Page 40 - Educating the Engineer of 2020: Adapting Engineering Education to the New Century

Educating the Engineer of 2020: Adapting Engineering Education to the New Century
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11338.html

GETTING TO 2020: GUIDING STRATEGIES 23

FOCUS ON LEVERS FOR CHANGE
A factor underlying the systems of engineering practice and engi-
neering education is that the engineering profession has a trans-organi-
zational character. That is, practicing engineers seek to maintain a pro-
fessional identity that they can carry with them, irrespective of who is
their current employer. Membership in professional societies and adher-
ence to professional codes of ethics codified by such societies provide a
means to achieve these ends. Professional societies are seen as the pri-
mary avenues through which engineers support their identities as pro-
fessionals, identify opportunities for continuing professional education,
and collectively communicate their views on issues affecting their pro-
fession to the policy community (Denning, 2001). Professional societ-
ies are also key portals through which knowledge is diffused to members
of a profession (Hall, 2003). It is through this close connection to their
members that professional societies can play an important role in advis-
ing on changes in the engineering education system.
Engineering faculty, of course, will be on the front line of any
change, and encouraging and enlisting their support for engineering
education innovations is essential. Providing incentives for their sup-
port is challenged by the present faculty reward system, which bases
decisions for tenure primarily on excellence in research. The nation has
benefited enormously from the efforts of research universities, through
their research faculty and Ph.D. programs, but this has not necessarily
translated into excellence in undergraduate education. In a 1998 study,
fully 98 percent of students switching from engineering to another ma-
jor cited poor teaching as a major reason for their departure; 81 percent
cited inadequate advising (Adelman, 1998). Thus, increased attention
to teaching, to how students learn, and to student mentoring is impor-
tant for enriching the undergraduate experience. To effect such changes,
one must engage engineering faculty leaders, including deans, depart-
ment chairs, and individual faculty in consideration of how to reward
attention to and excellence in such activities.
The other major players in the engineering education system are, of
course, the students, who are the “consumers” seeking preparation to
enter the profession and, in some sense, are the “products” of the educa-
tional system. As consumers, students should be participants in the edu-
cational processes. Much has been written about the responsibility that
students need to take for their own education and careers. Efforts to
help them do so, however, frequently devolve to attempts to “fix” their

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