Factors Affecting the Permanence of Occupational Health and Safety Topics in Engineering Courses

This paper presents an evaluation of the permanence of changes introduced within the curriculum of the College of Engineering at Tufts University. These changes involved the integration of occupational health and safety engineering resource materials into existing course work. Employing this model, Tufts faculty members developed their own lectures, case studies and laboratory materials for integration into existing courses. The evaluation, that was based on structured interviews of participating faculty and the Dean of the College, suggests that the permanence of changes to curriculum is influenced by a set of intramural parameters within the academic milieu (student interest, available class time, interest on the part of the faculty and administration) as well as by extramural factors such as the increasing prominence of legal liability of practitioners, growing interest on the part of employers and lack of readily usable materials in standard texts concerning occupational health and safety. Recommendations for future activities in these areas are offered and discussed.     

The Future of Safety and Health in Engineering Education

Despite calls for the integration of safety into engineering curricula and the establishment of ABET requirements for safety-related instruction, few engineering colleges have instituted formal course offerings focusing on safety and health. Impediments include the lack of room for additional coursework in the standard curriculum, the perceived unavailability of qualified faculty and instructional materials, and a widespread conviction among faculty and administrators that safety is not critical to an engineering education. Attempts to address this need by developing special instructional safety modules or enrolling students in full-semester safety courses have met with limited success. An alternative approach is to use safety-related examples and case studies to portray conventional engineering principles. Rather than separating safety instruction into a distinct course or modules, this approach would present safety principles as a fully-integrated part of traditional engineering practice. To make this idea a reality, appropriate examples and cases will need to be developed and disseminated. In addition, industry involvement, government backing, and financial support is required.     

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.     

Mathematical and Scientific Foundations for an Integrative Engineering Curriculum

All fields of engineering, whether chemical, civil, electrical, materials, mechanical, etc., encompass a common body of essential mathematics and science. In the freshman year of Drexels E⁴ program, this common mathematical and scientific foundation is cultivated in the Mathematical and Scientific Foundations of Engineering I, II and III (MSFE I, MSFE II, MSFE III). In an integrated fashion, MSFE I presents the essential calculus, physics and engineering mechanics vital to the freshman engineering student. In the first two quarters, MSFE II presents chemistry with clearly defined engineering applications and significance: in the third quarter, MSFE II presents living systems with the same thrust. Also in the third quarter, MSFE III presents basic circuits and circuit elements, and a brief introduction to electromagnetic theory.     

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.     

法国食品、环境、职业健康与安全署简介

2010年7月由法国食品卫生安全局(AFSSA)和环境与职业健康安全局(AFSSET)合并成立了法国食品、环境、职业健康与安全署(ANSES)。该机构主要使命是促进人类健康与环境、工作场所和食品方面的保护。本文对ANSES的组织机构设置、涉及领域、职能、措施、管理和专家评估、风险评估的要求及实验室等基本情况进行了介绍。     

New Curriculum Reforms in a Geological Engineering Program

Recent curriculum revisions to the geological engineering program at Queen's University at Kingston in Canada have led to a more streamlined program incorporating modern engineering education practices. Following a carefully designed program philosophy, the emphasis in the core curriculum changes through the entire four‐year program in three progressive stages, from the acquisition of knowledge, to integration and analysis, and finally to synthesis and design. This is reflected in an increased concentration of mathematics and basic science courses in first and second year, engineering science courses in third year, and engineering design courses (capstone courses) in fourth year. Two tools which concisely illustrate the course curriculum and curriculum content are: (1) the flow sheet, which can contain a wealth of information, such as showing linkages between courses (e.g. how upper‐level courses can build on lower‐level courses through course prerequisites), the timing of various courses, courses taught within the home department (vs. other departments), and courses taught by professional engineers; and (2) the ternary phase diagram, which is a quantitative method of displaying engineering content within individual courses or an entire program and can clearly show patterns and trends in curriculum content with time. Such tools are useful for academic engineering programs which may have to undergo an accreditation review and are readily adapted to any other engineering fields of study. Other engineering elements woven throughout the program include strong interactions with professional engineering faculty, the use of student teams, enhanced communication skills, and exposure to important aspects of professional engineering practice such as engineering ethics and law. To ensure that the curriculum is kept current and relevant, formative evaluation instruments such as questionnaires are used in all years of study, and are also sent to recent graduates of the program. External reviews of the revised program have been positive, indicating that the program goals are being achieved.     

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.     

环境和职业健康安全管理体系运行中的问题分析

利用排列图和因果分析图分析了2009年至2011年环境和职业健康安全管理体系运行中发现的问题,确定了影响体系正常运行的主要因素、次要因素和一般因素,分析了问题产生原因,并对如何改进环境和职业健康安全管理工作提出了建议.     

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.     

Development of a Survey to Assess K‐12 Teachers' Perceptions of Engineers and Familiarity with Teaching Design,Engineering, and Technology

This paper describes the development of a survey instrument to assess K‐12 teachers' perceptions of engineering and their familiarity with teaching design, engineering, and technology (DET). Item development, field testing, and the factor analysis are described along with reliability and validity. Administration of the instrument revealed differences based on gender, grade level taught, and years of teaching experience. Female teachers rated the importance of DET higher than male teachers, elementary teachers were least likely to teach DET, and moderately experienced teachers were the most willing to learn more about DET. Barriers to infusing DET into the curriculum were time and administrative support. All teachers were unfamiliar with DET, lacked confidence in their ability to teach DET, and held stereotypes about the skills needed to be an engineer. Based on the findings, recommendations are made for professional development of K‐12 teachers and for the pre‐service teacher preparation curriculum.     

Identifying and Removing a Calculus Prerequisite as a Bottleneck in Clemson's General Engineering Curriculum

A review of prerequisites often reveals that reasons for requiring a prerequisite may no longer prevail due to curriculum or course changes. Based on a study of a curriculum bottleneck unrelated to required mastery, the prerequisite structure in Clemson University's General Engineering curriculum (the common first‐year curriculum for all engineering students) was changed so that Calculus I could be taken in the second semester. Student record analysis shows both the magnitude of the bottleneck prior to the policy change and the effect on student enrollment practices after the policy change. Longitudinal studies show a statistically significant improvement in retention in engineering adding to the body of evidence that indicates that it is important to retention that students start college mathematics at a level for which they are prepared.     

Content and Trends in Engineering Management Literature

Abstract

Analysis investigating subject content and trends in engineering management literature from 1993 to 2000 is reported. 479 articles from Engineering Management Journal and IEEE Transactions in Engineering Management were analyzed using content analysis of article subject classifications. Results indicate a consistent effort by engineering management researchers to apply technical skills in the larger context of answering the leadership and management questions facing technical organizations today. The preponderance of engineering management research in the manufacturing and services industry sectors was confirmed. These trends were identified: decreasing research attention in the subject of strategic planning; increasing research attention in the services industrial sector; and increase in the subject of innovation. Varying emphasis on the subject of total quality/quality assurance was seen throughout the time period of this research.     

A Model Curriculum for a Capstone Course in Multidisciplinary Engineering Design

This paper describes our efforts to develop a curricular and pedagogical model for teaching multidisciplinary design to sen ior-level undergraduate engineering students. In our model, we address concerns of industry and engineering educators about the often narrow technical confines within which engineering design is currently taught. Our two-semester design sequence employs multidisciplinary teams of students working with faculty managers for industrial clients to solve complex, open-ended problems possessing numerous technical and non-technical constraints. After a two year pilot phase, the multidisciplinary senior design (MSD) course sequence is now offered to qualified Colorado School of Mines seniors each academic year and fully meets the senior capstone design requirement in each of the participating academic departments. An on-going formative and summative evaluation process allows us to monitor the perceptions and knowledge levels of our students compared with students completing traditional discipline-specific design courses. Our students, faculty, and clients overwhelmingly agree that multidisciplinary design teams tend to produce better engineering designs because of the broader range of expertise available to the team. MSD students strongly agree that higher order thinking skills such as open-ended problem-solving abilities, engineering analysis, and engineering synthesis are important aspects of the design process. Students also rate the course highly and indicate satisfaction with the course structure and curriculum. In addition, project clients are pleased with the quality of the final designs they receive from our students. Our experience has led us to conclude that undergraduate engineering students can thrive in a carefully designed multidisciplinary environment.     

Introducing Breadth and Depth in the Humanities and Social Sciences into an Engineering Student's General Education Curriculum

Engineering curricula can include the breadth and depth in the humanities and social sciences that both ABET and sound educational theory require if the general education program is organized into lower and upper divisions distributed over four years. Then during the last two years, small clusters of upper level courses built around agreed-upon themes and requirements can offer students some elective choice while providing coherence among the courses. Thus an institution can develop an alternative to both restrictive, required CORES and loose area-distribution curricula. Furthermore, by involving them in the planning, construction, implementation and governance of the clusters, faculty from outside engineering disciplines, will be engaged in the curriculum instead of being only employed in it.     

National Standard Released to Secure Safety and Quality of School Uniforms

<正>GB/T 31888-2015,the f ir s t national s tandard on school uniforms of primar y and secondar y students was issued officially on June 30,2015.Including detailed requirements for comfort level,the new standard for school uniforms helps to build a unified fence for the safety of primary and secondary students nationwide.