Conference Session

'Diversity' and Inclusion? Pedagogy, Experiences, Language and Performative Action

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Kathryn A. Neeley, University of Virginia

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

. --Oxford Mini Reference Dictionary and Thesaurus, p.172 The definitions above capture three important dimensions of the word “soft.” First, it isoften defined in the negative, as the absence or opposite of something. Second, it is vague in thesense that it means very different things in different contexts. Third, in most contexts, it isfundamentally disparaging. As a term used in engineering education, “soft skills” is filled withcontradictions and ambiguity. For example, the “hard” skills map easily onto recognizedacademic disciplines (mathematics, basic science, engineering), while the expertise thatconstitutes “soft” skills is difficult to locate in academic disciplines and departments. Still,whatever these “soft skills” are, they are

Conference Session

Engineering Communication II: Curricular Practices, Integrations, and Collaborations

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Mary M. McCall, University of Detroit Mercy; Nassif E. Rayess, University of Detroit Mercy

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

strongertechnical communication skills. In the early 2000s, engineering professional societies reportedunderdeveloped writing and presentation skills in entry-level job candidates while, at the sametime, stressing the time spent in a typical engineer’s day on communication tasks [1, 2]. At thesame time, ABET adopted new criteria for evaluating and accrediting engineering programs [3].The criteria focused on developing “soft skills” including teamwork, ethics, and effectivecommunication, among others. The importance of soft skills has only grown in the interveningyears. Among ABET’s student outcomes as listed in 2019-2020 is “an ability to apply written,oral, and graphical communication in broadly-defined technical and non-technical environments;and an

Conference Session

Sociotechnical Thinking II: Interpretation, Curricular Practices, and Structural Change

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Melissa C Kenny, Wake Forest University; Olga Pierrakos, Wake Forest University ; Monique O'Connell, Wake Forest University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

reports simply called for even more modernengineers.Figure 1: A visual depiction of new competencies needed by engineers upon review of theGrinter Report (1995) and the Vision of the Engineer of 2020 Reports (2004 and 2005).Even from an accreditation perspective, in 1997, ABET released Engineering Criteria 2000which made it clear that engineering education needed to include these global, societal,economic, and environmental mindsets in future engineers [4]. The incorporation of what arecommonly termed “soft skills” in engineering curriculum, including teamwork, communication,ethics, and social consciousness, were soon considered a necessity. Engineering coursework hadalready garnered a reputation as being content-heavy, so innovative and unique

Conference Session

Engineering Communication I: History and Praxis

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Marcy Bloom Milhomme, Pennsylvania State University; Michael Alley, Pennsylvania State University; Lori B. Miraldi, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

ofthe semester is an elevator pitch in which students highlight their technical skills learned incourses, projects, co-ops, and internships coalesced with essential and soft skills gained throughpart-time employment, clubs, and organizations. Students research a specific company and makea connection between their own experiences and the mission and values of the organization. Theelevator pitch is presented in a mock career fair format. Near the end of the semester, students again communicate firsthand experiences inengineering, but this time do so for the purpose of ambassadorship in a My COE Experience talk.Here, students talk about experiences gained in the College of Engineering such as researchopportunities, engineering clubs

Conference Session

Socially Responsible Engineering II: Pedagogy, Teamwork, and Student Experiences

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Michael D. Gross, Wake Forest University; Joseph Wiinikka-Lydon, Wake Forest University; Michael Lamb, Wake Forest University ; Olga Pierrakos, Wake Forest University ; Adetoun Yeaman, Wake Forest University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

the most widelyused assessments to measure team effectiveness in engineering courses, includes five categories:(1) “contributing to the team’s work”; (2) “interacting with teammates”; (3) “keeping the teamon track”; (4) “expecting quality”; and (5) “having relevant knowledge, skills, and abilities” [12].Others argue that sharing a common goal or purpose is also important for team members [13],[14]. These approaches align with describing teamwork as a performance skill, often referred toas a soft skill or a social skill [15], [16], [17], [18]. Regardless of the modifier, teamwork isapproached as a skill.At Wake Forest University, the Department of Engineering has partnered with the Program onLeadership and Character to infuse character

Conference Session

Social Justice: Pedagogy, Curricular Reform, and Activism

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Rachel Koh, Smith College; Jenn Stroud Rossmann, Lafayette College

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

“soft” skills, and the high social status resulting from the challenging and expensive trainingrequired for the position – may be related to the moral superiority associated with historicalpresentism. Presentism is a tendency to view now as the most progressive, advanced momentrelative to a primitive, morally technologically inferior past, and to judge those in the past bycontemporary standards, and to neglect consideration of history (e.g. [42]). Some scholars havefound political motives in presentism (e.g. as “implicit Cold Warriors who saw history, in part, asa vehicle in the fight against radicalism at home and abroad” in [43]).The rigidity of engineering education may also contribute to a pattern of systemic exclusion.Forbes, et al., [44

Conference Session

Ethics, Mindfulness, and Reform During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Shahrima Maharubin, Texas Tech University; Shamsul Arefeen, Texas Tech University; Ryan C. Campbell, Texas Tech University; Roman Taraban, Texas Tech University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society