Conference Session

Creative and Cross-disciplinary Methods Part I

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Chad A. B. Wilson, University of Houston

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

forms of engineering writing.Introduction: The Typical Technical Writing CoursePurposeThis paper describes the use of novels to teach ENGI 2304: Technical Communications forEngineers. The course uses Robert Harris’s Pompeii1 and Michael Crichton’s Prey2 to teachengineering writing, ethics, and presentations.BackgroundThe College of Engineering’s required technical communications course is ENGI 2304. Page 25.83.2According to the course description, the class teaches “engineering communication skills: writtenproposals, specifications, progress reports, and technical reports; individual and group oralpresentations; essays on engineering ethics

Conference Session

Accreditation and Outcomes-based Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donna M. Riley, Smith College

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

AC 2012-4282: AIDING AND ABETING: THE BANKRUPTCY OF OUTCOMES-BASED EDUCATION AS A CHANGE STRATEGYDr. Donna M. Riley, Smith College Donna Riley is Associate Professor and a founding faculty member in the Picker Engineering Program at Smith College. Her research interests include liberative pedagogies, engineering ethics, engineering and social justice, and exclusionary structures of power in engineering education. Page 25.141.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2012 Aiding and ABETing: The Bankruptcy of Outcomes-Based Education as a

Conference Session

Accreditation and Outcomes-based Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Amy E. Slaton, Drexel University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

. ABET has often stated its commitment to such socially desirable aims.Drawing on the sociology of knowledge and related methods of studying the institutionalconservatism of performance standards, we may recognize the challenges to change inherent inoutcomes-focused education and increase the likelihood of achieving those aims.IntroductionThis paper considers a tension inherent in higher engineering education in the United States. Onone hand, the discipline has for many generations stated its commitment to societal betterment,ethical responsibility, and democratic ideals. The improved health and safety of the public,responsible business conduct, and more recent issues such as environmental sustainability areamong such ideals. These are the aims

Conference Session

Accreditation and Outcomes-based Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jens Kabo, Chalmers University of Technology; Xiaofeng Tang, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Dean Nieusma, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; John Currie, University of Sydney; Hu Wenlong, Beihang University; Caroline Baillie, University of Western Australia

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

/interpersonal skills”). • Each document includes capabilities related to what we classify as “social analytic skills,” such as ethical reasoning, understanding of global and local contexts, or political awareness.As our main interests are how a) “the social” and b) the relation between “the social” and “thetechnical” are represented, our attention now shifts to an assessment of how these features aremanifest in the accreditation documents. For the most part, professional/interpersonal skills areconceptually straightforward in the accreditation documents, and there is agreement that goodcommunication and teamwork skills are core competencies for engineers (even if the attributesof these skills are less-clearly specified). While we acknowledge

Conference Session

STS Perspectives on Engineering Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wesley Marshall P.E., University of Colorado, Denver; Michael Tang, University of Colorado, Denver; Stephan A. Durham, University of Colorado, Denver

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

step into questions of how we transition from a very abstract,linear, literate type of medium to the medium that we are dealing with today, which isinteractive, multimedia, and multisensory. For example, how is the message of multimediadifferent that the message of a printed book? The course was also developed to highlightmulticultural diversity in order to help satisfy the core curriculum and ethics requirements ofmany engineering majors. This component of the course directs student focus and inquiry intotimely issues such as: • How do diversity, science, and technology interrelate; • How do gender, science, and technology interrelate; and • How do science, technology, and creativity interrelate? The second course

Conference Session

Advances in Assessment of Communication and Interdisciplinary Competence

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carolyn Kusbit Dunn, East Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

acquainted with important ethical and legal issues pertaining to technical writing. Be able to analyze and write for a particular audience. Have basic editing skills. Be able to imbed charts, tables, and graphs appropriately into the text. Understand the important considerations for doing persuasive technical writing. Recognize the importance of completeness and attention to detail in technical writing. Be adept at drafting business letters, memos, and descriptive documents

Conference Session

Linking Engineering and Liberal Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert O. Grondin, Arizona State University, Polytechnic

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

word culture in his thoughts. He broke this down intonine dimensions, some of which are epistemological and some of which are social. Theepistemological dimensions are: • primary interest; • sources of evidence and degree to which they are controlled; Page 25.537.4 • primary vocabulary and degree to which concepts are contextualized;The social dimensions are: • degree of influence of social conditions produced by historical contingencies; • degree to which ethical concerns influence questions and conclusions; • degree of dependence on financial support from government and industry; • likely size of collaborative teams

Conference Session

Creative and Cross-disciplinary Methods Part II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Justin L Hess, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Jessica Erin Sprowl; Rui Pan, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Melissa Dyehouse, Purdue University; Carrie A. Wachter Morris, Purdue University; Johannes Strobel, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

responsibleinnovations that embrace ethical and ecological contexts. Traditionally, engineering as aprofession has focused primarily on a set of technical skills, such as problem solving, design, andmodeling. It is undeniable that these skills are core and important. However, the target attributesfor future engineering graduates, such as featured in the National Academy of Engineering’s(NAE) “Engineer of 2020”, include specific character qualities and affective dispositions as well, Page 25.520.2wherein promoting traits such as empathy and care is sometimes referenced as holisticengineering education.6The NAE now emphasizes the need to promote engineering

Conference Session

Accreditation and Outcomes-based Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sandra A. Yost, University of Detroit Mercy; Laurie A. Britt-Smith, University of Detroit Mercy

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

demonstrates successful collaboration across academic unitswith very different cultures, with negligible staff support due to fiscal challenges. As such, theapproach could serve as a model for smaller institutions whose size does not allow for theappointment of full-time assessment professionals to replicate the successes described here.For the engineering programs at UDM, this new core curriculum will provide opportunities formore substantive direct assessment of student outcomes (f), (g), (h), and (j), as described inABET’s Criterion 3. 1 • (f) An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility; • (g) An ability to communicate effectively; • (h) The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a

Conference Session

Creative and Cross-disciplinary Methods Part I

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Katherine Hennessey Wikoff, Milwaukee School of Engineering; Michael Hoge Carriere, Milwaukee School of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

have allowed us to talk about thingslike Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, alternativeenergy sources, and the mechanics behind the infrastructure of things like high-speed rail.We read such authors as William McDonough (“Design, Ecology, Ethics and the Makingof Things”) and Brenda and Robert Vale (“Principles of Green Architecture”). Ourstudents were ultimately heartened by the fact that their desire to be environmentallyresponsible professionals could potentially lead to a good job in a high-growth field.Student research papers, reports, and presentationsEntrepreneurs need to tolerate risk, which translates into a concept similar to whatRomantic poet John Keats (who wrote “Ode to a Grecian Urn”) termed

Conference Session

Creative and Cross-disciplinary Methods Part II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joachim Walther, University of Georgia; Shari E. Miller, University of Georgia ; Nadia N. Kellam, University of Georgia

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

overall professionalway of being, a quality that Rifkin 14 sees as essential in the “third industrial revolution” anddescribes as “developing empathic ethics and a sense of social responsibility that takes theposition that we all share the same life boat”.In addressing this challenge, we feel that modeling this empathic engagement for the students inall our teaching interactions is a key in avoiding this above-described fragmentation. Morespecifically, the modules are co-taught by the engineering and social work instructors on thebases of a substantive personal and trans-disciplinary engagement that is reflected in the designof the course modules as described above. This means, there will not be an empathy expertvisiting the course on occasion to

Conference Session

Linking Engineering and Liberal Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

J. Ledlie Klosky, U.S. Military Academy; Scott M. Katalenich, U.S. Military Academy; Steven D. Hart, U.S. Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

GraduatesABSTRACTThere is something universal about obtaining a degree from an accredited university; it is alicense to call oneself educated. In recognizing this certification of erudition, society setsrelatively simple standards that can be difficult to achieve. The graduate must be able to addressdifficult problems coherently, bringing to bear a mixture of knowledge, empathy, skills, andmoral and ethical standards. Within this framework, society allows for specialization. Lawyersare not asked to design airplanes nor doctors to write complex opinions on the meaning of recentacts of Congress. There is, however, an underlying expectation of core knowledge which isinescapable. Any college graduate, for example, should be able to read or write a paper on acomplex

Conference Session

Linking Engineering and Liberal Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gayle E. Ermer, Calvin College

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

AC 2012-4539: THE COMPLEXITIES OF ENGINEERING DESIGN ANDSYSTEM MODELINGDr. Gayle E. Ermer, Calvin College Gayle Ermer is a professor of engineering at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. She teaches in the mechanical concentration in the areas of machine dynamics and manufacturing processes. Her master’s degree was obtained from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in manufacturing systems engineering (1987), and her Ph.D. from Michigan State University (1994). Her research interests include philosophy of technology, engineering ethics, and women in engineering. Page 25.1279.1 c

Conference Session

STS Perspectives on Engineering Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Harold R. Underwood, Messiah College

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

understanding of the relationship of electrical science Page 25.1255.4and technology to other disciplines and relevant ethical, social, cultural, historical andpolitical issues; 2) a substantive knowledge of the essential concepts, controversies andareas of exploration of a specialized topic in electrical science and technology; 3) anability to critique scientific and technological arguments and claims in oral and writtenpresentations.” To show how these objectives are fulfilled, the following two paragraphswill provide overall course layout, approach to the topic, activities assigned and methodsof assessment. After that, this section will describe more

Conference Session

Innovations in Promoting Technological Literacy II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Vazgen Shekoyan, Queensborough Community College, CUNY; Todd Holden, Queensborough Community College, CUNY; Raul Armendariz Ph.D., Queensborough Community College, CUNY; Helio Takai, Brookhaven National Laboratory; Sunil Dehipawala, Queensborough Community College, CUNY; Dimitrios S. Kokkinos Ph.D., Queensborough Community College, CUNY; Regina Sullivan, Queensborough Community College, CUNY; George Tremberger Jr, Queensborough Community College, CUNY; Paul J. Marchese, Queensborough Community College, CUNY; David H. Lieberman, Queensborough Community College, CUNY; Tak Cheung, Queensborough Community College, CUNY

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society, Technological and Engineering Literacy/Philosophy of Engineering

Our Minds Virtue Ethics for a Digital Age” Commonweal Dec 2010 http://commonwealmagazine.org/changing-our-minds (last accessed Jan 12 2012)12. Rosen, Larry “iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession with Technology and Overcoming Its Hold on Us“, ISBN-13: 978-0230117570, 2012 Page 25.1267.7

Conference Session

Innovations in Promoting Technological Literacy II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

J. Douglass Klein, Union College

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society, Technological and Engineering Literacy/Philosophy of Engineering

and future of the human-technology relationship. Thiscourse is part of a college-wide program that develops students’ critical reading, writing anddiscussion skills. The expectation is that exploring the relationship between technology andsociety will engage both engineering and liberal arts students. From the classical myth of Prometheus to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to IBM’s Watsoncomputer and beyond, the course explores the relationship between technology and progress,technology and happiness, and technology and human freedom, offering students contrastingviews of what drives technology and how best to cope with its uncertainties. Students examinethe social context in which technology operates, ethical considerations related to

Conference Session

Innovations in Promoting Technological Literacy II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Zbigniew J. Pasek, University of Windsor

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society, Technological and Engineering Literacy/Philosophy of Engineering

, ethicsThe China Syndrome J. Bridges, 1979 Professional ethics, labor relations, leadership, nuclear engineeringThe Dam Busters M. Anderson, 1954 Innovation, problem solving, teamwork, experimental engineering workEfficiency Expert M. Joffe, 1992 Labor relations, work design, manufacturingFlight of the Phoenix R. Aldrich, 1965 Teamwork, aviation engineering, J. Moore, 2004 problem solving

Conference Session

Creative and Cross-disciplinary Methods Part I

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jean Hertzberg, University of Colorado, Boulder; Bailey Renee Leppek, University of Colorado, Boulder; Kara E. Gray, University of Colorado, Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

goes unnoticed. Every ‘thing’,including machine parts, consumer products, architecture, any artifact that involves solid or fluid mechanics,has undergone some sort of design process. Good design encompass many aspects, from simple functionality(will it do the job) to structural integrity, manufacturability, cost, material selection, history, environmentalimpact, sustainability, aesthetics, ergonomics, ethics and safety. Design is central to engineering, and awarenessof the multiple, competing criteria that govern the final results of a design process is essential to engineeringcompetence. Based on results from an informal exit survey from FV, PD was initially designed to increaseawareness of, and appreciation for, all aspects of design. The