Conference Session

"Best" of BED

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Anthony J McGoron, Florida International University; Hamid Shahrestani, Florida International University, BME; Michael Edward Brown, Florida International University; James Dennis Byrne, Florida International University

Tagged Divisions

Biomedical

typicallydone at the end of the semester (term). The Capstone Design experience can be a convenientopportunity to teach Professional Skills (sometimes referred to as the “soft skills”)23 that may notmake it into more traditional lecture courses. Engineering design is where these professionalskills are most important. These have often been difficult skills to assess. There may be as manyways to offer the capstone design experience as there are engineering programs. To give newprograms ideas, groups have reported on the specific elements of their own capstone designcourses10, 14, 22.Assessment tools for evaluating program learning outcomes are freely available9, 13, 28 and we inthe BME program at FIU have developed our own process and tools for the

Conference Session

Methods, Techniques, and New Programs in Graduate Education

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Niaz Latif, Purdue University, Calumet ; Joy L Colwell, Purdue University, Calumet (Tech)

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

Professor of Or- ganizational Leadership and Supervision, and former Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies in Technology. Professor Colwell writes frequently on the topics of soft skills in technology education, and on issues of graduate administration. Page 23.375.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2013 Design, Development and Implementation of a Master of Science Degree in Modeling, Simulation, and VisualizationAbstractThe School of Technology at Purdue University Calumet designed, developed and implementeda Master of Science Degree in Modeling, Simulation, and

Conference Session

Difference, Disability, and (De)Politicization: The Invisible Axes of Diversity

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julie L Taylor, University of Utah

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

ofclashing beliefs. For example, gender marks a moment of potential unknown, or reaction todifference. More specifically for this study, the engineering discipline is commonly characterizedas masculine, privileging hard science, objectivity, rationality, hegemonic ideology, and evenmale bodies.7 This is in juxtaposition to humanities, a more feminine discipline where scholarsengage in “soft” science, teach “soft” skills, and embrace subjectivity, emotionality, and femalebodies.5 Due to the merging of two cultures in an effort to have multidisciplinary education,different through the representation of gender is illuminated.Difference Discourse The concept of difference is important to examine because it helps us torecognize what is not “standard” or

Conference Session

Trends and Applications in Curricula and the Capstone Experience

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tonya Lynn Nilsson P.E., Santa Clara University; Kevin D. Hall, University of Arkansas; Ronald W. Welch, The Citadel

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

Conference Session

Hands-on/Experiential Learning

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daniela Faas, Harvard University; Daniel D. Frey, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

), there seem to beenough data to support the thesis that a design course or something that contains many of itselements—including projects, teams, written and oral communication—can produce positivechanges in engineering student retention rates.In terms of other measures of potential benefits of first-year design courses, little data areavailable. Purdue’s EPICS program reports that students regarded teamwork, communication andtime management and/or organization as “the three most valuable things . . . learned” fromhaving taken the EPICS course30. The skills acquired here are the “soft” skills that ABET’s EC2000 is trying to promote. These results are quite consistent with—and supportive of—theanecdotal data heard from most teachers of such

Conference Session

Rethinking Engineering Writing

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brad Jerald Henderson, University of California, Davis

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

Paper ID #8159”Doing Engineering in the School of Letters & Science: Adding a Manufac-turing Line Design Project to a Writing Program Class for Engineers”Mr. Brad Jerald Henderson, University of California, Davis Brad Henderson is a faculty in writing for the University Writing Program (UWP) at University of Cali- fornia, Davis. Henderson holds a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Cal Poly State University SLO and a Masters in Professional Writing (MPW) from USC. Currently focusing his career on engineer- ing writing and soft-skill education, he has worked as an engineer and engineering educator for Parker

Conference Session

Research Initiatives

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Helena Isabel Scutt, Stanford University; Shannon Katherine Gilmartin, Stanford University; Sheri Sheppard, Stanford University; Samantha Ruth Brunhaver, Stanford University

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

a spatial skills workshop. Sincethere are several types of spatial skills, choosing one that is especially relevant to a class activityor concept and giving students a chance to practice that skill is a way to gradually build spatialskills.Regarding the emphasis on communication skills, using the typical communication or writingexercises but situating them in the context of a science or math activity can introduce the ideathat these so-called “soft” skills are necessary in the hard sciences. In fact, with the nature ofboth topics, a spatial skills exercise could be combined with a communication skills exercise.Further development of these four “Skills to Emphasize” also lies in research. A potentialdirection for further research is

Conference Session

Assessment of Student Learning 2

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Debra Gilbuena, Oregon State University; Audrey Briggs Champagne, University at Albany, SUNY; Milo Koretsky, Oregon State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

define what “professional skills” means and which skills fit into thatcategory, varies widely. When it comes to clearly defining the term “professional skills,” mostresearchers provide a list of included skills rather than defining the category. Even the lists ofskills that fit into the category of professional skills vary. As noted by Colwell, “if one were toask educators in…engineering…what is meant by the term ‘soft skills’, there would likely besome consensus on the list, but each educator asked would probably have a different list (p.3)”.10 Despite the variation, many authors representing practicing engineers 9, alumni ofengineering programs 11, and engineering educators 7, 11 agree that the following skills areprofessional skills

Conference Session

Institutional Transformations

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Pamela S. Lottero-Perdue Ph.D., Towson University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering