scholarly journals Building the Engineering Mindset: Developing Sustainable Leadership and Management Competencies in First Year Engineering

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marnie V. Jamieson ◽  
John R. Donald
Keyword(s):  
First Year ◽  
Sustainable Leadership ◽  
Management Competencies ◽  
Leadership And Management ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Sustainable Engineering ◽  
Management Concepts ◽  
Engineering Problems ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Complex Engineering

The broad inclusion of sustainable engineering leadership and management concepts are increasinglyrecognized as necessary to ensure the relevance of an engineering education in a rapidly shifting world.Engineering leadership and management are integral to the engineering mindset and necessary to addressthe complex engineering problems faced by society. Examples of these complex problems can be seen in theUN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by all UN member states, including Canada, in 2015[1]. The Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) identifies the need for strong non-technicalskills with a majority of the Graduate Attributes focusing on non-technical skills such as communication,teamwork, ethics and lifelong learning [2]. The UN SDGs are well aligned with the CEAB GraduateAttributes [3] and could be very effectively operationalized in engineering programs through the use of asustainable engineering leadership and management model.

scholarly journals BUILDING THE ENGINEERING MINDSET: DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES IN THE ENGINEERING CURRICULUM

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marnie Jamieson ◽  
John Donald
Keyword(s):  
Management Training ◽  
First Year ◽  
Technical Competence ◽  
Engineering Curriculum ◽  
Management Skills ◽  
Management Competencies ◽  
Leadership And Management ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Complex Engineering ◽  
Primary Focus

In this paper we explore building the engineering mindset from the perspective of developing exceptional leadership and management competencies to guide and support the traditional technical competencies that are the primary focus of undergraduate engineering programs.  A knowledge base for engineering, science, and design is developed throughout most engineering programs. Math and science are carefully scaffolded from first year engineering to ensure technical competence by graduation. We ask the questions: “How are leadership and management related to engineering work and design?” and “Can we develop a framework to guide the development of leadership and management skills in the engineering curriculum?” We argue leadership and management are integral to the engineering mindset and necessary to address the complex engineering problems society faces.  There is discord between the responsibility of the engineer and the decision-making authority for engineering projects.  This dissonance often results in engineers being technically accountable for their designs yet lacking the authority to make decisions with respect to the construction, commissioning, and operation of their designs.  To address this gap, we suggest leadership and management training be carefully scaffolded in the same manner that technical competence has been stewarded in engineering programs and propose a framework to do so.

A Novel Paradigm for Engineering Education: Virtual Internships With Individualized Mentoring and Assessment of Engineering Thinking

2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomi C. Chesler ◽  
A. R. Ruis ◽  
Wesley Collier ◽  
Zachari Swiecki ◽  
Golnaz Arastoopour ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Education ◽  
First Year ◽  
Collaborative Environment ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Engineering Problems ◽  
Complex Engineering ◽  
Potential Impact

Engineering virtual internships are a novel paradigm for providing authentic engineering experiences in the first-year curriculum. They are both individualized and accommodate large numbers of students. As we describe in this report, this approach can (a) enable students to solve complex engineering problems in a mentored, collaborative environment; (b) allow educators to assess engineering thinking; and (c) provide an introductory experience that students enjoy and find valuable. Furthermore, engineering virtual internships have been shown to increase students'—and especially women's—interest in and motivation to pursue engineering degrees. When implemented in first-year engineering curricula more broadly, the potential impact of engineering virtual internships on the size and diversity of the engineering workforce could be dramatic.

First-Year Engineering Computing Courses in Canadian Engineering Programs

1969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Maw ◽  
Janice Miller Young ◽  
Alexis Morris
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Expected Value ◽  
Knowledge Development ◽  
First Year ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Digital Computation ◽  
Pedagogical Philosophies ◽  
Introductory Computing

Most Canadian engineering students take a computing course in their first year that introduces them to digital computation. The Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board does not specify the language(s) that can or should be used for instruction. As a result, a variety of languages are used across Canada. This study examines which languages are used in degree-granting institutions, currently and in the recent past. It also examines why institutions have chosen the languages that they currently use. In addition to the language used in instruction, the types and hours of instruction are also analyzed. Methods of instruction and evaluation are compared, as well as the pedagogical philosophies of the different programs with respect to introductory computing. Finally, a comparison of the expected value of this course to graduates is also presented. We found a more diverse landscape for introductory computing courses than anticipated, in most respects. The guiding ethos at most institutions is skill and knowledge development, especially around problem solving in an engineering context. The methods to achieve this are quite varied, and so are the languages employed in such courses. Most programs currently use C/C++, Matlab, VB and/or Python.

Transformative Learning in Mastery-Oriented CS0 Course

2021 ◽  
pp. 234763112110072
Author(s):  
Srinivasan Lakshminarayanan ◽  
N. J. Rao ◽  
G. K. Meghana
Keyword(s):  
Transformative Learning ◽  
First Year ◽  
Guided Discovery ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Transformative Experiences ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Cognitive Levels ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Core Course

The introductory programming course, commonly known as CS1 and offered as a core course in the first year in all engineering programs in India, is unique because it can address higher cognitive levels, metacognition and some aspects of the affective domain. It can provide much needed transformative experiences to students coming from a system of school education that is dominantly performance-driven. Unfortunately, the CS1 course, as practiced in almost all engineering programs, is also performance-driven because of a variety of compulsions. This paper suggests that the inclusion of a course CS0 can bring about transformative learning that can potentially make a significant difference in the quality of learning in all subsequent engineering courses. The suggested instruction design of this course takes the advantage of the unique features of a course in programming. The proposed CS0 course uses “extreme apprenticeship” and “guided discovery” methods of instruction. The effectiveness of these instruction methods was established through the use of the thematic analysis, a well-known qualitative research method, and the associated coding of transformative learning experiences and instruction components.

Model-Eliciting Activities: A Research-Based Method for Inquiry Learning and Professional Development in the Engineering Classroom

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara J. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Complex Systems ◽  
Student Development ◽  
Engineering Problem ◽  
First Year ◽  
Foundation Engineering ◽  
Underrepresented Populations ◽  
Model Eliciting Activities ◽  
Engineering Problems ◽  
The Given ◽  
Mathematics And Science

Attracting students to engineering is a challenge. In addition, ABET requires that engineering graduates be able to work on multi-disciplinary teams and apply mathematics and science when solving engineering problems. One manner of integrating teamwork and engineering contexts in a first-year foundation engineering course is through the use of Model-Eliciting Activities (MEAs) — realistic, client-driven problems based on the models and modeling theoretical framework. A Model-Eliciting Activity (MEA) is a real-world client-driven problem. The solution of an MEA requires the use of one or more mathematical or engineering concepts that are unspecified by the problem — students must make new sense of their existing knowledge and understandings to formulate a generalizable mathematical model that can be used by the client to solve the given and similar problems. An MEA creates an environment in which skills beyond mathematical abilities are valued because the focus is not on the use of prescribed equations and algorithms but on the use of a broader spectrum of skills required for effective engineering problem-solving. Carefully constructed MEAs can begin to prepare students to communicate and work effectively in teams; to adopt and adapt conceptual tools; to construct, describe, and explain complex systems; and to cope with complex systems. MEAs provide a learning environment that is tailored to a more diverse population than typical engineering course experiences as they allow students with different backgrounds and values to emerge as talented, and that adapting these types of activities to engineering courses has the potential to go beyond “filling the gaps” to “opening doors” to women and underrepresented populations in engineering. Further, MEAs provide evidence of student development in regards to ABET standards. Through NSF-funded grants, multiple MEAs have been developed and implemented with a MSE-flavored nanotechnology theme. This paper will focus on the content, implementation, and student results of one of these MEAs.

Systems Engineering Design Projects in Freshmen Engineering Courses

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter R. Frise
Keyword(s):  
Systems Engineering ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Engineering Practice ◽  
First Year ◽  
Engineering System ◽  
High Failure Rate ◽  
Design Problems ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Freshmen Students ◽  
System Solution

Abstract The first year of most engineering programs: does not normally include much material in engineering practice or design, nor are professionalism, human factors or the concept of an engineering system solution to design problems emphasized. This lack of engineering content has been found to be a factor in the relatively high failure rate in the first year due to students not becoming interested in, and energized by, their studies. The author has developed a number of open-ended design problems which have been successful in teaching the engineering method to freshmen students while at the same time not over-taxing their relatively undeveloped engineering analysis skills. The projects are described and examples are available upon request from the author to allow interested readers to use them in their own programs. The other benefit of these projects has been in identifying students who have difficulty with written communications. Using the design project reports as a diagnostic tool we have been able to refer these students to assistance with their writing skills from the on-campus writing tutorial service.

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