Engineering Education Review

Venturing into the "uninhabited zone" to explore the path of artificial intelligence

Bo Zhang — 2024-10-23

As a significant breakthrough in the field of natural language processing, Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer's
(ChatGPT's) powerful language generation and transfer capabilities have not only changed the way of human-computer
interaction, but also had a revolutionary impact on multiple industries. Currently, to develop the third generation of artificial
intelligence (AI), issues related to knowledge, data, algorithm innovation, computational resources, and ethics need to be
addressed. The Chinese model is mainly application-driven, but the basic theoretical research is relatively weak. The
development history of AI shows that realizing artificial general intelligence still faces enormous challenges. In the upsurge of
AI, we should remain calm and scrutinize its potential risks. China should increase the intensity of basic theoretical research,
attract global talent, and jointly promote the healthy and sustainable development of the field of AI.

Cultivating resilience in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education

Eubin Sung — 2024-10-24

Resilience plays an essential role in engineering education, as it affects not only students' academic performance and
professional achievements (e.g., adaptability, self-efficacy, self-control, optimism, persistence) but also the professional and
personal well-being of both students and educators. This review focuses on resilience in education for science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors, highlighting distinct conceptualizations of resilience, recent empirical research
on resilience in STEM education, and the role of discourses, narratives, and social interactions in enhancing resilience
enactment. In conclusion, we emphasize the need for pedagogical strategies to foster resilience enactment in STEM
education and propose possible directions for future research.

Facilitating outstanding engineering faculty members through training from recruitment to retirement

Thanikachalam Vedhathiri — 2024-10-23

Most of the higher engineering education institutions don't focus on continuous training of their faculty members from
recruitment to retirement (R to R). Because of this, the quality of performance of untrained faculty members gradually
reduces and this impacts the attributes of their graduates, sporadic contribution to knowledge capital, and poor return on
the investments (ROI) in engineering education. There is a need for an integrated and dynamic model for the training and
development of engineering faculty members. The objectives of this research are to assess the literature on faculty
development; to identify the total needs of the engineering faculty members from recruitment to retirement (R to R); to
suggest effective and efficient methods of planned faculty development; and to validate the suggested process of
development through a set of engineering institutions. The action research method has been adopted to assess the global
literature, and consult multinational companies, local engineering companies, and alumni on their needs. It is found that
‘Faculty Development Courses’ are required for all engineering faculty members from entry to exit to facilitate meritocracy. A
critical review of the literature revealed that most of the researchers have focused their research on entry-level faculty
members or some middle-level faculty members. Only a few institutes focused on the senior members. Hence, this study
focused on lifelong faculty development courses from entry-level to exit level. The training needs assessment was based on
the feedback from 396 entry-level faculty members who were purposefully included in this research. The outcomes are
presented in seven parts: (1) Entry-level faculty development programs (FDPs), (2) Getting recognized, (3) Middle-level FDPs,
(4) Student personnel administration, (5) Senior-level FDPs, (6) Advanced-level FDPs, and (7) Radical innovations. This
research provides a 360-degree assessment and creates a guide both for the educational administrators and faculty
members to reach excellence. Learning is a lifelong process. The suggestions were validated through a set five of
institutions. and they started implementing them. The continuous process of faculty development from recruitment to
retirement has been appreciated but it may take several years to institutionalize it. Limitations of this study are a smaller
number of faculty members (396) and suggestions for future research have also been indicated. This gave a promising cost
effective faculty development process at every stage of faculty growth and resulted in outstanding institutes with high
performing faculty members. Further, these faculty members contributed to human and knowledge capital.

Study on Engineering Capability Cultivation of Postgraduate with University-Enterprise Joint Projects

Wende Ke — 2024-10-24

The engineering capability of industry is very important for nation, especially in this fast developing stage of technology. Postgraduates are the candidates of engineering talents. We discussed the related works in current researches and policies of cultivation about postgraduates. Aimed at the problems in cultivating postgraduates' engineering ability in university & enterprise joint projects, the multi dimensional cooperation is proposed. First, the collaborative framework of cultivation is analyzed. Secondly, we proposed the directions that needs to be enhanced or weakened in cultivation procedures. Thirdly, three real cases were brought forth and analyzied while dealing with university-enterprise joint projects. The methods handled here are able to help those universities, mentors, postgraduates and enterprises altogether when improving postgraduate's engineering capability in university-enterprise joint projects.

Innovative engineering education for a better future

Jürgen Kretschmann — 2024-10-24

The world is now changing almost continuously and very rapidly. Multifaceted challenges are facing humanity. Great minds
have highlighted that you cannot solve problems on the same level of consciousness that created it. Better engineering is a
basis to give our planet and our people the best possible perspective. It can ensure a safer, more fair, healthier, more
efficient and peaceful future. To improve the world in a sustainable and an ethically responsible manner, future engineers
need the best possible education. Students should learn to develop and apply better technologies, and universities have a
responsibility to deliver them outstanding knowledge based on best possible methods. In the applied sciences know-how
should not only be generated and transferred within academic circles but should be primarily used in real life. Theory has to
be integrated with practice. In the classroom engineering students should be empowered to meet challenges in life, at the
working place and beyond. This paper introduces a innovative approach in engineering education based on the cases of
work-integrated study programs at the Hainan Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences in Hainan, China.

Integration of science and education: Reform and practice of innovative talent cultivation model in the field of communication engineering

Guang Wu — 2024-10-24