Engineering Education Commons^™

From Group Work To Team Work: Comparative Analysis In Three European Institutions, Isabelle Lermigeaux-Sarrade, Jean-Luc Sarrade, Stephane Perrin, Sorana Cimpan

Research Papers

Addressing the complex challenges of sustainability demands for good teamwork abilities for future technicians and engineers. In our three institutions we adopted project-based learning to facilitate the development of these skills – but is this enough? Since group project-based learning involves dealing with complex technical tasks and at the same time learning to work as a team, we wondered how students handle this double challenge. By analysing their perceptions, we attempt to identify what teaching practices could be helpful to shift their experience from groupwork to effective teamwork.

Development And Evaluation Of A Teaching Concept That Focuses On Increasing Modeling Competence In Technical Mechanics (Tm), Kristina Lampe, Martin Lang, Alexandra Dorschu

Research Papers

Engineering students often learn by retracing pre-calculated given solutions of tasks and try to understand this problem-solving way. This reconstruction is not always successful in solving new types of problem via modified tasks (Rossow 2008). Every mechanical exercise follows the same solution methodology (Müller-Slany 2018). Applying this basic problem-solving structure correctly is a Pre-condition for solution’s reflection and is therefore essential for teaching. To improve these competencies a strategy training is implemented in exercise-settings in Technical Mechanics (TM).

Teaching Excellence Programs – Lessons Learned At Two Universities, Kristina Edström, Cindy Poortmann, Marie Magnell, Priyanka Pereira

Research Papers

Universities are seeking novel ways to strengthen the collective educational competence of their faculty and promote educational merits. In this paper we describe and compare the experiences of two recently started initiatives for teaching excellence, the Program for Future Leaders for Strategic Educational Development at KTH Royal Institute of Technology (henceforth KTH) and the Teaching Fellowship Programme at the University of Twente. Both programs have recently completed one complete round of implementation. The programmes are similar in that the participants work on a project of their own for an extended time, while also being part of a community with regular …

Professionalising Science And Engineering Teachers In Guiding And Assessing Reflection, Elise Eshuis, Kariene Mittendorff, Heleen Daggenvoorde-Baarslag

Research Papers

The current knowledge society of the 21st century requires students, among other things, to have the ability to think reflectively. Various studies show however that educational programs and teachers, from engineering programs in particular, experience difficulties in integrating the development of students’ reflection skills in their curricula. This gave rise to a multi-year project on improving reflection in engineering educational programs. We worked with teacher teams of 6 programs to improve their curricula and teacher practices regarding reflection. Part of the project were training sessions for teachers focused on guiding and assessing reflection activities of their students.

This paper presents …

Impact Of Teacher Training On Enhancing Sustainability Integration Into Engineering Education, Paula Schönach, Noora Jaakkola, Meeri Karvinen

Research Papers

Engineering education institutions face a growing demand to provide graduates with adequate skills to respond to the sustainability crisis at hand. One approach to address this is to integrate sustainability as a cross-cutting theme into programmes and courses. At the same time competence development of academic staff is seen as an essential, yet underdeveloped prerequisite for a sustainability paradigm shift.

Aiming at enhancing sustainability integration into engineering education, this study investigates the impact of pedagogical training on the skills and motivations of teachers to embed sustainability into their teaching. A new pedagogical course (3 ECTS) on sustainability in teaching was …

Revolutionising Engineering Education: Creating Photorealistic Virtual Human Lecturers Using Artificial Intelligence And Computer Generated Images, Johannes H Moolman, Fiona Boyle, Joseph Walsh

Research Papers

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted traditional classroom learning, making virtual and remote education increasingly important. In this context, the use of photorealistic virtual humans, or avatars, powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) can offer an immersive and engaging environment for delivering traditional classroom-based lectures. This paper proposes a process that combines AI and Computer-Generated Images (CGI) to create photorealistic virtual human lecturers for educational purposes.

The proposed process flow involves generating audio from text inputs, which is passed to a 3-Dimensional (3D) facial animation rig that matches lip, tongue, eye and facial movements to the audio using AI. This generates a …

A Multimodal Measurement Of The Impact Of Deepfakes On The Ethical Reasoning And Affective Reactions Of Students, Vivek Ramachandran, Cécile Hardebolle, Nihat Kotluk, Touradj Ebrahimi, Reinhard Riedl, Patrick Jermann, Roland Tormey

Research Papers

Deepfakes - synthetic videos generated by machine learning models - are becoming increasingly sophisticated. While they have several positive use cases, their potential for harm is also high. Deepfake production involves input from multiple engineers, making it challenging to assign individual responsibility for their creation. The separation between engineers and consumers may also contribute to a lack of empathy on the part of the former towards the latter. At present, engineering ethics education appears inadequate to address these issues. Indeed, the ethics of artificial intelligence is often taught as a stand-alone course or a separate module at the end of …

Planned, Taught, Learnt: Analysis Of Transversal Skills Through Curriculum Using Portfolio, Helena Kovacs, Tamara Milosevic, Alexandra Niculescu

Research Papers

There is an everlasting effort in education to successfully ensure that the intended learning objectives are clearly taught and effectively learnt at the end of the educational cycle. This has been especially difficult in teaching and learning complex sets of competencies, for example, transversal skills in domains such as engineering education. Yet, studies focusing on transversal skills often address student learning outcomes, but rarely how teachers teach them, and even less so how they are represented in the written curriculum. In order to create a more comprehensive understanding of how transversal skills are communicated, taught and learnt in engineering education, …

Developing Teamwork Skills Through Simultaneous Group Project Courses, Tuomo Eloranta

Research Papers

The popularity of project-based learning (PBL) has led to a situation where engineering students take several group project courses at the same time. From a student perspective, this can generate considerable issues. Previous research has indicated that already single PBL courses can be challenging, especially time and task management-wise and intuitively overlapping PBL courses compound this complexity. As existing literature on this topic is relatively sparse, the goal of the present study is to examine what kind of student challenges simultaneous PBL courses generate, how students navigate those and what kind of additional learning can it foster. The results should …

Comicir- Commercialization Of Innovative Challenges From Industry And Research (Practice), Charlotte Norrman, Ali Moshfegh, Jeanette Engzell

Research Papers

At Linköping university, a model to facilitate impact and bridge the gap between research, education, and business creation, has been developed. It is named “ComICIR”, which stands for Commercialization of Innovative Challenges from Industry and Research. The model allows researchers, firms, and students to work in a co-creation process that are built on the following five steps: (1) research validation, (2) idea generation, (3) idea validation, (4) idea evaluation and, (5) innovation strategy. In the paper, we describe the model and analyse how challenges and ideas could be developed and experientially based pedagogical approaches could be adjusted in order to …

Develop An Interdisciplinary Course Using The Twente Interdisciplinarity Toolbox, Miles Macleod, Coralie Johnson, Klaasjan Visscher, Jan Van Der Veen

Workshops

The ability to engage in interdisciplinary research and problem-solving are essential skills for contemporary engineers, however designing and delivering effective learning opportunities to reach these ideals, is often not straightforward [1]. Educators are often faced with a plethora of challenges, and interdisciplinary courses often do not run as smoothly as disciplinary ones. In this workshop, the primary goal was to stimulate participants to consider a few common design scenarios modeled on real-life cases and to apply some of the main design concepts and questions employed by a new online platform the Twente Toolbox which aims to assist instructors with interdisciplinary …

Structuring Conversations Around Course Design, Jacques Lanarès, Marc Laperrouza, Emmanuel Sylvestre

Workshops

Constructive alignment helps both students and teachers to achieve intended learning outcomes. The workshop proposes to introduce participants to the elements and mechanics of the pedagogical coherence canvas (PCC), a tool developed to improve constructive alignment throughout course design. Participants will familiarise themselves with the process by applying it to the design of a course or training. This hands-on workshop will help participants to develop a practical understanding of how to use the PCC to design a course following constructive alignment principles.

How Diverse Are Global Perspectives On Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In Engineering Education?, Jan Van Maele, Becky Bergman, Inês Direito, Homero Murzi

Workshops

The SEFI Special Interest Group on Gender & Diversity has recently been renamed as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, broadening the definition from a focus on gender to embrace a wider range of diverse identities – such as language and cultural background, religion, physical ability, and socioeconomic status – and to promote and support equity and inclusive practices within SEFI and beyond. In the process of redefining the Special Interest Group’s mission, it has become clear that definitions of diversity, equity and inclusion may vary considerably between different contexts and institutions. Therefore, it is relevant for the engineering education community to …

Using A Spiral Approach To Facilitating Engineering Research And Education In Real Industry Settings, Marcus Vinicius Pereira Pessôa, Kostas Nizamis

Workshops

Engineering research and education is often done in collaboration with industrial partners through the Industry as Laboratory (IaL), and Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) paradigms. However, its findings are not always adopted, despite the use of well-established and rigorous research methodologies. Academia employs oftentimes extensive and time consuming analyses, while industry operates in smaller cycles with tangible intermediate results. This can lead to the industry losing interest in the research. The Spiral Approach for Systems Engineering Research (SASER) is an approach that aims to mitigate that risk. This can have a twofold benefit in the industry remaining interested, but also the researcher …

How Can Continuing Engineering Education Approaches Meet Societal And Industry Needs For Future-Focused, Lifelong Learning Skills And Competences?, Christopher Smith, Aniko Kalman

Workshops

In this workshop run by the Continuing Engineering Education and Lifelong Learning SIG, attendees were first given an overview of the changing skills landscape from 2011 to 2023 to set highlight some of the international recognised priorities around skills. Next, the workshop attendees then examined in separate groups three questions around what and how Continuing Engineering Education (CEE) is being approached within different institutions. Shared experiences show that there are a variety of approaches (short courses and microcredentials) that were targeted at relevant local industries, and/or responding to a specific skills need. It was apparent that strategic direction is required …

Sustaining Engineering Education Research: Sharing Qualitative Research Data For Secondary Analysis, Jennifer Case, Holly Matusovich, Marie Paretti, Susan Lord, Lisa Benson

Workshops

The need for secondary data analysis practices emerges from multiple sources. Qualitative researchers often have rich data sets that far exceed the time available for data analysis, and many of us wish that someone could spend more time with the data. We also recognize that local data sets would benefit from further analysis that linked our data with related data collected in different contexts. Many also grapple with increasing data sharing requirements from funding agencies that raise concerns about participant confidentiality and data integrity. This workshop provides a chance to explore potential responses to these concerns through a robust dialogue …

Planning Interdisciplinary Artificial Intelligence Courses For Engineering Students, Johannes Schleiss, Sebastian Stober

Workshops

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly important in engineering, instructors need to incorporate AI concepts into their subject-specific courses. However, many teachers may lack the expertise to do so effectively or don’t know where to start. To address this challenge, we have developed the AI Course Design Planning Framework to help instructors structure their teaching of domain-specific AI skills. This workshop aimed to equip participants with an understanding of the framework and its application to their courses. The workshop was designed for instructors in engineering education who are interested in interdisciplinary teaching and teaching about AI in the context of …

Application-Based Learning Of Signal Analysis Methods With The Help Of A Graphical Open-Source Software, Tim Hetkämper, Kevin Koch, Manuel Webersen, Leander Claes

Workshops

In almost all engineering disciplines, engineers need to evaluate and extract information from time-dependent quantities, making signal processing and analysis a central topic in engineering education. The theoretical foundation is anchored in many courses, however, often only few application-based learning opportunities are offered. To provide these opportunities without the need for expensive hardware, a graphical open-source software is developed. This workshop offers a first opportunity to explore how a graphical software can be used to learn signal processing and analysis methods.

Teaching In Student-Centred Active Learning Spaces: How Relational, Pedagogical, Spatial, And Technological Aspects Intertwine And Affect The Learning Environment, Guri Sivertsen Korpås, Trine Højberg Andersen, Magnus Strøm Kahrs, Gabrielle Hansen, Kari Anne Flem Røren

Workshops

Higher educational institutions internationally have shown a growing interest in developing learning spaces that support student-centred learning approaches. For engineering education, this development aligns well with an increased emphasis on cross-disciplinarity and a system-thinking approach. However, research and our own experiences as teachers and evaluators of such learning spaces suggest that teachers who enter these learning spaces need support, as the complexity of the teaching situation becomes more apparent, compared to the traditional lecture hall. In this workshop, we will investigate this complexity together with the participants.

Participants can expect to leave the workshop with a better understanding of:

• a …

How To Use New Tools To Integrate Sustainability Into Engineering Teaching, Sarah Jayne Hitt, Jonathan Truslove, Cindy Cooper

Workshops

Recently, three projects have addressed the challenge that while many excellent resources on sustainability education exist, there aren’t many that explicitly guide engineering educators to integrate these into their teaching, or indeed that are intended to upskill engineering academics to be able to deliver this teaching. These projects are the Reimagined Degree Map project undertaken by Engineers Without Borders UK (sponsored by the Royal Academy of Engineering), the Sustainability Toolkit project undertaken by the UK’s Engineering Professors’ Council (sponsored by Siemens and the Royal Academy of Engineering), and the Engineering for One Planet Framework and two companion guides, co-created by …

Supporting Undergraduate Engineering Student Mental Health, Sarah Wilson, Karin Jensen, Jo-Anne Tait

Workshops

No abstract provided.

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.

A Crazy Little Thing Called Sustainability, Linda Steuer-Dankert

Research Papers

Achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations (UN) in 2015 requires global collaboration between different stakeholders. Industry, and in particular engineers who shape industrial developments, have a special role to play as they are confronted with the responsibility to holistically reflect sustainability in industrial processes. This means that, in addition to the technical specifications, engineers must also question the effects of their own actions on an ecological, economic and social level in order to ensure sustainable action and contribute to the achievement of the SDGs. However, this requires competencies that enable engineers to apply all …

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 …

Changes In Higher Education Communication Practices And Tools - Through The Pandemic Towards New Communication Models, Mikko Ilari Nurminen, Hannu-Matti Järvinen, Jarmo Viteli, Petri Rantanen, Mika Saari

Research Papers

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted traditional modes of communication in higher education institutions, leading to a shift towards remote communication and digital tools. This scientific paper examines the changes in higher education communication practices and tools resulting from the pandemic. The paper analyzes the challenges and opportunities presented by this shift and the ways in which teachers have applied communication models familiar from contact teaching to distance education. A previous review of published literature on adaptations in higher education institutions identified key factors for a successful transition to novel distance education communication practices and tools. These factors included effective …

Can Students’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs Explain Academic Motivation And Career Intentions?, Anna-Kathrin Wimmer

Research Papers

In our technologized and increasingly complex world, jobs in STEM make a crucial contribution to innovation and sustainability. However, there are still many vacancies in this field. To tackle the shortage of professionals, it is even more important to successfully prepare qualified young people for engineering careers and foster competences that promote innovative and creative solutions. In addition to cognitive abilities, research has shown how self-efficacy, which describes confidence in one's own abilities to successfully overcome obstacles, can influence students’ motivation, interest and therefore academic and vocational training success. Studies show that people with a strong belief in their own …

The Role Of Earth System Literacy In Sustainability Education For Engineers, Sudeshna Basu

Research Papers

Engineers should be able to demonstrate sustainability competencies transcending their specialised discipline. But all cross-disciplinary sustainability competencies are not targeted adequately in engineering education and are often mismatched with competencies required by engineers in their professional roles. Future engineers should have an understanding of the environment alongside technical knowledge, with all engineering design and product showing consideration to sustainability. The study of the Earth system is relevant to the understanding of environmental issues and the interplay between the sub-systems of the Earth (atmosphere, geosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere) . Yet, integration of Earth system literacy in the engineering curriculum has received …

Should Teaching Guides Be Used As Indicators Of Gender Dimension In A University Degree?, Elisabet Mas De Les Valls, Marta Peña, Noelia Olmedo-Torre, Amaia Lusa

Research Papers

In order to achieve a truly equality society, universities are making significant efforts towards gender mainstreaming. One of the main pillars of this approach is the implementation of a gender dimension in teaching. To assess the degree of progress towards this goal, suitable indicators, both qualitative and quantitative, are desirable. Surveys could be used to gather students’ perceptions or educators’ efforts as indicators, but an underutilised source of information is available in the teaching guides. Teaching guides are understood as those open-access documents where the public can find a subject’s description, goals, and contents, among other universityspecific features.The aim of …