A literature review of critical thinking in engineering education

Abstract

Aoife Ahern is Head of the School of Civil Engineering in University College Dublin. She graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a degree in civil engineering and a PhD from University College London and has been a lecturer, first in TCD and later in UCD since 2000. She also holds a professional diploma in Teaching and Learning. Her primary research area is transport engineering but over the last 18 years, she has developed a strong interest in teaching, education and engineering; in particular, she has been engaged in both national and international research projects looking at how Critical Thinking can be taught and defined in the university curriculum and in engineering education. Caroline Dominguez is a professor at the Engineering Department of the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro in Portugal, where she lectures business/industrial management. She is a member of CIDTFF (Didactics and Technology in Education of Trainers) and CETRAD (Transdisciplinary Studies for Development) research centers where she leads and participates in national and international funded projects (at present coordinating the Crithinkedu Eramsus + European funded project). Her main research interest and publications (ORCID nº: 0000-0002-8486-4142) are on educational issues (critical thinking) as well as project, quality, lean and human resources management. Before pursuing an academic career, she was the head manager of organizations dealing with development issues in Peru and Portugal, where she developed and implemented various international funded projects. Ciaran McNally is a civil engineer and holds a PhD from University College Dublin. His primary research interests relate to construction materials and he has been coordinator of several projects at a national and European level. He also holds a professional diploma in teaching and learning. John O'Sullivan is a Civil Engineer from Trinity College Dublin, and holds a Masters Degree from Queen's University Belfast and a PhD from the University of Ulster. He has been a lecturer in the UCD School of Civil Engineering since 2001. Although his primary research interests relate to environmental hydraulics and hydrology, he has a long-held interest in teaching and pedagogic innovation. He holds a professional Certificate in Teaching and Learning and serves on the School's Teaching and Learning Committee. Daniela Pedrosa is a Post-Doc Researcher at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Developing optimum solutions to engineering problems typically relies on structured and complex thought processes that require evaluation, interpretation and opinion. Well-developed critical thinking (CT) skills are essential for dealing with the multi-dimensional nature of these problems. CT in an engineering context is well reported in teaching and learning academic literature. However, much of this is framed within theoretical and conceptual frameworks. Practical approaches of how CT skills are best promoted in engineering curricula are less common. A state-of-art review of practical interv...

Perguraun Tinggi dalam Mempersiapkan Keterampilan Non-Teknis Mahasiswa di Era Revolusi Industri 4.0

“…Pendekatan praktis tentang bagaimana keterampilan CT dipromosikan terbaik dalam kurikulum teknik kurang umum. (Ahern, Dominguez, McNally, O'Sullivan & Pedrosa, 2019).…”

Cultivation of the Students’ Critical Thinking Ability in Numerical Control Machining Course Based on the Virtual Simulation System Teaching Method

“…Developing optimum solutions to engineering problems typically relies on structured and complex thought processes that require evaluation, interpretation and opinion. Well-developed CT skills are essential for dealing with the multi-dimensional nature of these problems [4]. Over the last decade, there has been an increased focus on developing CT skills within the engineering education [5].…”

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“…This ability is needed as a compulsory component to adjust multi-dimensional engineering problems. It is because an engineer is required to design experiment or product, interpret the data, and understand the effect of their proposed solution for societal context (Ahern, Dominguez, McNally, O'Sullivan, & Pedrosa, 2019). In order to do that, engineering students need to develop their skills in using background knowledge to questions gained information, analyzing complex issues, synthesizing information to make reasonable conclusion, evaluating the data, and solving challenging problems.…”