Dan Moore

Managing cross-cultural differences in an open ended group project course

This paper includes a description of a trial version of using international student collaboration in an OEGP type course, the difficulties experienced, and suggestions for how to deal with them in preparing for a full-scale version of the course

Panel - ill-structured problem solving in engineering education

There is a gap between the problems our students typically encounter in their education and the problems they are likely to be asked to solve in their future employments. It is convenient in education, both in specification and assessment, to provide fairly well- structured problems, and many instructors view using such problems as a way to manage the learning process. However, real-world problems are typically ill-structured and we argue that using only well-structured problems as learning examples does not prepare our students for the problems they will encounter in their professional life. Preparing students for dealing with ill-structured, or open ended, problems is an educational challenge involving critical thinking skills, which most instructors and curriculum designers view as an important goal of the learning process. This panel is designed to address issues of open or ill-structured problems from learning aspects. The panel will also cover concrete examples to inspire education designers preparing students for their future careers by improving their problem solving capabilities through use of ill-structured problems as learning examples.

Work in progress - managing cross-cultural differences in an open ended group project course

This paper includes a description of a trial version of using international student collaboration in an OEGP type course, the difficulties experienced, and suggestions for how to deal with them in preparing for a full-scale version of the course

Pedagogical and organizational components and issues of externally sponsored senior design teams

The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology requires all graduates to complete a year long (3 quarter) design project sequence. The sequence was first offered in the 1997-1998 academic year. The project series involves student teams working on externally sponsored design projects. The paper presents a discussion of the organization of the sequence specifically from the academic and pedagogical standpoint-team formation, team and individual performance assessment, design reviews, and written and oral communication assessment. The peer evaluation and assessment process, the project application procedure and the related forms are presented and discussed. Additionally, scheduling and human resource (faculty and staff) issues are discussed. A summary of the results from the three academic year offerings and proposed changes is included.

Introductory analog electronics course incorporating in-class team design problems and multi-team design based laboratories

A new, single term, introductory analog electronics course was developed in conjunction with a major curriculum revision in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department. A desire to provide greater student-student interaction and team based design experiences are two of the underlying themes of the curriculum revision and of the analog course design. This paper presents an overview of the course and provides specific examples of both the in-class projects and laboratory exercises specifically designed to improve design and team based performance. Student comments/suggestions from both formally solicited surveys and informal discussions are also included. The paper concludes with recommendations for future modifications and improvements.

The design of an Enhanced Curricular Evaluation + Portfolio (ECE+P) software system

A process for curricular monitoring and providing feedback for the continuous improvement Of curricula was presented recently by Moore and Voltmer (2000). The original process was designed to include instructors, administrators, and external reviewers. A subsequent study of the existing software and enhanced capabilities lead to an expansion of the vision and scope of the original evaluation process. The study precipitated the design of a new software system that expands the curricular monitoring to include the student. Improved interaction between the student and instructor as well as grading capabilities is included in the expanded system, the Enhanced Curricular Evaluation + Portfolio (ECE+P) system. An additional enhancement enables every student to store private files and create secure portfolios to which students can grant viewing rights to external guests. The ECE+P system was designed using a Unified Modeling Language (UML) software development tool that allows requirement changes to be incorporated easily. The tool also provides system specifications that can be implemented using various platforms. A discussion of the ECE+P system and the UML tool is included in the full paper and presentation.