Enhancement of professional skills through engineering design education and assessment

Joint Authors

Simsim, Muhammad T.
Abbas, Abd al-Munim Abd al-Rahman
Malik, Muhammad A.
al-Ahdal, Abd al-Rahman G.

Source

ضمان جودة التعليم العالي : المؤتمر العربي الدولي الرابع المنعقد في رحاب جامعة الزرقاء / الأردن خلال الفترة 1-3 / 4 / 2014

Publisher

Zarka Private University Dcanship of Scientific Research

Publication Date

2014-04-30

Country of Publication

Jordan

No. of Pages

7

Main Subjects

Educational Sciences

Topics

• Education
• Higher education
• Learning
• Engineering
• Saudi Arabia

English Abstract

These days the employers of engineering graduates seek engineers who are well rounded and prepared to take the challenges of the impact of engineering technologies on human life in a professional manner [1].

The industry gives a great importance to the education of engineering design in preparing graduates to be creative in generating and implementing the solutions to the problems of the society and humanity keeping in mind the welfare and safety of the public.

Engineering design concepts and experience are also stressed for the academic accreditation of engineering programs.

ABET (Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology) USA states in its engineering program criteria, “Engineering design is the process of devising a system, component, or process to meet desired needs.

It is a decision-making process (often iterative), in which the basic sciences, mathematics, and the engineering sciences are applied to convert resources optimally to meet these stated needs” [2].

The application of engineering design concepts augments students’ professional outcomes.

The students’ assessment regarding these concepts and the feedback provided to students help them improve their professional skills.

The student outcomes related to knowledge of science, engineering, and application of this knowledge through engineering design are postulated in (a) through (c), (e), and (k) of the ABET EC2000 Student Outcomes [2].

The professional students’ outcomes that employers seek are integrated in the (d) and (f) through (j) ABET EC2000 Student Outcomes [2].

Although it is very important to inculcate professional students’ outcomes but it is very challenging to do that in an engineering curriculum Therefore, these professional outcomes may be embedded into the engineering curriculum and may be enhanced through education and assessment of engineering design concepts in an engineering design course.

In this paper we present how to teach and assess engineering design concepts in a two credit hour Engineering Design.

course This course is taught in various modules, namely; strategies of creative problem solving, case studies involving application of science & engineering knowledge, case studies containing problem statements related to community problems & writing problem definitions, and engineering design process from start to finish.

The assessment methods of this course are developed to include professional student outcomes’ assessment as well.

Students receive feedback that guides them enhance their professional skills required for career success.

We will share some results of the assessment and evaluation performed at the end of the Engineering Design Course.

The assessments involved entail engineering design process, recognition of engineering standards’ importance and comprehension of professional engineering ethics’ sensitivity along with other professional outcomes.

Finally we explore the challenges of teaching engineering design concepts and enhancing professional skills.

Data Type

Conference Papers

Record ID

BIM-515814

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