The high emphasis on teaming and interpersonal skills, says Evans, will go along with ABET criteria for accreditation in 2001, which will require that students graduating from an accredited program can work in interdisciplinary teams. In addition, Evans says, industry has been complaining to schools for the last five years that engineering graduates are entering the workforce without knowing how to relate to team members. Innovative programs of this type are not without their critics, however. However, instead of raising criticism, says Jeffrey Froyd, an engineering professor at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, a member school of the Foundation Coalition, it's important to concentrate on the processes that help accelerate change, providing opportunities for faculty to become aware of proposed changes and discuss these issues openly. Therefore, when new approaches to engineering education are presented that require faculty to change, the reception is not likely to be warm.
Many educators say yes, and more.
Senior engineering student Laura Buller, for one, won't argue with those findings. I guarantee you I would have liked to have done hands-on engineering my freshman year. I probably would have learned a lot more about my major if I had.