scholarly journals ALUMNI SURVEY FOR UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA DEPARTMENT OF BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING

Author(s):  
M.L. Mackie ◽  
D.D. Mann

This paper presents the results of a survey of61 alumni from the University of Manitoba Department ofBiosystems Engineering. A three-section survey wasdeveloped to evaluate 12 attributes outlined by theCanadian Engineering Accreditation Board. The surveyrequested that alumni assess the 12 attributes in threeways: the importance of each attribute in their currentemployment, the level of preparedness they had receivedin each attribute from their education in the BiosystemsEngineering program, and the competency level requiredin each attribute by their current employment. Using gapanalysis, the level of preparedness received by BiosystemsEngineering alumni was compared with level ofcompetency required in current employment. The level ofpreparedness exceeded competency required on 10 of 12attributes; only attributes of “communication” and“impact of engineering on society and the environment”were found to be deficient using this analysis.Comparison of the importance of attributes to level ofpreparedness showed that level of preparedness ismeeting industry expectations on attributes of “knowledgebase for engineering”, “design”, “use of engineeringtools” with room for improvement on “problemanalysis”, “investigation” and most of the soft skillattributes. Interestingly, alumni who had participated onan extra-curricular team rated their preparedness on“team work” and “communication skills” lower than theoverall response even though these extra-curricularactivities provide real-life experience with theseattributes.

JET ADI BUANA ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (02) ◽  
pp. 139-151
Author(s):  
Hafida Ruminar ◽  
Putri Gayatri ◽  
Dian Islami Prasetyaningrum

The Online Letter Exchange Program (OLEP) was an online collaborative learning program hosted by the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Miyazaki, Japan. It has collaborated with the Faculty of Agriculture in one of the private universities in Malang. The program is designed to encourage students’ written communication skills and facilitate students with intensive real-life English communication experience with other students around Asia. The participant countries are from Japan, Taiwan, China, and Indonesia. One of its uniqueness lies in the policy that the participants share their specific fields, including agriculture and related fields. This study sought to investigate the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and perception of the students towards the OLEP as it was supplementary activity. The perception included the topic, the platform, and interaction. The data were gained from questionnaires and interviews and were then analyzed using thematic analysis. The result showed that extrinsic motivation was dominant in completing the task in OLEP. The positive and negative perception of the three aspects would be a valuable source for those who attempt a similar online letter exchange program


Author(s):  
David David Ruppel ◽  
Cynthia Ruppel

A policy concern in the information age is the “digital divide,” a gap between those who have easy access to technology and those who do not. References are made to information “haves” and “have-nots” in an age where information is equivalent to wealth (Holloway, 2000). The “have-nots” are in danger of exclusion from the new economy and marginalization into low-wage jobs (Dunham, 1999). In 2000, the President of the United States asked the IT community to help close this digital divide for moral reasons and to ensure that the economy flourishes with the availability of skilled workers (Shewmake, 2000). This overview summarizes a five-phase service-learning project accomplished through a partnership between the University of Toledo and a local K-8 parochial/non-profit school. The students were primarily enrolled in a Systems Analysis, Design and Implementation course (SAD). This longitudinal project was undertaken to plan, design, and wire a network for the school and to assess and implement continuing and future computer needs. It allowed students to gain “real-life” experience while contributing to the growth of IT among children in a non-profit setting.


Author(s):  
D. S. Petkau ◽  
D. D. Mann

Student design projects in engineering courses are usually short term conceptual design problems. Upon completion of the projects it is difficult to assess which design activities had the greatest contribution to the success of the design. In the fall of 2006, students in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year Design Trilogy courses at the University of Manitoba were asked to keep extensive design journals. Design teams consisted of multiyear students completing various industry projects. Student design activities recorded in the journals were coded. Data were compared between design teams and between students in the different years of study. This paper describes the evaluation process and reports on the preliminary findings.


Author(s):  
David Effa ◽  
Steve Lambert ◽  
Oscar Nespoli

Providing appropriate context is a vital element for teaching and learning. An excellent way of achieving this is through case studies: a description of actual engineering projects carried out in industry. Engineering design case studies could provide students examples of many practical and accessible real-life principles which are representative of situations engineers face in their professional life. The Waterloo Cases in Design Engineering (WCDE) group at the University of Waterloo has been established to promote case methods by generating engineering design case studies, and implementing them throughout the engineering faculty [1]. While the majority of WCDE cases are text-based, cases with multimedia content have been shown to be an effective way of documenting and teaching best design practices. Multimedia cases can add depth and interest to classroom discussions, and better address different student learning styles [2]. Recently, WCDE has placed more emphasis on the power of multimedia, to take advantage of the unique message-carrying ability of video, simulation, and graphics, to enhance the already powerful case method. This paper highlights the current process for updating and enhancing the current implementation of the case method.


Author(s):  
Anne Parker ◽  
Gary Wang ◽  
Kim Hewlett

In this paper, we will describe how we integrated communication into two capstone design courses in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Manitoba. We will first look briefly at how the stand-alone technical communication course (offered early in the curriculum) serves as a cornerstone because it introduces students to the various genres of engineering communication and emphasizes the importance of communication within the practice of engineering. Integrating communication into courses like the Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering design course (MECH 4860) and the Electrical and Computer Engineering design course (ENG 4600) means that technical and communications specialists work together toward helping senior engineering design students achieve their goal: designing a solution to an industry-based problem and then presenting their design in written, graphical and oral form. To do so, communications specialists become partners in the delivery of the course and in the assessment process. At the same time, the technical specialists can focus on assessing the design itself. Together, we can then evaluate a design according to what engineers must do on the job: solve problems and communicate solutions. The rubrics used to assess written communications are also intended as ways to help students see how each design element (like “project specifications”) is important to the “deliverable,” the report to the client. Finally, we will conclude with some observations about this past year and indicate what we would like to do next year.


Author(s):  
Mariasole Banno ◽  
Andrea Albertini ◽  
Ileana Bodini ◽  
Sandro Trento ◽  
Valerio Villa

Theatre teaches is a new experiment carried out at the University of Brescia. The growing importance of transversal competences i.e. those skills that essentially concern attitudes in the workplace and interpersonal relationships such as team work, language and communication skills, gave us the idea to develop an educational innovation to help students bring out these skills. We asked students to wrote a play using topics seen in class. So, they tried to wrap their mind around it and worked in team to write a script and get him to scene. Not to be confused to business theatre, this method is applicable in any framework. The assessment results reveal that students appreciate this method because this work helps them to express theirself better and, in general terms, they could improve their non techniocal skills. In conclusion, we can say that this experiment has been a success and gave the students the opportunity to show transversal competences. The ability to communicate, to teamworking, to manage conflicts, to speak in public, to problem solving, creativity, imagination, the ability to manage unforeseen situations and tolerate pressure and stress, leadership skills, negotiation skills and the ability to motivate are just few of the emergent competences.


Author(s):  
Nishant Balakrishnan

In the context of teaching design, engineers often have a strong preference for problem-based learning because the skills they are trying to teach are intrinsic to the solving of design problems. The proliferation of problem-based learning (PBL) in capstone and now cornerstone engineering design courses is well supported by industry and faculty and the trend has been towards seeing more PBL in engineering design courses. This paper explores the basic selection of engineering design problems and presents a fairly simple dilemma: the skills that are required to solve a problem are not necessarily the skills that are taught by the problem if the problem is truly open-ended. This paper presents the idea of using engineering problems that are carefully constructed simulacra of real-world problems with built in scaffolding to create PBL experiences for students that are educationally complete and meaningful. This paper presents examples from two courses developed at the University of Manitoba based on this approach, outcomes of and responses to the course layout, and ideas for how this model can be extended to other courses or programs.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioannis Baraboutis ◽  
Panagiotis Gargalianos ◽  
Eleni Aggelonidou ◽  
Andreas Adraktas

Abstract We report our initial experience with the management of a mixed group of patients with COVID-19 infection, admitted and treated in a designated COVID-19 centre in the Athens Metropolitan area over a 4-week period. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic presented a huge challenge to the Greek National Healthcare System and healthcare workers. Their response so far has been miraculously effective. Since there are essentially no therapeutic guidelines yet for this disease, we relied mainly on our medical intuition, our empathy for our patients and team work to do the best possible for 49 people with this infection. We present the therapeutic algorithm we gradually developed (on the job) and applied in our patients, based on continuous creative brainstorming and monitoring of the literature.


Author(s):  
Aidan Topping

This paper focuses on instructor led, student-focused coaching sessions undertaken in the senior (capstone) design classes at the University of Manitoba. The team-based design approach used in capstone courses allows students to work in a manner more closely reflecting industry practice; however, team writing does not allow for individualized scaffolding which could ensure each graduate meets the standard for communicative competence. Rather than allow students to rely on the team’s collective communication skills, we developed an approach that incorporates individual coaching sessions at multiple stages in the writing process. These sessions require students to reflect upon their work, and allow them to discuss it in a meaningful way with the instructor. Doing so at various stages affords students the opportunity to engage in an iterative approach to developing communicative competence: applying what they learn, reflecting on their work, and discussing communicative gains and new methodologies.While integrating individual coaching and directed instruction into the curriculum can be challenging, this paper demonstrates how student-focused coaching sessions provide a platform from which senior design students can increase both communicative competence and their value to industry as future engineers


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