Humanities in Engineering Education

The difficulty in defining who the engineer is, in our times, is due to the increasing complexity of technical progress, which seems endless. The engineer’s professionalism nowadays requires not only technical skills, but also a deep sense of responsibility towards human society and the environment. It is necessary to answer more adequately to this complexity by providing the engineer a more comprehensive education. The inclusion of Humanities in the curriculum of the Engineering Faculties—specifically that of Anthropology, Ethics, Literature, and History of Technology—is indispensable for regaining the human factor in technological questions and for educating responsible and competent professionals.

Technology-Enhanced Learning Standard through Integration of Modeling and Simulation into Engineering Study Programs

Introducing a technology-enhanced learning standard in engineering study programs requires a deeper insight into and understanding of the complexity and dynamics of today’s engineering systems. This can be achieved by embedding Modeling and Simulation (M&S) within engineering study programs to stimulate educational innovations in undergraduate engineering curricula, such as electrical engineering. An example of this is in the process of being implemented in the Department of Electrical Engineering (EE) at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln (UNL). The need for such programs is evident by recent recommendations from the White House, the U.S. Congress, and the National Science Foundation, all of which stress that M&S is one of the key enabling technologies of the 21st century and is critical to U.S. competitiveness. Various models of a dynamic engineering system can be developed at different levels of detail in accordance with the recommended technical specifications to gain better insight into the behavior, stability, and performance of a system. The functionality of a real engineering system can be tested virtually by changing the structure, parameters, and inputs and outputs of the model to accurately predict the response of the system under various operating conditions. In order to educate a skilled workforce capable of meeting the country’s critical needs, the educational requirements for undergraduates in an M&S-based EE program have to be developed. Such a program needs to meet the accreditation requirements set by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology Inc. (ABET).

The Use of Learning Objects as an Alternative for Providing Curriculum Flexibility in Engineering Courses

This chapter is intended for tutors, professors, and students, and seeks to contribute to the development of online communication activities as a means of providing curriculum flexibility in engineering courses. It describes the use of online learning resources, called Learning Objects (LO), and their development at the Pontifical Catholic University of Parana (PUCPR) by a multidisciplinary staff. The design of the LOs takes into account the difficulties students encounter during face-to-face activities as reported in previous studies carried out by the authors during their teaching careers. LOs allow Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to be used as an aid to face-to-face learning, with reorganized learning and teaching strategies. LOs are available in the university’s own virtual environment, Eureka, and can be accessed by approximately 14,000 students and more than 1,200 teaching staff at the institution. Student feedback was also collected and is described here.

Developing Right Graduate Attributes through Project-Based Teaching

Engineering education all over the world is of paramount importance as it is this education which provides economies with opportunities for development and growth. Engineering education is important for both developed and developing economies—for the former to maintain their lead position and for the latter to ensure decent livelihood and utilization of natural resources. In such a situation, engineering education needs to continuously upgrade itself to meet the ever changing needs of the economy, society, and mankind. Hence, understanding engineering education and reviewing the methods and standards are important if all stakeholders have to be satisfied. With the driving force of the globalization of the engineering profession, adopting project-based teaching methods have mutual recognition across the world, and also help to develop the right graduate attributes while continuing to assure the standards and quality of engineering education.

Generic Engineering Competencies Required by Engineers Graduating in Australia

Continuous improvement of engineering education is achieved through curriculum development, program evaluation, and program accreditation processes. This chapter is based on the view that one of the criteria for design of these should be alignment with the competencies required by engineers in the workplace. The chapter provides an 11-factor competency model developed in Australia to help achieve this alignment. The model describes the generic engineering competencies required by engineers graduating in Australia. The competencies embed inter-related technical and non-technical components. An advantage of this model over others is the concise and relatively distinct nature of the 11 factors due to the statistical rather than conceptual method of grouping the competencies. The chapter outlines the theoretical framework, the model, and its development. The research methods employed to develop the model include a literature review, a panel session, two large-scale surveys of engineers, and a focus group. Implications for curriculum design, accreditation, and program evaluation are discussed.

Engineering the Future

With the demand for engineering graduates at what may be defined as an unprecedented high, many universities find themselves facing significant levels of student attrition—with high “drop-out levels” being a major issue in engineering education. In order to address this, Aston University in the UK has radically changed its undergraduate engineering education curriculum, introducing capstone CDIO (Conceive, Design, Implement, Operate) modules for all first year students studying Mechanical Engineering and Design. The introduction of CDIO is aimed at making project / problem based learning the norm. Utilising this approach, the learning and teaching in engineering purposefully aims to promote innovative thinking, thus equipping students with high-level problem-solving skills in a way that builds on theory whilst enhancing practical competencies and abilities. This chapter provides an overview of an Action Research study undertaken contemporaneously with the development, introduction, and administration of the first two semesters of CDIO. It identifies the challenges and benefits of the approach and concludes by arguing that whilst CDIO is hard work for staff, it can make a real difference to students’ learning experiences, thereby positively impacting retention.

Sustainability

The relation of sustainability to science and engineering will be delved into so as to validate the need for its inclusion in current engineering curricula. The chapter will highlight key elements of sustainability that need to be incorporated into a General Education requirement (i.e. lower level undergraduate) course as well as some options for elective (i.e. upper level undergraduate) or postgraduate courses. The chapter will act as a “how to” curriculum development guide to give ideas for the quick development of sustainability courses. It also highlights how engineering students can become engaged in service learning (something that is at the fore of importance for most engineering departments in the US) through their student organizations and associated academic staff advisors with sustainability at the core.

Using Innovations Effectively in a Distance Learning Programme

Distance education is not new. Correspondence courses date back over 150 years. Advances in information and communication technologies, particularly the Internet, open up a host of possibilities to study at a distance, making use of the latest advances in e-learning tools. However, it must be stressed that e-learning has to focus on the learning pedagogy and not just the technology. This chapter examines the role of learning in e-learning by reviewing state-of-the-art developments and innovations to support distance learning students and academics. It identifies strategies for successful learning through the evaluation of student experiences and considers methods and practices that can be employed for delivering a successful learning programme.

An Innovative Offshore Delivery of an Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Program

In the era of globalisation, traditional onshore education providers have the opportunity to offer offshore education to meet student needs. Although a number of many non-engineering programs have been offered offshore for some time, the engineering programs generally lag behind due to insufficient laboratory and workshop facilities off campus and the difficulties encountered when trying to emulate this learning experience. RMIT University’s offshore mechanical engineering program is designed to overcome these difficulties by combining traditional teaching and learning with flexible learning modes. The program represents a hybrid approach and has drawn significant interest among students, educational developers, and professional bodies.

Integrating General Education Courses into Engineering Curriculum

General Education Courses (GEC) are natural sources of “soft” skills in engineering curricula. Such skills are becoming increasingly important if the graduates are to operate successfully and be fully integrated in their workplaces. The importance of “soft” skills is fully recognized by engineering accreditation boards. The chapter reports on the engineering students’ reactions to the introduction of GEC at the University of Botswana (UB). The position of engineering students’ on the issue of GEC is not very clear. The questionnaire administered to final year students in all engineering programmes at UB gave a mixed response. On average, there were 25% neutral answers to the questions in the survey. The fact that on average one quarter of all graduating engineers did not have an opinion about GEC and their implementation was very disappointing and showed the general problem of students not being interested in that area of their study. The survey showed that students were not fully convinced that GEC were either important or relevant to their future career. The fundamental question on whether GEC were a necessary part of engineering programme brought almost an equal split between positive, negative, and neutral answers, with a slight advantage of positive answers (37%) over negative ones (33%). The students were equally split (36% positive and negative answers) on the question of whether GEC were relevant to their career paths. A small majority were of the opinion that GEC should not be retained. As it is critical that elements of general education are retained in the engineering curriculum, it is necessary to convince the students of the importance of those elements of the study. An effective advisory students’ system is recommended starting with general discussions on engineering practice within departments led by senior members of staff. Also, an introductory course in engineering or any course directly dealing with engineering practice is recommended.