The Impact Of A Cohort Model Learning Community On First-Year Engineering Student Success

This study investigated the effect of cohort participation in a learning community and collaborative learning techniques on the success of first-year engineering students. Student success was measured as gains in knowledge, skills, and attitudes, student engagement, and persistence in engineering. The study group was comprised of students registered in an engineering orientation course. Two sub-groups were compared: a) a test cohort and b) a control group. Students registered in the test cohort shared four courses. The control group shared only one course, an engineering orientation course. An exit survey was used to measure gains in skills and attitudes, student engagement, and student perceptions of collaborative learning techniques. Participation in the learning community test cohort was not found to improve student success. Participation in the learning community test cohort model was, however, linked to more positive student attitudes towards engineering and higher levels of student satisfaction with the collaborative learning techniques used in the course.

From the Editors and Special Issue Editors

As co-Editors of the Engineering Management Journal (EMJ), we are pleased to bring you this second issue of 2016, a special issue focused on Engineering Management (EM) applications in the Military. EMJ strives to bring useful knowledge to practicing engineering managers and to add to the body of knowledge for engineering management scholars. This issue marks the one-year anniversary of the partnership between the American Society for Engineering Management (ASEM) and Taylor & Francis. The features available through T&F Online (TFO) provide great value to ASEM members and EMJ authors. We hope you will enjoy not only reading this issue but also continuing to read what EMJ offers to both practitioners and scholars of engineering management. We would like to thank Special Issue Editors Dr. Suzanna Long and LTC(R) Elizabeth (Libby) Schott, PhD for their work to bring this issue to you. We invite participation and articles from both academics and practitioners

Critical success factors for human resource outcomes in Kaizen events: An empirical study

Kaizen events are an increasingly common organizational improvement mechanism aimed at work area transformation and employee development. While many anecdotal design prescriptions exist, there is little empirical evidence of which input and process factors are most strongly related to Kaizen event outcomes in practice. This paper uses results from a field study of 51 events in six manufacturing organizations to identify the set of input and process factors that most strongly relate to the development of employee attitudinal outcomes and problem-solving capabilities in Kaizen events. These results are used to develop guidelines for organizations and identify directions for future work.Lean production Teams Productivity improvement Quality management Manufacturing companies

Critical success factors for the sustainability of Kaizen event human resource outcomes: An empirical study

Kaizen events have been widely reported to produce positive change in business results and human resource outcomes. However, sustaining or improving upon the results of a Kaizen event over time can be difficult for many organizations and has received limited empirical research attention to date. This paper identifies the factors that most strongly influence the sustainability of work area employee attitudes and commitment to Kaizen events based on a field study of 65 events in eight manufacturing organizations. The findings also present guidelines for organizations and areas for future research.Lean production Teams Performance improvement sustainability Quality management Manufacturing companies