Archive for year: 2015

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Studies of Expert Engineers Show Us Why Engineering Education Needs to Change

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Misunderstandings about what it means to be an engineer are outlined in James Trevelyan’s “The Making of an Expert Engineer”— a book based on extensive studies of several hundred engineers in four countries, several of them true experts in their own domains.

An unfortunate reality exposed by this research is that engineering education has become almost completely divorced from practice:

The separation of practice from the curriculum allows students to develop many misunderstandings, partly because real stories about practice are absent, and partly because of myths that are repeated without being questioned or critically examined.

Learn more about these misconceptions, here.

Meet E²S² – the Engineering Education Students’ Society

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In the fall of 2014, three passionate University of Calgary students formed the Engineering Education Students’ Society (E²S²).

We felt by creating a formal network, we would be able to increase and improve collaboration with others who have expressed interest in connecting. Currently, E²S² has about 20 members, including graduate students, undergraduate students, professors and academics. Nationally and internationally, there are also a dozen people who have requested to remain in touch through E²S² initiatives.

Within E²S² we have three main branches of focus: Beakerhead, Maker and Professional Development. The goals of these branches range from connecting those interested in engineering education and keeping everyone up to date on current research, to offering supplementary activities for students that provide hands-on opportunities to put into practice some of the newer research concepts in engineering education.

Learn more about E²S² and their three branches of focus, here.