Scribd
Upload
58 views

Mock Interviews

1) Engineering students at Arizona State University participated in mock interviews at the end of their design courses with teaching staff. 2) The purpose was for students to reflect on their learning, skills, and how their coursework prepares them for engineering careers. 3) Students submitted a self-reflection in preparation and were interviewed individually, with educators asking follow up questions about their reflections.

Uploaded by

roja sujatha s b
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
58 views

Mock Interviews

1) Engineering students at Arizona State University participated in mock interviews at the end of their design courses with teaching staff. 2) The purpose was for students to reflect on their learning, skills, and how their coursework prepares them for engineering careers. 3) Students submitted a self-reflection in preparation and were interviewed individually, with educators asking follow up questions about their reflections.

Uploaded by

roja sujatha s b
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

Activity Mock Interviews

5
Educator: Darryl Morrell, Professor and Program Chair, The Polytechnic School’s
Engineering Program
Context: In-class, Foundations of Engineering Design Project I & II,
Use-Inspired Design Project I & II
Keywords: mock interviews, design projects, preparedness, role-playing
Student Activity Time: 15-20 minutes

At the end of a design course, students participated in mock interviews.

Introducing the Reflection Activity

I n first and second-year design courses, engineering undergraduate students


participated in mock interviews at the end of the semester with the teaching
team. The purpose of this reflection activity was to support students in
understanding how their engineering coursework was preparing them to be an
engineering professional.

In preparation for the interview, students completed a self-reflection in response to


specific questions that related to the technical and professional outcomes of the
course (e.g., communication, teamwork, etc.). Before the interview, the educators,
who were interviewing the students, read the students’ reflections. In the individual
interview, the educators asked questions based on the self-reflection. Depending on
the student and the self-reflection submitted, the educators asked a variety of follow-
up questions, such as:

1. Elaborate on specific parts of your self-reflection.


2. Connect your self-reflection to future engineering.
3. Describe what you learned and how whatever you learned worked.

The purpose of the mock interviews was for students to reflect on their learning,
think about what they need to learn in the future, and connect their learning to their
future in engineering. It was also an opportunity for students to engage in a mock
interview, which can be seen as good preparation for future job interviews. As well,
it was an opportunity for the educators to check-in with students. The educators
graded the interview, which counted as a significant part of the students’ grade. For
each of the competencies that the course covered, the teaching team would assess
the student in terms of a level and compare that level to where they thought the
students should be at the end of the course. For example, freshmen would be
considered to be on-track and adequate at a level one. The self-reflection that
students submitted was graded primarily for effort. However, the teaching team
made an effort to also weight grades based on the level of thought in the students’
answers, as they corresponded to the expected levels. Students, whose answers did
not accurately reflect the expected grade level, generally received a lower grade.

In terms of outcomes, by students engaging in mock interviews there was potential


for them to solidify what they’ve learned, help them understand what they still need
Center for Engineering Learning & Teaching. (2015). Arizona State University – Polytechnic Campus:
Campus Reflection Field Guide – Reflective Techniques to Encourage Student Learning: Background and
Examples. (1st. ed.). Seattle, WA
to learn, and articulate their engineering knowledge. As well, students could use the
mock interview as good practice for future interviewing. Additionally, the interview
had the potential to be a valuable tool for the educators to learn about the students.
The interviews were a way to contextualize students’ behavior that didn’t make
sense—seeing students’ behavior through their perspective and experience.

Recreating the Reflection Activity


D I G I T A L Description
L I B R A R Y Assign students to write a self-reflection prior to a sit down interview. Provide students
C O N T E N T 1
with a template of questions.
 5.1 Self- Interview individual students for 15-20 minutes, following the written self-reflection
Assessment 2
provided by the student.
Example
Worksheet Use formative and summative assessment to assess students’ skills related to the
3
program learning outcomes, ranging from technical to professional skills.
 5.2 Evaluation
Template

In the words of the Educator: Tips and Inspiration

Scaling up the reflection activity can be challenging. When the class sizes grew, the
interview times decreased. Then as classes continued to grow, the interviews
became group interviews. Eventually, the school did not have enough capacity
to support this reflection effort. As I am reflecting back on the effort, I am
thinking we could explore alternative approaches to the activity—spread the
work out over time and put the interviews in the middle of the semester. This
would also give students the opportunity to act on the feedback they received.

Be open to the information provided in the interviews. In these interviews, students


provided insightful information about their educational experience and how it
connects to their future in engineering. Based on this information, we thought
about changes to future offerings of the course. On occasion, we would learn
valuable information about a student (e.g., why they were behaving in a way
that seemed “wrong”). This knowledge would help us be more empathetic to
the student’s situation.

Give students a template to fill out. To help students prepare for the interviews, we
provided them with a template to fill out. This template helped guide their
reflections in preparation for their interviews. Their responses helped guide the
educators through the interviewing.

Grade the reflections. We graded students on the level they’ve achieved according
to a particular competency. We used a formative and summative approach to
assessment.

Design reflection into the structure of the class. If you want to add reflection activities to
your class in a way that is actually going to work, you really need to think about
it before the semester begins—when you’re designing the class. When we were

Center for Engineering Learning & Teaching. (2015). Arizona State University – Polytechnic Campus:
Campus Reflection Field Guide – Reflective Techniques to Encourage Student Learning: Background and
Examples. (1st. ed.). Seattle, WA
doing mock interviews in the project classes, it was built into the schedule and
into the assignments. So, it was clear from the beginning of the semester that
this reflection activity was going to happen. We kind of worked our way
through the semester to get to the point where they were hopefully okay doing
the interview.

Think about the details and transferability of an activity. When we visited Alverno, we
left there excited about so many activities and we tried to implement them all. I
would advise educators to think deeply about the details of the activity and how
the activity translates to your context.

What was the inspiration for the reflection activity? This reflection idea came from a
site visit to Alverno College and a summer workshops focused on outcomes-
based assessment. Several of the initial faculty at Poly came away from the
workshops impressed and interested in implementing the same activities. One
activity at Alverno was having a student interview with 3-4 people (faculty &
alumni) and went through some outcomes. We were impressed with how well
the students articulated their responses. In implementing the activity, we
initially had success, but as Poly grew and student to faculty ratios increased, the
activity became less sustainable.

Center for Engineering Learning & Teaching. (2015). Arizona State University – Polytechnic Campus:
Campus Reflection Field Guide – Reflective Techniques to Encourage Student Learning: Background and
Examples. (1st. ed.). Seattle, WA

You might also like