Research On Pbl Practice In Engineering Education

The success of Problem Based Learning and Project Organised learning (PBL) as an educational method in the field of Higher Engineering Education is clear and beyond any doubt.

PBL in Engineering Education: International Perspectives on Curriculum Change presents diverse views on the implementation of PBL from across the globe. The purpose is to exemplify curriculum changes in engineering education. Drivers for change, implementation descriptions, challenges and future perspectives are addressed. Cases of PBL models are presented from Singapore, Malaysia, Tunisia, Portugal, Spain and the USA. These cases are stories of thriving success that can be an inspiration for those who aim to implement PBL and change their engineering education practices. In the examples presented, the change processes imply a transformation of vision and values of what learning should be, triggering a transition from traditional learning to PBL. In this sense, PBL is also a learning philosophy and different drivers, facing diverse challenges and involving different actors, trigger its implementation. This book gathers experiences, practices and models, through which is given a grasp of the complexity, multidimensional, systemic and dynamic nature of change processes. Anette Kolmos, director of Aalborg PBL Centre, leads off the book by presenting different strategies to curriculum change, addressing three main strategies of curriculum change, allowing the identification of three types of institutions depending on the type of strategy used. Following chapters describe each of the PBL cases based upon how they implement the seven components of PBL: (i) objectives and knowledge; (ii) types of problems, projects and lectures; (iii) progression, size and duration; (iv) students’ learning; (v) academic staff and facilitation; (vi) space and organization; and (vii) assessment and evolution. The book concludes with a chapter summarizing all chapters and providing an holistic perspective of change processes.

A synthesis of nearly 2,000 articles to help make engineers better educators While a significant body of knowledge has evolved in the field of engineering education over the years, much of the published information has been restricted to scholarly journals and has not found a broad audience. This publication rectifies that situation by reviewing the findings of nearly 2,000 scholarly articles to help engineers become better educators, devise more effective curricula, and be more effective leaders and advocates in curriculum and research development. The author's first objective is to provide an illustrative review of research and development in engineering education since 1960. His second objective is, with the examples given, to encourage the practice of classroom assessment and research, and his third objective is to promote the idea of curriculum leadership. The publication is divided into four main parts: Part I demonstrates how the underpinnings of education—history, philosophy, psychology, sociology—determine the aims and objectives of the curriculum and the curriculum's internal structure, which integrates assessment, content, teaching, and learning Part II focuses on the curriculum itself, considering such key issues as content organization, trends, and change. A chapter on interdisciplinary and integrated study and a chapter on project and problem-based models of curriculum are included Part III examines problem solving, creativity, and design Part IV delves into teaching, assessment, and evaluation, beginning with a chapter on the lecture, cooperative learning, and teamwork The book ends with a brief, insightful forecast of the future of engineering education. Because this is a practical tool and reference for engineers, each chapter is self-contained and may be read independently of the others. Unlike other works in engineering education, which are generally intended for educational researchers, this publication is written not only for researchers in the field of engineering education, but also for all engineers who teach. All readers acquire a host of practical skills and knowledge in the fields of learning, philosophy, sociology, and history as they specifically apply to the process of engineering curriculum improvement and evaluation.

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and Project-Based Learning are teaching methods based on principles of student-centred learning, which target an interdisciplinary engineering curriculum. The transition from strictly traditional approaches in engineering education represents significant opportunities for change.

Project approaches in engineering education are a relatively recent phenomenon in Portugal, Spain and Latin-America. Teachers, educational researchers and managers in engineering education are discovering the added value of team work, solving interdisciplinary open-ended problems in a meaningful learning environment that is similar to the professional context of future engineers. This book seeks to present a wide range of experiences of project approaches to engineering education, varying from mature to starting. It discusses different aspects of project approaches like project management, teacher training, assessment and institutional support. It also describes experiences taking place in a number of countries – Portugal, Brazil, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Spain and Australia – in order to provide an overview of project approaches in different cultural backgrounds. It aims to encourage those who are considering project approaches in their own engineering education context, taking into account the advantages of training future engineers through project work, while being aware of the challenges that a shift from traditional education to a project may bring.

Since 2001, the international network Active Learning in Engineering education (ALE) organized a series of international workshops on innovation of engineering education. The papers in this book are selected to reflect the state of the art, based on contributions to the 2005 ALE workshop in Holland. This overview of experiences in research and practice aims to be a source of inspiration for engineering educators.

The Cambridge Handbook of Engineering Education Research is the critical reference source for the growing field of engineering education research, featuring the work of world luminaries writing to define and inform this emerging field. The Handbook draws extensively on contemporary research in the learning sciences, examining how technology affects learners and learning environments, and the role of social context in learning. Since a landmark issue of the Journal of Engineering Education (2005), in which senior scholars argued for a stronger theoretical and empirically driven agenda, engineering education has quickly emerged as a research-driven field increasing in both theoretical and empirical work drawing on many social science disciplines, disciplinary engineering knowledge, and computing. The Handbook is based on the research agenda from a series of interdisciplinary colloquia funded by the US National Science Foundation and published in the Journal of Engineering Education in October 2006.

Pre-university engineering education has become the topic of increasing interest in technology education circles. It can provide content for the E in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education, which is in the interest of technology educators at different educational levels as it builds the bridge between them and the science and mathematics educators. In this book goals for pre-university engineering education are explored as well as existing practices from a variety of countries. The coming years will show if pre-university engineering education will catch on. The trend towards STEM integrated education that today can be seen in many countries will certainly create a further need and stimulus for that to happen. Hopefully this book can contribute to such a development of both formal and informal K-12 engineering education. Not only for preparing the next generation of engineers, but also for the technological literacy of future citizens.