Eric ChenPortfolio

English 10600

Ms. Costa

2018 December 9th

Summary

This is a compilation of my work at Purdue University in my English 10600 and Engineering 13100 class. It portrays my contribution to groupwork in multiple engineering projects as well as an English project. The engineering projects consist of developments with bike sharing services, the Taum Sauk Reservoir, and energy consumption and savings (assignments that start with “A”). The milestones are part of an engineering design project that revolved around the engineering design process, which revolved around increasing the mobility safety of students on Purdue University’s campus. The English project focused on the efficiency of dining court lines and the improvements that Purdue University has tried. It incorporates an interview conducted with the dining staff as well as the drafting process.

E-portfolio: https://erictchenportfolio.wordpress.com/

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Table of Contents

A8b_A 1

A9_A 6

A12_A 8

Interview Questions 14

Milestone1_A 17

Milestone4_A 21

Research Report 26

Rough Draft (10-21) 35

Reflection Synthesis 46

Reflection Journal 50

Reflection Synthesis Outline 64

A8b_A

Name 1: Fred Arentz Login 1: farentz

Name 2: Eric Chen Login 2: chen2768

Name 3: Hamdan Sulaiman Login 3: msulaim

Section #: 19 Team Letter: A

All learning objectives that will be graded are clearly outlined for each Section in the assignment sheet.

Section 1 – Understand the bicycle sharing program:

Findings from Step 1:

Capital Bikeshare is a bikeshare service, which covers an area across 6 cities and counties in Washington, DC, Virginia, and Maryland. It has more than 500 stations that house around 4,300 bicycles. Users can purchase different plans that allow them to ride for 30 minutes, charging more for every additional 30 minutes that they use the bikes. It is implied to be used for shorter trips based on the increase of rates for longer trips (Capital Bikeshare).

Problems that rise from bike sharing programs are the different systems that provide revenue for the company behind the program. The first issue would be getting funds to start off the program would be necessary with dock installation, creation of the system software, and the bikes themselves. For a program to work, it needs to be widespread so that it is more likely to cover an area where the rider can find another station to park the bike. This would mean that the program would require significant funding, typically sponsors such as Nike or Ford (CityLab). Once it starts gaining revenue from that is it able to start recovering with operating costs and user fees, such as where Capital Bikeshare is at right now. But it will not occur if the clients do not trust the program itself. Another issue is that some programs don’t have a docking system, where bikes would end up at the bottom of a river or some obscure place.

However, there are still positive impacts with a bike share program. It encourages people to use bikes to get around congested areas in cities. It’s more flexible for users as they can leave at their own time instead of waiting for a carpool or a parking spot. Sharing bikes can be more economically beneficial for those who can’t afford to own bikes, or simply don’t have enough space in their apartment. People can be more active whilst getting to where they need to be and reduce pollution by ordering an Uber or Lyft (Bryce).

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Step 2 – Explore the data using observations:

Team Member Quarter of data analyzed

Fred Arentz Q3 2017

Eric Chen Q2 2017

Hamdan Sulaiman Q1 2017

Findings from Step 2:

The data provides the start/end time and date, bicycle station and location, and the bicycle number that have been used. Missing data that can be calculated is the duration of time that the bike was taken out for and revenue that is generated by Capital Bikeshare. To use the data, it is most beneficial to use PivotTables due to the sheer number of data points per quarter.

Section 3 – Explore the data using excel

Team Member Questions developed about the data (these should be individual; each team member needs to record the questions they developed)

Fred Arentz When are the rush hours of the day, and how can the client use promotions to increase use in these times?

Eric Chen What is the revenue that the program is making? Are they making a profit based off initial installation costs?

Hamdan Sulaiman What are the problems that users can face when docking their bikes?

Findings from Step 3:

Despite having an obvious docking method for their bikes, some users don’t pay enough attention to confirm that their bike has been properly docked and won’t be charged afterwards. This will cause

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some users to be overcharged for using the bikes, despite not needing it anymore. There must be a system in place to notify the clients that they are still being charged for their bikes. This is an issue for the company as trust has been one of the primary reasons why most programs have failed. Users must be able to trust the company enough so that they don’t feel scammed when their paying for a short-term service.

Section 4 – Develop a question to explore using the dataQuestion and evidence from Part 4:

With more than 500 stations that house around 4,300 bicycles, Capital Bikeshare is becoming increasingly popular among users for short commutes. However, during rush hours,” bikers are often left scrambling for bikes” (Washington Post, 2017). The company has more than 32000 members and recently marked 18 million trips (Washington Post, 2017). There are however some problems. According to a report by Washington Post in 2016, one of the users was charged $1200 after his bike got stolen, despite being properly docked. According to the client, the docking light was green, indicating that the bike was docked successfully (Washington Post,2016). While this is rare, another scenario is overcharging. In Q3, 2.88% of the bikes that were leased were not returned within 90 minutes. For a user although the first 30 mins costs the $2, exceeding 30 minutes usage fee is added to the initial $2: for 30-59 minutes the usage fee is $2, for 60-89 the usage fee is $4 and for +90 minutes the usage fee is $8 for each extra period of 30 minutes. In comparison bike sharing companies, such as Spin just cost $1 per 30 minutes, hence only $2 per hour (Lime, 2018). We predict that overcharging can be a reason for clients to avoid using Capital Bikeshare and hence we would like to investigate the number of people overcharged and present possible evidence for client loss to the company if there is any.

Section 5 – Analyze the data to answer your question using the data and ExcelDescription of plan:

From the data provided, the time taken for each journey will be extracted. For every period taken greater than 30 minutes, the fares for using Capital Bikeshare will be calculated. This will be done by creating pivot tables for the time taken and by using IF functions to efficiently find the total revenue generated by applying the fares for using bikes for a period greater than 30 minutes.

Team Roles: How did each member contribute?

Team Member RoleFred Arentz ExcelEric Chen Step 1 and 2Hamdan Sulaiman Step 4 and 5

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We all suggested possible problems that could occur, based on the amount of evidence found for each problem, a common problem was agreed upon. Each member generated his own visual analysis along with a short explanation to help understand the quarter they were analyzing. These findings were then compiled in order to answer Section 6.

Section 6 – Communicate the results of your analysis to your client

Communication of results:

From the results of Q1 it can be observed that an extremely large number of users (68020 users) used the bikes for a period greater than 90 minutes. Similarly, from Q2 it can be observed that a large number of users (33,787 users) used the bike for a period of greater than 90 minutes. In Q3, it can also be seen that 30,219 users use the bikes for more than 90 minutes. Being charged $8 for every 30 minutes after a journey of 90 minutes can be steep price to pay, especially for incorrect docking. The high prices might discourage users from using Capital Bikeshare in the future as well as references who may choose to use them. At times, users are not even aware that they have exceeded the time limit and are being overcharged. We suggest that the company should develop an alert system such as a messaging system to notify users that the bicycle is still in use, allowing the user to take appropriate action to rectify the situation. It will improve the public relations and generate an environment where the user can trust the company’s services.

We would also suggest that the client starts a campaign that promotes using Capital Bikeshare to commute to and from work. The data indicates that there is a surge in the usage of the program between 7 AM and 9 AM and between 4:30 PM and 6:30 PM which is consistent with the daily work hours. Reducing the rates during these times for a short period and promoting the usage of bikes to commute could increase the clientele of the program which would increase long term revenue.

Section 7 – References

Bryce, K. (2016, November 17). The Many Benefits of Bike Sharing Programs - Commute Options. Retrieved from https://www.commuteoptions.org/the-many-benefits-of-bike-sharing-programs/

Capital Bikeshare. (2010). Capital Bikeshare Membership & Pass Options | Capital Bikeshare. Retrieved from https://www.capitalbikeshare.com/pricing

Lazo, L. (2017, October 2). Capital Bikeshare gears up for another expansion — and competition. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/capital-bikeshare-gears-up-for-another-expansion/2017/10/02/bcf81b4a-a2fe-11e7-ade1-76d061d56efa_story.html?utm_term=.0f3a014e343f

LimeBike. (2017). About Us - Lime. Retrieved from https://www.li.me

Small, A. (2017, January 31). 4 Reasons Why Seattle's Bike Share Failed. Retrieved from

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https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2017/01/seattle-bike-share-pronto-goes-under/513575/

What your team should submit:

Submit this assignment as a team. For this assignment, submit this word document as a team. Additionally, submit one Excel document for each member of the team with their individual pieces of the analysis. If you combined your analyses into one Excel document, you should submit that as well. The exact organization of the final Excel document is left up to your team, but it should be well-organized and easy to follow (creating an organized Excel spreadsheet is a professional skill that takes practice and can be learned).

Notes:

Pay attention to how your answer sheet is designed and organized; it should follow best practices and should be easy for others to understand and for potential collaborators to see how to modify, if necessary.

You may use other references in your analysis and your spreadsheet if you like, but they must be clearly cited.

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A9_A

To: Ameren Missouri

From: Section 19, Team A

Subject: Procedure for Determining the Relationship between Reservoir Height and Water Volume

Date: 5th October 2018

PROBLEM STATEMENT:

The client, Ameren Missouri, which is the company managing the Taum Sauk Reservoir requires a relationship between reservoir height and volume of water in order to calculate the power output. Since the reservoir operates by alternating between using and producing electricity, it is in the company’s (stakeholder’s) interests to have a clear understanding of the power output. However, there are certain limitations which include a non-symmetrical and non-uniform shape of the reservoir, hence approximations were made. The experiment was constrained to the use of shapes, in order to fit the criteria of finding the volume with shapes. The shapes of both the single-shaped and multi-shaped models were established to be perfect shapes, compared to the irregular shape of the actual reservoir. The trade-off of using simple shapes was sacrificing the actual perimeter of the reservoir in order to calculate a simple volume from the perimeters from model shapes.

DESCRIPTION OF TWO MODELS:

For the single-shaped reservoir, we are considering trapezoid shaped walls with a square bottom. However, this is assuming that the structures are uniform and the sides are single shapes that fall in place with the edges of the trapezoid. But still, when using laminar approach to calculate volume, the result would be an overestimate as the walls’ irregularity would cause perimeter measurements to be inconsistent.

For a multi-shaped reservoir, we are considering a heart-shaped top, which means two semi-circles and joined with a square on its sides. However, there are certain assumptions such as the same shape at the top continues till the bottom which is leveled ground. The limitation of this approach is that extra dimension such as the radius, height of triangle etc would be required.

COMPARISON:

The values calculated for both, the single and multi-shaped reservoir are extremely close, varying by less than 50 acre-feet. According to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commision, the upper reservoir capacity is 4350 acre-feet, hence both are calculated values are close

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overestimates, the values being: 4438.79 for single-shaped and 4485.25 for multi-shaped. The difference is due to using estimates for the radius, height of the triangle, and using simpler shapes for the base etc.

CONCLUSION:

Since our calculated values are very close to real the volume of the upper reservoir, we are confident that our model is an approximate but accurate representation of the Taum Sauk Reservoir.

REFERENCES:

Federal Energy Regulatory Commision. (2017, February 23). Taum Sauk Pumped Storage Project. Retrieved from https://www.ferc.gov/industries/hydropower/safety/projects/taum-sauk/proj-desc.asp

Weisstein, Eric W. "Truncated Square Pyramid." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/TruncatedSquarePyramid.html

Sincerely,

Fred Arentz

Eric Chen

Hamdan Sulaiman

Section 19, Team A

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A12_A

Name 1: Fredrik Arentz Login 1: farentz

Name 2: Eric Chen Login 2: chen2768

Name 3: Hamdan Sulaiman Login 3: msulaim

Section #: 19 Team #: A

Suggested outline for your report& Requirements: Use the checklist below to ensure your report meets the assignment requirements:

Section & Contents Detail Learning ObjectivesI. Problem

Statement Who is the client? What is the problem or need? What is focus of requested task?

PS01: Explain the problem based on synthesis of client, user, and other stakeholder needs.

II. Information Gathering & Assumptions Made

Days per month Carbon emissions per kWh of

electricity Carbon emissions per cubic feet

of natural gas Assumptions related to solar

panels.

IL02: Gather information from reliable sources.EB02: Identify assumptions made in cases when there are barriers to accessing information.

III. Economic Analysis

Total capital investment of proposed new system

Excel graph comparing the monthly commercial energy purchased (in kWh) with the current system and with the proposed solar panels

Excel graph comparing the cost of the monthly commercial energy purchased (in dollars) with the current system and with the proposed solar panels

Payback period for capital investment of solar array

Price of commercial electricity (in cents/kWh) that would yield a three-year payback

Discussion of impact of solar panels on energy cost

DV02: Select appropriate graphical representation of dataset based on data characteristics such as numerical (discrete or continuous) or categorical (ordinal or nominal)DV04: Prepare a table for technical presentation with proper formattingDV05: Prepare a chart for technical presentation with proper formatting, including title, axes labels, appropriately scaled axes, units and appropriate markersPS04: Recognize potentially competing or conflicting needs.SQ01: Use accurate, scientific, mathematical, and/or technical concepts, units, and data in final solution

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UC03: Define systems or processes with mathematical models with inputs, outputs, and accumulations.

IV. Environmental Analysis

Calculation of CO2 emissions from energy use for electricity and natural gas (need to find a reliable source for this information)

Excel graph comparing monthly CO2 emissions from energy use with current fossil energy for electricity and natural gas purchased

Excel graph comparing monthly CO2 emissions from energy use with solar panel installation for electricity and natural gas purchased

Critical analysis of the impact of installing solar panels on reducing the building CO2 footprint. Consider here the payback period you calculated, the amount of electricity you have to purchase after solar panel installation as well as what your observations about CO2 emissions after installation of solar panels.

DV02: Select appropriate graphical representation of dataset based on data characteristics such as numerical (discrete or continuous) or categorical (ordinal or nominal)DV04: Prepare a table for technical presentation with proper formattingDV05: Prepare a chart for technical presentation with proper formatting, including title, axes labels, appropriately scaled axes, units and appropriate markersPS04: Recognize potentially competing or conflicting needs.SQ01: Use accurate, scientific, mathematical, and/or technical concepts, units, and data in final solution.UC03: Define systems or processes with mathematical models with inputs, outputs, and accumulations.

V. What Is Your Recommendation?

A final recommendation to the Mayor, supported with evidence from Sections IV and V.

EE01: Justify decision based on cultural, economic, environmental and other applicable factors recognizing how engineering practice is not only based on technical information but is shaped by cultural, economic, environmental and other factors.SQ02: Justify design solution based on how well it meets criteria and constraints.PC02: Make statement to communicate result found in

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analysis.

VI.List of References (what information resources did you use

Sources must be traceable to original sources in APA or MLA format. See https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ resource/560/02Must also use in-text citations or clearly show how/where the source was used

IL05: Format reference list of used sources that is traceable to original sources (APA or MLA are recommended)

Assignment PC05: Fully address all parts of the assignment by following instructions and completing all work.

Part A:

Before beginning this activity, we planned our work and assigned specific tasks to individuals.

Time Period Our Process (Individual Responsibilities, Tasks, etc.) Notes10/15/2018 Compiling data on the problem Hamdan

10/23/2018 Representation of data on excel Fred

10/24/2018 Completing word document Eric

10/24/2018 Decide on recommendation to problem Hamdan

Note: Plan your work to make sure you complete the assignment in the time given. Evidence of adherence to timeline is reflected in completion of assignment (TW04).

Team member roles:

Team Member Role Significance of the Role

Fred Coordinator Coordinates activities and aids in decision making process

Eric Timekeeper Ensuring the team is on track to complete the task on time

Hamdan Recorder Recording information such as team ideas

Part B:

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Recommendation to the Mayor of Indianapolis

I. Problem Statement

The client, the mayoral office of Indianapolis, Indiana, is looking for a method to reduce energy in their municipal buildings. They need a recommendation on whether the city should use solar panels or continue using fossil fuels based on their impact on economic or environmental factors. By changing to solar panels, the city will be able to conserve the consumption of fossil fuels, which is releases carbon dioxide emissions, contributing to climate change. The stakeholder will be the mayors’ office who will be investing in the decision to use the solar panels to power the library. The criteria are to produce a model demonstrating the ideal plan for the city with factors of environmental and economic impact. The constraints are that the solar panels are installed lying flat to the roof, that no production loss over the period that they are installed, and the inflation of rates are negligible.

II. Information Gathering & Assumptions Made

Information that is given from Indianapolis Library Data Sheet are the monthly consumptions of natural gas and electricity that the building uses. With additional information stating the energy efficiency, solar panel area, and average daily solar insolation, the total electricity produced by the solar panels are able to be calculated. It will be subtracted from the total electricity consumption that the building uses in order to calculate the amount of electricity that the library needs to buy.

Additional information that is given are that natural gas that runs the heating systems (47%) in winter as well as hot water (7%) will be 54% of the total energy consumption. The emission factor of CO2 would be approximately 7.44 x 10-4 metric tons CO2/kWh (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) or .744 kg of CO2/kWh. With solar panel production, only the ‘electricity bought’ in the solar model will be accounted for this CO2 production. This would be added on to the natural gas consumption space of the building by multiplying by a factor of .1171 kg of CO2/ft3 (U.S. Energy Information Administration).

One assumption that needs to be made is the power consumed and produced annually are constant for the future. As soon as the cost of electricity increases or the solar panel production increases, the solar panels are more favorable for the library. If the electricity production decreases or consumption increases, it is more profitable to maintain the current model.

Another assumption is that the city maintains the system for the next 20-50 years. It would avoid inflation of any costs, future improvements to natural gas and electricity production, or changing the cost of electricity per kWh. This would maintain the situation at a linear rate to predict the time that it will take to make the solar model profitable.

A third assumption is the option of tilting solar panels are out of the equation due to its smaller density of solar panels over the same area. Although they are able to collect more energy over the duration of a day, the decrease in number of solar panels would not produce as much energy as flat solar panels.

III.Economic Analysis

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The Non-Solar model would be buying all of its 393,433 kWh of energy at $0.0977, totaling the annual cost at $38,438.40. The Solar model would buy 116,726 kWh of energy at the same rate, totaling its annual cost at $11,404.16. With the initial installation of 300 solar panels at $300,000 and the library reducing its electricity bill to save $27,034.24 per year. In addition to that, the library would also be saving money to the decrease in CO2 emissions that it produces, increasing the amount of annual savings to $28,601.11. It would take approximately 10.49 years until the library would make a profit. For the library to start making a profit in three years’ time, the cost of electricity would have to be $0.35573 per kWh.

According to a report done by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the average degradation rate by a solar panel produced after 2000 is approximately 0.4% per year. This means that it will achieve a production of 92% of its power after 20 years (Lombardo). With maintenance costs included, maintaining a productive solar panel can create a profitable situation within 10 years’ time, and continue to profit into the future.

IV. Environmental Analysis

Carbon dioxide emissions contribute to the heavily discussed issue of climate. Carbon dioxide, along with other greenhouse gasses, creates the atmosphere that surrounds the Earth. As industries expands and more electricity is consumed, more carbon dioxide is contributed to the atmosphere, contributes to the “greenhouse effect”. This occurs as the energy/heat from the Sun is penetrating into the atmosphere, rebounding off the Earth, but is being reflected back from the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere back onto Earth, increasing the overall temperature. This effect will cause the glaciers to melt and ocean water to expand, increasing the sea level. Crops will respond favorably to greater concentrations of CO2, but the high temperatures will shift climate patterns and force the ideal location of certain crops to be moved elsewhere (NASA).

The non-solar model is far more hazardous for the environment. After totaling up annual CO2

emissions from usage of electricity and natural gas, the non-solar model produced 111,170 kg of CO2 more than the solar model. This is equivalent to the production of greenhouse gases by an additional 24 cars on the road for one year (EPA). Although the decision to switch to solar will not impact the contribution of greenhouse gasses on the grand scale, it does show users the impact if the population takes action against climate change, and start working towards cleaner energy alternatives.

V. What is Your Recommendation?

The city of Indianapolis should install flat solar panels at the top of the Indianapolis Public Library. The initial cost of $300,000 for the installation will be paid back within () years’ time, with the library saving $27,000 annually. It will reduce the average CO2 emissions from electricity usage by approximately 111,170 kg annually. The library can also then provide information brochures or designated plaques that are able to educate the users of the library about climate change. It can raise the awareness of the effect of climate change, starting small, which can contribute to something greater.

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VI. References (APA or MLA)

Lombardo, T. (2014, April 20). What Is the Lifespan of a Solar Panel? Retrieved from https://www.engineering.com/DesignerEdge/DesignerEdgeArticles/ArticleID/7475/What-Is-the-Lifespan-of-a-Solar-Panel.aspx

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2018). Climate Change Causes: A Blanket Around the Earth. Retrieved from https://climate.nasa.gov/causes/

U.S. Energy Information Administration. (2016, February 2). Carbon Dioxide Emissions Coefficients. Retrieved from https://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/co2_vol_mass.php

U.S. Environmental Information Administration. (2018, September 28). U.S. Price of Natural Gas Delivered to Residential Consumers (Dollars per Thousand Cubic Feet). Retrieved from https://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/hist/n3010us3m.htm

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2017). Greenhouse Gases Equivalencies Calculator - Calculations and References | US EPA. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gases-equivalencies-calculator-calculations-and-references

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Interview Questions

1. Do you believe that lines at the dining courts are an issue or if it the system in place manages them efficiently?

a. Lunch, classesb. Dinner, menu choices

2. What do you think about the current method that dining courts are using to manage long lines? Do you think there is a better way to improve upon the system to manage crowds?

a. 2 to 1 lines due to One-the-Go3. I understood that a few years back, that there used to be 11 or so cafeterias,

which restricted to the ones that students could go to. Were there other methods that were used and what was wrong with these methods?

a. Hall would have their ownb. 2 dining rooms to kitchen in centerc. Renovationd. Chef salad, hard boiled egg, cheesee. Vegetables and potatoes f. Lettuce, cottage cheese, jellog. 1986, lemonade, ice tea, kool-aid

4. Are On-the-go meals or other restaurants such as those in the PMU, Cary Knight Spot, or Daily Bite meals effective enough to manage crowds?

a. Yesb. PMU dinner meal swipesc. Cary Added for Knight meal swipesd. Daily Bite lunch at lunch beforee. Pete Za’s opens at lunchf. Freaky Friday, eats at dining court

i. Honors College, Pandaii. Cosi, popup

iii. One-Bowl, g. Doesn’t want to cross 3rd Street

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5. Will there be another change in the near future on how to manage the lines as the population of Purdue freshmen increase?

a. Meredith, knock down, new res hall, size of Caryb. Wiley, BCC, New res hall, 3rd street Northc. STEM building, new cafe/concept, White boxes/chinese food from card. Purdue Village, Chick-fil-A

6. Will Purdue West have additional restaurants to achieve what the PMU does to serve students on Sunday nights?

a. Aspire, possible retail

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Rough Draft (Eric)

· Changing system continuously has not been able to establish a direct method for reducing the amount of wait time in lines.

o In the past

§ Each residential hall would have their own cafeteria, split along the middle by the kitchen line.

§ To get food, students would have an id # for the front person to check and give them a dining card in which they can turn in to the dining line.

§ Limited choices for every meal depending on what the kitchen provides

§ Salad, Hard-boiled egg, cheese, vegetables, potatoes, jello, lemonade, iced tea, Kool-Aid

o Transition

§ Established dining courts, starting with Hillenbrand/Ford.

§ (Research the time frame it took for them to start building dining courts).

o Current

§ Student ID’s to swipe in, so no check validity to enter. Meal swipes open at certain locations at certain times to alleviate the amount of traffic in one area.

· Last Year: Cary Knight Spot accepts meal swipes, Daily Bite, PMU, Cosi, Pete Za.

§ Contribution to longer lines is due to On-the-Go, restricting the amount of workers checking in students to the dining courts themselves, reducing from 2 kiosks to just one.

§ Students choose not to cross Martin Jischke during lunch because of the distance that they have to travel.

§ For dinner, classes have ended to where students will be able to choose and fall towards dining courts that have better menu choices.

§ (Talk about Freaky Fridays)

o Future plans, but not confirmed

§ Knock down Meredith and replace with residential component as large as Cary Quadrangle. Establish restaurant-like similar to Cary Knight Spot.

§ STEM Building construction will have a similar café concept to Au Bon Pain, with possible Chinese food.

§ Chick-fil-A being established at Purdue Village

§ Aspire will have underground section be for retail (possible no relation to project)

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Milestone1_A

Team #: A

Overview: Problem Scoping is an activity that initially occurs early in a design process and is then iterated (or re-visited) throughout the design process. In problem scoping, designers explore the context of the problem and determine what aspect of the problem they will focus on. During problem scoping, designers identify stakeholders (and their needs), direct users (and their needs) and project goals. Designers also explore and clarify design requirements (constraints and criteria). Need finding is part of the problem scoping process when the designer looks for the “needs” of specific users (something that is missing, wrong, unfulfilled or could be improved).

Given the context of the Design Project, describe the needs of at least 4 direct users that clearly describe specific direct user needs or problems within the context of the problem you are focused on. These statements should include data or evidence that supports that these are indeed needs/problems and justifies their importance.

Question Your work will be graded on proficiency of the following objectives

1,2,3 PS01: Explain the problem based on synthesis of client, user, or other stakeholder needs.

0 PS02: Justify why problem is important to solve by making reference to relevant global, societal, economic, or environmental issues.

1 IL02: Gather information from reliable sources.

1 IL03: Support all claims made with evidence that is either generated or found.

2 PS03: Explain key specifications (in terms of criteria and constraints) that address what the client wants and what the user needs.

2 SQ02: Justify design solution based on how well it meets criteria and constraints.

3 IL03: Support all claims made with evidence that is either generated or found.

4 IL05: Format reference list of used sources that is traceable to original sources (APA or MLA are recommended)

5 TW02: Document all contributions to the team performance with evidence that these contributions are significant.

Note: Include in-text citations and a reference list in APA format for all external sources you use. For additional information, visit https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/.

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1. Consider 4 stakeholders. List 4 need/problem statements along with supporting evidence. The need or problem statement should be clear, concise, and supported by data/evidence affirming that the need/problem is real and important. This can be done as a team or each team member can focus on a specific stakeholder. Make sure at least 2 stakeholders are direct users of the solution you will create.

#1 Identify a stakeholder: Police Department

Need statement: Improve the safety of students and vehicles at busy intersections.

Supporting evidence: There is evidence present that hit-and-runs do occur on a constant basis, with injury caused to many pedestrians. The police are present at certain events such as gamedays or college tours, but typically don’t fan out to oversee every single intersection.

#2 Identify a stakeholder: Purdue University

Need statement: Needs improvement of human safety on-campus.

Supporting evidence: One of the major components to a good college is the safety that it is able to provide for its residences. Students are able to focus upon their studies than worrying about simple accidents to rampant attacks. One school that has a good reputation, but poor campus security is UC Berkeley. It has been a target for protests which end up violent, making students disinterested in attending (Queally).

#3 Identify a stakeholder: Purdue University students (direct)

Need statement: Need a way to increase safety when walking, skateboarding, biking etc.

Supporting evidence: From data provided that, it is observed that 88 accidents concerning skateboarders and bikers have occurred, most of which are on-campus. Most skateboarders and bikers are students, who commute for short distances from one class to another or to their residence. Back in 2012, Purdue students had already complained the bike lanes at Purdue to be ineffective. According to Julian Toumey, the president of the Purdue Cycling Club, “the bike lanes aren’t effective because they aren’t connected,” (Musick, 2012) which problem still exists at present: for instance, the disconnected bike lanes between WTHR and STEW. Similarly, skateboarders are now more prone to accidents due to the increasingly popular usage of electric skateboards that can reach up to speeds of 25mph.

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#4 Identify a stakeholder: Drivers (direct)

Need statement: Avoid accidents that may occur not because of their mistake but someone else’s

Supporting evidence: Getting into accidents can be frustrating for drivers, especially when it is not their fault. Indiana is a fault state, which means every time a driver gets into an accident, there is a possibility that he/she may have to bear the expenses for both himself/herself and the other person involved. Unfortunately, drivers have to bear the cost when it comes to accidents involving bikers and skateboarders, since bikers and skateboarders are less protected and hence more prone to the slightest of collisions.

2. Building on your problem scoping efforts, type your team “problem statement”

Problem Statement: Problem scoping efforts lead to a problem statement, which is a clear, concise, and complete description of a problem to be solved. A problem statement includes information on the need and the user, client and at least some stakeholders without reference to a specific solution.

Problem Statement Chief of Police John Cox (the client) wants an implementation that will increase the safety of transport at Purdue University by reducing collisions of people traveling by car, bicycle, skateboards and pedestrians (the stakeholders).

Criteria & Constraints The solution needs to increase mobility safety on campus and be able to be used by a diverse population at Purdue. The solution needs to be seamlessly implemented into the Purdue infrastructure, should be quick and easy to implement and have a relatively low cost of implementation.

Ideas about how you might measure success - All of these need to be tied to the identified Criteria & Constraints

A measure of success is to see how much the accident rates in the chosen area decreases relative to the accident rate in the places where it has not been implemented. Other things to consider is: days the road or infrastructure was closed, the maximum negative impact on travel time for any of the commuters relative to the greatest improvement, and how much the implementation costs weighed against the benefit of reduced accident rate (damaged property, police time, traffic due to accidents).

3. Choose a location on campus

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Explore the data on Blackboard. Choose a location on campus to focus your solution around. Provide evidence from the data and other sources (video, personal observations, and any other data you collect or find) to justify your solution.

Location chosen N. Grant Street

Evidence for why this is an appropriate location to choose

From the data that was given by the police department on the reported calls of vehicular and pedestrian incidents, we have determined the area with the most common traffic the street across from the Purdue Memorial Union and the Bookstore.

4. List references in APA or MLA format.

FreeAdvice Legal. (n.d.). Indiana Auto Accidents: How Are They Handled? Retrieved from https://accident-law.freeadvice.com/accident-law/auto/indiana-auto-accidents.htm

Musick, K. (2012, October 31). Bike lanes at Purdue deemed ineffective by students. Retrieved from Purdue Exponent: https://www.purdueexponent.org/features/article_a4eb92d4-e886-56c0-8e5b-c33491b1a29b.html

Queally, J., John, P. S., Oreskes, B., & Zahniser, D. (2017, August 28). Violence by far-left protesters in Berkeley sparks alarm - Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-berkeley-protests-20170827-story.html

5. Individually, each team member should describe his/her own specific, significant contributions to this milestone (the work above):

Team Member Name Team Member’s Contribution to Milestone #1

Fred Arentz Problem Statement

Eric Chen 2 stakeholders, 1 reference

Hamdan Sulaiman 2 stakeholders, 2 references, location chosen

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Milestone4_A

Team #: A Save this file with the file name Milestone4_teamnum.docx.

Question Your work will be graded on completion of the following objectives:

2 PS05: Expand or revise problem statement based on evidence found during later stages of design process.

3 PS03: Explain key specifications (in terms of criteria and constraints) that address what the client wants and what the user needs.

3 EB04: Justify chosen metrics and the corresponding assigned weights to evaluate potential solutions, based on stakeholder needs.

4 SQ02: Justify design solution based on how well it meets criteria and constraints.

5 EB06: Clearly articulate reasons for answers when making decisions or evaluating alternative solutions.

6 IL05: Format reference list of used sources that is traceable to original sources (APA or MLA are recommended).

7 TW02: Document all contributions to the team performance with evidence that these contributions are significant.

Note: Include in-text citations and a reference list in APA format for all external sources you use. For additional information, visit https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/.

1. Problem Statement: In the space below, write the problem statement of the problem you are trying to address, remember to include all elements required in a problem statement (PS01, PS02, and PS03 in Milestone 1). Make sure you have addressed any feedback received about your problem statement from previous milestones.

Chief of Police John Cox (the client) wants an implementation that will increase the safety of transport at Purdue University by reducing collisions of pedestrians, bicyclists, and motor vehicles (the stakeholders).  The solution needs to increase mobility safety on campus and be able to be used by a diverse population at Purdue. The solution needs to be seamlessly implemented into the Purdue infrastructure and have a relatively low cost of implementation. A measure of success is a decrease of accident rates in the chosen area relative to the accident rate in the places where it has not been implemented. Factors to consider is: days the road or infrastructure was closed, maximum negative impact on travel time for any of the commuters relative to the greatest improvement, and how much the implementation costs weighed against the benefit of reduced accident rate (damaged property, police time, traffic due to accidents).

2. Describe how your problem statement has changed from your Milestone 2 document and explain why.

Used new diction to emphasize the purpose of the criteria and constraints.

3. Summary of criteria: Read your problem statement one more time and identify all the criteria, constraints, qualities, etc. that your team will be looking for in a solution. In the table below, explain each of those criteria, constraints, qualities, etc. In addition, describe which specific features you will consider as you evaluate the pros & cons of each solution and

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explain how those features are associated with the corresponding criteria. Comment about the importance of each criterion in terms of highly important, somewhat important, not very important and explain why. See example in the table below.

Criteria/Constraint/Quality

Criteria description or explanation

Features to look for in solutions (Qualitative metrics)

Explanation of the relationship between the criteria or constraint and the characteristic

Importance of the criteria for selecting the best ideas (this describes its relevance on selecting the final solution, not its relevance within the final design)

Safety The solution should not put users in danger or at risk of injury.

1. Cautionary signs

2. Pedestrian safety satisfaction

3. Vehicle safety satisfaction

1. Increases the mobility safety of pedestrians as they cross the roads

2. Makes sure that both parties at the intersection are satisfied with their personal safety

Extremely importantSafety should always be the main priority of any engineer attempting to create a solution. Safety will become a priority when designing the final solution in detail.

Ease of Usage

The solution should be easy to understand and use by the diverse population at Purdue.

1. Instructions 2. User friendliness3. Convenience

1. Helps in understanding usage2. People of all ages can use the solution.3. People of all disabilities are able to activate

Important. Ease of usage will be a decisive factor in choosing the best idea.

Ethicality The solution needs to fulfill user satisfaction that doesn’t breach their own standard of privacy.

1. User Satisfaction2. Insurance of Privacy3. Needs to follow ethical guidelines set forth by ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers)

1. The culture of Purdue must accept the information of thermal radiation from their bodies to be used to implement the data to be used only for traffic information.

Important. The individual wishes to keep most of their personal information private, especially in a public space.

Low cost and seamless Implementation

The solution should be cost effective and implementation shouldn’t take a lot of time.

1. No road blocks or hinderance in traffic during installation.2.Quality of product is not compromised for the solution to be cost effective.

1.May cause inconvenience for pedestrians as well as drivers.2.Using cheap material may cause the solution to be ineffective and have low durability.

Important. Changes will be made to the infrastructure of streets on a large scale, therefore it is important that such changes are durable and effective.

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4. Pros & cons evaluation: In the space below, describe the pros and cons associated with your eight solution ideas from Milestone 3. Use as much space as needed to clearly describe both your solution idea and the pros and cons! Insert images, photos, sketches, etc. if needed. Provide a total of at least four pros and four cons for each solution idea.

Description of solution idea

Pros Cons

1 Thermal Camera

1. Improves transport efficiency and speed of travel.

2. Helps decrease rate of jaywalking leading to a reduced accident rate

3. No need for monitoring constantly4. Reduces idle time of the traffic

junction (when there is no one approaching the junction, while there is a queue to pass in the other direction)

1. Can be argued for being an invasion of privacy

2. Costs of implementing system and reprogramming lights in time.

3. Car exhaust4. Expensive

2 Fine Cameras

1. Bikes and cars would be more compliant to enter an intersection at a lower speed when they know that there is a camera.

2. Negative incentive to enter an intersection illegally.

3. More income for the university/police4. Could make the intersection safer.

1. Costs of implementing the system

2. Incorrect identification3. Bikers would need some form of

identification which will take more time

4. Flash can be a distraction

3 Timer 1. Vehicles would be more compliant to enter an intersection closer, knowing how much time is remaining for them to cross.

2. Drivers would know how much longer in a cycle that is present and pay more attention to the corners of the intersection than the light itself.

3. Satisfaction for the driver to know how much time is left.

4. Can be recalibrated to better fit the traffic at a specific time.

1. Pedestrians may look at the timer and jaywalk across as they know that the cars won’t be able to leave.

2. Vehicles will look at the light to be ready to leave without taking a good look at any strangling pedestrians crossing/jaywalking.

3. Hard to perceive from long distances

4. Vehicles have an incentive to speed up when there is little time left which could make the intersection less safe

4 Biking Rails

1. Travelling by bikes is more time efficient.

2. Decreases near collisions and cornering of bikers with cars.

3. Decreases collisions with bikers and pedestrians.

4. Designate lanes for bikes instead of

1. Looks unaesthetic and causes the streets to be extra crowded.

2. Bikers have a narrower space to cycle.

3. Pedestrians may jump over4. Bikes may crash into the barriers

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sharing the road when unneeded. 5 Siren 1. Instantly grabs attention of driver or

pedestrian, alerting them to pay attention.

2. Can be used to notify intersection of incoming emergency vehicles

3. Makes jaywalker feel guilty for tripping off a large noise.

4. Acts as an extra warning in a state of emergency.

1. May catch others off guard and attract unnecessary attention.

2. May cause panic and can be mistaken as an emergency depending on the sound.

3. May go off unexpectedly4. Obnoxious for people studying

6 Waiting Areas

1. Decreases accidents with pedestrians getting off the bus and bicyclists who have to dodge the incoming pedestrians on the bike lane.

2. Inexpensive3. Bikes are faster to leave an

intersection and will be less likely to be tied up with pedestrians cutting in front.

4. People will be more responsible to prevent jaywalking.

1. Hard to implement quickly and efficiently without negative consequence for pedestrians.

2. Does not affect the safety of vehicle and bicyclist.

3. Pedestrians may decide to disregard the area

4. Button to activate the light needs to be repositioned.

7 Cat Eyes 1. Inexpensive installation/maintenance2. Car lights will add another area where

cars can see if there are people crossing when there are no traffic lights present

3. Convenient for pedestrians to press the button

4. Clearly depicts the crosswalk for pedestrians

1. Cars will start relying on the ground lights and just pass an intersection if it’s not on.

2. Have a low life span and get easily worn off.

3. High beams may not shine upon the cat eyes

4. Does not reflect the pedestrian’s position.

8 Ground Lights

1. Obvious coloration to signal which side of the road has the right of way.

2. Lights up in the dark to allow drivers to see the pedestrians crossing

3. Clearly depicts the crosswalk for pedestrians

4. Gives pedestrians a greater sense of safety as they know they are visible

1. Expensive installation.2. It rains a lot and ground lights

can stop functioning if water seeps into them.

3. Light may become a distractor for vehicles.

4. Kids will be more likely to play with the colored lights as they cross the road.

5. Top solution ideas: Based on your pros & cons evaluation above, identify and clearly describe your top three solution ideas in the spaces below. Be sure to provide a written justification as to why each solution idea is a top prospect as well as why it is unique.

Idea #1 (Thermal Camera): Although it is an expensive tool to implement, can be useful in recognizing who can take priority in crossing. People will jaywalk unless there is a physical barrier

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that prevents them from doing so. Using thermal cameras to recognize when people will start walking can make it safer for pedestrians by switching the lights faster when there are no cars in the area.

Idea #2 (Waiting Areas): This will define waiting areas for bicyclists in the front and pedestrians to the side. Bicyclists typically would be the first to leave the intersection as they are able to accelerate and travel faster. Occasionally, pedestrians would also walk into the bike lane stand there as they wait for the intersection light change. This would cause bicyclists to be caught off guard and unable to slow down as people are getting off busses. It would be inexpensive to install as it would only require painting areas for bikes and pedestrians to travel to and wait until the light changes.

Idea #3 (Timer): A timer will set off alongside the traffic lights. This timer will indicate the passage of time between switching from one traffic light to another. It will allow cars to enter the intersection at a reasonable speed when they encounter a green light. They won’t have to rush directly at the light not knowing when it may become yellow. It also portrays the timer for red lights, so drivers are more understanding than impatient. This solution is based off the walking timer that starts for pedestrians when they are crossing. While most pedestrians usually wait for the walk sign to be activated, there are always jaywalkers. This solution is aimed at protecting jaywalkers, considering that it limits cars speeding through yellow lights and green lights that are about to end by showing the time left.

6. List references in APA or MLA format. Note: As you work on each milestone in the design project, cite references for any external sources you use. For your final deliverable, you will create a complete reference list that includes references for all milestones.

American Society of Civil Engineers. (n.d.). Code of Ethics. Retrieved from https://www.asce.org/code-of-ethics/

7. Individual Contributions. Individually, each team member should describe his/her own specific, significant contributions to this milestone (the work above) and include why this contribution is significant to the team performance.

Team member name Team member’s contribution to Milestone #4

Hamdan Sulaiman Some criteria, Some Pros & Cons, One Solution

Eric Chen Some criteria, Some Pros & Cons, One Solution

Fred Arentz Some criteria, Some Pros & Cons, One Solution

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An Unexpected Delay

Eric ChenDavid FaracheMohan Gadre

Nikita Ravi

Purdue University

AbstractWith increasing student population at Purdue University, dining in an efficient time manner has become an issue for students. They are pressed for time between classes to travel to dining courts with everyone else and wait in a long line before they can get food, which at that point, they will be running late for their next class. A survey of the students and an interview with a staff member of Dining & Catering were conducted to get personal opinions on their perspectives of wait time and see if there is room for improvement. Meal count data provided by Dining & Catering reveals trends in traffic at the dining courts and portrays which dining courts contributes to the issue. The conclusion is that Purdue University’s current system for a single cashier does not work and should temporarily hire a second cashier for rush hour times.

Key Words: line efficiency, academic performance, mental behavior, stress, time management

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IntroductionIn a typical restaurant, customers expect to be served as quickly as possible and if this was not the case, the customer’s satisfaction level will decrease causing them a period of stress (Iqbal, 2012). This should not exclude college dining courts where students have limited time to eat between classes. It is a stressful experience to rush through a meal during what’s supposed to be leisure time. It would be valuable to implement a more efficient system for dining court lines so there’s more time to eat. If students saved more time, they would be less stressed, leading to better results in classes and heighten the reputation of Purdue (Khanehkeshi, Ali, & Basavarajappa. 2011). One of the main reasons students are held up at dining courts because of the entry lines, where students swipe their ID card one at a time to get entered in. The line is limited to a single line, despite there being two registers at each dining court. To mediate between the current system of one scanner and the proposed multi-scanner system, it should be implemented only during the busiest times. This way, dining halls are better equipped for to handle the rush of students.

MethodologyAn interview with the Student Success Manager of Dining & Catering and a survey directed at the students were conducted to determine if there is an issue with time to eat. The head of Dining & Catering, Mr. Minner, was contacted initially for information, which he forwarded the questions to the Student Success Manager, Ms. Mary Jo Zeiser. She was requested for the interview and a list of questions was prepared. She provided data that the dining courts collect, which provided assistance to the project. The data portrayed the meals served at each dining court for the academic year. Analysis the data was sectioned off for each month.

The survey was created on Google Sheets with the focus group being students between the age of 17 to 19 who eat at the Purdue dining courts. The survey asked students where they ate, at what times, and their experience with lines. This data is biased because it was collected by placing it in multiple group chats of the team members that mostly included residents of Earhart and Purdue Village leading to Earhart being the most popular dining court. The survey will continue to be used to understand the stress in the lines and at when they appear.

The data was analyzed separately and used to decide which dining courts attracted the most traffic and at what time. The survey, in addition, informed of the impact lines had upon students and if any solution was needed for the dining court service model.

InterviewThe lines at the dining courts have changed significantly over the years, with the Dining & Catering department at Purdue University continuously working on new ways to improve the overall dining experience for students, faculty, and visitors. With these new methods, Purdue has not been able to establish an efficient procedure to reduce the amount of wait time in lines. An interview with the Student Success Manager of Purdue Dining & Catering, Ms. Mary Jo Zeiser, has clarified certain portions of Purdue’s past, present, and future ambitions for dining lines.        

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In 1986, when Ms. Zeiser was a student at Purdue University, each residential hall had their own cafeteria. Each side had two doors which allowed students to enter, totaling four lines that were serving food. Students would check in at the front where a cashier would check the student’s ID number. The cashier would then give them a dining card and then the students would then get in one of the four lines. They would present their card to the front of the dining line and start getting food. This system prevents students from eating at other dining halls except for the one that they live in. The check-in process is lengthy due to manual checking of each person before they are allowed in. Due to this, students occasionally decide to skip lunch because they don’t have enough time to walk to and from their classes and dorms. It is inefficient overall and prevents students from enjoying their dining experience due to the time constraint (M.J. Zeiser, personal communication, October 25, 2018).        Later in 1993, Hillenbrand Residence Hall was built, along with Hillenbrand Dining Court. This was the start to the change of dining halls to dining courts. It opened up the dining lines to more open choices, allowing students to only check in at the front replace the four lines with a buffet. The largest change to this establishment was that the dining court was open to all students, no matter which resident hall that they belonged to. This influenced Purdue to start adding more dining courts into their system and get rid of the dining halls. The university constructed a plan that would establish three more dining courts: Earhart (est. 2003), Windsor (est. 2004), and Ford (est. 2005). The dining halls were then either completely removed from the residential building, renovated for a separate utility, or sealed off. As more students started to go to Purdue, Wiley Dining Court was established in 2008. The manual check-in system was thrown out and replaced ID cards, allowing the cashier to quickly check the identity of the student. The proximity of the dining courts also contributed a shorter distance to get food, thus students have more time to eat (M.J. Zeiser, personal communication, October 25, 2018).        As the process got faster, so did the number of students that started to attend Purdue University. To improve the experience of the students who were running short on time, Purdue established On-the-Go, where students could grab small snacks that could be bought with a meal swipe. Although it was good for the students’ experience, one of the cashiers that were working in one of the two lines of checking in students were placed in On-the-Go, significantly slowing down the line into the dining court. Another issue is that visitors on campus can eat at the dining courts, thus check-in would be slowed down as students have to wait for families to purchase their meal as well as wait for the receipt to print out.

Purdue also realized that they need to be able to accommodate all the students at two of the busiest meal times, lunch and dinner. Lunch rush occurs at 11:30, 12:30, and 1:30, when the students have just gotten out of class and have approximately one hour to eat before their next class (as shown by Figure 4). These students would flock towards Ford and Wiley Dining Courts which are closer to the academic side of campus. Windsor is just as close, but due to menu choices, don’t receive as many students as the other two. This produces a longer wait time at Ford and Wiley. Dinner rush occurs at 6:00 or 7:00 where students have already dropped off their backpacks at their residence halls and go out to eat. Students typically choose 6:00 and 7:00 as they are more traditional eating times and is easier to plan as a group. Due to menu choices, one dining hall may receive more traffic than they intended (M.J. Zeiser, personal communication, October 25, 2018).

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Purdue recognized this and started trial options that opened students’ availability of choice and alleviate the pressure of large student numbers at one specific dining hall. Since most students are on meal swipes, opening a restaurant that didn’t accept meal swipes would not affect anything. Thus, deals were made with restaurants such as Cary Knight Spot, The Daily Bite, Cosi, Pete Za, One Bowl, and many restaurants at the Purdue Memorial Union to start accepting meal swipes. Dining & Catering have also started an event called “Freaky Fridays” which would allow meal swipes to be accepted with catering service such as Chick-fil-A (M.J. Zeiser, personal communication, October 25, 2018).

With flaws still present, Purdue has plenty of space that can be developed to accept more students and diverting the wait time elsewhere. One of these developments can be a replacement of Meredith Residential Hall with a similar quadrangle to Cary, where other new restaurants can be built. The current STEM building construction near Elliot Music Hall has plans to install a similar café concept like Au Bon Pain in Wilmeth Active Learning Center. Purdue Village is planned to be demolished and rebuilt as a new center for restaurants.

Numerical DataNumerical data were given from the interview conducted with Ms. Zeiser regarding the number of meal swipes at each dining court (M.J. Zeiser, personal communication, October 25, 2018). The data was analyzed to portray the dining traffic and its popularity over the course of two particular months in the 2017-18 academic year. The two months studied were April 2018, because this was the month with no breaks, and October 2017, because this is the month with a week-long autumn break.   

Figure 1 – The number of people who ate at each dining court at each meal time in April 2018

Figure 1 is a visual representation of the number of people eating at a dining court, at each meal, in April 2018. From Figure 1, we can see that the popular dining court for breakfast is Wiley, lunch for Ford, and Earhart for dinner. Wiley Dining Court is where students usually eat for breakfast as it is next to Wiley Residence Hall as well as on the way most other residence halls.

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Although Earhart Dining Court is connected its Residence Hall, the frequency at which people eat breakfast here is relatively lower compared to Wiley because the students have the option of On-the-Go meals. Ford also has a relatively low frequency of students because it is an independent dining court without a complementary residence hall. Both Windsor and Hillenbrand don’t offer breakfast which is why both have zero frequency. For lunch, Ford is the most popular because it is the closest dining court to all the academic buildings. Wiley and Earhart have the highest frequency of students during dinner because, as mentioned previously, they are at the center of a majority of residence halls. 

 Figure 2 – The number of people who ate at each dining court at each meal time in October 2017

On the other hand, Figure 2 illustrates the number of meals served in October 2017. It has relatively fewer students in comparison to April 2018 because domestic students would travel back home, and the international students stay on-campus. However, for those who decided to stay on campus for the holidays, Ford was the most popular for lunch and dinner because it is easier to accommodate large groups. All the dining courts except Ford and Wiley are closed for breakfast. 

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Figure 3 – Number of people who went to different dining courts over 2017-2018

In addition to this, Figure 3 illustrates the number of meals served over the entire academic year. It can be understood from the visual that Ford Dining Court was the most popular, with Wiley in second. The service the dining courts provide are in high demand as the frequency of students wanting to eat at the court is in the range of 2,000 to 400,000 and a dining court has space for only some students, so the rest have to wait in line. As Figure 1 demonstrates, a lot of people want to eat at dining courts on school nights, so this proves that there will be a lot of dining traffic during school months and Figure 3 demonstrates the overall popularity and necessity of having dining courts. However, the opposite can be said about months where there are breaks as the majority of the domestic students go back home, thus reducing long queues.

SurveyA sample of students in the range of 17 to 19 years old was surveyed to get a personal insight into how Purdue students feel about the extensively long lines that occasionally spread outside the dining courts. They were questioned:

1)      Which dining courts students usually go to for meals?2)      What time students usually eat?3)      How frequent students have to wait in line?4)      How long students usually wait in lines?5)      What type of stress students usually feel when waiting in line?

The survey collected was biased as several students surveyed were residents of Earhart Residence Hall, so a majority ate more at Earhart dining court than any other dining court as illustrated in Figure 4. Nevertheless, this survey does clearly prove that the dining courts need better management of lines at certain hours of the day. Figure 6 shows that there is an influx of students between 11:00 am to 1:00 pm and 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. In addition, Figure 7 proves that students mostly feel hurried in lines with some even skipping meals.

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Figure 4 –Popularity of each dining court based on the survey data Figure 5 – How often do the students surveyed have to wait in lines

Figure 6 – What time do the students surveyed choose to eat Figure 7 – The type of stress students feel when they are in lines

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ConclusionBased on the interview, the Purdue Board has recognized the issue with lines in dining courts and has taken actions throughout the years to solve the issue. The university does not plan on re-establishing the second cashier at On-the-Go locations due to safety concerns of compactness. Instead, they have introduced more dining courts, On-the-Go swipe options, and restaurants swipe options. They plan to add more places to eat as well as expanding their agreements.

The University has pinpointed that the rush hour for dining courts are from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm and 6:00 to 7:00 pm. They have also recognized that the Ford and Wiley dining courts attract the most attention due to the location and the food served. Windsor is in the same area, but lack of menu options has caused it to be unpopular among students. This aligns with the data given to us by the institution as well as the survey data. There are occasionally other dining courts serving more meals monthly but not as frequently.

Despite the survey being biased, we can conclude that lines have caused issues for students. Fifty-three percent of students have reported negative impacts from lines and bias in sampling should have caused a decrease in this amount, meaning the issue is even larger than reported. This proves that a solution must be created in order to improve the experience of the Purdue attendees.  In the paper, Service process design flexibility and customer waiting time, written by Chwen Sheu and Roger McHaney from Kansas State University and Sunil Babbar from Florida Atlantic University, the authors conduct a simulation experiment to test the efficiency of four different designs on reducing the waiting time. The experiment involved developing a computer simulation to run the tests on the four designs, under the assumption that the two servers used in some of the designs were identical in their service capability and customers formed lines the way the system expected them to. According to their experiment, Design 3 and Design

4 both yielded optimal waiting time (Sheu, C., McHaney, R., & Babbar, S, 2003). However, Design 4 does not fit Purdue’s

dining system, and hence, Design 3 is the best option to improve waiting time for students wanting to eat at a dining court. Based on interview, data collected, and academic research, our team would like to suggest that the University implement a single line duo cashier system. It will double the rate that students can be attended, and the cashier only be implemented during rush hour times. Based on Purdue Dining & Catering hiring rates, it would cost $9.00 per hour for an additional employee to save the time of more than a hundred students every day. (Purdue University Student Employment, 2018)

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Figure 8 – The four different designs tested to find the optimal solution

BibliographyIqbal, Q., Whitman, L. E., & Malzahn, D. (2012). Reducing Customer Wait Time at a Fast Food

Restaurant on Campus. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 15(4), 319-334. doi:https://www-tandfonline com.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/doi/abs/10.1080/15378020.2012.706176

This study discusses a simulation to analyze peak times at a college campus restaurant and reduce customer waiting time. The study suggests that to minimize waiting time, more workers are necessary to serve more customers at a time. Ultimately, it depends on whether the cost of hiring a new worker is worth it in terms of the operating efficiency and increased customer satisfaction. Of course, if there is a long wait for a particular service this suggests that there is more demand for a service than there is supplied to the delivery service. Thus, a company must ideally find an optimal balance between service capital and demand in order to reduce customer wait time without overspending. This study is informative since it demonstrates that customer waiting time is constrained by the demand for service and the company’s ability to service efficiently. The source is reliable since it is part of a study from Wichita State University and supports content within the study with other secondary sources. This source will contribute to this project as it will provide evidence regarding the necessity of improving the current dining system at Purdue. (Contributed by Mohan Gadre).

Khanehkeshi, Ali, & Basavarajappa. (2011). The Relationship of Academic Stress with Aggression, Depression and Academic Performance of College Students in Iran. Journal on Educational Psychology, 5(1), 24-31. https://purdue-primo-prod.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo explore/fulldisplay?docid=TN_ericEJ1102285&context=PC&vid=PURDUE&lang=en_US&search_scope=everything&adaptor=primo_central_multiple_fe&tab=default_tab&query=any,contains,college%20studentsperformances%20stress&sortby=rank&facet=rtype,include,articles&offset=0

This was a study done in the Islamic Azad University in Iran, in the year of 1992. The scale for assessing academic stress (Sinha, Sharma and Mahendra, 2001); the Buss-Perry aggression questionnaire (1992); and Beck depression inventory were used for collecting the data. The Pearson's coefficient of correlation showed that academic stress has a simple significant correlation with aggression (r=.54), depression (r=.49) and academic performance (r=-44) (p<. /..1). The study showed that stress and anxiety accounted for 68 percent of variance between grades with higher levels of these emotions leading to worse results. It then suggests that based upon this conclusion that the University should develop resources to support students and help them deal with stress and anxiety. This helps our topic by proving the value in decreasing stress for students and important any minor addition to those could dramatically affect students. This document is reliable as the study included both gender groups, a decent sample size of 60 people, and used internationally approved methods of measuring such emotions. This also occurred in

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1992, before Iran began having problems in political stability and unhealthy relationships with other countries. (Contributed by David Farache)

Purdue University Student Employment. (n.d.). Ford Dining Court • Student Associate. Retrieved from https://www.purdue.edu/studentemployment/ApplicationProcess/Application?PositionId=44725fa3-2e31-45d6-85b7-340550b26f00

Sheu, C., McHaney, R., & Babbar, S. (2003). Service process design flexibility and customer waiting time. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 23(7), 901-917. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/docview/232326343?accountid=13360

This article is about investigating the effectiveness of different types of approaches to handle customer waiting time. The article reports on their findings and also provides advice for services such as restaurants on how to manage customer waiting problems based on their findings on the best optimal solution. The article also includes charts, illustrations, models, and etc. as evidence to prove their investigation along with explanations for each diagram. This source is valuable because it provides evidence of the experiment conducted which establishes an objective atmosphere because the use of charts is an example of logos and therefore does not leave room for the readers to doubt the information provided by the authors. Furthermore, the authors of this source are members of well-known academic institutions which provides credibility behind this source. The source is useful for this report as it helps us provide evidence to the solution, we think is the most effective to solve the dining lines problems. However, a limitation of this source is that it is not meant for everyone. The source is meant to be used by other members in the world of academia as this is an academic journal. (Contributed by Nikita Ravi)

Zeiser, M.J. (2018, October 25). Personal Interview.

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Rough Draft (10-21)

Dear Eric, David, Mohan, and Nikita

I am a bit worried about your report. Though the structure and the way you present your ideas is effective, you lack secondary sources to support your argument. Your introduction is weak, and your discussion could be much better with support.

As soon as you’re done with it, download it as a word document and make sure the document is accessible. Add alt text and listen with the screen reader. Upload the word document to your folder again and label it FINAL DRAFT+Name of the group.

Make sure you have your report done right, everyone.

Proposal

Research Design

Annotated Bibliography And don’t forget your names this time!!!!

IMRAD Cheat Paper

Annotated Bibliography

Revisions

Sentence-level (someone who is good at grammar) there are many mistakes within the draft.

Eric Chen

Introduction (Include secondary sources) David Farache and Mohan Gadre

Discussion (Include secondary sources) David Farache and Mohan Gadre

References (check all entries and make sure you have in-text citation done right. Don’t forget to cite primary sources as well). https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/in_text_citations_the_basics.html

Nikita Ravi

Accessibility check Nikita Ravi and Eric Chen

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The Longest WaitEric Chen

David Farache

Mohan Gadre

Nikita Ravi

Purdue University

AbstractWith increasing student population at Purdue University, dining in an efficient time manner has become an issue for students. They are pressed for time between classes to travel to dining courts with everyone else and wait in a long line before they can get food, which at that point, will be running late for their next class. A survey of the students and an interview with a staff member of Dining & Catering were conducted to get personal opinions on their perspectives of wait time and see if there is room for improvement. Meal count data provided by Dining & Catering reveals trends in traffic at the dining courts and portrays which dining courts contributes to the issue. The conclusion is that Purdue University’s current system for a single cashier does not work and should temporarily hire a second cashier for rush hour times.

Key Words: line efficiency, academic performance, mental behavior, stress

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IntroductionIn a college campus, students have limited time to eat between classes. This is a stressful experience to rush through a meal through what’s supposed to be leisure time. It would be valuable to implement a more efficient system for dining court lines so there’s more time to eat. Students would perform better, increasing the level of the University and its reputation. One of the main reasons students are held up at dining courts because of the entry lines, where students swipe their ID card one at a time to get entered in. To mediate between the current system of one scanner and the proposed multiple-scanner system, dining halls should accommodate for the busiest meals by implementing more scanners only during the busiest times. This way, dining halls are better equipped for busy days when students need to rush to the nearest dining court in between classes.

MethodologyAn interview with the Student Success Manager of Dining & Catering and a survey directed at the students were conducted to determine if there is an issue with time to eat. The head of Dining & Catering, Mr. Minner, was contacted initially for information, which he forwarded the questions to the Student Success Manager, Ms. Mary Jo Zeiser. She was requested for the interview and a list of questions was prepared. She provided data that the dining courts collect, which provided assistance to the project. The data portrayed the meals served at each dining court for the academic year. Analysis the data was sectioned off for each month.

The survey was created on Google Sheets with the focus group being students between the age of 17 to 19 who eat at the Purdue dining courts. The survey asked students where they ate, at what times, and their experience with lines. This data is biased because it was collected by placing it in multiple group chats of the team members that mostly included residents of Earhart and Purdue Village leading to Earhart being the most popular dining court. The survey will continue to be used to understand the stress in the lines and at when they appear.

The data were analyzed separately and used to decide which dining courts attracted the most traffic and at what time. The survey informed of the impact lines had and if any solution was needed for the dinning court service model.

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InterviewThe lines at the dining courts have changed significantly over the years, with the Dining & Catering department at Purdue University continuously working on new ways to improve the overall dining experience for students, faculty, and visitors. With these new methods, Purdue has not been able to establish an efficient procedure to reduce the amount of wait time in lines. An interview with the Student Success Manager of Purdue Dining & Catering, Ms. Mary Jo Zeiser, has clarified certain portions of Purdue’s past, present, and future ambitions for dining lines.

In 1986, when Ms. Zeiser was a student at Purdue University, each residential hall had their own cafeteria. Each side had two doors which allowed students to enter, totaling four lines that were serving food. Students would check in at the front where a cashier would check the student’s ID number. The cashier would then give them a dining card and then the students would then get in one of the four lines. They would present their card to the front of the dining line and start getting food. This system prevents students from eating at other dining halls except for the one that they live in. The check-in process is lengthy due to manual checking of each person before they are allowed in. Due to this, students occasionally decide to skip lunch because they don’t have enough time to walk to and from their classes and dorms. It is inefficient overall and prevents students from enjoying their dining experience due to the time constraint (M.J. Zeiser, personal communication, October 25, 2018).

Later in 1993, Hillenbrand Residence Hall was built, along with Hillenbrand Dining Court. This was the start to the change of dining halls to dining courts. It opened up the dining lines to more open choices, allowing students to only check in at the front replace the four lines with a buffet. The largest change to this establishment was that the dining court was open to all students, no matter which resident hall that they belonged to. This influenced Purdue to start adding more dining courts into their system and get rid of the dining halls. The university constructed a plan that would establish three more dining courts: Earhart (est. 2003), Windsor (est. 2004), and Ford (est. 2005). The dining halls were then either completely removed from the residential building, renovated for a separate utility, or sealed off. As more students started to go to Purdue, Wiley Dining Court was established in 2008. The manual check-in system was thrown out and replaced ID cards, allowing the cashier to quickly check the identity of the student. The proximity of the dining courts also contributed a shorter distance to get food, thus students have more time to eat (M.J. Zeiser, personal communication, October 25, 2018).

As the process got faster, so did the number of students that started to attend Purdue University. To improve the experience of the students who were running short on time, Purdue established On-the-Go, where students could grab small snacks that could be bought with a meal swipe. Although it was good for the students’ experience, one of the cashiers that were working in one

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of the two lines of checking in students were placed in On-the-Go, significantly slowing down the line into the dining court. Another issue is that visitors on campus are allowed to eat at the dining courts, thus check-in would be slowed down as students have to wait for families to purchase their meal as well as wait for the receipt to print out.

Purdue also realized that they need to be able to accommodate all the students at two of the busiest meal times, lunch and dinner. Lunch rush occurs at 11:30, 12:30, and 1:30, when the students have just gotten out of class and have approximately one hour to eat before their next class (as shown by Figure 4). These students would flock towards Ford and Wiley Dining Courts which are closer to the academic side of campus. Windsor is just as close, but due to menu choices, don’t receive as many students as the other two. This produces a longer wait time at Ford and Wiley. Dinner rush occurs at 6:00 or 7:00 where students have already dropped off their backpacks at their residence halls and go out to eat. Students typically choose 6:00 and 7:00 as they are more traditional eating times and is easier to plan as a group. Due to menu choices, one dining hall may receive more traffic than they intended (M.J. Zeiser, personal communication, October 25, 2018).

Purdue recognized this and started trial options that opened up students’ availability of choice and alleviate the pressure of large student numbers at one specific dining hall. Since most students are on meal swipes, opening up a restaurant that didn’t accept meal swipes would not affect anything. Thus, deals were made with restaurants such as Cary Knight Spot, The Daily Bite, Cosi, Pete Za, One Bowl, and many restaurants at the Purdue Memorial Union to start accepting meal swipes. Dining & Catering have also started an event called “Freaky Fridays” which would allow meal swipes to be accepted with catering service such as Chick-fil-A (M.J. Zeiser, personal communication, October 25, 2018).

With flaws still present, Purdue has plenty of space that can be developed to accept more students and diverting the wait time elsewhere. One of these developments can be a replacement of Meredith Residential Hall with a similar quadrangle to Cary, where other new restaurants can be built. The current STEM building construction near Elliot Music Hall has plans to install a similar café concept like Au Bon Pain in Wilmeth Active Learning Center. Purdue Village is planned to be demolished and rebuilt as a new center for restaurants (M.J. Zeiser, personal communication, October 25, 2018).

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Numerical DataNumerical data were given from the interview conducted with Ms. Zeiser regarding the number of meal swipes at each dining court. The data was analyzed to portray the dining traffic and its popularity over the course of two particular months in the 2017-18 academic year. The two months studied were April 2018, because this was the month with no breaks, and October 2017, because this is the month with a week-long autumn break.

Figure 1 is a visual representation of the number of people eating at a dining court, at each meal, in April 2018. From Figure 1, we can see that the popular dining court for breakfast is Wiley, lunch for Ford, and Earhart for dinner. Wiley Dining Court is where students usually eat for breakfast as it is next to Wiley Residence Hall as well as on the way most other residence halls. Although Earhart Dining Court is connected its Residence Hall, the frequency at which people eat breakfast here is relatively lower compared to Wiley because the students have the option of On-the-Go meals. Ford also has a relatively low frequency of students because it is an independent dining court without a complementary residence hall. Both Windsor and Hillenbrand don’t offer breakfast which is why both have zero frequency. For lunch, Ford is the most popular because it is the closest dining court to all the academic buildings. Wiley and Earhart have the highest frequency of students during dinner because, as mentioned previously, they are at the center of a majority of residence halls.

On the other hand, Figure 2 illustrates the number of meals served in October 2017. It has relatively fewer students in comparison to April 2018 because domestic students would travel back home as the international students stay on-campus. However, for those who decided to stay on campus for the holidays, Ford was the most popular for lunch and dinner because it is easier to accommodate large groups. All the dining courts except Ford and Wiley are closed for breakfast.

In addition to this, Figure 3 illustrates the number of meals served over the entire academic year. It can be understood from the visual that Ford Dining Court was the most popular, with Wiley in second. The service the dining courts provide are in high demand as the frequency of students wanting to eat at the court is in the range of 2000 to 400,000 and a dining court has space for only some students, so the rest have to wait in line. As Figure 1 demonstrates, a lot of people want to eat at dining courts on school nights so this proves that there will be a lot of dining traffic during school months and Figure 3 demonstrates the overall popularity and necessity of having dining courts. However, the opposite can be said about months where there are breaks as the majority of the domestic students go back home, thus reducing long queues.

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SurveyA sample of students in the range of 17 to 19 years old was surveyed to get a personal insight into how Purdue students feel about the extensively long lines that occasionally spread outside the dining courts. They were questioned:

1) Which dining courts students usually go to for meals?

2) What time students usually eat?

3) How frequent students have to wait in line?

4) How long students usually wait in lines?

5) What type of stress students usually feel when waiting in line?

The survey collected was biased as a number of students surveyed were residents of Earhart Hall so a majority ate more at Earhart dining court than any other dining court. Nevertheless, this survey does clearly prove that the dining courts need better management of lines at certain hours of the day. The survey shows that there is an influx of students between 11:00 am to 1:00 pm and 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. In addition, the data collected from the survey proves that students mostly feel hurried in lines with some even skipping meals.

ConclusionBased on the interview, the Purdue Board has recognized the issue with lines in dining courts and has taken actions throughout the years to solve the issue. The university does not plan on re-establishing the second cashier at On-the-Go locations due to safety concerns of compactness. Instead, they have introduced more dining courts, On-the-Go swipe options, and restaurants swipe options. They plan to add more places to eat as well as expanding their agreements.

The University has pinpointed that the rush hour for dining courts are from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm and 6:00 to 7:00 pm. They have also recognized that the Ford and Wiley dining courts attract the most attention due to the location and the food served. Windsor is in the same area but lack of menu options have caused it to be unpopular among students. This aligns with the data given to us by the institution as well as the survey data. There are occasionally other dining courts serving more meals monthly but not as frequently.

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Despite the survey being biased, we can conclude that lines have caused issues for students. Fifty-three percent of students have reported negative impacts from lines and bias in sampling should have caused a decrease in this amount, meaning the issue is even larger than reported. This proves that a solution must be created in order to improve the experience of the Purdue attendees.

Based on interview and data, our team would like to suggest that the University implement a single line duo cashier system. It will double the rate that students can be attended and the cashier could also only be implemented during rush hour times. Assuming these are student employee, it would $9.00 per hour to save the time of more than a hundred students every day.

BibliographyLim, C., Ki-Hun, K., Min-Jun, K., & Kwang-Jae, K. (2018). Multi-factor service design: Identification and consideration of multiple factors of the service in its design process. Service Business, 1-24. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11628-018-0363-z

Service design is a multidisciplinary area that helps innovate services by bringing new ideas to customers through a design-thinking approach. Services are affected by multiple factors, which should be considered in designing services. In this paper, we propose the multi-factor service design (MFSD) method, which helps consider the multi-factor nature of service in the service design process. The MFSD method has been developed through and used in five service design studies with industry and government. The method addresses the multi-factor nature of service for systematic service design by providing the following guidelines: (1) identify key factors that affect the customer value creation of the service in question (in short, value creation factors), (2) define the design space of the service based on the value creation factors, and (3) design services and represent them based on the factors. We provide real stories and examples from the five service design studies to illustrate the MFSD method and demonstrate its utility. This study will contribute to the design of modern complex services that are affected by varied factors (Contributed by David Farache).

Iqbal, Q., Whitman, L. E., & Malzahn, D. (2012). Reducing Customer Wait Time at a Fast Food Restaurant on Campus. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 15(4), 319-334. doi:https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/doi/abs/10.1080/15378020.2012.706176

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//Citation needs revision

This study discusses a simulation to analyze peak times at a college campus restaurant and reduce customer waiting time. The study suggests that to minimize waiting time, more workers are necessary to serve more customers at a time. Ultimately, it depends on whether the cost of hiring a new worker is worth it in terms of the operating efficiency and increased customer satisfaction. Of course, if there is a long wait for a particular service this suggests that there is more demand for a service than there is supply to deliver service. So a company must ideally find an optimal balance between service capital and demand in order to reduce customer wait time without overspending. This study is informative since it demonstrates that customer waiting time is constrained by the demand for service and the company’s ability to service efficiently. The source is reliable since it is part of a study from Wichita State University, and supports content within the study with other secondary sources. (Contributed by Mohan Gadre).//This source is definitely better than the first one; however, you haven’t mentioned how this will contribute to your project.

Khanehkeshi, Ali, & Basavarajappa. (2011). The Relationship of Academic Stress with Aggression, Depression and Academic Performance of College Students in Iran. Journal on Educational Psychology, 5(1), 24-31.

Zeiser, M.J. (2018, October 25). Personal Interview.

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Reflection Synthesis

My writing style has been predominantly evidence-based research to support or oppose an idea or a person. The evidence that we gather can either be from the previous research and data collected in the field to personalized opinions from an expert in the field. This data is then taken in-context and categorized into evidence that supports the arguments that are presented. Each piece of evidence needs to be properly integrated into the argument to create a general flow that doesn’t break the reader from any logical dilemmas. It needs to be properly explained, portraying how the evidence ties into the arguments of my message.

This style comes from my high school teacher, Ms. Gilles. She hammered down this knowledge after reading many peer-reviewed articles over the years along with publishing her own books. She shared her experience with what she had learned from what people want, both from her students across 20 years of teaching as well as her book audience. There was a lot of emphasis on the outlining portion of the essay, essentially writing out the entire essay but in bullet-point form. After understanding what she wanted, I was able to use these strategies in my assignments for American History and Physical Education/Health. By my senior year, she hammered down on the devil’s advocate, on how to approach people who have opposing ideas from you, no matter the type of emotions that they are feeling in that situation. Emotional writing has no evidence to back up the arguments of what they’re claiming and will be weak arguments overall. By falling into their trap of emotions, you’re writing also becomes affected by these emotions and both sides start ranting about what they believe to be true. This takes away from a constructive discussion that can further the development of the situation and instead creates extremist views that become accepted with no evidence to support.

Another lesson that I learned in that class is the importance of outlines. Typical rules that I follow for outlines are to develop an overlying message that I can produce at least three distinct arguments from. With these arguments, prepare some pieces of evidence or know where it’s coming from so that they’re credible to my arguments. From there, I pull excerpts and analyze them to match the argument that I’m proving. I do this for all three arguments, and the construct my conclusion and introduction to summarize the main points that are being hit. Creating outlines allows me to sort through the information faster as I’m writing as I’m referencing the data. Even if I realize that there is a piece of evidence that doesn't fit as well as I originally thought, I’m able to go back to my outline and find something else that can fit the bill.

The third lesson I learned is to continuously keep writing, even if the paper becomes redundant with the analysis. This way, there are multiple ways of stating the same idea which can be merged together or kept to re-explain the argument if it didn’t become clear for the reader in one of the ways. It offers another option for peer-reviewers to prefer one over the other as well as offer opinions on what can fit with the style of writing that is done.

When I start a new assignment, it’s best to understand what the prompt is asking, and creating ideas for what a pro and con would be like. Then I dive into the material to find evidence that can support both ends of the argument, all while creating prospective

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counterarguments on a third column. This way, as I go back to create my outline, I have a way to strengthen my argument with ideas as I read the articles directly.

Having a writing style that is reliable and consistent is important to communicate your ideas/perspectives effectively to readers. It creates a discussion on the topic which can further the arguments as well as develop new ones, swaying readers to offer their own perspective, opening up the minds of everyone involved. It portrays an audience who is willing to accept change, presented with credible evidence and logic, and can use the information to discover new things and further humanity.

My theory of writing has evolved to see the bigger picture of what the information I’m writing for beyond the criteria for the class. There is a slim chance that my work will be shared with a greater audience, people who are interested in the topic with varying backgrounds of professionalism to disabilities. I have to prepare for these events by making it clear where my information is coming from and see if they are able to interpret the information that is presented in front of them.

One of the main changes is the type of research that is being used in each context. Back in high school, all of our sources were from articles that were written by news sources or occasionally a government website. With more data being used to prove an idea, all of the information that we use must have a clear procedure along with ethical explanations for the data. If we don’t include it in our own material, we have to cite it towards a source that can be identified and verified as a reliable source. This narrows down a lot of information to peer-reviewed journals, which uses databases as a primary search engine. Finding data that is able to fit our paper is a struggle as most of these papers are pertaining to their own research, but have data that can be used for your own. This takes a while to interpret and to ensure that the data being used can be a reliable source of information for you to use.

Changing the type of research also changes the type of citations that are used in the class. In high school, we predominantly used MLA-formatting as our default writing format, so our citations were consistent throughout all four years. As we moved onto college, APA-format became more prominent in the research that we had to do. This changed the types of in-text citations, bibliography, and the overall format of the paper. One of these largest changes was the addition of an abstract, which was uncomfortable as it broke the mold that high school writing, but definitely allowed me to see the structure emphasis on certain arguments.

One of the newest ideas that made a responsible writer was the concept of accessibility. No matter what you write, there will always be people inhibited visually whether it’s multitasking with something that occupies their hands or they’re blind. In both cases, it would be beneficial for them to listen to what is being written. Although most programs already have screen reader in them, it would be important to check to make sure that it works. Another thing is that any graphs, charts, and data tables can’t be interpreted what is being presented or is overall confusing. This is where alt-text would need to be used. It changes up how the author should be

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able to relate their images in a way so that it is easier for listeners to interpret. The way that the author should format so that the screen reader is able to read it in the preferred method.

Visual rhetoric was one of the ideas that were always preferred as part of my writing style but never got as much practice I wish I got with it. By taking Engineering 13100, it became an important point to pay attention to the format of professional pieces as well as learning about the contrast to attract viewers and making it interesting. A visual that is confusing and long will obstruct the actual meaning behind the visual, making it an ineffective tool. Learning about the different types of graphs along with how to design the graphs to make it effective.

Some pieces of how I write are just an integral part of me which I can’t see myself losing. There has to be a purpose for the paper to exemplify a reason for the paper being written. It needs to present an issue or solution that is relevant to the current situation. In order to present this effectively, there also has to be background research to support the reasoning. Both of these key ideas can be shown through my work in “Rough Draft (10-21)” as a scope of work was generated to establish the reasoning.

The organization of a paper is another part of the work that is important to my style. It creates a flow in the document that strengthens arguments which builds off one another and reconnecting back to the main idea. This builds off the key term, “data analysis”, to interpret the data in a way that makes sense in the context of its collection. It doesn't try to inhibit the data in any form and gives a valid argument for what the information is saying. I portray it in many of my assignments, such as the engineering assignments, by sectioning off the work so that I am able to specify clearly, then recreate it into a stronger document.

In addition to the prior three ideas, there has to be rhetoric involved, more specifically, ethos, logos, and kairos. Ethos establishes the reliability of the paper itself, whether the audience can trust the information that you present or if the data that you collected is true information that proves correlation to causation. Logos are the logical points in the argument if the author can prove that the data itself can be interpreted in a certain fashion. Kairos is the relevancy of the paper, establishing whether or not the audience is willing to read the paper in the first place if it affects them at all. It is depicted in my work throughout the engineering design projects labeled, “Milestone”. There, the problem statements compiled information on what is needed to be solved and what we can do to achieve it in a timely fashion. We collect relevant data to prove that the issue exists and that the prototypes that we develop are able to fix these issues.

In order for all of this to work together, the paper needs to be accessible and discussable. The audience needs ways to interpret the document, whether if it’s when their busy or that they are physically unable to interpret the text in a traditional manner. This leads into the discussion as allowing all types of audience members to discuss the subject, it brings in new arguments that wouldn’t have come from someone in a different lifestyle. It creates an open discussion where everyone can understand the position of where people are coming from and determine a sense of

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empathy to respectfully agree or disagree with everyone else. I have done this in my work for the Writing Project 2 as we wrote about the issue of dining hall lines. We tested for screen-reader, established alt-text, and made our visuals contrasting in different forms, but still made it interpretable.

My target audience for my professional website will be any company that is interested in who I am and will need a reference at my own personal beliefs, previous works, or updates in my life. This website will be able to portray my own theory of writing through the artifacts that I provide through the site. It can highlight the evidence for my style of writing, including purpose, logos, and organization, portraying my characteristics in group work such as determination, completionism, and professionalism.

One main skill that I have learned to develop in my time at Purdue is to understand the wants and needs of the client through my Engineering 13100 class. We have done many projects that require us to interpret the client’s email and establish the criteria and constraints to solve the issue. We have done projects that surrounded bike sharing programs (A8b), broken reservoirs (A9), energy consumption savings (A12), and mobility safety (M1).

Another skill that we learned was the prototyping and making visual rhetoric. In both the Writing Project 2 and Milestone 4, it depicted the prototyping skills that were used, along with the visuals that were developed.

I support my design team in investigating product issues and creating practical situations in Milestone2_A. This assignment was to prototype thirty or more designs that can be used to help improve campus mobility safety. We each developed approximately ten prototype designs and then narrowed it down to eight prototype designs overall in Milestone3_A. We developed pros and cons for each them, narrowed it down once more and used a decision matrix to choose the most optimal design option. Each step of the way, I provided constructive criticism to the design that was suggested by my groupmates, providing the cons of each design. In order to produce a successful prototype, there need to be failures that tackle each possible perspective that may cause issues.

I coordinate the times of the groups that I work with, establishing the next meeting time beforehand. This can be shown in Writing Project 2, where the comments portray the roles that were established who was in charge of what with the deadline close approaching.

We dissolve the issues within our group in a simple manner by establishing a Code of Cooperation. It holds us accountable to the work that we do and provides a basis for the amount of help that we should provide for everyone. We are understandable for the work that we have for other classes and will cover for each other if needed.

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Reflection Journals

Week 1: What’s your theory of writing?

Think about what you know/have been told about writing. Where does this knowledge come from? What rules do you follow? What do you do when you are starting a new assignment? What’s most important about writing?

Writing for me has been predominantly evidence-based research to support or oppose an idea or person. The evidence that we gather can either be from the internet or directly from peers through 1st person sources. This data is then categorized into general arguments that flow together to create a stronger argument for the overall thesis. With each piece of evidence, there needs to be informative, but a concise analysis that breaks down the evidence to explain it to a reader that needs to understand how you as the author think.

This knowledge comes from my high school freshman and senior teacher, Ms. Gilles. She hammered down this knowledge after reading many articles over the years and showing constructive criticism on how to approach the piece. After understanding what she wanted, I was able to use these strategies in my assignments in American History and even Physical Education/Health. With my senior year, she hammered down on the devil’s advocate, on how to approach people who have opposing ideas from you, no matter the type of emotions that they are feeling in that situation.

Typical rules that I follow are to create outlines with the information that I’m given as it makes it easier to organize my thoughts on a given matter. I am able to sort through the information faster in the future as I’m referencing the data. Another rule is to continuously keep writing, even if you become redundant with your analysis. This way, I have multiple ways of stating the same idea and can choose which one fits in best with the flow.

When I start a new assignment, it’s best to understand what the prompt is asking, and creating ideas for what a pro and con would be like. Then I dive into the material to find evidence that can support both ends of the argument, all while creating prospective counterarguments on a third column. This way, as I go back to create my outline, I have a way to strengthen my argument with ideas as I read the articles directly.

Writing is important to convey your ideas/perspectives to readers. It creates a conversation/debate where you can gather your ideas and evidence instead of improvising information on the spot. Putting it on paper allows for all the pieces of the board to be put on the table, and the sides can start putting it together to figure out the overall puzzle.

Excellent! That’s a very thorough reflection 20/20

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Week 2: Rhetoric and space/affordances/convention

What are you learning about the connections between rhetoric and design? How does this help you think about writing? How can writing help you sort out the different kinds of information you have encountered this week?

Rhetoric and design are important to attract the reader to the piece and portray the author’s perspective on the situation. Rhetoric is the eloquence of the speech (only speech?) that is portrayed the audience, setting up the tone for the persuasion through context. It is the design or structure of the piece that gains the most momentum for the author to push their agenda across. By putting in context of the situation allows the reader to know where the author is coming from and how it would impact the world that they share. (But how are they connected then?)

It helps me think about writing to create an outline that will get my points across in a clear, concise manner. By improvising what I want to say, I end up with redundant statements that could clearly improve. It helps me set up for my next ideas, and keep my tone consistent throughout the piece.

With writing coming in many forms, it is easier to have an organized body to the piece of writing that I’m reading. It helps me find the main ideas that are trying to be conveyed along with the evidence and analyses that backs it up. The design behind the piece creates the flow that the reader won’t be confused when reading. The rhetoric provides the interest behind the piece to motivate the reader to continue viewing the author’s ideas.

You clearly states how rhetoric can help your writing, but how is rhetoric connected to design? Don’t you need to use rhetorical devices - audience, purpose, etc - when designing a building or a mobile application? 15/20

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Week 3: Genre Analysis

Describe what you have learned this week about genre analysis. How can this help you with new writing assignments in the future? What specific methods can you remember and apply?

Genre analysis opens up the method for which we intake the information. Any piece of context is written with a meaning and a purpose (what else?). Whether it’s a personal journal/diary or a research paper, pieces are written for an audience to motivate them to take action on a situation or issue. This is an important method of communication in the world, with the convenience of being able to transfer the information over a simple medium and the ability to read it when the audience is available.

With my writing assignments in the future, it will help me organize my paragraphs in a logical manner where I know what the audience is looking for. First, I have to understand what the current climate around the issue is, whether there are strong activists and the reactions that they received from the intonation that they give off to their opposing parties. After that, I have to establish my own credibility, whether it’s my own personal experience within the piece that I’m writing or the evidence-based research with citations from credible sources. With that, I approach the piece with the intonation that will be well received to the targeted audience. I do my best to appeal to the general emotions that the audience feels, and lead them through a logical explanation that follows my solution to the problem. I follow all of this up with the urgency of the problem, and how the audience is able to take action if they do become persuaded to take action. Good! 18/20

Good reflections Eric. Your journal shows that you have been thinking and theorizing your knowledge, as you should. Some of your answers could also longer, try to reach at least 350 words. (53/60)

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Week 4: Developing research questions/operationalizing RQs

What makes a good research question? What’s the difference between a big inquiry question and an operationalized research problem? What is your process for developing a problem statement for research?

A good research question is able to invoke the researcher to find more than just a simple yes-no answer. They must be able to produce a statement in which the development of their information adds on to the topic for better explanation and arguments. With this, the researcher can either answer a big inquiry question or an operationalized research problem. A big inquiry question is a question that is beyond the yes-no format, where the responder is able to produce a well-detailed answer to fulfill the criteria of the question. It is more open-ended with no set end criteria to fulfill, but instead a goal for discovery. Examples of this are from trial-and-error discoveries, such as gravitational waves, where scientists tried to determine where certain anomalies occur. An operationalized research problem looks for a certain solution to an issue, just focusing on one aspect of a larger idea. It processes the issue beforehand, and focuses upon that idea to collect data to provide updates or discoveries. Examples of this are common lab activities where the laws of physics are applied by students to both learn about these concepts while proving that the law of kinematics are still valid. Both of these processes are used to prove a discovery to be true or false, and how that will impact the community of research in the future.

My process for developing a problem statement for research is to look at the main issue of the topic, then the minor details that add to the issue. In Engineering 13100, we are learning about the engineering design process where we have to ask ourselves the criteria and constraints of our issue, and the possible solutions to what we are looking for. We have to keep continuously asking ourselves what we are finding, and if other people are able to use our information to develop beyond it. It will continue to add onto the discussion of the community, to prove if the idea is a valid argument. Excellent! 20/20

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Week 5: Peer review/revision

● Think back on your practices during peer review this week and try to characterize yourself as a responder. What are your habits? What character/persona do you take on? How might these behaviors affect your editing practices?

Typically, my habit to start peer revision is to read the piece first, not noting the corrections. I determine the purpose and motivation to write the piece to understand more of where the author is coming from. After that, I review the piece again, correcting major issues with the grammar/flow to ensure that the arguments are not hindered by the confusion in the piece itself. I then read it once more, but this time reading it as if I was against the idea of the article. It allows me to see the issue with certain arguments along with grammar mistakes that I missed the first time.

The persona I take on is a Devil’s Advocate. I am purposefully against the grain of the author to ensure that the arguments that are being made are logical to the audience. Weak grammar can be heavily criticized to downplay the impact of the overall argument. One of the more prominent examples in today’s society is President Donald Trump. He heavily criticizes his opponents, many of which don’t even have a personal vendetta against Trump. The issue here is that Trump creates his arguments on the spot, especially at his rallies. He creates false accusations against his opponents, which are quickly shot down by the press for either being falsified information, or just poor wording. Just by using the word “covfefe”, our President has been taken as a weak-minded individual by a majority of the countries along with a majority of the United States. To take the position of Devil’s Advocate is to help strengthen the arguments that are presented. I look at the information that is presented and see if it makes sense for the disagreers and if they are able to come up with a counter-argument. As long as a single counter-argument cannot overturn the previous opinion of the denier, the piece is good enough to contribute to the discussion of the community. A piece with good grammar will be taken professionally, where people can’t just throw the piece to the side without a valid argument against it. Good! 20/20

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Week 6: Evaluating/annotating sources

● What are your criteria for evaluating research resources? Why is it important to adhere to the criteria for evaluating sources? How do you effectively use online resources such as search engines in your research?

My criteria for evaluating research resources is to determine the credibility of the author with their education and previous experience in the field. The education that they received depends on the reputation of the university, and how the university teaches ethical citations of information. It also goes along with the research that the professors have done to establish the background of the author. It is important to adhere to the criteria to ensure that the data that is being used can be credible to pose an argument. It also makes it easier for audience members to quickly fact-check if the information is true, and would then focus upon the argument that are presented to them. By using evidence that is unreliable, it makes the piece that is currently written to be weak, something that is not good when writing about taking action against the issues.

To effectively use online resources, one has to be able to determine the validity of the search engines. Databases are a congregation of articles that have been peer-reviewed by experts in the area, so the data from those pieces are reliable. The research that is done there have been extensively researched, with data ethically collected, and analyses deemed appropriate by the publication committee. These sources are very specific, so it may take a couple of advanced searches before you are able to find the article that you are looking for. Google and Bing are biased towards the results that are most viewed by the searchers, as long as it follows under the legal conditions of the country that it operates from. It can be reliable for basic information or quick references, but not a basis to pose arguments off of. Baidu (China’s search engine) limits China’s citizens access to information to restrict the information that is across the internet to prevent a revolution against the government. This type of restriction can create a biased report as there may be counterarguments that cannot be accessed, and thus missing a part of the overall argument themselves. Good 20/20

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Week 7: Research design

● Why is it important to develop a strong research plan/design? What process do you follow for conducting research individually? How have you negotiated that process when working with your group to produce a research design for WP#2?

It is important to develop a strong research plan/design to understand what is being researched and argued. It needs a purpose in order to develop an efficient argument towards an issue. An outline makes it easier to map out the research ideas so it’s efficient to display the evidence and lead into the analysis. It would avoid redundant arguments or information, and would help the author create a flow to the paper. This way, the paper would be able to add on to its arguments instead of going back onto itself to pull an idea from a previous paragraph or to explain a new concept.

For individual research, it is easier to set goals for the research as only one person has to make the decision for themselves. The observations that are done by the individual are developed to be the research questions that the individual wants. For a group project, the ideas that each of these individuals develop from their own projects are different. These ideas must be communicated clearly in order to compromise on a common goal that everyone is willing to research. It is more time-consuming to produce a piece of research that everyone is satisfied with based on personal interpretations of the data. Yes, group projects do not necessarily mean less work.

For our group, we have negotiated the process to be decided by our leader, David, to make most of the decisions. He understands the research question that is posed, and we are in charge of other roles that determine the data that is collected along with certain interpretations that can be added to our argument. For example, we will first create survey questions that can portray the rough idea of numbers of people that go to a dining court at a certain time. We then split up the group as we ask for interviews from students and staff members to see what their take on the situation is, and if they believe that action will be taken in the near future. From there, the group gets back together to write the report together, and create the visuals that will fit best with our research. Good! 20/20

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Week 8: Research methods

● How are you making decisions about research design and methods? What complications are you encountering? How do you understand the role of primary and secondary research for responding to problems?

For research design, I am mostly following the methods that I’m used to while incorporating the new cycles that we have learned in our engineering classes. The most common one is to follow the scientific method to determine the issue at hand. In our case with the dining court lines, it would be beneficial to observe the issues that contribute to the line, whether its the amount of lines that are able to be opened to the fact that the menu would affect the amount of traffic in that area. We use this hypotheses to collect relevant information that pertains the general ideas and see if there is another issue present and continue from there. With the data that we collected, we can then create an analysis and conclusion. It kind of connects with the engineering process as the data is an integral part of our research, especially since timing and quantity plays an enormous factor.

Some complications are realizing that the Dining & Catering faculty only collects information based on the amount of meals that they distribute per day. Occasionally, not all the information is inputted into the system, so there will be missing data. It also means that they don’t collect the amounts of students that are waiting in line at a certain time. This limits our claim partially as we are unable to collect the entire student population in the time frame and authority that we are given. Thus, we must rely upon the sample student data that we are able to collect.

Primary and secondary research are important opinions to determine if the data that is shown plays an impact on the drive to fix the issue. The secondary research are mostly off The Exponent, Purdue University’s newspaper, where some students feel the necessity to change certain portions of the dining court situation. The primary research will be from the Dining & Catering staff who oversee the efficiency of our dining courts. Interviewing people from both of these areas will help us tie their ideas into the data that we are given. Good! 20/20

Very thoughtful responses, Eric

Responses 4-8: 100/100

Total: 153/160

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Week 9: Data Analysis and Visualization

● What ethical issues should be considered in producing and using visuals? In what way are processes for making visuals similar to writing processes.

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Week 10: Drafting and Citation

● In what ways do digital technologies make collaborating and writing drafts more efficient? How does the collaborative drafting process differ from your individual drafting process?

Digital technologies opens up the availability to continuously edit the drafts, allowing everyone to edit at the comfort of wherever they’re at. It gives more times for the authors to meet up in real time to simultaneously offer opinions on how to approach the document, as well as peer revise the document on the spot. It provides a platform in which the purpose of the document can stay consistent, strengthening the argument of the message.

One of the main reasons that digital platforms are great platforms to edit drafts are its convenience. Authors are able to use personal technology or public technology to log onto their account and start working on their projects. Of course, there are certain security restrictions that are set to protect certain information from being leaked. One example of this is Google’s security email whenever a new device is being used to log onto your account. Another example is that restricted information cannot even be accessed from another computer if its company information. But besides that, personal technology allows the author to work on the document whenever they are contacted.

Another reason is real-time collaboration and accessibility. Users of the document are able to view the document on a consistent format and can edit the document where the final product is the same on all devices. This allows for real-time collaboration in which the users are able to criticize certain parts of the document so it can be changed on the spot. It allows the paper to receive revisions while the author is present so they understand the issues that the audience has when they’re interpreting the message/arguments.

A third reason is the history function that is provided across many platforms, holding those accountable for certain portions of the document is able to provide evidence of their work. It also helps to know when to contact a specific person to rework their section so that they can revise it as soon as possible.

The collaborative process differs from individual is that you are in control of what the message is stated, and that you are working on your own schedule to receive feedback in order to submit a final draft. The approach is different as you can outline for yourself versus when you have to assign roles to each part as a group. Group work generates many different ideas and perspectives on a certain idea, tackling each concern in a separate manner, which can offer better argument, and thus, a better paper. However, the downside is that if one person doesn’t take responsibility for their role in the project, the group would take the hit for it.

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Week 11: Revision Planning and Feedback

● What kinds of feedback are most valuable to you when you are revising? How does collaborating with a team change your revision process? What are some specific strategies you can continue to use for revising (written, visual and digital texts).

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Week 12: Usability/Accessibility

● How do you define accessibility and usability? How do you address each in designing what you write/create? Describe the relationship between the two. What is the value of designing accessible documents? What argument(s) are you making to collaborators when you make accessible documents a priority?

Accessibility is whether or not the reader/user of the document is able to open the file in a readable format to which is able to interpret. The author has to take into account for all types of readers, especially those with visual disabilities. This ranges from colorblindness to complete blindness, and thus graphs have to be contrasting in different methods as well as screen reader being utilized. Usability is the whether or not if the data from the document is able to be used for future uses.

For a document to improve its message, it has to be interpretable by all parties, by receiving criticism from people from all aspects of the world. However, the information that it provides is not needed to be used in every single paper that succeeds it. It is useful information to reference or to keep in the back of the mind, but the method of collection or the reason it is collected for may not be the same message as what future authors are aiming for.

The value of designing accessible documents is the criticism that is received from the audience. It offers your argument to a larger audience, allowing everyone to interpret in their own manner, and offer their perspective into the discussion. Another good point to having multiple contrasts and a screen-reader/alt-text would be its accessibility being available to those inconvenienced by other things that they have to prioritize. Just skimming over the graphs/charts can be quickly interpreted, while providing good visuals that doesn’t take too much effort to interpret. Screen reader and alt text are good tools for those who read the paper by listening to it like a podcast, whenever the reader is doing something else.

The message that the collaborators receive is that they perceive the offer as diligent and takes criticism seriously. They don’t appeal to an audience that they know will accept their arguments, and will write to offer their own arguments to the general population. It also portrays the ability to describe their ideas in an intricate manner to be subtle with their visuals, but still get the message across.

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Week 13: Document Design Principles

● How does thinking about document design principles help you make rhetorical choices in your writing? How does document design impact your writing, even when the project is not focused on graphic design? What are some specific design strategies you can keep in mind in your everyday writing?

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Learning Community Event: Dawn or Doom 11/5-11/6

Reflect on your experience at Dawn or Doom. What did you learn? What surprised you? What speakers did you see? How do the topics discussed at the conference connect to data science, or your research interests? Summarize their presentations.

My Dawn or Doom experience was very enjoyable, despite only going to a single event. The presentation I went to was Jennifer Lyon’s presentation on “Presenting Data Effectively: Practical Methods for Improving Education Communications”. This presentation coincided nicely with both lessons from ENGR 103 as well as ENGL 106 as we were covering visual rhetoric.

The presentation itself covered a lot of different types of graphs that can be utilized during presentations, especially if it has a lot of data that needs to be incorporated in it. The main point that was being driven across was that the purpose of the chart, and the purpose that it was supposed to portray. There is no need for specific numbers if the point of the chart was to prove a trend across a period of time. There is no need for long colored bars that make your head spin if the point was to compare the heights (in this case, just a lollipop graph is necessary).

It connects heavily to how the data that we get must be interpreted to an audience that doesn’t have background information on what the data is supposed to represent. We have to know what to communicate and how to communicate it effectively.

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Reflection Synthesis WorksheetThe purpose of this worksheet is to help you gather information, make connections between assignments, and begin to generate reflective presentations of your work, both for an internal audience (You, your instructor, writing and engineering faculty evaluating the effectiveness of this course.) And for an external audience (potential employers who want to understand your professional capacities.)

Before you begin: Make a copy of this worksheet for your use during research and drafting.

You need to start by gathering some resources and reviewing some of the work we have done this semester.

Collect the artifacts that make up your writing practice in this class.

1) Review class readings and identify what was most useful to you2) Review your responses, small assignments, and generative work. Identify moments you

are proud of or moments where you learned something significant. 3) Review your reflective responses. Highlight moments/concepts that are most significant

to your everyday theory of writing-- how you think about and practice writing as part of your everyday work.

4) Find a company, internship listing, or research project you see as a “future target”. You are looking for information that will help you clarify your audience for your professional website, and help you identify the key skills and content knowledge important to a future opportunity that interests you.

Your research questions for this project: Internal:

● What is your theory of writing?● How has your theory of writing evolved over the course of our class?● What key terms and concepts have you integrated into your habits of thinking, writing,

and research?● How will your theory of writing inform your future approach to work, both in the

classroom and in professional and personal contexts outside of the university?

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External: ● What connections can I make between my theory of writing and professional

expectations from employers? ● What key terms, skills, and concepts are most relevant to a future employer, organization,

or research project I am interested in? ● How can I map my work in this course (and other work original to you if you choose)

onto the needs and expectations of future employers?

Generative work for Internal Reflection: Using the materials listed above,

1) Identify at least 8 key terms or concepts that are central to your theory of writing, 2) Define those terms in your own words (make connections to citations or references from

our reading. 3) Identify specific examples, from your reflections or coursework that help you to illustrate

the significance of these concepts to your theory of writing, or that help you illustrate what you have learned, how your theory of writing has changed over the semester, or how you might transfer these concepts to other contexts.

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Concept or Key Term Definitions and Sources Evidence from my composing work in class. (and notes about what they illustrate.

Purpose The meaning behind the article and why it’s being written.

Work from genre analysis/scope of work or even the abstract.

Organization The professionalism which determines how much the author believes that the paper should be presented.

Formatting of the paper for the group paper.

Research What background information does the author have while writing the piece?

Database research WP2

Ethos The credibility of the author with past articles or research in the field.

Citations (anything)

Logos The logic behind the argument determines the effectiveness of its argument.

Outlining and planning

Kairos The timing of when the paper is released based on the relevancy of society.

Researching within a two-year window.

Data Analysis How well are they able to convert raw data into the analysis that doesn’t stretch the information into something that they want.

Data collected from surveys or from Dining & Catering and our interpretations of it.

Accessibility Are all types of audiences able to interpret the format of the paper

Alt-text

Discussion Will they be accepting of criticism or discussion for the other side. If not, why?

Class ideas on a single document

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Drafting starter for internal reflection: Begin your drafting process by sketching answers to the questions below. Answers here need not be completely revised thoughts but should represent your first thinking and planning.

● How do you summarize your theory of writing? ○ Concise arguments that are backed by scientific research in the field. Must touch

upon both sides of the argument discussing the pros and cons, and possible offering counterarguments if needed.

● What are the key terms and concepts most significant to your theory of writing? ○ Organization and purpose are two of my strongest pet peeves when it comes to

writing. The organization makes the paper presentable and doesn’t give the reader the idea that because the paper looks bad, it must have poor research. Purpose gives the reader the direct idea of what the paper is meant to argue for. If the paper, veers off in a tangential idea, it is a weak paper.

● Which 2-3 examples above are most useful in illustrating how your theory of writing has developed in this class?

○ Citations in different types of writing are important to appeal to the audience that is being written towards. You cannot afford to cite incorrectly or it becomes a paper that leads to your poor credibility. Another example is the accessibility as it must incorporate all types of audiences so that they are able to discuss through their own personal experience.

● Which 2-3 examples are most useful in illustrating how your theory of writing translates to other contexts?

○ Research provides the basic background to tell readers that there is a reason to back these claims that are written. It emits an understanding of how the community understands the topic at hand and establishes the credibility. Another idea that must be there is the logos to prove the argument. There has to be a flow that pulls pieces from the big idea that establishes the argument from being disproven.

Generative work for external reflection (Professional website beta) Identify a future opportunity that interests you. This might include an internship you would like to apply for in the future, a research project or team you want to work on, a conference where you want to present research, a study abroad opportunity, or an organization you would like to

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get involved with. It might even be the entry-level position that would be your dream job post-graduation. You can interpret this broadly, but you are looking for a specific audience where you can evaluate the criteria for involvement, participation, or hiring.

Paste a link, or past text from a job ad or CFP here:

http://careers.htc.com/career/HTC-global/apply-now/summer-internship

https://www.google.com/search?q=htc+internships&oq=htc+internship&aqs=chrome.0.0j69i60j69i57.1704j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&ibp=htl;jobs#htidocid=uFX4yk3c02N0esviAAAAAA%3D%3D

Evaluate the criteria or opportunity you have selected. Identify the keywords, skills, habits, and concepts used to select participants (interns, employees, researchers, grant winners, etc.). Identify at least four criteria, though it could be more.

The key term, concept, skill, or orientation to work.

Definition as you understand it. What does the term mean in measurable terms?

Find an analog, if you can to concepts, skills, or orientations to work you got to practice in this class (or in another class) this semester.

Identify specific examples from your work you might use as examples to illustrate these concepts.

Support the Engineering and Design teams in investigating product development issues and creating novel solutions.

Collaboration with the teams to fix issues with current products and creating practical solutions

Establishing workflows, assigning roles, conducting team meetings, deciding research methods, collaborative writing/revision.

https://bit.ly/2AuJa4B (M2)

Coordinate machine shop and 3D prototyping equipment maintenance responsibilities among the members of the Engineering team

Time management for overall design

Establish soft deadlines for each part of the design process

https://tinyurl.com/y9yw6ybv (D2)

Learn how to implement Understanding the needs Letters of what the https://bit.ly/2P7uk9x (A8b)

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feedback from managers and clients, and how to present work and conduct himself/herself in a professional setting

and wants of the client client wants

https://bit.ly/2Awn2Xr (A12)

https://tinyurl.com/y6uc3bhc (A9)

https://bit.ly/2P7qjC4 (M1)

Knowledge of prototyping and model-making processes

Knowledge of prototyping and model-making processes

The engineering process as well as the data management process

https://bit.ly/2E3tycq (M4)

Contribute to an evolving design culture and process within the design organization.

Fit in well with your team to form a productive chemistry

Dissolve any conflicts within the group

https://bit.ly/2E4oeFE (WP2)

https://tinyurl.com/y92krtu6 (Inter)

Drafting Scope of Work Reflection: Answering these questions should help you develop the scope of work for your website projects, and help you start thinking about the text you need to draft, and design elements you want to include in your project.

● What/who is the target audience for your professional website? ○ The target audience for the summer internship at HTC is college students who are

pursuing Mechanical Engineering internship.● How can you make connections between the internal reflective work you have done for

this class and the external professional identity you want to communicate? ○ A lot of the ideas that are present above have been touched upon in ENGR 131.

● What characteristics of your identity (research interests, approaches to work, theory or writing/thinking) do you want to highlight in your profile?

○ Purpose, logos, organization● What examples of your work are most significant to you, and to the audience, you have

identified above? ○ Group Work, determination, deadlines, completion at a professional degree.

● How will you need to revise, adapt, or excerpt your work to best represent it for an outside audience?

○ Offer more background information of what I have done in the past as well.

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● Who did you work with, and what kinds of permissions will you need to collect- and what kinds of attributions will you need to make-- in order to ethically represent collaborative work as part of your individual professional profile?

○ Adding possible contact information of those who have been asked beforehand and will agree to help when needed.

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