Conference Session

Mobile Devices and Apps

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kefei Wang, Gonzaga University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

of the future will have dif-ferent attributes than the stereotypical 20th century engineer. These attributes include the technicalknowledge that all engineers should have and are included in traditional engineering curricula, andother characteristics related to what have often been called soft skills or professional attributes,including communication, leadership, and entrepreneurial skills.” To help instill an entrepreneurialmindset, Kern Family Foundation established a network of colleges called the Kern Entrepreneur-ship Education Network (KEEN) in 2005. Gonzaga University is one of the 19 colleges in KEEN,and it views the entrepreneurial mindset as a critical need in undergraduate engineering education.Considering students in our CS 1 is

Conference Session

Mobile Devices and Apps

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andreas Karatsolis, MIT; Suguru Ishizaki, Carnegie Mellon University; Marsha C. Lovett, Carnegie Mellon University; Mollie Kaufer, Carnegie Mellon University; Stacie L. Rohrbach, Carnegie Mellon University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

, Evans and Gabriel criticize the current conception of communication skills asindependent “soft skills” and postulate that communication should be understood as social actionthat is bound in the context of engineering practice10. Hence, they suggest that communicationshould be “learned through processes of participation” where communication is directlyassociated with “performing engineering.” Our project builds on the approach suggested byEvans and Gabriel, by situating learning activities in authentic professional contexts wherestudents are expected to perform tasks that require clear and effective communication.Studies of teacher comments on student writing in the Sciences and Engineering suggest thatfeedback focuses on lower-order concerns