Collaborative Learning About The Meaning Of Professionalism

Engineering educators strive to promote a professional orientation among their undergraduates. The task is difficult, given the range of subjects and goals, both on and off campus, that crowd the four-year curriculum. Yet the effort is extremely important, so much so that the ABET Engineering Criteria 2000 give new impetus for engineering schools to develop courses that foster professional development. This paper outlines a collaborative learning experiment at the University of Virginia that leveraged the experiences and expectations of first-year and fourthyear engineering students in existing courses offered by the Division of Technology, Culture, and Communication to create a novel avenue to explore the meaning of professionalism.