Engineering education

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

Transdisciplinary systems engineering: Implications, challenges and research agenda

Abstract: Transdisciplinary processes have been the subject of research since several decades already. Transdisciplinary processes are aimed at solving ill-defined and socially relevant problems. Many researchers have studied transdisciplinary processes and have tried to understand the essentials of transdisciplinarity. Many engineering problems can be characterised as ill-defined and socially relevant, too. Although transdisciplinary engineering cannot widely be found in the literature yet, a transdisciplinary approach is deemed relevant for many engineering problems. With this paper we aim to present an overview of the literature on research into transdisciplinary processes and investigate the relevance of a transdisciplinary approach in engineering domains. After a brief description of past research on transdisciplinarity, implications for engineering research, engineering practice, and engineering education are identified. In all three areas, the current situation is described, while challenges are identified that still exist. The paper ends with a research agenda for transdisciplinary engineering.

Engineering ethics beyond engineers' ethics.

Abstract: Engineering ethics is usually focused on engineers' ethics, engineers acting as individuals. Certainly, these professionals play a central role in the matter, but engineers are not a singularity inside engineering; they exist and operate as a part of a complex network of mutual relationships between many other people, organizations and groups. When engineering ethics and engineers' ethics are taken as one and the same thing the paradigm of the ethical engineer which prevails is that of the heroic engineer, a certain model of the ideal engineer: someone both quite individualistic and strong enough to deal with all the moral challenges that could arise. We argue that this is not the best approach, at least today in our interrelated world. We have achieved a high degree of independence from nature by means of technology. In exchange for this autonomy we have become increasingly tied up with very complex systems to which we constantly delegate new tasks and powers. Concerns about safety keep growing everywhere due to the fact that now we have a sensitive awareness of the huge amount of power we are both consuming and deploying, thus, new forms of dialogue and consensus have to be incorporated at different levels, in different forums and at different times. Within these democratic channels of participation not just the needs and interests, but also the responsibilities and mutual commitments of all parties should be taken into account.

Academic and emotional effects of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic on engineering students.

Abstract: The unprecedented situation of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the closure of universities worldwide and has forced the transition to online learning. This exceptional context compels us to understand students' experience with online learning. Previous literature identifies relevant factors that intervene in the online education experience and can affect students' academic development. One of the main concerns is the students' mental health, given the lockdown restrictions under which classes have been conducted. Furthermore, the impact of the prolonged lockdown and the pandemic fatigue on university students and their academic experience is still unclear. This study delves into engineering undergraduate students' online education experience during the COVID-19 pandemic and its emotional impact across time. With this aim, a questionnaire was distributed to second, third, and fourth-year engineering undergraduate students at two time points, approximately six months apart. The results show significant differences in students' connection with other students and teachers, workspace conditions, and boredom between time points. Besides, the findings indicate significant correlations between academic development and quality of online classes, adaptation of the course, workspace conditions, and connection with other students and teachers, and also between students' emotions and connection with other students and teachers. Finally, the study identifies best practices carried out during online teaching that will be of value for future courses and engineering education beyond the pandemic situation, amongst which those related to effective communication with teachers stand out.

A Multidisciplinary Model for Using Robotics in Engineering Education

Abstract: The use of robotics to provide hands-on instruction across the various disciplines of engineering and computer science is no longer the prohibitively expensive proposition it once was. With the emergence of inexpensive robot kits that encompass a background in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, and computer science, robotics can now play a central role in the education of students in these disciplines. A critical obstacle to this goal, however, is the lack of familiarity that students in each discipline have for the other fields of study, making a thorough understanding of overall robotics design principles quite difficult. This paper presents a model for multidisciplinary cooperation that alleviates this problem and elevates robotics to a potentially pivotal position in engineering education. I. Introduction Robotics provides a comprehensive view of an integrated, fully engineered system. It affords a view of information processing from the microprocessor level up through the application software, and it illustrates the connection between mechanical, electrical, and computing components. Because of its multidisciplinary nature, the study of robotics in the classroom can be a valuable tool for the practical, hands-on application of concepts across various engineering and science topics. 1 Furthermore, the curriculum in any specific area of study tends to narrowly focus students on that area, whereas real-world complex systems tend to integrate electrical, mechanical, and computing components. The study of robotics provides a medium for students to experience this integration and to see the interaction between the various types of systems. Its multidisciplinary nature has also relegated the study of robotics to larger research universities and private industrial research groups whose members have had the full range of prerequisite knowledge to engineer such complex systems. Pre-constructed industrial robots could be purchased, but their exorbitant prices made them cost prohibitive to the more modest budgets of smaller educational institutions. With the emergence of inexpensive computational components, robot platforms have become more accessible to such smaller programs. More importantly, these platforms have made the area of robotics accessible by removing the need to have a background in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and computer science simultaneously. Platforms such as the Handyboard and the LEGO RCX 2 have managed to allow users to cross the threshold of indignation, which is “the maximal behavioral component that we are willing to make to get a task done.” 3 If end users perceive that their efforts must go beyond this point, a new tool will not succeed in the consumer market, no matter how good or