Conference Session

Liberal Education and Leadership

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Val Hawks, Brigham Young University; John Harb, Brigham Young University; Alan Parkinson, Brigham Young University; Spencer Magleby, Brigham Young University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

her technical skills, fired for poor peopleskills, and promoted for leadership and management skills.”7 The contemporary environmentrequires engineers to understand business processes, be able to contribute to cross-functionalteams and have “soft” skills in order to relate to peers, superiors and subordinates both in theoffice and across the globe. One engineering VP was quoted as saying, “We look for people whocan lead a team, someone who can get a small team-four to six people-motivated and a personwho can quickly learn which people are best at doing what. It’s hard enough to find a goodengineer; one who can lead a team and speak well in front of customers is really hard.” 8Engineering graduates themselves have noticed that they are not

Conference Session

Critical Thinking and Creative Arts

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Beth Todd, University of Alabama; Garry Warren, University of Alabama; Susan Burkett, University of Alabama; David Cordes, University of Alabama; Marcus Brown, University of Alabama

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

useful methods forteaching ethics, societal impact, and contemporary issues throughout the curriculum 8. A reviewdescribing creative methods for teaching and learning these skills are given by Shuman et al 9.Student focused e-learning courses 10 as well as ePortfolio approaches 11 have been useful forplacing responsibility of the student on communicating knowledge of the ABET outcomes thatare difficult to assess.Still others have attempted to address contemporary issues and other ABET outcomes bycreating soft skill modules that can be included in any course.12,13 When lumped with ethical andsocietal impact modules, assessment of the contemporary issue module showed that studentconfidence when dealing with these topics went from an average pre

Conference Session

Liberal Education and Leadership

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julia Williams, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Richard House, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Anneliese Watt, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

own teachingof communication to the intrinsic motivation of personal or departmental conviction. Manywould likely agree with a respondent who reported teaching communication “because it’s theright thing to do.” The stated reasons for this imperative vary, with some respondents citingcompetitive advantage for graduating job-seekers, while others report that they want toencourage reflection or critical thinking. One view is compatible with a distinction between“soft skills” and core engineering competencies; the other implies what one respondent termed a“symbiotic relationship” in which engineering and its communication practices are inextricablefrom one another.The account changes appreciably, though, when respondents describe motivations

Conference Session

Integrating H&SS in Engineering I

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donald Carpenter, Lawrence Technological University; Andrew Gerhart, Lawrence Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

. Page 11.768.21. IntroductionIn recent years, there has been a call to integrate more of the so-called “soft skills” into theengineering curriculum, including written and oral communication, time management,teamwork, and leadership1. To be a successful engineer, these skills have been found necessaryby engineering industry. Introducing core courses to the engineering curriculum (e.g.,humanities, history, social sciences, communication courses) has been effective in alleviating thelack of necessary “soft-skills.” Unfortunately, the classroom is not always the best place to learnand practice these skills. Therefore, innovative techniques and out-of-class learning experiencesare paramount to the engineering curriculum. They allow the student a

Conference Session

Redefining the Boundaries of Engineering and Liberal Education: Contributions to the Year of Dialogue

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Erin Cech, University of California-San Diego; Kara Boettcher, Montana State University; Heidi Sherick, Montana State University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

to remain in technical positions while working towards becoming experts within theircompanies14,15,16. Higher-level people on the technical career ladder often mentor, consult, andmanage other technical employees, all the while, gaining the monetary and emotional rewards ofmoving up in their careers. Though devised to maximize productivity and employee jobsatisfaction, the technical career ladder misleads employees to believe they can avoid developingnon-technical skills such as communication and managerial skills. In actuality, as engineersprogress through the technical career ladder, soft skills will still be required to effectivelymanage and mentor other technical employees and relay ideas to non-technical co-workers.These strictly

Conference Session

Normative Commitments and Public Engagement in Engineering

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gary Downey, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education