Engineering education

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

The Revolt of the Engineers: Social Responsibility and the American Engineering Profession

Abstract: Awarded the Dexter Prize of the Society for the History of Technology."A thoroughgoing study of the engineering profession, emphasizing, and rightly so, its accommodation to business institutions. It is a book that is suggestive, challenging, and instructive."--Technology and Culture."First-rate."--American Historical Review.

Why They Leave: Understanding Student Attrition from Engineering Majors

Abstract: A large number of students leave engineering majors prior to graduation despite efforts to increase retention rates To improveretention rates in engineering programs, the reasons why students leave engineering must be determined In this paper, we reviewthe literature on attrition from engineering programs to identify the breadth of factors that contribute to students’ decisions toleave Fifty studies on student attrition from engineering programs were included in the primary part of this literature review Inthe second half of the work, an additional twenty-five studies that focused on methods of increasing student retention, wereexamined Six broad factors driving students to leave engineering were identified by examining the attrition literature: classroomand academic climate, grades and conceptual understanding, self-efficacy and self-confidence, high school preparation, interest andcareer goals, and race and gender Evidence from the retention studies suggests that successful efforts to increase retention act onone or more of these factors A clear gap in the literature is that of economics: the costs associated with losing students, and thecosts associated with implementing retention strategies, are virtually unmentioned

STEM Education: Proceed with Caution.

Abstract: Proposals for science, technology, engineering and mathematics to be presented in the secondary curriculum in an integrated way have been developed in some countries for at least three decades now, but are recently becoming more common and more significant. Some proposals are now being delivered with high level political clout, for example President Obama’s November 2009 announcement of a range of STEM initiatives, and the UK appointment of a National STEM Director followed by a range of similar initiatives to promote the STEM agenda. In other countries this grouping of subjects is promoted as a coalition but not necessarily as a school curriculum organiser, for example SET (Science, Engineering and Technology) in South Africa (National Science and Technology Forum). The rationales for the agenda are various but limited, and related mainly to vocational and economic goals, rationales not uncommon in the justification of Technology Education, though more recently marginalised as Technology Education has established its place more securely as a component of general education. In many countries, traditional technology education had a strong vocational emphasis and consequently the link with workforce needs and the economy was quite explicit. Technology as a component of general education has a less direct link with economic development, but nevertheless it remains a rationale which is often invoked.

Implementing Sustainable Development through Problem-Based Learning: Pedagogy and Practice

Abstract: This paper presents an approach for implementing sustainability within a university environment, and for helping students become more effective problem solvers and professionals. In a ''Sustainable Urban Development'' course, taught by the writer, students develop projects to make their campus and community more sustainable. In the process, students learn how to analyze sustainability, work with decision makers, and put classroom knowledge into practice. Further, through this course's emphasis on problem-based learning, students acquire critical cognitive skills and professional skills as they tackle complex, interdisciplinary, and real-world problems. Systematic evaluations of the course offer useful lessons. One is how to create synergies. For instance, while students benefited from hands-on experience with sustainability, the university benefited from students' work. Another is how to demonstrate and quantify benefits from sustainability, which is vital to gaining support. Yet another is how to enable students to learn from both successful and unsuccessful attempts to implement ideas. Courses such as this can create important bridges between theory and application, and between education and professional practice.

Teaching Building Information Modeling as an Integral Part of Freshman Year Civil Engineering Education

Abstract: Lack of personnel with Building Information Modeling BIM skills is a significant constraint retarding use of the technology in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. Unless BIM is introduced into undergraduate civil engineering curricula in a fundamental way, graduate civil engineers will lack the skills needed to serve a construction industry in which three-dimensional models are the main medium for expression and communication of design intent and the basis for engineering analysis. A mandatory freshman year course titled "Communicating Engineering Information," which teaches both theoretical and practical aspects of BIM, has been developed to replace the traditional engineering graphics course at the Technion. The main lesson learned through four semesters of teaching the class is that students find BIM tools intuitive and therefore relatively easy to learn; the majority of lecture hours are now devoted to the conceptual aspects of BIM and the principles for preparing models that can be analyzed in multiple ways. BIM can and should be taught in its own right, and not as an extension to computer-aided drawing. The skills students have been able to bring to bear in design courses later in their university education indicate that the approach is sound and will enable graduates to meet the needs of the civil engineering profession in the "BIM age." DOI: 10.1061/ASCEEI.1943-5541.0000003 CE Database subject headings: Engineering education; Information technology IT; Three-dimensional models. Author keywords: Engineering education; Building information modeling BIM; Three-dimensional models.