An official website of the United States government
Background and Context. Dispositions are personal qualities including values, beliefs, and attitudes that impact an individual's actions and behaviors. Dispositions help a person identify why and when things need to be done and motivate them to follow through in action using their knowledge and skills. A person may have the appropriate skills and knowledge to perform a task and yet may not be able to perform due to the lack of suitable disposition. Objective. As part of a larger multi-institutional project aimed at improving computing education through a competency-based approach, we plan to create a research-informed competency model that includes knowledge, skills, and dispositions valued by computing professionals in the field. The objective of this paper is to report our findings on dispositions based on the National Research Council (NRC) framework. Method. We collected data from conducting a systematic literature review (SLR) and interviewing computing professionals from the United States. For the SLR, we started with 4949 articles from prominent databases (ERIC, SCOPUS, ACM, IEEE) which were filtered down to 52 research papers using rigorous inclusion-exclusion criteria. For conducting the semi-structured interviews, we used criterion and chain-link sampling to recruit 31 computing professionals, including software developers, network administrators, systems analysts, web developers, engineering managers, and others. Findings. Based on the aggregate findings from the SLR and interviews, in this paper we present the dispositions that are deemed necessary by computing professionals or employers to any computing career. The dispositions were categorized into the themes of Collaborative Orientation, Conscientiousness, Intellectual Openness, Self-Regulation, and Lifelong Learning Orientation. Implications. We discuss the importance of incorporating dispositions in computing curricula, interrelationship between skills and dispositions, and possible pedagogical techniques that can be used to cultivate dispositions.
more »
« less
Developing Problem Solving Competency for Future Engineers in Medicine
This paper summarizes five critical aspects of problem-solving competency for engineers in medicine, including the balance of depth and breadth, research capability, ideation skills, teamwork, and communication skills. Furthermore, the paper outlines the imperatives for enhancing undergraduate engineering education to cultivate problem-solving competency. An interdisciplinary approach to education in medical engineering can cultivate students to develop a holistic view of the field and equip them with a broad range of skills for problem-solving.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 2528265
- PAR ID:
- 10585434
- Publisher / Repository:
- North American Business Press
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice
- Volume:
- 24
- Issue:
- 6
- ISSN:
- 2158-3595
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Although the demand for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) personnel continues to raise in the U.S. workforce, it has been revealed that STEM education is not providing the necessary supply. Graduates with a STEM education are below their counterparts internationally. This paper seeks to introduce a new teaching methodology, based on a merger of Project-Based Learning (PBL), Hands-on Learning (HOL), Simulation-Based Learning (SBL), and the Cognitive Apprenticeship (CA) framework, aimed at improving learning in STEM education. The methodology aims to address three of the four main causes for the STEM paradox, namely (i) shortage of graduates with Soft Skills, (ii) lack of qualified technicians, and (iii) untapped pools of talent while increasing students’ self-efficacy. It has been implemented as a case study for the past four years in four courses. Analysis of results has shown that, for all courses, students (i) acquired and increased their domain knowledge, procedural and processed knowledge while solving problems, in given scenarios resulting in their expertise level increasing. These results also showcased an increased their self-efficacy as well as their Soft Skills, especially Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOLS) competency levels.more » « less
-
Abstract BackgroundOver the past decade, there has been a shift in science, technology, engineering and math education, especially in engineering, towards a competency‐based pedagogy. Competency‐based learning (CBL) is an outcome‐based, student‐centered form of instruction where students progress to more advanced work upon mastering the necessary prerequisite content and skills. Many articles have been published on the implementation of CBL in engineering higher education; however, the literature lacks a systematic review that summarizes prior work to inform both future research and practice. PurposeThe purpose of this review is to integrate previous literature as well as identify gaps in competency‐based engineering higher education research. It summarizes the different approaches for implementing CBL, the effects of the pedagogy on student outcomes, tools to enhance its effectiveness, and assessment strategies. In addition, suggestions and recommendations for future research are provided. MethodEngineering education articles were obtained from several EBSCO educational databases. The search was limited to articles published from 2005‐2015, and inclusion criteria consisted of peer‐reviewed journal articles that address the use of CBL in engineering higher education. Articles were then classified into several categories, summarized, and evaluated. ConclusionsTheoretical and applied perspectives are provided that address both the theoretical basis for the effectiveness of CBL and practical aspects of implementing successful CBL instruction in engineering education. There are gaps in the literature regarding how CBL programs should be structured and assessed. Future research directions include empirical quantitative evaluation of CBL's pedagogical effectiveness and the use of CBL for teaching professional skills.more » « less
-
In this paper, we argue that an inclusive and effective community resilience approach requires empathy as a missing component in the current engineering education and practice. An inclusive and effective community resilience approach needs to be human-centric, individual- and communal-sensitive, justice-oriented, and values-based consistent. In this paper, we argue that three kinds of empathy, namely cognitive, affective, and conative, play a central role in creating and sustaining an inclusive and effective approach to community resilience. Finally, we discuss empathetic education through learning theories and analytics skills to cultivate empathy in engineering education. Cultivating empathy in engineering education could help advance the impact and contribution of engineering to well-being.more » « less
-
This research paper describes work performed at a large midwestern university in the U.S. examining the link between spatial skills and design performance. Spatial skills are vital to success in engineering education and their relation to efficient problem-solving is wellresearched. This study is part of a larger project focusing on understanding the link between spatial visualization skills and solving engineering design problems. In the current study, we made use of an eye-tracking device to determine the visual focus of participants while they solved an assigned design task. High and low spatial visualizers in undergraduate engineering were identified through Phase I testing. In Phase 1, students completed four widely accepted spatial ability tests. Subsequently, some students were invited to participate in a Phase 2 design problem-solving activity wearing the Tobii Pro Glasses 3 to collect eye tracking data to gain insight into the design problem-solving behaviors based on information collected about participants’ eye movement fixations (i.e. duration and location). In this paper, we report on the analysis conducted through Tobii Pro Lab research software involving 13 study participants of whom 7 (1 female, 6 male: 3 first-year, 4 senior-year) were high spatial visualizers while 6 (3 female, 3 male; 4 first-year, 2 senior-year) were low spatial visualizers. Findings from the study suggest that the solutions produced by the high visualizers were more graphical compared to low visualizers. Low visualizers focused more on the problem statement, spending more time reading it and coming back to it compared to high visualizers who remained in the problem solution area for most of the problem-solving session. Recognizing the importance of spatial abilities in design problem-solving, educators can incorporate activities and exercises aimed at developing spatial skills among students which could include spatial reasoning tasks, visualization exercises, and hands-on design projects.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.33423/jhetp.v24i6.7017
