Conference Session

Blurring the Boundary between Content Knowledge and Professional Knowledge

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Verna Fitzsimmons, Kent State University - Kent; Stephane Booth, Kent State University - Kent

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

History and assessment of student learning outcomes in higher education. Page 13.841.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2008 Professional Education and General Education Join Forces?AbstractThe rapid pace at which technology is changing makes it imperative that students developthe skills that will enable them to be proactive and reflective rather than reactive. Thiswill require them as professionals and responsible citizens to integrate the contentknowledge that they have learned in their professional education with the abilities valuedin general education and by employers. These include critical thinking

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics: An Interdisciplinary Endeavor

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joseph Herkert, Arizona State University Polytechnic; Jameson Wetmore, Arizona State University; Heather Canary, Arizona State University Polytechnic; Karin Ellison, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

graduate students still struggle tofind the most effective models for ensuring that their students internalize professional values andmake them part of their scientific and technical practices4,5,6. This paper will report on the firststage of a three year NSF-funded research project to develop and assess four differentinstructional models that introduce and educate science and engineering graduate students to themicroethical and macroethical issues in their work.Graduate education in science and engineering ethics has typically focused on responsibleconduct in research (RCR) issues and has had a microethical focus (although collectiveresponsibilities are sometimes explored). Topics such as public policy on stem cell research orthe societal

Conference Session

Beyond Individual Ethics: Engineering in Context

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Byron Newberry, Baylor University; William Lawson, Texas Tech University; Kathy Austin, Texas Tech University; Greta Gorsuch, Texas Tech University; Thomas Darwin, University of Texas at Austin

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

apprehend another country’s general framework andspecific conventions for professional obligations. It is in light of this observation that the currentwork proceeds.Graduate EducationWhile there has been quite a lot of activity in recent years to incorporate professional ethicsinstruction into the undergraduate engineering curriculum in the U.S., the same is not true forgraduate education in engineering.3, 12 Engineering graduate students in this country are notsystematically exposed to professional ethics instruction. For those that do receive some ethicsinstruction, it is most likely to be focused more narrowly on research ethics rather than morebroadly on professional practice ethics. Of course U.S. graduate students now and in the futurewill

Conference Session

Liberal Education Division Poster Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Meyer, Clarkson University; Dick Pratt, Clarkson University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

appointments in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs and the Office of Academic Affairs. In 1998-99 he was as an American Council on Education fellow. His research interests are in environmental biology. Page 12.1399.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2007 The Clarkson Common Experience Curriculum: Graduation Requirements Based on Student Learning OutcomesAbstractTraditional graduation requirements have been composed of required and elective courses in astudent's major together with courses selected to meet a "general education" requirement. Withthe growing emphasis on student learning

Conference Session

Beyond Individual Ethics: Engineering in Context

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donna Riley, Smith College

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

. One can readily see that it is impossible to level all power dynamicswithout transforming the institutional structures in which education occurs; still, the practice ofliberative pedagogies entails sharing power whenever possible, including in assessment. In orderto mitigate the effect of grades assigned to the work, students are told clearly that honesty isrewarded in evaluating reflections, and grading is generous, focused on completion andthoughtfulness.Further, additional assessment tools employed included formative minute-paper assessments,informal oral surveys regarding the readings and classroom dynamics, written summative coursesurveys, and other student coursework. Results from student course work were compared withwritten

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary and Liberal Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bradley Rogers, Arizona State University; Dale Palmgren, Arizona State University; Dennis Giever, Indiana University of Pennsylvania; Mary Lynn Garcia, Sandia National Laboratories

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

opted for other programs that were not as mathematically rigorous. Second, theeconomy was such that most recent graduates of engineering programs were either obtaininggood jobs upon graduation with their Baccalaureate degree or had chosen other paths for theirgraduate education. It is worthwhile to note that these efforts were occurring in 1997 through2000, but even after September 11, 2001 it was difficult to generate interest among younggraduates in the security engineering field. Substantial interest in the program was expressed byengineers employed in the security industry, but the resources have not been available to developthe program for online delivery.At IUP, a Masters program is under development in critical asset protection services

Conference Session

Philosophy of Engineering Education: Epistemology and Ethics

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mark Valenzuela, University of Evansville; James Allen, University of Evansville; Brian Swenty, University of Evansville

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

engineering programs was performed by the authors,the results of which are reported in this paper. As implied in the survey question (“our generaleducation program satisfies the minimal accreditation requirements”), a common perception isthat professional-school accreditation requirements (a) constrain the creative development ofgeneral education programs and (b) are concerned only with the number of humanities and socialscience courses in a general education program. Indeed, previous reviews of general educationprograms have tended to focus on the percentage of the curriculum that is devoted to non-technical topics, as well as on particular kinds of courses (e.g., English, History, Philosophy,etc.). However, educational trends both inside the

Conference Session

Learning to Communicate with Engineers and Non-Engineers

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Judith Norback, Georgia Institute of Technology; Nicoleta Serban, Georgia Institute of Technology; Nagi Gebraeel, Georgia Institute of Technology; Garlie Forehand, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

2002, in a summary of six papers presentedin a symposium focused on the importance of undergraduate statistics education (“Improving theWork Force of the Future: Opportunities in Undergraduate Statistics Education,”) one authorwrote “the ability to communicate effectively is as important to the success of a bachelor’s levelstatistician as knowledge of the principle statistical methods in a field.”[22]. In some universitiesprofessors have added an oral communication component to their course for undergraduates[e.g.,23] . Others have added similar instruction to graduate statistics courses [24]. In this study, communication instruction focused on presentation skills was integratedinto the Stewart School of ISyE at Georgia Tech

Conference Session

Learning to Communicate with Engineers and Non-Engineers

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Laura Wilson, University of CIncinnati; Teresa Cook, University of Cincinnati; Jo Ann Thompson, University of Cincinnati; James Everly, University of Cincinnati

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

could not be overcome easily in the students’final quarter, as they were busy designing and building senior projects. Clearly more writinginstruction was needed during their mid-level courses. Even if students were required to takeTechnical Writing, which is not required by all majors, it seems that the students did not retainwhat was learned in order to apply those skills to their senior project report and oralpresentation.Simultaneous with the collaborative efforts between writing and engineering faculty at theCollege, the University as a whole was moving to adopt a new mid-level writing course. Theprevious general education requirements mandated that most students take a three-part Englishsequence. The new requirements would eliminate the

Conference Session

Liberal Education and Leadership

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James Hanson, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Julia Williams, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

during the day and to allow them time to self-assess their progress through theAcademy.Preliminary AssessmentIn response to the addition of “leadership” to the institutional student learning outcomes of ourcollege, we began polling all graduating seniors this year about the importance of leadership andtheir preparation for leadership. Note that Rose-Hulman only offers degrees in math, science andengineering, so all graduates plan to enter technical fields. The responses of the senior class of2009 are presented in Table 1. Over half, 55.4%, of the senior class responded to the survey.The results show that even though leadership is seen as important, graduating seniors feel thattheir education only prepared them moderately to well in this area

Conference Session

Integrating H&SS in Engineering II

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Krupczak, Hope College; James Heisler, Hope College; Thomas Ludwig, Hope College; Roger Nemeth, Hope College; James Piers, Hope College; Neal Sobania, Pacific Lutheran University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

© American Society for Engineering Education, 2006 Some Recommendations for U.S.A. Faculty on Teaching Liberal Education Courses in JapanAbstractThis work presents a summary of practical information for faculty from United Statesinstitutions of higher education planning on teaching liberal education courses in Japan.These recommendations are based on the experience of the authors in teaching sociology,history, economics, psychology, and general education classes, at both a US liberal artscollege and at a medium sized comprehensive university in Tokyo, Japan. For facultyparticipating in an exchange program, a key element is successful adaptation of existingfamiliar course materials for use in a different institution and

Conference Session

Critical Thinking and Creative Arts

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Helen Donis-Keller, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

educators have recognized that anarrow focus on acquiring technical skills is no longer sufficient training for the twenty-firstcentury engineer. As several reports from the National Academy of Engineering attest (2004,2005), in a call to action to for engineers "who are broadly educated, who see themselves asglobal citizens, who can be leaders in business and public service, and who are ethicallygrounded" Furthermore these reports go on to state that "attributes needed for the graduates of2020 include such traits as strong analytical skills, creativity, ingenuity, professionalism, andleadership." In particular creativity is seen as "an indispensable quality for engineering as is goodcommunication", which is defined as "the ability to listen

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary and Liberal Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Martello, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering; Jonathan Stolk, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

to benefit student learning and retention, some students complain thatintegrated schemes driven by the grouping of related technical content do not always placedisciplinary knowledge in context.25,26One possible solution to the lack of context in integrated technical curricula is the explicitintegration of humanities and social science topics. Calls for engineering education reformclearly identify the need for increased consideration of social, economic, political, andenvironmental factors.1,2,27 Atman and Nair report that first-year engineering students haveweak conceptual frameworks on science, technology, and society issues;28 and Vanderburg andKahn express deep concern over the lack of context in engineering curricula.29 Several

Conference Session

Thinking around the Bachelor of Arts in Engineering

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sharon Jones, Lafayette College

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

flexibility ofsuch a degree means that the programs are quite different in terms of curricula, students, andopportunities. Although the degree is far from mainstream, it is worthwhile to explore thequestion of whether this degree addresses some of the concerns about the need for a newapproach to undergraduate engineering education, or if it is a specialty program only suited tocertain contexts. In this session, several invitees discuss the Bachelor of Arts in EngineeringProgram at their colleges/universities. The discussion is organized around four main topics: 1)what is the objective of such a degree and how does it fit within engineering education, 2) whatare the advantages of the degree for stakeholders (students, faculty, industry), 3) what are

Conference Session

Innovative Courses/Pedagogies in Liberal Education II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paul Ross, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

vast majority of FIGs sections are outside the College of Engineering(COE). There are several inherent challenges for COE courses. Although one expressedpurpose of the FIGs program is to encourage students to register for a variety of other courses, infact freshmen who have committed to the engineering curriculum have little choice for variety.In the past, the “core course” has been the freshman comp course offered in the COE and thelinked courses were calculus and chemistry; these courses could not provide much “linkage” tothe subject matter of the core “freshman comp” class except for the general topic ofcommunication and composition. Starting in 2009, linkage has been to the freshman “GrandChallenges” course that included specific topics

Conference Session

Beyond Individual Ethics: Engineering in Context

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kristyn Masters, University of Wisconsin - Madison; Sarah Pfatteicher, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

researchtakes priority over education. This is particularly the case for certain educational topics, such asethics, that are considered to fall outside of their immediate subject area or expertise.The Engineering CurriculumIn a positive step toward achieving an emphasis on ethics in the engineering curriculum, theAccreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) now requires that all engineeringbachelor’s degree graduates possess “an understanding of professional and ethicalresponsibility.”2 Furthermore, several other ABET criteria emphasize the need for students tounderstand the technical aspects of engineering in a broader context that includes safety,sustainability, and other issues closely related to engineering ethics

Conference Session

Questions of Identity

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Ollis, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

thescholarly impact: this author’s research reputation is based largely upon a small set ofpapers in the photocatalysis domain. Accumulating by age 50 an appreciable research success through increasingnarrowness, albeit a productive one labeled scholarship, in the early 1990s my path beganbroadening. My research group focus had been narrow, as befits most PhD groups. Tobetter prepare my graduate students for the broader world which might have no interest inthe as yet uncommercialized photocatalysis area, I created a graduate PhotochemicalEngineering course, and explored the broader topical range of photography andxerography, of microlithography in microelectronics and microfabrication, of light-basedwater purification, and photovoltaic energy

Conference Session

Innovative Courses/Pedagogies in Liberal Education I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ari Epstein, MIT; Joellen Easton, American Public Media; Rekha Murthy, Public Radio Exchange; Emily Davidson, MIT; Jennifer de Bruijn, MIT; Tracey Hayse, MIT; Elise Hens, MIT; Margaret Lloyd

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

students, along with other alumni of the class,also serve as mentors in Terrascope Youth Radio, an outreach program conducted by MIT andCambridge Youth Programs, in which urban teens create radio on environmental topics.(Terrascope Youth Radio is described in more detail elsewhere.3)For students who have served as Undergraduate Teaching Fellows (UTFs) in the class, theexperience has been inspiring. UTFs do day-to-day work assisting students, but they also havestrong input into the class structure and curriculum. They participate in redesigning the syllabusyear to year, and they also develop assignments and demonstrations. One notes that “Having tocommunicate about how to communicate added a new layer to my educational experience,” andanother says

Conference Session

Liberal Education and Leadership

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julia Williams, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Richard House, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Anneliese Watt, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

elevated to aposition akin to that of technical bodies of knowledge, could be developed either in technical orHumanities and Social Sciences departments and courses; for accreditation, all that matters isthe quality of student skill outcomes that engineering educators can demonstrate.The EC 2000 approach has now become sufficiently mature to support studies of programachievement under its auspices. ABET, Inc.’s own commissioned review, conducted in 2006 inthe Penn State Department of Education, summarized its key findings in two succinct bulletpoints: ≠ “2004 graduates better prepared than their 1994 counterparts.” ≠ “Professional skills gained; technical skills maintained.”1Our course in technical and professional communication, required

Conference Session

Tree-huggers, Diggers, and Queers--Oh my!

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Erin Cech, University of California, San Diego; Tom Waidzunas, University of California, San Diego

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

California San Diego. He received bachelor's degrees in Electrical Engineering and Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin and practiced engineering for five years in the semiconductor industry. His research studies the social underpinnings of scientific controversies related to sexuality, as well as inequalities within scientific and technical fields. Page 14.1384.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 “Engineers Who Happen to be Gay:” Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Students’ Experiences in EngineeringAbstractWhile much is known about the experiences of women and

Conference Session

Integrating H&SS in Engineering II

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

M. Pinar Menguc, University of Kentucky; Ellie Hawes, University of Kentucky; Jane Jensen, University of Kentucky; Ingrid St. Omer, University of Kentucky

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

intensive; students receive credit for freshmen compositionand three of their general education requirements.We first presented the “Nanotechnology Track” proposal to the UK Honors Programduring the Fall 2004 semester, and received approval from the Honors Program SteeringCommittee and the Senate Council. The University invites academically talented studentsand their parents to attend special two-day advising conferences in March called MeritWeekend. To attend a Merit Weekend, students must have been admitted with at least a28 composite score on the ACT Assessment (or 1240 on the SAT). Participating studentseligible for admission into the Honors Program were given the privilege of earlyregistration for their Fall courses, and our foundations course

Conference Session

Innovative Courses/Pedagogies in Liberal Education I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Deborah Sinnreich-Levi, Stevens Institute of Technology; Susan Metz, Stevens Institute of Technology; David Silverstein, Stevens Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

AC 2010-713: IMPROVING THE ABILITY OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS TOCOMMUNICATE TO NON-TECHNICAL AUDIENCESDeborah Sinnreich-Levi, Stevens Institute of Technology Prof. Deborah Sinnreich-Levi is associate professor of English and comparative literature at Stevens Institute of Technology, where she has directed the writing program since 1990. She ran the grant-funded Humanities Resource Center for 17 years. She direct both the undergraduate writing program, and the graduate professional communications certificate program. She teaches literature and advanced writing courses for engineers. She has been awarded two Institute distinguished teaching awards, and one research award, in addition to receiving

Conference Session

Innovative Courses/Pedagogies in Liberal Education I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kyle Simmons, University of Utah; Susan Sample, University of Utah; April Kedrowicz, University of Utah

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

received greater emphasis in the engineering education literature recently. 1Engineering teaming research, in general, encompasses the following areas: (a) cooperativelearning,2-10 (b) specific examples of using teams in the classroom,11-15 (c) the impact of gender(and other demographic variables) on team productivity,16-18 (d) essential team skills,19-23 and (e)approaches for assessing teamwork (i.e., grading or evaluating team projects).24-29 Although thisliterature is a valuable resource for instructors of teamwork, it fails to address team pedagogy.That is, of the essays that afford mention of team communication as an important aspect ofeffective professional development, none go on to explain how to teach students effectiveteamwork principles

Conference Session

Integrating H&SS in Engineering I

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donald Carpenter, Lawrence Technological University; Andrew Gerhart, Lawrence Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

, educational facilities,and city chambers of commerce, were alerted that we would be passing by during the expeditionand were presented with the possibility for the team to give a presentation. Twenty-onepresentations were made over the course of 59 days (and many of these places offered freecamping in exchange for the presentation). The topics presented and discussed during thepresentations presented a great learning opportunity for the students. They studied topics thatthey would not typically learn about in a standard engineering curriculum. The presentationtopics included: what the trip is about and why they were doing it; an historical briefing; andhow the Great Lakes region has changed culturally, socially and environmentally. A generalquestion

Conference Session

Communication and Collaboration

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Alley, Pennsylvania State University; Are Magnus Bruaset, Simula Research Laboratory; Melissa Marshall, Pennsylvania State University; Marianne M. Sundet, Simula Research Laboratory; Sarah Zappe, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

information to potential participants and the public.Sarah Zappe, Pennsylvania State University Dr. Sarah Zappe is the Director of Assessment and Instructional Support in the Leonhard Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Education at Pennsylvania State University. Her background is in educational psychology with an emphasis on educational testing and assessment. Page 14.1197.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 Development of a National Workshop to Teach Norwegian Ph.D. Students in Engineering and Science How to Communicate ResearchKey Words: graduate

Conference Session

Approaches to Learning Outcomes Assessment in Liberal Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kyle Oliver, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Traci Nathans-Kelly; Sandra Courter, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Laura Grossenbacher, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

AC 2007-866: FINDING A "PLACE" FOR READING AND DISCUSSIONCOURSES: DESIGN AND ASSESSMENT OF "SOCIAL AND ETHICAL IMPACTSOF TECHNOLOGY"Kyle Oliver, University of Wisconsin-Madison Kyle Oliver is a graduate student in the Department of Engineering Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.Traci Kelly, University of Wisconsin-Madison Dr. Traci Kelly is an Assistant Faculty Associate in the Department of Engineering Professional Development at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.Sandra Courter, University of Wisconsin-Madison Dr. Sandra Courter is the Director of the Engineering Learning Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.Laura Grossenbacher, University of Wisconsin-Madison Dr

Conference Session

Approaches to Learning Outcomes Assessment in Liberal Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steve Lappenbusch, University of Washington; Jennifer Turns, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

, but that he later deduced were skills he asserted every electrical engineer should have.Thus, he moved to writing about himself with the annotations of his portfolio artifacts in the,“have these skills,” portion of the quote. This shows how the portfolio annotations offer amechanism for enabling identity work. In moving from the general (professional statement) tothe personally specific (annotations), the student is able to see his own identity evolution andpoint to concrete examples of it.DiscussionThis paper has focused on one of the many potential educational benefits of portfolioconstruction—the ways in which portfolio construction helps students grapple with the issue oftheir identities as engineers. In the previous section, we

Conference Session

Liberal Education for 21st Century Engineering

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Betty Harper, Pennsylvania State University; Lisa Lattuca, Pennsylvania State University; Alexander Yin, Penn State University; Patrick Terenzini, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

prepared towork collaboratively in culturally diverse and global settings. In order to remain relevant in anevolving field, they must also be creative and innovative, imbued with an entrepreneurial spirit,and educated for leadership and life-long learning. Traditionally, the development of attributessuch as these have not been the primary goals of the undergraduate engineering curriculum,although recent changes in accreditation standards strongly encourage engineering programs tohelp students develop teamwork and lifelong learning skills.While support for what have been understood historically as liberal (or general) education goalsfuels many discussions in engineering education community, the level to which these goalscurrently permeate

Conference Session

Tree-huggers, Diggers, and Queers--Oh my!

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dean Nieusma, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

have provided entire engineeringcourses oriented toward sustainability. 14Even more ambitious efforts exist to introduce sustainability content across engineering curriculain a variety of ways. One initiative entails infiltrating sustainability content into a variety ofexisting courses in an undergraduate civil engineering program to ensure that coverage of suchcontent was not subject to variations in specific instructor interests. 15 Another initiative entailsdevelopment of a graduate civil engineering/green construction program that combinescoursework, directed research projects, and international exchanges in a format similar to design-based, service-learning experiences. 16 Educators developing new curricula sometimes rely onABET

Conference Session

Liberal Education and Leadership

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Val Hawks, Brigham Young University; John Harb, Brigham Young University; Alan Parkinson, Brigham Young University; Spencer Magleby, Brigham Young University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

national and international politics, business and economics Creative problem solving and innovation Sensitivity to and appreciation of diversity An ability and desire to be agents of positive change Page 14.11.6Curricular MaterialsThe method of choice for giving attention to a topic of priority in an academic institution is todevelop and offer a class on the subject or topic. A course titled “Moral leadership in aTechnological World” has been developed and is being taught by faculty in our college. It hasbeen approved for General Education credit thereby adding validity to the course material from aUniversity organizational