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Why Industry Says That Engineering Graduates Have Poor Communication Skills: What the Literature Says

Conference Session: Why Industry Says that our Engineering Students Cannot Write
Collection: 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Authors: Jeffrey A. Donnell, Georgia Institute of Technology; Betsy M. Aller, Western Michigan University; Michael Alley, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; April A. Kedrowicz, University of Utah
Tagged Divisions: Liberal Education/Engineering & Society, Mechanical Engineering

deal of debugging. Gragson tells arepresentative story of a chemistry laboratory class that was modified in an effort to promotegeneral improvement in student writing skills by offering extended instruction on report writingand better writing feedback on graded reports.9 To meet these goals, the number of projectreports was reduced from 10 to 4, and the instructors created from scratch a writing manual foruse in the course. An elaborate peer-review process was also implemented, along with a systemfor assuring that students actually performed their peer-reviewing tasks. This paper judgesstudent performance to be satisfactory, but large questions remain open; student retention of thewriting lessons was not assessed in subsequent classes or in

Relevance Score: 1.244331

Revisiting Communication Experiences to Prepare for Professional Practice

Conference Session: Why Industry Says that our Engineering Students Cannot Write
Collection: 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Authors: Kathryn Mobrand, University of Washington; Jennifer A Turns, University of Washington
Tagged Divisions: Liberal Education/Engineering & Society, Mechanical Engineering

their future professional lives. The ways in whichstudents attended to these dimensions of communication varied greatly between students.Introduction Strong communication skills can really make an engineer stand out among their peers, especially since engineers are known for their expertise and creativity, but lack of communication skills. Engineers that can communicate well are better collaborators, and often get more opportunities to shine, since they are usually the team member that presents work.The above quote, taken from a student portfolio, shows a recognition of the empowering natureof effective communication.In this paper we report on an exploratory study aimed at discovering the ways in whichengineering

Relevance Score: 1.2439913

Overcoming the Challenges of Implementing Technical Communication in a Capstone Senior Design Course

Conference Session: Why Industry Says that our Engineering Students Cannot Write
Collection: 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Authors: Scott Duncan, Valparaiso University; Mark M. Budnik, Valparaiso University; Jeffrey Will, Valparaiso University; Peter E. Johnson, Valparaiso University; Shahin S. Nudehi, Valparaiso University
Tagged Divisions: Liberal Education/Engineering & Society, Mechanical Engineering

course, itis also critical that students receive individual feedback to assess and improve theircommunication skills. Similar to most Senior Design courses, the VU course emphasizes teamperformance, and it has been determined that team assignments can mask communicationdeficiencies of individual students. This is especially prevalent in the area of technical writing Page 22.1135.4where the faculty advisor may not know the author of each paper section. Therefore, it isimportant to provide communication feedback to both teams and individuals.Multiple techniques are used to improve the consistency of faculty technical communicationfeedback. First

Relevance Score: 1.2405268

Assessment of Soft-Skills-Program Learning Outcomes Using Engineering Courses

Conference Session: Student Learning and Assessment I
Collection: 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Authors: Thomas J. Vasko, Central Connecticut State University; Nidal Al-Masoud, Central Connecticut State University; Peter F. Baumann, Central Connecticut State University
Tagged Divisions: Mechanical Engineering

“soft skills” upon their graduation, with the former learning outcomes typicallyeasier to evaluate and assess than the latter. This paper presents rubrics and assessment methodsusing engineering courses for evaluating the soft-skills-program learning outcomes engagementin lifelong learning competencies, communication, and the impact of engineering solutions. Theassessment of the lifelong learning student outcome is addressed using results from a set ofsemester-long assignments in a fluid mechanics course. The recently developed and adoptedcourse, Engineering Technical Writing and Presentation, in which students learn to develop aneffective writing process for writing engineering documents in future courses and industry, isused in the assessment

Relevance Score: 0.02933376

Assessment of ABET Program Outcome J, "A Knowledge of Contemporary Issues"

Conference Session: Student Learning and Assessment I
Collection: 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Authors: Anca L. Sala, Baker College; Tom Spendlove, Baker College, Flint; James Riddell, Baker College, Flint
Tagged Divisions: Mechanical Engineering

. Students will have to select a topic they Page 22.252.3consider relevant, and write a short paper discussing this topic.c) Class Discussions.This assignment also serves the purpose of increasing student knowledge of contemporaryissues, through learning from peers, and discussing various points of view on the same issue.Students will each be given about five minutes to present the topic they chose for their WrittenAssignment to the class. In five minutes students will have to present the topic, answer questionsfrom classmates, and debate their point of view.d) Rubric.The rubric will be used to evaluate students’ answers to the Two-Question Survey

Relevance Score: 0.021023842

Study of a Teaching Practicum in an engineering Ph.D. Curriculum

Conference Session: Trends in Mechanical Engineering I
Collection: 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Authors: Wayne E. Whiteman, Georgia Institute of Technology; William J. Wepfer, Georgia Institute of Technology; Jeffrey A. Donnell, Georgia Institute of Technology
Tagged Divisions: Mechanical Engineering

Jeffrey Donnell holds a Ph.D. from Emory University. An instructor of writing since 1982, he has taught professional writing at both the graduate and undergraduate levels since 1987. Dr. Donnell now coordi- nates the Frank K. Webb Program in Professional Communication at Georgia Tech’s George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering Page 22.1349.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2011 Study of a Teaching Practicum in an engineering Ph.D. CurriculumAbstractThe Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech requires all

Relevance Score: 0.018437348

Using a Project-Based Learning Approach to Teach Mechanical Design to First-Year Engineering Students

Conference Session: Active and Project-Based Learning
Collection: 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Authors: Eric Constans, Rowan University; Jennifer Kadlowec, Rowan University
Tagged Divisions: Mechanical Engineering

traction with a race and “sumo” competition at the end ofthe semester. Each team was required to perform a full motion analysis of one “foot” of theirwalker using the techniques developed in class. This proved to be more difficult than expectedfor some: many teams used an eight-bar linkage similar to the “Strandbeest” of Theo Jansen. Page 22.1603.5 Figure 3: Student team with winning walkerConclusions and Lessons LearnedFirst, it must be stated that, in terms of student learning and satisfaction, the course was asuccess. The first-year students performed nearly as well as their third-year peers onexaminations and homework

Relevance Score: 0.015066566

Applying Knowledge from Educational Psychology and Cognitive Science to a First Course in Thermodynamics

Conference Session: Outstanding Contributions: Mechanical Engineering Education
Collection: 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Authors: Stephen R. Turns, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Peggy Noel Van Meter, Pennsyvlania State University
Tagged Divisions: Mechanical Engineering

statics.21 The organization of knowledge is constructed at the time of learning and can beinfluenced by instruction8 and study behaviors.13 In fact, studies comparing the knowledgeorganization of successful and struggling students in postsecondary classrooms shows that moresuccessful students’ express an organizational structure that more closely resembles that ofexperts than do their less successful peers (e.g., Refs. 22, 23). These differences have beenassociated with performance on classroom assessments24 and problem solving measures.2 Taken together, this body of research suggests that one way in which an instructor couldimprove students’ problem solving is by helping students to develop a well-organized knowledgebase and showing

Relevance Score: 0.01469348

Project-Based Service Learning and Student Motivation

Conference Session: Active and Project-Based Learning
Collection: 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Authors: Lauren A. Rockenbaugh, University of Colorado, Boulder; Daria A. Kotys-Schwartz, University of Colorado, Boulder; Derek T. Reamon, University of Colorado, Boulder
Tagged Divisions: Mechanical Engineering

agricultural tools for developingcommunities.MethodsA pre-project survey was piloted in February 2010 to determine a baseline for ComponentDesign students’ attitudes toward engineering as a practice and profession, attitudes towardservice-learning and community, sense of belonging in engineering and “seeing” themselves as Page 22.1192.6engineers, confidence in technical skills specific to Component Design and non-technical skillsincluding teamwork, communication, and technical writing. All of the students in the coursewere required to complete the survey for a portion of their homework grade. The 21-questionsurvey was administered halfway through the

Relevance Score: 0.013316462

Benefits of Mentoring Students in Design Competitions

Conference Session: Capstone Courses and Design Education
Collection: 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Authors: Scott F. Kiefer, York College of Pennsylvania; Craig W. Somerton, Michigan State University
Tagged Divisions: Mechanical Engineering

for the ASME Student Design Competition and was taught at a largeresearch university. The second group of students created a robot for the Trinity College FireFighting Robot Competition and was taught at a small undergraduate university.2. ASME Student Design Competition – Recyclable Material Sorter Each year, ASME holds Student Professional Development Conferences throughout theUnited States.2 These conferences are a way for students to connect with engineers andengineering students across the country, and offer various competitions for students to comparetheir best work with their peers. Competitions include technical writing, technical posterpresentations, and oral presentations, but one of the most exciting events is the annual

Relevance Score: 0.012683064

Development and Implementation of an Intermediate Design Course Using Active Learning

Conference Session: Active and Project-Based Learning
Collection: 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Authors: John S. Lamancusa, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Laura L. Pauley, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
Tagged Divisions: Mechanical Engineering

(including how tofire a team member), and member roles. Examples of previous contracts are provided on whichto build. The very act of writing a team contract forces students to think about potentialproblems and their consequences. The contract is their first line of defense and helps them dealwith many problems internally. Since we have instituted the contract, team problems requiringinstructor intervention seem to have decreased.It is critical to quickly identify team problems which might adversely impact the team’sperformance and which might require instructor intervention. However, students are extremelyhesitant to report team problems to the instructor because they do not want to get their peers “in-trouble”. The team situation must usually be

Relevance Score: 0.011523344

Vision 2030; Creating the Future of Mechanical Engineering Education

Conference Session: Trends in Mechanical Engineering II
Collection: 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Authors: Allan T. Kirkpatrick, Colorado State University; Scott Danielson, Arizona State University, Polytechnic campus; Robert O. Warrington, Michigan Technological University; Richard N. Smith, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Karen A. Thole, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; A. Kulacki, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; William J. Wepfer, Georgia Institute of Technology; Thomas Perry, P.E., American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Tagged Divisions: Mechanical Engineering

(faculty, space, andlaboratory) required with this approach. Many believe that their school’s senior capstone coursesdeliver project-based learning experiences. There was an interest in flexibility in the curriculum,so that students can take specialized courses such as entrepreneurship courses if they so desire.There was a stated need for text modules, not textbooks, to integrate innovative material into thetraditional courses. A recommendation was made to aggregate best practices from differentinstitutions to be shared among peers. Interestingly, department heads also mentioned that oneof the larger barriers to change within the curriculum and pedagogical approach is faculty.Another question was if the professional school model, similar to

Relevance Score: 0.011097681

Capstone Course: HVAC Systems Design at University of Wyoming

Conference Session: Thermodynamics, Fluids, and Heat Transfer II
Collection: 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Authors: Ahmed Cherif Megri, University of Wyoming
Tagged Divisions: Mechanical Engineering

instructors’ self-evaluation such that more direct assessment of students’ learning outcomes is obtained. A set of standards for instructor’s self-evaluation will be prepared by the faculty and the Board of Advisors and will be implemented with the annual assessment cycle. The main point of these standards is that the evaluation of students’ performance will based on samples of work in three categories of students: those in the upper 75 percentile, those in the 50 – 75 percentile and those below the 50 percentile populations. Thus the assessment results compiled are based on course performances and grades, exams, projects, presentations of students, and writings as required in some courses. Furthermore

Relevance Score: 0.009512298

Motivating Design and Analysis Skills Acquisition with the Infusion of Adapted Physical Activity Projects throughout a Mechanical Engineering Curriculum

Conference Session: Design Education
Collection: 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Authors: James M. Widmann, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; Brian P. Self, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; Lynne A. Slivovsky, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; J.Kevin Taylor, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Tagged Divisions: Mechanical Engineering

. Apply current industrial design practice and techniques such as DFX, FMEA and/or TQM to engineering design problems. 12. Construct and test prototype designs. 13. Develop and implement a design verification plan and report. 14. Communicate and present engineering design project results orally, graphically and in writing 15. Students will improve their ability to discuss and take a stand on open-ended topics involving engineering ethics and product liability 16. Discuss engineering professionalism and its responsibility to society 17. Understand the codes of ethics and their implications in engineering practiceWhile the students are engaged in designing adapted physical activity solutions to their