4. Tries Out Train 5. Uses SupportThe aim of the project is to promote successful characteristics of individuals and their workenvironments that will encourage movement toward higher stages of adoption, with the ultimategoal of sustained use of education innovations in the classroom. The implementation model wepropose is based on the Johari Window19. The Johari Window is typically used to document andimprove self-awareness, as well as allow individuals to understand each other better within agroup. It is focused on soft skills – what we commonly refer to today as EmotionalIntelligence20. Figure 3 shows a typical Johari Window model on the left and our proposedtransformation into an
. Many students choose CS/SE for their major because they enjoy thetechnical aspects of the work. There is a common perception that “soft skills” such aswriting, speaking, and teaming are not needed and less critical and are acquiredautomatically (in a mysterious and unspecified way). If the students and faculty do notperceive something as being valuable they are less likely to invest time and effort into doingit well.5 StrategiesIn the first year, our project focused on developing and piloting assignments in at least sixdifferent courses and at eight different institutions. In this section we describe some of thestrategies that we have developed to address the challenges identified above. Specifically,we have identified four key strategies
development of critical thinking skills andprovides both the participants and the PAL Leaders with an opportunity to engage incollaborative learning. These benefits directly support the project’s stated goal of improvingretention of early engineering students, as well as criteria set forth by The Accreditation Boardfor Engineering and Technology (ABET), which is increasingly placing emphasis on “soft skills”development within engineering programs 16, 17, 18. While the primary goals of the grant areaimed at students enrolled in targeted courses, our research has shown that the program also Page 22.1148.4provides numerous benefits to the PAL leaders and
Lehmann[7] provide anexcellent overview of the goals of the ABET a-k criteria in relation to the real challenges facingstudents and academic institutions: academic institutions must matriculate not-yet-fully-matureadolescents, and in the course of a 4- or 5-year curriculum, foster growth in their knowledge,skills, and attitudes, ideally graduating students who are prepared to progress successfully intoprofessional work or graduate studies. These authors give particular attention to lifelong learningand “soft” skills which have not historically been the explicit goal of engineering education.Oxnam[8] provides a detailed look at the intersection of ABET engineering program evaluationcriteria and essential IL skills endorsed by the Association of
challenges in transitioning to the world ofinnovation champions (entrepreneurs and “intrapreneurs”) such as: An engineering education is typically focused on technical depth rather than breadth in fields such as business practice, accounting and finance, operations management, etc. Additionally, the historical engineering curriculum has not included a substantial component of “soft skills” such as ethics, persuasive communications, written and oral presentations, team building, crisis management, and the other skills necessary to succeed as an entrepreneur, the value of which have been recognized by ABET and other organizations.iv, v An engineering education typically does not provide sufficient opportunity to lead teams
learning.Research questions developmentAt the outset, four general themes of enquiry were proposed. These are as follows: 1. To examine the perception of transatlantic exchange students pertaining to the general differences in teaching styles experienced between their home institution and their study abroad transatlantic institutions. 2. To examine transatlantic exchange students’ perception of the general differences in assessment practices and other important “course related” variables between the home continent and their study abroad continent. 3. To examine transatlantic exchange students’ perception of differences in the degree of emphasis (if any) on “soft skills” critical to the development of Engineering and
it’s mostly soft skills which are the things you tend not to get the Page 22.1431.6 experience with in school.The development of these skills, while critical to his success, presented certain challenges indealing with traditional students.Theme #2: Frustrations and Challenges Working in Teams with Traditional StudentsAndrew felt disadvantaged as a returning student in his team interactions. He felt different fromthe group in his abilities and struggled with those interactions. The strange, maybe, disadvantage that I noticed, but it depends on how you look at it, was that I found I had a harder time doing group projects