Engineering Education Literature Research Articles

Industry Forum III: Towards A Common Language

Engineering Education literature acknowledgesthat the language Academia uses to assess the abilities ofengineering students may not be the same as the languageIndustry uses to measure the abilities of new graduates at thetime they enter the work force. It also suggests that theunderstanding and expectations of Industry may differ fromAcademia. If the language, perceptions and expectations aredifferent, so too could be Industry’s assessment of theknowledge, skills and attitudes of new engineering graduates.Consequently, Industry may need to spend additional resourcesto develop the abilities of new hires to meet their own needs.The Industry Forum III was conducted in partnership withmembers of Manitoba Industry and members of Academia fromthe Faculty of Engineering at the University of Manitoba withthe objective to develop a common language that Industry andAcademia can use in concert to measure the abilities of newengineering graduates. This paper details the findings from theforum, as well as the changes made to the University ofManitoba graduate attribute rubrics in the pursuit of a commonlanguage for our engineering stakeholders.

The significance of context for curriculum development in engineering education: a case study across three African countries

Curriculum reform is a key topic in the engineering education literature, but much of this discussion proceeds with little engagement with the impact of the local context in which the programme resides. This article thus seeks to understand the influence of local contextual dynamics on curriculum reform in engineering education. The empirical study is a comparative analysis of the context for curriculum reform in three different chemical engineering departments on the African continent, located in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. All three departments are currently engaged in processes of curriculum reform, but the analysis shows how the different contexts in which these efforts are taking place exert strong shaping effects on the processes and outcomes for that reform.

The role of authenticity in design-based learning environments: The case of engineering education

The term authenticity is pervasive in the education literature in general and specifically in the design education and engineering education literature; yet, the construct is often used un-reflected and ill defined. The purpose of this paper is (1) to critically examine current conceptualizations of authenticity as principles to design learning modules and environments within engineering education and (2) to propose a systematically derived model of authenticity. The context of the project is toward pre-college engineering education yet findings are applicable across the lifespan of engineering education. A systematic literature review guided by procedures set forth by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination was conducted in the engineering education literature to synthesize the findings. Based on an initial sample of papers (n = 36) a rubric was developed to identify authenticity and authentic experiences in engineering education. Using the developed rubric, a total pool of 1058 references was evaluated using the rubric with 88%-100% inter-rater reliability for each category of authenticity. A frequency analysis of references revealed that the majority of work is seen in undergraduate education, and only 14 instances of authenticity in engineering education appeared at the K-12 level. The proposed model of authenticity includes two additions to existing models introducing impact authenticity and value authenticity. The findings and the model are described. Implications include the use of different types of authenticity to provide more appropriate and promising principles for better design of engineering curricula and standards for curriculum developers and professional development providers, including more use of authenticity in the K-12 classroom.

Engineering Undergraduates’ Perceptions of Soft Skills: Relations with Self-Efficacy and Learning Styles

Engineering education literature shares a consensual vision of the importance of soft skills for every workplace. However, undergraduates may not be aware of soft skills importance for their future employment and professional development. This research examines how undergraduates rate their current proficiency in a range of soft skills, and how do they perceive its importance for future employment. It also explores relations between proficiency in soft skills and self-efficacy, a variable strongly associated with competent performance, and learning styles, in order to identify practical implications for the design of more effective skills development programs.

Developing knowledge intensive ideas in engineering education: the application of camp methodology

Background: Globalization, technological advancement, environmental problems, etc. challenge organizations not just to consider cost-effectiveness, but also to develop new ideas in order to build competitive advantages. Hence, methods to deliberately enhance creativity and facilitate its processes of development must also play a central role in engineering education. However, so far the engineering education literature provides little attention to the important discussion of how to develop knowledge intensive ideas based on creativity methods and concepts. Purpose: The purpose of this article is to investigate how to design creative camps from which knowledge intensive ideas can unfold. Design/method/sample: A framework on integration of creativity and knowledge intensity is first developed, and then tested through the planning, execution and evaluation of a specialized creativity camp with focus on supply chain management. Detailed documentation of the learning processes of the participating 49 engineering and business students is developed through repeated interviews during the process as well as a survey. Results: The research illustrates the process of development of ideas, and how the participants through interdisciplinary collaboration, cognitive flexibility and joint ownership develop highly innovative and knowledge-intensive ideas, with direct relevance for the four companies whose problems they address. Conclusions: The article demonstrates how the creativity camp methodology holds the potential of combining advanced academic knowledge and creativity, to produce knowledge intensive ideas, when the design is based on ideas of experiential learning as well as creativity principles. This makes the method a highly relevant learning approach for engineering students in the search for skills to both develop and implement innovative ideas.

Listening as a Missing Dimension in Engineering Education: Implications for Sustainable Community Development Efforts

Although listening is valued in engineering education literature, it is conspicuously absent from engineering curricula. Using interview data, data from published literature, reflective instructional experiences, and the intersection of those three data sources, this study investigates two primary issues: (1) engineering students' sources of resistance to listening instruction in a sustainable community development initiative, and (2) benefits from such instruction. Findings feature a proposed theory of contextual listening and suggest that sources of resistance include the paucity of listening instruction in the engineering curriculum and curricular components that may devalue listening. Benefits of a listening intervention are described, and implications are discussed.

Teaching Communication in Capstone Design: The Role of the Instructor in Situated Learning

AbstractCalls for engineers to communicate more effectively are ubiquitous, and engineering education literature includes numerous examples of assignments and courses that integrate writing and speaking with technical content. However, little of this literature examines in detail how engineering students develop communication skills and how those learning mechanisms influence classroom practice. To address this gap, this article synthesizes research on communication learning in college from the fields of composition and technical communication and illustrates its relevance to the engineering classroom with a case study of a capstone design course. The principles of situated learning and activity theory, in particular, provide strong evidence that the ways in which course instructors and students interact around communication tasks play a significant role in helping students develop transferable communication skills.

Integrating role-play into software engineering courses

The primary goal of an introductory software engineering course is to provide a complete introduction to software engineering. Typically this includes concepts, terms, processes, tools, and history. However, for students to fully understand software engineering and be prepared for software development careers, courses must also consider the sociological and communication aspects, often called the socio-technical aspects. Unfortunately, these aspects are difficult to teach and do not receive much coverage in the most widely used software engineering textbooks. Faculty have used various approaches to address the socio-technical aspects. One popular method is to use role-playing exercises. The software engineering education literature contains many papers advocating role-play. However, these papers describe role-play integrated in semester-long projects and often provide little detail about the exercises. Using these published approaches in an existing software engineering course requires significant work by the instructor. This paper presents a set of ready to use role-play exercises that can be downloaded and easily integrated into an existing course. Student reaction is also reported.

Guest Editorial Continuing to Build Engineering Education Research Capabilities

The engineering education research community has progressed considerably since the first Frontiers in Education (FIE) conference. The FIE conference was started by the IEEE Education Society in 1971. The FIE conference has helped engineering faculty become more scholarly teachers. Becoming a scholarly teacher means being familiar with the best practices in engineering education, reading engineering education literature and engaging in periodic conversations about teaching and learning with colleagues, and conducting systematic assessment of their students' learning. The IEEE Education Society has provided extraordinary leadership in engineering education and is now well positioned to play a significant role in preparing engineering education researchers. In January 2003, the Journal of Engineering Education (JEE) repositioned itself as an archival journal for scholarly research in engineering education.

Engineering Education in Europe and the USA

The purpose of this project is to analyze two leading journals in the field of engineering education: the Journal of Engineering Educationof the American Society for Engineering Education and the European Journal of Engineering Education, the official publication of the European Society for Engineering Education. A content analysis of volumes published during the years 1998, 1999, and 2000 was done in order to determine their subject coverage and authorship characteristics. This project also identified some of the most common topics and the type of papers covered in the American and European engineering education literature. These two publications are compared as two significant representatives of the current state in the field of engineering education.

Present and Future Directions in Design Education

Following an era of scientific orientation in engineering curricula, a new period of curricula change and reorientation toward the practice of engineering seems to be emerging. With this in mind, an attempt is made to summarize trends in design education that mark this new era in engineering education, which will hopefully cure some of the apparent ills and deficiencies ot previous engineering curricula. The objectives of design education, based on ASCE and American Society for Engineering Education literature, are considered in detail. Constraints to design education involving students, faculty, university administration, and the Engineers Council for Professional Development are examined. It is pointed out that the ASCE, faculty, and industry can be turned into positive resources for encouraging and implementing design education. In addition, a number of models are outlined and identified for introducing decision making and design into the engineering curriculum in a meaningful way.