2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This paper reports on the background research that identified ‘Professionalizing’ engineering education as an approach worth further investigation to significantly change student outcomes to include the broad set of engineering competencies (sometimes called attributes or skills) that include personal and workplace effectiveness. The initiative, which has been branded Pro-op education, strives to make significant positive changes to the culture in a mechanical engineering department by interweaving small but significant doses of engineering work while students are actively engaged in classes, with mentoring based on an engineering competency model so that professional attitudes, behaviors and competencies (Pro-ABCs) are prioritized, practiced, evaluated and celebrated as integral components of engineering formation.
A key feature of pro-ops (which occur both within disciplinary courses and as work experiences organized in new open course structures completed within prescribed time frames) is that they are intentionally designed to feel like a professional experience in all aspects with students placed in professional roles so they are less likely to be treated as just another class project. The overarching goal is to create a healthy professional culture (Pro-culture) where student mental health challenges are transparently recognized and help is accessed through student-run wellness groups, and students engage in experiential learning cycles (Pro-cycles) and tell stories about their professional experiences (Pro-stories) through the reflective lens of the Pro-ABC model. Students interact with instructors for feedback in ways that support student ownership of their development, and instructors are recognized for building and demonstrating professional competencies and for supporting the same in students. The professional portfolios (Pro-folios) that students co-create build a sense of belonging as an engineer and benefit them by making it easier to demonstrate, assess, recognize, and build on their Pro-ABCs so they perform better in competitive job and promotion interviews.
Background research supporting the need to radically change the structures of engineering education to get a different outcome with respect to professional formation will be provided, along with an explanation of how experiential learning cycles serve as both a pedagogical theory and a change theory for this initiative. The paper will also share results from pilot studies related to engineering competencies, using commitments and contracts that engage students in thinking in advance about the quality of work they are willing and able to deliver, co-creating feedback opportunities to increase student voice and choice in their professional development, and the use of a ‘uniforms’ to impact student mindsets around professional project work. Assessments include student work outputs, faculty observations, student surveys and student and faculty focus groups.