IUSE/PFE:RED: Breaking Boundaries: An Organized Revolution for the Professional Formation of Electrical Engineers

典型的工程部门的运作是基于(1)研究，(2)教学，(3)服务的传统支柱。由于研究主要集中在研究生身上，服务主要包括与研究相关的活动，工程专业学生的专业形成严重依赖于传统的课堂教学。工程学科的复杂性导致了课程的发展，重点是每个学科的技术内容。因此，工程专业的学生接触到的关键专业能力有限，这些能力往往被整合到单一的课程或项目经验中，缺乏当今工程专业毕业生所需要的严谨性。拟议的有组织革命将通过三个方面的策略，重点关注工程学生的整体专业形成：(1)将“研究-教学-服务”模式替换为“研究-学生-实践”模式，并在每一步都与行业和社区联系起来；(2)通过基于行业确定的专业工程能力的工程师专业形成课程，将大一新生与高级工程设计经验联系起来；(3)通过“承担责任理解工程”的概念赋予学生权力。这种整体的方法与可以根据每个学生的优势和兴趣进行个性化的技术课程相结合，将为工程师的专业形成带来革命性的新方法。这场革命的核心是崎岖景观理论，这是一个在跨学科的信息科学领域发展起来的概念方案。在目前的研究-教学-服务模式下，学生和教师被视为占有一定地位的客户。为了使教师和学生进入他们的新状态（研究-学生-实践），该理论要求双向信息通路。这些途径将通过本项目启动的各种活动来创造：(1)通过实施个性化资格计划，积极参与技术论坛并发挥领导作用，参与行业和社区外展项目，以及直接参与教师评估，晋升和终身任职过程，为学生提供自我发展的机会，从而使学生能够承担理解工程的责任；(2)在整个课程中建立一个多课程层次的专业工程师队伍，以积极和持续地吸引每个班级的学生；(3)组建以技术为重点的咨询委员会，创造产业-学生-教师互动环境；(4)与业界讲者进行系列讲座，在学生与专业工程师之间建立互动的双向联系；(5)通过工业网络和社区征集多学科项目，形成革命性计划的主要体验式学习组成部分。学生赋权要求学生以目标为导向，自我激励。行为-状态导向理论将为提高学生的学习动机提供依据。干预措施可能导致学生从状态导向转变为行动导向，这是本项目的一个关键新颖方面。有组织的革命将用于回答以下高级研究问题(1)个性化和适应性资格计划对学生和教师社区的经验和影响是什么？(2)在崎岖景观模式下整合传统的研究、教学和服务筒仓的性质和对院系文化的影响是什么？(3)学历变更与文化变迁的交互作用和中介作用是什么？项目团队将利用该大学在佛罗里达城市大学联盟中的成员身份，作为传播、扩展和适应活动的基础。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The typical engineering department operates on the basis of the traditional pillars of (1) Research, (2) Teaching, and (3) Service. With research focusing mostly on graduate students, and service comprising primarily of research-related activities, the professional formation of engineering students relies heavily on traditional classroom instruction. The complex nature of engineering disciplines has led to the development of curricula that focus on the technical content of each discipline. As a result, engineering students have limited exposure to critical professional competencies, that are often incorporated into a single course or project experience, and lack the rigor required of today’s engineering graduates. The proposed Organized Revolution will focus on the holistic Professional Formation of Engineering students via a three-prong strategy: (1) replacing the Research-Teaching-Service model with one based on Research-Students-Practice with industry and community outreach at every step, (2) linking the freshman to senior engineering design experiences via Professional Formation of Engineers courses, that are founded on professional engineering competencies identified by industry, and (3) empowering students through the concept of Taking Responsibility to Understand Engineering. This holistic approach coupled with a technical curriculum that can be personalized according to each student’s strengths and interests will result in a revolutionized new approach for the professional formation of engineers.At the core of the revolution is the theory of rugged landscape, a conceptual scheme developed in the transdisciplinary field of informing science. Students and faculty are viewed as clients occupying certain states under the current research-teaching-service model. To move faculty and students to their new states (research-students-practice) the theory calls for bidirectional informing pathways. These pathways will be created by the various activities to be initiated under this project: (1) empowering students to Take Responsibility for Understanding Engineering, by introducing opportunities for self-development via the execution of personalized qualification plans, active participation and leadership roles in technical forums, participation in industry and community outreach projects, and direct involvement in the faculty evaluation, promotion, and tenure processes; (2) the development of a Professional Formation of Engineers multi-course layer across the curriculum to actively and continuously engage the students at every class level; (3) the formation of technical Track-Focused Advisory Boards to create industry-students-faculty interactive environments; (4) a lecture series with industry speakers to create interactive bidirectional links between students and professional engineers; (5) multidisciplinary projects to be solicited through industrial networks and the community to form the major experiential learning component of the revolutionized program. Student empowerment requires students to be goal-oriented and self-motivated. The theory of Action-State orientation will provide the basis for enhancing the motivation of students. The possibility that interventions can lead to the transformation of students from state to action-orientation is a key novel aspect of this project. The Organized Revolution will be used to answer the following high level research questions (1) What is the experience and impact of an individualized and adaptable qualification plan for the student and faculty community? (2) What is the nature and impact of integrating traditional silos of research, teaching and service under the rugged landscape paradigm on department culture? and (3) What are the interaction and mediating effects of qualification change and cultural shift? The project team will leverage the university’s membership in the Florida Consortium of Metropolitan Universities as the foundation of the dissemination, scaling, and adaptation activities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.