Conference Session

Mentoring and Development of New Faculty

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Laurie Garton, Texas Engineering Experiment Station; Luisa Deckard, Texas Engineering Experiment Station

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

, can provide a significantboost to an early career faculty’s research program. However, these grants are highly competitiveand are generally more difficult to write than other research grant proposals, since they ofteninvolve a career development plan, an education plan, and other strategic components integratingresearch and education efforts, in addition to a solid and innovative research project. The TexasA&M University Office of Proposal Development and the Texas Engineering ExperimentStation Office of Strategic Research Development, both within the Texas A&M UniversitySystem, work together each year to present a seminar on how to write competitive proposals forgrants specifically for junior faculty. In addition, these offices

Conference Session

Mentoring and Development of New Faculty

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donna Llewellyn, Georgia Institute of Technology; Marion Usselman, Georgia Institute of Technology; Richard Millman, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

outreach plans to enhance this impact.Essentially, NSF promoted the ideas of scholarships of teaching and learning, engagement andservice by tying research (discovery) grant support directly to these criteria.Though the broader impacts criterion is still controversial in some arenas3, the CarnegieFoundation for the Advancement of Teaching, which categorizes higher education institutions,now has an elective category designating “Institutions of Engagement and Service”, and hasselected 195 colleges and universities for its Community Engagement Classification4, includingsuch research intensive universities as Duke, Purdue, and the University of Michigan.Educational and outreach initiatives developed through NSF grants also promote the type

Conference Session

Getting Started: Objectives, Rubrics, Evaluations, and Assessment

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kathy Schmidt, University of Texas, Austin; Mia Markey, University of Texas, Austin; Wonsoon Park, University of Texas, Austin

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

the manipulation of variables, creating aresearch design, measurement procedures, the use of interviews and questionnaires, and thestatistical analysis of data. For decades quantitative studies involving an experimental approachwith the researcher having control over variables that may or may not influence the subjects wasthe common approach. That trend, however, has not continued for many studies now employmixed methods and in fact some contend that “multi-method research is now discussed, planned,and conducted as a routine matter, part and parcel of normal social science.” 6Despite efforts to produce rigorous educational research, education and other social sciences tendnot to have the same scientific status given to natural sciences

Conference Session

Tricks of the Trade II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jerry Samples, University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

reminders come. Some faculty members think of teaching as a time wasterbecause a mere satisfactory in teaching, with lots of journal publications, is enough for tenure; sowhy worry. Bad, ineffective teaching can be a time waster since students will require more timeto gain an understanding of the material. Other “Wasted Time” includes meetings that aresuddenly scheduled that are “good” for us. Some department meetings, lectures, and colloquiawhere attendance is expected stand in the way of planned activities from the “Effective Time”category. These activities are then thought as time wasters. The inability to say no torequirements makes faculty feel that these are of no value especially when compared to researchand publication work. Other time

Conference Session

Getting Started: Objectives, Rubrics, Evaluations, and Assessment

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Zbigniew Prusak, Central Connecticut State University

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

degree of how a customer’s want is influenced by a technical characteristic. Moredetailed descriptions can be found in references 10-15. Prusak described use of QFD inassessment of course activities for learning outcomes in 5 sophomore, junior and senior coursesin Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology programs plus industrial co-op 15. Materials Processing classroom / lab Sophomore Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing classroom Junior/Sophomore Computer Aided Planning classroom / computer lab Junior Manuf. Process Planning and Estimating classroom / lab on occasion Senior Design for Manufacture classroom / lab on

Conference Session

Tricks of the Trade II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Edward Gehringer, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

., plans for homework assignments and/or labs, grading rubrics, solutions to homework assignment) in a timely manner. Some of these items may be developed jointly by the instructor and the TA. Page 14.1379.6 • Evaluation criteria. This is in effect a mini-rubric for grading the TA. Most likely, the department will be interested in an evaluation of the TA’s performance. By specifying inProceedings of the 2009 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition 5Copyright 1 2009, American Society for Engineering Education advance how the TA’s performance will be measured, the instructor

Conference Session

Tricks of the Trade I

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Seamus Freyne, Manhattan College; Micah Hale, University of Arkansas; Stephan Durham, University of Colorado, Denver

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

current students. They are savvy in themysterious and sometimes frightful ways of campus politics. Never miss a chance to receiveguidance from your colleagues. Walk down the hall every day and where you find an opendoorway, say hi. Plan regular activities with a few colleagues away from the office such as acasual morning run or a weekly lunch.Improve your teaching skills. Almost every university has various kinds of colloquiums. TheASCE supports a workshop called Excellence in Civil Engineering Education (ExCEEd), wherenew professors spend an intensive six days learning the latest teaching methods.10 Ask acolleague to attend one of your classes and provide some suggestions. Attend the lectures ofother good teachers, even those outside your

Conference Session

Been There, Done That: Advice for NEEs

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Murray, Missouri University of Science and Technology; Elizabeth Cudney, Missouri University of Science and Technology; Suzanna Long, Missouri University of Science and Technology; Katie Grantham Lough, Missouri University of Science and Technology

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

Mentor Characteristics1. My current mentor is what I want; he is easy to talk to, helps me address my weaknesses, and always helps me feel good about my abilities.2. Someone with personal experience in the area that I am working. Someone with time, patience, and understanding. Someone who realizes that if plan A doesn’t work, go for plan B and if that doesn’t work wing it – i.e., a person who is flexible and reasonable.3. He/she must be tenured (possibly more than once) so he/she can guide me towards tenure. He should have a strong research program first and foremost. If his/her research interests are close to mine that is a bonus but primarily I need guidance on how to start-up a program with everything else

Conference Session

Tricks of the Trade I

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary Anderson-Rowland, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

, left more time for student questions andinteractions; and limited course preparation time, when teaching courses for a second time ormore, to less than 1.5 hours of preparation for each hour of class.Based on this and additional research, the SUCCEED Coalition developed a model programdesigned to help new faculty in all aspects of their career, including effective teaching.1 Ateaching mentorship is part of their program. Ideally, the mentor and the mentee would co-teacha course with the mentor taking the lead on the course at first. The mentor and mentee meetbetween class periods to plan and to discuss the teaching in the last class. The mentee slowlytakes on the responsibilities of planning and teaching and making up and grading

Conference Session

Tricks of the Trade I

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jerry Samples, University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

of achieving goals. around when questions arise.Communication Continuous, on a schedule, On an exception basis or when weekly meetings, more frequent something needs to be done. during projects. Interchange of Information passed haphazardly – information early enough to allow sometime too late for proper action. adequate time for completion.Assignments Passed on early with sufficient Passed on with short suspense. details to allow student time and Student pressured – no plan to ability to get the project assist student with the project

Conference Session

Mentoring and Development of New Faculty

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Gumaer, Central Washington University

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

the position. It is important tokeep in mind that this is a two way street and the candidates are also evaluating the position,department, institution and community. Therefore, both parties should strive to make the bestpossible impression. An interview that is well planned, on time, allows the candidate todemonstrate his or her abilities, and provides the necessary position-related information is amajor element in a successful search.When contacting the candidate to extend a campus interview invitation, the following itemsshould be discussed: ≠ How interview travel expenses will be reimbursed ≠ Whether travel arrangements will be responsibility of candidate or host institution ≠ Scheduling a convenient time ≠ Describe the interview

Conference Session

Getting Started: Objectives, Rubrics, Evaluations, and Assessment

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Walter Schilling, MSOE

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

projects, and oral presentations1. Grading rubricsprovide advantages to both the student as well as the faculty member.From the student’s standpoint, rubrics offer many advantages. Students like the usage ofrubrics as they aid in determining the expectations for an assignment. Students also likerubrics for grading as they allow them to better plan their working, gearing theirdevelopment towards what is expected rather than overachieving on an assignment. Page 14.1338.2Overall, students feel that rubrics result in them delivering a higher quality submission aswell as receiving a fairer grade when the submission is assessed. Students like rubricsbecause

Conference Session

Tricks of the Trade II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tanya Kunberger, Florida Gulf Coast University

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

students to the implementation of PPF sheets incourses ranging from sophomore to senior level and class sizes from small (~15) to mid size(~50 representing the largest engineering courses at this university).Future evaluation is planned with regards to different students in the same course as well asfollowing cohorts through different courses to determine if 1) a larger number of students will Page 14.945.8find the use of PPFs valuable to their learning, 2) if students find PPFs valuable to their learningin various courses and 3) if PPFs can be as valuable on a weekly (or more) basis as on a lessonby lesson basis.Example PPF SheetThe PPF sheet

Conference Session

Been There, Done That: Advice for NEEs

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andrew Gerhart, Lawrence Technological University; Philip Gerhart, University of Evansville

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

, trustworthy information on successes (and failures) of the “other” institution can berelayed to university administrators, where the information can help formulate action plans. Ofcourse this should only occur when the two institutions are not strong competitors for the samestudent population or other resources.Because of the similar interests and background of a parent and child (or a properly matchedmentor and mentee), it is beneficial to become involved with similar professional societies andcommittees. Phil has dedicated many years to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers(ASME) Performance Test Codes (PTC) activity. Consequently, Phil encouraged Andy tovolunteer for an ASME PTC committee. The committee work turned out to be a worthwhile

Conference Session

Getting Started: Objectives, Rubrics, Evaluations, and Assessment

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Edward Gehringer, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

follow these myself. They assume that the instrument is an in- class paper-based evaluation. 1. Give evaluations at the start of class. That way there is incentive to write a lot of comments since the longer the evaluations take, the shorter class will be. 2. Give the class advance warning, and try to focus their attention. My standard rap goes something like this. "The College uses the information from evaluations in the reappointment and tenure process. It is one way that students have a voice in personnel decisions. I also find your comments to be very helpful as I plan changes to the next offering of this course. So I have two requests. First, when you are doing the evaluation, really read the

Conference Session

Tricks of the Trade II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Srikanth Tadepalli, University of Texas, Austin; Cameron Booth, University of Texas, Austin; Mitchell Pryor

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

associate procrastination with individual values and learning Page 14.589.4routines. They assert that people with planned daily tasks deal with procrastinationconstructively and better than unstructured individuals. Analyzing students' value orientationsand interpersonal relationships, the authors present statistical evidence of academicprocrastination levels and their dependence on motivational conflicts. They conclude that valueorientations and conflicts do affect procrastination levels in an academic setting. Akinsola andothers5 note a statistical correlation between procrastination levels and achievement inmathematics. The authors further deduce

Conference Session

Been There, Done That: Advice for NEEs

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Engelken, Arkansas State University

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

and government funding dried-up. Similar arguments could be made about environmental studies 7. Although alternative energy and the environment are important topics, it is not clear that new hybrid academic programs are always the best way to address the education about such. This trend has made it necessary for faculty, chairs, and deans to be flexible and non- territorial about their disciplines, faculty, and resources, and willing to submit to whatever hybridization mandate comes from above, regardless of the wisdom, cost, or viability. Such arrangements can be “win-win” for everyone, but they can also be boondoggles if not carefully assessed and planned with long-term viability rather than short-term