‘Continuing education: an essential tool for teacher empowerment in an era of universal basic education in Nigeria

The relevance of the teacher to the success of any education innovation is not open to contention. Equally incontentious is the relevance of education and training to the success of the teacher in the attainment of his/her professional goals. It is against this background that this paper examines the continuing education imperatives in the present basic education crusade in Nigeria. Here continuing education is conceptualized as a process for developing teacher's skill for coping with changing demands of the job through regular exposure to professional renewal programmes. The paper contends that inasmuch as the teacher will continue to play a pivotal role in the execution of educational innovations, then further education and training as it affects him/her must receive priority attention in the conceptualization and implementation of such innovations. To this end, the paper advocates: teacher exchange programmes between Nigeria and other countries of the world; establishment of functional libraries in primary schools; and provision of opportunities to participate in workshops and conferences with such participation made a significant part of the criteria for teacher promotion and advancement.     

The Nature and Development of Engineering Expertise

Engineering is the application of science and mathematics to human problems. This is a view that pervades engineering education. Recent emphasis in the United States is ‘engineering is design’. The thesis of this paper is that engineering as science as well as engineering as design are inadequate conceptions of engineering. The thesis is supported by comparing school and out-of-school knowledge. The nature of engineering is explored in terms of the activities of engineers and the goals of engineering education. Koen's definition of the engineering method, “The engineering method is the use of heuristics to cause the best change in a poorly understood situation within the available resources”, is introduced. The nature of expertise is examined. Alternatives to the ‘empty vessel’ model are presented for the development of engineering expertise. The alternatives include cognitive apprenticeship, reflective practicum, co-operative learning and problem-based instruction.     

IT工程人才校企合作培养机制演进——基于应用型到卓越型的视域

为了适应工程教育发展的形势,文章从应用型IT人才到卓越型IT工程师培养阶段推进的视域,剖析校企合作培养机制的三级外在螺旋式演进路线和三层内在协同式演进机理,探索应用型、复合型和卓越型IT工程人才校企合作培养的融合式演进模式,在理论与实践上获得一定的成果。     

机械专业卓越工程师培养实施的思考

实施卓越工程师教育培养计划是我国高等工程教育面临的重大迫切任务。针对安徽工程大学机械设计制造及其自动化专业,简要介绍了卓越机械工程师培养的目标与要求,分析了现有的本科培养模式中教学与实践环节存在的问题,给出了实施卓越机械工程师的培养举措。     

Computer-aided Engineering Education and Technical Management

The computer-aided engineering (CAE) system gives an engineer a set of powerful new tools for proper realization of his/her design tasks. Therefore, it is also necessary to accept this methodological development adequately within the engineering curriculum of technical universities in the successful education of the new generation of engineers. CAE methodology influences all areas of an engineer's work and should be accompanied by principal changes in the traditionally used methods of engineering education. But the student's use of computer tools within many engineering disciplines hides the danger of gaining practical skills by means of the computer instead of traditional educational goals concerning the proper understanding of the solution principles of technical problems. Sometimes the students are not able to recognize the significance of, for example, software development problems or engineer workstation organization problems, in view of the main goal of engineering design—to develop a new technical system. To avoid this danger it is necessary to present methods of technical management as an integral part of CAE education. Such orientation has an important role within an engineer's education in the twentieth century.     

培养工科学生工程实践能力的研究与应用

能力是一种智力潜能,是理论知识与实践技能相结合的产物;实践能力是工程技术人员工程素质的重要组成,代表工程技术人员的核心价值,也是现代高等工科院校工程教育的主要培养目标。文章通过论述实践能力的内涵、组成及重要意义,结合能力培养在实践教学中的具体应用,阐明了工程实践能力培养的主要方法和途径。     

卓越工程师培养目标下给水排水工程专业的机遇与挑战

"卓越工程师教育培养计划"是我国工程教育的一项重要改革措施,这为给水排水工程专业的发展提供了机遇,也带来了挑战。根据该计划对工程型人才培养的新要求,从实践基地建设、学生工程能力培养、教师队伍工程素质塑造几个方面,对给水排水工程学科目前面临的主要问题以及发展策略进行了讨论。     

高师数学教育中存在的问题与改革思路

高师数学教育是数学教师职前教育的基础和主要形式.当前高师数学教育中存在的主要问题：师范性未能很好突出,课程设置缺乏科学的指导,高等数学知识与初等数学教学脱节,实践环节薄弱,对数学教育研究不够.新一轮高师数学教育的改革思路：正确理解高师数学专业的培养目标,设置科学的课程结构,改进教学方法,强化高等数学与初等数学的联系,强化数学应用性和数学思想方法教学,强化教学技能训练和实践环节,加强数学教育研究.     

Engineering education - finding the centre or 'back to the future'

In this paper I attempt to list the body of knowledge and skills which future young engineers will need and how such knowledge and skills can best be transferred to students during the engineering education process. The educational environment should stimulate students and encourage them to develop the capacity for lifelong learning as a preparation for tackling the unknown problems which will occur in future decades. The formation of an engineer should comprise both education and practice. Some of the problems facing higher education today are discussed and some ideas for cross-border harmonization of engineering education are given. Finally, there is a brief comparison of today's current ideas on engineering study programmes and the course that I followed more than 50 years ago.     

Continuing Engineering Education for Developing Countries: a challenge and an opportunity

All developing countries are committed to use science and technology for the uplift of the economic condition of their population. Although development is a complex multi-variable optimisation process, and application of science and technology is only one of the dominant variables, no sustained economic development is possible without a proper infrastructure of education and training of scientists, technicians and engineers. Building such an infrastructure is beset with numerous difficulties in many developing countries, e.g. unavailability of trained teachers, lack of financial resources for upgrading laboratories and workshops, and making the course curriculum relevant to the needs of the country. In the context of these difficulties, it is suggested that developing countries should take advantage of continuing education programmes to meet their development needs for trained manpower. Updating the competence of teachers of engineering and technology, improving the skills of technicians and engineers in the wake of improved or new technologies and preparing the young engineers and managers for the technologies of the future have been identified as the major CEE needs of developing countries. Rapid development in educational technology tools, e.g. audio/video material, media-packages, programmed learning, computer-assisted instruction has made it possible to cut down the cost of manpower training and also meet the shortage of fully-trained teachers. Brief details of the CEE programmes being run in India are given. International Cooperation in the exchange of learning material including computer software for instruction purposes has been identified as a method to accelerate the growth of CEE movement in developing countries. A few criteria have been specified to ensure that such exchange of material is useful.     

Frankenstein goes to engineering school

The development of an engineering curriculum assumes a body of knowledge that students, as future engineers, will need to know. Students acquire this body of knowledge through lectures, laboratories, projects and assignments and other means. The question then arises, how does one select the content and processes that are appropriate for the engineering education? What might be the consequences of these choices? Mary Shelley's Frankenstein presents a tale showing some of the possible consequences of poor choices in teaching content and process. In Shelley's novel, the ‘monster’ finds himself caught between two worlds, one comprised of humans and the other of animals. In this allegory, the engineer is caught between the two worlds of science and art. The purpose of this allegory is to demonstrate how engineers, by accepting the body of knowledge presented to them without questioning the underlying values and assumptions, may find themselves embracing an oppressive ideology and developing an unhealthy identity. Consequently, engineering programs must provide forums where students are not only allowed but encouraged to critique the hidden values and assumptions contained in the programme content and process.     

新工科建设背景下计算机专业人才培养的改革与探索

针对新工科建设背景下计算机专业人才培养教育面临的一系列问题,如人才培养目标不明确、知识结构单一、解决复杂问题能力较差等,探讨了新工科建设背景下计算机专业人才培养要求,提出了以OBE(成果导向教育)理念为指导,结合工程专业教育认证和计算机类专业教学质量国家标准的要求,介绍了新工科建设背景下计算机专业人才培养的思路及组织实施情况。     

Engineering Education Today: The Need for Basics or Specialization

The Engineering profession is as old as mankind itself. It evolved from the work of the mason, the blacksmith and the millwright; but the modem profession was shaped mainly during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The profession itself and the professional bodies played vital roles in the development of the education and training of new engineers. They set standards for competence to practise, which the educational establishments followed by necessity. In a rapidly changing world and a swiftly evolving technology, ideal educational curricula are difficult to establish. Nevertheless, most educators support the thesis that the emphasis of the curriculum should be on the basic and engineering sciences and on humanities, in order to create open-minded engineers, capable of adapting to the new challenges of technology. Training in specialized topics should be left to industry (on-the-job training) and advanced courses. But some professionals do not agree with this, advancing the theory that the new engineer should be able to cope with current industrial problems. The current trends in engineering education appear to be; a broad educational approach in science and technology as well as in the humanities, together with an emphasis on computer applications in every engineering discipline, both for education and for design. More consideration should also be given to engineering design and applications throughout the whole curriculum. In those countries with well-developed technological infrastructures, it is better to keep the basic engineering degree (BSc) to 4 years and enhance the advanced level and specialization degrees (MSc, PhD, etc) to promote the technology appropriate to the country. In less developed countries with limited employment markets and without developed technology, over-specialization may lead to unemployment and an unjustified waste of money. Participation of the students in design and/or research projects should always be encouraged, A comparison between the European and the North American engineering educational systems shows that in Europe undergraduate education is stressed more, whereas in North America advanced courses are better developed. Some comments on the Greek engineering education system are also made.     

学科交叉研究生培养的特性、动力及模式探析

构建多学科集成与交叉的培养环境与机制,培养未来能够解决综合性重大科技和社会问题的复合型创新人才已经成为各国研究生教育发展的共识和趋势,也是研究生培养模式改革的重要课题。与传统研究生培养模式相比,学科交叉研究生培养具有知识多元、问题导向、协同创新等特性,也具有非常迫切的驱动力。学科交叉研究生培养模式有其生成路径和一些重要特征。高校应根据自身办学定位与特色选择合适的学位交叉研究生培养模式。     

校企合作 构建卓越工程师教育培养新模式

“卓越工程师教育培养计划”是推进我国高等工程教育改革的重大举措。现代制药企业需要多学科交叉、综合能力强的卓越制药工程师,如何提高制药工程师的培养质量成为高校亟待解决的问题。本文从卓越工程师应有的基本素质出发,探讨了校企合作的优势,以及如何通过校企合作培养和增强学生的工程能力和实践能力,提高卓越制药工程师的教育质量。     

卓越工程师计划中核心能力的培养探讨——以土木工程专业为例

为适应我国工业化发展进程,培养和造就一大批创新能力强、适应我国经济社会发展需要的工程技术人才,国家实行了"卓越工程师教育培养计划"。针对这个计划探讨了当前大学毕业生在卓越工程师教育培养中应具备哪些知识能力,针对这些能力要求,以土木工程专业为依托,从专业知识模块、理论教学课程体系、实践教学体系、人文与职业素质培养体系等方面提出了高校土木工程专业学生核心能力培养教育的方案。     

面向机械工程师训练的实践教学改革

基于对机械工程师素质与能力的要求,以及当前高等学校机械工程专业实践训练目标、内容、方法、环境等方面存在的问题,通过对发达国家同类训练成功经验的初步总结,提出了我国高等学校可以通过理论与实践适当穿插的教学安排、刚柔结合的实践资源使用与管理方法、注重训练效果的管理考核制度以及稳定可靠的工程训练基地建设等措施,提升机械工程师培养过程的实践训练水平.     

以创新教育为导向的卓越工程师培养模式

＂卓越工程师教育培养计划＂是我国高等工程教育改革的重大举措,对提高工程人才的培养质量具有重要的示范和引导作用。本文以实施创新教育为载体,从教学体系、工程实践体系及课外训练体系等方面,探讨如何建立适应于卓越工程师培养的培养模式。     

卓越工程师培养模式探索——以天津大学光电信息工程专业为例

面对市场对光电信息技术类人才需求的增加,原有的人才培养模式需要做大的改变.为了培养出满足社会需求的高层次人才,文章分析国内外卓越工程师的培养模式,并依据天津大学光电信息工程专业具备的特色和培养目标,对本专业的人才培养模式进行了系统探索与实践.     

工程教育理念下实践教学体系建设的思考

＂卓越工程师培养计划＂是教育部大力推进的高等工程教育改革的重大措施。分析了高等工程教育目前存在的主要问题,介绍了卓越工程师需具备的能力素质,提出了工程教育中实践教学体系建设的思路及构想,以期对卓越工程师教育改革有所帮助。