Conference Session

Institutional and Curricular Reform

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Pierre Lafleur, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal; Yves Boudreault, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal; Richard Prégent, École Polytechnique de Montréal

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

describe: • contents and assessment modes for each course; • preferred teaching methods for each course; • description of the process of multiple course integration and interaction; • specific support and supervision of the new students; • integrated projects; • other elements to incorporate in the first year, such as internationalization, soft skills (personal and relational), etc.The following figure shows how the 120 credits four years curriculum of our engineeringprograms were distributed before and after the implementation of the new programs. The oldprograms started with a 30 credits common year of mathematics and science courses followedby a block of 60 credits (2 years) of engineering courses coupled with

Conference Session

Professional Skills and the Workplace

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ashley Ater Kranov, Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology; Robert Olsen, Washington State University; Carl Hauser, Washington State University; Laura Girardeau, Washington State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

, intercultural team interactions thatcharacterize engineering careers in the 21st century. While there have been many program-levelefforts across the nation to develop these “soft” skills, such as capstone projects that incorporatestudy abroad and service learning, no direct method of measuring all six skills simultaneouslyexists in the literature. This project proposes an innovative and direct method of developing andassessing ABET professional skills simultaneously that can be used at the course-level forassessing student performance and at the program-level for assessing efficacy of the curricula.In 2007, the Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT) at Washington StateUniversity (WSU) collaborated with the College of Engineering and

Conference Session

Professional Skills and the Workplace

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James Trevelyan, University of Western Australia

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

, theseaccounts are not necessarily widely read by engineering academics. Sheppard and hercolleagues concluded that engineering practice consists of problem solving, specializedknowledge and integration of process and knowledge. However, our own research suggeststhat these are significant components of a much greater whole which is difficult, at first, toperceive. Engineers do solve problems, but they also do many other things as well. (Eventhe engineers whom we have interviewed and studied find it difficult to understand theprocess in which they spend their working lives.)Our own research has revealed significant weaknesses in the contemporary understanding ofengineering practice. For example, while learning soft skills such as communication has