Conference Session

FPD VI: Presenting "All the Best" of the First-year Programs Division

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

S. Scott Moor, Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

materials and learning spaces that stimulate serious play. Page 25.845.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2012 Introducing Memo Writing and a Design Process with a Four-Week Simulator ProjectIntroductionFirst-year engineering courses often include design projects to help spark students’ interest andto introduce them to the broad range of issues engineers face. These projects introduce studentsto the many “soft skills” required of an engineer including judgment, idea generation,communication, planning and organization.This range of skills is difficult

Conference Session

Study Abroad, International Exchange Programs, and Student Engagements

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Clifton B. Farnsworth, Brigham Young University; Mark Owen Lords, Brigham Young University; Brian Charles Capt, Brigham Youmg University

Tagged Divisions

International

both knowledge and value, may be likely to hold differentperspectives than they do, and may be likely to bring these different perspectives to bear inprocesses of problem definition and problem solution.”6 These examples represent a growingsentiment about the importance of student awareness of globalization and seem to imply the needfor actual student international experience.Engineering and technology programs that have already established regular internationalopportunities for their students report that there are great benefits to be obtained from theseexperiences. Spodek et al. report that study abroad experiences were important for helpingstudent develop the “soft” skills such as flexibility, appreciation for diversity, open-mindedness

Conference Session

Information Literacy in Context: Enabling Real World Problem Solving

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Fosmire, Purdue University, West Lafayette; David F. Radcliffe, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

creative act than is captured in more analytical“problem solving,” even where this is understood to include problem identification andformulation.2 More recently the term “design thinking”3 has caught hold as way to encapsulate themany cognitive and social dimensions of what is involved in the act of design in the context ofnew product development, with an emphasis on user-centered design.In the educational process, design projects provide an opportunity to integrate and apply contentknowledge, but perhaps more importantly, practice using the professional skills, often erroneouslyreferred to as ‘soft skills’ that are key to success according to the Engineer of 2020 report.4 Therole of information in design has been investigated by many groups over

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

Active Learning and Demonstrations in Materials Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adam J. Kardos, University of Colorado, Denver; Stephan A. Durham, University of Colorado, Denver; Wesley E. Marshall, University of Colorado, Denver

Tagged Divisions

Materials

as having not only the technical skills, but thecommunication, teamwork, leadership, innovation and initiative. Jonassen and Strobel (2006)commented how practicing engineers are employed and rewarded for solving problems andwonder why we do not teach students in the same fashion. One such way of exposing students toproblem solving and problem solving skills was through problem-based learning. Problem-basedlearning programs use integrated and interdisciplinary problems that involve a high degree ofcollaboration. Hasna (2008) discussed how using problem-based learning in engineering designcourses allowed students to be more independent learners. Hasna further explains that problem-based learning helps with students learning the “soft skills

Conference Session

Approaches to Teaching Ethics

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael H.G. Hoffmann, Georgia Institute as Technology; Jason Borenstein, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

.  Assessing alternatives in terms of consequences, public defensibility, institutional barriers, etc.  Engaging in reasoned dialogue or negotiations.  Revising options, plans, or actions.This list highlights the complexity of the issues that engineers confront. An engineer‘s actionscan have effects on stakeholders whose existence, perspectives, and values she does notnecessarily see. An engineer does not always directly interact with the people whose livesare being altered as result of her decisions. Obviously, engineering students need to refinetheir technical competence. But it is crucially important that they develop ―soft skills‖ aswell [3]. Among these skills is the ability to identify hidden ethical challenges.Ill-Structured

Conference Session

Interdisciplinary Experiences and Assessment in Environmental Engineering

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angela R. Bielefeldt, University of Colorado, Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

CapstoneCourse, with Assessment Tools to Satisfy ABET “Soft Skills”. National Capstone Design Conference, Boulder,CO. 4 pgs.8. Dekker, D., S. Sundarrao, R. Dubey. 2010. Sustainability and Commercialization of Capstone Projects. NationalCapstone Design Conference, Boulder, CO. 4 pgs.9. Kruse, G. W. Thomas. 2010. A Capstone Couse Sequence in Information Technology. National Capstone DesignConference, Boulder, CO. 4 pgs.10. Rios-Gutierrez, F

Conference Session

NSF Grantees' Poster Session

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Raymundo Arroyave, Texas A&M University; Miladin Radovic, Texas A&M University; Jefferey E. Froyd, Texas A&M University

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

STEM instructor must evolve beyond informationtransmission. In recent years, “the need to modify current paradigms, to reinforce not only thetechnical level of the instruction, but also to improve so-called soft skills, such as communicationskills, teamwork, leadership and so forth” 14 has been reinforced numerous times. Engineeringgraduates need development in creative thinking and problem-solving. In addition to an increasein the abilities and skills of the students, it is necessary to increase students’ interest in scienceand technology. All this is required while at the same time emphasizing the need for students tobe able to graduate in four years 14. This impressive list cannot be achieved in any single course.However, it is possible to

Conference Session

Relevance of and Models for Community Engagement in Engineering Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan McCahan, University of Toronto; Holly K. Ault, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Edmund Tsang, Western Michigan University; Mark R. Henderson, Arizona State University, Polytechnic; Spencer P. Magleby, Brigham Young University; Annie Soisson, Tufts University

Tagged Divisions

Community Engagement Division

. IntroductionLearning through Service (LTS) is a rapidly growing pedagogy in engineering education. Theimplementation of LTS programs has been, in part, a reaction to a paradigm shift that has takenplace in undergraduate engineering education; the rebalancing of the development ofprofessional skills (sometimes called “soft” skills) in addition to technical skills. This shift waslargely a response to the 1994 report of the Engineering Deans’ Council and the CorporateRoundtable of the American Society for Engineering Education1, and also to the NationalAcademy of Engineering’s The Engineer of 2020.2 The 1994 Green Report1 asks engineeringeducators to “reexamine their curriculum and programs to ensure they prepare students for thebroadened world of engineering

Conference Session

Advances in Assessment of Communication and Interdisciplinary Competence

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carolyn Kusbit Dunn, East Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

on eitherissue. And there is yet another salient point. In many engineering curricula, adding courseworkin global studies is difficult because of ―the highly sequenced and content-demanding nature ofthe curriculum‖ [3]. This is also a factor frequently cited as to why more technical writingcoursework is not part of an engineering/technology curriculum. Professional or technical writing and communication, along with global competence, is aso called ‗soft skill‘ that both practitioners and scholars have deemed important to the success ofstudents. The discussion on this issue has been going on for decades. In the October-December2011 issue of Technical Communication Quarterly, Wright et al examines the history oftechnical writing via an

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

Conference Session

Projects in Alternative Energy

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

José Colucci Ríos P.E., University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez; Efrain O'Neill-Carrillo, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez; Miriam del Rosario Fontalvo

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

supported by grants from theAlfred P. Sloan Foundation, Air Force Research Laboratory, Department of Homeland Securityand more important the Department of Education. The latter sponsors CIVIS, a Center forResources in General Education established at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez (UPRM)campus to provide a new perspective in general and STEM education [6]. CIVIS, which means“citizen” in Latin, brings together faculty from Business Administration, Arts and Sciences,Agriculture and Engineering in order to develop interdisciplinary activities that further theuniversity’s mission of shaping productive and committed citizens. CIVIS challenges thetraditional classification of “technical skills” and “soft-skills”, substituting it by an

Conference Session

Accreditation and Outcomes-based Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jens Kabo, Chalmers University of Technology; Xiaofeng Tang, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Dean Nieusma, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; John Currie, University of Sydney; Hu Wenlong, Beihang University; Caroline Baillie, University of Western Australia

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

, segregation has endured betweenprofessional (math, science and engineering analysis courses) and general education (H&SScourses) or “hard” and “soft skills”4 or, in yet other words, technical and social content. In theeyes of Leydens and Schneider, the outcomes-based criteria of ABET EC 2000 have providednew opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and integration of H&SS (in their case,communication content specifically) approaches into engineering education.5As a counterpoint, Seron and Silbey highlight difficulties for innovative engineering educationinitiatives to align with the instrumentality of ABET requirements.6 Studying efforts at FranklinL. Olin College of Engineering and Smith College’s Picker Engineering Program, Seron

Conference Session

Relevance of and Models for Community Engagement in Engineering Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Karinna M. Vernaza, Gannon University; Theresa M. Vitolo, Gannon University; Barry J. Brinkman, Gannon University; Scott Steinbrink, Gannon University

Tagged Divisions

Community Engagement Division

for those suffering from cerebral palsy. A recent exerciseallowed clients to participate in a geocaching activity which integrated retention of presentedmaterials with recall of known facts about their home area.9One of the ways adults with disabilities are supported through the Barber Institute is byproviding vocational training and work-site opportunities. Clients proceed through an initialassessment, hard and soft skills training, individualized and specific site-training, and exposureto labor incentives. Once clients are prepared and qualified, they may move into supportedemployment services.While in supported employment, a client is guided and supported by an employment specialist, ajob coach. Clients (1) may become direct hires, (2) may

Conference Session

Student Entrepreneurial and Innovative Mindset

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

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

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

found in any engineering program and can be mappeddirectly to courses that are very similar from program to program.4 However, the “soft”outcomes raise some interesting questions. These soft skills as stated in the a-k Student Page 25.1246.2Outcomes include: (d) an ability to function on multidisciplinary teams (f) an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility (g) an ability to communicate effectively (h) the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context (i) a recognition of the need for, and an

Conference Session

Thinking About the Engineering Curriculum

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Geoffrey L. Herman, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Mark H. Somerville, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering; David E. Goldberg, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Kerri Ann Green, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

thempursue their personal goals. Rather than learning only about how a computer works, this teamused the opportunity to develop many of the “soft skills” or nuances of engineering. Theydeveloped teamwork skills, explored the tradeoffs of different design methods, found ways touse their engineering skills to help their fellow students, and learned how to conduct backgroundresearch on a topic that they had never seen before. Learning Team 2 experienced mixed success. The team struggled to find an identity thatcaptured the imagination and motivations of the members, but many of the members discoveredthat success in education is achieved more by effort rather than by ability. The team pursuedharder challenges as the semester progressed, despite an

Conference Session

Progress in Manufacturing Education III

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hugh Jack P.Eng., Grand Valley State University

Tagged Divisions

Manufacturing

Quarter-Century of Manufacturing Education”, ASEE AnnualMeeting, Louisville, KY, June 2010.6. Waldorf, D., Alptekin, S., Bjurman, R., “Plotting a Bright Future for Manufacturing Education: Results of aBrainstorming Session”, ASEE Annual Meeting, 2006. Page 25.1276.11Appendix A - Manufacturing Engineering Curriculum CommentsNote: Underlined text indicated items not addressed in the survey. • Project management and collaboration is important in today's environment. Soft skills will help one's career as much as technical education. • Focus on design and how it facilitates lean manufacturing. • I believe the portion of

Conference Session

Factors Affecting Student Performance

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Karen J. Horton P.E., University of Maine

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

articles have been written about teamwork and team development in engineering andengineering technology programs. In the ASEE Proceedings data base alone, since 1998, 67articles appear with the word “teamwork” in the title.Edmonson and Summers write about the Engineering Technology Department at the Universityof Dayton, “The ability to work on teams is a very important business skill. Some educators Page 25.1076.12choose to call it a “soft skill.” However, our Industrial Advisory Committee members and thebusinesses hiring our graduates choose to call it a “critical skill”.”15 They focus both on teamdynamics and individual characteristics using

Conference Session

Innovative College-Industry Partnerships for the Future

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Samuel P. Clemence, Syracuse University; Sharon W. Alestalo, Syracuse University; Shobha K. Bhatia, Syracuse University; Eric M. Lui, Syracuse University; Ossama M. Salem, Syracuse University

Tagged Divisions

College Industry Partnerships

Conference Session

Professional Aspects of Graduate Engineering Programs

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joy Watson, University of South Carolina; Jed S. Lyons, University of South Carolina

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

. Researchersmust discuss subjects and ideas outside of their comfort zone when it comes to research. Hiscompany wants passionate people who can work in teams. Being able to think broadly is alsoimportant. He did state that if a person is passionate, the “soft” skills can be developed. Page 25.860.9Chris had several internships as a graduate student sponsored by his current company. Hecommented that one of the biggest challenges many Ph.D.s face in transitioning from academiato industry is their way of thinking. They have to be able to think of not only a specific topic, asthey do in academia, but the big picture as well. The big picture is often missed by