MEC-CCA 2011 ANNUAL MEETING BUSINESS MEETING NOTES
OCTOBER 14, 2011, 1 PM, M-TECH 150
I.
Discussion of the Principle Topic for the Day –Introduction to Engineering
A. The “Introduction to Engineering” Course(s) composition.
Discussion ensued on what components make up the Introduction to Engineering
courses at the various colleges represented at the meeting such as:
1) Exposure to Engineering - Retention: help freshman to make sure Engineering is
what they want to go into and what field of Engineering they are suited for. This
course can act as a filter. Also expose students to other technology programs that
they may wish to pursue instead of or in addition to Engineering. Ferris State
University also offers an Introduction to Careers/Program course plus an
Introduction to University (orientation) class to help with retention.
2) Exposure to Engineering – Employability: Hold Job Fairs which include resume
preparation, interviewing skills and introduction to early professional preparation.
B. What should the “Introduction to Engineering” Course consist of?
a. Skill building.
b. Critical thinking – analyzing and problem solving.
c. Team-based hands-on projects including the design element.
d. Ethics including an assessment of ethics. Some colleges use links siting case
studies of ethics challenges. Ethics should be reintroduced in later courses as
well.
e. Transfer students should be exempt from taking the intro course unless they are
undecided about which field they want.
C. How should the “Introduction to Engineering” Course be taught?
1) Survey students on their biographic background and experience and put this
information to use when developing teams. Teams can be grouped by student
housing location, prior engineering experience, male to female ratio, international
to domestic student ratio, etc. It was suggested that teams be established at the
first class meeting. Emphasize teamwork, personality management and
brainstorming within the team.
2) Ethics: Case studies don’t “sink in”. Putting students in hands-on ethical situations
will help (i.e. develop a robot to dump chemicals on a plant thus killing the plant).
Differentiate between legal and illegal and ethical and unethical. Ask students to
describe a personal ethical situation and have them write a report. Have debates
involving the National Code of Ethics for Engineers. Develop teams or groups to
learn how to treat others in the team/group ethically.
3) Exposure to the “real world” of engineering by discussing it, taking students out to
job sites and bringing in speakers. Suggestion: Don’t bring in speakers for every
field.
4) Building basic skills including design. Teach students to understand how things work
and how to make them work (problem solving).
5) Teach professional management, time management including scheduling projects
with deadlines, and presentation skills.
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6) Emphasize good communication skills and development of technical writing skills.
White’s The Elements of Style publication may be beneficial.
7) Assign large common projects and hold competitions. Also assign mini-projects
where teams can be mixed up.
8) Mandate career events on campus.
9) Periodically survey students and ask them how they perceive that they are doing.
10) Provide introduction to skills/software for the design component of Engineering
such as MAT Lab and Advanced Excel, Modeling and Simulation software, Pro E,
Katia, CAD (mechanical only), and C++ (computer only). Blueprint reading is also
essential, especially for industrial engineering.
11) Civil engineering majors should be made aware of Professional Engineer licensing
(PE). Other fields can be made aware of the EIT prep exam and possibly take a
sample exam at the end of the course.
D. Do students (especially transfer students) really need it?
1) Freshman students can benefit from this course. Providing pre-requisite overrides or
eliminating the Intro course for transfer students, however, was suggested to
enable students to move into specialty classes immediately upon transfer.
2) Transferability of this course would need the course objectives to reflect a hands-on
team project and a familiarization of programming. Missing an ethics component
should not prevent transferability. The credit level does not need standardization as
credits could be split between engineering credit and general credit when
transferred.
Meeting adjourned at 2 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Haddock C. Snyder, Suzanne Bacheller, St Clair County C.C.