Search Results for
"Engineering education"

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) has been instituted in the graduate and undergraduate curricula in the Department of Biomedical engineering at Georgia Tech. The basic learning unit of the PBL approach is the tutorial group, comprising six to eight students and a facilitator. The role of the facilitator is to asks probing questions at the process level with the intent of explicitly revealing group behaviors by drawing attention to student actions. The target areas for assessment of a PBL class are self-directed inquiry, knowledge building, collaboration skills, and problem solving strategies.

An introduction to problem-based learning (PBL) is presented and comparisons among three different types of instructional methods are described. The three methods include: fully traditional content based learning, a combination of lecture-type instruction and PBL instruction, and full PBL instructional methodology with a partial use of Lego RCX System. The Lego RCX System demonstrated its superiority as an identical platform in designing real-life problems in measurement and control, in controlling the problem difficulties and is inspiring student's interest in classes. The results indicate that PBL method significantly improves important skills in analyzing and solving open-ended, real-world problems.

The recent restructuring of automotive supply-chains in response to intense competitive pressures has led to rapid change in, and upgrading of, the skills required by automotive component suppliers. In this paper we compare matched samples of Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers in Germany and Britain in order to examine how the ability of suppliers to develop the required new skills has been affected by the comparative strengths and weaknesses of the two countries vocational education and training (VET) systems. Our findings suggest that higher levels of craft apprentice training in German establishments give them an advantage over their British counterparts in responding flexibly to changes in markets, technologies and supply-chains. Furthermore, the engineering and commercial graduates produced by German Fachhochschulen help German suppliers to improve design skills relatively quickly and to manage long-term relationships with local supply-chain partners. Copyright © 2005 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Lab courses are an integral part of higher education in engineering sciences. In this paper, we report about a blended learning approach for such courses in computer science education. We show how the project method for co-located learning can be translated into a blended CSCL setting for a lab course on distributed software development, and how the resulting learning scenario can be supported with the collaborative virtual learning environment CURE. Experiences from the application of the educational approach in two courses indicate benefits but also highlight the need for further technical support. © 2005 International Society of the Learning Sciences.

Over the last 35 years, fewer students have been enrolling in vocational education programs in secondary schools and in nursing and nursing assistant programs in hospitals, but more students have been enrolling in vocational and career programs in community and private colleges. In addition, increases have occurred in pre-employment, pre-apprenticeship, and apprenticeship programs, particularly in engineering and Applied Sciences and in Business and Commerce. © McGill-Queen's University Press 2005.

The Working Process-oriented Continuing Training project of the Fraunhofer Institute for Software and Systems engineering has developed and evaluated a new form of continuing vocational training. This project was conducted in cooperation with leading IT enterprises and well-known education institutes. In contrast to other initiatives for structuring the continuing IT-training system, the methodological-didactical transformation of the concept was codeveloped during the institute's reorganisation. In the following article, the formal background, as well as the didactical and technological concept, are illustrated. If the concept is put into action as expected it will constitute a decisive turuing point in the vocational training system in Germany and will thus be an example for a European initiative. © 2005 by International Federation for Infonnation Processing. All rights reserved.

Purpose - This paper aims to report findings from a UK study funded by the Equal Opportunities Commission to explore gender segregation in apprenticeships in five strongly segregated sectors: construction, plumbing, engineering, information technology (all strongly male-dominated), and child care (female-dominated). The aim of the research was to consider the nature of the barriers preventing young people moving into apprenticeships in these areas of work and to investigate the actions that have been taken by local Learning and Skills Councils to address gender segregation in apprenticeships. Design/methodology/approach - The research consisted of a survey of Local Learning and Skill Councils (the bodies that fund all post-16 learning provision outside higher education in the UK), case study interviews in five geographical regions selected as examples of good practice, and interviews with representatives of Sector Skill Councils. Findings - This paper reports some of the barriers encountered by organisations involved in encouraging young people to enter vocational training and by apprentices themselves, and the actions that organisations have taken to try to encourage more diverse groups of young people to consider apprenticeships in these sectors. Originality/value - This paper is of importance to those wishing to encourage young people to enter into vocational training. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

This paper is a study of the recruitment to the first version of the International Journeyman Programme (IJP), a project to recruit and train young workers from the northeast of England for a craft and technician training programme in engineering organized by a French trade guild, Les Compagnons du Devoir (CdD). The initial version of the project was unsuccessful and the paper highlights the role played by UK state agencies and institutions in the recruitment process in the project's lack of success. The paper examines the strategic relevance of a model of French craft training to a UK firm, describes that system of training and development, and analyses the recruitment difficulties faced by the IJP organizers when they attempted to launch the programme. The study finds that key elements of the UK VET system have severe problems in delivering high-skills training, and that there are in-built structural barriers that limit the extent to which such training can be easily imported. © 2005 Taylor & Francis.

The development of standards in architectural education and incorporation of local resources, relevant to Taiwanese needs, realities, and culture, are discussed. The Taiwanese educational model for architecture has evolved from apprenticeship systems into a studio-based tutorial environment. Architectural education in Taiwan can contribute in important ways to social change and help lead the larger society in new directions. The education of professional architects has played a major role in Taiwan's modernization and reconstruction. The professional education programs should continue to promote democracy and political stability, help in economic development, and create opportunities for social interchange leading to cultural renewal and progress.

Emotional-motivational factors, which, for a long time, have been neglected, seem to be indispensable to successful learning processes in the domaines of engineering, economy, and society. The importance of emotions, in particular, has not been discussed sufficiently, findings of brain research have not been considered adequately. Emotional processes play a fundamental role in the controlling of cognitive processes of action-regulation. In order to take into account the inseparability of emotional and motivational processes, the authors draw on the construct of emotional states. They discuss the significance of this construct regarding processes of teaching and learning in institutions of vocational education.