Conference Session

Educating Graduates in Engineering for a Flat World

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Mariasingam, University of Wisconsin - Madison; Thomas Smith, University of Wisconsin - Madison; Sandra Courter, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Tagged Divisions

International

Engineering Learning Center and a member of the Department of Engineering Professional Development, College of Engineering, University of Wisconsin – Madison. She teaches technical communication courses to undergraduate engineering students. As a member of the management team for the NSF Center for Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL), Courter is responsible with a multi-disciplinary team for developing and teaching a graduate course about teaching and learning; she piloted the course as an online web-conference during fall 2006. Courter is currently involved with an NSF grant (No. 0648267) related to "How People Learn Engineering

Conference Session

Collaborative & New Efforts in Engineering Education

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Fanyu Zeng, Indiana Wesleyan University

Tagged Divisions

International

curriculum for a college in China, toeliminate gaps between the curriculum and rapidly changing requirements by foreigncompanies in China, and to ultimately help Chinese students to be prepared for theirprofessional careers in the dynamic global economy.Research is carried out to first examine common characteristics of Chinese students inthis program in order to identify their strengths and weaknesses. The study recognizesChinese students’ strengths and particularly their success in mathematics and sciencebased on literature reviews on other’s work, personal experience interview andobservation. It also reveals an important finding that overemphasis on understanding andmemorization in mathematics and science in existing software engineering

Conference Session

Preparing Engineering Students for International Practice

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Aidoo, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Shannon Sexton, Rose Hulman Institute of Technology; James Hanson, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Kevin Sutterer, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Robert Houghtalen, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

International

necessary data.Despite the associated challenges, the benefits to the students are seen as immediate andprofound. To date, there is little or no information on assessing the short and long-term benefitsof such projects. In 2006-2007 academic year, five Rose-Hulman civil engineering studentsdesigned an agricultural training facility in Ghana as part of their capstone design project. At theend of the project, in the summer of 2007, the student team had the invaluable experience ofvisiting Ghana. While in Ghana, they presented their final design report to both the localengineer as well as the local community; the primary beneficiaries of the project. Additionally,the student team visited a university in Ghana to explore the feasibility of

Conference Session

Global Engineering Education Initiatives

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lauren Alexander, IAESTE United States; Cheryl Matherly, University of Tulsa; Mary Besterfield-Sacre, University of Pittsburgh; Larry Shuman, University of Pittsburgh

Tagged Divisions

International

Page 13.795.5report on a particular industry. Plus3 students also interact with local students, hear guestlectures from host universities and make several cultural visits while in the host country. Eachtrip is led by either an Engineering or Business faculty member accompanied by a support staff from Engineering, the College of Business Administration or the University Center for International Studies (UCIS). Plus3 aims to cultivate interest in foreign language study

Conference Session

Engineering Accreditation Around the World

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Deborah Wolfe, Engineers Canada; Phil Alexander, University of Windsor

Tagged Divisions

International

Page 13.1265.3examines the academic and professional quality of faculty and support staff, adequacy oflaboratories, libraries, equipment and computer facilities, and the quality of the students’ work.A qualitative and quantitative analysis of the curriculum content is performed to ensure that itmeets the minimum criteria. Finally, the team reports its findings to the CEAB which then makesan accreditation decision. It may grant (or extend) accreditation of a program for a period of upto six years or it may deny accreditation altogether.Preparation for an accreditation visit centres on the completion of the questionnaire. Thequestionnaire serves as a means for collecting data on the institution and its engineeringprogram(s) and gives the