Engineering Academy - The Model

The student, upon arriving, works with the faculty to determine their "starting points" along a continuum of mastery in each of the ABET outcomes. For example, if complete mastery of "ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams" is defined through a set of criteria, the faculty and the individual student can assess where the student ranks against the criteria (if a ranking of 10 is perfect for a given skill, perhaps the student is starting at a 3). This way, the student knows where she is starting and what skills she is aiming to attain and can thus monitor that attainment over her education.

Now what does the learning look like?

It is a series of scenarios, cases, and projects. Each of which has components that build the students' mastery of the ABET outcomes. Here is an example of a scenario:

The teacher and the students address the question: "Why did the 35W Bridge Collapse?" In answering this question, the students would:

• completely learn the statics of the structure,
• analyze the original design,
• determine factors affecting deterioration of the bridge parts,
• delve into the economic and ethical factors precluding earlier repair of the bridge,
• compare and contrast opinions on levels of responsibility to be put on the state, the design engineers, the construction company doing the repairs at the time of collapse,
• critique the new design,
• evaluate political factors affecting bridge repair and replacement in MN and the US,
• write position papers, critique each others writing, re-write
• analyze the environmental effects of the collapse and subsequent construction
• and more...

The scenario would be their full time study for some length of time (one month? six weeks?) The faculty member would be the guide who set the parameters to ensure students continued to develop their skills and attributes to move towards mastery in several of the ABET criteria through this one scenario. And ultimately to create a set of cases, scenarios, and projects whereby all criteria are appropriately addressed and each student attains high levels of mastery.

So there it is in a nutshell. Eliminate the 45 classes and replace them with a set of scenarios that address ALL of the ABET criteria in an appropriate manner. Students go from passive receivers in boring and tedious lectures to active creators of their knowledge and skills by working in teams to address real engineering problems.

Tomorrow - How can this be done?

P.S. If you are one of the HCC alum, you have got to check this out: http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=16&a=369638