Engineering Pedagogies
Art and Science of Teaching Engineering: Students in India
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ravi Prakash
Art and Science of teaching Engineering subjects using modern electronic mediums have become very important to keep students’ attention alive in the class. Faculty members teaching engineering students always face the challenge as to how should one impart knowledge to the students to enable them, not only understand the subject thoroughly, but also, how to impart necessary skills and competencies to increase their employability and shape an industry ready engineer. To develop proper competencies and skills besides subject knowledge, one has to deviate from traditional classroom teaching to a mode of teaching where students learn through modern electronic gadgets such as mobile technology, apps, laptops using internet, visual observation by working on fully operational cut sections of automobiles, aircraft simulators, learning sessions at industry, learning tools used in industry, videos of actual manufacturing processes in industry, videos of testing methodology, tutorials available on internet etc. Recent surveys have found that students want to use mobiles in the class rooms and they have found that it results in enhanced learning. Modern pedagogies of teaching play important role in enhanced learning, honing skill sets and development of competencies. Flip class rooms, video conferencing and similar activities have also proved to help the engineering students, especially those who are slow learners. On inducting fresh engineering teaching faculty, we have to ensure that do undergo Intensive Teaching Workshops, where they are exposed to all the modern tools and techniques, they should be encouraged to participate in Faculty Development Programmes, Professional Development Programmes, Seminars/Symposium/Conferences etc. Where ever possible, a mentor having long teaching experience and thorough subject knowledgeable, should be attached with every new faculty. To ensure highest level of interest for students in engineering disciplines, we have to motivate them for innovations and convince them about the advantages of innovation, patents and publications. We may even institute Emerging Technology Awards to keep the students engaged in their innovative projects.
Hands-on Activities in Civil Engineering Programs
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Luiz C. Campos
This paper reports the project developed by students of the 4th semester of Civil Engineering Programme at Pontifical Catholic University of Sao Paulo using the basic concepts of Mechanics of Rigid Bodies (MRB) course taught in classroom. Seeking to adopt the principles of the approach Project Based Learning (PBL) the professor that teaches this course proposes the development of a project where the theme, in the two last years, was the Da Vinci’s Self-Supporting Bridge. The history notes that Da Vinci designed four types of bridges. The design of this bridge was the most simple and ingenious of them. The design of Self-Supporting Bridge was developed from 1485 to 1847 attending the request of his patron Cesar Borgia, and it needed has simple assembly by troops without woodworking skills. The design is held together by its own weight without requiring any ties or connections. The development of this project was part of the assessment process in the course. The students of the class were divided in teams with six members each one to set up the bridge. The project was developed in three steps. The first one was a bibliographic research on the issue. In the second step began the hands-on activity with the building of a prototype where test and analysis were made to understand the structures behaviour as result of a downward applied force. In the third step the hands-on activity was the bridge building in an enlarged size with the necessary adaptations related to the prototype, seeking to follow the original design, and under the condition of to permit and tolerate the weight of several people passing along the bridge. The materials used were wood cylindrical pieces with the appropriated sockets. All the pieces were prepared by the team and each step with the description of the building and assembly processes were reported in a video available on You Tube. Finally, the students were questioned through two questionnaires applied to them to obtain their opinions and perceptions on the project. A closed questionnaire based on Likert’s scale and an open questionnaire where they could analyse all the aspects involving their participation in the project and what suggestions they had to do to improve the experience. In addition, the students could tell how the PBL approach help them in the teaching/learning process.
New Administration Approaches in Information Society and Future Engineering Education
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ibrahim Buzkan
Today, as we move to globalization and information society all over the world, engineering education and new transformations in the field of management and organization are required. In addition to transferring knowledge in engineering education, it is necessary to make a rapid transition to the education system that will integrate knowledge with necessary skills. In this study, how to provide a good education and management in engineering education by searching the problems of education and effective methods of learning is surveyed; and how to create the most effective student oriented teaching system is studied. For this purpose, a student-centered engineering education and management model was developed by using the observation methods based on the questionnaires that were conducted on the faculty and the students of the Engineering Faculty. In this survey recommendations for the execution of a successful student-centered engineering education is developed. A model of education and management should be established which is student-focused, conscious, researching, approaching basic problems with a long-term perspective and constantly innovating at all the stages of engineering education and education management.
