An Integrated Leadership and Innovation Curriculum for Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering

这个项目正在实施一个独特的课程，以一种综合的、非突兀的方式向机械工程本科学生教授领导力和创新。这些技能对于国家在世界市场上保持竞争力至关重要。该项目的研究部分是在不牺牲技术内容的情况下，帮助确定将这些技能整合到工程课程中的有效方法。项目团队是高素质和多样化的，由工程学院、商学院和大学卓越教学中心组成。这个协同团队提供工程和领导内容知识与适当的教育教学法和评估方法，使项目成功。评估和评价活动包括处理学生学习和态度的定量和定性方法。定性评估还包括对学生的焦点小组访谈。研究人员打算探索的是，将领导力和创新材料整合到传统的技术工程课程中，是否能提供足够的深度来提高学生的技能。研究结果还有助于教育界更好地了解如何将这些重要技能纳入现有课程，以具有成本效益的方式教授这些技能。

This project is implementing a unique curriculum that teaches leadership and innovation in an integrated, non-obtrusive way to mechanical engineering undergraduate students. Such skills are critical for the nation to remain competitive in a world market. The project's research component is helping identify effective ways of integrating these skills into an engineering curriculum without sacrificing technical content. The project team is well qualified and diverse, consisting of engineering faculty working with business faculty together with the University's Center for Teaching Excellence. This synergistic team is providing the engineering and leadership content knowledge with proper educational pedagogy and evaluation methods to make the project successful.Assessment and evaluation activities consist of quantitative and qualitative approaches that address both student learning and attitudes. Qualitative assessment also includes focus group interviews of students. What researchers intend to explore is whether or not integrating leadership and innovation materials into a traditional technical engineering program provides sufficient depth to improve student skills. Results are also helping the education community better understand how to teach these important skills in a cost effective manner, by integrating them into existing curricula.