Sample syllabus

CHE 395 — PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR

Section 001: Monday, 12:50-1:40 pm, 2236 EB3

Instructor:      Dr. Lisa Bullard (lisa_bullard@ncsu.edu), 2012 EB1, (919) 515-7455 – Section 001

Office Hours:  By appointment

Course (Catalog) Description: Professional development and topics of current interest in chemical engineering.

Prerequisite(s)/restrictive statements: Sophomore or Junior level status.

Textbook(s) and/or Other Required Material – None (materials provided on course web site)

Student Learning Objectives

  1. Demonstrate skills that reflect the broader professional qualities necessary for success in their careers, including ethics and professional responsibilities
  2. Write clear professional documents, including resumes, personal reflections, company summaries, and position papers.
  3. Demonstrate a broader knowledge of engineering solutions in a global or societal context.
  4. Demonstrate information literacy appropriate for the junior level by performing online searches using basic Boolean logic.

Grading

10%  Assignment 1 – Reflection assignment

30%  Assignment 2 – Mock interview (10%), resume (10%), and two-page summary (10%)

30% Assignment 3 – Opinion paper

20%  Assignment 4 – Final oral presentation

5%  Assignment 5 – Delivery of impromptu speech

5%  Attendance

____________________________________________________________

Total 100 %

Note:  assignments submitted late will received a deduction of -20 points per day late.

 

Numerical

Score

 >97 93–96.9 90–92.9 87– 89.9 83–86.9 80– 82.9 77– 79.9 73–76.9 70– 72.9 67– 69.9 63–66.9 60– 62.9 < 60
Letter

Grade

 A+ A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D D- F

 

Attendance expectations. Given the small number of actual class meetings, attendance is very important.  Your instructor should be notified by email in advance of an excused absence, if known, or as soon as possible after the absence with documentation of the excuse.  Students may have one unexcused absence.  After the first time a student arrives late, coming to class late will result in a 1 point deduction in the final grade for each time late, up to 5 points. Students who have two unexcused absences will automatically fail the course.   If you must miss a class, you may attend another section on the day it covers the same topic (check with your instructor to confirm), but you should not routinely float between sections.  The university’s policy on attendance can be found at http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/academic_affairs/pols_regs/REG205.00.4.php .

Statement for students with disabilities: Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with verifiable disabilities. In order to take advantage of available accommodations, students must register with Disability Services for Students at 1900 Student Health Center, Campus Box 7509, 515-7653. http://www.ncsu.edu/provost/offices/affirm_action/dss/ For more information on NC State’s policy on working with students with disabilities, please see http://www.ncsu.edu/provost/hat/current/appendix/appen_k.html. For additional information on NC State’s policy on working with students with disabilities, please see the Handbook for Teaching and Advising (http://www.ncsu.edu/provost/hat/current/index.html)

Academic integrity.  Students should refer to the University policy on academic integrity found in the Code of Student Conduct (found in Appendix L of the Handbook for Advising and Teaching).  It is the instructor’s understanding and expectation that the student’s signature on any test or assignment means that the student neither gave nor received unauthorized aid.   In particular, plagiarism in written documents is unacceptable and will be cited for academic integrity violation.  Students may not submit work for academic credit in CHE 395 that has been done in a previous class.

 

                                      Class Schedule

DATES TOPIC DELIVERABLES
JAN 11 Semester Overview
JAN 18 NO CLASS (MLK Holiday)
JAN 25 Resume Tips

 

 Assignment 1:

Reflection Essay
FEB 1 NO CLASS

Prepare to attend Engineering Career Fair on Feb. 3
FEB 8 Interviewing Tips
FEB 15 NO CLASS

Mock interviews with Dr. Ollis

(scheduled outside of class)

 Assignment 2:

Mock Interview, Resume,

& Company/school summary
FEB 22 The Value of Saying “Thank You”

(Dr. Kim Roberts)
FEB 29 Ethics I (Ethical Frameworks)

 
MAR 7 SPRING BREAK
MAR 14 Oral Presentation Tips Assignment 3:

Opinion Paper
MAR 21 Ethics II (VW Case Study)
MAR 28 Ethics III (Paul Cousins)
APR 4 Career Options and Graduate School
APR 11 Ethics IV (Process Safety)
 

APR 18

 

 NO CLASS

Student Presentations

(scheduled outside of class)

 Assignment 4:

Oral Presentation
APR 25 Electronic Etiquette
MAY 4 Impromptu speech

(during exam period, 1-4pm)

 Assignment 5:

Impromptu Speech

                                                                                                                                           

Format for all submitted written assignments:

  • Hard copies of assignments will be submitted at the beginning of class
  • Space and a half (1.5 space), typed
  • Include title and your name at the top of the first page.  Do not include a cover page.
  • Number all pages
  • 1 inch margins on all sides
  • 12 point Times New Roman font
  • If references are required, include an alphabetized list of references at the end of the document and use parenthetical documentation in the text for citation; for example, (Smith, 2000, p. 24) would be included after the citation in the text.  If references are not included as in-text citations for specific material that is quoted or paraphrased, this constitutes plagiarism.
  • Use correct grammar and spelling. Two points will be deducted for each error, up to 10 points, on the presentation component of the grade.

 Assignment 1:  Reflection assignment

 Write a reflection on your dreams, brick walls, or mentors.  To stimulate your thoughts, watch one of the reflective talks below before beginning your paper.  (You might enjoy watching them all!)

Choose one of the following prompts and write a two-page essay on this topic:

  • What are your current long-term goals?  Are you on track to achieve them? What will you do to either stay or get back on track?
  • What are the brick walls you’ve faced in your own life?  How did you get over them?
  • Who has been a mentor to you?  What lessons have they taught you?

The essay should show evidence of reflection. You are telling your story – make it personal and compelling!

Assignment 2:  Mock Interview (scheduled outside of class)

Since interviews are typically done with an interviewer whom you have never met, one of the other CHE 395 instructors will conduct and grade your interview and materials.

Each student will have an individual 15-minute mock interview (to be scheduled outside of class).  Since everyone has different interests, you should choose a company/job position OR graduate/professional school OR non-profit group to which you would like to apply.  This could be for a full time position if you are a senior or an internship/co-op if you are an underclassman.   You should bring the following documents to the interview:

  1. a copy of your resume (one page maximum)
  2. a copy of the job description that you are interviewing for, or a short description of the graduate program you are applying for
  3. a well written summary (two pages, 1.5-spaced) of the company/school you are interviewing with and a minimum of five references used to compile the information  (at least 3 must be references other than the company or school web site)

The interview, the resume, and the two-page summary will all be graded based on the rubrics included on the course web site.

Note:  For the company/school summary, please include citations.  You should seek not only information from the company/school web site, but also news articles from the business and technical literature that give additional insight into the company/school.  On a separate page (in addition to the two pages), list a minimum of five references you used to obtain this information.

  • The position you are interviewing for should be one for which you would eligible upon graduation, i.e. an “entry level” position or graduate program.
  • The job description can be one that you get from ePack, a website like monster.com, or a short description of the graduate program you’re hoping to be accepted to.
  • The two-page page summary should contain the type of information that you might find in preparing for an interview – location(s) of the company, major products, brief history (especially if it’s a company – was it a spin-off of other companies, or bought by another company), competitors, financial status of the company (stock price history), recent news articles about the company (e.g. leadership changes, new plants built, new products, etc.) For a graduate program, you would be interested in the requirements for the degree, admission standards, specifics about their research programs (technical degree), options within the curriculum (med, law, business), recent news articles about their program, program ranking (e.g. US News and World Report or other ranking surveys, etc.), recent technology developments from that institution, etc.

Assignment 3:  Technical/Ethical Review Article

  • Choose a current technical question with an ethical implication (suggestions below).  The topic should have a “yes” and a “no” position.
  • Provide a written review of the technology/issue (1 page YES, 1 page NO))
  • Based on your review of the technology, write your viewpoint. (2 pages). This should be well supported by facts from your research with appropriate citations.
  • Pick (and state) the ethical framework(s) which represented your approach  in analyzing the current issue.
  • The total paper should be 4 pages plus references, which should be listed on a separate page.  You must include at least 5 references.  At least three must be non-websites. (Note:  journal articles or newspaper articles that are accessed on-line do not count as web sites.)  Avoid Wikipedia or How Stuff Works.
  • The paper should have separate sections tiled YES, NO, and MY OPINION.  The page references above are guidelines to suggest level of detail expected.
  • Please put your name, date, section number, and question/topic title at top of page 1.

 EXAMPLE ideas (or think of your own!):

  1. Are human activities significantly changing the global climate?
  2. Are environmental regulations too strict?
  3. Do cell phones cause cancer?
  4. What ethical issues are related to nanotechnology and how should that limit its progress?
  5. Can and should humans go to Mars now?
  6. Is the use of animals in research justified?
  7. Should genetically modified foods be banned?
  8. Is it ethical to sell human tissue?
  9. Should the government offer tax credits for hybrid vehicles?
  10. Should driverless car technology be permitted?
  11. Are currently recycling practices effective?
  12. Should the public pay for the clean-up of the coal ash by Duke Energy in the form of increased utility bills?
  13. Are high voltage lines a safety concern?
  14. Should nuclear waste be stored at Yucca Mountain?
  15. Should Merck be liable for Vioxx effects? (or discuss another pharmaceutical related recall)
  16. Is the use of corn and other food materials to make biofuels ethical?
  17. Are the profits of pharmaceutical companies excessive?
  18. Should drilling be allowed in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge?
  19. Should stem cell research be allowed?
  20. Do we face a population problem?
  21. Should peer review dominate decision making about science?
  22. Is science a faith?
  23. Should creationism and evolution get equal time in schools?
  24. Does endorsing open source software fail to respect intellectual property?
  25. Will e-books replace hard copy books?
  26. Do we face a population problem?
  27. Will the Information Revolution benefit society?
  28. Can the sun and wind supply our energy needs?
  29. Is America ready for the electric car?
  30. Is irradiated food safe to eat?

Assignment 4:  Final Oral Presentation (scheduled outside of class)

Use Assignment 3 as the basis for a 15 minute oral minute presentation (10 minute presentation, 3 minutes Q&A) with accompanying PowerPoint slides (scheduled outside of class).  You should bring a hard copy of your slide handouts (3/page) to the presentation.  You must attend FIVE other presentations in addition to your own.

Assignment 5:  Impromptu Speech (exam period)

Each class member will generate two ideas for an impromptu speech.  You will draw two ideas from a hat and can choose one of them as the topic for your speech.  You will have up to 3 minutes to make notes on a notecard and then deliver a two minute impromptu speech on that topic.  The rubric for the impromptu speech is on the web site.