Distributed Microsystems Laboratory

1. Distributed Microsystems Laboratory Empowering the Engineering Undergraduate In the Era of Economic Globalization Linda Lee, Graduate Research Assistant Lisa Hansen, Graduate Research Assistant Denise Wilson, Associate Professor Department of Electrical Engineering University of Washington

2. Empowering The Undergraduate In the Era of Economic Globalization • Our Story • Relevance • Empowerment • Economic Globalization • Motivation • Structure of Study • Results • Survey • Interview • Conclusion • Acknowledgements

3. Empowering The Undergraduate Our Story • Context • Lack of alumni connection is a major concern at college/department level • Objective • Improve student’s ability to make their own lives (and careers) better • ISEE/CAEE • A supportive, facilitating environment to start out research in education • Prompts M.Ed. Program in Cognitive Studies (Educational Psychology) • Yeah!!! With a positive attitude, let’s go! • Ah-ha (hmmm…) moments of note • Supporting students to greater quality of life and self/situational awareness is neither linear nor straightforward • We have to accept many compromises in our efforts • Oh, by the way, faculty peers may not be supportive (at first).

4. Empowering The Undergraduate Relevance • Empowerment: student rather than curriculum/industry centered • Lack of empowerment = disenfranchised from a group • Disenfranchised = the prevalence of the evil “THEY” • Self-labeled non-participants = no “best” education is possible • Lack of connection = alumni dropout • Economic Globalization • Impacts engineers in many ways • Chaotic and unstable workplace = engineers must pave their own way • With empowerment = sustainable, creative, self-defined career path where lifelong learning skills are exercised to maintain competitiveness • Without empowerment = spiral into unsustainable cycle of overwork, potential layoffs, and “catch up” to the next job • Paths to fulfillment increasingly require Empowerment along with a basket of skills necessary to keep pace with changing technology, cultural context, and marketplace demands.

5. Empowering The Undergraduate Motivation • Alumni drop-out rate at Univ of Washington is high in engineering • Hypothesis: empowerment, fulfillment, and connection to the University: • Do not improve (or decline) during the engineering experience • Are poor upon graduation • Additional challenge: • Teaching empowerment skills “explicitly” can be perceived as “touchy, feely” and may encounter substantial resistance and recruitment barriers • Research/Curriculum Improvement Process • Preliminary Study • Define success and fulfillment from the student’s perspective • Evaluate barriers to connection with the University • Evaluate limits to fulfillment in the undergraduate engineering education • Offer Interventions • “Savvy” Sessions: topics such as course strategy, personal purpose portfolio development, developing effective relationships with instructors/Tas, etc… to improve self/situational awareness and to build confidence toward a more empowered approach to individual education

6. Empowering The Undergraduate Structure of Study • “Mandatory” surveys (optional consent) given to first year electrical engineering students in EE215 (Introductory Circuits) • Follow up surveys given to second and third year engineering students in EE332 (Microelectronic Circuits) and EE484 (Sensors & Sensor Systems) • “Savvy” Sessions offered in extra-curricular interactive format to randomly selected group in “surveyed” section of EE215 and non-surveyed section. • Follow-up interviews with randomly selected students (juniors and seniors) conducted 3-6 months after initial study/intervention. • Surveys • Collect demographic data • Define (in close-ended and open-ended form) success, fulfillment, and confidence • Assess areas of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with the curriculum.

7. Survey Results: Perceptions of Experience • Contradicting responses were quite common! • 49% felt overworked • 24% felt insecure • 53% felt fulfilled • Many students responded with “sometimes” across all attributes, suggesting that feelings of uncertainty were common.

8. Survey Results: Perceptions of Experience • Students were most ambivalent about feelings of frustration • A majority of students expressed feelings of fulfillment but also felt overworked. • This contradiction reappeared in an open-ended question addressing the same issue: • Intrigued and stressed • Excited and confused • Confident and not comfortable • Curious and bored

9. Survey Results: Gender and Demographic Variations • Men are three times as likely to be “never insecure” than women • Men are almost twice as likely as women to be “often fulfilled” • Caucasians are four times as likely as Asian students to be “never insecure” • Caucasians are almost twice as likely as Asian students to be “often fulfilled”

10. Survey Results: Perceptions vs. Performance • 7 of 17 “insecure” responses were from women • The mean GPA of the insecure group was 3.26 (lower than the class average), but • The mean GPA of women in the insecure group was 3.5 • This result is coincident with previous research studies.

11. Empowering The Undergraduate Interview Description • General Questions: • Why are you interested in your field? • What do you plan to do after you graduate • Academic Experiences: • Describe your undergraduate experience. • Based on your experience, what does it take to do well in your technical classes? • Fulfillment Questions: • What does fulfillment mean to you? • Is fulfillment and purpose important to you? Explain. • Is what you are studying now fulfilling? • What is exciting about what you are doing now? • What is difficult about what you are doing now? • Empowerment Questions: • What do you feel that you have control over in your technical classes? • What would you like to have control over in your technical classes?

12. Empowering The Undergraduate Interview Results: Summary • Major Negative Feedback: • Overwork and • Lack of relationship • Are prevalent and major barriers to fulfillment in the educational process • Pose potentially significant barriers to empowerment in the workplace • Effective career strategy and empowerment REQUIRES connection! • General Observations • Students are remarkably self-aware • “Assistance” for personal/professional growth is inaccessible due to workload • Major Positive Feedback • Inherent fulfillment in technical course content • External failure is not necessarily internalized • General Resentment • Things that don’t work • Lack of application and relationship

13. Empowering the Undergraduate In the Era of Economic Globalization About the Students: • Women have incorrect and lower perceptions of themselves than men • Contradictory responses suggest deeper underlying barriers to fulfillment • Relationship is highly valued • Hostile attitude to surveys (disconnected inquiry) is barrier to assessment About the Professors and the Curriculum • Connecting to students is essential • Technical content is highly valued • Extracurricular personal/professional content is often inaccessible • Less laboratory content is better than non-working content Acknowledgements This work was supported by the National Science Foundation grant ESI-0227558, which funds the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education (CAEE).