Engineering education

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

Engineering as Captive Discourse

Abstract: In this paper we examine contemporary engineering in terms of the discourses within which its practices are framed. The term discourse is used in the sense developed within recent social theory, from the work of Michel Foucault, to refer to the ways social institutions name, define, and regulate the practices which occur in the name of those institutions. We describe our concern that the discourse of engineering education has been dominated by the discourse of engineering science, to the virtual exclusion of other discourses which contribute importantly to the practice of engineering. We argue further that engineers have accepted inappropriate constraints placed upon their profession by the discourses of commerce and science, which have been permitted to define and delimit what engineering is and can be. The result has been a serious limitation in engineers' capacity to examine the social meanings and effects of their work and to self-consciously reflect upon their practice and professional identity. We suggest directions in which the discourses of engineering education and practice need to change so that the engineering profession can achieve the goals stated explicitly in its professional codes of ethics. Our analysis seeks to open the way for change in how engineering is structured, practiced, and taught. By exposing the workings of the constitutive discourses, it is argued, the way is opened for unshackling engineering from its present constraints—freeing the discourse and making critical reflection possible.

Tangling with Spaghetti: Pedagogical Lessons from Games

Abstract: Governments are seeking to develop entrepreneurial competencies among today's technology, science, and engineering graduates However, the creation of "bilingual" graduates who have dual technical and managerial competencies is thwarted by students' inferior teamwork and interpersonal skills In education, what is taught is inextricably bound to how it is taught (Dewey, 1916) Current pedagogies in engineering education are insufficiently adapted to student learning style needs (Felder & Silverman, 1988), and the management component of engineering education remains underdeveloped This problem is keenly felt in one French engineering school where students struggle with a team-based innovation project We detail efforts made to equip students with teamwork skills by using games as a pedagogical device Student teams compete to build weight resistant structures using only spaghetti sticks and sewing thread Their written feedback forms the primary qualitative data for this study Individual student interviews were subsequently carried out to further uncover potential learning outcomes We found that students' responses to the spaghetti game were overwhelmingly positive Their commentary also illustrates concrete learning of many crucial teamwork processes Finally, we discuss what makes this pedagogical innovation work and how it should be further studied

National identities in multinational worlds: engineers and 'engineering cultures'

Abstract: An important contemporary change in engineering practice is the increasing internationalisation of work, both through the expansion of multinational organisations and increasing mobility of engineers. International work can break assumed links between working for one's employer, one's country, humanity in general, and oneself. The recent expansion in continuing engineering education (CEE) has generally not included attention to issues in transnational careers. This paper introduces and summarises assessments of 'Engineering Cultures', a liberal arts approach to cross-cultural training for engineers through multimedia modules. These country-based modules examine how what counts as an engineer and engineering knowledge has varied over time and from place to place.