Collaborative efforts in developing the PhD in engineering education program in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Abstract

The PhD in Engineering Education program in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) was first offered in late 2008. Since the program is multidisciplinary in nature, with very few reference points to benchmark against as well as scarce expertise in the area, collaboration with institutions from other parts of the world with a similar program was established. When the program was first designed, a link with the School of Engineering Education, Purdue University was formed. Until now, academic staff from Purdue University are regularly invited to provide feedback on the curricula structure and the research conducted by the first cohort of students, as well as conduct short courses on different topics on rigorous research in engineering education. As word about the PhD program spread, links with other institutions offering similar programs are also formed. In 2011, a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation Agreement between UTM and Aalborg University, Denmark, was signed to offer a joint PhD in Engineering Education program. There are also efforts to start off collaboration to have joint supervision and research in engineering education with other universities. Since the pool of experts conducting rigorous research in engineering education is rather limited, some of the experts in the area were invited to provide research consultation and short courses to students. For example, Dr. Elliot Douglas from the University of Florida were invited to talk about qualitative research methods. Although there are experts in qualitative methods in UTM from the Faculty of Education who also assisted students in the program, having someone who has conducted research and published specifically in engineering education motivates students to conduct their research to a similar high level of rigor. When the time came for students from the first cohort to submit their theses and go through the oral defense, external examiners were purposely appointed from universities with similar programs, mainly from Purdue University and Aalborg University. This does not only ensure that students are able to have an expert in engineering education as their examiner, but also provide assurance that the quality of the graduates are at par with other programs at the international level. Through collaborative efforts with partner universities, the PhD in Engineering Education in UTM program managed to generate capacity in engineering education research not only among the PhD students/graduates, but also among academic staff who supervise them. With this capability, further collaborative efforts can be made, especially in helping the community of practice grow in Asia.