Conference Session

Approaches to Learning Outcomes Assessment in Liberal Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kyle Oliver, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Traci Nathans-Kelly; Sandra Courter, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Laura Grossenbacher, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

“professionalskills”10. While this seems to be one of those cases where a scholarly consensus is at leastbeginning to form, we know that implementation of this best practice will take years at manyinstitutions. We’re relatively lucky at UW-Madison: At the December 2006 commencementceremony, our chancellor noted that an unprecedented number of our university’s graduates hadparticipated in service learning11. However, we are as yet far from making this opportunityavailable to all students. In a sense, then, the question we try to answer with this course and withthis paper is “What might we do in the meanwhile for those students who won’t have the chanceto do service learning before they graduate?”12Our answer is informed by a metaphor that environmental writer

Conference Session

Writing and Communication II: Practical Perspectives on Teaching and Assessment

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kathleen Jernquist, U.S. Coast Guard Academy; David Godfrey, U.S. Coast Guard Academy; Todd Taylor, U.S. Coast Guard Academy

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

Page 12.486.4first-year courses with a true engineering writing course. In addition, there is not roomelsewhere in the engineering curricula to insert such an independent writing course.In an effort to resolve some of these issues teaching technical writing to engineering students, theEngineering-writing center collaboration began with individual instructors. The Engineering-writing center collaboration is informed, in part, by research that supports the writing center asone among several sites, including academic departments, for effective Writing Across theCurriculum programs. The center’s practice allows mutually beneficial dialogue among faculty,tutors and writing program administrators.3The Cadet Writing and Reading CenterThe Cadet

Conference Session

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

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Grimson, Dublin Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

. To be equipped with the required skill set to solve the problem, ordesign and implement the system, a knowledge base is required. Having the required body ofknowledge, the engineer is equipped to implement or develop the design tools necessary toachieve the required outcomes for the project in hand. Through time, experience is gainedenabling knowledge to be refined which will further enhance system design capabilities.The engineering model described in Figure 1 depicts where activities which are philosophical innature are most to the fore10. Epistemology, indeed Logic, Ethics and Aesthetics are fundamentalto the creative design processes essential to good engineering practice. Knowledge inengineering, science and technology has grown through

Conference Session

Approaches to Learning Outcomes Assessment in Liberal Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steve Lappenbusch, University of Washington; Jennifer Turns, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

AC 2007-2010: WHAT PORTFOLIO CONSTRUCTION EFFORTS REVEALABOUT STUDENTS’ SEARCH FOR ENGINEERING IDENTITYSteve Lappenbusch, University of Washington Steve Lappenbusch is a Ph.D. student in the University of Washington Technical Communication department. His research assistant work investigates how to improve engineering learning. His dissertation topic is risk management in humanitarian relief communication systems.Jennifer Turns, University of Washington Jennifer Turns is an associate professor in the University of Washington Technical Communication department. Her research interests include user-centered design and engineering learning. Her National Science Foundation CAREER grant funds

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

technical community have called for systemic changes in engineeringeducation that include a shift to integrated and multidisciplinary approaches; an emphasis onunderstanding of societal impacts of engineering; increased teaming skills, includingcollaborative, active learning; and an improved capacity for life-long, self-directed learning.1,2,3This study focuses upon two of the critical skills listed above: self-directed learning andcontextual understanding.Calls for educational reform emphasize the need for new student-centered learning approachesthat aid development of broader skills and attitudes to complement traditional knowledgeacquisition.1,2 A capacity for self-direction and life-long learning is often identified as a criticaloutcome for

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

48.3% 42.1% 34.8% Men only Engineering Graduates 41.4% 35.6% 32.9%While job titles are the most obvious proxy for understanding work activities, there exists a greatdeal of variability in the types of day-to-day work that engages different people within the samejob title. Therefore, the second dimension of interest was engineering graduates’ primary jobresponsibilities. Respondents chose between a list of thirteen responsibilities and were asked tochoose the task that comprised the majority of their day-to-day work activities. Theresponsibilities were categorized as technical (basic research, applied research, development ofknowledge, design, computer applications, production, and quality management

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

another.7So how do we as engineering and technology educators, practically provide our students with aneducation that includes the approach fostered by a liberal education in addition to technicalcontent? How do we provide technical content and perspective for students pursuing a liberaleducation? Although there may be a myriad of approaches to the problem, an obvious tactic thatwould reach all students is to focus on the core curriculum (courses required of all students) andalso on courses required in the technical major. By focusing on these two elements of thecurriculum we have the potential to provide learning opportunities that can impact and broadenperspectives of both technical and non-technical students.Within curricula of the College of

Conference Session

Liberal Education Division Poster Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joanne Lax, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

AC 2007-2658: HELPING ENGINEERING STUDENTS WRITE EFFECTIVEEMAILJoanne Lax, Purdue University Ms. Lax is the communications specialist for the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. She is a graduate of Northwestern University (B.S.J., 1977; M.S.J., 1978) and Purdue University (M.A. 1994). She teaches graduate courses in academic writing and speaking for international engineering students. Page 12.800.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2007 Helping Engineering Students Write Effective EmailAbstractWith the widespread availability of text