Conference Session

Off the Beaten Path

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cynthia C. Fry, Baylor University; Kenneth W. Van Treuren, Baylor University

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

, Page 25.602.2 integrating oral and written communication into all facets of the discipline, and providing training in “soft skills” such as leadership, management, creative problem solving, etc.All the while schools are reducing the total number of hours in the engineering curriculum toallow the average student to graduate in four years. 5 Accomplishing all of this is an impressiveundertaking, considering the approach to educating engineers since the 1950s.6Add to this mix the desire of Baylor University to grow in its various research areas, and it isclear that unless emphasis continues to be on quality undergraduate teaching, the demands of theresearch paradigm – graduate resources, labs, facilities, students – will

Conference Session

Tricks of the Trade II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marcus L. Roberts, U.S. Air Force Academy; Randall Deppensmith, U.S. Air Force Academy; Ryan Jay Silva, U.S. Air Force Academy

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

paradigm and balancingtechnical syllabus content with real-world “soft” skills. It is not our intention to define theseobservations as “Tricks of the Trade” or “Best Practices,” although some recommendations aremade. Rather, our intent is that these 10 observations will open dialogue in other institutions anddepartments to collectively address these issues.IntroductionMany students anxiously begin each academic semester with apprehension as they wonder whatchallenges the next few months may hold. First time instructors may very well begin the sameway, wondering if they will excel or just survive the first semester. This paper provides the top10 observations from our first year experiences with a central focus on “what we wish we knewbefore we

Conference Session

Assessments, Assessments, and Assessments

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David B. Meredith, Pennsylvania State University, Fayette

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

remind them that they are allowed to think during the exam. Too many times it seems they are so anxiousto start punching numbers into their calculator that they forget to consider why they are doing the steps.Some topics are just not conducive to a timed test. When teaching Thermodynamics, students demonstrate theirability to accurately interpolate using the steam tables on the first test. After that, the hardest value to extract fromthe tables during a test might be to average between two tabled values. I see that they get plenty of interpolationpractice in their homework. But for their later tests, I want to see if they know what to do with the values, morethan if they can just determine them. Soft skills are better demonstrated through team