Conference Session

Writing and Communication II

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Luke Niiler; David Beams, University of Texas-Tyler

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

that the faculty has determined to be important.” 7 And in a pithyassessment of the value of clear written communication for the engineer, Forsyth (2004) notesthat “the effort involved” in careful drafting “will pay dividends.” 8 The authors of this study Page 11.694.2understand the value of writing within engineering practice. The University of Texas at Tylerfounded its School of Engineering (now the College of Engineering and Computer Science) in1997, and industrial experience was required in all founding faculty, including Dr. Beams whowrote numerous laboratory reports, letters to vendors and customers, memoranda, testinstructions, failure

Conference Session

Questions of Identity

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Ollis, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

: anadventure. Analysis of this genre summons the talents of literature faculty. Here we drawupon English professor Thomas Foster and his intriguing book How to Read LiteratureLike a Professor4, and its more enticing subtitle “ A Lively and Entertaining Guide toReading Between the Lines.” His opening salvo, “Every trip is a quest”, argues that eachadventure story posses five characteristics: A quester A place to go A state reason to go there Challenges and trials en route, and A real reason to go there. In the context of teaching technological literacy, the quester is the instructor whosets out to construct and teach such a course, the place to go (physically) is the lecturehall and laboratory and (intellectually

Conference Session

Recent Developments in Engineering Ethics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marilyn Dyrud, Oregon Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

different companies and each player has a specific role within the virtual firms.A wrong decision could result in disaster. In one scenario, for example, a firm’s ethics officeravatar “killed” 350 employees after making the decision to continue production at a virtual plantin Indonesia, which had been repeatedly threatened with terrorist actions. Notes game developerAllen Varney, “The game is all about temptation.”26Quick TakesNot all ethics games are time-consuming. Abbott Laboratories has implemented “Rocked orShocked,” a touch-screen game played at kiosks set up during training sessions or corporatemeetings.27 Players have a minute to answer six questions, such as “When it is appropriate toaccept baseball tickets from clients” from a rotating

Conference Session

Integrating H&SS in Engineering II

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

M. Pinar Menguc, University of Kentucky; Ellie Hawes, University of Kentucky; Jane Jensen, University of Kentucky; Ingrid St. Omer, University of Kentucky

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

laboratories in small groups, including nano-fabrication facilities,nano-characterizations labs where advanced microscopy units are located, and nano-machining labs. The students in the Honors track met the faculty and graduate studentswho actually work on the cutting edge nanotechnology research. It was an eye-openingday for many.Another eye-opener was the “Creativity Colloquium” which took place at the studio ofProfessor Gary Bibbs, a faculty member in the College of Fine Arts. His slide show abouthis creativity, his thought process, and his actual implementation of ideas to constructlarge metal sculptures was quite well received. He resonated with the students whoalready knew about the efforts and frustrations of James Watt in building

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary and Liberal Education

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hilkat Soysal, Frostburg State University; Oguz Soysal, Frostburg State University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

design work. For lab experiments, either portable experimentation setswere brought to the classroom or the students were taken to a laboratory to watchdemonstrations such as electro-mechanical energy conversion, renewable energy, andproperties of sound.The experience gained in the fall semester showed, however, that a traditional classroomsetting was not convenient for this type of course due to the limitations to engage thestudents into inquiry based learning experience. In spring 2006 the class was scheduled ina physical science lab with 24 seats for two 75-minute long meetings per week. Thisschedule allows more time to finish lab experiments, simple design activities, casestudies, and video presentations followed by guided discussions.By

Conference Session

Engineering for Social Justice

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Charles Schreier, University of Dayton; Carl Eger, University of Dayton; Margaret Pinnell, University of Dayton

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

laboratories, theystill can not provide the understanding gained through actually engaging with technology in itsworking environment. Taking fundamental theoretical concepts and applying them to real lifeengineering problems helped to solidify the students’ understanding of those fundamentals. Inmany ways this validation parallels the value attributed to undergraduate internship and coopprograms as well as other experiential learning experiences. The ETHOS experience providedthe participants with an increased awareness of how engineering impacts the daily lives of peoplein all societies.Another common outcome that the ETHOS experience provided to the participants was anunderstanding of another culture. Furthermore, most students indicated that the