Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Yi Min Huang; Michael Trevisan

ABET accreditation requirements has to some degree,undermined its own efforts to foster program improvement evaluation.Achievement Outcomes and Student AssessmentEach project has at base a set of achievement outcomes students are expected to obtain at variouspoints in their educational experience. Faculty across projects and disciplines experiencedconsiderable difficulty developing sound outcomes and connecting student assessment strategiesto measure these outcomes in a reasonable way. There are three aspects to this difficulty. First,the nature of the desired achievement outcomes is complex, multidimensional, and often illdefined, particularly outcomes associated with “soft skills.” For instance, Example 1 maintainedengineering design

Conference Session

Design in Freshman Year

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Hazel Pierson; Daniel Suchora

assignments. 6. The students seem to be far more loyal to the Engineering Programs and are proud of their school and program. As they get to the sophomore and higher level in the programs they are excellent ambassadors for the programs and it would be extremely difficult to get them to change majors or transfer to another school. They have been transformed to a loyal engineering student and much of their out of school life revolves around the people they have met here.The freshman engineering program at Youngstown State University is thought to be verysuccessful. It has improved retention and improved the attitude and soft skills of many of theengineering students. However, this would not

Conference Session

Graduate Student Experiences

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Angela Linse; Tammy VanDeGrift; Jessica Yellin; Jennifer Turns

did themwithout question. However, several of them submitted written feedback suggesting ways tomake the icebreaking activities more relevant to the ETPP’s program goals. As a result of thisfeedback, we are designing new icebreaker activities that de-emphasize what some engineersrefer to as “soft skills” and instead focus on discussion of what kinds of activities constitute“teaching.”Positive reactions to materials that are heavily modified for engineers lead us to surmise that lackof customization could be one reason why engineering educators are sometimes labeled asresistant to educational reform activities. Engineering educators may be reacting to thelanguage, framing, and presentation style, rather than concepts and content