Introducing Contemporary Issues to Engineering Students: A Case Study Module

This paper describes the implementation of a case study module in the area of ABET Student Outcome 3j: knowledge of contemporary issues. The module consists of a short (30-40 minute) in-class presentation and student group discussion on a single prepared case study, which is then followed by an untimed online quiz component featuring open-ended short answer questions about both the specific case study and to gauge broader student awareness of contemporary issues. Data is presented in this study from administering this module in 2010/2011 at a small Southwestern university where there had been identified deficiencies in student performance in 3j. The same module was employed there in courses at every level of the curriculum (freshman, sophomore, junior and senior: 120 students in total) and resulted in a strong turnaround in assessment results. The paper concludes with some suggestions for how instructors can develop successful modules using this framework and some discussion of student reaction and response to the module.