DIsRuPtIoN

Abstract

There have always been critics of education and such criticism has led to a slow ebb and flow in the predominant beliefs that surround the purpose of education [1]. However in the last several years a perfect storm appears to be brewing driven by the rising costs of higher education, continuing maturation of information technologies, and a public dialog that often characterizes higher education as in need of reform [2, 3]. While there is no general consensus on the future of higher education generally, and engineering education specifically, some believe that the model of higher education familiar to most engineering faculty will undergo dramatic changes in the next decade [4]. What is the probability that the engineering education will look significantly different in ten years' time? How might our current model be disrupted; how can engineering educators not only prepare for possible disruptions, but take advantage of new opportunities? What new directions for engineering education research open up if the structure of higher education changes? This special session will elicit from the experiences of participants ways they have (or have not) seem disruptive changes on their campus. By comparing experienced change to those predicted in studies that have examined how disruptions might affect higher education [5], we hope to help the session participants develop a preliminary set of theories of change that may guide their decision making and opinions regarding disruptive forces in higher education.