Conference Session

New Learning Paradigms II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gisele Ragusa, University of Southern California

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

and dispositions may be more difficult for students to understand. Italso may be more difficult to accurately measure this particular construct. Accordingly, thesetwo reasons provide rationale for each of the respective results.Discussion and Future WorkThis paper presents research on the pilot results of the newly designed global preparednessindex. Results of this pilot are preliminary as the population sample size is rather small (N=147).The index provides us with insight as to the “soft skill” areas that me must provide training andeducation for engineering candidates if we want our engineering students to be fully prepared towork in global societies. Post pilot, a full, large-scale study should be conducted with the unitwith sample sizes

Conference Session

ERM Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dan Budny, University of Pittsburgh; Laura Lund, University of Pittsburgh

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

were introduced to the studentsas part of the curriculum which provided them with a framework for attacking each of the Page 14.1327.3specific projects. The more beneficial elements of the curriculum, however, were the aspects ofteam development and performance, communication both written and verbal, the procedures fordocumentation using a journal notebook, and reflection on the experiences of each student withtheir project. In other words, the value of the course is that the students learned both in theclassroom and through experience the “soft skills” necessary to function effectively as engineersupon completion of their degree

Conference Session

New Learning Paradigms I

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Oakes, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

learning in engineering education can be broken into the professional skills (whatsome called “soft” skills) and the technical skills, More evaluation has been done on theconnection of service-learning with the professional skills. Evaluations from the PurdueEPICS Program showed students reported learning teamwork and communication as partof their participation of engineering design teams21. A study of students participating onglobal design projects at WPI documented their development in the areas of life-longlearning and showed gains based on their experiences33. There has been a great deal of Page 14.381.5research around the impact on students