Page 50 - 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

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Guideposts to the Future

There are a variety of mechanisms and specific programs that have
been investigated and/or developed to affect changes in education in
general, and engineering education in particular. Some examples of these
are discussed below.

COLLABORATIONS

The difficulty of effecting change duly noted, there are, perhaps,
some advantages now over past attempts to transform undergraduate
engineering. For example, there is a wide range of collaborations already
in place—some sponsored by federal agencies such as the National
Science Foundation (NSF); others sparked by industry, foundations,
and/or professional associations; and others engaging global partners.
These collaborations demonstrate that there are effective means for
building the kinds of formal and informal relationships needed to effect
systemic change. From these collaborations, we can learn about the pro-
cesses of collective goal setting; of designing, implementing, and assess-
ing curricular and pedagogical approaches; and of using technologies to
enhance learning. There are also lessons learned about how to, or how
not to, adapt innovations and reforms in different settings, on campuses
with different missions and circumstances. The experiences of depart-
ments and institutions involved in the NSF-funded Engineering
Coalitions, the most recent Grand Challenges effort, and in the

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