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2009 EPICS National Conference

2009 EPICS National Conference. Presenters: Dan Budny, Ph.D. Director of Freshman Engineering Laura Lund, Ph.D. Director of Service Learning, Instructor Freshman Engineering Program University of Pittsburgh.

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2009 EPICS National Conference

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  1. 2009 EPICS National Conference Presenters:Dan Budny, Ph.D. Director of Freshman Engineering Laura Lund, Ph.D.Director of Service Learning, Instructor Freshman Engineering Program University of Pittsburgh Using Practicing Engineers versus TAs to Improve Course and Project Outcomes in a Service Learning Course for Freshman Engineering Students

  2. Course Description • Engineering Applications for Society • Offered to freshman engineering honors students during spring semester • Spring 2009 was 4th offering • 65 students, 16 projects • Students work in teams to address the needs of local community organizations

  3. Course Goals • For each student to develop confidence in their ability to solve problems, and function successfully and comfortably in a professional engineering environment • To understand and appreciate what it means to be a professional engineer • For each student to discover their value and ability to have a positive impact on their community as a professional engineer • Course Website

  4. Challenges & Justifications • Challenge : Achieving course goals with first year engineering students, and with widely varying project scopes • Why Service Learning with Freshman? • To improve retention • To develop students’ accountability and self-reliance earlier than is typical • To improve student confidence and performance in co-op positions and summer internships • To help students to understand how course material will be used • To encourage community involvement

  5. Challenge: Identifying & Managing Projects • Finding community partners • Identifying appropriate projects • Transportation • Managing the variety of projects • Managing the quality of the results • Allowing students to work through project challenges on their own (taking ownership)

  6. Course Management: Adjunctvs.TA • Costs are comparableTA: $7200 + tuition Adjunct: $6000 + benefits • Design experienceAdjuncts offer specific expertise • AvailabilityCan be a challenge with adjuncts • Real vs academicAdjuncts command more respect from students

  7. Responsibilities of Adjuncts/TAs • Provide project expertise where necessary • Review, grade and respond to weekly progress reports from teams • Attend all student/community partner meetings (initial meeting, proposal presentation, final presentation at minimum) • Help students to address their challenges without taking charge • Review proposal and final report

  8. Observations in Course Management • Quality of project results is very difficult to manage for 16 different projects topics • At least 3 additional TAs or adjuncts are necessary • Having adjunct expertise has made positive impact on both community partner satisfaction and student experience • From instructor standpoint, adjuncts are more dependable and require less monitoring than TAs • Having adjuncts or TAs allows there to be monitoring at all presentations to community partners which helps with quality control; adjuncts command more respect from students than TAs.

  9. Examples • Project: Soil & Water Modeling of Schenley Park Watershed • Community Partner: Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy • With adjunct faculty expertise, students were able to utilize arc-GIS technology that community partner had requested in previous years .

  10. Examples • Project:Site Condition Analysis of Aliquippa Place Housing Facility • Community Partner: Oakland Planning & Development Corporation • With faculty expertise (civil engineer), students were able to utilize thermal imaging and were advised on valid building standards to perform analyses.

  11. Examples • Project:Parametric Analysis of Emergency Hand Pump for Pneumatic Artificial Hearts • Community Partner: Artificial Heart Program • With faculty expertise (bioengineer), students were able to conduct valid experimental analysis with results of consequence to community partner

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