Academic approach to transform organisations: one engineer at a time

Abstract

Every year software development industry requires a higher number of trained software engineers who are not only skilled programmers but also talented software projects managers. To deliver high-quality software projects, engineers require of the application of sound engineering competencies along with discipline. Obtaining those practices usually require years of experience. Companies are not prepared to invest this time on engineers resulting in a high percentage of deficient projects. Here, the authors present a bachelor-level competency-based approach that develops and evaluates such competencies during a challenge-based learning experience. In this way, the rate of successful projects where software engineers are involved will be higher, as they have obtained the appropriate competencies to deliver such projects.

Education 4.0 in higher education and computer science: A systematic review

“…In such conditions, the educator was monitoring student progress and facilitating understanding through discussions [61]. A educator as facilitator was also seen as the person strengthening communication, ethics, leadership, security and software skills [44]. These conditions point to educators as the agents in charge of developing student‐centred learning environments [87].…”

Towards Active Evidence-Based Learning in Engineering Education: A Systematic Literature Review of PBL, PjBL, and CBL

“…When it comes to teachers, a number of studies emphasize that implementing active learning methods requires great effort from them as well as a lot of time resources [65,70]. Likewise, because the biggest share of learning depends on students, they need to invest a considerably large amount of time in developing the solution, which often leads to spending more hours on it than is originally planned in the curriculum [71]. It is reported that because of time constraints, students often feel like they have to rush through developing a solution, which does not ensure that they deliver the best result at their capability [44].…”

“…In PBL, PjBL, and CBL, students work within teams, and because of different students' roles and team compositions, conflicts are normally difficult to avoid, and often it is up to the teacher to monitor and help solve them [65]. Studies report that students find it challenging to work within teams not only because of potential issues of fair work distribution but also because typically teams in PBL, PjBL, and CBL are multidisciplinary [71]. Moreover, because of the nature of team compositions, students might be struggling to pick up the pace of developing the necessary skills and solving the problem or challenge [62].…”

“…Students should enable them to efficiently solve real-world problems related to implementing the circular economy [64]. An additional argument for CBL is that there is a gap between the industries' requirements and the skills that engineers learn in their university education to push industry in a leading position (e.g., [16,71]), as mentioned in the Introduction of the paper.…”

“…Disciplinary competency includes the knowledge of theoretical concepts as well as the ability to apply such knowledge. Transversal skills that could be addressed include applied ethics, and effective oral and written communication, but also competencies needed in the workforce, such as collaborative work, project management, leadership, resilience to failure, competitiveness, confidentiality in results, and critical analysis, as well as thinking and creativity [62,71]. Additionally, a positive motivation to be able to continue one's learning process and to contribute to the teacher-learner relationship is of importance [64,65].…”