Collection

2003 ASEE North Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Rebecca E. Burnett

Assessing communication in engineering students Collecting and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data from first-year students Rebecca E. Burnett Department of English Iowa State UniversityFirst-semester undergraduates in engineering are often surprised that becoming an excellentengineer requires learning more than technical knowledge and skills; equally important islearning to form arguments about technical information, communicate those arguments skillfully,and then reflect on the process and product.Discussing issues related to assessing students’ acquisition

Collection

2003 ASEE North Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Mani Mina; Vicky Thorland-Oster; Roger Bentley

address all or some of the following questions: 1) Determine academic institution’s need for change 2) Define students who are successful in “actualizing” (ready to change, embrace learning, accept self, and willing to take risks) 3) Determine how do we measure that 4) Evaluate the differences or factors 5) Describe the “adapting to change hypothesis” 6) Ways to influence students to adaptation skills a. Change theory b. Environmental theory c. Learning styles d. Case studies e. Peer report f. Self reflection i. Written ii. Discussion iii. Thinking 7) Assess the amount of change (success) from #6Our ultimate

Collection

2003 ASEE North Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Julia Apple-Smith; Dave Holger; Shannon Miner

universities and industry in 14 countries around the world over thepast three years. These cross-departmental teams of three to five faculty are lead by a facultymember. Prior to departure, the team creates goals which reflect the College’s mission to growand expand international partnerships and opportunities for our faculty and students.As noted in the attached IMPACT “Key Initiatives Criteria,” faculty are encouraged to incorporatethe following into their international visits: - Research Opportunities - Course Credit Compatibility - Faculty & Students Exchanges - Industry Visits - Investigation of Large Group Programs - Experiencing the CultureThe following are examples of the results from

Collection

2003 ASEE North Midwest Section Conference

Authors

B. L. Steward; T. J. Brumm; S. K. Mickelson

-Briggs Type Indicator (McCaulley, 1990), 2) Kolb learning style model (Kolb, 1984; Stice,1987), 3) Herrman Brain Dominance Model (Herrmann, 1990; Lumsdaine and Lumsdaine,1995), 4) Felder-Silverman learning style model (Felder and Silverman, 1988; Felder, 1993),and 5) Gregorc’s Learning Style Delineator (Gregorc, 1982,1985; Schmidt and Javenkoski.2000).The Felder-Silverman model represents a student learning styles on four scales, eachrepresenting a dimension pertaining to how the students perceive and process information.Students are rated by their preferences to be: (1) active or reflective learners, (2) sensing orintuitive learners, (3) visual or verbal learners, and (4) sequential or global learners. Note thatthese scales do not truly

Collection

2003 ASEE North Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Fahmida Masoom; Abulkhair Masoom

engineering science courses.This paper is a discussion of assessment measures that are employed by the GeneralEngineering Department at UW-P and raises questions about what more could be done.Assessment is an integral part of the academic process. It requires and reflects a long-termcommitment to the program and its constituencies, viz., the students, alumni and industrypartners. Like most engineering programs, we have had a long history of self-assessment and 2improvement. However, we have had little documentation of processes already in place.Although we are in the middle of an ABET accredited cycle, there has been significant pressurefrom the campus administration to document

Collection

2003 ASEE North Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Charles McIntyre; Sudhir Mehta

meaningful feedback to your peer related to his or her syllabus. Providemeaningful feedback to your peer related to classroom observations of his or her teachingstrategies. Provide meaningful feedback to your peer related to the evidence of student learningthat your peer collects from his or her students.Task 2: Attend group meetings with your PRT leader.Task 3: Write three reflective essays per semester, based on your goals and feedback fromyour peer. The essays must be completed no later than the last day of the semester. The threeessays (not to exceed one page) should be based on: 1.) discussions with your peer related toyour syllabus or outcomes for the class that is being reviewed, 2.) discussions with your peerrelated to the teaching

Collection

2003 ASEE North Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Frank Peters; John Jackman; Sarah Ryan; Sigurdur Olafsson

points in the scenario timeline based on system performance in a scenario.• Performance: A scenario specific simulation model provides a representation of the system under the solution parameters selected by the team. Performance measures for the system are provided at pre-defined time periods.Student reflection is encouraged by requiring justification for student responses as well as self-evaluation after each stage (using rubrics that describe the evaluation criteria). These criteriacan be viewed prior to completing a stage.The first module developed was used in our Engineering Economic Analysis course during threeconsecutive semesters Fall 2002, Spring & Summer 2003. This module and student results aredescribed in a companion

Collection

2003 ASEE North Midwest Section Conference

Authors

David A. Rogers; Orven F. Swenson

sections which each last for four hours.The students begin by doing some basic experimental work to study reflection and refraction oflight. They then prepare a fiber to do the audio transmission experiment. The lab goes quitewell if the students are given appropriate guidance in the setup of the equipment andcomponents.Conclusions and Future WorkThe use of the undergraduate optics lab for the optical signal transmission course significantlyimproved student learning. It breathed new life into a course that was already well establishedin the curriculum. Future possibilities for new experiments include, for example, the use ofwavelength-division multiplexing and study of optical fibers with different index of refractionprofiles.The NSF-funded lab