Memo+37

September 15, 2009

Kim M. Cardillo Executive Assistant Office of the Vice President for Research Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute CII 7015, 110 8th Street Troy, NY 12180

Ms. Cardillo,

Attached please find a revised project description and informed consent form for an NSF funded ethnographic project titled “Higher Education in Engineering and the Development of Engineering Students: A Comparative Study of Engineering Education Between China and the US.”

Sincerely,

Xiaofeng Tang, PhD student

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Title: Higher Education in Engineering and the Development of Engineering Students: A Comparative Study of Engineering Education Between China and the US

Summary

This study will articulate and contrast people's views on education as an instrument for life goals versus as an end of life. The study will analyze what factors in industry, business, or in different political and cultural context participate in shaping the objective and practice of higher education for engineering student. The study will also assess the influence of this shaping to the personal development (expertise, cognition, self-identity, occupational objective) of students. The study will draw on and contribute to the scholarly literatures in Comparative Education, Engineering Education and Social and Developmental Psychology theories in the shaping of human motivation and personality. I argue that a special approach to detect/unmask the constructed thoughts of the students would be to look at their discordance with the institution. Focusing on the higher education of engineering in Chinese and US colleges, this study will contribute to the document of diverse interactions through which business/industry exert influences on the engineering education. On one hand, I will examine the interaction with colleges through donation, funding award, corporation-university collaboration, etc. One the other hand, I will also investigate the direct interaction with students through visit invitation, internship, organizing contests, lecture, and employment, etc. The study also aims to report different attitudes toward engineering education from various groups, including employers, faculty, parents, outer society, with especial attention to the change of students' expectation and self-evaluation of their education experiences. Besides, this study will record the historical data of social/political change and its influences on the governance of engineering education in China and the US for comparison. This study will based on data from three sources: historical documents, ethnographic interviews, and participant observations. Study of historical documents include documents on college funding, labor market statistics, educational policy, curriculum reform. Ethnographic interviews will be done with parents, students, educators, and industrial employers and engineers. The data will also be collected from participation observation in students contests sponsored by business/industry, lectures given by industrial leaders, meeting for employment, etc. The study tries to combine a vertical (historical) and horizontal (cross-national) approach of analysis. Results of this study can provide suggestions to educational institutions and the governments on the reform of practice and governance of engineering education. It can also provide insights to the student when choosing a major.

RESPONSE TO IRB QUESTIONS

1. Title of Proposal: “Higher Education in Engineering and the Development of Engineering Students: A Comparative Study of Engineering Education Between China and the US”.

2. Principal Investigator: Xiaofeng Tang

3. Address: Sage 5704

4. Phone: 518-596-3186

5. N/A

6. Department: Science and Technology Studies

7. Objective:This study will based on data from three sources: historical documents, ethnographic interviews, and participant observations. Study of historical documents include documents on college funding, labor market statistics, educational policy, curriculum reform. Ethnographic interviews will be done with parents, students, educators, and industrial employers and engineers.

8.Methods: Approximately 60 in-depth interviews (approximately two hours in length) with engineering students, educators, employers, and parents will be conducted for this study. Interview subjects will be recruited through email messages that describe the aims and methods of the project, and include a copy of the project’s informed consent form. Initial contacts will be drawn from the educators and students in a Chinese and an American university. The contact list will evolve as the project progresses though discussion with interviewees and engagement with the engineering or education fields. A preliminary interview guide is included below.

9. Effects on the subjects: There will be minimal physical effects on the subjects because they will be interviewed.

10. Measures to minimize risk: All interviews will be voluntary. Interviewees will be given the opportunity to be anonymous, to stop the interview at any point, or to retract the interview or parts of it before publication.

The tape of the interview will be stored on the computers of Xiaofeng Tang as password protected (128-bit) encrypted files, and will not be shared with anyone except for the person hired to transcribe the interview. The transcriber has been instructed to consider all transcripts strictly confidential, and to destroy all copies of the interview once the transcription has been transmitted to Xiaofeng Tang. Once a digital text file, the transcript will be stored on the computers of Xiaofeng Tang, again with password protection and encryption. All hard copies of the transcript will be stored in the offices of Xiaofeng Tang, which are locked when he is not present. Only Xiaofeng Tang will have access to both electronic and hard copies of transcribed interviews. All copies of the interview (recorded and transcribed) will be destroyed at any time on the request of the interviewee.

This is detailed in the attached informed consent form for interviews

11. Likelihood of harm: Minimal.

12. Documentation of risks: None.

13. Benefits to participants: Participants in this study will directly and indirectly benefit from development of a historical record and comparative analysis of the field of engineering education. Results of the study will be presented to educators, and also to decision-makers responsible for governing and engineering education reform.

14. Alternative Method not Using Human Subjects: None possible.

15.Qualifications of Researchers: Xiaofeng Tang is a PhD student in Science and Technology Studies. He has a degree in engineering from a top Chinese university. Xiaofeng Tang conducts interviews in accordance with the code of research ethics established (and recently updated) by the HASS at RPI.

16.Recruiting of subjects: Interview subjects will be contacted directly, informed of the purposes of the interview, and given the opportunity to refuse the interview.

17. Confidentiality: The participants will be given the opportunity to define the extent to which their names will be associated with any (or all) statement(s) during the interview, and will be given the right to retract any statement at any time prior to publication of research results. Any statements that participants designate as “off the record” will not be attributed to the participant, nor used in a way that would link their statement to said participant. As is codified in the Informed Consent Form, I will use any such comments only as background information, and will not quote them in either an attributed or unattributed fashion in any of my future work.

18. Specimen of Consent Form: Please see attached “Informed Consent Form.”

19. Preliminary Interview Guide is also attached below. INFORMED CONSENT FORM ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDY OF EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT RESEARCH COMMUNITY

Xiaofeng Tang, Department of Science and Technology Studies Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute / Troy, NY 12180 (518-596-3186) / tangx3@rpi.edu

Contact information for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Review Board: Chair, Institutional Review Board, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, CII 7015, 110 8th Street, Troy, NY 12180

This interview with __is being conducted as part of a comparative study of the higher education in engineering between China and the US. The research will result in public talks, articles, and a book. The interview will be recorded on tape, with the following conditions:

1.Your participation in this interview is voluntary. You may terminate the interview at any time during our conversation. The interview will last approximately two hours. 2.You may ask that the tape be turned off at any time during this interview, and I will turn the tape off. 3.You may designate any comments you make on the tape as “off the record.” You may also designate comments as “off the record” retrospectively, either at a later point in the interview or in the process of approving the transcript. I promise to use such comments only as background information, and will not quote them in either an attributed or unattributed fashion in any of my future work. 4.I will transcribe the tape in part or in full. I will submit any such full or partial transcript to you for your approval. You will be free to edit, clarify, amend, or delete any part of the transcript before returning it to me, having made a copy of the transcript and any changes you make to it for your own files. 5.I will be free to quote from this approved transcript, and only this approved transcript, in my future work. The tape itself will not be made public in any fashion, and can also be destroyed if you so request. The transcript of the interview will not be made public unless you explicitly approve a request to do so. 6.The tape of the interview will be stored on the computers of Kim Fortun as password protected (128-bit) encrypted files, and will not be shared with anyone except for the person hired to transcribe the interview. The transcriber has been instructed to consider all transcripts strictly confidential, and to destroy all copies of the interview once the transcription has been transmitted to Kim Fortun. Once as a digital text file, the transcript will be stored on the computers of Kim Fortun, again with password protection and encryption. All hard copies of the transcript will be stored in the offices of either Kim Fortun, which are locked when she is not present. Only Kim Fortun will have access to both electronic and hard copies of transcribed interviews. All copies of the interview (recorded and transcribed) will be destroyed at any time on the request of the interviewee. 7.You have the right to remain anonymous, and can do so by initializing here:__ _. If you do not choose to remain anonymous, in quoting from the approved transcript in my future work, I may attribute remarks directly to you, but will not necessarily do so. 8.If you have any additional conditions that you would like to add, write them here and they will be considered part of this agreement:

Additional Conditions:

Finally, if for any reason you change your mind about this interview or any of these conditions in the future, I promise to respect any request that you make to me. I will not be able to retract anything that is already in print or in press based on the approved transcript, but I will honor any future request to change any of the terms of this agreement, up to and including complete retraction of the interview and permission to quote from it.

INTERVIEWER INTERVIEWEE date: address _ _ phone _ email _ PRELIMINARY INTERVIEW GUIDE Interview Questions

Questions for industry/business employers: What do you cherish the most in the job candidates? What do you expect they have learned from school? Do you have frequent contact with universities? How do you keep this contact? What image of your company do you wish to transmit to the college students? How much do you spend in university R & D each year? What do you expect to receive from the collaboration with universities? Do you donate money to universities? What is your motivation to donate?

Questions for engineers: What is the most helpful skill you have learned from university? What is most important for your career success, was this taught in the university? How do you evaluate your higher education experience?

Questions for university administration: What is the goal for your school in the next ten years? What kind of graduate do you wish to provide to the society? What strategies do you use to increase the graduates' opportunity in job-seeking? What are the main sources of funding for your school? What factors influence the funding of your school? What are your concerns for curriculum setting?

Questions for faculty: What requirement do you have to fulfill to keep your position? Do you need large amount of research fund? How do you get it? How often are you required to teach? What courses do you teach? What do you concern when writing the syllabus? How are the average performances of the students? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the students?

Questions for students: Why did you choose this school? What did you expect to learn here? What do you think you have learned here? In what aspects do you think you have made remarkably progress? In what aspects do you think you have regressed? What is lack in your education here? What job did you want to do when you entered this school? What job do you want to do now? What job do you think you will end up doing? How do you evaluate your competence as an would-be engineer?

Questions for parents: What do you expect from your child? How do you evaluate her/his performance in school? How do you predict her/his career future?