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IntroductionThis study addresses the urgent need for standardized frameworks in Continuing Engineering Education (CEE) to support lifelong learning in the rapidly evolving global workforce. Significant events, such as the Digital Transformation and the rise of artificial intelligence, have highlighted the demand for adaptable and diverse learning systems, especially in engineering education. On the one hand, the World Economic Forum's, 2023 Future of Jobs Report predicts a transformation in 44% of workers’ core skills within 5 years, with engineering facing substantial labor shortages. On the other hand, the Paris Agreement’s call for sustainable development necessitates a workforce with skills aligned with the green transition.MethodsThe research introduces an innovative framework taxonomy that categorizes and organizes CEE programs by integrating standardized terminologies. It focuses on critical elements such as resourcing, organizational models, and program development strategies to provide a comprehensive structure that supports consistency and comparability across diverse educational contexts.ResultsUnlike existing models, the proposed framework enhances cross-institutional learning and dissemination of best practices. It identifies key components required for effective CEE management, filling a critical gap in the literature. The study’s output is a taxonomy for discussing and comparing CEE institutional approaches and practices to advance the field and foster a global CEE community committed to excellence in engineering education.DiscussionsThis study equips educators, policymakers, and industry leaders with a practical tool to design, implement, and scale CEE programs. It ultimately fosters a skilled workforce prepared to meet the challenges of future technological and sustainable transitions, supporting the development of a standardized approach to CEE.

Changeability and reconfigurability are some of the most important sources of competitiveness in today's manufacturing industry. However, the development and implementation of reconfigurable manufacturing systems still appear to be challenged and limited in industry. Therefore, it is increasingly relevant for engineers and professionals in the manufacturing industry to build knowledge and competences in reconfigurability. This paper presents preliminary insights and learnings from developing and running a problem-based learning (PBL) course in reconfigurable manufacturing for continuing engineering education (CEE). Presented insights cover both observed benefits and learnings for professionals participating in the course, as well as important learnings on how to best transfer knowledge from research to practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the continuing education of working engineers is important, relatively few recommendations are given in the literature for how to design effective instructional materials for those engineers. The study reported here addressed this gap by investigating working engineers’ multimedia type preferences. Four media types in four different categories (in parentheses) were compared: text (verbal), drawing (static graphic), animation (dynamic non-interactive graphic) and simulated virtual reality (dynamic interactive graphic). The results showed working engineers strongly preferred graphics (drawing, animation and simulated virtual reality) over verbal (text) multimedia. There was relatively little difference in preferences among the graphic types. These results suggest a variety of graphic multimedia types should be used in the instructional design of continuing engineering education content and text should not be solely relied on to carry information content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case illustrates the process of developing a learning module to support BA students in their use of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) tools in their learning. At the university where this case occurred, the skill level of ICT use among students in a learning context was very heterogeneous. The E-learning Competency Centre, or ECC, which was in charge of techno-pedagogical development at the institution, created a hybrid learning module that offered students learning materials and activities with both face-to-face workshops and online tutorials for autonomous learning. The students were able to choose subjects they wanted to learn "à la carte" by taking tutorials on their own and/or by participating in face-to-face workshops. The module described in this case is currently under construction. The design phase of this project is the focus of this case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study describes the methodology developed for adapting project-based learning to the practice part of one subject of surveying engineering. The main innovation is the use of a system for evaluating the groups of students selected for the application of this methodology. This evaluation complements the one obtained from the project report developed by students, and it allows for individualizing the grade outcome of the members of the groups. For this purpose, the system takes into account the evaluations carried out by students of their own experience of teamwork. The system has been tested with several groups of students of surveying engineering. The results have demonstrated the efficiency of the system in showing and detecting the behavior of the groups, some problems appearing during the work, the involvement of students, and the sharing of tasks performed by some groups, among other issues. This experience can be applied to any other subject of engineering that contains a high level of practice work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydraulic experiment courses in engineering education usually require students to follow a 'standard procedure.' Students are expected to learn the underlying theories through manipulating the equipment, observing the phenomena of fluid mechanics, and analyzing the data recorded in the laboratory. However, the procedures are usually complicated and require large amounts of preparation to ensure the success of the experiment. In this research, current paper-based preparations are improved by providing virtual equipment that can provide instant and realistic feedback, with the ability to deliver these over the Internet. This research selected the Venturi tube experiment as a case study. Five steps were defined in the development process: (1) defining the experiment procedure, (2) building a three-dimensional (3D) virtual reality model, (3) adding procedure controllers, (4) adding physics rules to the virtual world, and (5) adding 3D manipulation functions. The virtual experiment of Venturi tube was implemented and evaluated in a real class, with the involvement of 48 undergraduate students in National Taiwan University. The students were separated randomly into two groups, one using paper-based preparation and the other using the virtual equipment for experiment preparation. The results showed that the students who prepared using the virtual equipment performed significantly better in both speed and skill application in the real experiment. Their attitudes toward learning were also significantly more positive than that of the other group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a case study on how an established, mature engineering faculty, with a large population of students can make the successful, high risk, step change transition towards the delivery of CDIO objectives: "Graduating engineers who can conceive-design-implement-operate complex value-added engineering systems in a modern team-based environment" (Crawley et al, 2011). The successful results of the project demonstrated the effectiveness of the systems thinking and CDIO approach, and endorsed this as the basis for a major change strategy. Not only did it demonstrate the quality of all the students on the course, their potential and commitment to engineering, but it also demonstrated willingness of the faculty to take a risk and to embrace change. The project scenario opened up an otherwise overlooked teaching resource: that of practitioner lecturers with many years of experience of implementation and operation of major projects. These skills were essential to the scoping, design, planning and implementation of the project as well as giving the backdrop of best practice from industry. Auckland's experience of introducing a major step change may be used as a template for other universities who may wish to follow Auckland's example. This project shows the value of a hearts and minds approach to change as it brought together students, staff and best practice under a multidisciplinary systems thinking and CDIO approach; all united in the interests of reconstructing Christchurch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report on the impact of a project-based learning course on student self-efficacy in fundamental engineering attributes. The study was conducted as part of a four-week junior (third-year) course on renewable energy in 2011 at Shantou University that was taught to 20 Canadian students from the Schulich School of Engineering and 20 Chinese students from Shantou University. The study compared student self-efficacy at the start and at the end of the course. Students showed increased levels of self-efficacy in all of the attributes, with the largest increases in the attributes that were most closely aligned with the intended learning outcomes of the course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment of curricula for accreditation purposes is central to much of the effort required for the design and implementation of teaching programs in schools of engineering. The CDIO (conceive, design, implement and operate) syllabus provides an example framework that describes these required outcomes. This syllabus has been specifically developed for undergraduate engineering education, offering a range of modelling concepts that can be used for formal curricula assessment. This paper provides an overview of how the CDIO (or similar) competency frameworks can be modelled for a formal analysis to provide an open, objective and repeatable process that may be used as a part of a claim for accreditation. The work presented builds on that developed for the CDIO competency framework and includes case studies applying the Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competency Framework. The authors demonstrate the use of a support tool (CCmapper) that facilitates this process and provides ways of representing and validating claims for accreditation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the research productivity of KIIT University, Odisha, India in regard to 361 papers indexed in Scopus from the year 2000 to till February, 2013. The study attempts to measure authorship pattern, degree of collaboration, Year wise distribution of articles and corresponding citations, domain wise distribution of articles, ranking of authors, ranking of highly cited papers, collaborating countries and such other parameters. The study finds that the major chunk of research is contributed by three joint authors and the trend of collaborative research is rightly at its peak. The study further reveals that authors of this University have published maximum number of articles in Communications in Computer and Information Science, followed by World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, Comparative Clinical Pathology, and International Journal of Information and Management Sciences. The top author of this university is found to have published 25 articles that have been indexed in Scopus. Taken together all the articles published during this period the university has h index of 11. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Requirements engineering can use a lot of techniques to gather the users' needs. However, currently there are few practical guidelines and criteria for selecting techniques in a software development project. This paper tries to know the vision that novice requirements engineers have about the effectiveness of requirements elicitation techniques and compare it with the requirements experts' vision. To carry out the comparison, repertory grid technique was used. This technique allows knowing indirectly the subject's opinion on the techniques. The results show a substantial difference between both visions with regard to the techniques and elicitation context. This implies that a more extensive training, and primarily practice, is necessary in order for novice engineers to recognize differences in techniques effectiveness and decide with greater certainty about the most appropriate techniques to use in requirements elicitation sessions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper mainly introduced the status and future developing strategy of continuing engineering education (CEE) in China. At first, the paper told about the origin and short history of CEE in China. In the next part, the paper introduced the status of CEE in China such as national policies, folk organizations, forms of research and communication with the international organization. Besides, the paper pointed there are still many shortcomings and difficulties of CEE in China. In the last part, based on the nation''s policy and previous research, the paper analyzed the future developing strategy of CEE including continuing to enhance infrastructure and public service, emphasizing on distance education, enhancing the quality of teachers and strengthening co-operation between the university and the enterprise etc. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses a study on the alternative career moves for engineers in the U.S. In 2006, about 70 percent of doctoral degrees in engineering are not in the academe. According to National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Science Resources, about 55 percent of engineering doctor of philosophy degrees (Ph.D.s) worked in the for profit sector, 30 percent worked in education, 7 percent worked in government, 4 percent worked in private institutions while 4 percent were self- employed.

Abstract: Getting relevant parameter estimation of a non-linear model is often a hard task from both an experimental and numerical point of view. The objective of optimally designed experiments procedure is to diminish the experimental effort needed such that the identification is within acceptable confidence ranges. After each experiment, the next experiment is optimally designed, taking into account all past experimental results. It allows quality information to be extracted from the experimental data with less experimental time and resource consumption. In this paper, we present an original approach and implementation of the classical A-, D- and E-optimality on the estimation of 5 unknown (transfer related) coefficients in a compartmental model used to describe the convective drying of rice. The originality of our method is that it uses reparameterization of both parameter and protocol vectors which permits to avoid using a global optimization algorithm. The presented method is implemented in Matlab as a Toolbox and fully tested on a pilot plant. The case study (drying of rice) is typical in the field of process engineering: the dynamic model is strongly non-linear in its parameters and cannot be analytically solved. In addition, the specific technical constrains (inertias, limits, etc.) on the pilot are explicitly taken into account for improved experimental feasibility. In this drying application, three experiments with non-constant drying conditions are shown to be quite as effective as a two-factor three-level grid of nine experiments at constant conditions, with only one third of the experimental effort. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Engineering syllabi often lack courses covering occupational risk prevention. In Spain, professional competences are awarded along with the completion of a university degree. This means that new graduates are certified in areas in which they have received little or no training, such as occupational risk prevention. However, the academic reforms established by the Bologna Process, which strives to homogenize university degrees throughout Europe, compels European universities to design new syllabi. The main goal of this paper is to define a framework for including occupational risk-prevention education in the new engineering syllabi. This exploratory research applied the Delphi methodology to a panel of 59 experts, using questionnaires assessed with a four-point Likert scale through two rounds. A website supported the information flow. According to the experts who participated in this study, education and training in occupational risk-prevention is essential for improving the safety culture within a company or workplace. The experts concurred that this subject should be a separate mandatory course in all engineering degree programs. The participants recommended that an optional course should be considered only if a mandatory course is not approved. It was also deemed desirable to integrate occupational risk prevention as a cross-field subject in other technological courses, even if the curriculum already includes some related courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper we consider the basic requirements which includes theoretical knowledge, practical skills and professional morality etc. possessed by professional personnel of the contract management, based on the research results of engineering management in college and investigation analysis of the contract management personnel. We research the training model contract management ability of students major in engineering management and propose the frame of training model for contract management ability possessed by students major in engineering management in order to provide reference to the college for training the contract management ability o students major inengineering management. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Master of Engineering Practice is a University of Southern Queensland distance education program accredited by Engineers Australia that enables experienced engineering technologists to become professional engineers. This innovative program allows students to use their workplace learning to demonstrate their achievement of the objectives in up to half of the courses in the program. More than 170 students have been admitted to the program since it was first offered in 2004, and 22 have graduated. The paper describes the educational strategies used to develop the program and the flexible teaching and assessment approaches used to manage student diversity and facilitate student learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a graduate course, continuum mechanics, which is designed for and taught to graduate students in a Mechanical Engineering (ME) program. The significance of continuum mechanics in engineering education is demonstrated and the course structure is described. Methods used in teaching this course such as topics, class organization, and evaluation instruments are explained. Based on the student learning outcomes and feedbacks, the course objectives were achieved. This paper shows that ME program objectives are well supported by this course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Exacta is the property of Exacta - Engenharia de Producao and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper reports on a study of the differences in the dominant cognitive processes preferred by groups of engineering and education students and examines the implications of these differences for the assessment of student engagement with university courses. Concern is expressed that the items commonly used to capture student engagement data do not adequately cover the full range of the dominant cognitive processes preferred by tertiary students. The paper sets out a brief overview of student engagement along with the theory of dominant and auxiliary cognitive processes, as developed by Jung and later by Myers. Evidence is presented of the differing frequencies of the eight cognitive processes, as assessed by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, that are preferred by cohorts of students undertaking courses in engineering and education. The implications of these differences are discussed in the context of subject disciplines in university environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the continuing education forum for specialists in the fields of civil engineering and architecture held from June 28-30, 2010 in Neubiberg, Germany, at the library of the Army Academy of Munich, Germany. The presenters introduced participants to sources available at libraries since many architectural drawings have been digitized, especially through the portal, Prototypischer Betrieb allgemeiner Dokumente (PROBADO), prototypical operation of common documents.

The cultivation of professional ability for undergraduate civil and construction engineering students is very important to help them meet the challenges that await them in the fast changing world. This paper presents a thorough study of practical training in the field of civil and construction engineering. Based upon an extensive literature review of the practical training curriculum worldwide, questionnaires were provided to contractors, educators and students in Taiwan to assess problems in traditional summer practical training courses for civil and construction engineering in Taiwan. At the outset of the study, it was thought that the lack of available jobs for students might be related solely to the economy but the findings indicated that the reasons were more complex ranging from concerns about liability for students working in construction sites to traditional cultural concerns about whether apprentices should be paid. The Delphi method was used to study the problems that were identified, relating to planning, execution, evaluation, and development of the existing practical training programs. A refined and improved summer practical training curriculum is proposed for civil and construction engineering education in Taiwan based upon the findings. Although the survey related to practical training programs for engineering students was conducted in Taiwan, the results might vary in other countries. The procedures used, and results obtained may be valuable resources and have a potential use for other countries. What is certain is that practical training can play an important role in readying engineering students for the work place in any location and making the practical training as effective and as safe as possible should be a universal goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To gauge the current commitment to scientific research in the United States of America (US), we compared federal research funding (FRF) with the US gross domestic product (GDP) and industry research spending during the past six decades. In order to address the recent globalization of scientific research, we also focused on four key indicators of research activities: research and development (R&D) funding, total science and engineering doctoral degrees, patents, and scientific publications. We compared these indicators across three major population and economic regions: the US, the European Union (EU) and the People's Republic of China (China) over the past decade. We discovered a number of interesting trends with direct relevance for science policy. The level of US FRF has varied between 0.2% and 0.6% of the GDP during the last six decades. Since the 1960s, the US FRF contribution has fallen from twice that of industrial research funding to roughly equal. Also, in the last two decades, the portion of the US government R&D spending devoted to research has increased. Although well below the US and the EU in overall funding, the current growth rate for R&D funding in China greatly exceeds that of both. Finally, the EU currently produces more science and engineering doctoral graduates and scientific publications than the US in absolute terms, but not per capita. This study's aim is to facilitate a serious discussion of key questions by the research community and federal policy makers. In particular, our results raise two questions with respect to: a) the increasing globalization of science: ''What role is the US playing now, and what role will it play in the future of international science?''; and b) the ability to produce beneficial innovations for society: ''How will the US continue to foster its strengths?'' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Engineer of 2020: Visions of Engineering in the New Century," published by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), discusses the importance of current and future engineering graduates possessing skills needed to solve business challenges. To ensure that future engineering graduates are adequately prepared, several universities and corporations are currently providing programs and workshops that educate engineering professionals and students in the theory and practice of leadership. This paper summarizes findings of surveys administered to identify key concepts critical to developing leadership qualities and skills. Also, this paper provides a summary of the current engineering leadership development efforts within Colleges of Engineering in the U.S. as well as an overview of the academic and professional programs available for engineers. Detailed information on the curriculum and course modules being used to teach engineering leadership that may prove useful to other educators are also included in this review paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Electronics & Electrical Engineering is the property of Electronics & Electrical Engineering and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Electronics & Electrical Engineering is the property of Electronics & Electrical Engineering and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Like many engineering programs in Europe, the final part of most Swedish software engineering programs is a longer project in which the students write a Master's thesis. These projects are often conducted in cooperation between a university and industry, and the students often have two supervisors, one at the university and one in industry. In particular, the Bologna Process that is currently underway to align different higher educational programs in Europe discusses industrial Master's theses as a major type of thesis project. However, there is a lack of knowledge on how best to support these projects and the different stakeholders involved. This paper presents a study where students and supervisors from software engineering Master's thesis projects at three different Swedish universities are interviewed. The intention of the study is to explore what the major problems of different stakeholders are during a project and to investigate what type of support is needed. Based on the interview results, a support model is defined, which outlines the different types of support that are needed for different roles in Master's thesis projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laboratory experiments are considered to be a crucial component of engineering and science curricula by all stakeholders in the education process. In traditional laboratories, students develop practical skills and become effective professionals. However, the major drawbacks of traditional laboratories are their high demand on resources, significant maintenance costs and the inability to delivery the laboratory content in distance education. Virtual laboratory experiments represent a valuable option for educational laboratories, due to their advantages over traditional hands-on as well as remote experiments, including the ease of reconfiguring the experimental system, the high flexibility in the input specifications, the possibility of conducting experiments using devices otherwise infeasible and the option of re-running experiments multiple times. In response to the need for developing laboratory resources that provide a practical experience to online engineering students, this paper describes a simulation-based virtual laboratory, which is used at Stevens Institute of Technology (SIT) in a junior-level course on mechanisms and machine dynamics as a compliment to experimental work in the traditional hands-on laboratory. This virtual laboratory system alleviates the space, time and cost constraints associated with traditional laboratories and serves as an efficient teaching aid. It conveys to the students practical issues associated with actual experiments and provides learning outcomes that are comparable to those of traditional physical laboratories. The students have the opportunity to explore a wide range of experimental configurations and parameters. In addition, the system includes a realistic rendering of the experimental setup and its components, thus providing the students with a strong feeling of immersion, as if they were performing an experiment in a traditional laboratory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major challenge in engineering education is to prepare professionals for communicating well in writing and speaking, using appropriate technologies, within professional contexts. Communication in the global engineering world includes collaboration on cross-functional teams, virtual-project team management, and writing for multiple, complex audiences. This tutorial discusses how one small engineering school has integrated technical communication teaching and assessment throughout the curriculum with demonstrated success. The integrated curriculum, formative and summative assessments, and real-world contexts offer one model to address growing communication challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an important and timely article Meng (2009) has raised important questions regarding the future of the statistics profession. We elaborate on several of his points and offer some additional opportunities for the profession to consider. We argue that statistical methods and tools must be properly integrated into an overall approach to scientific inquiry in order to be properly understood and utilized. The discipline of statistical engineering, defined in this article, provides a mechanism to do this based on research and theory. Similarly, statistical thinking provides a clear framework to help students understand the “big picture” of statistics, and a relevant context for its application. Further, there is a natural, synergistic linkage between statistical thinking, statistical engineering, and statistical methods. We believe that teaching this linkage to students and utilizing it widely ourselves will enable the profession to move forward to a higher level of impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzing 36,000 strings of instructional data from fifteen faculty teaching twenty-eight courses over five semesters, the authors conducted a research study exploring differences in the pedagogical practices of pretenured and tenured faculty teaching innovative courses designed around the principles of the "How People Learn" (HPL) framework and of pretenured and tenured faculty teaching traditional, lecture-based courses. Consistent with previous research that reports that time is needed for pretenured faculty to become proficient teachers and with research that identifies lecture to be the primary teaching strategy used by engineering faculty, the current study provides additional insight into the types of pedagogical practices most prevalent among the four types of faculty. Lectures incorporating HPL elements were used to a greater extent by pretenured faculty teaching HPL courses and by tenured faculty in traditional courses more than their tenured and pretenured counterparts, respectively. Pretenured faculty who taught courses that were designed to reflect HPL pedagogical practices incorporated more HPL elements and illustrations in their lectures and supplemented their lecture with comments that were and were not HPL-oriented than tenured faculty teaching HPL-oriented courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers the authors' insights on the value of critiques to engineering to help (ETH) programs. It notes that ETH programs have been placed within the engineering profession history of the U.S. They argue that it represents a shift on how engineers and educators re-frame heir profession and education from the concept of service to helping. They are critical that development and cultural studies in engineering must serve as a guide in the future practice of students and educators.

The present meta-analysis examines the effect of grade retention on academic outcomes and investigates systemic sources of variability in effect sizes. Using multilevel modeling (MLM), the authors investigate characteristics of 207 effect sizes across 22 studies published between 1990 and 2007 at two levels: the study (between) and individual (within) levels. Design quality is a study-level variable. Individual-level variables are median grade retained and median number of years postretention. Quality of design is associated with less negative effects. Years postretention is negatively associated with retention effects, and this effect is stronger for studies using grade comparisons versus age comparisons. The results challenge the widely held view that retention has a negative impact on achievement. Suggestions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Meyerhoff Scholarship Program, which celebrated its 20th year in 2008, is considered a successful intervention program for increasing the number of underrepresented minorities who earn Ph.D.s or M.D./Ph.D.s and pursue research careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This article examines the relationship between participation in one specific component of the Meyerhoff Scholarship Program-on-campus, academic year research-and the pursuit of a STEM Ph.D. by 13 cohorts of program participants. The results indicate that participation in on-campus, academic year research is associated with a substantial increase in the probability of pursuing a STEM Ph.D. They further suggest that the structure and intensity of the on-campus, academic year research experience matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the rounding errors that occur in the assessment of an interdisciplinary Project-Led Education (PLE) process implemented in the Integrated Master degree on Industrial Management and Engineering (IME) at University of Minho. PLE is an innovative educational methodology which makes use of active learning, promoting higher levels of motivation and students' autonomy. The assessment model is based on multiple evaluation components with different weights. Each component can be evaluated by several teachers involved in different Project Supporting Courses (PSC). This model can be affected by different types of errors, namely: (1) rounding errors, and (2) non-uniform criteria of rounding the grades. A rigorous analysis of the assessment model was made and the rounding errors involved on each project component were characterized and measured. This resulted in a global maximum error of 0.308 on the individual student project grade, in a 0 to 100 scale. This analysis intended to improve not only the reliability of the assessment results, but also teachers' awareness of this problem. Recommendations are also made in order to improve the assessment model and reduce the rounding errors as much as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the reduction in the number of engineering first semester students has raised concerns in the main universities of the metropolitan area of Cali. Through a micro-economical approach, the current work analyzes the most influential factors affecting the decision to study an engineering career. For such purpose, we used a sample of 1,025 first semester students registered at Pontificia Universidad Javenana of Cali during the 2006-1,2006-2 and 2007-1 periods. The information was analyzed through a logit multinomial model. The results indicate that good experiences in mathematics and an outstanding academic performance self-concept regarding that area increase the odds of opting for engineering studies. Likewise, engineering students are more likely to be men who have not previously registered for any other career, and whose parents suggested the decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of engineering students’ professional skills has gained considerable national attention from Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, the National Academy of Engineering, ASCE, and other constituents. There is little debate that these professional skills are necessary. Engineering programs have tried many approaches to develop these skills in the undergraduate programs. Colorado State University (CSU) has developed a new approach modeled on the type of professional development that occurs in the professional environment. This new Professional Learning Institute (PLI) provides students with a broad array of workshops, presentations, and experiential opportunities addressing the areas of cross cultural communication and teamwork, innovation, leadership, ethics, and public service. This program introduces students to the concept of professional development through required extracurricular activities, includes minimum requirements along with requirements to earn certificates in specialty areas for motivated students. The majority of offerings in the PLI are presented by leaders from the engineering profession who have teamed with CSU to provide high quality programs for our students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents a multidisciplinary approach to engineering socio-technical design. The paper addresses technological design for social interactions that are non-instrumental, and thereby sometimes contradictory or surprising and difficult to model. Through cooperative analysis of cultural probe data and development of agent-oriented software engineering (AOSE) models, ethnographers and software engineers participate in conversations around shared artifacts, which facilitate the transition from data collected in a social environment to a socially oriented requirements analysis for informing socio-technical design. To demonstrate how this transition was made, we present a case study of the process of designing technology to support familial relationships, such as playing, gifting, showing, telling and creating memories. The case study is based on data collected in a cultural probes study that explores the diverse, complex and unpredictable design environment of the home. A multidisciplinary team worked together through a process of conversations around shared artifacts to cooperatively analyze collected data and develop models. These conversations provided the opportunity to view the data from the perspective of alternative disciplines that resulted in the emergence of novel understandings and innovative practice. The artifacts in the process included returned probe items, scrapbooks, videos of interviews, photographs, family biographies and the AOSE requirements models. When shared between the two communities of practice, some of these artifacts played important roles in mediating discussions of mutual influence between ethnographers and software engineers. The shared artifacts acted as both triggers for conversations and information vessels—providing a variety of interpretable objects enabling both sides to articulate their understandings in different ways and to collaboratively negotiate understandings of the collected data. Analyzing the interdisciplinary exchange provided insight into the identification of bridging elements that allowed ‘the social’ to permeate the processes of analysis, requirements elicitation and design. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The critical product planning phase, early in the product development cycle, requires a design tool to establish engineering priorities, select the preferred design concept, and set target levels of engineering performance while considering the needs of both the consumer and producer. The quality function deployment (QFD) method was developed as a design process tool to translate customer needs into engineering characteristics; however, limitations have been identified in using the QFD method for product planning. In this paper, a new design tool called product attribute function deployment (PAFD), based on the principles of decision-based design (DBD), is introduced as a decision-theoretic, enterprise-level process tool to guide the conceptual design phase. The PAFD method extends the qualitative matrix principles of QFD while utilizing the quantitative decision-making processes of DBD. The PAFD method is built upon established methods in engineering, marketing, and decision analysis to eliminate the need for the user ratings and rankings of performance, priority, and attribute coupling in the QFD method. The differences between the QFD and the PAFD processes are compared and contrasted, and the conceptual design of an automotive manifold absolute pressure sensor is used as a case study to demonstrate the features and benefits of the PAFD method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem-basel learning has been at the core of significant developments in engireering education in recent years. This term refers to any learning environment in which the problem drives the learning, because it is posed in such a way that students realize they need to acquit e new knowledge before the problem can be solved. This paper presents the experience of a structured problem-based learning approach to the teaching of an introductory study module on heat transfer in the first year of an Electronic Engineering graduate program. A heat sink design problem was posed to students at the beginning of the module. Small groups of students worked on a cooperative learning project for eight weeks, while the teacher acted as the coach and the facilitator of knowledge acquisition. Partial, though not extensive, written reports were collected each week and the student assessments of the learning environment were measured. The paper closes-with a list of recommendations intended to assist academics interested in adopting a similar approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing awareness of sustainability has affected civil engineering education, making it more complex and demonstrating the connections to economic, social, and technological problems. Environmental consciousness in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries is growing, but in Greece the subject still tends to remain a marginalized and compartmentalized corner of educational systems. Environmental education means more than transmitting knowledge about the environment; it is also about educating for sustainable development. One of the main issues involved is changing people’s attitudes, values, behavior, and consumption patterns. University education in Greece aims to educate engineers so that besides acquiring theoretical knowledge they also learn to show personal responsibility and are motivated to act sustainably. Educating for sustainable development also entails the development of critical capacities and the necessary skills to be able to identify and formulate problems. This paper outlines the way in which a multidisciplinary approach to teaching sustainability has been embodied in the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Thessaly, Greece. More specifically, it describes a course to develop a comprehensive information technology-based learning resource comprising a set of multidisciplinary case studies and support material in order to aid engineering students in understanding the sustainability concepts and how solutions can be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The presentation of the textbooks, A launch Vehicle as a Control Object (2004) and Launch Vehicles and Space Stages as Control Objects (2007, an updated and structured edition of the first book in Ukrainian), is discussed here. The textbooks are edited by Academician S.N. Konyukhov and the authors are I.M. Igdalov, L.D. Kuchma, N.V. Polyakov, and Yu.D. Sheptun. The textbooks are devoted to the problems of the theory and practice of dynamic design of long-range ballistic missiles (LRBM) and launch vehicles designed using “unconventional” approaches or original engineering solutions by a team of specialized companies lead by the Dniepropetrovsk Aerospace Center at Yuzhnoye SDO and Yuzhmash, with the participation of scientists of the Dniepropetrovsk National University (DNU) and the Institute of Technical Mechanics (ITM) at the National Academy of Science of Ukraine. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper discusses the development of project enhanced courses that combine the best of problem-based learning and traditional “topic” focused instruction. This approach addresses the need to ensure that students receive the technical content required while developing critical problem solving skills. This balance between skill development and technical content assurance is a key feature of this approach and a main difference to problem-based learning. It is also different from traditional approaches where a project is simply added to the tasks the students are expected to accomplish, and the impacts on student learning are significantly different. The paper presents a case study of the implementation of the projects into a junior level introductory structural analysis course, including details into the goals of the projects, and the changes made to make room for the projects. Assessment and evaluation of the impact of these projects include an evaluation on how the courses and projects address specific department and accreditation board for engineering and technology learning outcomes. Student perceptions are evaluated immediately at the conclusion of the course and substantially after the conclusion of the course (while in a senior design course), enabling the assessment of knowledge and skill transfer. Performance in this senior design course is also used to assess the impact of these projects by comparing students with: (1) a project enhanced experience; (2) a project added experience; and (3) no project experience in their structural analysis course. Those students with a project enhanced experience perform much better than students in either of the other groups in the follow-on course, and the contrast with a project added experience is particularly striking. The process of balancing the outcomes for this course with the needs of follow-on courses, and the tradeoffs that are needed to accomplish both could be applied to any junior level engineering course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces Model-Eliciting Activities (MEAs) as a form of case study team problem-solving. MEA design focuses on eliciting from students conceptual models that they iteratively revise in problem-solving. Though developed by mathematics education researchers to study the evolution of mathematical problem-solving expertise in middle school students, MEAs are increasingly used in undergraduate engineering at the introductory course level, and are the subject of several NSF grants to expand their implementation. A primary implementation challenge involves finding appropriate blends of MEAs with other pedagogies. Current research and development efforts include five areas of expanding the theoretical and empirical scope of the MEA construct. These include development and use of Reflection Tools, a device to nurture problem-solving personalities; implementation of current and futuristic learning technologies; elicitation and repair of misconceptions among undergraduates; development of engineering students' ethical frameworks; and implementation of the elicitation model in higher level engineering courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid increase in digital signal processing (DSP) applications has generated a strong demand for electrical engineers with DSP backgrounds; however, the gap between industry needs and university curricula still exists. To answer this challenge, a sequence of innovative DSP courses that emphasize hands-on experiments and practical applications were developed for continuing education in electrical and computer engineering. These courses are taught in the evening for night-school students having at least three years of work experience. These courses enable students to experiment with sophisticated DSP applications to augment the theoretical, conceptual, and analytical materials provided in traditional DSP courses. The inclusion of both software and hardware developments allows students to undertake a wide range of DSP projects for real-world applications. Assessment data concludes that the digital signal processor fundamentals course can increase learning interest and overcome the prerequisite problem of DSP laboratory experiments. This paper also briefly introduces representative examples of some challenging DSP applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Choice of institution and field of study for a bachelor’s degree in Israel was found essentially meritocratic although influenced by socioeconomic status (SES) as well. As expected, students of higher ability attend universities and those of lower apply to academic colleges. However, among students of higher ability, those of higher SES opt for prestigious professions, such as medicine and law, or natural or social sciences, while those of lower SES choose economics and management, computer science, paramedical professions, and engineering. For students of lower learning ability, the differentiating effect of SES is smaller. Those of higher SES prefer university to college, even if they have to study in a less prestigious field, such as education or the humanities. On the other hand, students of lower ability and lower SES apply to colleges for studies such as education, social sciences, computer science, economics and management, and engineering. Overall, students who master financial resources and higher cultural capital prefer more ‘theoretical’ fields in a more extended course of study, while students of lower SES assume more ‘practical’ studies, which will enable them a faster entry to paying positions on the job market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this case study, we present a teaching approach that promotes active learning in engineering classes. Students are provided with a combination of physical, mathematical, and computer simulation models that allow them to participate, act, react, and reflect, rather than just listen to lectures, as in traditional classes. We illustrate important aspects of our pedagogy with one of 12 modules that have been implemented in an undergraduate hydraulic engineering course. Student evaluations indicate that this approach is appealing to most students. Data are presented to show that this approach has contributed to improved student learning and achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proliferation of web based distance education courses in recent years poses unique challenges for the teaching of disciplines involving a high level of practical work. Increasingly web based engineering courses are on offer, augmented by the provision of remote experimentation laboratories. The degree of functionality and level of user access to these remote laboratories has evolved in recent years expedited by advances in web applications and technologies. However the design and implementation of effective and usable remote experimentation facilities poses unique challenges given the inherent complexities of the learning environment and the constraints imposed by a web based delivery mechanism. In addition an overriding challenge in the implementation of remote experimentation environments is to maximise the use of existing resources without incurring substantial redevelopment costs needed to adapt hardware and software tools with the extra functionality needed for online remote access. This paper presents and demonstrates a client-server architecture for distant access to an integrated learning environment for remote experimentation for embedded systems which compliments and augments current web based e-learning approaches while fully utilizing existing on-campus resources without substantial redevelopment effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]