Project-oriented Study and Project-organized Curricula: A Brief Review of Intentions and Solutions

Project orientation and project-organized curricula in higher education are attributed to a wide range of intentions causing different approaches and solutions concerning the structuring of curricula and of teaching/learning situations. The historical review describes briefly pedagogical and profession-oriented motivations as well as science and society-related aspects. In engineering education, the changing demands from industry and the profession—emphasizing skills instead of specialized content orientation—promote a rapid expansion of problem-centred project work and of active and productive learning. A shift from projects, integrated in the traditional subject structure of engineering curricula, towards project-organized curricula can be observed. To overcome obvious problems and constraints of the future implementation of projects in higher education staff and faculties will need to establish a continuous process of organizational development.     

Postgraduate programmes on environmental water resources engineering and management in Greek universities

The management of complex water problems is nowadays being practised through new ways and approaches. Therefore, water engineers, planners and managers should be appropriately educated through modern undergraduate curricula and by well-designed postgraduate specialisation programmes. Within this framework, a study of the specific characteristics of an ensemble of 14 postgraduate programmes in various fields of environmental water resources engineering and management, offered by Greek universities, is presented. Detailed information and data regarding the formats, structures, educational processes and curricula contents of these programmes are analysed and critically discussed. Similarities and differences among them are depicted and synthesised, in order to reveal individual as well as collective qualities and deficiencies in relation with the overall current needs for engineering postgraduate specialisation in water-related issues.     

深化“工程材料及成形技术基础”课程体系的教学改革,提高学生工程创新能力

工程材料及成形技术基础系列课程是在学生工程创新能力的培养过程中起着其他课程无可替代的作用。然而,现有"工程材料及成形技术基础"课程体系存在着教学思想和目标对工程创新能力培养强调不足、课堂理论教学比重过大、实验和实践教学仍未能改变依附于理论教学的从属地位、缺乏课堂互动交流以及学生学习的积极性差等问题。针对以上问题,以学生为主体,以强化创新能力的培养为目标,以教材建设为基础,以实践教学改革为重点,以教学方法与考试方法的改革为手段对课程教学开展了实践改革,经过几年的建设,构建了集课堂理论教学、实验教学、课程设计、课外创新小组和创新基金项目培养的课程教学体系,提高了学生的工程创新能力和教学质量。     

Thoughts on Engineering Education

Engineering curricula are in a process of dynamic change as a result of the rapidly accelerating rate of advance technology. The rapid accumulation of knowledge leads to a selection process of the materials to be included in the curriculum. If the emphasis in engineering education is on the imparting of facts even facts about "fundamentals" the engineer will soon be wallowing in the wake of the advancing technology. Major emphasis in engineering education should be placed on developing in the student the open-minded attitudes and the critical approach to the solving of problems be they technical, economic, political, or social problems-that is implicit in the phrase "method of science."     

Fostering entrepreneurship education in engineering curricula in Greece. Experience and challenges for a Technical University

While entrepreneurship has emerged as an important mechanism for the generation of social returns in terms of economic growth and job creation, entrepreneurship education is still something new in Europe and the debate about the need and the way of introduction of specific entrepreneurship courses in higher education is on going. This paper deals with the introduction of entrepreneurship education in engineering curricula. More specific it presents the experience of the National Technical University in Greece, as a case in point for discussing the need of an interdisciplinary approach in designing engineering curricula. The main argument is that the introduction of entrepreneurship education in University curricula should not result as an application of policy initiatives only related to economic imperatives. It should be part of a more general discussion related to educational priorities and of a strategic design of University curricula in order to provide engineers with entrepreneurial and management skills that will enhance their profile in accordance with the new requirements of the knowledge-based economy.     

Dynamics of Engineering Education ?Uniformity or Quality

A number of internal and external pressures bear down on engineering colleges today. These include the shortage of experienced manpower, the rapid rate of scientific discoveries requiring absorption in curricula, the increasing college population, competition by industry for faculty members, and the need for additional income for plant expansion and faculty salaries. Within the body of engineering schools, one faction presses for the scientific reorientation of curricula while another holds to the professional art of design as the principle requirement in engineering colleges. Despite the traditional assumption that education is distinguished by large moments of inertia and that the time scale is measured in terms of generations, we lack sufficient time in a world of latent chaos. Positive and exciting internal forces must be injected into our dynamic system.     

Curriculum planning for the development of graphicacy capability: three case studies from Europe and the USA

Curriculum planning for the development of graphicacy capability has not been systematically included in general education to coincide with the graphicacy needs of human society. In higher education, graphicacy curricula have been developed to meet the needs of certain disciplines, for example medical and teacher training and engineering, among others. A framework for graphicacy curricula, anticipating the graphicacy needs in higher education, has yet to be strategically planned for general education. This is partly a result of lack of research effort in this area, but also a result of lack of systematic curriculum planning in general. This paper discusses these issues in the context of graphicacy curricula for engineering. The paper presents three broad individual case studies spanning Europe and the USA, brought together by the common denominator, graphicacy. The case studies are based on: an analysis of graphicacy within general education curricula, an analysis of graphicacy for engineering education in Europe and an analysis of graphicacy for engineering education in the USA. These three papers were originally presented in a plenary session at the American Society for Engineering Education, Engineering Design Graphics Division at the University of Limerick in November 2012. The case studies demonstrate the potential for strategic curriculum planning in regard to the development of graphicacy in general education and an overview of a methodology to achieve that. It also offers further evidence towards the importance of the systematic classification of graphics capabilities in Engineering and how the lack of a developed theoretical framework in this area undermines the case for the importance of graphics within engineering education.     

Finnish-Baltic Cooperation in Environmental Education

The requirements for engineering education are changing. Sound technical knowledge is still the basis of the engineering profession but multi-sectoral skills are becoming increasingly important. In the Baltic countries, increased environmental and socio-economic problems have made it clear that narrow curricula are not sufficient. Tampere University of Technology (Finland) and Tallinn Technical University (Estonia) have jointly organized postgraduate courses in water and environmental management. Much emphasis has been placed on economy, policy, management and environmental issues. When the participants come from several countries and their background education is not only engineering, very interesting and useful interdisciplinary discussions have been experienced.     

高职《网络工程与实验》课程教学的实践与探索

针对《网络工程与实验》课程教学现状,围绕合格网络工程应用型人才的培养目标,尝试对高职《网络工程与实验》课程教学进行探索与实践,通过确立教学目标、优化教学内容、改革实验教学方法、加强实验教学管理、改革考核方式等措施,不仅能提高课程教学质量,而且有利于学生网络工程实践和技术能力的培养。     

Preventive Maintenance Study: A Key Component in Engineering Education to Enhance Industrial Productivity and Competitiveness

We suggest that a chief contributor to the continued economic success of the western economies will be the productivity gains available through efficient preventive maintenance planning. We further argue that this fact is largely unrecognized and that engineering curricula need to be modified to include a substantive component dealing with equipment reliability and maintenance. The strong connections between manufacturing equipment availability and industrial productivity have not been widely recognized. Maintenance is usually viewed as a necessary inconvenience and the very substantial benefits of efficient maintenance planning are not generally incorporated in productivity calculations. In this paper, we describe the formulation of maintenance planning problems and illustrate with some numerical examples the potential productivity gains that are attainable using preventive maintenance strategies. We then argue that engineering students should be taught how to obtain these benefits.     

A model for the development of university curricula in nanoelectronics

Nanotechnology is having an increasing impact on university curricula in electrical engineering and in physics. Major influencers affecting developments in university programmes related to nanoelectronics are discussed and a model for university programme development is described. The model takes into account that nanotechnology affects not only physics but also electrical engineering and computer engineering because of the advent of new nanoelectronics devices. The model suggests that curriculum development tends to follow one of three major tracks: physics; electrical engineering; computer engineering. Examples of European curricula following this framework are identified and described. These examples may serve as sources of inspiration for future developments and the model presented may provide guidelines for a systematic selection of topics in the university programmes.     

二年制高职课程变革:背景、要点及对策

基于学制改革、就业导向办学理念的冲击、培养目标复合化以及生源素质下降等背景,二年制高职课程必须进行深入变革.变革中要处理好技能针对性与岗位适应性、就业功能与升学功能、成才教育与成人教育三对关系,同时以实践课程架构理论课程、以职业课程改造学术课程,鼓励教师参与课程变革,提供丰富的课程资源,扩大学生的课程的选择权.     

Learning and Teaching Processes in Electrical Engineering Education

The modification of the various engineering curricula to permit adequate preparation of students in a four-year program for careers in a rapidly changing technology of ever increasing complexity is one of the chief concerns of the engineering educator. It is generally felt that a more scientifically oriented curriculum than has been customary in the past will provide a more efficient and more effective undergraduate program. The actual realization of increased efficiency and effectiveness requires a great deal of careful thought and some bold experimentation with curricula. Some considerations in this connection are set forth. In particular, it is held that unification of subject matter, whenever possible, is of primary importance in realizing greater efficiency and effectiveness, and means whereby the scientific bases for engineering may be employed to achieve unity are suggested. In this connection certain tasks that belong uniquely to the teacher are pointed out..     

Courses for teaching leadership capacity in professional engineering degrees in Australia and Europe

Recently, many educational institutions across the globe have implemented engineering leadership programmes either as a part of a formal engineering curriculum or where leadership development is embedded into separate in-house programmes. This shows the clear intent of these educational institutions to prepare their engineering students for solving real-world problems, recognising that both technical and leadership skills are valuable for tomorrow's engineers. Leadership programmes in engineering education have been implemented in various formats with varying degrees of success. It has already been identified in research studies that 80–90% of engineering leadership programmes offered explicitly across the globe were based in the United States of America. However, in Europe and Australia, there is a noticeable lack of engineering leadership programmes, particularly in undergraduate curricula. The programmes that are offered across Australia and Europe have distinct design and delivery styles but there are certain key features that are common to most of the programmes, including professional partnerships, mentoring, engineering design and project-based approaches.     

Today's Dilemma in Engineering Education

The present wide-scale activity to increase the science content of engineering curricula can, if not skillfully accomplished, result in the teaching of science, and not the engineering of science, to engineers. The changes experienced in the substance of the curricula are sometimes so great that faculties encounter great difficulty in providing worthwhile engineering examples to support their presentations of engineering science.     

Case study: use of problem-based learning to develop students' technical and professional skills

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a pedagogy that has attracted attention for many biomedical engineering curricula. The aim of the current study was to address the research question, ‘Does PBL enable students to develop desirable professional engineering skills?’ The desirable skills identified were communication, teamwork, problem solving and self-directed learning. Forty-seven students enrolled in a biomedical materials course participated in the case study. Students worked in teams to complete a series of problems throughout the semester. The results showed that students made significant improvements in their problem-solving skills, written communication and self-directed learning. Students also demonstrated an ability to work in teams and communicate orally. In conclusion, this case study provides empirical evidence of the efficacy of PBL on student learning. We discuss findings from our study and provide observations of student performance and perceptions that could be useful for faculty and researchers interested in PBL for biomedical engineering education.     

Whither Electrical Engineering Education

Changes have been occurring in the character of the present-day engineering product which require a review of the education for such engineering. A number of studies and reports have been made which seek to assess the needs and to suggest ideas for meeting the real challenge that exists. A separate study has been conducted by a group at the Case Institute of Technology along these same lines. This paper discusses the general educational problems and the broad philosophy which have been established to guide our subsequent curriculum development. The result is the need for a complete reappraisal of the existing curricula, with a degree of depth and integration among subject matter far beyond anything that has heretofore been attempted.     

Preparing engineers for social responsibility

In this paper I introduce the contributions to a special section of the journal: one devoted to the question of how engineering curricula can or should contribute to the preparation of graduates for socially responsible decision making and conduct. The special section is motivated by the circumstance that, although there is broad agreement that engineering education has a role in preparing its graduates for social responsibility, there is a considerable lack of clarity as to how graduates should be prepared for social responsibility, and what this entails for the engineering curricula. Bucciarelli and Conlon both provide reasons why, in order to prepare graduates adequately for social responsibility, considerations of the organisational, social, legal and political context in which engineers operate need to be included in the teaching. Conlon, in addition, explores the possible contributions that the field of sociology can make to this teaching. Heikkerö focuses on the attitudes that are required for socially responsible professional practice and that should be taught in engineering education. Didier and Huet present the results of a survey on how the issue of corporate social responsibility is being discussed and taught in engineering education in France. Both Börsen and Zandvoort et al. report on courses that they teach, and which are aimed at preparing students for ethical and social responsibility.     

Reverse engineering course at Philadelphia University in Jordan

Reverse engineering (RE) is the process of testing and analysing a system or a device in order to identify, understand and document its functionality. RE is an efficient tool in industrial benchmarking where competitors’ products are dissected and evaluated for performance and costs. RE can play an important role in the re-configuration and redesign of legacy and/or undocumented systems. It can also play a key role in helping students understand engineering products. This paper presents the Philadelphia University experience in constructing a RE course and integrating it within the engineering curricula. This paper can be used as a guide to other universities that wish to introduce RE to their curricula. The information provided in this paper covers the RE methodology for a system level, as well as mechanical, electronics and software levels. Finally, samples of student projects are presented in order to show the learning capabilities provided throughout the course.     

Thoughts on Engineering Education

The writer recently spent a year as Visiting Professor of mechanical engineering at Lehigh University, Bethehem, Pa. As a result of this visit and incidental visits to other Universities and laboratories in the U. S. A. and England, some thoughts on engineering education are here set down. First, comparisons are drawn between American and British engineerinig schools, and then analyses of the curricula in civil, electrical and mechanical engineering are made in order to discover the common content. From this emerges a fairly generally accepted common core which may be used as a yardstick or norm and as a starting point for any revision. Interesting educational trends are evident, both in curricula and physical equipment. These are reviewed and suggestions as to the future are made.