GIFTS: Lifelong Learning in Perspective – An Activity for Student Understanding of an Engineer’s Need to Acquire and Apply New Knowledge

Lee Kemp Rynearson

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Conference: 14th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience (FYEE) Conference
Location: University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee
Publication Date: July 30, 2023
Start Date: July 30, 2023
End Date: August 1, 2023
Page Count: 3
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--44838
Permanent URL: https://216.185.13.187/44838
Download Count: 60

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Paper Authors

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Lee Kemp Rynearson Campbell University

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Lee Rynearson is an Associate Professor of Engineering at Campbell University. He received a B.S. and M.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2008 and earned his PhD in Engineering Education from Purdue University in 2016.

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Abstract

This Great Ideas for Teaching, and Talking with, Students (GIFTS) paper outlines an activity to bring students to the realization (consistent with ABET criterion 7) that engineers will need to acquire and apply new knowledge throughout their careers. At the author’s institution this activity is delivered in a first-year seminar, but it could be useful anywhere a similar effect is desired.

In the activity, students are asked to respond to the prompt “How important is what you know at the end of engineering school for your career?” Students hold up 1-10 fingers to represent 10-100% influence over career and opportunities, but clickers or any other live response method could be used. Students typically respond with average values of 50-70%, saying that most career options and opportunities are dictated by knowledge and skills possessed at the time of graduation. The students are then asked to respond to the question ‘What year do you plan to retire?” After establishing that their retirement date is some distance into the future, the class and instructor discusses the state of technology an equivalent distance back in time, and the changes that have occurred in technology since that date. Slides and supporting images are shown that illustrate some of these changes. After this discussion, students again respond to the prompt “How important is what you know at the end of engineering school for your career?”, before pivoting the discussion to the importance for engineers of the ability to learn new information as needed, and methods for doing so. After the class students write and peer-review reflections on this topic.

The presentation of this activity may be useful to FYEE attendees as motivating students to learn how to learn is frequently an important topic in first-year seminars and other first-years coursework, or first-year academic support environments. This activity is short but highly effective in putting the need to be able to learn new skills into perspective for Engineering students as the scope of technological change across the working lifetime of an engineer becomes clear.

A shortened version of the activity will be delivered during the presentation of the paper and all activity materials, which are licensed with Creative Commons, will be made available to conference participants.

Citation
Format

Rynearson, L. K. (2023, July), GIFTS: Lifelong Learning in Perspective – An Activity for Student Understanding of an Engineer’s Need to Acquire and Apply New Knowledge Paper presented at 14th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience (FYEE) Conference, University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--44838

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This Great Ideas for Teaching, and Talking with, Students (GIFTS) paper outlines an activity to bring students to the realization (consistent with ABET criterion 7) that engineers will need to acquire and apply new knowledge throughout their careers. At the author’s institution this activity is delivered in a first-year seminar, but it could be useful anywhere a similar effect is desired.

In the activity, students are asked to respond to the prompt “How important is what you know at the end of engineering school for your career?” Students hold up 1-10 fingers to represent 10-100% influence over career and opportunities, but clickers or any other live response method could be used. Students typically respond with average values of 50-70%, saying that most career options and opportunities are dictated by knowledge and skills possessed at the time of graduation. The students are then asked to respond to the question ‘What year do you plan to retire?” After establishing that their retirement date is some distance into the future, the class and instructor discusses the state of technology an equivalent distance back in time, and the changes that have occurred in technology since that date. Slides and supporting images are shown that illustrate some of these changes. After this discussion, students again respond to the prompt “How important is what you know at the end of engineering school for your career?”, before pivoting the discussion to the importance for engineers of the ability to learn new information as needed, and methods for doing so. After the class students write and peer-review reflections on this topic.

The presentation of this activity may be useful to FYEE attendees as motivating students to learn how to learn is frequently an important topic in first-year seminars and other first-years coursework, or first-year academic support environments. This activity is short but highly effective in putting the need to be able to learn new skills into perspective for Engineering students as the scope of technological change across the working lifetime of an engineer becomes clear.

A shortened version of the activity will be delivered during the presentation of the paper and all activity materials, which are licensed with Creative Commons, will be made available to conference participants.

AU  - Lee Kemp Rynearson
CY  - University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee
DA  - 2023/07/30
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - GIFTS: Lifelong Learning in Perspective – An Activity for Student Understanding of an Engineer’s Need to Acquire and Apply New Knowledge
UR  - https://216.185.13.187/44838
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--44838
ER  -