Engineering Graduates Research Articles

Hackathons: what do engineering educators think about it?

PurposeWith past studies indicating a lack of skill development in engineering education, there is a need for new pedagogical tools that are application and skill-oriented. Hackathons are widely accepted in the corporate world, in the engineering domain for skill development and recruitment but have not gained acceptance in mainstream engineering education. Very few studies have discussed engineering educator views regarding hackathons and their benefits. This paper intends to study engineering educators' perception of the hackathon and its benefits after participating in it. The findings could support hackathons as a pedagogical tool to develop an industry-oriented and skill-based engineering education.Design/methodology/approachA mixed methods design was employed where initially qualitative study was conducted. Its findings were used to conduct survey of 162 engineering educators who had participated in a hackathon. A five point Likert scale was employed for data collection.FindingsThe findings reveal that engineering educators who participated in the hackathon perceived hackathons to support industry-focused learning, problem-solving and new skill development. They also acknowledged its role in their professional development. The further discussion suggests that engineering educators and institutes may collaborate with industry to design and use hackathons as a teaching tool to develop industry-ready graduates.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was not designed to study how different aspects of hackathon lead to different benefits derived from participating in it. There is a need to study hackathons as a tool of pedagogy and assessment, focusing on how variables linked to it facilitate, moderate and hinder the learning and assessment process in participants. More in-depth studies need to be conducted to adopt the hackathon as a pedagogy and assessment tool in higher education.Practical implicationsThe discussion suggests that designing hackathons effectively as a tool for learning and skill development will result in skilled graduates. Engineering educators should adopt hackathons as a pedagogy for their students. Management and policymakers of engineering institutes should consider hackathons as a part of pedagogy for students besides conducting hackathons for educators for their professional development that will be investment in skills helpful at workplace.Originality/valueThe notable contribution of this paper is to document perceptions of engineering educators regarding hackathons and their benefits after participating in a hackathon. The paper proposes that hackathons can be introduced in the engineering curriculum as they would offer educators a novel method of teaching and assessment and support engineering graduates in recruitment and making them industry-ready.

Production of STEM PhD Graduates: First decade of the ASTHRD and ERDT Programs

The first decade (2007–2018) of implementation of the Advanced Science and Technology Human Resource Development Program (ASTHRDP) and the Engineering Research & Development for Technology (ERDT) Program was examined to identify possible best practices and continuing challenges encountered in the production of new Filipino PhD graduates in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The ASTHRDP and the ERDT Program, started in 2007 by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in partnership with selected Philippine higher education institutions (HEIs), aimed to produce more STEM PhD and MS graduates. The DOST identified ten (10) and eight (8) out of 1900 HEIs, to partner with, in the initial implementation of ASTHRDP and the ERDT, respectively. From 2008 the total number of PhD and MS scholarships awarded per fiscal year both increased at an average annual rate of 18% (PhD: 302 to 893; MS: 956 to 2,832, respectively). The PhD and MS scholarship packages enable an awardee to study fulltime for three and two academic years, respectively. From 2007 to 2015, 662 ASTHRDP PhD scholarships were awarded and produced 373 PhD graduates from 2007 to 2018, with a graduation efficiency rate of 56.34%. The corresponding ERDT rate was 48.13% with 268 PhD scholarships awarded and 129 PhD scholars graduated. The ASTHRDP partner institutions performed at varying individual efficiencies, with the Visayas State University at 100% (with all 16 PhD scholars graduated), University of the Philippines Diliman at 34.34% (34 out of 99), UP Los Baños at 65.59% (162 out of 247). For ERDT, UP Diliman had a graduation rate of 61.1%. The availability of more dissertation research supervisors was identified as a key factor towards improving the ASTHRD and ERDT PhD graduation rates. A number of recommendations are proposed with the aim of improving the program graduation efficiency and producing more highly trained scientists and researchers to serve the national interest.

A technology-enabled assessment and attainment of desirable competencies

Engineering is an exciting field, offering exceptional career opportunities. Still, the success of an engineering graduate depends upon their knowledge, skills, and attitude. Accreditation agencies worldwide described these attributes as desirable competencies referred to as program outcomes (POs) by NBA, India. These POs are imparted during graduation and effectively implemented in the profession. Thus, continuous monitoring of each PO for an individual undergraduate during graduation becomes vital to initiate corrective action (if needed). This study proposes automation in the assessment process for POs. It has identified new assessment events and developed additional online assessment tools, feedback systems involving all stakeholders. To demonstrate the effect/impact of all these parameters, separate mathematical formulae are evolved to assess each PO. The authors claim that the developed system provides a more realistic attainment number due to comprehensive assessment and all-inclusive feedback instead of relying on sample data as in the conventional assessment process. It also helps in institutional accreditation.

History Matching of Petroleum Engineering Graduation Rates

An email discussion among the four members focused on one of several charts created by Tom Blasingame, 2021 SPE president. A summary of their insights follows. Tom Blasingame explained the chart, which led to further discussion. The “reference” trend shown (red) occurs over the period from 1970 to 2000, which peaked at 1,587 BS graduates around 1984. It is a Gaussian probability distribution fitted to the data provided by Lloyd Heinze, professor at Texas Tech University’s Bob L. Herd Department of Petroleum (solid black line), and data extracted from a 1991 paper by John C. Calhoun, who was then at Texas A&M University and previously served as the 1964 SPE president. The reference trend is then shifted in time to the period from 2003 to 2033 (green). The mean and standard deviation of the statistical trends are the same; only the midpoint in time and peak in BS graduates are adjusted for each period. We note an excellent match of the data in the period from 2003 to 2033. Taking the reference trend back in time to the period from 1940 to 1970 (purple trend), we do not get a reasonable match of the data, with the exception of a slump from about 1951 to 1956. It is difficult to explain this feature, other than to note that in this timeframe the US began to import significant quantities of oil. Regardless, we note the statistical trend does capture the beginning and end of this distribution, and we recognize that there is no single peak in the data trend from 1940 to 1970. If we follow the historical trends and the current increase in oil prices and consider the need for oil and gas in the foreseeable future, we predict that the downward trend may stabilize as it did before and level out at the range of 250 graduates a year, while the demand for graduates is much higher. In this scenario, I consider the following positives and negatives. - Negative publicity around fossil fuels and social/political pressure to shut down the oil industry will continue, pulling the graduates’ figures down. - Current energy shortages and price spikes will remind the public that the end of oil and gas is not near, which will start to improve the image of petroleum engineering. - Deepening global economic crises and rising inflation will reduce people’s buying power and move them from highly idealistic to mostly pragmatic decisions. That, combined with the unmatched salary prospect of petroleum engineers with only a 4-year undergraduate degree, will increase the interest in the PE degree. - Considering that oil and gas will remain to be slightly over 50% of the energy mix, and that the energy demand will increase by 47% by 2050, we will need to produce roughly 45% more oil and gas than today. Even with the increased efficiency … we will need more petroleum engineers.

Design-by-Analogy: Effects of Exploration-Based Approach on Analogical Retrievals and Design Outcomes

Abstract This paper presents VISION (Visual Interaction tool for Seeking Inspiration based on Nonnegative Matrix Factorization), a computational design-by-analogy (DbA) tool that enables designers to visually explore a space of analogical inspiration for creative idea generation. While many currently available DbA tools use a query-based approach for retrieving analogies (i.e., input keywords or functions to return a set of relevant results), VISION allows designers to retrieve a collection of design analogies that are related to topics of interest and explore a space of potential inspiration, the way one would gather books of particular topics from multiple shelves at the library to find potential resources. Two cognitive engineering design studies were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of VISION during the conceptual design process. In the first study, conducted in a controlled-lab setting, VISION was evaluated based on its effect on the quantity, quality, novelty, and direct physical similarity ratings of design outcomes. In the second study, conducted in a graduate engineering design class, VISION was evaluated based on designers’ abilities to retrieve analogies from different domains and analogies that are different from already existing design solutions. Studies show that VISION could provide an alternative to the query-based search that many DbA computational support systems use and open up new opportunities for designers to benefit from computationally supported analogies.

Glossophobia among Engineering Learners: A Case Study at a Technical University

Abstract: Glossophobia or fear of public speaking is commonly experienced by tertiary learners during classroom presentations. This study intends to examine the speech anxiety level experienced by engineering learners and the relationship between the learners’ English language proficiency and their speech anxiety. The study will also identify the causes of public speaking anxiety among these engineering learners. The samples were 65 Engineering Diploma students who responded to McCroskey’s Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA) questionnaire. The students’ English language grades at SPM level were used as the measurement of their English language proficiency. The findings showed the students’ speech anxiety is at moderate level (M= 105.9) and there was a weak negative relationship between total PRPSA scores and SPM English language grades (r = -.149, n = 65, p > 0.05). Mere thoughts of presenting a speech with undue worries of being asked questions were the causes of their speech anxiety. Therefore, it is proposed engineering learners be given ample public speaking trainings through planned programmes and engineering curriculum planners include elements of public speaking in engineering subjects. Public speaking skills will be an added value and increase engineering graduate employability in future.
 Keywords: Communication apprehension, Glossophobia, Public speaking, Speech anxiety, PRPSA

Impact and influence of soft skill training on the employability of engineering and management graduate and post graduate students: A Review

As the percentage of graduate and post-graduate unemployed candidates is very high. Factors affecting employment have a wide variety but lack of soft skills is one of the necessary factors in this advanced era. Most college students do not have the ability to even start a conversation with random people. To work in a company, students go through several rounds of interviews. The interview is actually a procedure to analyze the exact idea of your personality. There comes the significance of these life skills. This paper will help students to understand the importance and influence of certain soft skills which are in high demand these days also the aim of this article is to showcase the increased relevance of soft skills in a continuously changing environment for graduate and post-graduate students.

Analysis of Graduate Relevance to Program Learning Outcome Mechanical Engineering in State University of Surabaya

The college is one of the create of professional and qualified Human resource.. Universities must develop following the development needs of the business world and the industrial world. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relevance of Mechanical Engineering graduates to the Program Learning Outcome and as material for curriculum evaluation. The subjects of this research were 120 graduates in 2019 and 2020. The technique of collecting data was using a questionnaire through the State University of Surabaya Tracer Study web. The data is then analyzed using quantitative descriptive. As many as 55.83% of alumni are already working, 32.5% are not working, 10% are entrepreneurs, and the rest are continuing their education. The waiting time for graduates to get a first-time job takes an average of 4.49 months. The total relationship between the field of work and the field of education has a very tight, tight and pretty tight relationship of 77.5%. The profile of a mechanical engineering graduate is to become a mechanical engineer. The number of graduates who match the graduate profile is 61.2%. The competence of graduates is still below the competencies needed by the business and industrial. From the data above, we can conclude that graduates from the mechanical engineering study program are relevant to the established Program Learning Outcome.

A Global Program-Educational-Objectives Comparative Study for Malaysian Electrical and Electronic Engineering Graduates

Outstanding academic achievement in the field of higher education is a source of pride for the university. The success of the university is measured not only by academic performance but also by the quality of graduates produced. In Malaysia, three major categories in higher learning are identified: public, private, and foreign-branch universities. All engineering programs follow the requirements set by the Engineering Accreditation Council (EAC) on behalf of the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM). The programme educational objectives (PEOs) make up one of the elements that needs assessment for ensuring its continuity in line with the university’s mission and vision. A PEO comparative study on selected reputable electrical and electronic (EE)-engineering department universities was carried out based on the mapping of PEO attribute keywords. These attributes were then classified into either cluster, sharing, or uniqueness groups. The study compared the relevancy of each PEO statement suggested by stakeholders and other interested parties. The results from the PEO comparative study suggested that attributes on competency, ethics, professionalism, and leadership are given high priorities. However, the increase in demand for entrepreneurship-, multidisciplinary-, and soft skills should also be considered when reviewing the institution’s engineering curriculum. The uniqueness of such attributes will distinguish the EE-engineering graduates’ profession, marketability, and employability. PEO statements reflect the credibility and sustainability of a well-balanced graduate equipped with the right knowledge, skills, and values.

Designing Interface Based on Digipreneur to Increase Entrepreneurial Interest in Engineering Students

Entrepreneurship is one of the activities produced from higher education as an alternative solution because it contains competence, education, and training elements. Entrepreneurship has values needed during a digital society to survive and be creative in seeing problems into opportunities. Vocational engineering graduate dominates the high level of unemployment in Indonesia. It proves that there is still a lack of student interest in entrepreneurship. This paper aims to present a digipreneur-based (digital entrepreneur) interface design process to increase entrepreneurial interest in engineering students in Technology and Vocational Education. This research uses a research and development approach with three stages, namely: Phase I require analysis and design of the model, Phase II develops with validity and practicality, and Phase III will implement the model while in this study will only focus on stage I, namely Design Interface to Increase Entrepreneurial Interest in Engineering Students. The design of this interface uses elements of a digital entrepreneur known as an LMS Based Digipreneur. An effective and efficient alternative is needed by digipreneurs, namely the Digipreneur-based Learning Management System (LMS). It combines the concept of online learning and elements of technological entrepreneurship. It enables students to be very adaptive and develop their business because LMS facility supports and facilitates online shops that students can make independently. These integrations and implementation can be applied directly to entrepreneurship learning in higher education.

Impact of online social capital on academic performance: exploring the mediating role of online knowledge sharing.

Given the importance of digital communication during the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for advancing academic goals through online social capital is more tangibly felt. This study examined the hypothesis that online social capital can improve the students’ academic performance, as one of the main academic goals, through the mediation of knowledge sharing in the online environment. Participants in the study were 376 graduate engineering students from five universities in Iran. The findings indicated that the bridging of online social capital had a positive and significant effect on the cognitive and social integrative benefits of online knowledge sharing. Besides, the social integrative benefits and personal integrative benefits of online knowledge sharing influenced academic performance. Finally, the social integrative benefits and personal integrative benefits had a mediating role in the relationship between the bridging of online social capital and academic performance. Implications of the findings are discussed for the students’ academic performance and suggestions are provided for future research.

Gender Difference in the Performance of the 2018 UNP Civil Engineering Graduates in the Licensure Exam

Through the years, female enrollees to the civil engineering program increase. The BSCE program which was once male-dominated has gradually developed into a co-ed profession. Nevertheless, doubts as to how competitive the female civil engineers are still exist despite the non-significant difference in the abilities of males and females in other programs resulting from research findings. This bias could have originated from the years they were in college. This study aims to discover gender difference in the scholastic and board performances among the 2018 BSCE graduates in the College of Engineering, University of Northern Philippines.The college grades and board ratings of 88 male and 64 female graduates who took the board examination in this same year were analyzed. The college grades, called scholastic performance, were requested from the University Registrar. Board ratings, taken as the board performance, were requested from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). These ratings were analyzed as to their mean, significant difference and correlation. The findings reveal that the female graduates performed the same as their male counterparts in college, as suggested by the not significant difference in their scholastic performance. In the board examination, the female and male graduates performed the same in the Mathematics, Surveying and Transportation Engineering and Hydraulics and Geotechnical Engineering components of the board examination, but not anymore in the Structural Engineering and Construction component. As a whole, there is significant difference in the board performance of the 2018 female and male BSCE graduates, with more male graduates passing the licensure, meaning, they are not on the same level of capability in solving problems in the board examination. It was also found out that there exists significant relationship between their scholastic and board performances, suggesting that the subjects covering the three board components taken .....

Socialization, Tacit Knowledge, and Conceptions of ‘Experience’ among Engineers

Engineers value undergraduate research experience as an important step towards becoming an engineer. However, what the word ‘experience’ means in this context is ambiguous. We draw from qualitative interviews with engineering faculty members, graduate students, and undergraduate students to identify four categories of experience that they consider relevant to engineering: (1) practical experience: ‘real-world’ skills and opportunities that resemble the work done in engineering careers and graduate school, (2) social experience: the interpersonal aspects of working with a team, including norms of behavior and communication, (3) professional experience: skills and opportunities that are useful in aspects of students’ lives beyond a specific job, such as how to manage their time, and (4) epistemic experience: learning about and applying abstract engineering knowledge. By deriving a typology of ‘experience’ based on how faculty members and students talk about undergraduate research, this study offers insights into how engineers in universities understand engineering expertise, professionalization, and collaboration. Reflecting on what kinds of ‘experience’ a good engineer needs also reveals the power dynamics between mentors and novices, and between junior engineers’ sometimes conflicting roles as both laborers and learners.

Assessing the Impact of Undergraduate Research on Graduate Attributes Development: A Case Study of DUT Civil Engineering Students

Engineering graduates are expected to demonstrate competence after their engineering programmes in the form of graduate attributes (GAs) prescribed by the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA). It has, however, been challenging to develop and assess these attributes, especially using conventional assessment or examination methods, just as on the global scale. Nevertheless, studies have demonstrated that undergraduate research enables students to develop independent critical skills, as they do in graduate studies, by identifying a problem that needs to be solved. Undergraduate research has not been widely explored as a tool in developing and accessing GAs in engineering students. This study examined the impact of undergraduate research in engineering student ECSA GAs development and assessment using a case study of civil engineering diploma students. Therefore, using purposeful quantitative sampling methods, first-year and second-year diploma students were interviewed on their experience with newly introduced undergraduate research. Observations of the students' responses indicated that students' understanding, and views of GAs do improve from the first year to the second year due to continuous exposure to research. A conceptual model for assessing and developing GAs among engineering students is proposed in this study. This conceptual framework can assist in the further development of strategies in the implementation of undergraduate research at universities of technology.

Dimensions of financial literacy among graduates - A study in visakhapatnam city

Financial literacy is essential for both the individual and community as well. Financial decisions by individuals play a crucial role in their well-being and also it is essential for the composition of domestic investment. One's financial decisions are influenced by financial knowledge, financial behaviour and attitude. All these three together are termed as financial literacy. Major objective of the present paper is to assess and compare the financial literacy levels among Arts, Science and Engineering graduates in Visakhapatnam City. It is found that the average scores of financial knowledge, financial behaviour and financial attitude of all graduates are 5.0,5.3, and 3.2 respectively. Financial literacy score of all the graduates is 13.5 which average in the study area.

Employability Prediction of Information Technology Graduates using Machine Learning Algorithms

The ability to predict graduates’ employability to match labor market demands is crucial for any educational institution aiming to enhance students' performance and learning process as graduates’ employability is the metric of success for any higher education institution (HEI). Especially information technology (IT) graduates, due to the evolving demand for IT professionals increased in the current era. Job mismatch and unemployment remain major challenges and issues for educational institutions due to the various factors that influence graduates' employability to match labor market needs. Therefore, this paper aims to introduce a predictive model using machine learning (ML) algorithms to predict information technology graduates’ employability to match the labor market demands. Five machine learning classification algorithms were applied named Decision tree (DT), Gaussian Naïve Bayes (Gaussian NB), Logistic Regression (LR), Random Forest (RF), and Support Vector Machine (SVM). The dataset used in this study is collected based on a survey given to IT graduates and employers. The performance of the study is evaluated in terms of accuracy, precision, recall, and f1 score. The results showed that DT achieved the highest accuracy, and the second highest accuracy was achieved by LR and SVM.

Creating Continuous Change: Adapting an NSF ADVANCE Approach to the Development of the AGEP-NC Model of Institutional Transformation

Lessons learned through the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE: Organizational Change for Gender Equity in STEM Academic Professions (ADVANCE) program continue to pay dividends long after the ADVANCE grant period concludes. This article details how strategies implemented in an ADVANCE Partnerships for Adaptation, Implementation and Dissemination (PAID) project at one institution in 2008-2012, which were themselves adapted from earlier ADVANCE projects, have been applied to address issues of equity and inclusion for doctoral students in science, technology, engineering and mathematical sciences (STEM) graduate programs at three institutions. We detail the successful elements of the ADVANCE PAID project; the steps taken to evaluate, adapt and integrate them into a comprehensive model of change for an Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) project; and the impact of the AGEP project to date. We then generalize this process to provide recommendations for scholar-practitioners wishing to integrate elements of past ADVANCE and AGEP projects into current and future initiatives for lasting institutional change.

Aligning learning objectives and approaches in global engineering graduate programs: Review and recommendations by an interdisciplinary working group

Despite decades of global development programming, poverty persists in the low-and-middle-income countries targeted by these efforts. Training approaches to global development must change and the role of engineers in these efforts must evolve to account for structural and systemic barriers to global poverty reduction. Rapid growth in Global Engineering graduate programs in the United States and Canada creates an opportunity to unify efforts between academic institutions and ensure that programs align with the sector's needs as identified by practitioners. To build consensus on how to equip engineering students with the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary, we convened practitioners, faculty and graduate students for a two-day workshop to establish an agreed-upon Global Engineering body of knowledge. The workshop was informed by a pre-event survey of individual participants and representatives of participating academic institutions with graduate programs in Global Engineering or a related field. Through the workshop breakout sessions and post-event work by the authors, we developed the following priority learning objectives for graduate education in global engineering: Contextual Comprehension and Analysis; Cross-cultural Humility; Global Engineering Ethics; Stakeholder Analysis and Engagement; Complex Systems Analysis; Data Collection and Analysis; Data-driven Decision Making; Applied Engineering Knowledge; Project Design; Project Management; Multidisciplinary Teamwork and Leadership; Communication; Climate Change, Sustainability, and Resilience; Global Health; and Development Economics. Although technical skills are central to preparing the next generation of Global Engineers, transversal and interdisciplinary skills are equally important in equipping students to work across sectors and account for barriers to global development and equity.

Metadiscourse Markers in Thesis Abstracts Used by Japanese Engineering Graduate Students

Metadiscourse Markers in Thesis Abstracts Used by Japanese Engineering Graduate Students

Research on Graduate Engineering Ethics Based on Hotspot Integration

To adapt to the development of science and technology, engineering ethics education methods should improve. Under the existing problems of ethics education in universities, this paper proposes the education reform model based on integrating hot issues and ethical elements. This strategy emphasizes mainstream values in teaching objectives; In terms of educational themes, pay attention to the practice of Lide tree requirements in the curriculum system of engineering majors; In terms of educational methods, we highlight the infiltration education under the concept of curriculum education. This model helps to encourage graduate students to think about themselves, deeply investigate the significance and judgment of engineering ethics, and establish ways to deal with ethical dilemmas when establishing profound ethical dilemmas effectively.