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Engineering Preparedness for Global Workforces: Curricular Connections and Experiential Impacts

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Conference

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Vancouver, BC

Publication Date

June 26, 2011

Start Date

June 26, 2011

End Date

June 29, 2011

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Technical Session

Tagged Division

Multidisciplinary Engineering

Page Count

10

Page Numbers

22.602.1 - 22.602.10

DOI

10.18260/1-2--17883

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/17883

Download Count

502

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Paper Authors

biography

Gisele Ragusa, Ph.D. University of Southern California

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Gisele Ragusa is an Associate Professor in the Viterbi School of Engineering and the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California. She has expertise in engineering education, pre-college engineering and in assessment and measurement.

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Abstract

Engineering Preparedness for Global Workforces: Curricular Connections and Experiential Impacts Abstract There is a growing concern among universities that students in undergraduate andgraduate engineering programs will be unprepared or underprepared to work in globalworkforces. The National Academy of Engineering (NAE), in their 2005 publication,Engineers for 2020, urges university engineering schools nationwide to embedcurriculum and assessment measures in their academic programs that provideopportunities and metrics that meet this international challenge. Specifically, the NAEcharges universities and colleges to prepare engineers that are leaders with strongcommunication, leadership and interdisciplinary research and professional skills indiverse in engineering environments. This paper describes three universities’ response to this NAE challenge. Thispaper will describe both curricular research and metrics associated with globalpreparedness. In this measurement and intervention study, engineering students receivedinterdisciplinary globally focused training and in some cases, international experiences,and then were assessed as to their preparedness to work in global workforces andassociated research environments. A global preparedness index was administered toassess this educational and research experience with a summative focus. Results of thismetric were compared to students’ course grades; engineering efficacy and outcomesbased program success. Results of this research indicate that engineering students whowere most globally prepared were also most efficacious and received higher grades.Additionally, those students who had engaged in international experiences were alsomore globally prepared. Particular types of international experiences best preparedstudents for global workforces. This paper provides for engineering educators with regardto ways in which they can best design engineering educational and experientialexperiences for students that assist them in meeting the NAE call for a globally preparedengineer.


Ph.D., G. R. (2011, June), Engineering Preparedness for Global Workforces: Curricular Connections and Experiential Impacts Paper presented at 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Vancouver, BC. 10.18260/1-2--17883

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