Case study research: training interdisciplinary engineers with context-dependent knowledge

Chanan, Amit; Vigneswaran, S.; Kandasamy, Jaya

doi:10.1080/03043797.2012.658509

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Hence, engineering education appears to lag behind the state-of-art of technological development, as the study concludes. Chanan, Vigneswaran & Kandasamy (2012) support these findings for the case of water engineering and highlight another aspect closely related to the demands in understanding and implementing technology: The planning and installation of complex technological systems requires engineers to understand the social and cultural context in which a technology is supposed to be used. These aspects, as the authors argue, have so far not been properly integrated in the currently dominating engineering education paradigm.…”

Section: The Shortening Of Technological Cyclesmentioning

confidence: 53%

“…As recent work by Akay (2008) on engineering education in the US has shown, non-academic institutions like industry and other sectors report that engineering graduates were not sufficiently equipped with necessary skills and would particularly lack job-related skills and soft skills such as adequate teamwork and managerial behavior. Academic institutions, as the same study illustrates, state to have made similar experience by describing to have observed a lack of skills in personal interaction, which is needed for teaching-and mentoring-related tasks (Akay, 2008;Chanan et al, 2012). As Akay (2008) summarizes, "[…] skills needed for success in academe have changed over the years, preparation of PhDs has largely remained the same.…”

Section: The Discontent Of Employersmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…These aspects, as the authors argue, have so far not been properly integrated in the currently dominating engineering education paradigm. They describe the need for a holistic and interdisciplinary approach to assessing the potential effects of technology, which, due to its positivistic origins, today's engineering training still lacks (Chanan et al, 2012).…”

Section: The Shortening Of Technological Cyclesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, Harrison, Macpherson & Williams (2007) emphasize the fact that engineers are strongly influenced by identifying with the culture of their subject specialization and do not show a strong drive to connect with other subjects or fields in their academic surroundings. Given that, engineering graduates do rather see themselves developing highly specialized solutions than feeling responsible for the solution of larger interdisciplinary problems of society (Harrison et al, 2007;Richter & Paretti, 2009;Chanan et al, 2012). While most of the studies concerned with this matter are assessing engineering education in general, it is especially the engineering PhD that is widely understood to be a program fostering specialization on a certain aspect of engineering instead of showing a broader scope of factors to consider when designing technology (Valdés, Moreno, Saéz & García, 2012).…”

Section: The Changing Role Of the Engineermentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing the industrial PhD: Stakeholder insights

Grimm

2018

J. Technol. Sci. Educ.

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Research and practice have called for a change in engineering education towards a more practice-oriented curricula to provide engineers with the skills they need for creating solutions for future challenges. While most studies address undergraduate programs, only little attention has been paid to graduate and post-graduate education. The Industrial PhD is expected to give PhD students on-the-job training to gain practically relevant and professional tacit knowledge and to enhance their set of soft skills. However, the training of practice-relevant methods and knowledge has so far been covered by alternative programs (e.g. traineeships), exclusively organized, financed and conducted by firms, and did not involve the responsibility of universities. Therefore, for the I.PhD, conflict between involved firms and universities can be expected.In order to analyze the potential of the Industrial PhD as an answer to the question of how to effectively make engineering education more practice-oriented, the present study analyses qualitative data on the experience of both industry and university actors with I.PhD programs. Questions on a) the motives and b) the perceived challenges allow valuable insights in the functionality of the I.PhD in terms of its success in its practical conduction. The study results indicate a divergence in the perception of the general value of I.PhD program among both stakeholder groups. Major challenges can be identified, while existing work on PhD training and university-industry research cooperation (UIRC) allow the deduction of success-supporting factors, which can be believed to enhance the effectiveness of I.PhD programs for all parties.

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Section: The Shortening Of Technological Cyclesmentioning

confidence: 53%