Engineering Attractiveness in the European Educational Environment: Can Distance Education Approaches Make a Difference?

Abstract

Abstract:The recent phenomenon of worldwide declining enrolments in engineering-related degrees has led to the gradual decrease in the number of engineering graduates. This decrease occurs at a time of increasing demand in the labour market for highly qualified engineers, who are necessary for the implementation of fundamental societal functions. This paper initially presents a survey of practices, which are currently employed by academic institutions in Europe in order to increase the attractiveness of their engineering studies. It then provides a detailed analysis of the benefits and proliferation of distance education to increase attractiveness of engineering studies based on a set of interviews. Results of this study, highlight a lack of a distance-learning dimension in the implementation of engineering studies in the European Area and discusses in detail ways in which distance learning can be utilised in engineering studies for the benefit of increasing their attractiveness. It has also been noted that institutions employing distance learning as part of their engineering studies, see this as highly beneficial for their students but also for the academic institution itself with some reservations in terms of the pedagogical adequacy of materials and instructional approaches used in distance education courses.

Cross-Disciplinary Remote Course for Mixed Group of Students and Professionals

“…If successful, such remote courses as the one described in this article could enhance the flexibility and accessibility of the studies in the involved universities [ 5 – 8 ]. This is important benefit for modern universities, as it could increase the attractiveness towards new students [ 7 ] in the world where competition in higher education is dire. In addition, a course which welcomes professional participants also enables universities to more effectively solve societal and business practice challenges [ 15 ].…”

“…Moreover, in those disciplines where it is appropriate, remote laboratories improve the educational quality of a remote course [ 14 ]. While these types of laboratories are being utilized increasingly, some avoid them due to relatively high costs and low interest from potential participants to justify those costs [ 7 ].…”

“…Offering remote learning enhances the flexibility and accessibility of the studies [ 5 – 8 ]. This in turn could increase attractiveness of the study programs offered by a university [ 7 ]. Remote setting also offers a pathway for collaboration between industries and universities, where students can learn from challenges faced by companies in practice [ 15 ].…”

Potential Augmented Reality Application Areas for Pilot Education: An Exploratory Study

“…Learning challenges in AR environments often emerge as a result of the different student skill levels (e.g., spatial navigation, collaboration, problem solving skills). As shown by [30], students also express concerns about the quality and adequacy of the material provided to learn in such environments. In a literature review on the use of AR in the area of STEM, Ibáñez and Delgado-Kloos [31] found that applications were most often used for exploration or simulation purposes; in fewer cases, these applications were game-based, and most were visually stimulating.…”

Solving Power Balance Problems in Single-Traction Tractors Using PTractor Plus 1.1, a Possible Learning Aid for Students of Agricultural Engineering

“…Thus, it has been demonstrated the improvement in the development of agricultural engineering class sessions by using the flipped classroom learning environments (combination of the conventional and virtual teaching) [3]. Other authors proposed the implementation of distance-learning in engineering studies and use it for the benefit of increasing their attractiveness [4].…”