Advancing Global Competencies within a Required Global Engineering Course During COVID-19

Hans Tritico; Okechukwu Ugweje; Chad Korach; Ethan Shirley

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: International Division Technical Session 5: COVID-19 Pandemic Lessons and Best Practices
Page Count: 22
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--41458
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/41458
Download Count: 348

Paper Authors

biography

Hans Tritico University of Mount Union

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Dr. Hans Tritico is an associate professor of Engineering at the University of Mount Union. He is one of the five founding members of the engineering department and devotes much of his energy nurturing the next generation of engineers. His research and industry expertise are in fish passage and global engineering. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in civil engineering from the University of Michigan and Washington State University. He holds a joint Ph.D. in civil engineering and aquatic ecology from the University of Michigan. He is married and has two children who all love to travel.

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Abstract

While COVID-19 adversely affected every aspect of education, hands-on experiences and study-abroad programs were perhaps hardest hit. The University of Mount Union prides itself on the unique training it offers students for the global engineering profession. One aspect of this is the required Global Engineering course. In 2020 the course began partnering with the Juara Foundation, a non-profit organization working to support conservation through building social infrastructure for communities and supporting their connections with science in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Our partnership is focused on designing remote scientific sensing stations for deployment within the Pantanal wetland. Prior to COVID-19, in-class design work and virtual client meetings were all meant to lead up to an on-site engineering experience in Brazil. But in March 2020, COVID-19 forced design teams to transition to virtual collaboration. Though some global competencies could still be addressed through a virtual international engineering guest lecture series, final report expectations had to be adjusted. International travel remained suspended during the 2020-21 year, but by Spring domestic travel was allowed to resume. In May of 2021, the Juara Foundation joined three weeklong cohorts of students at a camp in Ohio to build a prototype sensing station. We included Brazilian film, food, and discussions about Brazilian culture and conservation, and used primarily Brazilian building techniques to provide the feeling of an abroad program without leaving the country. Later, members of the Juara Foundation built a second prototype in the Pantanal. Students will learn from both prototypes to improve the design in anticipation of finally traveling to Brazil and Nigeria in 2022. Finding ways to advance global competencies while unable to travel internationally has forced us to think more critically about our goals and objectives for the class. The Juara Foundation’s experience abroad proved invaluable when sharing Brazilian culture and construction techniques with students who could not travel. We found that, though difficult, we were able to make strides in creating a global experience without traveling. While such experiences do not replace travel-based experiences, the extraordinary circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in a more accessible, global curriculum.

Citation
Format

Tritico, H., & Ugweje, O., & Korach, C., & Shirley, E. (2022, August), Advancing Global Competencies within a Required Global Engineering Course During COVID-19 Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41458

TY - CPAPER
AB - While COVID-19 adversely affected every aspect of education, hands-on experiences and study-abroad programs were perhaps hardest hit. The University of Mount Union prides itself on the unique training it offers students for the global engineering profession. One aspect of this is the required Global Engineering course. In 2020 the course began partnering with the Juara Foundation, a non-profit organization working to support conservation through building social infrastructure for communities and supporting their connections with science in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Our partnership is focused on designing remote scientific sensing stations for deployment within the Pantanal wetland. Prior to COVID-19, in-class design work and virtual client meetings were all meant to lead up to an on-site engineering experience in Brazil. But in March 2020, COVID-19 forced design teams to transition to virtual collaboration. Though some global competencies could still be addressed through a virtual international engineering guest lecture series, final report expectations had to be adjusted. International travel remained suspended during the 2020-21 year, but by Spring domestic travel was allowed to resume. In May of 2021, the Juara Foundation joined three weeklong cohorts of students at a camp in Ohio to build a prototype sensing station. We included Brazilian film, food, and discussions about Brazilian culture and conservation, and used primarily Brazilian building techniques to provide the feeling of an abroad program without leaving the country. Later, members of the Juara Foundation built a second prototype in the Pantanal. Students will learn from both prototypes to improve the design in anticipation of finally traveling to Brazil and Nigeria in 2022. Finding ways to advance global competencies while unable to travel internationally has forced us to think more critically about our goals and objectives for the class. The Juara Foundation’s experience abroad proved invaluable when sharing Brazilian culture and construction techniques with students who could not travel. We found that, though difficult, we were able to make strides in creating a global experience without traveling. While such experiences do not replace travel-based experiences, the extraordinary circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in a more accessible, global curriculum.
AU - Hans Tritico
AU - Okechukwu Ugweje
AU - Chad Korach
AU - Ethan Shirley
CY - Minneapolis, MN
DA - 2022/08/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Advancing Global Competencies within a Required Global Engineering Course During COVID-19
UR - https://peer.asee.org/41458
DO - 10.18260/1-2--41458
ER -