ETALEE2023

Exploring Teaching for Active Learning in Engineering Education

25th & 26th May 2023 - VIA University College, Horsens, Denmark

Keynote: Professor Euan Lindsay

Keynote: Dr. Ruth Graham

Future Models for Engineering Education

 

The nature of engineering practice is evolving, and engineering education needs to evolve in parallel. Contemporary engineers work in increasingly asynchronous distributed digital workplaces, and our traditional face to face models of education are increasingly unfit for purpose over time.

 

Professor Lindsay’s talk will address the kinds of models that are emerging to address the needs of contemporary graduates, and the ways in which they take advantage of the affordances of digital technology to support the learning of engineering students.  He will draw from his experience in establishing a novel engineering degree program at Charles Sturt University in Australia, focussing on how the program addresses the emerging trends in higher education, how those trends have continued to evolve, and what they will mean for the future of engineering education here in Denmark and beyond

Euan Lindsay is Professor of PBL and Digitalisation in Engineering Education at the Aalborg Centre for Problem Based Learning in Engineering Science and Sustainability (UCPBL).  During his academic career Euan has held a number of leadership roles in engineering education, serving as Dean of the School of Engineering and Technology at Central Queensland University, and as the Foundation Professor of Engineering at Charles Sturt University.  He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales, a Fellow of Engineers Australia, and a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy.  Euan has also authored or co-authored well over 100 journal articles and conference papers.

Euan believes most major challenges facing society today can be solved by engineers, including providing clean drinking water, energy sustainability or communications technology to keep people connected. He is excited about developing new engineering programs with a focus on making a difference, not just solving problems and making things, and hopes to inspire students to move forward in their careers with passion.

Crisis and catalyst: the impact of COVID-19 on global practices in engineering education

 

The systemic transformation of engineering education has its roots in the decade before the Covid-19 pandemic. Engineering faculty and their institutional leaders across the world were driving forward changes in the engineering curriculum to ensure that tomorrow’s engineers have the competencies needed to tackle the economic, social and environmental challenges of the 21st century. But the pandemic has been an additional catalyst for change, necessitating major reforms to program design and delivery and the wider student experience. Together, these changes are set to have a major impact on the future trajectory of the engineering education sector.

 

The talk will discuss findings from the Crisis and Catalyst report, which examines the impact of Covid-19 on engineering education worldwide. Drawing on interviews with members of the engineering education community from across 36 countries, the talk will explore the likely impact of this systemic shock on the direction of travel of the sector and the state-of-the-art in the field.

Dr Ruth Graham, Higher education consultant

A Mechanical Engineer by training, Dr Ruth Graham specialised in aeronautical fatigue, working with BAE SYSTEMS for a number of years. In 2002 she moved to Imperial College London and later became Director of the EnVision project, which sought to transform the undergraduate education across the universtity’s Faculty of Engineering.

Ruth has worked as an independent consultant since 2008.  Her work is focused on fostering change in higher education across the world, helping to improve teaching and learning worldwide.  Ruth’s recent projects have included:

  • a global initiative to improve the reward and recognition of teaching in higher education that is now supporting reform to academic career pathways at over 50 universities worldwide (www.advancingteaching.com);
  • a global study on the lessons learnt from the current period of ‘emergency teaching’ resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and how this might impact the trajectory of engineering education in the future (www.ceeda.org);
  • a cross-institutional and multi-year survey to capture and track the culture and status of teaching amongst faculty, in which 21 universities from 10 countries are participating (www.teachingcultures.com).

Further details can be found on Ruth’s website – www.rhgraham.org – which provides an outline of recent projects as well as copies of her published reports.

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