Sandra Shaw Courter

Understanding engineering work and identity: a cross-case analysis of engineers within six firms

To better equip engineers to enter a dynamic technological and economic environment, educators must improve their understanding of the wide-ranging work of engineers and the flexible skills it demands. To that end, we studied engineering practice in six firms of varying size and industry. We analyzed the similarities and differences of engineering practice across these sites, and gathered narrative examples of what it means to be an engineer at these locations. Our data indicates more similarities across sites than differences. Although workplace cultures differed, most engineers saw their work similarly. They saw their work as problem solving, almost always done in explicitly organized teams or in informal collaboration with others. Engineers cited clear communication as the most important skill, with budgets and time limitations generally noted as the most significant constraints. Engineers generally valued solving a problem, learning, and working in a team more than other aspects of their jobs. This understanding of engineering work can be used to better equip engineers for the workforce and improve organizational practices.

Effective Teaching with Technology

A course entitled effective teaching with technology (ETT) has been taught to PhD candidates and postdoctoral students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) during the Spring semester of 2004, 2005, and 2006, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The course is supported by the NSF-sponsored Center for Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL). The course employs the three CIRTL pillars of teaching-as-research, learning-through-diversity, and learning communities as its basis. The ETT course introduces students to the idea that they critically evaluate technology options with the overarching goal of improved student learning. In this paper we describe: (1) development of this unique course, (2) operational experiences, and (3) student outcomes and effectiveness of the teaching-as-research approach to motivate future faculty (i.e. graduate students) to view teaching and the classroom with the same critical eye and scientific method that they use in their own research

First-year students as interviewers: Uncovering what it means to be an engineer

A lack of understanding about engineering and its applications limits the number of undergraduates entering and persisting in engineering majors. Connecting students with practicing engineers is one way to address these problems. Research suggests this connection will help students become engineers rather than simply learn engineering skills. In this study, first-year engineering students interviewed practicing engineers as part of their technical communication course. Interviews were conducted either in-person or online through MentorNet. Students reported that the experience improved their understanding of engineering skills, values and ways of thinking. Students valued the direction the interviews gave them in their education and the advice the engineers gave them about practice. Students generally reported the interview as being the best part of the course, with some saying it was the best part of the semester or year. Both in-person and online interviews resulted in significant, reported learning outcomes for students. Results suggest that including interviews as part of first-year student curriculum in engineering will significantly improve student motivation and understanding of engineering practice.

Work in progress - aligning educational experiences with ways of knowing engineering: Understanding the engineering profession

Engineering practice in the United States is changing and education needs to match those changes. One strategy for improving engineering education is to utilize a better understanding of the engineering profession. By the completion of this three year NSF project in 2010, a more refined and updated picture of engineering practice will emerge. To investigate engineering practice, we will triangulate data from surveys, interviews and ethnographic observations. To date, pilot data has been collected from thirteen surveys and three interviews. By October 2008, it is expected that five hundred surveys, forty interviews, and studies of two engineering firms will be complete. Data collected so far indicates that engineers have a strong, core identification as analytic thinkers and problem solvers. It also indicates engineerspsila desire to express creativity and learn new things in their work. As this study will examine the epistemic frame of engineering-what makes an engineer, an engineer-the research group plans to have practicing engineers evaluate how well it succeeds in documenting what it means to be an engineer. Just as these practicing engineers provide feedback on this study, we hope our work will strengthen the ties between engineering practice and engineering education.

Course portfolios: a systematic mechanism to document teaching and learning

Many creative and effective teaching strategies are forgotten or misplaced between semesters, only to be learned anew in subsequent semesters or lost forever. Beginning in September 1997, the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering linked its efforts to strengthen undergraduate education with a project designed to help teaching assistants become better instructors. This project, called a course portfolio, is a formal mechanism that documents and shares course-specific teaching information among teaching assistants and faculty. Course portfolio components include a repository of knowledge, instructor reflections, and critical analyses of activities. Instructors representing all ten departments in the College of Engineering have created course portfolios, and the project continues to expand and improve.

Effects on students of a freshman engineering design course

University of Wisconsin-Madison engineering professors piloted a freshman introduction to engineering course with 67 students in fall 1994. Several departments now require the course, and the fall 1995 enrolment was increased to 224 students. The three credit course concentrates on having students work in teams to identify customer needs, find solutions, and design a final product. Students in lab sections of twelve to eighteen first work in small groups of three or four to create proposed solutions, then meet as a lab section to decide on a solution and design and test it. Students conclude the course with formal presentations to students, faculty, and customers. Qualitative evaluation information based on observations and interviews with students and faculty, plus open ended surveys completed by students, indicates that the students experienced engineering in a personal, supportive team oriented environment. The course helped students make informed career decisions, understand the context for courses within an engineering curriculum, and develop a sense of professional identity as engineers. Retention data indicates that students who took the course are staying in engineering into the second semester of their sophomore year at a higher rate than other students.

Work in progress - Inter-disciplinary, online approach to learning about teaching

Engineering graduate student experiences in an online pilot course about teaching science and engineering are the focus of this work-in-progress. Their experiences from fall, 2006 are the center of the on-going research that compares their experiences with engineering graduate students who completed the traditional, face-to-face, semester-long campus course and those who completed the traditional, face-to-face, two-week course. Case studies will demonstrate how six engineering graduate students (two from each format) learned about teaching science and engineering when they were participating in an interdisciplinary course; engineering students were the minority and worked with chemists, physicists, geologists, and other STEM graduate students. The research questions is how, if at all, the interdisciplinary, online context makes a difference in student learning. This on-going pilot program involves web-conferences, a course management system, and seven institutions associated with the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL). The effectiveness of online learning experiences is significant as we prepare and support future faculty; we expect to learn that students appreciate diverse formats and opportunities, will choose those that work for them, learn consistently across all formats, and gain the added benefit of learning how to work collaboratively at a distance. By the conference date, we will be midway through the second online course and data collection. Our evaluation plan consists of pre and post surveys, authentic assessments, and in-depth interviews for the students who are the focus of the case studies.

Preparation of teaching assistants at the University of Wisconsin, College of Engineering

The University of Wisconsin (UW), College of Engineering (CoE) aims to prepare over 100 incoming and continuing teaching assistants (TAs) through several programs designed to incorporate the experience of fellow TAs, faculty and administrators. These programs have evolved over the course of a decade through the voluntary efforts of many educators, not only in the CoE but also from various units throughout the UW. The three main programs are a series of workshops at the beginning of each fall and spring semester, optional departmental meetings throughout the semester, and a graduate student chapter of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). The required workshops are organized primarily by CoE faculty and a group of experienced TAs from all disciplines of engineering with assistance of CoE administrators. Department meetings are less formal. Their content and frequency are determined by each department individually. The ASEE chapter was initially organized by TAs with significant guidance from faculty belonging to ASEE and continues to be maintained primarily by TAs. This paper describes the details to help others who wish to begin or compare similar programs. It further discusses the current UW CoE programs and their historical development, several related efforts within the college, as well as challenges and keys to successful programs.