Engineering education

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

Validation of the Teaching Engineering Self-Efficacy Scale for K-12 Teachers: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Abstract: Background Teacher self-efficacy has received attention because of its direct relationship with teachers' classroom behaviors. Since engineering has been increasingly introduced in K-12 (precollege) education, development of an instrument to measure teachers' self-efficacy in the context of teaching engineering has been needed. Purpose (Hypothesis) This study reports the development and validation of the Teaching Engineering Self-Efficacy Scale (TESS) for K-12 teachers. Design/Method The items for the TESS were constructed through a comprehensive review of the literature regarding K-12 engineering education, the development of teachers' self-efficacy instruments in STEM areas, and K-12 teachers' reflections on integrating engineering into their classrooms. During the content and face validity process, we used structural equation modeling to identify and confirm the factor structure of the TESS, and used item-analyses for reliability evidence. Results With data from 434 teachers in 19 states, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses using structural equation modeling resulted in the TESS consisting of 23 items loading across four factors: engineering pedagogical content knowledge, engineering engagement, engineering disciplinary self-efficacy, and outcome expectancy. Cronbach's α ranged from 0.89 to 0.96 and exhibited high internal consistency reliability coefficients for the TESS. Conclusions Teacher self-efficacy is a situation-specific construct because teachers' efficacy beliefs depend on the content area and teaching environment. Use of the TESS, as an instrument tailored for the engineering teaching context, can contribute to the literature on K-12 engineering education and improve the teaching of precollege engineering.

Re-engineering engineering education for the challenges of the 21st century

Abstract: Engineering education and the profession are confronting a challenging crossroad. Some of us see it as a crisis, others, as an opportunity for positioning our community and our society for the 21st century. It would be fair to say, however, that none of us are very satisfi ed with the status quo and what seems to be facing us in the near term. As Charles Dickens wrote in the opening of A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. Author and journalist Thomas Friedman has declared that the world is now fl at. Globalization of the economy has amplifi ed the impact of technology on modern societies in ways that could not have been predicted. The connectivity provided by the Internet has generated new markets for products and services, but has also made available labor that is often both educated and cheap. This is likely to have a profound impact on the distribution of wealth in both the developed and the developing parts of the world and may, in particular, alter the socioeconomic structure of countries where the general well-being of the population has been taken for granted. That education plays a role in the prosperity of nations is not debated, but many authors, like Landes, for example, argue that it is specifi cally the presence of both knowledge and know-how that determines how well off societies are. The education of engineers is therefore critical to every nation to ensure the prosperity of its citizens. The modern professional identity of engineers emerged in the early 18th century with the establishment of the Ecole Polytechnique in France and the foundation of professional engineering societies in England. The current way Re-Engineering Engineering Education for the Challenges of the 21st Century

Education for innovation

Abstract: Engineering education should encourage students to strive for a mastery of fundamentals and the cultivation of excellence?but this is not enough. Engineering education must be kept alive and relevant; and, to encourage creativity, it must stimulate the imaginations of students. The typical educational yard-stick of a student's performance, however, is the accuracy with which he can repeat, by rote, information obtained from a lecture or text. Original or unconventional approaches to problems are discouraged, and their proponents often penalized, thus discouraging and depressing the student. Must inventiveness be sacrificed to education?

A Problem and Project-Based Learning (PBL) Approach to Motivate Group Creativity in Engineering Education

Abstract: In this paper, we explore how engineering students are motivated to develop group creativity in a Problem and Project-BasedLearning (PBL) environment. Theoretically, we take a social cultural approach to group creativity and emphasize the influences ofa learning environment on student motivation in group creativity development. Empirically, a case study was carried out on astudent satellite project in the Department of Electronic System at Aalborg University in Denmark, by using qualitative methodsincluding interviews and observation. The findings show that student motivation is stimulated in multiple ways in a PBLenvironment, such as formal and informal group discussions, regular supervisor meetings and sharing leadership. Furthermore,factors such as common goals, support of peers and openness stimulate motivation. However, the students think that a timeschedule is a barrier to group creativity. Thus, the supervisors are encouraged to be more aware of the complex relationshipsbetween student, teacher and task and the student response.