We are calling for a paradigm shift in engineering education. In times of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (“4IR”), a myriad of potential changes is affecting all industrial sectors leading to increased ambiguity that makes it impossible to predict what lies ahead of us. Thus, incremental culture change in education is not an option anymore. The vast majority of engineering education and training systems, having remained mostly static and underinvested in for decades, are largely inadequate for the new 4IR labor markets. Some positive developments in changing the direction of the engineering education sector can be observed. Novel approaches of engineering education already deliver distinctive, student-centered curricular experiences within an integrated and unified educational approach. We must educate engineering students for a future whose main characteristics are volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Talent and skills gaps across all industries are poised to grow in the years to come. Therefore, promote an engineering curriculum that combines timeless didactic tradition, such as Socratic inquiry, project-based learning, and first-principles thinking with novel elements (e.g. student-centered active and e-learning by focusing on the case study and apprenticeship pedagogical methods) as well as a refocused engineering skillset and knowledge. These capabilities reinforce engineering students’ perceptions of the world and the subsequent decisions they make. This 4IR engineering curriculum will prepare engineering students to become curious engineers and excellent communicators better navigating increasingly complex multistakeholder ecosystems.
What are your opinions?
What are your insights?
Do you know great articles or books which cover this topic well?
Many thanks for your perspective!
M.M. Bühler
The Industy Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) has already changed the way we must educate our Engineers. However, not every University has jumped on board. The main cause has been the lack of lecturers with ITC skills. So, the question is not how to educate our engineers but how to update current lectures and create the new lectures with ITC capabilities and hand on the job experience, rather than a Didactic Tradition. In addition, to prepare engineering students to become curious engineers and excellent communicators requires a different approach outside the curriculum such as self-awareness programs.
Once the CDIO (Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate) educational framework was considered to posses the right standards to create top engineers, however, with the development of the IR4.0, CDIO seems to become irrelevant. The digital transformation has fragmented the IR4.0 in many components of technology, such as; Twin Cities, Smart Cities, IoT. Ai, mobile devices, data, in manufacturing products dictated how they supposed to be produced.
The term Engineer in the IR4.0 extends the qualification of a person beyond, design, builds, or maintains engines, machines, or public works. Therefore, the universal curriculum to educate an engineer will also need an update, each curriculum will have a set syllabus design for each component of IR4.0.
Please revise for reference:
RELEVANCE OF CDIO TO INDUSTRY 4.0
PROPOSAL FOR 2 NEW STANDARDS
Sin-Moh Cheah
School of Chemical & Life Sciences, Singapore Polytechnic
Helene Leong
Department of Educational Development, Singapore Polytechnic
HI Dr M.M. Bühler . I think the Fourth Industrial Revolution is rooted in the integration of networked technologies to facilitate automation with the onset of artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things being used in our everyday lives. The application of such automation is also found in the education sector. See the link: Technical Report Sustainable development and education in the Fourth Industri...
Also, Dr M.M. Bühler : The Industrial Revolution brought several important changes to the field of education by making education accessible for children of all socioeconomic backgrounds and setting laws making education a requirement. The government, for the first time in history, allocated funds to promote education in schools. See the link: https://www.mvorganizing.org/how-did-the-industrial-revolution-impact-education-in-the-united-states/
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