Norman L. Fortenberry

Linking student learning outcomes to instructional practices - phase II

In previous work, we identified five student learning outcome areas that might productively augment the current engineering accreditation criteria. In this work we review the literature on a) how these outcomes might be assessed and b) what instructional practices may encourage their attainment. Multiple assessment instruments are identified for the five student learning outcome areas. We offer examples of instructional practices that appear to align with developing a) multidisciplinary systems perspectives, b) appreciation for diversity, and c) familiarity with business matters. We see the research base underlying instructional practices as lacking adequate breadth and depth.

A transformation model of engineering education

A transformation model of engineering education at the undergraduate level is constructed to define the human and technical resources that contribute to the production of a university-trained engineer. The theory of technical systems is applied in the development of the model to transform a graduating pre-university pupil into a university-trained engineer. Two co-aligned themes are identified as the executive system and the execution system, which dictate who and what will do the work and how the work will be completed, respectively. The model is an extension of an existing model and further depicts the duality of the pre-university pupil as an operator and as the operand as related to engineering education. Consequently, the proposed model details the student perspective from the bottom-up in an implicit manner and the top–down perspective from administrators and professors in an explicit manner. The models utility is in providing a means by which to coordinate efforts of pre-college and university-level educational sectors in the production of entry-level engineers.

Panel - the technological literacy of undergraduates: identifying the research issues

This panel reported the results of a workshop and symposium on the technological literacy of undergraduates convened at the National Academy of Engineering on April 18-19, 2005. This National Science Foundation sponsored workshop sought to identify and define the current research issues regarding the broad understanding of technology by all undergraduates. Participants included individuals who successfully implemented courses on technological literacy for undergraduates, representatives other disciplines such as Science Technology and Society (STS), history of technology, education, and the humanities, and representatives of the National Science Foundation and the National Academy of Engineering. The symposium included: a review of successful implementations, obstacles to courses on technology, learning objectives and student outcomes, relevant assessment tools and techniques, strategies for developing a scholarly community in the area, potential means of stimulating growth of interest in the topic, implementation in different types of institutions including community colleges, perspectives and issues concerning women and underrepresented minorities

Work in Progress: Strengthening Engineering Education Research at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

The Strengthening HBCU Engineering Education Research Capacity (SHEERC) Project seeks to improve engineering education research capacity for engineering faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) through their interaction and collaboration with engineering colleagues, as well as colleagues from other education and social science disciplines. This paper provides preliminary results of the effectiveness and impact of the ongoing professional development activities of the SHEERC Project on its HBCU engineering faculty participants by looking at their experiences at a one-week workshop focused on developing their skills in engineering education research

Classroom artifacts: Tools to assess the use of active, innovative, and engaging pedagogies among engineering faculty

This paper examines artifacts of the classroom as a method of assessing whether or not engineering faculty are using best-practice teaching methods in class. Past research has achieved success in using artifacts to give similar results as direct observation. Artifacts assessment alone or in combination with surveys would be more accurate and less biased than surveys alone. Success of past portfolio assessment and the rise of college e-portfolio use among faculty make it highly likely that e-portfolios could provide the artifact information necessary for large scale assessment. Additionally, e-portfolios could enhance learning and teaching thereby increasing the willingness of faculty and students to participate nationally.

Work in progress: Annals of research on engineering education

The annals of research on engineering education website, containing research summaries and reflective essays written by authors of rigorous engineering education research articles, exists to build a collaborative community of engineering education researchers. This paper presents a preliminary examination of the challenges faced by the website in developing collaboration among researchers. Both quantitative and qualitative information are presented. A survey of site users is currently underway and will also provide information about the development of and issues facing the website. In addition, the developers and maintainers of the site have offered their views on its development. The resulting analysis will be used to improve the site as well as inform other education researchers of potential challenges in building collaborative communities.

Building a virtual community of engineering education research scholars

Summary form only given. The annals of research on engineering education (AREE) is an experiment in collaborative scholarship linking education researchers across disciplinary boundaries in order to provide access to the latest education research and offer guidance on education research methodology. AREE is a collaborative venture of the Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education and leading journals of education research in engineering and science fields. This session will a) provide a history of AREE, b) review its successes and the remaining challenges it faces in building a collaborative community of discipline-based education researchers, and c) report on a user-survey of participating authors. The session will be highly interactive as we seek audience input on on the a) strategies to follow-up on the ideas identified in the survey of participating authors, b) identification of the scholarly information and tools needed by the engineering education research community, c) alternative strategies to achieve AREEs goals, and d) practical models for sustaining AREE into the future.

Work In Progress: Modeling Undergraduate Engineering Recruitment and Retention Using Classical Control Theory

In this work a model of the engineering education pathway from middle school, through high school and through the completion of the B.S. degree in engineering is proposed. The model incorporates the closed-loop infrastructure of earlier models and extends the feedback control loops which characterize external recruitment and retention efforts. A perturbation analysis of the system parameters indicates that feedback intervention at the engineering enrollment stage provides the largest increase in B.S. engineers produced. Preliminary simulation results indicate that with feedback control along the engineering education pathway, the number of B.S. level engineers produced does increase greatly. Issues of sustainability and feasibility of these efforts and the policy implications of this work are discussed

Results from a pilot survey of engineering and engineering technology students in 2-year and 4-year institutions

Taking full advantage of community colleges as sources of science and engineering majors is a critical component of U.S. science and technology policy. Although data are available on the number of degree recipients in engineering and engineering technology (e/et) at the associates degree level, there are not reliable data on either the number of community college students who intend to transfer to baccalaureate e/et programs or the number who successfully make the transition. As a first step in examining this issue, the current project is a pilot study with a purposeful sample of 35 community colleges and 15 engineering colleges in the U.S. The survey of the identified institutions is completed. Institutions provided information on the number and demographic information of students who have or will transfer to four-year e/et programs. Issues with data collection and results are discussed.

Workshop — Less teaching, more learning: A toolkit for classroom transformation

The aim of the workshop is to empower participants to be able to utilize research-based tips for recruiting, retaining, and advancing female students in engineering by better engaging the diverse skills, interests, and backgrounds of their female students and by connecting educational activities to engineering opportunities. This workshop highlights research-based strategies and practical steps to build engineering career awareness and recruitment, enhance retention, and promote academic advancement in engineering coursework by pre-college and undergraduate students with an emphasis on young women. We will use scenarios to model the use of the strategies in and out of classroom settings. Participants will identify barriers to engaging others in use of research-based methods and to brainstorm strategies to overcoming the barriers. Group work will be emphasized. Three reference booklets and three 10-minute videos will be provided to each registrant.