Conference Session

Engineering Ethics: Using Case Studies

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy Skvarenina, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

, internationalization, and ethics, areoften referred to as the soft skills. Generally students’ exposure to these items is through theirelective (or required) courses in the humanities and social sciences. However, ABETaccreditation also requires that the achievement of the outcomes be assessed and evaluated.Obtaining direct evidence of achievement of the outcomes by the students can be problematicalas the other departments may not be doing assessment. Even if they are, the technology studentsin a humanities course are probably just a small fraction of the course enrollment, so it may bedifficult to obtain information about their performance. While we rely on other departments toprovide the bulk of the students’ exposure to the soft skills, we have tried to

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics V

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Ochs, Lehigh University; Lisa Getzler-Linn, Lehigh University; Margaret Huyck, Illinois Institute of Technology; Scott Schaffer, Purdue University; Mary Raber, Michigan Technology University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

the process (versus at the beginning and end) 3) Assessment of prior knowledge and the development of effective in-process feedback mechanisms 4) Transfer of learning with follow-on opportunities to practice what has been learned in order to reinforce motivation and self confidence to identify and manage risks in support of innovative solutionsProject PlanAs proposed in our NSF CCLI grant10, we will “…develop a continuous multilevel assessmentprocess that will measure (student’s) achievement of ‘soft skills’ knowledge and application ofthis knowledge in a multidisciplinary team environment…” while working on real-world projectsin the context of our individual academic programs under an

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics V

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tammy VanDeGrift, University of Portland; Donald Chinn, University of Washington, Tacoma

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

predict effectiveness. Bailey and Stefaniak3used surveys, interviews, and focus groups to determine what employers in the IT industry valued asimportant non-technical skills for employees. They identified both soft skills and business skillsmentioned by the 325 IT professionals surveyed. A panel at the ACM Conference in 1978 presented skillsets of what industry looks for in new hires – among these skills are math ability, software developmentknowledge, problem-solving, team skills, initiative, diversity, and versatility14.Several resources exist for teaching issues of professionalism and ethics. Among these are exercisescompiled by the working group on integrating professionalism into the curriculum11. An exercise aboutresearching types of