Engineering Education Commons^™

Work Performance Evaluation As A Motivational Approach For Early-Career Self-Management, Francesc Torres, Santiago Silvestre, Ariadna Llorens, Antoni Elias

Practice Papers

This article presents the main characteristics of an academic experience based on the concept of "work performance evaluation", whose objective is to facilitate a smooth transition to the technological labor market. Its aim is to motivate STEM graduates to acquire relevant early professional skills and a self-management attitude in their careers. The results of a satisfaction survey after a pilot course experience with 30 bachelor engineering students at UPC, within the framework of the Engine4STEMers project [Torres, 2022], are also presented. This experience starts with the concept of “direction of service” and the rapid change in attitude and work methodology …

Teach As You Preach: Teacher Training For Stem-Educators At Dtu, Pernille Rattleff, Ditte Strunge Sass

Practice Papers

At technical universities today, we are training students for jobs that do not yet exist, to use technologies that have not been invented, to solve problems, we do not even know are problems yet. To succeed, we must create sustainable learning processes allowing our students to construct proper conceptual understanding and be able to retrieve, transfer, and apply knowledge, skills, and competences in new complex settings. To facilitate such learning processes, higher education institutions must train excellent teachers. This paper presents the framework for STEM teacher training at DTU – Technical University of Denmark. A framework that claims exactly to …

Developing A Flexible Materials Testing Curriculum For Future Engineers, Anja Pfennig

Practice Papers

Engineering students as future maker of things will face the challenge of keeping pace with rapidly evolving technologies and staying up-to-date with the latest innovations in their field. To cope with these demands a flexible course concept is developed for an undergraduate Materials Science lab course: Materials Testing at HTW Berlin based on a blended learning teaching concept implementing inverted classroom lecture scenarios. High quality micro modules are defined that may individually be combined or restructured and therefore offer sufficient flexibility to match the individual scientific background of the lecturer, the course learning outcome, main study subject or actual need …

An Autoethnography Of Becoming An Innovative Engineering Academic: Punk, Pirate And Guerilla Pedagogy, Michael Murray

Practice Papers

In this Autoethnography (AE) I consider, “becoming” the Most Innovative Teacher (2018) at my university. My identity as a university teacher, my epistemic beliefs, and my choice of vocational pedagogical techniques, have been influenced by my working-class background. No school qualifications, becoming the wrong sort of engineer (plumbing), and a twenty-three-year journey to a doctoral qualification. In 2013 my employer declared that I did not have a ‘significant responsibility for research’ (SRR). I was transferred to a teaching only contract as a punitive measure for not fulfilling my employers research expectations. My lateral migration to a teaching post was the …

Engineering Society: The Role Of Intersectional Gender And Diversity Studies For A Sustainable Transformation On The Case Of Interdisciplinary Engineering Education, Jennifer Bosen, Sebastian Bernhard, Evamaria Fauster, Marie Decker, Miriam Lämmerhirt, Carmen Leicht-Scholten

Practice Papers

Technological innovations are impacting societies in manifold ways and can accelerate a transformation toward sustainability. To enable a sustainable transformation through engineering, engineers educated to create technological solutions for global challenges must be educated in sustainability principles as postulated under ‘Education for Sustainable Development’ (ESD) in the Agenda for Sustainable Development. In technological fields, the ecological, as well as the economical perspective of sustainability, are often addressed, but as recent research has highlighted, sustainability needs to be addressed holistically; this means including the social dimension to a greater degree and applying an intersectional understanding of gender and diversity throughout all …

Problem-Based Learning Of Heuristic Methods For Decision Problems In Mathematics, Computer Science And Industrial Engineering, Felix Engelhardt, Christina Büsing, Sabrina Schmitz

Practice Papers

In a digitalized world, most processes can be formalised, measured and described mathematically. The use of analytical methods to optimise such models and decisions constitutes operational research (OR), developing new methods for a specific problem and analysing them are part of discrete optimisation (DO). However, there is limited research on OR and application driven DO in higher education. Furthermore, neither is well integrated into engineering education research.

In this work, we present a case study of an interdisciplinary Master’s course on heuristic methods in the context of OR and DO. We discuss to what extent wellestablished approaches from engineering education …

Continuous Assessment In Electric Power Engineering For Marine Engineers, Jimmy Ehnberg, Stefan Lundberg

Practice Papers

To tackle the climate challenge, all sectors need to contribute, including electrified shipping. Electrified shipping is not only propulsion but also loading and unloading equipment. This transformation requires increased skills and understanding of electric power engineering for the personal onboard, not least for the marine engineers. Therefore, a changed in the curriculum was needed. However, when more theoretical course content was added to two consecutive courses, the student view and passing rate dropped. Although the student view improved quickly, the passing rate recovered slower. To address this issue, continuous assessment was introduced to counteract the drops. The aim of this …

Insider Action Research On Ai Needs Within The Eit Innoenergy Ecosystem, Inge De Waard, Albert Gonzalez, Anouk Gelan

Practice Papers

This practice paper describes an ongoing insider action research within the EIT InnoEnergy ecosystem. Its goal is to inspire teaching staff from the seven EIT InnoEnergy double degree Master of Science programmes to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and knowledge into their courses based on joint learning. This insider action research runs from 2023 to the end of 2024. In late 2022, a problem statement of ‘AI tools for Education’ was identified by EIT InnoEnergy teachers as being crucial for their future learning and teaching processes. To align the needs of teaching staff with the complexity of emerging AI tools, …

Why And How Do Students Need To Have Their Mental Health Considered In Engineering Schools?, Shirley Bayle, Manon Bocahut, Loïc Champeau, Alya Muneaux, Cathel Zitzmann

Practice Papers

This paper addresses the students’ mental health in higher education and more specifically in engineering schools. Several studies have shown student mental health and wellbeing can affect students’ academic performance. We investigate how student’s mental health is considered in engineering schools as well as how it should be and study the case of our engineering school. First, we present several research and studies conducted on how mental health is considered in higher education and its impact on academic performance. In the second part, we study the case of our engineering school with the implementation of a survey among students and …

The Immersive Placement Experience: Sink Or Swim?, Mohammed Shaikh, Abed Alaswad, Sarah Junaid

Practice Papers

To excel in their respective engineering fields, engineering students need to be equipped with a combination of technical and interpersonal skills. Central to excellent interpersonal skills is good communication. The aim of the study is to evaluate how well-prepared mechanical and design engineering students felt entering into their industrial placements, using a UK university as a pilot case study. For the study interviews were carried out with final year students who had previously completed an industrial placement year, focussing on communication, workplace diversity, technical working methods and university teaching styles. Reponses were anonymised, coded and analysed using quantitative and qualitative …

A Scoping Review: Examples Of Mission-Driven And Mission-Oriented Innovation In Engineering Education Research, Svend Hauekrog Christiansen, Anna Overgaard Markman, Aida Guerra, Xiangyun Du

Practice Papers

Engineers of the future are being requested to become part of solutions for dealing with complexities in the world, exemplified by the adaptation of the 17 United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs). Ensuring that engineering students are introduced to these is of the utmost importance, if sustainable solutions to grand challenges shall be developed, whether being of technological, social and cultural, and/or economic character. This paper entails a scoping review of the concept of mission-driven or mission-oriented innovation, as defined by the European Commission (EC) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in engineering education research (EER). Seven …

A Three-Year Academic Track Towards Literacy In Sustainable Development - A Computer Science Study Program Case, Kamilla Klonowska, Marijana Teljega, Daniel Einarson

Practice Papers

The 3-year Bachelor Programme in Software Development study program at Kristianstad University, Sweden, aims to integrate not only academic competencies and skills in subject courses but also critical thinking skills on how Computer Science can contribute to achieving the sustainable development goals.

Starting from an understanding of the sustainable development goals, students begin a process of designing and implementing applications for some specific goals. Through participation in various activities, students exchange the ideas and perspectives, and are challenged to consider multiple solutions to complex problems. The students' critical thinking, communicative abilities, and the ability to solve problems both individually as …

Unlocking Complex Vector Calculus Concepts For Engineering Students Using Geogebra, Pragashni Padayachee, Thabiso Khemane

Practice Papers

There is an increasing drive to exploit the power of technology to improve students mathematical conceptual understanding. This work is motivated by the authors research presented at the SEFI 2022 conference which reported on students experienced difficulties with the double integral, a concept central to vector calculus. Some of the difficulties included visualising and sketching three dimensional surfaces and regions of integration and changing coordinate systems from rectangular to polar. Vector calculus is a crucial subject for engineering students, but its abstract concepts can be challenging to grasp. This curriculum proposal is a response to improve visualisation and conceptual understanding …

Lessons From Redefining Traditional Work Placements For University Students In Tu Dublin, Kevin Dominic Delaney, Norah Cussen, Deirdre Ryan

Practice Papers

There is strong support for ensuring all university students have an option to undertake relevant work placement. Work-placements enable students to engage with enterprise and develop experiential learning while linking their academic study and theory to real industrial practice. Such placements, or internships, offer students an opportunity to build their self-confidence while refining their transversal skills such as creativity, innovation, communication, team-working and problem solving. Furthermore, placements broaden students’ knowledge base and improve their employability upon graduation.

While student cohorts benefit from engaging with enterprise the enterprise also benefits, such as from the energy, new perspectives and ideas interns can …

The Use Of Peer Assessment And Group Peer Moderation To Develop ‘Soft’ Skills In Engineering Students Researching Sustainable Energy, Reena Cole

Practice Papers

Since the change to an outcomes-based approach in Engineers Ireland’s accreditation criteria almost 20 years ago there has been an emphasis placed on ‘soft’ skills such as teamwork and ensuring graduate engineers are not only well versed in their chosen discipline, but that they can communicate their knowledge – to other Engineers and also non-Engineers. Energy Management is a module taught to 4th year Mechanical Engineers, and the learning outcomes are best assessed by how students can communicate the energy topics they are researching. As an individual they will research an area that interests them and write a paper at …

Teamwork Satisfaction And Student Attitudes Towards Online Learning During An Engineering Problem And Project Based Learning (Pbl) Module, Sean O'Connor, Jason Richard Power, Nicolaas Blom, David A Tanner, Victoria De Brún

Practice Papers

Research has shown that students that report high levels of learner satisfaction and positive attitudes are more likely to succeed within the online environment. This is reflected in the considerable body of research that focuses on these factors across a range of academic disciplines. By assessing students' attitudes and satisfaction, educators gain a valuable affective perspective that allows for a more complete examination of strategy effectiveness. This paper examines teamwork satisfaction and student attitude towards online learning, while also highlighting elements of successful online collaboration as identified by students using the instruments developed by Hasler-Waters & Napier, Ku et al, …

Euniwell: Maximising Academic And Social Outcomes In Engineering Education, Neil Cooke, S Chung, Kim Hawwash, D Cottle, E Caporali, G Bartoli, J Forss, J Andersson, P Chargé

Practice Papers

The ERASMUS+ European University for Well-Being (EUniWell) alliance’s mission aims to resolve the paradox of Europeans’ relative prosperity against the global security and sustainability challenge. “Maximising Academic and Social Outcomes in Engineering Education” is a project which interprets this contradiction for engineering educators; how to best teach non-technical skills to ensure engineers make the utmost contribution to societal wellbeing? Appreciably, the social outcome for the person who becomes an engineer is positive because the profession is relatively well-paid. Therefore, engineering education is good for social mobility providing the learning environment narrows attainment gaps between disadvantaged and mainstream cohorts. Accordingly, our …

Mentoring Programs For Engineering Students As A Way To Improve Their Skills And Competencies, Susana García-Cardo, Rebeca Jacqueline Murillo Ruiz, María José Díaz-López, Marián Queiruga-Dios

Practice Papers

Universidad Francisco de Vitoria (UFV) in Madrid (Spain) and Universidad Vasco de Quiroga (UVAQ) in Morelia (Mexico) seek the comprehensive academic training of students: not the mere development of technical skills, but also the personal and soft skills that enable them to face their professional reality.

Educational missions in both institutions aim for sustainable development oriented towards people and the societies in which they are immersed. Their substantial actions have been designed, in such a way that active methodologies and innovative proposals are included. Among them, it is worth highlighting the provision of a personalized support system for students, in …

Tools To Reshape Engineering Education To Prepare Students And Professionals To Be Globally Responsible, Jonathan Truslove, Sarah Jayne Hitt, Emma Crichton, John Kraus, Juliet Upton

Practice Papers

This paper describes the development of two tools that support educators to prepare the engineers of today and tomorrow for the simultaneous, deeply interconnected challenges that the 2023 Global Risks Report emphasises as a ‘polycrisis’. This picture is worsened when considering the Institution of Engineering and Technology in 2021 found that only 7% of 1,000 UK engineering companies with a sustainability strategy had the staff with the skills to fulfil it. Against this backdrop, meeting our commitments with integrity, upskilling the current workforce urgently, and ensuring degree courses are future-fit are crucial. In response, these two new actionable tools aid …

A Theory-Based Teaching Concept To Embed Sustainability In The Engineering Curriculum, Brit-Maren Block, Marie Gillian Guerne

Practice Papers

The implementation of sustainable development and the responsible use of the resources available to us are among the key objectives of our time. To meet the challenges of global sustainable development, young professionals with a growing set of skills are needed. Higher education is crucial in fostering the skills graduates need to become agents of change for sustainable development. Therefore, new teaching and learning approaches are needed in engineering education that link technical and sustainability-oriented topics and integrate education for sustainable development (ESD). Studies show that there is a particular lack in the design and implementation of engineering courses that …

Unlocking Deeper Insights: A Qualitative Approach To Evaluating Stem Outreach In Engineering Education, Yiduo Wang, Lauren Schrock, Jane Andrews, Robin Clark

Practice Papers

Much previous research and evaluation has been conducted of STEM Outreach activities in schools using quantitative approaches. Surveys in particular are popular as they are low-cost and time-saving. However, quantitative methods are limited in that they do not generally generate deeper insights into students’ experiences in STEM; usually lacking rich detail about the context and complexity of the data being analysed. Hence, this paper proposes a different approach to evaluating STEM outreach: a unique multi-method, qualitative approach.

Starting with the Research Question “How to qualitatively evaluate STEM outreach in Engineering Education?”, this paper is grounded in ongoing doctoral research that …

Generation Z And Their Use Of Learning Management System In Programming Courses, Ole Schultz, Tomasz Blaszczyk

Practice Papers

Generation Z students have grown up with ICT (information and communication technology) and are therefore used to being online more or less simultaneously on different types of media. Universities have different kinds of Learning Management Systems (LMS) with different possibilities for engagement. In the Electrical Engineering B. Eng. program at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) we use a system called Learn. It has features for setting up individual study plans as well as common plans. Features such as surveys, quizzes, peer reviews are built in. We are interested in the students' use of the LMS, their engagement and the …

Developing Global Engineers- A Comparison Between Scotland, Usa And Chile, Patricia Munoz-Escalona, Luis Medina, Mervyn Marquez, Homero Murzi, Christopher Smith, Colin Miligan

Practice Papers

Engineering-accredited programmes are reviewed every 4-5 years by professional bodies with the aim of assuring standards that guarantee that graduate engineers can fulfil the highest technical demands of the industry workforce in order to achieve a sustainable economy and society. The approaches to develop these require global engineering competences (GECs), such as international and intercultural teamwork, language skills, critical thinking, and ethical and human-centered problem solving, are proving insufficient to meet the emerging challenges that this century's society is facing. To develop these GECs, engineering programmes have been working on including physical and virtual mobility such as Collaborative Online International …

Engineering Faculty And Staff Inclusive Excellence Training: Broadening Engineering Pedagogy For All, Mohammad Moin Uddin, Keith Johnson

Practice Papers

As our classrooms become more and more diverse, the need for cultural competency in engineering faculty is more important than ever. Cross-cultural competency has been named among the 10 most important skills for the future workforce. Historically there is a lack of cultural diversity at East Tennessee State University. The university did not offer any formal training opportunity for faculty and staff in cultural competency. As such, faculty effort in cultural pedagogy is minimal resulting in persistent achievement gaps among culturally diverse students. In this project we have developed and implemented an inclusive excellence cultural competency training program primarily for …

The Bell Academy: A Bridge Semester Where Engineering Students Transform Into Student Engineers Who Thrive In Industry Placements, Darcie Christensen, Lauren Singelmann, Cody Mann, Bart Johnson, Ron Ulseth

Practice Papers

Iron Range Engineering is an innovative learning program using project-based and work-based pedagogies. The Bell Academy (BA) is a semester-long bridge experience between the first two years of STEM foundation and the final two years spent in full-time industry co-op placements. The curriculum within the academy is delivered within three domains: technical, design, and professional. The transformation to thriving as a student engineer in an industry placement is intentionally embedded in each stage of the program as students develop higher levels of self-awareness, professional responsibility, and self-directedness. Students not only gain technical engineering knowledge, but also apply that knowledge within …

Improving Teaching Quality In Higher Education: A Practitioner's Guide To Using Formative Teaching Analysis Poll, Thies Johannsen, Henning Meyer

Practice Papers

Teaching Analysis Poll (TAP) has become an increasingly popular tool for evaluating teaching quality and enhancing student learning outcomes in higher education. It requires, however, additional human resources. This paper presents a modified version for easy implementation: Formative Teaching Analysis Poll (FTAP). It can be used by an individual educator and is nonetheless an effective practical method for practitioners in higher education to improve their teaching quality and enhance the learning experience of their students.

Based on a review of literature and personal experience using FTAP, in this paper we provide an overview of the underlying methodology of FTAP, its …

Stem Education And Research At The University Of Aruba For Sustainable Development Of Small Island Developing States: Case Studies On Energy Efficiency And Waste Management., Alba De Agustin Camacho, Mieke De Droog, Wim Van Petegem

Practice Papers

SISSTEM “Sustainable Island Solutions through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics” is a higher educational programme created in 2019 at the University of Aruba in response to the need for engineering education and research in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). In this contribution, the SISSTEM programme is introduced, and how SISSTEM equips engineering students with hard and soft skills while addressing local sustainability challenges is showcased through two case studies. The first case study presents a bachelor course that combines sustainability theory with a teamwork project in which students conduct an energy audit to a local institution. With this course, students …

Towards Building A Framework For Continuing Engineering Education In Higher Education Institutions: A Comparative Study, Sonia M. Gomez Puente, Christopher Smith, Matias Urenda Moris, Bente Nørgaard, Hans-Ulrich Heiss, Patricia Caratozzolo, Katriina Schrey, H-R Myllymäki, Rigas Hadzilacos

Practice Papers

Continuing engineering education (CEE) is becoming an attractive notion of continuously enhancing and upgrading the engineering skills required by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Current developments in science and technology and the challenges to address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda require updating theoretical knowledge, skills, and specific practical work. Even though higher education institutions (HEIs) can provide CEE or CPD (Continuing Professional Development) within or external to degree programs, CEE focuses on training engineers as lifelong learners to meet societal and industrial needs. A comparative study was conducted among eight universities to analyse the …

Digitalisation As An Opportunity For Women In Stem: Researching The Nexus Of School, University And Labour Market, Yves Jeanrenaud, Anna-Kathrin Wimmer

Practice Papers

In Germany, women are still dramatically underrepresented in the fields of STEM, especially in engineering: less than 25 percent of engineering students are female. Correspondingly underrepresented are women in engineering positions, too. Research has shown that diversity in the work force is crucial to develop successful solutions for a complex and sustainability-oriented world.

Therefore, our ongoing research project (01FP22M01), funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), focusses on the underrepresentation of women in STEM, especially in mechanical and plant engineering. Using mixed methods of qualitative interviews and quantitative online surveys with female pupils, students and employees, as …

Instructors' Expectations And Objectives For Integrating Sustainable Development And Ethical Issues Into The Curriculum, Tauno Aki Tepsa, Juhani Angelva, Maisa Tuulikki Mielikäinen

Practice Papers

The integration of sustainable development and ethical issues into the curriculum is increasingly important in higher education. The study surveyed 17 instructors in ICT engineering education at Lapland University of Applied Sciences who were involved in curriculum development to explore their expectations and objectives in integrating sustainable development and ethical issues into their courses. Although most instructors had a good understanding of sustainable development and ethical issues, not all saw them as relevant to their courses. Those who did incorporate these themes focused on topics such as energy conservation, social sustainability, and sustainability and ethics in solutions. However, almost half …