Engineering at the Crossroads

doi:10.1017/CBO9781139013451.044

Conclusion - Engineering at the Crossroads

Implications for Educational Policy Makers

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2015

John Heywood

Edited by

Aditya Johri and

Barbara M. Olds

Show author details

John Heywood: Affiliation:
Trinity College Dublin and Chartered Management Institute
Aditya Johri: Affiliation:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Barbara M. Olds: Affiliation:
Colorado School of Mines

Book contents

Get access

Summary

Introduction

In a recent report Sparks and Waits (2011) for the U.S. National Governors Association (NGA) faced the association with a crossroads in the development path of higher education. They suggested that the governors should make a radical change in direction. They recommended that the states should redirect their support away from traditional four-year programs of general education toward the provision of courses that would “better prepare students for high paying, high demand jobs” (p. 22). At the same time they should also consider the provision made for shorter programs. To determine the requirements for these courses the states should take much more notice of the comments of employers than they had in the past. Although these proposals result from a review of labor market trends in the United States there is no reason to believe that they are not representative of trends among the labor markets of the industrialized nations. In any case it is clear that higher education is facing a crisis of enormous proportions that some believe will be solved only by revolutionary changes in the structure of higher education and the curriculum in particular, irrespective of developments in educational technology.

It seems that the cliché that individuals will have several if not many changes of job during their lifetimes is becoming a truism. If that is the case, then the relationships among employers, employees, and society will have to change.

Information

Type: Chapter
Information: Cambridge Handbook of Engineering Education Research , pp. 731 - 748

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139013451.044 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Ananiadou, K., & Claro, M. (2009). 21st century skills and competencies for new millenium learners in OECD countries. Paris: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Retrieved from

Angelo, T., & Cross, P. K. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.Google Scholar

Atman, C. J., & Bursic, K. M. (1996). Teaching engineering design. Can reading a textbook make a difference?Research in Engineering Design, 8, 240–250.CrossRef Google Scholar

Atman, C. J., Sheppard, S. D., Turns, J., Adams, R. S., Fleming, L. N., Stevens, R.,…Lund, D. (2010). Enabling engineering student success. The final report for the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education. San Rafael, CA: Morgan and Claypool.Google Scholar

Blau, J. (2011) (updated 19:08:2011). Germany faces shortage of engineers. IEEE Spectrum. Retrieved from

Boston Consulting Group (2012). Skills gap in US manufacturing is less pervasive than many believe. Summarized by Sims, D. in IMT industry market trends. ThomasNet. Com news. Retrieved from be -exaggerated/?

Bruner, J. (1974). The relevance of education. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin.Google Scholar

Bucciarelli, L. L. (2003). Engineering philosophy. Delft, The Netherlands: Delft University Press.Google Scholar

Carter, G, Heywood, J., & Kelly, D. T. (1986). A case study in curriculum assessment: GCE engineering science (advanced). Manchester, UK: Roundthorn.Google Scholar

Cmnd 1490 (1961). Advisory Council on Scientific Policy. Committee on Scientific Manpower. The long term demand for scientific manpower. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.Google Scholar

Costello, J. E. (2002). John Macmurray: A biography. Edinburgh: Floris Books.Google Scholar

Cotgrove, S. F. (1958). Technical education and social change. London: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar

Cotgrove, S. F. (1960). The education and training of technicians. B.A.C.I.E Journal, 14, 144. London: British Advisory Council for Commercial and Industrial Education.Google Scholar

Crynes, B. I., & Crynes, D. A. (1997). They already do it: Common practices in primary education that engineering should use. In Proceedings of Frontiers in Education Conference, 3, 12–19. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE.Google Scholar

Culler, A. D. (1955). The imperial intellect. A study of Newman's educational ideal. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar

Culver, R. S., & Hackos, J. T. (1982). Perry's model of intellectual development. Engineering Education, 73(2), 221–226.Google Scholar

Davis, M. (1998). Thinking like an engineer: Studies in the ethics of a profession. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar

First Bell. (2010). Programs touted as helping students for middle skill level jobs. (First Bell is a digest of the most important news selected from thousands of sources by the editors of Custom Briefings for the American Society for Engineering Education [ASEE], which circulates it to its members at regular short intervals).

First Bell. (2011a). Labor researchers tell Congress U.S not lacking in scientists, engineers. Washington, DC: ASEE.Google Scholar

First Bell. (2011b). Demand for STEM skills increasing. Washington, DC: ASEE.Google Scholar

First Bell. (2012). US failing to produce enough STEM workers. Washington, DC: ASEE.Google Scholar

First Bell. (ASEE). (2012, April 13). p1. Report. US failing to produce enough STEM workers. (First Bell is a more or less weekly summary of press cuttings relevant to engineering compiled for members of the American Society for Engineering Education).

Fischer, K. W., Kenny, S. L., & Pipp, S. L. (1990). How cognitive processes and environmental conditions organize discontinuities in the development of abstractions. In Alexander, C. N. & Langer, E. J. (Eds.), Higher stages of human development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar

Heywood, J. (1969). The manpower debate. In An evaluation of certain post-war developments in technological education (pp. 470–499). M. Litt Thesis, Lancaster, UK: University of Lancaster.Google Scholar

Heywood, J. (1974). Trends in the supply and demand for qualified manpower in the sixties and seventies. The Vocational Aspect of Education, 26(64), 65–72.CrossRef Google Scholar

Heywood, J. (1986). Toward technological literacy in Ireland: An opportunity for an inclusive approach. In Heywood, J. & Matthews, P. (Eds.), Technology, society and the school curriculum: Practice and theory in Europe. Manchester: Roundthorn.Google Scholar

Heywood, J. (1994). Enterprise learning and its assessment in higher education. Technical Report No. 20. Sheffield, UK: Learning Methods Branch, Employment Department.Google Scholar

Heywood, J. (2000). Assessment in higher education: Student learning, teaching, programmes and institutions. London: Jessica Kingsley.Google Scholar

Heywood, J. (2005). Aims and objectives. In Engineering education: Research and development in curriculum and instruction (pp. 19–52). Hoboken, NJ: IEEE/John Wiley & Sons.CrossRef Google Scholar

Heywood, J. (2010). Engineering literacy: A component of liberal education. In Proceedings of Annual Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education. CD Paper 1505. Washington, DC: American Society for Engineering.Google Scholar

Heywood, J. (2012a). The response of higher and technological education to changing patterns of employment. In Proceedings of Annual Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education. CD Paper 3626. Washington, DC: American Society for Engineering Education.Google Scholar

Heywood, J. (2012b). Philosophy and undergraduate teaching and learning. Perspectives for engineering education. In Proceedings of Annual Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education. CD Paper 5738. Washington, DC: American Society for Engineering Education.Google Scholar

Heywood, J., & Montagu Pollock, H. (1977). Science for arts students: A case study in curriculum development. Guildford, UK: Society for Research into Higher Education.Google Scholar

Kelly, D. T., & Heywood, J. (1996). Alternative approaches to K-12 school technology illustrated by an experimental course in technical investigations. In Proceedings of Frontiers in Education Conference. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE (pp. 388–393).Google Scholar

King, P. M., & Kitchener, K. S. (1994). Developing reflective practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar

Kourdi, J. (2010). The future is not what it used to be. The Professional Manager 19(2), 27–28.Google Scholar

Krupczak, J., Blake, J. W., Disney, K. A., Hilgarth, C. O., Libros, R., Mina, M., & Walk, S. R. (2012). Defining engineering and technological literacy. In Proceedings of Annual Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education. CD. Paper 5100. Washington, DC: American Society for Engineering Education.Google Scholar

Lowell, L. B., & Salzman, H. (2007). Into the eye of the storm: Assessing the evidence on science and engineering education, quality and workforce demand. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.Google Scholar

Macmurray, J. (1957). The self agent. London: Faber and Faber.Google Scholar

Macmurray, J. (1961). Persons in relation. London: Faber and Faber.Google Scholar

Matthews, M. (2011, November). Editorial. ASEE Prism, 21(3), 6.Google Scholar

Newman, J. H. (1890). Fifteen sermons preached before the University of Oxford (3rd ed.). London: Rivingtons.Google Scholar

Newman, J. H. (1852/1947). The idea of a university (with additional lectures added in 1873. (1947 edition edited by Harrold, C. F.). London: Longmans, Green.Google Scholar

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2012, July 11). Employment outlook 2012. Paris OECD. Cited in The Times, p. 32.Google Scholar

Owen, S., & Heywood, J. (1990). Transition technology in Ireland: An experimental course. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 1(1), 21–32.CrossRef Google Scholar

Parlett, M. R., & King, J. G. (1971). Concentrated study. London: Society for Research into Higher Education.Google Scholar

Pellegrino, J. W., & Hilton, M. L. (Eds.) (2012). Education for life and work: Developing transferable skills in the 21st century. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. (Prepublication copy: uncorrected proofs).

Perry, W. B. (1970). Forms of intellectual and ethical development in the college years. New York: Holt, Reinhart and Winston.Google Scholar

Saupé, J. L (1961). Learning and evaluation processes. In Dressel, P. (Ed.), Evaluation in higher education (pp. 55–78). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.Google Scholar

Schneiderman, R. (2010, March). Economy and shortages affect European job outlook. IEEE Spectrum. Retrieved from

Sparks, E., & Waits, M. J. (2011). Degrees for what jobs? Raising expectations for universities and colleges in a global economy. Washington, DC: National Governors Association.Google Scholar

Teitelbaum, M. S. (2003). Do we need more scientists?The Public Interest No 153. Washington, DC: National Affairs Inc. Also in T. K. Kelly, W. Butz, S. J. Carroll, D. N. Adamson, & G. Bloom (Eds.) (2007). The US scientific and technical workforce: Improving data for decision making. Report of Conference Proceedings. Rand Corporation. Retrieved from Google Scholar

Thomas, B., & Madigan, C. (1974). Strategy and job choice after redundancy: A case study in the aircraft industry. Sociological Review, 22, 83–102.CrossRef Google Scholar

van de Voort, H., & de Berijn, H. (2009). Learning from disasters. Competing perspectives on tragedy. IEEE Technology and Society, 28(3), 28–36.CrossRef Google Scholar

Wadwha, V. (2011). Leading edge. Over the hill at 40. ASEE Prism, 21(1), 32.Google Scholar

Whitehead, A. N. (1932–1959, 9th impression). The aims of education and other essays. London: Benn.Google Scholar

Youngman, M. B., Oxtoby, R., Monk, J. D., & Heywood, J. (1978). Implications. Analysing jobs (pp. 106 and 107). Aldershot, UK: Gower Press.Google Scholar

Zachary, G. P (2011, April). Jobless innovation. IEEE Spectrum, 8.

Accessibility standard: Unknown

Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.