Innovations in Engineering Education

Why ? When ? How ?

Ivan ŠIMAN, MSc. PhD.

Ivan.Siman@fs.cvut.cz

• Extensive knowledge in a specialized technical discipline

• Creative and innovative ability

• Entrepreneurial insight

• Ability to communicate

• Ability to work as members of heterogeneous teams

• General knowledge and experience

• Engagement in lifelong education

Skills required from 21. century engineers

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Key issues in innovation of engineering education

.• University teachers should customize the content of

their lectures and training courses according to requirements of the market, but from whom are they to obtain information on what the market really requires ?

• How can they be sure that changes in the content of their lectures and training courses are really beneficial ?

Why must engineering education be innovated immediately ?

•Because at present it is already delayed

Accelarators of the process

• Requirements from employers• Expectancy from students• Concepts of teachers• The changing world

What the teachers can change themselves

• Initiate more active education• Teamwork• Enforce consistently the system

design build test• Deal with conceptional issues

How to induce teachers to innovate

• Necessity of changes must be accelerated from outside the universities

• A coherent approach and plan drawn up • University management engaged (e.g. in

adaptation of lecturing spaces)

(Royal Academy of Engineering, UK) : It is really an unusual event when the faculty meets for the purpose of discussion on forms of education

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Presently identified issues in the transformation of engineering

education

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• Students currently consider engineering education to be boring and the profession does not appeal to those interested in social responsibility

• Engineering courses are considered to be difficult, consequently many students choose to avoid them

• Current engineering eucation programmes are heavily weighted toward presentation and learning of specialized technical details

• Engineering curricula are often overloaded as a result of technical explosion

• High failure rates are common cont.

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• Content focused on skills required for the practice of professional engineering is commonly minimum

• Employer surveys indicate that they are dissatisfied with the capabilities demonstrated by graduates

• Relations between employers and universities are not strong

• Engineering education programmes have changed little over the last 40 years and have been slow to utilize IT resources to facilitate student learning

Motto

• Engineering practice requires multidisciplinary knowledge and the abilities to evaluate, to be creative to learn what is relevant as necessary, and then to be able to apply this knowledge responsibly and efficiently in a specific project

How to proceed• Project based learning is a proven approach to

enhance engineering education. It enables students to act in teams as engineers-in-training throughout their programme

• Projects can provide the driver for students to participate in inquiry-based learning

• Facilitated student learning should be the focus – not staff lecturing

• Offer entire programmes to web-based learning, free of charge (in the USA e.g.MIT or Stanford)

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What transformations are obviously necessary

.• Use of project-based learning as the core of the

engineering curriculum in eacj semester• Staff to act as learning facilitators – no lectures• Focus on the development and assessment of

basic graduate attributes• Promotion of engineering as an essential,

exciting, rewarding and responsible professioncont.

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• Improving relations between universities and employers

• Introduction of work experience courses for all students

• Establishment of clear goals for every student

• At research universities elevate education to the same level as research

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What is preventing implementation ?

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• A number of universities have their primary focus on research and not education.

• Teachers are to a great extent conservative – they resist changes from established practices

• Engineering capability is measured by examination results

• University managments have not recognized the need for transformation or considers it to be to difficult

• University space is designed for lecturing

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What can accrediting authorities do ?

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• Promote to the government the importance of funding a trial project to develop, demonstrate and implement a strategy for collaborative EE transformation

• Promote, encourage and facilitate the necessary transformational change in universities

• Encourage the growth of EE programmes• Encourage employers to work with

universities on implementation of changescont.

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• Actively promote the understanding and recognition of the engineering profession in the society

• Encourage the provision of more general engineering education in years 1 and 2, followed by 2 years focusing on a special discipline

General advantages of the proposed steps of engineering education transformation

• The inevitable impact of IT upon universities is utilized in the most effective way

• The cost of engineering education is reduced• Collaboration and international exchange of students

is facilitated• New engineering programmes can more easily utilize

the transformed programmes• University-employer interactions can benefit both

parties and the graduates• Both the esteem and understanding of the

engineering profession can be enhanced

Sources

Most notions in this presentation were reproduced from contributions presented at the CAETS/HAE symposium in Budapest (Hungary) on June 27, 2013

Any comments on this topic made during this presentation represent solely my point of view.

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Thank you for your kind attention