Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daniel W. Walsh, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; Lanny Griffin, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; Robert S. Crockett, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

AC 2011-1850: THE 4+1 PROGRAM AND DISTANCE LEARNING MEET-ING OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMESDaniel W. Walsh, California Polytechnic State University Daniel Walsh is currently a Professor of Biomedical and General Engineering, and a Professor of Materials Engineering at the College of Engineering at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He received his B.S. (Biomedical Engineering) , M.S. (Biomedical Engineering) and Ph.D. (Materials Engineering) degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. Prior to joining Cal Poly, Dr. Walsh was employed by General Dynamics Corporation, as a principal engineer and group leader in the Materials Division.Lanny Griffin, California Polytechnic State

Conference Session

Mentoring Graduate Students, Diversity, and Assessment

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gregg L. Fiegel, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; Ben Mason, University of California, Berkeley; Nicholas W. Trombetta, University of California, San Diego

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies, Minorities in Engineering

graduate students to better understand their roles as mentors.The principal learning outcomes for the undergraduate researchers fit into three broad categories: ► Conduct and document a research experiment; ► Function effectively on a multi-disciplinary research team; and ► Summarize both the technical and experiential aspects of the research experience.These learning outcomes are summarized in Table 1 along with performance metrics andlearning opportunities. We defined performance metrics as specific skills or abilities that weexpected our students to demonstrate by the end of the research appointment. Learningopportunities represented tasks or activities completed by the undergraduate students, whichhelped them to achieve the learning

Conference Session

Graduate Student Experience

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Katherine E. Winters, Virginia Tech; Holly M. Matusovich, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies, Student

decisions. Our results also show that despite a perceived lack of autonomy, some GTAscontinue to act autonomously when faced with decision-making in the classroom. These resultscan help inform faculty as they seek to support GTAs in the GTAs‟ teaching responsibilities.IntroductionFor many years, graduate students have served as laboratory assistants and graders forundergraduate engineering courses. Due to recent efforts to increase hands-on activities inengineering education, many institutions are now also employing graduate teaching assistants(GTAs) as course instructors and lecturers 1-3. While researchers have studied GTAs in thehumanities and physical sciences, little is known about GTA experiences in engineering. Thepurpose of this study is to

Conference Session

Methods, Techniques, and New Programs in Graduate Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cyndi Lynch, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Kathy Garza Sears, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

. Graduate students interested inacademic careers must be prepared for the diverse faculty opportunities at the various types ofinstitutions. Graduate education plays an important role in the professional development ofgraduate students. The enrichment activities are based on proven models, including the nationalPreparing Future Faculty program, that are adapted to align with program goals. To meetprogrammatic goals and the diverse needs of graduate students, a multi-prong approach wasdeveloped that includes: (1) a formal graduate-level course, (2) custom workshops and seminars,(3) engagement and service opportunities, (4) travel awards, and (5) individual careerconsultations.The topics covered through the multi-prong approach explore faculty roles

Conference Session

Professional Graduate Education and Industry

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephen J. Tricamo, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

College Industry Partnerships, Graduate Studies

(PSM) after which this program is modeled. For thepast ten years the PSM program has been growing in popularity in US schools of engineering. Itis designed for students who do not wish to continue on to a doctorate leading to an academiccareer but rather to enter the workforce with a master’s degree, a degree now viewed by many ashaving displaced the baccalaureate as the terminal engineering degree. These programs put moreemphasis on applied skills as opposed to those more theoretical in nature. The paper concludeswith a detailed description of the NJIT proposed curriculum and the assessment process used toevaluate defined outcomes.1. Introduction Research engineering universities frequently emphasize long-term research as the processby

Conference Session

Professional Graduate Education and Industry

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carla C. Purdy, University of Cincinnati; Xuefu Zhou, University of Cincinnati

Tagged Divisions

College Industry Partnerships, Graduate Studies

changes in our environment and to better prepare ourstudents to be future academic leaders.IntroductionPreparing Future Faculty (PFF) programs typically meet three standard requirements: 1. they focus on the full spectrum of faculty roles and responsibilities with regard to teaching, research, and service, and how these responsibilities may be interpreted in different institutions; 2. they provide participants with multiple mentors and feedback not only on their research but also on teaching and service; 3. to accomplish these goals, they involve a cluster of institutions, with one doctoral degree-granting institution partnering with a variety of other institutions.The 12-year-old Preparing

Conference Session

Educating Students for Professional Success

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ajit D. Kelkar, North Carolina A&T State University; James G. Ryan, Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies, New Engineering Educators, Student

program will support many of the current and planned Research Clustersincluding: (1) Advanced Materials & Nanotechnology (new nanoengineered materials andmanufacturing processes); (2) Energy and Environment; (3) Biotechnology and Biosciences(new materials & applications of nanoscience in biology, agriculture and medicine); and (4)Computational Science and Engineering (computational aspects of nanotechnology) that are keytechnology areas for the current and future scientific, engineering and technology needs of thenation and the world. The rapidly spawning array of nanoengineered materials and techniques and theirapplications in research laboratories globally hold great promise for new nanoscale engineeringsystems and technologies

Conference Session

Panel on Innovative Graduate Education Concepts: Organized by the National Institute of Aerospace

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Amy E. Landis, University of Pittsburgh; Melissa M. Bilec, University of Pittsburgh; Leidy Klotz, Clemson University; Annie R. Pearce, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

ability to conductindependent research is an essential pillar of the doctoral process. Rigorous independent researchat the undergraduate level is still relatively uncommon in the U.S.; is typically limited to thestrongest students or students in specifically targeted populations 1, 2, 3; is most common in fieldsinvolving laboratory science; and is least common in non-laboratory social sciences andhumanities, with engineering fields somewhere in between 2. Ultimately, this means that studentsentering graduate engineering or construction-related programs of study typically do not havesignificant prior exposure to or experience with the means and methods for designing andimplementing independent research.In response to this knowledge gap, faculty

Conference Session

Professional Graduate Education and Industry

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joy Watson, University of South Carolina; Jed S. Lyons, University of South Carolina

Tagged Divisions

College Industry Partnerships, Graduate Studies

needed level of ability is not correlated with the level of preparation that thegraduates received. Results suggest that one of the most significant areas for improvements inpreparing doctoral students is related to teamwork. These findings and others are discussed inthis paper.BackgroundTraditionally, engineering doctoral programs largely train doctoral students to conduct researchin narrowly defined areas that are selected by the faculty advisors, with the expectation thatstudents will become university faculty members. Such specialization does not explicitlyprepare graduates for long-term success in the continuously evolving, multidisciplinary, globalresearch environment 1, 2. Furthermore, there has been a shift in employment options

Conference Session

Mentoring Graduate Students, Diversity, and Assessment

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert M. Brooks, Temple University; Amithraj Amavasai; Jyothsna Kavuturu

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies, Minorities in Engineering

conceptswere correct but incorrect calculations in one step resulted in a failing grade. By breaking aproblem into steps and concepts and rewarding success at each step, students were encouraged tocomplete a problem and ask for help if they did not remember an abstract concept or equation.This paper describes a method for rewarding students for levels of knowledge during the finalexamination of a transportation engineering course.Kolb’s learning style theory 1 identifies four types of learning styles: (1) Concrete Experience(feeling), (2) Active experimentation (doing), (3) Reflective Observation (watching), and (4)Abstract Conceptualization (thinking). While every student has some component of each of thesefour learning styles, there is usually one

Conference Session

Mentoring Graduate Students, Diversity, and Assessment

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joy L. Colwell, Purdue University, Calumet; Jana Whittington, Purdue University, Calumet; Carl F. Jenks, Purdue University, Calumet

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies, Minorities in Engineering

related issue of rigor can influence Page 22.1714.2student writing at the graduate level.Technical Writing versus Scholarly WritingGenerally, engineering and technology undergraduates come to graduate education withexperience primarily in technical writing skills. Although not everyone will agree with thisdefinition, technical writing has been described as a marriage of the task of effectivecommunication with the task of technical communication.1 The mechanics of writing (i.e.,format, structure, grammar and syntax), and the technical substance (i.e., analysis andinterpretation) are both important, so that the results of scientific inquiry are

Conference Session

Graduate Student Experience

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adam R. Carberry, Arizona State University; Daniel P. Bumblauskas, University of Missouri, Columbia; Alexandra Emelina Coso, Georgia Institute of Technology; Ana T. Torres-Ayala, University of South Florida

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies, Student

industry related toengineering education or as faculty members, it is the responsibility of these individuals to helpdefine the future direction of the field.It is reassuring to see that as the field has grown, so to have the number of students participatingin engineering education research, reform, and practice. A clear indicator of increased studentinterest has been the steadily growing student membership of the American Society forEngineering Education (ASEE). According to the June 2010 report to the ASEE Board ofDirectors, student membership in ASEE has risen by 32.6% in five years, surpassing the numberof life members (Table 1).1 According to Dwight Wardell, ASEE Membership Department Head,the student membership continues to surpass life

Conference Session

Panel on Innovative Graduate Education Concepts: Organized by the National Institute of Aerospace

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bimal P. Nepal, Texas A&M University; F. Barry Lawrence, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

are also presented in the paper.The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. In section II, we present a brief discussion onthe different learning approaches that are out there in practice. Section III describes theandragogical model for adult learning. In section IV, we present our proposed framework forproject based learning including objectives, design, and grading policy of the course. Section Vpresents the student learning survey. Benefits of a residency class are discussed in Section VI.Finally, section VII summarizes the paper with some concluding remarks. II. Topic-based learning, problem-based learning, and project-based learningYousuf et al.1 define topic based learning as the mode of instructional delivery and

Conference Session

Graduate Studies Poster Session

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy Paul Tallon, University of Pittsburgh; Dan Budny, University of Pittsburgh

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

communicateeffectively‖[11].What engineers need to experience and know, in addition to ―hard‖ knowledge, is ―process-oriented skills and awareness-oriented skills‖ [1]. Process-oriented skills include―communication, teamwork, and the ability to recognize and resolve ethical dilemmas‖ [1].These skills are powerful when combined with awareness skills involving ―understanding theimpact of global and social factors, knowledge of contemporary issues, and the ability to dolifelong learning‖ [1]. But what are the most effective ways of incorporating process andawareness-oriented practices into engineering curricula already crowded with necessary science,math, and disciplinary courses? How can engineering schools, which must ensure that theirstudents graduate with

Conference Session

General Topics in Graduate Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Suzanne M. Kresta, University of Alberta; John A. Nychka, University of Alberta; Roger Graves, University of Alberta

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

everyone to contribute their own best ideas and practices. Recommendedbackground reading 1,2. 1. Review current research on how students learn to write: Roger Graves - Director, Writing across the curriculum, who has assisted with the design and teaching of several writing courses for graduate students in other faculties on campus, and is available as a resource to all instructors for undergraduate teaching. 2. Teaching exercises for research groups and graduate students: Several exercises are proposed for group meetings where students learn how to take apart a journal paper and put it back together to uncover the argument structure and logic which lie beneath the surface. 3. Constructing a compelling

Conference Session

Panel on Innovative Graduate Education Concepts: Organized by the National Institute of Aerospace

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mark Shaurette, Purdue University; Joe Orczyk, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

of study has proved to be challenging for the students. Only 30% of the students havefinished in five semesters. Just over half (53.3%) of the students have finished within sixsemesters. All of the students have finished the coursework within the five semesters. In everycase it has been the uncompleted directed project that has kept the students from graduating ontime. Another negative trend is that once the students complete their coursework and take a breakfrom the directed project, they have a difficult time restarting the directed project. See Table 1which shows the Completion of Directed Project statistics for the students who have finishedtheir coursework. Table 1 - Completion of the Directed Project Program

Conference Session

Mentoring Graduate Students, Diversity, and Assessment

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Craig T. Evers P.E., Minnesota State University, Mankato

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies, Minorities in Engineering

discussing their own country’s ethicaldifferences. Each case study also included a written analysis. In addition, each student wasassigned a research paper covering the cultural aspects of ethics and professional responsibilities.The same group of students composed both classes. Six of the students were from Minnesota,one from Florida, and one each from Bangladesh, Colombia, India, Nepal and Nigeria. Page 22.1661.3In the Ethics course, we discussed topics ranging from reckless neglect of worker safety (NorthCarolina poultry plant fire and the Imperial Sugar plant explosion) to unsafe design of theworkplace (SL-1 nuclear reactor explosion in Idaho

Conference Session

Methods, Techniques, and New Programs in Graduate Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Diane L. Peters, University of Michigan; Shanna R. Daly, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

participants were identified through networking channels of theresearchers. The aim for participants in this case study was diversity in background,experiences, and years in the workforce currently at the University of Michigan. We selectedthree participants to include in this work so that we could discuss the depth of each of theirexperiences. Key demographic data for each participant is given in Table 1. Table 1. Demographic Data for Study Participants Years in Pseudonym Gender Age workforce Current Status Andrew Male 33 7 Third year Ph.D. student Brenda Female 38 5

Conference Session

Methods, Techniques, and New Programs in Graduate Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cyndi Lynch, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Jiabin Zhu, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Monica Farmer Cox, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

; strategies for balancing work and personal life; and what it means to besuccessful in today’s global society.Student learning outcomes include 1) assembling a professional portfolio, 2) generatingstrategies for success in career advancement, 3) networking with career professionals, 4)developing a career strategic plan, and 5) relating their career goals and skill sets to variousinstitutional missions and values, company cultures, and expected job functions.Assessment of learning outcomes occurs through both formative and summative formats.Formative assessment is based on student responses to weekly discussion questions focused onthree key areas: items of interest or significance based on the session topic, actions or strategiesthey will implement

Conference Session

Educating Students for Professional Success

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David F. Ollis, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies, New Engineering Educators, Student

(Yes/No)_______________________________________________________________________Evaluation by graduate students Formal course evaluations for the first three semesters of the independent, fallproposal and the first two of the collaborative spring proposal appear in Table 3(nextpage), a tabulation of our standard university course evaluations. These two writingcourses fair well compared to our other department graduate courses (including reactors,transport, thermodynamics, and applied mathematics) and to the 1-5 absolute standard ofour evaluation scale. Given the apparent initial hostility of new graduate students towardtechnical writing, these end-of-semester evaluations represent a significant achievement.Importance of feedback

Conference Session

General Topics in Graduate Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Anurag K. Srivastava, Washington State University; Soumya K. Srivastava, Washington State University; Adrienne R. Minerick, Michigan Technological University; Noel N. Schulz, Kansas State University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

of campus, funding availability, information forCurricular Practical Training, and graduate school expectations. These responses from currentstudents were contrasted to alumni responses. The survey findings presented here are based onlyon the engineering student subpopulation of the respondents.Influential factors in choosing a school: In this section of the online survey, respondents were asked to rank the set of possiblefactors that most influenced their decision to apply to a particular university with 1 as greatestinfluence and 10 as little or no influence. Below were the options given to survey respondents: 1. University recruitment effort 2. Correspondence with graduate school/professors before arrival 3. Funding

Conference Session

Mentoring Graduate Students, Diversity, and Assessment

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wes Stone, Western Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies, Minorities in Engineering

portion of the laser micromachiningresearch complemented the courses he took as an undergraduate, the exposure to lasers andpiezoelectric materials provided a broader exposure to the field. The ET students in this programare exposed to sensors that use piezoelectric materials, but they do not get the opportunity tomachine those materials in the laboratory. Page 22.1652.3Overview of Laser Machining CenterAcquired from Oxford Lasers in England, the Oxford Lasers Micro-Machining Center (seeFigure 1) was introduced for precision machining and part marking of materials ranging frompolymers to high-tech super-alloys. Figure 1: Oxford

Conference Session

Methods, Techniques, and New Programs in Graduate Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michele L. Strutz, Purdue University, West Lafayette; James Edwin Cawthorne Jr., Purdue University, West Lafayette; Daniel Michael Ferguson, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Mark T. Carnes, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Matthew W. Ohland, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

question: how do professional non-traditional students engage with a doctoralprogram? Participants were selected using criterion sampling from a single doctoral programand they were interviewed. These professional non-traditional students described theexperiences they bring to the doctoral program and reactions to those experiences from theiracademic colleagues. Open coding is used to identify common themes. The results of this studyare that professional non-traditional students (1) come with a more developed habitus andsubstantial capital, which (2) prepare them well for the program, and (3) significantly affectstheir engagement during their PhD program. These results position the participants‘ experiencesat the partial union of their human

Conference Session

Graduate Student Experience

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Irene B. Mena, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Heidi A. Diefes-Dux, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Brenda Capobianco, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies, Student

course instructors, become members of the community of practice that is academia. This studywas guided by the following research questions: 1) What socialization experiences do doctoralengineering TAs report going through as a result of working as course instructors? 2) Whatrecommendations to improve the TA experience emerge from this study?Data were collected in the form of interviews (individual and focus group, with participants fromtwo schools of engineering at a Midwestern university). These data sources were analyzed andtriangulated to find recurring themes. Results indicated several categories of socializationexperiences, as characterized by the three TAs. Implications from the study suggest the need fora progressive TA model, in which

Conference Session

Professional Graduate Education and Industry

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard A. Coffman, University of Arkansas; Micah Hale, University of Arkansas

Tagged Divisions

College Industry Partnerships, Graduate Studies

within civilengineering also gives students exposure to many areas of civil engineering practice and ideasfor research within their graduate studiesOverview of the Course: The seminar consists of a minimum of fourteen one-hour presentations during thecourse of each semester. Six of the seminars are presented by students (2 students perseminar for a total of 12 students per semester) and the remaining eight seminars arepresented by outside speakers. One professional development hour is awarded toprofessional engineers for attending each seminar, and two professional developmenthours are awarded to professional engineer speakers. The seminar is organized in a“brown bag” format from 12:30-1:30 pm every Thursday. The Civil

Conference Session

General Topics in Graduate Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mysore Narayanan, Miami University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

Page 22.248.2(Gardner & Hatch, 1989). 1. Word Smart: Linguistic Intelligence 2. Number Smart: Mathematical Intelligence 3. Picture Smart: Visual Intelligence 4. Body Smart: Kinesthetic Intelligence 5. Music Smart: Musical Intelligence 6. People Smart: Interpersonal Intelligence 7. Self Smart: Intrapersonal Intelligence All schools, colleges and universities appreciate the need, importance and impactof linguistic and mathematical intelligences at almost every stage of a learner’seducational career. Reading, writing and a working knowledge with numbers areconsidered as essential foundation for establishing a strong base of general knowledge.However, the next three, namely, visual, kinesthetic

Conference Session

Educating Students for Professional Success

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Monica Farmer Cox, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Jeremi S. London, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Benjamin Ahn, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Jiabin Zhu, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Ana T. Torres-Ayala, University of South Florida; Shree Frazier; Osman Cekic, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey; Rocio C. Chavela Guerra, Purdue University, West Lafayette; James Edwin Cawthorne Jr., Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies, New Engineering Educators, Student

findings is also presented.IntroductionABET approved Engineering Criteria 2000 (EC, 2000) in 1996 1. Shifting from an emphasis oninputs of engineering programs (i.e., curricula) to the outputs of these programs (i.e., theknowledge, skills, and attributes that students should take away from their educationalexperiences), EC 2000 has been far-reaching in both academia and industry2., Although efforts toexplore the attributes and skills expected of engineering graduates have begun, it is unfortunatethat they have been focused primarily at the undergraduate level. These types of studies are notusual in doctoral education but are needed for Ph.D. programs to respond to the changingenvironments of industry and academia. Additionally most engineering

Conference Session

Educating Students for Professional Success

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Devdas M. Pai, North Carolina A&T State University; Robin Guill Liles, North Carolina A&T State University; Courtney Lambeth, North Carolina A&T State University; Prashant N. Kumta, University of Pittsburgh; Harvey S. Borovetz, University of Pittsburgh; Sarah K. Pixley, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine; Partha Roy, University of Pittsburgh; Jangannathan Sankar, North Carolina A&T State University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies, New Engineering Educators, Student

you work in the field of biology. The three principal coursegoals 1) to learn different macromolecules in cells, 2) to develop an understanding of theprinciples of cell structure and functions mainly focusing on fundamental genetic mechanisms,and 3) to learn the experimental tools used to understand cellular function such as moleculargenetic techniques, biochemical analysis, and microscopy.” Students were encouraged to furtherexplore the use of the ERC research-focus material (magnesium) in biological applicationsthrough an extra-credit assignment. The engineering students from NCAT (Figure 1) also had theopportunity to attend a biomedical engineering research conference (BMES 2009) for the firsttime during their introductory course to cell

Conference Session

Methods, Techniques, and New Programs in Graduate Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Justin P. Micomonaco, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

the preparation of college graduates in STEM fields.1, 2 These concerns are especiallyprominent in the field of engineering. Engineering, along with the physical sciences andcomputer sciences, are identified as the fields with the greatest net attrition. 3, 4, 5 Furthermore,there is concern that today’s domestic graduates are ill-prepared to thrive in the rapidly evolvingglobal economy. 6, 7 In response to the concerns with engineering education nationally, there aremany efforts underway to address the inability of the U.S. to adequately attract, retain andprepare students in the STEM disciplines8. One of the major drivers of research in STEM education has been the findings ofSeymour and Hewitt on student departure from STEM fields

Conference Session

General Topics in Graduate Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert M. Brooks, Temple University; Naji Khoury, Temple University; Jyothsna K. S., St. Joseph's College, Bangalore, Department of English; Amithraj Amavasai

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

Spring 2009 a graduate course in “Geotechnical Engineering”, the control group was taughtusing the traditional lecture method. In Fall 2010 the same course was taught with the inclusionof an ethics component; this course was the experimental group. The students were taught thatethical issues have multipronged solutions that must address many different areassimultaneously. In making ethical decisions the students were not expected to determine "yes orno", "right or wrong" answers. Instead they were asked to deal with the variables in order toimprove the overall condition of the existing situation. Twenty case studies13 were presented in 5groups, as shown in Appendix 1. Each case study contained problems that are commonly facedin engineering