Students must be prepared for today's globally-interconnected, technology-reliant world, so it is absolutely vital that they possess sound technological skills when they graduate. For students immediately entering the United States military upon graduation, this need is paramount. At the U.S. Air Force Academy, students are required to take several core engineering courses, regardless of their major, to graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree. An earlier ASEE paper [1] explored the basic pedagogy developed by the Air Force Academy's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering to overcome the inherent challenges of teaching non-engineers "to engineer." This paper explores the measure of success for those efforts based on tangible feedback and assessment data. Furthermore, the paper specifically addresses a monumental challenge beyond educating the students: motivating them to care about their learning. Various approaches are discussed and solutions graded on their success or failure. A representative syllabus is included at the end of this paper.
In June 2010, we reported to the United States Air Force Academy to teach in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Each of us brought different skill sets, different experiences, and different interests from different jobs in different locations. Yet, throughout our first year we simultaneously observed common stumbling blocks leading to some dilemmas and curiosities. This paper presents some of these common observations from three dissimilar instructors within a contextual framework promoting a learning-centered paradigm and balancing technical syllabus content with real-world "soft" skills. It is not our intention to define these observations as "Tricks of the Trade" or "Best Practices," although some recommendations are made. Rather, our intent is that these 10 observations will open dialogue in other institutions and departments to collectively address these issues.
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