Status and Evolution of Accreditation for Materials Programs in the U.S.

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G. S. Cargill III¹ and C. J. Van Tyne²

¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015, USA.
² Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, 80401, USA.

ABSTRACT

Undergraduate materials education in the United States is healthy and growing. The number of students graduating with B.S. level materials degrees increased by 18% from 2004 (817 graduates) to 2007 (963 graduates). Materials programs continue to evolve and diversify, with an increasingly wider variety of program titles. Nearly all of these programs are accredited by ABET, the accreditation agency in the U.S. for engineering, technology, applied science and computer science. Accreditation criteria were changed significantly during the period 1999 – 2001, to be less prescriptive and to be more outcomes based. This new approach to accreditation has resulted in both benefits and burdens. The post-2000 accreditation requirements and procedures have facilitated diversification, with each program developing its own Program Educational Objectives and having wide latitude in deciding how to achieve the ABET-required Program Outcomes. The ABET Program Criteria for materials and related engineering fields also allow programs to vary widely in their emphasis and focus, while requiring that the program titles realistically describe their topical coverage. Although a study commissioned by ABET reported a “positive, sometimes substantial, impact on engineering programs, student experiences, and student learning” of the new approach to accreditation, some faculty members feel burdened by the formality, documentation, and self-study reports required by ABET, and they question whether these efforts are worthwhile and actually lead to improvements in educational programs.

Add comment August 22nd, 2009

Creating a Project-Based Curriculum in Materials Engineering

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Katherine C. Chen¹, Linda Vanasupa¹, Blair London¹, Trevor Harding¹, Richard Savage¹, William Hughes¹, and Jonathan Stolk²

¹ Materials Engineering Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA; ² Franklin W. Olin College, Needham, Massachusetts, USA

ABSTRACT

For the past two years, the Cal Poly Materials Engineering department has been on an endeavor to create a modern, innovative curriculum to train a more diverse set of materials engineers for the global and complex world of the 21^st century. The traditional lecture and laboratory activities have evolved into more open-ended, project-based experiences that help students develop additional skills and contextualize the learning of theories. Different types of projects are embedded throughout the curriculum to achieve particular learning objectives while emphasizing different content. During class time, students are extremely active and the faculty act as coaches and mentors to the students.

This different approach to learning is designed to encourage students to become more independent self-learners, as well as to better integrate concepts with practical experiences. The varied activities and skills associated with the team projects allow different learning types to excel at different aspects. Thus far, the response from students and faculty about the projects-based curriculum has been positive. However, challenges remain for students and faculty with the transition to new roles and a different way of learning.

Add comment August 22nd, 2009

On the Implementation of Virtual Machines in Computer Aided Education

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Leszek A. Dobrzański and Rafał Honysz

Institute of Engineering Materials and Biomaterials, Silesian University of Technology, Konarskiego St. 18a, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland. leszek.dobrzanski@polsl.pl, rafal.honysz@polsl.pl

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to describe the Materials Science Virtual Laboratory, which is an open scientific, investigative, simulating and didactic medium helpful in the realization of the didactic and educational tasks from the field of material engineering, in the Institute of Engineering Materials and Biomaterials of the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice, Poland. The use possibilities of such a virtual laboratory are practically unrestricted. It can be a base for any studies, course or training programme performed by traditional and e-learning methods. Practically imperishable, cheap in exploitation and safe in usage, virtual simulated scientific equipment encourages students and scientific workers to independent discussions and experiments, in situations where the possibilities for their execution in the physical research laboratory are restricted. During the work with the simulations, users learn the functioning principles, as well as being exposed to the investigations and experimental guidance methodology of the real device that is simulated. As an implementation example of the laboratory for didactic and educational tasks, several virtual workrooms with equipment simulations and didactic materials are presented. This project corresponds also with the global trend of expanding investigative and academic centers by means of training and experiments performed with the aid of virtual reality.

Add comment August 22nd, 2009