The quality of engineering education is a key factor in development

Abstract

The whole world is concerned about the quality of engineers' education. The ideas regarding engineers' social responsibility, scientific and technological updating and their professional commitment, along with the expectations of the society to which they belong, are conceived from the classroom and, consequently, should become the essence of curriculum design and therefore the raison d'être of teaching commitment. The magnitude of teaching commitment in engineering causes particular concern for higher education institutions and accompaniment regarding their teachers' tasks. The quality of engineering curricula significantly depends on the quality of the teaching offered in them and, consequently, teachers' qualifications and recognition of their importance have become key factors in curriculum management and compliance with commitments as stated in mission statements. Research involving around a thousand engineering professors in Colombia led to identifying the main features of the three fundamental moments regarding their teaching role; this, in turn, led to characterising teachers' role in ensuring that improvement plans are carried out, resulting from engineering programme accreditation (i.e. making them accountable to society). The future of engineering training requires a major transformation regarding the task of teaching. The conventional image of teachers must provide for the concept of teacher programmes and simple compliance with curriculum guidelines must give way to initiatives and proposals promoting a teacher's role as a vital/dynamic element in the classroom.