National Dissemination of Multimedia Case Studies that Bring Real-World Issues into Engineering Classrooms

越来越多的潜在雇主要求工科学生除了展示他们的“硬”技术技能外，还要展示他们的“软”技能（比如解决问题和商业技能）。为了反映这些期望，工程教育认证委员会（ABET）定义了一套认证标准（3a-k），确定了工程毕业生期望的11项成果。奥本大学创新技术与工程教育实验室（LITEE）团队获得了美国国家科学基金会的资助，并与工业伙伴合作，开发了多媒体案例研究，以满足这些期望。这些案例研究使学生能够想象案例研究中提出的问题，并在团队中扮演相关工程师和管理人员的角色。在课堂演讲中，学生提出问题的解决方案并为其辩护。评估数据显示，在课堂上实施LITEE案例研究提高了学生的高级认知技能，促进了团队合作，并满足了ABET 3a-k的大部分标准。通过早期NSF CCLI拨款传播案例研究所获得的经验，以及其他人的报告表明，将多媒体案例研究引入工程教室存在许多重大挑战。其中的一些挑战是：教师角色的变化，对使用创新材料的理解，评估和测试学生的困难，以及训练学生参与有效的团队合作。该项目的目标是为教师提供团队合作的实践经验，解释案例研究教学策略，将STEM理论与案例研究中讨论的现实问题联系起来，并展示LITEE案例研究如何帮助满足ABET认证标准。由17名工程/技术教员和1名高中教师、2名工程教育专家和一些行业工程师/管理人员组成的合作伙伴关系已经形成。这些合作伙伴将在验证向学生传播LITEE案例研究的概念和价值以及培训其他教职员工方面发挥关键作用。在这个项目中，合作伙伴将通过一次全国会议和两次区域研讨会与LITEE合作。该项目的一个成果是，大约25名教师将在他们的课堂上适应和实施LITEE案例研究。该项目的第二个成果是将现实问题带入课堂，从而激发750多名学生追求工程教育的兴趣。该项目将通过整合软硬技能来改善学生学习重要STEM原则的方式，为学生提供真实的、全面的工程经验，使课程更有趣，并使工程教育工作者能够成功地满足许多ABET认证标准。

Engineering students are increasingly being asked by potential employers to demonstrate "soft" skills (such as problem solving and business skills) in addition to their "hard" technical skills. Reflecting these expectations, the Accreditation Board for Engineering Education (ABET) has defined a set of accreditation criteria (3a-k) which identify 11 outcomes expected of engineering graduates. The Laboratory for Innovative Technology and Engineering Education (LITEE) team at Auburn University obtained funding from the NSF and, working with industrial partners, has developed multimedia case studies to address these expectations. These case studies make it possible for students to visualize the problem posed in the case study and work in teams as they play the roles of concerned engineers and managers. In class presentations, students present solutions to the problem and defend them. Evaluation data shows that implementing LITEE case studies in classrooms improves the higher-level cognitive skills of students, stimulates teamwork, and satisfies the majority of the ABET 3a-k criteria. Experience gained from disseminating the case studies through the earlier NSF CCLI grants, as well as reports from others, shows that there are many significant challenges in introducing multimedia case studies into engineering classrooms. Some of the challenges are: changes in the role of the instructor, apprehension about using innovative materials, difficulties in evaluating and testing students, and training students to engage in effective team work. The goals of this project will be to provide faculty members with hands-on experience of working in teams, explain case study teaching strategies, connect STEM theories to the real-world problems discussed in the case studies, and demonstrate how the LITEE case studies can help meet the ABET accreditation criteria. A partnership with a group of 17 engineering/technology faculty members and 1 high school teacher, 2 experts in engineering education, and a few industry engineers/managers has been formed. These partners will play a key role in validating the concept and value of disseminating LITEE case studies to students and training other faculty members. In this project, the partners will work with LITEE through a national conference and two regional workshops. One outcome of the project is that about 25 of the faculty members will adapt and implement LITEE case studies in their classrooms. The second outcome of the project will be to bring real-world problems to classrooms and thus stimulate interest to pursue engineering education for over 750 students. This project will improve the way students learn important STEM principles by integrating soft and hard skills, provide students with real-life, comprehensive experiences in engineering, make the curriculum more interesting, and enable engineering educators to successfully meet many of the ABET accreditation criteria.