Taking the ""guess-work"" out of engineering education: establishing the virtuous cycle of research

Abstract

Challenges of the 21st Century on future engineers results in the need to transform engineering education, ie how we educate students to be engineers. The Grand Challenges of the 21st Century for engineering education identified in various reports requires graduates who can comfortably solve novel, multidisciplinary problems. In addition, today's engineering graduates are expected to not only have content knowledge, but also have professional skills, such as working in multi-disciplinary teams, deep learning, thinking and problem solving skills, communication skills, etc. The calls for major changes in engineering education results in a flurry of modifications and adaptations throughout the world, even in renowned research universities, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University in the United States. Nevertheless, these transformations can be costly, and would be futile without proper efforts to take the scholarly approach. Consequently, there are efforts to conduct rigorous research in engineering education to determine the actual problem and seek meaningful solutions that will bring significant impact, leading to the virtuous cycle of research. While there are high level of activities in engineering education research in North America and Europe with government and institutional support in the form of funding, efforts from across the globe are also flourishing, from Australia to Asia, South America and Africa. Efforts in conducting rigorous research and the collaborative network in engineering education currently taking place world-wide is discussed in this paper. The paper then focus on how to conduct engineering education research in establishing the virtuous cycle of research to attain meaningful outcomes that can enhance the quality of engineering education to produce graduates who can rise up to the challenges of the new millennium.