2004 Section Conference Workshops

Friday 8:30 AM – Noon Workshop:  Leadership Issues: Trust & Conflict Workshop Fee:  $100.00 Note: This workshop is a portion of a two-day workshop valued at $1000. The full workshop is titled:  Strengthening Departmental Leadership. (http://www.bradley.edu/ldc/strengthening_departmental_leadership.htm) Facilitators:  This session is being provided by The Leadership Development Center. LDC is a network associate of the Center for Creative Leadership and is a part of Bradley University’s Foster College of Business Administration. Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®) is ranked first in the world for leadership development in BusinessWeek’s biennial 2003 Executive Education Special Report. This marks the third consecutive time – and the sixth year running – that the Center has been ranked #1 for leadership education in the biennial survey. Description:  Leadership challenges confront us every day. We constantly are making decisions which either increase or decrease our effectiveness as leaders.  Leadership is much about relationships. This workshop is designed to help you become more effective in two critical leadership areas:  1. How to increase trust and respect within your area of influence.  2. Understanding your typical response in conflict situations. Session Goals: Ø      Identify basic communication strategies that influence the development of trust within the department or college. Ø      Understand in a new way, the different approaches we can use in conflict situations and how one is more appropriate than another.

Friday 1:30-3:30 pm Workshop: Model Eliciting Activities: Engineering Open-Ended Problems for Greater Student Engagement in Learning Facilitators: Heidi Diefes-Dux, Deborah Follman, and Tamara Moore; Purdue University.  This workshop is being funded by the National Science Foundation. Description: A Model Eliciting Activity (MEA) is a real-world client-driven problem. The solution of an MEA requires the use of one or more mathematical or engineering concepts that are unspecified by the problem – students must make new sense of their existing knowledge and understandings to formulate a generalizable mathematical model that can be used by the client to solve the given and similar problems. An MEA creates an environment in which skills beyond mathematical abilities are valued because the focus is not on the use of prescribed equations and algorithms but on the use of a broader spectrum of skills required for effective engineering problem solving. Carefully constructed MEAs can begin to prepare students to communicate and work effectively in teams; to adopt and adapt conceptual tools; to construct, describe, and explain complex systems; and to cope with complex systems. The attributes of MEAs support development of the abilities and skills required of graduates of ABET-accredited engineering programs. This workshop will provide hands-on experience with one or more MEAs, introduce the six MEA design principles, examine how MEAs are different from most "open-ended" engineering problems, and establish an open and potentially ongoing dialogue about using, creating, and sharing MEAs in our engineering education community. Friday 1:30-3:30 pm Workshop: Information Literacy for Engineers:  a hands-on discussion. Facilitators: Meg Frazier, Information Literacy/Electronic Services Librarian and Liaison the Bradley University College of Engineering and Technology, and Larissa Moebs, Access Services and Instruction Librarian,    Illinois Central College Description: How do you teach research skills to engineering students?   What kinds of exercises are librarians using to make more of an impact?  This program will feature a discussion on the topic with a chance to try out a variety of exercises.