Changing the Paradigm of Instruction and Outreach

Jim ClarkeEngineering Librarian

Miami UniversityOxford, Ohio

Agenda•Undergraduate Engineering Education•Academic Engineering Librarianship•Literature Research Guidance Process (LRGP)•Review Process Examples•Future Deployment & Research Plans

• The state of U.S. engineering education is weak. – U.S. universities cannot recruit enough students.– Only 60% of the recruited students become engineers.– Approximately 110,000 U.S. engineering graduates per

year.– About 400,000 domestic engineering jobs are available.– Strong growth in engineering jobs until at least 2018. – Concerns exist regarding U.S engineer quality.

Undergraduate Engineering Education

• Government & Private Sector investing in STEM. – According to a report by the National Science and Technology

Council, the feds spent 3.4 billion just in 2011 through 252 distinct investments.

– States including Washington, Oregon, Texas, North Carolina, New Mexico, Ohio, Tennessee, Arizona, California, and Idaho have developed STEM alliances that rely on both public and private funding.

– The Business and Industry Stem Education Coalition (BISEC) & TechNet are examples of corporate partners

supporting STEM.

Undergraduate Engineering Education

Engineering Librarians/Jedi Knights

• Potential to increase student retention & quality of young American engineers.– Committed to STEM education. – Train students to access & analyze technical literature. – Foster critical thinking & informed decisions for design

projects. – Support the development of high caliber engineers.

Value of Engineering Librarians

• The few serve the many– 500-600 in North America– 1 librarian/1700 students*

• Declining desk demand • External role

– Semi-Faculty/Outside Curriculum

• Limited instruction time– 200 minutes/128 weeks

• Outreach = New frontier

Obsolete Engagement Model

Literature Research Guidance Process(LRGP)

1. Research kickoff meetings (capstone case study)2. Team reference meetings & instruction3. Initial literature searches4. Follow up weekly meetings

LRGP Weekly Team Meetings

5. Meet teams with or without faculty advisors.6. Require agendas, Gantt charts, minutes, wikis.7. Facilitate literature analysis discussions:– What did you read? – Why is it valuable for the project? – How can you use the information in the design process?– Should your fellow team members read it?– Does it raise important questions to ask your advisor? – Does it identify a need for more reading materials?

As the semester progresses

8. Meet with teams weekly until the midterm9. Co-advise for presentations, posters, papers.10. Attend student events to provide support– Develops strong professor & student relationships

Initial Observarions•LRGP is not threatening to professors.-Supports accreditation (ABET) learning outcomes.

•LRGP is practical for engineering students. •LRGP is practical for many engineering disciplines.•LRGP is not scalable for a small staff.– Small scale LRGP projects should attempted.– Added value needs to be proven. – STEM investments need to be harnessed.– 21st Century engagement model needs to end.

• Outreach-focused librarians– Incremental growth

• First-Year Research Programs • Independent Research• Student Chapter Projects • Senior Design Projects

Design Project Librarians

Next Steps

• Prove LRGP increases learning outcomes.• Pilot project for the 2012 fall semester • Pursue an NSF TUES grant in 2013:– Hire temporary design project librarians to maximize LRGP

deployment.– Facilitate LRGP deployment at other universities.

• Consider support from other STEM organizations.