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

AC 2008-1525: SERVICE-LEARNING PROJECTS IN 35 COREUNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING COURSESJohn Duffy, University of Massachusetts Lowell Professor, Mechanical EngineeringCarol Barry, University Massachusetts Lowell Associate Professor, Plastics EngineeringLinda Barrington, University of Massachusetts-Lowell Service-Learning Coordinator, College of EngineeringDavid Kazmer, University of Massachusetts-Lowell Professor, Plastics EngineeringWilliam Moeller, University of Massachusetts Lowell Professor Emeritus, Civil EngineeringCheryl West, University of Massachusetts Lowell Doctoral Student, Work Environment Department Page 13.1074.1© American

Conference Session

Learning to Communicate with Engineers and Non-Engineers

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Judith Norback, Georgia Institute of Technology; Nicoleta Serban, Georgia Institute of Technology; Nagi Gebraeel, Georgia Institute of Technology; Garlie Forehand, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

-2847AbstractAt Georgia Tech, instruction in communication has been incorporated into the introductorystatistics class for undergraduate engineers. Communication instruction focuses on presentationsto workforce professionals—clients, executives, and engineers. The communication instructionis based on interviews conducted with engineers, supervisors, and senior executives whosecompanies employ many engineers. Students worked in small project teams to formulatehypotheses about a set of data and to select the appropriate statistical method to evaluate the data.Student teams presented their projects at the end of the semester. In preparation for projectpresentation, students received workforce presentation instruction in class and in a WorkforceCommunication

Conference Session

Learning to Communicate with Engineers and Non-Engineers

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Laura Wilson, University of CIncinnati; Teresa Cook, University of Cincinnati; Jo Ann Thompson, University of Cincinnati; James Everly, University of Cincinnati

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

investigated the needs of a community, assembledinformation, developed and implemented technological projects, prepared business plans,presented their products to a professional audience, and wrote a final report. Sixty-percent ofthe grading rubric, depicted later in this paper, depended on interdisciplinary communication,oral presentations and report development, emphasizing the importance of writing and oral andvisual communication as a vital study and tool for effective application of technology. Each ofthese findings, presented as sections throughout the paper, had a part in creating a mid-level,writing-in-the-disciplines program at the University of Cincinnati’s College of AppliedScience.The sections include: • Building Relationships: Making

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

course such as this. The last twooutcomes were added from the LER perspective. It was expected that if the studentsbetter understood various types of learning styles and were explicitly aware of their own, Page 13.841.3they would have a deeper understanding of communications and team work.The course format was primarily discussion based on either class presentations orassigned readings. In-class and out-of-class projects were assigned, as was a reflectivejournal. Depending on the assignment, students worked individually, in pairs, or as ateam. A final take home exam was also assigned.Throughout the course, the instructors worked from the perspective that

Conference Session

Beyond Individual Ethics: Engineering in Context

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Byron Newberry, Baylor University; William Lawson, Texas Tech University; Kathy Austin, Texas Tech University; Greta Gorsuch, Texas Tech University; Thomas Darwin, University of Texas at Austin

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

. Gorsuch, Ed.D. Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics and Second Language Studies, Texas Tech UniversityThomas Darwin, University of Texas at Austin Thomas Darwin, Ph.D. Director, Professional Development & Community Engagement, The Graduate School, The University of Texas at Austin Page 13.372.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2008 Design of Web-based Professional Ethics Modules to Alleviate Acculturation Barriers for International Graduate Students in EngineeringAbstractThis paper reports on an ongoing National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored research andeducation project.1 In recent years

Conference Session

Thinking around the Bachelor of Arts in Engineering

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sharon Jones, Lafayette College

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

Technology, Union College’s Converging Technologies Program o Provides engineering courses for non-engineers in an effort to improve technological literacy.Multidisciplinary Engineering and Liberal Arts:• Project, research, and seminar courses that enroll multiple majors o E.g. Purdue University’s EPICS Program (project-based service-learning course with students of different majors), University of Maryland’s Gemstone Program (multidisciplinary four-year program for selected undergraduate honors students of all majors who design, direct and conduct research exploring the interdependence of science and technology with society as part of a living-learning community), Union College’s

Conference Session

Beyond Individual Ethics: Engineering in Context

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kristyn Masters, University of Wisconsin - Madison; Sarah Pfatteicher, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

An example problem You are working in a lab on a project that involves the use of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) – your research project is to study cellular differentiation in order to better understand and control its mechanisms. You are NIH-funded, meaning that you are constrained to using only the federally-approved hESC lines. Unfortunately, these cell lines are pretty much unusable, and being constrained to these unusable cells greatly inhibits your research progress, which also significantly hinders your ability to make research advances that will help sick people. You know that others in the lab next door are working with private funds on newer, more usable hESC lines. You doubt that

Conference Session

Learning to Communicate with Engineers and Non-Engineers

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paul Ross, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

glance at the professionals outside of engineering who do make good use of portfolios isuseful. These groups include such professional groups as Educators/Teachers, Consultants,Artists (and related areas), Entrepreneurs, Writers, and Communicators. In addition, numerousbusinesses have found that a portfolio of past projects for future clients is a useful contribution tocredibility. A web search on “portfolios” is useful as is a review of most Education departments,which usually require a teaching portfolio as part of the process of “teaching teachers.”Several warnings are relevant for professional portfolios – and these warnings are based onactual examples. A professional portfolio is NOT a scrapbook. The same level ofprofessionalism and best

Conference Session

Beyond Individual Ethics: Engineering in Context

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dean Nieusma, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

, instrumentalsystems are well suited to different kinds of political conditions, especially ones worthsustaining.”8 It is not a new method that is needed, but a whole new approach bridging“political, spatial, and technical dimensions” of design.9 Such inquiry is necessaryinterdisciplinary, since careful understanding of social worlds, technology, and their interactionsis required. Since technology-making is not an end in itself, “It must always be seen in thecontext of broader political debates, goals, projects, and struggles.”10Winner calls his proposed new discipline “political ergonomics,” and he builds a sketch of howpolitical ergonomics might be approached by drawing together the main strengths of threedistinct design traditions—engineering, statecraft

Conference Session

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

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Ollis, North Carolina State University; Anthony Smith, CPE-LYON FRANCE

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

calendar Twenty three foreign students, including four chemical engineers from our UScampus, and three others from Purdue, among a total of 20 US students, arrived on June6, 2007, and were housed in student dorms located near ECAM, one of the fourparticipating colleges in Lyon. The class calendar (Table 2) indicates parallel delivery ofFrench instruction (12 classes totaling 36 contact hours) and chemistry/engineeringlaboratory involving 57 contact hours ( 9 experiments in 13 labs of various lengths(usually 3 or 4 hours) and a final day long project of 7 hours).Table 2Program calendar Morning(3 hrs) Afternoon(4 hrs)_______________________________________________________________________Wed June 6 Arrive ECAM

Conference Session

A Century of Development, Promotion, and Reform: ASEE and Engineering Education

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carol Johnson, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

up this charge.In 1904 the founding associations, ASCE, ASME, AIME, IEEE, joined in a project to house theiroffices at a single location and combine their libraries in a single collection open to the public.Andrew Carnegie provided $1,050,000.00 for a library and office building in New York City.1Later the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) joined this group, forming theUnited Engineering Society. At first, each society maintained its own section of the library. Theearly library was a simple affair: if there were librarians, they had no offices in which to work sothey worked in the main reading room (Fig. 1).1 Page 13.1226.5

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

+5/-8% Individual Peer Evaluations Up to 1/3 of a final letter gradeLecture topics beyond the communication process included topics such as non-verbalcommunication, business and cultural etiquette, negative messages, data presentation, andconstructive feedback. Exams required students to demonstrate internalized understanding of thecommunication process and how it impacted and/or was impacted by the many other topicsdiscussed. Multiple email, agenda, mechanics, process, letter, presentation slide, and resumeassignments were made throughout the semester. Likewise, elevator speeches were requiredmultiple times with varying degrees of preparation allowed. Two formal group project papersand presentations were also

Conference Session

Beyond Individual Ethics: Engineering in Context

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donna Riley, Smith College

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

racist or colonialist projects? • What are the roles of technology, culture, and economic systems in the drive toward bigger, faster, cheaper, and more automated production of goods, and what are the consequences for human relationships and for the environment? • When technology provides means for control, for example in military, information, reproductive or environmental applications, what rights and responsibilities follow?These wide-reaching questions not only underlie all of what scientists and engineers undertake intheir work, but also require the active involvement of citizens outside of science and engineering.These are by no means representative or comprehensive of the full range of possible

Conference Session

Learning to Communicate with Engineers and Non-Engineers

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mieke Schuurman, Pennsylvania State University; Michael Alley, Pennsylvania State University; Melissa Marshall, Pennsylvania State University; Christopher Johnstone, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

Public Speaking Self-Efficacy of Engineering UndergraduatesAbstract This paper reports on how tailoring a speech communication course at The PennsylvaniaState University specifically for engineering undergraduates affected the public speaking self-efficacy of those students—a project partially funded by the Engineering InformationFoundation. This paper focuses on the following research question: Did engineering studentswho completed an engineering section feel more confident in their ability to communicateeffectively than engineering students who completed a regular section? Overall, students in the engineering sections increased their public speaking self-efficacyslightly more than students in the regular sections; this

Conference Session

Philosophy of Engineering Education: Epistemology and Ethics

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Heywood, Trinity College-Dublin

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

in elementary education there should be no attempt to help precision orgeneralisation. Those who inspired the philosophy for young children movement have shownyoung children are quite capable of precision and generalisation54 but in their own terms a viewthat is supported by the work of Bruner. Furthermore as Crynes argued at an FIE conferenceengineering educators have as much to learn from elementary education as engineeringeducators have to give to it.55Applied to Whitehead’s theory the project method that has long been employed in primaryschools is relevant to the stage of generalisation in university education just as it is to first yearuniversity courses where in some programmes design rather than engineering science is theirchief

Conference Session

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

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joe Tranquillo, Bucknell University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

lecture. Active learning can help reenergize a classroom.• By offering a variety of active learning, different learning styles may be targeted.Identifying Kinesthetic LearnersMarilee Sprenger has compiled a list of characteristics may help identify students whowill be most deeply impacted by kinesthetic activities:• Sit comfortably, slouching or fidgeting. Leans back in chair or taps pencils• Distracted by comfort variations such as temperature, light or movement• Accesses memories by recreating the movements associated with those memories• Says things like, “Can you give me a concrete example?”• Enjoy taking things apart and putting them back together again, working on projects• Don’t like to read manuals but rather like to “figure it out

Conference Session

Philosophy of Engineering Education: Epistemology and Ethics

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mark Valenzuela, University of Evansville; James Allen, University of Evansville; Brian Swenty, University of Evansville

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

democratic institutions and expanded human freedom and justice, and direct experience in addressing the needs of the larger community. • “Inquiry- and project-based learning: multiple opportunities to work, independently and Page 13.853.6 collaboratively, on projects that require the integration of knowledge with skills in analysis, discovery, problem solving, and communication.”In 2004 ASCE published its first attempt at defining the Civil Engineering Body of Knowledgefor the 21st Century.7 In this first edition (BOK1) ASCE defined 15 outcomes necessary in theeducation of a civil engineer, paralleling and also augmenting the

Conference Session

Philosophy of Engineering Education: Epistemology and Ethics

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gayle Ermer, Calvin College

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

asking questions about its future.”7Fortunately, engineering science gives us a great deal of understanding of the way things work,and we should be grateful that the vast majority of our modern engineering hypotheses turn out tobe true, but our limited creativity has contributed to disasters as well. Martin and Schinzinger, intheir widely used engineering ethics textbook, have a chapter on “Engineering as SocialExperimentation” that also emphasizes the point that engineering projects are generally “carriedout in partial ignorance.”8 The nature of engineering is to push the envelope. We are alwaysoperating at the edge of our ability to predict. This is intrinsic to the discipline (and part of whatmakes engineering fun), but it is also what makes