEF). This presentation will illustrate how these programs have been successful at fostering innovations in engineering education.

Field trips are an underutilized opportunity to provide depth and richness in college-level chemistry courses. The authors have found that a field trip, such as to the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Lab, greatly enhances the impact of a course in X-ray crystallography. Students who attend this field trip report that it is a highlight of the course and develop a lasting interest in the science of X-ray crystallography as a result. We report on our experience in planning these trips, advise on best practices, and demonstrate the positive impact of a field trip on student learning and engagement.

References:
Malbrecht, B.J.; Campbell, M.G.; Zheng, S.-L. Teaching Outside the Classroom: Field Trips in Crystallography Education for Chemistry Students. 2016, submitted.

In the case of General Chemistry, many engineering students only take the first semester missing such important topics as kinetics and equilibrium which are taught in the second. Considerable time is spent covering materials learned in other courses such as General Physics and Introduction to Engineering. Moreover, most GChem courses are oriented toward health science majors and lack a materials focus relevant to engineering. Taking an atoms first approach, we have developed and run a one-semester course in general chemistry for engineers emphasizing relevant materials topics. Laboratory exercises integrate practical examples of materials science enriching the course for engineering students. First-semester calculus and an introduction to engineering course are pre-requisites, which enables teaching almost all the topics from a traditional two semester GChem course in the new one and teaching the course at a higher level. To support the course, we developed an open access textbook in the ChemWiki - General Chemistry for Engineering. Many of the topics were supported using Chemical Excelets and Materials Science Excelets, which are interactive Excel spreadsheets. The laboratory includes data analysis and interpretation, calibration, error analysis, reactions, kinetics, electrochemistry, and spectrophotometry. To acquaint the students with online collaboration typical of today’s technical workplace we use Google Drive for data analysis and report preparation in the laboratory. This work was supported by NSF Grant DMR-1205608 and NSF Award 1524638.

Materials science skills and knowledge, as an addition to the traditional curricula for physics or chemistry students, can be highly valuable for transition to graduate study or other career paths in materials science. At Weber State University (WSU), we offer several options for physics or chemistry majors with an interest in materials. These lecture and laboratory courses, and capstone experiences are, by design, complementary and can be taken independently of one another and avoid unnecessary overlap or repetition. Specifically, we have a senior-level materials theory course and a separate materials characterization laboratory course in the physics department, and a new lecture/laboratory course in the chemistry department. The chemistry laboratory experience is emphasizes synthesis, while the physics lab course is focused on characterization techniques. Interdisciplinary research projects are available for students in both departments at the introductory or senior level. We will discuss the suite of options available to WSU students interested in materials, how we have designed these curricula, and some results from students who have gone through the programs.

The pace of materials development significantly lags current technological needs. Recognizing this challenge, the Materials Genome Initiative calls for the synergistic combination of experiments, simulation, and data in order to accelerate the discovery of new materials enabling transformative technologies. Here, we present a new interdisciplinary graduate program at Texas A&M University bridging the disciplines of Chemistry, Physics, Materials Science, Electrical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering to connect materials data, materials synthesis and analysis, and engineering design strategies. We outline and analyze the methods that the program uses to create an interdisciplinary environment in which both the faculty and students are actively learning and shaping their own unique experience.
To lay the foundation for the program’s purpose, goals, and content, faculty members from participating disciplines were recruited to engage in the Community of Scholars (CoS), a professional and curriculum development activity in which interdisciplinary literature about challenges and best practices guided discussion. Exercises such as defining core aspects of each participating discipline, searching for commonalities among them, and critiquing gaps in each created a more nuanced understanding of interdisciplinarity. From these sessions both curriculum plans and innovative assessment tools such as clearly defined learning outcomes, rubrics, and e-portfolios were developed and implemented.
Students in the program are challenged by weekly participation in a learning community where they must help those of other disciplines to fill in knowledge gaps, communicate and collaborate, grapple with ethical issues, and better understand how and when to reach outside their preferred discipline. Rubrics guide their learning and establish expectations based upon learning outcomes developed from input from industry, government, and non-government employers. These rubrics assess content mastery, as well as interdisciplinary thinking, and professional skills such as collaboration, self-reflection, communication, ethics, and conflict resolution. Students can track their progress and self-assess utilizing both rubrics and their Individual Development Plans (IDP), which they complete on a yearly basis with their advisor. Research and career interests, achievements, and goals are documented in the IDP build and are revised as students progress through the program. Furthermore, e-portfolios require scientific minded students to reflect upon their experiences and learning, with the aim of creating more goal-directed thinkers.
We will discuss results and implications of these activities and tools both from the faculty and student perspectives. We consider lessons learned from our unique and innovative amalgamation of learning and teaching strategies and ways in which other institutions can implement similar methods.

Because of its broad and multidisciplinary nature, Materials Science & Engineering education is particularly suited to instructional strategies that foster both depth and breadth of understanding along with the development and acceptance of multiple perspectives and solutions to complex problems.

Many faculty and instructors at MIT, including those from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, are developing and implementing a wide range of innovative instructional strategies based on cognition and learning literature, and research-based best practices. In this talk, a variety of key research findings will be discussed, and examples will be given of how each research finding is being implemented in the design and delivery of Materials Science courses at MIT.

At Kalamazoo College, we teach only one introductory physics course sequence, bringing together students from physics, pre-engineering, chemistry, and biology. The sequence is calculus-based, and typically enrolls about 100 students per year. Because our students are diverse in preparation and academic interests, our experiences should have broad applicability within the STEM subjects. In an effort to improve student learning outcomes, five years ago we transitioned the structure of our introductory physics sequence from a lecture/lab/discussion format with some interactive engagement to a studio/workshop format where small-group problem solving and discussion are combined with hands-on and computer-based activities.

Our studio format is essentially a “flipped” classroom. Students are responsible for reading before class, enforced with daily reading quizzes, so the bulk of our class time can be spent on problem solving and activities, including mini experiments and interactive computer simulations. To engage our diverse student population, we prioritize topics that are broadly applicable and exercises that highlight applications in other disciplines. We also emphasize skill development and application of principles to unfamiliar situations, rather than memorization of specific information and answers to well known, simple problems.

The transition to a studio format did show improved outcomes, but also made it easier to see ongoing challenges with many students’ mathematical, logical reasoning, and metacognitive skills. With the goal of further improvement in student outcomes and to explicitly address these challenges, we have shifted our assessments from a traditional homework/midterm/final exam scheme to various forms of a mastery-based system of daily quizzes on explicit learning objectives. These are graded on a pass/fail scale, and various opportunities have been provided for reassessment or relearning activity.

To measure the efficacy of the changes to our course format and assessment structure, we use physics-specific concept inventories (Force Concept Inventory and Conceptual Survey on Electricity and Magnetism) and attitude surveys (Maryland Physics Expectation Survey), as well as a general test of scientific reasoning ability (Lawson Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning) and course evaluation data. We have achieved strong learning gains, especially for students who enter the class with a low level of previous knowledge. We face ongoing challenges in encouraging students to make effective use of textbook resources and out-of-class time. We continue to work on designing our assessment tools and grading system to address these challenges.

The physics of materials is fundamental to Materials Science. In this model student recorded videos are used to enhance the learning of concepts involving the physics of motion and material properties. This innovative and effective project-based assessment instruction model integrates physical activity with mechanics and material properties. It significantly enhances the learning experience and it is effective in illustrating how physics works, while allowing students to be active participants and take ownership of the learning process. This face-to-face activities orientated model has been successfully piloted with undergraduate students studying physics. Student feedback and example work from the pilot, will be presented.
The objective of having physics on a programme is to introduce students to the physical world through mathematical modelling. Linking reality to material properties is a concept that, although fundamental, is not one easily recognised by modern students. Mapping the underlying mathematical equations to a physical reality is difficult to understand when sitting in a lecture theatre. In order to get the students motivated and immersed in the real mathematical and physical world, an approach which makes them think about the cause and effect of actions is used. Integrating physical action enables students to integrate knowledge and adopt an action problem solving approach to the physics concept.

Initially, a game of 'catch' is used to allow students engage with the easy concepts before tackling more complex equations. Students in groups of three, record video footage of themselves playing catch. One student throws a ball to the second person who has a fixed position with the angle and initial velocity controlled. Measurements taken allow the students to control the path and map it. Buoyancy experiments have also been piloted using this approach.

This inquiry-based methodology is an integrated approach that requires synthesis of information from various sources in order to accomplish the task. This approach to learning brings physics to life, makes physics enjoyable and allows the use of simple hands-on methods to highlight complex concepts. It focuses the student on the concept or material property and how to visualize it. As a transferable skill, this will ensure that the graduates will be visionary in their approach to real life problems.

Discussion about textbook price is anchored to cost which has grown faster than that of drugs, to the point that it matches or exceeds pro rated tuition at community colleges or comprehensive public institutions. Yet, we argue that cost is a relatively minor issue in the choice of books by instructors but rather ancillary services offered by the publishers dominates the choice of texts. Textbooks are marketed and in great part selected based on the services offered to faculty including “traditional” features as publishers representatives, desk copies, solution manuals, test banks and slides and more modern apps including online homework systems. Thus, any attempt to replace published textbooks with open on line educational resources (OOER) must pay careful attention to creating a similar level of support for faculty.

While science is a gift culture where those who contribute the most are the most highly valued this is often not true for those who create educational materials, especially at research universities. A key to establishing high quality OOERs will be extending this ethic to educational resources so the effort of all who participate is rewarded. The rise of science education as a separate area of study has improved this situation, but it will also be important to attract those working and teaching in the traditional research centered departments to create and maintain a broad range of OOERs, This is necessary to improve education and control student costs locally and on state and federal levels.

To meet this challenge, the ChemWIKI project is in the process of both expansion into other fields including materials science, as well as creating and integrating services such as a single sign on, an on line homework system, and a bring your own device in class response component. Delmar Larsen of the University of California Davis started the ChemWIKI project provide open, no cost, on line chemistry textbooks of high quality. Integration of other areas including physics, math, biology, and geology are growing the ChemWIKI into the LibreTexts project. Currently LibreTexts with over 7.5 million page views by over 5.3 million visitors per month is a powerful mechanism for dissemination of content, Availability of a complete set of materials in a well curated and broadly known and available depository will drive adaptation. The LibreTexts project is growing into a complete Open On Line Educational System.

This work was supported by NSF Grant 1524638 and 1413739.

Using a nationally representative sample of U.S. youths, this study investigated the extent to which computer science education determines students’ decision of studying STEM disciplines which are related to material sciences. Logistic regression analyses showed that students who took more credits on computer science during their high school years were more likely to choose STEM majors in both 2- and 4-year postsecondary institutions, after controlling for student demographic characteristics and several well-documented learning predictors for STEM major selection, such as the number of math and science credits earned during their high school years. Of significant note, the effect of computer science education on STEM major selection was similarly as strong as those of the traditional STEM subjects—math and sciences. The results suggest that computer science courses, which have been marginalized at the K-12 level, should be considered core STEM subjects. Importantly, given that computing skills and knowledge require most of STEM workers including material scientists, it is essential to improve the quality of pre-college computer sciences curriculum.

In prior research it was shown that students who acquire their programming skills in the context of disciplinary applications, in this case simulation and modeling in Materials Science and Engineering, show higher self-efficacy and elevated potential for adoption of computing [1]. These students also show an increased capacity to leverage computational activities to achieve conceptual understanding in their discipline in subsequent courses [2]. However, such students also report substantial challenges in learning programming while simultaneously grasping the contextual understanding needed to complete such tasks [3]. We have studied the staged introduction of supports for computational learning including enhanced planning in advance of project initiation, provision of worked examples and student commenting of provided solutions. These changes to the instructional environment were accompanied by “think-aloud exercises” which are structured interviews in which students explain their work on a specific project (that remained same across all years) while talking through their thinking process. This has allowed us to explore how students reason with computation and the stumbling blocks that they encounter when learning programming within an engineering context.

Small data sets with large variances are common in biological tissue characterization. Accessibility to human tissue is very limited, and priority goes to more conventional, biology related experiments, making the sample size for characterization tests smaller still. Unlike traditional materials and parameter-controlled manufactured structures, both human and animal tissues – despite working with age, sex, size, and pathology matched groups – will yield high variance results.
To teach students about limitations of statistical analysis for small data sets with large variances, a biomaterials-related module was inserted into a Materials Science and Engineering course EMA3800 Error Analysis and Design Optimization class (Spring 2016, N = 62). In addition to introducing Junior-level students to cutting-edge soft matter applications, this module helped them understand the use of statistical tools in experimental practice. The instructor for the course gave students a pretest on ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) techniques as applied to experimental mechanical behavior of soft matter data. Students were given a data plot to interpret and asked open ended questions about statistical methods appropriate for this data. Data plots showed viscoelastic coefficient results for: a) human pancreas, pancreatitis tissue, and pancreatic tumors, and b) decellularized porcine kidney, cortex and medulla. While some students were able to analyze aspects of the plot, most students were not able to interpret the data nor discuss ANOVA as a statistical technique.
Students were then given a lecture by a graduate student from mechanical engineering who discussed the experiment to collect the soft matter data and limitations of the data collection and statistical analysis. The graduate student discussed the way the data was analyzed and the conclusions that could be drawn from the ANOVA tests. After this, the whole class was lead through an ANOVA guided practice exercise by the normal instructor for the course using the data from the biomechanics laboratory. Students were guided through one example of an ANOVA analysis, and then had to do subsequent analysis on additional data using the same techniques. Students were to plot the data, and to write a summary analysis of their findings; performance was evaluated using 6 assessment criteria, and results showed a 6-8 fold improvement compared to original interpretation activity. Finally, a subset of students had a question on their exam related to analysis of soft matter data using ANOVA techniques, and scores showed 10-25% further improvement.
Results from student assignments and test questions indicate students retained information presented on soft matter mechanics and statistical analysis through the final exam. Future work will include this module in additional undergraduate courses, extend assessment of student outcomes, and re-formulate the module as an online resource for high school Advanced Placement Statistics courses.

Traditional lecture-based instruction in STEM courses is gradually being superseded by more active learning formats. The primary driving force for this shift is the desire to promote student engagement in higher-level learning activities. Most STEM-related active learning activities are designed to improve conceptual understanding (including overcomingmis-conceptions), to develop skills in the application of these concepts to practical problems, to promote deeper understanding of the material, and to make important connections to applications and other disciplines. Classroom activities frequently include graded and non-graded quizzes, progressive solution of sample problems, and discussions of the significance of a block of material. When appropriate, in-class activities often employ peer learning.
Unavoidable time constraints require students to absorb a significant fraction of the course material outside of class that would traditionally have been presented in face-to-face lectures. This material is most often presented in online lectures. Formats labeled flipped, hybrid, and blended are the most common. To use class time effectively, it is critical that the material covered outside of class (including reading assignments) be assimilated and at least partially understood prior to class. Historically, it has been extremely difficult to ensure that the students productively interact with the material outside of class.
We show that computational software programs, such as Mathematica® or MatLab®, can be employed effectively in out-of-class learning activities. Our students have 24/7 access to several computers running Mathematica® and many purchase student licenses for their personal use. [Students are given a few online Mathematica® tutorials at the beginning of the semester.]
We have written a number of Mathematica® applications for use in atwo semester junior/senior Electricity and Magnetism course which is taught in a blended format. These include:
Self-administered tutorials with non-graded quiz questions, some incorporating crude Adaptive Learning components; “Take-Home” quizzes (graded and ungraded); Walk-through problems, where students use the program’s mathematical resources; Interpretation problems that employ Mathematica’s plotting function and its ability to respond to changing parameters in real time (for instance, to illustrate the effect of modifying limits and boundary conditions); Instructive but simple simulations (e.g., charged particle motion in E and B fields); and
Numerical solutions (e.g., Laplace’s equations with non-symmetric boundary conditions.)

We will discuss the efficacy of these applications, their role in promoting active learning, and the range of possible uses of the basic scheme in other classes.

Computational competencies--such as the use of modeling, in general as well as specific simulation tools--are a new core literacy that students in Materials Science and Engineering must develop. To teach these skills to our students, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is synthesizing computational tools and skills across the core curriculum. Over two years, using a collaborative course-development approach, a team of six faculty (one tenured professor and five assistant professors) have integrated training in computational competencies across seven different courses (MSE201: "Phases and Phase Relations", MSE206: "Mechanics for MatSE", MSE304: "Electronic Properties of Materials", MSE401: "Thermodynamics of Materials", MSE402: "Kinetics of Materials", MSE406: "Thermal and Mechanical Behavior of Materials", and a capstone course MSE498AF: "Computational MatSE"). We outline the process for creating this curriculum revision and then describe the teaching methods and assignments of the revised courses. The reforms involve integration of computational modules into these existing courses through (a) in-class materials, (b) recitation-based based interaction, (c) computational TA office hours, and (d) graded course assignments. The module design is integrated across the sophomore and junior required courses, with the dual goals of developing computational thinking and improving conceptual understanding by students. We present evidence for the effectiveness of this reform effort from both examination data and student survey data. We will discuss our ongoing efforts to expand the use of computational modules to other courses in the curriculum, including the development of additional senior-level classes for a fully integrated approach.

My experience will be shared in teaching a graduate-level core course on thermodynamics and another course on computational thermodynamics and kinetics at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering of The Ohio State University. A mnemonic scheme to help students remember thermodynamic equations and “real-world” examples are two effective ways in teaching the core thermodynamics course. The graduate-level computational thermodynamics and kinetics course covers calculations of phase diagrams and various thermodynamic properties, Scheil simulation of solidification, calculations of thermodynamic factors for diffusion and driving force for precipitation, simulation of single-phase and multi-phase diffusion couples, simulation of transient liquid phase bonding, and simulation of precipitation and growth. Again “real-world” examples are very effective in teaching students how to use commercial software packages such as Thermo-Calc and DICTRA to solve practical problems they may encounter during materials design and processing.

This presentation will explore why interactive data visualization is such a powerful teaching tool for Material Science and Engineering (MSE) through property exploration and interactive, active learning exercises. Typically, students look up individual material properties data in a table in a book or search for it on online in Google. Students then focus on which value to use as they attempt to choose from thousands of materials -- completely missing the point of why materials have the property values they do (materials science) and which ones they can change as a materials engineer or design as a materials scientist. Too much time is spent selecting materials and looking up data, and not enough time is spent exploring material properties or understanding fundamental materials science. Active learning requires students to reach beyond looking up information so they can develop a deep understanding of fundamentals and science.

Data visualization can bridge this gap by presenting material properties data in dynamic visualizations that enable students and faculty to tell a story with the data. Data visualization enables people to use perceptual capabilities to gain insights into large, but conceptually contained data sets. This presentation will use examples to demonstrate the components of interactive data visualization including immediate feedback, linked displays, dynamic queries, focus and context, and animation. Examples of customizable active learning case studies will also be featured.

In particular, this presentation will show how interactive visualization of material properties data can help students to: understand the variation of properties both within and across material classifications and to grasp the relationships between properties based on these classification groups; visualize how some properties differ by many orders of magnitude across material classifications, while others do not; translate design goals and constraints while understanding how material properties intersect with these goals; compare multiple properties that influence engineering design simultaneously; and factor cost into material selection.

Case studies will be featured to show how active, collaborative classroom activities can be combined with data visualizations to create a student-centered teaching environment focused on enhancing student learning outcomes in MSE.

I will discuss the necessity of ethics instruction in scientific learning. As the advances of science and the ideals of society become more closely intertwined, the importance of not only research ethics, which largely focuses on professionalism in laboratory conduct, but also applied ethics, which focuses on communication, public engagement, and social justice,are becoming increasingly relevant. In particular, materials science is an enabling technology which ipacts many other discilines, such as health, enviroment, and energy, each with its own challenges for ethical implementation, where the student learns to view the influence of technology on a global scale, involving sustainability, enviromental and societal consequences, and the ethical impact.
I plan to discuss how to incorporate this instruction into materials science learning, across the curriculum. This integrated approach is essential in order to provide the student tools to establish independent critical thinking, and educate future scientists to tackle the global and social challenges that continuous innovation in technology will bring.

Large lectures continue to be a dominant method to teach university students introductory material. The reasons for this are mainly financial and dictated by our amphitheater obsession in facility design. Yet, it is well known that active learning approaches to education are far better for learning and that team based teaching is an effective pedagogical approach to active learning. This talk will briefly describe one attempt at replacing large lecture with a comprehensive team based/project based approach that is scalable to hundreds of students as long as a sufficiently large flat classroom is available. Results will be presented related to our current approach to team based learning where we take advantage of the opportunity to exploit the diversity that is in our classroom but often squandered in large lectures. Based on simple but powerful principles of collective intellegence and mutual respect, we belive that we can enhance learning by thoughtful activities, coaching, reflection, and practice. We are planning to assess the approach by measuring gains in student performance, both individual and group via 6 readiness assurance activities over the course of the term. These data will be compared to similar data collected over the previous 3 years where no attempt was made to focus on diversity and inclusion.

California State University Long Beach is a large comprehensive urban university located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area with Hispanic Serving Institution designation. We have developed and implemented a successful program to recruit and retain diverse students through the NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Program (S-STEM). This paper presents implementation details and findings of a scholarship program consisting of many high-impact practices to recruit and retain students in the Physical Science and Mathematics programs, particularly first-generation and under-represented minority students. In particular, we discuss how the program utilizes three key strategies to improve persistence and retention in a STEM pipeline including access to financial resources, community building, and faculty mentorship at critical transitions. Of the students receiving support for at least one semester, 100% either graduated or continued with their original major, including students who discontinued from the program due to low GPA or lack of financial need and the nearly 57% of the under-represented minority students in the program. Among the program’s positive outcomes, students experienced increased motivation for success, and readiness for graduate studies or the workforce.

This work is supported by NSF S-STEM Grant #90966039.

GSTEM's mission is to promote STEM education in the US and abroad through engaging students in real world STEM problems using technology to address them. The program which involves distance collaboration between US schools and more than ten schools internationally, was conceived by Larisa Schelkin. The projects which the students work on collaboratively are suggested by both industry and academia. In our presentation, we will ‘open the door’ to our Global STEM Classroom® and describe how we work with student teams and teachers in multiple countries using the latest communication and collaboration technology tools to develop innovative projects for students from a variety of backgrounds and teachers to learn how to prepare for the connected economy in the world today.
Among the projects students work on are: Micro, Nano, Lattice and Smart materials applications.
We will explore Global STEM project development devoted to these exciting topics, demonstrating ethics and social responsibility,advanced inquiry based and participatory teaching methods and in-depth student experience and motivation to encourage life-long learning.

First, a review of Ethics-related misbehavior and mismanagement of either production, teaching, trainning or R&D is present, to dimension the size of this global growing problem. Then, a World-wide review of the Materials Science and Engineering-related undergrad and graduate programs that offer, as part of their curricula, some sort of Ethics-related trainning or information, to show the lack of awarness in the community around these issues. The main challenges, from the educational and professional standpoint will be discussed under the light of the current and future situations of conflict. Finally, a proposal for a MRS-sponsored international problem in Ethis, and NanoEthics, in collaboration with international regulation bodies, such as ISO and OECD, will be presented and opnede for discussion and erichment

The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) is one of the largest and most complex educational organizations in the World, with over 350,000 students and presence in all the States of the Mexican Republic as well as in the USA, Canada, France, The United Kingdom and other countries. UNAM, as one of the leading universities in Latinamerica, has a huge reservoir of scientific and technological capabilities that could contribute to the development of the different regions of the country and has created original technologies of potential impact abroad. However, its offer of knowledge and technology is not sufficiently responsive to the actual needs and expectations of society, despite the efforts that, from decades, authorities within and outside UNAM have made to create a functional academy-society-industry network. Modern Businness Administration methodologies have established that human expertise is more valuable than capital, physical means of production or intellectual property. Moreover, Expertise Discovery represents the institutional memory, withouth which the resources are wasted and the generation relief does not takes place effectively. In the last 15 years, specialized knowledged management software and technologies have been devoped to optimize expertise finding. Accordingly, through a combination of text mining, semantic analysis and social network analysis, tools originally developed for Translational Medicine^1-3, we are creating a system to: 1. identify, integrate, prioritize and translate social demands of knowledge and technology from different social actors in a given region (companies, organizations, social movements, state and municipal governments etc.); 2. develop, from networks of scientific and patent literatura, as well as from institutional information, a technological and scientific portfolios; 3. design evidence-based transdisciplinary teams that could respond to the demands of society.

In a traditional environment, keeping pace with the rapid change of technology is a challenge for both educators and students. Educators need to be able to teach new concepts and correlations quickly. A vehicle is needed that allows students to gain the skills and attributes to succeed in todays industry environment. As a result of these factors new curriculum has been created which encompasses traditional technical content as it relates to material properties and has also been developed to emphasize emerging technologies, critical thinking, application based content, processes and analysis skills. The curriculum is self contained for ease of use by both educators and students. Students are offered various opportunities for investigative and self directed studies. This presentation will delve into the development environment, process and philosophy of this new curriculum and report on its first implementation.

In order to provide students with the education required to meet the substantial and diverse challenges of the 21st Century, institutions of higher education must continue to innovate in developing high-impact educational practices. Work by George Kuh and others cites compelling evidence from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) that these educational approaches increase student engagement and retention. STEM emphasis on critical thinking, experimental design, modelling, and data analysis must be coupled with student growth in creativity, innovative thinking, and effective communication. This is achieved by the marriage of STEM with art and design, known as STEAM (STEM w/Art). It represents a holistic approach to problem solving, one that advocates high-impact educational practices that aim to explore opportunities where art naturally fits in the STEM arena. A 3D design, printing, and fabrication steering group at Wabash College was convened with faculty and staff from a diverse group of academic and support departments across campus to investigate how to support this effort. Building on this emerging foundation, we established a 3D Printing and Fabrication Center (3D-PFC) to serve as a hub for educational STEAM activities on the Wabash campus. The 3D-PFC supports several initiatives on campus, but one of the most successful is a 3D printing and fabrication-based undergraduate research internship program. The first cohort of four students participated in an eight-week program in the summer of 2015. A second cohort of the four students continued the project into the following summer. This high-impact, intensive materials science research experience involved students in using 3D printing and fabrication to design, test, and produce inexpensive scientific instrumentation for use in introductory STEM courses at Wabash College. The student research interns ultimately produced a variety of successful designs that could be produced for less than $25 and successfully detect analytes of interest down to concentrations in the parts per million (ppm) range. These student-produced instruments have enabled innovations in the way introductory instrumental analysis is taught on campus. Thus far, the student work has led to three campus presentations, four presentations at national professional conferences, and three peer-reviewed publications. Beyond summer work, the 3D-PFC staffed six student interns during the academic year, where they worked on various projects with students and faculty from departments as diverse as mathematics, physics, rhetoric, and biology. This presentation will share program details and ways student work has impacted STEM laboratory learning at Wabash College.

This study investigated the extent to which technology-based activities influence students’ decision of studying STEM disciplines related to material sciences in 4-year postsecondary institutions using a nationally representative sample of young adults in the U.S. Multilevel structural equation modeling revealed the following major findings. First, regardless of students’ demographic characteristics and math achievement scores, overall, students who were more frequently using video or computer games were more likely to choose STEM majors compared to their counterparts. Second, video- or computer game-based activities contributed to the STEM major selection of students from minority or lower socioeconomic status backgrounds. Third, female students were less likely to engage in video- or computer games than male students, which was partially associated with the underrepresentation of female students in STEM disciplines. Noticeably, rather than simple point-and-click computer exercise, video- or computer games which enable students to develop visual-spatial abilities were positively associated with students’ STEM major selection. The results imply that either informal STEM learning resources, such as computer- or video-game activities, or a STEM curriculum incorporating the technology-based activities would motivate diverse learners to enter STEM disciplines including material sciences.

Sustainability issues are at the heart of environmental efforts worldwide as they affect every aspect of our lives. Hence, training teachers for sustainability is crucial and has far-reaching effects. Teachers on one hand, communicate environmental challenges, share sustainable practices and develop promising projects with their students to propose solutions. Researchers on the other hand, have the potential to affect societal decisions by disseminating their findings widely. It is extremely beneficial for both teachers and researchers when their paths intersect. The workshops in focus, were entitled "Advances in Urban Environmental Management" and were based on the collaboration between the Environmental Education Office of Piraeus responsible for providing training to Greek teachers, Fulbright Distinguished chair in Environmental Science Dr. Theodore Endreny, Professor at SUNY-ESF and Anna Endreny, Biology Teacher and Chair of the Jamesville Dewitt Middle School Science Department. We organized two workshops in Galatas and Nikaia (Piraeus areas) with the participation of 16 teachers/3 community members and 30 teachers respectively. The teachers were responsible for teaching biology, chemistry, physics, environmental education and student-based research projects to on average 100 to 200 middle school or high school students. At the beginning of each workshop we offered a lecture on state-of-the-art research in environmental management and the opportunity for teachers to identify a pressing sustainability issue in their area through the Socratic method of probing questions. The issue the teachers wanted to investigate was urban pollution and its impact on coastal areas and land. In our effort to empower teachers to contribute to a healthier environment we used the scientific method in our lesson plans by incorporating observations, formulation and testing of hypotheses and reaching conclusions/providing solutions. To investigate flow paths of pollutants (organic compounds, metals, gases etc.), assess water quality and correlate these data with land cover in the surrounding area of the participants' schools, we used free digital tools such as SimRiver and i-Tree tools. The teachers collected all the data necessary to propose solutions. The popular solution they came up with was to use trees as filters for pollutants. They were also able to infer candidate locations where they should boost green infrastructure to positively affect water quality. After the completion of the workshops the teachers were asked to fill in feedback questionnaires. By analyzing the questionnaires we found out that the workshops were highly beneficial for the teachers and they also proposed follow-on workshops using hands-on learning, interdisciplinary methods for sampling, characterizing and problem solving as both are needed for a holistic approach to addressing pressing sustainability issues.
The authors wish to thank Fulbright Greece Comission for funding this project.

Each summer, the Garcia Summer Scholars Program at Stony Brook University takes more than 50 high school students who have barely conducted an acid-base titration and turns them into cutting-edge Materials research scientists. These students not only win high school competitions such as Siemens and Intel; they have presented their projects at MRS Poster sessions and the American Physical Society (where they have been mistaken for graduate students), published in refereed journals, and have even acquired patents. They go on to college and beyond to pursue degrees in Materials Science, Physics, and Chemical Engineering, becoming the next generation of innovators. How is this possible? A Powerpoint presentation journeys through one of the most successful high school research programs in the country.

Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) is an ideal approach for addressing 21st-Century Learning Skills in addition to aligning to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Exposure to MSE has been shown to beneficially impact the identified 21st-Century Learning Skills such as scientific reasoning, collaboration, communication and information literacy [1]. The NGSS focus is on improving science education through three-dimensional learning as recommended by the National Academies. The dimensions of the NGSS include Science and Engineering Practices, Crosscutting Concepts and Disciplinary Core Ideas. One of the main challenges in teaching MSE in the pre-college classroom is embedding the content into the core science courses since most public schools cannot include MSE as a dedicated course. MSE is interdisciplinary in that it includes all core sciences, engineering, but additionally has broader impacts including social responsibility, citizenship and environmental implications. MSE’s broad reach to all perspectives and especially the NGSS Science and Engineering Practices makes it a natural addition to any pre-college science course. Using this concept and the CRISP* developed, NGSS-aligned modules, led by the Professional Learning Community (CRISP Collaborative Science for All) students participate in active learning through authentic science experiences. Always focused on 21st-Century Learning Skills, these modules offer a strategic approach to teaching the important interdisciplinary nature of MSE as well as aligning to the NGSS Science and Engineering Practices. Professional development is offered to both teachers and prospective educators to facilitate implementation of the modules. Module topics range from electronic materials to bioscience with applications to K-12 for both public outreach and classroom experiences. Evaluation data on the impact of module use and professional development will be presented. Overall, this project provides evidence that MSE has the potential to effectively teach the Science and Engineering Practices necessary for addressing the NGSS.

*CRISP (Center for Research on Interface Structures and Phenomena) is a National Science Foundation funded Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Yale and Southern Connecticut State University. CRISP acknowledges primary funding from (NSF MRSEC DMR 1119826)

[1] Day, D. A., Ferrari, N., & Broadbridge, C. C. (2014). The Role of Collaborative Student Research on the Development of 21st Century Skills. In MRS Proceedings (Vol. 1657, pp. mrsf13-1657). Cambridge University Press.

An educational semiconductor polymer lab kit has been developed that works to immerse students in hands-on inquiry activities surrounding current research in polymer semiconductors. The kit and curriculum exposes students and instructors to the polymer synthesis, underlying physics, and applications of conjugated polymeric materials and complements existing chemistry and physics laboratory activities. The hands-on laboratory exercises engage students with inquiry-based experiments in conductive polymer synthesis and semiconductive polymers for optoelectronic applications such as solar cells and light-emitting diodes. Our goal is to bring awareness of these advancements through three laboratory modules related to electrochromic polymers, OLEDs, and polymer solar cells while supporting instructional implementation of these activities with easy to use online resources and apps. Teachers have access to online-tools that can ease the utilization of modern content and teaching strategies in lieu of traditional lecture and teacher directed instruction. Students can self-check for understanding of lab practices and content through a free downloadable app for each of these three modules. The educational apps serve to enhance the student learning experience and facilitate analytical skill development. The overarching goal of the project is to expose students to the latest molecular materials technologies and encourage them to consider future careers in science and engineering. This kit is being implemented in professional development workshops for 9-12 educators in the Charlotte, NC region to grow a community of local support for the inclusion of interdisciplinary, advanced topics in 9-12 science courses. The mutualistic partnership formed between 9-12 educators and local researchers is a key part of this sustainable educational opportunity.

The Garcia Program for High School Research Scholars was first established in 1996 as part of the outreach segment of the NSF MRSEC: Polymers at Engineered Interfaces [1]. Since its inception the program has hosted more than 600 high school students, which has provided a statistically significant data base for evaluating the impact of pre-college science research in subsequent adult career outcomes. Most Federal grant proposals currently require educational outreach components. The results of this study can provide valuable feedback on the long and short term impact of this component and help researchers design future programs with optimal outcomes.
This study focuses on students who participated in the program between 2001-2010. This time span allows us to poll students regarding the influence of involvement in materials science research in high school on (a) choice of college/university attended (b) college major and involvement of subsequent undergraduate research programs (REU) and (c) selection of post-college career path.

[1] Ulrich Strom, “Garcia Center Leads Students from the Materials Laboratory to the Real World”, Interfaces, MRS Bulletin, Volume 32, September, 2007

We have developed a summer research program where high school, undergraduate, and graduate students work in teams to solve problems at the cutting edge of materials science research[1]. To have the student learn the skills they need to operate in the modern research environment in the limited time during the program, we designed a comprehensive series of experiment. Our goal is to teach students (a) how to make original contributions while working within a team environment, (b) Integrate data from other teams to arrive at a common conclusion and (c) learn fundamental data acquisition, data recording, and statistical analysis techniques. The experiment involves an original method for the determination of the molecular weight of a polymer. Briefly, we spin-cast the solubilized polymer with different concentration on silicon, measuring the resulting thicknesses and then generate the curve of these two factors, with which the concentration corresponding a 300nm coating can be extrapolated. The concentration is then substituted into a relationship determined previously which correlates molecular weight to solution concentration [2]. The experiment is carried out as follows; students are divided into teams, each consisting of two to ten students. Each team is given an unknown polymer product, such as a PS foam cup, PS packing peanut, etc. One or two team are given a “control” sample of PS with known molecular weight. The students first perform FTIR to identify their polymer or polymer product. Each group is then subdivided into pairs of students, solubilizing the polymer with the a concentration they have been assigned. Each student spin-casts at least one sample onto silicon wafer, and takes multiple ellipsometric readings of the thickness. Each pair determines the thickness of their sample and associated standard deviation. The leaders of each team assist the students in data analysis and final molecular weight determination. Once all teams have presented their results, the instructor can discuss (a) the validity of the technique based on the presented results; (b) the importance of repurposing polymers (c) the structure-property relationship associated with different polymer molecular weights, i.e. viscosity, modulus, stability etc. and (d) the structure property of the “original” object and the possible reason for the manufacturers selection of the molecular weight.
Supported in part by the NSF-INSPIRE Program.
[1] Ulrich Strom (2007). “Garcia Center Leads Students from the Materials Laboratory to the Real World.” MRS Bulletin, 32, pp 728-730. doi:10.1557/mrs2007.151.
[2] Vladimir Shapovalov, et al. (2000). "Nanostructure formation in spin-cast polystyrene films." Polymer International 49: 432-436.

Modern generation is widely exposed to the increasing amount of information through the traditional sources such as TV, radio, and newspapers as well as modern sources such as web-blogs and video sharing websites. In addition, rapid development of technology continuously generates new terminology (a.k.a. “buzz-words”) that explains current happenings and trends in the tech world. Every year some of these terms are getting picked-up and popularized by the media leading to global excitement about these focus areas. It is also known that the media in any form have a profound influence on student’s awareness and interests and that many of current engineering students selected their programs following the “buzz-words” that were circulated by the media. In my talk I propose to use this controversial media effect to improve learning experience. In order to capture student interest and improve students’ retention, it is important to modify current educational practices and include recent high-tech advancements, suitably modified and/or simplified, to the engineering courses. Such introduction of innovative concepts and technologies behind the popular terms requires minimal resources but greatly enhances the undergraduate learning experience. In this talk I give several real-world examples of how to incorporate recent technological advancements into engineering courses, describe best practices, and discuss the outcomes.

A student who views a sculpture may understand the materials science behind its creation or the history of the artwork. However, a student rarely has knowledge of both of these subjects, nor the opportunity to create a work of art informed by both. Here, I will present a new course titled “Engineering Materials: The Art and Science of Sculpture”, which is an interdisciplinary, hands-on approach to teaching materials science and engineering to a broad range of students. The course generates a unique collaborative environment by teaming students majoring in engineering with students majoring in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. The goal of the course is to introduce students to the materials science, history, and practice of three-dimensional art. This is accomplished through hands-on art projects that enable students to create sculptures from metals, glasses, and polymers. Simultaneously, students learn about the materials and processes used to create their sculptures.

The course has an innovative instructional format that consists of five modules. Each of the first four modules focuses on a particular class of material and a technique for creating sculptures. The modules are: (1) lost-foam casting using aluminum, (2) bending and welding of steel, (3) 3D printing with polymers, (4) hand shaping and blowing of glass, and (5) found object art. Each module consists of six in-class meetings. The first meeting is a lecture about the history and practice of a technique used by sculptors, such as bending or glass blowing. The second meeting is a lecture that discusses how the technique affects, and is affected by, the structure, properties, and performance of the materials used to create sculptures. In the third meeting, students test materials in a lab, where they form hypotheses, obtain data, generate stress-strain curves, and analyze their results. Student teams then spend two meetings, as well as time outside of class, applying the knowledge that they have gained by creating sculptures in an art studio. In the final meeting of each module, students present their work and discuss their methods through an art exhibition.

Results from pre- and post-testing, as well as student feedback, will be presented. The data shows that the course is effective in teaching fundamental concepts in materials science and engineering, particularly to women and students who are majoring in humanities, social sciences, and the arts. Furthermore, we will discuss how modules and lessons in the course could be implemented in pre-college classrooms to encourage high school students to explore materials science.

The course is a result of the collaboration between the Harvey Mudd College Department of Engineering and the Art Field Group at Pitzer College, and was made possible by the Mellon Foundation Presidential Leadership Grant and the Rick and Susan Sontag Center for Collaborative Creativity.

Standard undergraduate education in materials science entails learning concepts such as phase diagrams, crystallization, and materials characterization. Here, we present a non-traditional, topical approach to teaching these concepts at a wide range of educational training and skill levels through the close examination of chocolate.

To teach undergraduate students, we developed a one-credit course entitled “Chocolate: An Introduction to in Materials Science”. Twenty undergraduate students with no prior materials science coursework were enrolled in the course. To effectively measure learning gains against a control group, this cohort was compared to a demographically similar class from the materials science department that was given a lecture and survey based on traditional phase diagrams. Surveys based on both subjective personal experience as well as objective knowledge gained indicate the topical teaching method to be comparable to, and possibly more reliable, than a traditional lecture. Students felt the lesson topics were valuable, with 15/20 students wanting to take a full semester course if one was offered, despite no degree requirements.

To engage an even younger audience in materials science, we developed a children’s picture storybook to introduce young students to phase diagrams, again in the context of chocolate. To enhance the content appeal, we also personalize the text and character graphics using each child’s name and appearance. Interviews of two second grade girls and their parents were used to gauge subjective personal experience, interest, and knowledge gained.

Overall, we find find that our chocolate-framed teaching and presentation of materials science increased student interest while maintaining a comparable level of learning and retention. We find that such alternative, topical instruction in the area of materials science is not strictly useful for increasing interest, as is frequently shown in general surveys, but can also be an effective teaching tool for students at all stages of educational training and skill level. We present our course curriculum and children’s book as resources for others interested in broadening perceptions and engaging students in materials science.

Science festivals are supposed to communicate science to the public. In recent years, a variety of large-scale science communication activities emerged throughout Europe with the common aim of raising public interest in science and, consequently, increasing the number of science students and young academics in key disciplines like engineering, data, or materials science. However, a recent evaluation of related German activities revealed that, despite large numbers of participants and strong media coverage, these activities significantly lack sustainability if concepts such as the involvement of schools and teachers remain unconsidered. Science teachers are professional science communicators and key disseminators of scientific knowledge, who acquire their knowledge through pre- and in-service training. Each teacher, however, individually decides on what to bring to which extent into the classroom, and, hence, the key question arises: Which aspects of teacher trainings can indeed guarantee efficient transfer of up-to-date knowledge to real classroom activity?

Here, we present the outcome of our evaluation exemplarily carried out on one specific large-scale teacher training activity, the science festival "Science on Stage" (SonS) [1]. SonS is a European initiative offering teachers the opportunity to share ideas and teaching practices with colleagues on an international level. Innovative teaching projects are chosen for presentation at SonS festivals through competitive national events in 27 countries. Past events in 2008 and 2013 were organized by Science on Stage Germany (2015: UK). For these festivals, we assessed the effectiveness of SonS in pursuing clear objectives, in precisely defining the target group, and in disseminating teachers' knowledge amongst the teachers following four different approaches: (i), a logical framework analysis to clarify the project's objectives, (ii), pre- and post-tests distributed to the participants, (iii), a sustainability test distributed to all participants of SonS festivals in the past years, and, (iv), interviews with participants and festival organizers. We document that both demonstrating and discussing own projects acts highly motivating on teachers for their future work. One third of the participants implemented at least three ideas from the festival into own science lessons, and every second incorporated them into own teacher trainings. Overall, for the prototypical activity SonS we document significant transfer of knowledge from festival to classroom and identify core prerequisites thereof. This now allows identifying factors that account for successful future large-scale science communication activities.

[1] http://www.science-on-stage.eu/page/display/4/17/0/evaluation-reports

It is both possible, and beneficial, to have students perform design-oriented, and/or creative projects in mid- to large-enrollment introductory courses. I employ these projects while teaching Introduction to the Science and Engineering of Materials at the University of Virginia. My section of the course has an enrollment of 70-80 students, and was completely redesigned to feature both active and significant learning. The projects go well beyond typical problems assigned from the “back of the chapter”. While such problems are important for skills development and to force students to engage the chapter, they often lack context and any semblance of realism. I use two projects that engage deeper exploration and engagement in concepts associated with crystal structure, density, packing and strength. These projects examine the storage of hydrogen in carbon nanotubes, and in pressurized tanks, respectively. In addition to fostering deeper learning in a more open-ended context, the projects demand that students develop good graphing practice and organized reporting skills. The projects are team-based so that students benefit from collaborative learning and working in diverse groups, while also reducing the grading burden. The student teams additionally create an eight-minute “Materials Challenge Video” (MCV). The teams pick a topic of interest to them in which materials provide either a solution or a limitation. A key requirement is that the Process/Structure/Properties paradigm be featured in every video. The MCV is an attempt to satisfy one of my key goals for the course – if they remember nothing else, students should take with them a conceptual understanding of the materials science paradigm. The teams also grade other teams, to provide further exposure to the paradigm in action. Interestingly, some of these videos, which are uploaded to a public Youtube channel, have had surprisingly large viewership. Finally, all these projects are readily scalable to larger enrollments, if TA grading support is available. Support from the UVa Center for Teaching Excellence through a Nucleus grant and the Course Design Institute is gratefully acknowledged.

The flipped classroom with active learning is widely recognized for the potential to dramatically increase student involvement and improve student outcomes. However, it can be challenging to implement effectively, especially for topics that are perceived by students as less than intuitive. Retaining an already dense syllabus for foundational courses further exacerbates the challenges. In this talk, I will discuss the strategy I used at Cornell to flip the junior level thermodynamics course using a hybrid approach leveraging the advantages of both traditional lectures with active learning (iClickers, simple worksheets) and fully flipped problem solving sessions using senior undergraduates as teaching assistants. To compensate for the reduced lecture time, ancillary topics such as Ellingham diagrams and Debye-Hückel screening were handled as video “lecturettes” linked with challenging homework assignments. Finally, full class “exploratory” exercises, such as the experimental development of the salt-water phase diagram, were used to develop an intuitive understanding from students’ common physical experiences. Combining these formats improved student outcomes across the spectrum including both quantitative problem solving skills and fundamental understanding of theory and historical development. Issues of time commitment to develop the flipped classroom, transferability of materials from other institutions, and the long term sustainability of the flipped model will also be discussed.

This presentation will discuss the unique challenges associated with teaching and learning materials science. Materials science is an interdisciplinary subject that draws in experts and students from both science and engineering. Launching of professional science masters in materials science and instrumentation at St. Cloud State University added another dimension to this complexity: Professional science masters programs are academic pathway to support students aspiring a career in an industry, business or government. Hence materials science curriculum for these students needs have a blend of concepts, principles in material science and engineering and mostly critically, structure-property relationship and industrial applications of materials. This requires merging science- and design-driven pedagogical approaches to teaching materials science to promote rational understanding of an array of materials.

The presentation will share the best practices in using a variety of instructional technologies that are available to digitize lectures and disseminate them. Creation of course-content online in a multimedia format that can be accessed by students anywhere, anytime and on any device promotes learning outside the classroom as the learners have an option to study/review the material in a self-directed pace. This is very critical for many full-time working professionals as it provides them greater flexibility balancing job, education and life. In addition, creation of online course content allows instructors freedom to use adaptive pedagogies to engage students and foster a collaborative learning environment. Screen capture programs are proving to be very powerful instructional technology in this respect and to create content for online dissemination requires efficient use of these programs. One of the key challenges faced by instructors is the lack of information about instructional technological resources available to them. This presentation intends to help the instructors with the information about available resources and discuss the salient features of the programs as the needs of the instructor varies depending on the course-content.

The National Alliance for Broader Impacts (NABI) seeks to foster a community of practice that increases individual and institutional capacity for, and engagement in, broader impact (BI) activities and scholarship. NABI currently has over 440 individual members representing more than 160 institutions and organizations who are part of the growing NABI networks of professionals. As several funding agencies, particularly the National Science Foundation, are requiring investigators to include a broader impact plan as part of their research proposals, several investigators grapple with how to articulate and effectively engage broad audiences in materials science and STEM. We will:
(1) describe the effort of NABI to address the BI challenges,
(2) present the NABI document dubbed—Broader Impacts, Guiding Principles and Questions for National Science Foundation Principal Investigators and Proposal Reviewers
(3) highlight the impacts of NABI as a catalyst for building BI capacity
(4) present an iterative model for engaging students, including women and those from under-represented groups, in STEM and materials science via technology, iterative feedback, storytelling and science communication and
(5) describe an application of this model and its impacts.

We have involved six high-achieving pre-university summer placement students in the development of undergraduate teaching materials. Here we describe our approach and preliminary results.

Significant experience has been accumulating at the Advanced Technology Institute with the running of successful summer research placements. A-level, usually 17 year-old, high school students have been spending between four and six weeks at the Institute working on current research problems, and usually generating publishable new results. Students accumulate large amounts of focused technical information at and above an undergraduate level, as well as research practice behaviors, in a very short period of time.

In the present study, we changed the aim of the placements from producing new research findings to creating engaging teaching materials for first year undergraduate Electronics courses. Students interested in pursuing STEM at university, come into the placement with a strong background of physics and mathematics, and perhaps chemistry, but very few notions of material science or electronic engineering. Their subtle difference in background is representative of the spread of prior knowledge in a typical first year undergraduate cohort in our department.

We involve the placement students in the production of teaching materials for: first year undergraduate laboratory practicals (general electronics), first year undergraduate lectures and demonstrations (semiconductor materials and devices), final year undergraduate research project (CAD, semiconductor devices) and tutorial presentations for conferences and seminars. With the academic in charge of the course setting the learning outcomes and ensuring “quality control”, placement students research, structure, storyboard and produce the new teaching materials, which include online documents, photography, video and audio.

The method borrows from and goes beyond peer instruction, and has several important advantages: it engages pre-university students with advanced STEM concepts; through their naïve starting position, placement students are able to understand well the difficulties faced while learning the new material; being of a similar age and background to first year undergraduates who will be using the materials, placement students are able to suggest technologies, patterns and channels which facilitate learning for their generation; placement student’s own research of the new concepts sheds light on both the most likely and the most effective resources which undergraduate students might use.

While the project is in its early stages, we report on the effects on placement student learning, sense of achievement, and influence of the placement on their choice of degree, using entry/exit questionnaires and ongoing feedback. The benefit to undergraduate students is assessed by comparing module evaluation questionnaire (MEQ) scores, student grades and satisfaction with baseline historic averages.

Developing a strategic approach towards broader impact goals, program implementation, and evaluation in materials science is a necessary endeavor because the spectrum of potential efforts is extremely wide. There are many current education, outreach, and diversity initiatives and ideas to consider, and all have inherent merit that deserves focused attention and expertise. However, choosing the right focus areas can be difficult. Target audiences vary greatly, scientific research content changes rapidly, current educational methods and models are best understood via strong partnerships with teaching and learning experts, and meaningful evaluation metrics remain challenging to capture.

The Penn State MRSEC, however, has a long successful history of managing a large portfolio of education, outreach, and diversity programs that actively engage more than 40 graduate student volunteers each year. The Center has established a strong cultural tradition of faculty and student engagement in such program activities, a positive reputation for hosting hands-on active learning experiences, a history of creating five successful cart-based museum kits with The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia (with a new interactive web-based project on the horizon), and a track record of providing key instrumental efforts to support new diversity recruitment and retention initiatives and Penn State.

To make these successes happen, partnerships have been carefully chosen and fostered to enhance support and encourage institutional impact, and programs have been designed to accomplish multiple aims and serve several audiences simultaneously. In the process, the lessons learned tell a story of strategy development that provides an informative perspective for anyone engaged in similar broader impact activities.

This article presents a laboratory module developed for undergraduate micro/nano engineering laboratory courses in the mechanical engineering departments at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. In this laboratory, students fabricate superoleophobic membranes by spray-coating of titania nanoparticles on steel meshes, characterize the surfaces and ability of the membrane to retain oil, and then use these membranes to separate an oil-water mixture. The laboratory module covers nanomaterials, nanomanufacturing, materials characterization, and understanding of the concepts of surface tension and hydrostatics, with oil-water separation as an application. The laboratory experiments are easy to set up based on commercially available tools and materials, which will facilitate implementation of this module in other educational institutions. The significance of oil-water separation in the petroleum industry and integration of concepts from fluid mechanics in the laboratory module will help to illustrate the relevance of nanotechnology to mechanical and materials engineering and its potential to address some of the future societal needs.

Two major drawbacks of solar energy are its inability to produce power at night and its inability to be stored by directly by creating a fuel. Some semiconducting materials, when illuminated, are capable of splitting water to produce hydrogen gas (H₂), a clean-burning renewable fuel, but they are either inefficient, unstable or too expensive. Semiconducting metal oxides can be extremely stable, inexpensive and environmentally-friendly, but no known metal oxide (e.g., iron oxide) can efficiently and cost-effectively produce H₂ when illuminated. For this reason, multi-element metal oxides (e.g., chromium-aluminum-iron oxide) need to be thoroughly explored. However, there is an extremely large number of possible elemental combinations to be tested–a task that no single researcher can accomplish.
The Solar Hydrogen Activity research Kit (SHArK) is a citizen science kit that high school and undergraduate educators use with their students. SHArK is unique among educational science kits in that users are performing real scientific research–identifying new materials for use in light-driven water-splitting. Participating SHArK, students make and screen novel ternary metal oxides for their light-driven water-splitting capacity. Students are tasked with creating a “library” on conductive glass substrates of combinations of metal salts from solutions with overlapping concentration gradients. The deposited solutions are then pyrolyzed in a furnace to create metal oxide thin-films. SHArK’s user-friendly software drives the SHArK scan station that raster scans a low-power green laser across the sample, building a false color photocurrent image. The amount of current produced in a photoactive region of a student’s sample is compared to a metal oxide standard also on the substrate, and students determine if they have found a “hit”. After a student runs an experiment, the data is automatically saved to an online database and is instantly accessible to SHArK users around the world.
A SHArK kit contains four major components: instructional materials (i.e., handouts and lesson plans), data analysis tools (ways to look at the large amounts of data generated by SHArK), sample analysis tools (how the student analyzes his/her sample), and sample preparation tools (how the student makes his/her sample). When students and educators use SHArK, they are part of something larger than just themselves or their school; they are part of a global collaboration. In discovering new materials, students will gain knowledge of and feel a part of the solution to the energy crisis while obtaining valuable hands-on experience with chemistry, physics, materials science and the scientific method. Balancing prepackaged easy-to-use materials with more advanced intellectual concepts eases students and teachers into real-life research where not everyone gets the same result, but all the results are still valuable.

The significant and multifaceted challenges of the modern world require a new generation of scientists, engineers, and leaders adept at critical and creative problem solving. Through the integration of Art’s creativity, innovative thinking, and effective communication with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math’s (STEM) emphasis on critical thinking, experimental design, modelling, and data analysis, STEAM educational practices and opportunities better prepare students with the education required to meet the substantial and diverse challenges of the 21st Century. Liberal arts institutions seek to challenge active learners to develop intellectual depth in a discipline, along with the breadth of experience to see and apply that knowledge to problems of a diverse and significant scope. In addition, students should be provided with opportunities for collaborative and engaging problem solving strategies. Through generous support from an Independent Colleges of Indiana/Ball Venture Fund Grant, the Wabash College 3D Printing and Fabrication Center (3D-PFC) was established to serve as a nexus for educational STEAM (STEM w/Art) activities on campus. Originating from a group of faculty and staff from academic and support departments, the 3D-PFC aims to enable diverse and meaningful cross-disciplinary collaborations related to teaching and learning across campus. These include new courses that bridge digital design and materials science, cross-disciplinary faculty collaborations that combine arts and STEM education, 3D printing and fabrication-based undergraduate research internships, and entrepreneurial opportunities. The establishment of the 3D-PFC not only resulted in the design and development of new courses, its impressive infrastructure led to the inclusion of digital design and fabrication activities into established courses on campus. The 3D-PFC has grown into a nexus for high-impact programs that both engage and empower active learners to develop intellectual and practical problem solving skills. In addition to problem solving, a humane living initiative helps support service learning projects, community-based opportunities, and global outreach initiatives provide students with a sense of social responsibility, ethical awareness, leadership, and teamwork. The most popular of these outreach efforts is a growing collaboration with health professionals and non-profit organizations to produce student designed, 3D printed prosthetic devices. The early successes of the 3D-PFC demonstrate exciting innovations in teaching and learning that will enhance the lives of Wabash College students and serve as a model to other institutions. This presentation will report early successes and programmatic goals for the future.

Today’s advanced research equipment is typically fully computerized with most tasks executed automatically without user participation. This is one of the reasons why experience difficulties in assessing applicability and limitations of methods, and factors affecting data accuracy. Hence, they cannot correctly estimate reliability of the results. In addition, many students, especially those enrolled in on-line or large-class science and engineering courses, lack opportunities for hands-on practice and experimentation due to a limited availability of expensive equipment for educational purposes.

This paper discusses the use of a virtual X-ray Diffraction Laboratory (v-XRD Lab) for teaching various materials science and engineering courses in several U.S. and Russian universities. Thus far, the lab has been used: (i) as the only tool for lab practice on the relevant subjects by the students who have no access to real equipment; (ii) for hybrid experimentation in combination with actual equipment; (iii) for preparing students for hands-on practice in actual X-ray labs; (iv) for performance-based assessment of students’ understanding and their ability to apply gained knowledge for solving practical tasks; (v) for lecture demonstrations; and (vi) for training personnel of x-ray laboratories and evaluating their knowledge and skills.

The v-XRD Lab helps overcome some of the problems mentioned above, distance and blended education,The v-XRD Lab enables undergraduate and graduate students to perform authentic experiments online, fully functional virtual replicas of actual X-ray equipment. The equipment realistically imitates the design and operation of X-Ray diffractometers and also includes educational analytical software. Experimental data can be collected and handled manually or automatically. Virtual data can be exported to popular software as well.
The v-XRD Lab includes an open collection of samples available for experiments. Instructors can add their own samples using measured or calculated data. An easy-to-use authoring tool enables instructors to customize existing virtual experiments or create new ones. The v-XRD Lab can be integrated with MOOC e-learning platforms.

A variety of visual, audio and traditional learning and assessment resources are integrated with virtual experiments to provide students with “just-in-time” learning opportunities.

The presentation will discuss online and hybrid experimentation that includes but is not limited to the following topics: a practical introduction to XRD; Braggs’ law and accuracy of the XRD method; indexing of XRD patterns and structure identification; qualitative phase analysis of alloys, ceramics, polymers, nanostructured materials and thin films; XRD study of phase transitions and identification of polymorphic phases, etc.

Materials science research in industry and academia is continuing to be increasingly interdisciplinary with regards to the applications and scientific expertise required. The Chemistry and Physics departments at Weber State University are harnessing an interdisciplinary approach to materials science undergraduate research, in order to mimic this trend. Using the development of perovskite materials for solar cells, WSU is providing a framework of different perspectives in materials: materials synthesis, the micro- and macrostructure analysis of materials, and the interplay between structure and properties of materials to create working electronic devices. Using metal-halide perovskites, a cutting-edge technology in the solar industry, allows WSU to showcase that undergraduate research can be relevant and important. The perovskite materials are synthesized in the chemistry department and characterized in the physics department, with students in each discipline getting exposure to both steps. The students involved directly organize the collaborative exchange of samples and data, working together to design experiments building ownership over the project and its outcomes. We will discuss this collaborative process, organization, experimental analysis and early results from the undergraduate perovskite research.