Assessing the Effectiveness of a Professional Formation in Engineering Course Sequence within the Electrical Engineering Department via Student’s Readiness for Industrial Jobs: An Undergraduate Researcher’s Investigation in a PAR Project

Duc Anh Vu Trinh; Dhinesh Balaji Radhakrishnan; Chris S. Ferekides

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM) Technical Session 5
Tagged Division: Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/46614

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Paper Authors

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Duc Anh Vu Trinh University of South Florida

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I am a third-year undergraduate Electrical Engineering student at the University of South Florida.

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Dhinesh Balaji Radhakrishnan Purdue University orcid.org/0000-0001-6959-196X

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Dhinesh Radhakrishnan is a research scientist in the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University.

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Chris S. Ferekides University of South Florida

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Abstract

To prepare “world-ready” engineers (Pierce, 2020) and facilitate the migration of undergraduate learners from an academic setting to a job environment in industries and elsewhere demands a blend of both professional and technical competencies. For example, Mcgunagle et. al. (McGunagle & Zizka, 2020) list the five most important professional competencies that are ranked by companies: teamwork, self-motivation, communication, problem-solving, and being anticipatory. Industry-centered studies over the last two decades show that fresh graduates have limited workplace and interpersonal skills (Passow & Passow, 2017). This scenario is associated in the literature with the shortage of dedicated engineering courses to incorporate these relevant blends of competencies into students’ coursework.

Ornellas et al. (Ornellas, Falkner, & Stålbrandt, 2019) propose a theoretical framework of authentic learning and identify good methods used in partner institutions for competence-centered approaches. Some of the practices are to recreate the unpredictability and complexity of a professional workplace in a virtual workshop, to participate in a project under multiple roles, or to work with people from various disciplines to solve the growing challenges of a city. Furthermore, another approach to the “world-prepared” issue is experiential employed in (Seow, Pan, & Koh, 2019) where intensive use of enterprise-level projects replaces lecture time of hypothetical scenarios.

In this study, we explore the efficacy of a system of coursework and activities designed by the Electrical Engineering department at a large research southeastern university {blinded for review} to support students’ development of both professional proficiency and technical skills. Undergraduate students participated in the Professional Formation of Engineers (PFE) courses designed by the department, and different groups, including students who were taking two to three PFE courses at the time and employed alumni who had taken PFE courses, were interviewed so that the influence of the course can be evaluated. This work-in-progress research is part of a larger Participatory Action Research (PAR) project aimed at understanding the role and efficacy of the RED program activities designed for and by the undergraduate students themselves. The lead author, an undergraduate EE student, uses his perspective to research and inform change within the RED program.

The population for data collection is Electrical Engineering (EE) students who have attended two or more and alumni who have completed the PFE courses. Interviewed students are juniors or seniors who are taking upper-level technical courses track-concentrated, such as nano/ micro scale, communication systems, and wireless systems. Interviewed alumni who graduated from the EE program who also enrolled in PFE courses and had workplace experience. The data is extracted from interview questions to evaluate the effectiveness of the PFE courses under criteria such as professional proficiency obtained, connection to technical class, and improvement in workplace perspectives.

Preliminary analysis shows that the PFE class series helps students obtain skills, especially professional proficiency, that are hard to get outside of this class series, both by directly incorporating assignments and encouraging students to participate in career development activities. Notably, the skills that students establish during the courses are selectively chosen and endorsed by the course designer through the department’s industry board.

References: McGunagle, D., & Zizka, L. (2020). Employability skills for 21st-century STEM students: the employers' perspective. Higher Education, Skills and Work - Based Learning, 10(3), 591-606. doi:10.1108/HESWBL-10-2019-0148

K. Pierce, Ed., The Equity-Excellence Imperative: A 2030 Blueprint for Undergraduate Education at U.S. Research Universities. Fort Collins, Colorado, 2022. [Online]. Available: ueru.org/boyer2030

Ornellas, A., Falkner, K., & Stålbrandt, E. E. (2019). Enhancing graduates’ employability skills through authentic learning approaches. Higher Education, Skills and Work - Based Learning, 9(1), 107-120. doi:10.1108/HESWBL-04-2018-0049

Passow, H. J., & Passow, C. H. (2017). What competencies should undergraduate engineering programs emphasize? A systematic review. Journal of Engineering Education, 106(3), 475-526.

Seow, P.-S., Pan, G., & Koh, G. (2019). Examining an experiential learning approach to prepare students for the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) work environment. The International Journal of Management Education, 17(1), 62-76. doi:10.1016/j.ijme.2018.12.001

Citation
Format

Trinh, D. A. V., & Radhakrishnan, D. B., & Ferekides, C. S. (2024, June), Assessing the Effectiveness of a Professional Formation in Engineering Course Sequence within the Electrical Engineering Department via Student’s Readiness for Industrial Jobs: An Undergraduate Researcher’s Investigation in a PAR Project Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/46614

TY - CPAPER
AB - To prepare “world-ready” engineers (Pierce, 2020) and facilitate the migration of undergraduate learners from an academic setting to a job environment in industries and elsewhere demands a blend of both professional and technical competencies. For example, Mcgunagle et. al. (McGunagle &amp;amp; Zizka, 2020) list the five most important professional competencies that are ranked by companies: teamwork, self-motivation, communication, problem-solving, and being anticipatory. Industry-centered studies over the last two decades show that fresh graduates have limited workplace and interpersonal skills (Passow &amp;amp; Passow, 2017). This scenario is associated in the literature with the shortage of dedicated engineering courses to incorporate these relevant blends of competencies into students’ coursework.

Ornellas et al. (Ornellas, Falkner, &amp;amp; Stålbrandt, 2019) propose a theoretical framework of authentic learning and identify good methods used in partner institutions for competence-centered approaches. Some of the practices are to recreate the unpredictability and complexity of a professional workplace in a virtual workshop, to participate in a project under multiple roles, or to work with people from various disciplines to solve the growing challenges of a city. Furthermore, another approach to the “world-prepared” issue is experiential employed in (Seow, Pan, &amp;amp; Koh, 2019) where intensive use of enterprise-level projects replaces lecture time of hypothetical scenarios.

In this study, we explore the efficacy of a system of coursework and activities designed by the Electrical Engineering department at a large research southeastern university {blinded for review} to support students’ development of both professional proficiency and technical skills. Undergraduate students participated in the Professional Formation of Engineers (PFE) courses designed by the department, and different groups, including students who were taking two to three PFE courses at the time and employed alumni who had taken PFE courses, were interviewed so that the influence of the course can be evaluated.
This work-in-progress research is part of a larger Participatory Action Research (PAR) project aimed at understanding the role and efficacy of the RED program activities designed for and by the undergraduate students themselves. The lead author, an undergraduate EE student, uses his perspective to research and inform change within the RED program.

The population for data collection is Electrical Engineering (EE) students who have attended two or more and alumni who have completed the PFE courses. Interviewed students are juniors or seniors who are taking upper-level technical courses track-concentrated, such as nano/ micro scale, communication systems, and wireless systems. Interviewed alumni who graduated from the EE program who also enrolled in PFE courses and had workplace experience. The data is extracted from interview questions to evaluate the effectiveness of the PFE courses under criteria such as professional proficiency obtained, connection to technical class, and improvement in workplace perspectives.

Preliminary analysis shows that the PFE class series helps students obtain skills, especially professional proficiency, that are hard to get outside of this class series, both by directly incorporating assignments and encouraging students to participate in career development activities. Notably, the skills that students establish during the courses are selectively chosen and endorsed by the course designer through the department’s industry board.

References:
McGunagle, D., &amp;amp; Zizka, L. (2020). Employability skills for 21st-century STEM students: the employers&#39; perspective. Higher Education, Skills and Work - Based Learning, 10(3), 591-606. doi:10.1108/HESWBL-10-2019-0148

K. Pierce, Ed., The Equity-Excellence Imperative: A 2030 Blueprint for Undergraduate Education at U.S. Research Universities. Fort Collins, Colorado, 2022. [Online]. Available: ueru.org/boyer2030

Ornellas, A., Falkner, K., &amp;amp; Stålbrandt, E. E. (2019). Enhancing graduates’ employability skills through authentic learning approaches. Higher Education, Skills and Work - Based Learning, 9(1), 107-120. doi:10.1108/HESWBL-04-2018-0049

Passow, H. J., &amp;amp; Passow, C. H. (2017). What competencies should undergraduate engineering programs emphasize? A systematic review. Journal of Engineering Education, 106(3), 475-526.

Seow, P.-S., Pan, G., &amp;amp; Koh, G. (2019). Examining an experiential learning approach to prepare students for the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) work environment. The International Journal of Management Education, 17(1), 62-76. doi:10.1016/j.ijme.2018.12.001
AU - Duc Anh Vu Trinh
AU - Dhinesh Balaji Radhakrishnan
AU - Chris S. Ferekides
CY - Portland, Oregon
DA - 2024/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Assessing the Effectiveness of a Professional Formation in Engineering Course Sequence within the Electrical Engineering Department via Student’s Readiness for Industrial Jobs: An Undergraduate Researcher’s Investigation in a PAR Project
UR - https://peer.asee.org/46614
ER -