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Engineering Undergraduate Education (1986) / Chapter Skim
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5. The Role of Laboratory Instruction
Pages 76-85

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From page 76...
... As stated in a report by the National Society of Professional Engineers ~ 1982:32: Clearly the problems of large class size, high student-to-faculty ratios, deteriorating physical plants, inadequate equipment, and inability to acquire laboratory equipment commensurate with present-day technological advances in industry are too widespread to be ignored.... Continuing obsolescence of laboratory equipment and instruments has placed many schools in the position of not being representative of modern professional practice.
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From page 77...
... Purposes of Laboratory Work The concept of the undergraduate student as an experimenter is fundamental to engineering education and to the role of a practicing engineer. The undergraduate student should become an experimenter in the laboratory, which "should provide him with the basic tools for experimentation, just as the engineering sciences provide him with the basic tools for analysis" tErnst, 1983b:4~.
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From page 78...
... . The only hope for using the laboratory to educate undergraduates for engineering in the real world may be if "faculty involved in the development and continuing revision of a laboratory course find this to be a creative activity one that can be rewarding in terms of the continued professional development of the faculty member.
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From page 79...
... . Experience for a Career In 1966 the Committee for Laboratory Development reported to the ASEE Annual Meeting that "in many cases, facilities for the undergraduate laboratories and the tasks students carry out bear little resemblance to the real world in which the student will later be embedded" {Ernst, 19831~:1~.
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From page 80...
... So a strong laboratory experience is a vital part of an undergraduate education. tHalverson, 1983 :37]
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From page 81...
... The Panel on Undergraduate Engineering Education recommends that, since it is of primaryimportance that the role and significance of laboratory instruction in undergraduate engineering education be emphasized, colleges of engineering must address this priority need and, together with industry and government, provide the funding to achieve thegoalofintegratinglaboratorypracticein engineeringeducation. A Lab Curriculum Like any other curriculum, one that requires laboratory experience should be based on a theory of instruction.
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From page 82...
... Says Ernst: Deans and department chairmen must be persuaded to exercise their leadership in support of the undergraduate engineering laboratory. In turn, the faculty must support the efforts lay campus administrators by also aggressively pursuing all avenues of external support to provide a meaningful laboratory experience for all students receiving an undergraduate engineering education.
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From page 83...
... Keeping Current The cost of revitalizing undergraduate engineering laboratories is substantial, partly because their substance and importance has been neglected and partly because they need modernization. The National Society of Professional Engineers i 1982J acknowledged this in a major study which shows that the value of the average laboratory equipment inventory per school declined from $5,810,000 to $856,000 between 1972 and 1981.
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From page 84...
... " The Panel on Undergraduate Engineering Education recommends that a national program of government-industry-college matching grants is needed to address the problem of replacing outdated equipment and of maintaining increasingly complex experimental equipment. Industry, academe, t?
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From page 85...
... 1982. Engineering Education Problems: The LaboratoryEquipment Factor "Washington, D
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Key Terms

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  • engineering laboratory
  • engineering foundation
  • laboratory equipment
  • laboratory experience

  • undergraduate education
  • engineenng laboratory
  • undergraduate engineenng
  • laboratory courses
  • undergraduate laboratory

  • laboratory program
  • own research
  • laboratory work
  • undergraduate curriculum
  • future laboratories

  • electrical engineering
  • professional engineers
  • real world
  • faculty involved
  • education recommends

  • replacing outdated
  • strong laboratory
  • asee annual
  • thegoalofintegratinglaboratorypracticein engineeringeducation
  • bear little

  • experimental techniques
  • average laboratory
  • coordination board
  • laboratory experiences
  • educational program


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