Showing papers on "Engineering education published in 1971"

Self-Paced Instruction in Engineerin: A Case Study

Abstract: The objective of this project is to evaluate Keller's Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) in an appropriate course in engineering. This method is characterized by demanding unit perfection, being self-paced, using lectures only as motivational devices, and using proctors for most of the routine contact with students. In a rapidly advancing technology it is important to teach engineering students to be able to continue learning after graduation. The PSI method should be able to take advantage of the tight structure and definite course objectives of most engineering courses to develop self-learning ability in the students. This project takes the material in a senior level course in nuclear engineering and divides it into appropriate study units, develops a hierarchy between units, and creates the study questions and test material required by the PSI method. An evaluation of this technique in engineering is made using standard forms in existence in the Department of Educational Psychology and in the College of Engineering, as well as a comparison between the self-paced students and students who have taken the same course by the standard lecture method.

The major problems facing engineering education

Abstract: Engineering education has been much studied during the past fifty years. One of the first major studies, known as the Wickenden Report in its trial version recommended that engineering education be at the graduate level. However, this was later amended to say that engineering education should be an undergraduate study, but should be followed by an internship in which one's further education would be guided by the engineering colleges, industry, and the engineering societies working together. The dilemma of engineering education has been that we have tried to combine a broad general education with some engineering in a sort of liberal science education, instead of offering professional education with a very strong technological stem. Since we have chosen the former path, we find ourselves confronted by other unresolved questions. Should we teach science or engineering practice? How much emphasis should there be on design and how much on theory and analysis? How broad should the curriculum be and how much of the humanities should it contain? How much should we depend on graduate work to train an engineer? Now in addition to these dilemmas we find ourselves confronted with the problem of finding sufficient time to cover the material considered necessary. It is obvious that many of our constraints, schedules, credits, fifty-minute periods, lectures, laboratories, and lock-step methods must be replaced by new methods and systems designed to teach more efficiently. This offers an opportunity for cooperation among industry, the colleges, and the professional societies.

Electric power systems engineering education in a modern curriculum

Abstract: The nature, size, extent, and growth rate of modern electric power systems are discussed along with examples to illustrate the large number of concepts and techniques used and to indicate the variety of technological challenges faced by electric power systems engineers. The discussion then turns to the need for a variety of educational programs to cover the breadth required, to the qualifications for faculty members who staff these programs, and to the ways in which these programs should interact with the power industry. Finally, the electric power systems engineering education program at MIT is discussed in terms of faculity, students, course offerings, and research projects.

Multidisciplinary Projects: A Modern Technique in Engineering Education

Abstract: The multidisciplinary project laboratory course has been developed for the purpose of preparing young engineers to deal suc­ cessfully with the complex practical problems associated with todays' tech­ nology. Students undertake a realistic engineering project which they pursue from inception to completion. Such a pro­ gram fosters logical planning, ingenuity and creativity, constructive cooperation with related disciplines, technical res­ ponsibility, and a systematic approach to problem solving. The multidisciplinary project technique used in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at Rutgers University is discussed in terms of a project example and benefits derived from the course.

Historical perspective for electrical engineering education

Abstract: Engineering education as we know it is quite recent. Although engineers have been important for millenia, schools were not needed until the eighteenth century. Then France and Germany began to train engineers on the university level. In the early nineteenth century, the ideas and methods of those countries were introduced by the United States in institutes of technology. Soon after the middle of the nineteenth century, the German plans for technical education began to be grafted onto our literary universities, which had largely followed the English model. American activity was heightened by the Land Grant Act passed by Congress and signed by Lincoln in 1862. Specialization within engineering had led to a separation of mechanical engineering from "civil" soon after the development of the steam engine. Electrical engineers split from mechanical engineers in the late nineteenth century. College curricula appeared and the AIEE was organized. The concepts of electricity held by such men as Faraday, Henry, and Maxwell are traced through the centuries. Henry's telegraph was followed by lights, motors, and generators. After Thompson's discovery of electrons, the thermionic valve and the audion appeared. The IRE was formed, and the "electronics" options appeared in college curricula. Both World Wars led to growths of technology which were rapidly absorbed into peacetime developments. Expansion continues. The AIEE and the IRE merged into the IEEE, indicating an interdependence, and the undergraduate college curricula show the same unity of concept between electrical power and information systems. Postgraduate curricula, on the other hand, show continually greater specialization. For the future, a general culture will surely require education in science and its applications. We must continue to train the practitioners of engineering, and in addition we must help educate all serious students. This double responsibility lies before us.

The man-made world: A trend in education

Abstract: "The Man-Made World" is a secondary school course developed by the Engineering Concepts Curriculum Project (ECCP) with NSF support over the past five years. The goal is an introduction to technological literacy: an understanding of the concepts underlying modern technology in order to appreciate the characteristics, capabilities, and limitations of that technology, especially as it interfaces with people and social institutions. The course has also been adapted for college offering.

On the use of an interactive computing system in engineering education

Abstract: The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) On-Line System (OLS) provides a flexible and highly interactive vehicle for instruction in many engineering subjects, The system capabilities and instructional potential are discussed and illustrated by examples. Experience at UCSB over the past four years has shown that student motivation and comprehension are increased markedly by OLS use, and that this benefit extends to all class participants. The system is currently being used by sophomores and up, in subjects including complex variables, networks, controls, and hydrodynamics. The OLS is exportable to many IBM 360 systems, and the cost is within the means of most engineering departments.

The Engineer as a Radical

Abstract: Outdated and rigorous curricula are not only producing engineers unsuited to the challenges of the 1970's, but they are scaring off many of the most creative and intelligent students. Engineering education has become an endurance test; the excitement has been lost. Most students strive only to get out. Engineering schools have not yet realized the importance of the involvement of engineers in current environmental problems. They continue to present only the dry technical courses and seem unconcerned about the student's sense of social perspective or his motivation. This paper proposes a freshman awareness seminar plus project oriented learning in the following years as a remedy for this sad situation.

Teaching Objectives, Style, and Effect with the Case Method.

Abstract: This article seeks to trace relationships between teaching objectives, teaching style, and emphasis as perceived by students in an engineering course taught by four different instructors using the case method of instruction. A checklist was used for gathering data regarding objectives of the instructors and effects perceived by the students. Data from tape recordings were used to make inferences about teaching style.

Satellites, media, and education: An interdisciplinary university program relating technology to societal needs

Abstract: Washington University, St. Louis, Mo., has undertaken an interdisciplinary research and education program which is examining the potential and problems associated with the use of communications satellites for helping to meet educational needs in the United States. The program is examined in terms of its implications for engineering education. Emphasis is on program organization, student and faculty involvement, course content and methods, and the impact of such a program on the participants and the university.

Technician Monographs: A Collection of Papers and Research Studies Related to Associate Degree Programs in Engineering Technology.

Abstract: DOeUMENT RESUME 21: JC 800 467 .Defore, Jesse J. Technician Monographs: A Collection of Papers and Research Studies Related to. Associate Deigee Programs in Engineering Technology. , American Society for Engineering Education, Washington, D.C. National Sciencejotindation, Washington, D.C. .71 247p. MFOI/PC10 Plus Postage. *Accreditation (Institutions); *Certifi ion; *College Curriculum ;-College Faculty; ommunity Colleges; Core Curriculum; Curriiculum uides Curriculum Research; *Educational Hi ory; Employment Projections; *Engineering Education; Engineering Technicians; *Engineering Technology; Enrollment Projections; Graduate Surveys; Labor Needs; National Steveys; Questionnaires; Science. Instruction; Student Characteristics; Teacher Characteristics; Technical Education; Two Year Colleges; 1,ro Year College Students;. Vocational. Followup The papers and research reports comprising the ten chapters of this monograph were originally prepared as.background i information for a national stud of engineering techiology educatioA in the United States. Chapter I briefly describes the historical and contemporary settings of engineering technology education. After Chapter II provides information on the' characteristics of engineering , technology Curricula and a tentative clitsification system for content areas, Chapter illustrates the kinds of curriculum guides *b\ which appear in theicat oftwo-year institutions offering engineeringkteChnology programs. Chapter IV describes some of the bharacteristics of the mathematics, chemistry,.and physics courses taught as part of the engineering technology curriculum. Adoverviey is presented in Chapter V of, the processof accreditation, especially in relation to, the engineering technology field. Chapter. VI reports on a study of engineering technology faculty, providing information about characteristics and attitudes.sChaRters VII and VIII provide results,04r studies of,the characteristics, perceptions, and activities of-engineering technblogy students and graduates. Chapter IX considers issues related to the certifi#ition of engineering techmiciant; while Chapter X concludes the monograph with a statistical model projecting the future of engineering technology education. Appendices provide a list Ift institutions offering . pfeducationaA technology programs, survey instruments, enrollment r estimates/ and a bibliography. 4AYC) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the origihal document. *f .1.**************%*******y*************************************************

Industry participation in electrical engineering education—Extra high voltage laboratory

Abstract: A unique electrical engineering laboratory course is described. This laboratory is an example of how industry can cooparate with universities in engineering education. The organization and operation of the course as well as the course material is outlined and explained, including the ways in which the industry participates in the operation of the laboratory. The educational benefits derived from such a cooperation between industry and the university are briefly detailed. These benefits are extended to the student, the University, the faculty, and the participating industry. This article provides the framework on which other laboratory experiences could be conceived and developed where industry and the university cooperate in the laboratory course.

On Statistical Studies of University Education

Abstract: As a faculty member and a statistician, I am continually impressed by how little we understand the educational process as it, goes oIn in universities. In simpler situations more is known, but even a first step such as learning the alphabet is Inot without its mysteries. This article, however, will not focus upon the very difficult problems of individual learning, but rather upon the much broader question of what statisticians can do to bring about a greater understanding of higher education and thus to improve its processes. I shall make quite specific suggestions as to types of research that are badly needed and that are largely ignored by professional statisticians even though the problems of design, control, measurement, and evaluation involved undoubtedly call for a high degree of statistical competence. If you like, this article constitutes a plea directed at statisticians-particularly those who are members of the faculties of universitiesto take an increased interest in these organizations as an area of applied research. The matters discussed in this article are going to be studied intensively during the next ten years. If they are to be studied only by administrators, subject matter specialists, professors of education, politicians, and data processing experts, the results will probably be less than definitive. Most faculty members are congenitally opposed to quantitative evaluation of university programs-particularly in a comparative sense and when applied to programs in which they participate. They feel that the value of these programs is (a) self evident and (b) impossible to express in terms of numbers or ranks. Perhaps they are right, perhaps not-in any case, the surest way to create a chilly atmosphere at a discussion of academic programs is to mention the term "costeffectiveness." On the other hand, this is a time when financial pressures on universities are reaching very critical levels. If members of the academic community are unwilling to examine questions about the merits and demerits of present, university activities, it has become all too clear that various outside agencies, particularly some which have in the past been sources of university funding, are quite ready to raise such points. We are all aware of situations in which slum revitalization programs, modern dance companies, anid Asiatic wars have been given a higher priority than support of university programs by such organizations. Are available funds being used by universities in a way which is expected to yield, surely niot optimal, but at least reasonable benefits to individual students and to society? This question must. be faced. Such apparent. absurdities as buildiing new football stadia while cutting scholarship funds or raising tuition because "everyoine else is doing it" are neither unknown nor unnoticed. We shall speak of universities as though they do not change over time. Of course they do, and occasionally the movement is rapid. But for the most part university programs change in quality, and in other important features, rather slowly. Those programs generally considered excellent in 1970 were also largely considered excellent in 1965. Incidentally, by the term "program" I mean any university activity that can be separated, educationally and budgetarily, from all other activities. Thus all university activity is thought of as composed of an exhaustive set of mutually exclusive elements called programs. The practical difficulties involved in arriving at such a result are considerable, but not overwhelming. Typical programs would be "physics-undergraduate," "bookstore," "intercollegiate track," "ABC residence hall," etc. In the sequel, the discussion will center on academic programs, but the main points will be applicable to non-academic programs as well. In any case, whether a program is changing rapidly or not, one of its most important characteristics is the "quality" of its input. And that brings us to our first main point, a question that has been studied many times and is still poorly understood: What students should be selected for each academic program? We do not even know how to identify students who will not be able to complete a program. If we had this sort of information, it would be quite easy to apply with uhidoubted beneficial results for all concerned. We are all well aware of the hundreds or perhaps thousands of studies whose object is the prediction of a student's performance from various objective and subjective measures attributable to him at the time of matriculatiorn-or, more likely, at the time of application.' These are of some value; certainly university admissions offices use them extensively, and no one would argue that such usual factors as secondary school performance, rating of secondary school, or SAT score are unrelated to performance in an undergraduate program. Furthermore, few would object to the use of such qualitative variables as recommendation of secondary school counselor or interviewer's rating. But the stark fact is that the best of these studies explain only about forty percent of the variance in the criterion being used. Typically a good study will explain some thirty percent of this variance, and many an enthusiastic master's degree candidate has had to settle for five or teni percent. Almost all these studies use linear regression, start with a large number of candidate predictor

ASCE Student Chapter Handbook

Abstract: American Society of Civil Engineers Student Chapter Handbook is the source book for information, suggestion, and guidance to ASCE student chapters, their officers, and their advisory personnel. Students and advisors will find in this handbook the answers to many questions that arise in chapter operation. This handbook will help students master the principles and techniques of engineering to earn their degrees. In addition, there are important non-technical subjects, generally called professional matters, which are not usually covered in class work. The handbook will also help civil engineering students begin those professional contacts and associations, which, continued through life, are so valuable to the practicing engineer in serving mankind and the engineering profession more effectively.

The Nature of Continuing Education

Abstract: Today as never before, education in general—and professional education in particular—is being held accountable for expenditures of public and private treasure as well as for the heavy investments of manpower made in its behalf. Parents, benefactors, and legislators ask what they are getting for their money. Employers question the value of a higher degree, and Ph.D. graduate engineers are scratching for jobs. What does this situation mean for continuing education in engineering and science? Once these educational deficiencies—real or imagined—are identified, curriculum planners can go ahead and reform the educational program for future generations; workers in continuing education must commence immediately to reform the people who are the innocent victims or products of the recent past system.