Team-building Approach in a Multi-Campus Institution

1. Team-building Approach in a Multi-Campus Institution

2. DEVRY INC • DeVry Inc. • The publicly traded company listed on the New York and Chicago Stock Exchanges under the symbol DV • The holding company for DeVry University, Ross University, Chamberlain College of Nursing and Becker Professional Review Ross University Becker Professional Review • DeVry University • Operates under the name DeVry Institute of Technology in New York and Alberta • Includes Keller Graduate School of Management, the graduate school of the university • Includes delivery systems of campuses, centers and DeVry University Online Chamberlain College of Nursing • DeVry Canada Inc. • A wholly owned subsidiary of DeVry University what does DeVry do?

3. NORTH AMERICAN SYSTEM • 46,000 students in North America • 23 states and Canada • 81 locations • 23 campuses • 58 centers • DeVry University Online what does DeVry do?

4. ACCREDITATION • DeVry University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association (NCA). • The baccalaureate electronics engineering technology (EET) and computer engineering technology (CET) programs at most campuses are accredited by (TAC of ABET). DeVry’s place in the higher education marketplace

5. Outcome Assessment • In 1917, Randolph, Dean of Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute proposed to test engineers on what they can do rather than on what they know. • The above statement asserts the importance of • Communication skills • Team work • Critical thinking

6. Current Approach for Assessment • The extent of these attributes are usually assessed through a successful completion of a technical project before graduation. • The students work is done in numerous and separate laboratory courses. • Students perform experiments with progressive levels of sophistication in both design and analysis. • Students faces different challenges when they are required to work on projects as a team.

7. Project Goals • Comply with some of ABET Outcome assessment. • Assess what the student can do instead of what they learned. • Early detection of deficiencies ( students or curriculum). • Propose corrective actions to enhance the students abilities before they graduate. • Expose students to teamwork across campuses at earlier stages of their studies. • Nurture small doses of cooperation that could help • Good Engineering Skills. • Confidence. • Early preparation to the constantly changing corporate environment. • Design an actual hardware or a software system that works and is useful for other students.

8. The Pilot Project • Students enrolled at DeVry University follow the same general curriculum. • Students enrolled in EET-320 Analog Signal Processing at two of DeVry’s campuses (Orlando, and Atlanta ) were encouraged to technically work on a common project and share information using the Internet. • These students are in their 6th term of study (out of nine terms required to complete their degree). • The project described here is a pilot project and is meant for self-motivated students.

9. Project Requirements • Small teams (three students from each campus). • Students were asked to design a program that builds on their knowledge in both programming and analog signal processing. • Critically examine the modular work of each other. • Solicit input from other students on the usability and educational value of the module.

10. Student Initial reactions • Mild enthusiasm. • Lack of time. • No grades associated with the project reduced dramatically the number of students interested in the project.

11. Example • Students used Visual Basic to code a program that helps in the design and analysis of a second-order multiple-feedback low-pass, high-pass, and band-pass filters. • The program has a graphical user interface. • A user has choices to: • Compute the values of the resistors and capacitors given the gain, damping factor, and natural frequency. • Compute the values of the gain, damping factor, and the natural frequency given the component values. • Plot the magnitude frequency response.

12. The user interface of the module

13. Issues with the Project • Although the students who formed the team were highly motivated individuals, they still needed direct interventions from the instructors to set goals and overcome some technical difficulties. • Among the trivial problems: • Web-based e-mail messages with attachments were either completely lost or arrived without attachments. • Undeliverable and other unforeseen technical problems with the bandwidth. • Not the same Software Versions.

14. Other Students Feedback • After it was completed the program was made available to all students enrolled in the Analog Signal Processing course. • Below are some of their comments. • Very easy to use • Very useful. • Excellent tool to check and compare results to hand calculation. • Need to add extra modules such as printing, saving, and help.

15. Concluding Remarks • The project resulted in a useful program that was used by other students. • It served to motivate students in the coming terms to contribute to such activities. • Other programming platforms, such as Java are being implemented. • EET and CET teams are following the same steps to come up with similar projects. • The project is also being used to facilitate the application of mastery learning.