Creative Education, 2017, 8, 1833-1859

http://www.scirp.org/journal/ce
ISSN Online: 2151-4771
ISSN Print: 2151-4755

Cooking Perfect Cupcakes: Freeing Curricula

Context Gives Student-Centred Pedagogy for
Course on Experimental Design

Keith Joiner1, Amy Brewster2

University of New South Wales (UNSW), Canberra, Australia

1

Flight Lieutenant, UNSW, Canberra, Australia

2

How to cite this paper: Joiner, K., & Abstract

Brewster, A. (2017). Cooking Perfect Cup-
cakes: Freeing Curricula Context Gives A new subject in postgraduate coursework at UNSW Australia at the Austral-
Student-Centred Pedagogy for Course on ian Defence Force Academy campus provided a curricula opportunity to allow
Experimental Design. Creative Education,
students to do structured collaborative learning and to choose their own con-
8, 1833-1859.
https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2017.812126
text for an investigative research. The student-centred investigation is neces-
sary to reinforce formative knowledge of advanced optimization and test
Received: August 8, 2017 techniques. The course developer knew from his own educational research [1]
Accepted: September 23, 2017
that such pedagogy should be inherently inclusive of diverse abilities, inter-
Published: September 26, 2017
ests, learning styles, cultures, prior studies and genders; however, the positive
Copyright © 2017 by authors and effect on this inaugural course was well beyond the expectations of both the
Scientific Research Publishing Inc. teachers and learners. This paper presents the research of just one of the 15
This work is licensed under the Creative
students to exemplify the inclusiveness of such pedagogy in tertiary curricu-
Commons Attribution International
License (CC BY 4.0).
lum development, in this case for gender-inclusion, however other students
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ benefitted who had less ability for such tertiary concepts, and in one student’s
Open Access case the pedagogy helped overcome significant cultural barriers. The context
chosen by the showcased student’s work was to optimize the baking of cup-
cakes. Ever wondered how to bake the perfect cupcake? Ever wondered if the
recipe you are following is actually correct? How did they come up with the
temperature and time for cooking? Her normal work is in highly classified
and compartmentalized electronic warfare and so she opted instead for a topic
that could be shared with her military colleagues and the public; itself an in-
clusive and possibly reciprocating gesture. Many people who ordinarily do not
associate with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
subjects, either through gender, academic ability or culture, can relate to try-
ing to perfect baking of a recipe such as cupcakes. As such, this case study of-
fers a timely and interesting reminder of the inclusive benefits of stu-
dent-centred context in curricula development, particularly for STEM sub-

See Joiner (1999); Aldis, Sidhu, & Joiner (1999); and Joiner, Malone, & Haimes (2002).
1

DOI: 10.4236/ce.2017.812126 Sep. 26, 2017 1833 Creative Education

K. Joiner, A. Brewster

jects, reinforcing previous research from the literature reviewed.

Keywords
Inclusive Curriculum, Student-Centred Learning, Socialized Learning, Design
of Experiments

1. Article Structure
The article begins with three background sections: first a short general back-
ground on the University context that led to the course being developed; second
a background on the course learning objectives, structure and the topics students
chose freely for their individual research; and third a more traditional literature
review of the inclusive pedagogy employed for the course. The research method
used in this case study was direct observation of the students’ enthusiasm and
success, made possible because the teacher was also an experienced educational
researcher and the number of students was small.
The article proper then showcases the stages in the investigation of cupcake
baking, starting with setting up the experiment and how to judge the cupcakes
(measurement system analysis) which are shown in Figure 1.
Once the measurement system was suitable, the process screened the signifi-
cant cupcake baking factors (i.e. oven temperature) from all the possible factors,
and then involved a detailed modelling test and optimization of settings for the
best cupcake baking. The article finishes with two conclusions, one for cupcake
baking and the other for the benefits of inclusive curriculum design through

Figure 1. Example cupcakes.

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 K. Joiner, A. Brewster

student-centred learning especially in STEM subjects. The work is only offered

as an encouraging example of curricular techniques to try for greater inclusion.

2. General Background
The University of NSW has developed one of Australia’s largest and most popu-
lar higher degree programs in systems engineering and project management, le-
veraging a close relationship with the Australian Department of Defence (DoD)
that formed initially around the delivery of undergraduate programs to the Aus-
tralian Defence Force Academy in Canberra, but which has since evolved to all
aspects of normal university offerings. Most of the higher-degree coursework
students are Defence Force members or public servants studying part-time. As a
consequence, the technological contexts used are often skewed heavily towards
ships, aircraft, missiles, land vehicles and other warfare fields like cybersecurity.
Also, the STEM trends in the U.S. DoD are always closely monitored and fol-
lowed wherever possible, as these fields are relevant to DoD students because of
the close alliance between the two countries and the fact that much of Australia’s
DoD materiel is procured from the U.S. (Defence, 2014). Notwithstanding these
general contextual tendencies, the University has worked to broaden the appeal
of its degrees, so as to help attract and retain non-traditional parts of society to
STEM subjects and careers. Such appeal is considered critical because Australia
has a low population and yet an enormous area to defend, and it has an aging
population [2], meaning that the DoD must compete for a smaller work-ready
population, especially the school-leaver population (Defence, 2016: 150-152).
The University of NSW’s Master of Systems Engineering and Master of Project
Management are popular coursework higher degrees that have as one of their
core subjects an introduction to test and evaluation (T&E). Despite many years
of growth in these courses, they did not have any advanced elective subjects in
T&E techniques. Recent comparison of Australia’s rigour in T&E compared to
the U.S. found that the U.S. DoD had prescribed and implemented new ad-
vanced scientific techniques and competencies [3]. As such, the UNSW Australia
partnered with Air Academy Associates, LLC (AAA) in the U.S., who are a lead-
ing research and training firm in these advanced T&E techniques, to adapt one
of their courses to the University’s Master programs. The resulting elective sub-
ject, known as ZEIT 8034 Advanced T&E Techniques, was developed in October
2015 to February 2016 and trialed for the first time in Semester One of 2016
(February to June) with 15 volunteer students (4 female, 11 male). The subject
has successfully run twice since the inaugural trial course.

3. Background to the Course Objectives

The Advanced T&E Techniques course aims to provide advanced test design and
2
See O’Loughlin, Browning, & Kendig (2016); Churchill, Denny, & Jackson (2014); Anonymous
(2010) and Henry (2004).
3
See Joiner, Kiemele, & McAuliffe (2016); Gilmore (2015); Murphy et al. (2015); Rucker (2014); Led-
nicky & Silvestrini(2013); and Johnson et al. (2012).

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K. Joiner, A. Brewster

analysis techniques that perform the following three major functions:

screen what are the significant factors that influence system responses; model
precisely enough the effects of those significant factors to optimize use of a sys-
tem, particularly limiting variation within quality boundaries; and validate that
both the model and system in the optimized state perform acceptably in repre-
sentative conditions.
The methods used originate from the design of experiments work by Fisher
(1971 [1935]) who provided much of the structural processes for applying mod-
ern statistics. Modern software packages and practical handbooks make these
techniques realistic for the average researcher or test practitioner to use. In this
course the main textbook for the practical theory is Schmidt and Launsby
(2005), while the main software packages used are two add-ons to Microsoft Ex-
cel® (XL) known as SPC XLTM and DOE PRO XLTM [4] A second text by Reagan
and Kiemele (2008) provides much of the practical instruction on using the
software packages to screen, model, optimize and validate performance. A third
software package by Phadke Associates Inc., known as rdExpert LiteTM [5], is
used for test design of large numbers of factors of varying types having varying
levels for each of the factors, mainly because it has advanced algorithms in com-
binatorial mathematics.
Students do a one-week intensive course period where they are given the
theory and use the new techniques in about eight scripted workshops of in-
creasing complexity. Students “follow-along” the test design and analysis exam-
ples to get the solutions provided. They also work in collaborative groups over
this week for about three hours each day to do very practical screening, model-
ling and performance validation on a toy instructional system known as a “sta-
tapult”. The Statapult® catapult [6] is a small wooden catapult that fires rubber
balls over a short distance within the classroom as shown in Figure 2.
This learning device has many different factors that affect the distance the
balls travel and how that varies between like firings, such that the system has a
fairly significant performance variation (i.e. difficult to use accurately)unless it
carefully understood and controlled. The teaching device therefore reinforces
many of the key themes of the course, such as:

focus on understanding your measurement system before testing and en-

sure it is adequate;
do a simplistic screening test to focus the later more detailed tests that will
give accurate modelling;
validating performance usually requires new test measures (i.e., timeliness
and supply can become as important as accuracy); and there is nearly al-
ways multiple solutions in complex systems and understanding how to op-
timize from these with multiple input factors and multiple output responses
requires multiple constraints and weighted solutions.
4
SPC XLTM and DOE PRO XLTM are copyright Air Academy Associates, LLC, and SigmaZone.com.
5
rdExpert LiteTM is copyright Phadke Associates Inc.
6
Statapult® catapult is a registered trademark of Air Academy Associates, LLC.

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 K. Joiner, A. Brewster

Figure 2. Illustration of the Statapult® Catapult system shown in use by one of the au-
thors.

There is a 15-minute video compilation of the course at the following link that
shows the Statapult® in use with student testimonials about what they learnt in
various parts of the course:
https://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/capability-systems-centre/advanced-test-and-e
valuation-techniques#overlay-context.
At the end of the intensive week, students propose to the teacher and their
peers a system that they will have access to and that they want to screen and
model using their new test design and analysis techniques. Topics chosen by the
students in this inaugural class are listed in Table 1, where a third of students
did work-related topics, just over half did hobbies or interests and the remaining
two students (13 percent) chose topics for easy testing.
Such context choices are intended to meet the challenge of making tertiary
education internationally inclusive by “developing curricular contexts that ex-
tend themselves meaningfully into the personal life-worlds (i.e. environment
from the perspective of an individual) of students” (Rasi, Hautakangas, & Väy-
rynen, 2015: 134). Oral presentation and group discussion of those personal
choices to their peers allowed students to “connect the theories, concepts and
issues being taught to their life-worlds” (p. 139) and thus be more inclusive in
many different ways.
Students undertook their personal research over the following months at work
or home with some mentoring at key times by the teacher. Students also under-
take a knowledge quiz on the key concepts. Assessment was divided into: 35
percent for the collaborative assignment report concerning the Statapult® system,
15 percent for the computerized knowledge quiz and 50 percent for the individ-
ual research and report.

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K. Joiner, A. Brewster

Table 1. Student-centred research topics from the inaugural course.

Gender Reason Topic to Screen, Model & Optimize

Male Hobby Three dimensional printing of casino dice

Female Hobby Pizza base quality–changed later to a drawing robot

Male Interest Supersonic transport aircraft design (historical data)

Female Work Small commercial shop–stocking, transactions & customer loyalty

Male Test ease Adhesive of blu-tack for wall hangings

Male Work Nested simulation of electro-optical countermeasure models

Male Hobby Ammunition loading for high caliber rifle

Male Work Army handheld counter-improvised explosive device detectors

Female Hobby Slot car race tracks and cars

Male Interest Water in whiskey

Male PhD topic Effect of Supply Chain disruption on Capital Project Success

Male Test ease Comparison of three different kettles

Male Hobby Quadcopter landing

Male Work Army night-fighting illumination rounds

Female Hobby Baking cupcakes

4. Background to Curriculum Design

The challenge in any new university course is articulated as follows by Tait
(2009: 193-194):
“It is fundamental to the tertiary educator’s role to foster the development of a
vibrant and supportive learning community through their relationship with stu-
dents. Students need to know that university lecturers care about them and their
learning. This can be evidenced through well-organized courses and materials;
interesting, exciting, and fun activities for diverse learners; deep seated know-
ledge of the unit concepts; and flexibility to accommodate emergent student
learning needs.”
One of the most fun and exciting aspects of the collaborative part of the
course was validating the performance of groups’ models and systems to pene-
trate an enemy castle within an acceptable overall time and number of rounds
(i.e. balls fired to get a set number of hits). Foam play blocks were taped together
to represent walls and under time pressure, students delighted in trying to hit
the walls as often as possible, albeit all underpinned by some serious scientific
results. A ball having just impacted a castle wall is shown in Figure 3.
The course lecturer had significant educational research experience twenty
years ago [i]that explored the benefits in tertiary education of structured colla-
borative learning, multiple teaching and learning styles and variety in contexts.
He had remained interested in inclusiveness through texts like Hyter and Tur-
nock (2006) and Hyde, Carpenter and Conway (2013) and when given this cur-
ricula development opportunity ensured the pedagogy had the crucial social ele-

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 K. Joiner, A. Brewster

Figure 3. A fun collaborative activity was the capstone timing of accurate hits on castle
walls.

ment as outlined by Tait (2009) as follows, and known more academically as

Vygotskian theory (Udvari-Solner & Thousand, 1996):
“learning is primarily a social, cultural, and interpersonal process that is in-
fluenced as much by social, emotional, and cultural factors as by cognitive
ones. … This concern for the social context of learning clearly needs to be added
to the suggestion that the meaningful learning of complex material (in contrast
to the acquisition of isolated information, which in certain cases is still neces-
sary) may be characterized as being active, constructive, cumulative, self-regulated,
and goal oriented …The learner-centered orientation inherent in modern views
of learning has important implications for instruction at the tertiary level …” [p.
193]
Inclusive education principles were applied to this course design, where for
example there is the diverse pedagogy of structured lectures, structured work-
shops, collaborative and unstructured workshops (i.e., Statapult®), a knowledge
quiz, student presentation, and student-centered individual research with men-
toring. The benefits of diversity in pedagogy can include more robust concep-
tion, greater enjoyment, higher grades than normal, and better inclusiveness. In
Ashman’s (2010) research on inclusive curriculum for Australian university, he
refers to this notion as curriculum differentiation:
“Curriculum differentiation refers to a flexible approach to teaching that ad-
dresses the different learning needs of students including learning interests,
styles and rates within specific learning contexts. In general terms, the curricu-
lum can target a range of outcomes by concentrating on content mastery (e.g.
learning ideas and skills), concept mastery (e.g. systems of knowledge) and
process mastery (e.g. research and information management skills).” [p. 670]
Ashman (2010: 677) found, inter alia, significant inclusive benefits in creating
“work units that accommodated levels of skill, preferences, and interests”. Udva-
ri-Solner and Thousand as early as 1996 (p. 182) found that “sound theoretical
foundations and the use of learner-centered, process-oriented, and communica-

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K. Joiner, A. Brewster

tion-based instructional approaches are … promising practices for designing a

curriculum that is responsive to the needs of diverse learners.”
The research method used in this case study was direct observation of the
students’ enthusiasm and success, made possible because the teacher was also an
experienced educational researcher and the number of students was small. There
was no baseline comparator for this course however the teacher and most stu-
dents saw examples of all of the aforementioned benefits during this course,
when compared to other postgraduate subjects they had taught or taken. Such
benefits can be particularly potent when computer-based learning speeds the
ability of students to explore concepts and multiple contexts in student-centered
ways and these software packages do this well.
Of all of the possible benefits of diverse pedagogy, student inclusiveness is the
most rewarding, because students of lower ability often interact more, sharing
their conceptions in less confronting ways than a lecture, while students bring in
gender-inclusive and culturally-inclusive examples that are well beyond what the
teacher could envisage alone. Simply the act of collaborative learning and pre-
senting back to class has been shown to make STEM subjects more gender-inclusive
as outlined as follows by Wistedt (1998):
“From a gender perspective, variations in ways of knowing a subject are con-
sidered to be crucial to the learning process, as are the many styles of under-
standing and ascribing meaning to the course content. The notion of negotiation
(Voigt, 1994; Burton, 1995) directs attention towards the reciprocal nature of
knowledge formation. Negotiation calls for two-way communication, for reflec-
tion upon the foundations of statements put forward, for the trying out and
testing of assumptions, for exploration and synthesis.” [p. 144]
Just why the social aspects of learning are important to women learning has
always been less important in education than using this knowledge to positive
advantage. However, a study by Robichaud et al. (2003) into four contributing
factors to worry among university students found “Women in the sample re-
ported significantly higher levels of thought suppression and negative problem
orientation” than men. Collaborative learning helps create interactions around
problems and compensate for any one student’s lack of confidence and as such,
might counteract these tendencies. Surprisingly no studies could be found link-
ing the work on gender differences in worry with collaborative learning.
The gender-inclusive benefit of pedagogy that supports negotiation and inte-
raction is supported by a more recent study by Koppi et al. (2010), especially
their Table 1) into Australian university ICT graduates from 21 different uni-
versities. Koppi et al. (2010), inter alia, concludes the following:
“A pedagogical approach that is inclusive would include the value and mean-
ing of the technology in the broad context of its human application. Without
lessening the technological content, the inclusive approach would relate the
technology to everyday usage in society and the benefits afforded. … These con-
siderations also relate to the greater call for relevancy and work-integrated
learning that the great majority of survey respondents requested.”[pp. 278-279]

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 K. Joiner, A. Brewster

By allowing students to select topics important to them from work or hobbies

is fundamentally relating what they learn to everyday usage, where they can en-
gage with work colleagues, fellow hobbyist or families to relate at least the bene-
fit of what they have learnt.
The greatest risk in such pedagogy is a potential loss of teaching structure,
where some collaborative groups can become inefficient, really weak students
can limit their classmates, teachers can become limited by “needy” students,
student presentations can either run too long or collapse through a lack of con-
fidence, and sometimes students will have to change topic or re-do large por-
tions of work because they took a wrong direction and it is missed in the free-
dom of a task. All of these examples occurred in this course but were managed
through either intervention or simply accepted by the participants as a reasona-
ble tax for the freedom given to explore and express. Mentoring part-time stu-
dents on their own work can require phone calls and e-mails on the only week-
end they have set aside for their research, and because they chose the topic, the
teacher has to ask more questions than they do. Such a reversal of knowledge
provided the opportunity to show genuine teaching interest in individual stu-
dent learning as outlined earlier from Tait (2009: 193-194).
Having the Statapult® learning device for collaborative groups to explore,
fundamentally deconstructs the classroom pedagogy from lecture-centered to
student-centered, invoking more active participation. In collaboration students
will represent their group’s views in ways they would not do alone and will vo-
lunteer ideas and ask questions amongst a group of four students that they might
never do in front of the whole class. What makes such interaction inclusive is
captured by Wistedt (1998: 152) following the examination of inclusive assess-
ment methods to postgraduate mathematics, physics and statistics classes:
“Inclusive education appreciates such a variation in perspectives, individual as
well as social and cultural. Furthermore, if the students’ appreciation of what is
worth knowing, what counts as knowing and what characterizes knowing in an
academic setting is inextricably linked to the norms expressed within the social
setting in which learning takes place, critical reflection upon this setting is a ne-
cessary prerequisite for successful learning and teaching. Opening a dialogue
with students who vary in backgrounds, interests and experiences, and with
teachers who vary in perspectives and expertise, is one way of realizing an inclu-
sive education.”
Students gain a lot of confidence to analyze a system of their own choice from
the structured collaborative learning groups, as well as trust that the teacher is
genuine in mentoring without direct control. The trust in mentoring is key, be-
cause students do their testing and analysis of a system of their own choice
part-time once they return home and they need to feel confident to call the
teacher and disclose knowledge forgotten or not understood, possible mistakes
and so on. Students who are reluctant to take over their learning at such times,
first do so in collaborative groups, building confidence from their peers and the

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K. Joiner, A. Brewster

students who are keener in this type of exploratory learning. What breaks down
such barriers more than anything else once they are doing their own research
context, is that they are the expert on their chosen system, and they enjoy teach-
ing the teacher about their chosen system in the process of getting any help they
might need.

5. Setting up the Cupcake Experiment

Experimental design for a system process like cupcake baking begins with ex-
amining the system through process flows, cause and effect diagrams and classi-
fication of factors in accordance with the methods in the course texts (Schmidt
& Launsby, 2005; Reagan & Kiemele, 2008). Figure 4 shows the process flow for
baking each cupcake. This indicates how each cupcake was baked under the dif-
ferent scenarios; for example, using the same recipe for the batter but altering
the variables according to the different levels for each factor during the cooking
stages.
In the process of cooking a cupcake there are many factors that could contri-
bute to the success of the baking process. This research only investigated the
factors that affect the cooking process and did not look into the effects the in-
gredients or method of the batter preparation could have with baking the perfect
cupcake. Figure 5 shows the cause and effect diagram for cupcake baking where
the factors designations are:
“X” shows the factors that were deliberately altered as part of screening,
“C” are those factors kept constant, and
“N” are factors treated as experimental noise.
The experimental design model in Figure 6 shows the eight input factors and

Start

Preheat oven to Put filled pan in oven

Get Ingredients specified temperature
No

Measure Set timer for specified

Ingredients time
Is oven
correct
temperature?
Stir Ingredients
Allow cupcake to cook
for specified time
Yes Yes

Is there any Remove cupcake from

lumps? Do you need oven
to preheat
pan?
No Remove cupcake from
No pan and allow cupcake
Yes to cool

Yes
Do you need Preheat pan for 10
to preheat minutes Taste test
oven?

Fill pan to specified End

No level

Figure 4. Process flow for baking cupcakes (source: Microsoft ExcelTM).

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 K. Joiner, A. Brewster

Measurement Method Machine

(C) Method of
(X) Tasters (C) Oven
making batter

(X) Oven
(X) Fill of pan temperature

(X) Preheating (X) Preheating

pan oven

(X) Position in
oven

(X) Oven setting

Output

(N) Outside
temperature
(C) Ingredients
(C) Baker
(N) Humidity
(C) Recipe

Manpower Materials Environment

Figure 5. Cause and effect diagram for cupcake baking (source: SPC XLTM (iv)).

making batter
Ingredients
Method of
Recipe

Baker
Oven
Preheat Oven – (yes, no)
Temperature of Oven – (140, 180 deg.C)
Oven setting – (fan forced, no fan) Moisture
Fill of pan – (half, full) Appearance
Baking a cupcake
Size of pan – (small, large)
How well cooked
Cooking Time – (10, 20 min’)
Preheat pan – (fully, 10 min’, cold pan)
Position in oven – (top, bottom)
Air temp’

Humidity

Figure 6. Experimental Design Diagram for Cupcake Baking (source Microsoft Power-
pointTM).

three response outputs for the system ready to do a screening test. Shown for the
input factors are the high and low settings (i.e., two-level) such as ten to twenty
minutes for cooking time and 140 to 180 degrees Celsius for oven temperature.
The output responses chosen needed to be measured consistently by judges. The
grading index shown in Table 2 was used to ensure all judges were aware of
what qualified for each rating. This was done to attempt to reduce the amount of
variation within the measured results. By using this Likert scale approach it al-
lows the qualitative data due to human perspective and preference to be treated
somewhat as quantitative data. The “moisture” and “how-well cooked ” outputs
scales have an optimum in the centre (3) whereas the optimum for the “appear-
ance” output scale is five.
Standard operating procedures (SOPs) were developed for each of the con-
trolled variables so as to minimize unwanted variation; principal among these

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K. Joiner, A. Brewster

was the all-important recipe from Australian Good Taste (2016) and the one
home oven as given in Figure 7.

6. How to Judge the Cupcakes: Measurement System

Analysis
The repeatability and reproducibility of the cupcake measurement was assessed
using the measurement system analysis (MSA) techniques of the course texts to
ensure these were accurate, precise and stable. Because the judging criteria is bi-

Figure 7. Oven and recipe used.

Table 2. Grading index for cupcake output response judging.

Moisture
5 Dry
4 Quite even but crumbly, lack of moisture
3 Evenness all the way through, perfect crumble and moist
2 Very moist and very dense
1 Overly gooey, fondant like texture
Appearance
5 Perfectly risen, symmetrical, homogeneous
4 Well risen but imperfect symmetry
3 Slightly risen
2 Only risen on edges
1 Not risen at all
How-well cooked
5 Burnt
4 Overdone-dry
3 Perfectly cooked
2 Slightly raw
1 Raw

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 K. Joiner, A. Brewster

nary data according to the course texts the number of people multiplied by the
number of parts must ideally be greater than or equal to 60. As such the MSA
was conducted with 6 judges (operators) and 10 different bake settings (parts)
and replicated twice to determine the variation. The raw MSA data and ANOVA
analysis of the MSA results for “appearance” are shown as an example in Table 3
and Table 4.
The precision-to-total of the ANOVA for the MSA of the “appearance” grading
lies between 0.10 and 0.30 and is therefore sufficient to proceed to testing in ac-
cordance with the course texts. Also the resolution is greater than five (6.8) and
is therefore adequate to proceed. The operator-to-part interaction is high (96%)
showing some bias towards certain cupcakes dependent on their personal prefe-
rence. The consistency in judges’ ratings is shown in Figure 8 across the ten

Figure 8. Variation in six judges’ ratings of cupcake “Appearance” for ten bakings
(source: DOE XLTM (iv)).

Table 3. MSA data for the “Appearance” scale for the six judges (source: SPC XLTM (iv)).

Judge 1 Judge 2 Judge 3 Judge 4 Judge 5 Judge 6

Bake # Rep 1 Rep 2 Rep 1 Rep 2 Rep 1 Rep 2 Rep 1 Rep 2 Rep 1 Rep 2 Rep 1 Rep 2
1 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
2 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
4 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1
5 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 2
6 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
7 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
8 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
9 4 4 5 5 5 4 4 5 4 4 4 4
10 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

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K. Joiner, A. Brewster

Table 4. ANOVA for MSA for “Appearance” (source: SPC XLTM (iv)).

Variance Standard Deviation % Contribution

Source 0.095 0.3082207 4.16% p Value
Total Measurement (Gage) 0.03333333 0.182574186 1.46%
Repeatability 0.06166667 0.24832774 2.70%
Reproducibility 0.00685185 0.082775913 0.30%

Operator 0.05481481 0.234125639 2.40%

Oper * Part Interaction 2.19055556 1.480052552 95.84% 0.0000

Product (Part-to-Part) 2.28555556 1.511805396 100.00%

Precision to Total Ratio 0.20387591

Resolution 6.8

bakes, illustrating that judges mainly rated differently in Baking 1 and Baking 2
but consistently thereafter.
The other rating scales were also found to be sufficiently accurate and consis-
tent to proceed to the screening test:

“moisture” had a precision-to-total of 0.18 (<0.3) and resolution of 7.6 (>5),

and “how-well cooked” had a precision-to-total of 0.26 (<0.3) and resolu-
tion of 5.3 (>5).

7. Screening for Significant Factors in Baking

Using the mixed-method flowchart of the course text screening design selec-
tion is the Taguchi L12 test design for evaluating eight factors, each at two le-
vels (i.e., high and low values only) with four or more repetitions. This
screening method is capable of dealing with up to 11 factors without increas-
ing the number of test runs. The final test design is shown in Table 5 where
results are populated three times for each different output response: “mois-
ture”, “appearance” and “how-well cooked ”. Hence a total of twelve by four
equals 48 bakes were necessary with three responses for each equals 144 data
points, each involving six judges or 864 ratings. Yes, a lot of cupcakes were
consumed!
The two-level design for screening captures the linear effects of each factor
independent of the other factors. This is adequate for a screening test design
since the investigation is to determine the factors that have a significant effect on
the perfect cupcake. The insignificant factors can then be screened out and the
significant factors can be investigated more thoroughly using a three-level test
design to determine any quadratic and interaction effects. Most of the factors for
this test are discrete and qualitative except for temperature, fill-of-pan and
cooking time which are continuous.
Four tools are predominately used from DOE PRO XL® to screen from the
results: marginal means plots, multiple response regression, Pareto of regression
coefficients and a multiple response optimizer. Since there are three output res-

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 K. Joiner, A. Brewster

Table 5. Taguchi L12 screening design used for cupcake screening (source: DOE XLTM (iv)).

Factor A B C D E F G H Moisture
Preheat Oven Size of Cooking Preheat Position in
Row # Temperature Fill of pan Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4
oven Setting pan Time Pan oven
1 0 140 0 0.5 0 10 0 0 3 3 3 3

2 0 140 0 0.5 0 20 1 1 4 4 4 4

3 0 140 1 1 1 10 0 0 1 1 1 1

4 0 180 0 1 1 10 1 1 1.167 1 1 1

5 0 180 1 0.5 1 20 0 1 1.667 1.5 2 2

6 0 180 1 1 0 20 1 0 3 3 3 3

7 1 140 1 1 0 10 1 1 1 1 1 1

8 1 140 1 0.5 1 20 1 0 1 1 1 1

9 1 140 0 1 1 20 0 1 2 2 2 2

10 1 180 1 0.5 0 10 0 1 1 1 1 1

11 1 180 0 1 0 20 0 0 4.333 4.333 4 4

12 1 180 0 0.5 1 10 1 0 1 1 1 1

ponses and both the average and variation in each distribution has to be consi-
dered, some 24 analyses occurred—hence only an example of each is shown
here.
The marginal means plots of the absolute rating value of “moisture” is shown
in Figure 9 produced by the eight input factors at their high and low values. It
shows that Preheat Oven, Oven Setting, Size-of-Pan and Cooking Time effect the
perfect cupcake, with Size of Pan having the greatest effect whereby the smallest
pan drives a higher moisture rating while the largest pan drives a lower moisture
rating. The marginal means plots for moisture variation are not shown but six of
the eight input variables effect the variation in moisture of each cupcake, with
Oven Setting, and Fill-of-Pan having the least influence.
The multiple response regression analysis for the absolute values of each out-
put cupcake rating is shown in part in Table 6, where the two-tailed significance
of each factor is shown with anything of significance (p < 0.05) shown in red and
anything likely to be significant (0.05 < p < 0.1) shown in blue. The size of the
non-dimensional coded coefficients directly illustrate the linear size of each fac-
tor’s effect relative to one another and this is shown graphically for the cupcake
“appearance” rating in Figure 10; again colour coding shows significance and
the oven setting and size-of-pan have the greatest effect.
The coded regression table (Table 6) can be decoded by DOE PRO XL® to
provide dimensional equations for both the rating absolute value and the varia-
tion. As an example, the simplistic linear equations for the three ratings are as
follows, where each factor is abbreviated to a letter (A to H) shown in Table 6:
“Moisture” Rating:
yˆ =1.910 − 0.611A − 1.069C − 1.389 E + 0.132 F − 0.319G − 0.389 H

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K. Joiner, A. Brewster

“Appearance” Rating:
yˆ =0.979 − 0.819 A + 0.007 B − 1.403C
+ 1.028 D − 1.403E + 0.121F − 0.792 H

Figure 9. Marginal means plots for the effect of each input factor on absolute value of
cupcake “Moisture” grading (source: DOE XLTM (iv)).

Table 6. Multiple response regression analysis in screening for the absolute values of the three cupcake gradings (source: DOE
XLTM (iv)).

Y-hat Model
Moisture Appearance How well cooked
Factor Name
Coeff P(2 Tail) Tol Coeff P(2 Tail) Tol Coeff P(2 Tail) Tol
Const 2.000 0.000 − 2.410 0.000 - 2.069 0.000 -
A Preheat oven −0.306 0.000 1 -0.410 0.000 1 -0.257 0.000 1
B Temperature − − − 0.132 0.064 1 0.160 0.001 1
C Oven Setting −0.535 0.000 1 -0.701 0.000 1 -0.611 0.000 1
D Fill of pan − − − 0.257 0.001 1 0.201 0.000 1
E Size of pan −0.694 0.000 1 -0.701 0.000 1 -0.653 0.000 1
F Cooking Time 0.660 0.000 1 0.604 0.000 1 0.625 0.000 1
G Preheat Pan −0.160 0.000 1 - - - -0.188 0.000 1
H Position in oven −0.194 0.000 1 -0.396 0.000 1 -0.229 0.000 1

R2 0.975 0.901 0.948

Adj R 2
0.972 0.884 0.938
Std Error 0.201 0.480 0.308
F 268.787 52.253 89.137
Sig F 0.000 0.000 0.000

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 K. Joiner, A. Brewster

Figure 10. Pareto Plot of Input Factor Effects on Absolute Value of Cupcake “Appearance”
Grading (source: DOE XLTM (iv)).

“How-well cooked ” Rating:

yˆ =0.250 − 0.514 A + 0.008 B − 1.222C + 0.806 D
− 1.306 E + 0.125 F − 0.375G − 0.458 H
As shown in Table 6, all regression coefficients for the three equations (i.e.,
R ) and the regression adjusted for sample size (i.e., Adjusted R2) are suitably
2

close to each other (<0.9 rule-of-thumb) and reasonably high (lowest is 0.88),
such that the regression models are good fits (<0.7 rule-of-thumb).The tolerance
(Tol) in Table 6 is one for all factors showing the test was orthogonal.
The multiple response regression table for variation in each of the responses is
not shown but revealed the following regarding the most likely “spread shifters”:
Oven Temperature is likely significant on variation of “Moisture” rating.
Preheat Oven and Fill-of-Pan are significant on variation of “Appearance”
rating.
Oven Temperature is significant and Oven Position is likely significant on
variation of “How-well-cooked ” rating.
The final tool used was the DOE PRO XL® optimizer tool which involves set-
ting desired constraints, weighted as necessary to examine ideal settings, noting
that at this stage the model is only linear. The optimizer allows the ideal ratings
and a minimization of variance, however for simplicity here, only the optimiza-
tion results of the optimum ratings are shown in Table 7. In this table there are
two optimizations, one with all three ratings weighted equally at their ideal rat-
ing values and one for just optimizing “appearance” only. Clearly, if a cupcake
just has to look good, a higher baking temperature and longer cook time are
likely to give better results. From these investigations it appears to confirm there
is an optimum temperature between 140-180 degrees Celsius and an optimal
baking time between 10 and 20 minutes.

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K. Joiner, A. Brewster

Table 7. Example optimized settings following screening test.

Optimized Settings & Weighting

Variables Moisture Appearance How-Well Cooked Appearance Only

Y = 3, W = 50% Y = 5, W = 50% Y = 3, W = 50% Y = 5, W = 100%

Preheat Oven 0 0

Temperature 140 173

Oven Setting 0 0

Fill of Pan 0.833 0.833

Size of Pan 0 0

Cooking Time 10.68 16.75

Preheat Pan 1 1

Position in Oven 0 0

There were significant shifts if consistency in the ratings was desirable:

When variance is not as important as the rating values themselves, a lower
cooking temperature is the preferred setting; however, when variance is con-
trolled (set to zero) a higher temperature is recommended.
When the baker is only interested in the appearance of the cupcake then a
mid-range and a 80% fill is the recommended method; however, if all variances
are aimed to be set at a minimum then the fill should be lower (approximately
60%).
Collectively it was determined that the factors required for detailed modelling
are Oven Temperature, Pan Fill and Cook Time, while the Position in the Oven,
Oven Setting, and Size of Pan can be set to a constant based on their best value.
The Preheat Oven and Preheat Pan results were conflicting, therefore these fac-
tors are required for modelling in order to appreciate the system accurately. It
was decided to combine the Preheat Pan and Preheat Oven into one factor;
“Preheat” where if Preheat = 1 then the oven and pan will be preheated at the
cooking temperature for 10 minutes prior to baking, if Preheat = 0.5, the pan
and oven are heated at 90 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes before baking and Pre-
heat = 0, is starting the baking with the oven and pan cold.. These four factors
will be investigated further in modelling.
The settings of the constants were determined from the marginal means plots
and the consistent responses in the optimizations to be:
Position in oven—top;
Oven setting—fan forced;
Size of pan—small.

8. Test Design for Detailed Modelling: Just How Many More

Cupcakes Have to Be Baked?
A four-factor, 3-level modelling design was required to model the system which
according to the course text leads to the Box Behnken modelling design. The

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 K. Joiner, A. Brewster

benefits of the Box Behnken is that there is a reduced test demand compared to a
full factorial test, however, it still provides information on the main, two-way
and quadratic interactions. A disadvantage of this method is that it is unable to
show the three-way interactions. The setup of the four-factor Box Behnken can
be seen below in Table 8 and was used to measure all three outputs; “moisture”,
“appearance” and “how-well cooked ” with three repetitions of each test case, as
recommended by the text.
As recommended by the texts the origin point is repeated three times to help
with orthogonality, at test cases 9, 18 and 27, and the repeats are used to help
check the consistency of the testing. Once again, similar to the screening, five

Table 8. Four-factor, three-level, 27-test Box Behnken test design used to model in detail the cupcake baking (source: DOE XLTM
(iv)
).

Factor A B C D Moisture
Row # Preheat Temperature Time Fill Y1 Y2 Y3
1 0 160 15 0.75 3.4 3 3.2
2 0 180 15 0.75 2.9 3.2 3.05
3 1 160 15 0.75 3.4 3.7 3.5
4 1 180 15 0.75 4.4 4.2 4.3
5 0.5 170 10 0.5 3.3 2.8 3
6 0.5 170 10 1 2.4 2.4 2.4
7 0.5 170 20 0.5 5 5 5
8 0.5 170 20 1 4.5 4.8 4.7
9 0.5 170 15 0.75 3.9 3.8 3.8
10 0 170 15 0.5 3 3.4 3.2
11 0 170 15 1 3.2 2.4 2.8
12 1 170 15 0.5 5 3.8 4.4
13 1 170 15 1 3.5 3.1 3.3
14 0.5 160 10 0.75 2.2 2.4 2.2
15 0.5 160 20 0.75 4 4.1 4.1
16 0.5 180 10 0.75 2.9 2.6 2.8
17 0.5 180 20 0.75 5 5 5
18 0.5 170 15 0.75 4.1 4.2 4.15
19 0 170 10 0.75 1.1 1.1 1
20 0 170 20 0.75 3.8 3.6 3.85
21 1 170 10 0.75 3.6 3.3 3.5
22 1 170 20 0.75 4.8 4.6 4.7
23 0.5 160 15 0.5 3.5 3.6 3.5
24 0.5 160 15 1 3.2 3.2 3.1
25 0.5 180 15 0.5 4.8 4.1 4.4
26 0.5 180 15 1 4.4 3.6 4.1
27 0.5 170 15 0.75 3.6 3.7 3.6

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K. Joiner, A. Brewster

judges were used to taste the cupcakes and record their outputs for the “appear-
ance”, “moisture” and “how-well cooked ” for each repetition of each cupcake.
This time a 0.5 mark was included between each grading to allow for better dis-
tinction between similar cupcakes.
So in total the number of cupcakes baked for the detailed modelling was 27 by
three or 81 bakes, with five scores for each bake making 405 test points—once
again a lot of free tasting and advertising of the test rigour process within the
workplace!

9. Model of the Cupcake Baking

The multiple-response regression model from the test results is shown in… with
the insignificant factors progressively removed for each response output.
The tolerance in Table 9 is either a value of “1” or close to it for each factor
and interaction, such that the testing is nearly and sufficiently orthogonal. The
R2 and adjusted R2 regression values are all greater than 0.7 indicating the de-
tailed models are a good fit, with “appearance” being the least fit of the three.
Test consistency was assessed using the repeated origin points at tests 9, 18 and
27 and is plotted in Figure 11. There are issues with reproducibility that would
need to be investigated if this was a commercial kitchen. The means were signif-
icantly different across tests for each cupcake rating using an SPC XLTM two-tailed
t-test (p < 0.047) except for one permutation, but the variations were not signif-
icantly different (p > 0.25) using the SPC XLTM two-tailed F-test.
The uncoded equations for the three output responses are as follows:
“Moisture”:
−4.227 − 1.963 ⋅ Preheat + 0.009 ⋅ Temp′ + 0.512 ⋅ Time − 0.378 ⋅ Fill
yˆ =
+ Preheat [ 0.046 ⋅ Tempp′ − 0.145 ⋅ Time − 1.400 ⋅ Fill]
− 1.498 ⋅ Preheat 2 − 0.008 ⋅ Fill2

4.5

Test 18

Test 9

Test 27
3.5
Measurement

3 Moisture Appearance How-well Cooked

Figure 11. Test consistency at the test space origin for each cupcake rating (source: Mi-
crosoft ExcelTM).

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 K. Joiner, A. Brewster

Table 9. Multiple-response regression analysis from test results with insignificant factors and interactions removed (source: DOE
XLTM (iv)).

Y-hat Model
Moisture Appearance How well cooked
Factor Name
Coeff P(2 Tail) Tol Coeff P(2 Tail) Tol Coeff P(2 Tail) Tol
Const 3.838 0.000 − 3.459 0.000 - 3.833 0.000 -
A Preheat 0.553 0.000 1 0.747 0.000 1 0.475 0.000 1
B Temperature 0.318 0.000 1 −0.019 0.805 1 0.324 0.000 1
C Time 1.015 0.000 1 0.375 0.000 1 0.885 0.000 1
D Fill −0.269 0.000 1 −0.347 0.000 1 -0.106 0.020 1
AB 0.229 0.007 1 - - - 0.158 0.043 1
AC −0.363 0.000 1 -−0.958 0.000 1 -0.163 0.038 1
AD −0.175 0.036 1 0.333 0.017 1 - - -
CD − − − - - - 0.183 0.020 1
AA Preheat 2
−0.374 0.000 0.96 0.478 0.000 0.9 −0.449 0.000 0.96
BB Temperature2 − − − −0.264 0.020 0.9 - - -
CC Time2 −0.197 0.003 0.96 - - - −0.276 0.000 0.96
DD Fill2 − − − -0.722 0.000 0.9 - - -

R2 0.913 0.794 0.902

Adj R 2
0.902 0.768 0.889
Std Error 0.283 0.470 0.266
F 83.037 30.375 72.419
Sig F 0.000 0.000 0.000

“Appearance”:
−81.202 + 3.333 ⋅ Preheat + 0.895 ⋅ Temp′ + 0.267 ⋅ Time
yˆ =
+ 14.611 ⋅ Fill − Preheat [ 0.383 ⋅ Time − 2.667 ⋅ Fill]
+ 1.911 ⋅ Preheat 2 − 0.003 ⋅ Temp 2 − 11.556 ⋅ Fill2
“How-well cooked”:
−3.562 − 1.662 ⋅ Preheat + 0.017 ⋅ Temp′ + 0.431 ⋅ Time
yˆ =
− 2.622 ⋅ Fill + Preheat [ 0.032 ⋅ Temp′ − 0.065 ⋅ Time]
+ 0.147 ⋅ Time ⋅ Fill − 1.797 ⋅ Preheat 2 − 0.011 ⋅ Time2
These equations show three different four-dimensional spaces that are hard to
envisage. Fortunately DOE PRO XLTM provide some impressive tools to explore
the effect space that has been modelled. By this stage in their course students
usually know their test domain and the tools and they go competently to the op-
timizer and run “what if ” cases. Before showing that though, it is worth showing
two graphs that illustrate two aspects of the cupcake baking model. The first in
Figure 12 holds constant a cooking time of 15 minutes and a preheated pan in
order to show there is a fairly wide optimum of cooking temperature but a nar-

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K. Joiner, A. Brewster

row optimum in pan fill whereby the pan needs about a 15 percent air gap from
the pan lip.
A second graph in Figure 13 tries to illustrate the complex effect of preheating
the pan by holding cooking temperature and cooking time constant. Both the
formulae and this “uneven saddle” graph show that preheating is the most com-
plex factor, being the most prevalent quadratic term and interaction term. Pre-

Figure 12. “Appearance” rating for cooking time of 15 minutes and a preheated pan
(source: DOE XLTM (iv)).

Figure 13. “Appearance” rating for a fixed cooking time of 15 minutes and cooking tem-
perature of 170 degrees (source: DOE XLTM(iv)).

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 K. Joiner, A. Brewster

heating was almost discarded in screening to try to get to a three factor test and
the resultant model justifies the decision to keep it, as it is complex across all
three cupcake ratings.

10. Optimizing the Best Settings for the Cupcake

The optimization tool of DOE PRO XLTM was used to determine the optimal set-
tings for cupcake baking for five cases as shown in Table 10.
From Table 10 we can determine:
When variance isn’t important (Case 1) then Preheat and a short Cook Time
is best, however when variance is to be minimized as well (Case 2) then no Pre-
heat, a slightly lower Pan Fill and a long Cook Time is better.
If the baker is only concerned with the “appearance” of the cupcake, for ex-
ample for a window display, then higher Oven Settings (Cases 4 & 5) are better
than when “moisture” and “how-well cooked ” matter as well (Cases 1-3).
When variance isn’t important for “appearance” (Case 4), the same trend
identified earlier of Preheat and a short Cook Time is evident compared to when
consistency in appearance is to be minimized as well (Case 5) where no Preheat,
a slightly lower Pan Fill and a long Cook Time is better.
Case 3 demonstrates the settings to enable the best compromise between all
three outputs while also considering the consistency (variance) of all of the out-
puts. The predicted multiple-response confidence intervals for the Case 3 set-
tings are in Table 11. Looking at “appearance” shows these are a compromise set
of settings because the “appearance” is not a perfect “5”.
If the cupcakes are to be iced then “appearance” is not important and only
“moisture” and “how-well cooked” plus the consistency of those two measures
needs to be optimized. The ideal settings are shown in Case Six, which are much
the same as Case 3 but with a much lower Pan Fill and very good confidence in-
tervals as shown in Table 12.
Figure 14 shows the different cupcakes baked during modelling to show some

Table 10. Optimal settings for five different cases of what a cook might want.

Optimized Setting & Weighting

(Moisture = 3, Appearance = 5, How-well cooked = 3, variance = 0 when used)

Case 1 2 3 4 5 6
Moisture &
yes all
Variables Weighting of Outputs yes all equal Appearance Appearance both how-well cooked
equal yes all 6
mean & variance equal
equal
Weighting of yes all equal equally yes both equal
no no
Variances but ½ outputs but½outputs
Preheat Pan? yes no no yes no no

Temperature (degC) 167.1 160.7 161.4 170.6 180 162.1

Cooking Time(min) 11.5 16.2 16.1 10.6 20 15.3

Fill of Pan 0.83 0.7 0.7 0.87 0.72 0.59

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K. Joiner, A. Brewster

Table 11. Confidence intervals for all-round best cupcake settings (Case 3) (source: DOE
XLTM (iv)).

Multiple Response Prediction 99% Confidence Interval

Y-hat S-hat Lower Bound Upper Bound

Moisture 3.150 0.108 2.825 3.475

Appearance 3.442 0.155 2.976 3.908

How-well cooked 3.000 0.000 3.000 3.000

Table 12. Confidence intervals for the best iced cupcake settings (Case 6) (source: DOE
XLTM (iv)).

Multiple Response Prediction 99% Confidence Interval

Y-hat S-hat Lower Bound Upper Bound

Moisture 3.000 0.111 2.666 3.334

Appearance 3.283 0.170 2.774 3.791

How-Well Cooked 2.911 0.000 2.911 2.911

Figure 14. Cupcake variation.

of the variety in the different baking settings. From general observations, the
mushroom like muffin top was a result of a full Pan Fill (i.e., 1) and a low tem-
perature oven. The cupcakes with the burnt edges were a result of the longer
cook time and the spherical top to some was often a result of a hot, preheated

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 K. Joiner, A. Brewster

cooking temperature. Note also that there is some variance between cupcakes in
each row despite the cupcakes in each row being baked under the same settings.

11. Conclusion
A new post-graduate tertiary course in advanced test and evaluation techniques
(experimental design) provided an opportunity for a more inclusive curriculum
through structured collaborative learning on a fun learning device, followed by
students having an open choice of a system from their work or personal interests
to analyze themselves over the following months with mentoring from their
teacher. This extended the curriculum to students’ “life-worlds” as proposed by
Rasi et al. (2015). Presenting on that choice to their peers and instructor further
empowered students to share their “life-worlds” in ways that leveraged and en-
hanced the social aspect of learning and formed greater trust with the teacher for
the part-time mentoring phase. Because students go on to also share their ana-
lyses with their work colleagues, hobby friends and family, their new knowledge
is reinforced in personal ways entirely consistent with both Constructivist and
Vygotsky educational theory (Udvari-Solner & Thousand, 1996). The research me-
thod used in this case study was direct observation of the students’ enthusiasm
and success, made possible because the teacher was also an experienced educa-
tional researcher and the number of students was small. The work is only offered
as an encouraging example of curricular techniques to try for greater inclusion.
Using the showcased student’s work on cupcake baking, a female electronics
engineer, after the fun collaborative learning, was able to bring her passion for
cooking into the class and then, over the following months, and conducting 139
individual bakings, 753 judgings, and obtain 2259 judge ratings amongst her
work and friends. This enabled her to share her new knowledge of advanced test
techniques in a very personal way, which undoubtedly will have robust and en-
during conceptions which she can use to benefit her future test work. Her exam-
ple was not the only ones, another female engineer shared her passion for toy
slot cars, and another aspiring female researcher brought her commercial busi-
ness knowledge into the learning, helping breakdown difficulties in English-as-a
second-language. This case study has reinforced that if STEM subjects are to ap-
peal to non-traditional sources of students, then such structured fun learning
and open contextualization are key. In this case, a common cooking effort has
been analyzed with advanced test techniques and this should appeal to several
non-traditional STEM markets. The social aspect of learning was not only bene-
ficial for females, several fairly reclusive male students blossomed when bringing
their hobbies into the class and then their classwork to their hobbies.
There are also other educational aspects at work in the new course as show-
cased in this article. The ability to explore complex systems with relatively
easy-to-learn statistical and experimental design packages involving multiple
visual analysis tools is highly effective computer-assisted learning for engineers
and project managers, very analogous to the burgeoning use of finite-element
modelling packages in research and teaching in the 1980’s and 90’s. As such, the

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K. Joiner, A. Brewster

inclusivity of the course is likely to extend to students of lower ability or who are
more visual learners.
This case study in new curriculum for a complex STEM subject found the
student-centred learning of collaboration, computer-based analysis, and an open
student choice of personal research interests, to be highly inclusive in the ways
proposed by the literature reviewed (Tait, 2009; Ashman, 2010; Koppi et al.,
2010), especially for gender (Wistedt, 1998).

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DOI: 10.4236/ce.2017.812126 1859 Creative Education