Practitioner and Student Recommendations for an Engineering Curriculum

Abstract For over 100 years studies have consistently recommended that the engineering curriculum should stress underlying principles and have a considerable range of cultural studies. Nevertheless, some employers continue to state that they are not totally satisfied with the average engineering graduate. The findings of this study, however, suggest that practicing engineers and students are generally satisfied with the civil engineering curriculum. Nevertheless, both groups recommend that the credits allocated to surveying, graphics, and computers should be increased. Practitioners, in general, believe that there should be a decrease in mathematically oriented subjects such as calculus, statistics and numerical methods. Older graduates, in particular, recommend an increase in business courses such as law, accounting, and personnel management. They also believe that technical writing and oral communication skills should be a vital part of the program. It appears to be difficult to design a curriculum, requiring a reasonable number of credits, that satisfies all age groups. Therefore, at commencement, an engineer must expect to initiate a life-long process of informal/formal education to supplement the knowledge obtained by satisfying the civil engineering degree requirements.     

Philosophical Foundations of Biological Engineering

Biological engineers apply engineering methods to biological systems. There is a current interest in revising or establishing new biological engineering curriculums and courses. This paper gives a philosophy from which biological engineering curriculums can emerge. Biological engineering should have the conceptual framework of a broad, fundamental, and integrative discipline. Biological engineers should be capable of synthesizing their creations from many disparate sources and of communicating with practitioners from many distinct disciplines. Hierarchical competencies are given to distinguish all college graduates, all engineering graduates, and all biological engineering graduates. Basic engineering concepts and basic biology concepts are sometimes conflicting, but must nevertheless be incorporated in undergraduate courses. Specific required courses will vary from university to university, but all biological engineering curriculums must include courses on engineering topics, life sciences topics, and courses that integrate the two. Issues of interfaces between biological engineers and biologists, and with potential employers are also considered. This paper was intended to guide the establishment of new or revised biological engineering programs.     

Development of an Undergraduate Curriculum in Mechatronics Systems Engineering

This paper will share my experience with readers in developing and implementing a new mechatronics curriculum stem in an existing mechanical engineering program at the undergraduate level. Also included are the strategies in initiating, developing and implementing this curriculum stem.     

大型农业生态工程的数学模型

文章在对胜利油田生态农场系统结构分析的基础上，根据农场规划目标，建立了由投入产出模型和线性规划模型相结合的经济发展数学模型。应用该模型指导农场的经济建设，取得了 极好的效果，证明所建立的模型是正确的。     

A Methodology for Determining Engineering Curriculum Contents

As the life span of engineering subjects decreases the importance of valid determination of engineering curriculum contents increases. A methodology for determining and updating contents of an engineering curriculum has been developed and implemented by a curriculum design research team from the Technion—Israel Institute of Technology. According to this methodology, the decision-making process of the Curriculum Committee members is based on data collected systematically from relevant work sites, relating to cognitive, affective and instrumental skills and knowledge items, required at present and for the foreseen future, from graduates of the educational program. The theoretical foundations of the approach are rooted in the Facet Theory which provides a framework for defining a universe of observations and arrive at an empirical structure for reality based decision making processes. The establishment of a definitional system, by means of a mapping sentence, is devised and a corresponding questionnaire for systematic determination of occupational field demands required from engineering graduates, is designed. The sampling issue of the questionnaire-run is discussed and illustrated through experimental data, representing reality-based situations. The purpose is to arrive eventually, through verified data analysis methods, at a hierarchy of skills and knowledge items, to distinctive occupational field demands, to a professional content portrayal and to a structure of professional field requirements.     

工程制图课程的工程性改革实践

在教学内容上,分析了现代工程图学的教学要求,提出了工程制图课程新的教学体系.在教材上,以贯彻国家标准为出发点,重新组织了相关教学内容.在教学过程中,强调了制图课程的工程性,调动了学生学习工程知识和进行工程实践的积极性.     

Redesigning an Aerospace Engineering Curriculum for the Twenty-First Century: Results of a Survey

This paper describes the development and results of a mail survey to determine the views of industrial, government, and academic aerospace professionals on the required content of future aerospace engineering curricula and on the skills that will be needed by aerospace graduates in the early twenty-first century. The survey is one step in an ongoing process by the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Cincinnati (UC) to restructure its aerospace engineering curriculum. This paper discusses the development of the survey, its results, and the preliminary conclusions that have been drawn from the results. The survey included questions on such issues as introducing design experience to the students throughout the curriculum and presenting some topics using a more interdisciplinary approach than has traditionally been followed. While the survey was constructed primarily to gather information specific to the UC curriculum redesign effort, its results are relevant to other aerospace engineering programs considering or pursuing curricular redesign.     

An Engineering Design Curriculum for the Elementary Grades

The United States has historically excelled in the design of products, processes and new technologies. Capitalizing on this historical strength to teach applied mathematics and science has many positive implications on education. First, engineering design can be used as a vehicle for addressing deficiencies in mathematics and science education. Second, as achievement in mathematics and science is enhanced, a greater number of students at an earlier age will be exposed to technical career opportunities. Third, enhancing elementary and secondary curricula with engineering design can attract underrepresented populations, such as minorities and females, to engineering as a profession. This paper describes a new and innovative engineering design curriculum, under development in the Austin Independent School District (AISD) in Austin, TX. The philosophic goals upon which the curriculum is based include: integrating the design problem-solving process into elementary schools, demonstrating the relationship of technical concepts to daily life, availing teachers with instructional strategies for teaching applied (as opposed to purely theoretical) science and mathematics, and teaching teamwork skills that are so greatly needed in industry and everyday life. Based on these goals, kindergarten, first grade, and second grade engineering design lessons have been piloted in AISD, in conjunction with a University of Texas program for teacher enhancement and preparation.     

支持科学决策和咨询的技术——思维系统工程

思维科学及思维系统工程的研究，可为科学决策和咨询提供理论基础与技术支持。建立和启动一个开放的思维巨系统——思维系统工程，是一项崭新的工程技术。论述了社会思维与群体智慧；综合集成研讨厅的框架结构及技术构件；基于internet的综合集成研讨厅实例。     

Globalization and the Undergraduate Manufacturing Engineering Curriculum

At an ASME panel on manufacturing engineering education, industry representatives emphasized preparation for globalization. The concept has not yet had widespread impact on undergraduate engineering curricula. In this paper the industry updates are summarized, especially as they pertain to undergraduate engineering education for a globalized economy, and synthesized with the literature on the subject. Objectives for manufacturing engineering education are derived and possible ways of introducing the subject into an undergraduate curriculum without lengthening the program are suggested. The findings should be applicable to manufacturing, mechanical, and industrial engineering.     

The Sunrayce '95 Idea: Adding Hands-on Design to an Engineering Curriculum

During the 1994-95 academic year, Catalano taught a first-time senior capstone design class with the goal of entering a student-designed and built, solar-powered race car in the Department of Energy's Sunrayce '95 competition. This course came from an effort to move toward a more fully integrated mechanical engineering curriculum designed to supplement the learning experiences of students in their more traditional engineering courses. In this paper, we summarize the planning for the course, the design and construction phases of the class—especially how students and faculty perceived their design work, the cadets' perceptions of their learning during the class, and experiences of the students and faculty during the race. Teaching this new course provided insights into some of the dilemmas raised when changes to an existing curriculum are made.     

三维工程图学课程和教材的研究与实践

三维工程图学是传统工程图学的延伸,探讨三维工程图学的教学及其教材体系是为了更好地完善工程图学的教育.在教学实践的基础上,分析了三维工程图学的性质和教学内涵,给出了教材体系和内容,说明了教材特点.通过了四届教学实践,证明了该教材在完善工程图学教育和加强学生创造性思维及创新能力的培养上是有效的.     

建筑基桩检测力值参数及其不确定度评估

本文对基桩静载试验力值参数及其不确定度评定进行分析说明,可作为基桩工检测时参考.     

Thinking Preferences of Engineering Students: Implications for Curriculum Restructuring

The thinking preferences of engineering students at the University of Toledo have been assessed in a longitudinal study, using the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI). The scores and profiles reveal thinking preferences in four different ways of thinking and “knowing”: A = analytical-logical-quantitative, B = sequential-organized-detailed, C = interpersonal-sensory-kinesthetic, and D = innovative-holistic-conceptual thinking. With the HBDI, we have a tool that can assess the effects of curriculum restructuring. Data from 1990–1993 fall freshmen classes and 1991–1994 spring senior classes have been evaluated, where the 1994 seniors are the first group for which freshmen data are available. Conclusions drawn from the results are: 1) Overall, there has been a shift from “plug-and-chug” quadrant B thinking to increased “creative” quadrant D thinking, because more students with strong quadrant D preferences are being developed and retained, primarily due to the new creative problem solving course. 2) Avoidance of quadrant C thinking (teamwork skills) is persisting and creates classroom climates that are uncomfortable for some students, a high percentage being females. Students are not developing the teamwork and interpersonal thinking skills demanded by industry. 3) A majority of students are still being cloned in the A-dominant profile of the faculty. Students who have developed independent ways of practicing right-brain thinking and all students who were involved in creative problem solving as class assistants became more whole-brained or right-brained. Quadrant C and D thinking activities must be integrated into the curriculum each term for students to develop their full potential and reinforce the whole-brain thinking skills introduced in the first-year creative problem solving course.     

Engineering Curriculum Reform at Aalborg University

Aalborg University in the north Jutland region of Denmark was chartered in 1974 and represents an innovative educational experiment with project-based teaching concepts. The University opened with approximately 900 students and currently enrolls an estimated 10,000. This paper examines how project-based teaching at Aalborg University has led to major engineering curriculum reforms. The Danish education initiatives are also compared to recent National Science Foundation efforts to integrate the teaching of design and economics in the United States.     

“工科基础力学”教学改革的思考与实践

文章从“工科基础力学”课程的教学出发，对教学内容、教师素质培养及学生能力培养等方面提出了一些改革的看法，希望寻求适应于社会发展的教学方法，以达到提高学生综合能力的目的。