Online Session Locator

Session Description

The annual Interdivisional Town Hall offers the opportunity for members from different divisions and attendees to come together to discuss topics of interest across the entire ASEE membership. This year’s discussion will focus on the student experience and how we as faculty and instructors may make a difference. We will explore several important topics related to changing curriculum, course structure, and culture in engineering education. The first half will allow for intimate, roundtable conversations based on provided discussion prompts, listed below. The second half of the Town Hall will briefly introduce the Engineering for One Planet (EOP) initiative, including the EOP Framework and two companion teaching guides, to help faculty and administrators bring sustainability into courses, programs, departments and institutions. Participants will collaboratively engage with EOP teaching tools through an interactive activity to generate sustainability-focused exercises for existing core engineering courses. Together, we will produce a curricular reference guide for engineering instructors to integrate sustainability into required engineering courses without overhauling an entire course. This co-created teaching guide will acknowledge participant contributions and be made available for free download to anyone on the EOP website.

Both parts of the Town Hall will lead directly to roundtable discussions to share recommendations and generate ideas. Individuals will be asked to share and apply their skills, knowledge, and expertise to these conversations in crafting shareable deliverables for guiding future effort.

Topic 1 — The Changing Context of DEI in Engineering Education
We all want to include Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in our curricula, but what is it really about and how do we implement it? Starting with some common definitions of DEI, we want to discuss how to implement it in academic settings. How do we build understanding of what DEI and its role in education is? Have people and consequently our teaching/learning style changed? The ultimate goal of the discussion is to give ASEE guidance about how we can implement DEI at our respective academic institutions in the face of changing contexts in many states. This is not an opportunity to complain (much) but to provide solutions. How might we share best practices for DEI implementation and what are ways to support colleagues to help us do so?

Topic 2 — The Impact of Generative AI on Engineering Education
“The recent release of ChatGPT has sparked a surge of interest in generative artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential to revolutionize education. While viewed by some as a disruptive technology with immense transformative potential, there are also concerns and challenges associated with generative AI. These include issues of academic integrity, equitable access, algorithmic bias, inaccurate information, job security, privacy, and impacts on learning. As some educators have already incorporated generative AI into their teaching, others are more cautious or apprehensive. The question now is how to address these concerns and challenges, and what is the best way to leverage this technology for engineering education and preparing students for the 21st-century workplace.” NOTE: The preceding paragraph was generated by ChatGPT based on input from the topic organizers (https://chat.openai/chat).

Topic 3 — Changing the Curriculum, Course Structure, and Culture of Engineering Education
Preparation for engineering majors include quite a number of pre-engineering fundamentals: math, science, programming, etc. While faculty and practicing engineers may see the connections between these topics, how might we help students experience their learning in a useful context? Are these fundamental courses needed or should they be placed later in the curriculum or removed altogether? These courses are often seen as roadblocks, negatively affecting persistence and academic success. How can we adapt curriculum and engineering culture to better showcase the utility and necessity of these courses and technical skills? How do we make the engineering course structures more inclusive in a way that can benefit all students to become future engineers?

Topic 4 - Understanding and Supporting Students Where They Are Day-to-Day
Students are aware of the broader world and context and many are concerned about how their engineering studies have implications for the greater good and making the world better. Yet, they don’t know how to accomplish this. This can lead to tension between supporting students as creators of knowledge and needing to reinforce fundamentals for engineering. How do we help bridge the gap? Add in the complexity of ever-increasing crises, rising anxieties, and negative effects on peoples’ mental wellness; students must now learn in these difficult circumstances. How might we incorporate students' concerns into our existing routines in the classroom to support mutual respect and to help meet students where they are day-to-day? What are best practices that can be more widely adopted and scaled to be supportive of students’ learning experiences while aligning with trauma-informed teaching which models empathy, inclusion, and multicultural awareness to students.

For those interested in: Advocacy and Policy, Broadening Participation in Engineering and Engineering Technology, and New Members

Moderated by

1. Dr. Lynn A. Albers, Dr. Micah Lande, Dr. Bala Maheswaran, Cindy Cooper, Cindy Anderson, and Dr. Michael K. J. Milligan P.E.