years and theuncertainty of its place in the university academic setting continues. We believe a fundamentalchange of direction for engineering technology is needed, a change based on the needs of its coreconstituents – students/alumni and industry.Our experience suggests that students and alumni of four-year engineering technology programsexpect an engineering career. There are few occupational positions above the rank of technicianthat contain the word “technologist” in the job title. There is, however, strong demand forqualified graduates who can work as engineers to solve technical problems, communicatetechnical information, and work well in a team environment. Qualified four-year engineeringtechnology graduates satisfy this skill set, that
endeavors while employing mixed-methods. A recurring theme in her scholarship explores gender and diversity for girls and women in environmental sciences and engineering with an emphasis on their learning, socialization and career development. She has served as an evaluator and senior researcher on the ADVANCE-ENG Girls to Women: An Innovative Engineering Faculty-Student Mentoring Summit for Underrepresented Minority (URM) Girls and Their Mothers and managed a cadre of other environmental training programs.Christine Grant, North Carolina State University Dr. Christine Grant is a Full Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular (CBE) engineering at North Carolina State University (NCSU). She
AC 2010-129: TRAINED TO DISENGAGE? A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OFSOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AMONGENGINEERING STUDENTSErin Cech, University of California, San Diego Erin Cech’s research examines individual-level, cultural mechanisms that reproduce inequality, especially those pertaining to sex segregation in science and engineering fields. Her dissertation explores the self-expressive edge of inequality, analyzing how gender schemas and self-conceptions influence the career decisions of college students over time. Her other work examines the experiences of lesbian, gay and bisexual engineering students (with Tom Waidzunas), the work devotion of and perceptions of inequality among high
graduate) Coordinator for Student Housing, and Graduate Student Career Consultant in the Career Center. Dr. Soleil's current work involves the design and coordination of all aspects of the higher education portion of the Tech to Teaching program which prepares graduate students for academic careers. She also supports all aspects of Teaching Assistant (TA) professional development for the entire Georgia Tech campus. Dr. Soleil received her B.S. in Biotechnology from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and her Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of California, Davis.Tristan Utschig, Georgia Institute of Technology Dr. Tristan T. Utschig is a Senior Academic Professional in the Center for the
of Technology (RIT) are raising the bar for universities nationwide. One move, which isthe focus of this article, is RIT’s Annual “Future Faculty Career Exploration Program.” Thisunique program furthers RIT’s diversity efforts by bringing students nearing the end of theirdoctoral studies and postdoctoral assignments to Rochester to receive the “RIT treatment.” Sincethe program’s inception in October of 2003, more than 150 scholars have been invited to attendthe annual program. The program has become so widely acclaimed that 185 and 235 applicationswere received in the past two years, respectively, to fill 27-30 allocated slots. This level ofresponse clearly demonstrates the interest of young scholars and their desire to visit the academyfor
/engineering related field (63%).Further, 65% identified new career possibilities since participating in the Go Green Institute. Analysis of the pre and post assessment data indicates that a statistically significantdifference in performance was detected. Specifically, the mean raw score increased over theinstitute timeframe and the standard deviation around the mean decreased. These data present thepossibility that the students, in aggregate, demonstrated a slightly high level of mastery whenmeasured against the same standards pre and post, and that the group as a whole came closer tosharing a common core of understanding of the content as illustrated in the fact that there werefewer low scores on the post than on the pre-assessment and that
consider engineering-related careers. An additional aim of this study was to determine whetherthe web-based application and the object of design (a cell phone) would appeal to femalestudents as much as it would to male students.To test this, 162 middle-school students participated in the web-experience. Summativemeasures were taken pre- and post- activity using an on-line web-based survey to test theirknowledge of engineering design and the engineering design process. The post-survey also askedadditional questions to determine students’ perceptions of engineering and also perceptions ofthe web activity. Data were analyzed for the central tendencies of each question, item and scalemeans, and cross tabulated to identify statistically significant
research projects explore the preparation of engineering doctoral students for careers in academia and industry and the development of engineering education assessment tools. She is a NSF Faculty Early Career (CAREER) award winner and is a recipient of a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).Cyndi Lynch, Purdue University Cyndi Lynch is the Director of Fellowships and Graduate Student Professional Development in the Graduate School. Cyndi is a registered veterinary technician, focusing on animal behavior. She holds a bachelors degree in Animal Science and a Master of Science degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Purdue University. Research interests focus
Educator of the Year 2005, and the National Engineering Award in 2003, the highest honor given by AAES. In 2002 she was named the Distinguished Engineering Educator by the Society of Women Engineers. Her awards are based on her mentoring of students, especially women and underrepresented minority students, and her research in the areas of recruitment and retention. A SWE and ASEE Fellow, she is a frequent speaker on career opportunities and diversity in engineering. Page 15.147.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010An Evaluation of Academic Scholarship Programs by Program and EthnicityAbstractSince 2002
; specifically examining the impact of team interactions and gender. Arlisa's research interest includes issues of engineering recruitment, retention, and equity in science, engineering and technology,which stems from her personal academic and professional experience as an engineer. Before returning to graduate school to pursue a Doctorate degree, she worked as an engineer in the semiconductor manufacturing industry for ten years. In her current position, Director of Learning Support Services at Estrella Mountain Community College (EMCC)in Avondale,AZ, she utilizes her academic and professional background to prepare students for successful careers in the science, technology
Engineers hostsCareer Day for Girls, a one-day event for girls in grades 7-12 to get girls excited about science,engineering, and technology. Through laboratory demonstrations, interactive multimedialectures, and hands-on activities, girls meet positive role models (both female and male) and getto think about the possibilities they have for careers in the technical fields.Many Career Day participants and their parents expressed a need for a multiple-day programheld over the summer--a kind of engineering day camp for girls to get more information andexperience with engineering, and to form relationships with female engineer role models.Undergraduate members of the Society of Women Engineers at Northwestern Universitytherefore went about designing
ASEE Student Chapters at local campuses. 3. Participating in local K-12 science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education activities. 4. Promoting graduate school opportunities for undergraduate ASEE student members. 5. Promoting scholarships, fellowships, and post-doctoral opportunities for ASEE student members. 6. Providing opportunities for students to gain insight into academic careers and teaching practices. 7. Developing ties between ASEE Student Division members and ASEE Corporate members 8. Developing international opportunities for ASEE Student Division members. 9. Developing the next generation of ASEE leaders 10. Building a
that aimsto maximize the likelihood of success among underrepresented and educationally disadvantagedstudents interested in pursuing careers in STEM fields. The project, entitled Student On-rampLeading to Engineering and Sciences (SOLES), incorporates strategies that address challengesand barriers to recruitment, retention and success of minority students. Among the strategiesdeveloped for this project are two summer programs that were implemented for the first time insummer 2009. The Summer Math Jam is a two-week intensive mathematics program designedto improve student preparation for college-level math courses. The Summer EngineeringInstitute is a two-week residential summer camp that offers participating students the opportunityto gain
Partnership Program (APP)with Iowa community colleges to support prospective transfer students in engineering, called E-APP. Students have access to services before transferring to ISU. An electronic professionalnetwork, hosted by transfer peer mentors and used by pre-engineering community collegestudents across the state, has been created to facilitate early interactions. Community collegestudents are assigned an academic advisor to facilitate transfer planning and are invited to attendthe fall and spring engineering career fairs at ISU, providing opportunities for career explorationand meetings with faculty, staff, students, and employers.AdvisingThe Advising Objective Team has focused on improving advising programming for transferstudents through
. Page 15.1024.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 Reflections of College Students Promoting Engineering Through Biomechanical Outreach Activities Indicate Dual BenefitsAbstractRecent work by the National Academy of Engineering revealed that the public has a poorunderstanding of what engineers actually do on a day-to-day basis.1 This issue is compoundedfor non-traditional fields in engineering, such as biomechanical engineering. This is particularlyproblematic as such fields could draw interest from students not interested in traditionalengineering careers, resulting in increased diversity.To address this, mechanical engineering students taking an elective course, BiomechanicalEngineering, were given an outreach
AC 2010-869: USING COMPUTER MODELING PROBLEMS FORUNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING EDUCATIONSteven Gordon, The Ohio State University Page 15.1321.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 Using Computer Modeling Problems for Undergraduate Engineering EducationAbstractModeling and simulation can be used to implement inquiry-based learning in engineeringcourses that actively involve students in the learning process, improve their problem-solvingskills, and encourage them to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, andMathematics (STEM) disciplines. This approach was used in the creation of a thirteen dayworkshop for college credit for high
exit interviews were performed to assess the impact of the intensive researchexperiences upon REU and RET understanding of the Biomaterials field and upon their ways ofthinking about creativity and innovation, diversity of thinking, and entrepreneurship. SevenREUs and five RETs participated in the entrance interviews; five REUs and four RETsparticipated in the exit interviews. Survey questions were subdivided into five topics:bioengineering, diversity, innovation, entrepreneurship, impressions from the researchexperience, and short-/long-term career and academic goals. A sixth topic addressed participantindividual learning goals, quantified on a goal attainment scale of -2 to +2 (M = 0).Parsimonious interpretation of assessment data suggests
): students’ confidence and interests in computing and their perception of its usefulness.The computer science instrument was originally designed for a first year college population24and has been adapted here for a high school population. The computer science survey can befound in Figure 1. The information technology survey is displayed in Figure 2 and was adaptedfrom the computer science survey. This investigation reports the results of the informationtechnology survey’s first implementation on a student population.High school was selected as the target population for this investigation because this is a period inwhich students are beginning to form opinions about future majors and careers. Understandinghigh
profession. Course enrollments range from 300 to 400 students annually.Over seven years (Classes of 2005 through 2011, referring to the expected four-year graduationyear of the entering first-year class), students have participated in in-class surveys three timesduring the course of the year: at the beginning and the end of the fall semester, and at the end ofthe spring semester. The survey questions related to, among other things, demographics, priorexperiences, interests and future career goals. We analyzed the aggregate responses of thesestudent cohorts for statistically significant differences, and evaluated the data in progressiveregression models to predict student retention into the sophomore year (as determined by astudent’s self-selection
concept of teaching technological literacythroughout the curriculum. Page 15.1193.2IntroductionFirst year courses are an integral part of many engineering and engineering technology degreeprograms. These courses serve to introduce newly declared majors to careers in engineering andtechnology. A student taking such a course should come away with a foundation of knowledgeabout engineering and technology, about the different engineering disciplines, the work involved,and career prospects to be able to make an informed decision on whether they should pursuesuch a degree or not and what discipline would be the best match to their talents and
Engineering award due to her efforts to increase the recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of under-represented students in engineering.Barbara Bogue, Pennsylvania State University BARBARA BOGUE is Associate Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics and Women in Engineering. She is Co-Director of AWE and AWISE. Her research interests include recruitment and retention of women in engineering, assessment and career development.Chia-Lin Tsai, University of MissouriFleur Gooden, Virginia Tech FLEUR N. GOODEN is a graduate assistant in the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She received her B.S. in Computer Science and
well academically, and they had a cumulative GPA of 3.383. With respect to programs, the students have evaluated the seminars positively. The2008 freshman cohort reported that they were actively participating in many of the careerservices (Career Services Center - 88%) and academic assistance programs (Center for AcademicSuccess - 77%) that would impact their academic success, professional development and overallbalance of life.IntroductionFulfilling the need for college graduates in science, engineering and technology has beenidentified as a critical element in maintaining the United States’ progress and leadership in acompetive, technology driven world economy1. Unfortunately, overall enrollment in engineeringdegree programs has declined
preparation of engineering doctoral students for careers in academia and industry and the development of engineering education assessment tools. She is a NSF Faculty Early Career (CAREER) award winner and is a recipient of a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).Angie Andriot, Purdue University Angie Andriot is currently a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology at Purdue University. Her dissertation, entitled “Gender and Engineering Identity Development among Undergraduate Majors,” is partially funded by grants from the National Science Foundation and the Purdue Research Foundation. Angie also works part-time doing research for the College of Engineering
STEM fields. Page 15.238.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 ECAP: A Recruitment-to-Graduation Program for Underrepresented Engineering StudentsAbstractThe University of Arkansas College of Engineering recently completed the first twoyears of a comprehensive program called the ‘Engineering Career Awareness Program’(ECAP). This program is supported in part by an NSF grant titled “Breaking Barriers:Pathways to Graduation for Underrepresented Talent (ECAP)” (NSF award #DUE-0807180). This program successfully removed traditional barriers to students fromunderrepresented groups entering and
students to achieve maximum successes in their careers or research disciplines.Background technologies and the anticipated future of the fieldGeospatial Technologies (GTs) have evolved from initial beginnings as simple computer-basedmap making tools to complex visual and computational environments. GTs are used world-wide in diverse application domains ranging from community planning to the exploration ofouter space. The increased use of GTs has led the development of new tools, techniques andtheory that have imbued GTs with new forms of geographic visualization, support for spatialthinking, and opportunities for research and education. It is an exciting time for GT researchand education. Industry standard, commercial desktop Geographic
member such as timemanagement, balancing career and family, adjusting to a new environment, and gaining therespect of students and colleagues. However, as a minority faculty member, additionalchallenges include lack of role models, fitting in, and gaining the respect of male students. Thesechallenges will be further outlined in the full paper.This paper explores ways to confront these challenges. A strong support system, bothprofessionally and personally, is essential. This support system comes in many forms, includingcommunity and university resources. A faculty mentorship program within the university hasbeen very valuable to junior faculty. Being a mentor to female students has also been a way toovercome these challenges. The teacher becomes
environment.This paper describes an approach that will design new curricula based on the current trends fordeveloping commercial products that are manufactured from renewable and biodegradablematerials, and that will have a minimal environmental impact given our nation’s agriculture,economy, environment, manufacturing, and engineering resources. Through the development ofthis curriculum, students will gain a background and an appreciation of the complexity of ournation’s agricultural system as well as awareness for possible careers within theagriculture/environmental sustainability/biomaterials manufacturing engineering fields whiledeveloping their professional skills.Through this approach, we plan to generate new courses that present students with
. and international universities to key elements and the business realities of industry by enabling them to "look over the shoulder" of working professionals at several levels of the technical, business, and management career paths. They will leave the program with an understanding of Boeing's business including its research needs, with an improved understanding of the practical application of technical and business skills and with a network of contacts within Boeing and among their faculty peers that can form the basis of long-term relationships”1In all, 149 faculty from around the globe have participated in this program since its inception.The objectives of the Welliver Program are1: 1. To
WOMEN ENGINEERING FACULTY ( “Navigating Your Journey on the Academic Sea”; NSF ADVANCE Conference, Over 60 URM Women Engineering Faculty @ Caltech Photo credit: B. Paz)AbstractAs they progress in their engineering faculty careers, Underrepresented Minority Women (URM)women are very familiar with unique issues at the intersection of race and gender (DeCuir-Gunby, Long-Mitchell, & Grant, 2009; Ranson, 2005; Ronen & Ronen, 2008). This familiarityresults from their own personal experiences in the Academy and provides a broad set ofresponses ranging from leaving the professoriate to a single-minded pursuit of success no matterwhat obstacles are presented (National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of
courses in science and/ormathematics thus further preparing them for careers in the science, technology, engineering andmath (STEM) related college degree programs3. As a result, there was a 25% drop inundergraduate enrollment reported during 1982-2000 period4. In the same study, it was notedthat over 800,000 students graduated from high schools in 2000; however, only 7,200 of thesestudents graduated with an engineering degree from a four-year institution 4. To furtheraccentuate the problem, the numbers of students in STEM related disciplines in underrepresentedgroups such as women, Hispanics, and African-Americans were at an even greater deficit asthey appear to select careers in programs such as the social sciences or complete their