Note, syllabus of individual group overrides this general syllabus if they are different
Program Outline and Evaluation
The Program and evaluation of student performance is based on three components:
- Pre-departure (25%)
- Mandatory attendance/Website (5%).
Attendance at each of the four sessions is required, including your active participation.
In addition, each Plus3 destination will have its own website, and there will be a general Plus3 website. The purpose of the individual websites is to provide family members access to the students while they prepare for the trip and while they are on their trip. Each group will assign one engineering student to act as the web master for the group and this student will be responsible for posting the files to the web site before the presentations of April 5. - An individual report (10%).
- A group presentation (10%)
Instructions for the pre-departure individual report and group presentation can be found from the link below.
Pre-departure Presentation Instruction & Group Assignment - Two weeks study abroad experience (50%) There are two components evaluated as part of the Study Abroad Trip:
- Individual Journal (20%) Due June 1
During the two week in-country component of the course, each student is responsible for keeping a daily professional journal of their reflections on various professional issues and concerns that are encountered during the trip. We expect the average daily entry to be at least 250 words in length. We expect that each entry will discuss the daily experiences, and describe what each student did and saw, however, this is also a professional journal. This means that each entry must include not only descriptive comments about what you saw or did and it should make connections between the daily experiences and how they help in your development as an engineering or business professional. The journal is intended to compel students to make direct connections between what they are observing and experiencing on the trip and the types of issues and concerns they will face as professionals. These observations can be comparative (how the country is the same or different from the U.S.) and can include comments on day-to-day life, anecdotes, language, politics, geography, stores, social life, the popular culture of the country, etc. As you write on these topics, try and frame your comments in such a manner that they explain how this helps you understand the people and the lifestyle of your country and how this impacts your professional development in the area of global issues. As part of this journal, you must also include a description of how the program of study and life of an engineering or business student (whichever you are) is the same as and different from that of a comparable student in the U.S.
In addition to writing on their daily activities, students must also submit a final summary journal entry that address topics on the following five (5) professional development topics. It is suggested that each student try and include something from the following list in each daily activity. At the end of the trip each student will then summarize their view on each on the following five topics by addressing each item in a separate paragraph (minimum of 200 words for each) and this will be the final journal entry. It should also be posted to the web site as the final summary journal entry.
- Ethical Issues in My Profession:
Give an understanding of the professional and ethical responsibility you see as a result of the United States industries becoming global players. For example, do you see things in your country that would not be allowed or are not typical industry standards in the United States, such as safety issues, environmental issues, employee issues (wages, benefits, working conditions, etc.)? Does your country address diversity issues (gender, race, religion, lifestyle choices) differently than the United States. Because of these differences you see, could a company make more money, or do more business by doing the same thing in your country then in the United States? If so how does this affect life and business in the United States? - Educational Breadth as Professional Development:
Based on your experiences traveling in this country, describe the need for a broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering/business solutions in a global and societal context. Is it important? Are there enough differences between your country and the United States that you believe students should expand their classroom experience to include learning about different cultures? If so, explain what future courses you should take to prepare you for a global economy. - Lifelong Learning, Continuing Education as Professional Development:
As you go to the company visits, ask yourself and the people you meet, what part of their job did they learn in school and what part did they learn on the job. Ask them if their education allowed them to do their job throughout their career or did they need to learn new things each year. Ask them how technology has changed their jobs and how did they learn how to use this technology. Then, give a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning and explain how this is needed to compete in the future. - The Social Environment of Professional Life:
As you travel around the country try and discover the connection between peoples' social life and their professional life. Do you see any connection? Ask people in your country if they know anything about the social and political issues in the United States. Do you know the same about their country. Read the local newspaper, watch the local television shows, what are the topics addressed in what you see on TV, hear on the radio, read in the newspaper or magazines. If you can not understand the material in their media ask the local students to explain this to you. Explain why it is important to have knowledge of contemporary issues related to the global economy. What political, social, economic and diversity issues are involved within engineering/business that are involved within your industry on a global scale? How does this affect life and business in the United States? - Functioning on Multi-Disciplinary Teams:
It is important for professionals to be able to function and communicate effectively as a member of a team of individuals from diverse backgrounds. How do you work when you are a member of such a team (for example - you are either an engineering student who is traveling with business students, or vice-versa)? What are some of the challenges involved in establishing and maintaining effective communication on this type of cross-functional team?
Your journal should be updated daily and an edited electronic version submitted to the trip web site daily, or as web access is available. Bring digital or standard cameras to document your trip and include photos with your journal if possible. At the end of each day go back and reflect on what you wrote for each day of the trip and continue to update your journal.
We have found that the time goes by very fast during the trip, and students do not always have time to completely finish each days journal during the trip, thus, you have until June 1 to reflect on each day and edit/modify/complete your journal. If you are not going to complete an entry for any given day and are going to wait until you return to complete your journal, then you must at least produce and post online an outline of your activities each day.
- Ethical Issues in My Profession:
- Participation (30%)
Professional activities.
Each student is expected to attend each and every planned event, including the sightseeing trips, the company visits and the lectures at the local universities; be on or ahead of schedule for all events; participate in all work activities; and be actively engaged in asking questions of lecturers and speakers. The Professors from Engineering and/or the College of Business will maintain participation records. After each company visit each student should complete an individual reflection on what they saw and write down any observations and/or questions they have from the trip. Then each student should use these observations as starting points for the next company visit. Consider such questions as: What interesting strengths or weaknesses were discussed (or are apparent) in the firm that you visited today? Does this firm face any interesting opportunities or threats from the external environment? Why is this firm of interest to a professional in business or engineering? What engineering issues are involved in the process? What technology or lack of did you observe? What business practices did you observe? Student groups are encouraged to share their thoughts with others groups and with each other.Personal activities.
We understand that each student is an adult and as so has the right to spend their free time in the country as they wish. However, all students must also understand that while they are on the site visits and also while they are on their own time, they are representing the University of Pittsburgh. Thus, their actions directly reflect on the university's image and the image of the United States. Failure to maintain acceptable behavior will result in failure of the participation component and can be grounds for failing the course and being sent home. Acceptable and unacceptable actions will be described in the pre-departure sessions. - Post-trip report (25%)
Teams: Each country trip will have approximately 15 to 20 students, some from business and some from engineering. There will be 4 company visits/country, thus the students will work in teams of three to five students. Each team will be composed of both business and engineering students.The post-trip report will consist of three components:
- Company (10%). Each student group must prepare a poster paper on their company with 10 to 15 pages of content (text, graphs, pictures, slides). The content of the project is described below. A draft of the poster presentation is due on September 7. A poster presentation time will be scheduled for late September or early October. This will be printed out for the poster paper presentations and the poster will also be placed on the Plus3 website.
- Scenic/historic Site/Cultural Poster (10%). Student teams will prepare a poster paper on the historic/scenic sites. Each team will choose a specific cultural topic on the trip that is of interest and will take pictures and gather information. The poster should be about 10 to 15 pages of content (text, graphs, pictures, slides). This will be printed out for the poster paper presentations and put on the Plus3 website.
- Group Poster Presentations (5%). Each trip will take a day in CBA and a day in Engineering in the early fall to present their posters to students, particularly to freshmen who might be considering Plus3.
- Each student will also evaluate their individual group members to determine what percentage of the group poster was done by each member. Final group report grades will then be distributed based on these percentages.
Critical dates:
September 7 Draft of posters due.
Poster Presentations TBA.
Four mandatory workshops will be scheduled that include discussions of socio/political/historical context of your country; the analysis tools for your project; a crash course in language; information on the companies that will be visited, and advice on traveling to your country. There will be assigned reading materials.
There are three components to the pre-departure portion of the course: