March 2006

Welcome to the March issue of Connections, the American Society for Engineering Education's free e-newsletter.

Spotlight On Our Sponsors:

• Autodesk - Higher Education Programs
  www.autodesk.com/education
   

• NI- Are you on a LabVIEW Campus?
  http://digital.ni.com

Autodesk - Higher Education Programs

As the world’s leading supplier of PC design software and digital content-creation tools, Autodesk wants to be your partner in preparing your students for future careers. Together we can expand the range of teaching and learning opportunities for you and your students and help build a bridge to their future. To learn more about Autodesk’s programs for higher education, visit www.autodesk.com/education

Are you on a LabVIEW Campus?

National Instruments Academic Site Licenses are the most cost-effective way to get access to all of the power of NI Software, including the latest versions of LabVIEW, modules and toolkits, Signal Express, and Measurement Studio. To find out if you are covered under a site license, visit: http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/
express?openagent&code=aasqtu.

Welcome to the World of K–12 Engineering!

Introducing engineering into the K–12 classroom connects science and math concepts to the everyday engineering that surrounds us. TeachEngineering.com helps teachers enhance learning, excite students and stimulate interest in science and math through the use of hands–on engineering. With a fully searchable, digital library of standards–based lesson plans, and a myriad of “Living Laboratories” that bring real–world engineering principles into the classroom, TeachEngineering's comprehensive curricula are hands–on, inexpensive, and relevant to children's daily lives.

TeachEngineering.com is a joint effort of the University of Colorado, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Colorado School of Mines, Duke University, Oregon State University, and the American Society for Engineering Education, and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation.

Bring the world of engineering into the K–12 classroom with TeachEngineering.com. You don’t need knowledge of engineering to use these curricula!

Search TeachEngineering.com’s digital library at
www.teachengineering.com.

New and Improved Journal of Engineering Education!

The Journal of Engineering Education is a peer-reviewed international journal published quarterly by the American Society for Engineering Education. It serves as an archival record of the leading scholarly research in engineering education. Visit www.asee.org/publications/jee/ to read it online.

In this Issue:

I. Databytes

• Engineering Bachelor's Degrees Awarded by School, 2003-2004
• Engineering Master's Degrees Awarded by School, 2003-2004
• Engineering Doctoral Degrees Awarded by School, 2003-2004

II. Congressional Hotline

• House Republican Leadership Announces Competitiveness Plans
• Senators Question Cutbacks in Education Programs

III. Teaching Toolbox

• Teaching: The Voice of Experience

IV. Fellowship Programs

• The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

V. Call for Papers

• 2006 GWEC Wireless Educators of the Year
• 2006 ASEE Global Colloquium on Engineering Education

I. Databytes

Back to the index.

II. Congressional Hotline

House Republican Leadership Announces Competitiveness Plans

            House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and members of the House Leadership and High-Tech Working Group announced the Republican competitiveness agenda for 2006 on March 1. 

            In addition to saying that more time was needed to study the various aspects of President Bush’s American Competitiveness Initiative, they stressed the ideas of creating an advanced research products agency within the Department of Energy, strengthening K-12 science and math education, as well as authorizing the 10-year investment plan in research.  

            For more information, visit: http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=19161.

            The Democrats have also proposed their own agenda on innovation and competitiveness.  It can be found at http://www.housedemocrats.gov/news/librarydetail.cfm?library_content_id=557.

Senators Question Cutbacks in Education Programs

            Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee questioned Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings on cuts to her department in the proposed 2007 budget.  The main focus of the hearing was the Senators’ concern that the federal student aid programs do not provide enough support for students.

            The proposed budget eliminates programs like TRIO and Gear Up, which help prepare needy students for college. 

            For more information, visit: http://chronicle.com/daily/2006/03/2006030201n.htm.  

Back to the index.

III. Teaching Toolbox

Teaching: The Voice of Experience

It can take years in the classroom to really master the art of teaching.

How do experienced professors know the best way to explain difficult content or where to look for likely student errors? They rely on "pedagogical content knowledge," fancy jargon for what good engineering professors have always had: knowledge of how to teach specific content.

An important part of pedagogical content knowledge involves understanding students' preconceptions. The National Research Council's excellent book, How People Learn, by Bransford, Brown & Cocking (2000), says "People construct new knowledge and understanding based on what they already know and believe." Students' tendency is to extend existing knowledge structures, based on preconceptions, as new knowledge is learned. Preconceptions, which are always present, may be helpful, neutral, or harmful.

Incorrect preconceptions assume that the existing knowledge structure is faulty. Unless these incorrect preconceptions are corrected, the new knowledge structure will also be faulty. Students can correctly solve equations and still not understand what is happening. Their incorrect preconceptions survive beneath the surface as part of their knowledge structures.

On the other hand, correct preconceptions mean there is a correct, existing knowledge structure that can be tapped into with appropriate analogies. For example, most students have a reasonable idea about how to balance a budget. They can quickly see how to develop mass balances if they are first presented as analogous to balancing a personal budget.

Unfortunately, there is a hidden trap in the use of analogies and stories. The professor's idea of common knowledge may be different than that of the students'. For today's students the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger is history, dial telephones are antiques, and analog clocks are rapidly becoming obsolete. And "What's a typewriter?"

Although new engineering students always invent new errors, they also make classical mistakes such as using the wrong area in calculations. Pedagogical content knowledge can be used to quickly find student errors, to create plausible incorrect answers for multiple choice questions, or to design alternative instruction sequences that avoid or correct these errors.

Pedagogical content knowledge is also useful in teaching the design process. For instance, students tend to make predictable procedural errors when they first become involved in design. A very common error is to seize on the first feasible solution that is suggested instead of searching for alternatives. This tendency can be countered by requiring groups to brainstorm additional possible solutions and to turn in preliminary designs for several possible alternatives. Only after exploring alternatives are they allowed to complete their designs.

By labeling and dissecting it, we can more consciously use our knowledge of how to improve our teaching.

Phillip Wankat is director of undergraduate degree programs in the department of engineering education and the Clifton L. Lovell Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University. Frank Oreovicz is an education communications specialist at Purdue's chemical engineering school. They can be reached by e-mail at purdue@asee.org.

Back to the index.

IV. Fellowship Programs

The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

This program is open to U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents and offers a competitive stipend as well as insurance, relocation, and travel allowances.  This program offers one to three year postdoctoral fellowships designed to increase the involvement of scientists and engineers from academia and industry to scientific and technical areas of interest and relevance to the Navy.  This program has a rolling admission.  Go to: http://www.asee.org/nrl to learn more about the program.

Back to the index.

V. Call for Papers

2006 GWEC Wireless Educators of the Year

Nominations are now being accepted for the Fourth Annual GWEC Wireless Educators of the Year Award 2006!  Awards are given annually to up to two (2) academic instructors from all levels of postsecondary education (two-year associate, baccalaureate, graduate) in recognition of programmatic and individual contributions to wireless engineering, communications, systems and/or technology education.  The purpose of the award is to honor distinguished educators and to recognize their pivotal role in educating and preparing tomorrow's wireless technology leaders. 

Please see http://www.gwec.org/awards.cfm for award information, nomination and applications procedures and also details on past award recipients.  Nominate a colleague and/or yourself for this prestigious award.  Deadline for receipt of nominations is April 17, 2006.

2006 Global Colloquium on Engineering Education

The American Society for Engineering Education is seeking submissions for the 2006 Global Colloquium on Engineering Education. The Colloquium will have three themes of major contemporary interest:

• Primary and Secondary Education
• Engineering for the Americas
• Development of Curriculum for the Global Engineer

The focus of the Colloquium is on successful strategies for dealing with each of these issues.  We encourage contributions that detail examples of what actions are being taken and what works and why, with supporting evidence.  The deadline for abstract submission is 29 March, 2006.

The Call for Papers and Author's Kit are available at www.asee.org/gcee2006/.  For more information, please contact Jenn Atkinson, Program Coordinator, at j.atkinson@asee.org

Back to the index.

ASEE Announces New User Interface for K-12 Outreach Program Database

Regular users of the EngineeringK12 Center’s outreach program database will now find the collection of K-12 and pre-college engineering, math, science, and technology programs easier to use and convenient to update.  By simply registering with the database, outreach program providers will now have access to the new user interface, allowing them to add, edit, and manage listings at anytime.  This feature will ensure that the most current information on engineering outreach programs is available to database searchers.

Home to hundreds of listings, the EngineeringK12 Center’s outreach program database is a great resource for parents, teachers, and students to search nationwide for an outreach program that matches their needs.  From lesson plans for teachers, to engineering summer camps for students, the database offers a wide variety of programs offered by universities, industry, and government.  Registration is only required to add and manage an outreach program in the database.  Registration is not required simply to search.

You can register to be an outreach program database user at: http://www.engineeringk12.org/educators/making_engineers_cool/search.cfm

Connections is brought to you by the American Society for Engineering Education.

Over 12,000 engineering and engineering technology faculty members and administrators enjoy the many benefits and services that ASEE offers. The Society's award-winning magazine ASEE Prism and academic publications (Journal of Engineering Education and Profiles of Engineering Colleges) keep members up to date with the best and latest in engineering education, engineering research trends, and academic issues, while 47 professional interest groups and a varied selection of meetings provide professional development and networking opportunities that no other society can offer within the engineering education community. Members also receive reduced rates at local and national conferences, discounts on ASEE products, money-saving members-only discounts on financial, insurance, and travel programs, plus an ever growing variety of online services. Our goal is to focus on issues that matter the most to you in our publications, meetings, and on-line services, and to enable you to interact with others who share your specific engineering and educational interests. To join online, just go to www.asee.org/members, or contact our member services department at 202-331-3520 for further information.

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