East Lansing, Michigan
July 26, 2020
July 26, 2020
July 28, 2020
2
10.18260/1-2--35766
https://peer.asee.org/35766
332
Dr. Assadollahi is a native Memphian and a 2005 graduate of Christian Brothers High School. Dr. Assadollahi earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering with a concentration in structural engineering from Christian Brothers University in 2009. He also earned a B.S. in Mathematics from Christian Brothers University in 2009, concentrating in applied differential equations. He earned a M.S. in Civil Engineering from The University of Memphis in 2010 with a concentration in structural seismic engineering. Dr. Assadollahi completed his Ph.D. in Engineering from The University of Memphis with a concentration in geo-structures in 2013. He currently an Associate Professor and Department Chair of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Christian Brothers University. He is a registered professional engineer in the State of Tennessee.
Professor McGinnis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee. He has thirty-six years of experience teaching engineering courses. He has taught thirty-one years at Christian Brothers University. He teaches courses in Transportation Engineering and Construction Engineering. Required courses include: Civil Engineering Graphics, Geomatics and Lab, Construction Materials and Lab, Highway Engineering and Engineering Economy. Elective courses include: Traffic Engineering, Heavy Construction Equipment and Methods, Construction Cost Estimating and Cost Control, Construction Management and Planning and Scheduling. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Tennessee. His professional experience includes bridge inspection and evaluation, roadway and interstate design, traffic planning and the design of earth-fill dams. He is the Past President of the America Society of Civil Engineers West Tennessee Branch. He serves as the Treasurer for the Memphis Area Joint Engineers Council. He serves as the faculty advisor for Tennessee Delta Chapter of Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society and as the faculty advisor for the student engineering fraternity Theta Tau. Professor McGinnis served fifteen years as the Department Chair in Civil and Environmental Engineering. He is also served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Memphis teaching a class in Construction Engineering.
TThis GIFT paper presents potential mechanisms to assess the ability for engineering students to communicate effectively to a range of audiences. For engineers, accreditation is of paramount importance since it enables an individual to earn professional licensure. For the engineering profession, being accredited by the ABET provides a level of quality control for a university or program to meet certain standards for its students. The Criterion 3: Student Outcomes of ABET states that the program must have documented student outcomes that prepare graduates to attain the Program Educational Objectives. In 2012, the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of ABET began to review and solicit suggestions for changes to Criterion 3. Since then, several changes have been made regarding Criterion 3, which now include student outcomes (1) – (7). One such change was the re-wording of previous student outcome (g) stating “an ability to communicate effectively”, which has now been re-organized as the new student outcome (3) stating “an ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences”. While student outcome (3) has been worded to be more specific compared to its predecessor, student outcome (g), there still seems to be some uncertainty on appropriate mechanisms to assess the ability of our students to communicate effectively with a range of audiences. In this research, potential mechanisms to assess the ability of engineering students to communicate effectively to a range of audiences is presented. One such mechanism was implemented in the Fall 2019 semester in a civil engineering junior project course, while another mechanism was implemented in the Spring 2020 semester in a structural analysis course. All potential assessment mechanisms are planned to be implemented in the Fall 2020 semester within an Introduction to Civil Engineering course.
Assadollahi, P.E., A., & McGinnis, G. (2020, July), GIFT Paper: Potential Mechanisms to Assess the Ability for Engineering Students to Communicate Effectively to a Range of Audiences Paper presented at 2020 First-Year Engineering Experience, East Lansing, Michigan. 10.18260/1-2--35766
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