Enhanced Curriculum for Undergraduate Engineering Adult Learners in Industry

1988年，工程与采矿学院与工业界合作，建立了三个远程本科工程课程，与相应的传统校园学位并行提供。这一举措使那些由于地点和时间表的限制而无法继续接受工程教育的学生获得了工程教育的机会。远程教育学生凭借其准专业经验，具有不同于传统学生的需求、期望、动机、知识基础和技能。因此，必须修改课程，以有效地满足学生的需要，纳入他们的经验知识库和技能清单，同时确保有效地遵守AETER认证标准。同样重要的是，教师应制定策略，以便在远程学习环境中实现最大的教学效果。“工业工程专业本科成人学习强化课程”的利益相关者包括工程教育工作者、行业和本科成人学习者。方案的目标包括：(A)完成对远程教育学生和传统学生一系列认知能力和基于成绩的能力的比较；(B)改进课程以满足成人学习者的独特需求，同时遵守辅助教学标准，(C)培养教职员工的能力，以加强非传统学习者的教学；(D)利用总结性和形成性技术评估方案成果；e)传播成果，记录经辅助教育认证的工程学本科远程教学方案的演变情况。

The School of Engineering and Mines (SEM) in a partnership with industry in 1988 established three distance-learning undergraduate engineering programs, offered in parallel with corresponding traditional on-campus degrees. This initiative gave access to an engineering education to students who, because of locations and schedules, otherwise could not pursue an engineering education. The distance-learning students, by virtue of their paraprofessional experience, have needs, expectations, motivations, knowledge bases, and skills that differ from those of traditional students. Thus, the curricula must be modified to meet students' needs efficiently, incorporating their experiential knowledge base and skills inventory, while simultaneously ensuring validated compliance with ABET accreditation standards. It is also critical that faculty develop strategies for attaining maximum teaching effectiveness in the distance-learning environment. The stakeholders for the "Enhanced Curriculum for Undergraduate Engineering Adult Learners in Industry" include engineering educators, industry, and undergraduate adult learners. Program objectives include: (a) completing a comparison of a broad range of cognitive and performance based competencies of distance-education students and traditional students; (b) enhancing curricula to meet the unique needs of adult learners while adhering to ABET standards, (c) developing faculty members' competencies needed to enhance teaching of non-traditional learners; (d) evaluating program outcomes using summative and formative techniques; e) disseminating results which document the evolution of an ABET accredited, undergraduate distance-learning program in engineering.