Search Results for
"Engineering education"

A concept of teaching basic mathematical knowledge and skills related to the vocational training of master craftsmen in the field of electrical engineering and metal engineering is described. The provision of application-oriented mathematics is pointed out as an important basis of competence needed by master craftsmen in their professional surroundings. A framework for the development of training supporting materials for mathematics learning is explained on the basis of earlier experiences as well as on newer constructivistically oriented instructional approaches of educational psychology and in consideration of current professional guidelines and examination regulations of the Chambers of Industry and Commerce. These materials are developed into three CBT-units which are to be of fundamentally different design in order to enable learning on different levels using the material on the learners' own initiative. Active self-organization is offered to the course participants via the use of interactive multimedia-based presentations.

Why should instructors in traditional higher education institutions consider the re-design of their courses? The paper begins with a defense of four compelling reasons for changes in didactics: a review of some key principles of good teaching and learning, the increasing diversity of student characteristics and associated needs, the strategic and educational rationales for five types of flexibility increase in our current courses, and the particular need for instructors in faculties of education to provide leadership and models. Given the why, the next question is how? The remainder of the paper discusses the how in terms of a conceptually grounded approach to the pedagogical re-engineering of existing courses so that they become more flexible, with more student engagement, more-targetted communication, and more-attuned instructor scaffolding of increased student responsibility for his or her own learning. These concepts are made concrete through the extension of six standard sets of course-related tasks into redesigned sets involving the new didactics and WWW-based course-support functionalities. Examples from current practice at the Faculty of Educational Science and Technology at the University of Twente are used to illustrate the new didactical categories and their use of WWW-based course environments. The paper concludes with a consideration of key challenges that will confront the implementation of such new didactics in practice. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Technology education has undergone extraordinary changes in the last decade. Educators and educational policy makers have become aware of the importance of technology in the basic formation of today's educated person. At the same time rapid and continuous change in technology itself poses serious challenges in regards education and training in this field. Thus technology related contents, skills and teaching strategies for all specialization levels are being reconsidered and redefined for educating both the technologically literate person and the expert practitioner. In an attempt to examine the learning process of technological problem solving (TPS), we suggest and define an appropriate conceptual framework, encompassing all components of the process, i.e., knowledge, skills, and cognitive models. First the background to our proposal is presented, followed by the description of the two main components of the model: the Learning Space and the Technological Primitives repertoire.

Several Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary education (FIPSE) and National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded exchange projects are presented by reviewing proposals for FIPSE, and doing `pre-submission' reviews for clients. The problems that can be fatal to a funding proposal are discussed, after which recommendations are given for planning an exchange program. The observations are based on proposals for the program entitled `European Community/USA Joint Consortia for Cooperation in Higher Vocational education'. This program supports new working relationships among academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, and industry, with a special interest in student internships.

This paper raises questions about the training debate today in Australia through its examination of the factors, among them the roles of government and professional associations, that influenced the development of engineering technician training and education in New South Wales in the 1950s and 1960s. Technical educators grasped the need for courses that provided for a new range of workplace classifications which tended to fall outside the province or sphere of concern of tradesmen or the professional engineer. One of the major factors stimulating the interest in, and growth of, the provision of such courses was the strength of demand by the youths themselves. To what extent did the technical education authorities exercise power over training for industry? A contrast between apprenticeship and technician training in the metal industry is used here to answer this question. With respect to apprenticeship training, technical educators were essentially marginalised by the power struggles that centred around the recruitment of apprentices, and by the increasingly complicated framework of industrial legislation. In the area of technician training the technical education sector took a leadership role in the development of such training and faced little opposition in doing so. The reasons for the contrast are explored in the paper. © 1996 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.