Conference Session

Professional Development and Lifelong Learning

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Serhiy Kovalchuk, University of Toronto; Mona Ghali, University of Toronto; Mike Klassen, University of Toronto; Doug Reeve P.Eng., University of Toronto; Robin Sacks, University of Toronto

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

experience; that many of them value extra-curriculars, and that academic credentials alone cannot explain success or failure in the labor market[8]. The study found that those who were unemployed had less professional work experience andlower levels of engagement in extra-curriculars than those who were employed.Third, internships, cooperatives (henceforth co-ops), and extra-curriculars help to make a successfultransition. Students in Stiwne and Jungert’s study believed that soft skills were better learnedthrough industry placements and extra-curriculars than through academic studies [3]. Industryplacements helped them to gain insights into workplace practice and values and to understand thedifferences between university and the working life

Conference Session

Design and Making

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marisa Exter, Purdue University; Iryna Ashby, Purdue University; Colin M. Gray, Purdue University; Denise McAllister Wilder NCIDQ, Purdue University; Terri S. Krause, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

“in service of” technological disciplines rather than being equally valued in aprogram that aimed for true transdisciplinarity. Another potential reason for this reaction amongfaculty relates to concerns about how humanities skills and knowledge are gained and assessed.It was clear that concrete, technical skills could be gained in skill-targeted experiences that maybe chunked and assessed in multiple, relatively easy to define ways. In contrast, the developmentof soft skills requires ongoing exposure and acquisition across multiple course and non-courseexperiences,42 which may create a somewhat subconscious assumption that the focus should beon the STEM-courses, while humanities can be more on a “situational” learning level (e.g., 43

Conference Session

Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: The Role of Engineering Education towards Attaining UN Sustainable Development Goals

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steven J. Burian, University of Utah; Mercedes Ward, University of Utah; Tariq Banuri, University of Utah; Sajjad Ahmad, University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Rasool Bux Mahar P.E., Mehran University, Pakistan; David Lawrence Stevenson, University of Utah; James A. VanDerslice, University of Utah; Kamran Ansari; Abdul Latif Qureshi

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering, Community Engagement Division, Liberal Education/Engineering & Society, Minorities in Engineering

 capacity building not only in terms of technical skills but also soft skills such as effective communication and management. Indeed, in order to achieve the SDGs, higher education must do more than train a high quality workforce; it must both prepare and inspire highly skilled individuals to be innovators—and most importantly, agents of change—in their  institutions  and  industries.  But  to  nourish  the  momentum  of  change  begun  through  its degree and research programs, higher education must be a catalyst for establishing a Community of  Practice by  stimulating  cooperation  among  academia,  business,  and  government,  including providing  opportunities  for  training  and  continuing  education  of  the  water  sector  and

Conference Session

Integrating Liberal Education and Engineering

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ravi T. Shankar, Florida Atlantic University; Diana Mitsova, Florida Atlantic University; Alka Sapat, Florida Atlantic University; David J. Terrell, Florida Atlantic University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

what-if case study-based curriculum): Hypothesis 1: Participation, identification, and development of multiple engineering and non-engineering solutions will help URM and women engineering students to enhance their engineering identity. This translates to: “The PFE skill score is significantly higher in the ‘studied’ group relative to the ‘non-studied’ group.” Hypothesis 2: Exploration of social issues will help improve sensitivity of engineering students to social issues. This translates to: “The T skills survey rank is significantly higher in the ‘studied’ group relative to the ‘non-studied’ group.” Hypothesis 3: Scaffolding of the engineering students will lead to significantly improved soft skills at the time of

Conference Session

Design and Making

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sarah Summers, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Renee D. Rogge, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

experts atchallenging students to develop excellent listening skills, cultural sensitivity, ethics, andempathy13,14. While engineering programs require students to take courses in the arts,humanities, and social sciences, students often compartmentalize these human-centric skills as“liberal arts” skills instead of weaving them into their technical expertise. There are numerousexamples of engineering programs or courses that have incorporated arts and humanities intodesign courses to encourage students to practice integrating human-centric skills with theirtechnical knowledge.15-17 A major challenge faced by this approach is that these courses are oftenseen as design courses and the “soft skills” offered by the arts and humanities faculty are just

Conference Session

Design and Making

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jewell Amanda Brey, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Danianne Mizzy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Richard Goldberg, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

best suit the individual projects.Working with and alongside each other, the students gain both hard and soft skills and have theopportunity to pursue interests outside of the classroom. The project encourages undergraduateparticipation to maximize facilities use for both personal and academic projects, and also buildsand amplifies the maker community.The general undergraduate population is the third tier that benefits from the completed projects.The campus-wide value of each project is demonstrated through capstone events to showcaseeach finished project. These large-scale, high-visibility capstone events are designed to inspireundergraduates to become involved in future projects and discover the potential of the makercommunity.Each project

Conference Session

Assessment and Liberal Education

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Caitlin Donahue Wylie, University of Virginia; Kathryn A. Neeley, University of Virginia; Toluwalogo Odumosu, University of Virginia

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

education can be made more relevant tosocietal needs in the new millennium” (Parrish in Ollis, Neeley, and Luegenbiehl, 2004, p. 15).While these goals provided the energy behind the vision of EC2000, there was no clear logicalbridge between the vision and the discrete outcomes, nor between the various outcomes. Another challenge was posed by the language of “soft skills” (vs. “hard skills”) and themental model underlying it. Some of the most tangible evidence of the progress achieved in thelast 15 years is that the language of “professional skills” has become pervasive if not universal inthe literature on engineering education. Although most conversations assume a distinctionbetween “technical” and “non-technical” (or professional skills

Conference Session

Innovation and Reflection

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Scott A. Newbolds P.E., Benedictine College; Patrick F. O'Malley, Benedictine College; Meredith Stoops, Benedictine College

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

critical reflections in engineering education effective in assessinglearning outcomes? During this investigation, two additional topics of relevance emerged: c)Factors that contribute to successful implementation of reflection and d) The recognition of theneed for further research on reflection.a) Critical Reflections and Achieving Learning OutcomesThe literature reviewed indicated that educators sought diverse learning outcomes through use ofreflection, with many focusing on the development of skills beyond strict technical abilities, suchas teamwork [9][10]. It is interesting to note, however, that reflection upon these “soft” skills ormore consistent reflection over the duration of the project was, in some cases, associated withresults linked

Conference Session

Integrating Liberal Education and Engineering

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mehmet Vurkac, Oregon Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

, … the testing of hypotheses, and … the risk of failure” (Ibid.). He givesexamples of art-class projects that are almost identical to undergraduate engineering challengeslike the concrete canoe.The existence of problem-solving in arts curricula is also attested to in Glass et al.’s 2013 articleon Universal Design for Learning24 which discusses the contributions of an arts education tosuch engineering-critical soft skills as “the ability to respond to variability”25, “finding patternsand connections, drawing inferences, … solving problems”26, and being able to generate amultitude of ideas27. These claims are echoed by Louisiana Tech’s Gullat who argues for the roleof an arts education in making students positively disposed to dealing with