Chicago, Illinois
June 18, 2006
June 18, 2006
June 21, 2006
2153-5965
Design in Engineering Education
13
11.435.1 - 11.435.13
10.18260/1-2--1287
https://peer.asee.org/1287
348
Stephen Ekwaro-Osire is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Texas Tech University (TTU). He received his Dipl.-Ing. degree from F.H. Osnabrück (Germany) and both MSME and PhD from TTU. In addition to pedagogical issues related to engineering, his research interests include design, MEMS, probabilistic techniques, bioengineering, and vibration. Dr. Ekwaro-Osire is a member of ASME, ASEE, SDPS, and SEM.
Peter O. Orono received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Wayne State University, Detroit; MSME from Texas Tech University; BSME from Makerere University. He worked several years in Facilities as Manager of Plant operations, then as Manager of Engineering, leading and directing Campus Facility engineering activities for campus buildings and Utility infrastructure. He is now senior Lecturer with the Freshman Engineering program.
Developing an Assessment Regime for Pan-Mentoring in Creative Engineering Design
Abstract
Pan-mentoring (from the Greek pan meaning all, to indicate a mentoring relationship with a team of students) is a pedagogical approach to creative engineering design education establishing a close relationship with and within design teams of students. The role of the pan-mentor consists of: helping students to effectively tap into their creativity as individuals and as teams; guiding them through the design process at both the individual and team level; and encouraging self- reflection and assessment. This paper develops and discusses an assessment regime for the three elements of pan-mentoring in creative engineering design. In the regime, student assessment, course assessment, and pan-mentor assessment are utilized. In this paper, the only data discussed is from a questionnaire (course assessment) completed by freshmen students. The results from this part of the assessment regime were favorable.
1. Introduction
Pan-mentoring (from the Greek pan meaning all, to indicate a mentoring relationship with a team of students) is a pedagogical approach to creative engineering design education establishing a close relationship with and within design teams of students. The term “pan-mentor” was coined by Ekwaro-Osire1 in the context of capstone design course, presenting the concept of a close relationship with teams (3-5 students) of students to compensate for the special challenges of creative engineering design.2 In this context, the role of the pan-mentor consists of: helping students to effectively tap into their creativity as individuals and as teams; guiding them through the design process at both the individual and team level; and encouraging self-reflection and assessment.3
This paper develops and discusses an assessment regime for the three elements of pan- mentoring in creative engineering design, namely, (1) the students’ learning process (student assessment), (2) course development, and (3) pan-mentor. Figure 1 shows the three elements of pan-mentoring and their individual assessments, namely: student assessment, course assessment, and pan-mentor assessment. The assessment tools used for student assessment include: design notebooks, peer evaluations, examinations, and product evaluation. The assessment tools used for course assessment include: pan-mentor questionnaire, student questionnaire, and industrial client questionnaire. The nature of the pan-mentor requires that the instructor should not be in the spotlight but rather a facilitator.3 Therefore, the assessment of the pan-mentor is partly implied in the student questionnaire and industrial client questionnaire used in the course assessment. An additional tool is a separate questionnaire pertaining to the pan-mentor. It is noted that some of the assessment tools discussed yield quantitative results, which often provide little account of human perceptions or motivations.4 To address such deficiency Leydens et al.4 recommend the usage of some qualitative methods to provide better information about human perspectives through a detailed description of an event.
Ekwaro-Osire, S., & Orono, P. (2006, June), Developing An Assessment Regime For Pan Mentoring In Creative Engineering Design Paper presented at 2006 Annual Conference & Exposition, Chicago, Illinois. 10.18260/1-2--1287
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