An Exercise to Improve Career Understanding of Commencing Engineering and Technology Students

2002 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 38-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart R. Palmer ◽  
Sharyn L. Bray
Keyword(s):  
Professional Practice ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Engineering Practice ◽  
Large Classes ◽  
Technology Students ◽  
Written Comments ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Engineering And Technology ◽  
Assessment Activity ◽  
Study Mode

The literature suggests that many commencing engineering students do not have an accurate understanding of the nature of professional practice in their chosen career. Many of the methods for exposing students to professional practice are impractical for large classes of commencing students. An assessment activity involving students collecting job advertisements for professional engineering positions and analysing them for required skills and knowledge was trialed and evaluated. It was found that a significant majority (86.2%) of students reported at least some change in their understanding of professional engineering practice. No significant difference was observed in these response rates between the three demographic categories (gender, study mode and course of study) of respondents. Student written comments about how their understanding of professional engineering practice had changed indicated that they benefited from, and valued exposure to, aspects of professional engineering practice early in their undergraduate studies.

scholarly journals Performance of Students in the Departmental Examination in Chemistry

2015 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
pp. 121-125
Author(s):  
Ryan Manuel D. Guido
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Technology Students ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Engineering And Technology ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Better Than

Departmental examination in chemistry assesses the students’ performance between the engineering and technology students and its corresponding departments. The results showed that engineering students marginally performed better than technology students and there are departments that exhibits highest mean score in the performance of both engineering and technology. It appears that students‘ performance has no significant difference because professors offered the same presentation of lessons, reinforcements, and evaluation whether it might be engineering or technology students. Furthermore, it showed that there is no significant difference in interdepartment performance because most of the professors were able to teach the different departments. The analyzation of this study showed that student performance in the departmental examination in chemistry depends on how the professors taught the subject.

On Measuring Engineering Risk Attitudes1

2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas L. Van Bossuyt ◽  
Andy Dong ◽  
Irem Y. Tumer ◽  
Lucila Carvalho
Keyword(s):  
Professional Practice ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Risk Attitude ◽  
Engineering Ethics ◽  
Risk Attitudes ◽  
Engineering Practice ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
Personal Attitude ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Risk Processes

Risk management is a critical part of engineering practice in industry. Yet, the attitudes of engineers toward risk remain unknown and are not measured. This paper presents the development of a psychometric scale, the engineering-domain-specific risk-taking (E-DOSPERT) test, to measure engineers' risk aversion and risk seeking attitudes. Consistent with a similar psychometric scale to assess general risk attitudes, engineering risk attitude is not single domain and is not consistent across domains. Engineers have different risk attitudes toward five identified domains of engineering risk: processes, procedures and practices; engineering ethics; training; product functionality and design; and legal issues. Psychometric risk profiling with E-DOSPERT provides companies a standard to assess domain-specific engineering risk attitude within organizations and across organizations. It provides engineering educators a standard to assess the understanding of engineering students to the types of risks they would encounter in professional practice and their personal attitude toward responding to those risks. Appropriate interventions can then be implemented to shape risk attitudes as appropriate. Risk-based design decisions can also be shaped by a better understanding of engineer and customer risk attitude. Understanding engineers' risk attitudes is crucial in interpreting how individual engineers will respond to risk in their engineering activities and the numerous design decisions they make across the various domains of engineering risk found in professional practice.

Framework of Competencies for Internationalizing Engineering Curriculum

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-32
Author(s):  
Fola Michael Ayokanmbi
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Engineering Practice ◽  
International Assignments ◽  
Global Business ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Global Engineering ◽  
Engineering And Technology ◽  
The Impact

The globalization of corporate activities requires corporations to function through their international network of subsidiaries and has major implications for engineering education. Hence, it is imperative that engineering students have a global view of engineering practice because engineering solutions have impact across geographical borders. The cultural, geographic, social, and economic realities of the global economy require that modern engineers be competent in foreign language and culture in order to succeed in the global business environment. Equipping engineering students with social and cultural competencies would provide students, who may potentially work on international assignments, with the ability to collaborate with foreign nationals and successfully function in a global engineering environment. This paper examines the impact of globalization on engineering and technology education and discusses the competencies required to ensure that engineering and technology students are adequately prepared to make them more effective in foreign environments.

scholarly journals Entrepreneurship traits of Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) students

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elma Van der Lingen ◽  
Gerhard Van Niekerk
Keyword(s):  
White Students ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Male Students ◽  
Science Students ◽  
Science And Engineering ◽  
Technology Students ◽  
Engineering And Technology ◽  
Effective Training ◽  
Calculated Risk ◽  
Education Courses

<p>Entrepreneurship studies and education courses have increased significantly with the realisation of its importance for economic growth. Entrepreneurship courses are no longer only lectured by business schools, economical and management sciences, but also in natural science and engineering departments. The aim of this study is to determine the enterprising tendency of science, engineering and technology (SET) students with the General Enterprising Tendency (GET) test developed by Dr Caird. The SET students have an enterprising tendency above average indicative that they are likely to be enterprising in some way, but most likely through intrapreneurship by being part of a group within a corporate environment. The first degree (BEng, BSc and BTech) of the SET students appear to have no influence on their enterprising tendency. The male students have a higher enterprising tendency than the females, and the BTech males revealed a significantly higher need for autonomy than BTech females. The White students have a higher tendency for the entrepreneurial traits such as “need for autonomy”, “calculated risk taking” and “internal local of control”, whereas the Black students have a higher “need for achievement”. The future aim with continuing this study will be to structure technopreneurship courses in order to provide more effective training for SET students.</p><p><strong>Keywords:</strong> Entrepreneurship, traits, tendencies, technopreneurs, science students, engineering students, technology students, SET students, gender, ethnical group, GET test</p><p align="LEFT"> </p>

scholarly journals Engineering students’ attitudinal beliefs by gender and student division: a methodological comparison of changes over time

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Madison E. Andrews ◽  
Anita D. Patrick ◽  
Maura Borrego
Keyword(s):  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Value Engineering ◽  
Longitudinal Analyses ◽  
Utility Value ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Targeted Interventions ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Background Students’ attitudinal beliefs related to how they see themselves in STEM have been a focal point of recent research, given their well-documented links to retention and persistence. These beliefs are most often assessed cross-sectionally, and as such, we lack a thorough understanding of how they may fluctuate over time. Using matched survey responses from undergraduate engineering students (n = 278), we evaluate if, and to what extent, students’ engineering attitudinal beliefs (attainment value, utility value, self-efficacy, interest, and identity) change over a 1-year period. Further, we examine whether there are differences based on gender and student division, and then compare results between cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses to illustrate weaknesses in our current understanding of these constructs. Results Our study revealed inconsistencies between cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of the same dataset. Cross-sectional analyses indicated a significant difference by student division for engineering utility value and engineering interest, but no significant differences by gender for any variable. However, longitudinal analyses revealed statistically significant decreases in engineering utility value, engineering self-efficacy, and engineering interest for lower division students and significant decreases in engineering attainment value for upper division students over a one-year period. Further, longitudinal analyses revealed a gender gap in engineering self-efficacy for upper division students, where men reported higher means than women. Conclusions Our analyses make several contributions. First, we explore attitudinal differences by student division not previously documented. Second, by comparing across methodologies, we illustrate that different conclusions can be drawn from the same data. Since the literature around these variables is largely cross-sectional, our understanding of students’ engineering attitudes is limited. Our longitudinal analyses show variation in engineering attitudinal beliefs that are obscured when data is only examined cross-sectionally. These analyses revealed an overall downward trend within students for all beliefs that changed significantly—losses which may foreshadow attrition out of engineering. These findings provide an opportunity to introduce targeted interventions to build engineering utility value, engineering self-efficacy, and engineering interest for student groups whose means were lower than average.

scholarly journals Tutorials for Integrating CAD/CAM in Engineering Curricula

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 151 ◽  
Author(s):  
AMM Ullah ◽  
Khalifa Harib
Keyword(s):  
Machine Tools ◽  
Computer Aided Design ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Tool Path ◽  
Sustainable Manufacturing ◽  
Natural Extension ◽  
Real Life ◽  
System Component ◽  
Engineering Practice ◽  
Cad Cam

This article addresses the issue of educating engineering students with the knowledge and skills of Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing (CAD/CAM). In particular, three carefully designed tutorials—cutting tool offsetting, tool-path generation for freeform surfaces, and the integration of advanced machine tools (e.g., hexapod-based machine tools) with solid modeling—are described. The tutorials help students gain an in-depth understanding of how the CAD/CAM-relevant hardware devices and software packages work in real-life settings. At the same time, the tutorials help students achieve the following educational outcomes: (1) an ability to apply the knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering; (2) an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet the desired needs, (3) an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems; and (4) an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools that are necessary for engineering practice. The tutorials can be modified for incorporating other contemporary issues (e.g., additive manufacturing, reverse engineering, and sustainable manufacturing), which can be delved into as a natural extension of this study.

scholarly journals Evalueringskriteria by die reuse van ‘n organisasie in die ingenieursberoep

1989 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
G. F. Oosthuizen ◽  
L. P. Vermeulen
Keyword(s):  
Research Group ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Engineering Profession ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Specific Organisation

Evaluation criteria for selecting an organisation in the engineering profession. This study deals with identifying the evaluation criteria according to which people in the engineering profession choose the organisation where they will work. The research group consisted of 211 final-year engineering students, and 256 engineers employed by a specific organisation. A significant difference (p

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