Engineering Education Outside the Classroom: Engagement in Professional Societies
Achille Messac, James N. Warnock, Masoud Rais-Rohani
James W. Bagley College of Engineering, Mississippi State University
Challenges for 21st Century Engineering Education
• Boeing’s list of “Desired Attributes of an Engineer”
• ABET Engineering Criteria 2000
• National Academy of Engineering “The Engineer of
2020”
Institutional Context
Pre-college traits of students
Environmental Factors
Coursework and Curricular
Patterns
Classroom Experience
Out-of-Class Experiences
Student Attributes
Adapted from Terenzini et al. (1994, 1995)
Departments in College of Engineering
Aerosp
ace Engineerin
g
Ag & Bio Engineerin
g
Chemical E
ngineering
Civil &
Environmental E
ngineering
Computer Scie
nce &
Engineering
Electrica
l & Computer E
ngineering
Industrial &
Syste
ms Engineerin
g
Mech
anical E
ngineering
203
372271
333 338 336
158
586
33
35
11
28 59 61
23
72
Undergraduate Students Graduate Students
# Students Joining Professional Societies
ABE AP ASE CEE ChE CSE ECE ISE ME0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
254
198 319251 224 331
173565
23
24
2424
1767 60
19
51
Undergraduate Students Graduate StudentsDepartment
Perc
enta
ge o
f Stu
dent
s w
ith
Mem
bers
hip
in a
Te
chni
cal S
ocie
ty
Increase in Student Members
ABE AP ASE CEE ChE CSE ECE ISE ME
32
3 3 36
93
115
2 2 26
67
2 2 3
Undergraduate Students Graduate Students
Department
Fold
Incr
ease
in th
e N
umbe
r of S
tude
nt
Mem
bers
for T
echn
ical
Soc
ietie
s
Activities
• Training for student chapter officers
• Provide support for participation at national
meetings
• Design competitions
• Utilize resources for class assignments
Limitations
• Determining most appropriate technical
society
• Advertising initiative to students
• Meeting logistics
• Financing
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