摘要:

Curriculum development in engineering and technology education has become one of the most important issues for academic institutions concerned about the quality and effectiveness of their courses in an era of rapidly changing technology and production processes. The paper addresses some major issues which engineering and technology educators have to take into account when developing their university curricula. It demonstrates the use of the modelling method in the development of new curricula and educational structures. This particular method has been used in science, technology and engineering for many years and has already had a strong impact on this educational endeavour. The method is extremely efficient in planning a modem curriculum. Its chain structure provides an excellent opportunity for further system development Moreover, it allows for the restructuring and modernization of existing study systems without undesirable disturbances and heavy expenditures. The author and his colleagues have gathered enormous experience in designing, developing and implementing modem electrical engineering curricula with the application of the modelling method. This has been achieved by carrying out research and developmental activities under the auspices of the Electrical Engineering Education Research Group. The group was established in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Sydney and is currently an integral part of the UNESCO Supported International Centre for Engineering Education at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. This paper discusses an integrated approach to modelling a didactic process in engineering education and its application to designing a teaching‐learning system. It also discusses the important issues and strategies in the development of educational systems, showing some practical examples.

ISSN:0304-3797    

DOI:10.1080/0304379950200401

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1995

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

Increasing numbers of students are entering courses in engineering, science and technology without the qualifications which have conventionally been required. A review of educational practices on access and foundation courses designed to facilitate the learning of such students has revealed a consistency in the teaching and learning approaches being adopted. Courses must be flexible and offer a variety of learning pathways to accommodate student diversity. The students require: clear goals and structure; feedback on their progress; opportunities for active and collaborative learning; and help in developing learning skills. The syllabus must not be overloaded and the assessment system must be appropriate. The approaches developed within foundation courses would benefit many other students in engineering, science and technology. They encourage deep approaches to learning and the development of many of the skills which employers frequently demand from graduates.

ISSN:0304-3797    

DOI:10.1080/0304379950200402

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1995

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

The traditional engineering curriculum, based for the most part on classical science and nineteenth‐century mathematics, is inappropriate for educating engineers for the twenty‐first century. Modem computer tools can be used both to shift the emphasis of the curriculum and to improve the quality of learning, but are rarely exploited to best effect in engineering departments. This paper reviews the potential of information technology in engineering education with reference to a model of the learning process.

ISSN:0304-3797    

DOI:10.1080/0304379950200403

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1995

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

Institutions for higher engineering education encourage the admission of foreign students, mostly for economic reasons. Data from the situation of foreign students at Delft University of Technology, however, show that admitting foreign students will be profitable only if the students are carefully selected in the country of origin. Furthermore, language proficiency must play an important role in the procedure of admission in the host country. Foreign students' academic achievement has proven to be sufficient although the students appear to suffer from starting problems. Offering social and educational support at the beginning of their stay abroad may help to overcome problems of adjustment. As yet, any possible positive effects of the presence of foreign students on the quality of education or on the general education of regular students in the host country have not been empirically established. They seem to depend highly upon the amount of interaction between foreign and regular students.

ISSN:0304-3797    

DOI:10.1080/0304379950200404

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1995

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

One of the challenges engineers face is how to deal with the combination of scientific‐technological and social factors in the development and implementation of new technologies. To prepare student engineers for this there are two options: (a) train a special type of engineer, who has had a combination of engineering and social science courses; and (b) teach the ‘normal’ engineers to get a good feeling for the relevance of social factors to their work. Both types of training are offered at the Eindhoven University of Technology. In this article, we describe the results of a study into the way student engineers in their master's thesis struggle with the integration of social factors in their engineering work. A programme of guidelines for doing this in a more sophisticated way has been developed on the basis of these experiences and of literature in the field of technology assessment and design methodology.

ISSN:0304-3797    

DOI:10.1080/0304379950200405

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1995

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

Due to the fact that the quality area has its roots firmly established primarily in the statistical research tradition, its rapid and extensive development mainly towards the management‐oriented area has created different kinds of problems. This paper discusses different consequences of this development. The paper further describes how quality issues are treated in various types of educational scenarios at the College of Applied Engineering and Maritime Studies at Chalmers University of Technology.

ISSN:0304-3797    

DOI:10.1080/0304379950200406

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1995

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

The Centre for Industrial Management at Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven has developed, since 1990, a total quality approach in its organization. This process resulted, in 1992 in a total quality system based upon the implementation of a quality handbook. Although there was at the beginning no intention to implement an industry standard in this academic environment, it was decided later to apply for ISO certification. The ISO 9001 certificate was awarded in early 1994. This paper describes this unique experience of ISO 9001 in an academic unit.

ISSN:0304-3797    

DOI:10.1080/0304379950200407

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1995

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

The paper explores the use of a staff student liaison committee (SSLC) as one of the mechanisms for assuring quality in civil engineering education. The School of Civil Engineering at the Queensland University of Technology, Australia, is used as a case study. The school has a SSLC which meets about six times per year and has representatives of all undergraduate courses and some academic staff. It was thought that the SSLC was well regarded by staff and students and contributed to the learning experience of students within the school. A questionnaire was used to ascertain the views of staff and students regarding the effectiveness of the committee in promoting good quality education. The findings indicated that the SSLC was playing an important role, but that it was not as well regarded as academic staff thought, and that many students were not fully aware of its activities. The school has used the findings to adopt new methods of distributing information to the student body and for ascertaining student opinion, principally electronically.

ISSN:0304-3797    

DOI:10.1080/0304379950200408

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1995

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

The student performance of 152 College of Environmental Design students from 10 courses were analyzed for possible correlation between the final score, class attendance and the homework assignments. It is widely believed that student performance in a course is strongly related to attendance level. However, the results of this study showed a much stronger correlation between the final score and the homework performance in a given course than between the final score and the attendance level. This demonstrates that we ought to consider placing a much heavier weight on homework and assignment as a percentage of the final score, as well as load of assignments, than we currently do. We may also consider relaxing some of our stronger policies on attendance.

ISSN:0304-3797    

DOI:10.1080/0304379950200409

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1995

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

Modem technology offers powerful professional programs that were originally designed for scientific and practical engineering purposes. These programs are now easily operated by simple graphic interfaces. Even if they offer much more than we may need for instructional purposes, these tools can still be very useful as a support for teaching and learning both the subject matter domain and additional general skills from relatively early stages of scientific and technological education. This article describes the instructional approaches developed for using a professional electronic circuit analyzer program as a learning environment for students in basic electronics courses and discusses the general implications of using such programs for instruction.

ISSN:0304-3797    

DOI:10.1080/0304379950200410

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1995

数据来源: Taylor