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It is generally perceived that a substantial number of engineering faculty are still unaware of alternative educational methods, and many who are aware of them choose not to incorporate them into their approach to teaching. There are several likely reasons for this inertia, aside from the inevitable human resistance to change. The primary focus of imparting information is restricted to fulfilling the course requirements and, the upcoming term end examination. It is imperative to adopt a change from teaching to learning paradigm engaging the students in Higher Order Thinking Skills. Knowledge and technological advancements are changing the role of engineering and engineering faculty in the society. Engineering Education reforms need to focus on inductive teaching and stimulated learning. Students should be taught critical thinking skills and creative thinking skills to keep pace with the rapidly changing engineering profession. This paper reports the study done to test and explore the faculty awareness of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives in the cognitive domain and Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) and to evaluate question papers set by engineering faculty with respect to HOTS as proposed by Bloom's Taxonomy. Various active learning strategies to enhance critical thinking skills and creative thinking skills of the students are recommended for use by the faculty in their interactions with the students.

This paper addresses the problem of the formation of the self-regulation of educational activities of students studying in a technical university. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the problem of the self-regulation of educational activities of students, presenting data from an experimental study of students' self-regulation. Special attention is paid to the distinction between the terms self-control and self-regulation. This paper presents data on the state of self-regulation among students studying technical specialties. The research methodology is based on the theoretical analysis of the results of scientific works, which present the main provisions on the formation of students' self-regulation. The research methods include questioning and a methodical experiment. The stages of the formation of students' self-regulation are highlighted, and the main directions of teachers' work on the formation of students' self-regulation are determined. The structure of self-regulation is described and the condition for its formation is justified using the technology of self-regulation formation. Based on the study, students' self-regulation is linked to the awareness of their professional and personal goals, as well as to the level of regulatory and reflective qualities. Personal and professional self-improvement in the process of vocational education depends on the level of the formation of regulatory and reflexive qualities.

There is overwhelming evidence that females are underrepresented in engineering worldwide, and Kenya is not an exception. Recent study at School of Engineering (SOE), Moi University (MU) established that engineering parity ration was found to be 1.68 %, meaning that for every 59 students admitted to MU there was only one student admitted to SOE. Engineering female parity index was found to be 0.0038, meaning that, on average, for 260 female students admitted to MU, only 1 (one) female student was admitted to SOE. Humankind depends on engineers to create new technologies, to find solutions to practical problems and to shape the world that people live in and the future they rely on. Yet young people have little or no perception of engineering and the understanding they do have is all too often confused with other careers, such as science. The perception of engineering as "masculine" and "too hard" is a contributing factor for the female minority in engineering. On the other hand there are very few studies on what high school students think about engineering. In view of the above, this paper will try to fill this gap of information, by exploring teenage girls' perceptions of engineering as a subject for study and as a potential career choice. Furthermore, it will attempt to raise awareness about and improve the image of engineering, by providing fused notion of engineering to the potential broad audience of this paper. The study is significant and essential for deeper comprehension on the subject matter, and for proposing and designing effective strategies to increase females' representation in engineering. Quantitative and qualitative methods have been used in this study. The researchers designed, administered and analyzed a 21-question questionnaire addressed to 100 female students at secondary school in Eldoret, Kenya (at their Form Four-final year of study). Qualitative Data Coding Techniques were applied to interpret the collected data. In addition, "Draw an Engineer Test" (DAET) was included as one of the questions in the questionnaire. The purpose of the test is to have students describe their perception about engineers via drawn responses. Each picture was analyzed for the images and artifacts contained in the drawings. The study established that majority of female pupils have a fairly good idea of what engineering is and they generally have a positive attitude towards it. The rest of the students, however, perceived engineering as largely dirty and noisy manual-work. To help changing that misconception, this study proposed several recommendations. The most important ones are: In order to attract much more females into engineering, both stereotypes (Engineering and Gender) should be challenged and, in the long run, changed; To make engineering a core-subject, differentiated from science, in the Secondary Schools educational curriculum; To offer students freedom of choice of future career, providing exposure to various career alternatives; and finally, students should choose a career that matches one's personality.

The recent phenomenon of worldwide declining enrolments in engineering-related degrees has led to the gradual decrease in the number of engineering graduates. This decrease occurs at a time of increasing demand in the labour market for highly qualified engineers, who are necessary for the implementation of fundamental societal functions. This paper initially presents a survey of practices, which are currently employed by academic institutions in Europe in order to increase the attractiveness of their engineering studies. It then provides a detailed analysis of the benefits and proliferation of distance education to increase attractiveness of engineering studies based on a set of interviews. Results of this study highlight a lack of a distance-learning dimension in the implementation of engineering studies in the European Area and discusses in detail ways in which distance learning can be utilised in engineering studies for the benefit of increasing their attractiveness. It has also been noted that institutions employing distance learning as part of their engineering studies, see this as highly beneficial for their students but also for the academic institution itself with some reservations in terms of the pedagogical adequacy of materials and instructional approaches used in distance education courses.

The advancement of game-based learning has encouraged many related studies, such that students could better learn curriculum by 3-dimension virtual reality. To enhance software engineering learning, this paper develops a 3D game-based learning system to assist teaching and assess the students' motivation, satisfaction and learning achievement. A quasi-experimental design is based on the ARCS Theory (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction) to investigate the effectiveness of game-based learning strategy in 3-dimension virtual reality scenario. The students are randomly assigned into two groups for quasi-experimental design. In game-based learning, the curriculum content is mapped into the game to provide a scenario learning environment. After implementation of quasi-experimental design, the pre-test and post-test results shown that 3D game-based learning system with software engineering curriculum could achieve a better learning achievement and motivation than using traditional instruction. The statistical test displayed that learning motivations of students have significant impact on learning achievement, and learning achievements of students with game-based learning are better than those who use traditional face-to-face teaching. After re-checked the questionnaire, this paper finds that game-based learning challenging and attractiveness can lead to learners' curiosity and immersion in learning activity. And the results show that 80% students are satisfaction, and 83% students are confidence for the course learning after use the game-based learning system. Lastly, the research results could provide to related educators as references. (Contains 8 figures and 3 tables.)

In addressing the nation's need for a more technologically-literate society, the Rutgers University Research Experience for Teachers in Engineering (RU RET-E) is designed to: (1) engage middle and high school math and science teachers in innovative "green" engineering research during the summer, and (2) support teachers in integrating their research experiences into their academic year, precollege classrooms. The current paper addresses the following two questions: (1) To what extent did RU RET-E impact participants? and (2) To what extent did participants implement resulting lesson plans? During the 2011 summer, seventeen math and science teachers (RU RET-E Fellows) engaged in "green" research alongside faculty and graduate students. Teachers were required to apply to the program in pairs as one math and one science teacher from the same school. The rationale was that the team would develop interdisciplinary lessons and that teachers would have a colleague at their school who shared the same experience as supports during the school year. The paper provides an overview of the summer experiences and the academic year follow-up activities. Data from the pre- and post-surveys and follow-up questionnaire about lesson implementation are presented. Preliminary data evidences that RU RET-E was successful in enhancing teachers' understanding of engineering and supporting them as they designed lessons for their precollege classrooms. Most notably, teachers' confidence in their ability to define engineering, describe what engineers do, generate challenging problems for advanced students and integrate engineering into their curriculum increased significantly.

This paper discusses the roles of professional engineers (PEs) who are attached to the Institutions of Higher Learning (IHLs) and how their contributions are as important as their counterparts in the industry. This paper highlights the roles for PEs at IHLs based on a survey conducted at selected IHLs in Malaysia. Academician-professional engineers have crucial responsibilities to develop graduates who later promote safer and cutting-edge engineering solutions. These new technologies will make Malaysia an environmentally healthier place and further prepare Malaysia towards a developed nation at the end of the decade. From the survey, we conclude that PEs at IHLs make use of their professional qualifications to enhance their knowledge therefore provide better work quality. We also found that lecturers with these qualifications have higher confidence in their own ability to success in their careers and to face and help the public.

This article presents a case study that illustrates the paradigmatic shift in higher education from content-centered teaching to learning-centered academic programs. This pragmatic change, triggered by the STEM movement, calls for the introduction of success measures in the course development process. The course described in this paper illustrates such a goal-driven approach to the development of an entire multidisciplinary curriculum in mechanical engineering and mechatronics. The effectiveness of this new curriculum was confirmed by findings of a survey of graduates of the first six graduating classes who studied on the basis of this curriculum.

Research on engineering practice is scarce and sharing of qualitative research data can reduce the effort required for an aspiring researcher to obtain enough data from engineering workplaces to draw generalizable conclusions, both qualitative and quantitative. This paper describes how a large shareable qualitative data set on engineering practices was accumulated from 350 interviews and 12 field studies performed by the principal investigator and by students conducting PhD and capstone research projects. Ethical research practice required that sharing and reuse of qualitative data be considered from the start. The researchers' interests and methods were aligned to maintain sufficient consistency to support subsequent analysis and re-analysis of data. Analysis helped to answer questions of fundamental significance for engineering educators: what do engineers do, and why are the performances of engineering enterprises so different in South Asia compared with similar enterprises in Australia? Analysis also demonstrated the overwhelming significance of technical collaboration in engineering practice. Conceiving engineering practice as a series of technical collaboration performances requires a more elaborate understanding of social interactions than is currently the case in engineering schools. Another finding is that global engineering competency could be better described in terms of "working with people who collaborate differently". Research helped to demonstrate that formal treatment of technical collaboration in an engineering curriculum could help avoid student misconceptions about engineering practice that hinder their subsequent engineering performances.

As a very important skill both in English teaching and learning, reading strategy has been emphasized at home and abroad for a long time. Many scholars and teachers make research on undergraduates of English major or non-English major. However, the postgraduates are often neglected. Actually, it is also imperative to make a study among postgraduates of non-English majors, getting the information of their use of reading strategies and giving some useful suggestions to them. Therefore, this paper makes a quantitative study among 40 postgraduates from College of Mechanical Engineering in Chang'an University. This study shows that postgraduates of non-English major in Chang'an university do not frequently use reading strategies to improve their reading speed and proficiency. And there is a big difference between the successful learners and unsuccessful learners in terms of the use of reading strategies.

The increasing complexity of the new breed of distributed intelligent systems, such as the Internet of Things, which require a diversity of languages and protocols, can only be tamed with design and programming best practices. Interest is also growing for including the human factor, as advocated by the "ambient intelligence" (AmI) research field, whose focus is on transparently and intelligently supporting people. These new design methodologies are increasingly needed in the toolbox of new electronic and computer engineers, and teaching strategies should be devised that allow students to acquire a systems-level view instead of getting lost in technology-oriented approaches. This paper describes a study carried out over two academic years, in a course in AmI at Politecnico di Torino, Italy. In the course, a project-based learning approach was adopted, in which students design and prototype an AmI system, and their progress is closely monitored throughout the semester. This paper presents the learning goals and teaching strategies, analyzes the learning outcomes from the qualitative and quantitative points of view, and highlights the lessons learned in the process.

The objective of this study is to identify the competencies required to achieve success in the transition from higher education to the labour market based on the perceptions of employers. This paper analyses the assessments made by a group of engineering company employers. An item-battery of 20 competencies was grouped into 3 dimensions by using factor analysis. Subsequently, respondents' scores were also clustered into three groups and characterised through contingency tables. The competencies demanded by employers were grouped into business and finance, problem-solving and strategic planning. Significant differences were found between responses from employers working in medium and small companies, who placed more importance on competencies related to problem-solving and strategic planning, and employers in big companies, who were more concerned about the difficulties of finding well-trained graduates. The findings from this paper have important implications for research in the areas of higher education and organisations that usually employ graduate engineers.

This paper examines the traditional engineering-based provision delivered to Product Design and Technology (B.Sc.) undergraduates at the Loughborough Design School and questions its relevancy against the increasing expectations of industry. The paper reviews final-year design projects to understand the level of transference of engineering-based knowledge into design practice and highlights areas of opportunity for improved teaching and learning. The paper discusses the development and implementation of an integrated approach to the teaching of Mechanics and Electronics to formalise and reinforce the key learning process of transference within the design context. The paper concludes with observations from the delivery of this integrated teaching and offers insights from student and academic perspectives for the further improvement of engineering-based teaching and learning.

The purpose of this paper is to find out whether there is any change in the attitude of students towards English Language Learning (ELL) when they come for college education after completing the school education. The transformation in the attitude of students from school to college was examined in terms of marks, interest towards English language, self- motivation to learn the language, participation in the class, understanding the importance of English in securing a job and learner-centred language teaching methods that ensure more freedom to the learners. About 52 first year Mechanical Engineering students from Tamil medium stream took part in this research. To examine their shift in attitude towards ELL, an attitude questionnaire was administered and a semi-structured interview was conducted. The findings of the study indicated that there was a significant shift in their attitude towards ELL at their college level.

This research examines the frameworks used by Computer Science and Information Systems students at the conclusion of their first semester of study of Software Engineering. A questionnaire listing 64 Software Engineering concepts was given to students upon completion of their first Software Engineering course. This survey was given to samples of students at three universities. To identify which topics were most important, students were asked to rate each concept on a ten-point scale. From their responses, we calculated the average perceived importance for each concept. This paper analyzes the results of this survey for the three student samples. We then compare the student ratings with word frequencies exhibited by authors of Software Engineering textbooks. In this way, we show how student frameworks relate to frameworks presented by Software Engineering authors.

Little is known about how the presence of women influences undergraduates' experiences in engineering. This paper presents results from a mixed methods, multivariate, and multi-institutional study to determine the impact of the numeric representation of women on the intent to be employed in engineering following graduation. Results from the analysis of both quantitative and the qualitative data suggests that numbers matter because it contributes to the perception that women have the skills, abilities, and interests to succeed in engineering.

Engineering communication studies indicate the importance of oral presentations as an indispensable component of workplace oral communication activities; however, since there is limited literature regarding stakeholder perceptions of effective presentation skills and attributes in technical oral presentations or final year engineering project presentations, the authors conducted a mixed method to seek the perceptions of selected members of the academic and professional engineering community involved in technical oral presentations regarding effective presentation skills and attributes required in these technical oral presentations. The paper describes the quantitative and qualitative research methods employed to seek participant feedback involved in the study. (Contains 1 table.)

With the evolution of the surrounding world market, engineers have to propose innovations in products and processes. Industrial innovation frequently results from an improved understanding of basic physics. In this paper, an approach to accelerate inventive preliminary design is presented. This method combines the main advantages of CBR (Case Based Reasoning) and TRIZ (Russian acronym for Theory of Solving Inventive Problem) to transfer physics to industrial technology. Based on this synergy, interactive web-based environments are developed. These systems are intended not only to enhance students to become familiar with basic physics, but also to support students in building meaningful links between basic physics and industrial technologies. The evaluation was conducted in a "Special Project Design" course requiring students to design a robot that could carry out several functions. Robotics, an interdisciplinary engineering subject, has been a recurring theme in engineering education. Project-based learning provides opportunities for interdisciplinary learning. With project-based learning approaches, planning activities and investigations play a critical role in the project process. Through the web-based environments, students can explore the essence of basic physics, design technologies, and the integration of mechatronics. Further, web-based reasoning and meaningful learning modules are developed to scaffold creative design and to enhance student participation, motivation, and learning effectiveness. Quantitative and qualitative methods such as questionnaires and interviews were used to evaluate the effects of the developed system. Findings showed that inquiry modules were able to facilitate investigation and planning activities in product design stages. The responses obtained were very encouraging. Students in the course were appreciative of these on-going changes and indicated that these were indeed helping them to develop their engineering thinking and design skills, increasing their motivation to study. (Contains 3 tables and 3 figures.)

In this paper, we summarize our experiences from teaching a course in humanoid robotics at Chalmers University of Technology in Goteborg, Sweden. We describe the robotic platform used in the course and we propose the use of a custom-built robot consisting of standard electronic and mechanical components. In our experience, by using standard components, the students obtain a deeper understanding of robotics hardware than would be possible with the use of (some) commercially available robot kits such as e.g. Boe-Bot or Lego Mindstorms. Furthermore, we propose a division between time spent on teaching the theoretical background and time spent on robot assembly and programming, which, in our view, provides the optimal balance between theory and practical work. Summarizing briefly, for a seven-week course, we propose two weeks of theoretical background lectures, followed by five weeks of practical work, in which each practical session starts with a brief theory demonstration. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.)

The number of virtual learning environments (VLEs) is increasing. Already a few case studies claim that VLEs are more effective as a learning method than traditional lecturing. Many of these case studies are in the area of information and communication technology (ICT). Therefore, the good learning results are not surprising. The aim of this paper is to examine the suitability of a VLE for higher education by comparing learning with a VLE and learning in a traditional lecture on an occupational safety engineering course. We will compare the learning results and the students' opinions of their learning process. The results show that the VLE students outperformed the lecture students. On the basis of these results and previous case studies, the VLE is suitable for higher education. Nevertheless VLEs should be used with caution in higher education. They should add extra value to a course. One possible value would be to use the VLE self-study method to evaluate one's learning before a final exam.

Little has been published in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) literature on the topic of pre-apprenticeships, which are a loose type of preparatory courses for apprenticeships available in some trades. Nevertheless, pre-apprenticeships have been in existence for several decades. With continuing concern over skill shortages in Australia, the research study on which this paper is based investigated the role of pre-apprenticeship courses in addressing skill shortages in the electrotechnology, automotive and engineering trades, some of the largest "traditional trades" in Australia, and those with sizeable numbers in pre-apprenticeships. The principal objective of the overall study was to determine whether the use of pre-apprenticeships increased the size and suitability of the supply of entrants to the traditional apprenticeships and whether pre-apprenticeships do or might increase completion rates in apprenticeships. The paper uses findings from the study to develop a typology of pre-apprenticeship courses, proposing two fundamental orientations and discussing whether different orientations towards pre-apprenticeships are compatible with one another. (Contains 3 tables and 2 notes.)

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. (Contains 2 figures.)

Purpose: The environmental challenges of digitalization, globalization, and industrialization, which are growing at a fast pace, require serious attention. As a result, the old structures of the education system established in pre-independent India and in place during most of the twentieth century are now required to undergo drastic changes. The introduction of ICT and knowledge management systems (KMSs) in Indian education for achieving these new visions would require enormous changes in the system. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to analyze the perception of teachers about KM orientation in Indian engineering institutions in the National Capital Region and to propose a conceptual model to assess KM orientation in private engineering institutes in India. Design/methodology/approach: Research data were collected using a questionnaire from teachers of private engineering colleges of the National Capital Region in India. A total of 200 questionnaires were distributed to the teachers in private engineering colleges of the National Capital Region in Ghaziabad covering about ten private engineering colleges in the region. The validity of the constructs was assessed by means of factor analysis and the reliability of the scales was judged using Cronbach's a. Findings: Factor analysis produced five factors of KM orientation after deleting those items with a factor loading of less than 0.50. The results indicate that five attributes: i.e. knowledge acquisition, knowledge dissemination, leadership, culture and technology: are important dimensions of knowledge management orientation in engineering institutions. Research limitations/implications: This paper can provide reflections and inputs to other technical institutions for developing a successful knowledge management framework. Practical implications: The paper reveals the knowledge infrastructure and resources used by Indian engineering institutions as a benchmark for better performance. Originality/value: From an examination of the literature, only a few studies of application of knowledge management in engineering colleges have been reported in India, which reveals that KM as a tool in higher education has not received much attention. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

This paper reports the results of a study of engineering students' approaches to an open-ended design problem. To carry out this, sketches and interviews were collected from 9 freshmen (first year) and 10 doctoral engineering students, when they designed solutions for orange squeezers. Sketches and interviews were analysed and mapped with a descriptive "ideation framework" (IF) of the design process, to document and compare their design creativity (Carmona Marques, P., A. Silva, E. Henriques, and C. Magee. 2014. "A Descriptive Framework of the Design Process from a Dual Cognitive Engineering Perspective." "International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation" 2 (3): 142-164). The results show that the designers worked in a manner largely consistent with the IF for generalisation and specialisation loops. Also, doctoral students produced more alternative solutions during the ideation process. In addition, compared to freshman, doctoral used the generalisation loop of the IF, working at higher levels of abstraction. The iterative nature of design is highlighted during this study--a potential contribution to decrease the gap between both groups in engineering education.

The article reports on the results of two case studies on the impact of the regular use of puzzles as a pedagogical strategy in the teaching and learning of engineering mathematics. The intention of using puzzles is to engage students' emotions, creativity and curiosity and also to enhance their generic thinking skills and lateral thinking "outside the box". Students' attitudes towards this pedagogical strategy are evaluated via short questionnaires with two groups of university students taking a second-year engineering mathematics course. Students' responses to the questionnaire are presented and analyzed in the paper.

This paper approaches the issue of higher entrepreneurship education in motivating young people to start their own business as a viable alternative to the successful integration of university graduates on the labour market. The fundamental question of this research is if, currently, entrepreneurship education influences students' entrepreneurial intentions and to what extent. The research results, based on the statistical analysis of data collected through a questionnaire distributed to Romanian business and engineering bachelor students in the final year, highlight that business students assessed the effectiveness of higher entrepreneurship education and its positive influence on entrepreneurial intentions to a greater extent than the engineering students. Furthermore, entrepreneurial intentions of engineering students are influenced positively much more by entrepreneurial family background than by entrepreneurship education. The findings provide important highlights for future research, in order to identify the most effective ways of approaching, modernising and expanding entrepreneurship education, aiming to increase entrepreneurial intentions among students, regardless of the graduated field of study.

This paper suggests a pedagogical approach to teaching the subject of behavioral modeling of switch-mode power electronics systems through simulation by general-purpose electronic circuit simulators. The methodology is oriented toward electrical engineering (EE) students at the undergraduate level, enrolled in courses such as "Power Electronics," "Industrial Electronics," or the like. The proposed approach is demonstrated by simulation example of a realistic active power factor corrector (APFC) system. The paper discusses the derivation of PSPICE/ORCAD-compatible behavioral models, their software implementation, and fast time domain, frequency domain, and stability analysis simulation techniques suitable for virtual study of complex nonlinear feedback systems. Some "tricks of the trade" are also suggested. The paper can be helpful to instructors of a "Virtual Power Electronics Laboratory" course wanting to conduct a software experiment on a PFC system. (Contains 7 figures.)

This paper reports on the role of the current student experience questionnaire in gaining student views on their educational experiences while studying at a research-intensive university in Australia. In particular, the paper focuses on the experiences of engineering students. The paper goes on to examine the areas of best practice and those identified for improvement by students. A number of areas identified by engineering students as needing improvement fall within the teaching dimension; in particular, issues relating to feedback to students and clarity of explanation. Finally, the paper outlines some of the actions that have been taken by the university and the Faculty of Engineering based on the results. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

Lots of papers are being published about e-learning in engineering education. In these papers, positive experiences and aspects seem to overshadow negative ones. However, there are still some problematic sides worth studying. In order to improve its quality these should receive broad attention too. We present an explicit two-sided evaluation of the STUDIO e-learning project carried out at TU Delft in the Netherlands. STUDIO was set up as a Technology and Society course for all first-year students at TU Delft. Given the expected numbers of students, labour-extensivity was an important aim. STUDIO was introduced in three faculties. At the SEFI-conference 2002 the project was evaluated by its designers using student-questionnaires. In this article teachers describe their experiences with STUDIO over some years. Together it gives rise to a balanced view of e-learning in engineering education and provides a good base for improvement.

Purpose: This paper aims to present the results of an initial research study conducted to identify the desired professional characteristics of an industrial engineer with an undergraduate degree and the emerging topic areas that should be incorporated into the curriculum to prepare industrial engineering (IE) graduates for the future workforce. Design/methodology/approach: A survey was administered to faculty and industry professionals across the USA to describe the desired characteristics and define the important emerging topic areas. The modified three-round Delphi technique was applied to obtain consensus and ranking of the emerging topics. Findings: The research findings that identify the desired characteristics and the most important emerging topics to be incorporated into the reengineered curriculum discussed in this paper. Statistical analysis of the results indicates some differences in opinions expressed by persons in academic settings and those working in business and industry. Originality/value: These research findings have implications for the development of curricula at the international level. (Contains 4 tables.)

Education has traditionally focused primarily on content and cognitive goals. While content knowledge is important, to enter to the labour market today, graduates must also develop manual skills and technical literacy. The paper deals with engineering and technology education in Slovenia. It portrays the problem of the decline in interest in technical studies, seeks reasons behind this and advances proposals for improving the situation. The main goal of our research is the wish to identify and explore potential epistemological obstacles to a better appreciation of STEM education among lower secondary school students,and to offer solutions to the problem. The results of the study showed that practical and hands-on activities are, to a large extent, lacking in lower secondary education in Slovenia. The findings call for redesigned curricula and reform of teacher education towards more practically oriented and inspiring teaching.

Incorporating scientific fundamentals via engineering through a design-based methodology has proven to be highly effective for STEM education. Engineering design can be instantiated for learning as they involve mental and physical stimulation and develop practical skills especially in solving problems. Lego bricks, as a set of toys based on design technique, are in line with the cognitive characteristics of students and provide a good game-based learning tool for engineering education. Many studies have incorporated Lego to investigate students' scientific attitudes, science inquiry skills, and problem-solving strategies, yet few address the effects of engineering design-based learning on pupils' problem-solving abilities. Therefore, this paper conducted an experiment and included control group to examine how fourth-grade students' science performance and problem-solving abilities change over the engineering design-based science learning by using Lego bricks. Results indicate that: (1) pupils' science performance significantly improved on both the control and the experimental groups, (2) pupils' gains of problem-solving ability in the experimental group were significantly improved, and (3) the males made a significant progress in problem-solving ability than the females in the experimental group. The key findings, possible reasons behind them, and potential benefits in the context of learning are also discussed.

Thermodynamics is a fundamental foundation of all engineering disciplines. A vast majority of engineering undergraduate programmes contain one or more courses on thermodynamics, and many engineers use thermodynamics every day to analyse or design energy systems. However, there is extensive anecdotal evidence as well as a wide range of published literature indicating that students often struggle to understand thermodynamic principles. In an effort to understand students' attitudes and perception of thermodynamics, including their expectations, experience and frustrations, an investigation was conducted. Following a review of the literature on the teaching and learning of thermodynamics in engineering, a survey questionnaire was developed and administered to close to a 1000 students in 17 thermodynamics classes at 13 universities in 7 countries. Survey results were analysed using statistical methods. This paper presents the findings of this investigation.

This paper describes the development of an aero control experiment apparatus (ACEA) for use in aerospace control practical courses. The ACEA incorporates a systematic multihierarchy learning and teaching method, and was designed to improve aerospace engineering students' understanding of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) control systems. It offers a number of standard experimental modules at three levels: component, system, and simulation and evaluation. The software and hardware design methods used in the modules were chosen to allow students to conduct experiments in a simple, more hands-on manner. As a result, they were able to select or reconfigure their experiments and so continuously improve their skills and extend the ACEA itself. The practical curriculum module-s-grouped in three skill levels of basic experiments, case study, and independent design--were applied in a 3-year M.Sc. course, UAV Control Systems. The marking criteria created to evaluate students' achievements are presented, along with some results of this evaluation.

It is remarkable how often academic staff discover students' weaknesses in expressing their thoughts in written and oral contexts, and in team working. To examine these weaknesses, a study was conducted in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 of students taking an engineering course. Students self-reported an initial high level of weakness in both communication skills (writing and speaking), while expressing higher levels of confidence in their team working skills. This suggested that there was significant potential for improvement in both forms of communication skills and a lower potential for the improvement of team-working skills. On that basis the Technical University of Crete organized short training workshops based on experiential learning methods, during the academic year 2012-13. Other factors taken into account were the lack of awareness of such skills in traditionally-organized Greek universities; the inability to redesign all courses, currently dependent on a content-based curriculum, on a competency basis; and findings in the international literature, which highlight specific generic skills of engineering students as essential to their studies and future career prospects. The aim was to enhance the three skills of writing, speaking and team working. Participation was voluntary and open to students from all schools in the university. This paper assesses this initiative and analyses the contribution of the workshops to skills development.

This paper is a descriptive account of how short-term international and multicultural experiences can be integrated into early design experiences in an aerospace engineering curriculum. Such approaches are considered as important not only in fostering a student's interest in the engineering curriculum, but also exposing them to a multicultural setting that they are likely to encounter in their professional careers. In the broader sense, this programme is described as a model that can be duplicated in other engineering disciplines as a first-year experience. In this study, undergraduate students from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and Universidad del Turabo (UT) in Puerto Rico collaborated on a substantial design project consisting of designing, fabricating, and flight-testing radio-controlled model aircraft as a capstone experience in a semester-long course on Fundamentals of Flight. The two-week long experience in Puerto Rico was organised into academic and cultural components designed with the following objectives: (i) to integrate students in a multicultural team-based academic and social environment, (ii) to practise team-building skills and develop students' critical thinking and analytical skills, and finally (iii) to excite students about their engineering major through practical applications of aeronautics and help them decide if it is a right fit for them.

This paper explores the effectiveness of using "structured examples in concert with prompting reflective questions" to address misconceptions held by mechanical engineering students about thermodynamic principles by employing pre-test and post-test design, a structured questionnaire, lecture room observation, and participants' interviews. Students' misconceptions were identified through pre-tests that evaluated students' understanding of the chosen concepts, while conceptual change was assessed in pre-test--post-test design that revealed students' ability to apply the concepts and transfer skills from a worked example to satisfactorily undertake a fairly complex similar problem. The use of worked examples in concert with prompting reflective questions is effective for inducing correct conceptual change and effective problem-solving skills. However, it is recommended that engineering tutors should incorporate inquiry-based learning approach and computer simulations alongside the use of worked examples with prompting reflective questions in order to enhance students' conceptual understanding of thermodynamic concepts.

The global high-tech industry is characterized by extreme competitiveness, innovation, and widespread use of English. Consequently, Taiwanese high-tech companies require engineers that are talented in both their engineering and English abilities. In response to the lack of knowledge regarding the English skills needed by engineers in Taiwan's high-tech sector, this paper presents an English needs analysis of process integration engineers (PIEs) at a leading semiconductor manufacturing company. Based on English skills for engineers and professionals in Asia-Pacific countries, online survey-questionnaires and semi-structured interview questions were developed and administered to PIEs. Results show that engineers face numerous English communicative events similar to other Asia-Pacific nations, including highly frequent writing and reading events such as email, reports, and memos, while common oral events include meetings, teleconferences, and presentations. Findings also indicate that the need for English increases in tandem with the engineer's career, with oral skills being in particular demand for customer visits and relationship building. Moreover, considering the scope of the communicative events PIEs face, Taiwanese learning institutions, ESP instructors and course designers should endeavor to include authentic training in specific areas such as genre-specific writing (i.e., email vs. reports vs. memos), CMC communication (i.e., telephony and teleconference), and delivering presentations. (Contains 8 tables and 1 figure.)

Lab practices are an essential part of teaching in Engineering. However, traditional laboratory lessons developed in classroom labs (CL) must be adapted to teaching and learning strategies that go far beyond the common concept of e-learning, in the sense that completely virtualized distance education disconnects teachers and students from the real world, which can generate specific problems in laboratory classes. Current proposals of virtual labs (VL) and remote labs (RL) do not either cover new needs properly or contribute remarkable improvement to traditional labs--except that they favor distance training. Therefore, online teaching and learning in lab practices demand a further step beyond current VL and RL. This paper poses a new reality and new teaching/learning concepts in the field of lab practices in engineering. The developed augmented reality-based lab system (augmented remote lab, ARL) enables teachers and students to work remotely (Internet/intranet) in current CL, including virtual elements which interact with real ones. An educational experience was conducted to assess the developed ARL with the participation of a group of 10 teachers and another group of 20 students. Both groups have completed lab practices of the contents in the subjects "Digital Systems" and "Robotics and Industrial Automation," which belong to the second year of the new degree in Electronic Engineering (adapted to the European Space for Higher Education). The labs were carried out by means of three different possibilities: CL, VL and ARL. After completion, both groups were asked to fill in some questionnaires aimed at measuring the improvement contributed by ARL relative to CL and VL. Except in some specific questions, the opinion of teachers and students was rather similar and positive regarding the use and possibilities of ARL. Although the results are still preliminary and need further study, seems to conclude that ARL remarkably improves the possibilities of current VL and RL. Furthermore, ARL can be concluded to allow further possibilities when used online than traditional laboratory lessons completed in CL.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to contribute to the quality improvement and long-term strategic development of education for sustainable development (ESD) in engineering education curricula. Design/methodology/approach: The content in 70 courses in environment and SD were characterized and quantified using course document text analysis. Additionally, two questionnaires were sent to students and alumni at Chalmers, and interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with representatives from 16 Swedish companies and five organizations. Findings: It was found that industry demands a broader range of competences in SD amongst engineers in general than what is currently provided. In total, 35 per cent of alumni claim they encounter sustainability issues from sometimes to daily in their work. However, only half of them believe they possess enough competences to make decisions from a sustainability perspective. Quantity, coverage and the level of integration in the educational programme all appear to be important for the students' perceived competences on SD and for the importance that they put on achieving SD. Originality/value: Earlier research has reported on how to further develop the idea and design of ESD and on competence needs in general. Few attempts have been made to assess industry's needs of competences in SD. This paper sheds light on how engineering universities educate for SD and benchmarks this to industry's needs in an exploratory case study, using Chalmers as an example.

The action research project described in this paper was part of an initiative to bring about change in the way courses are delivered in the vocational trades area at UNITEC New Zealand. We decided to focus on students' writing on a new Level 3 course--the Certificate in Automotive and Mechanical Engineering (C.A.M.E.) in which all participants had netbooks or laptops for the first time. We selected blogging because it introduces new possibilities in a field where one would not expect to see much written work by students. Using the "Problem Resolving Action Research" (PRAR) model (Piggot-Irvine, 2009), we approached the project in three stages. At the reconnaissance stage it was clear that writing skills did not enjoy a position of priority. We gauged the C.A.M.E. students' attitudes to writing in general, and to digital technology via the use of a questionnaire and a focus group. We then implemented new approaches to teaching using digital technology in response to perceived needs. At the evaluation stage, we collected further responses via a questionnaire and a focus group on the students' attitudes to blogging and digital technology. Key findings included that the students were not discouraged by writing tasks, nor by digital technology, and that vocational tutors may need to play a more active role in embedding writing in courses. (Contains 2 figures and 1 table.)

This paper describes a teaching method used in an electrical machines course, where the students learn about electrical machines by designing them. The aim of the course is not to teach design, albeit this is a side product, but rather to teach the fundamentals and the function of electrical machines through design. The teaching method is evaluated by a student questionnaire, designed to measure the quality and effectiveness of the teaching method. The results of the questionnaire conclusively show that this method labelled "learning through design" is a very effective way of teaching a components-based course. This teaching method can easily be generalised and used in other courses. (Contains 4 figures and 1 table.)

As the United Arab Emirates (UAE) moves towards a knowledge-based economy, maximising the participation of the national workforce, especially women, in the transformation process is crucial. Using survey methods and semi-structured interviews, this paper examines the factors that influence women's decisions regarding their degree programme and their attitudes towards science, technology and engineering (STE). The findings point to the importance of adapting mainstream policies to the local context and the need to better understand the effect of culture and society on the individual and the economy. There is a need to increase interest in STE by raising awareness of what the fields entail, potential careers and their suitability with existing cultural beliefs. Also suggested is the need to overcome negative stereotypes of engineering, implement initiatives for further family involvement at the higher education level, as well as the need to ensure a greater availability of STE university programmes across the UAE. (Contains 4 figures and 11 notes.)