Engineering education on geosciences in a changing world

Engineering aims to work with what knowledge is available to achieve society's goals (Coyle, Murphy, and Grimson 2007). The current environmental challenges and the characteristics of the labour market mean that the effectiveness of Engineering activities in Geosciences must be increased through the development of technical knowledge and the inclusion of suitable training aimed at solving real cases (European Commission 2010). Human capital – understood as the talents, skills and capabilities of higher education graduates – is perceived as an essential element for sustainable economic growth and development in the globalised economy (Sianesi and Van Reenan 2003). We need, therefore, to rethink our approaches to curriculum, instruction and assessment in science education, particularly because of the rapid growth of the scientific knowledge, tools/technologies and theories that have originated over the last 50 years (Duschl and Grandy 2013).