scholarly journals Engineering and Engaged Scholarship at Penn State Part II: The Existing Ecosystem

Author(s):  
Thomas H Colledge

The objective of engineering education is to educate students who are ‘ready to engineer’.  This implies that students should be broadly prepared with not only deep knowledge and understanding of the technical fundamentals, but also the pre-professional skills required to be successful in the engineering workplace of today and tomorrow1.  Part I of this paper includes a brief rationale and need for ‘Engaged Scholarship’ and the inherent need for a robust ecosystem to support it.  Part II details the existing curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular efforts which form the core for the engaged scholarship ecosystem in the College of Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University.  Curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular opportunities for students are detailed.   Part III provides an overview of how this assortment of minors, certificates, programs, courses, and student organizations is being integrated and institutionalized into a strategic mission for the University.

Author(s):  
Thomas H Colledge

The objective of engineering education is to educate students who are ‘ready to engineer’.  This implies that students should be broadly prepared with not only deep knowledge and understanding of the technical fundamentals, but also the pre-professional skills required to be successful in the engineering workplace of today and tomorrow1.  Part I of this paper includes a brief rationale and need for ‘engaged scholarship’ to help accomplish these goals, and the inherent need for a robust ecosystem to support it.  A summary is provided of the outcome-based objectives for the training of engineers as well as the industry-identified personal competencies required.  The role of the university in engaged scholarship is examined along with the benefits and impediments to its implementation.  A definition of educational ecosystem is provided.  Part II details the existing engaged scholarship ecosystem in the College of Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University, while Part III provides an overview of how this assortment of minors, certificates, programs, courses, and student organizations is being integrated and institutionalized into a strategic mission for the University.


2022 ◽  
pp. 375-395
Author(s):  
Victoria Raish ◽  
Andrea Gregg ◽  
Cathy Holsing

In this chapter, the authors discuss two examples of digital credential implementations at Penn State University. Penn State University is a large R1 with a main campus located in Central Pennsylvania. The purpose of this chapter is to situate the broader digital credential movement within one example of how it has played out in higher education. Within this one example, the implementations between the University Libraries and College of Engineering have similarities and differences. This chapter demonstrates that the purpose and goals of a digital credentialing program heavily influence decisions made from the beginning of the effort through maturation. Outside forces that impact what a digital credentialing effort looks like will be discussed such as administrative requirements and concerns over visual identity. Finally, this chapter provides thoughts on where digital credentials are headed within higher education.


2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-18
Author(s):  
Lisa Krissoff Boehm ◽  
Linda S. Larrivee

This paper analyzes the processes and outcomes involved with mentoring junior faculty in the reappointment, promotion, and tenure (RPT) process at a comprehensive state university and creating a culture supportive of engaged research. Although the university in this case study is governed by a collective bargaining agreement that prohibits the development of new written policies on RPT, the deans and other academic leaders can promote significant change through cultural means. The article will examine: the place of engaged scholarship within the reappointment, tenure, and promotion processes of the university; the university’s commitment to a cross-institutional research approach; the mentoring of faculty conducting innovative community projects; the university’s recent strategic plan initiative funding of collaborative cross-college and community projects; partnership with the city of Worcester’s Department of Public Health on applied scholarship related to five domains of public health currently establishedas the focus of efforts by the city and the region; and the innovative CitySpeak devised theater project. At this state university, strong leadership helped support a deepening culture of engaged teaching and scholarship and helped faculty negotiate the road of RPT.


2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Josh McCarthy

<span>This study explores the efficacy of the online social networking site </span><em>Facebook</em><span>, for linking international digital media student cohorts through an e-mentoring scheme. It reports on the 2011 collaboration between the University of Adelaide in Australia, and Penn State University in the United States. Over one semester, twelve postgraduate students in Australia and ten undergraduate students in the United States took part in an online mentor scheme hosted by </span><em>Facebook</em><span>. Students were required to submit work-in-progress imagery each week to a series of galleries within the forum. Postgraduate students from Adelaide mentored the undergraduate students at Penn State, and in turn, staff and associated industry professionals mentored the Adelaide students. Interaction between the two student cohorts was consistently strong throughout the semester, and all parties benefitted from the collaboration. Students from Penn State University were able to receive guidance and critiques from more experienced peers, and responded positively to the continual feedback over the semester. Students from the University of Adelaide received support from three different groups: Penn State staff and associated professionals; local industry professionals and recent graduates; and peers from Penn State. The 2011 scheme highlighted the efficacy of </span><em>Facebook</em><span> as a host site for e-mentoring and strengthened the bond between the two collaborating institutions.</span>


2020 ◽  
Vol 101 (6) ◽  
pp. E917-E935
Author(s):  
Matthew R. Kumjian ◽  
Kevin A. Bowley ◽  
Paul M. Markowski ◽  
Kelly Lombardo ◽  
Zachary J. Lebo ◽  
...  

Abstract An engaged scholarship project called “Snowflake Selfies” was developed and implemented in an upper-level undergraduate course at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State). During the project, students conducted research on snow using low-cost, low-tech instrumentation that may be readily implemented broadly and scaled as needed, particularly at institutions with limited resources. During intensive observing periods (IOPs), students measured snowfall accumulations, snow-to-liquid ratios, and took microscopic photographs of snow using their smartphones. These observations were placed in meteorological context using radar observations and thermodynamic soundings, helping to reinforce concepts from atmospheric thermodynamics, cloud physics, radar, and mesoscale meteorology courses. Students also prepared a term paper and presentation using their datasets/photographs to hone communication skills. Examples from IOPs are presented. The Snowflake Selfies project was well received by undergraduate students as part of the writing-intensive course at Penn State. Responses to survey questions highlight the project’s effectiveness at engaging students and increasing their enthusiasm for the semester-long project. The natural link to social media broadened engagement to the community level. Given the successes at Penn State, we encourage Snowflake Selfies or similar projects to be adapted or implemented at other institutions.


2011 ◽  
pp. 1223-1230
Author(s):  
Diane Chapman

Formal university-based distance education has been around for over 100 years. For example, Cornell University established the Correspondence University in 1882, and Chautauqua College of Liberal Arts in New York was awarding degrees via correspondence courses in 1883 (Nasseh, 1997). Soon many other educational institutions, including the University of Chicago, Penn State University, Yale University, and John Hopkins University, were offering these nontraditional learning options for their students. Many institutions then moved to instructional telecommunications as the technology matured. With the entry of the personal computer into homes and workplaces in the 1980s, learning started to become more technology driven. But it was not until the 1990s, with the proliferation of the World Wide Web, that the concept of technology-enhanced education began to change drastically.


Author(s):  
Diane D. Chapman

Formal university-based distance education has been around for over 100 years. For example, Cornell University established the Correspondence University in 1882, and Chautauqua College of Liberal Arts in New York was awarding degrees via correspondence courses in 1883 (Nasseh, 1997). Soon many other educational institutions, including the University of Chicago, Penn State University, Yale University, and Johns Hopkins University were offering these non-traditional learning options for their students. With the entry of the personal computer into homes and workplaces in the 1980s, learning started to become more technologydriven. However, it was not until the 1990s, with the proliferation of the World Wide Web, that the concept of technology-enhanced education began to change drastically.


MRS Bulletin ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. 22-26
Author(s):  
Rustum Roy

Robert Sproull, the director of AREA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) in the Pentagon, recorded that Pennsylvania State University and Carnegie Institute of Technology first made proposals in 1957 for “interdisciplinary block funding” in what would essentially become “materials” research. But it was the industrial push (by W.O. Baker of AT&T Bell Laboratories and C.G. Suits of General Electric) that helped ARPA start the funding of 12 interdisciplinary materials research laboratories (IDMRLs) between 1960 and 1963. Pennsylvania State University was added in 1963 as a special modest grant limited to materials preparation (synthesis and processing). NASA and the Atomic Energy Commission added six more within two years. The first interdisciplinary degree program in “materials” (then called solid-state technology), administered directly by a graduate school committee drawn from 10 departments, was started under my chairmanship, at Penn State in 1959-60. Probably the first departmental degree program in which a metallurgy department expanded its scope (and changed its name) to include other materials was started at nearly the same time at North western University by Prof. M.E. Fine. It is noteworthy that at least in these two cases the intellectual and curricular argument for integration of degree work preceded the research grants and organization. These two separate patterns have both now permeated the entire national system, and we should clearly distinguish between them. By 1969 the first national colloquy on materials, held at Penn State and published under the title Materials Science and Engineering in the U.S., took an evaluative look at materials education.


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