Engaging Students in Evaluation of Engineering Situation through Information Literacy

Seema C Shah-Fairbank; Paul R Hottinger; Shonn Haren

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Conference: Proceedings of the 2020 ASEE PSW Section Conference, canceled
Location: Davis, California
Publication Date: April 30, 2020
Start Date: April 30, 2020
End Date: October 10, 2020
Page Count: 13
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/36030
Download Count: 326

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Paper Authors

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Seema C Shah-Fairbank P.E. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

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Seema C. Shah-Fairbank is an associate professor in water resources at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona. She teaches service courses, in addition to hydrology, hydraulics and environmental engineering. Seema is currently serving as the student section advisor for the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and the American Societies of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

She obtained her BS in Environmental Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in 2001. Prior to attending graduate school at Colorado State University (CSU) she spent 3 years working as a Design Engineer for RBF Consulting in Storm Water Management. Where, she worked on various flood control, hydrology and hydraulics projects. She is a Licensed Professional Engineer in the State of California. She completed her graduate studies in Civil Engineering at CSU with a MS in 2006 and Ph.D. in 2009, where she specialized in sediment transport and river mechanics.

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Paul R Hottinger California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

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Engineering Librarian at Cal Poly Pomona

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Shonn Haren Cal Poly Pomona

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Abstract

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) requires that students in accredited programs be able to, “recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts” (2018). While covering the technical content of engineering courses, faculty sometimes forget our students’ need to acquire these crucial non-engineering skills as a part of their preparation to enter into the profession. This paper describes the process of integrating some of those skills, such as information literacy and written communication, into a water resources course in the College of Engineering at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona). We will describe a process in which students developed skills in information literacy and written communication that supported the engineering outcomes associated with ethics and professional responsibility. Prior to Fall Semester 2019, students taking this course were required to write a paper regarding a water resources catastrophe. Apart from a prompt that asked them to provide a critical evaluation of a specific failure and to support their position through peer-reviewed sources and other relevant sources, no further course time or additional resources were provided for this project. Following a campus-wide assessment of information literacy skills that revealed approximately 30% of graduating seniors placed at the introductory/developing level for these skills, we determined a revision of this assignment was necessary. Therefore, beginning in Fall Semester 2019, engineering faculty entered into a collaboration with campus librarians to develop a scaffolded assignment for the water resources course to ensure students were learning the information literacy skills necessary to support their claims. This paper will discuss the process of developing the new assignment and the ways in which the combination of instruction sessions by the engineering subject librarian, scaffolded assignments such as an annotated bibliography and a peer-reviewed draft, resulted in improved student ability to obtain evidence, as well as cite and support their claims. Ultimately, students developed skills in information literacy that supported the engineering outcomes associated with ethics and professional responsibility.

Citation
Format

Shah-Fairbank, S. C., & Hottinger, P. R., & Haren, S. (2020, April), Engaging Students in Evaluation of Engineering Situation through Information Literacy Paper presented at Proceedings of the 2020 ASEE PSW Section Conference, canceled, Davis, California. https://peer.asee.org/36030

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - 
The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) requires that students in accredited programs be able to, “recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts” (2018). While covering the technical content of engineering courses, faculty sometimes forget our students’ need to acquire these crucial non-engineering skills as a part of their preparation to enter into the profession. This paper describes the process of integrating some of those skills, such as information literacy and written communication, into a water resources course in the College of Engineering at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona). We will describe a process in which students developed skills in information literacy and written communication that supported the engineering outcomes associated with ethics and professional responsibility. Prior to Fall Semester 2019, students taking this course were required to write a paper regarding a water resources catastrophe. Apart from a prompt that asked them to provide a critical evaluation of a specific failure and to support their position through peer-reviewed sources and other relevant sources, no further course time or additional resources were provided for this project. Following a campus-wide assessment of information literacy skills that revealed approximately 30% of graduating seniors placed at the introductory/developing level for these skills, we determined a revision of this assignment was necessary. Therefore, beginning in Fall Semester 2019, engineering faculty entered into a collaboration with campus librarians to develop a scaffolded assignment for the water resources course to ensure students were learning the information literacy skills necessary to support their claims. This paper will discuss the process of developing the new assignment and the ways in which the combination of instruction sessions by the engineering subject librarian, scaffolded assignments such as an annotated bibliography and a peer-reviewed draft, resulted in improved student ability to obtain evidence, as well as cite and support their claims. Ultimately, students developed skills in information literacy that supported the engineering outcomes associated with ethics and professional responsibility.
AU  - Seema C Shah-Fairbank P.E.
AU  - Paul R Hottinger
AU  - Shonn Haren
CY  - Davis, California
DA  - 2020/04/30
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Engaging Students in Evaluation of Engineering Situation through Information Literacy
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/36030
ER  -