AAEE Newsletter - October 2007

Newsletter of the
Australasian Association
for Engineering Education

October 2007

From the Editor

Text Box: Joining AAEE
Go to http://www.aaee.com.au/join/ to download the application form. This month we have a bumper Newsletter, including the Conference update. Then there is:

From the President. 1

Notice of Annual General Meeting 2007. 2

AAEE 2007 Conference Update. 3

Keynote Speakers. 3

Key Features. 3

From the President

I recently came across the headline; “Retired engineers share wisdom with companies”. It appeared in the Lansing State Journal, published August 20, 2007, in Michigan, USA. The article reports that a group of 52 Michigan engineers (with a combined experience of 2,016 years) have found a way to use their expertise, while helping reduce pollution in the state. The Michigan Retired Engineer Technical Assistance program enables these retirees to use their engineering expertise to help businesses reduce pollution. This article resonated well with me, as I was reflecting on this very topic; the experience of retired engineers.

After gaining their first qualification and starting work in industry, engineers go on to accumulate a great wealth of knowledge and experience. This experience is not limited to their technical engineering areas of specialisation but encompasses a much broader range of skills and attributes.

Unfortunately, after long and productive careers, engineers leave their posts - when they retire - and with them disappears all the huge experience they have acquired.

It seems an enormous waste that the new generations of engineering students and newly graduating engineers have no access to, and cannot benefit from, the invaluable experience of retiring engineers. I am aware of some initiatives within Engineers Australia, Queensland Branch, geared towards bringing back retired engineers to share their experience, on an ad hoc or part-time basis.

Currently, there may be some pockets of isolated activities within universities to tap into this valuable resource. I see a need however to coordinate these activities and put them into a sustainable and manageable framework. Such a framework needs to face a number of challenging questions such as: How might this happen? Who would sponsor it? How could it be managed? How would the experience be assessed to direct it to best use? How can this be sustained?

I therefore call upon you, engineering educators, to work collaboratively to establish ways to tap into the expertise of retired or retiring engineers. I would like to invite your suggestions, comments, ideas and more importantly your contributions to make it happen. Implementing some small-scale scheme at your university might be a good starting point that would feed into a larger scale scheme at a later stage.

Let’s make a positive difference for today’s engineering students who will play a vital role in shaping our future.

Wageeh Boles

Notice of Annual General Meeting 2007

It is timely to alert members to possible vacancies on the Executive Committee. This group, which has two face to face meetings per year and two teleconferences has been increasingly active over the last few years and welcomes new faces who would be prepared to play an active role in promoting Scholarship and Good practice in Teaching and Learning throughout Engineering Education in Australia and New Zealand.

The Annual General Meeting of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education will be held in Melbourne on Tuesday 11th December 2007.

The AAEE By-Laws (available on the AAEE Website) provide for an Executive Committee elected by members present at the Annual General Meeting. The Executive Committee consists of nine elected members, up to two additional co-optees, and invited representatives from aligned bodies (currently ACED and EA). Professor Frank Bullen is the ACED representative and Professor Alan Bradley is the Engineers Australia representative.

Executive Committee members are elected for two years, with at least four members being elected each year. Four positions are open to election at the 2007 AGM. Retiring members of the Executive Committee are able to be nominated for re-election.

AaeE members wishing to nominate or be nominated for election to the Executive Committee should register their interest by posting a completed nomination form (see AaeE Website) and a brief one page CV to Christine King at the National Secretariat by 28^th November 2007.

The following are continuing members of the Executive Committee:

· A/Prof Wageeh Boles (as Past president under By-Law 6.5)

· Dr Euan Lindsay

· Dr Elizabeth Godfrey

· Dr Yvonne Toft

· A/Prof Roger Hadgraft (President elect for 2008)

The following members of the Executive Committee are due to retire

· A/Prof David Dowling (indicated not standing for re-election)

· Gunilla Burrowes (indicated not standing for re-election)

· Dr Xu Huang

· A/Prof Holger Maier (indicated not standing for re-election)

As you can see the opportunity to play a role in AaeE is ready and waiting for you.

If you have enquiries about the level of commitment required please do not hesitate to contact any of the current Committee.

AAEE 2007 Conference Update

The last few weeks have been very busy for authors and reviewers! We have received 80+ papers and 8 workshop proposals. Acceptances went out on 17 Sep as promised, with final versions due within 4 weeks on 15 Oct. These papers are in addition to 7 keynote speakers, an industry-focussed first day, the EWB Challenge National Judging on day two and a set of workshops that precede and follow the conference, extending it over a 7 day period, from Friday 7 Dec to Thursday 13 Dec.

Highlights of the AaeE 2007 Conference program include:

Keynote Speakers

· Prof. Anette Kolmos, Aalborg University

· Prof. Ian Cameron, UQ

· Assoc. Prof. Dan Budny, University of Pittsburgh

· Assoc. Prof. Teresa Larkin, American University

· Ms Lizzie Webb, EWB

· Prof. David Radcliffe, Purdue University (ex-UQ)

· Prof. Robin King (Carrick Review)

Key Features

· Forum to explore industry needs from engineering education (day 1)

· Forum on the Carrick-funded Review of Engineering Education (day 1)

· Carrick forum to assist those seeking funding through the Carrick Institute (day 1)

· Advancing the Global Capacity for Engineering Education Research (day 1)

· EWB Challenge National Judging (day 2)

· The Natural Edge Project Workshop on integrating Sustainability in the curriculum (day 3)

· Another 8 short workshops on a range of topics, spread across days 1-3.

· Workshop (preceding Friday, 7 Dec) on Engineering Mathematics for the 21st Century

· Workshop (Thurs, 13 Dec) on PBL: Evidence and Change Strategies (Anette Kolmos from Aalborg University)

Registrations are now open at the website (http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/aaee2007/). Early Bird Registration closes 15 October. It is time to take advantage of costs and REGISTER NOW.

In the spirit of active learning, this conference will be asking authors to be brief and to the point. Your role, as presenter, is to prompt the audience into discussion, facilitated by the Session Chairs. One dynamic way of using PowerPoint for brief, punchy presentations is pecha kucha: http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/magazine/15-09/st_pechakucha. We are also hoping to have the papers up on the website before the conference so those registered can map out the sessions they want to attend and do a bit of pre-reading. (That’s what we expect from our students, isn’t it? ;-).

Plan to get the most out of the conference. It’s going to be an engineering education extravaganza!

We are looking forward to greeting each of you at the conference.

Roger Hadgraft & Harald Sondergaard

Conference Chair and Program Chair, The University of Melbourne

For further conference information review the Conference website www.cs.mu.oz.au/aaee2007/ or contact the Conference Office on 03 8344 6107 or aaee2007@union.unimelb.edu.au

Latest News

AaeE Excellence in Engineering Education Annual awards

Applications have now closed and judging is underway for this year’s Awards and Citations. A very high standard has already been noted in the presentation of applications.

Finalists will be contacted by the end of October and we hope to see you all at the Awards Dinner on Tuesday 11^th December in Melbourne.

Carrick-funded Review of Engineering Education

Facilitated consultations at universities in 15 cities have now been conducted by Professor Robin King, the Project Manager, and by Professor Alan Bradley from Engineers Australia. These discussions have involved academic staff, students and members of industry advisory groups. Robin is now starting a round of consultations with Engineers Australia's College Boards and industry representatives. Requests for submissions to the review have been posted on the Engineers Australia website (as news item), and with an article in the September issue of the Engineers Australia magazine. Robin has said that he is keen to receive individual submissions from AAEE members.

Robin addressed the AaeE Executive via teleconference on 28 August 2007 and provided an update on some of the emerging issues raised from the consultations and submissions:

· The connections between research and teaching in engineering are important to sustain the quality of the curriculum, and for sustaining and engaging academic staff.

· Most engineering schools are operating with fewer resources per student than in the past, putting constraints on the outcomes of the education provided, in areas of laboratory work, for example.

· Nevertheless, modern graduates are generally well regarded by employers as having good IT, communication and teamwork skills, understanding of sustainability, and the ability to learn new material rapidly.

· There is a strong need to articulate what engineering is within schools and society at large, and stress the outcomes and opportunities of engineering education, rather than the arduous nature of content of the courses.

· Students have expressed strong commitments to becoming practising engineers, looking forward positively to contributing to the solution of big-issue problems associated with water, energy and climate change, etc. and the opportunities of working overseas.

· The increasing importance of multidisciplinary work, systems thinking and project management, as opposed to focus on component technologies needs to be reflected better in curricula.

· The level and declining trends in the preparation of engineering students in school maths and science are regarded as critical.

· Industry based and practice based education are generally widely applauded when they are well organized.

· There is a need to examine the nexus between teaching and practice as fewer and fewer academics have current industrial experience outside of research functions.

Clearly, the AaeE2007 conference theme speaks to several of these issues, and in moving forward, AAEE and its members have important roles to play.

Robin is presenting on the review at a forthcoming ASEE Global Colloquium in Istanbul, Turkey, as well as at AAEE in December. The project report is due to be submitted to the Carrick Institute in February 2008; this will contain a review of the outcomes from the Changing the Culture recommendations, as well as recommendations to improve engineering education into the future. The Carrick Institute has also recently affirmed that it expects to fund further work in the areas of the discipline-based projects, including engineering.

AaeE Journal (AJEE) Update

AAEE is pleased to announce that the Journal AJEE has a new web site which now incorporates Editorial Manager links and is at http://www.engineersmedia.com.au/journals/aaee/a2index.html. This site will be linked from the AaeE main site: go to the 'Journal' link.

To access papers you will see when you come to the 'Access to Papers' link that you will require your AaeE membership number for access to the full paper. If you require to be reminded of your AaeE membership number or if you would like to join (which is free for all Australian and New Zealand academics) then please refer to http://www.aaee.com.au/membership.htm. Non members can access abstracts through the 'Archive' link and will be able to download the full paper for the cost of A$15.

Editorial Manager software for our submission and review processing of papers has been a great success and we will have this year for the first time in several years two journal issues. Issue 13 Vol 1. is complete and available online and Issue 13 Vol 2 is being built now as papers are accepted for publication.

The Journal editors are now working on the on-line archiving of all previous AJEE journal papers and AaeE conference proceedings. You will be able to still access the Journal from 2000 to 2006 on-line as it has been available through the AaeE web site but earlier Issues will be available shortly.

Engineers Australia has also being working with RMIT Publishing and their Informit Database where past AaeE conference papers and AJEE papers will be included in. This will give your papers much greater exposure throughout the world. Access for this database is available through most University Libraries and as an Engineers Australia member.

We will be organising links for this shortly.

The Bibliography of Engineering Education Project – Update

A draft bibliography is now on the AAEE website. This project has been led by Assoc. Prof. Holger Maier from the University of Adelaide. Comments, suggestions and additions to Holger please.

First Year EWB Design Challenge Update

The EWB Challenge (2007) is a “a national design competition for first-year university students”. The competition aims to develop students’ learning experiences and key attributes “through a team-based design approach using inspirational sustainable development projects”.

The 2007 EWB Challenge has focussed on the sustainable development of the Uluru Children’s Home, an orphanage located in Alamparai in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

In its first year the EWB Challenge has involved 706 teams of between 4-5 students from 21 universities (including 1 from NZ). A fantastic response which indicates the willingness of universities and students to be involved in these community oriented projects.

Preliminary judging will occur on the 27th September and the outcomes (short listed 6 teams for the finals in Melbourne) will be announced/informed in the following week (by Friday 5th October 2007).

The EWB Challenge awards ceremony will be held at the AaeE conference and all 6 finalist team members will receive certificates to acknowledge their achievement. Money prizes will be rewarded to 3 teams with first prize being AUS$3,000, second $2,000 and third $1,000. The winning team can also join EWB for an international study tour on community development. The tour will run for approximately three weeks and include an observation visit to Uluru Children’s Home.

Upcoming Conferences

10 – 13 October FIE Frontiers in Education

Major international conference devoted to improvements in computer science, engineering, and technology (CSET) education.

Milwaukee, US: http://fie.engrng.pitt.edu/fie2007/

7 – 13 December AAEE Annual Conference

Melbourne, VIC

2008

22 – 25 June ASEE Annual Conference Abstract due 19 October 07

Pittsburgh,PA

http://www.asee.org/conferences/annual/2008/

30 Jun – 2 July Pacific Rim First Year High Education Abstract due 29 February 08

Hobart, TAS

http://www.fyhe.qut.edu.au/

14 – 16 July EE2008 Abstract due 2 November 07

Loughborough University, UK Full paper due 10 March 2008

http://www.ee2008.info/index.asp

15 – 18 July ICWES14 International Conference Women Engineers and Scientists

Lille, France Abstract due 6 January 08

http://www.icwes14.org/icwes14-en

22 – 25 October Frontiers in Education Abstract due 14 January 08

Saratoga Springs, NY

http://www.fie-conference.org/08/

Stop Press – News between Newsletters

If you’ve looked at the AAEE website recently, you will have noticed Stop Press. This links to a page of latest news and is the place where the webmasters put conference announcements and other topical things as they occur. It’s something that’s worth checking regularly.

Watch That Page!

A nifty website that can automate the process of checking when web pages change is http://www.watchthatpage.com. Once you register, you can tell the site to monitor pages like Stop Press. When a change happens, you get an email so you can go and check the new page. The email will also tell you what change has occurred. It’s free and you can organise your watched pages into folders. How good is that! ;-)

Useful Resources

What I am reading!

We welcome your input about articles, books or websites which have attracted your attention and interest.

Roger Hadgraft (University of Melbourne) suggests

Journal of Engineering Education, April 2006, 95(2): http://www.asee.org/publications/jee/issueList.cfm?year=2006

Prince and Felder: “Inductive Teaching and Learning Methods: Definitions, Comparisons and Research Bases”

A very interesting read and a good paper to give to staff who want to see the research that supports problem-based, project-based and inquiry-based forms of learning.

The Editorial by Ruth Streveler and Karl Smith in the same issue is also worth reading. It discusses “conducting rigorous research in engineering education”.

The August edition of the International Engineering Education Digest available on our AaeE website contained the following snippets which the editor found particularly interesting:

College science teaching very slow to change, despite best efforts – In an overview of the state of science teaching in US higher education, Jeffrey Brainard, reporting in the August 3 edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education, reveals a general consensus among those in the field that not much reform has taken place, despite the availability of instructional models which have been proven successful in retaining students and increasing learning. The large lecture format persists, due to an incompatible tenure system, faculty resistance to change, and lack of sufficient awareness of alternative approaches. Student based, or inquiry based learning models emphasize active students, better and quicker feedback and real-world problems. But over the past decade, such approaches have made few inroads at the major research institutions who graduate the lion’s share of science and engineering students. Administrators are reluctant to advocate for changes against the will of the faculty. In general, however, engineering colleges are more open to changes than are science departments, mainly because ABET Inc. engineering accreditations standards require student centered teaching, while there are no centralized accreditors for the various science disciplines. (See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i48/48a01601.htm)

And surprise, surprise ….

High school math is best predictor of success in college science courses – Researchers from Harvard University and the University of Virginia recently reported that a high school course in one of the sciences does not act as a predictor of success in a college course in other scientific areas. However, strong mathematics training in high school is a predictor of success in college courses in biology, chemistry and physics. These results run contrary to the “Physics First” theory which advocates for the teaching of physics as the first course in science in secondary schools. And the findings do not support the notion that learning physics and chemistry will be helpful to learning introductory biology. The survey was administered to 8,474 students at 63 four year institutions in the US, wrote Philip M. Sandler and Robert H. Tai in the July 27 issue of Science. (See http://www.sciencemag.org)