Preparing students for ABET a-k

The ABET EC2000 guidelines present specific behavioral outcomes for engineering graduates, commonly referred to as "a-k." While some of these criteria are standard in traditional engineering education - engineering problem solving, scientific knowledge - others, such as life-long learning, group effectiveness, and social awareness, are more abstract. To meet these criteria, we must actively promote student development in knowledge, skills and behavior in these areas and measure the effectiveness of our instruction. Measuring student behavior in these areas and showing positive change as a result of the time spent in the educational program creates a major challenge for educators. To address this, the authors have explored various psychological models used to describe student development: intellectual and ethical development, belief systems, emotional intelligence, and learning styles. In this paper, these models are used to describe the student growth required to promote development toward the professional engineer as defined by ABET, as well as instructional approaches that can promote the desired student growth