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

standpoint and providing incentive for the students to take the courseby receiving credit towards graduation. The course is focused on the three dimensions ofleadership outlined in the model described earlier. Integrity and ethics as the basics in thedevelopment of good leaders is core to the course purpose and the first topic addressed. Inaddition, time is spent on topics such as leadership theory, project management, team dynamics,development and leadership, and organizational culture. The third focus on the course in todiscuss leadership and ethics within the context of global challenges such as sustainability,security, energy production, etc.Focused and well-respected readings, video clips, studies pertinent to the topics and otheraccepted and

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

savvy, and deep-seatedcommitments to ethical practice. The visibility and positive reception of the National Academyof Engineering’s The Engineer of 2020: Visions of a New Century1 attests to the increasingimportance of this commitment. The purpose of this article is to examine the extent to whichsuch well-roundedness is reflected in the actual work that engages graduates of U.S. engineeringprograms.In undertaking this study, the authors expected to find evidence of graduates applying theirproblem-solving skills to non-technical arenas such as policy work, public service, or legislation.This hypothesis was introduced by The Engineer of 2020, and serves as an axiom within theASEE community. The authors ventured beyond The Engineer of 2020’s

Conference Session

Integrating H&SS in Engineering I

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donna Riley, Smith College; Lionel Claris, Smith College

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

field in western science, and of non-Western thermodynamic technologies • The ability to relate thermodynamic principles to everyday life • The ability to think critically about thermodynamics and engineering ethics • The ability to assess and direct their own learning, and to reflect on that process.Liberative pedagogies were employed in thermodynamics because of their emphasis on process,with attention to the establishment of a community of intentional learners, and buildingtransformative student-student and student-faculty relationships. The use of such pedagogies canaddress a series of contradictions in traditional engineering education that are implicitly at workwhen learning becomes detached from student experience

Conference Session

Liberal Education for 21st Century Engineering

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Grondin, Arizona State University; Chell Roberts, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

introduce Page 15.421.9 technology to rural African villages? • We require a course in critical inquiry for second semester students. The goal there is to have them develop a broad perspective on engineering and to begin the process of becoming a rational thinker instead of a rationalizer. • In the ethics area, we have a small module at the sophomore level that we are developing it in the context of a campus wide effort at having ethics education permeate the curriculum. Most of these students did not have an opportunity to take this module and it is not a formal degree requirement. • All of these would

Conference Session

Communication and Collaboration

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julie Sharp, Vanderbilt University; Marilyn Dyrud, Oregon Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

Pertaining to Engineering Education." She is also a member of the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication (past president and senior member), the National Council of Teachers of English, and the Association of Professional Communication Consultants.Marilyn Dyrud, Oregon Institute of Technology Marilyn A. Dyrud has taught in the Communication Department of Oregon Institute of Technology since 1983 and regularly teaches courses in technical and business writing, public speaking, rhetoric, and ethics. She is active in ASEE as a member of the ETD Board and compiler of the annual “Engineering Technology Education Bibliography.” A past chair of the Pacific

Conference Session

Liberal Education for 21st Century Engineering

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Betty Harper, Pennsylvania State University; Lisa Lattuca, Pennsylvania State University; Alexander Yin, Penn State University; Patrick Terenzini, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

skills neededfor work and citizenship in a globalized society (e.g., AACU17). Educators are also increasinglycalling on colleges and universities to integrate students’ learning across general education andthe major, recognizing that the goals of liberal and professional education are not only similar,but often overlapping.18,19 These complementary goals include, among others, communicationcompetence, critical thinking, contextual competence, ethics, leadership capacity, and motivationfor continued learning.18Today’s calls to improve both the major and general education focus on the need to preparestudents for lives as members of communities in a diverse, global, technologically and sociallydynamic world. In engineering education, the press for

Conference Session

Blurring the Boundary between Content Knowledge and Professional Knowledge

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Verna Fitzsimmons, Kent State University - Kent; Stephane Booth, Kent State University - Kent

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

, reflectivepractice, valuing diversity, ethical behavior, and civic responsibility. How can this beeffectively accomplished? How do we model for the students everything that is worthy inprofessional education as well as general education? One way is for faculty to see theirmission as one that converges. Application of this convergence needs to be modeled forthe students throughout their program of study in order for them to be able to makeconnections among professional education outcomes, general education outcomes andlife experience.Body of the PaperProfessional education (for example: engineering, architecture, nursing) is seeing ademand to increase the content and depth of knowledge as technology and the variousfields evolves. Thereby the number of

Conference Session

Engineering for Social Justice

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Charles Schreier, University of Dayton; Carl Eger, University of Dayton; Margaret Pinnell, University of Dayton

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

Opportunities of Service-learning (ETHOS)program at the University of Dayton (Dayton, Ohio) is founded on the belief that engineers aremore apt and capable to serve our world when they have experienced opportunities that increasetheir understanding of technology’s global linkage with values, culture, society, politics andeconomy. ETHOS seeks to provide these opportunities by means of curriculum integratedservice-learning programming. Such educational programming – classroom projects, studentorganization activities, collaborative research and international technical immersion – facilitatesholistic learning, ethical engineering practices, perspectives of technology integration andappropriate technology transfer. To appropriately measure the value

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary and Liberal Education

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hilkat Soysal, Frostburg State University; Oguz Soysal, Frostburg State University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

‚ Economical Basic ‚ Networks ‚ Political Sciences ‚ Processes ‚ Ethical ‚ EnvironmentalFigure 1 Block diagram illustrating the interaction of mathematics, basic sciences,technology, and society through social transformationThe course starts with a discussion of the scientific methodology. The maincharacteristics of sciences are explained and differences between science, non-science,and pseudo-science are discussed. The Planning Committee defined “scientificreasoning” as shown in the textbox

Conference Session

Innovative Courses/Pedagogies in Liberal Education II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paul Ross, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

. Oral presentation using PowerPoint summarizing accomplishment and significance of the completed project.#3 Academic Academic Argument Project Planning.Argument Formal Proposal for Argument Project. Continued development of relevant specialized second research tools.The space race Deliverable – a position paper: science, technology, and major social problems.“debates”#4 Group/team 1. Breadth of Knowledge – Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences, and Business.discussions 2. Best Practice and Ethics – focus on the NSPE Code of Ethics.Implications forspace explorationEnrichment Representative Lectures:Activities A Local Small

Conference Session

Writing and Communication I: Innovative Models for Curriculum and Assessment

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

April Kedrowicz, University of Utah

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

communication competence in a capstone course is inadequate.That is, in order for engineering students to be professionally as well as technically competent,they must be continually exposed to communication integration in the classroom throughout theirstudent career.The CLEAR (Communication, Leadership, Ethics, And Research) approach to improvingengineering education involves integrated and developmental communication instruction,through collaboration between the Colleges of Humanities and Engineering. The goal is toprepare engineering undergraduates to occupy positions of leadership in organizations throughimproving their oral and written communication, teamwork skills, and ethical understanding.This college-wide program is integrated, in that

Conference Session

Normative Commitments and Public Engagement in Engineering

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Juan Lucena, Colorado School of Mines; Jen Schneider, Colorado School of Mines; Jon Leydens, Colorado School of Mines

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

and philosophical exploration of the term under a NSF grant on HumanitarianEngineering Ethics (HEE). We learned about humanitarian medics and relief workers emerged inthe 19th century, became organized under the International Red Cross, played significant roles inWW II, but until the 1960s included no engineers. In short, the history of humanitarianism andthe histories of engineering for most of the 19th and 20th centuries are not connected. In thishistorical journey, we came across Doctors without Borders (MSF), perhaps the oldest and mostcomprehensive approach to humanitarian work by a profession. It became clear that the veryrecent Engineers Without Borders (EWB), and other similar organizations, found inspiration inMSF yet were doing

Conference Session

Liberal Education Division Poster Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daniel Walsh, California Polytechnic State University; Stacey Breitenbach, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

in a way limited by physical constraints, the otherlimited only by imagination.VisionThe vision for developing this new program was twofold, and grew from the challenges facingengineering education outlined above. There was a need perceived for educating a newgeneration of students whose educational preparation was unlike that of existing disciplines. Itwould vary from existing engineering programs, science programs and liberal arts programs, andprovide a hybrid that integrates ethics, societal issues, humanities and policy with science andengineering in a broader context. This was seen as a vehicle to address the issues of recruitment, Page

Conference Session

Liberal Education and Leadership

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James Hanson, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Julia Williams, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

system—were used by engineering programs to plancurricular changes and make improvements. The end of the cycle in 2007, however, only meantthe beginning of a new cycle of accreditation, and for many of us at Rose-Hulman, we saw thisas an opportunity to review the institute student learning outcomes and revise them to reflect newchallenges our graduates must meet as they move into the engineering workforce and to graduateschool. Some of the institute outcomes, like communication, teams, and ethics, remainedimportant outcomes to continue to assess, both for the purpose of our institutional focus and forprogram accreditation requirements. In addition, we saw new challenges for our students,reflected in important publications like Rising Above the

Conference Session

Innovative Courses/Pedagogies in Liberal Education II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

George Catalano, State University of New York, Binghamton

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

visionary—that his ideas are as important today as when he wrote them; others say his views are outdated and no longer apply to 21st-century conditions. Where do you stand and on which ideas in particular? ≠ Most economists and politicians believe that our consumption-based society has created unprecedented wealth in the West and, therefore, justifies a degree of inequality. How does Schumacher view consumption-based economies? What kind of alternative system or reforms does he propose? ≠ Some of the book's insights are aimed at the scientific community, with Schumacher asserting that scientists are incapable of ethical decision-making regarding the direction of their research. Consider his arguments in

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary and Liberal Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Martello, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering; Jonathan Stolk, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

Paul Revere in the Science Lab: Integrating Humanities and Engineering Pedagogies to Develop Skills in Contextual Understanding and Self-Directed LearningAbstractABET, ASEE, and the wider engineering community have long acknowledged the potentialbenefits of interdisciplinary education, including the opportunity to develop non-technical skillssuch as communication and teamwork while cultivating a broader awareness of the ethical,societal, historical, and environmental impacts of engineering work. Instructors haveencountered many challenges in planning and implementing integrated courses, such as thedifficulty of coordinating the teaching methods, content, and learning objectives of differentacademic disciplines in a finite and

Conference Session

Learning to Communicate with Engineers and Non-Engineers

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Leslie Potter, Iowa State University; John Jackman, Iowa State University; K. Jo Min, Iowa State University; Matthew Search, Iowa State University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

outcomes can be divided into “engineering” skillsand “professional” skills, with professional skills including not only communication, butteamwork, ethics, professionalism, engineering solutions in a global and societal context,lifelong learning, and a knowledge of contemporary issues.2 ABET prioritized these professionalskills as relatively equal in importance to those of technical competence in its Criteria forAccrediting Programs, and in doing so, made it possible for engineering programs to not onlyrecognize the importance of professional skills, but to teach them to their students. ABET’sdecision to formalize this priority reflects what industry has been emphasizing in its recruitingand advising for many years. Companies such as IBM and

Conference Session

Innovative Courses/Pedagogies in Liberal Education I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kyle Simmons, University of Utah; Susan Sample, University of Utah; April Kedrowicz, University of Utah

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

assessing and developing oral presentation skills.Susan Sample, University of Utah Susan Sample is a doctoral student in communication and rhetoric at the University of Utah. In the CLEAR Program, she is a writing consultant to the Department of Mechanical Engineering, where her responsibilities include providing instruction in and evaluation of written communication to students in introductory courses, in addition to consulting with teaching assistants in various lab courses. She served for many years as editor of the University's Health Sciences Report magazine and continues as a program associate in the Division of Medical Ethics and Humanities at the University of Utah School of Medicine. Sample

Conference Session

Integrating H&SS in Engineering II

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

M. Pinar Menguc, University of Kentucky; Ellie Hawes, University of Kentucky; Jane Jensen, University of Kentucky; Ingrid St. Omer, University of Kentucky

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

“foundations” course of the“Nanotechnology Track” of the Honors Program. The second course focuses on the “Artand Science of Small,” whereas in the third course we explore social, cultural, ethical,socioeconomic, financial, and industrial implications of technology, all intertwined withengineering dreams.The overall objective of HON101B was to give a larger-than-life philosophy ofengineering to our freshmen students. Having a course designed around nanotechnologywas quite effective for that purpose. Indeed, the course attracted more than just theengineering freshmen, as we had many students from physics, biology, and chemistry aswell as from anthropology and physical therapy. In keeping with the Honors Program, thesequence of courses is writing

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

: “program changes wouldreshape students’ educational experiences inside and outside the classroom, which would in turnenhance student learning.” 1Engineering communication was positioned to receive particular benefit from the replacement ofthe old ABET criteria, which had largely evaluated engineering curricula by the total coursehours devoted to distinct subject areas. That system had enforced a firm distinction betweentechnical curriculum and instruction in the humanities and social sciences—offering noparticular credit for instruction that successfully bridged the divide between liberal education andprofessional engineering practice. ABET’s system did recognize the existence of professionallyrelevant non-technical subjects—naming “ethical

Conference Session

Liberal Education for 21st Century Engineering

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Heywood, Trinity College Dublin

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

- “broadly educated, seethemselves as global citizens, can lead in public service, as well as in research,development and design, are ethical and inclusive of all segments of society. Theattributes include strong analytic skills, creativity, ingenuity, professionalism andleadership.” 8 For the committee that produced the report the issue was - “how can weensure that the engineering profession and engineering education adopt a collective visionincluding these aspirations and encouraging creation of an environment that promotesthose attribute and aspirations in the future.”9 Williams and others argue that this cannotbe accomplished without considerable curriculum reform

Conference Session

Liberal Education Division Poster Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carole Goodson, University of Houston; Susan Miertschin, University of Houston; Barbara Stewart, University of Houston; Luces Faulkenberry, University of Houston; Curtis Johnson, University of Houston

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

innovation will continue to be rapidand the world in which technology will be deployed will be “intensely globally interconnected”.The population of users of technology will grow increasingly diverse and multidisciplinary. Insuch a world educators should consider as desirable attributes of technologists (in addition totheir ability to understand technology) the following: • analytical skills, • practical ingenuity, • communication skills, • an understanding of business, • high ethical standards, and • personal character that exhibits dynamism, agility, resilience, and flexibility.6In Our Students Best Work: A Framework of Accountability Worthy of Our Mission, theAssociation of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) Board reports that in

Conference Session

Liberal Education for 21st Century Engineering

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cherrice Traver, Union College; J. Douglas Klein, Union College

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

between engineers andnon-engineers. Carol Christ, President of Smith College, has noted that the rise of Area Studiesin the humanities and social sciences has arisen out of the growing awareness that for people tounderstand a region, like Asia, Latin America, or (especially during the Cold War), Russia, “theyneeded the tools of multiple disciplines – history, political science, economics, sociology.”6On a more dramatic note, authors ranging from Eric Drexler7 to Bill Joy8 to Braden Allenby9have noted the profound social and ethical challenges of a possible merging humanity withtechnology, and the need for dialog between technologists and humanists.Engineering education, guided by ABET’s Criteria 2000,10 increasingly stresses breadth in

Conference Session

Normative Commitments and Public Engagement in Engineering

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gary Downey, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

in. I found I had a better understanding of the infrastructures in urban Denver and their social ramification than those in remote tribal areas of India and other parts of the developing world. I also found myself relieved to be back in the realm of applied research in sustainable development, as the dynamics of donors, benefactors, beneficiaries and their varying agendas in international service projects had caused me to lose much sleep over their ethical ramifications. For Anu Ramaswami (University of Colorado Denver), coming to the United States wasnot the “dramatic culture shock” that leaving the country was for the American-born participants.The United States “in all its complexity” provided an opportunity to pursue

Conference Session

Questions of Identity

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Ollis, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

recreation. The personal context connectseasily, since the current student generation is probably more surrounded and immersed intechnology than any predecessor. This need for connection, or bridging, using context is not new, of course.Florman’s first book, Engineering and the Liberal Arts, argues for the bridge analogy tocreate specific linkages to arts9. Thus, history of technology is a bridge to history, ethics abridge to philosophy, and sound a bridge to music. The intrigue and pleasure of exploringa “liberal education” I opportunistically pursued with the arrival of the ABET EC 200criteria, which attempt to spell out not only the technical but the interpersonal andpersonal attributes of a modern engineer. A survey program organized in

Conference Session

Innovative Courses/Pedagogies in Liberal Education II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Katherine Wikoff, Milwaukee School of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

thatcalligraphy class he was interested in? (As a first-semester freshman, Steve Jobs was nota computer science major, by the way.) We should hope so, but as engineering programsare under pressure to demonstrate that their students have knowledge of contemporaryissues, have an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility, have an ability towork within political/economic/social constraints, etc., the question that needs to beanswered is: Where does calligraphy fit into ABET’s Criterion 3(a-k) outcomes?Jobs ended his story by reiterating: Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in

Conference Session

Tree-huggers, Diggers, and Queers--Oh my!

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Erin Cech, University of California, San Diego; Tom Waidzunas, University of California, San Diego

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

, 7Professionalization is the process by which students learn and adapt to this culture, contend withuncertainty, and begin to understanding the ethical responsibilities of a professional.7, 8, 9Professional cultures inculcate numerous norms and assumptions, producing mental habits inprofessionals that become taken for granted.10 Through the rituals of coursework, internships,and informal interactions, students become professionals as they adapt to this professionalculture and learn what it means to be a capable engineer.5, 7, 8, 11, 12 The longer they spend in theinitiation process, the more firmly impressed upon the students are the values of the profession.13,14 If the socialization process fosters a culture in which certain groups of people are favored

Conference Session

Venturing Out: Service Learning, Study Abroad, and Criterion H

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Duffy, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Carol Barry, University Massachusetts Lowell; Linda Barrington, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; David Kazmer, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; William Moeller, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Cheryl West, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

the Town of Dunstable’s wells. These projects were facilitated by a member of Dunstable’s Board of Health (which oversees water quality in the wells).• Students in various engineering statistics courses have performed statistical analyses of a survey data for the SLICE project and have analyzed crime data for the Lowell Police Department as well as health data from medical clinics in which the students have installed raiods, lights, vaccine fridges, and town water supplies.• In Engineering Ethics, which is required for engineering students, students have examined a number of issues related to Peruvian villages associated with the Peru Project. These issues included whether to provide solar-powered television systems, opportunities

Conference Session

Tree-huggers, Diggers, and Queers--Oh my!

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dean Nieusma, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

Conference Session

Critical Thinking and Creative Arts

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Helen Donis-Keller, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

Global Century (2007), acknowledges theneeds for all college students to prepare for twenty-first-century challenges by gaining fouressential learning outcomes: 1) knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world,focused by engagement with big questions, both contemporary and enduring 2) intellectual andpractical skills, including inquiry and analysis, critical and creative thinking, written and oralcommunication, 3) personal and social responsibility, including foundations and skills forlifelong learning, ethical reasoning and action, intercultural knowledge and competence and 4)integrative learning, including synthesis and advanced accomplishment across general andspecialized studies. For Engineering students in particular