A Project-Based Approach Professional Skills Training in an Undergraduate Engineering Curriculum

作者：Bairaktarova Diana^*; Cox Monica F; Srivastava Mohit

来源：International Journal of Engineering Education, 2015, 31(1): 425-433.

• engineering leadership
• ethics
• engineering education
• project-based approach

STEM leadership education as a formal discipline is not present in the majority of higher institutions. Similar is the case with ethics in engineering schools. Although ethics is recognized as a crucial aspect in developing the professional identity of engineers, it is still not required as a mandatory course in all engineering curricula. This study introduces a project that simulates a real-world engineering application and uses this task to examine how the assignment objectives influence employment of students' leadership skills and social responsibility awarness. The participants were from three different groups - (1) learning communities, (2) traditional sections, and (3) international sections. It was hypothesized that there would be different outcomes of the students teams projects considering the three different missions of the groups. Results corroborated the hypothesis. The learning community teams proposed projects that best addressed the assignment objectives and enhanced professional skills in the utilization of the course project compared to the traditional and international sections. Outcomes are discussed in terms of underlying links in assignment objectives and the enhancement of professional skills in engineering instruction.

• 出版日期2015