The CPACE Initiative: Overview CPACE I & CPACE II
In
the global economy of the 21st century, the preparation of a
competitive U.S. workforce with knowledge and understanding of critical
computing concepts, methodologies, and techniques is essential. The
Collaborative Process to Align Computing Education with Engineering Workforce
Needs (CPACE) project brings together Michigan State University (MSU), Lansing Community College (LCC) and the Corporation for
Skilled Workforce (CSW) to design and implement a process to transform
undergraduate computing education within the engineering and technology fields. The CPACE team developed a partnership among various stakeholders –university, community college and business and industry leaders – to identify
the computational skills that are essential for a globally competitive
engineering workforce. Our goal is to redesign the role of computing within the
engineering programs at MSU and LCC to
develop computational competencies – informed by industry needs – by infusing
computational learning opportunities into the undergraduate engineering
curriculum.
During the first phase of the project (CPACE I),
we interviewed
and surveyed engineering stakeholders to understand engineering workplace needs
for computational competence both at the practical-tool level and at the
computational problem solving level. Central themes emerged that are consistent
with other research on engineering education (National
Academy Press, 2005; The
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 2008); employers place high value on: (a) interpersonal skills such as
communication, ability to organize and present data, and the ability to
function in a team; (b) critical and innovative thinking and problem solving;
and (c) employers see trends towards computational globalization which
translates to the need for engineers to understand business practices and the
importance of integrating engineering data across larger systems. The ability
of engineers to understand computational principles in the context of the
engineering practice allows them to select and use computation to solve
engineering problems. With regard to specific software, Excel, design and
modeling software, and data and project management software were identified as
very important to the engineering practice (Vergara et al., 2009a; 2009b).
After
identifying
workforce needs for computational competence and skills, we translated our findings
into Computer Science (CS) concepts and used those as the foundation for
integrating computation in the engineering curricula (Vergara et al., 2011). The chart in Figure 1
shows the distribution of the computational competencies – required
in the engineering workplace – mapped
to CS concepts that can be used to implement curricular changes. Our goal is to
better align our engineering graduates capabilities to solve disciplinary
problems utilizing computational skills with the needs of industrial stakeholders
represented in this distribution. Figure 1. Distribution
of engineering workplace computational competencies aligned to CS concepts (Vergara et al., 2011).
In CPACE II our goal is to infuse computational problem-solving competencies
throughout the curricula. To achieve an integrated
computing experience, our strategy entails using problems derived from
contemporary industrial engineering practice. The problems are developed in
consultation with stakeholders from industry, and faculty from engineering and computer science (CS) to ensure that they exemplify relevant industrial scenarios within the
discipline. These
problems provide a context where students are required to apply various
computational concepts for their solution. Initial implementation includes
Chemical (CHE) and Civil (CE) Engineering at MSU and
pre-engineering courses at LCC. Key courses are addressed across all four years
of the engineering curricula. Following
a mixed methods approach, quantitative and qualitative data are collected. We
collect student surveys at the beginning and end of target courses. The goals of the student surveys are: (a) to measure general attitudes towards engineering; (b) to measure attitudes towards computational problem solving; (c) to determine the use and application of computational tools. In addition, we conduct focus
groups and faculty and student interviews. Standard class data on learning
outcomes and sample course work e.g. final report on the assigned problem and
relevant homework assignments from the target courses at LCC
and MSU are collected and assessed. We are currently in the process of analyzing the data for preliminary reports on student outcomes refer to Vergara et. al., (2012).
Publications and Resources: Please follow the link to find relevant CPACE publications.
|
CPACE Publications and Resources
