CONLOG (for connection logic) is the name given to a set of fast current controlled circuits char... more CONLOG (for connection logic) is the name given to a set of fast current controlled circuits characterized by its methods of data representation and gate interconnections. Because of its properties, only one basic circuit topology is required to implement a particular CONLOG family. Furthermore, to adjust circuit parameters all that is needed is to make minor adjustments in a few component values. A specific implementation of CONLOG circuitry, MICON, is presented with examples of how it can be used as a basis for the development of a complete set of computer circuits. MICON circuits are very flexible in their design as there are no specifically required values for such items as the power supply voltages and the magnitude of current used for data representation. All standard logic functions, as well as some of the more exotic and complex logic functions, can be easily implemented using this circuitry. Improvements to the basic MICON circuit are also presented, demonstrating power dissipation reduction and both temperature and power supply independence. There are drawbacks to go along with the benefits of using a current-based data representation method; two logic designs using MICON circuitry are presented to illustrate each point.
When dealing with student outcomes assessment, having a concise, standardized approach towards th... more When dealing with student outcomes assessment, having a concise, standardized approach towards the reporting of data and the processing of information helps streamline the processes. Over the last 20 years, the Faculty Course Assessment Report (FCAR) Methodology has been used by many programs in developing sustainable assessment processes. This paper explains the origins of this Methodology, including the introduction of two of its key components, performance vectors and evaluation heuristics. While a review of FCAR-based papers is well outside of the scope of this paper, some examples of this Methodology’s impact are provided.
The portfolio has long been used as a tool for monitoring student progress. In computer science, ... more The portfolio has long been used as a tool for monitoring student progress. In computer science, the programming portfolio contains a selection of computer programs that a student has produced over a period of time. Usually this has consisted of a notebook containing pages of program listings, perhaps combined with text-based example runs or graphics-based snapshots showing particular moments of program execution. While useful, reviewing such material is about as exciting as watching paint dry and fails to capture the essence of the programs in action. With the advent of the World Wide Web and the Java-based applet, the programming portfolio can be revitalized into an interactive format conducive to both student and reviewer.
2021 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 2021
This Innovative Practice Full Paper presents a successful approach for scoping term project desig... more This Innovative Practice Full Paper presents a successful approach for scoping term project design parameters. Making connections between classroom material and real-world design has always been challenging for educators; while the technical bells and whistles tend to captivate students, there's a lessened interest in the business, customer, and societal aspects of design. However, one must remember that design is made for people. Accordingly, some programs incorporate service-learning into their curricula, usually in the junior or senior year. This paper presents two innovations: (1) using a first-year programming course as the service-learning venue where (2) elements of the entrepreneurial mindset are employed to scope the design of a software application project augmenting a client-specified theme. The entrepreneurial mindset models employed are the NABC, which helps designers develop a proposed solution, and the MVP, where an early prototype is created to avoid the risk of building something no one wants. Using these models helps teams to communicate their ideas with both clients and team members, and determine whether they are converging toward an acceptable and timely solution, creating value for others by designing software meeting identified needs. Multiple assessments have shown the effectiveness of this approach, with students appreciating having open-ended client-based problems. To facilitate adoption, a repository containing all instructional materials associated with this paper is available at the Engineering Unleashed website.
The ABET Criteria for engineering programs require that students attain specific learning outcome... more The ABET Criteria for engineering programs require that students attain specific learning outcomes, including understanding engineering in both a global and social context, and designing within multiple realistic constraints. To address this goal, the College of Engineering at Ohio Northern University has implemented a First-Year Engineering Capstone course featuring a requirement that all projects must involve the design of a poverty alleviation device. Such a device must be geared toward improving lives in a country where at least 40% of the population meet the World Bank's definition of living in either extreme or moderate poverty, earning less than $2 a day. The projects require the student team to follow and document an engineering design process, including regular written reports, oral presentations, and the development of a functional prototype providing proof of concept. Teams were also required to design and present a poster as part of an entrepreneurial “idea pitch” co...
John K. Estell, Ohio Northern University John K. Estell is Chair of the Electrical & Computer Eng... more John K. Estell, Ohio Northern University John K. Estell is Chair of the Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer Science Department, and Professor of Computer Engineering and Computer Science, at Ohio Northern University. He received his doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His areas of research include simplifying the outcomes assessment process, first-year engineering instruction, and the pedagogical aspects of writing computer games. Dr. Estell is a Senior Member of IEEE, and a member of ACM, ASEE, Tau Beta Pi, Eta Kappa Nu, and Upsilon Pi Epsilon.
The concept of having first-year students conduct ‘One Minute Engineer’ (OME) presentations was p... more The concept of having first-year students conduct ‘One Minute Engineer’ (OME) presentations was presented at the 2006 ASEE National Conference 1 . OME presentations, first developed at Northeastern University (NU), consist of having students individually provide a short (nominally one minute) presentation on an engineering-related topic at the beginning of class each day, with each student participating once during the term. Students select the topics in advance on a firstcome, first-serve basis, with feedback from the instructor on the chosen topic. Instructors could then relate future lectures and concepts to earlier student presentations. The 2006 ASEE paper presented results from two instructors at two different universities. The data showed that students reported an increased awareness of engineering topics as a result of the One-Minute Engineer. Since this method showed similar and promising outcomes at two different institutions, the authors agreed to implement the OME activity across all sections of the first engineering course at Ohio Northern University (ONU). Preand postsurveys similar to those administered in the original OME implementation were used at this institution. These results were compared to the previously published data as well as with the current class at the originating institution. An additional level of assessment was added to this iteration of the OME through the establishment of a rubric for evaluating the students’ presentation skills. Finally, assessment data on students’ engineering awareness was compared across universities. Background The need for today’s engineering students to have improved technical communication skills has been well documented, perhaps most clearly in the ABET criteria 3 . Teaching communication as part of engineering curricula has been tried in many ways, a good overview of which is presented in Ford and Riley 4 . Adding technical communication to the freshman curriculum was one of the central reasons for reforming the courses at ONU. Some of this work has resulted in previous publications 5,6 . The first of these courses, Freshman Engineering 1, includes objectives related to technical communication and exposing students to the engineering profession. As the model of a Scholar/Teacher was being discussed at the 2006 ASEE National Conference Plenary Session 2 , Dr. Sheri Sheppard stated that the scholarship of teaching and learning is distinguished from just good teaching as it involves communicating it to a community that is engaged in debate and publishing and building on each other’s work. In attendance were two of the instructors from the aforementioned Freshman Engineering 1 course who, later during the conference, also attended a paper presentation regarding the OME. After meeting with the other faculty teaching the course following the conference, it was decided to make the OME a part of this freshman course. While the OME itself would not be sufficient to teach technical communication, it provides a forum for students to practice and display technical presentation P ge 12122.2 skills. In addition, students often note that there seems to be a lack of connection between coursework and the ‘real world.’ While laboratory experiences can help students with this 7 , it is also helpful to have examples so that the students can relate course content to their own experiences and interests outside of the classroom. Additionally, the ABET criteria requires that students have a knowledge of current events related to the engineering profession 3 . It is also clear that having an understanding of engineering history can help us learn from prior mistakes 8 . The OME presentations provide the instructors with a wealth of examples that can be referred back to during lectures. They further provide students with a wide variety of examples of engineering and its impact on society. The OME is certainly not the only way in which to achieve the objectives of better technical presentation skills and a greater awareness of engineering in the real world. However, it combines both of these topics in a way that has minimal impact on class time. It also seems particularly helpful for a first-year course, since: “In addition to conveying engineering content, teaching first-year engineering students entails its own specific educational issues, some of which are: (1) attracting and maintaining the students’ interest and attention at a quality level, (2) helping students generate a sense of relevance between class and engineering in the real world, (3) building a foundation to their technical presentation skills, (4) motivating them to be interested and inspired by engineering as a career, (5) making them feel part of the new academic world they are entering, and (6) allowing them to contribute to and participate in their own education 1 .” As part of the implementation process, one of the Freshman Engineering 1 faculty members contacted the instructor who had originally…
CONLOG (for connection logic) is the name given to a set of fast current controlled circuits char... more CONLOG (for connection logic) is the name given to a set of fast current controlled circuits characterized by its methods of data representation and gate interconnections. Because of its properties, only one basic circuit topology is required to implement a particular CONLOG family. Furthermore, to adjust circuit parameters all that is needed is to make minor adjustments in a few component values. A specific implementation of CONLOG circuitry, MICON, is presented with examples of how it can be used as a basis for the development of a complete set of computer circuits. MICON circuits are very flexible in their design as there are no specifically required values for such items as the power supply voltages and the magnitude of current used for data representation. All standard logic functions, as well as some of the more exotic and complex logic functions, can be easily implemented using this circuitry. Improvements to the basic MICON circuit are also presented, demonstrating power dissipation reduction and both temperature and power supply independence. There are drawbacks to go along with the benefits of using a current-based data representation method; two logic designs using MICON circuitry are presented to illustrate each point.
When dealing with student outcomes assessment, having a concise, standardized approach towards th... more When dealing with student outcomes assessment, having a concise, standardized approach towards the reporting of data and the processing of information helps streamline the processes. Over the last 20 years, the Faculty Course Assessment Report (FCAR) Methodology has been used by many programs in developing sustainable assessment processes. This paper explains the origins of this Methodology, including the introduction of two of its key components, performance vectors and evaluation heuristics. While a review of FCAR-based papers is well outside of the scope of this paper, some examples of this Methodology’s impact are provided.
The portfolio has long been used as a tool for monitoring student progress. In computer science, ... more The portfolio has long been used as a tool for monitoring student progress. In computer science, the programming portfolio contains a selection of computer programs that a student has produced over a period of time. Usually this has consisted of a notebook containing pages of program listings, perhaps combined with text-based example runs or graphics-based snapshots showing particular moments of program execution. While useful, reviewing such material is about as exciting as watching paint dry and fails to capture the essence of the programs in action. With the advent of the World Wide Web and the Java-based applet, the programming portfolio can be revitalized into an interactive format conducive to both student and reviewer.
2021 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 2021
This Innovative Practice Full Paper presents a successful approach for scoping term project desig... more This Innovative Practice Full Paper presents a successful approach for scoping term project design parameters. Making connections between classroom material and real-world design has always been challenging for educators; while the technical bells and whistles tend to captivate students, there's a lessened interest in the business, customer, and societal aspects of design. However, one must remember that design is made for people. Accordingly, some programs incorporate service-learning into their curricula, usually in the junior or senior year. This paper presents two innovations: (1) using a first-year programming course as the service-learning venue where (2) elements of the entrepreneurial mindset are employed to scope the design of a software application project augmenting a client-specified theme. The entrepreneurial mindset models employed are the NABC, which helps designers develop a proposed solution, and the MVP, where an early prototype is created to avoid the risk of building something no one wants. Using these models helps teams to communicate their ideas with both clients and team members, and determine whether they are converging toward an acceptable and timely solution, creating value for others by designing software meeting identified needs. Multiple assessments have shown the effectiveness of this approach, with students appreciating having open-ended client-based problems. To facilitate adoption, a repository containing all instructional materials associated with this paper is available at the Engineering Unleashed website.
The ABET Criteria for engineering programs require that students attain specific learning outcome... more The ABET Criteria for engineering programs require that students attain specific learning outcomes, including understanding engineering in both a global and social context, and designing within multiple realistic constraints. To address this goal, the College of Engineering at Ohio Northern University has implemented a First-Year Engineering Capstone course featuring a requirement that all projects must involve the design of a poverty alleviation device. Such a device must be geared toward improving lives in a country where at least 40% of the population meet the World Bank's definition of living in either extreme or moderate poverty, earning less than $2 a day. The projects require the student team to follow and document an engineering design process, including regular written reports, oral presentations, and the development of a functional prototype providing proof of concept. Teams were also required to design and present a poster as part of an entrepreneurial “idea pitch” co...
John K. Estell, Ohio Northern University John K. Estell is Chair of the Electrical & Computer Eng... more John K. Estell, Ohio Northern University John K. Estell is Chair of the Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer Science Department, and Professor of Computer Engineering and Computer Science, at Ohio Northern University. He received his doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His areas of research include simplifying the outcomes assessment process, first-year engineering instruction, and the pedagogical aspects of writing computer games. Dr. Estell is a Senior Member of IEEE, and a member of ACM, ASEE, Tau Beta Pi, Eta Kappa Nu, and Upsilon Pi Epsilon.
The concept of having first-year students conduct ‘One Minute Engineer’ (OME) presentations was p... more The concept of having first-year students conduct ‘One Minute Engineer’ (OME) presentations was presented at the 2006 ASEE National Conference 1 . OME presentations, first developed at Northeastern University (NU), consist of having students individually provide a short (nominally one minute) presentation on an engineering-related topic at the beginning of class each day, with each student participating once during the term. Students select the topics in advance on a firstcome, first-serve basis, with feedback from the instructor on the chosen topic. Instructors could then relate future lectures and concepts to earlier student presentations. The 2006 ASEE paper presented results from two instructors at two different universities. The data showed that students reported an increased awareness of engineering topics as a result of the One-Minute Engineer. Since this method showed similar and promising outcomes at two different institutions, the authors agreed to implement the OME activity across all sections of the first engineering course at Ohio Northern University (ONU). Preand postsurveys similar to those administered in the original OME implementation were used at this institution. These results were compared to the previously published data as well as with the current class at the originating institution. An additional level of assessment was added to this iteration of the OME through the establishment of a rubric for evaluating the students’ presentation skills. Finally, assessment data on students’ engineering awareness was compared across universities. Background The need for today’s engineering students to have improved technical communication skills has been well documented, perhaps most clearly in the ABET criteria 3 . Teaching communication as part of engineering curricula has been tried in many ways, a good overview of which is presented in Ford and Riley 4 . Adding technical communication to the freshman curriculum was one of the central reasons for reforming the courses at ONU. Some of this work has resulted in previous publications 5,6 . The first of these courses, Freshman Engineering 1, includes objectives related to technical communication and exposing students to the engineering profession. As the model of a Scholar/Teacher was being discussed at the 2006 ASEE National Conference Plenary Session 2 , Dr. Sheri Sheppard stated that the scholarship of teaching and learning is distinguished from just good teaching as it involves communicating it to a community that is engaged in debate and publishing and building on each other’s work. In attendance were two of the instructors from the aforementioned Freshman Engineering 1 course who, later during the conference, also attended a paper presentation regarding the OME. After meeting with the other faculty teaching the course following the conference, it was decided to make the OME a part of this freshman course. While the OME itself would not be sufficient to teach technical communication, it provides a forum for students to practice and display technical presentation P ge 12122.2 skills. In addition, students often note that there seems to be a lack of connection between coursework and the ‘real world.’ While laboratory experiences can help students with this 7 , it is also helpful to have examples so that the students can relate course content to their own experiences and interests outside of the classroom. Additionally, the ABET criteria requires that students have a knowledge of current events related to the engineering profession 3 . It is also clear that having an understanding of engineering history can help us learn from prior mistakes 8 . The OME presentations provide the instructors with a wealth of examples that can be referred back to during lectures. They further provide students with a wide variety of examples of engineering and its impact on society. The OME is certainly not the only way in which to achieve the objectives of better technical presentation skills and a greater awareness of engineering in the real world. However, it combines both of these topics in a way that has minimal impact on class time. It also seems particularly helpful for a first-year course, since: “In addition to conveying engineering content, teaching first-year engineering students entails its own specific educational issues, some of which are: (1) attracting and maintaining the students’ interest and attention at a quality level, (2) helping students generate a sense of relevance between class and engineering in the real world, (3) building a foundation to their technical presentation skills, (4) motivating them to be interested and inspired by engineering as a career, (5) making them feel part of the new academic world they are entering, and (6) allowing them to contribute to and participate in their own education 1 .” As part of the implementation process, one of the Freshman Engineering 1 faculty members contacted the instructor who had originally…
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