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The study aims to investigate the influence of the online professional development (PD) program focused on precollege engineering education on science teachers’ teaching engineering self-efficacy. A nested mixed research design was employed to conduct the study, in which the basic qualitative design was integrated into a weak experimental design and data collection was interrelated. The quantitative dimension of the study utilized the engineering teaching self-efficacy scale, while the qualitative dimension utilized the teachers' reflections as a data collection instrument. Fourteen science educators were selected through purposive random sampling in a province in the Black Sea region of Türkiye. The study's results suggested that the self-efficacy of science teachers in teaching engineering was significantly enhanced by the PD program, which focused on engineering education. The qualitative results were consistent with the quantitative results. Considering the study's results, practitioners and researchers were provided with suggestions for future research in the field of teacher education or PD programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we aim at presenting SEFI Annual Conference 2019 from the thematic point of view. Authors have creatively reacted to the main theme ‘Complexity as the new normality’ by targeting different areas of education where complexity arises: project work, curricular changes and connection to the job market are just few examples. The importance of soft skills alongside the core engineering background has motivated an intense discussion on the role of teaching in developing students’ skills. We identified the most represented topics at SEFI 2019 and we reflected on the importance of less represented topics such as Lifelong learning, Talent management, Sustainability and 4th Industrial Revolution. We based our decision on the relevance of such topics for shaping the future engineering education practices. We hope to spark the readers’ interest and motivate to explore the articles in this thematic issue as well as the Proceedings of SEFI 2019 Conference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study reports the use of an interview task to identify the initial conceptions of engineering and teaching engineering held by secondary mathematics and science teachers upon entering a professional development program. Results obtained from this task gave insight on several points, including: (1) the requirements for a task to be considered engineering; (2) the role of a student in practicing engineering; (3) the role of the teacher in teaching engineering; and (4) the differences in discourse choices, between mathematics and science teachers, pertaining to conceptions of engineering and teaching engineering. Through understanding the beliefs of our teachers, appropriate action may be taken to ensure that we are fostering desirable classroom environments, as well as better understand how to prepare them for challenges that may present themselves in the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engineering Pedagogy is an interdisciplinary scientific subject and an essential element of the system of engineering education. The article is dedicated to the work of Adolf Melezinek, the founder of Engineering Pedagogy and the main principles of Kalgenfurt School of Engineering Pedagogy. Curriculum design and technical teacher education in Estonia is based on Melezinek's work. A decision- making model by Urve Läänemets, closely connected to Melezinek's work and the Model of Flexible Technical Teacher Education and contemporary methodology are introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]