Collection

2020 ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference

Authors

Shan Jiang, Iowa State University; Ann M Gansemer-Topf, Iowa State University; Nigel Forest Reuel, Iowa State University of Science and Technology; Gül E. Kremer, Iowa State University of Science and Technology; Qing Li, Iowa State University; Rebecca Mort, Iowa State University

in professional skills training or experience (ACS Presidential Commission2012, National Institutes of Health 2012, Allum 2014, National Science Board 2015, Wendler2010, Alan Leshner 2018). A report by the Council of Graduate Schools pointed out thatcurrently most graduate programs do not provide enough training for professional skills(Denecke 2017). A recent survey conducted with STEM graduate students (56 responses from 4different departments) at Iowa State University (ISU) asked the students to rank the mostimportant skills for future career and thesis research. The top three ranked for future careerpreparation are Project & Time Management, R&D in Industry, and Presentation Skills; whilethe top three for thesis research are

Collection

2020 ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference

Authors

Douglas W. Jacobson, Iowa State University of Science and Technology; Diane T. Rover, Iowa State University; Joseph Zambreno, Iowa State University of Science and Technology; Allegra Frickel, Iowa State University

sense of community and provide an opportunity for the students to interact with each other.We held weekly Zoom sessions where all 16 interns attended, and we also invited facultymentors to the sessions. We also wanted to provide sessions that would help them not only withtheir project but help them as they enter their careers. In an ideal world we would have plannedthe sessions in advance and would have provided the students with a schedule and additionalresources. Going into the summer we had a rough idea for a few of the Zoom sessions. As thesummer progressed we adapted to meet the needs of the students and the projects. Below is a listof several key sessions we held during the summer along with a brief description of each session

Collection

2020 ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference

Authors

Ann M Gansemer-Topf, Iowa State University; Qing Li, Iowa State University; Shan Jiang, Iowa State University of Science and Technology; Gül E. Kremer, Iowa State University of Science and Technology; Nigel Forest Reuel, Iowa State University of Science and Technology; Rebecca Mort

in the planning for our specificproject, the synthesis of the extant works can inform other faculty and industry leaders who areinterested in teaching and applying project management techniques in their courses orcompanies.Keywords: project management, literature review, graduate education, engineering Part I: Context of the Study Students in graduate programs in STEM dedicate a significant amount of time and energyin learning the research process and applying these processes to individual or collaborativeresearch initiatives. This myopic focus on research skills and the scientific process ignores othercritical skills needed in their careers post-graduation (Leshner & Scherer, 2018; Wendler et al