Conference Session

Writing Is Fundamental

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Murali Krishnamurthi, Northern Illinois University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

AC 2009-2425: SCAFFOLDING TECHNIQUES FOR IMPROVING ENGINEERINGSTUDENTS' WRITING SKILLSMurali Krishnamurthi, Northern Illinois University Murali Krishnamurthi is Associate Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering and Director of Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center at Northern Illinois University. He received his Ph.D in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University. His teaching and research interests include project management, information systems, system simulation, optimizaton, expert systems, and engineering education. Page 14.1042.1© American Society for Engineering

Conference Session

Writing Is Fundamental

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Beams, University of Texas, Tyler; Luke Niiler, University of Alabama

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

AC 2009-435: HOW ENGINEERING STUDENTS LEARN TO WRITE:FOURTH-YEAR FINDINGS AND SUMMARY OF THE UT-TYLERENGINEERING WRITING INITIATIVEDavid Beams, University of Texas, Tyler DAVID M. BEAMS is an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Texas at Tyler. He received his BS and MS degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in and the Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has had over 16 years of industrial experience in addition to his 12 years with UT-Tyler. He is a licensed professional engineer in Wisconsin and Texas and holds or shares four patents.Luke Niiler, University of Alabama LUKE NIILER is an Associate Professor of English and

Conference Session

Writing Is Fundamental

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Beth Richards, University of Hartford; Mohammad Saleh Keshawarz; Hisham Alnajjar, Computer and Electrical

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

passive voice for intermediate texts. To verify that this was representative of textsbeing read for other courses, an additional analysis of engineering texts was performed. Theresult: Those texts overwhelmingly used present or simple past and passive voice, as is typicalfor scientific reporting.After each reading, the workbook also provided a writing prompt, asking students to complete ashort writing passage linked to the text. Obviously, in a class containing more than 100 students,it would be impossible for instructors to provide detailed constructive feedback on writingexercises. However, instructors were encouraged to use these exercises to help students reinforceand apply new vocabulary and grammar concepts as well as use the paragraphs for

Conference Session

Writing and Communication II: Practical Perspectives on Teaching and Assessment

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kathleen Jernquist, U.S. Coast Guard Academy; David Godfrey, U.S. Coast Guard Academy; Todd Taylor, U.S. Coast Guard Academy

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

HANDBOOK – A CASE STUDYAbstractEffective written communication is one of the most important skills an engineer can have. Yet,growing numbers of undergraduate students leave first-year composition courses without theskills, self-discipline and strategies to write effectively. This is especially troublesome forengineering students as they transition to the writing skills and styles appropriate to engineeringat the same time as they struggle to improve their fundamental writing skills. In an effort todevelop the writing skills of engineering undergraduates at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, theElectrical Engineering and Naval Architecture/Marine Engineering programs have developed aclose collaboration with the USCGA writing

Conference Session

Liberal Education Division Poster Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tom Moran, Rochester Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

post 60’s educational world, it is in vogue to pass over the fundamentals andlaunch students at a very early age into the holistic writing process. The idea is the fundamentalsof how to write a sentence will be absorbed by little insights and little on-demand discussionswith teachers about nouns and verbs and at some point in time the light will go on and everythingwill come together,” Henderson explains. “Well, sadly that rarely happens. It is particularlybothersome to the engineering mind, because the engineering mind knows that process just isn’tgoing to work. At the very get go. So the engineering mind is desperately wanting somebody tosit down and share the fundamentals first. The other thing the engineering mind craves iswhenever

Conference Session

Writing and Communication I: Innovative Models for Curriculum and Assessment

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marie Paretti, Virginia Tech; Lisa McNair, Virginia Tech; Diana George, Virginia Tech; kelly belanger, Virginia Tech; Lisa Norris, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

, and related surface featuresare then taught within that larger context – the context necessary for successfully transferring“the ability to communicate effectively” from one situation to another. Current research onstudents’ transitions from school to work bears out the need for this approach. School and workare, in short, fundamentally contexts governed by different constraints, as a number of scholarshave made clear.43, 53-60 At the most basic level, writing in school is often primarily a way forinstructors to evaluate students’ knowledge and performance (notwithstanding the substantialrole writing plays in fostering student learning and development, as documented by numerousstudies of writing to learn). That is, the desired outcome of the

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

AC 2009-1610: COMMUNICATION PEDAGOGY IN THE ENGINEERINGCLASSROOM: A REPORT ON FACULTY PRACTICES AND PERCEPTIONSJulia Williams, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Julia M. Williams is Executive Director of the Office of Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment & Professor of English at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana. Her articles on writing assessment, electronic portfolios, ABET, and tablet PCs have appeared in the Technical Communication Quarterly, Technical Communication: Journal of the Society for Technical Communication, The International Journal of Engineering Education, Journal of Engineering Education, and The Impact of Tablet PCs and Pen

Conference Session

Redefining the Boundaries of Engineering and Liberal Education: Contributions to the Year of Dialogue

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Grimson, Dublin Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

be an important test in science but has noequivalent role in engineering. On the other hand the role that failure or partial failure plays inthe development of engineering design in fact is fundamental, as pointed out by Henry Petroskiin much of his writing and especially in his book To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure inSuccessful Design4. In short, generalizing a Philosophy of Science to encompass Engineering is,at best, problematic. Instead of attempting to develop a Philosophy of Engineering an alternativeis to go back to the basics of philosophy and develop a set of attributes, characteristics or evenprinciples that collectively state something specific to or about engineering. Ludwig Wittgensteinconsidered that “Philosophy is not

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary and Liberal Education

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hilkat Soysal, Frostburg State University; Oguz Soysal, Frostburg State University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

].The national trend in accreditation of higher education institutions in the USA leads to aninterdisciplinary curriculum to enhance technological literacy and scientific reasoning forall majors. In most of the colleges, the only way to ensure the exposition of liberal artsstudents to the fundamental concepts of science and engineering is the general educationprogram.The accreditation standards of the Middle States Association of Higher Education requirethat an institution’s general education program be designed “so that students acquire anddemonstrate college-level proficiency in general education and essential skills” includingskills in scientific reasoning. The Maryland Higher Education Commission hasconsequently mandated that all higher

Conference Session

Integrating H&SS in Engineering I

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donna Riley, Smith College; Lionel Claris, Smith College

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

discover theliving, powerful dynamic relation between word and action, between word, action andreflection.”3 It is important not only that connections are made, but also how they are made.Liberative learning is fundamentally relational, both in terms of connecting theory and practice,content and process, and in terms of emphasizing human relationships in the classroom and inthe world as central to learning. Typically a relational learning approach4 identifies threedifferent ways that an individual student has of relating; the learner’s relation to themselves, thelearner’s relation to the teacher, and the learner’s relation to the world (this includes theacademic and social aspects of the classroom).Liberative pedagogies view process and content

Conference Session

Critical Thinking and Creative Arts

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bill Genereux, Kansas State University, Salina; Elena Mangione-Lora, University of Notre Dame

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

. The second course is an introduction to computer networking course offered atKansas State University at Salina which uses video technology to teach the fundamentals ofcomputer networking. Both courses use digital storytelling to enhance student learning, andstrengthen communication skills.Some scholars argue that "the multimedia language of the screen has become the currentvernacular" and it is time for video instruction to become foundational to undergraduate generaleducation. Digital video is becoming increasingly affordable and accessible, providing anengaging method of instruction in a variety of subject areas.Video provides an excellent and familiar medium for enhancing student learning in a variety ofdisciplines, including engineering

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

also suggests the trajectory students may need to take in order to construct theportfolio, a trajectory from being a student understanding their engineering discipline in theabstract, “I didn’t discuss myself at all,” and describing skills an electrical engineer as a personwould have, “I wrote originally…describing the skills and electrical engineer would possess,” toa professional articulating his own professional standing, “what I have done that shows I havethese skills.” Further, this identity work of moving from a student towards a professionalidentity is associated with different features of the portfolio construction. Specifically, thestudent is talking about writing paragraphs that were at first paragraphs in his professionalstatement

Conference Session

Beyond Individual Ethics: Engineering in Context

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dean Nieusma, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

Page 13.767.4typical of Rensselaer students. Despite this pragmatic prospect, however, the original motivationfor the program was built more upon its intellectual promise than institutional opportunity. Thebrainchild of an anarchist philosopher, a feminist architect, and a design engineer committed to“the social side” of engineering, the program was conceptualized as radically interdisciplinaryand, hence, with the potential to fundamentally change the quality of undergraduate education atRensselaer.12In its basic structure, PDI entails 1) a required design studio almost every semester as theunifying element of the curriculum and 2) a radically interdisciplinary approach to designeducation.13 Studio work is complemented by additional STS core

Conference Session

Engineering for Social Justice

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Charles Schreier, University of Dayton; Carl Eger, University of Dayton; Margaret Pinnell, University of Dayton

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

abroad. In some instances, these internationallearning experiences have been combined with service-learning to provide a unique learningopportunity for engineering students. Through international service-learning, students are able todevelop fundamental engineering skills, foreign language skills and cultural awareness whileserving the needs of the global community.8-10 The sense of civic responsibility obtained bystudents participating in international service-learning is broadened greatly to include a sense ofresponsibility to the world. Many students who have participated in international service-learning have indicated that that the experience changed their understanding of the role ofengineers in society and in the world 1,11-15. Although

Conference Session

Engineering for Social Justice

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

George Catalano, State University of New York-Binghamton; Caroline Baillie, Queens University-Kingston

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

leastfour levels for the meaning of peace.5 At the most fundamental or literal level, note thedefinition used by Ancient Romans who defined peace, pax, as absentia belli, or theabsence of war. At the next highest level of meaning, the analogical, many believe thatpeace is more than the absence of war but also requires the presence of justice. In thisconception, a society in which one group oppresses another lacks peace even in theabsence of violence, because the oppression itself constitutes evil. At the third or morallevel, peace refers to a harmonious balance between human beings, the rest of the naturalworld, and the cosmos. Peace does not necessarily have to be something the humansmight achieve "some day" but rather can be created and expanded

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

education program consists of about 35credit hours, or 29% of a 120-hour curriculum. This percentage is significantly different fromthe figures cited by Stouffer and Russell.From the Ratcliff survey, 61.3% of the schools report content requirements in literature, 60.7%in History, 60.6% in Philosophy and Ethics, 46.9% in Foreign Languages. Further, in keepingwith the understanding that cognitive areas (and related outcomes) are as important as contentareas, Ratcliff’s survey reveals that 91% of the schools report goals in the area of critical readingand writing, 72% in critical thinking, 63% in speaking and listening, 67% in cultural diversityand 55% in global studies. While the Ratcliff study provides a picture of goals in generaleducation, it is

Conference Session

Innovative Courses/Pedagogies in Liberal Education I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Layton, DeVry University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

fiction classes really ought tobe more knowledgeable in these areas. If a science fiction class were to be a pure Literaturecourse, then there is no reason to use science fiction. Having a science fiction class meansfocusing on aspects unique to science fiction. This means placing at least as much emphasis onthe “science” as on the “fiction.” The kind of course proposed in this paper requires that theinstructor stay attuned to developments in technology and science. The instructor in a Literaturedepartment need not be an expert in these fields, but does need to have knowledge of relevantscience and engineering fundamentals. Instructors from Science and Engineering departments inturn should have a working knowledge of literary and philosophical

Conference Session

Questions of Identity

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Jordan, Baylor University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

2006-1013: A VIRTUE ETHICS APPROACH TO ENGINEERING ETHICSWilliam Jordan, Baylor University WILLIAM JORDAN is Professor and Department Chair of Mechanical Engineering at Baylor University. He has B.S. and M.S. degrees in Metallurgical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. He has an M.A. degree in Theology from Denver Seminary. His Ph.D. was in mechanics and materials engineering from Texas A & M University. He teaches materials oriented courses and his main research area deals with the mechanical behavior of composite materials. He also writes and does research in the areas of engineering ethics and engineering education. He is a registered metallurgical engineer in the

Conference Session

Engineering for Social Justice

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steven VanderLeest, Calvin College

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

fabricate tools, then we cannot afford to leave thisimportant human activity to a select group. Music is also an important element of our humanidentity, as Robert Fulghum noted: "Never forget that music is too important to be left entirelyin the hands of professionals." As it is for music, so it is for technology. To be fully human is toindulge the creative spirit, not only in art such as music, but also in engineering and design.Abraham Maslow, in describing his hierarchy of human needs, notes that human self-actualization requires that one act out one’s identity: "A musician must make music, an artistmust paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be,he must be."7To illustrate use norms, I will

Conference Session

Questions of Identity

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Ollis, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

” These are the words of an engineer who has increased his self knowledge,presumably from an early outlook that engineering is derived exclusively from science(“as usually thought”), to the self-knowledge that his discipline, and he himself, act in atheater involving the triumvirate of disciplines: science, social science, and humanities. Similarly, Lienhard reflects the eventual self-knowledge realized by hisgeneration when he writes “We were a people buoyed by our new ability and strength. Not until we had twice watched all our new technology feeding the monster of war did the worm of doubt finally eat into the heart of that childlike assurance.”18 The implied transition from possessing “childlike assurance

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

that process usually results with new areas of engineering, just likehydrodynamics, thermodynamics, all the way to nanophotonics.Secondly, there is usually a personal (or, rather, societal) touch associated with anyengineering accomplishment. Rarely is an engineered concept, device or process, bornsimply from physical laws or mathematical proofs. A device or process exists becausesomebody needs it at a particular time or place. Its purpose as well as presence is notdictated by universal principals, but by personal and societal aspirations. This “artistic”side of engineering clearly distinguishes it from hard sciences, even though it is built onhard sciences.For many high-school seniors, this fundamental difference may be the primary reason

Conference Session

Liberal Education for 21st Century Engineering

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Heywood, Trinity College Dublin

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

communicated to students audiences. by teacherOrganizing system of the classroom in Organizing systems are complex: teacher and students both reachsimple one teacher teaches 30 students. out beyond school for additional information.Reading, writing and math are treated Disciplines needed for problem solving are integrated; listening andas separate disciplines; listening and speaking are fundamental parts of learning.speaking often are missing from the curriculum.Thinking is usually “theoretical” and Thinking involves problem solving, reasoning and decision making.“academic”Students are expected to conform to Students are expected to be responsible, sociable, self-managing, teacher’s behavioral expectations; and

Conference Session

Beyond Individual Ethics: Engineering in Context

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donna Riley, Smith College

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

theyrepresent a low developmental stage of critical thinking and reflective judgment53.While most of us who teach ethics recognize that there is more than one “right answer” toquestions posed, the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam continues to offer multiple choiceethics questions, and some educators follow suit using the exam as justification belies thisnotion54. Lockheed Martin’s use of Dilbert to teach ethics,55 implemented in some engineeringclassrooms56, also utilizes a multiple choice format, although there is a designation of “grayness”for some answers. The recognition of multiple possible solutions may rattle some students, andlikely does in fact begin to undermine some previous assumptions about the world. But to simplyadapt traditional

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

synthesize fundamental content knowledge and critical thinking skills, and applythese to unfamiliar situations based on real-world problems. Achievement on an identicalProject One technical examination administered to students in the integrated course block (M =78.8, SD = 7.9)and the non-integrated materials course (M = 77.4, SD = 12.4) showedinsignificant differences in a t-test analysis with an alpha of 0.05. This preliminary analysis oftechnical performance indicates that the coupling of broader context and emphasis on historicalthemes does not deleteriously affect engineering student development of technicalcompetencies and acquisition of disciplinary knowledge.Student self-perceptions of learningStudent perception of learning outcomes is an

Conference Session

Historical Perspectives for Engineering Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Amy Slaton, Drexel University; Mary Ebeling, Drexel University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

Page 15.1284.5manufacturing processes.11 These challenges have implications for both workforce developmentand nanomanufacturing training opportunities at two-year colleges. The production of carbonnanotubes, for instance, a material fundamental to much research and development in nanotech,requires synthesis in a laboratory setting, utilizing a variety of methods such as laser ablation, arcdischarge or chemical vapor deposition to produce quantities that are measured in grams.Considering these constraining material conditions, it is difficult to see that nanomanufacturingwill reach any of the nanotech job-creation projection claims for 2015 made by the PaNMT. Themeanings of "nano-related labor" are themselves somewhat difficult to pin down in

Conference Session

Venturing Out: Service Learning, Study Abroad, and Criterion H

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Duffy, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Carol Barry, University Massachusetts Lowell; Linda Barrington, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; David Kazmer, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; William Moeller, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Cheryl West, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

students in whichstudent teams have designed and built moving displays illustrating various technologies for60,000 middle school students that every year visit a history center which is part of a nationalpark; sophomore kinematics in which student teams visit local playgrounds to assess safety usingthe equations for deceleration, forces, and impact from the course in a structured way; junior heattransfer courses in which analyses of heat loss and suggestions for heating system savings for alocal food pantry, a city hall building, and community mental health center as well as theuniversity itself were developed and presented to the stakeholders; sophomore materials in whichstudent teams presented findings to the staff of a local textile history