curriculum and resources developed.1. IntroductionThe 2012 President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) report, “Engageto Excel” indicates that the United States needs to produce one million additional STEMprofessionals in the next decade in order to retain its historical preeminence in science andtechnology. To meet this need, the number of undergraduate STEM degrees will have to increaseby about 34 percent annually over the current rates. The PCAST report proposes that addressingthe retention problem in the first two years of college is the most promising and cost-effectivestrategy to address this need.1 The California Community College System, with its 112community colleges and 71-off campus centers enrolling approximately
& Business Development Professionals to Create Globally Competent Engineers via On- and Off-Campus ActivitiesAbstractEfforts to scale curricular and co-curricular experiences designed to foster globally competentengineers sit at an important crossroads. Education for global competency, along with thedevelopment of other “professional” or “soft” skills, is an important part of the formation of 21stcentury engineers. There is broad agreement that, “US engineers [of 2020] will face totallydifferent problems from the ones we face today” and “will have to be open to different religions,different ways of thinking, and different social values.”1 However, consensus does not existregarding how to cultivate globally
postdoctoral research at the Harvard Medical School. He has 7 years of industrial research experience in environmental consulting and is dedicated to training young professionals. Page 26.1243.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2015 Preliminary Evaluation of a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program: A Methodology for Examining Student OutcomesAbstractThe current study presented an initial evaluation, following Year 1, of a National ScienceFoundation (NSF) sponsored Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program inchemical
. For many, it is integral to the way theycommunicate with one another and document their activities. As such, their perceptions of theseconnections are possibly different than those of the authors, who might see social media as eithera distraction, or a potential “add-on,” to the learning and practice of engineering.Increasing our understanding of the students’ attitudes and dispositions towards social media,engineering and leadership can inform the development of engineering education and practice.Therefore, this study explores two related research questions: 1. How are social media, engineering and leadership related to one another from a student perspective? 2. How do student self-perceptions of their leadership skills change
study of engineering PhD students with extensivework experience prior to enrolling in doctoral study, a group we call returners. Thoughgraduation age data suggests returners are in the minority of engineering doctoral students, theyare an important group to understand. In addition to representing an under-researched pathwaythrough advanced engineering training, given the combination of returners’ rich real-world workexperience with advanced engineering training, these students may be uniquely poised todevelop innovative solutions to important problems of contemporary society. Creative cognitiontheory suggests in part that innovation is likely to occur at the intersection of multipleexperiences or perspectives.1 Based on such work, we suspected
, engineering management, and teamwork for engineershave been debated, as the definition of ‘engineering leadership’ has evolved. Wilding, W. V., &Knotts, T. A., & Pitt, W. G., & Argyle, M. D. 1 have defined leadership characteristics forengineering students and created a working definition comprised of 13 qualities for theirengineers; highlighted by “follows as well as leads”, “takes time to evaluate personalperformance as a team member and improves when needed”, and “understands the personalitytraits of self and others and can work with others in accomplishing tasks”. They have noticed the“prominence of teamwork skills” in their list.1 From an extensive review of best practices, Paul,R., & Cowe Falls, L. G.2 propose the definition is
can be found in nature, and scaffoldthe discovery and knowledge transfer processes so that those natural designs can be used to in-spire engineering solutions. This research is expected to produce knowledge that will improvestudent learning, STEM literacy, cross-disciplinary thinking, and innovation. Bio-inspired designis also expected to enhance the diversity and inclusion of ideas, and to attract women and minori-ty students with diverse backgrounds to pursue STEM fields. Its ultimate benefit, we hope, willbe to fuel the design innovations needed to create a more sustainable future for humankind.1. Introduction It is well known that engineering involves integrating broad knowledge towards some pur-pose, generally to address a need or
. For direct assessment, students’ EML assignments were evaluated by theinstructor to verify inclusion or exclusion of a set of entrepreneurially minded attributes. Forindirect assessment, students were surveyed to determine their perceived extent of usingparticular entrepreneurial mindset skills during an EML assignment. The results have thus faryielded positive results for students incorporating mindset skills into subject-based matter.1. IntroductionIncreasing emphasis has been placed on the engineering education community to implementstudent-centered pedagogies which will allow the students a more authentic (“real-world”)experience. Many highly effective pedagogies have proven to be more effective than thetraditional “chalk-and-talk
partners. The students work in teams to design, build, and test proof-of-concept systems.25This process prepares students to enter the workplace. The workplace has been changing rapidly.Now, engineering students are required to work and function in a multidisciplinary environmentupon graduation. Because of that, many educational institutions have incorporatedmultidisciplinary capstone design in their curricula.There is a limited qualitative and quantitative research on multidisciplinary teams and theireffectiveness since educational institutions have only recently started to take more initiative inthis area. The existing literature shows that multidisciplinary students are better off with jobplacement than monodisciplinary students;1 however, the
having theproblem, and the many more who support the common cultural understanding of thephenomenon as a problem. To help focus the thinking in this framework, McDermott proposes athree-stage framework to take different levels of the problem into account. In Stage 1, anindividual is conceptualized as having problems completely on their own; any problemsidentified are simple evidence of the individual’s own intellectual, moral, cultural, etc. deficits.In Stage 2, an individual is viewed as experiencing problems on the basis of social structuresmuch larger than them; and any problems identified can be explained as the natural result ofhaving been socialized to occupy that position in society. Finally in Stage 3, the problem isviewed as being
test structures under representative earthquake loading. In an effort to reach a large number of schools across the country, the initiative is engaging regional professional and university student chapters to work closely with classroom teachers and collaborate on delivering the activities.1. IntroductionIn seismically active regions throughout the United States, hundreds of thousands of students andstaff unknowingly study and work in structurally vulnerable school and university buildings.According to the U.S. Census[1], approximately 71.5 million students are enrolled in K-12schools as of fall 2015. These students attend public and private schools housed in buildings ofvarying seismic safety ranging from modern
). We do note, however, that thissituation did not emerge as a theme in our interviews, probably because—as Meadows andSekaquaptewa argue—students saw their assignment to non-technical work as self-determined,and therefore not an issue they thought to complain about.Part I ResultsStudents routinely encounter problems in their teamsConsistent with the EC2000 criteria, 98% of students (n=664) reported participating on at leastone team, with the average student participating in three teams in the most recent year.Table 1 shows that team problems are very common: 85% of engineering students reported atleast one team problem in their STEM classes in the most recent year. Moreover, many of theseissues appear to have limited students’ opportunities to
a two-year, project-based program that allows students with two-yearcollege degrees to complete a bachelor’s degree in engineering. The program is a partnershipbetween a community college and a state university, separated geographically by severalhundred miles. The program takes place at the community college, targeting students in that partof the state and responding to the needs of local industries. Because of the complex nature of theinstitutional partnership, as well as the project-based, team-focused emphasis, the program servesas an innovative model for engineering education.IntroductionThe engineering profession is becoming steadily more global in nature,1 creating the need forengineering education to develop a graduate who is
degreein mechanical engineering while the other had worked in the construction field. Although neitherhad experience in engineering education methods, faculty members from a nearby engineeringcollege provided guidance. Before designing individual courses, the teachers generated twodocuments intended to form the foundation of all ensuring coursework. The first of thesedocuments, entitled the Academic Standards, focused on five key areas for student development:1) STEM career exploration, 2) collaborative teamwork skills, 3) STEM skills and knowledge, 4)open-ended hands-on design, and 5) communication skills. The second, called the Grade LevelExpectations, broadly outlined the learning outcomes for each of the program’s four years. Theseexpectations
pedagogy that help to improve student engagement and understanding.Dr. Shannon Katherine Gilmartin, Stanford UniversityDr. Helen L. Chen, Stanford University Helen L. Chen is a research scientist in the Designing Education Lab in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Director of ePortfolio Initiatives in the Office of the Registrar at Stanford University. She is also a member of the research team in the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation (Epicenter). Helen earned her undergraduate degree from UCLA and her PhD in Communication with a minor in Psychology from Stanford University in 1998. Her current research interests include: 1) engineering and entrepreneurship education; 2) the pedagogy of
of ASEE and is particularly interested in the role of liberal education in developing engineering leaders and in the connections between the arts and engineering. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2016 Learning Out Loud (LOL): How Comics Can Develop the Communication and Critical Thinking Skills of Engineering Students Boredom is a significant issue in higher education. --Rosegard and Wilson (2013)25, p. 1 Because attention is the main gatekeeper to processing, storing, and retrieving information, learning cannot
thatsuggested differences either in characterizations or approaches to innovative engineering designand included academic major24, year in school26, and gender27. All 33 participants are listed inTable 1.Table 1. Study Participants and Key Demographic InformationPseudonym Engr. Major Year in School Gender Project(s) described during interview Dana Aeronautical Senior Female Senior design Maria Industrial Junior Female FYE design project Jessica Biological Sophomore Female FYE design project Esteban First-Year First-year Male Personal project (3-D printed longboard) Elon Mechanical Senior Male Personal project (lamp
of each week’s class. A list of the course learning objectives,as described in the syllabus, are provided in Table 1. The primary topics addressed in the classunder each of the main modules are listed in Table 2. Table 1. Course learning objectives. No. Course Learning Objective (abbreviated “CO”) 1 Understand challenges (technical, social, etc.) to building “better” buildings 2 Describe physical, social, economic and environmental impacts of natural hazards on buildings 3 Describe how building design has changed over time to respond to needs of
computerskills that make it difficult to put them into the same classroom (page 29)”. For makerspaces tomake significant contributions to enhancing the participation of women and multiculturalstudents in STEM fields, we must make them attractive environments for these constituencies. Inthe paragraphs below we illustrate how the various elements of our programs try to achieve this.DiscussionOne way in which we have tried to attract a variety of audiences is by providing multiple formatsfor participation: (1) a long-term after school program, (2) periodic “Maker Meetup” workshopsin our space, and (3) introductory outreach events. The 21st Century afterschool programprovides an opportunity to work with the same group of middle school students over the
infrastructure grade was a D+. The Report Card additionally suggested that an estimated$3.6 trillion would need to be invested in improving and rehabilitating America’s infrastructureby the year 2020.Civil Engineers will undoubtedly play a key role in this work. The United States Department ofLabor's Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that an additional 23,600 civil engineers will beneeded by 2024 in large part to meet these demands, an 8.4% increase from 20142,3 (Table 1).This projected number of Civil Engineers greatly exceeds the projections of all other majorengineering disciplines and is nearly twice that of the next most in-demand discipline. If civilengineering and environmental engineering job projections are combined (as is the case at
are aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards.IntroductionThe new boom in the energy sector is having very positive effect on manufacturing activities in Texas. U.S.census data from 2013 shows that Texas ranks first in the nation in terms of manufacturing exports ($250.4billion) and manufacturing capital investment ($17.6 billion), and ranks second in the nation with respectto manufacturing employment (874,460) 1. A significant portion of this manufacturing activity is aimed atthe oil and gas sector; manufacturing serves this sector in multiple ways. The direct applications ofmanufacturing in oil and gas sector are in refineries and petrochemical industries. Likewise, manufacturingof machines and the fabricated metal industries
expertise would enrich students’ learning andbrings them (the students) closer to the realities of the workplace. (1)Employers, by and large, are generally satisfied with the basic technical preparation of today’sgraduates, but find them largely unaware of the vital roles that engineers play in bringingproducts and services from a “concept stage” to the marketplace. An important reason for this“drawback” is that faculty members, today, often lack industrial experience and/ or any othertype of practical experience. This is particularly troubling when faculty members, straight out ofgraduate school and have absolutely no experience “under their belt,” are assigned to teachpractice-related courses. Often, teaching design-oriented and/ or field-related
access.A decade ago Ramaley and Zia had the foresight to recommend using 3D printing as a tool tofoster engagement and learning for the “net generation,” in both K-12 and post-secondarysettings.1 At the same time, they expressed reservations due to the limitations posed by theexorbitant costs associated with 3D printing technology in 2005. Since then, costs associatedwith 3D printing have fallen dramatically. This is due, in large part, to the expiration of a numberof patents in 2014 which has allowed a variety of new machines to be produced and marketed tonon-commercial users.2 Because of this, there have been a proliferation of efforts to use 3Dprinting as an engagement and outreach tool in formal and informal educational settings. Despiteits
assess predictorrelationships for student success.The Shewhart Cycle, developed by WalterShewhart at Bell Laboratories during the 1930s,provides the basis for a statistical quality controlapproach to administering the higher educationsystem. The objective is to ensure that studentsare able to, with minimal disruption, migrate Figure 1: CCTA Systems Viewbetween TTU and community colleges. For the bi-directional Student Transition Paths shown in Figure 1, agreements must eliminate academicprogram discontinuities by including well-defined community college course outcomes andrelated performance criteria that ensure academic success for transfer students. Similarly, toreflect a global higher education optimization strategy, TTU-COE
preparing the graduating students to more easily transition from the academicenvironment to the professional engineering environment. At Texas A&M there are threeoptions available to students taking Capstone Design: 1) Aircraft Design, 2) RocketDesign, and 3) Spacecraft Design. While the stated objective of all Capstone Designcourses is the design project, the pursuit of a successful design provides an invaluableopportunity for students to learn how to utilize the principles and tools of SystemsEngineering to logically and systematically produce a coherent design. In addition, byapplying these tools, the students learn: 1) to apply the technical skills they’ve beentaught over the previous three years; 2) the power of teams and teamwork; and 3
emergedduring observations of our teaching and work with founders. Four concerns areexamined in the context of classroom teaching in one specific Graduate Design MethodsClass with applications to other settings: 1) The blurring of entrepreneurial levelconcepts with individual-level story phenomena, 2) The misleading characterization of asuccessful storyteller as extraverted, 3) Over-reliance on specific strategies, and 4)Implicit acceptance of current Silicon Valley models. The focus of the current work is on providing an approach that alerts participantsto the distinction between conversational storytelling and overly rehearsed pitches orpresentations. Unlike the recipe that begins with a “frame, then practice, practice,practice, and deliver
bluff body shapes.Ms. Caroline Elizabeth Nowell, University of North Carolina, Charlotte c American Society for Engineering Education, 2016 Engineering as a Pathway to Reintegration: Student Veterans’ Transition Experience into Higher Education and Civilian Society Introduction In 2009, the Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, also known as the Post 9/11GI Bill, became the most significant educational benefit for military personnel.1 Highereducation has become an attractive and feasible option for a substantial number of militaryveterans interested in gaining professional training to help
aidin introducing the users to various Abaqus special components and commands. Each example isselected to demonstrate the utility of a particular feature of the software in accomplishing a new task,a task which was not required in the previous examples. Developed tutorials essentially provide thedetails related to performing the following listed activities using the order indicated. (1) Creating a part (2) Creating a material (3) Defining and assigning section properties (4) Assembling the model (5) Creating an analysis step (6) Requesting data output (7) Applying boundary conditions (8) Applying loads (9) Meshing the model (10) Creating an analysis job (11) Checking the model (l2) Running an analysis job (13) Post processing.Even
, ISE is the “distinguished home”of the Industrial and Management Engineering program, founded in 1933 at RensselaerPolytechnic Institute.1 ISE integrates a quantitative engineering approach with qualitativeinsight, and works closely with other disciplines, such as computer science and management. Areview of nationally ranked University web pages show that typical career paths for ISEgraduates included careers in manufacturing to improve operations inside manufacturing plants.More recently, ISE roles have expanded outside the plant to design and improve supply chainsand transportation systems that connect manufacturing facilities.2,3The need to incorporate supply chain management (SCM) content is indirectly confirmed as theSociety of
2.65 on a scale of 1 – 5with 1 representing “Little Usefulness,” 3 representing “Useful,” and 5 representing “Essential.”(Eight students chose the extremes of this scale, with six choosing “Little Usefulness” comparedto two choosing “Essential”).Design Methodology had traditionally been taught by Mechanical Engineering faculty to mixedclasses of EE and ME students. However, circumstances in the fall of 2015 disrupted thislongstanding comity. The large number of ME juniors enrolling in the course outstripped theavailable faculty resources (both the EE and ME Departments had faculty vacancies) andprovoked a decision in fall, 2015, to limit enrollment in Design Methodology in the spring of2016 to ME students only. However, rather than simply