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ABET's Technological Education Initiative: Focus on Faculty

Maryanne Weiss, Peggie Weeks, Mark Pagano ABET, Inc./ABET, Inc./Purdue University

Abstract

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, with support from the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education program, is conducting twelve hands- on regional faculty workshops for engineering technology educators. The purpose of the Technological Education Initiative (TEI) workshops is to enhance faculty’s knowledge of emerging technologies, explore ways in which these technologies may be incorporated into their programs, and provide faculty with experience in developing effective assessment strategies that measure the impact of curricular innovation on the performance of their graduates. Partnering with four of NSF’s ATE Centers of Excellence, the Global Wireless Education Consortium, and industries across the country, ABET is introducing faculty to tools which will help them to develop innovative, relevant, and attractive academic programs. This paper will provide an introduction and background of this initiative, will describe the actual workshops, and will reflect on continuous improvement as it relates to ongoing workshops.

Framing the Challenge

Rapid advances in technology demand that students receive an education that will provide them career opportunities with greater mobility and transitional capabilities. Training that meets immediate industry need but offers limited career opportunity is unacceptable. Technology graduates often find themselves restricted by skills with a short “half life.” In other words, they are unable to move forward in their careers or their education and forced to start the learning process over again.

Since 1992, when Congress enacted the Scientific and Advanced Technology Act (SATA), technician education has been given increased attention. SATA called for the establishment of "a national advanced technician program, utilizing the resources of the Nation's two-year associate-degree-granting colleges, to expand the pool of skilled technicians in strategic advanced technology fields to increase the productivity of the Nation's industries, and to improve the competitiveness of the United States in international trade." 1 In response to this Congressional mandate, the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program was created. Since 1993, the ATE program has funded projects and centers that focus on the improvement of technician education and, thus, on producing a technologically prepared workforce. 2

Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education

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Weiss, M., & Pagano, M., & Weeks, M. (2002, June), Abet's Technological Education Initiative: Focus On Faculty Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--11195