Showing papers on "Engineering education published in 2017"

A Model of Empathy in Engineering as a Core Skill, Practice Orientation, and Professional Way of Being

Abstract: Background Engineers are increasingly being asked to empathically engage with a broad range of stakeholders. Current efforts to educate empathic engineers, however, are hindered by the lack of a conceptually cohesive understanding of, and language for, applying empathy to engineering. Prior studies have suggested that research informed by long-standing traditions in other fields may provide the rigor, conceptual clarity, and expertise necessary to theoretically ground the education and practice of empathy in technical disciplines. Purpose This study examined three research questions: What are current understandings of empathy in engineering and engineering education? How do these understandings compare with conceptions of empathy in social work, a professional discipline that defines empathy as a core skill and orientation of its practitioners? What can engineering educators learn from social work to inform the education of empathic engineers? Scope/Method This article presents the findings from a sustained, four-year, interdisciplinary dialogue between engineering education and social work education researchers. This effort included an examination of productive tensions and similarities between the two fields, a critical synthesis of the literature on empathy in each discipline, and the development of a context-appropriate model for empathy in engineering. Conclusions We propose a model of empathy in engineering as a teachable and learnable skill, a practice orientation, and a professional way of being. Expanding conceptions of empathy in social work, this model additionally emphasizes mode switching and a commitment to values pluralism.

Room escape at class: Escape games activities to facilitate the motivation and learning in computer science

Abstract: Real-life room-escape games are ludic activities in which participants enter a room in order to get out of it only after solving some riddles. In this paper, we explain a Room Escape teaching experience developed in the Engineering School at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. The goal of this activity is to increase student’s motivation and to improve their learning on two courses of the second year in the Computer Engineering degree: Computer Networksand Information and Security.

Epistemic Practices of Engineering for Education.

Abstract: Engineering offers new educational opportunities for students, yet also poses challenges about how to conceptualize the disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and science and engineering practices of the disciplinary fields of engineering. In this paper, we draw from empirical studies of engineering in professional and school settings to propose a set of epistemic practices of engineering that can inform curriculum development, teacher education, and research in science and engineering education. We examine the ways that these practices emerge from the work of engineering and serve to guide problem solving across a range of engineering fields. The proposed epistemic practices for education take into consideration social contexts of engineering, the salience of evidence for decision making, the types of tools and strategies used to construct knowledge, and need for creativity and innovation. The article concludes with suggestions for research in engineering education.

Review—Organic Materials for Thermoelectric Energy Generation

Abstract: L.M.C and B.C.S. acknowledge the Materials Research Institute and Queen Mary University of London for financial support. M.J.C. would like to thank the EPSRC funded (EP/N506553/1) College of Engineering Doctoral Training Partnership at Swansea University.

Engineering Lecturers' Views on CLIL and EMI.

Abstract: The present study aims to shed some light on how engineering lecturers teaching in English at a Spanish university view their work (teaching goals) within the current European internationalisation trend of offering courses and master programmes in English. A questionnaire where content and language integrated learning (CLIL) and English-medium instruction (EMI) were differentiated and with questions on their self-attributed duties, training preferences, assessment and internationalisation issues, among others, was prepared. The 41 lecturers who participated were asked to identify the modality they were following and their views related to the key factors in their courses. Findings point to the fact that EMI is the modality they follow and that they do not want to shift to CLIL because they refuse to teach language. To gain qualitative information about their beliefs, six lecturers were later interviewed. These interviews suggested that lecturers attach no importance to language integration. More specifically, they do not usually reflect on their lecturing, they welcome the idea of distinguishing both modalities in higher education (HE), they regard English proficiency as a key factor for all stakeholders and finally they think CLIL better suits less proficient students in HE.

A Systematic Literature Review of US Engineering Ethics Interventions

Abstract: Promoting the ethical formation of engineering students through the cultivation of their discipline-specific knowledge, sensitivity, imagination, and reasoning skills has become a goal for many engineering education programs throughout the United States. However, there is neither a consensus throughout the engineering education community regarding which strategies are most effective towards which ends, nor which ends are most important. This study provides an overview of engineering ethics interventions within the U.S. through the systematic analysis of articles that featured ethical interventions in engineering, published in select peer-reviewed journals, and published between 2000 and 2015. As a core criterion, each journal article reviewed must have provided an overview of the course as well as how the authors evaluated course-learning goals. In sum, 26 articles were analyzed with a coding scheme that included 56 binary items. The results indicate that the most common methods for integrating ethics into engineering involved exposing students to codes/standards, utilizing case studies, and discussion activities. Nearly half of the articles had students engage with ethical heuristics or philosophical ethics. Following the presentation of the results, this study describes in detail four articles to highlight less common but intriguing pedagogical methods and evaluation techniques. The findings indicate that there is limited empirical work on ethics education within engineering across the United States. Furthermore, due to the large variation in goals, approaches, and evaluation methods described across interventions, this study does not detail "best" practices for integrating ethics into engineering. The science and engineering education community should continue exploring the relative merits of different approaches to ethics education in engineering.

The philosophical and pedagogical underpinnings of Active Learning in Engineering Education

Abstract: In this paper the authors draw on three sequential keynote addresses that they gave at Active Learning in Engineering Education (ALE) workshops in Copenhagen (2012), Caxias do Sol (2014) and San Sebastian (2015). Active Learning in Engineering Education is an informal international network of engineering educators dedicated to improving engineering education through active learning (http://www.ale-net.org/). The paper reiterates themes from those keynotes, namely, the philosophical and pedagogical underpinnings of Active Learning in Engineering Education, the scholarly questions that inspire engineering educators to go on improving their practice and exemplary models designed to activate the learning of engineering students. This paper aims to uncover the bedrock of established educational philosophies and theories that define and support active learning. The paper does not claim to present any new or innovative educational theory. There is already a surfeit of them. Rather, the aim is to assist E...

Adapting Engineering Education to Industrie 4.0 Vision

Abstract: Industrie 4.0 is originally a future vision described in the high-tech strategy of the German government that is conceived upon the information and communication technologies like Cyber-Physical Systems, Internet of Things, Physical Internet and Internet of Services to achieve a high degree of flexibility in production, higher productivity rates through real-time monitoring and diagnosis, and a lower wastage rate of material in production. An important part of the tasks in the preparation for Industrie 4.0 is the adaption of the higher education to the requirements of this vision, in particular the engineering education. In this work, we introduce a road map consisting of three pillars describing the changes/enhancements to be conducted in the areas of curriculum development, lab concept, and student club activities. We also report our current application of this road map at the Turkish-German University, Istanbul.

Integration of sustainability in engineering education: Why is PBL an answer?

Abstract: Purpose Education for sustainable development (ESD) is one of the challenges engineering education currently faces. Engineering education needs to revise and change its curriculum to integrate ESD principles and knowledge. Problem based learning (PBL) has been one of the main learning pedagogies used to integrate sustainability in engineering education. However, there is a lack of understanding of the relation between ESD and PBL principles and the ways in which they can be integrated and practised in the engineering curricula. This paper aims to investigate the relation between PBL and ESD and the ways in which they are integrated and practised in the engineering curricula. Design/methodology/approach The study starts with a review of the literature concerning ESD and PBL theories where relations between both are defined. The literature review is followed by an empirical work in which the PBL and ESD relations are investigated in relation to the PBL engineering curricula. The empirical work involves two engineering master programmes from Aalborg University, Denmark, while documentary analysis and interviews are used as methods for data collection. Findings The results show that even though PBL and ESD share common learning principles, their practice presents limitations that challenge the full integration of sustainability, namely, the crowded, strict and academic-centred curriculum, the struggle to balance different contexts with professional, interdisciplinary and collaborative knowledge and the tacit presence of sustainability. Originality/value The existence of a PBL curriculum at institutional level, such as at Aalborg University, enables investigation of how the PBL and ESD principles are practised, highlighting the limitations and potentials of integrating sustainability in the engineering curriculum.

Active Learning in Engineering Education: a (re)introduction

Abstract: The informal network ‘Active Learning in Engineering Education’ (ALE) has been promoting Active Learning since 2001. ALE creates opportunity for practitioners and researchers of engineering education to collaboratively learn how to foster learning of engineering students. The activities in ALE are centred on the vision that learners construct their knowledge based on meaningful activities and knowledge. In 2014, the steering committee of the ALE network reinforced the need to discuss the meaning of Active Learning and that was the base for this proposal for a special issue. More than 40 submissions were reviewed by the European Journal of Engineering Education community and this theme issue ended up with eight contributions, which are different both in their research and Active Learning approaches. These different Active Learning approaches are aligned with the different approaches that can be increasingly found in indexed journals.

Implementing ``Big Ideas'' to Advance the Teaching and Learning of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)

Abstract: Although education experts are increasingly advocating the incorporation of integrated STEM curriculum units to address limitations in much current STEM teaching and learning, a review of the literature reveals that more often than not such curriculum units are not mediating the construction of in-depth STEM knowledge. In this paper, we conjecture that the challenge of generating integrated STEM curriculum units that overcome this limitation and facilitate in-depth learning of and about STEM can be met by the use of three types of big ideas: within-discipline big ideas that have application in other STEM disciplines, cross-discipline big ideas, and encompassing big ideas. We provide a six-component framework (together with an example of the framework in action) that can be used to scaffold pre- and in-service teachers’ development of integrated STEM curriculum units based around these types of big ideas. The paper concludes by discussing possible directions for future research and development in this field. Keywords: big ideas, integration, STEM, themes

Virtual and augmented reality game-based applications to civil engineering education

Abstract: Gaming scenarios and virtual environments have shown beneficial results in Engineering Education. Various activities conducted in different fields demonstrate that students reveal appraisal for the integration of innovative technologies such as Virtual or Augmented Reality in the learning process. In this paper, Virtual Reality (VR) applications developed by first year students during an introductory class of the Integrated Masters in Civil Engineering are described. Additionally, two trials concerning the application of VR and Augmented Reality (AR) to Civil Engineering held at a local school (K-12 students) are also detailed. After the tests, students were surveyed and data was collected. Results and considerations are revealed in the final sections of this paper.

The Impact of Design-Based STEM Integration Curricula on Student Achievement in Engineering, Science, and Mathematics

Abstract: The new science education reform documents call for integration of engineering into K-12 science classes. Engineering design and practices are new to most science teachers, meaning that implementing effective engineering instruction is likely to be challenging. This quasi-experimental study explored the influence of teacher-developed, engineering design-based science curriculum units on learning and achievement among grade 4–8 students of different races, gender, special education status, and limited English proficiency (LEP) status. Treatment and control students (n = 4450) completed pretest and posttest assessments in science, engineering, and mathematics as well as a state-mandated mathematics test. Single-level regression results for science outcomes favored the treatment for one science assessment (physical science, heat transfer), but multilevel analyses showed no significant treatment effect. We also found that engineering integration had different effects across race and gender and that teacher gender can reduce or exacerbate the gap in engineering achievement for student subgroups depending on the outcome. Other teacher factors such as the quality of engineering-focused science units and engineering instruction were predictive of student achievement in engineering. Implications for practice are discussed.

Korean engineering students’ perceptions of English-medium instruction (EMI) and L1 use in EMI classes

Abstract: Engineering schools have spearheaded the implementation of English-medium instruction (EMI) in Korean higher education. Three major engineering universities were chosen for this study with its goals to examine engineering students’ perceptions of EMI and L1 use in EMI classes and to make suggestions for the directions that Korean engineering schools should take in relation to EMI. A questionnaire survey was conducted among the undergraduate students of the three universities. Five hundred twenty-four students participated in the survey, and the results show that more students felt insufficient about their English ability than sufficient and that the majority of the students preferred Korean-medium instruction over EMI and did not find EMI beneficial for their English ability. Nevertheless, most of the survey participants believed that EMI should be maintained but with changes in the schools’ mandatory policies. In addition, the students without distinction as to school were supportive of L1 use in...

Supporting the Development of Engineers' Interdisciplinary Competence

Abstract: Background Although interdisciplinarity has been a subject of interest and debate for decades, few investigations of interdisciplinary education exist. Existing studies examine the effects of interdisciplinary experiences on students' development of generic cognitive skills but not the development of interdisciplinary competencies. Purpose/Hypothesis This study sought to explore how engineering students' characteristics, college experiences, and engineering faculty beliefs relate to students' reports of interdisciplinary competence. Design/Method The study used a nationally representative survey sample of 5,018 undergraduate students and 1,119 faculty members in 120 U.S. engineering programs at 31 institutions. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we investigated the relationships among students' curricular and co-curricular experiences and faculty beliefs regarding interdisciplinarity in engineering education on students' reports of interdisciplinary competence. Results This study found that a curricular emphasis on interdisciplinary topics and skills, as well as co-curricular activities, specifically, participating in nonengineering clubs and organizations, study abroad, and humanitarian engineering projects, significantly and positively relate to engineering students' reports of interdisciplinary skills. Faculty members' beliefs regarding interdisciplinarity in engineering education moderated the relationships between particular co-curricular experiences and students' interdisciplinary skills, as well as between curricular emphasis and students' interdisciplinary skills. Conclusions This study identified a small set of experiences that are related to students' reported development of interdisciplinary competence. The study points to the critical role of the curriculum in promoting interdisciplinary thinking and habits of mind, as well as the potential of co-curricular opportunities that bring engineering students together with nonmajors to build interdisciplinary competence.

Rigor/Us: Building Boundaries and Disciplining Diversity with Standards of Merit

Abstract: Rigor is the aspirational quality academics apply to disciplinary standards of quality. Rigor's particular role in engineering created conditions for its transfer and adaptation in the recently emergent discipline of engineering education research. ‘Rigorous engineering education research’ and the related ‘evidence-based’ research and practice movement in STEM education have resulted in a proliferation of boundary drawing exercises that mimic those in engineering disciplines, shaping the development of new knowledge and ‘improved’ practice in engineering education. Rigor accomplishes dirty deeds, however, serving three primary ends across engineering, engineering education, and engineering education research: disciplining, demarcating boundaries, and demonstrating white male heterosexual privilege. Understanding how rigor reproduces inequality, we cannot reinvent it but rather must relinquish it, looking to alternative conceptualizations for evaluating knowledge, welcoming diverse ways of knowing,...

Pushing and Pulling Sara: A Case Study of the Contrasting Influences of High School and University Experiences on Engineering Agency, Identity, and Participation.

Abstract: This manuscript reports a longitudinal case study of how one woman, Sara, who had previously considered dropping out of high school, authored strong mathematics and science identities and purposefully exhibited agency through her experiences in high school science. These experiences empowered her to choose an engineering major in college; however, her introductory university engineering experiences ultimately pushed her out of engineering. Drawing on critical agency theory, we argue that by paying careful attention to how and why women author their identities and build agency through their experiences in high school, we may gain insight into why women may choose an engineering path in college. Additionally, we examine how Sara's perceptions of engineering structures and practices chipped away at the critical engineering agency she developed and caused her to leave engineering after her first year in college. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2016

Towards the STEM DBER Alliance: Why We Need a Discipline-Based STEM Education Research Community

Abstract: Reprinted by permission of the American Society for Engineering Education. This article was originally published in the Journal of Engineering Education, Volume 106 Issue 3, Pages 349–355, July 2017, available in final form at http://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20168

A Systematic Literature Review of Engineering Identity: Definitions, Factors, and Interventions Affecting Development, and Means of Measurement.

Abstract: Studies exploring what it means to be an engineer professionally have been conducted for decades, but have boomed in recent years. This systematic literature review aims to organise extant studies ...

Engineering Education for Generation Z.

Abstract: Generation Z is gaining popularity as the name used to refer to those born beginning in the mid to late 1990s. This is the generation that follows the Millennials, and they are just starting to arrive on college campuses. Much attention has been paid to Millennials and their impact on society, and because of this Generation Z members are often lumped together with this older cohort. But Generation Z students are unique, and universities and colleges must prepare to meet the challenges of instructing this new generation. Engineering educators in particular are being challenged to adapt to the speed of technological change. Faculty must consider how to adjust to this new environment, including the changing needs and expectations of Generation Z students. This paper explores these topics. The first section will explore the concept of a generation and describe some of the attributes associated with Generation Z. The second section will review the development of engineering education in the United States and some of the major reforms that have occurred in the past 100 years. The last section will discuss potential changes in the classroom to try and address some of the characteristics of Generation Z students.

Developing an Entrepreneurship Module by Using Product-Based Learning Approach in Vocational Education

Abstract: Boring lecturers and irrelevant learning materials needed by students caused the students are less motivated to learn entrepreneurship course in vocational education. It is caused by the learning materials that will be delivered by the lectures can be predicted by the students. Thus, a relevant and supplementary support is much needed which can be in form of a module to learn entrepreneurship in order to make entrepreneurial learning in vocational education more interesting for the students. This article aims to describe the development of entrepreneurship module by using Product-Based Learning Approach which is valid, practice and effective. This research utilized Research and Development study. This research used ADDIE (Analyzing, Designing, Developing, Implementation and Evaluation) model. The validity, the practicality and the effectiveness of the module were analyzed descriptively. The results of this research are: 1) an entrepreneurship module by using Product-Based Learning Approach is produced; 2) the result of the content validity of this module is 0.89, the format validity is 0.86 and the presentation validity is 0.88; 3) the practicality of the module gathered from lecturers’ respond is very practice (87.50%) and from students’ response is (81.63%); 4) the effectiveness of the module is categorized as effective to improve the students’ achievement by gain score-test (0.53) at average category. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that the module used Product-Based Learning Approach is valid, practice and effective to improve the quality of entrepreneurial learning process in vocational education.

Curricular and Co‐curricular Influences on Undergraduate Engineering Student Leadership

Abstract: Background Multiple reports call for undergraduate programs to develop engineers who have leadership abilities. Such preparation requires understanding how the undergraduate experience relates to student leadership abilities. Limited research has shown disagreement among faculty members and administrators about effective approaches for engineering leadership development. Purpose/Hypothesis The purpose of this research was to understand what precollege characteristics and experiences, university experiences, and undergraduate engineering program contexts relate to undergraduate engineers' self-reported leadership skills. Design/Methods Using hierarchical linear modeling, this quantitative study examined the variance of students' self-reported leadership skills as explained by their precollege characteristics and undergraduate experiences. The study drew from a nationally representative survey-based dataset of 5,076 undergraduate engineers from 150 undergraduate engineering programs from 31 colleges and universities. Results Although multiple facets of the undergraduate experience significantly relate to students' self-reported leadership skills, curricular emphases on core engineering thinking, professional skills, and broad and systems perspectives explain the greatest amount of variance. The lack of significant relationships at the program level suggests a lack of formal leadership development within the undergraduate curriculum at large. Conclusions Results indicate that entrusting the leadership development of undergraduate engineering students to the co-curriculum is an inefficient method of developing leadership skills for undergraduate engineers. The curriculum more strongly relates to engineering students' leadership skills. Identifying ways for faculty members to enhance this curricular focus could further development of technologically adept engineering leaders.

Modeling and simulation practices for a computational thinking-enabled engineering workforce

Abstract: Computational thinking has been recognized as a collection of understandings and skills required for new generations of students not only proficient at using tools, but also at creating them and understanding the implication of their capabilities and limitations. This study proposes the combination of modeling and simulation practices along with disciplinary learning as a way to synergistically integrate and take advantage of computational thinking in engineering education. This paper first proposes a framework that identifies different audiences of computing and related computational thinking practices at the intersection of computer science and engineering. Then, based on a survey with 37 experts from industry and academia, this paper also suggests a series of modeling and simulation practices, methods, and tools for such audiences. Finally, this paper also reports experts’ identified challenges and opportunities for integrating modeling and simulation practices at the undergraduate level. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 25:62–78, 2017; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.21779

Closing the divide: accelerating technology commercialization by catalyzing the university entrepreneurial ecosystem with I-Corps™

Abstract: In recent years, universities have seen an increasing amount of activity in entrepreneurship and commercialization, not only for students, but for faculty as well. Traditionally, these initiatives have been separate, such that programs and curriculum have been focused on supporting just students or just faculty. In 2012, the National Science Foundation (NSF) launched the NSF I-Corps™ program, an innovative funding program that not only offered principle investigators (PIs) funding, but also exposed PIs to an innovation/entrepreneurship curriculum as well. The University of Michigan (U-M) was one of the first two NSF I-Corps™ Nodes funded in 2012 and has leveraged the program to catalyze the entrepreneurial ecosystem. This paper describes the growth of this entrepreneurial ecosystem since 1983, the call of entrepreneurship in the U-M College of Engineering and describes the role the U-M NSF I-Corps™ program has played across the university. The paper concludes with lessons learned and recommendations to administrators and policy makers considering more active promotion of academic entrepreneurship and commercialization in universities.