The Interdisciplinary Future of Engineering Education Breaking Through Boundaries in Teaching and Learning

The Interdisciplinary Future of Engineering Education discusses the current state of engineering education and addresses the daily challenges of those working in this sector. The topics of how to do a better job of teaching a specific audience, how to facilitate learning and how to prepare students for their future careers are extensively covered, and innovative solutions are proposed throughout. This unique book brings together a breadth of expertise, attested by the broad backgrounds of the experts and educational practitioners contributing to this volume, to lay the foundations for the future direction with the improvement of education of engineers in mind. This collaborative effort by a group of uniquely placed educational practitioners provides guidance on the status of current engineering education and lays the foundations for its future direction. The reasons ‘why we teach’, ‘what we teach’, ‘how we teach’, ‘when we teach’, ‘where we teach’ and ‘who teaches’ are all re-examined in a new light and ideas and solutions are proposed and evidentially supported. The book sets out ideas for the need to develop a systemic and interdisciplinary approach to the education of future engineers on a model of student-based learning. This book will be of great interest to academics and educational researchers in the fields of engineering education and higher education. It will also appeal to higher education policymakers, educators, and university teachers.

Part 1. Setting the scene 1.1 The case for new pedagogies in engineering education 1.2 Why go to university? The past and future of engineering education Part 2. Recent innovations in delivering effective engineering education 2.1 Pedagogical and cost advantages of a multidisciplinary approach to delivering practical teaching 2.2 Engineering with a human face 2.3 Interdisciplinary project weeks 2.4 Towards improved engineering education in the United Kingdom Part 3. Linking education to employability 3.1 Efficiency of teaching core knowledge and employability competencies in chemical engineering education 3.2 Personal and professional skills: something they do teach you at university 3.3 Breaking boundaries with liberal studies in engineering Part 4. The affective side of education 4.1 Through the lenses of the two I’s: implement or innovate? 4.2 Enterprise education: outside classrooms, inside students’ hearts 4.3 Enhancing and managing group creativity through off-task breaks Part 5. Concluding remarks: the way ahead

Plato Kapranos is a Senior University Teacher at the Department of Materials Science & Engineering, The University of Sheffield. He teaches Personal & Professional Skills, Innovative Approaches in Teaching and Learning, and Creativity, Innovation, Enterprise, and Ethics for Engineers for both undergraduates and postgraduates.