Conference Session

NSF Grantees’ Poster Session

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tom Roy Brown, Eastern New Mexico University; Mo Ahmadian, Eastern New Mexico University

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

Paper ID #9054Improving Students’ Soft Skills through a NSF-SupportedDr. Tom Roy Brown, Eastern New Mexico University Tom Brown is a professor of Computer Science and the Chair of Mathematical Sciences Department at Eastern New Mexico University. He received his BS in Mathematics Education and MS in Mathematics with an emphasis in statistics from the Illinois State University and his Ph.D. in applied mathematics.Dr. Mo Ahmadian, Eastern New Mexico University Tom Brown, Eastern New Mexico University Tom Brown is a professor of Computer Science and the chair of Mathematical Sciences Department at Eastern New Mexico University

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session II

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Danni Lopez-Rogina, Colorado School of Mines; Stacey Roland, Colorado School of Mines; Jessica Mary Smith, Colorado School of Mines; Lakshmi Krishna, Colorado School of Mines

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Diversity, NSF Grantees Poster Session

].Through a National Science Foundation grant (NSF BPE Track 4 Phase 1), the Colorado Schoolof Mines launched a program called BASE Camp as a creative approach to providing trainingcentered on communication and collaboration focused professional-skills as well as self-management and interpersonal skills. The objective of this study and the associated program is touse a mentorship and education model to strengthen student self-confidence in the soft skills theywill require once entering the workforce [8-10]. The more immediate goal is to create a strongercommunity within the university via student social skill growth, thereby creating a morecohesive working environment.The three overarching research questions to gauge success of the program center

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session I

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hengtao Tang, University of South Carolina; Ramy Harik, Clemson University

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

potential of integratingdesign thinking into engineering education to improve students’ understanding of advancedmanufacturing and developing critical soft skills such as empathy.Introduction The rapidly evolving smart manufacturing systems lead to an increasing demand for skilledengineers who can drive innovation and shape the future of the industry. In the United States, theBureau of Labor Statistics (2021) projects a 25% growth rate for engineers by 2031, significantlyoutpacing other professions. Therefore, preparing the next generation of engineers withcompetence of solving real-world smart manufacturing problems becomes increasingly critical. A key metric for assessing the success of smart manufacturing systems is their ability

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jacques C. Richard, Texas A&M University; So Yoon Yoon, Texas A&M University

Tagged Topics

Diversity, NSF Grantees Poster Session

through the REU program on the post-survey: hard and soft skills. Hard skills thatstudents mentioned were fundamental knowledge acquisition, practice of techniques/skills, andhow to do research. Soft skills that students addressed were higher-order thinking skills,communication, teamwork, professionalism, and networking. Higher-order thinking skills thatstudents addressed include analytical, critical, problem solving skills and creativity.Communication includes communication skills with peers, research teams, and people fromdifferent disciplines of research, presentation of the research through posters, and writing skills.Professionalism includes persistence, patience, confidence, independence or autonomy, and timemanagement.Among hard skills

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jung Won Hur, Auburn University; Cassandra Thomas, Tuskegee University; Li Huang, Tuskegee University; Xiao Chang, Tuskegee University

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Diversity, NSF Grantees Poster Session

academically gifted, low-income Black students to earnCS degrees in four years and pursue careers in the field of CS. In the spring of 2023, wesuccessfully recruited and retained the first cohort of six talented students (i.e., S-STEM scholars).In the fall of 2023, we recruited a second cohort of five students.Throughout the past year, we provided a series of mentoring and professional developmentopportunities to the S-STEM scholars, fostering their personal and professional growth. Some ofthese opportunities were extended to the entire university to maximize the program’s impact. Keyactivities included career mentoring, technical skill development (specifically in Pythonprogramming), soft skill development, undergraduate research, and high school

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Karen L. Webber, University of Georgia; Amy Stich, University of Georgia; Matthew Grandstaff, University of Georgia; Collin Case, University of Georgia

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NSF Grantees Poster Session

enough to ensurestudents reach their desired outcomes [27].The benefit of WREAs toward employability originates primarily through skill development andthe expansion of personal networks. For example, research suggests that internships serve as away to build technical, leadership, and entrepreneurial skills [18]. Although postsecondaryeducation and engagement in WREAs contribute to broad human capital and aid in developingan individual’s critical thinking, skills are environmentally contextualized in how they form andare employed [28]. As such, we should strive to think of soft skills, such as communication andleadership, within the context of the environment in which they form to adequately understand astudent’s ability to navigate an

Conference Session

NSF Grantees' Poster Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mo Ahmadian, Eastern New Mexico University

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

report about the team‘s business planat the end of the semester. Students were provided with the criteria about writing a technicalreport and inclusion of required materials.Another goal of this course was to improve student‘s soft skills. Engineering and sciencecurricula often focus on the technical abilities of students, neglecting the ―soft skills‖ that willoften determine success or failure for graduates when they enter the workforce. As an example,project management skills are often neglected in an engineering or science curriculum, requiringadditional training for those engineers who end up in management positions. Skills such as theability to lead and work effectively as a member of a team are frequently identified as critical tothe

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marisol Clark-Ibanez, California State University, San Marcos

Tagged Topics

Diversity, NSF Grantees Poster Session

experiences (e.g., translators for parents, inspired to succeed as role modelsin their community, resiliency through financial hardships, navigating new social worlds asrefugees or immigrants) [8]. Therefore, increasing their social capital would ignite their potentialboth academically and professionally. Fab Friday provided our SSTEM Scholars a vibrant,challenging, and ultimately rewarding space to enhance their technical skills, practice “soft”skills, and grow their social network through working with students in a team and beingmentored by industry partners and CS faculty.1.3 Design of Fab FridayFab Friday was designed innovatively to meet the SSTEM goals of academic success andworkforce readiness. Fab Friday provided students with exposure to

Conference Session

NSF Grantees' Poster Session

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donald Plumlee, Boise State University; Steven W. Villachica, Boise State University; Linda Huglin, Boise State University; Shannon Rist, Boise State University

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NSF Grantees Poster Session

should be doing on the job that they’re not doingnow, the COEN and MBE advisory boards both agreed that newly minted graduates had a hardtime applying topics they’d learned to real-world jobs in the engineering workplace. They alsonoted that soft skills were lacking, including:  Letting go; i.e., sharing problems with others  The ability to work in a team environment  Collaboration with those in other departments  The ability to communicate, including o Written English skills o Professional writing, especially abstracts and proposals o Writing concisely o Communicating both within and across groups o Presentation skills Entrepreneurial skills Willingness to ask questions

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa Naderman, University of Wisconsin, Platteville; Lori Wedig, University of Wisconsin, Platteville

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

, information from the Project Management Institute (PMI), soft skills, andlinks to additional program specific relevant pages. Also, discussions are held on current topicswithin the STEM fields, and it is encouraged for the peer mentors and champions to contribute tothese discussions to help provide depth to the topics. Another resource, Scholar Spotprogramming, was designed to specifically target only individuals in the scholarship program.The Scholar Spot offers a professional development opportunity to make additional connectionswith the presenters. Once a month, a STEM professional is selected to present on his or her topicof expertise through online video technology. Each Scholar Spot speaker is allotted one hour fora presentation, which includes

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Amy Hurst, UMBC; Shawn Grimes, Digital Harbor Foundation; Darius McCoy, Digital Harbor Foundation; Nicholas Carter, UMBC; William Easley, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Foad Hamidi, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Gabrielle Salib, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

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NSF Grantees Poster Session

available to the localcommunity for 3D printing and scanning services. Youth who work in the print shop have theopportunity to 1) develop and maintain technical skills; 2) hone “design thinking” skills throughreal-world problem solving; and 3) develop important soft skills (including working with aclient, creating and sticking to a project timeline, and professionalism).Our research is investigating many areas of maker and design thinking, the impact of maker jobs,and how to establish and maintain a community 3D print shop. This print shop has been designedto be a living laboratory to evaluate commercial and research software for 3D modeling,scanning, and fabrication software with youth performing real-world tasks.Related Work3D Printing and

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

LaTricia Walker Townsend, North Carolina State University; Tameshia Ballard Baldwin, North Carolina State University; Micaha Dean Hughes, North Carolina State University; Aaron Arenas, North Carolina State University

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Careers in Rural Middle SchoolsAbstractThis paper explores lessons learned about the developing and sustaining high-quality industrypartnerships during a NSF Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers(ITEST)-funded community-based engineering design course centered on advancedmanufacturing. The three-part course for underrepresented middle school students in rural NClaunched in 2020 and has served over 100 students to date. The project aims to allow studentsand teachers the opportunity to explore the full range of STEM advanced manufacturing careeroptions available in their local community. Students learned STEM content as well as technicaland job essential (soft) skills necessary for future employment; while, teachers boosted

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Urszula Zalewski, Stony Brook University; Marianna Savoca, Stony Brook University; Monica Bugallo, Stony Brook University

Tagged Topics

Diversity, NSF Grantees Poster Session

evaluation plan was informed by best practices in internships [12] andlessons learned from the service learning literature [10]. The plan includes surveys of students'interests, reviews of their journals, evaluation of their solution by the community partner, andstudent learning assessments.Student Understanding of Service LearningIn response to questions about the definition of service learning, students often made aconnection to developing skills in the STEM field. “My definition of service learning is learning soft skills through service, and reflecting upon experiences in service. Service-learning allows for the development of much needed soft skills in STEM fields. I think service learning reminds us of our motivations in

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session II

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ala Qubbaj, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; Laura Benitez, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; Noe Vargas Hernandez, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; Constantine Tarawneh, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; Arturo A Fuentes, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; Nazmul Islam, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; Edna orozco-leonhardt, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; Thuy Vu, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; Angela Chapman, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Tagged Topics

Diversity, NSF Grantees Poster Session

practices in theoutreach, education and professional development of Hispanics in engineering. Approximately140 industry, K-12, Community College, University faculty and students’ representativesparticipated in the Spring 2024 summit.Key CBP’s ENRICH (Professional & Research Experiences) InitiativesLeadership development & Soft-Skills “Engineering Student Leadership conference”:Approximately 50 student leaders from CECS participated in a 2-day leadershipconference/bootcamp designed to provide them with the “soft skills” overlooked in engineeringeducation programs that are still necessary to succeed in their careers. By focusing on how toengage their peers in their student organizations, student leaders learned from each other

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session I

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Craig O. Stewart, University of Memphis; Chrysanthe Preza, The University of Memphis; Stephanie S Ivey, The University of Memphis

Tagged Topics

Diversity, NSF Grantees Poster Session

VIP fits in terms of faculty workload, as it may not count toward theirteaching load but also does not directly contribute to research output (especially early on).Focus group findingsDuring the project's second year, we conducted three focus groups, one each with undergraduateVIP participants, graduate VIP mentors, and faculty VIP team leaders. Undergraduates indicatedthey were motivated to join the VIP program because of the opportunity to gain hands-onexperience working on graduate student and faculty research, which they saw as an “honor” and“exciting.” In addition to developing technical skills, they also felt they developed “soft skills” incommunication and working in teams (which was consistent with our quantitative surveyfindings

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jill Davishahl, Bellingham Technical College; Xichen Jiang, Western Washington University; Sean P. Dever, Western Washington University; Lindsey Bear, Bellingham Technical College; Tim Mark Christman, Western Washington University; Dana Hickenbottom, Itek Energy/Western Solar; Sam Winters, Itek Energy

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

’ social skills [5]. In addition, research shows that project definition and selection,development of a team vision, establishing strong communication links, and investment in long-term relationships lead to effective collaboration [6].The benefits of a successful academic-industry collaboration are abundant. These include buildinglong-lasting relationships, sharing expertise, and leveraging resources [7]. In addition, there arebenefits to each individual participant including soft skill development, experience with newtechnologies, and exposure to industry [8]. On the other hand, there are challenges and barriers toeffective collaboration. These are documented in literature as lack of trust, issues related tointellectual property rights, time

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tina Lee, University of Wisconsin-Stout; Devin R. Berg, University of Wisconsin, Stout; Elizabeth Anne Buchanan, UW-Stout

Tagged Topics

Diversity, NSF Grantees Poster Session

to not “swoop in” to a communityassuming that they have the perfect solution.Finally, an unexpected, but upon reflection, not surprising theme is the role of gender in EWBwork. It is well-documented that engineering remains a fairly male dominated field, 7 and therehave been initiatives at many institutions, including Stout, to increase the participation of femalesin the field. In contrast, EWB events are about evenly attended by women and men, and womenare leaders in many chapters. Several women, both students and professional members, noted thatEWB has made the difference for them between staying in the field and moving to a differentcareer path since there is more space for collaboration and a value placed on ”soft skills” that areoften

Conference Session

NSF Grantees’ Poster Session

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ann Saterbak, Rice University; Matthew Wettergreen, Rice University

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

concept.  Materials on ‘soft skills’ such as communication, teaming, and project planning may be more universally transferrable.  The application of the engineering design process is sufficiently unique for each course to potentially require individualized university-specific introduction videos.  In-class exercises need more context and definition.  Quizzes need to address higher levels on Bloom’s Taxonomy rather than just recall, understanding, and comprehension.  There is currently no consensus on best practices to achieve high compliance of participation for out-of-class activities (watching videos, completing quizzes).Through collaboration with other engineering faculty at the FYEE conference

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Audrey Boklage, University of Texas at Austin

Tagged Topics

Diversity, NSF Grantees Poster Session

makerspace and university staff should encourage human resourceprofessional in the hiring practices.While recent research (Chambers et al, 2023) has recognized the soft skills and technical skillsstudent staff gain as a result of working in academic makerspaces, hiring processes and practicesshould purposefully include these in the competencies they assess in staff candidates.Given the high turnover of university staff, it is imperative that university staff are involved in thehiring practice to ensure the institutional knowledge is preserved as the space.Finally, while student staff are recognized as important innovators in university makerspaces;ensuring they are equitably hired into inclusive spaces is the responsibility of institutions and

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Katherine G. Herbert-Berger, Montclair State University; Thomas J Marlowe, Seton Hall University; Vaibhav Anu, Montclair State University; Stefan A Robila, Montclair State University

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Diversity, NSF Grantees Poster Session

An Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Montclair State University, Dr. Anu co-directs the Software Systems lab at the Center for Computing and Information Science.Stefan A Robila, Montclair State University ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2024K-12 Teachers and Data Science: Learning Interdisciplinary Science through Research ExperiencesAbstract: Data science is now pervasive across STEM, and early exposure and education in itsbasics will be important for the future workforce, academic programs, and scholarly research inengineering, technology, and the formal and natural sciences, and in fact, across the fullspectrum of disciplines. When combined with an emphasis on soft

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session I

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa Bosman, Purdue University; Rhea Dutta

Tagged Topics

Diversity, NSF Grantees Poster Session

•Interviewing Skills Development •Collaboration •Problem Solving •Market Analysis •Problem Solving •Communication •Research Skills and Analysis •Feedback Components •Market Research •Research Reception •Soft Skills Exposure Components •Guidance •Team •Market Skill •Source Validation •Query Resolution Communication Development •Technical •Suggestions •Technical •Networking Skills Learnings •Work Environment Learnings •Personal Skill •Writing Skills •Time

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session I

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marianna Savoca, Stony Brook University; Monica Bugallo, Stony Brook University; Diana Voss, Stony Brook University; Urszula Zalewski, Stony Brook University

Tagged Topics

Diversity, NSF Grantees Poster Session

Leaders: Pairing Leadership Coursework with Service Learning NSF DUE #2012339IntroductionThis paper describes the experiences and outcomes of undergraduates enrolled in the newcurriculum of an Honors program with many students from underrepresented groups in a varietyof STEM backgrounds. The project was initiated by external funding and has now beenestablished as critically important and replicated at other units in the institution. As we look tobuild the engineering workforce of the future, industry input about skills for success is critical.Technical skills are important for newly minted engineering graduates, yet there is a growingneed for what are sometimes referred to as soft skills, such as

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session I

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hector Rogelio Prieto, Valdosta State College; Lisa Wier, Oklahoma State University; Tony McAleavy, Oklahoma State University

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

1During the summer of 2024, an undergraduate student researcher completed a 10-weekresearch experience for undergraduates (REU) to address the research question, what factorspromote non-medical mask usage amongst first responders and emergency managers during apandemic? The REU student, termed lead researcher herein, completed a hands-on socialsciences research program. This included training in qualitative research design, search engineand database usage, online survey methodology, analysis and referencing software usage,ethics and Institutional Review Board (IRB) familiarization, and soft skills development.Methods for CollectionThis study utilized interpretivism, an inductive system of logic, online survey methodology,and computer-assisted

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session I

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yu-Fang Jin, The University of Texas at San Antonio; Jianwei Niu, The University of Texas at San Antonio

Tagged Topics

Diversity, NSF Grantees Poster Session

]. These factors are inherently integrated into the activities offered throughREU programs. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the impact of REU training experiences onparticipants' STEM identities and their subsequent career paths.MethodsA total of 38 undergraduate students were recruited and trained in robotics for 10 weeks with thesupport of an NSF REU site at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) during 2021-2024. REU activities were organized to provide technical and soft skills for REU participants'career development and to enhance their belongings at the REU site and professional societies.Authentic learning experiencesREU project training: Faculty members and graduate research assistants (GRAs) developedshort courses and

Conference Session

NSF Grantees’ Poster Session

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tonatiuh Rodriguez-Nikl P.E., California State University, Los Angeles; Deborah Soonmee Won, California State University, Los Angeles; Gustavo B Menezes, California State University, Los Angeles; Arturo Pacheco-Vega, California State University, Los Angeles; Adel A Sharif, California State University, Los Angeles; Gisele Ragusa, University of Southern California

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

assessed anintegrated student project that is the overarching theme of engineering curriculumcontextualization at sophomore level. The project is part of the Sophomore Unified CoreCurriculum for Engineering Education (SUCCEEd) program, funded by the National ScienceFoundation that seeks to integrate classes in the engineering core curriculum. The paperdescribes a house remodeling project that is used to integrate four lower division engineeringcore courses, namely, statics, programming, matrix algebra and CAD, and how it can be used tomeet soft skills required by ABET. The manuscript concludes by including program assessmentand recommendations based on what has been learned during project implementation.IntroductionThis article describes the

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tariq Khraishi, University of New Mexico; Kristine Denman, University of New Mexico

Tagged Topics

Diversity, NSF Grantees Poster Session

(CAE) courseto construct a CAD model via ANSYS for an old truss bridge. The motivation for this projectwas for students to help determine the load-carrying capacity (or reverse engineer it) of thebridge for safety purposes going forward. Krishnan & Nilsson (2015) [7] discuss a course titled“Engineering Projects for the Community” at their institution to engage students in communityprojects. Projects cover a wide variety of engineering majors including civil, mechanical,electrical, bio and computer. This course also emphasizes the need to interact with civic bodiesor public organizations which is a new soft skill set for the students involved. Nagel et al. (2019)[8] discuss in their paper design courses at James Madison University intended

Conference Session

NSF Grantees: First Year Programming (1)

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Donald P. Visco Jr., University of Akron; Nidaa Makki, University of Akron; Linda M. Subich, University of Akron; David Steer, University of Akron; Erin R. Stevic, University of Akron

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Diversity, NSF Grantees Poster Session

prepare them for their shadowing experiences. Trainingincluded sessions on professional soft skills, shadowing procedures, and resume building.Additionally, the program team created a short video for those co-op/intern students who wouldbe shadowed students to watch ahead of their experiences.During Fall 2018 and Spring 2019, the 59 students assigned to the intervention group completeda total of 197 shadowing experiences at 65 different employers. Seven employers hostedshadowing students during both fall and spring semesters. The number of shadowing experiencesranged from 1 - 7, with a mean of 3.54. The variation in the number of experiences was mostlydue to scheduling constraints.Table 1. Demographic characteristics of intervention and

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Renee Cole, University of Iowa; Juliette M. Lantz, Drew University; Suzanne Ruder, Virginia Commonwealth University; Gilbert J. Reynders III, University of Iowa; Courtney Stanford, Virginia Commonwealth University

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

to the modern workplace [3]. Theseskills, which we call process skills due to the early roots of this project in the Process OrientedGuided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) community [4], are also referred to as transferable skills,professional skills, workplace skills, or soft skills. In STEM fields, a slow paradigm shift towardsstudent-centered learning has begun to extend opportunities to undergraduates to foster learninggains beyond the acquisition of disciplinary content. However, most classroom assessmentapproaches continue to be solely centered on the students’ mastery of content and do not assessstudent performance in the area of process skills. This is of significant concern because of thestrong influence assessment has on students

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session II

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sheng-Jen Hsieh, Texas A&M University

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

; demonstrating a positiveattitude toward injury prevention and environmental protection; and regulatory and specialinterests.Desired skill sets or knowledgeParticipants were asked to identify skill sets or knowledge they wish new technicians orengineers had that they don't currently have. The most commonly mentioned needs included:  Programmable logic controller (PLC) and robot controller programming  Soft skills, such as work ethics, customer service, effective communication, conflict resolution, time management, project management  Troubleshooting  Safe working practices  Electrical knowledge - basic single and three phase electrical knowledge; higher voltage power; electric motors and drivesAlso mentioned were CNC

Conference Session

NSF Grantees: S-STEM 4

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Oleksandr Kravchenko, Old Dominion University; Konstantin Cigularov, Old Dominion University; Tancy J. Vandecar-Burdin, Old Dominion University

Tagged Topics

Diversity, NSF Grantees Poster Session

ceramic. At the end of the first semester ofthe program, SCS students in the program had to prepare and make a presentation describingtheir progress with their research work. This task provided an important element for professionaldevelopment for the students in the program, as they were participating in group discussions andpracticed to improve their career “soft” skills, like oral communication and collaborative,project-based learning skills [9].To address the outreach element of the program, special hands-on workshop series offeredtraining and exposure to various manufacturing techniques for advanced materials. This includedthe composite fabrication sessions, where students learned how to fabricate polymer reinforcedcomposite materials using