Engineering Competitions as Pathways to Development of Professional Engineering Skills

In this paper we present preliminary findings from a research project aimed at identifying learning outcomes in informal environments. We focused on engineering competitions which have gained momentum across a range of engineering disciplines. Increasingly, students are participating in design competitions that range anywhere from multi-year activities such as Concrete Canoe and Formula SAE to short term activities such as one day competitions or Hack-a-thons. Although competitions are becoming popular, there is little research on what students learn through their participation in these events. Proponents of competitions argue that these activities provide students the opportunity to apply both technical and professional skills and knowledge to a practical or applied problem and through their participation improve their skills or knowledge, i.e. learn. To empirically examine this issue we conducted a qualitative study in one engineering competition. We examined students’ experiences of developing professional skills. The purpose for this study was to understand how students conceptualized professional skills as they engaged in the competition. Findings indicated that professional responsibilities were discussed most often as cognitions, behaviors, and dispositions. We organized these into three broad categories: self-management, task management, and team management, which can be used as a framework for future research. By providing students the opportunity to own the problem and its outcomes, engineering competitions can empower students to think like, act as, and become professional engineers. Introduction Engineering is a professional discipline. Engineers work largely within professional codes of conduct and are often required to obtain professional licensure to practice. As a professional, they are not only required to abide by certain codes – such as ethics – but are also expected to gain skills such as being able to communicate effectively, understand societal implications of their work, and continuously improve their knowledge as novel techniques and tools are developed and deployed in practice. For undergraduate engineering students, opportunities to engage in problems and tasks that would allow them to develop these skills are critical. Although the need for such experiences is well recognized, providing such authentic experiences, has also been one of the highest barriers in engineering education (Spradling, So, & Ansorge, 2009). Therefore, providing evidence that engineering competitions provide powerful learning experiences may act as a motivation to address the barriers. One educational experience that has been implemented across engineering degrees is engineering competitions. In recent years, competitions have found favor among schools and universities especially because competitions provide hands-on experience. Engineering competitions provide students with the opportunities to participate in authentic tasks, to become engaged in planning and design, to solve complex problems, and to work with teams (Carberry, Lee, & Swan, 2013). In a previous study, Kusano and Johri (2014) found that engineering competitions supported the development of student autonomy, and the developing autonomy provided students a sense of empowerment over their own learning trajectories. The Kusano and Johri (2014) findings support examination of the broader scope of professional responsibilities and the acquisition of professional skills and knowledge. Autonomy and a sense of empowerment about one’s own personal learning trajectory may provide support for learning with competitions. Engineering competitions may also create an environment to promote effective learning. For example, students have the opportunity to conduct research within the context of a competition (e.g., Hetawal, Gophane, &Mukkamala, 2014). Ideally, an effective learning experience within an engineering competition would act as an affordance for students to apply content knowledge and skills to develop deep conceptual understanding. In addition, students would acquire proficiency in technical and professional skills and workforce competencies as they solve authentic engineering problems (Bement, Dutta, & Patil, 2015; Kolmos & de Graaff, 2014; Litzinger, Lattuca, Hadgraft, & Newstetter, 2011). Koehn (2006) found that students who participated in the steel bridge and canoe competitions specifically believed that the competition enhanced their understanding and application of technical and professional skills. Thus, engineering competitions may act as a catalyst for students to learn how to integrate technical and professional skills and knowledge in their development as an engineer. Although competitions provide a range of experiences and competencies, professional skills development are foundational competencies assessed within engineering (American Association for Engineering Societies [AAES], 2015), which is the main focus of this paper. Professional skills comprise six outcomes for engineering students as defined by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and TechnologyTM (ABET, 2013). Shuman et al. (2005) expanded on the ABET definitions and grouped the skills into process and awareness skills. Process skills included an ability to function on multidisciplinary teams; an ability to communicate effectively; and an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility. Awareness skills included the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and social context; a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning; and a knowledge of contemporary issues (Shuman, Besterfield-Sacre, & McGourty, 2005). The Shuman et al. (2005) discussion of professional and ethical responsibility clearly discussed ethical responsibilities within the scope of an overall professional responsibility. In earlier work, Besterfield-Sacre et al. (2002) delineated professional traits as professional image; positive work ethics; independent learning, thinking, and motivation; continued desire for learning; and being goal-oriented, organized, and able to manage time (Besterfield-Sacre, Shuman, & Wolfe, 2002). AAES identified professionalism as a foundational, Tier 1 personal effectiveness competency and professional ethics as a Tier 4 Industry-Wide Technical Competency in their Engineering Competency Model (2015). As with any categorization process, different points of view exist in the engineering community about the composition of professional skills (Gilbuena, Sherrett, Gummer, Champagne, & Koretsky, 2015). However, for the purposes of better understanding the impact of educational environments, skill categorization does provide a means to determine how these skills can be assessed. Research Questions We examined students’ cognitions about their experiences in an engineering competition, specifically related to professional skills as identified by ABET (2013) and as organized by Shuman et al., (2005). We investigated the following research questions: 1. What is the incidence of students’ dialogue about professional skills, as defined by the ABET student outcomes, when students reflect on their experiences within engineering competitions? 2. How do students describe their experiences and understandings of professional and ethical responsibility? 3. What are the key attributes of professional responsibility within an engineering competition? Methods This study was primarily a qualitative study. Data were collected from undergraduate engineering students participating in the IAM3D Design challenge, which was a noncurricular engineering competition. The students were required to design and fabricate a remotely-piloted hybrid ground and air vehicle. We used descriptive statistics to address RQ1. Based on the results, we mapped out the terrain of how students experienced professional responsibilities within engineering competitions. For RQ2 and RQ3, we used a phenomenological approach to guide analysis and interpretation. Phenomenology is ideally suited to examine practice and can be used to study individual experience within focus groups sharing a collective experience (Asunda & Hill, 2007; Bradbury-Jones, Sambrook, & Irvine, 2009; van Manen, 2014). Sample This study took place in a large public university in the U.S. with a highly ranked and subscribed engineering program, more than 10 engineering majors, and a robust selection of clubs and other organizations to support engineering education. This university also hosts multiple engineering competitions. We drew focus groups from undergraduate engineering students in the IAM3D challenge, which lasted for 10 weeks. The students worked on selfidentified projects in teams approximately 50 students participated in the competition. Teams of students ranged from approximately two to four pending maintenance of participation throughout the competition. Students came from various engineering disciplines, and represented all stages of an engineering undergraduate career. All students participating in the competition were invited to participate in the focus groups. Eighteen students participated in the study. Three were female. Data Collection Focus groups provided insight into the rich experiences of engineering competitions, specifically the similarities and differences across individual experiences of professionalism (Ryan, Gandha, Culbertson, & Carlson, 2014). Nine focus groups were conducted across the year. Four to seven students participated in a given focus group. Sample protocol for the focus group included questions such as: “How would you describe your process?” “What would you want a potential employer and/or your engineering professors to know about your experience with the competition?” Analysis Student comments were coded for each of the six ABET professional skills and were quantified with descriptive statistics to answer RQ1. To