Engineering education

About: Engineering education is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 24293 publications have been published within this topic receiving 234621 citations.

Understanding Freshman Engineering Student Retention Through A Survey

Abstract: It is easier to retain a student than to recruit one. Yet, retention of engineering students is difficult. Although the retention rate of engineering students in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS) at Arizona State University (ASU) of beginning full-time, first-time freshman engineering is about the same as freshman in all units at ASU, some of the engineering freshman change to other disciplines in the university. Many beginning freshmen engineering students do not have much understanding of an engineering career. Engineering is not a topic taught in middle schools or high schools. Students may choose engineering because someone told them their good math skills qualified them for an engineering career or because they were aware that engineers make good salaries. Obviously engineering is not for everyone and there will always be some engineering students who determine that they really do not want to be an engineer. However, many other students may like the engineering curriculum, but because they do not see the relevance of the beginning engineering courses, may drop out during or after the first year. A survey was made of freshman engineering students to enable us to better understand our students. The survey was given at the end of the semester to the students in the introductory engineering class. The students were asked to select and to rank the top three statements from a list that best described their reasons for choosing engineering or an applied science. This paper includes an analysis of why our students chose to study engineering or construction and also a discussion on any correlations between the reasons that the students chose CEAS and their retention in CEAS or the university after one year. Of particular interest is how the results of the analysis can be used to guide recruitment and retention efforts of our engineering students, particularly women and underrepresented minorities. The surveys, although developed for ASU, can be customized for any individual institution. Introduction The retention of engineering students is a difficult problem. Of those that enter the curriculum, on average, only about half finish. Since engineering requirements for admission are often higher than average, more should be succeeding. However, the engineering curriculum is very demanding and students may leave due to poor academic performance or conclude that the heavy demand of the curriculum is not worth a continued effort. Many beginning freshmen engineering students do not have much understanding of an engineering career. Engineering is not a topic taught in middle school or high school. Students may choose engineering because someone told them their good math skills qualified them for an engineering career or because they were aware

Defining, teaching and assessing lifelong learning skills

Abstract: Lifelong learning skills have always been important in any education and work setting. However, ABET EC 2000 recently put a new focus on these skills in engineering education. Outcome 3i states the expectation that engineering graduates must have "a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in lifelong learning". The paper first defines a set of attributes/skills, which are necessary for students to develop as lifelong learners. It is postulated that the "recognition of the need" requires skills in the affective domain, while the "ability to engage " requires skills in the cognitive domain. Next, the paper offers course design elements, which help students develop lifelong learning skills. Finally, the paper presents a method for assessing these skills. Assessment of data from a variety of engineering courses at San Jose State University are presented and analyzed. This assessment method can be used for any of the eleven outcomes in ABET EC 2000, criterion 3.

Virtual Engineering Sciences Learning Lab: Giving STEM Education a Second Life

Abstract: Engineering education in the 21st century faces multiple obstacles including limited accessibility of course resources due, in part, to the costs associated with acquiring and maintaining equipment and staffing laboratories. Another continuing challenge is the low level of participation of women and other groups historically underrepresented in STEM disciplines. As a partial remedy for these issues, we established a Virtual Engineering Sciences Learning Lab (VESLL) that provides interactive objects and learning activities, multimedia displays, and instant feedback procedures in a virtual environment to guide students through a series of key quantitative skills and concepts. Developed in the online virtual world Second LifeTM, VESLL is an interactive environment that supports STEM education, with potential to help reach women and other underrepresented groups. VESLL exposes students to various quantitative skills and concepts through visualization, collaborative games, and problem solving with realistic learning activities. Initial assessments have demonstrated high student interest in VESLL's potential as a supplementary instructional tool and show that student learning experiences were improved by use of VESLL. Ultimately, the VESLL project contributes to the ongoing body of evidence suggesting that online delivery of course content has remarkable potential when properly deployed by STEM educators.

"Mind the gaps": an empirical approach to engineering ethics, 1997-2001.

Abstract: A survey on ethical issues in engineering was administered over a five-year period to Stanford engineering students and practicing engineers. Analysis of its results strongly suggests that important disconnects exist between the education of engineering students regarding ethical issues in engineering on the one hand, and the realities of contemporary engineering practice on the other. Two noteworthy consequences of these gaps are that the views of engineering students differ substantially over what makes an issue an ethical issue, while practicing engineers exhibit significant disagreement over what is the most important non-technical aspect of being a responsible engineering professional in contemporary society. These divergences impede the recognition of ethical issues and of specific moral responsibilities of engineers in concrete professional practice. It is argued that the use of suitably refined and probing surveys of engineering students and practicing engineers about ethical issues in engineering is an important although neglected empirical approach to the study of engineering ethics. Such an approach can enhance the prevailing case study method and combat over-tidy theoretical-analytical approaches to the subject.