Engineering education

About: Engineering education is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 24293 publications have been published within this topic receiving 234621 citations.

Empathy among Students in Engineering Programmes.

Abstract: Engineers face challenges when they are to manage project groups and be leaders for organisations becausesuch positions demand skills in social competence and empathy. Previous studies have shown that engineershave low degrees of social competence skills. In this study, the level of empathy as measured by the foursubscales of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, perspective taking, fantasy, empathic distress and empathicconcern, among engineering students was compared to students in health care profession programmes.Participants were undergraduate students at Linkoping University, 365 students from four different healthcare profession programmes and 115 students from two different engineering programmes. When theempathy measures were corrected for effects of sex, engineering students from one of the programmes hadlower empathy than psychology and socialworker students on the fantasy and perspective-taking subscales.These results raise questions regarding opportunities for engineering students to develop their empathicabilities. It is important that engineering students acquire both theoretical and practical knowledge andskills regarding empathy.

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.

Sustainability as a Route to Broadening Participation in Engineering

Abstract: Background Sustainability is increasingly a vital consideration for engineers. Improved understanding of how attention to sustainability influences student major and career choice could inform efforts to broaden participation in engineering. Purpose Two related questions guided our research. How do career outcome expectations related to sustainability predict the choice of an engineering career? Which broader sustainability-related outcomes do students perceive as related to engineering? To address both questions, we compared effects for engineering and nonengineering students while controlling for various confounding variables. Design/Method We conducted a survey to collect responses about sustainability and other variables of interest from a national sample of college students in introductory English classes. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlational analysis. Results Students who hope to address certain sustainability issues such as energy, climate change, environmental degradation, and water supply are more likely to pursue engineering. Those who hope to address other sustainability issues such as opportunities for women and minorities, poverty, and disease are less likely to do so. Students hoping to address sustainability-related outcome expectations with obvious human relevance are less likely to pursue engineering. Yet those students who perceive “improving quality of life” and “saving lives” as associated with engineering are more likely to pursue the profession. Conclusions Our results suggest that showing students the connection between certain sustainability issues and engineering careers could help those striving to increase and diversify participation in engineering. A broader range of engineers would likely bring new ideas and ways of thinking to engineering for sustainability.

Beliefs and Expectations about Engineering Preparation Exhibited by High School STEM Teachers

Abstract: BACKGROUND If we are to effect change in teacher practices and decision making regarding instruction, college preparation, and career success in engineering, then knowledge of teachers’ beliefs and expectations about engineering needs to be understood. PURPOSE (HYPOTHESIS) The primary purpose was to develop a statistically reliable survey instrument to document teachers’ beliefs and expectations about pre-college engineering instruction, college preparation, and career success in engineering, called the Engineering Education Beliefs and Expectations Instrument (EEBEI), and to compare teachers’ views. DESIGN/METHOD Using two samples of teachers, EEBEI was established as a statistically reliable survey and was used to examine the beliefs and expectations of Project Lead the Way (PLTW) and non-PLTW teachers. The results were used to further examine teachers’ decisions in advising fictional students (described in vignettes) with varying academic and socioeconomic profiles. RESULTS High school STEM teachers report their instruction was influenced by students’ interests, family background, and prior academic achievement. Comparisons between PLTW and non-PLTW teachers revealed that nonPLTW teachers agreed more strongly that an engineer must demonstrate high scholastic achievement in math and science whereas PLTW teachers were more likely to report that science and math content was integrated into engineering activities. Although teachers report that students’ socioeconomic status was not influential when asked explicitly, it did influence situated decision-making tasks using fictional student vignettes. CONCLUSIONS Findings address challenges of STEM integration and reveal conflicting purposes of K‐12 engineering education as being for a select few or to promote technological literacy for all students, which affects recruitment, instruction, and assessment practices.