Conference Session

Writing and Communication II

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Luke Niiler; David Beams, University of Texas-Tyler

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

pronounced awareness of how writing works within a given discipline—not only as amethod of transmission, but a means of learning. There is some evidence, in effect, that thesophomores see in their writing a greater purpose than simply completing an assignment for agrade. The words “perceive,” “understand,” and “comprehend” crop up repeatedly: thesestudents are writing to learn, writing their way into the discipline of Engineering. The authorssuggest that this point marks the beginning of what may be “normal discourse” for these Page 11.694.8students, that is, “a conversation within a community of knowledgeable peers.” 18 Of course,there are those

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

youthink of when you think of the word knowledge?” Class discussion began with eliciting studentconcept associations with power, and student concept associations with knowledge. The resultsare shown in Table 1. Some students took notes on the brainstorming exercise in class and wrotedown some of their peers’ associations, driving up the counts for some concepts; it is interestingto note that no two forms were alike, because students chose to write down some terms and notothers. Perhaps this is a reflection on note-taking styles, or perhaps some students wrote downterms that particularly resonated with them. When asked to relate the two concepts, some relatedBacon’s statement that “Knowledge is Power” to their choice to pursue an engineering

Conference Session

Questions of Identity

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Ollis, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

and biomechanics(bicycle). My initial lab was utilized as a first year engineering course, conceived tointroduce new students to the devices which engineers have created, and thus to defineengineering early as an activity dominated by device design, fabrication, and repair,rather than by math , chemistry, and physics5. Having now incorporated devices from a range of engineering disciplines, a nextbroadening arose through collaboration with the English department to create a first yearcourse in reading and writing about technology, engineers and scientists, and history.The joint offering of device lab with the English instructor’s writing course allowed a yet

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

individually with hostfamilies provides the students with the opportunity to become fully immersed in the culture oftheir placement. These experiences expose the students to alternative, non-traditionaltechnologies that are based on fundamental science and engineering principles while enactingtangible and immediate impacts on improving the lives of those who use them. Such exposureallows students to recognize the far-reaching effects, positive and negative, of engineering andtechnology and thus the responsibilities of being an engineer in a global society. Upon return,students are required to write a formal technical report describing the work that they did, givetwo presentations to the campus community or other appropriate audience and write a

Conference Session

Engineering for Social Justice

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steven VanderLeest, Calvin College

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

fabricate tools, then we cannot afford to leave thisimportant human activity to a select group. Music is also an important element of our humanidentity, as Robert Fulghum noted: "Never forget that music is too important to be left entirelyin the hands of professionals." As it is for music, so it is for technology. To be fully human is toindulge the creative spirit, not only in art such as music, but also in engineering and design.Abraham Maslow, in describing his hierarchy of human needs, notes that human self-actualization requires that one act out one’s identity: "A musician must make music, an artistmust paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be,he must be."7To illustrate use norms, I will