A New Paradigm for a New Field: Communicating Representations of Engineering Education Research

Based on a three‐year experience of developing, facilitating, and assessing NSF‐funded workshops on Rigorous Research in Engineering Education (RREE), the authors present four representations of engineering education scholarly work in the United States, specifically teaching and research. Many of the representations describe the relationships between engineering research, education research, teaching, and assessment. For each of the representations, assessment data are presented to evaluate which aspects resonated with workshop participants and which needed to be changed for wide acceptance by a U.S. engineering education audience. It was found that participants preferred continua to dichotomy and were more receptive to models that were introduced inductively through active learning exercises. Lessons learned, implications for the field, and future plans for further development of the paradigm are also included.     

Engineering Entrepreneurship: An Example of A Paradigm Shift in Engineering Education

This paper describes a course on technology‐based entrepreneurship. Brown University's Division of Engineering has created a two‐semester course sequence designed to introduce students to entrepreneurship through a unique merger of classroom learning and industry participation. The course is open to advanced undergraduates from all engineering disciplines, and emphasis is placed upon recruiting almost half of the student participants from outside of engineering in order to develop “team building” skills. Local “parent companies” provide seed ideas or concepts to student groups who use skills learned in the classroom (both in this course as well as other courses) to develop and refine the parent company's idea and turn it into a viable simulated spin‐off business or new start‐up. Managers from the parent companies serve in an evolving role over the two‐semester sequence beginning as a “board of directors” for the spin‐off and eventually evolving into a potential source of start‐up capital (or possibly a customer for the products of the company). The faculty carefully manage the student‐company interface. Deliverables at the end of the two‐semester sequence include a business plan and a prototype product.     

The Digital Revolution: A New Paradigm for Microfluidics

The digital revolution has come to microfluidics. In digital microfluidics (DMF), discrete droplets are manipulated by applying electrical fields to an array of electrodes. In contrast to microchannels, in DMF each sample and reagent is individually addressable, which facilitates exquisite control over chemical reactions. Here, we review the state‐of‐the‐art in DMF, with a discussion of device formats, actuation physics, and biological and nonbiological applications. Along the way, we identify the key players in the field, and speculate on the advances and challenges that lie ahead. As with other fronts in the digital revolution, there have been and will be unexpected developments as DMF matures, but we posit that the future is bright for this promising technology.     

Environmentally Smart Engineering Education: A Brief on a Paradigm in Progress

Sustainable development has become the dominant economic, environmental, and social issue of the 21^st century, yet its broad infusion within engineering education programs remains a challenge. This paper discusses the importance of environment and sustainable development considerations, the need for their widespread inclusion in engineering education, and the impediments to change. The roles of ABET and others in the evolution of these considerations in engineering education are presented; however, it is through the ABET engineering criteria that broad adoption of environment related considerations in engineering education will most likely occur. An effort to achieve this aim is described.     

The Creative Experience in Engineering Practice: Implications for Engineering Education

This research came about as an outgrowth of mounting concern among industrial leaders about the impact of traditional engineering education on the creative potential of future engineers. As there is little agreement on creativity or how to teach it, we chose to begin the study without assuming a theoretical stance about engineering creativity. Instead, we started with a search for first-hand information about creativity and the creative process experienced by working engineers. This phenomenological research paradigm is a way to describe a complex, dynamic experience without prior assumptions, the results of which can then be used to generate theory or develop a structure directly from the data. This approach has similarities to an expert system development, in which the knowledge and skills of an expert are gathered and processed to develop an understanding of the system or phenomenon. Eight professional engineers from the southeastern United States were selected by peer nomination as examples of (expert) creative engineers. They were trained in different areas of engineering (eg. chemical, mechanical, industrial) and worked in organizations ranging from large international consulting firms to small regional businesses. These subjects were interviewed about their experiences in doing creative work and their thoughts about the creative process, including the impact of relevant educational experiences. These interviews were audio-recorded and subjected to a phenomenological data analytic procedure, which extracted the experiential themes and educational issues. The experiential themes involved in the creative process of working engineers clustered as

• ? Desire and fulfillment (motivation),
• ? Autonomy and support (environment),
• ? Openness and knowledge (tools), and
• ? Engrossment and connection (process).

This paper discusses the implications and application of these themes for curricular innovation in engineering education.     

Bioinformatics: A New Field in Engineering Education

Bioinformatics is a new engineering field poorly served by traditional curricula. Bioinformatics concerns the use of computer and statistical methods to understand biological data, such as the voluminous data produced by high‐throughput biological experimentation. As the demand has outpaced the supply of bioinformaticians, the University of California, Santa Cruz, School of Engineering is establishing undergraduate and graduate degrees in bioinformatics. In this paper we explore the blend of mathematics, engineering, science, and bioinformatics topics and courses needed for an undergraduate degree in this new field.     

工业工程在台湾产业界的典范移转

工业工程在台湾产业生产力提升与竞争优势一直扮演重要角色。随着经营环境的变迁,工业工程的角色亦随之转变。分析工业工程在台湾实践的经验,提出一套工业工程典范移转架构,探讨工业工程人员在企业内的功能以及与其它功能组织互动模式之演变,并以3个产业的案例来检视此架构及其具体成果,最后总结工业工程在台湾产业已从生产绩效导向典范移转至经营绩效导向,并扩大对企业经营与决策力的提升。     

数字技术给我国电影带来的变化和挑战

21世纪的今天数字技术已广泛应用于各行各业,给社会和人们的生活带来了巨大的变化。在电影领域里,数字技术从局部应用到系统应用、从试验到实践,目前电影正从传统的胶片方式向数字方式全面的过渡。这给电影带来了前所未有的变化和挑战,同时也带来难得的发展机遇。一、数字技术给电影带来的变化电影数字化是电影诞生百年以来最大的一次创新和变革。它使电影从艺术创作、拍摄制作和发行放映、市场运营到管理模式都发生了深刻的变化。中国的电影数字化应用始于90年代中期电影数字立体声的制作与放映。10年来特别是近几年在总局、电影局数字化发…     

The View from the Top: Leaders' Perspectives on a Decade of Change in Engineering Education*

Researchers at The Pennsylvania State University's Center for the Study of Higher Education conducted 27 semi‐structured one‐hour interviews with the deans, chairs, faculty, industry leaders, and association officers who comprise the leadership of national engineering education societies and the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. During the interviews, these leaders described what they believe are the two most significant changes in the in the field of engineering education during the last decade. This article discusses the sources and pervasiveness of each change, how each change has influenced policy or practice in engineering education, and the best ways to encourage faculty involvement in the change.     

推进大学质量教育 迎接未来世纪挑战

在介绍先进工业国家开展大学质量教育的基础上，将大学教育分成４个阶段、１２个过程。还介绍了中国的大学质量教育工作者为推进大学质量教育所作的努力。最后，为如何实现大学教育管理改革，将教育管理纳入ＩＳＯ９０００标准化轨道提出了若干建议。     

Environmental Education Research: Implications for Engineering Education

Most environmental education in engineering has pertained to the development of technical environmental engineering skills. However, at the post‐secondary level, the spectrum of environmental education approaches is broad, and no consensus exists on the necessary curricular mix for forming effective environmental professionals. This paper examines the tension between the environmental education goals of knowing and caring: learning to scientifically describe how environmental processes work, and learning to value and feel concern for the environment. Literature on the development of environmental sensitivity is explored for insights into how the environmental sensitivity of engineering students could be assessed and nurtured.     

An Introduction to the Community of Professors: The Engineering Education Scholars Workshop

It can be difficult for new faculty to get the information they need on issues such as teaching, advising, and setting up a research program. While some have excellent mentors, others have come to rely on trial and error or word of mouth. In 1996, the NSF Engineering Education Scholars Workshop began at Carnegie Mellon University to address the needs of new and future engineering faculty by:

• ? providing professional teaching development;
• ? offering guidance in supervising graduate students and conducting research;
• ? discussing likely engineering education and research challenges in the 21^st century; and
• ? providing intellectual and social support with colleagues.

After three years, a significant amount of knowledge and experience has been gathered by the workshop co‐chairs. This paper details the structure of the workshop and discusses the underlying principles and implementation to provide guidance for those planning similar workshops.