The Panel on Undergraduate Engineering Education prepared this report as part of the overall effort of the National Research Council's Committee on the Education and Utilization of the Engineer. The panel studied the academic preparation of engineers for practicing their profession. This document provides an analysis of the research done by the panel. Its findings and recommendations deal with: (1) "The Goals of Undergraduate Engineering Education"; (2) "Undergraduate Students"; (3) "Faculty"; (4) "The Curriculum"; (5) "The Role of Laboratory Instruction"; and (6) "The Two-Tiered System." The major conclusions of the study are described in the executive summary. (TW)

The aim of this report is to encourage enhanced richness and relevance of the undergraduate engineering education experience, and thus produce better-prepared and more globally competitive graduates, by providing practical guidance for incorporating real world experience in US engineering programs. The report, a collaborative effort of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD), builds on two NAE reports on The Engineer of 2020 that cited the importance of grounding engineering education in real world experience. This project also aligns with other NAE efforts in engineering education, such as the Grand Challenges of Engineering, Changing the Conversation, and Frontiers of Engineering Education. This publication presents 29 programs that have successfully infused real world experiences into engineering or engineering technology undergraduate education. The Real World Engineering Education committee acknowledges the vision of AMD in supporting this project, which provides useful exemplars for institutions of higher education who seek model programs for infusing real world experiences in their programs. The NAE selection committee was impressed by the number of institutions committed to grounding their programs in real world experience and by the quality, creativity, and diversity of approaches reflected in the submissions. A call for nominations sent to engineering and engineering technology deans, chairs, and faculty yielded 95 high-quality submissions. Two conditions were required of the nominations: (1) an accredited 4-year undergraduate engineering or engineering technology program was the lead institutions, and (2) the nominated program started operation no later than the fall 2010 semester. Within these broad parameters, nominations ranged from those based on innovations within a single course to enhancements across an entire curriculum or institution. Infusing Real World Experiences into Engineering Education is intended to provide sufficient information to enable engineering and engineering technology faculty and administrators to assess and adapt effective, innovative models of programs to their own institution's objectives. Recognizing that change is rarely trivial, the project included a brief survey of selected engineering deans concern in the adoption of such programs.

Engineering professional societies in the United States are engaged in a wide range of activities involving undergraduate education. However, these activities generally are not coordinated and have not been assessed in such a way that information about their procedures and outcomes can be shared. Nor have they been assessed to determine whether they are optimally configured to mesh with corresponding initiatives undertaken by industry and academia. Engineering societies work largely independently on undergraduate education, leaving open the question of how much more effective their efforts could be if they worked more collaborativelyâ€"with each other as well as with academia and industry. To explore the potential for enhancing societies' role at the undergraduate level, the National Academy of Engineering held a workshop on the engagement of engineering societies in undergraduate engineering education. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

This book is written for engineering faculty and department chairs as a practical guide to improving the assessment processes for undergraduate and graduate engineering education in the service of improved student learning. It is written by engineering faculty and assessment professionals who have many years of experience in assessment of engineering education and of working with engineering faculty. The book reflects the emphasis placed on student outcomes assessment by ABET, Inc., the organization that accredits most U.S. engineering, computer science and technology programs, as well as providing substantial equivalency evaluations to international engineering programs. The book begins with a brief overview of assessment theory and introduces readers to key assessment resources. It illustrates–through practical examples that reflect a wide range of engineering disciplines and practices at both large and small institutions, and along the continuum of students’ experience, from first year to capstone engineering courses through to the dissertation–how to go about applying formative and summative assessment practices to improve student learning at the course and program levels. For most institutions, assessment of graduate education is new; therefore, there are readers who will be particularly interested in the chapters and examples related to graduate education. This book concludes with a vision for the future of assessment for engineering education. The authors cover five basic themes:· Use of assessment to improve student learning and educational programs at both undergraduate and graduate levels· Understanding and applying ABET criteria to accomplish differing program and institutional missions· Illustration of evaluation/assessment activities that can assist faculty in improving undergraduate and graduate courses and programs· Description of tools and methods that have been demonstrated to improve the quality of degree programs and maintain accreditation· Identification of methods for overcoming institutional barriers and challenges to implementing assessment initiatives.

Engineering education in K-12 classrooms is a small but growing phenomenon that may have implications for engineering and also for the other STEM subjects-science, technology, and mathematics. Specifically, engineering education may improve student learning and achievement in science and mathematics, increase awareness of engineering and the work of engineers, boost youth interest in pursuing engineering as a career, and increase the technological literacy of all students. The teaching of STEM subjects in U.S. schools must be improved in order to retain U.S. competitiveness in the global economy and to develop a workforce with the knowledge and skills to address technical and technological issues. Engineering in K-12 Education reviews the scope and impact of engineering education today and makes several recommendations to address curriculum, policy, and funding issues. The book also analyzes a number of K-12 engineering curricula in depth and discusses what is known from the cognitive sciences about how children learn engineering-related concepts and skills. Engineering in K-12 Education will serve as a reference for science, technology, engineering, and math educators, policy makers, employers, and others concerned about the development of the country's technical workforce. The book will also prove useful to educational researchers, cognitive scientists, advocates for greater public understanding of engineering, and those working to boost technological and scientific literacy.