EF 157 Research Paper

Your research paper grade will account for 4% of your total grade and will include grades from three separate assignments:
  • Participation in the Perspectives Fair during recitation on Fri Sep 15 and completion of a survey afterwards.
    (Weight = 20)
  • Participation in a Departmental Information Activity which will occur during lecture on Tue Sep 26.
    (Weight = 20)
  • A Research Paper (see details below) in which you will attend two Perspectives Seminars given by seniors in our twelve different engineering degree programs and answer questions about them.
    (Weight = 100)

Research Paper Requirements

Due: No Later Than Sunday, Nov 26, at 11:59 p.m.

Overview The purpose of this paper is to guide your exploration of different engineering disciplines and the kinds of activities being conducted in the various engineering programs at UT. Your finished paper needs to be upload by the deadline above.

We have planned a series of twelve Perspectives Seminars in which seniors in each of the twelve engineering degree programs offered at UT will give a presentation about their curriculum and experiences they have had such as undergraduate research, study aboard, co-ops, internships, student societies, 5-year BS/MS, etc.

  • You are required to attend at least two of these seminars to help you write a short paper (see required format below) summarizing what you learned. (You are welcome to attend more than two, but you can only discuss two in your paper.)
  • The schedule is given below. You must attend the seminars you report on in person. However, these seminars will be recorded and made available afterwards. If you can document that you have a time conflict (e.g., another class) at the time of the seminar that most interests you, you can seek permission (contact Dr. Kit,  kkit@utk.edu before the seminar) to view it online. If you have serious conflicts that would prevent you from attending any of these seminars, contact Dr. Kit as soon as possible.

Paper Format and Content

  • At the top of the report include the title "EF 157 Research Paper," your name, and date.
  • Initial perspectives: Begin your paper by describing some of the perceptions of engineering you hold/held when you began this semester:
    • What is "engineering" to you?
    • What engineering discipline(s) were you interested in pursuing at the start of the semester? Why?
    • If you began undecided, explain which disciplines you were most interested in and explain why.
  • Discipline exploration: Describe some of your experiences that you have used to inform your decisions about which major to pursue.
    • For each of the seminars you attended include the following:
      • The name of the seminar you attended and the presenter's name.
      • A brief overview of the content presented (i.e., research, internships, etc.)
      • At least one new thing you learned about this engineering discipline.
      • At least one activity (e.g., research, internships, student organizations, study abroad, etc.) you learned about and what you learned about it.
      • A brief reflection about how this seminar shaped or reinforced your perception about this engineering discipline.
    • If applicable, provide a brief reflection about any activities you have engaged in or any research you've done this semester that has/have shaped your perceptions of the field of engineering or particular engineering disciplines.
  • Conclusion: Wrap up your paper by...
    • describing how your view of engineering has evolved throughout this semester.
    • indicating the engineering discipline you currently intend to pursue and why it has either changed or stayed the same.
    • describing how you envision yourself within that engineering discipline and what you would like to do for the remainder of your undergraduate career to help you achieve that outcome.
  • A reasonable length for this paper would be 800 - 1000 words. That rubric that will be used to evaluate your paper is included below.

Grading Rubric:

Criterion Weight Description of achievement
Content 20% Every component described above is fully addressed.
Attendance at seminars 20% There is evidence of attendance at two seminars.
Authenticity of exploration 25% The writing demonstrates a genuine, open, authentic attempt to learn about multiple engineering disciplines and to entertain the possibility of studying each.
Quality of reflection 25% The writing demonstrates an authentic reflection upon initial perspectives of the field of engineering and specific engineering disciplines and upon how those perspectives have evolved throughout the semester.
Formatting 5% The paper includes the title, student's name, section number, and headers.
Writing quality 5% The paper does not contain spelling or grammatical errors and is written in a professional tone.

Upload PDF file that contains your Research Paper here

Schedule for Fall 2023

  • All 12 seminars are now scheduled.
WhenWhereWhoDocumentation
Thur Aug 31, 7:15 pmDOU 416Thomas Ensley, Nuclear EngineeringAn unfortunate technical error resulted in a recording with no sound. Slides are linked below, but there's not much information there. If you want to contact Thomas his email is tensley2@vols.utk.edu. The recording from the 2022 seminar is also linked below.
2023 Slides
2022 Recording
Wed Sep 6, 7:40 pmDOU 416Alaina Washington, Industrial EngineeringRecording
Thur Sep 7, 7:15 pmDOU 416Derrick Bailey, Aerospace EngineeringNo recording due to technical error.
2023 Slides
Wed Sep 13, 7:40 pmDOU 416Tony Spezia, Mechanical EngineeringRecording
Thur Sep 21, 7:15 pmTIC 405Michael Broud, Materials Science & EngineeringRecording
Thur Sep 28, 7:15 pmTIC 405Andrew Rutter, Computer ScienceRecording
Slides
Wed Oct 4, 7:40 pmDOU 416Cara Garner, Biomedical EngineeringRecording
Thur Oct 12, 7:15 pmDOU 416Ava Delaney, Civil EngineeringRecording
Wed Oct 18, 7:40 pmDOU 416Jessie Li, Chemical EngineeringRecording
Tue Oct 24, 5:40 pmMKB 524Michael Gayoso, Electrical EngineeringRecording
Tue Oct 31, 5:40 pmMKB 524Anna Weiss, Computer EngineeringRecording
Thur Nov 9, 7:15 pmDOU 416Aaron Eimers, Biosystems EngineeringRecording