Defining Engineering Education

Abstract

Alan Cheville studied optoelectronics and ultrafast optics at Rice University, followed by fourteen years as a faculty member at Oklahoma State University working on terahertz frequencies and engineering education. While at Oklahoma State he developed courses in photonics and engineering design. After serving for two and a half years as a program director in engineering education at the National Science Foundation, he took a chair position in electrical engineering at Bucknell University. He is currently interested in engineering design education, engineering education policy, and the philosophy of engineering education.

What is Biomedical Engineering? Insights from Qualitative Analysis of Definitions Written by Undergraduate Students

“…Student perceptions are equally as important as organizational definitions when seeking to cultivate a shared understanding of the field; as students of BME, they will become the next practitioners of BME. Cheville's assertion above also suggests that student definitions may indicate how the perceptions held by educators are reflected in their philosophy and teaching approach [10]. Understanding how students see a field also has important implications for recruitment and retention (e.g., students may be less likely to persist in a degree program if their perception of the field is grossly different than that being promoted by the department).…”

“…3] that contribute to this lack of shared understanding and misaligned identities. Discussion of definitions is critically important for educators as it lends insights into the philosophy of the educational system, including its objectives and the methods used to accomplish those objectives [10]. However, the perceptions of one major stakeholder have largely been ignored in these conversations of BME, especially when it comes to undergraduate educationthe undergraduate students themselves.…”

A Critique of EC 2000 from Amartya Sen’s Capability Framework

“…As has been well documented by historians of engineering, the EC-2000 framework which forms the basis for modern accreditation in engineer is broadly based on the continual quality improvement (CQI) movement in industry [1]. EC-2000 is not the first, nor likely will be the last, shift in engineering education policy; engineers have a long history of self-analysis of educational programs with regular release of policy reports seeking to shift its emphasis and direction [1], [9], [10]. While this history informs current accreditation practices, the relevant history to this paper begins prior to the late 1990's with the trade imbalances with the Carter and Reagan era trade imbalances with Japan which were captured in the popular imagination by movies such as the 1986 Ron Howard directed film "Gung Ho" about the shut-down of a Japanese-owned auto plant in Pennsylvania.…”

The Person behind the Mann Report: Charles Riborg Mann as an Influential but Elusive Figure in Engineering Education

“…What is surprising, however, is when he made the observation: in 1918, only about 50 years after engineering was established as part of the higher education system. He made the statement in the preface to the earliest comprehensive report on engineering education in America, A Study of Engineering Education: Prepared for the Joint Committee on Engineering Education of the National Engineering Societies (1918) [Seely, 1999;Cheville, 2014;Akera, 2017]. It is usually referred to as the Mann Report not only because that title is much more manageable but also because it was authored by a single person, Charles Riborg Mann (1869Mann ( -1942.…”