Bulletin of the American Physical Society
68th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics
Volume 60, Number 21
Sunday–Tuesday, November 22–24, 2015; Boston, Massachusetts
Session E3: Fluid Dynamics Outreach and Diversity |
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Chair: Jean Hertzberg, University of Colorado, Boulder Room: 102 |
Sunday, November 22, 2015 4:50PM - 5:03PM |
E3.00001: Indicators of Student Engagement in Fluid Mechanics Jean Hertzberg, Katherine Goodman Many engineering programs require a fluids course. Standards such as ABET ensure that it is technically accurate. To keep students engaged, however, we need to ask: does this course present our discipline in its most salient and meaningful form? As part of an ongoing investigation of a technical elective called Flow Visualization, we compare student surveys from both Flow Vis and a required Fluid Mechanics course. Surveys going back to 2008-2012 found that Fluid Mechanics students in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder tended to have a negative shift in affect. That is, they were less likely to believe studying fluids was important to them as engineers and to society in general by the end of the course. More recent surveys find that this has become neutral among our students: from the beginning to the end of the course, they do not report any change in the importance of fluids. The recent survey also reveals that they are now noticing fluids in everyday life significantly more often. This \textit{expanded perception} is a hallmark of the Deweyan \textit{transformative experience}, a framework to evaluate the motivational and affective aspects of a course. Suggestions of why these changes have taken place are drawn from open-response survey items and student interviews. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, November 22, 2015 5:03PM - 5:16PM |
E3.00002: Do we need more famous fluid dynamicists? Shanon Reckinger, Bethany Brinkman, Raenita Fenner, Mara London One of the main reasons students do not join the STEM fields is that they lack interest in technical topics. But do people (young students, the general public, or even our own engineering students) know what an engineer is and/or does? In this talk, results from a recent study on the perceptions of different professions will be presented. The study was designed based off of ``draw-an-engineer'' and ``draw-a-scientist'' tests used on elementary schools kids. The idea is to have participants visualize professionals (engineers, lawyers, and medical doctors were chosen for this study), and determine if there are any patterns within different demographic groups. The demographics that were focused on include gender, race, age, college major, highest level of education, and profession. One of the main findings of this survey was that participants had the most difficult time visualizing an engineer compared to a lawyer or a medical doctor. Therefore, maybe we need more famous engineers (and fluid dynamicists)? [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, November 22, 2015 5:16PM - 5:29PM |
E3.00003: F*** Yeah Fluid Dynamics: On science outreach and appealing to broad audiences Nicole Sharp Sharing scientific research with general audiences is important for scientists both in terms of educating the public and in pursuing funding opportunities. But it's not always apparent how to make a big splash. Over the past five years, fluid dynamics outreach blog FYFD has published more than 1300 articles and gained an audience of over 215,000 readers. The site appeals to a wide spectrum of readers in both age and field of study. This talk will utilize five years' worth of site content and reader feedback to examine what makes science appealing to general audiences and suggest methods researchers can use to shape their work's broader impact. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, November 22, 2015 5:29PM - 5:42PM |
E3.00004: APS Education and Diversity Efforts Katherine Prestridge, Theodore Hodapp The American Physical Society (APS) has a wide range of education and diversity programs and activities, including programs that improve physics education, increase diversity, provide outreach to the public, and impact public policy. We present the latest programs spearheaded by the Committee on the Status of Women in Physics (CSWP), with highlights from other diversity and education efforts. The CSWP is working to increase the fraction of women in physics, understand and implement solutions for gender-specific issues, enhance professional development opportunities for women in physics, and remedy issues that impact gender inequality in physics. The Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics, Professional Skills Development Workshops, and our new Professional Skills program for students and postdocs are all working towards meeting these goals. The CSWP also has site visit and conversation visit programs, where department chairs request that the APS assess the climate for women in their departments or facilitate climate discussions. APS also has two significant programs to increase participation by underrepresented minorities (URM). The newest program, the APS National Mentoring Community, is working to provide mentoring to URM undergraduates, and the APS Bridge Program is an established effort that is dramatically increasing the number of URM PhDs in physics. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, November 22, 2015 5:42PM - 5:55PM |
E3.00005: Engineering education research: Impacts of an international network of female engineers on the persistence of Liberian undergraduate women studying engineering Sara Rimer, Sahithya Reddivari, Aline Cotel As international efforts to educate and empower women continue to rise, engineering educators are in a unique position to be a part of these efforts by encouraging and supporting women across the world at the university level through STEM education and outreach. For the past two years, the University of Michigan has been a part of a grassroots effort to encourage and support the persistence of engineering female students at University of Liberia. This effort has led to the implementation of a leadership camp this past August for Liberian engineering undergraduate women, meant to: (i) to empower engineering students with the skills, support, and inspiration necessary to become successful and well-rounded engineering professionals in a global engineering market; and (ii) to strengthen the community of Liberian female engineers by building cross-cultural partnerships among students resulting in a international network of women engineers. This session will present qualitative research findings on the impact of this grassroots effort on Liberian female students? persistence in engineering, and the future directions of this work. [Preview Abstract] |
(Author Not Attending)
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E3.00006: STEM for Females goes from a Ripple to a Wave Rita Roy At the 2015 World Conference of Science Journalists in~Seoul on June 9, 2015 Nobel Prize Winner Sir Tim Hunt gave a speech with remarks which offended females in science around the world. Following the social media reaction several STEM education foundation for girls received justified attention. Programs are being supported for the education of girls and women around the world and they are gaining media attention. I will discuss the growing popularity and availability of all-girl science programs. These eager-to-learn young females are preparing themselves for serious careers in the hopes that their generation will close the gender gap. I will present a statistical analysis of workplace gender equality in professional STEM environments, including a focus on select fluid dynamics corporations, which will show that there is room for improvement across the industry. The goal of this presentation is to endorse and promote the ever-growing wave of qualified female applicants to graduate programs and industrial job placements. [Preview Abstract] |
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