AC 2012-4204: ”OMG! THAT’S WHAT AN ENGINEER DOES?”: FRESH-MEN DEVELOPING A PERSONAL IDENTITY AS AN ENGINEERStephen Rippon, Arizona State University Steve Rippon is the Assistant Dean of Student Services in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. In this capacity, he oversees the Engineering Schools’ K-12 outreach, under- graduate student recruitment, undergraduate engagement programs, and the Engineering Career Center.Dr. James Collofello, Arizona State UniversityMs. Robin R. Hammond, Arizona State University Page 25.16.1 c American Society for Engineering
original medium-sized private selective research (or comprehensive) university.The top reasons that students cited were similar at all three institutions. They included:innovation/creativity/design, building things, math/science, practicality/real worldapplications, knowing how things work, and problem solving. The least popular reasonswere also similar for all three institutions: preparation for another career, group work, afamily member in engineering, previous experience in engineering, and engineeringbeing a broad field.Statistically significant differences in responses were found amongst the different typesof institutions. Two of the overall most popular responses, math/science and problemsolving, were significantly more popular at the medium
-authors.Six questions were posed to freshman students via e-mail, from the ESSAP office. Studentswere asked to provide input in the following areas, with a half page paragraph describingpositive and / or negative impacts for each question: 1. What was the impact of your interaction with other freshman engineering students working on the same projects? 2. What was the impact of your interaction with the sponsor? 3. What was the impact of your interaction with upper division engineering students or graduate students? 4. Did the team project experience have any impact on your engineering career? 5. What kind of skills did you acquire that you consider of value to your engineering career? 6. What would you change to make
? Do you like your job?” This program is part of a larger retention and career-boostinginitiative including overhauling the first-year course experience and hiring student peer advisors,funded in part through NSF-STEP.Our industrial mentors commit to 9 hours (including drive time) for the year including: attendingmentor orientation, providing student feedback, attending two informal student meetings (withthe 6-8 member FIGs), and completing a feedback survey. Several optional activities forinterested mentors include giving class presentations, electronic mentoring, and reviewing first-year student team design presentations. In this 2011-12 pilot year, 9 mentors are connected withFIG groups of approximately 7 students each.This paper details
encourage completion of a baccalaureateengineering degree in the traditional time frame. To accomplish the goal of integrating the students through academic and social supports,the proposed action plan was to implement program activities through two strategies. The firststrategy was to develop a set of student support activities that included academic, financial, andsocial components that would facilitate mentoring, community building, and retention. Second,internship opportunities were to be developed to enhance career development and post-graduatecareer preparation. However, a selection of the student support activities became non-operational. This was due in large part to the different needs that transfer students bring withthem to the
, in road construction, and this work began her environmentally focused ca- reer path. She served as a Chemical Engineer at the Office of Mobile Sources of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Ann Arbor, Mich., from 1987-1989 and as a Senior Project Leader in International Regulations at General Motors Corporation in Warren, Mich., from 1989-1991. She subsequently pursued her Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering at the University of Michigan from 1991-1998, under the mentorship of Dr. Peter Adriaens and Dr. Jeremy Semrau, and her dissertation topic focused on bioreme- diation and oxidation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) by methane-oxidizing bacteria. Lindner began her academic career at UF
Page 25.524.2opportunity to engage in aspects of engineering that are important to their career goals. I. BackgroundEnrollment trends in engineering schools in the US show increased numbers of students enteringthe engineering field over the past decade3. Enrollment of female students has been rising,reaching 18.6 percent in 2010; however, women remain highly under-represented in the field.Likewise, enrollments of some groups of minority students remain low, with African Americanstudents declining to only 5.9 percent of undergraduate engineering enrollment, while Hispanicstudent enrollments increased to 9.1 percent. At the University of Michigan, College ofEngineering, enrollment of female students has been relatively high, reaching its peak
AC 2012-4740: GENDERED SOCIALIZATION DURING THE FIRST SEMESTER:CONTRASTING EXPERIENCES OF MALE AND FEMALE TRANSFER/NON-TRADITIONAL ENGINEERING STUDENTSDr. Peter Thomas Tkacik, University of North Carolina, Charlotte Peter Tkacik is an Assistant Professor of mechanical engineering within the motorsports focus area. His largest area of research is in the engagement of high school students and early career engineering col- lege students through hands-on learning activities and exciting visual and experiential research programs. Other research activities are related to the details of the visual and experiential programs and relate to race car aerodynamics, vehicle dynamics, color-Schlieren shock and compressible flow
MCENGuidelines for the weekly discipline module activities are presented in Table 5. The moduleinstructors had great liberty in designing weekly activities; the only requirement was that thestudents be divided into teams to produce a single module deliverable. The deliverable was ateam presentation to demonstrate that the team had explored the application of the modulediscipline to at least one of the Engineering Grand Challenges. As discussed earlier, the NAEEngineering Grand Challenges1 were used to focus all the discipline modules onto a common setof “big” problems that will likely shape the careers of many of the current first-year students.The module curriculum focuses on the process to generate engineering design requirements. Inthis way, the
Leadership program, providing a lead role in MacEwan’s strengths-based leadership initiative. In 2009, she was named one of Alberta’s ”50 Most Influential” by Venture Mag- azine. In her role as Dean, she works with a dedicated team to lead MacEwan as an institution that offers a variety of degrees, diplomas, and certificates. Prior to her career in education, Elford prac- ticed law for 10 years, and holds both a B.A. and an L.L.B. from the University of Alberta. She stays connected to the profession through membership in the Law Society of Alberta and the Canadian Bar Association. Elford sits on the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement (JA) of Northern Alberta and Northwest Territories and is the Vice Chair of the
designed to recruit students to careers in teaching.4UGTAs at other institutions, like Carnegie Mellon University, are utilized in departments andclasses across campus. In programs like engineering, UGTAs are often used as graders and labassistants and are paid an hourly rate5. While these institutions usually outline the differentroles, policies, and expectations of the UGTAs in relation to graduate teaching assistants,oversight is left to specific departments and students do not receive any common training orpreparation. In some programs, like the department of sociology at Penn State University,undergraduate students must be invited by an instructor to serve as an undergraduate teachingassistant6. As described in further detail throughout this
schools have reported anecdotal evidence for addedbenefits to the student assistants as well, including2,5,11,12: (1) By having an opportunity to teach others the material, undergraduate assistants also benefit. In learning to explain topics, the assistants often reveal their own misunderstandings and are able to expand on their own knowledge. (2) Undergraduate assistants are often faced with describing many sections of the course material, and therefore, their communication skills develop much more quickly due to constant practice with students. They also develop excellent teaching skills that can serve them well depending on their future career paths. (3) When acting as an authority figure for the course, the
, the computerbecomes a tool students can use to collect and analyze data and allow their programming projectsto interact with the world outside the computer.Another benefit of utilizing graphical languages and data acquisition hardware as the mediumthrough which engineers learn computer programming is the ability to incorporate elements ofengineering design. In addition to computing, design is an important concept for engineers andengineering students. Challenges exist for educators trying to introduce students to design earlyin their academic careers. One challenge is that students do not have much knowledge uponwhich to build a design from. They have not had their engineering coursework yet and do nothave the tools to do sophisticated
some engineering disciplines maynot learn these skills at all [6]. While prototyping methods are now a common part of the designprocess, few students are able to confidently create a machined physical model at the end of theircollege career [7]. It is important that students of all engineering disciplines have knowledge of Page 25.849.2milling methods so that they may utilize the technology in their careers [8].Additionally, CNC milling has become a viable resource in many industries. With advancementsin technology, the price of materials and CNC machines are no longer prohibitive and provide avaluable resource for quick, custom production
. The goals ofthe program are to: provide an understanding of what Aerospace Engineering is and possibleapplications and career paths; design and build fun and educational projects with students;provide advice on classes, professors, study habits, and general college life; host laboratorytours; discuss internships, research, and organizational involvement; handle tutoring sessions andoffice hours and motivate students about Aerospace Engineering.This paper will provide a framework for starting a mentoring program at your institution. Whilethis is not a new idea, the authors will discuss why the current structure was selected and otheriterations that have been utilized. The role of a mentor and mentee and the expectations of eachwill be detailed
profession.The course learning objectives for EGR 105 are as follows, the student will: develop project management and team work skills and apply those skills to engineering design projects learn how to solve quantitative engineering problems by creating and utilizing spreadsheets develop oral, written, and graphical communication skills that will be used throughout the students engineering education develop elemental quantitative skills that will be used in introductory engineering coursework develop an understanding of the engineering education expectations for various careers and participate in engineering career
Problem-solving and solution presentation using the engineering method and format Recording data, displaying it graphically, and representing it statistically Using customary and international (SI) units of measure interchangeably Applying basic engineering formulae to machine and process design Working effectively on teamsOriginally explained in a previous work [1], FYE activities added to the introductory course fallinto three categories: informative, instructional, and support services. “Informative elementsincluded a general engineering (and engineering) technology curriculum review, a welcome andmembership invitation by student leaders of the technical student organizations on campus, and asession with the Career
discipline. Students werereminded that at many points in their career, they may be part of multi-disciplinary teams and should beinformed about all the engineering disciplines regardless of their intended major.While similar to Nosich’s exercise, the “Analyze the Discipline” exercise is simpler. Nosich developsthe concept of the “Logic of a Discipline” in more detail and depth, emphasizing the need to find theinter-relationships and inter-dependence of the eight elements on one another within a discipline in orderto see the synergies within a discipline and to truly understand the “logic” of a discipline that constituteshow those within that discipline reason. Students may not achieve this level of synthesis with the“Analyze the Discipline
. The Engineering Scholars Program (ESP) is a weeklong investigation ofengineering careers in areas such as mechanical, computer, environmental, electrical, chemical,biomedical, civil, geological, materials, and related disciplines. This program is a highlycompetitive scholarship program which provides a chance for traditionally underrepresented highschool freshmen, sophomores, and juniors the opportunity to investigate careers in engineeringand science. In 2011, 90% of the program’s 140 participants could not have attended without ascholarship. Of the participants, 27% were female, 17% African American, and 18% of othernon-Caucasian ethnic identities. The Women in Engineering (WIE) program is similar to theESP, but oriented toward female high
Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition. 2009. Austin, TX.14. Bridges, J.S., Sex-Differences in occupational values. Sex Roles, 1989. 20(3-4): p. 205-211.15. Duffy, R.D. and W.E. Sedlacek, What is most important to students' long-term career choices - Analyzing 10-year trends and group differences. Journal of Career Development, 2007. 34(2): p. 149-163.16. Konrad, A.M., et al., Sex differences and similarities in job attribute preferences: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 2000. 126(4): p. 593-641.17. Seymour, E. and N.M. Hewitt, Talking about leaving: Why undergraduates leave the sciences1997, Boulder, CO: Westview Press.18. Eccles, J.S., Subjective task value and the Eccles et al. model of
the broad or holistic natureof engineering problem solving and design, and in fact, of engineering careers in general, as wellas to positively impact their attitudes toward studies and careers in engineering. To that end, asimple study has been designed and implemented in the fall 2011 course roll-out that uses asingle-group pre-test/post-test design with the pretest acting as the control group.8 Studentscompleted written questionnaires on the first day of class, and again near the end of the semester.The questionnaires were anonymous, although students entered codes to enable matching of theirpre- and post-survey responses. All components of the survey procedures have been approved byClarkson University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) and
. The school found itself losing several new students at the end of the first semesterand more at the end of the freshman year. Surveys indicated that students were losing motivationto study engineering, in part because they had not yet experienced any engineering work. Itseemed that it was easy for new students to get bogged down in calculus and foundationalscience courses and lose focus on the end goal that had motivated them to enroll in the Page 25.1302.2engineering school in the first place. Students need to see real engineering during their firstsemester. They need to see engineering as an exciting career path. After conducting a multi
interaction among faculty and students. This provided a foundation ofmutual respect. The warm relationship persisted and grew for the college careers of the studentswho stuck with Engineering. Page 25.1203.9Discussions and exercises following the history of engineering videos also helped studentsdevelop lasting academic relationships as discussions were non-competitive, non-threatening,and the subject matter was broad, deep and equally new to all. Thus, there was more value to thecourse than merely English practice.The students who showed no strong inclination to do homework during the Summer Bridge alsoshowed no strong inclination to do so after
, employers and managers are unable to give completefeedback that satisfies employees need to understand their current successes and shortcomings.7In the STEM research community, fellow researchers must give feedback on most papers prior topublication, which means the STEM community could not disseminate research withouteffective feedback.8 Ensuring that our STEM educators, professionals, and researchers arecapable of effective feedback is crucial for the continuing success of the STEM community.Due to the need for informal and formal feedback in STEM careers, it is vital to teach futureSTEM professionals how to develop and give effective feedback during their undergraduateeducation. Teaching peer feedback enables students to do more than just give
. To instill an interest for the engineering profession as a O7 42% 26% career objective. Reflect on practical and theoretical engineering exercises that cross disciplines to capture my imaginations regarding future academic and professional O8 26% 26% engineering activities. Gain an introduction to engineering design as a team activity and as a major element within the engineering O9 26% 32% profession
significantskills lacking in students. However, it is interesting to note that junior faculty had almost twicethe percent of responses in these categories as senior faculty. And that senior faculty had a morediverse spread across other skill categories than the junior faculty. This may be due to thecorrelation between junior faculty and the level of course they teach. Junior faculty teachingfreshman or sophomore classes are seeing the most significant weakness of their students in theirtime skills and their interest in learning. It may be that this is endemic to students early in theirhigher education careers, not yet having seen the value they can derive from the experience. Theopposite may be true with senior faculty, having more courses with more
. This second semester ‘programming’ course had not fullymade the connection between software written to solve a practical problem and how it might be used todrive hardware/devices in a visible experiential way. As a result, students were skeptical, expressing adisconnect with real-world and career applications. This weak cause-and-effect association at timesresulted in a somewhat uninterested learning population. It became apparent that students did not deeplyunderstand the importance of writing code in relation to engineering problem solving. We as instructorssaw an opportunity to take a role in bridging this gap.Challenge #2: Resources. A further challenge relates to resources: How can we demonstrate the value ofprogramming and problem
in the previous 40 years,then T would have to decrease by a factor of 23.These exercises are intended to motivate students and show them that there are significantopportunities for impact throughout their careers to bring our activities in balance with theEarth’s capacity. The ZEH project is just one example of how we as engineers can contribute.Student FeedbackAt the conclusion of the first offering of the project in spring semester 2010, students were askedto reflect on their experience and were prompted by these questions: Page 25.398.14 1. What can you do now that you couldn’t do before? 2. How might understanding house systems
a career choice.Observation #6, Vision: My eyesight has changed! It’s a different experience, wearingreaders in class. My vision has always been exceptional. This changed for me recently,and I now use fairly weak readers – but they make a crucial difference. I made twomistakes on the exam – and one was a transcription error, I didn’t see one of the numbers.With about 14 million Americans aged 12 years and older having self-reported visualimpairment6, I see no reason not to use a 14 point font on exams and homeworkassignments.Observation #7, Distractions: Students text in class. I couldn’t believe my eyes; onestudent sitting next to me was routinely texting in class. I happen to know that myprofessor is one of the best math instructors we