Finding Your Way Around the Engineering Literature
Developing an Online Tutorial Series for Engineering Students
Janet FransenUniversity of Minnesota
ASEE ELD (2011) - session T530
The Joys of a Professional Development Leave
• The Libraries have lots of resources
• My name is Jan• I’m your librarian• I’m here to help
So what do they need?
• “Big picture” of engineering communication and practical skills
• Consumable in short bursts• Accessible whenever and wherever
the student needs it• A compelling reason to participate
What tool to use?
• Easy enough for a SME to learn• Inexpensive enough to install as
needed• Rapid prototyping, and easy editing
later• Capture screencasts and make them
interactive• Tools for quizzing• Our choice: Adobe Captivate
Lessons Learned
What makes these different?
• Examples are all engineering-related• Informed by citation analysis of past
theses and dissertations• Reviewed by faculty members
Citation Analysis
• By department• Past three calendar years• Limited to what was available online• Tedious, but worth it
– Not without its statistical problems, but…
– Helped me and will help the students understand what happens in grad school with this population
Electrical Engineering results
What’s next?
• Continue working on content• Citation analysis for AEM and CS• Incorporate suggestions from faculty• Assessment plan
Take a look
• Z.umn.edu/englit• Z.umn.edu/ececite