WSW Symposium: Fostering Partnerships to Integrate Standards into College Curricula
11/27/2019
The first session, A Sampling of Standards in Higher Education in the U.S. Today, featured guest speakers Lisa Greenwood, an assistant professor at Rochester Institute of Technology, who discussed integrating ISO risk-based standards into curricula. Kai Jin, professor and industrial engineering program coordinator at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, detailed efforts for a systematic framework for different levels of engineering students to strengthen education and learning about manufacturing related materials and quality control standards and standardization.
The session also included Bryan Hoskins, associate professor at Oklahoma State University in the fire protection engineering program, who highlighted the significance of integrating codes and standards into the learning environment. Other experts included Chittaranjan Sahay, Vernon D. Roosa distinguished professor and director at the University of Hartford, who discussed the impact of documentary and measurement standards and standardization on product development for mechanical engineering. Sankardas Roy, assistant professor at Bowling State Green University, discussed how to incorporate NIST standards in digital forensics curricula at BGSU. Claudia Vergara, director for program evaluation and assessment at the center for integrative studies in general sciences at Michigan State University, discussed how to enhance scientific literacy for non-STEM majors. Economist Erik Puskar of NIST, represented Everett Community College, and offered insights on how the NIST award helped to facilitate collaboration with ECC's industry partners through the state's Center of Excellence (CoE) for Aerospace and Advanced Manufacturing. One of the goals, he noted, was to develop a course curriculum with industry subject matter experts' input that was then embedded into advanced manufacturing/aerospace programs. Margaret Phillips, assistant professor at Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies, discussed developing an open-access, introductory-level, interactive online standards education program. The session was moderated by Jim Matthews, director at Corning Incorporated.
The session, Current and Future Roles of Standards Setting Organizations in Higher Education, moderated by Mary Saunders, ANSI vice president of government relations, included guest speakers Monte Bogatz, vice-chair of the ANSI Committee on Education (CoE) and general counsel at IAPMO. He noted how the CoE supports standards education through Standardslearn.org, ANSI's university outreach program, its annual student paper competition, and its annual standards simulation event for university students, among other efforts. Helene Vaillancourt, vice president of the standards research and planning at CSA Group, noted CSA's Academic Challenge Program, which encourages students to share forward-looking ideas and competitive proposals about industry practices and issues that are influenced by standards.
ASTM International's director of global business development and strategy, Len Morrissey, added how ASTM provides resources for students including free membership and access to Standardization News, ASTM's flagship magazine. It also sponsors interns and provides an "ASTM Professor's Tool Kit" to help educators promote standards in the classroom, among other initiatives. Jan-Henrik Tiedemann, head of IEC's Academy & Capacity Building, described how IEC provides training, offers webinars, eLearning, and regional and national workshops for students and the global IEC community.
How Can the Standards Community Influence Educational Outreach?
The event also featured a brainstorming session, moderated by Mary Jo DiBernardo, on how the standards community can collectively support U.S. colleges and universities to improve and increase the integration of standards into higher education. Participants identified multiple ideas, including bringing guest lecturers into the classroom and universities submitting applications to NIST under the SSCD CAP for funding collaborative approaches jointly supported by academia, industry, SDOs, and the standards community to integrate standards into the classroom. Attendees also noted other effective tools and strategies including simulation games; role playing exercises; the use of educational toolkits, which provide assistance for instructors who may not have a background in standardization; and making standards education more comprehensive.
For additional information, see the event webpage. Read about ANSI's related educational efforts: Better Together: Workcred and ANSI World Standards Week Event Examines Collaborative Solutions for the Future Workforce.
