Teaching EC 2000 Skills:  Integrating Student Outcomes a–k into Engineering Courses
Russ Pimmel
University of Alabama

PowerPoint Presentation

Abstract
The new EC 2000 criteria have generated considerable interest on assessment aspects—establishing goals, objectives, and outcomes; identifying assessment tools; and defining feedback mechanisms. In contrast, the development of classroom materials for newly emphasized skills and knowledge, as defined in Criteria 3 (a) through (k), has received comparatively little attention. Some of these criteria are easy to address because programs traditionally have focused on technical content. Others—such as those involving problem solving, teaming, communication, ethical interpretation, and lifelong learning, to name a few—are more difficult. Engineering faculty members have usually presumed that students developed these processing skills by working with the technical content and by observing the instructors in the classrooms. Educational research, along with many anecdotal reports from industry, indicates the ineffectiveness of this ad hoc approach. This workshop is structured around a series of "who, what, why, when, where, and how" questions, expressed in the following ways:

• Why should engineering faculty be interested in teaching "a–k" skills?
• Where and when should engineering curricula teach "a–k" skills?
• Who should teach "a–k" skills?
• How should engineering curricula address "a–k" skills?

This workshop presents ideas on each question and, through a series of team exercises, encourages participants to develop responses to these questions and methods for teaching skills in their courses.

Learning Objectives
Participants should be able to discuss

1. Why we should teach "a–k" skills in engineering courses,
2. Where and when we should we teach "a–k" skills,
3. Who should teach "a–k" skills, and
4. How we should we teach "a–k" skills.