Page 53 - 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

36 EDUCATING THE ENGINEER OF 2020

• the dissolution of boundaries between disciplines such that
“imagination, diversity, and the capacity to adapt quickly have
become essential qualities for both institutions and individuals,
not only to facilitate research, but also to ensure the immediate
and broad-based application of research results related to the
environment. To meet these complex challenges as well as ur-
gent human needs, we need to . . . frame integrated interdisci-
plinary research questions and activities and to merge data, ap-
proaches, and ideas across spatial, temporal, and societal scales”
(AC-ERE, 2003);
• the efforts of the learning sciences community and researchers
in specific disciplines exploring how people learn that are pro-
viding a solid theoretical foundation for designing, implement-
ing, and assessing new approaches to transform undergraduate
education—course by course and program by program, as well
as at the institution-wide level—to enhance student learning
(NRC, 1999);
• external pressures for accountability that call for greater stew-
ardship over the quality and character of learning—requiring
a clearly defined mission, explicit educational goals, and
documented progress toward meeting those goals (ABET, 2005,
p. 1);
• student demographics, with greater diversity from the perspec-
tives of academic preparation, career aspirations, and ethnic
background that require approaches to learning, teaching, and
research designed intentionally to respect (and celebrate) this
diversity;
• faculty demographics—a pattern of heavy retirements now un-
derway and anticipated in the immediate future affords an op-
portunity to reconsider preparation of incoming faculty, includ-
ing consideration of what kinds of skills they will need and
what rewards and incentives will be offered for their scholarly
efforts;
• economic pressures to use resources as efficiently as possible to
serve agreed-upon priorities; and
• opportunities afforded by new technologies to transform the
learning environment:

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