Impact of Integrated Product Team Course on Skill Development and Workplace Preparation for Graduating Engineering Seniors

Derrick Wayne Smith; Monica Letrece Dillihunt; Phillip A. Farrington; Michael P.J. Benfield; Matthew William Turner

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Conference: 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Publication Date: June 10, 2012
Start Date: June 10, 2012
End Date: June 13, 2012
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Teams and Teamwork in Design
Tagged Division: Design in Engineering Education
Page Count: 11
Page Numbers: 25.717.1 - 25.717.11
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--21474
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/21474
Download Count: 240

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Paper Authors

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Derrick Wayne Smith University of Alabama, Hunstville

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Derrick Smith is an Assistant Professor of education at the University of Alabama, Huntsville. His research agenda focuses on STEM education for all students, including those with disabilities.

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Monica Letrece Dillihunt University of Alabama, Huntsville orcid.org/0000-0001-8319-7942

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Monica L. Dillihunt, Ph.D. is a graduate of Howard University, where she received her degree in educational psychology and a sub-specialty in educational leadership and administration in 2003. She also received her B.S. in psychology from the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, and a M.Ed in education from Mercer University in Atlanta. Dillihunt has broad areas of research interests that include culture, multiple intelligences, differentiating instruction, learning and socialization processes, student motivation, and minority student achievement. Dillihunt has published work that focuses on measuring the degree of alignment between home and school cultures of minority student populations and understanding its link to academic motivation and performance. She is well versed in pre-referral academic testing and evaluation. Dillihunt’s professional memberships include American Educational Research Association (AERA), Association of Black Psychologist (ABPsi), National Association of Multicultural Education (NAME), American Society of Engineer Education (ASEE) Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), and National Association of Black School Educators (NABSE).

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Phillip A. Farrington University of Alabama, Huntsville

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Phillip A. Farrington is a professor of industrial and systems engineering and engineering management at the University of Alabama, Huntsville. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in industrial engineering from the University of Missouri, Columbia, and a Ph.D. in industrial engineering and Management from Oklahoma State University. He has been on the faculty at UA, Huntsville, since 1991. His research interests include systems engineering, transportation modeling, process analysis, and engineering education. He is a member of ASEE, ASQ, and IIE. He is a Fellow of the American Society for Engineering Management.

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Michael P.J. Benfield University of Alabama, Huntsville

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Michael P.J. Benfield received his Ph.D. from the University of Alabama, Huntsville in industrial and systems engineering. He holds an M.S. degree is systems engineering and engineering management from the University of Alabama, Huntsville, and a B.S degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from UAH as well. He is currently the Deputy Center Director and a Principal Research Engineer at the Center for Modeling and Simulation Analysis and an Assistant Research Professor in the Industrial and Systems Engineering and Engineering Management Department on the UAH campus. Benfield’s research interests include systems engineering, spacecraft chemical propulsion system sizing, and science and engineering team development and dynamics.

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Matthew William Turner University of Alabama, Huntsville

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Matthew W. Turner is the Integrated Product Team (IPT) Project Manager at the University of Alabama, Huntsville. Turner has been Mission Manager of numerous IPT Senior Design Experience projects for five years and is the Deputy Project Manager of the Innovative Systems Project for the Increased Recruitment of Emerging and STEM Students (InSPIRESS). Turner holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from The University of Alabama, Huntsville, and has worked in the Huntsville aerospace industry for more than 10 years supporting NASA.

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Abstract

Impact of Integrated Product Team course on skill development and workplace preparation for graduating engineering seniors The Integrated Product Team (IPT) course is a two-semester design sequence that culminatesthe coursework of three undergraduate engineering degree programs (i.e., MechanicalEngineering and Aerospace Engineering, and Industrial and Systems Engineering). The projecthas a number of unique features: (a) it is modeled after NASA’s pre-Phase A conceptual designand proposal activity; (b) it requires the students to participate in multi-disciplinary teams (c) itrequires collaboration with multiple external universities, including international partners; and(d) it is evaluated by an external review board composed of industry leaders (i.e., NASA,Boeing, etc.) who provide detailed guidance and feedback. Based on the course instructorsobservations during a pilot study, the researchers hypothesized that student self-efficacy willincrease thereby increasing their preparation for the work force. In order to evaluate the impact of the IPT project on the students’ preparation to enter theworkforce, a quasi-experimental study is being conducted within the courses involved in the IPTproject. The intent is to determine the impact of the authentic, inquiry-based learningexperiences on students’ motivation, attitudes, self-efficacy and other cognitive andmetacognitive measures. The demographic breakdown for this year’s IPT classes which includes60 students are as follows: 22% female, 78% male; 3% juniors, 97% seniors; 40% AerospaceEngineers, 20% Industrial & Systems Engineers, 40% Mechanical Engineers; and 8% AfricanAmerican, 8% Asian, 77% Caucasian, and 3% other. This study utilized the following instruments: The Motivated Strategies for LearningQuestionnaire (MSLQ) (Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, & McKeachie, 1991) which was designed tomeasure undergraduates’ motivation and self-regulated learning as they relate to a specificcourse. The MSLQ consists of 81, self-reported items divided into two categories: (1) amotivation section that assesses students’ goals and value beliefs for a course, and (2) a learningstrategies section that assess students’ use of different cognitive and metacognitive strategies.The Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales (Midgley, et al., 1998) (PALS) was designed toexamine the relation between learning environment and students’ motivation, affect, andbehavior. PALS consists of 94, self-reported items divided into five subscales: (1) personalachievement goal orientations; (2) perceptions of teacher’s goals; (3) perceptions of the goalstructures in the classroom; (4) achievement-related beliefs, attitudes, and strategies; and (5)perceptions of parents and home life. Participants were also asked to complete a simpledemographic section that focuses on the students’ sex, race/ethnicity, academic standing, andmajor. The surveys are to be completed three times: pre (August), midterm (January), and post(April/May). By completing the surveys three times, we will be able to monitor the impact ofparticipating in a capstone course for two semesters. The raw data will be compiled andanalyzed using relevant statistical analysis methods including t-tests, repeated measures, andcorrelations. This paper will present the results for the first term while the presentation in June2012 will present the results for the entire year.

Citation
Format

Smith, D. W., & Dillihunt, M. L., & Farrington, P. A., & Benfield, M. P., & Turner, M. W. (2012, June), Impact of Integrated Product Team Course on Skill Development and Workplace Preparation for Graduating Engineering Seniors Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--21474

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -          Impact of Integrated Product Team course on skill development          and workplace preparation for graduating engineering seniors    The Integrated Product Team (IPT) course is a two-semester design sequence that culminatesthe coursework of three undergraduate engineering degree programs (i.e., MechanicalEngineering and Aerospace Engineering, and Industrial and Systems Engineering). The projecthas a number of unique features: (a) it is modeled after NASA’s pre-Phase A conceptual designand proposal activity; (b) it requires the students to participate in multi-disciplinary teams (c) itrequires collaboration with multiple external universities, including international partners; and(d) it is evaluated by an external review board composed of industry leaders (i.e., NASA,Boeing, etc.) who provide detailed guidance and feedback. Based on the course instructorsobservations during a pilot study, the researchers hypothesized that student self-efficacy willincrease thereby increasing their preparation for the work force.    In order to evaluate the impact of the IPT project on the students’ preparation to enter theworkforce, a quasi-experimental study is being conducted within the courses involved in the IPTproject. The intent is to determine the impact of the authentic, inquiry-based learningexperiences on students’ motivation, attitudes, self-efficacy and other cognitive andmetacognitive measures. The demographic breakdown for this year’s IPT classes which includes60 students are as follows: 22% female, 78% male; 3% juniors, 97% seniors; 40% AerospaceEngineers, 20% Industrial &amp; Systems Engineers, 40% Mechanical Engineers; and 8% AfricanAmerican, 8% Asian, 77% Caucasian, and 3% other.           This study utilized the following instruments: The Motivated Strategies for LearningQuestionnaire (MSLQ) (Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, &amp; McKeachie, 1991) which was designed tomeasure undergraduates’ motivation and self-regulated learning as they relate to a specificcourse. The MSLQ consists of 81, self-reported items divided into two categories: (1) amotivation section that assesses students’ goals and value beliefs for a course, and (2) a learningstrategies section that assess students’ use of different cognitive and metacognitive strategies.The Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales (Midgley, et al., 1998) (PALS) was designed toexamine the relation between learning environment and students’ motivation, affect, andbehavior. PALS consists of 94, self-reported items divided into five subscales: (1) personalachievement goal orientations; (2) perceptions of teacher’s goals; (3) perceptions of the goalstructures in the classroom; (4) achievement-related beliefs, attitudes, and strategies; and (5)perceptions of parents and home life. Participants were also asked to complete a simpledemographic section that focuses on the students’ sex, race/ethnicity, academic standing, andmajor.    The surveys are to be completed three times: pre (August), midterm (January), and post(April/May). By completing the surveys three times, we will be able to monitor the impact ofparticipating in a capstone course for two semesters. The raw data will be compiled andanalyzed using relevant statistical analysis methods including t-tests, repeated measures, andcorrelations. This paper will present the results for the first term while the presentation in June2012 will present the results for the entire year.
AU  - Derrick Wayne Smith
AU  - Monica Letrece Dillihunt
AU  - Phillip A. Farrington
AU  - Michael P.J. Benfield
AU  - Matthew William Turner
CY  - San Antonio, Texas
DA  - 2012/06/10
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Impact of Integrated Product Team Course on Skill Development and Workplace Preparation for Graduating Engineering Seniors
UR  - https://strategy.asee.org/21474
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--21474
ER  -