Conference Session

Engineering Ethics: An Interdisciplinary Endeavor

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joseph Herkert, Arizona State University Polytechnic; Jameson Wetmore, Arizona State University; Heather Canary, Arizona State University Polytechnic; Karin Ellison, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

and other institutionsincluding some who answered an open call for participation. There were six main components tothe workshop: (1) workshop consultants presented background of the EESE program andgraduate education issues in science and engineering; (2) ASU project personnel described eachof the four instructional models; (3) participants divided into discussion groups to develop ideasabout microethical and macroethical issues and desirable outcomes regarding those issues forgraduate education in science and engineering, followed by general discussion of group reports;(4) participants divided into discussion groups to develop ideas about instructional methods forthe four curriculum models, followed by general discussion of group reports; (5

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics: An Interdisciplinary Endeavor

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Brocato, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

forassessing their performance relative to ABET Program Outcomes (f) (professional ethicalresponsibility) and (g) (effective communication).Case Study 1: The Pendergrass E-mail ExerciseThe beauty of using narrative case studies in educational settings is their finiteness: they createscenarios with a relatively closed set of details wherein students can analyze a realisticprofessional situation as a way of preparing for similar situations in their upcoming careers.Below we discuss one such case study that has proven especially useful.The “Pendergrass Circuits E-mail” exercise (hereafter simply called Pendergrass) provides ashort-story-like narrative that puts students directly into the scenario described in the case itself(first line: “You are an

Conference Session

Tree-huggers, Diggers, and Queers--Oh my!

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dean Nieusma, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

accreditation rules (especially criterion h) and professional societies’ pronouncements tojustify and orient innovations around sustainability. 17 One specific example is the use ofASCE’s “Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge,” which has “embraced sustainability as anindependent technical outcome,” to guide integration of sustainability criteria into a civilengineering program. 18 Finally, others have reached beyond “engineering” to develop graduateprograms in “Sustainability” more broadly, but which extend out of engineering perspectives andare targeted to include, but not be limited to, graduates of engineering programs. One such effortextends the project-based engineering curriculum approach to an interdisciplinary, professional“Masters of

Conference Session

Critical Thinking and Creative Arts

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Helen Donis-Keller, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

. Furthermore, while writing remains an essential means ofcommunication, visual digital technologies such as video and still photography have gainedwidespread acceptance and are now ubiquitous as primary modes for communication, notablyvia web-based means. Despite recognition for the need to embrace "new media" courses thatdirectly address creativity and effective communication using such tools are not plentiful withinthe engineering curriculum. There are many competing interests that influence curriculum designthat will equip the next generation of engineers to be technically competent, competitive in theglobal economy, and effective as responsible citizens. The Association of American Collegesand Universities report College Learning for the New

Conference Session

Liberal Education and Leadership

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julia Williams, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Richard House, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Anneliese Watt, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

engineering faculty’s communication pedagogy in theengineering classroom. We have surveyed engineering faculty at a variety of institutions todetermine to what degree they incorporate communication into their technical classes. Theproject included the development of an electronic survey instrument that collected responsesfrom engineering faculty at programs and departments in the United States. In addition to thesurvey results, we conducted focus groups with small groups of faculty, both at our institutionand at the site of the 2008 Frontiers in Education Conference, in order to dig deeper into the datacollected. The conclusions we draw from analysis of the survey and focus group results indicatethat engineering faculty have incorporated

Conference Session

Writing Is Fundamental

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Murali Krishnamurthi, Northern Illinois University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

out: writing must be an integral part of the curriculum.”Engineering faculty members recognize the importance of good writing skills but often have thedifficult task of promoting effective writing practices among their students. Faculty memberscannot always assume that their students would have learned the basic writing techniques in highschool or in core competency courses in college. Even if students were exposed to basic writingtechniques in their pre-engineering courses, they usually forget those techniques if they do nothave sufficient opportunities to refresh and practice them regularly. Faculty members also needsupplementary resources to help students refresh their basic knowledge of grammar, style andorganization, and techniques to

Conference Session

Liberal Education and Leadership

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Val Hawks, Brigham Young University; John Harb, Brigham Young University; Alan Parkinson, Brigham Young University; Spencer Magleby, Brigham Young University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

comprehensive approach, resulting from this initiative, to define, develop, and implement theteaching of leadership in the context of engineering and technology curricula. After a rationaleexplaining why the college chose an emphasis on leadership, efforts in and selected results of theleadership initiative are documented, including 1) the development of a leadership modelappropriate to engineering and technology education, 2) the definition of specific outcomes andcurricular material related to leadership, and 3) the development of a framework for using themodel and implementing leadership education throughout the college. The implementationstrategy is based on Kolb’s Learning Cycle and takes advantage of college, departmental andexternal resources to

Conference Session

Critical Thinking and Creative Arts

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bill Genereux, Kansas State University, Salina; Elena Mangione-Lora, University of Notre Dame

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

students to process material differently from traditionalmethods. Taking notes; preparing for class discussions, tests and quizzes; and even applyingacquired knowledge to new problems or situations – sometimes an exhaustive list of learning andassessment activities in the traditional classroom – are peripheral in terms of the preparation andprocessing required for producing a video narrative.Creating video requires that students reflect on what they are learning and to consider theirnewly acquired knowledge and skills through the purpose of the video. The defined learningoutcomes of the course dictate the guidelines for a video project. Are the students being asked to“teach” the material, demonstrate an integrated understanding of the concepts or

Conference Session

Writing Is Fundamental

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Beams, University of Texas, Tyler; Luke Niiler, University of Alabama

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

sourcematerials such as quotes, with little regard to how those materials support, constrain, interrogateor make problematic their arguments.” 21 Our review of data from surveys, interviews and focusgroup discussions revealed, in turn, that students were inclined to overrate their abilities aswriters. In addition, the attitude survey from that year reveals a marked decrease in thepercentage of students agreeing or strongly agreeing with the following statements: “Writing inEngineering courses helps me understand course material”; and “Writing plays an important rolein Engineering courses.”We ended our third-year report with a call for strongly articulated writing heuristics in theengineering classroom and indeed throughout the Engineering curriculum

Conference Session

Writing Is Fundamental

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Beth Richards, University of Hartford; Mohammad Saleh Keshawarz; Hisham Alnajjar, Computer and Electrical

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

2006, the University of Hartford College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture, inWest Hartford, Connecticut began a partnership with the Faculty of Engineering at theUniversity of Herat, in Herat City, Afghanistan. The goals of the project are to use a combinationof curriculum revision and development, faculty development, distance learning andcollaborative projects, and local/internal partnerships to establish the Herat University Faculty ofEngineering at the preeminent Engineering program for Western Afghanistan.Once a part of Kabul University, the Faculty of Engineering became a permanent part of HeratUniversity in 2004. After functioning in Kabul for approximately 20 years, the Engineeringprogram was closed following the Soviet

Conference Session

Communication and Collaboration

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julie Sharp, Vanderbilt University; Marilyn Dyrud, Oregon Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

facilitate the group’s functioning.Since the students themselves discuss, develop, and refine peer review criteria each term,performance expectations are clear. Furthermore, by the end of the first week of senior project,each group is responsible for creating a set of group “operating guidelines,” which generallydovetail the formal review criteria. Coupled with the meetings with faculty, these documentsprovide an accurate snapshot of how groups function. Page 14.1287.14Teamwork AssessmentTeamwork is an assessment point in the civil curriculum, and in 2007-2008, the departmentassessed two facets of the senior project class: peer reviews

Conference Session

Critical Thinking and Creative Arts

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Beth Todd, University of Alabama; Garry Warren, University of Alabama; Susan Burkett, University of Alabama; David Cordes, University of Alabama; Marcus Brown, University of Alabama

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

Page 14.392.6 and societal issues in the classroom,” Proc. ASEE Conf., Pittsburgh, PA, 2008.7. S. M. Lord, “Fabulous Fridays: Satisfying ABET 2000 criterion I and J in an optoelectronics elective,” Proc. ASEE Conf., pp. 6315-6322, 2005.8. P. Benkeser and W. Newsletter, “Integrating soft skills in a BME curriculum,” Proc. ASEE Conf., Salt Lake City, UT, pp. 7823-7830, 2004.9. L. J. Shuman, M. Besterfield-Sacre, J. McGourty, “The ABET "professional skills" - Can they be taught? Can they be assessed?,” J. Engineering Education, Vol. 94, No. 1, pp. 41-55, 2005.10. D. Carpenter, “Using a hybrid classroom environment for the instruction of ethics and contemporary civil engineering issues,” Proc. ASEE Conf., Honolulu