Conference Session

Student Learning and Assessment I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thomas J. Vasko, Central Connecticut State University; Nidal Al-Masoud, Central Connecticut State University; Peter F. Baumann, Central Connecticut State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

AC 2011-1173: ASSESSMENT OF SOFT-SKILLS-PROGRAM LEARNINGOUTCOMES USING ENGINEERING COURSESThomas J. Vasko, Central Connecticut State University Thomas J. Vasko, Assistant Professor, joined the Department of Engineering at Central Connecticut State University in the fall 2008 semester after 31 years with United Technologies Corporation (UTC) where he was a Pratt & Whitney Fellow in Computational Structural Mechanics. While at UTC, Dr. Vasko held adjunct-instructor positions at the University of Hartford and RPI Groton. He holds a PhD in ME from the University of Connecticut, an MSME from RPI, and a BSME from Lehigh University. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Connecticut and he is on the board of

Conference Session

They're Not "Soft" Skills!

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eckehard Doerry, Northern Arizona University; James Dean Palmer, Northern Arizona University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

student grades basedon individual performance. Despite the minimalist philosophy shaping the evolution of ourapproach, truly effective use of the system developed requires substantial time investment by theinstructor; we close by outlining an online system we are developing to largely automate theteam management process. Benefits of automation include real-time feedback to instructor andteam members, automated flagging of potential trouble, and automatic documentation ofcontributions/performance for individual team members.1.0 IntroductionThe past decades have brought a growing awareness of the value of integrating training in abroad range of “soft skills” – including teaming, project management, and oral and writtencommunication – into the

Conference Session

They're Not "Soft" Skills!

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan M. Lord, University of San Diego; Candice Stefanou, Bucknell University; Michael J. Prince, Bucknell University; John Chen, California Polytechnic State University; Jonathan D. Stolk, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

Conference Session

They're Not "Soft" Skills!

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brook Sattler, University of Washington; Ashley Ann Thompson, University of Washington; Jennifer A. Turns, University of Washington; Deborah Kilgore, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

Conference Session

They're Not "Soft" Skills!

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Roman Taraban, Texas Tech University; Kristin E. Oliver, Texas Tech University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

Conference Session

They're Not "Soft" Skills!

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ruth Wertz P.E., Purdue University, West Lafayette; Meagan C. Ross, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Senay Purzer, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Michael Fosmire, Purdue University Libraries, West Lafayette; Monica E. Cardella, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

Conference Session

Integration of the Humanities and Social Sciences into Civil Engineering

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sean St.Clair, Oregon Institute of Technology; Charles E. Riley, Oregon Institute of Technology; David K. Thaemert P.E., Oregon Institute of Technology; Roger Lindgren, P.E., Oregon Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Morgan M Hynes, Tufts University; Ann F. McKenna, Arizona State University, Polytechnic; Chris Rogers, Tufts University; Megan Kiely Mueller, Tufts University; Xaver Neumeyer, Northwestern University; Richard M. Lerner, Tufts University

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees

executive at Media Contacts in Boston, and Jarrett, 23, a 2009 English major graduate of Tufts University and an aspiring fiction writer. Page 22.1500.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2011 The role of intentional self-regulation in achievement for engineeringIntroductionAlthough often overlooked and under assessed in engineering education, the acquisition of life,or “soft,” skills has been linked in adolescence to greater success in high school and evenbeyond, for instance to success in life (e.g., 1,2,3,4). In particular, previous

Conference Session

Pay It Forward: Critical Thinking, Reflection and Faculty Engagement Promote Success in Engineering

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Caroline R. Noyes, Georgia Institute of Technology; Jonathan Gordon, Georgia Institute of Technology; Joe Ludlum, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Cooperative & Experiential Education

White/ Asian 89.3 83.8 84.3 82.3 84.8 88.0Co-op Participation % Participating 23.8 17.3 26.6 27.5 23.9 29.9 in Co-opThe analysis involved comparing the academic performance, as measured by final course grades,of co-op and non-co-op students in required core engineering courses at the institution. In orderto capture the largest possible samples of students for comparison, the analysis focused onrequired (rather than elective) engineering courses in each major. Additionally, each course wascategorized as “hard skill” or “soft skill” based on the ABET program outcomes the courseaddressed (see Table 2). This classification is

Conference Session

Information Literacy: Preparing Students for the Real World

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John B. Napp, University of Toledo

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

fordeveloping problem-based assignments.4 Hsieh and Knight describe a study in which theycompared lecture-based learning with problem-based learning (PBL).5 They conclude that “PBLcan be an effective pedagogical approach for information literacy instruction to engineeringstudents.” In terms of ABET, the authors state that such an assignment would “…fulfill ABET‟srequired „soft skills‟ requirement for all engineering programs…”6ABET and Problem-Based Learning ABET Criteria 3 calls for graduates to have an ability “… to function on…teams … tocommunicate effectively… to engage in life-long learning… to use the techniques, skills, andmodern scientific and technical tools necessary for professional practice.”7 Engineering librariansand some teaching

Conference Session

New Teaching Methods in Construction Eduction

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Casey Cline, Boise State University

Tagged Divisions

Construction

in daily operations. No matter the discipline,scope, nor delivery method, to effectively manage construction projects, the project managermust have a definable set of key competencies that facilitate his/her ability to effectively leadadministrative personnel, supervisors, foremen, skilled and non-skilled labor, subcontractors,and suppliers by applying learned skills, knowledge, values, ethics, and characteristics1. Akey competency is the knowledge, trait, skill, motive, attitude, value or other personalcharacteristic essential in performing a job2. A key competency can be a hard skill, where atechnical ability or proficiency is needed, or soft skills that focus on the interpersonalrelationships and workplace productivity3.In a study

Conference Session

Communication: From Pecha Kucha to Bullets

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Isabel Simões de Carvalho P.E., ISEL, Lisbon, Portugal; Christy Moore, University of Texas, Austin

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

and society’” as well as “globalization and the relatedinternationalization of enterprise.” As a result, one of the crucial challenges facingengineering educators is the need to train future engineers for careers in a multi-faceted,global community that faces enormous energy and environmental problems (NAE, 2005;2008).Unfortunately, as Carol Del Vitto (2008) points out “university engineering programsoften focus on ‘hard’ technical skills” in spite of the fact that “it is becoming increasinglyevident that in order to compete in a global environment” engineering students mustdevelop “soft skills” that will allow them to understand other cultures and respond to thedemands of the global workplace. Researchers such as Grandin (2006) and Camuti

Collection

2011 Fall ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference

Authors

Ravi Shankar; Don Ploger; Oren Masory; Francis X McAfee

power near-neighbor communication links, with optical/ sonar /IR/RFtransceivers. These will allow the robots to self-organize in response to a chess move conveyed from aphone. Simple cameras will be used for robotic localization and navigation on & off the board. The highschool students will be able to program the robots with different behaviors and plan/play different typesof games/activities. This will increase their interest in the STEM curriculum and enhance their soft skills(team building, project management, communication, systems thinking, abstract thinking, and problemsolving); this will also bring to the fore innovation and entrepreneurship, two hallmark qualities of theUS economy, since these applications can be marketed, with

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Technical Session

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gisele Ragusa, Ph.D., University of Southern California

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

) outcomes. Accordingly, the instrument is directlyaligned to engineering ”soft skills” that are often difficult to measure via individual course examsand projects. The EGPI is not a student survey of perception of their learning; rather, it is a directmeasure of how prepared students are for global workforces in areas of communication,professional ethical responsibility, understanding of global issues and lifelong learning.Subscales for the index were developed accordingly, while also aligning with sound theoreticaland empirical research on global citizenry9, 10 and the National Academy’s expectations forglobal preparedness. The following four subscales are utilized as metrics in the engineeringglobal preparedness index (EGPI). These metrics are

Conference Session

Manufacturing Process Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ning Fang, Utah State University

Tagged Divisions

Manufacturing

proceedings. He is a Senior Member of the Society for Manufacturing Engineering and a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He is also a member of the American Society for Engineering Education and a member of the American Educational Research Association. Page 22.905.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2011 Integrating Entrepreneurship into Manufacturing Engineering EducationAbstractAmong highly desirable soft skill sets, entrepreneurship has received increasing attention inrecent years in the engineering education community. This paper describes a Project

Conference Session

ETD Design II: Mechanical Engineering Technology

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Janet Braun, Western Washington University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

platform is MATLAB/Simulinksoftware developed by The Mathworks. Industry has widely adopted such platforms for productdesign, simulation and testing, driving the need for engineering educators to incorporate this intoengineering curriculums.This paper outlines the parallel processes of developing of soft skills while learning a systemsapproach to vehicle design by using MATLAB/Simulink. Coursework which was developed inpart by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and The Mathworks provided the basis for themodel based system design content of the course. A reflective journal was incorporated to fostera deeper dimension of self-learning, requiring students to step back and analyze the implicationsof a systems approach to vehicle design as well as

Conference Session

EM Program Design

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Amy Hsiao, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

: Engineering Manager Activity and Problem Difficulty Skill Area vs Benefit of Training 80% 70% 60% 50% Benefit 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Little or no benefit Somewhat Beneficial Highly Beneficial Table 5: Perceived Benefit of Additional Training in an Engineering Management SkillDiscussionThe initial research presented in this paper supports the balance of Business and Engineeringgraduate courses as required by MUN’s Master of Engineering Management program.Specifically, practicing engineering managers are stating that “professional skills”, sometimesinadequately called “soft skills”, are what is

Conference Session

Assessing, Developing, and Enhancing the Engineering Experiential Education Experience

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dean C. Millar, University at Buffalo, SUNY

Tagged Divisions

Cooperative & Experiential Education

the value theirorganization places on preparation in that area. Figure 1 shows the results for each area.” “With the exception of ‘Math and Science’ there appears to be a wide discrepancybetween the value expectations of the employer and the extent to which their employees are seento be well prepared. This would further appear to reflect on the mismatch between curricularemphasis and employer expectation. It must be recognized, of course, that math and science arewithout argument the key ingredients—at least in the lower division—of an undergraduateengineering education.” These research findings are, more than ever, valid today. For proof of this one canGoogle search “engineering soft skills” and find hundreds of articles

Conference Session

Emerging Information Technologies

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Barbara E. Brazon, Penn State University; Mary Lynn Brannon, Pennsylvania State University, University Park

Tagged Divisions

Computing & Information Technology

design and development, and computerprogramming, and no prior knowledge in IT project management, with management skills. Amain component of this project was the emphasis of soft skills, especially formal continuouscommunication with the client.This paper will discuss the design and methodology of the team based service learning project,the purpose of emphasis on communication with team and client, and share the project gradingtools. Individuals who teach information systems and project management may be interested inthis paper.IntroductionThe need for Informational Technology (IT) project management education is important to theeconomy. The number of failed IT projects is growing in number1. It has been estimated the costof IT project failures

Conference Session

Best Zone Paper Competition

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dan Budny P.E., University of Pittsburgh

Tagged Topics

Council of Sections

, we hope to provide other educators in both science andengineering with useful tools to assist them in developing and/or enhancing the use of writingwithin their own classrooms.IntroductionABET accreditation requirements emphasize the importance of “soft” skills in planning andachieving excellence in engineering education. In addition to “hard” knowledge, engineersneed to experience and understand “communication, teamwork, and the ability to recognizeand resolve ethical dilemmas.”[1] These skills are powerful when combined with awarenessskills involving “understanding the impact of global and social factors, knowledge ofcontemporary issues, and the ability to do lifelong learning.”[1] What is the most effectiveway of incorporating this into

Conference Session

Developing Systems Engineering Curriculum, Part II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ricardo Pineda, University of Texas, El Paso; John E. Weaver, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company; Oscar H. Salcedo, University of Texas, El Paso; Jose Luis Falliner, The University of Texas, El Paso; Richard T. Schoephoerster, University of Texas, El Paso

Tagged Divisions

Systems Engineering

account for the design,deployment, and Life Cycle Management of the 21st century systems, thus shifting fromtraditional design toward innovative ideas to include all of these areas25, 24, 19; a recent report byUNESCO on engineering around the world suggest that engineering education might benefitfrom less formulaic and more problem-based, project-based, and just-in-time approaches in orderthat the next generation of engineers can rise to the challenges and opportunities they areinheriting”.28It has also been shown that the most prominent engineers within industry have developedspecific soft skills required to communicate, empower, and lead teams to the successfuldefinition and completion of complex innovative products; as an example, a study

Conference Session

Expanding the Borders of Engineering Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sandra Ingram, University of Manitoba; Anita H. Ens, University of Manitoba; Marcia R. Friesen, University of Manitoba

Tagged Divisions

Cooperative & Experiential Education

education on the integration of IEGs into theCanadian engineering profession, more specifically regarding how such programs can facilitatesoft skill competencies deemed so critical to engineering success. Soft skills encompass non-technical professional skills used in everyday engineering practice and are critical to careerdevelopment. These competencies include not only the skill itself, but also the norms and valuesinherent in the North American manifestations of concepts of, for example, teamwork orcommunication skills. As such, a conjecture is that soft skills may include a distinctly culturalcomponent in which immigrant professionals need to develop competency, for career success.This paper presents data from a larger study investigating the

Conference Session

Educating Students for the 21st Century: History, Reflection, and Outcomes

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Swaminathan Balachandran, University of Wisconsin, Platteville

Tagged Divisions

Cooperative & Experiential Education

control, layouts, and spareparts rooms in general.” – Joe Lange“ It showed me that I need to be ready for unexpected events. I had no knowledge of powerplant operations coming into this project, so that is something that I needed to research at thebeginning of the project. The defection of group members was also something to learn from.That was something that was unexpected, but I couldn’t let the group be affected too much byit.” – Ryan Dow“We did a good job acquiring the information that we needed to, even though it was difficult toobtain it from the clients. Communication between the group and clients could have beenbetter.” - Ran Dow and Travis Glaser“ The majority of skills that I improved throughout the project were soft skills such

Conference Session

Graduate Studies Poster Session

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy Paul Tallon, University of Pittsburgh; Dan Budny, University of Pittsburgh

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

skills are formallyassessed, universities will not fully understand the consequences of their curriculum.This student poster presentation will present the results of a study on the impact of provingpublic speaking opportunities in the engineering curriculum. The presentation will summarizethe roadblocks to improving student skills and possible solutions to these roadblocks.Key Words – public speaking, communication skills, leadership, teamwork, engineeringeducation.There is a NeedCurrent ABET accreditation requirements emphasize the importance of ―soft‖ skills in planningand achieving excellence in engineering education. Criterion 3 under Program Outcomes states:―Engineering programs must demonstrate that their students attain (g) an ability to

Conference Session

Research and Assessment

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cynthia C. Fry, Baylor University; David Pistrui, Acumen Dynamics, LLC

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

Seven KEEN criteria - Learning 23 Soft Skills Outcomes - 23 Soft SkillsCompetenciesThis area includes 23 key competencies and ranks them from top to bottom, defining person‟s Page 22.244.6major strengths. The skills at the top highlight well-developed capabilities and reveal where youare naturally most effective in focusing your time.BehaviorsThis section of the report is designed to help attain a greater knowledge of oneself as well asothers. The ability

Conference Session

Assessing, Developing, and Enhancing the Engineering Experiential Education Experience

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Emilia Andreeva-Moschen, FH Joanneum University of Applied Science, Graz; Adrian J. Millward-Sadler, FH Joanneum University of Applied Science, Graz

Tagged Divisions

Cooperative & Experiential Education

institutions. For this purpose, we surveyed the extended departmentalacademic council (33 responses from 24 engineers as external lecturers, 9 universitylecturers) and our alumni (41 responses). The survey included 10 questionsregarding a graduate automotive engineer’s most important characteristics, the mostessential components for the curriculum, the minimum duration for Bachelor’s andMaster’s degrees, etc. We collected and evaluated the data 4 and reflected the resultsin our Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs design.The salient points were that we needed an undergraduate curriculum which focusedon technical and technological basics (mechanics and electronics), automotiveengineering disciplines, soft skills, including at least one foreign

Conference Session

Integration of Liberal Education into Engineering

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Vassilios Tzouanas, University of Houston, Downtown; Lea Campbell, University of Houston, Downtown

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics, Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

both summativeand formative feedback to students are included.IntroductionAs evidenced by ABET-TAC Criterion 3e, an important soft skill for graduates to posses is theability to function effectively and to lead in teams. Graduates are finding that they are requiredto work within a team environment and to make contributions to the “bottom” line through theirteams as soon as they join the work force. In a 1997 survey of engineering graduates from amajor state university, teaming skills were considered extremely valuable with at least tworespondents indicating in their comments that it is not technical skills but soft skills such as theability to work effectively in teams and to communicate that differentiate those individuals whoare eventually

Conference Session

Learning From Experts

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gisele Ragusa, Ph.D., University of Southern California

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

.   2  Engineering Inquisitiveness: Students’ level and depth of curiousity about engineering processes,how things work, and diverse problem solving approaches within and beyond the discipline.Instrument Design and Testing There are total of forty items on the ECPII with 3-6 items per subscale (described above).This item distribution and scale total is supported by item response theory for designing difficultto observe (soft skill) constructs, as is the case of engivering creativity and innovation. The table (1) below provides sample items for each of the Table 3: Reliability Coefficients subscales. Subscale Cronbach’s A minimum of two

Collection

2011 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Rebeca G. Book

44. Regine, B. (2011, March 31). Women's Soft Skills Improve Collective Intelligence, Researchers Say. Forbes .5. Catherine Hill, P. C. (2010). Why so Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.Washington, D. C.: AAUW.6. Chua, A. (2011). Battle Hymn of the TIger Mother. New York: The Penguin Press.7. Dyke, Lorraine (2011, Aug. 29). Low Gender Balance in High-Tech. Retrieved from http://www.TheStar.com.8. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.k-state.edu/grow/9. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.k-state.edu/excite/10. Dietz. (2011, Feb. 13). Girls' Science Event Encourages Participation Throughout Experiment Process.Register-Guard, Eugene (OR) .11. McAuliffe, Jane (2011, Aug. 18). Closing the Gap. Inside Higher Education.12

Conference Session

Learning From Experts

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Indira Nair, Carnegie Mellon University; Eden Fisher, Carnegie Mellon University; Mustafa A. Biviji, Carnegie Mellon University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

:- To learn to identify needs, predict trends, and recognize novel technical opportunities; “spot surprises”- To experience exploring possibilities and delivering specific innovations : “immersing them, giving them a real life experience”; “maintaining a high level of interest and excitement”; “we need more ‘do whatever it takes’”- To learn and practice hard and soft skills and understand underlying principles: “in my lab, first you are going to be learning technique. You have to be able to generate data in a reproducible way, then you need to understand and be able to interpret data and only then can you think of being innovative”; “one of the capabilities that really benefits students tremendously is breadth of