Digital Commons Network^™

Empathy In Engineering And Ethics Education: Resources To Support The Engineering Education Global Community, Diana Bairaktarova, Inês Direito

Workshops

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Fabrication Lab Concept For Learning Sustainable Co-Innovation In Industrial Engineering Education – An Action Research Case From Austria, Selim Erol, Alice Grano

Research Papers

According to recent studies, cooperative innovation between universities and industry, especially with small and medium firms, is not as frequent as expected. Case-studies of regional innovation systems have shown that open access to state-of-the-art research infrastructure, services, skills and activities are needed to achieve long-term innovation partnerships. Co-innovation requires particular skills beyond technical knowledge, which are not always addressed in engineering curricula at university. Fab labs are a concept that potentially fosters students in the acquisition of such skills. In this paper, we describe our experiences in designing, building and running a fab lab as a new element for industrial …

Preparing Teachers For Culturally Diverse Engineering Classrooms: Sharing Experiences And Activities, Becky Bergman, Jan Van Maele

Workshops

No abstract provided.

Results Of Surveys Among Pupils, Students And Employers On Interests In And Contents Of Study Programmes In Civil Engineering, Geodesy, Environmental Sciences And Sustainable Mobility In Germany, Anke Lohbeck, Karsten Strauch, Markus Oeser

Research Papers

The shortage of skilled workers in the engineering sector threatens the development and sustainable transformation of the economy in Germany. In this context, the current de-cline in the number of first-year students in civil engineering, environmental engineering, geodesy and traffic engineering appears all the more alarming. Surveys which can provide basic data for the elimination of the shortage of skilled workers in engineering and the increase in the number of first-year students in the above-mentioned degree programmes were started surveys among pupils, students and representatives of state authorities in 2022. Furthermore, one of the surveys was used to analyse the …

Exploring The Reliability, Time Efficiency, And Fairness Of Comparative Judgement In The Admission Of Architecture Students, Lotte Van Den Heuvel, Nina Lotte Bohm

Research Papers

It is common in architecture education to quantify the quality of assignments into grades, often done by one or two teachers using rubrics. However, this can have several downsides. It suggests an objective preciseness that is debatable for the creative assignments in the field of architecture, and the assessment is dependent on the judgement of only one or two people. Comparative judgement (CJ) offers an alternative to rubric-based assessment by applying pairwise comparison to student assignments, resulting in a ranking instead of a grade.

We used a mixed methods approach to compare the reliability, time efficiency, and fairness of CJ …

How Do Teachers Respond To Sustained Change?, Roger Hadgraft, Franziska Trede, Monika Rummler

Research Papers

Higher Education is facing profound shifts. Employers seek graduates who can work effectively with others in rapidly changing contexts, defined by globalisation, diversity, digitalisation, climate change, complexity, a European war, and a recent global pandemic. The latter caused an instantaneous switch to online learning, where academics were forced to conduct their normally face to face classes through video conferencing tools. The calls for sustained change are challenging academics to rethink their traditional teaching roles and to develop new understandings of future-oriented learning methods and goals for their students. This paper describes the research we have conducted into how academics have …

Disruptions To The “Modeled Minority” In Engineering: Why Do Some Asian American Students Leave Engineering?, Michelle Choi Ausman, Qin Zhu

Research Papers

Asian American students are the largest non-White racial group in US undergraduate engineering, but they are often labeled as the "model minority." This stereotype confines them to STEM majors, limiting their access to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. Little attention has been given to why some Asian American students leave engineering. To address this gap, a pilot study using semi-structured interviews aims to explore the reasons behind their decision to leave the field or change their major. The study seeks to contribute to engineering education scholarship by promoting more inclusive learning environments for Asian American students and providing recommendations …

Sustainability Engineering Education – An Outlook On Uk Higher Education Providers, Maria Livada, Nikos Chrysanthopoulos, Nicolau Iralal Morar

Research Papers

The aim of this paper is to assess the extent to which United Kingdom (UK) universities are incorporating sustainability into their engineering curricula. To achieve this, data from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and university websites were analysed using a text mining approach. The findings reveal that UK higher education providers are gradually increasing their offerings of Sustainable Engineering (SE) courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The most prominent sustainability themes integrated into engineering curricula are energy, design, and construction. Furthermore, the analysis of courses and their modules shows that 50% of UK postgraduate sustainable engineering courses …

Sense Of Belonging Among Technology Students In Finland, Susanna Bairoh, Johanna Naukkarinen

Research Papers

This paper examines Finnish technology students’ belonging in technology. The phenomenon is studied at the level of the field (belonging in the field of technology) and at the level of institution (belonging in one’s study community). The data were collected within the annual student survey conducted by a professional organization for academic engineers in 2022, and analysed statistically. Results suggest that men strongly experience they belong in technology while women express some doubts, and non-binary respondents are even less certain of their belonging. Gender differences in belonging in the field of technology are more prominent than those of belonging in …

Help Them Grow – The Eng-Ist Tool - Supporting Students’ Personal Development Process To Stimulate Lifelong Learning, Una Beagon, Aimee Byrne, Caitriona Depaor, Lynn Van Den Broeck, Rani Dujardin, Sofie Craps, Johanna Naukkarinen

Workshops

No abstract provided.

Soft Skills Of Engineering Students, Nael Barakat, Aziz Shekh-Abed

Research Papers

Soft skills are a combination of personal qualities and interpersonal abilities that enable individuals to work effectively with others, communicate clearly, and collectively solve problems. Soft skills are required for effective problem-solving and decision-making. Soft skills, such as communication, teamwork, and empathy, are essential for developing a collaborative culture that encourages high order thinking and building relationships. By developing these soft skills, engineering students can improve their chances of success both in their academic pursuits and in their future careers. The goal of the study was to evaluate soft skills among engineering students, to provide insight to educators that can …

Employment Pathways For Emerging Talent: Evaluating The Certificate In Computer And Data Science (Cds), Andres Felipe Salazar Gomez, Aikaterini Bagiati, Gillian Walsh, Lana Cook, Admir Masic

Research Papers

This research paper presents the results of the first evaluation of the learning experience, challenges and opportunities of the Certificate in Computer and Data Science (CDS). Specifically, it evaluates two different real-life experiential learning opportunities (ELOs): supervised internships and self-guided projects.

MIT Emerging Talent, an initiative that expands upon the efforts of the MIT ReACT (Refugee Action Hub), provides talented learners a platform to advance their skills, leverage their expertise, access a professional career, and become leading change agents in their communities. The CDS is a 12 month-long online learning program that opens education to employment pathways for emerging talent, …

Engineering Education Research: Reviewing Journal Manuscripts Fairly, Constructively, Effectively, Kristina Edström, David Knight, Joyce Main, John Mitchell, Jonte Bernhard, Shannon Chance, Una Beagon, Maartje Van Den Bogaard, Rebecca Broadbent, Xiangyun Du, Greet Langie, Diana Martin, Jason Power, Fiona Saunders, Roland Tormey

Workshops

Peer review is the mechanism for quality control in academic journals. When a manuscript is submitted to a journal, the editors invite other researchers – peers – to review it anonymously. The reviews should serve to support the journal editors in making decisions, and to support the authors in improving the manuscripts before publication. Therefore, reviews need to be fair and constructive. As reviewing can also take considerable effort, it is useful for the reviewer to consider how to do it effectively. Given the important role of peer review in a field, and the considerable effort it takes, it is …

Who, What, How? Tackling Skills Challenges: Future Relevance, Stakeholder Differences, And Teaching Hurdles, Neil Cooke, Raffaella Manzini, Matteo Di Benedetti, Natalie Wint, Jenny Griffiths, Francesc Torres, Thies Johannsen, Ann-Kristin Winkens, Emanuela Tilley, Kamel Hawwash, Nicolau Morar

Workshops

The Engineering Skills Special Interest Group (SIG) ran a workshop on the current challenges in teaching engineering skills. This workshop employed the “world café” participatory method where attendees visited three tables for a structured discussion with a member of the SIG. Each table posed a different question: On the What? table we discussed which skills are most relevant for future practitioners. The Who? table focussed on the differences in the way that various professional skills are conceptualised by main stakeholders. Finally, at the How? table we discussed the facilitators and barriers in designing and delivering skills education. The outcome of …

Getting Started – Hands-On Producing Lecture Films, Anja Pfennig

Workshops

Lecture videos are more and more implemented in higher engineering education to be used widely by students because very often literature only presents results but not how to get there. Lecture videos may close this gap and visualize the sometimes obvious but still hard-to-understand scientific background. To attract students and become a fully accepted learning material these videos need to be of a certain standard. Based upon our 8 years of experience it is important is to involve students directly into the concept and making-of (peer-to-peer approach), because students` needs and their perspectives on teaching material are directly included in …

What Do Engineers Do With What They Know: Observing Specialized Technical Knowledge In Practice, Zach Simpson, Corrinne Shaw, Nicky Wolmarans

Research Papers

The gap between engineering education and practice has been subject to considerable research attention. We look at studies of engineering practice with a view to informing education. Our interest is in identifying technical knowledge and how it is used in practice, as well as what kind of technical knowledge is used but not taught. This paper seeks to systematically review the existing literature on engineering practice, drawing from and adding to a prior data set developed by Andrea Mazzurco and colleagues, who found that there was a gap in studies of specialised technical knowledge in practice. Investigating their dataset we …

From Curriculum To Career: Analysing The Contribution Of Delft University’S Robotics Msc Programme To The Career Path Of Its Alumni, Gillian Saunders-Smits, Linette Bossen, Joost De Winter

Research Papers

The increasing global demand for robotics expertise led the Delft University of Technology to launch a two-year Master of Science programme in Robotics in 2020. The programme was designed to educate versatile robotics engineers capable of overseeing the entire process from conception of robotics systems to implementation. The curriculum integrates disciplines such as machine perception, artificial intelligence, robot planning and control, human-robot interaction, and ethics, and emphasises personal development through a course called Portfolio, which was later rebranded as Vision and Reflection. The effectiveness of the programme was evaluated by conducting a survey among the first cohort of students. The …

Engineering Students’ Dynamic And Fluid Group Practices In A Collaborative Design Project, Jonte Bernhard, Jacob Gorm Davidsen, Thomas Ryberg

Research Papers

There is a growing interest in engineering education that the curriculum should include collaborative design projects. Collaboration and collaborative learning imply a shared activity, a shared purpose, a joint problem-solving space, and mutual interdependence to achieve intended learning outcomes. The focus, in this study, is 1 Corresponding Author J Bernhard [email protected] on engineering students’ collaborative group practices. The context is a design project in the fifth semester of the problem-based Architecture and Design programme at Aalborg University. Students’ collaborative work in the preparation for an upcoming status seminar was video recorded in situ. In our earlier studies video ethnography, conversation …

Engineering Skills And Competences For A More Sustainable World, Dunja Olbina, Bogdan Buzatu, Ljilana Kheirawi, Maria Domaltova

Research Papers

In 2015, the member states of the United Nations agreed that the ideal vision of the world should be achieved by 2030. Halfway through the efforts to reach that vision, and considering the environmental issues we are surrounded by, the need for Higher Education to further incorporate sustainability topics into the curriculum is noticeable.

This paper presents the outcomes of the research through which we aim to make an impact on Higher Education institutions and the ways they are educating and raising awareness on sustainability-related topics. It presents an analysis of the data collected through a survey and focus groups, …

Addressing Challenges Of The Sdgs: Stakeholder Perspectives On Skills Required By Engineering Students On The Island Of Ireland, Rosalind M Henry, Margaret Morgan, Una Beagon, Brian Bowe, Ruchita Jani, Janet Mckennedy

Research Papers

Living sustainably on a shared island poses both challenges and opportunities for engineers of the future. Whilst at a European level, the professional skills that engineers will need to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been identified, less has been written on how these skills should be contextualised for a national, regional and/or local level. This research paper considers the specific professional skills required for engineers on the island of Ireland. It examines differing perspectives of stakeholders, comparing and contrasting views according to local context (Northern Ireland (NI), Ireland). A professional skills survey was designed, drawing on previous research which …

A Critical Realist Investigation Into The Development Of Engineering Ethics Education, Diana Adela Martin, Eddie Conlon, Brian Bowe

Research Papers

The paper reflects on the use of critical realism as a theoretical lens for examining the provision of ethics in engineering programmes and putting forward recommendations for the development of engineering ethics education. It is based on a large scale 4-year mixed methods study in which 23 engineering programmes from 6 higher education institutions in Ireland participated. The methods used include documentary analysis of programme documents, course syllabus and accreditation reports, interviews with instructors and members of accreditation panels, participant observation at accreditation events and a descriptive statistical analysis of the numerical grade used by engineering programmes to self-assess their …

Students’ Views Of Taught Professional Competencies: Investigating The Impact Of Previous Work Experience, David Lowe, Keith Willey, Emanuela Tilley

Research Papers

The ability of Engineering graduates to function as successful professionals depends not only on technical disciplinary knowledge but also on a wide range of professional competencies. Students' reactions to the teaching and assessment of these competencies are often negative. An ongoing study by the authors has been exploring the nature of these reactions and in particular, the various factors that contribute to students’ views on the teaching of professional competencies. A preliminary factor analysis showed that students’ level of professional experience was a key factor in shaping variations in their views. In this paper, we explore this issue in more …

Who Funds Engineering Education Research? Content Analysis Of Funding Sources Described In Three Top-Tier Engineering Education Research Journals, Andrew Valentine, Natalie Wint, Bill Williams

Research Papers

Engineering education research (EER) is becoming a globally connected field of inquiry but there is a lack of sustained funding opportunities available. Currently, it is not quantitatively known which entities are most prolific for providing funding for EER globally. This study attempted to map which entities were most commonly cited as providing funding for EER. Three top-tier EER journals were chosen, articles published in the journals during 2021 were identified. Metadata about each publication was downloaded from Scopus. Funding information for each publication was qualitatively analysed, then synthesised to provide a quantitative understanding of EER funding sources. There was a …

From Rookies To Synthesis: Agile Solutions For Sustainable Doctoral Studies, Maija Taka, Jaana Suviniitty, Olli Varis

Research Papers

Modern doctoral education in engineering lies at the intersection of three topical phenomena: firstly, the surge of wicked sustainability concerns and the subsequent burgeoning demand for cross-disciplinarity. Secondly, the rapidly developing new technologies and global knowledge economy provide a thriving problem-solving potential, although – thirdly – this requires proactive and innovative collaboration beyond the scope of a single discipline. Thus, doctoral education needs new practices to ensure that students are equipped with new kinds of competencies to solve unpredictable and wicked sustainability problems. In order to reach these demands, we need to favor collaboration over competition. Here we approach these …

Prep - Pragmatic Research On Educational Practice, Samuel Bengmark, Laura Fainsilber, Jan-Fredrik Olsen, Olow Sande

Research Papers

We investigate a concept called PREP – Pragmatic Research on Educational Practice, with the goal of engaging engineering educators in studying, documenting and sharing their initiatives to improve teaching practices. This concept is compared to other methodologies where the researcher and educational practitioner sometimes coincide. The study is based on a pilot, with six participants following the PREP program for three months, which we study autoethnographically. We also carried out a focus group discussion (n=12) to investigate to what extent university teachers regard the ideas from the PREP program as helpful for studying educational activities and sharing what they do …

Equal Partnership Between Engineering Education And Industry – A Needs Analysis, Sóphie Verdegaal, Janina Den Hertog, Irene Visscher-Voerman

Research Papers

One of the aims of the TALENTS-project is to create (interdisciplinary) learning communities in which engineering professionals, students, teachers, and researchers can learn together and collaborate as equal partners, within the context of authentic challenges, starting from their individual learning goals. To what extent are partners willing to participate in this partnership and under which conditions do they consider it to have added value? We conducted individual interviews with engineering students (N=11), teachers (N=12) and professionals (N=10) about what they require to participate in the learning community, employing epistemic, spatial, instrumental, temporal, and social elements of learning environments. We also …

The Challenge Of Postdoc’Ing In The Us: Perspectives From International Engineering Postdoctoral Scholars, Sylvia Mendez, Kathryn Watson, Jennifer Tygret

Research Papers

An intrinsic case study explores the challenges shared by international engineering postdoctoral scholars about working in the United States (US). Little research has been devoted to their experiences despite their stark increase in the postdoctoral labor force over the last decade. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight engineering postdoctoral scholars hailing from Canada, China, Colombia, Iran, Italy, and Thailand. Participant interviews were analyzed inductively and resulted in four themes: (1) Immigration concerns; (2) Strains to find a community; (3) Pressure to publish and secure funding; and (4) Inadequate career counseling. The identified themes could be particularly instructive to Ph.D. advisors …

Is “Improving The Quality Of Life” The Only Sustainability Issue That Is Related To Engineering? - Exploring Engineering Students’ Conceptions Of Sustainability, Lillian Yun Yung Luk, Inês Direito, John Mitchell, Kate Roach

Research Papers

UNESCO’s (2021) report on engineering for sustainable development has emphasized the critical role of engineers in achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Yet, there is a lack of clarity about the conceptualization or definition of sustainability (Moore et al., 2017), which makes it difficult to integrate sustainability into the curriculum. While Walshe (2008) conducted a study on high school students’ conceptions of sustainability in the UK, there appears to be a lack of research conducted in the context of higher education. The study presented in this paper explores engineering students’ understanding of sustainability in engineering and how it is …

Using Machine Learning Methods To Develop Person-Centered Models Predicting Stem Major Choice, Marcell Nagy, Joyce Main, Roland Molontay, Amanda Griffith

Research Papers

Understanding the factors that influence the choice of a STEM major is important for developing effective strategies to increase participation in STEM fields and meet the growing demand for skilled workers. This research is based on the nationally representative data of 25,206 students surveyed in the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09). The HSLS:09 includes longitudinal data from 9th-grade students through their postsecondary study. First, we use machine learning to predict who is going to opt for a STEM major. Then we use interpretable ML tools, such as SHAP values, to investigate the key factors that influence students' decisions …

Tell It With Commits To Git, Pia Niemelä, Jenni Hukkanen, Mikko Nurminen, Antti Sand, Hannu-Matti Järvinen

Research Papers

In the realm of higher education, team work is considered a crucial factor in facilitating the development of collaborative and work-life skills among students. Studies have shown that collaborative tasks promote a sense of community, belonging, and wellbeing among students. However, uneven work distribution and vague team roles can lead to dissatisfaction and reduced commitment, ultimately resulting in assignment failure and impeding progress towards graduation. This paper examines students’ feedback on Britton et al.’s (2017) team quality questionnaire, along with their contributions to team performance. Additional questions were added to gauge how students communicate and organize their work within their …