Summary
Highlights
Christina White introduces the webinar on global engineering pedagogy, welcoming participants and highlighting the day's topics: how a network of experts can improve engineering education, the role of EPICS in developing future leaders, and faculty certification for student-centric teaching. Krishna Vedula then discusses IUCEE's vision to transform engineering education in India, addressing issues like the mismatch between graduate aspirations and employability, theoretical syllabi, and exam-centric teaching methods. He emphasizes the need for an ecosystem approach, including innovative teaching, outcome-based education, industry partnerships, and entrepreneurship.
Krishna Vedula details the evolution of IUCEE's ecosystem over ten years, including certification programs, conferences, online courses, and a global network. He mentions the crucial role of initial funding from philanthropists and the collaboration with global experts. Early efforts focused on bridging international educators with those in India through face-to-face workshops on effective teaching, technology tools, and leadership. These workshops, while effective, highlighted the need for sustained engagement to counter institutional inertia.
After initial funding, IUCEE transitioned to a consortium model, with 70 institutions paying annual fees to sustain operations. The organization leveraged technology for webinars, recording over 600-700 sessions on various topics for consortium members. Krishna shares a success story of an autonomous engineering college that, after participating in IUCEE workshops, transformed its curriculum and examination system, demonstrating the impact of integrated efforts. IUCEE also launched an international conference series and established the Journal for Engineering Education Transformations to document progress and share research.
Krishna highlights two key IUCEE programs: the faculty certification program and EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service). The certification, inspired by IGIP, aims to equip faculty with essential teaching skills, acknowledging that teaching is a learned skill. The program involves orientation, online modules, and portfolio presentations, leading to the 'International Indian Educator' certification. The EPICS program, started in collaboration with Purdue University, promotes community-based projects to develop leadership, teamwork, problem-solving, and communication skills among students. A student consortium also organizes workshops and a conference to address community issues.
Krishna concludes by emphasizing that transformation requires multiple interconnected pieces, exemplified by the 'Gurukul' concept—centers for teaching and learning that integrate various elements of the ecosystem. He reiterates IUCEE's mantra: 'Are they learning?' and acknowledges the support of corporate sponsors. He identifies key takeaways, including the importance of international experts, the scalability of certification programs, and the critical role of EPICS in preparing future engineers to address grand challenges like pollution and energy. He then hands over to Axel Spoerlein.
Christina White introduces Axel Spoerlein, President of IGIP, who will discuss 'Smart Ideas for Engineers' and IGIP's impact on modern engineering education. Axel emphasizes the common goal with IUCEE: achieving the best possible engineering education. He highlights recent trends in education, such as growing inequalities and anxieties among students, and the unpredictability of future challenges. He suggests solutions like building trust, fostering flexibility, and developing digital and media competencies. IGIP's mission is to improve teaching quality, increase higher education efficiency, promote creativity, and certify engineering educators.
Axel discusses how rapidly emerging technologies in areas like biotechnology, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence necessitate changes in engineering education. He stresses the need to start STEM education at an early age to prepare younger generations for an infinitely flexible future. He advocates for adaptive and experiential learning, where educators control processes and provide skills while allowing freedom in learning approaches. He then outlines IGIP's mission and vision, accessible on their website, which involves fostering new competencies through experience exchange at international conferences and scientific contributions.
Axel highlights IGIP's success, attributing it to its extensive global network and international collaborations with organizations like ICL (International Collaborative Learning initiative) and IFEES. IGIP has provided advice and consultation for over 45 years, accumulating a vast body of research in engineering pedagogy. He acknowledges key figures like the founding father, Professor Manfred Schimek, and current president Michael Auer. IGIP also publishes new findings in seven international online journals, with the International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy (iJEP) being its flagship publication.
Axel details the 'Ing.Paed.IGIP' certification program, which provides a formal, internationally recognized qualification in teaching and learning methodologies for engineering. This program helps faculty, graduate students, and other interested parties develop personally and professionally. Individuals with an engineering qualification and at least one year of teaching experience can apply after completing training at an accredited IGIP center. The curriculum, which includes workshops, laboratory tactics, and sociological/psychological electives, focuses on developing essential educational competencies in theoretical knowledge, tactics, and best practices. Training centers must meet specific accreditation criteria monitored by the International Monitoring Committee (IMC).
Axel discusses IGIP's working groups, formed by specialists focusing on areas like 'Games in Engineering and Education,' 'Teaching Best Practice,' and 'Entrepreneurship in Engineering Education.' These groups address new developments and demands from the engineering education community. He emphasizes key qualifications needed for future engineers, such as ICT and programming skills, interdisciplinarity, big data analysis, and driving digital enterprises, as highlighted by industry leaders like Siemens and Magna. He advocates for experiential learning and raising attainment levels, emphasizing trust and adaptability.
Axel concludes by stating that IGIP, as the International Society for Engineering Education, has significantly contributed to the quality of engineering education worldwide through its pedagogy and individual accreditation. He believes IGIP can continue to shape the future of teaching and learning with new approaches and methods, especially through its network of experts. He encourages interested individuals to join IGIP's international network or become certified 'Ing.Paed.IGIP' educators or even training centers, emphasizing that united forces, innovation, and creativity will help overcome future challenges. Christina thanks both speakers and announces upcoming webinars and resource availability.
The session opens for questions. A participant asks about the start of an engineering center in India. Krishna clarifies that the IGIP certification program, officially partnered with IUCEE, started three years prior. Another question addresses how to measure the quality and effectiveness of engineering education. Axel mentions accreditation agencies like those in Europe and educational standards, while Krishna adds that institutions must honestly assess outcomes like graduate employability and leadership. A third question discusses the effectiveness of workshops with heterogeneous teams of faculty and students, which both speakers agree would be highly beneficial due to mutual learning and peer-like interactions.