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Learning critical concepts that are centered on the analysis, design, and maintenance of transportation infrastructure systems poses a measure of difficulty for undergraduates in engineering. Therefore, hands-on learning pedagogy should be an excellent precursor to increase understanding of these concepts, since the pedagogy incorporates real-life experience in the delivery. This paper describes how a hands-on learning pedagogy called experiment-centric pedagogy (ECP) has been used to teach these concepts to undergraduate students at a historically Black university. The research questions are as follows: (1) How well can ECP improve students’ understanding of concepts essential to the analysis and design of transportation infrastructure systems? (2) How has the ECP facilitated the achievement of the learning objectives of these concepts? and (3) Does an ECP increase the engagement of undergraduate students in their transportation infrastructure engineering learning and lead to measurable lasting gains? To answer these research questions, ECP was implemented and assessed when used to teach the concepts of stress and strain utilized in the analysis of bridges and other transportation infrastructure, sound used in the development and design of noise barriers, moisture content in controlling compaction of highway infrastructure systems, and degradation of infrastructure systems exposed to various environmental settings. Assessment results from 92 undergraduates reveal an increase in students’ motivation and cognitive understanding of the relevant concepts, as well as learning gains and an improved success rate compared to the traditional method of teaching. 

Security and trust of Information Systems are critical in its design as they directly influence users' view and acceptance of such systems. Security can be said to be a contextual and dynamic term as there has not been a holistic, universal, and eternal security measure to date. Recent years have seen a lot of confidential and sensitive information being sent, received, and analyzed on the Internet, and a plethora of investigations on ways of developing comprehensive security solutions like encryptions, pattern recognition, and anomaly detection. This work reviews the human inspired algorithms that are particularly employed in pattern recognition and anomaly detection problems. The work discusses the components of the immune system that inspired the artificial Immune System (AIS) based algorithms for pattern and intrusion detection (IDS) problems. A detailed comparison is made between negative selection, clonal selection, and dendritic cell algorithms (danger theory) which are the three major AIS algorithms. AIS is ubiquitous in computer and information security because it is based on the theories developed through years of study and understanding of the human immune system by immunologist. The strengths and weaknesses of these algorithms are also discussed, and possible improvement suggested. 

In the past decade, reports such as the National Academies' "Engineering in K-12 Education: Understanding the Status and Improving the Prospects" (2009) have discussed the importance of – and challenges of – effectively incorporating engineering concepts into the K-12 curriculum. Multiple reports have echoed and further elaborated on the need to effectively and authentically introduce engineering within K-12; not just to address a perpetual shortage of engineers, but to increase technological literacy within the U.S. The NSF-funded initiative Engineering for US All (E4USA): A National Pilot Program for High School Engineering Course and Database curriculum was intentionally designed ‘for us all;’ in other words, the design is meant to be inclusive and to engage in an examination and exploration of ‘engineering’. The intent behind the ‘for us all’ curriculum is to emphasize the idea of thinking like an engineer, rather than simply to develop more engineers. Therefore, the focus is not on ‘how to become an engineer’ but ‘what is an engineer’ and ‘who is an engineer’. This paper will discuss the design of the first iteration of the curriculum. The initial design was based on the First Year Engineering Classification Scheme, used to classify all possible content found in first-year, multidisciplinary Introduction to Engineering courses in general-admit (non direct-admit) engineering programs. The curriculum provides progressively larger engineering design experiences relating to student fields of interest and real-world problems. Course objectives are broken into four major threads. Each of these threads is woven through seven modules. The threads are: Discovering Engineering, Engineering in Society, Engineering Professional Skills, and Engineering Design. This paper will discuss the design of the first iteration of the curriculum. The initial design was based on the First Year Engineering Classification Scheme, used to classify all possible content found in first-year, multidisciplinary Introduction to Engineering courses in general-admit (non direct-admit) engineering programs. The curriculum provides progressively larger engineering design experiences relating to student fields of interest and real-world problems. Course objectives are broken into four major threads. Each of these threads is woven through seven modules. The threads are: Discovering Engineering, Engineering in Society, Engineering Professional Skills, and Engineering Design. 

According to National Science Foundation data, African American students comprise 2% of the B.S. degree recipients in the geosciences, 2.6% in physics and 3.9% in engineering, while Blacks comprise 14.9% of the college-aged population. There is therefore an urgent need for Historical Black Colleges and Universities, which produce a large number of African American STEM graduates, to increase their focus on broadening STEM participation among underrepresented black students. Thus, there are untapped opportunities to develop intervention strategies and programs to increase recruitment, retention, and success of minorities in STEM and the workforce. The Experiment Centric Pedagogy (ECP) has been successful in promoting motivation and enhancing academic achievement of African American electrical engineering students. ECP uses a portable electronic instrumentation system, paired with appropriate software and sensors, to measure a wide range of properties, such as vibration and oxygen levels. This work in progress describes the initial adaptation of an evidence-based, experiment-focused teaching approach in biology, chemistry, civil engineering, industrial engineering, transportation systems, and physics. ECP will be utilized in these disciplines in various settings, such as in traditional classrooms, teaching laboratories, and at home use by students. Instructors use ECP for in-class demonstrations, for cooperative group experiments, and for homework assignments. The paper will highlight the criteria used for selection of initial experiments to adapt, the modifications made, and resulting changes in the course delivery. Preliminary results will be provided using measures of key constructs associated with student success, such as motivation, epistemic and perceptual curiosity, engineering identity, and self-efficacy. This project is conducted at a minority serving institution and most participants are from groups historically underrepresented in STEM.