Conference Session

Computers in Education Division - General Technical Session 1

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jacob P. Moore, Virginia Tech; Michel Paul Pascale; Christopher B. Williams, Virginia Tech; Chris North, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

for Engineering Education, 2013 TRANSLATING EDUCATIONAL THEORY INTO EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE: A CASE STUDY OF THE ADAPTIVE MAP PROJECTAbstractIn this paper, the authors describe the development of an instructional software, wheredevelopers engaged in the process of translating educational theory into a cyber-learning tool,and the challenges encountered in evaluating its usability and effectiveness of the tool as alearning aid. Specifically, the authors reflect on their experience in creating the “Adaptive Map”– an instructional software designed to help students gain conceptual understanding of largestores of content information. This concept map -based system explicitly shows how discreteconcepts are linked to the whole of the course with

Conference Session

iSTEM

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David R. Heil, David Heil & Associates, Inc.; Greg Pearson, National Academy of Engineering; Susan E. Burger, David Heil & Associates, Inc.

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

 governing  the  organization  publishing  the  report,  findings  and  recommendations  from  unpublished  reports  cannot  be  made  public.    If  the  report  has  been  published  by  the   Page 23.1279.2time  of  the  June  ASEE  annual  conference,  presentation  of  this  paper  will  be  updated  to  reflect  the  report’s  findings  and  recommendations.    educational programs under a single, recognizable moniker. For the first few years followingNSF’s original usage of STEM, the acronym was used most frequently by

Conference Session

Thermodynamics

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nihad Dukhan, University of Detroit Mercy; Mark Schumack, University of Detroit Mercy

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

extent onstudents’ self-efficacy and the degree of collaboration among peers. In problem-basedenvironments, learners practice higher order cognitive skills (analysis, synthesis and evaluation),and constantly engage in reflective thinking.49 Students using problem-based learning can havea varied level of guidance form their instructors ranging from no to moderate guidance. If theguidance level is too low in problem-based learning, heavy cognitive loads may result during thelearning process. Lape10 presented tiered scaffolding techniques to bridge the gaps in high-cognitive-load problem-based learning in thermodynamics.Alvarado44 described a problem-based activity in which students were asked to design anexperiment based on a thermodynamics device

Conference Session

Teaching and Assessing Sustainability and Life Long Learning

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jeffrey C. Evans P.E., Bucknell University; Michelle Oswald Beiler P.E., Bucknell University; Akmal S Daniyarov; Christopher Adam Kulish

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

reflect the most rigorous andaccepted rating systems being used at the current time. Another future opportunity involvesexpanding the modules to include additional innovative topics within civil engineering. As newglobal risks arise, the field of civil engineering will adapt and reflect the needs of society.Therefore, new lesson module topics such as “Engineering for Climate Change” or “Eco-engineering” can be developed to further promote the shifting demands of civil engineering.Exposing secondary students to these innovative concepts can stimulate and prepare the nextgeneration of civil engineers. Future work also includes revised assessment of outcomes,particularly for the Sustainability module.AKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe support of the National

Conference Session

Curriculum and Program Developments, Exchanges, Collaborations, and Partnerships

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eileen Walz, University of Illinois; Keilin Jahnke, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Russell Korte, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; J. Bruce Elliott-Litchfield, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Judith A Sunderman, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Valeri Werpetinski, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Laura D Hahn, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Tagged Divisions

International

, communication, personalgrowth, project management, community-based development, and interculturalawareness. These areas of development were discovered through analysis of student reflections,interviews, and discussions of students who had traveled with Engineers Without Borders toCameroon, Guatemala, Haiti, and Nigeria. The learning objectives for each area of developmentwere written in reference to the six learning domains outlined in Bloom’s Taxonomy.By publishing these objectives we wish to further encourage a participatory approach from boththe academic and non-academic communities at large. This compilation of objectives andpotential applications can guide others as they prepare students for international engineeringwork.IntroductionInternational

Conference Session

Tablets, Mobile and Technology

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steven Chingnam Goh, University of Southern Queensland; Linda Ann Galligan, University of Southern Queensland; Harry Ku, University of Southern Queensland

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Page 23.1373.10 Fig. 6. The recorded lectures are audible and the video is clear. 9Results in Fig. 7 clearly indicate that the majority of students prefer the option of viewingrecorded lectures offline. We believe that the results reflect the fact that a large portion ofexternal student cohorts at USQ are working professionals, who are busy with their

Conference Session

Engineering Identity 2

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John C. Chen, California Polytechnic State University; Susan M Lord, University of San Diego; Karen J McGaughey, Cal Poly State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

was formed from the following sets of questions: Page 23.521.4 Goal setting: Questions 1, 6, 7, 9, 14 Applying appropriate knowledge and skills: Questions 5, 10, 12 Engaging in self-direction and self-reflection: Questions 8, 13 Locating information: Question 11 Adapting learning strategies to different conditions: Questions 2, 3, 4Circle your answers to these questions using these guidelines for 1 to 5. 1-Strongly agree 2-Agree 3-Neutral 4-Disagree 5-Strongly Disagree1. I prefer to have others plan my learning 1 2

Conference Session

General Topics in Graduate Education

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

A. Mark Doggett, Western Kentucky University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

It is imperative that distance-learning faculty know thelearning preferences of their students and their familiarity with various instructional methods sothat curricula can be designed effectively. Effective online courses are those that engage thelearner while reflecting the instructor’s personality through the content.5 The intent being toutilize the appropriate method and format for instruction provided the instructional goalfacilitates its use.The design of an online course greatly affects its quality. In addition, the role of an online facultymember changes from lecturer to facilitator. Proper media selection for the content of an onlinecourse can either help or hinder the facilitation process, particularly the critical student-to

Conference Session

Design Pedagogy and Curriculum 2

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy F. Wheeler, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Mary Lynn Brannon, Pennsylvania State University, University Park

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

Constructing Self-Efficacy Scales”, chapter 14 in F. Pajares, T. Urban, editors, Self-Efficacy Beliefs of Adolescence; Information Age Publishing, Inc., USA, 2006, pp. 307-337.5. D.Chachra, F.Olin, D.Kilgore, H.Loshbaugh, J.McCain, H.Chen, “Being and Becoming: Gender and IdentityFormation of Engineering Students”; 2008 American Society for Engineering Education 2008 conference paper;Austin, TX .6. J.Zubizaretta, The Learning Portfolio, Reflective Practice for Student Learning, chapter 4 “ElectronicLearning Portfolios” Columbia College, Anker Publishing Company, Inc. , Boston, MA, 2004.7. J.Dixon, “Focus Group Facilitation Guidelines”, adapted from the Centre for Higher Education Quality,Monash University 2005. Accessed from the internet, January, 3

Conference Session

Mathematics Division Technical Session 3

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kathleen A Harper, The Ohio State University; Gregory Richard Baker, Ohio State University; Deborah M. Grzybowski, The Ohio State University

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

task group to frame the problem.SampleThe survey was developed and distributed using the college’s on-line Qualtrix system. All of thecollege’s approximately 275 departmental teaching faculty (professors, clinical faculty, andlecturers) were requested to take the survey. These instructors are distributed over 11instructional units. The survey was available for approximately 3 weeks near the end of theautumn 2012 semester. Two reminders were sent during this time. The resulting response ratewas 77 (28%), and the responses reflect a fairly representative sample of departments and jobtitles.Tables 1 and 2 depict the distributions of the sample with respect to department and job title

Conference Session

...by Design

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Pat Ko, University of Texas, Austin; Stephanie Baker Peacock, The University of Texas - Austin; Taylor Martin, Utah State University; Jennifer Rudolph; Noel Hector Ramos, Department of Defense Dependent Schools

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

, Brown, & Cocking, 2000). Adaptive experts (Hatano & Inagaki, 1986), onthe other hand, are able to think more fluidly and solve problems that they are unfamiliar with(often called “novel problems” in the AE literature), as well as the typical problems in their field.Frequently, adaptive experts actively seek new contexts, reflect on their own understanding, andconsider multiple viewpoints (Bransford et al., 2000; Wineburg, 1998).Engineering can be thought of as the creative application of fundamental principles to solve aproblem given limited resources. Because engineers may be required to solve a different problemunder different limitations each on project, engineering students need to strive to be adaptiveexperts, and engineering

Conference Session

NSF Grantees' Poster Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ying Tang, Rowan University; Sachin Shetty, Tennessee State University; Kauser Jahan, Rowan University; John P Henry, Sustainable Learning Systems; S. Keith Hargrove, Tennessee State University; Talbot Bielefeldt, International Society for Technology in Education

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

. Theirimpact on student learning was also partially reflected in student responses to other open-endedquestions. For instance, students were able to provide important justifications when prompted todiscuss energy sources with an advocate of a particular approach, such as “You have to factor inthe cost, the power it supplies, and the effectiveness over X amount of years.” “The best way toselect an energy source is to focus on being environmentally friendly first. Then find the mostcost effective that will produce enough energy for your needs.” Students also commented on themost important things they learned through the game such as “The most important thing that Ilearned was to be environmentally friendly rather than being the most cost and energy

Conference Session

Tricks of the Trade II

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sean Moseley, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

study and referenceScreencasts can be used to provide guided analysis practice. In analysis-heavy classes (where theapplication of a few governing principles or equations to many situations make up the bulk of thecontent), screencasts showing the instructor working all the way through problems can be auseful resource for students who need extra guidance. There are many different ways ofpresenting this guided analysis.Some students spend all their time in class furiously taking notes as accurately as possible. Theymay not have time to reflect on what they’re writing or to absorb the concepts. The inherenttime-disadvantage of lecture can be overcome by a screencast because of its repeatability.Posting a screencast of an example problem discussed

Conference Session

Collaborative Projects in Architectural Engineering Education

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sinead MacNamara, Syracuse University; Robert A. Svetz, Syracuse University

Tagged Divisions

Architectural

massing of their on site to begin theabstraction needed for simple computer modeling, and noted key building span andequipment dimensions for drafting to scale.While documenting, students were cautioned to think carefully about what exactly theywere photographing. The aim was not just to document but also to reflect on the degree towhich these elements are visible or hidden, carefully integrated or artlessly stuck on, andlocated by an architectural vision or an engineering necessity, or even both. Studentsrarely show such structure and mechanical elements in studio designs, and yet they mustbe present in any real building. It is our hope that as the students leave our lecture courseson structures and building technology they will begin to take

Conference Session

Teaching - Best Practices

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Merwan B Mehta, East Carolina University; Mark Angolia, Indiana State University

Tagged Divisions

Manufacturing

implemented in a holistic fashionthroughout a company under top management leadership.We have also observed that the mindset in industry of keeping product, manufacturing,and quality initiatives separate and mutually exclusive is also reflected in academia,where manufacturing engineering and manufacturing engineering technology programs atuniversities in the U.S. teach product design ideas, manufacturing practices and qualityconcepts as independent notions. This hampers students’ ability to make the strongconnection between these concepts that is necessary if they are to lead companies whichwill use these best practices as strategic tools for their business operations to realizequantum improvements in their processes and productivity.In this paper

Conference Session

Issues in Engineering Technology Education

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Niaz Latif, Purdue University Calumet ; Mohammad A. Zahraee, Purdue University, Calumet (Tech); Joy L Colwell, Purdue University, Calumet (Tech)

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

assessing the impact of the degree, and determining where potential students were andwhat their master’s degree education might prepare them for, the program looked at the growthrate (employment projections) of the various employment opportunities related to the MS inTechnology degree. The information below reflects current information on employment trends,and differs from the employment trends as originally evaluated in support of the degree in 2006-2007. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), occupations in the master’s degreeeducation category are expected to grow the fastest, about 22% (2010-2020 projected).4 StandardOccupational Classifications (SOC) 11-3051 reported that for Industrial Production Managers,the job outlook for 2010

Conference Session

Mechanical Engineering (ME) Poster Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sanjay Jayaram, Saint Louis University, Parks College of Eng.

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

!! • Students identify, find, and use appropriate resources (this and previous point are usually “staged” or “progressively disclosed”) • Students work in permanent groups • Learning is active, integrated, cumulative, and connected Page 23.698.6Figure (3) shows the generalized PBL process Problem Description Present solution to Idea Generation – problem and Reflection What do we know? Assumptions Integrate information

Conference Session

Thermal Sciences

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Evan C. Lemley, University of Central Oklahoma; Baha Jassemnejad, University of Central Oklahoma; Eric Judd EIT, University of Central Oklahoma; Brock Philip Ring; Andrew Wayne Henderson, University of Central Oklahoma; Grant M Armstrong

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

%) -18% (80%)Improvements occurred in the areas of properties, mass conservation, and energy conservation. A slightdrop occurred in the second law conceptual understanding and a larger drop in understanding of work. Inthe case of work, the students averaged an 80% initially and it makes up a small number of questions.Qualitative observations were that as reflected in Table 2, students worked more on homework and in amore much more timely fashion than observed in the past. The one-on-one interactions helped better dealwith issues in problem-solving, including the issue of how students approached problems. This appearsto be indicated in the improvement in the Final Exam scores. In addition, the instructor interactions toenhance student performance

Conference Session

Student Enrollment, Attendance, Retention, and Graduation in Engineering Technology Programs

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christina R Scherrer, Southern Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

sharing their experiences validated their desire to complete a degree inengineering technology, a similar opportunity may help students who are wavering more in theirdesire to complete their degree.AcknowledgementsThe outreach studied in this paper was funded by the National Science Foundation Broadening ParticipationResearch Initiation Grants in Engineering (BRIGE) Award #0927095. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions orrecommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of theNational Science Foundation.Many thanks to the undergraduate students and alumni who have worked so hard on this outreach project and whowere willing to share their insights: Juan Fleming, Jennifer Henry, Yassaman

Conference Session

Trends and Applications in Curricula and the Capstone Experience

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daniel M. Dulaski PE, Northeastern University

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

the final product.One other question that is informative is their view of the project requirements. Of theresponses, 34.8% of the responses were “nearly” identical, and 52.2% of the practitionersthought that the capstone project requirements were “similar”. Combining the “nearly identical”and “similar” responses results in 87% of the practitioners viewing the project as emulating their“real-world” experience.This response provides valuable insight to the program. Only 13% didn’t view their experienceas “real-world”. Since one of the objectives is to provide an experience that is as “real-world” aspossible, it is beneficial to know that the class reflects one of the objectives. Due to the structureof the course, a significant amount of time is

Conference Session

Laboratory Experiences in Electronics and Circuits

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jodi Reeves, National University; Bhaskar Sinha, National University; Mohammad N Amin, National University; Arthur Strum Davis

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

. The final parameter analyzed was the mean GPA; thisincreased from 2.57 to 3.03, an 18% improvement. Overall, these were significant improvementsover the classes that did not use these hands-on Multisim projects.Instructors also reflected on their use of Multisim in these classes, “I have taught Digital LogicDesign courses without labs, with labs using hardware (breadboard, ICs, resistors, etc.), and withlabs using Multisim simulator. I find Multisim to be extremely useful and it has helped me inteaching complex topics with quick hands-on examples. This has enabled me to cover conceptualtopics in more depth and, usually, more topics quickly. Student response has been very positiveand their assessment of learning has improved significantly

Conference Session

Design in Engineering Education (DEED) Engineering Poster Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mohamed E. El-Sayed, Kettering University; Jacqueline A. El-Sayed, Kettering University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

to manufacturing optimization. As part of a five member mul- tidisciplinary team, she and her colleagues developed a successful undergraduate course on sustainable design and manufacturing using new pedagogy for both face-to-face and on-line environments, spon- sored by NSF funding. Currently, she supervises Kettering University’s renowned Co-operative Educa- tion Department, Center for Culminating Undergraduate Experiences, Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning, Academic Success Center, Office of the Registrar and Library as well as the First Year Expe- rience, Supplemental Instruction and Integrated Reflective Learning Program. Previously, she has worked in industry, state and local government

Conference Session

K-12 Professional Development I

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kenneth Reid, Ohio Northern University; Tyler J Hertenstein, Ohio Northern University; Morgan Sperry; Debra Kay Gallagher, Ohio Northern University; Stacy McClelland

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

and point across. Watching and interactingwith the teachers was my favorite part because I got to see how they approached each step of thelesson and how they interpreted the activity.” Her comments during a reflection period held onthe last evening in the Dominican demonstrated that she appreciated a crucial concept in Page 23.816.8international aid: we must NOT approach these activities as “Americans coming to the rescue.”“One suggestion is next time instead of us doing all the teaching I think the teachers at theworkshop should have a lesson plan that we as a group can take back and use in the classroom.”This statement showed an

Conference Session

Study Abroad, International Experience, Exchange Programs and Student Retention

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Manfred J Hampe, Technische Universität Darmstadt; Jan Helge Bøhn, Virginia Tech; David J. Dixon, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

Tagged Divisions

International

theentire class. Only one of the American students was allowed tobe on the presentation team. A panel of judges, consisting ofengineering professors and industrial engineers, was also in theaudience. After one week of hard work, the student teams wereable to present an array of surprising solutions, and a winningteam was identified. The winning team was presented an award of a chance to race on theHemsbach Superkart track, where Sebastian Vettel, the current world Formula 1 champion,learned racing. The week concluded with catered sandwiches and a time for teams, tutors,industrial engineers, and faculty to mingle and reflect on the past week.The American engineering education experiences at both Virgina Tech and SDSMT areevaluated by ABET. The

Conference Session

NSF Grantees' Poster Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kathleen Meehan, Virginia Tech; Justin Adam Cartwright, Virginia Tech

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Page 23.842.2issues. The experimental skills in circuits and electronics of many graduate students are stilldeveloping and not all of the graduate students in the GTA pool are interested in the subjectmatter. This lack of experience and interest is much more difficult to overcome, yet is quicklysensed by the undergraduates taking the course who will reflect this in their comments on thequality of instruction at the end of the semester. Thus, the selection of the instructor for thelectures has been a critical factor to the successful introduction of guided self-learning inexperimental techniques using LiaB.Development of online circuits laboratory course for on-campus studentsMotivation: While a physical lecture was also incorporated in the

Conference Session

Tricks of the Trade I

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kimberly Grau Talley P.E., Texas State University - San Marcos

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

guest speaker to return prior to the first due date in order to assist the students in producing qualityFigure 1: Still from an Animated Powerpoint Video videos.Lessons LearnedA few of the lessons learned that the author would like to share with other considering the use ofstudent projects to generate video content to flip their course: Page 23.869.4 • Graduate students are not necessarily great at writing pre- post- quiz questions. The questions that they generated tended to be: too easy, confusing, or reflected the poor English skills of my international student

Conference Session

Mathematics Division Technical Session 1

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jenna Tague, Ohio State University; Jennifer Czocher, Ohio State University; Gregory Richard Baker, Ohio State University; Amanda Roble, Ohio State University

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

formore procedural examples rather than only the conceptual ones given during class.The differences in lecture execution (Figure 4) can be traced to technology issues. At times, wehad trouble with internet connectivity or microphone issues. For example, in weeks associatedwith surveys 5 and 10, we had both of these issues. Beyond connectivity and hardware issues,the transactional cost for setting up the technology at the beginning of each class was large. Evenwhen we were able to save the necessary technology settings to the university computer, 3programs needed to be started, a microphone needed to be attached, and files off a jump driveneeded to be downloaded. We continue to troubleshoot and reflect on if our technology choices

Conference Session

CEED - Technical Session 1

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Craig J. Gunn, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

Cooperative & Experiential Education

readers of student text is the flat dull quality that comes from much of thetext that is produced by students. This quality reflects a lack of flow in the wording, a conditionsimilar to reading a list that indicates no apparent connection among the various parts of the list.This lack of connection makes a reader quickly begin to wander, sometimes becoming lost inpersonal thoughts far from the actual text. The three items that may help improve all student text area focus on outlines, a review of simple paragraphing with topic sentences and supportinginformation, and an overview of the transitions that can be placed in a piece of writing to make thetext flow. These relatively easy elements in writing can make a great difference in the quality of

Conference Session

CIP Division Technical Session 2

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Abdullah I. Almhaidib, King Saud University

Tagged Divisions

College Industry Partnerships

objectives of College of Engineering asfollows [4]: 1. Provide excellent academic programs that best reflect the current needs and requirements of the profession. 2. Recruit, nurture and retain outstanding students 3. Recruit, nurture and retain outstanding faculty. 4. Empower the College’s research 5. Establish a strong outreach and external business collaborations with industry, government and other entities in the society. 6. Establish and maintain effective and efficient support services, facilities, and infrastructureCollege of Engineering Partnership with IndustryThe College plays an important role in consultation and research activities as applied to localindustries. In fact, the College considers industry as a

Conference Session

Innovative Teaching in Architectural Engineering

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James P. Mwangi P.E., California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Tagged Divisions

Architectural

, one hasto ask some basic questions about the future engineers such as: (1) who are they, (2) what theywill do and where will they do it, (3) why will they do it, and (4) what this implies forengineering education in the United States and elsewhere4. Dunlap5 reported that problem basedlearning (PBL) may help students to experience success, improving their confidence to engage insimilar activities in the future and empowering them to pursue challenges in field. By engagingstudents in learning and problem solving activities that reflect the true nature and requirements ofthe workplace, PBL may help students feel prepared to work effectively in their field. Educatorsseek to provide learning environment that prepares students for life as