ASEE PNW Section Winter Newsletter

Pacific
Northwest
Engineering
Education

Newsletter
of the Pacific
Northwest Section
American Society for
Engineering Education

Fall 2005

ASEE PNW Spring Conference

'Preparing for Professional Life'
May 11-13, 2006
Oregon Institute of Technology
Klamath Falls, Oregon

PNW Teaching Award Nominations

Do you have a colleague that should be recognized for their leadership and contribution to teaching/learning in engineering education? The process for nominating an individual for an ASEE teaching award is simple and straightforward. Once nominated, candidates will provide the committee chair the following information: a 2-page vita in NSF format focused on teaching; numerical teaching evaluations from the prior two years (with an explanation appended, if appropriate); and a 1-page statement of teaching philosophy. (More Details about PNW Teaching Award) Nominations are reviewed for a section-level award to be given at the upcoming PNW Spring Section Meeting. The recipient is also considered for a national award funded by a recent ASEE endowment and given at the 2006 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition. Submit your nominations to Habib Sadid, (sadihabi@isu.edu).

Upcoming conference dates and deadlines:

FIE Abstracts Due - Jan 16, 2006
ASEE Draft Papers Due - Jan 18, 2006
ASEE Teaching Award Nominations - Feb 1, 2006
ASEE Final Papers Due - Mar 8, 2006
ASEE PNW Section Abstracts Due - Mar 15, 2006
ASEE PNW Section Meeting - Klamath Falls - May 11-13, 2006
ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition - Chicago, IL - June 18-21, 2006
FIE Conference - San Diego, CA - Oct 28-31, 2006

Regional Resources

Transferable Integrated Design Engineering Education (TIDEE) Consortium
www.tidee.wsu.edu
TIDEE focuses on developing and assessing student capabilities in engineering design.

Engineering Education Research Center (EERC) at WSU
www.eerc.wsu.edu
EERC builds a community of engineering and education scholars who address key research issues related to student retention and learning along the K-16 engineering education pipeline.

Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education (CAEE)
www.engr.washington.edu/caee
CAEE is a NSF sponsored center dedicated to the advancement of scholarship on engineering learning and teaching.

Austin Entrepreneurship Program
http://engr.oregonstate.edu/students/entrepreneur
Oregon State University has created an entrepreneurship minor around its new innovative living/learning/business incubator facility.

Enriched Learning Environment (ELE) Communities
Three innovative learning communities have developed over the last three years. The interdisciplinary Scholar's community (http:/www.webs1.uidaho.edu/ele/scholars) focuses on faculty development for transformational change in teaching/learning. The Mentors community (http://www.webs1.uidaho.edu/ele/mentors) unites efforts of professors and peers in the delivery of a mid-program design course. The Mindworks community (http://www.webs1.uidaho.edu/ele/mindworks) is a nerve center for professors and students with a passion for machine design and manufacturing.

Midterm course assessment is a process and a tool to help faculty members and students improve current and future learning. The process allows instructors to do real-time classroom research and make adjustments during a current course implementation, rather than waiting to respond to end-of-course student evaluations. The process can be used one or more times per term, guided by questions such as:

What are the three greatest strengths of this course and its instructor so far and why?
During the remaining time this term, what are three improvements that the instructor could make in this class or with his/her teaching to help you learn better? Suggest how these improvements could be made.
What personal action plans can you put in place to help yourself learn the content better this semester?
What are the three most important things you have learned about learning (not course content) in this course so far?
What insights do you have about learning, teamwork, and helping others learn that would benefit the instructor?

Midterm course assessment may be completed in class or as homework. The instructor then analyzes the feedback and presents synthesized findings to the students, highlighting changes that will be made to promote better learning. (Download a sample mid-term assessment report from a recent technical elective.) Being mindful of the following principles will return the greatest value from a midterm assessment.

Midterm assessment activities should not be part
of course grading.
Instructors should not use midterm assessments to seek personal/professional affirmation.
Individual and group feedback should be encouraged in answering the questions.
Instructors should ignore student affect embedded in isolated assessments, paying attention to tactical and strategic issues that impact the entire class.
Instructor analysis of feedback should be shared with students in the next class period.
Instructors should avoid defensiveness in responding
to student observations.
Instructors should announce student-generated improvements that they intend to implement.
Mid-term assessment should not take place right before or after a major exam or project.