Report to Core Curriculum and College Services Committee

College of Engineering

2000-20001 Special Alumni Survey Segment on Lifelong Learning

by

Task Group

Robert J. Gustafson

Edward McCaul

Clark Mount-Campbell

Alfred Soboyejo

12 September 2001

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Based on a survey completed by 280 alumni during 2000-2001, the following observations can be made:

The top four indicators that a person is staying current professionally and technically were:

1. Reading trade or professional journals
2. Attending technical/training seminars or short courses
3. Attending professional conferences
4. Earning an advanced degree

The four most frequently responses to how alumni could have been better prepared by their undergraduate experience were:

1. Changes in content of engineering courses; e.g. more industry interaction, real-world context, and current technology and software
2. More student involvement in professional organizations
3. Increase use of trade and professional publications in the curriculum
4. Increase focus on professional skill; e.g. communication, ethics, conflict resolution, teamwork and time management

By far the most significant response to barriers to staying current was “time”. Breaking down the response further it is apparent that significant elements dealt with balance of personal and professional time commitments and employer allocation of time and resources towards professional development. It seemed to be a commonly accepted that the expectation of alumni and alumni of their employers was that professional development was to be accomplished outside of normal work hours, that is from personal time. Lack of motivation or willingness to learn and change was observed to also be a significant barrier.

Background

Based on results of the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 College of Engineering Alumni Surveys (2^nd, 6^th and 15^th year) and feedback from other sources, the Core Curriculum and College Services Committee established a Task Group to study the nature of the difference between perceived importance verse preparation of College of Engineering B.S. graduates in the area of “staying professionally and technically current”. This is one of six areas where gaps between Ability/Preparation and Importance were identified from recent alumni surveys. It related to ABET EC 2000 Criterion 3. (i) a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning.

The Task Group choose to develop a survey of alumni to further define what preparation or abilities alumni felt where of highest priority in this area. The Task Group reviewed literature available on lifelong learning and consulted with faculty from the College of Education on the topic. Using this information, a two-part survey was developed (Full copy in Appendix 1). For the first part of the survey, the group identified five categories with eighteen potential indicators that a person was staying current professionally and technically distributed across the categories. On the survey, the indicators were listed in random order. Alumni were asked to select six items that “would best indicate a person is staying current”. The option for adding additional topics was given. The second survey element presented two open-ended questions and space for written response. The first questions was directed at how their undergraduate experience could have been improved. It asked “Based on the items you chose, in what ways could your undergraduate experience have been different to better prepare you to stay current technically and professionally?” The second questions addressed barriers. It asked “What do you think are the most significant barriers to a person staying current technically and professionally?”

The survey was included as an extra one-page with the 2000-2001 alumni surveys. Surveys were mailed to engineering alumni of the 2^nd (1998), 6^th (1994), and 15^th (1985) year alumni groups based on addresses maintained by the Ohio State University Alumni Association. For the special survey segment, 280 useable surveys returned.

Alumni Year	No. Mailed	Survey Returned	Percent
2^nd (1998)	522	86	16.5
6^th (1994)	508	118	23.2
15^th (1985)	690	76	11.0
Total	1720	280	16.3

Results

Part A. Indicators

Table A1 shows a summary of the choices among the 18 indictors in order of frequency selected summed across all three alumni groups and all programs. A total of 1602 items were selected by the 280 respondents. Percent is calculated as percentage of respondents selecting that item.

Table A1. Indicators Summed Across All Years and All Programs

	Indicator	Total	Percent
A	Reading trade or professional journals	194	69.3%
B	Attending technical/training seminars or short courses	186	66.4%
C	Attending a professional conference	177	63.2%
D	Earning an advanced degree	119	42.5%
E	Reading technical books	108	38.6%
F	Attending corporate training sessions	103	36.8%
G	Increasing job responsibility	94	33.6%
H	Research or working on design projects with a college or university	93	33.2%
I	Taking college courses for credit	85	30.4%
J	Writing for professional journals	74	26.4%
K	Presenting a paper at a professional meeting	74	26.4%
L	Membership in a professional organization	71	25.4%
M	Web-based professional training	62	22.1%
N	Professional registration	47	16.8%
O	Conducting corporate training sessions	43	15.4%
P	Moving into supervisory positions	31	11.1%
Q	Holding an office in a professional organization	22	7.9%
R	Advising/mentoring middle school, high school, or college students	19	6.8%
	Total	1602

Figure A1 Response Rate vs Indicator – All Years and Combined

Response rate in percent of the respondents is show graphically in Figure A1 (See Appendix 2A for tabulated data) for each alumni years and for the combination across alumni years. Data by program is included in Appendix 3. The top four and bottom five indicators remained in the same sequence for all alumni years. For other indicators, it would appear the 15^th year alumni may rank writing and presenting professional work somewhat higher than 6^th and 2^nd year alumni.

In the open response to Other Indicators the following suggestions were received:

Vender certification Re-certification of P.E.

Private Research and Studies Exposure & involvement in complex projects

Professional experience Staying in touch with past professors

Attending trade shows

As part of the development of the survey, the indicators items had been placed in five broad categories. Table A2 summarizes the response rates across all alumni years and programs within each of the five pre-defined categories. It should be noted that the top three ranked indicators fell in three different categories.

Table A2. Indicators By Category Summed Across All Years and All Programs

Statement	Total	Percent
Engaged in informal independent professional study
Reading trade or professional journals	194	69.3%
Reading technical books	108	38.6%
Web-based professional training	62	22.1%
Professional registration	47	16.8%
Participating in formal organized training
Attending technical/training seminars or short courses	186	66.4%
Earning an advanced degree	119	42.5%
Attending corporate training sessions	103	36.8%
Taking college courses for credit	85	30.4%
Involved in a professional organization
Attending a professional conference	177	63.2%
Presenting a paper at a professional meeting	74	26.4%
Membership in a professional organization	71	25.4%
Holding an office in a professional organization	22	7.9%
Progressing organizationally
Increasing job responsibility	94	33.6%
Moving into supervisory positions	31	11.1%
Conducting training and professional publication
Research or working on design projects with a college or university	93	33.2%
Writing for professional journals	74	26.4%
Conducting corporate training sessions	43	15.4%
Advising/mentoring middle school, high school, or college students