Archive for Publications
National Study Identifies Range of Opportunities to Improve Engineering Education
| Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education University of Washington Box 352183 Seattle WA 98195-2180 www.engr.washington.edu/caee/ |
Contacts
| Prof. Cynthia J. Atman Director of CAEE, Univ. of Washington Phone: (206) 616-2171 Email: atman@u.washington.edu |
Prof. Sheri Sheppard Mechanical Engineering, Stanford Univ. Phone: (650) 723-4287 Email: sheppard@stanford.edu |
October 7, 2010
NATIONAL STUDY IDENTIFIES RANGE OF OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE ENGINEERING EDUCATIONNew Report Reveals Current Strengths, Shortcomings of Engineering Students’ Academic PathwaysAmerica’s higher education system is widely regarded to be one of the largest and most flexible systems in the world. Despite this advantage, the U.S. is in danger of being outpaced by other countries in producing innovative scientists and engineers. Recent reports by the federal government underscore the challenge faced by the U.S.: science and engineering students need to be better prepared with the motivation, competence, and critical thinking skills required to solve problems and generate technological breakthroughs if the nation is to remain a global economic leader.
Enabling Engineering Student Success, a new report released by the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education (CAEE) and available for download on their website, addresses this challenge by identifying key opportunities for improving how engineering students are currently being prepared for professional practice. A major component of the report, the recently concluded Academic Pathways Study (APS), involved a broad collaboration of scholars who conducted innovative multi-year studies involving over 5,400 students at more than 20 institutions. The APS research also included over 100 newly hired graduates to round out a detailed picture of the paths engineering students take as they enter, experience, and graduate from undergraduate degree programs.
This collection of both qualitative and quantitative data challenges many assumptions about instruction and learning. For instance, despite formal instruction, engineering students risk falling short of the communication or professional skills demanded of today’s engineers. Even as they approach graduation, students may not fully appreciate the need to engage and collaborate with a wide range of individuals in a globally distributed team. Moreover, some students are not learning how to integrate considerations of the broad context of engineering problems into their design processes.
“A significant number of seniors aren’t firm on wanting to be engineers and don’t always have a complete picture of what engineering work is,” says lead investigator of the APS, Sheri Sheppard, professor at Stanford University. “This is surprising, in part because there’s been a national movement to include project-based learning activities, or activities that more closely resemble real-world problems, in regular coursework. There’s still work to be done in helping students see the connections between their school activities and engineering practice.” She goes on to emphasize the need for more accessible undergraduate programs, “Thinking like an engineer is an incredibly powerful way of processing and organizing ideas that has applications far beyond engineering; how do we get students to see that studying engineering is a good educational investment?”
In addition to the APS, the report details other CAEE research and programs, including faculty decision-making, teaching preparation for future faculty, and expanding capacity for educational research in engineering. Jennifer Turns, lead investigator of the Studies of Engineering Educator Decisions and professor at the University of Washington, notes that the research on faculty decision-making represents an important and novel approach to studying teaching: “A decision represents the point where educator thinking connects with educator action, and the decision-making process represents a context in which educators can apply research findings about students.” Cindy Atman, director of CAEE and professor at the University of Washington, adds that understanding the engineering student experience is not enough: “We need educators who are capable of using the research. Therefore, in addition to our analyses, we included questions in the report that can be asked by engineering educators to evaluate the effectiveness of their own programs or approaches.” The result is a robust discussion of the current direction of engineering education, where improvements might best be made, and how more students might be attracted to and retained in engineering programs.
The CAEE was launched in 2003 with a grant from the National Science Foundation to a collaboration of five schools: the Colorado School of Mines, Howard University, Stanford University, the University of Minnesota, and the lead institution, the University of Washington. By the end of the grant in 2009, the center had grown to involve over 100 researchers and included scholars at Purdue University, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, and Virginia Tech.
The full report, Enabling Engineering Student Success, is available for download from the CAEE website: http://www.engr.washington.edu/caee/. Additional information may be obtained by contacting Cynthia J. Atman, director of CAEE and professor of human centered design and engineering at the University of Washington (atman@u.washington.edu, 206-616-2171) or Sheri Sheppard, professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford University (sheppard@stanford.edu, 650-723-4287).
Minnesota Future Work Scan
Minnesota Future Work Scan
Minnesota Future Work is an environmental scanning program designed to identify new and emerging occupations, the skills required for such occupations, and the education and training needed to develop such skills. For an archive of additional scans, please visit the Future Work page on ISEEK. http://www.iseek.org/news/trends.html
For upcoming events click here: http://www.iseek.org/news/events.html
Preparing the Workers of Today for the Jobs of Tomorrow
In this report, the President’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) presents a projection of potential developments in the U.S. labor market over the next five to ten years and discusses the preparations necessary to develop the 21st century workforce. The report discusses the skills that will likely be most relevant in growing occupations, the value and limitations of our current post-high school education and training systems, and the characteristics of a more effective education and training structure.
At an aggregate level, the data indicate that the economy of 2016 will resemble the economy of 2008, with several important shifts that have implications for employment.
* Health care is forecasted to remain a large source of job growth in the labor market. The long-term trend toward more employment in health care is expected to continue, with many health care occupations, including medical records and health information technicians, registered nurses, clinical laboratory technicians, and physical therapists, expected to grow.
* Retail trade is projected to contract somewhat in terms of employment share, partly because the growth in consumer spending is expected to slow somewhat going forward.
* The decades-long decline in the share of workers that are employed in manufacturing is expected to moderate. Some industries within manufacturing – such as aerospace and pharmaceuticals – are projected to create many jobs.
* The construction industry is projected to eventually recover and add jobs in the coming decade. This rebuilding would generate a demand for skilled workers such as electricians and plumbers.
Well-trained and highly-skilled workers will be best positioned to secure high-wage jobs, thereby fueling American prosperity. Occupations requiring higher educational attainment are projected to grow much faster than those with lower education requirements. Growth among occupations that require an associate’s degree or a post-secondary vocational award is projected to be slightly faster than occupations requiring a bachelor’s degree or more.
[FutureWork Note: In addition to the growth rate, it is also important to consider the projected number of job openings. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 2006 and 2016 there will be about 11 million total job openings in the U.S. for occupations that require a bachelor's degree or more compared to about 8 million total job openings for occupations requiring an associate’s degree, post-secondary vocational award or long-term on-the-job training which often involves technical training.]
Key attributes of a well-trained workforce as well as elements of an effective education and training system are detailed below.
* Employers value workers who can think critically and solve problems. Many highly-paid occupations require workers with good analytic and interactive skills.
* Occupations that employ large shares of workers with post-secondary education and training are growing faster than others. While expected growth in construction and some manufacturing industries would create job opportunities at all skill levels, workers will be better positioned for good jobs if they acquire additional training and education. Occupations that have grown recently require more formal post-secondary schooling than occupations that have declined.
* The U.S. post-high school education and training system provides valuable skills to those who complete programs in high-growth fields. However, it could be more effective at encouraging completion and responding to the needs of the labor market.
* Elements of a more effective system include: a solid early childhood, elementary, and secondary system that ensures students have strong basic skills; institutions and programs that have goals that are aligned and curricula that are cumulative; close collaboration between training providers and employers to ensure that curricula are aligned with workforce needs; flexible scheduling, appropriate curricula, and financial aid designed to meet the needs of students; incentives for institutions and programs to continually improve and innovate; and accountability for results.
Importantly, post-secondary education and training can provide the cognitive and interactive skills required for good, high-paid, jobs. Analysis of data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) indicates that occupations with a high intensity of analytic and interactive skills tend to have large shares of workers with post-secondary education. Moreover, occupations with a high concentration of college-educated workers have been growing much faster than others.
This analysis is consistent with another set of results from the employer survey conducted by The Conference Board. Respondents noted that graduates from two- and four-year college programs were on average better prepared to meet the challenges of the labor market than high school graduates. Specifically, those with only a high school degree were reported to be deficient in professionalism/work ethic and critical thinking/problem solving.
The Conference Board also found that their survey respondents believed most recent high school graduates lacked the basic skills of reading, writing, and math that were deemed necessary by employers. Among these basic skills, employers deemed this group to be most deficient in writing. Employers judged nearly three-quarters of high school graduates as unable to write at a basic level, for which competency includes knowledge of both spelling and grammar. These rudimentary skills, combined with the applied skills of problem solving and interacting with others, are critical for workers in the current labor market according to Donna Klein, President and CEO of Corporate Voices for Working Families (a sponsor of The Conference Board Report). One member of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB) echoes this view in reporting that one-half of the job applicants to his large company cannot do basic 8th grade math. Other members of the PERAB report that many workers do not possess the basic reading and math skills necessary for even entry-level work.
Worker flexibility is key given the dynamic nature of the U.S. labor market and ongoing technological change. In 2003, for example, a quarter of American workers were in jobs that were not even listed among the Census Bureau’s Occupation codes in 1967, and technological change has only accelerated since then. Environmental-related occupations – which are expected to experience tremendous growth over the next decade – did not exist in comparable data prior to 2000. As we build a new foundation for economic growth in the 21st century, the nation’s workers will be better prepared for ever-changing opportunities if they have strong analytical and interpersonal skills. High-quality education and training is the best way to prepare the workers of today for the jobs of tomorrow.
Executive Office of the President Council of Economic Advisors July 2009 http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/Jobs_of_the_Future.pdf
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Project Lead The Way(R) Receives National Recognition from the Education Commission of the States
Organization Works to Strengthen Math and Science Education
DENVER, June 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire
The Education Commission of the States (ECS) is pleased to award Project Lead The Way(R) (PLTW) the 2009 ECS Corporate Award. The tribute honors for-profit corporations or non-profit organizations with sustained commitment to and investment in improving public education. The award will be presented by Minnesota Governor and ECS Chair Tim Pawlenty as part of the 2009 National Forum on Education Policy, July 8-10 in Nashville, Tenn.
Collaborating with schools, industry, state government and universities, PLTW works to build future generations of successful engineers and technology savvy graduates. PTLW supports a series of middle and high school courses that are project-centered, problem-based and technology-integrated, preparing students to excel in high-tech fields. With rigorous and relevant context tied to national standards, the program responds to a common student question: “Why do I have to learn this?”
“This is a perfect example of a public/private partnership engaging and challenging students to apply their skills and knowledge to real life situations,” notes ECS President Roger Sampson.
Project Lead The Way leadership believe that when schools apply activities and problem-based learning, they generate an “increase in student motivation, an increase in cooperative learning skills, higher-order thinking and an improvement in student achievement.” Research has shown this to be true. According to an evaluation by High Schools That Work, PLTW students scored significantly higher in both mathematics and science high school assessments. The National Center for Education Statistics 2006-07 True Outcomes report explains that students who participate in PLTW are five times more likely to graduate college as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) majors than those who do not.
The organization was started in the 1980s in upstate New York by Richard Blais and Richard Liebich, becoming an independent not-for-profit organization in 1997. Today, the program is expanding across the country with an eye to new and engaging curriculum.
“We are extremely honored to receive this award, particularly at a time when our country needs a new generation of innovators to remain economically competitive in the 21st century global economy,” said John Lock, CEO of Project Lead The Way. “We remain committed to attracting more students to science, math, engineering and tech fields in the coming years by expanding the reach of PLTW’s critical-thinking and project-based curriculum to more schools around the country. By helping students apply what they learn in math and science to innovation and real life problem-solving, we can create America’s next “Innovation Generation’ and regain our economic competitive advantage.”
The Education Commission of the States (ECS) is the only nationwide, nonpartisan interstate compact devoted to education. ECS helps governors, legislators, state education officials and others identify, develop and implement public policies to improve student learning at all levels. A nonprofit organization, ECS (www.ecs.org) was formed in 1965 and is located in Denver, Colorado.
Project Lead The Way(R) is a national 501c3, not-for-profit educational program that helps give middle and high school students the rigorous ground-level education they need to develop strong backgrounds in science and engineering. For more information, please visit: http://www.pltw.org.
SOURCE Education Commission of the States Mary Ann Strombitski, +1-303-299 3609, mstrombitski@ecs.org, or Ashley Zaleski +1-303-299-3698, azaleski@ecs.org, both of the Education Commission of the States
Center of Excellence Awarded Continuing Funding
Minnesota’s Centers for Excellence which include the Center for Engineering & Manufacturing Excellence, have been awarded continuing funding for fiscal years 2010 and 2011. Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs Linda Baer announced in a memo date June 3, 2009 that the Centers will be funded at approximately $4M, reflecting a 12% funding reduction from past awards. “My expectation is this funding level will assist each Center in maintaining momentum and the current and planned initiatives presented earlier this year by each Center of Excellence,” states Baer.
“This funding will allow the Center to continue to move forward with strategic initiatives that support Minnesota’s industry sector,” says Dr. Ronald Bennett, Executive Director for the Center. “Building an educated, technically skilled pool of workers is critical to Minnesota’s economic success both nationally and globally. Our goal is to increase that pipeline flow across the full spectrum of people pursuing STEM careers.”
