potential for improving learningoutcomes for diverse students by helping them connect theoretical concepts with practicalengineering applications [28]. When utilized in introductory level engineering courses, project-based learning has been shown to be beneficial for student performance in subsequentengineering courses [28]. The social component of project-based learning has also beenobserved to be an effective tool in helping students develop and refine soft skills such ascommunication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking that will be very important to theirfuture success in a career [3].Assessment MethodsPre- and Post-Participation SurveysPre- and post-participation surveys were developed by the project’s evaluator based
make sure that I'm leading a great example.The three participants shared many stories testifying to their resilience and persistence in the faceof many personal and academic challenges, some of which were even beyond their control.However, they kept a growth mindset while dealing with those challenges, endured times ofuncertainty and turbulence, and maintained hope and faith. They depended on their intellectualastute and bicultural adaptability and utilized pragmatic and creative problem-solving skills andother soft skills, which are often considered as lacking among typical engineering students. Mostimportantly, they showed an unwavering commitment to their engineering career andprofessional success. For example, Calvin admitted that he had a
through, but I felt experience-wise, [the internship project] forced me to really think out of the box and really grow in terms of being more multidisciplinary and learn to hone my soft skills, like communication. And in general, just other technical skills. So I think those really help... I think it was more outside of education.”Evelyn mentioned how her internship project allowed her to navigate more ambiguous problemsand options where there isn’t one right way to solve the problem, or an easy or existing solution,unlike her experience at times within curricular contexts.Evelyn, in hindsight, wished she would have asked more critical questions in the beginning ofher project to get a better understanding of who will be
ethical terms to applying ethical principles to a dilemma?Communicating the importance of social skills to incoming students is difficult as they often havean expectation that the focus of engineering education is solely the development of strong technicalskills. Historically, a strong technical background was the main requirement when hiringengineering graduates due to the fast development of technology [1]. More recently, there has beena growing demand for better-rounded graduating engineers with well-developed professional skills– often referred to as soft skills [2]. It is difficult to intentionally teach professional skills inengineering studies, as students and faculty typically prioritize the technical aspect of their degree[3]. This
andsolve complex engineering problems. Although training in these skills was part of theircurriculum, some reported they did not fully appreciate the value of these ‘soft skills’ courses,often deeming them marginal, or more often than not, lacking in the Chinese engineeringeducation curriculum(Yuan & Lei, 2023). Internship experience has helped students to makesense of the importance of generic competencies, as indicated by one student who reflectedon how he came to realize the importance of communication: Communication was one of the things I learned. My mentor said something that left me with a very deep impression. He said that no matter whether you're providing a service or a product, you're essentially communicating with people
and effective assessment methods are crucial forstudents to understand their progress and areas for improvement. They appreciate a learningenvironment that offers constructive feedback and fair evaluations.Individual perspectives can vary widely, and not all engineering technology students will sharethe same views. Additionally, the specific program, institution, and cultural context can influencehow students perceive their learning environment.Engineering Technology FacultyEngineering technology faculty members typically believe that students need a combination oftechnical knowledge, practical skills, critical thinking abilities, and soft skills to succeed in theirchosen field [35]. Here are some common beliefs and priorities that
“escape”. The features aretypically themed in context of a larger narrative which often meets the genre expectations of theselected story. In addition to the fundamentals, participants strengthen their communication andleadership abilities, alongside other soft skills important for professional engineers throughouttheir careers [1].There are some challenges to implementing this type of education tool, including, but not limitedto, the time-consuming process of creating the room, designing and fabricating the puzzles, andthe fixed nature of the solution [8]. Instructors must take care to update the room each semesterto avoid the solution becoming widespread, diluting the educational benefit.To address the typical drawbacks while maintaining the
. Theprogram serves marginalized and non-traditional students, at an education stage of pre-college,as well as Freshman, Junior and Sophomore students enrolled in four-year engineering degrees.Applicants for the fellowship are generally pursuing engineering fields or tangential fields withheavy computational emphasis, such as statistics or bioinformatics. The program focuses onsupplementing students who are transitioning into higher education with the soft skills,networking opportunities, shadowing experiences, and community bonds necessary tosuccessfully launch a career in technology.Communications, application and admissions process designThe LebNet Tech Fellows program is advertised by the communications team through themonthly LebNet Tech Fellows
, and measured risk [3]. Faculty have incorporated the entrepreneurial mindset[4], head/heart alignment and passion finding, creativity, and an innovators identity [5] into variouselements of experiential and project based courses. Capstone design instructors often teach tenetsof entrepreneurship to their design teams to build “soft skills” and develop “well-rounded”engineers [6]. These activities are both necessary for ABET accreditation as well as desired by theengineering workforce.In addition, employers seek more creative, entrepreneurial engineering graduates. Increasingly,they believe that gaining knowledge beyond traditional engineering curriculum is more importantthan discipline knowledge [7]. In addition, learning creativity and
and building applicableknowledge around [EDI]. [Their] approach supports instructors in reimagining their pedagogy toimprove student teams’ abilities to work together in more effective, equitable, and engagingways.”Secondly, some strategies intend to develop soft skills related to EDI such as communication,leadership and teamwork that enhance students’ ability to interact in a diverse work context. Forexample, “the OPSIDIAN training program [24] provides trainees with the Power Skills neededto integrate interdisciplinarity and diversity for creative sciences and engineering research teams.Power skills include diversity- and interdisciplinary-driven communication, teamwork, andleadership’’.Thirdly, some strategies are integrating EDI into
contexts. Thus, in this term project students were asked to reverseengineering an existing product as if they were going to compete in the market. By addressingengineering challenges that reflect real industry scenarios, students understand the practicalsignificance of their education.1.4.5 Collaboration and Communication Students cultivate crucial soft skills such as effective communication, and teamwork. Theseabilities are highly prized in the professional engineering field, where the success of projectsfrequently relies on cross-disciplinary collaboration [19].1.4.6 Interdisciplinary Projects – Summary © American Society for Engineering Education, 2024 2024 ASEE Midwest Section Conference
knowledge). Although the research is motivated by goalsthat at least in principle relate to social needs and commercial value, little to no attention is givento the details of implementation (the process of translating technical capability into fully realizedbenefits). The governing ideas and assumptions of educational contexts implicitly if notexplicitly devalue other kinds of knowledge and capabilities. The non-technical capabilities thatare valued in the context of practice (sometimes referred to as professional or contextual skills)have no obvious connection to disciplinary knowledge in the humanities and social sciences(HSS), a disconnect that may explain the persistence of the nomenclature of “soft skills” [9][10].Workplace Readiness for
the potential of healthcare application as notonly invigorating but also providing a wide variety of diverse examples to facilitate projects. TheGitHub repositories for some of the projects and selected arXiv papers for the teams are publiclyavailable [33, 34, 35].4 Discussion4.1 Future research directions on self-efficacyThe structure of the program was unique and it afforded a communication mentor beyond thetechnical lab leading mentor. This setup helped all students to develop soft skills that acceleratelearning. However, our research did not collect any data that directly measures the impact of thecommunication TA. Student interviews and focus groups may be helpful in this regard, where qual-itative data on
in a 3-credit course that focuses on the development of soft skills,including writing and presenting. The students are diverse in terms of national and disciplinarybackground.Problem. Argumentative writing is a common (albeit not often well-known or studied) professionalcompetency in many engineering disciplines. Daily, engineers use argumentative writing to explainhow evidence supports their decision-making. Many students who enroll in the course are not ableto effectively structure a written argument but are able to write grammatically. Based on observationduring writing workshops, students spend a disproportionate amount of time focused on correctinggrammatical errors in their writing before ensuring that their writing is effectively
partnerships fall into each of the content areas, allowing students to makeclear connections between professional opportunities within their community and the informationpresented in class. The project-based course content offers opportunities for students to engage ingrowing soft skills like critical thinking and collaboration, as well as technical skills with tasks suchas building circuits and learning computer coding. Students in the program have participated inindustry and university tours, and also receive mentoring from engineering college-aged students whocome to their school during the DeSIRE class period. Lastly, a subset of interested students may optto participate in a university-sponsored STEM program which offers recurring
has been known to significantly increase success, retention, and graduationrates. We noticed the differences in the level of preparedness and its influence on the student’sperception of their journey. We also explored the influence of soft skills, outlook, scholarlyattributes, and support on the perception of the journey through the program. Although ourparticipants have reported that they did not perceive any overt sexism or racism, we present thefindings correlated with gender and race/ethnicity.Our future work will include fine-tuning the protocol to explore intersectionality and reflect uponthe situations where the students might feel minoritized. Additionally, the students in the futurestudy will be purposefully selected to examine
educate a non-engineer city councilmember,Tom related a roadway construction technique to how the leader might treat a potted plant.Participants also described helping a leader develop soft skills, such as communicating about asensitive issue or resolving a conflict. Penelope emphasized that approaching a leader to educatethem rather than to negotiate or refuse can help “defuse” the situation and “leave people in anhonorable way.” Negotiating refers to the ethical follower working with the leader to find a suitablecompromise that serves the leader’s interests and the ethical follower’s interests. In Tom’s case,he was asked to sign and seal a design for a 225-ft water tower that originally provided anelevator for technicians to use but that