Closing the loop in engineering educator development: using theoretical and empirical research to inform curriculum and teaching

Abstract

The challenge for engineering educators remains the ability to enable their students to bridge the seeming divide between disciplinary fundamentals and practical application. With a significant percentage of employers stating that graduates lack the required technical skills in the 21st century workplace and the rapid proliferation of technologies, educators cannot hope to prepare their students for all possible scenarios. One way to overcome the potential burden on the engineering curriculum is to enable engineering educators to develop a more conceptual understanding of the relationship between theory, practice and technology. This paper presents case studies of professional development work with academics in a range of engineering disciplines, where feedback from the field of engineering practice and empirical educational research has assisted in enabling improved curriculum redesign, teaching and integration of learning technologies. Drawing on theoretical tools from the Sociology of Education, the research project used to support engineering academic development entailed a series of problemsolving ‘maps’ which reveal how solving a technology-based engineering problem requires the ability to ‘code-shift’ between the different engineering disciplines. Taking research of this nature back to educators adds a missing dimension in the development of engineering pedagogical competence.