β Documenting an Engineering Design Process - Key Terms

Term

Definition

APA Format

APA style, or APA format are the terms commonly used to describe the writing style guidelines which are developed, maintained, and periodically revised and updated by the American Psychological Association (APA).

Brevity

1. Concise and exact use of words. 2. Shortness of time.

Course Binder

The course binder is used to store all course materials not included in the engineering notebook such as activities, research, reference materials, and handouts.

Course Portfolio

A Course Portfolio is a collection of selected work which demonstrates the range and depth of experience and skills gained from an entire course.

Documentation

1. The documents that are required for something, or that give evidence or proof of something. 2. Drawings or printed information that contains instructions for assembling, installing, operating, and servicing.

Electronic Portfolio

An Electronic Portfolio is a collection of selected work diplayed in electronic format.

Engineering Notebook

An Engineering Notebook contains all design work completed for a specific design project. It is a chronological documentation of all tasks completed during a design process, including correspondence, ideas, sketches, journal entries related to design, calculations, photographs, class notes, meeting notes, test procedures and data, and other critical information.

Expository

Serving to expound, set forth, or explain.

Fact

A statement or piece of information that is true or a real occurrence.

Innovation Portal

An online center on which students can build secure digital portfolios of their original design work and connect that work to a variety of opportunities. The template for portfolio building is organized around the Engineering Design Process Portfolio Scoring Rubric (EDPPSR).

Journal

 A book containing all information relevant to the purpose of the journal. For this course, the journal contains sections for contact information, correspondence and conversation, sketches and drawings, reference citations, collected data, and a chronological section like a personal diary.

Longitudinal Portfolio

A Longitudinal or Growth Portfolio shows growth from early to later work in regard to specific skills and extent of mastery. Entries in a Longitudinal Portfolio can span several years and courses.

MLA Style Manual

 A writing style guide that is published by the Modern Language Association and is widely used in academia for writing and the documentation of research in the humanities. MLA style uses a works cited page listing works cited in one's text and notes, either footnotes or endnotes, which is placed after the main body of a term paper, article, or book.

Portfolio

A Portfolio is a collection of documents selected by the student for a particular purpose. Portfolios include student reflection. There are various types of portfolios used for various purposes and the teacher may decide which format is appropriate for use in his or her classroom.

Process Documentation

A step-by-step record of the process used throughout a project or task.

Project Portfolio

A Project Portfolio is a collection of artifacts assembled to document the design process of a single project. This may contain a duplication of some content from the engineering notebook and course binder and is used to showcase a student’s application of the design process. An example is the Puzzle Cube Project in IED.

Research

The systematic study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.

Resource

The elements needed to get a job done. In a technological system, the basic technological resources are energy, capital, information, machines and tools, materials, people, and time.

Showcase Portfolio

A Showcase Portfolio shows best work targeting specific skills.

Technical Research Paper

A document that conveys the results of scientific and technical research and provides recommendations for action.

Technical Writing

A subset of technical communication, technical writing is a broad term used to describe specialized correspondence in fields as diverse as computer hardware and software, chemistry, the aerospace industry, robotics, finance, consumer electronics, and biotechnology. Technical writing communicates technical (specialized) information, generally in the form of printed or printable documentation (e.g., PDF) and online help. The type and form of the produced documentation depends on the needs of the audience and on the product being documented.