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
2006-1159: NATIONAL DISSEMINATION OF MULTI-MEDIA CASE STUDIESTHAT BRING REAL-WORLD ISSUES INTO ENGINEERING CLASSROOMS:PILOT STUDYChetan Sankar, Auburn UniversityP.K. Raju, Auburn University Page 11.950.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2006 National Dissemination of Multi-Media Case Studies That Bring Real-World Issues into Engineering Classrooms: Pilot Study Engineering students are increasingly being asked by potential employers to demonstrate“soft” skills (such as problem solving and business skills) in addition to their “hard” technicalskills. Reflecting these expectations, the Accreditation Board for Engineering Education(ABET) has
enhancement includestwo facets: 1. Modernize and improve the technical skills acquired by students in the laboratory courses. 2. Thoughtfully incorporate developmental skills (soft skills like teamwork and communication) that are important for engineers.The project uses evidence based instructional methods with an emphasis on backward design.The pedagogical methods are used to create new laboratory modules that use specific learningobjectives with open-ended laboratory methods to create experiences where each student "cookswithout a recipe." Prior work by the research team describes a successful experiment thatscaffolds a low-cost experimental module through the entire mechanical engineering curriculumand provides additional
curriculum in upper-division electricity & magnetism. PERC Proceedings. 2012, 1413, 139-142.11. AIChE Concept Warehouse. http://jimi.cbee.oregonstate.edu/concept_warehouse/#12. Felder, R.M. Richard Felder’s education-related Publications, January 2011. http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Papers/Education_Papers.html13. Felder, R.M. Designing tests to maximize learning. J. Prof. Issues Engr. Education & Practice. 2002, 128, 1–3.14. Felder, R.M.; Brent, R. Random thoughts: hard assessment of soft skills. Chem. Eng. Ed. 2002, 44, 63-64.15. Michael C. Oldenburg. Using Microsoft OneNote 2010; Que Publishing, 2011, 1-432
‘very.’ A total of 16responses were received from one of the sections of the course.Table 4. A summary of quantitative section of student survey (N=16) on the effectiveness of the project. The ratings range from 1 for ‘not at all’ to 5 for ‘very’. Questions Avg. Rating 1 How important were the following technical skills to your success in CRP: 4.44 Measurement, Data Analysis, and Experimental Design? 2 How important were the engineering ‘soft’ skills to your success in CRP: 4.50 Teamwork, Project Management and Communication (written and oral)? 3 How comfortable are you at describing to someone what an engineering
objectives vs others.The experiment gives students exposure to Instrumentation, Models, Experimentation, and DataAnalysis (objectives 1-4 of Feisel and Rosa8). The use of a guitar string as the vehicle forlearning allows the students to develop Psychomotor (the ability to actually touch andmanipulate the device) and Sensory Awareness (objectives 8 and 12, respectively.) The exercisealso helps reinforce “soft skills that are so important in professional practice: Safety,Communication, Teamwork, Ethics (objectives 9 – 12). Tuning, fret positioning, the tone controlcircuit relate to Design (objective 5). Finally, although not intentional, students will sometimesget exposure to objective 6: Learning from Failure. The portability and affordability
. Giventhat most of our engineering students typically show resistance to learning such “soft skills” aswritten and oral communication, these survey results are encouraging in that they indicate thatmany students have been to at least some degree won over.When asked to write comments, many students provided insightful suggestions. Several showedtheir appreciation of communicating with fictitious customers with comments such as, “I thoughtthat the customers were fun and creative. It forced us to think outside the box a little, and addressthem like people with potentially little technical background.” Others had a bit more difficultywith the task of writing to a customer rather than faculty: “I guess that I personally didn't write itto the client, so