Conference Session

Best of the NEE

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yi-Min Huang, University of Washington; Jessica Yellin, University of Washington; Jennifer Turns, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

investigating thephenomenon of teaching decision making in engineering education. We ask engineeringeducators to identify two memorable, recent teaching-related decisions in terms of pre-active(planning) and interactive (in-class) stages. They then describe the situation, the process ofmaking the decision, the factors that they took into account, and the outcomes of their teaching-related decisions. In this paper, we focus on time as the one specific factor that emerged acrossall the participants in this research study.IntroductionDecision making is central to the teaching of engineering, however, little has been written aboutthe teaching decisions of engineering educators. We believe that the engineering educatorcommunity can benefit from insights

Conference Session

New Engineering Educators: Off the Beaten Path

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jenny Lo, Virginia Tech; Vinod Lohani, Virginia Tech; Michael Gregg, Virginia Tech; Richard Goff, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

students wereable to see an example of teamwork, not just being preached in lecture, but in action.Classroom Disadvantages/ChallengesAlso, teaching together requires that faculty can smoothly transition from one to another. It alsorequires some planning to determine who will take the lead for each topic in a particular lecture.There will also be times where one faculty may need to correct the other or when one facultywants to interject a statement. This has to be done in a way that does not undermine theauthority of the primary speaker. The faculty must address these possibilities ahead of time andestablish a protocol.Lo and Lohani also noticed that some students were initially confused as to which faculty theyshould approach outside of the

Conference Session

Advice from the Experts for NEEs at Small Universities

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Claude Villiers, Florida Gulf Coast University; Diane Bondehagen, Florida Gulf Coast University; Chris Geiger

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

Engineering, and Environmental Engineering. Given the unusualcharacteristics of FGCU (new public university, new engineering program, and non-tenuresystem), a young faculty member starting his or her career is indeed in an unorthodox situation.That is exactly the case for the authors of this paper, who represent all three fields. One of theauthors held a non tenure-track assistant professor position at a different university for the lasttwo years, while the other two held post doc positions in their respective fields. Managing theresponsibilities and challenges of our new positions has afforded us lessons that indeed amountto our own innovations in career planning. Cognizant and respectful of the forward-thinkingmission and vision of FGCU and the

Conference Session

New Engineering Educators: Tricks of the Trade I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adrienne Minerick, Mississippi State University; Jason Keith, Michigan Technological University; Donald Visco, Tennessee Technological University

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

efficient researchgroup quickly1. Unique research results need to be obtained almost immediately in order toincorporate them into manuscripts since the peer-review process can take over a year beforepublication. The new faculty likely has well-developed project plans for the beginning graduatestudent; however, the student also needs to be educated more extensively as they progresstowards their degree on independent problem solving and generation of ideas. While there is nosubstitute for experience in this endeavor, following certain guidelines can allow the new facultymember to optimize the development of their graduate students in these areas. To be as inclusiveas possible, we also discuss the development of undergraduate research students as

Conference Session

Best of the NEE

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Chesney, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

about each ofthe branches. Think about when you decided to go to Graduate school, when you met yoursignificant other, or when your family moved as a child. With practice, it will become easy toremember some very explicit details to these personally significant events. Page 12.307.6The second method is the use of images to bring back memories, where images are defined asphotographs, pictures, and/or floor plans. An image is some pictorial or iconic symbol that hasmeaning to us personally. At first I did not think that this method would work well with mebecause I have no talent as an artist. In fact, my artistic development ended in about 2nd

Conference Session

Advice from the Experts for NEEs at Small Universities

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eric Larson, Seattle University; Agnieszka Miguel, Seattle University

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

be a pool of computers to run your simulation on.In many cases it is possible to address these constraints (see Section 7 for tips on obtainingresources). However, it is important to keep in perspective the amount of time to obtain and setup resources. In addition, you also need a backup plan in case you are unable to secure resourcesfor a project.Tip 5: Understand the factors used to judge scholarship.Almost everyone we talked to enjoys research and would be involved in research even if it wasnot part of the tenure requirements. However, almost everyone said that the tenure requirementsaffected how they performed their research.Different institutions have varying tenure requirements with respect to scholarship. Virtually allinstitutions

Conference Session

Best of the NEE

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wendy James, Oklahoma State University; Stacee Harmon, Oklahoma State University; Richard Bryant, Oklahoma State University

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

into causing particular classes to be a part of degreerequirements or lead to inclusion of topics in a course’s content goals. On the micro level,instructors’ plans are influenced by the decisions at the macro level, but they still make thechoices of specific lesson plans, contents of daily/weekly/monthly instructional objectives,activities for students, methods of instruction, and forms of evaluating students.4 In analyzingcurriculum planning, Colin J. Marsh and George Willis write Teachers are, of course, the final planners, and, in practice, many daily lesson plans are not written out but remain in the heads of experienced teachers. In fact, many of the numerous decisions made daily by classroom teachers are the

Conference Session

Faculty Development: Creating successful NEEs

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andrew Jackson, East Carolina University; Robert Chin, East Carolina University; Charles Coddington, East Carolina University; Paul Petersen, East Carolina University; Fonooni Hamid

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

University FacultyWelfare Committee (FWC) was charged with reviewing and evaluating current facultymentoring practices at ECU. This charge was in response to a concern on the part of the FacultySenate that “…good colleagues have been given less guidance than they deserved”3 and that“…the energy and aspirations upon which our university is built are squandered as facultyattempt to move forward in their scholarly careers”.4 In partial response to their charge, the FWC conducted an investigation of existingfaculty mentoring practices at ECU and solicited comments from the faculty. In response totheir findings, the FWC formulate five initiatives. Their plan includes: (a) compiling a detailedlist of mentoring practices at ECU, (b) determining

Conference Session

Women, Minorities and the New Engineering Educator

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brook Sattler, University of Washington; Jessica Yellin, University of Washington; Yi-Min Huang, University of Washington; Jennifer Turns, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

are or what their future plans may be. He strives not tomake assumptions about students or stereotype them.He felt that everyone’s diversity statements were unique and no single statement could sum up theviews of the entire group. These unique statements came from different experiences, emphases,attitudes, approaches, and values. He claimed that the diversity statement was actually a goodexercise because he felt that diversity is becoming more of an issue, even though he chose not toinclude his diversity statement in his teaching portfolio.Participant JI102JI102 had a negative experience with diversity, which influenced how she communicated aboutdiversity. During a university wide workshop discussion about diversity a panelist

Conference Session

Women, Minorities and the New Engineering Educator

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Noel Schulz, Mississippi State University; Kirk Schulz, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

etiquette and American customs that others may take forgranted.What They Don’t Tell You in Graduate School – Academic ParentingProvide planning, expectations, and guidelinesAs an advisor, it is important to develop clear guidelines and expectations for students.Appendix A gives some guidelines one of the co-authors has used with her graduate students.By putting this information in writing and providing it to the students, this helps the graduatestudents to understand more clearly what is expected of them. Similar documents can bedeveloped for journal paper preparation or other common tasks associated with your researchprogram.Be Patient – Students take time to developIt is especially important to be patient with new graduate students who are just

Conference Session

New Engineering Educators: Off the Beaten Path

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bobby Crawford, USMA; Tony Jones, USMA

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

results of that analysis to the solution of a technological problem. Work effectively as a member of a team to solve a 7 technological problem. 8 Plan the implementation of an engineered solution. Communicate an engineered solution to both technical and 9 non-technical audiences. 10 Assess the effectiveness of an engineered solution. Demonstrate basic-level technical proficiency in an 11 engineering discipline that is relevant to the needs of the Army. In response to a technological problem, learn new concepts 12 in engineering and learn

Conference Session

New Engineering Educators: Tricks of the Trade I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dean Kim, Bradley University

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

experience has been with juniors, seniors, and graduate students, the author enjoysasking students periodically about their future plans as well. One regular mentoring opportunitywhich the author schedules each semester is an informational session about graduate school(engineering, business, etc.). The purpose of this informational session is to provide students theopportunity to hear from engineering professors about their graduate school experiences and toask questions.LecturesFor engineering courses and for university courses in general, the lecture still is the primarymethod of instruction. This section contains the author’s thoughts and observations regardinglecture preparation and effective use of the lecture period.As discussed previously

Conference Session

Faculty Development: Creating successful NEEs

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kam Jugdev, Athabasca University

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

is very important for tenure and promotion purposes. d) The dean has an essential role in ensuring that new faculty members are socialized into the department and have a reduced teaching and service load (at first) so that they can develop solid and successful research agendas. The dean also assists new faculty members develop reasonable annual work plans. In the efforts to gain their bearings in new positions, new engineering faculty members feel daunted in achieving a work-life balance and inevitably, the scale tips in favor of work. As I address each topic, I examine the importance of the topic and suggest some guidelines for consideration. I also recommend some useful academic resources for new faculty. In

Conference Session

New Engineering Educators: Off the Beaten Path

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robin Adams, Purdue University; Cheryl Allendoerfer, University of Washington; Tori Rhoulac Smith, Howard University; David Socha, University of Washington; Dawn Williams, Howard University; Ken Yasuhara

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

, summary results from evaluating the session, and future plans for promotingstorytelling in engineering education research.The affordances of storytellingStorytelling has a long tradition as a method for communicating ideas and images. As alinguistic and “transactional” activity, storytelling supports meaning making through discourse,narrative, and the process of translating private experiences into publicly negotiated forms [23-26].As such storytelling has been associated with developmental models of learning, identityformation [21, 27], and “folk psychology” which asserts that culturally shaped notions, stories, andnarratives organize experience [28-29]. Storytelling is also associated with the methodology of oralhistories and self-studies as

Conference Session

Women, Minorities and the New Engineering Educator

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cheryl Allendoerfer, University of Washington; Sharon Jones, Lafayette College; Jaime Hernandez, Texas State University-San Marcos; Rebecca Bates, Minnesota State University-Mankato; Robin Adams, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

. They began theirISEE experience with an intensive, week-long workshop at Howard University during thesummer of 2006, where they designed research studies focusing on issues of diversity inengineering education. Each Scholar came to the summer workshop with an initial researchquestion, which was revised and refined over the course of the week. During the week theScholars also developed research plans, including appropriate research methods and projecttimelines. The Scholars then conducted these studies on their home campuses throughout the2006-07 academic year, with support from their fellow Scholars and the ISEE leadership team.Each Scholar chose a research topic and designed a study with relevance to his or her owncampus, focusing on

Conference Session

Educational Research and the New Engineering Educator

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Malcolm Drewery, National Academy of Engineering; Norman Fortenberry, National Academy of Engineering; Stefani A. Bjorklund

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

manner, and are basedon current and emerging research on student engagement, engineering education, practices ofeffective teaching and learning and engineering learning outcomes. The instruments wereinformed by the development of existing tools, yet the CASEE surveys are innovative in thatthey fill gaps in the assessment of engineering education. We have provided a well-developedresearch plan that has engaged a variety of engineering institutions in the piloting and on goingrefinement of the instruments. Our instruments have the potential to offer powerful formativefeedback for individual engineering colleges and departments, as well to provide nationalbaseline data on engineering education.Study Participants and MethodsMeasuring both student

Conference Session

New Engineering Educators: Tricks of the Trade II

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Claude Villiers, Florida Gulf Coast University

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

author implemented more lectures in which heutilized the board more effectively. Doing so, he believed that this modification improved boththe student learning and instructor’s rating. Finelli et al.6 also noted that student feedback has themost positive impact of all on student ratings on teaching.Geometric design of Transportation facilitiesBoth graduate and undergraduate senior students were enrolled in this course. The mainobjective of this course was to teach the students the principles pertinent to the planning anddesign of transportation facilities and their applications in the design of functional and safesystems to satisfy the demands of the transportation industry. No laboratory tests were conductedin this course. Contrary to the

Conference Session

Faculty Development: Creating successful NEEs

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Abul Azad, Northern Illinois University; Osman Tokhi, University of Sheffield, UK.

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

ofSheffield (UK). The UK and US have a special relationship considering the warm political,diplomatic, historical, and cultural ties and the US being a member nation of theCommonwealth of Nations. Although the US maintains close relationships with othercountries, the level of cooperation in military planning, execution of military operations,nuclear weapon technology sharing, and intelligence sharing between the US and UK areunparalleled 4. Even having this warm relationship, these two countries differ in manyways. Obviously, the educational systems and research infrastructure are also different;with each having its merits and demerits. The paper presents the migration experience, while highlighting the differencesbetween the two

Conference Session

New Engineering Educators: Tricks of the Trade II

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Karen Benitez, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez; Juan Jimenez, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez; Yesenia Cruz, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez; Marta Rosa, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez; Alexandra Medina-Borja, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

method Page 12.1159.5Before choosing a strategic teaching method, faculty need to understand the way the brain solvesmost design engineering problems. Within any strategic plan for engineering, various tactics areavailable including design methods such as brainstorming, morphology, evaluations, finiteelement analysis (FEA), features-based modeling, rapid prototyping, etc. But according to Eder,engineering tactics can be applied as learning techniques for anyone.Eder9 also proposed that problems are a constituent part of a design project. The simplestproblems have essentially one solution and are well-characterized by the mathematicalhomework