Mind the Gaps: Engineering Education and Practice

Efforts to reform engineering education by improving the relevance of learning for engineering practice have not yet been very successful. Analysis of published literature demonstrates that engineering education is predominantly based on a model of engineering practice represented by technical problem-solving and design. However, this model cannot explain many observations of engineering practice like the amount of time that engineers interact with other people. This paper presents a description of engineering practice based on detailed observations of engineers. The new description sees engineering as a human performance that relies on distributed expertise. The paper briefly discusses how changes in pedagogy, assessment and accreditation are needed to close the gap between engineering education and practice.

[2]  W. Worek,et al.  Learning objectives for engineering education laboratories , 2002, 32nd Annual Frontiers in Education.

[3]  Chri Dillon.  Engineering education: time for some new stories , 1998 .

[4]  James Trevelyan,et al.  Technical Coordination in Engineering Practice , 2007 .

[5]  Xxyyzz,et al.  Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge for the 21st Century : Preparing the Civil Engineer for the Future , 2004 .

[6]  Effective Engineers , 2022 .

[7]  Stuart Shapiro,et al.  Degrees of Freedom: The Interaction of Standards of Practice and Engineering Judgment , 1997 .

[8]  Walter Guido Vincenti,et al.  What Engineers Know and How They Know It: Analytical Studies from Aeronautical History by Walter G. Vincenti , 1992, Technology and Culture.

[9]  Norrie S. Edward,et al.  OCCUPATIONAL SOCIALISATION - A NEW MODEL OF THE ENGINEER’S FORMATION , 2001 .

[10]  David W. Johnson,et al.  Pedagogies of Engagement: Classroom‐Based Practices , 2005 .

[11]  James Trevelyan.  Engineering students need to learn to teach , 2010, 2010 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE).

[12]  Donald A. Sch.  The reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action , 1983 .

[13]  Ajay Mehra,et al.  Engineering Identity in a Japanese Factory , 1997 .

[14]  Roger C. Harvey,et al.  Personal Factors, Education and the Effectiveness of Professional Engineers , 1994 .

[15]  C. Brammer,et al.  Communication Patterns of Engineers , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication.

[16]  Pj Clarkson,et al.  WHAT DESIGNERS THINK WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THEIR PROCESSES: EARLY RESULTS FROM A COMPARATIVE STUDY , 2004 .

[17]  Stephen R. Barley,et al.  What we know (And Mostly Don't Know) about Technical Work , 2006 .

[18]  Samuel C. Florman,et al.  Non-technical Studies for Engineers: the Challenge of Relevance , 1997 .

[19]  John Heywood,et al.  Engineering Education : Research and Development in Curriculum and Instruction , 2005 .

[20]  Lisa R. Lattuca,et al.  Engineering Change: A Study of the Impact of EC2000* , 2004 .

[21]  Louis L. Bucciarelli,et al.  Designing Engineers , 1994 .

[22]  Maggi Savin-Baden,et al.  Challenging Models and Perspectives of Problem-Based Learning , 2007 .

[23]  K. Figl,et al.  “Active listening” in written online communication - a case study in a course on “soft skills for computer scientists” , 2008, 2008 38th Annual Frontiers in Education Conference.

[24]  Eugene S. Ferguson,et al.  Engineering and the Mind's Eye , 1994 .

[25]  M. Eraut.  Non-formal learning and tacit knowledge in professional work. , 2000, The British journal of educational psychology.

[26]  M. Eraut.  Learning from other people in the workplace , 2007 .

[27]  Patricia D. Galloway.  The 21st-Century Engineer: A Proposal for Engineering Education Reform , 2007 .

[28]  D. Oxley.  Design Paradigms: Case Histories of Error and Judgment in Engineering , 1997 .

[29]  David W. Johnson,et al.  Joining Together: Group Theory and Group Skills , 1975 .

[30]  G. Salomon.  Distributed cognitions : psychological and educational considerations , 1997 .

[31]  Walter G. Vincenti,et al.  What Engineers Know and How They Know It: Analytical Studies from Aeronautical History. , 1992 .

[32]  Dominique Vinck,et al.  Everyday Engineering. An ethnography of Design and Innovation , 2003 .

[33]  Jennifer M. Case,et al.  Engineering graduates’ perceptions of how well they were prepared for work in industry , 2005 .

[34]  Alice L. Pawley,et al.  Universalized Narratives: Patterns in How Faculty Members Define “Engineering” , 2009 .

[35]  Claudia Eckert,et al.  Design process improvement : a review of current practice , 2005 .

[36]  David H. Jonassen,et al.  Everyday Problem Solving in Engineering: Lessons for Engineering Educators , 2006 .

[37]  Laurent Pascail,et al.  The emergence of the skills approach in industry and its consequences for the training of engineers , 2006 .

[38]  Sheri Sheppard,et al.  What is Engineering Practice , 2006 .

[39]  Robert G. Cooper,et al.  Winning at new products : accelerating the process from idea to launch , 2001 .

[40]  Vinay Kumar Domal,et al.  Comparing Engineering Practice In South Asia With Australia , 2008 .

[41]  James Trevelyan,et al.  Experience in laboratory and the ability to diagnose equipment faults , 2007 .

[42]  David W. Johnson,et al.  Joining together: Group theory and group skills, 5th ed. , 1994 .

[43]  Thomas E. Mosley.  Winning at new products: Accelerating the process from idea to launch (2nd edition): by Robert G. Cooper. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1993. 358 pages. $16.95 , 1994 .

[44]  Rajkumar Roy,et al.  An introduction to capturing and understanding the cognitive behaviour of design engineers , 2007 .

[45]  D. McKinney,et al.  Affective factors and student achievement: a quantitative and qualitative study , 2004, 34th Annual Frontiers in Education, 2004. FIE 2004..

[46]  Colorado Colorado,et al.  AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS , 2010 .

[47]  J. Trevelyan.  Reconstructing engineering from practice , 2010 .

[48]  Anette Kolmos,et al.  Management of change : Implementation of problem-based and project-based learning in engineering , 2007 .