CEER mainstay Dr. Claudia Vergara will give a talk in the Center for Research in College Science Teaching and Learning (CRCSTL). The talk will focus on the current CEER project: the NSF-funded CPACE project. 

• Monday, April 11
• 4:00 pm
• 212 North Kedzie

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Aligning Workforce Needs with Undergraduate Computing Education in Engineering

In the global economy of the 21^st century, the preparation of a globally competitive U.S. workforce with knowledge and understanding of critical computing concepts, methodologies, and techniques is essential. The Collaborative Process to Align Computing Education with Engineering Workforce Needs (CPACE) is an NSF-funded project that brings together Michigan State University (MSU), Lansing Community College (LCC) and the Corporation for Skilled Workforce (CSW) to design and implement a process to transform undergraduate computing education within the engineering and technology fields.

During the initial phase of the project we developed a collaborative process to identify the computational competencies needed in the engineering workplace. We also developed an approach to translate our [research] findings into fundamental computer science concepts that can be used in curricular implementation. During the implementation phase our objective is to revise the undergraduate engineering curricula to infuse computational problem-solving competencies—across engineering departmental courses. These competencies are aligned with industry needs and enable students to integrate conceptual knowledge, technical skills and professional practice.

Dr. Vergara will present an in-depth discussion of both phases of the project including:

• Results from analyses of engineering stakeholders interviews and surveys aimed to determine their assessment of the computational skills needs in their business sectors.
• Discussion of the initial phase of the curricular implementation strategy in two disciplinary engineering programs at MSU and  transfer program at LCC.