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AAEE Newsletter - December 2004

Newsletter of the
Australasian Association
for Engineering Education

December 2004

Contents

Message from the President 1

National Executive. 1

Invitation to the 2005 Conference! 2

Annual awards. 2

Peer Support Network for New Academics in Engineering. 2

The website. 3

Conferences in 2005. 3

Books to read over the summer 3

Useful Websites. 3

Future Conferences. 4

Contributions. 4

Message from the President

At a time when the pressures of change, reform and restructuring being felt by many engineering academics continues unabated, I hope that your organisation, the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AaeE) can serve you in ways that make a real difference.

In 2004/5 we will be fostering more Special Interest Groups (SIGs), recognizing and celebrating excellence in engineering education through our enhanced awards scheme, encouraging the wider participation of members and potential members, developing better ways to communicate with our members, responding to issues in the wider community and continuing to build closer working relationships with organisations involved in engineering education globally.

I am indebted to the leadership of Gunilla Burrowes and the hard work of the executive team during 2003/4 and their legacy of shaping AaeE as a vibrant, member-focused organisation. Congratulations to David Dowling and the organising team for a superb 2004 Annual Conference in Toowoomba. It evoked lively discussions and we were all challenged by the keynote speakers.

Our annual conference for 2005 is in Sydney and it is a collaboration with the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).  The themes of this 4th ASEE/AaeE Global Colloquium on Engineering Education are Globalisation of Engineering Education, the so called K-12 Pipeline (Kindergarten to year 12) and the Transformation of the Disciplines.  The emphasis will be in showcasing exemplars of how people around the world are successfully addressing these challenging issues.  The Colloquium will feature a large number of eminent speakers from around the world.  I encourage you to actively participate by submitting a paper to this significant event. Please mark the dates in your diary: 26-30th September, 2005.

In conclusion, I am honoured to serve as President of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AaeE) this year and I am looking forward to the challenge.

David Radcliffe

National Executive

The Annual General Meeting of the Association was held during the Conference at USQ on Tuesday, 28 September 2004. The new Executive Committee of AaeE for 2004/5 was elected. Details of these members can be found at http://www.aaee.com.au/about/executiv.htm.

Please contact any member of the Executive to communicate your views about engineering education and the Association. Nominations will be called before next year’s conference for the Executive for 2005/6.

Invitation to the 2005 Conference!

We extend a warm invitation to you to participate in the 4th ASEE/AaeE Global Colloquium on Engineering Education Australian in Sydney, Australia, 26-30 September 2005.

This is the fourth in a series of Global Colloquia initiated by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and it incorporates the 16th Annual Conference for the Australasian Association for Engineering Education and the 11th Australasian Women in Engineering Forum. The Colloquium will bring together over 300 delegate attendees from around the world.

Conference Themes

·         Globalisation of Engineering Education

·         K-12 Pipeline

·         Transformation of the Disciplines

These themes will be of particular interest to

·         Engineering educators

·         Engineering Deans and University administrators

·         Industry leaders

·         Professional engineering institutions and to related Professional Associations

·         Teachers and career advisors in primary and secondary schools and

·         Education policy makers

The Colloquium will feature up to 50 national and international Invited Speakers, selected for their expert knowledge of the themes and their impact as speakers.

Expressions of Interest

If you are interested in participating in the Colloquium, please complete the Expression of Interest Form below, and your information will be sent via email to the Secretariat Registrar.

Visit the website and register your interest

Annual awards

Each year, the Association recognises excellent achievement in Engineering Education in a number of categories. The award winners for 2004 are described here. Details of the awards for 2005 will be posted soon at the website.

Peer Support Network for New Academics in Engineering

The New Academic Peer Support Network (PSN) is an informal network of Academics new to Engineering.  It is aimed at providing those of us new to Academia with an opportunity to share experiences - both good and bad - with others in the same position, and facing similar challenges. 

We’re looking for anyone who is new to the job of being an Academic, regardless of their background.  If you fit the description, get in touch with us.  If you know someone in your School who’s new to the job, let them know we exist so they can get in touch.  We’ve got a mailing list and a monthly newsletter to help share information and ideas.

You can find us through our website (), or you can email one (or both) of the two organisers, Euan Lindsay () and Marcin Ziemski ().

We look forward to hearing from you!

The website

International Digest

Those of you who are keen watchers of our website will have noticed the recent issues of an International Digest, providing a wider perspective on changes in engineering education worldwide. This Digest is kindly made available by Russel Jones and World Expertise LLC.

Old News

There is a regular passage of newsletters, digests and other documents appearing on and disappearing from the AAEE home page. You can find all the old news by clicking on the “News” heading on the home page.

Conferences in 2005

Civil Engineering Education in the Next Decade (ASCEND)

The 5th Symposium of the Association of European Civil Engineering Faculties (AECEF) on Civil Engineering Education in the Next Decade (ASCEND) will be held at Helsinki University of Technology in June 2005: http://www.hut.fi/Units/Bridge/AECEF/

More …

Show me more (via Google)

Books to read over the summer

The Art of Changing the Brain, James Zull: http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/1579220541/qid%3D1050593768/sr%3D1-8/ref%3Dsr%5F1%5F2%5F8/701-5471111-0999563

The Power of Mindful Learning, Ellen Langer, Perseus Books, Cambridge, Mass: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0201339919/102-3958869-8886527

Useful Websites

Thanks to Allison Brown from QUT for this excellent list: (in case you missed these in the Aug newsletter)

Educational Technology

·         Chickering and Ehrmann 'Implementing the Seven Principles' http://www.tltgroup.org/programs/seven.html

·         Why Bother – Stephen Gilbert Paper – http://www.tltgroup.org/gilbert/whybother.htm

·         The Changing Faces of Virtual Education – http://www.col.org/virtualed/index2.htm

·         Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Teaching Online – http://www.merlot.org/Home.po

·         Agilent Technologies – Educators' Corner – http://www.educatorscorner.com/index.cgi

·         Learning Technology – http://lttf.ieee.org/learn_tech/issues/january2001/#18

·         Instructional Design Theories – http://www.indiana.edu/~idtheory/home.html

·         Teaching Tips – http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/teachtip.htm

·         Explorations in Learning and Instruction: The Theory into Practice Database – http://tip.psychology.org/

·         Web Teaching – http://www.dartmouth.edu/~webteach/articles/media.html

·         The Technology Source – http://ts.mivu.org/default.asp?show=issue&id=165

Engineering Education

·         William Wulf – The Urgency of Engineering Education Reform – http://www.nae.edu/nae/naehome.nsf/weblinks/NAEW‑4NHMKV?opendocument

·         Taking Stock – A Study of Engineering Education – http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/PPP/takingstock/index.htm

·         Richard Felder's Education Papers – http://www.ncsu.edu/felder‑public/Papers/Education_Papers.html

·         Engineering the Future – Yale Paper – http://www.ucop.edu/acadaff/yale.html

·         Centre for Lifelong Learning and Design – http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~l3d/

·         Envisioning a 21st Century Science and Engineering Workforce for the US – http://www.nap.edu/books/0309088569/html/index.html

·         Rocky Mountains Institute – Sustainability Papers – http://www.rmi.org/

Future Conferences

Expressions of interest are invited for hosting future conferences.  A copy of the guidelines for prospective hosts may be obtained from Wageeh Boles at QUT, w.boles@qut.edu.au.

Contributions

Don’t forget to share your good ideas, conference announcements, book reviews, great websites, etc with other members. Send them to Roger.Hadgraft@RMIT.edu.au for inclusion in the next Newsletter.

Best wishes for the holiday season and for the new year!