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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1973

The Mesa Arizona Pupil Tracking System

A computer-based Pupil Tracking/Teacher Monitoring System was designed for Mesa Public Schools, Mesa, Arizona. The established objectives of the system were to: (1) facilitate the economical collection and storage of student performance data necessary to objectively evaluate the relative effectiveness of teachers, instructional methods, materials, and applied concepts; and (2) identify, on a daily basis, those students requiring special attention in specific subject areas. The system encompasses computer hardware/software and integrated curricula progression/administration devices. It provides daily evaluation and monitoring of performance as students progress at class or individualized rates. In the process, it notifies the student and collects information necessary to validate or invalidate subject presentation devices, methods, materials, and measurement devices in terms of direct benefit to the students. The system utilizes a small-scale computer (e.g., IBM 1130) to assure low-cost replicability, and may be used for many subjects of instruction.

Wright, D. L.↗
NASA NTRS1980

MSFC personnel management tasks: Recruitment and orientation of new employees

In order to encourage highly motivated young students to learn about NASA and consider it for a career, a formal program is to be initiated whereby selected students can work on a voluntary basis at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). The first task was to develop the working plan and procedures for this program, called Student Volunteer Service Program, in the writing of MSFC official guidelines, the Marshall Management Instruction (the MMI) which is a binding document that defines policy and establishes procedures and guidelines. Particular considerations written into the MMI after numerous consultations, interviews, and discussions about a satisfactory policy, include: arrangements to be made between the student, the school authorities, and concerned MSFC employees; management of the work assignments; and procedures for the student's welfare and safety. The second task was the development of a recruitment brochure for the attraction of new employees, especially scientists and engineers. The third task assigned was to develop a plan called Orientation of New Employees.

Brindley, T. A.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Planet X probe: A fresh new look at an old familiar place

Planet X Probe utilizes a Get Away Special (GAS) payload to provide a large student population with a remote Earth sensing experimental package. To provide a cooperative as well as a competitive environment, the effort is targeted at all grade levels and at schools in different geographical regions. LANDSAT capability allows students to investigate the Earth, its physical makeup, its resources, and the impact of man. This project also serves as an educational device to get students to stand back and take a fresh look at their home planet. The key element is to treat the familiar Earth as an unknown planet with knowledge based only on what is observable and provable from the images obtained. Through participation, a whole range of experiences will include: (1) mission planning; (2) research and pilot projects to train teams; (3) identification and recruitment of scientific mentors and dialogue; (4) selection of a student advisory team to be available during the mission; (5) analysis of data and compilation of findings; (6) report preparation, constucted along sound scientific principles; and (7) presentation and defense of findings before a meeting of competitive student groups and scientist in the field.

Nicholson, James↗
NASA NTRS1989

Lincoln Advanced Science and Engineering Reinforcement (LASER) program

Lincoln University, under the Lincoln Advanced Science and Engineering Reinforcement (LASER) Program, has identified and successfully recruited over 100 students for majors in technical fields. To date, over 70 percent of these students have completed or will complete technical degrees in engineering, physics, chemistry, and computer science. Of those completing the undergraduate degree, over 40 percent have gone on to graduate and professional schools. This success is attributable to well planned approaches to student recruitment, training, personal motivation, retention, and program staff. Very closely coupled to the above factors is a focus designed to achieve excellence in program services and student performance. Future contributions by the LASER Program to the pool of technical minority graduates will have a significant impact. This is already evident from the success of the students that began the first year of the program. With program plans to refine many of the already successful techniques, follow-on activities are expected to make even greater contributions to the availability of technically trained minorities. For example, undergraduate research exposure, broadened summer, and co-op work experiences will be enhanced.

Williams, Willie E.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Materials education activities

Last year, at NEW: Update '91, a panel discussion was held to address the unique difficulties of attracting and retaining minorities and women in technical studies. Unfortunately, retention in technical majors is a problem of varying proportions for the entire student population, and must be improved in order to maintain the strength of the nation's industrial base. To investigate the cause of student attrition in technical majors, in-depth interviews of both current and former (non-graduating) engineering students at four colleges and universities in Colorado were conducted by Hewitt and Seymour. They found that there was no significant difference in the level of high school preparation and undergraduate academic performance in these two groups, despite the prevailing faculty perception that most students who switch from technical to nontechnical majors were underprepared. The majority of engineering students who changed majors reported that they were turned off by science, while one-third complained of poor teaching.

Ries, Heidi R.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Making space part of general education

General education reform is on-going at many universities to, in part, make undergraduate students more technically literate. The space program provides an area of study that is still exciting to students, provides technical content, and can incorporate the other goals. Additionally, human space activity contains international and interdisciplinary dimensions that can reach students outside of the technical disciplines. The development and contents of a space education course to become part of the university's general education program open to all students is presented. Included in the presentation is a listing of the course materials to be used by the students.

Horan, Stephen↗
NASA NTRS1988

Design and manufacture of solid ZrO2 electrolyte

The following project assignment was given to the students: 'design and build a suitable YSZ solid electrolyte cell. Describe advantages of the design and fabrication method. Finally, to the limits of available resources, fabricate the design. Explain why it would be superior to other designs.' Clemson University students definitely benefitted from this experience with USRA/NASA. The challenge that this project gave the students was both exciting and attention-getting. Students spent far more time per credit hour on this project than on their other course. This project advanced the art of making efficient oxygen generators as well. Clemson students are now well on the way to designing a solid electrolyte with a large active surface area and comparatively small volume. Previous devices have had to endure the limitation of using only simple shapes such as tubes. The results of this project have demonstrated that better configurations are not only possible but practical.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1988

The 1987-1988 advanced space design projects: Results from the fall semester of 1987 and the spring semester of 1988

Students in Aerospace Engineering (ASE) and Mechanical Engineering (ME) at the University of Texas at Austin completed eight separate design projects under the sponsorship of the NASA/USRA Advanced Space Design Program. During the Fall semester of 1987, ASE and ME students worked on various aspects of a 'bootstrap' lunar base. ASE students concentrated on the overall definition of the base while the ME team designed a convertible lunar lander lower stage. Six design projects were executed during the spring semester of 1988. Aerospace engineering students designed a fast Mars mission crew transfer vehicle, an Earth-orbiting transportation node to support the lunar base, a lunar base construction shack/initial habitat vehicle, and carried out a systems assessment aimed at arresting ozone depletion in the Earth's atmosphere. The ME students designed a lunar surface personnel navigation system and investigated radiation shielding structures for a lunar base. The design objectives, a summary of the results, and selected comments are given concerning each of the projects. Due to the number of projects completed, the reader should refer to the text of the final project reports for additional and detailed information.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1995

Implementation of probabilistic design methodology at Tennessee State University

The fact that Deterministic Design Method no longer satisfies most design needs calls for methods that will cope with the high trend in technology. The advance in computer technology has reduced the rigors that normally accompany many design analysis methods that account for uncertainties in design parameters. Probabilistic Design Methodology (PDM) is beginning to make impact in engineering design. This method is gaining more recognition in industries than in educational institutions. Some of the reasons for the limited use of the PDM at the moment are that many are unaware of its potentials, and most of the software developed for PDM are very recent. The central goal of the PDM project at Tennessee State University is to introduce engineering students to this method. The students participating in the project learn about PDM and the computer codes that are available to the design engineer. The software being used for this project is NESSUS (Numerical Evaluation of Stochastic Structures Under Stress) developed under NASA probabilistic structural analysis program. NESSUS has three different modules which make it a very comprehensive computer code for PDM. Since this method is new to the students, its introduction into the engineering curriculum is to be in stages. These range from the introduction of PDM and its software to the applications. While this program is being developed for its eventual inclusion into the engineering curriculum, some graduate and undergraduate students are already carrying out some projects using this method. As the students are increasing their understanding on PDM, they are at the same time applying it to some common design problems. The areas this method is being applied at the moment include, Design of Gears (spur and worm); Design of Brakes; Design of Heat Exchangers Design of Helical Springs; and Design of Shock Absorbers. Some of the current results of these projects are presented.

Onwubiko, Chinyere↗
NASA NTRS1995

Research project for increasing pool of minority engineers

The Tennessee State University (TSU) Research Project for Increasing the Pool of Minority Engineers is designed to develop engineers who have academic and research experiences in technical areas of interest to NASA. These engineers will also have some degree of familiarity with NASA Lewis Research Center as a result of interaction with Lewis engineers, field trips and internships at Lewis. The Research Project has four components, which are: (1) Minority Introduction to Engineering (MITE), a high school precollege program, (2) engineering and technology previews, (3) the NASA LeRC Scholars program which includes scholarships and summer internships, and (4) undergraduate research experiences on NASA sponsored research. MITE is a two-week summer engineering camp designed to introduce minority high school students to engineering by exposing them to: (1) engineering role models (engineering students and NASA engineer), (2) field trips to engineering firms, (3) in addition to introducing youth to the language of the engineer (i.e., science, mathematics, technical writing, computers, and the engineering laboratory). Three MITE camps are held on the campus of TSU with an average of 40 participants. MITE has grown from 25 participants at its inception in 1990 to 118 participants in 1994 with participants from 17 states, including the District of Columbia, and 51 percent of the participants were female. Over the four-year period, 77 percent of the seniors who participated in MITE have gone to college, while 53 percent of those seniors in college are majoring in science, engineering or mathematics (SEM). This first Engineering and Technology Previews held in 1993 brought 23 youths from Cleveland, Ohio to TSU for a two-day preview of engineering and college life. Two previews are scheduled for 1994-1995. The NASA LeRC Scholars program provides scholarships and summer internships for minority engineering students majoring in electrical or mechanical engineering. Presently six (6) engineering students are in the Scholars program. The average GPA for the scholars is 3.239. Each scholar must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.000/4.000. NASA LeRC Fred Higgs has been awarded a GEM Fellowship. In addition, he will be presenting a paper entitled 'Design of Helical Spring Using Probabilistic Design Methodology' at the Middle Tennessee Section ASME Student Design Presentations in Nashville on March 23rd and at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research to be held at Union College, Schenectady, New York on April 20-22, 1995. Each of the scholars is working on one of the three NASA sponsored research projects in the college.

Rogers, Decatur B.↗
NASA NTRS1993

MACH 3: Past and future approaches to intelligent tutoring

In 1986, the U.S. Army Research Institute created an intelligent tutoring system as a proof-of-concept for artificial intelligence applications in Army training. The Maintenance Aid Computer HAWK Intelligent Institutional Instructor (MACH 3) taught student mechanics to maintain and troubleshoot the AN/MPQ-57 High Power Illuminator Radar (HPIR) of the HAWK Air Defense Missile System. In 1989, TRADOC Analysis Command compared the effectiveness of MACH 3 to traditional paper-based troubleshooting drills. For the study, all students received lecture and hands-on training as usual. However, during troubleshooting drills, students traced faults using either MACH 3 or the traditional paper-based method. Class records showed that the MACH 3 group completed significantly more troubleshooting tasks and progressed through tasks of greater difficulty than the paper-based group. Upon completion of training, students took written, practical, and oral essay tests. Mean test scores showed that students performed similarly regardless of the drill method used. However, significantly different standard deviations showed that the MACH 3 group performed more consistently than the paper-based group. Furthermore, significantly different time measures showed that the MACH 3 group reached faster troubleshooting solutions on the actual radar transmitter than the paper-based group. We will present the study results and discuss how updating the design of the MACH 3 can include desktop computing in a virtual environment.

Acchione-Noel, Sylvia↗
NASA NTRS1996

RCOP: Research Center for Optical Physics

During the five years since its inception, Research Center for Optical Physics (RCOP) has excelled in the goals stated in the original proposal: 1) training of the scientists and engineers needed for the twenty-first century with special emphasis on underrepresented citizens and 2) research and technological development in areas of relevance to NASA. In the category of research training, there have been 16 Bachelors degrees and 9 Masters degrees awarded to African American students working in RCOP during the last five years. RCOP has also provided research experience to undergraduate and high school students through a number of outreach programs held during the summer and the academic year. RCOP has also been instrumental in the development of the Ph.D. program in physics which is in its fourth year at Hampton. There are currently over 40 graduate students in the program and 9 African American graduate students, working in RCOP, that have satisfied all of the requirements for Ph.D. candidancy and are working on their dissertation research. At least three of these students will be awarded their doctoral degrees during 1997. RCOP has also excelled in research and technological development. During the first five years of existence, RCOP researchers have generated well over $3 M in research funding that directly supports the Center. Close ties with NASA Langley and NASA Lewis have been established, and collaborations with NASA scientists, URC's and other universities as well as with industry have been developed. This success is evidenced by the rate of publishing research results in refereed journals, which now exceeds that of the goals in the original proposal (approx. 2 publications per faculty per year). Also, two patents have been awarded to RCOP scientists.

Tabibi, Bagher M.↗
NASA NTRS1997

School Science Comes Alive

Phase 3 of the School Science Comes Alive Program (S(sup 2)CAP) created an exciting, science - enrichment experience for third, fourth and fifth graders and their teachers and enhanced the science-teaching skills of teacher teams at each of four participating elementary schools on Virginia's Peninsula. The schools involved enroll a majority of Black students, many of whom are from economically disadvantaged households. Designed to build on the highly successful S(sup 2)CAP program of the preceding two years, this project brought college faculty together with classroom teachers and trained volunteers in a cooperative effort to make a lasting difference in the quality of science education at the four schools. In total, this program touched approximately 1000 the school children, more than half of whom are black, giving them direct and indirect exposure to the spirit of inquiry and adventure of the world-wide science community. In S(sup 2)CAP Phase 3, a large measure of responsibility was placed on the classroom teachers, thus creating a more sustainable partnership between college faculty and grade school teacher. Our college physics professors coached and supported teams of teachers from each school at intensive training workshops. A volunteer program provided each teacher with one or more trained volunteers to assist in class with the hands-on activities that have been central to the S2CAP program. Most of the equipment for these activities was constructed during the workshops by the teachers and volunteers from low cost materials provided by the program. Two types of volunteers were enlisted: science smart black college students and technically trained retirees (many of whom are ex-NASA employees). One goal of this program was to increase the numbers of minority students who see science as an interesting and exciting subject, to make the science period a time which students look forward to in the school day. Such an attitude is expected to translate naturally into a higher interest in science and engineering as a career for these students. A second goal was to create a sustainable improvement in the way science is taught at the elementary level. By the end of the program we expected that our teachers would be significantly more self reliant in using hands-on-activities as a part of their science curricula than they were prior to their involvement with S2CAP. In summary, S2CAP Phase 3 offered intensive training workshops for teachers and supporting volunteers followed by stimulating hands-on activities in the classroom for the children. These components combined to amplify the experience, enthusiasm, and ideas of our scientists in a way that complements the normal elementary school curriculum in each of the two school systems involved.

Hartline, Frederick F.↗
NASA NTRS1998

1997 NASA Academy in Aeronautics

The NASA Academy in Aeronautics at the Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) was a ten-week summer leadership training program conducted for the first time in the summer of 1997. Funding was provided by a contract between DFRC and Purdue University. Mr. Lee Duke of DFRC was the contract monitor, and Professor Dominick Andrisani was the principal investigator. Five student research associates participated in the program. Biographies of the research associates are given in Appendix 1. Dominick Andrisani served as Dean of the NASA Academy in Aeronautics. NASA Academy in Aeronautics is a unique summer institute of higher learning that endeavors to provide insight into all of the elements that make NASA aeronautical research possible. At the same time the Academy assigns the research associate to be mentored by one of NASA!s best researchers so that they can contribute towards an active flight research program. Aeronautical research and development are an investment in the future, and NASA Academy is an investment in aeronautical leaders of the future. The Academy was run by the Indiana Space Grant Consortium at Purdue in strategic partnership with the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program. Research associates at the Academy were selected with help from the Space Grant Consortium that sponsored the research associate. Research associate stipend and travel to DFRC were paid by the students' Space Grant Consortium. All other student expenses were paid by the Academy. Since the Academy at DFRC had only five students the opportunity for individual growth and attention was unique in the country. About 30% of the working time and most of the social time of the students were be spent as a "group" or "team." This time was devoted to exchange of ideas, on forays into the highest levels of decision making, and in executing aeronautical research. This was done by interviewing leaders throughout the aerospace industry, seminars, working dinners, and informal discussions. The other 70% of the working time was spent working on the technical research project with the engineering mentors. Abstracts of those projects are given in Appendix 4.

Andrisani, Dominick, II↗
NASA NTRS1998

BioSIGHT: Interactive Visualization Modules for Science Education

Redefining science education to harness emerging integrated media technologies with innovative pedagogical goals represents a unique challenge. The Integrated Media Systems Center (IMSC) is the only engineering research center in the area of multimedia and creative technologies sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The research program at IMSC is focused on developing advanced technologies that address human-computer interfaces, database management, and high-speed network capabilities. The BioSIGHT project at is a demonstration technology project in the area of education that seeks to address how such emerging multimedia technologies can make an impact on science education. The scope of this project will help solidify NASA's commitment for the development of innovative educational resources that promotes science literacy for our students and the general population as well. These issues must be addressed as NASA marches toward the goal of enabling human space exploration that requires an understanding of life sciences in space. The IMSC BioSIGHT lab was established with the purpose of developing a novel methodology that will map a high school biology curriculum into a series of interactive visualization modules that can be easily incorporated into a space biology curriculum. Fundamental concepts in general biology must be mastered in order to allow a better understanding and application for space biology. Interactive visualization is a powerful component that can capture the students' imagination, facilitate their assimilation of complex ideas, and help them develop integrated views of biology. These modules will augment the role of the teacher and will establish the value of student-centered interactivity, both in an individual setting as well as in a collaborative learning environment. Students will be able to interact with the content material, explore new challenges, and perform virtual laboratory simulations. The BioSIGHT effort is truly cross-disciplinary in nature and requires expertise from many areas including Biology, Computer Science Electrical Engineering, Education, and the Cognitive Sciences. The BioSIGHT team includes a scientific illustrator, educational software designer, computer programmers as well as IMSC graduate and undergraduate students.

Wong, Wee Ling↗
NASA NTRS1999

The Component Packaging Problem: A Vehicle for the Development of Multidisciplinary Design and Analysis Methodologies

This report summarizes academic research which has resulted in an increased appreciation for multidisciplinary efforts among our students, colleagues and administrators. It has also generated a number of research ideas that emerged from the interaction between disciplines. Overall, 17 undergraduate students and 16 graduate students benefited directly from the NASA grant: an additional 11 graduate students were impacted and participated without financial support from NASA. The work resulted in 16 theses (with 7 to be completed in the near future), 67 papers or reports mostly published in 8 journals and/or presented at various conferences (a total of 83 papers, presentations and reports published based on NASA inspired or supported work). In addition, the faculty and students presented related work at many meetings, and continuing work has been proposed to NSF, the Army, Industry and other state and federal institutions to continue efforts in the direction of multidisciplinary and recently multi-objective design and analysis. The specific problem addressed is component packing which was solved as a multi-objective problem using iterative genetic algorithms and decomposition. Further testing and refinement of the methodology developed is presently under investigation. Teaming issues research and classes resulted in the publication of a web site, (http://design.eng.clemson.edu/psych4991) which provides pointers and techniques to interested parties. Specific advantages of using iterative genetic algorithms, hurdles faced and resolved, and institutional difficulties associated with multi-discipline teaming are described in some detail.

Fadel, Georges↗
NASA NTRS1998

Multidisciplinary Design Technology Development: A Comparative Investigation of Integrated Aerospace Vehicle Design Tools

This research effort is a joint program between the Departments of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and the Computer Science and Engineering Department at the University of Notre Dame. Three Principal Investigators; Drs. Renaud, Brockman and Batill directed this effort. During the four and a half year grant period, six Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. students and one Masters student received full or partial support, while four Computer Science and Engineering Ph.D. students and one Masters student were supported. During each of the summers up to four undergraduate students were involved in related research activities. The purpose of the project was to develop a framework and systematic methodology to facilitate the application of Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (N4DO) to a diverse class of system design problems. For all practical aerospace systems, the design of a systems is a complex sequence of events which integrates the activities of a variety of discipline "experts" and their associated "tools". The development, archiving and exchange of information between these individual experts is central to the design task and it is this information which provides the basis for these experts to make coordinated design decisions (i.e., compromises and trade-offs) - resulting in the final product design. Grant efforts focused on developing and evaluating frameworks for effective design coordination within a MDO environment. Central to these research efforts was the concept that the individual discipline "expert", using the most appropriate "tools" available and the most complete description of the system should be empowered to have the greatest impact on the design decisions and final design. This means that the overall process must be highly interactive and efficiently conducted if the resulting design is to be developed in a manner consistent with cost and time requirements. The methods developed as part of this research effort include; extensions to a sensitivity based Concurrent Subspace Optimization (CSSO) MDO algorithm; the development of a neural network response surface based CSSO-MDO algorithm; and the integration of distributed computing and process scheduling into the MDO environment. This report overviews research efforts in each of these focus. A complete bibliography of research produced with support of this grant is attached.

Renaud, John E.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Thermal-Structures and Materials Testing Laboratory

Since its inception and successful implementation in 1997 at James Madison University, the Thermal Structures and Materials Testing Laboratory (T-SaMTL) funded by the NASA Langley Research Center is evolving into one of the University's premier and exemplary efforts to increase minority representation in the sciences and mathematics. Serving ten (10) students and faculty directly and almost fifty (50) students indirectly, T-SAMTL, through its recruitment efforts, workshops, mentoring program, tutorial services and its research and computational laboratories has marked the completion of the first year with support from NASA totaling $ 100,000. Beginning as an innovative academic research and mentoring program for underrepresented minority science and mathematics students, the program now boasts a constituency which consists of 50% graduating seniors in the spring of 1998 with 50% planning to go to graduate school. The program's intent is to increase the number of underrepresented minorities who receive doctoral degrees in the sciences by initiating an academically enriched research program aimed at strengthening the academic and self actualization skills of undergraduate students with the potential to pursue doctoral study in the sciences. The program provides financial assistance, academic enrichment, and professional and personal development support for minority students who demonstrate the potential and strong desire to pursue careers in the sciences and mathematics. James Madison University was awarded the first $100,000, in April 1997, by The NASA Langley Research Center for establishment and support of its Thermal Structures and Materials Testing

Teate, Anthony A.↗