Re Engineering Engineering Education In Europe

Contributing to the development and the enrichment of the European dimension in Engineering Education (EE), constituted the global goal of TREE. In other words to enhance the compatibility of the many diverse routes to the status of Professional Engineer which exist in Europe and, hence, to facilitate greater mobility of skilled personnel and integration of the various situations throughout Europe. The activity of the TN TREE, made up by some 110 higher education Institutions and Associations, has been developed along four main lines: A. the tuning line B. the education and research line C. the attractiveness of EE line D. the sustainability line This volume, accompanied by a CD Rom, presents the results of three years of works in the frame of the Thematic Network TREE which was activated and financed in the frame of the SOCRATES Programme in the period 2004-2007.

Contributing to the development and the enrichment of the European dimension in Engineering Education (EE), constituted the global goal of TREE. In other words to enhance the compatibility of the many diverse routes to the status of Professional Engineer which exist in Europe and, hence, to facilitate greater mobility of skilled personnel and integration of the various situations throughout Europe. The activity of the TN TREE, made up by some 110 higher education Institutions and Associations, has been developed along four main lines: A. the tuning line B. the education and research line C. the attractiveness of EE line D. the sustainability line This volume, accompanied by a CD Rom, presents the results of three years of works in the frame of the Thematic Network TREE which was activated and financed in the frame of the SOCRATES Programme in the period 2004-2007.

In response to the challenges of globalization and local development, educational reforms are inevitably becoming one of the major trends in the Asia-Pacific Region or other parts of the world. Based on the most recent research and international observations, this book aims to present a new paradigm including various new concepts, frameworks and theories for reengineering education. This book has 21 chapters in three sections. Section I "New Paradigm of Educational Reform" containing eight chapters, illustrates the new paradigm and frameworks of reengineering education, fostering human development and analysing reform policies and also discusses the trends and challenges of educational reforms in the Asia-Pacific Region. Section II "New Paradigm of Educational Leadership" with five chapters aims to elaborate how the nature, role and practice of school leadership can be transformed towards a new paradigm and respond to the three waves of education reforms. Section III "Reengineering School Management for Effectiveness" with eight chapters aims to provide various practical frameworks for reengineering school management processes and implementing changes in school practices.

This report is an integration of the reports, perspectives and concerns from four discussions groups: students, faculty, curricula, and experiential learning. Recommendations include: engineering educ. must encourage multiple thrusts for diversity, engineering educ. needs a new system of faculty rewards and incentives, assessment and evaluation processes must encourage desired expectations for both faculty and students; the changes needed for engineering educ. require comprehensive change across the campus, not just in the engineering college. Illustrated.

This book is for engineers of different disciplines, such as chemical, electrical, petroleum, mechanical and civil engineering, and will appeal both to the experienced professional engineer and to undergraduate or postgraduate engineering students. This singular volume presents selected articles on themes that arise at the interface between engineering and the different societies in which it is practised. Themes of current interest include ethics, gender balance, education, workplace preparation, communication, competencies, and the future of engineering. Original and thought-provoking articles on these themes are presented by authors who have achieved international recognition for their work in engineering research, practice and education, and who work in different capacities in industry or higher education around the world. Recognizing the pluralism that is characteristic of such themes, each chapter presents two articles reflecting distinct perspectives and contexts. This volume therefore provides ideal opportunities for readers who wish to develop their critical thinking capacities by contrasting and evaluating the different viewpoints. It also provides readers with writing that complements the technical discourse predominant in engineering workplaces and institutes. This book, therefore, while promoting professional literacy and thinking skills development, concurrently serves to cultivate the well-rounded and forward-looking engineers required by the international community to meet the multifaceted challenges of 21st century engineering.

The 4th edition of the Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology expands upon the previous 3 versions, providing a comprehensive update on research pertaining to new and emerging educational technologies. Chapters that are no longer pertinent have been eliminated in this edition, with most chapters being completely rewritten, expanded, and updated Additionally, new chapters pertaining to research methodologies in educational technology have been added due to expressed reader interest. Each chapter now contains an extensive literature review, documenting and explaining the most recent, outstanding research, including major findings and methodologies employed. The Handbook authors continue to be international leaders in their respective fields; the list is cross disciplinary by design and great effort was taken to invite authors outside of the traditional instructional design and technology community.

Growing awareness of the crises faced by underserved communities in the developing regions of the world has led engineering educators to reflect on how they can contribute solutions to the basic needs of such communities. Student engineers today are searching for opportunities to work with communities in the developing world to improve the living conditions of the multitudes who suffer chronic poverty and live in desperate conditions. The research in this thesis was inspired by the experiences of students working on a project aimed at creating sustainable prosperity through the introduction of visual literacy in a chronically poor community where it was found that such research collaborations can prove to be overwhelming. Viewing these disruptive experiences from the perspectives of Zimbardo's discontinuity theory showed that such unbounded learning environments that expose students to disorienting experiences of discontinuity restrict the students' ability to learn. Viewing the experiences of Zimbardoean discontinuity through Dewey's philosophy of education led to the creation of a research inquiry space that identified the feasibility of restoring continuity of learning through innovation in engineering education research and practices. In this space student and teacher experiences can be visualized as a function of the learning environment and modes of learning and teaching. Engineering education research and practices currently face open questions about preparing students for working with developing communities safely and enabling them to continue learning. This dissertation attempts to respond by asking the following two questions: 1. How can the experiences of discontinuity be shifted to learning experiences? 2. How do student engineers learn under such conditions? To answer these questions, a research project was conceived that brought together undergraduate engineering students at Stanford University and a community of handloom weavers from a chronically poor village in India to collaborate on an engineering design problem faced by the community. The students and weavers together addressed the challenge of creating retrofits for the handloom to make it more ergonomic. The project was implemented in accordance with a framework that was developed to incorporate five project parameters for creating a safe learning environment. The research project data was collected in the form of entries made in reflection journals by the student participants. A coding scheme was developed to observe and analyze the shift from experiences of discontinuity to experiences of learning. In response to the two research questions, the analysis showed that the research project was successful in providing a learning environment that enabled the student engineers to transition out of discontinuities and learn in that process. The learning mechanism was found to be an augmentation of the Deweyan inquiry process resulting in continuity of learning. The future research directions emerging from this project are the creation of a curriculum as well as a learning environment. These will prepare student engineers to work sustainably on problems of the developing world, through collaborating with and learning from local communities. Continued commitment from engineering researchers and educators will, in time, help build sustainable, trusted, collaborative relationships with underserved communities and encourage them to explore their own creative potential to help solve their problems.