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

典型的工程系以(1)研究、(2)教学和(3)服务等传统支柱为基础运作。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，工科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开发，这些课程侧重于每个学科的技术内容。因此，工科学生接触关键专业能力的机会有限，这些能力往往被纳入单一的课程或项目经验，而且缺乏当今工科毕业生所要求的严谨。拟议的有组织革命将通过三管齐下的策略集中于工程专业学生的整体专业形成：(1)以研究-学生-实践为基础的模式取代研究-学生-实践的模式，并在每一步通过行业和社区推广；(2)通过工程师专业形成课程将新生与高级工程设计经验联系起来，这些课程建立在行业确定的专业工程能力的基础上；以及(3)通过负起责任理解工程的概念赋予学生能力。这种整体性的方法与可以根据每个学生的强项和兴趣进行个性化的技术课程相结合，将产生一种革命性的工程师专业形成的新方法。这场革命的核心是崎岖景观理论，这是在信息科学的跨学科领域发展起来的概念方案。在当前的研究-教学-服务模式下，学生和教职员工被视为占据某些状态的客户。为了将教职员工和学生带入他们的新状态(研究-学生-实践)，该理论需要双向的信息传递途径。这些途径将通过该项目下将启动的各种活动来创建：(1)通过执行个性化的资质计划，通过在技术论坛中积极参与和领导角色，参与行业和社区外联项目，以及直接参与教师评估、晋升和终身教职过程，使学生能够承担起理解工程的责任；(2)在整个课程中发展工程师的专业形成，以积极和持续地参与每个班级的学生；(3)形成以技术跟踪为重点的咨询委员会，以创造行业-学生-教师互动的环境；(4)与行业演讲者一起举办系列讲座，在学生和专业工程师之间建立互动的双向联系；(5)通过行业网络和社区征求多学科项目，以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。行动-状态取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转变为行动导向，这是该项目的一个关键的新方面。有组织的革命将被用来回答以下高水平的研究问题：(1)针对学生和教师群体的个性化和适应性资格认证计划的体验和影响是什么？(2)在崎岖的景观范式下整合传统的研究、教学和服务筒仓对系文化的性质和影响是什么？资质变化和文化变迁的交互作用和中介效应是什么？该项目团队将利用该大学在佛罗里达大都会大学联盟的成员资格作为传播、扩展和适应活动的基础。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.