Emotional Intelligence and Undergraduate Engineering Students

Sixty Rowan University undergraduate engineering students completed a screening for serum cholesterol and blood pressure and a written survey of their health habits, depression and stress levels. These data were compared to a similar study conducted at Rowan University of 226 undergraduate students from all majors. Engineering students demonstrated slightly higher risk levels in cholesterol and lower levels in blood pressure, compared to the general student population. Among the engineering students, thirty six percent had elevated cholesterol levels (above 200 mg/dL) and 16 percent had elevated systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure levels (above 140/90). Incidence of Type A personality traits (a measure of stress) was found in 21 percent of the population. Women reported having more stress than did men. Students majoring in electrical and computer engineering reported having the highest stress levels when compared to other engineering majors. A regression analysis identified depression, cigarette smoking, diet, stress, Type A personality and a heredity of high blood pressure as the best predictors of high serum cholesterol among subjects. Engineering educators are encouraged to address these prevalent and potentially performance‐impairing health risks among their students.

Guest Editorial: Situational awareness of integrated energy systems

Mississippi State University (MSU) represented by its Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) department is currently in the design–development stage for the construction of a new CEE Complex (CEEC). The CEE is garnering a new focus on sustainability with special emphasis on environmentally responsible design, construction, and operation of constructed facilities. To promote the aforementioned goals of sustainability, the authors have mentored a group of 23 undergraduate junior students under the High-Performance Sustainable Construction class to provide a comprehensive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) analysis for the new CEEC. Based on the 2009 Reference Guide for Green Building Design and Construction, this paper presents a detailed overview showing (1) which credits are attainable in light of the current available design documents; (2) which credits are not incorporated in the current design documents but are achievable with some modifications and amendments; and (3) whic...

Guest Editorial

This study explores undergraduate engineering and education students’ perspectives on their interdisciplinary teams throughout the rapid transition to online learning and instruction from a face-to-face to a virtual format. In this qualitative study, students’ reflections and focus groups from three interdisciplinary collaborations were analyzed using the lens of Social Cognitive Theory. COVID-19 created a dramatic change in the environment such that the most immediate and direct impact on students’ experiences was on the environmental aspects of Bandura’s triadic reciprocal determinism model, which then triggered behavioral and personal responses to adapt to the new environment. Subsequent evidence of reciprocal effects between environmental, behavioral, and personal factors took place as students continued to adapt. Results suggest that the modifications made to transition the project fully online were meaningful experiences for students’ learning and teaching of engineering through teams. This interdisciplinary partnership provided both pre-service teachers and undergraduate engineering students with the opportunity to learn and practice content and professional skills that will be essential for success in future work environments.

Background To become qualified engineers, undergraduates must develop a contextualized epistemic cognition (EC) during the engineering design process (EDP), but little is known about their EC in the authentic EDP. This study aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of the EC and reported epistemic changes of undergraduate engineering students who served as EDP mentors in a secondary-school STEM-based community service-learning (CSL) project in Hong Kong. Harnessing the epistemic analytical model of Aims, Ideals, and Reliable Processes (AIR), this study qualitatively analyzed interviews with 11 undergraduate engineering students about the EDP during their mentorship experiences. Results Based on the empirical data, we refined the AIR model to AIRK by adding a new component, “K” (Knowledge resources), to better interpret undergraduate engineering students’ EC during the EDP. Furthermore, by analyzing undergraduate engineering students’ reflections on their epistemic changes through mentorship, we identified six aspects: (i) from learning theoretical knowledge to transforming knowledge to address societal needs; (ii) from an assignment-focused to a user-centered mindset; (iii) from recognizing the optimal solution to embracing the necessity for continuous improvement; (iv) from completing code to thinking creatively; (v) from a technology-centric mindset to valuing communication and collaboration; and (vi) gaining more interconnected STEM knowledge. Conclusions Our resulting AIRK model could provide a conceptual tool for understanding undergraduate engineering students’ EC in the EDP. The findings on reported epistemic changes demonstrated that mentoring secondary students in STEM projects could foster undergraduate engineering students’ EC development, revealing that the approach of university–school–community partnership can be practically sustainable and beneficial for adoption.

The aim of this research to describe the implementation of experiential learning model in the perspective of students’ emotional intelligence at class VIII 10 at Junior High School. This is descriptive research employing a qualitative approach. Research subjects were 2 students, 1 student with a high level of emotional intelligence and 1 student with a low level of emotional intelligence. The instruments used in this study consist of the students’ self-evaluation sheet, the students’ response questionnaire, the student emotional intelligence questionnaire, the mathematics learning outcomes test, and the interview question test. Data collection techniques used in this research consist of mathematics test, questionnaire, and interview. The experiential learning model has 4 stages, namely, concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. The result of this research showed that: (1) Students’ activities in the implementation of the experiential learning model were conducted well. The students had been involved actively so the teacher’s domination in learning lessened. Students with a high and low level of emotional intelligence were able to follow each stage of the learning model. (2) The student with a high level of emotional intelligence has a very good response to the implementation of experiential learning model, and the student with a low level of emotional intelligence gave also a very good response. (3) Students’ mathematics learning outcomes as a result of the implementation of experiential learning model achieved the classroom completeness level of 85%.

The role of modern engineers as problem-definer often require collaborating with cross-disciplinary teams of professionals to understand and effectively integrate the role of other disciplines and accelerate innovation. To prepare future engineers for this emerging role, undergraduate engineering students should engage in collaborative and interdisciplinary activities with faculties and students from various disciplines (e.g., engineering and social science). Such cross-disciplinary experiences of undergraduate engineering students are not common in today's university curriculum. Through a project funded by the division of Engineering Education and Centers (EEC) of the National Science Foundation (NSF), a research team of the West Virginia University developed and offered a Holistic Engineering Project Experience (HEPE) to the engineering students. Holistic engineering is an approach catering to the overall engineering profession, instead of focusing on any distinctive engineering discipline such as electrical, civil, chemical, or mechanical engineering. Holistic Engineering is based upon the fact that the traditional engineering courses do not offer sufficient non-technical skills to the engineering students to work effectively in cross-disciplinary social problems (e.g., development of transportation systems and services). The Holistic Engineering approach enables engineering students to learn non-engineering skills (e.g., strategic communication skills) beyond engineering math and sciences, which play a critical role in solving complex 21st-century engineering problems. The research team offered the HEPE course in Spring 2020 semester, where engineering students collaborated with social science students (i.e., students from economics and strategic communication disciplines) to solve a contemporary, complex, open-ended transportation engineering problem with social consequences. Social science students also received the opportunity to develop a better understanding of technical aspects in science and engineering. The open-ended problem presented to the students was to "Restore and Improve Urban Infrastructure" in connection to the future deployment of connected and autonomous vehicles, which is identified as a grand challenge by the National Academy of Engineers (NAE). The findings of the HEPE offering revealed the effectiveness of implementing a cross-disciplinary course setting in enhancing the team learning experience of the engineering students. In the pre-survey, the similarity between the HEPE and traditional groups was observed in most surveyed constructs. HEPE students showed better performances in the majority of assessed constructs in mid-, and post-surveys than the traditional groups of engineering students. Increased trust while working with cross-disciplinary students and higher awareness and appreciation of their learning outcomes are expected to help engineering students learn non-technical professional skills and work effectively in a collaborative environment. Overall, the findings gathered from this initial HEPE offering can provide early evidence to the engineering and broader higher education community in promoting similar HEPE course offerings to advance the professional formation of engineers. In future, the findings of HEPE course offering in Spring 2020 semester will be compared with the findings of the HEPE course offering in Fall 2020 semester to investigate the consistency of the findings. In addition, future research will implement the HEPE concept in traditional engineering courses and evaluate engineering student's learning beyond the conventional/technical skills.

This lecture provides an introduction to transmission line effects in the time domain. Fundamentals including time of flight, impedance discontinuities, proper termination schemes, nonlinear and reactive loads, and crosstalk are considered. Required prerequisite knowledge is limited to conventional circuit theory. The material is intended to supplement standard textbooks for use with undergraduate students in electrical engineering or computer engineering. The contents should also be of value to practicing engineers with interests in signal integrity and high-speed digital design.

Background: The concern in the scientific community for the study of people with dementia and their families is comprehensible, especially the importance of knowing the effects that caring for the patient has on their family dynamic, paying special attention to the main caregiver. The objective of this study was to analyze the relationship of resilience and emotional intelligence with functional performance in the main caregivers of people with dementia in Spain according to the phase of the disease. Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive, and analytical study was carried out. A total of 144 primary family caregivers of patients with dementia in Spain were included in the study. The following variables were measured: sociodemographic, psychosocial, and occupational, as well as resilience and emotional intelligence. Results: The caregivers obtained a low moderate resilience (mean = 64.01 ± 14.5), an emotional intelligence bordering between moderate and high (mean = 78.48 ± 14.82), and a 61.8% self-care categorized as somewhat and quite a bit. The presence of higher levels of resilience in family caregivers of people with dementia were positively related to the time spent on self-care (r = 0.227; p = 0.033) and leisure (r = 0.262; p = 0.014), especially in the moderate phase of the disease, while in the severe phase, this relationship appeared with productivity (r = 0.355; p = 0.034). The higher levels of emotional intelligence were positively related to a greater time dedicated to self-care (r = 0.233, p = 0.005), as well as the data observed in the moderate and severe phase (r = 0.214; p = 0.046 and r = 0.398; p = 0.016 respectively). Conclusions: The primary caregivers of relatives with dementia who have higher levels of resilience and emotional intelligence spend more time on self-care and leisure activities, especially in the moderate phase of the disease.

Background: Sleep is an important resting state and essential part of life that could have effect on many aspects of life. Life style factors such as physical activity and consumption of certain foods have effect on quality and quantity of sleep. In this context, there were very few studies done in comparing dietary intake & sleep pattern. So, the present study is planned to be conducted among undergraduate engineering students. Objective: 1. To assess the dietary intake and sleep patterns among undergraduate students. 2. To determine the relationship between dietary intake and sleep quality. Methodology: A Cross-sectional analytical study was done among the undergraduate students of a government engineering college in November 2023. Students (n=200) were randomly selected and data was collected using pre-tested, semi structured questionnaire to assess the dietary intake and Pittsburgh sleep quality index questionnaire (PSQI) to assess sleep quality. Results: The mean age of the study population was 20.2 ± 1.6 years and 54.5% were female. Sleep quality was fairly good among 58%, good in 29%,fairly bad in 11.5%,and very bad in 1.5%. Participants skipping breakfast, lunch and dinner more than three times a week was reported to be 21%,10%, and 16.5% respectively. Conclusion: The quality and quantity of sleep can be influenced by the eating habits. Specific awareness regarding sleep and food intake should be created among the students, as in the long run NCD s can be prevented and to form a healthy nation.

This paper presents our experiences in developing a new advanced microcontrollers course within the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computing Systems at the University of Cincinnati (UC). This course was developed and offered for the first time in Spring 2013 to undergraduate seniors and first-year graduate students in electrical and computer engineering. It is also open to interested students in other relevant science and engineering programs. The course aims at providing advanced skills in designing and developing microcontroller-based embedded systems. It adopts an instruction model that integrates active learning techniques with in-class lectures and laboratory projects. The paper elaborates on the course structure and schedule, pedagogical techniques used in the course, and student feedback results. It also explains how this course fits in to the existing embedded systems curriculum at UC.

The study objectives were (1) to investigate the needs of English writing skills of operational and managerial engineers, (2) to develop an English writing course based on the genre-based approach to enhance English writing achievement of undergraduate engineering students, (3) to determine the effectiveness of the English writing course developed based on the genre-based approach, and (4) to explore the engineering students’ attitudes toward the developed English writing course. The study was descriptive and experimental research involving three phases: needs analysis, course development, and course implementation. The needs analysis was conducted using a questionnaire and an interview protocol as the research instruments. In the first phase, the questionnaires were distributed to the three groups of subject, namely, 129 engineers, 354 engineering students, and 31 ESP teachers. The results revealed three genres were most required in engineering work (request e-mails, enquiry e-mails, and investigation reports). Next, two managerial engineers and ten operational engineers were interviewed to gather in-depth information about writing contexts and situations of engineering associated with each required genre. In the second phase, the course was developed based on the GBA course development stages and the data derived from the needs analysis. In the third phase, the course was implemented for 12 weeks with 25 undergraduate engineering students who were enrolled in the English for Engineers course at King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok. To examine the effectiveness of the course, pre-test and post-test scores were compared. Also, the students were interviewed. The attitude questionnaire and student logs were used to determine the students’ attitude toward the developed course. The findings revealed that the course was effective since it was found that the post-test scores of the students were significantly higher than the pre-test scores. In addition, the students also had positive attitudes toward the course. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that more genre-based English courses for engineering students and students in other disciplines should be developed

By participating in NASA's Undergraduate Student Instrumentation Project (USIP), faculty members from physics and electrical and computer engineering (ECE) mentored 21 students in extracurricular undergraduate research ranging from freshman through seniors, predominantly from the ECE department, but also from other departments in science and engineering.

Cyberbullying become a significant issue in modern sports environments, where athletes frequently interact on digital platforms. Athletes with distinctive physical characteristics, such as short stature, may experience online exclusion, ridicule, or psychological pressure, affecting their self-esteem and sporting identity. Emotional intelligence (EI) - the ability to recognize, understand, and manage emotions—is believed to protect athletes from engaging in or being affected by such negative online behaviors. The present study aimed to examine the relationship between cyberbullying and emotional intelligence among short-stature football players. It sought to determine whether higher levels of emotional intelligence are associated with lower involvement in cyberbullying behaviors within the sports context. A total of 120 male short-stature football players (mean age = 18.6 ± 2.4 years) participated voluntarily. Two instruments were developed and validated specifically for this population: the Cyberbullying Scale and the Emotional Intelligence Scale. Validity and reliability were confirmed using correlation analysis and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. Data were collected via self-report questionnaires and analyzed through descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation, and linear regression to identify the direction and strength of relationships between variables. The findings revealed a significant negative correlation between emotional intelligence and cyberbullying (r = −0.42, p < .001). Players with higher levels of emotional intelligence reported lower engagement in cyberbullying behaviors. The sub-dimensions of emotional intelligence—particularly empathy and emotional regulation—showed the strongest inverse relationships with online aggression. Emotional intelligence plays a critical role in reducing cyberbullying behaviors among short-stature football players. These results highlight the importance of integrating emotional intelligence training into sports psychology programs and coaching practices. Strengthening athletes’ emotional and social competencies can promote healthier online interactions, enhance team cohesion, and support psychological well-being in sports settings. Research for further studies should replicate these findings across different sports and cultural contexts to improve generalization.