Engineering Technology Students - How do They Compare to Other STEM Students?

For many years, students interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors were easily identified. However, since the realization that the US has a low number of students enrolled in STEM programs, great effort has been expended to encourage youth to pursue careers in these areas. Because of these broad-based efforts, the demographics of students moving into STEM are different from those in the past. There is a noted lack of diversity in students majoring in engineering technology; this is not as prevalent in other STEM fields. Engineering technology students belong to a unique group. They are formally trained engineers with a high level of applied knowledge. This is a contrast to their counterparts in traditional engineering and other STEM fields and leads to the question of - How do engineering technology students compare to those in other STEM fields? For this study, data is being extracted from the Multiple-Institution Database for Investigating Engineering Longitudinal Development (MIDFIELD) dataset. This dataset consists of over one million unique undergraduate, degree-seeking students in 11 institutions. This is a large dataset that provides sufficient data for descriptive statistics to begin a comparison of the students in all of the STEM fields as represented by this dataset. Descriptive statistics are used to summarize data extracted from MIDFIELD, and the results of this study provide evidence of the uniqueness of engineering technology students. While engineering technology students are generally white male, approximately 25% of the population is a diverse combination of other ethnic groups and females. Male students matriculate between the ages of 15 and 35, while the majority of females begin their studies between ages 18 and 21

Identifying as an Engineering Technology Graduate

Engineering graduates identify themselves as a person formally educated in engineering, who belongs to a group of people practicing engineering. How does the person holding an engineering technology degree career identify? The lack of differentiating research between engineering and engineering technology graduates results in less knowledge about self-identification by the engineering technology graduate. Many believe that the positions held by engineering technology graduates further define their self-identity, as they are titled either engineers or technologists. Identity research focuses on career trajectory in the graduate student population. This focus places research in academia. Methods used to analyze early influences and their impact on a person’s professional progress and identity are transferable. Therefore, using the approach taken on the graduate student population is germane to the engineering technology graduate population, regardless of their post-graduation path. For this study, the alumni office will send an e-mail to recent engineering technology graduates with a link to a survey. Identity-Trajectory theoretical framework will be used to interpret study results, focusing on questions developed using constructs in networking, intellectual pursuits, and institutional culture. Results of the survey will provide evidence of how engineering technology graduates identify. Data derived from this survey will provide deeper understanding of engineering technology graduates’ use of networks past and present. Responses to survey questions in this area will further our understanding of social networking and other networking techniques as it relates to engineering technology graduates in the work place. Graduates of engineering technology programs are dependent upon communication skills. Survey questions intended to evaluate intellectual measures will illuminate this aspect of the graduates’ work life and how it affects their identity. Institutional culture is addressed by questions focused on the impact of one’s environment and further analyzed for impact on identity. This work provides early information on the identity of engineering technology graduates, ultimately supporting the discovery of future paths for research in this area

Engineering Technology Students: Do they approach capstone courses differently than other students?

Using data collected from students in engineering technology, engineering, and other areas such as computer science a comparison of student reactions to the capstone course are coded and sorted. Using content analysis methods, the researchers compare and contrast the various student groups and their reactions to assigned capstone projects. They are also able to assess student interaction with faculty and industry mentors. Researchers strive to learn more about these various student approaches to the capstone experience and to further our understanding of best practices in capstone courses

International Experience of Engineering Technology Students Learning About Renewable Energy

Cultural exposure is said to be an enhancement to collegial learning. With this in mind, students in an engineering technology program were given the opportunity to go to Germany to a regional university, experience education in that setting, and visit sites dedicated to renewable energy. The students were given a two-week experience that taught them through both formal and informal means. Ultimately, students experienced curiosity, openness to different cultural norms, and were able to identify components of other cultural perspectives responding with their own worldviews. The researchers utilized the Miville-Guzman Universality Diversity Scale (M-GUDS-S) to assess pre and post activity thoughts regarding culture, thoughts, and beliefs. The data gathered from the student population was evaluated using descriptive statistics as well as content analysis. The instrument provides an indication of how the student perception changes for both individuals and the aggregate population experiencing the material provided during the trip. Overall the engineering technology students learned more about other ways of life and were encouraged by their peers to become more open minded. Their observations proved that the approach to renewable energy in Germany and Europe as a whole is very different from the United States or other countries, such as India. The program leaders observed that students gained a great deal, in particular learning to accept the differences from their own beliefs and values found in people of different cultures, races, and habits

Advancing High School STEM Education: Implications for Engineering Technology

A novel STEM education approach focused on competency-based education was implemented in a college preparatory high school. This high school is intended to provide students access to a nearby higher education institution, with the intent of aiding the students in obtaining STEM based education. This program prepares the students to move into the university environment by encouraging faculty collaboration with the high school, coursework promoting creativity and problem-solving skills, and the use of case studies in classroom instruction. These case studies are grounded in real-life scenarios students can expect to encounter in a professional setting. This study focuses on the implementation of the program through the first-year experiences of teachers and administrators through semi-structured interviews. The results presented highlight study findings and shed light on challenges in establishing a student-focused STEM learning environment while exploring new pedagogies, developing an innovative curriculum, and teaching

Systematic Review of Engineering Technology Education Literature

Few engineering technology education research publications exist; those that do are often viewed through the lens of the engineering education researcher. More specifically, engineering technology education is examined in the same manner as engineering education. The lack of rigorous research focusing on the education of engineering technology students may be the result of diverse engineering technology programs, and smaller research populations as compared to engineering and other STEM fields. Educators in engineering technology programs are challenged by this lack of discipline-specific rigorous research. The lack of engineering technology education research may be attributed to smaller numbers of engineering technology students vs. the larger numbers found in engineering. Regularly researchers include engineering technology students by broadly applying research findings from engineering and at times other STEM disciplines. A cursory review of existing engineering technology education research revealed that existing material is fragmented, most often focusing on course work and discipline-specific methodologies. Reviewing work in this area will provide engineering technology education researchers a source of existing research. This work will offer engineering technology academe a better understanding of authentic engineering technology education research, supporting work in and out of the engineering technology classroom. Following the example set by researchers performing systematic reviews in other fields, the authors intend to perform a high-level systemic review of engineering technology education research literature. Ultimately this work will provide a better understanding of engineering technology education research, providing a clear access to deep conceptual knowledge, understanding of research methodologies used in previous engineering technology education research, concise review to support epistemology of engineering technology, informing of engineering technology practice, and supporting new directions in engineering technology education research. The presentation of this work at the conference using a higher level of initial review is intended to encourage discussion of known literature, and to further the engineering technology education community’s understanding of the more obscure or little-known research in this area. Future work, including input gathered at the conference, is expected to contribute to an in-depth systematic review of engineering technology research literature, which is expected to encourage the expansion of rigorous engineering technology research

Writing Proficiency in Engineering Technology Students andSkill Development in the Classroom

Little work has been done to understand the engineering technology student. The work that has been done often incorporates engineering technology students into the larger number of engineering students. This masks information that would be helpful in guiding and working with engineering technology students. While this is important, work to further understand these students, we chose to begin by exploring the writing skills of the engineering technology student, developing on other work done in this area. The work place demands the ability to convey thoughts and concepts; however the academic environment is not consistent in the development of writing proficiency. If professors provide exercises that engage the student and provide a forum in which the student writes and develops those skills, students writing proficiency improves. Employers and professors recognize that engineering technology students, while technically competent, lack writing proficiency. There are a number of hypothesis of why this deficiency exists, however we are more concerned with ways to remedy the situation once students matriculate into the engineering technology program. A variety of techniques have been used, and we have developed an assignment that is intended to increase writing proficiency while learning the technical material. This work provides examples of the resulting writing assignments, such as the “Big Question Reflection.” This assignment was designed to develop technical writing competency in engineering technology students. We discuss assignment options and provide those teaching engineering technology students with an understanding of the research that has been done, the assignments that has been used, and the outcome of the writing exercises. Comments and input from engineering technology students, as well as instructor analysis will be provided as will recommendations for future work in this area

Engineering vs. Engineering Technology: Toward Understanding the Factors Infuencing the Academic and Career Pathways of African American Students

In our preliminary study we conducted an online survey of students enrolled in four year engineering technology programs. The main objective of the survey was to gain insight into the students’ high school preparation, path to major, curriculum and institution, and future plans. The data was analyzed and summarized using descriptive statistics and other qualitative methods such as content analysis. We report on the results of the survey and outline how these results will inform the next phase of the research

A Survey of Types of Industry-Academia Collaboration

Collaborations between industry and academia are, when properly designed and managed, beneficial to both the industry partners and the academic institutions. Such collaborations may take place on both small and large scales, and may involve varying numbers of academic institutions and industry partners. They may also have different purposes, including both research-focused collaborative efforts and programs designed to connect undergraduate students with real-world projects to enhance their education. In this paper, the authors will provide a survey of different models of industry-academia collaboration in engineering and engineering technology. The paper will include both a survey of existing literature on the topic as well as a survey of publicly available information on existing collaborations. While the primary focus is on collaborations within the United States, some literature on international collaborations will also be included in the survey. It will discuss several different collaboration models, and what factors appear to be significant in those collaborations. Finally, it will conclude with recommendations that can be used to study specific aspects of industry-academia collaborations

Engineering Technology Graduate Students: Roles Professional Societies Havein Their Formation

In recent years, there have been several research projects focused on returning graduate students in engineering, those who have significant industry experience before beginning their graduate studies. These projects have focused on both the masters and doctoral levels and have looked at research, coursework, benefits of attending graduate school, and the cost of going back. One of the existing papers has looked at the ways in which professional organizations look on returning students, and how their membership policies affect these students. The issue of how returning students see themselves within professional societies was not addressed. As of yet, none of these studies have focused on returning graduate students in engineering technology. Overall engineering technology students have not been researched in depth, with most engineering technology practitioners and administrators relying on data obtained from populations of engineering and other STEM students. Faculty and staff that have interacted with both engineering technology and engineering populations of students find the differences marked, thus supporting the need for further research to quantify differences and similarities in these populations. This paper will focus on the intersection of the two gaps, focusing on returning graduate engineering technology students, and their view of professional societies. Furthering initial work done on engineering technology student identity, it will look at the identity of graduate engineering technology returners within professional societies. The study was carried out through administration of a survey developed to learn more about engineering technology returners. The survey asks participants about the societies to which they belong, and how they see themselves with those organizations. Grounded theory will be used to analyze the survey data. The flexibility and adaptability of grounded theory generated method provides results that are continuous and nascent. The process is well defined and begins with identification of a substantive area, for this study this is the returning engineering technology graduate student. The survey questions are designed to collect data focused on the two areas of concern and following the survey will be coded as it is collected. As the coding takes place, memos will be made to capture extraneous thoughts and information that was not already designed into the survey questions. The memos will be sorted with the coded data and as themes emerge from the data observations are written and disseminated through this conference paper