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There is an increasing sensitivity to the challenges posed by the language of examination papers and of instruction in scientific subjects, especially for non-native speakers of English. It has been observed that in addition to technical subject-specific vocabulary, non-technical words such as instructional verbs have been sources of difficulty, and there are indications that other "ordinary" English words cause problems. For many years the aerospace industry has striven to make its manuals understandable and unambiguous to non-native speakers, a goal shared by writers of examination papers. To achieve this, the industry uses Simplified English, a controlled language with limited vocabulary and restricted grammatical rules. While recognising the limitations of this approach, the authors considered that by testing examination papers against the rules of Simplified English, it might be possible to identify areas of potential difficulty for non-native speakers. This paper describes the results of a study which tests past examination questions using software based on AECMA Simplified English, the controlled language in established use in the British aerospace industry. The results identified many lexical items which were not in the original list of "Approved words". Some of these were technical words and others were non-technical terms which are in common use in an engineering context. However, some were potential problem sources, including implicit instructions and vague or ambiguous words. Software alerts that related to sentence structure, in particular those related to sentence complexity, indicated that some sentences had additional problems. (Contains 1 note.)

Purpose: Black British minority ethnics (BME) students are nationally underachieving in comparison to their Ethnic Chinese and White peers, showing typically a 16 per cent graduate attainment gap in the UK. Previous research has suggested that the attainment gap could be explained by BME student disengagement, as the students typically commute from family home to University, and they work part time. However, peer-assisted learning (PAL) has been shown to have a positive impact on addressing and resolving student alienation and disengagement. However, a question still remains regarding whether student perceptions hold up to statistical analysis when scrutinised in comparison to similar cohorts without PAL interventions. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach: This paper presents the results of a statistical study for two cohorts of students on engineering courses with a disproportionately high representation of BME students. The research method involved a statistical analysis of student records for the two cohorts to ascertain any effect of correlation between: PAL; student ethnicity; and student parental employment on student academic performance and placement attainment. Findings: The results indicate that PAL has no significant impact on the academic performance; however, PAL has a positive impact on the placement/internship attainment for BME students and students from parental households with parents in non-managerial/professional employment. Research limitations/implications: The research limitations are that the cohorts are small, but more equal diverse mix of different social categories than any other courses. However, as the cohorts are less than 30 students, comparing social categories the data sets are small to have absolute confidence in the statistical results of academic performance. Even the "t"-test has its limitations as the subjects are human, and there are multiple personal factors that can impact an individual academic performance; therefore, the data sets are heterostatic. Practical implications: The results highlight that there is need for pedagogy interventions to support--ideally all BME students from all social category to secure placements; BME students who are unable to go on placement to gain supplementary learning that has the same impact on their personal development and learning as placement/internship experience; and White students from managerial/professional family households to engage more in their studies. Social implications: Not addressing and providing appropriate pedagogy interventions, in the wider context not addressing/resolving the BME academic and placement attainment gap, a set of students are being disadvantaged to their peers through no fault of their own, and compounding their academic attainment. As academics we have a duty to provide every opportunity to develop our student attainment, and as student entry is generally homogeneous, all students should attain it. Originality/value: Previous research evaluation of PAL programmes has focused on quantitative students surveys and qualitative semi-structured research interviews with students on their student engagement and learning experience. On the other hand, this paper evaluates the intervention through conducting a quantitative statistical analysis of the student records to evaluate the impact of PAL on a cohort's performance on different social categories (classifications) and compares the results to a cohort of another group with a similar student profile, but without PAL intervention implementation.

The paper compares the effectiveness of in-person and virtual engineering laboratory sessions. The in-person and virtual laboratory sessions reported here comprise six experiments combined with short tutorials. The virtual lab combined enquiry-based learning and gamification principles. The integration of the virtual labs with in-person teaching created a blended learning environment. The effectiveness of this approach was assessed based on: (1) the student feedback (i.e., a questionnaire with open-ended questions and Likert scale feedback); (2) the students' engagement with the virtual lab; and (3) the impact on the academic performance (i.e., class test results). The students reported greater confidence in the understanding of theory in the virtual lab than the in-person lab. This is interesting given that the instruction for the virtual lab and the in-person lab of one experiment is identical (i.e., same instructor, same enquiry-based learning techniques, and same explanations). The students also appreciated the ability to complete the virtual lab anytime, anywhere, for as long as they needed, and highlighted the benefits of the interactivity. The median class test scores of the students who completed some or all the virtual lab experiments was higher than those who did not (83-89% vs. 67%).

Every year, around 35% of engineering graduates (mainly female and ethnic minority graduates) in the UK choose roles outside engineering. Given that engineering disciplines struggle to attract recruits, this represents a significant loss of qualified talent the profession can ill afford. A possible reason why engineers choose not to practise after qualifying may be that they have not developed a professional engineering identity during their engineering education. Research shows that engineering identity is an important indicator of persistence in both engineering education and the engineering profession. The purpose of this research is to gain a deeper understanding into the process of engineering identity formation in undergraduates studying for an engineering apprenticeship degree in England, with a view to proposing changes to engineering education that may better support the development of an engineering identity. A qualitative methodology is well-suited to the study of how engineering identity develops in engineering students, given that we are interested in the personal experiences of engineering students rather than in measuring standardised outcomes. This research is inspired by narrative inquiry through the use of life story interviews (LSI). This paper outlines the findings of a preliminary study with first and final year students. The findings presented are surprising in that they seem to indicate that the four years of a degree apprenticeship have little impact on students' identification with engineering. Going forward, engineering educators need to consider how the development of an engineering identity can be supported in engineering education.

In recent years there have been calls to increase both the number and diversity of engineering graduates within the UK. In addition to this, technological advancement and the need to solve complex socio-economic problems, have contributed toward a shift in the skills and abilities that practicing engineers require. Such changes have led to an increased focus on attracting students from a variety of backgrounds, who may want to study engineering for an increasing number of reasons. There is thus an interest in the factors which influence students to apply to study engineering. This paper describes the use of digital storytelling to understand the reasons that 82 engineering foundation year students from one UK-based institution, chose to study engineering. The research makes use of social cognitive career theory. The findings demonstrate the complex way in which environmental contextual factors influence self-efficacy, learning experiences, and career expectations. Based on these findings, some suggestions are made for attracting and retaining engineering students.

This paper reviews an Open University module for distance learning of finite element analysis (FEA) in MEng degree qualifications recognised for Chartered status. Presentation has evolved from physical hard copy study packs to fully online. The emphasis is on understanding limits and assumptions behind all aspects of FEA for safe and effective use. Guided exercises bring out modelling and analysis issues in real systems. Case studies of a Formula 1 racing car focus on a stepped approach illustrating the FEA process. The paper outlines the assessment processes and teaching philosophies, expected outcomes, marking, handling and processing of students' final results. The paper gives observations of many years of presenting education modules in FEA for study at a distance. It gives recommendations for module design, content and styles of presentation, and an evaluation of online study compared with traditional methods. Challenges include providing text, video sequences and complicated mathematics in online form for use on different access devices.

Interactive learning technology is an emerging innovation for future communication-aided teaching and learning that could positively enhance students' engagement and intrinsic motivation. Due to the virtue of interactive communication, classrooms are now anticipated to enable a variety of interaction-based learning technologies with diverse infotainment (a subset of "serious play") integrated with practical enquiry-based projects and case studies for employability improvement. In this paper, a comprehensive review of various teaching and learning pedagogies is assessed. Their suitability and association with infotainment and interactive technology is discussed and highlighted. In addition, a recent research activity on interactive communication is presented to form a new teaching application using interactive technology and infotainment (or edutainment) appropriate for student engagement in railway geometry and alignment design classes. The development of the integrated interactive technology and infotainment was implemented and evaluated in a postgraduate railway engineering class. Questionnaires were used to survey students' experiences in the classes with and without the technology enhanced learning. The outcome clearly shows that students enjoyed and felt they were significantly engaged in the class with the new interactive resources. Their participation and learning performance increased. Despite the favourable outcomes, the flexibility and viability of using this interactive technology still largely depends on the students' background and their previous experience.

Engineering, the "E" in STEM, is seldom taught as a distinct curriculum subject in English and Welsh schools to pupils under the age of 14 years. This contrasts with design and technology (D&T), taken in this paper to represent the largest contributor to the "T" in STEM (the remainder being taken to be the computing and digital communications aspects of ICT), which is currently taught to all pupils up to the age of 14 and remains a very popular option thereafter. The UK Government STEM programme (with sister projects: the LSIS 16+ STEM programme, the London Engineering Project and the 14-19 Diploma in Engineering) has provided large-scale action-research opportunities to better understand the nature of the T and E in STEM. This paper describes how the T and E in STEM have been found to be subjects in their own right and also to provide practical context for other STEM subjects. Some effective-practice guidelines have been established as a result, and these are discussed, but the paper concludes there is still much to do to fully establish the identity and character of the T and the E in STEM. Ideas for how this might develop are offered. (Contains 3 figures.)

Suellen Shay's work on higher education curricula foregrounds the importance of professional curricula which face inwards to disciplines and outwards to practice. This paper builds on her framing of professional curricula, distinctive in the differentiated knowledge base and the social relations which legitimate them. I extend Shay's work deeper into the internal governance structures underpinning curriculum decisions in engineering. Two dimensions of governance are explored: central control from the Faculty of Engineering over its departments; and the authority of individuals in department-level curriculum and accreditation roles over their colleagues. The empirical focus is on curricula reform towards 'graduate attributes' in engineering education, through a comparative study of eight universities in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Singapore, and Australia. The findings show that research-intensive universities are shielded from the full implications of accreditation requirements, while teaching-intensive universities are more likely to invest in developing the governance processes and systems demanded by professional bodies.

This paper investigates a small-scale project concerned with establishing and sustaining an e-partnership between international students in the UK and engineering students in Palestine. It focuses on the value of peer teaching and learning as an attempt to ensure a greater balance between knowledge and language on a UK pre-sessional English language course, by involving more able peers from a Gazan student body. At the same time, it was hoped that such an arrangement would enable the Gazan students to develop a range of transferable skills, of use in accessing employment at a distance. The article initially outlines the wider context to the Project, discussing the issues related to instituting peer learning/teaching schemes in an HE setting. At its centre though is the presentation and evaluation of a constructive feedback course, whose design and delivery aimed at facilitating the development of skills needed to perform as a peer mentor. It demonstrates students' attitudes towards feedback and the strategies they use when asked to provide their peers with content feedback in an e-partnership. In this way, it provides food for thought to educators interested in developing similar cross-border schemes. Though the potential issues that emerge in terms of First World/Global South imbalance are very considerable, the paper suggests that telecollaboration projects of this nature may help overseas students start interrogating discipline-specific literacies, thus preventing the decontextualisation of the learner, including those unable to pay to study at a prestigious HE institution.

This paper discusses observations of an architecture and environmental engineering undergraduate design studio project assigned to 4th year students at a UK university. In the UK, most architecture courses are characterised by a high proportion of design studio teaching supported by varying amount of technical modules that include environmental and construction learning. Recent scholarship on sustainability education in architecture, discusses the necessity for new approaches that enhance transdisciplinarity, autonomy and independent decision-making. However, despite increasing importance to both practice and policy, few empirical or theoretical examples account for the implications or experiences of such an approach. This study presents the experiences of an architecture and environmental engineering design studio whereby studio activities are closely interlinked with technical engineering enquiry and experiment. Specifically, the research examines the challenges and opportunities students face when assigned a design project that attempts to translate independently derived briefs into novel architectural environmentally engineered interpretations. The analysis draws on a series of ethnographic narrative and visual observations carried over a period of 6 months. The implications of the findings are threefold. First, the analysis shows the opportunities an integrated cross-disciplinary approach can offer, where the gap between creative and technical domains is narrowed. Second, the study presents some of the challenges faced by increased autonomy and lack of prescription that students encounter. Third, the paper contributes to an emerging agenda of sustainability education in the built environment by offering valuable insights into the benefits and difficulties cross-disciplinary approaches pose to architectural education.

"Career Academics" are principally research-led, entering academia with limited or no industrial or practical experience. UK Higher Education Institutions welcome them for their potential to attain research grant funding and publish world-leading journal papers, ultimately enhancing institutional reputation. This polemical paper problematises the Career Academic around three areas: their institutional appeal; their impact on the student experience, team dynamics and broader academic functions; and current strategic policy to employ them. We also argue that recent UK Government teaching-focused initiatives will not address needs to employ practical academics, or "Pracademics" in predominantly vocational Construction and Engineering Education. We generate questions for policy-makers, institutions and those implementing strategy. We argue that research is key, but partial rebalancing will achieve a diverse academic skill base to achieve contextualised construction and engineering education. In wider European contexts, the paper resonates with issues of academic "drift" and provides reflection for others on the UK context.

This paper seeks to analyse lecturers' views on how they understand academic development in order to elucidate current arguments around how knowledge is codified in higher education, and to what end. Whilst work of this nature has been carried out in a number of national and institutional contexts, much attention has been given to research embedded in particular subject areas or within academic development departments. By utilising Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, a series of super- and sub-ordinate themes that represent the ways in which each lecturer describes academic development have been mapped across the existing literature in a form that has not been done to date. The results of this analysis highlight the need to think beyond the binaries subsumed within learner-/discipline-focussed or institutionally-/epistemologically- constrained barriers to academic development.

Structural concepts are fundamentals of civil engineering for students to learn, for lecturers to teach and for engineers to use. Many students however find it difficult to understand structural concepts due to their abstract nature. "Seeing and Touching Structural Concepts" has been developed as an approach to help civil engineering students gain intuitive (without the need for analysis) understanding of structural concepts taking them from structural elements to whole structures and from theory to practice. The paper explains the philosophical basis of the approach which involves the fundamental ideas and principles underlying the approach and its evolution. This has included the development of over 60 physical models produced in pairs, one with and one without involving a structural concept, to illustrate the effects and the significance of the structural concepts. Over 70 associated cases using structural concepts creatively have been identified from engineering practice. A website, www.structuralconcepts.org, has been developed and two associated books have been published. Five criteria underpinning the approach of "Seeing and Touching Structural Concepts" are expressed as Seeking new connections, Exploring new meanings, Evolving into intuitive understanding, Making wide and creative applications and Simplicity (SEEMS), which are demonstrated using examples and synthesised case studies.

Within the currently diverse UK higher education environment, one important aspect of learning is the development of intercultural competence. The study that informs this paper investigated the ways intercultural competence was perceived as being enhanced or inhibited through current language and educational practices at a university that positions itself as internationally engaged and globally recognised. The project employed a multiple-case study design, examining eight academic programmes drawn from four different broad disciplinary groupings: social sciences, science, engineering, and management. Data were collected through individual, focus group and stimulated recall interviews, the latter using class observation recordings as a stimulus. The study revealed the ways in which language was exploited by both staff and students to convey particular meanings within an intercultural context. It was found that language choices, register and style were perceived as contributing to the pragmatic impact of either reinforcing barriers to or promoting intercultural competence development.

Two ongoing and recurrent debates in the employment of academic staff are (1) how much industry experience should faculty staff have? and (2) what priority is given to research, teaching or both? Such debates take place worldwide and are particularly relevant to vocational subject areas. Through a statistical analysis of circa 200 job adverts for lecturer/assistant professor, senior lecturer/associate professor, and professor/full professor positions in Construction and Engineering posts in the UK, this paper investigates the essential and desirable attributes required for 'research', 'teaching' and 'overall requirements'. The analysis shows institutions unmistakably focus on, and coherently recruit for research, but demonstrate very little reasoned approach to recruiting for teaching. Indeed, findings identify 'administration' as the key teaching priority. Further empirical analysis demonstrates no significant difference in recruitment strategy before and after the introduction of the Teaching Excellence Framework, despite its aim to put teaching excellence to the fore.

In this paper, we aim to explore students' experiences of support mechanisms that support their wellbeing on an engineering degree programme at a research-intensive higher education institution and understand how theory relates to practice. This study was conducted using a mixed-methods approach involving student survey responses (N = 173), interviews with 16 students and focus groups. Kahu and Nelson's conceptual framework was used as a lens through which to explore student support mechanisms. Preliminary data analysis indicates that the intense workload adversely affects students as do some of the interactions they have with personal tutors and their peers. Our findings suggest that workload needs to be reduced, personal tutors need to fill gaps in their skills set, especially associated with student support, and institutional and departmental protocols be continually updated to support student wellbeing. Additionally, student wellbeing officers and professional, dedicated wellbeing advisors could be part of a long-term solution.

This paper describes a case study of two pure mathematicians who flipped their lecture to teach matrix determinants in two large mathematics service courses (one at Stage I and the other at Stage II). The purpose of the study was to transform the passive lecture into an active learning opportunity and to introduce valuable mathematical skills, such as debate, argument and disagreement. The students were told in advance to use the online material to prepare, which had a short handout on matrix determinants posted, as the lesson would be interactive and would rely on them having studied this. At the beginning of the lesson, the two mathematicians worked together to model the skill of professional disagreement, one arguing for the cofactor expansion method and the other for the row reduction method. After voting for their preferred method, the students worked in small groups on examples to defend their choice. Each group elected a spokesperson and a political style debate followed as the students argued the pros and cons of each technique. Although one lecture does not establish whether the flipped lecture model is preferable for student instruction, the paper presents a case study for pursuing this approach and for further research on incorporating this style of teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics subjects.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report the notable findings of students with different domiciled status. There is a lack of research and understanding of how prior study experiences and the expectations of new students that are due to embark on an MSc by coursework level (also known as postgraduate-taught [PGT]) can impact on their study and ability to persist and succeed. The research available has mainly been confined to post-experience surveys. By identifying prior study experiences and study expectations, education providers in higher education institutions can use these insights not only to attract more students but to improve retention rates and the overall student experience. The research undertaken in the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing at a London-based, post-1992 institution aims to provide valuable data and insights into this nationally and internationally neglected area. Design/methodology/approach: New taught postgraduate students provided data on their previous study experiences, study expectations, opinions of postgraduate-level study and demographic data via a hard copy questionnaire which was distributed and completed during the orientation period in September 2012. It was entered into the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), and a range of tests were run on the data. Findings: The findings in this paper and the project in general will be further explored and investigated as a result of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) awarding a major grant to the post-1992 university to undertake research into these areas amongst nine similar English universities. Research limitations/implications: As the research was conducted over a one-year period, the findings are based on the limitations that such a time and financially limited project can offer. The institution at which the research was undertaken is a post-1992 institution that has high concentration towards teaching functions. The findings in this paper and the project in general will be further explored and investigated as a result of the HEFCE awarding a major grant to the post-1992 university to undertake research into these areas among nine similar English universities. Originality/value: The research highlights the similarities and differences in prior study experiences and expectations of studying at PGT level between the UK-, the European Union- (EU) and Non-EU-domiciled respondents. The research offers potentially important findings for similar institutions that are currently looking to develop and expand their PGT provision.

This paper begins with the argument that within modern-day society, engineering has shifted from being the scientific and technical mainstay of industrial, and more recently digital change to become the most vital driver of future advancement. In order to meet the inevitable challenges resulting from this role, the nature of engineering education is constantly evolving and as such engineering education has to change. The paper argues that what is needed is a fresh approach to engineering education--one that is sufficiently flexible so as to capture the fast-changing needs of engineering education as a discipline, whilst being pedagogically suitable for use with a range of engineering epistemologies. It provides an overview of a case study in which a new approach to engineering education has been developed and evaluated. The approach, which is based on the concept of scholarship, is described in detail. This is followed by a discussion of how the approach has been put into practice and evaluated. The paper concludes by arguing that within today's market-driven university world, the need for effective learning and teaching practice, based in good scholarship, is fundamental to student success.

A graduate profile benchmark developed by a higher education organisation is subject to scrutiny. This occurs through the numerical parameterisation of text collected through surveys and the use of basic concepts drawn from Information Technology. The process uses data processing, analysis and evaluation to show the degree to which established an academic practice at the host institution correlates to pre-conceived professional outputs. The paper discusses standard practices including traditional and innovative teaching methods, in the light of achieved results. To conclude that postgraduate students require further engagement with the industry and exposure to the public whilst showing that the scientific and technical components of the subject courses are highly rated by stakeholders. Mitigation measures for the identified gaps include further curriculum development and inter-disciplinary work, reinforced with industrial liaison plus engagement with learned organisations and the public, via educational enhancement activities.

This paper gives a short overview of the UK government’s STEM agenda and then considers one aspect in depth – the STEM Advisory Forum. It explains how the Forum operates to draw together views from across the STEM community through online discussions and face-to-face events. Four examples are given of topics that have been dealt with by the Forum. Firstly the topic of engineering, enrichment and engagement is covered through samples of various events and discussions. A major issue covered is the number of young people taking A Level mathematics. The background to the issue is explained and how views expressed on the Forum might have had some influence upon the Government’s advanced level target and may yet impact on admissions behaviour in universities. A third short example of impact on the number of university places for STEM subjects is given and the piece finishes with an example of impact at local level in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of any robotic system requires input from engineers from a variety of technical fields. This paper describes a project-based module, "Biologically-Inspired Robotics," that is offered to Electronics and Computer Science students at the University of Southampton, U.K. The overall objective of the module is for student groups to investigate the interface between robotics and biology and develop a system (either hardware or software) to illustrate biological principles. This paper discusses the details of the implementation and delivery of the module, together with evaluation feedback. A number of the robotic systems developed by project groups are presented in order to illustrate the diversity and quality of the systems that have been developed.

The discourses around globalisation and internationalisation within higher education to date have tended to focus on institutional change. While recognising the importance of these debates, this paper suggests that issues around curriculum change and teaching and learning through global professions such as health and engineering have so far been largely neglected. Using evidence from the UK and Ireland, the paper looks particularly at how students perceive the importance and value of global perspectives to their professions. It concludes by noting that there is evidence of interest in integrating global perspectives within health and engineering degree courses from students, but that this raises major challenges concerning discipline-based knowledge, valuing differing perspectives and approaches towards teaching and learning. (Contains 2 notes.)

It is known that assessment drives learning and hence a good assessment design is key to effective student development. This paper gives some case studies in effective assessment strategies within engineering. The main contribution is to demonstrate how one can simultaneously meet a number of requirements with individual assessments and therefore be efficient in both the student and staff assessment load. The paper also proposes that assessments should be challenging and the benefits of expecting students to rise to this challenge and also how one can meet many independent learning objectives in a single assignment in order to manage the overall assessment load for staff and students.

This paper presents an investigation of how experience-led content in an engineering degree can be strengthened by creating opportunities for engineering students to benefit from the knowledge, skills and resources of students with current professional experience. Students who study civil engineering part-time at Coventry University (while also working in the industry) are being used as mentors for full-time students, and careful attention is being paid to the input they can make to group project work. This paper reviews the results of evaluations of these two initiatives. The clearest enhancement to learning provided by the part-time students in these settings is the access they provide for the full-time students to real examples and the provision of actual physical artefacts such as drawings, photos, example documents and templates. Full-time students also gain an awareness of the value of the professional skills. The study confirms the value of these initiatives and points to future improvements. (Contains 3 tables.)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate online problem-based learning (PBL) as a route to achieving sustainability education using sponsored projects. Design/methodology/approach: The Royal Academy of Engineering sponsored project at Manchester; to foster education in sustainability through inter-disciplinary problem-based approaches, has since been extended to other groups and to a broader array of issues. One of the limiting factors is the ease with which this approach can be taken in the case of large numbers of students and a commensurate requirement for large numbers of facilitators. The University of Keele, together with partners from the universities of Manchester and Staffordshire, was awarded National Teaching Fellowship Scheme funding to explore further the use of blended or online approaches, in order to overcome these limitations. The pilot unit already has a certain amount of support using the BlackBoard virtual learning environment (VLE) but this scenario is supposed to rely entirely on online working. At the time of writing, the evaluation of the pilot has not been completed but an online questionnaire was devised to monitor students' reactions to the online working and to ascertain whether they did in fact work entirely online or whether they chose to meet informally face-to-face. Difficulties encountered were both organizational (mostly relating to enrolment) and technical (this was a new version of BlackBoard and had a few teething troubles). Findings: This pilot project has demonstrated that a blended approach to PBL is feasible. There are some forms of resistance from students. The assessment was outcomes-driven rather than process-driven. This meant that it was not necessary for the academic staff to have access to all the discussions, thus acting as facilitators. There is a general theme that while learners found it possible to work effectively as a group online, they also found it more difficult. It is possible that the students were having to dedicate more time and effort to the use of the online system, which had an impact on their creativity and productivity. Research limitations/implications: In the case of the University of Manchester, the developments are being applied to a Masters-level course unit in Managing Humanitarian Aid Projects. This unit proceeds on the basis of five scenarios that students try to resolve in small groups and in the first pilot year one of these scenarios is being delivered on-line. Practical implications: The results of this pilot could be fed in to different stages of programme deployment to examine impact and explore possibilities with distance learning modules. Originality/value: This paper has looked at the effectiveness of nationally run, problem-based learning projects that are aimed at improving understanding, engagement and deployment on diverse learning environments to include VLEs. (Contains 1 table and 13 figures.)

Despite sustained efforts to promote engineering careers to young women, it remains the most male-dominated academic discipline in Europe. This paper will provide an overview of UK data and research on women in engineering higher education, within the context of Europe. Comparisons between data from European countries representing various regions of Europe will highlight key differences and similarities between these nations in terms of women in engineering. Also, drawing on qualitative research the paper will explore UK students' experiences of gender, with a particular focus on the decision to study engineering and their experiences in higher education. (Contains 7 notes, 2 tables, and 2 figures.)

This paper draws attention to the findings of an exploratory study that critically identified and analysed relevant perceptions of elementary level engineering education within the UK. Utilising an approach based upon grounded theory methodology, 30 participants including teachers, representatives of government bodies and non-profit providers of primary level engineering initiatives were interviewed. Three main concepts were identified during the analysis of findings, each relevant to primary engineering education. These were pedagogic issues, exposure to engineering within the curriculum and children's interest. The paper concludes that the opportunity to make a real difference to children's education by stimulating their engineering imagination suggests this subject area is of particular value. (Contains 1 figure.)

This paper describes the design, implementation, and evaluation of an educational program. Engineering the Future (EtF) sought to promote a permanent, informed awareness within the school community of high-level engineering by embedding key aspects of engineering within the education curriculum. The Scottish education system is used for a case study in which a range of pilot high schools worked in close partnership with two university engineering departments. The study focuses on electronic/electrical engineering (EEE), a technically challenging area, which reflects many of the problems that are intrinsic to modern society. In so doing, the work also sought to support and refine the transition from the school environment to higher education engineering courses. EtF is founded on research into transformational change and describes the findings of a three-year program that sought to develop sustainable and transferable means of encouraging school students to study engineering at university. The authors describe the conditions needed to support sustainable developments. They also provide an analysis of inevitable constraints and suggest strategies to address these issues. The paper concludes that sustainable long-term promotion of engineering within schools to support the transition to university is possible if certain conditions are fulfilled. These conditions include the use of a model that facilitates partnerships among researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners in all sectors. Building such essential linkages is often challenging, but this effort is necessary if changes in engineering education are to be realized and sustained. (Contains 1 table.)

Of all professions, engineering is ranked near the bottom in the UK in terms of the proportion of female applicants for university places, so the engineering industry is missing out on some of the best young talent available. Despite initiatives to increase the number of women entering engineering, there has been little change over the last decade. Engineering's popularity with males has declined over the same period. This paper discusses the findings of recent research into school students' perceptions of engineering. It identifies some of the barriers to engineering careers, including gender stereotyping, negative images and a lack of knowledge about the subject. The paper offers some solutions and concludes that schools, industry and higher education can work together to attract more young people of both sexes to engineering careers. (Contains 3 tables, 4 figures, and 1 note.)

This paper describes a student essay competition with the title "What makes a good engineering lecturer?" run by the Engineering Subject Centre of the UK Higher Education Academy. The competition was intended primarily to provide engineering lecturers with general feedback. The aim of the paper is to make the outcomes of the competition available in a convenient form to those who might be interested--particularly engineering lecturers. The paper describes the competition, sets out the approach used to analyse the essays, presents the content in terms of the main attributes identified, and compares these with published lists of recommended attributes. The paper lets the students speak for themselves through extensive quotation. (Contains 1 table.)

The attribute focus in engineering education now adopted by the engineering education accrediting bodies of the US, UK and Australia is based on meeting the assumed needs of professional practice. It is associated with an increasing expectation by employers of work-ready graduates rather than relying on subsequent work-based learning and experience to develop many of the essential professional practice attributes. Yet the scope of the mechanical engineering profession is broad and views of practitioners contributing to debate on attribute requirements are largely influenced by their own often unique professional formation. In addition, the formative development of the profession in Australia has been significantly influenced by 19th and 20th century UK and US practices, although historically the industrial profile of Australia has been strikingly different. An analysis of current industry distribution of Australian, UK and US mechanical engineers presented in this paper shows continuing, although less marked, differences. To develop a clearer perception of the profession in Australia, its educational formation, and operational environment, this paper provides a concise study of the formative development of the profession, and presents a breakdown of the industry sectors in which they are currently employed. The effects of momentous global changes in engineering employment and formation over recent decades are also discussed. Recent changes in engineering employment have included major structural changes to organisations, accelerating technical and educational developments and mounting societal expectations making it imperative that attributes be attuned to the new engineering paradigm as increasing demands are placed on our graduates. This paper provides an essential foundation for ongoing debate and analysis of attribute needs related to this broadly based engineering discipline. Although presented from an Australian perspective, many issues discussed are applicable worldwide. (Contains 2 tables.)

This paper analyses data from the National Students Survey, determining which groups of students expressed the greatest levels of satisfaction. We find students registered on clinical degrees and those studying humanities to be the most satisfied, with those in general engineering and media studies the least. We also find contentment to be higher among part-time students, and significantly higher among Russell group and post-1992 universities. We further investigate the sub-areas that drive overall student satisfaction, finding teaching and course organisation to be the most important aspects, with resources and assessment and feedback far less relevant. We then develop a multi-attribute measure of satisfaction which we argue produces a more accurate and more stable reflection of overall student satisfaction than that based on a single question.

In 2000 the UK Engineering Professors' Council (EPC) drafted an output standard to describe first-cycle engineering programmes that would prepare students for practice and further professional learning. The standard described what is authentic and worthwhile in engineering education--it identified complex outcomes of learning. This poses practical and theoretical challenges: how can we know if a student has met this standard? This paper argues that complex outcomes like these often resist measurement and that it is appropriate to use other forms of judgement when trying to assess student achievement. This differentiated approach to assessment, which values formative assessment (or feedback) as well as summative assessment (or feedout), is summarized. It becomes necessary, then, to think about the assessment arrangements for whole programmes, not just for individual modules. Some implications of this programmic and differentiated approach are explored. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

This paper describes the findings of the research done by Loughborough University in conjunction with ten construction industry collaborators in an attempt to identify what construction professionals mean by value. The aim of the research is to establish a common approach to identify value in projects and to monitor its development throughout the project life cycle so that it becomes part of everyday thinking and communication in multidisciplinary teams. The author links some of the findings to the formal value management methodology applied in the construction industry. The research draws on interviews with different professional disciplines to show that organizational and professional "values" impact on project value judgements. It further establishes a framework to identify and measure value. The author analyses this framework and examines alternative approaches to monitor value development as monitoring of value contributes to project success. The paper concludes that, to achieve a high-quality product, it is important to consider all stakeholder values on projects, not just those of the project sponsor. However, to achieve this, key construction players need to develop a refreshed approach to value management. To such an extent, teaching this research on university MSc engineering programmes helps to prompt alternative thinking to established methodologies. (Contains 2 tables and 3 figures.)

This article, drawing upon the Paired Peers project, a longitudinal qualitative study (n = 90), examines how seven UK engineering graduates, four women and three men, construct their career identities during the transitionary period from university to work. It explores how gender and the occupational cultures that reside within the sector, and the wider sociocultural context, affect women's careers identities, choices and trajectories. The longitudinal design, characteristics of the cohort and the theoretical framework of possible selves contribute to the originality of this empirical research. In this paper, we show how female graduates gradually adapted their occupational aspirations and career identities to fit with socio-cultural expectations and how they struggled to construct viable 'engineering' selves in the vital career identity development phase of their first years of employment when most female STEM graduates change careers.

From the mid-20th C., construction and engineering pedagogy and curricula have moved from long-held traditional experiential apprenticeship approaches to one ostensibly decoupling practice and theory. This paper traces this decoupling and explores modern-day opportunities and challenges for recoupling university education with industry practice. Within this context the UK Government funds Graduate Level Apprenticeships (GLA) and introduces the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), arguably signalling a desire to recouple. Nevertheless, many challenges from following previous UK Government policy prioritising research remain, particularly for post-1992 institutions. Arguably, Higher Education Institutions (HEI's) are at a pedagogical crossroads, considering whether to choose REF-ville, TEF-ville, and/or Apprentice Township. Do HEI's continue their increasingly decontextualized theoretical approach, or re-embrace construction and engineering education's experiential roots? We present and discuss opportunities and challenges currently facing HEI's, aiming to help inform decisions regarding recoupling theory and practice in construction and engineering teaching and learning, but potentially also other fields.