Conference Session

Learning to Communicate with Engineers and Non-Engineers

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Leslie Potter, Iowa State University; John Jackman, Iowa State University; K. Jo Min, Iowa State University; Matthew Search, Iowa State University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

realized Creation Delivery Figure 1. The Engineering Information Exchange ProcessThis process includes five critical steps. They are 1. Analysis; 2. Formulation; 3. Creation; 4. Page 13.71.3Delivery; and 5. Assessment.19 A survey of numerous course descriptions and papers fromacross the U.S. revealed that many courses include assessment of students by their instructors,peers, industrial partners, etc.10, 17, 20, 21, 22 Tranquillo and Cavanaugh discuss the usefulness ofrevision in writing and self-reflection on presentations.9 Likewise, Gunn describes courses thatrequire multiple drafts of

Conference Session

Philosophy of Engineering Education: Epistemology and Ethics

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mark Valenzuela, University of Evansville; James Allen, University of Evansville; Brian Swenty, University of Evansville

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

instrument was adapted from “AssessingGeneral Education: A Questionnaire to Initiate Campus Conversation” by Jack Meacham anddistributed by the American Association of Colleges and Universities. The last question in thesurvey asked faculty to rank the quality of the general education program on a scale from 1 to 5,where 1 was associated with the statement, “Our general education program satisfies the minimalaccreditation requirements.” The score of 5 was associated with the statement, “Our generaleducation program surpasses in quality those of our peer institutions.” With 40 % of the facultyresponding (and 61% of the respondents from the college of arts and sciences), the meanresponse to this question of quality was 2.9, the median was 3.0 and the

Conference Session

Beyond Individual Ethics: Engineering in Context

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donna Riley, Smith College

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

science.Background on science, technology and society continues with Warren’s11 “fruit bowl” approachto ecofeminist ethics, discussing how we discern appropriate ethics approaches for problems weface, and with Johnson and Wetmore’s3 plea to include considerations of science and technologystudies in engineering ethics. McCutchen’s exposé of conflicts of interest in peer review12 andGeiger’s history of military backing of science and engineering research at universities13completes the background unit.The first topical unit revolves around the theme of “technology and control,” drawing onexamples from military14-16, information17-20, reproductive21-23, and environmental24,25technologies. The potential for rich discussion abounds here, as students delve into

Conference Session

Learning to Communicate with Engineers and Non-Engineers

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mieke Schuurman, Pennsylvania State University; Michael Alley, Pennsylvania State University; Melissa Marshall, Pennsylvania State University; Christopher Johnstone, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

(for the males, the admission of nervousness generally occurred later in theessay). Also, the degree of nervousness for the female students was high. For instance, in thesecond sentence of her essay, one female student wrote about how she felt at the beginning of thecourse: “I was terrified of public speaking and I was nervous to have to take an entire class onthat.” Another wrote the following: “In September, I was terrified of giving speeches in front ofmy peers. I so badly wanted to drop this class that I cried one night.” Interestingly, the femalestudents on average gave presentations that were at least as strong as, if not stronger, than themale students. In addition, the source of nervousness did not simply arise because the

Conference Session

Venturing Out: Service Learning, Study Abroad, and Criterion H

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Duffy, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Carol Barry, University Massachusetts Lowell; Linda Barrington, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; David Kazmer, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; William Moeller, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Cheryl West, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

participation had significant positiveeffects on 11 outcome measures: academic performance (GPA, writing skills, critical thinkingskills), values (commitment to activism and to promoting racial understanding), self-efficacy,leadership (leadership activities, self-rated leadership ability, interpersonal skills), choice of aservice career, and plans to participate in service after college. “These findings directly replicatea number of recent studies using different samples and methodologies.”(p.ii) 5 They found thatS-L to be significantly better in 8 out of 11 measures than just service without the courseintegration and discovered “strong support for the notion that service learning should be includedin the student’s major field.”(p.iii)6.Eyler and