Conference Session

Innovation and Measuring Success in Graduate Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joy Colwell, Purdue University, Calumet

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

give them preparation for it.Soft skills, or professional skills, are commonly understood to include those skills whichprofessionals must possess in addition to their technical skills in order to be effective inthe workplace. While there is no definitive list of professional skills (outside thecommonly recognized ABET accreditation standards), a review of academic literature,accreditation standards, and popular media reveals a list which variously includes:effective oral communication and presentation skills; effective written communication;creativity and/or creative problem solving; interpersonal skills; ability to work effectivelyon a team; time management and planning; conflict resolution; ethical decision-making;the importance of

Conference Session

Professional Graduate Education and Industry

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Roger Olson, Rolls-Royce Corporation

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

Page 15.1104.22-1. OVERVIEWAs engineers mature into mid career planning and leadership positions and assume greaterresponsibilities, they must learn new skills, develop new abilities, and act in moderately complexsituations. Mid level leaders/planners are progressing towards becoming the engineering profession’shighest level thinkers, executive practitioners, and leaders of change for continuous corporateimprovement and innovation.2-1-1. Engineering Education: A Lifelong Growth Process ─ The National Collaborative Task Forcefor Engineering Graduate Education Reform has deliberately taken a broad, holistic approach thataddresses the overall professional education of the engineer as a lifelong developmental and self-studygrowth process that is

Conference Session

Professional Graduate Education and Industry

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thomas Stanford, University of South Carolina

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

effective two-way communication. But it also requires the engineer-leader to beaware of individuals, their personalities, and their circumstances. Only one disgruntled team-member isrequired to undermine a project, so this is a critical responsibility for the effective engineer-leader. B ─ OPERATING ACTIONSOperating actions in the con text of effective engineering leadership refer to planning activities or goalsetting, completing those tasks that accomplish the established goals, and using appropriate metrics toensure that the goals have been achieved. The responsibility of the engineer-leader is to ensure that eachproject team member fully understands the project goals, how they are to be achieved, and

Conference Session

Methods, Techniques and New Programs in Graduate Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Dyrenfurth, Purdue University; Mike Murphy, Dublin Institute of Technology; Gary Bertoline, Purdue University; Robert Herrick, Purdue University; Gareth O'Donnell, Dublin Institute of Technology; Kathryne Newton, Purdue University; Nuria Castell, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya; Miquel Barcelo, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya; Didac Balas, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya; Maria Ribera Sancho, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya; Donal McHale, Dublin Institute of Technology; Jordi Garcia, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

integrated program that includes both required and elective courses/modules. All ofthe courses/modules required for the common study program currently exist at one or more ofthe partner institutions. The culminating research and development (Directed) project and up tothree existing courses will be collaboratively vetted and accepted by each of the partners as theirown, regardless of which institution provides it to the students. It is envisioned to augment thisarray of courses with yet a few more leading edge ones to be collaboratively developed to enrichthe elective and tailoring portion of the program.A committee consisting of two USA and two European graduate faculty will guide the studentthrough his/her program planning to maximize the

Conference Session

Innovation and Measuring Success in Graduate Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Glenda Scales, Virginia Tech; Shreya Kothaneth, Virginia Polytechnic and State University; Dale Pokorski, Virginia Tech; David Bailey, Virginia Tech; Catherine Amelink, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

classroom buildings have access to the wireless network. Oneobstacle that hindered some faculty members from using the TabletPC in class was thatsome of the older classrooms did not have enough power outlets for students to chargetheir TabletPCs. To overcome that, the College of Engineering plans to provide eachclassroom with a box of extension cords so that each student and faculty member willhave access to constant power.The Faculty Development Institute (FDI) at Virginia Tech University offers free trainingcourses to faculty members on how to use the TabletPC and its various functions. TheCollege of Engineering also provides additional support to faculty members who show aninterest in using TabletPCs in a classroom environment. The Instructional

Conference Session

Graduate Student Experience

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ana Torres-Ayala, University of South Florida; Daniel Bumblauskas, Iowa State University; Matthew Verleger, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

within the nationalorganization was unclear. To help clarify their role and interests, a survey of ASEE studentmember needs was conducted by the Student Constituent Committee (SCC). An invitation toparticipate in a web survey was sent to all student members of ASEE (N=635). Ninety-seven(15%) students responded to the invitation. Ninety-three percent of respondents were graduatestudents.This paper presents the aggregate results of all 97 respondents. It includes a profile of surveyparticipants, motivations for joining the ASEE, experiences with the ASEE, interests andsuggestions. Additionally, this paper will discuss the implications those results had on the SCCExecutive Board's immediate plans for the 2009-2010 year, as well as on the longer

Conference Session

Professional Graduate Education and Industry

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Brooks, Temple University; Naji Khoury, Temple University; Fernando Tovia, Philadelphia University; Tony Singh, Temple University; Hossein Rostami, Philadelphia University; Amithraj Amavasai, Temple University; Keerthi V. Takkalapelli, Temple University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

Creative group.Creative opportunities provided by the assignments given to the students: Throughout the coursecreativity was persued in the form of fourteen assignments. Once every week an assignment wasissued. In each assignment students were required to plan, design or optimize a trafficengineering component. The following traffic engineering components were selected during thecourse; volume adjustment, saturation flow adjustment, capacity analysis, level of service andsplit of green, amber and red times. Creativity comes from the need. Therefore creativity wasgenerated by creating the necessity for the students in each assignment. The necessity wasorganized in the form of restrictions and challenges. The restrictions created the challenges to

Conference Session

Methods, Techniques and New Programs in Graduate Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hetal Jasani, Northern Kentucky University; Traian Marius Truta, Northern Kentucky University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

courses encompasses the variety of the CIT discipline. There aremany specializations possible and we plan to offer our students the opportunity to customize thisprogram according to their needs. The choice of electives also recognizes the potential of varyingbackgrounds of students entering the program. Our electives emphasize several areas which arerecognized as the main components of the CIT discipline: security, networking, systemadministration, web technology, and databases. This program is designed to provide the requiredskill sets in many of the mentioned areas. It is through the electives that the interdisciplinarybreadth of the program is implemented. Courses in business informatics as well ascommunication are weighted just as heavily as

Conference Session

Educating Students for Professional Success

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andrea Burrows, The University of Cincinnati; Anant Kukreti, The University of Cincinnati; Mike Borowczak, The University of Cincinnati; Amr Safwat, The University of Cincinnati

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

AC 2010-2158: IMPROVING FUTURE FACULTY WITH GRADUATEENGINEERING EDUCATIONAndrea Burrows, The University of CincinnatiAnant Kukreti, The University of CincinnatiMike Borowczak, The University of CincinnatiAmr Safwat, The University of Cincinnati Page 15.696.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 Improving Future Faculty with Graduate Engineering EducationAbstractOne of the major missing links in today’s graduate engineering curriculum is the lack ofeffective preparation of students who plan on entering into academia upon graduation. Whileclasses exist to prepare future engineering faculty, these classes are often taught by currentfaculty members with limited breadth

Conference Session

Mentoring Graduate Students, Diversity, and Assessment

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adrienne Minerick, Mississippi State University; Rafael Hernandez, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

on research topic with input from advisors12) Technical meetings and presentations (Hernandez) a. DUE: Biographical sketch13) Proposition outline (Minerick) a. DUE: 2 page outline14) Style in writing proposals (Minerick) a. DUE: Motivation, Hypothesis (mark originality), and Literature (presuppositions) (> 4 pages)15) Intellectual Property (C. Rivenburgh)16) Experiment / simulation: Methods planning (Minerick prepare notes, Hernandez give lecture) a. DUE: Methods section matching revised proposal objectives (> 4 pages), Facilities17) Ph.D. / M.S. jobs in industry / National Labs - writing proposals in this atmosphere (Hernandez)18) Mentoring & educational efforts to compliment

Conference Session

Graduate Student Experience

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sunni Newton, Georgia Institute of Technology; Lydia Soleil, Georgia Institute of Technology; Tristan Utschig, Georgia Institute of Technology; Donna Llewellyn, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

integrated course design model from Fink’s “Creating Significant Learning Experiences”13was used to plan the courses and is integrated throughout all of the courses. Concepts from"Learner-Centered Teaching" by MaryAnn Weimer14are also integrated into the courses. Topics and content for the academic career options and academic job search panels andworkshops were selected in several ways. First, offerings by peer institutions with similarrankings were studied15. Next, the Graduate Career Consortium annual conference andcommunity provided ideas and insights. The courses and workshops on academiccommunication skills were developed prior to the Tech to Teaching programs by the GraduateCommunicate Coordinator at Georgia Tech, and these offerings

Conference Session

Professional Graduate Education and Industry

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephen Tricamo, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

approximately 1Mveterans in the New York /New Jersey metropolitan area who can further their education byattending community colleges, undergraduate four-year colleges or universities offeringadvanced degrees. While the number of veterans qualified for entry into graduate programs suchas MEP is relatively small, they too should have the advantage of learning skills that will preparethem for entering the workforce in areas that have a high demand for new employees.5. Tentative Curriculum The following tentative curriculum has been constructed for planning purposes and toprovide a more concrete outline of the type of courses that can be part of the first pilot programfor this degree. Since the exact courses will not be finalized until after the

Conference Session

Innovation and Measuring Success in Graduate Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joy Watson, University of South Carolina; Jed Lyons, University of South Carolina

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

determine where a change is needed andcommunicate it to team members and other stakeholders. The leader and his or her teamformulate a strategic plan to implement a vision, create metrics and enable the team to self-assesstheir progress1, 7, 8, 11, 15-17. During the implementation a leader deals with technological,economic, political and regulatory risks. He or she needs self-confidence and self-efficacygained through a depth and breadth of knowledge in addition to past experiences7.Leadership requires lifelong learning because the implementation of a vision often requiresknowledge or skills that the team, including the leader, may not possess7, 13, 18. The leader’s jobis to identify the skills that are lacking and find a way to acquire them. In

Conference Session

Mentoring Graduate Students, Diversity, and Assessment

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carla Purdy, University of Cincinnati

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

earlier. The biggest mismatch seems to bein understanding the importance of learning good proposal-writing skills and also inunderstanding the importance of managing one's career and learning the unwritten rulesof the institution where one is employed.Thus, although the survey is not yet complete, we already have some good pointers forhow to improve our program as we adjust to the changes in the UC Engineering academicstructure. We will need to add more panels to program, where faculty and students caninteract and where the importance of having five- or ten-year career plans is stressed.And we will probably start requiring attendance at UC's day-long grant-writing workshopfor all participants. More practice in teaching should also be easier to

Conference Session

Methods, Techniques and New Programs in Graduate Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Monica Cox, Purdue University; Cyndi Lynch, Purdue University; Jiabin Zhu, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Phillip Dunston, Purdue University; Audeen Fentiman, Purdue University; Pamella Shaw, Purdue University; Demetra Evangelou, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

Engineering and departmental research advisors will guidestudents toward acquiring their M.S. degrees and the possible pursuit of their Ph.D.s. Finally, PIsbuild and enhance scholarly communities and will develop strategies for sustaining the REACHScholars model within the College of Engineering and will work with support services and otherstaff and colleagues to provide professional development opportunities and mentoring Page 15.424.4relationships for Scholars.Recruitment Plan and Scholar SelectionThe REACH Scholars program collaborates with existing national recruitment efforts anduniversity initiatives to recruit the targeted populations

Conference Session

Educating Students for Professional Success

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Keith Schimmel, North Carolina A&T State University; Lucian Lucia, North Carolina State University; Jianzhong Lou, North Carolina A&T State University; Abolghasem Shahbazi, North Carolina A&T State University; Timothy Rials, University of Tennessee

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

inseveral components of its long-range strategic plans. This strategic plan identifies its ForestBiomaterials and Biotechnology Initiative (FBBI) as a key growth area in terms of both research andinstruction. NCSU has a number of Biomaterials courses that it regularly offers.1NCAT has over the past few years begun to focus upon the development of interdisciplinarygraduate programs and initiated this past fall within its interdisciplinary Energy andEnvironmental Systems graduate program a concentration in Sustainable Bio-products.2 Thisconcentration capitalizes on NCAT’s agriculture and engineering research strengths. TheBioSUCCEED initiative will help NCAT enhance its graduate course offerings in materials frombiomass and better educate a growing

Conference Session

Mentoring Graduate Students, Diversity, and Assessment

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa Frehill, Self employed consultant; Amanda Lain, Freelance Consultant; Catherine Didion, National Academy of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

engineering license, even if one plans to be a facultymember, can be an important credential. Therefore, at some point, in order to gain the workexperience necessary to sit for the second part of the professional engineering licensure exam,engineers interested in this credential need to spend a period of time outside academia.LiteratureThe literature is replete with anecdotal and more carefully gathered qualitative evidence of thesex gap in completion of graduate studies. In many cases, these accounts are often “buried”within larger treatises on leaving science7 or are included in extended legal briefs9. Institutionsthat train large numbers of graduate students like the University of California at Berkeley, forexample, have implemented policies that

Conference Session

Innovation and Measuring Success in Graduate Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Brooks, Temple University; Tony Singh, Temple University; Hossein Rostami, Philadelphia University; Fernando Tovia, Philadelphia University; Amithraj Amavasai, Temple University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

and healthy environment. Students are encouraged to choose at leastone concept to take up in their life. The authors have plans to measure the lifelong learningobjectives by conducting telephone surveys once every two years for the next several years.Results and DiscussionThe improvements of all the seven performance indices over the control group were determinedusing t tests11,12 as shown in Table 1. The improvements in all the indices were statisticallysignificant at an alpha value of 0.05. Among the seven indices, improvement in TAs evaluatingthe performance of the students, which the authors consider to be the most important among theindices, was ranked the highest. In this category, the control group had scored 61% on theaverage whereas

Conference Session

Mentoring Graduate Students, Diversity, and Assessment

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Monica Cox, Purdue University; Osman Cekic, Purdue University; Sara Branch, Purdue University; Rocio Chavela Guerra, Purdue University; James Cawthorne, Purdue University; Benjamin Ahn, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

-Pakistan). (2007, April 6). China to establish engineering university in Pakistan. Retrieved July 2007 from http://web.lexis-nexis.com. 8. Chakravorthy, G. & Sharma, S. (2007, June 22). India plans 30 new universities to improve education. Retrieved July 1, 2007, from http://www.bloomberg.com. 9. Hossler, D., Schmit, J., and Vesper, N. (1999). Going to College: How Social, Economic, and Educational Page 15.952.7 Factors Influence the Decisions Students Make. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press10. Bean, J. P. (1983). The Application of a Model of Turnover in Work Organizations to the Student

Conference Session

Graduate Student Experience

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Vaccari, Stevens Institute of Technology; Siva Thangam, Stevens Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

scholarly research, in which thesustained contributions and the scholarship of the doctoral degree recipients play a crucial role.Lacking a crystal ball, the academic vision and foresight of the thesis advisor is also seen to playan important role in the long term impact of the thesis.From the authors’ perspective, the use of a rubric is to be considered essential for evaluating theoutcomes of all doctoral theses. The authors plan to use the rubric for a variety of additionaldoctoral theses to validate and refine the approach.References:[1] ABET, Inc. http://www.abet.org[2] Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) Page