Engineering Education: Modern Realities
NowadaysEngineering
The rapidly changing world sets new demands and standards to all sorts of activities. Nowadays engineering can be hardly compared to the engineering of the previous decades. Goals change, demands become higher and conditions and temps of work are often challenging. Similar to new demands of the market, it is definitely of great importance to modify the educational program for the specialists of this field.
The current question becamemore spotlighted after the recent report of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.This report outlines the main tendencies in modern engineering education, indicatestoday’s leaders and specifies some future solutions. It is important to timelyrespond to the developing world and undertakes corresponding effective steps.
Ed Crawley, Professor of Engineering in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and faculty co-director of the New Engineering Education Transformation (NEET) initiative, says that the twenty-first century has prepared numerous societal challenges to the engineering sphere and universities should brainstorm new ideas and solutions that will ensure the needed qualification for the future specialists. New Engineering Education Transformation program aims to make an educational program a looking-forward and innovative path to the successful adaptation of the professionals on the market.
Is this transformation and easy-going matter? Will it be possible for all educational institutions of the field to achieve this procedure? Development of the new educational program and its adjustment to the requests of the modern world is an effort-consuming initiative. To make this process maximally effective and resulting, a profound research, comprehensive analysis, and precise forecasting should be carried out. The 21st century provokes many issues to cope with. These issues start with a global vision of the cities and forwards to specific highly-demanded needs of every community and family.
Ed Crawley notes that it is important for all educational leaders of the sphere to consolidate and share their experience since they all face this challenge of modernization. The U.S. and European educational institutions have different best practices and achievements that can become useful for their colleagues. Sharing experience always results in a positive outcome and an acceleration of the transformational processes. Thus, professional cooperation is of great importance for engineering education and its successful modification processes.
The report states that together with the educational transformations students will face some changes in the mode of their study. Thus, it is planned to combine self-education with online support from tutors and experimental learning on campus and in work-based placements. As result, university managers hope to create a student-centered studying that will help young specialist to cope with the societal, environmental and technological challenges.
Ed Crawley pinpoints that MIT has a lot of plans regarding the engineering education; however, modern transformations affect not only this sphere but education as a whole. It is a time of intensive demands and pressing need for development and self-adaptation. It is of high importance to be in step with the times and provide a prompt and effective response to our changeable world.