Frameworks and External Requirements for Eng and Sci Education

1. EDUCATIONAL
FRAMEWORKS
and how we work within
(or around) them

2. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
FOR THIS LESSON
Identify criteria that are external to the classroom at the
program, department, university and/or national levels that
engineering instructors must consider before designing
learning activities for their students.
Describe ways that these criteria can be applied to effectively
teach engineering skills and concepts

3. EDUCATIONAL
FRAMEWORKS
RELEVANT TO
ENGINEERINGInstitutional: General Education Requirements and
Competencies
Departmental and/or Disciplinary: ABET; FE exams
University-level accreditation (SACSCOC) – establishes faculty
criteria

4. ABET CRITERIA 3 A - D
Engineering programs must demonstrate that their students attain the
following outcomes:
•(a) an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and
engineering
•(b) an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to
analyze and interpret data
•(c) an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet
desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic,
environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety,
manufacturability, and sustainability
•(d) an ability to function on multidisciplinary teams

5. ABET CRITERIA 3 E - K
• (e) an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering
problems
• (f) an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility
• (g) an ability to communicate effectively
• (h) the broad education necessary to understand the impact of
engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and
societal context
• (i) a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-
long learning
• (j) a knowledge of contemporary issues
• (k) an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering
tools necessary for engineering practice.

6. GENERAL EDUCATION…SURE LOOKS
LIKE LIBERAL ARTS!
Liberal = from Latin libe ralis; “appropriate for free
men”
Ancient cultures: skills and general knowledge needed by
the elite echelon of society
Contrast with the se rvile arts : specialized skills and
knowledge needed by those employed by the elite
Liberal arts are an end in themselves; servile arts are
means to an end beyond themselves, specifically a
utilitarian, practical end

7. THE SEVEN
LIBERAL ARTS
•Trivium:
–Grammar
–Dialectic (Logic)
–Rhetoric
•Quadrivium:
–Arithmetic
–Music
–Geometry
–Astronomy
Picture from the Hortus deliciarum of Herrad von Landsberg (12th
century)

8. GENERAL EDUCATION
REQUIREMENTS AT
CLEMSON:
Written and Oral
Communication Skills
Mathematical, Scientific,
and Technological
Literacy
Arts and Humanities
Social Sciences
Cross-Cultural
Awareness
Science and Technology
in Society

9. GENERAL EDUCATION
REQUIREMENTS AT
CLEMSON:
Written and Oral
Communication Skills
Mathematical, Scientific,
and Technological
Literacy
Arts and Humanities
Social Sciences
Cross-Cultural
Awareness
Science and Technology
in Society
•Trivium:
–Grammar
–Dialectic (Logic)
–Rhetoric
•Quadrivium:
–Arithmetic
–Music
–Geometry
–Astronomy

10. WHAT EFFECT(S) DO GEN ED
REQUIREMENTS HAVE ON
ENGINEERING/SCIENCE (AND VICE-
VERSA)?
• Written and Oral
Communication Skills
• Mathematical,
Scientific, and
Technological Literacy
• Arts and Humanities
• Social Sciences
• Cross-Cultural
Awareness
• Science and
Technology in Society

11. RESOURCES FOR
WRITTEN REFLECTION
• Clemson University General Education Requirements:
http://www.clemson.edu/administration/ugs/ge/
• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission
on Colleges: http://www.sacscoc.org/
• ABET: www.abet.org
• Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam (common exam for
all engineering majors, and subject-specific exams for some
majors): http://ncees.org/exams/fe-exam/

12. WRITTEN REFLECTION
Reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of General Education
and accreditation requirements from the point of view of an
engineering educator (2 page max, double-spaced).
Consider the following points:
 In what ways do (or do not) Gen Ed requirements match up with ABET
criteria for your engineering discipline? Are there other criteria that
students in your department must meet to graduate (i.e., set by your
department itself)? For SACSCOC accreditation?
 How do Gen Ed requirements serve our engineering students? Do they
conflict with, or support, their development as future professionals in your
discipline?
 How do program, department, or university-level accreditation
requirements serve our engineering students? Do they conflict with, or
support, their development as future professionals in your discipline?