Teaching socio-cultural impacts of technology in advanced technical courses: a case study

ABSTRACT

Engineering education has traditionally focused on the development of technical skills and knowledge. Nowadays, the need for educating engineers in non-technical skills, such as reflective thinking, is being recognised internationally. This paper proposes that socio-cultural impacts of technology be studied together with the technology itself through the integration of social awareness modules into advanced technical courses, providing a venue for students to exercise their reflective thinking skills in the context of technologies that are of interest to them. The paper presents an exploratory study of the essays of senior year engineering students on the socio-cultural impacts of computer vision technologies. It provides insights on the themes that are of interest to the students and on the students’ strengths and weaknesses relating to their reflective thinking abilities. Similar modules would apply well to other advanced courses in the engineering curriculum, to help contextualise technology and enhance the reflective abilities of engineering graduates.     

THE COLLABORATIVE COURSE: INNOVATIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING

Advances in information technology provide an opportunity for academic librarians and professors to offer innovative collaborative courses. The purpose of collaboration between a faculty member and a professional librarian is to integrate instruction in the course subject matter with bibliographic instruction. This integration promotes learning information acquisition skills and critical thinking, as well as the use of library resources. Research skills that students need in order to use contemporary information technology are included. The integration of those skills with the subject material of the course is described.

Two applications of freshman/sophomore level courses are discussed in the paper. Course rationale, topics, and course assignments are illustrated. It is argued that students must learn modern methods of acquiring information in order to make informed independent judgments and in order to achieve understanding in any particular discipline. Providing students with the skills required to achieve access to the ever‐widening body of available information is an essential requirement of contemporary liberal education. These skills are transferable to subsequent course work and will provide the basis for life‐long learning habits. The paper presents the argument that students' achievement of “library literacy” can be promoted by effective course collaboration between faculty members and professional librarians. Benefits and problems of such collaborative courses are also discussed.     

An approach to developing independent learning and non-technical skills amongst final year mining engineering students

There is mounting evidence to show that engineers need more than technical skills to succeed in industry. This paper describes a curriculum innovation in which so-called ‘soft’ skills, specifically inter-personal and intra-personal skills, were integrated into a final year mining engineering course. The instructional approach was designed to promote independent learning and to develop non-technical skills, essential for students on the threshold of becoming practising engineers. Three psychometric tests were administered at the beginning of the course to make students aware of their own and their classmates’ characteristics. Substantial prescribed reading assignments preceded weekly group discussions. Several projects during the course required team work skills and application of content knowledge to real-world contexts. Results obtained from students’ reflection papers, assignments related to ‘soft’ skills and end of course evaluations suggest that students’ appreciation of the need for these skills, as well as their own perceived competence, increased during the course. Their ability to function as independent learners also increased.     

培养外经贸高职生职业素养 提高就业竞争力

高等职业教育的人才培养目标是为社会培养高素质的专业技能型人才,相对本科教育,高职院校所培养人才的职业指向性更为明确具体。为此,高职教育对专业课程中关于实际操作训练内容的教学改革不断探索,效果显著。但值得注意的是,高素质专业技能型人才的职业素养除专业知识和技术操作能力素养外,还包含非专业技术能力的构成因素。相对于工科而言,外经贸高职生的就业竞争力在更大程度上取决于非专业技术的能力因素。根据对外经贸职业的岗位分析和教学研究,结合企业人才聘用工作的考察体验,非专业技术职业素养及其培养在提高外经贸高职生就业竞争力方面有着重要意义。     

Grading students' programming and soft skills with open badges: A case study

Well-developed programming (technical) skills are very important for software engineers, information systems engineers and programmers in general. However, they must also possess relevant personal skills (soft skills) to be successful at the workplace (eg, collaboration, solving real-world problems and communication). The latter, however, are rarely assessed and acknowledged in regular software engineering courses. This paper describes the results of a small case study involving an extracurricular Java programming course in which, in addition to knowledge and skills in relevant technologies, students' soft skills were also assessed. As part of the assessment, students have been awarded Open Badges. The study was exploratory in nature, aimed at examining Open Badges as a motivational mechanism, students' engagement in attaining soft skills and students' perception of soft skills and Open Badges. The results suggest that Open Badges may not be so effective in motivating students to complete the assignments nor attend the course, although students' perception of Open Badges is generally positive. Soft skills were generally perceived as important as hard skills. Students' engagement in attaining soft skills could be affected by assignment announcement time and its level of difficulty.     

Engaging distance and on-campus students in problem-based learning

The University of Southern Queensland in Australia offers multiple entry pathways to a suite of integrated programs delivered to on-campus and distance-education students. The programs cover 2–5 years in nine majors. A specially designed strand of four integrated courses using problem-based learning (PBL) was incorporated into programs and replaced some traditionally taught (lecture) content-based courses. The first offer of the new foundation course took place in 2002. It has since been recognised through a number of national and international awards. For the initial offer, delivering a PBL course to distance engineering students working in virtual teams had never been done before in the world. It is currently delivered to approximately 400 students annually. Student feedback indicates that the course successfully inculcates attributes such as teamwork, communication and the ability to solve technical problems. All these attributes have been identified as being desirable by professional and industry bodies around the world.     

Transformations in Technical Communicat ion Pedagogy: Engineering, Writing, and the ABET Engineering Criteria 2000

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, the organization that accredits engineering programs in the United States, has shifted its focus to the documentation of student learning outcomes. This shift has prompted changes in the work of technical communication departments and programs that serve engineering, from the development of new courses to increased collaboration between technical and non-technical faculty. This article traces the development of ABET'S Engineering Criteria 2000 and identifies the effect of EC 2000 on technical communication now and in the future.     

Perceived Role of Multimedia Instructional Materials on Multicriteria Technology and Engineering Decisions*

Studies have shown that it is difficult for people to deal with multicriteria decision‐making situations. Information technology tools such as decision‐support systems and expert systems have been developed in order to help them in such situations. Another tool that has been identified as helping managers understand complex engineering decision‐making situations is multimedia instructional materials. This research investigates the perceptions of business versus engineering students on improvement of their higher‐level cognitive skills when they participated in a multimedia‐based case study that used an expert system to model a complex engineering and technical problem. Two groups of students, business and engineering, participated in an experiment, where they analyzed the case study and made their recommendations. Two questionnaires measured their perceptions on the improvements achieved on different constructs. A structural equations model was developed in order to test the research hypotheses with business students being the experimental group and the engineering students as a control group. The major findings are no significant relationship between student major and higher‐order cognitive skills improvement, business students perceived more higher‐order skills improvement compared to engineering students, both groups perceived an improvement in learning‐driven factor, and business students valued learning‐driven factors more compared to engineering students. These results show that multimedia instructional materials were perceived to be very useful in making multicriteria engineering and technical decisions.     

Factors affecting students’ satisfaction in engineering disciplines: traditional vs. blended approaches

In this paper a two-year field study was carried out to analyse how satisfaction differs across the traditional and blended learning methods. Altogether, 21 courses for graduate and postgraduate engineering students were evaluated. Several variables and their relationship with student satisfaction in the first year, with all courses delivered in traditional mode, were compared with student satisfaction in the second year, which had the same courses delivered in blended mode. Results suggest that student satisfaction is greater in blended courses than in face-to-face courses. This can be explained because the levels of class attendance, motivation and collaboration with classmates were higher in blended learning than in classroom instruction. In addition, class attendance, access to teachers, collaboration with classmates and motivation were found to be leading predictors of student satisfaction in blended environments.     

应用型地方院校金工实习铣工实训教学设计

金工实习是高校工科专业学生必修的一门实践基础课,该课程具有承上启下的作用,是工科专业学生提高实践动手能力的重要教学环节之一,也是后续专业课学习的基础,既提高了学生的动手能力,也为学生今后参加学科竞赛提供了技术支持。文章以金工实习铣工实训为例,详细介绍了金工实习铣工工艺及操作。     

Promoting interdisciplinarity in engineering teaching

With funding from the UK' Royal Academy of Engineering, the University of Edinburgh has developed a series of truly interdisciplinary design courses aimed at improving penultimate-year students' ability to operate across disciplines and improve their preparation for industry. Led by a Visiting Industrial Professor, the course on hydropower design requires students to provide a full feasibility study of a small scheme in western Scotland tackling issues from hydrology through to grid connection. The course has had several very successful outcomes which include: appreciation of other engineering disciplines; experience of teams where different skills and expertise are available; demonstration of the links between engineering design and economic viability; introduction to non-technical areas essential to the UK Standard for Professional Engineering Competence; and enhancing interest in the hydropower sector in technological and career terms. The key message from this project is the need to ensure balance across tasks, within groups and staff support across disciplines.     

Motivation and attrition in engineering students

In the engineering profession we need to reflect continually on the students we are training, their suitability and ability to become the next generation of engineers, facing an ever-changing future. We need to face our responsibility in helping to develop the skills required for graduates of tomorrow and ensuring that we are not losing our best students to other professions. A survey has been conducted at Imperial College highlighting problem areas of students at risk from demotivation within engineering courses. Forty students who had not completed their course at the college were surveyed and 10 students were interviewed. The issues they raised have been analysed and intervention strategies have been identified which are presently being developed at the college as part of the ongoing quality improvement of courses. It is hoped that the approaches discussed can be disseminated further within Imperial College and to other universities.     

The Design of the Mathematics Curriculum for Engineers: A Joint Venture of the Mathematics Department and the Engineering Faculty

The Mathematics Department at Monash University, Caulfield Campus, has the responsibility of designing and implementing the mathematics curriculum for the Bachelor of Engineering (Applied) course. In an attempt to answer the question of what mathematical skills are most needed by the engineering students and at what point in their course, a survey to all coordinators of engineering subjects was conducted. Findings indicate that to achieve cohesion and to make the course more meaningful to students, the design of the mathematics curriculum must be done in close collaboration between the mathematics department and the engineering faculty.     

Preparing Students to Take Online Interactive Courses

Electronic communication and World Wide Web skill levels for graduate students entering a Master of Science in Education degree program with online components were examined before and after completion of an introductory technology skills course. Results indicated that students can identify their weaknesses and can subsequently develop skills for using electronic communication, the World Wide Web, and related activities through an online course designed to prepare them for success in taking subsequent online courses. The findings support views that Web-based courses require some skills that may be new for the student, and that students will require varying degrees of instruction in how to deal with technology-based learning.     

Student attraction to engineering through flexibility and breadth in the curriculum

Several European universities provide entry to general engineering studies prior to degree specialisation. The potential advantages of such entry include the provision of a broader foundation in engineering fundamentals, the option for students to defer specialisation until a greater awareness of the different engineering disciplines and the preparation of students for a more versatile career. In this paper, the attractiveness of general engineering (specifically in the first year of study) is explored through a national (UK) survey on pre-university students. Attention is given to gauging student enthusiasm for flexibility in engineering specialisation, combined degree options and exposure to other non-technical courses. The findings indicate that a general engineering programme is highly attractive to students who are currently considering an engineering degree. The programme is also attractive to some students who had previously not considered engineering. For both sets of students, the desire for education on broader topics is indicated, specifically in areas of leadership, teamwork and business skills, and more generally self-awareness and personal development.     

基于射频方向课程群的教学改革与创新

针对场技术课程教师"难教"、学生"难学"的状况,将相关课程组成以"电磁场理论"为基础的射频方向课程群,找出主干脉络;并针对课程实践性强的特点,开发了与课程群课程相关的实践项目。在教学过程中对教学方法、教学手段、实践教学进行了相应改革。结果表明,这些方法的实施减轻了学生对场技术课程的畏惧心理,激发了学习兴趣,使他们的实践能力和创新能力得以提高。     

General or vocational English courses for Taiwanese students in vocational high schools? Students’ perceptions of their English courses and their relevance to their future career

Taiwanese vocational high schools (VHSs) deliver general English courses. This paper explores the extent to which these courses are perceived to be appropriately vocationally orientated. This focus gives rise to two main research questions: what are VHS students’ expectations from their English courses, and to what extent are they being met? The research identifies a mismatch between VHS students’ perceived needs from their English course and the actual course of study they receive, which is set by the Ministry of Education. VHS students have clear expectations that their English course will provide them with vocationally relevant knowledge and skills, but the English course they receive does not necessarily equip them for their future employment. Implications for government and educational institutions are explored, including recommendations that English curricula should be reviewed, and that steps need to be taken to ensure that policy goals are in fact delivered.     

Experiences of Two Problem-oriented Courses in Civil Engineering

Current engineering courses are not structured to develop real problem-solving skills in their students. They rely on a bottom-up approach to learning, where the first three years is spend mostly on theory, with almost no practice at problem definition. Instead, the students spend most of their time solving carefully designed exercises. Real-world problems are not as neatly packaged as these exercises, and, as a consequence, graduate engineers often lack the problem-definition and problem-recognition skills that are essential if the theory they have learned is to be useful to them. On the contrary, a problem-oriented course requires the students to develop those problem recognition skills. It also is intended to develop student-directed learning, and group and communication skills. A problem-oriented approach was used in 1991 in two second-year courses in civil engineering—surveying and computing. The courses were well received by the students, and the average exam result for surveying showed a noticeable improvement, while the average exam result for computing showed a marginal improvement. (There were, however, other encouraging signs in the computing course.) The author believes that the difference in response between the two subjects is due to the difference between working in groups and working individually, and a course change for the computing subject for 1992 is proposed.     

加强技能训练,有效提升英语师范生职业竞争力——广西教育学院外语系教学技能训练课程实施调查报告

为了满足课程改革对英语教师教学技能方面的更高要求,全面、扎实地提高英语师范生的职业竞争力,广西教育学院外语系课题组成员通过在课程设置上把一些纯理论的内容去掉或删减,而在英语教师职业技能训练方面加强或开发出一些全新的课程,组成一个"课程群",使其涵盖英语教师职业技能的方方面面。本文通过分析相关调查问卷的结果得出以下结论:1."课程群"的构建与实施对英语师范生的专业发展和教育实习起到了明显的推动作用;2."课程群"各门课程的教学得到了大多数学生的认可和喜爱;3.各项教学技能在教育实习中运用的情况与课程受学生喜爱程度的结果成正比;4.教学技能的掌握与应用对英语师范生职业竞争力的提高起着积极的作用。     

Graduate engineers' perceptions of their engineering courses: Comparison between enhanced engineering courses and their conventional counterparts

The Dainton enhanced engineering courses were designed to produce engineers who would be better prepared for careers in manufacturing management than their counterparts from conventional engineering programmes. As part of a large scale evaluation of these courses, the views of 167 students and 220 graduates of the programmes were compared with those of a control group of 353 students from conventional engineering courses. Respondents were asked for their opinions of 19 course elements in terms of the amount of time devoted to each as a preparation for a career as a professional engineer in industry.In general, enhanced students viewed their courses more favourably than students from conventional courses. Thus, over half of the conventional students criticised their courses for a lack of business and management material, compared with less than one in five enhanced students. There were few differences between the two groups in their views about the technical content of their courses. Criticisms about insufficient time being devoted to CADCAM, Engineering Practice, and Engineering Applications were common in students from both types of course. The views of enhanced graduates, who had up to five years' work experience post graduation, were similar to those of the undergraduates. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for engineering education in general.