A Liberal Education

"Ideally, a liberal education produces persons who are open-minded and free from provincialism, dogma, preconception, and ideology; conscious of their opinions and judgments; reflective of their actions; and aware of their place in the social and natural worlds.”

Is that what we do?

Selected ABET Outcomes

(a)an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering (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

How do we do that?

Bloomfield’s Taxonomy

Rasmussen’s Skills, Rules, Knowledge

Ericsson and Deliberate Practice

Question

• Given the ABET requirements and the three models above, what should we see in our successful (or perhaps the majority of our) students?

A Vision of Students• Students who understand physical relationships (e.g., physics

and chemistry) and seek to explain the world from these principles.

• Students who can apply mathematical concepts to flesh out their design insights.

• Students who create and innovate by connecting technical ideas together

• Students who argue logically and coherently• Students who demonstrate autonomous interaction and mastery

of selected engineering tools with the same fluidity they demonstrate with facebook or their favorite phone apps (e.g., skill-based behavior)

• Students who demonstrate the principles of deliberate practice.

Desire Idea Network

Why Can’t Jonny Operate?

• Too few opportunities to practice• Inefficient practice• Lack of feedback

Traditional Techniques

• Content delivery -> recitation of facts, associations

• Demonstration of techniques and procedures• Assess students in their reproduction of those

techniques

Bloomfield’s Taxonomy

Rasmussen’s Skills, Rules, Knowledge

Ericsson and Deliberate Practice

Why Lecture?

• Passive listeners• Condense material to bullet points• Relatively few connections are built among

the concepts• Lecturer is focused more on himself or herself

than the learners

What Message Do We Send?

Professors as Ticket Sellers

• Engineers Make Money• Take optional math courses in high school and get good

(average) grades• Do lots of homework in college (not hard, but long

hours)• Answer the questions on the tests (not difficult

conceptually)• E.g., Pay the price, get the ticket.• Get your job• Collect $$$

This Leads to the Following Model of Efficiency

• Standardize classes (e.g., content, topics)• Emphasize quality control (e.g., number of

questions answered correctly)• Increase class size to limit without changing

quality• Maximize profit

Therefore

• Videotape lectures• On-line quizzes• Automated feedback• Mega courses• Rote and repetition• Standardized experience

Resulting Idea Network

My Goals

• Teach things that matter• Explain things that are relevant to the

students’ world• Make them read to gain knowledge• Get to know them as people a little• Make them in charge of their learning• Hold them personally accountable

What I Did• Wrote essays for each class (usually about 5

single-spaced pages twice a week)• On-line quizzes to validate that they understood

the content• Simple, direct applications of the material• Optional, open-ended opportunities for learning• Weekly 10-minute one-on-one meetings with

quiz• Group projects• Occasional, informal classes• Engaged students in the grading process

Sample essay

Sample Online Quiz

In-Person Quizzes

• Usually filled out in the chair directly outside my office while I spoke to the student in front of them.

• Graded in person. Usually leading to a discussion of things they missed.

• Always asked about other questions in the class

Classes

• Many class sessions involved the TA and I walking around, helping students with their individual homework or upcoming projects.

• Often the individual sessions led to questions about homework or projects

General Outcomes

• Most students liked the process, but not all.• The radical change was hard on those who

depend on the structure to succeed and also on those who habitually procrastinate.

• Lots of positive, enthusiastic feedback• Many complaints about slow grading

turnaround, many assignments due at various time was confusing.

Interesting Outcomes

• First time I caught cheaters myself (not through TA)

• First time I caught a student being high• Many talks about the silliness of trying to BS

through an assignment• Several discussions about teamwork and

contributing• Quality of students knowledge REALY increased –

obvious in the success of the projects

Why I’ll Do It Again

• I enjoy teaching• Less egoistic – more focused on the students• Nice to know the students and their strengths• I feel like I much better understood what

confuses the students.• I felt much more like a teacher and less like a

fraud or a dancing monkey• I had more energy afterwards

Bloomfield’s Taxonomy

Rasmussen’s Skills, Rules, Knowledge

Ericsson and Deliberate Practice

A Liberal Education

"Ideally, a liberal education produces persons who are open-minded and free from provincialism, dogma, preconception, and ideology; conscious of their opinions and judgments; reflective of their actions; and aware of their place in the social and natural worlds.”