AC 2012-4441: TEACHING CREATIVE THINKING USING PROBLEM-BASED LEARNINGProf. Ralph Ocon, Purdue University, Calumet Page 25.1245.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2012 Teaching Creative Thinking Using Problem-Based LearningAbstractAs global competition and technological innovation continue to challenge businessorganizations, the ability to solve diverse and complex problems has become essential forstudents in every academic discipline. While pursuing their careers, technology andengineering students will soon realize that the development of creative problem solvingskills is fundamental for success in today’s
. Page 25.553.4Rationale for the management papersMany engineering students expect engineering science and competence in design to be morerelevant to their chosen career than management skills. In modern engineering it is quitelikely that an operational engineer may be required to be a manager with the skills to thinkbroadly and act responsively. In fact, many professional engineers become involved inmanagement early in their working life, and find their career development path leading tosenior management positions.In these senior roles, they find that their skills as communicators and conceptual planners canoften be more demanding than their engineering skills. Quite often their decision-makingincludes dealing with uncertainty, where the time
at national and regional conferences, and • Increase student interest to work for USDA(d) Student Recruitment and Retention BGREEN will recruit and retain students interested in being part of the next generation ofSustainable Energy leaders. Each of the institutions in the consortium will participate inestablished K-12 outreach activities at various outreach programs (i.e., ExciTES summerprogram, pre-freshman Engineering Program (PREP)). Additionally, in each semester, eventsand extracurricular activities will be carried out at each of the partner institutions to ensure aproper cohesion of the participating students funded through this program (i.e., speaker seminarseries, scientific method workshop, career activities, field trips
important for the profession and the academic programs, they are alsocritical to student success. The design experience they complete in the course has the potentialto influence their career trajectory, satisfaction with the academic program, and self-efficacy.The challenge then becomes determining the best capstone model to maximize this potential. Acomprehensive understanding of various capstone course models will help determine if there isone best model or if it may depend on characteristics of the program such as geographic location,student body size, and faculty size.Literature ReviewPast research on capstone design courses in engineering has focused on how to best structure thecourse to serve the educational needs of the students, as well as
interviews yielded substantive Page 25.156.4information. To complement and corroborate the qualitative data obtained from the interviews, abrief three-item survey was administered to a larger population of recruiters, approximately 165,visiting the RHIT fall Career Fair. With the exception of Executive Recruiters (not present at theCareer Fair), the larger group contained similar demographics to face-to-face interviews.The quantitative aspect of this endeavor asked participants to answer the following questions: 1. Do you know the difference between Engineering and Engineering Technology Baccalaureate Degrees (e.g. Mechanical Engineering vs
in embedded systems. She held other positions related to project management.Dr. Arthur Pyster, Stevens Institute of Technology Art Pyster is a distinguished Research Professor at Stevens Institute of Technology and the Deputy Ex- ecutive Director of the Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC) sponsored by the Department of Defense. During Pyster’s 35-year career, he held several senior positions, including being the Senior Vice President and Director of Systems Engineering and Integration for SAIC and the Deputy Chief Informa- tion Officer for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. He is an INCOSE Fellow and a member of their Board of Directors. He currently runs BKCASE, a project that is establishing the
operation and Mission event timelines (METs) • Development of multi-level design solutions • Analysis of alternatives (AoA) • Modeling and simulation • Integration and test engineering and specialty engineering – i.e., human factors, reliability, maintainability, et al - to avoid showstopper surprises that impact system acceptance, delivery, and user satisfaction. • Verification and validation (V&V) • Et alAnecdotal evidence based on the author’s experiences suggest that many engineers are estimatedto spend on average from 50% to 75% of their total career hours collaborating with othersconcerning the engineering of systems – i.e., SE - for which they have no formal education.Aerospace and defense tends
arestudying in various degree programs of science, engineering, education, and business. Theenrollment data indicates that the 90% of the students are Hispanic and over 50% of them arefirst-generation of college students. Therefore, a significant number of first-generation collegestudents do not get the academic support from their family members. Table 1 represents theenrollment data based on students’ profiles from fiscal year 2008 to 2011. Therefore, the studentsneed to rely on the teachers and mentors for their success in their college career. Page 25.457.2 Table 1. Enrollment statistics based on students’ profile
obtain a bachelor’s degree do not permit expandingcore or concentration curriculum. Leadership topics are covered in certain engineering electivessuch as the course covering entrepreneurship. With faculty workloads and contact hours beingabove norms, the department prefers implementing leadership topics within existing courses thatdiscuss interpersonal relations, teamwork and what are commonly called the “soft” skills.As part of the department’s continuous improvement and in an effort to provide students withtools to aid their transitions from campus to career, the department is in the early stages ofdeveloping an electronic portfolio (e-portfolio) system of capturing student reflections oflearning progress throughout their academic studies. E
Systems and Enterprises. She has served as a Senior Systems En- gineer consultant to Lockheed Martin, IBM, and EDO Ceramics, for Advanced Systems Supportability Engineering Technology and Tools (ASSETT), Inc. Squires also previously served as a Senior Engi- neering Manager for General Dynamics (GD) and Lockheed Martin (LM), and as a technical lead for IBM. She is an INCOSE-certified CSEP and CSEP-Acq, and she has a Ph.D. in dystems engineering, a M.B.A. and a B.S.E.E. and began her professional career as an analyst for Delex Systems, Inc. Squires is a lifetime member of Beta Gamma Sigma (business), Tau Beta Pi (national engineering), and Eta Kappa Nu (national electrical engineering) honorary societies and is a
it may work fora wide range of careers; however, they do not necessarily see benefits in their specific companyor area within a company. For example, some who completed the survey may work in areaswhere management is overseeing activities that does not involve machining.Safety ConcernsThere were some differences in how participants viewed the factor of safety with regards to thesubstitution of bench-top lathes for industrial lathes in educational settings. Faculty, for instance,have divided opinions concerning the impact of a lack of certain safety features on bench-toplathes and what this may mean for their suitability in educational settings, as 46.6% view the lackof a brake as a concern while only 13.6% did not feel it was. The remaining
go to work for US companies in Puerto Rico oron the mainland, and others go into US graduate programs. The capstone design experienceplays an important role in developing their potential for a successful engineering career. Theneed for engineers trained in systems engineering design also becomes imperative for PuertoRico with the establishment in recent years of aerospace design and manufacturing companieslike InfoTech (Pratt & Whitney), Honeywell, and Hamilton Sundstrand.Background on Participating UniversitiesThe three Puerto Rican universities working on the project have relatively young engineeringprograms. The School of Engineering at the Universidad del Turabo, established in 1990, offersundergraduate programs in Mechanical
slides.Obviously, results are going to vary greatly depending on how well the implementation isplanned and carried out. In addition, there is the issue of cost. With students typically alreadyspending a great deal on a textbook, requiring them to also purchase a clicker (the model we use Page 25.479.8runs about $35 if purchased on line from the vendor) is difficult to ask. Our implementation ofthis technology has been school wide and therefore all classes that are using clickers are usingthe same model. Thus our students have the opportunity to not only spread this cost over one 15-week course but over their entire undergraduate career…making that extra
economic analysis, sustainable engineering, and integrated resource management. She is a member of ASEE, ASEM, APICS, IIE, and SWE. She is a licensed P.E. in Kansas.Dr. Edward A. Pohl, University of Arkansas Edward A. Pohl is an Associate Professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Arkansas. Pohl spent 20 years in the U.S. Air Force, where he served in a variety of engineering, analysis, and academic positions during his career. He received a Ph.D. in system and industrial engineering from the University of Arizona in 1995, a M.S. in reliability engineering from the University of Arizona in 1993, a M.S. in system engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) in 1988, a M.S
real-world problems that are interdisciplinary in nature typicallyhave limited exposure, at an early undergraduate level, to tools and methods that are available forrigorously and systematically examining these challenges. The development of analytical skillsfor addressing such problems has been primarily offered in graduation education. However,undergraduate engineering students are increasingly interested in working on contemporarychallenges earlier in their careers. Students entering engineering programs today are more awareand better equipped for conducting sophisticated analysis due to their access to information,knowledge and tools that previously were not available to prior generations. It is thereforeimportant – both for retaining
successes as well as pitfallsencountered in the implementation process. Concepts that distracted students from the capstoneexperience were removed, and new concepts are being added where appropriate, such as the riskmanagement module discussed above. The authors hope that the lessons learned will benefitother engineering programs that leverage SE principles as they seek an appropriate level of SEeducation in their disciplines.Bibliography1. McGrath, Elisabeth, Susan Lowes, Chris Jurado, and Alice Squires. "SE Capstone: A Pilot Study of 14 Universities to Explore SE Learning and Career Interest through DoD Problems." Vancouver, BC: ASEE, 2011. 725.2. Defense Acquisition University. Systems Engineering Fundamentals. Fort Belvoir, VA: Defense
acombination program.The description of the MS in Technological Systems Management in Stony Brook falls into thecategory of technological management: Managing modern technologies calls upon a synthesis of tools drawn from many areas: science and engineering, computers and information, economics and regulation, psychology and community values, design and assessment. The Master’s Degree in Technological Systems Management provides professionals in all fields and people planning such careers with state-of-the-art concepts, analytical tools, and practical skills for managing specific technological systems and improving their performance.However, the two core courses involve elements of ISE and of systems theory. The
method for understanding the successof LEP students prior to and after graduation and assess the distinct individuality (if it exists) ofthe LEP student in comparison to non-LEP students.The statistics that will be collected include: • A description of summer activities of each LEP graduate in the two prior summers • Job or career plans upon graduation • The number of post graduation offers (i.e. jobs, graduate programs, military, etc.) • Final Grade Point Average and change in grade point average since joining the LEP • The number of students receiving dean’s list honors or academic probation • The number and type of leadership positions held while at the universityPhase 2: Interviews with Capstone Advisors
me. If there are a limitedd number off internships available, it Page 25.800.7increasess competitionn amongst th he student bo ody. We havve found thatt the studentts who particcipateare noticeably motivated to maintain their grade point average and work ethic. The interns oftenreceive the advantage of closer advisement and mentoring in both academic and companysettings and profit from enhanced career preparation.A school benefits from internships by promoting their existence and piquing the interest ofpotential students. We have observed higher rates of graduation among students who completedinternships. This can give an institution