Engineering education.

Engineering index monthly (1984)

Bringing engineering education to life – an empirical approach to learning and teaching

Learning and teaching approaches to engineering are generally perceived to be difficult and academically challenging. Such challenges are reflected in high levels of student attrition and failure. In addressing this issue, a unique approach to engineering education has been developed by the paper authors. This approach, which is suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate levels, brings together pedagogic and engineering epistemologies in an empirically grounded framework. It is underpinned by three distinctive concepts: Relationships, Variety & Synergy. Based upon research, the R + V + S approach to Engineering Education provides a learning and teaching strategy, which in enhancing the student experience, increases retention and positively impacts student success [S2]. Based on the study findings, this paper shows how, by designing engineering education around the concepts of Relationships, Variety and Synergy, the student learning experience becomes one that is academically challenging yet beneficial to both students and engineering educators. The challenge is to widen and test the approach in other areas of engineering education, before going on to investigate the value of the approach in other disciplines.

Bringing engineering education to life:an empirical approach

This paper focuses upon the argument that the role played by the engineering profession within today's society has changed markedly over the past several years from providing the foundations for contemporary life to leading societal change and becoming one of the key driver's of future social development. Coining the term 'Engineering-Sociology' this paper contributes to engineering education and engineering education research by proposing a new paradigm upon which future engineering education programmes and engineering education research might build. Developed out of an approach to learning and teaching practice, Engineering-Sociology encapsulates both traditional and applied approaches to engineering education and engineering education research. It suggests that in order to meet future challenges there is a need to bring together what are generally perceived to be two diametrically opposed paradigms, namely engineering and sociology. Building on contemporary theoretical and pedagogical arguments in engineering education research, the paper concludes that by encouraging engineering educators to 'think differently', Engineering-Sociology can provide an approach to learning and teaching that both enhances the student experience and meets the changing needs of society.

Inspiring young people to engage in engineering education:The Aston University Engineering Academy Birmingham

This paper initially reports concerns about the falling interest in engineering and mathematical disciplines and looks at some of the reasons for this. It then discusses the aims of the Engineering Diploma - a qualification for 14-19 year olds in the UK - and the pedagogical research that that has informed the design and development. The paper highlights the key learning theories that support the delivery of this qualification and provides an example of how this pedagogy has been applied effectively through the curriculum partnership that has been developed between a consortium of schools in the Birmingham local authority, Aston University and employers. It establishes the importance of aligning the curriculum and articulating clear engineering progression routes from the age of fourteen to enable young people to be inspired and motivated towards careers in engineering. The paper presents the view of parents, teachers and pupils involved with the Diploma, during the first year, and the way in which the partnership is informing future developments in the delivery of engineering curriculum within the region. The success of this regional partnership model has resulted in the Department of Children, Schools and Families agreeing to fund the development of the Aston University Engineering Academy Birmingham. This is a school for 14-19 year olds that will open in 2012 on the Aston Science Park adjacent to the University. The final part of the paper looks at the benefits to the young local engineers of this initiative. © 2009 Authors.

Integrating engineering education in the middle school mathematics curriculum

Many nations are experiencing a decline in the number of graduating engineers, an overall poor preparedness for engineering studies in tertiary institutions, and a lack of diversity in the field. Given the increasing importance of mathematics, science, engineering, and technology in our world, it is imperative that we foster an interest and drive to participate in engineering from an early age. This discuission paper argues for the intergration of engineering education within the elementary and middle school mathematics curricula. In doing so, we offer a definition of engineering education and address its core goals; consider some perceptions of engineering and engineering education held by teachers and students; and offer one approach to promoting engineering education within the elementary and middle school mathematics curriculum, namely through mathematical modeling.

Engineering design processes in seventh-grade classrooms: bridging the engineering education gap

This paper reports on some findings from the first year of a three-year longitudinal study, in which seventh to ninth-graders were introduced to engineering education. Specifically, the paper addresses students’ responses to an initial design activity involving bridge construction, which was implemented at the end of seventh grade. This paper also addresses how students created their bridge designs and applied these in their bridge constructions; their reflections on their designs; their reflections on why the bridge failed to support increased weights during the testing process; and their suggestions on ways in which they would improve their bridge designs. The present findings include identification of six, increasingly sophisticated levels of illustrated bridge designs, with designs improving between the classroom and homework activities of two focus groups of students. Students’ responses to the classroom activity revealed a number of iterative design processes, where the problem goals, including constraints, served as monitoring factors for students’ generation of ideas, design thinking and construction of an effective bridge.

Curricula integration : identifying and locating engineering education across the Australian curriculum

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) has become an educational package emerging throughout the world (e.g. UK, China, US & Australia). Although science, technology and mathematics are taught in schools and engineering education occurs in universities, there appear to be few if any explicit engineering education programs in primary and junior secondary schools. A stronger inclusion of engineering education at these levels could assist students to make informed decisions about career opportunities in STEM-related fields. This paper suggests how engineering education can be integrated with other key learning areas such as English, mathematics, science, history and geography within the new Australian Curriculum.

What is Missing for Traditional Design-Centric Engineering Education to Better Prepare Newly Graduated Engineers for the Global Era?

This paper presents an analysis of the capacity of design centric methodologies to prepare engineering students to succeed in the market. Gaps are brainstormed and analyzed with reference to their importance. Reasons that may lead the newly graduated engineers not to succeed right from the beginning of their professional lives have also been evaluated. A comparison among the two subjects above was prepared, reviewed and analyzed. The influence of multidisciplinary, multicultural and complex environmental influences created in the current global business era is taken into account. The industry requirements in terms of what they expect to 'receive' from their engineers are evaluated and compared to the remaining of the study above. An innovative approach to current engineering education that utilizes traditional design-centric methodologies is then proposed, aggregating new disciplines to supplement the traditional engineering education. The solution encompasses the inclusion of disciplines from Human Sciences and Emotional Intelligence fields willing to better prepare the engineer of tomorrow to work in a multidisciplinary, globalized, complex and team working environment. A pilot implementation of such an approach is reviewed and conclusions are drawn from this educational project.

Some Reflections on Engineering Education as a Tool for the next Knowledge Society

The aim of this paper is to offer a broad panorama of some aspects related with Engineering Education in a Knowledge Society.

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).

Relationships, variety & synergy:the vital ingredients for scholarship in engineering education? A case study

This paper begins with the argument that within modern-day society, engineering has shifted from being the scientific and technical mainstay of industrial, and more recently digital change to become the most vital driver of future advancement. In order to meet the inevitable challenges resulting from this role, the nature of engineering education is constantly evolving and as such engineering education has to change. The paper argues that what is needed is a fresh approach to engineering education – one that is sufficiently flexible so as to capture the fast-changing needs of engineering education as a discipline, whilst being pedagogically suitable for use with a range of engineering epistemologies. It provides an overview of a case study in which a new approach to engineering education has been developed and evaluated. The approach, which is based on the concept of scholarship, is described in detail. This is followed by a discussion of how the approach has been put into practice and evaluated. The paper concludes by arguing that within today's market-driven university world, the need for effective learning and teaching practice, based in good scholarship, is fundamental to student success.

Researching primary engineering education:a UK perspective, an exploratory study

This paper draws attention to the findings of an exploratory study that critically identified and analysed relevant perceptions of elementary level engineering education within the UK. Utilising an approach based upon grounded theory methodology, 30 participants including teachers, representatives of government bodies and non-profit providers of primary level engineering initiatives were interviewed. Three main concepts were identified during the analysis of findings, each relevant to primary engineering education. These were pedagogic issues, exposure to engineering within the curriculum and children's interest. The paper concludes that the opportunity to make a real difference to children's education by stimulating their engineering imagination suggests this subject area is of particular value.

Time for action? Elementary engineering education - Challenging teachers, policy makers and parents

Grounded in the findings of a three year exploratory student whereby teachers' and policy makers' perceptions of elementary level engineering education were analysed, this paper focuses upon three strands of engineering education activity: Pedagogy: Practice, and: Policy. Taking into account the challenges associated with introducing engineering education at an elementary level across the UK, the paper critiques the role played by the 'competition model' in promoting engineering to children and 4 to 11 years. In considering the 'added value' that appropriately developed engineering education activities can offer in the classroom the discussion argues that elementary level engineering has the potential to reach across the curriculum, offering context and depth in many different areas. The paper concludes by arguing that by introducing the discipline to children at a foundational level, switching on their 'Engineering Imaginations' and getting them to experience the value and excitement of engineering, maths and applied science a new "Educational Frontier" will be forged. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2014.

Using neo-Piagetian theory, formative in-Class tests and think alouds to better understand student thinking : a preliminary report on computer programming

It is acknowledged around the world that many university students struggle with learning to program (McCracken et al., 2001; McGettrick et al., 2005). In this paper, we describe how we have developed a research programme to systematically study and incrementally improve our teaching. We have adopted a research programme with three elements: (1) a theory that provides an organising framework for defining the type of phenomena and data of interest, (2) data on how the class as a whole performs on formative assessment tasks that are framed from within the organising framework, and (3) data from one-on-one think aloud sessions, to establish why students struggle with some of those in-class formative assessment tasks. We teach introductory computer programming, but this three-element structure of our research is applicable to many areas of engineering education research.