Creating an Instrument to Measure Leadership, Change, and Synthesis in Engineering Undergraduates

Abstract

Background Studies have highlighted the importance for engineers of leadership, adaptability to change, and synthesis of multiple perspectives. Yet only a few studies and instruments have explored the operational definitions of these concepts for engineering undergraduates.Purpose The goals of this research were to identify observable outcomes that engineering undergraduate students should demonstrate related to leadership, adaptability to change, and synthesis abilities and to create an instrument to assess them.Design/Method In the first phase of the study, 12 engineers working in academia and 11 engineers working in industry were interviewed. The transcripts were analyzed using a constant comparative method to determine constructs related to leadership, change, and synthesis. In the second phase of the study, survey items were developed and administered to 753 engineering undergraduate students in the spring of 2011. An exploratory factor analysis determined the common factors across the survey items. ResultsThe mixed methods approach resulted in the creation of 45 survey items catego-

Achieving Excellence in Master of Engineering Education: A Case Study of National University of Defense Technology’s Practice

“…It is clearly stated that leadership is not orthogonal to the remainder of the engineering curriculum, but rather there is an extensive amount of overlap between leadership skills and the other engineering skills 9 . More study operationalized leadership, change, and synthesis within the context of engineering education, it may help to define learning outcomes and competencies for engineering leadership programs 3,10 .Some research grouped three main themes from the perspective of engineering students, academics, and professionals: Strong Character, Team Dynamics and Technical 11 .…”

“…What is actually happening in the data 17 ? In the fourth phase of analysis, relationships between the categories were examined and then collapsed under a construct (higher-level category) that explained most of the variation in the data 3 .…”

“…There is a need to educate engineers not just in physics and mathematics, but also in many nontechnical areas, including globalization, communication, and leadership 2 . Engineers are expected to have the skills to manage, influence, think critically, make decisions, and collaborate2.One of the difficulties in the field of engineering leadership education is the need to clearly define the term engineering leadership 3 . A more clearly understanding of this term and the establishment of curriculum system will help institutions to improve the quality of engineering leadership education.…”

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“…However, there is a lack of personalized assessment tools incorporated in the program to assess whether engineering leadership courses are meeting desired outcomes. A thorough literature review showed that although a survey had been developed for individual assessment of leadership qualities 1 , there was no instrument to assess its results and provide engineering students with comprehensive feedback in comparison to their peers and provide them with actionable feedback regarding their leadership efforts. This paper introduces a way to translate the empirical results of the engineering leadership survey into a personalized leadership profile that helps students to identify potential areas of leadership improvement by comparing their individual responses to large group responses informed from a previous study 1 .…”

“…A thorough literature review showed that although a survey had been developed for individual assessment of leadership qualities 1 , there was no instrument to assess its results and provide engineering students with comprehensive feedback in comparison to their peers and provide them with actionable feedback regarding their leadership efforts. This paper introduces a way to translate the empirical results of the engineering leadership survey into a personalized leadership profile that helps students to identify potential areas of leadership improvement by comparing their individual responses to large group responses informed from a previous study 1 . Following a brief introduction of Purdue University's Engineering Leadership Minor and a description of the survey instrument used for personal leadership monitoring, the methods section describes how individual leadership profile Page 26.632.2 scores were calculated, and presents sample individualized student reports and recommendations provided to guide students toward relevant engineering leadership coursework.…”