Engineering the future of engineering education

The Journal of Engineering Education October - 2013

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2. ENGINEERING THE FUTURE OFENGINEERING EDUCATION IN INDIA

Prof. O. R. S. Rao*

*Vice Chancellor, The ICFAI University, Jharkhand.

Abstract

Engineering profession in the next two decades will undergo dramatic changes, driven by notonly technological developments but also societal transformation. Besides increased globalization,more acute concern for environment for sustainable development, will characterize changes andchallenges for future engineers in their roles. As industry increasingly looks at Corporate SocialResponsibility, not just as mandatory but as key to success, future engineers should change their mindsets and incorporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility as key parameters in theirday-to-day working as well as decision making framework. As roles for future engineers expect differentcompetencies from the graduating engineers, it is the responsibility of future engineering educationto reinvent itself and brace itself for a paradigm shift in the way, students are groomed to match thechanged expectations. Consequently, the way the components of education namely, knowledge,skills and attitude and values, are to be imparted has to be different. Contents, as well as pedagogy,will need to be changed accordingly. This tectonic shift will pose challenges to all the stake holders,educational institutions, government, teachers and students. Each one of them, needs to gear up itselfto address the challenges. It also calls for change in mindsets so that the transition is smooth andsuccessful. Concerted and synergistic efforts from all of them will help in engineering the future ofengineering education with a strong and resilient foundation.

Keywords: Engineering profession, future engineers, problem solving, components of education,role of engineering education, digital age, teaching-learning, blended learning, life long learning,MOOC, sustainability, green technologies.

1.0 Future of Engineering Profession

In order to crystal gaze the future ofengineering education, we need to look atthe future of Engineering Profession in the nextdecade or two. For this, we need to askourselves the basic questions about futureengineers - who they will be, what they will do,where they will do it, why they will do it, andwhat does it imply for engineering education.We should also anticipate the environment inwhich they will operate and the challenges, they

will be facing.

The changes and challenges faced by futureengineers in the next few years may beclassified into following categories:

i) Proliferation of knowledge: rate of additionof new knowledge since the beginning of thecurrent century, has been mind boggling andnext decade will see it galloping further. Powerof Google has been so immense that “Googling”has become the most common day-to-day


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activity for everybody, irrespective ofdemography and age groups.

ii. Technological Developments : In the lastcentury, technological developments and thebody of engineering knowledge was essentiallyalong well defined disciplines like civil,mechanical, chemical, electronics etc.However, the last few years have seenemergence and growth of multi-disciplinarydevelopments as well as convergence oftechnologies. Impact of electronics, telecomand IT technologies on all other disciplines hasbeen very profound. In this environment, anengineer can not live in his own world but shouldbe open to interact with other disciplines.

iii. Globalisation: With increased globali-zation, companies compete globally for everything ranging from products, markets,resources etc. In order to be successful inthese markets, engineers need to be culturallyadaptive.

iv) Concern for Environment andSustainability : for the past over 150 years,most of the remarkable Engineering /technological achievements were based on theparadigm of controlling Nature rather than co-operate with it. Ironically, the same successeslike fossil fuels, automobiles, plastics etc haveendangered human life. For the last few years,there has been more awareness and concernsamong people and governments onconservation of Nature and sustainability ofgrowth. So much so, some companies startedfocusing on Triple Bottom Line (Profit, Peopleand Planet ) objectives that are essential forsustainability. In the next few decades,engineers must change their mind sets tocontribute to building a more sustainable world.In this context, it will be mandatory for theEngineers to adopt Green Technologies fordesign of products addressing industry/socialproblems.

v) Corporate Social Responsibility : Industryconverts natural resources into socially orcommercially useful products and services

using human resources. In this process, it islikely that day-to-day lives of people areadversely affected. In some cases people aredisplaced in projects like exploration of naturalresources or setting up infrastructure projects.Industry has to take the responsibility to addressthe consequent social problems. Last decadehas seen increased awareness and sensitivityto such issues . Next decade will see CorporateSocial Responsibility not just mandatory but akey parameter for success of organisations andengineers, as professionals.

vi) Abrupt changes : Current century ischaracterized by sudden and dramatic changesin economic and social environment due tofactors like terrorism, European EconomicCrisis, Social upheaval in Middle East etc. Theworld will witness more such cataclysmicchanges, in the years to come. The futureengineers need to acquire skills to anticipatesuch changes and more importantly, adaptthemselves and mange them successfully.

2.0 Role of Engineering Education ingrooming Engineering Professionalsfor future

As can be seen from the previous section,environment in which engineers will operatein future, role expectations from them andchallenges faced by them will be different fromwhat they were in the last century. Rolesperformed by fresh engineering graduates inthe last century were mostly routine andtechnical, in nature, pertaining primarily to asingle discipline of Engineering studied bythem. Engineering students acquired therequisite knowledge through class roomlectures and skills through working onexperiments in laboratories and workshops.However, role expectations from freshengineering graduates in future will be morecomplex - interdisciplinary in nature and musthave skills to use technology tools and interactmore intensely with society . Accordingly,components of education (Knowledge, Skillsand Attitude) that need to be imparted will bedifferent, though certain fundamentals remain


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unchanged. Likewise, the way they have to betaught-learnt also will be different.

2.2.2.2.2.1 What t1 What t1 What t1 What t1 What to to to to to teach?each?each?each?each?

Components of education that need to betaught can be classified into Knowledge, Skillsand Attitudes and Values.

2.1.1 Knowledge : Amount of newknowledge created every passing day, in everydiscipline of Engineering / Technology has beenincreasing exponentially. At the same time,knowledge requirements for different industriesand different roles vary widely. In real life,problems will not surface with the tag of specificdisciplines. There is no way that anyEngineering educational program (undergraduation or post graduation) can cover allknowledge required as a part of its curriculum.A pragmatic way to address the issue couldbe: to teach core fundamentals of requisitesciences and engineering principles, besideseconomics, finance and social sciences andstudents are enabled to learn on their own,new knowledge, in depth, as and when needed.Besides, the students should be equipped todiagnose real-life problems , identify the typeof knowledge needed and more importantly,how to integrate them to solve the problem. Inaddition, every student must be madeconscious of the imperative for life-long learningand ways and means of self study forcontinuous learning. Encouraging students toregister for Massively Open Online Courses(MOOC) like edX, Coursera, Khan Academy,NPTEL etc to supplement class room learningwill initiate them to continue similar means forself –learning, after they graduate.

2.1.2 Skills : While during the last century,Engineering Education focused primarily onimparting technical skills to the students; infuture, there is need to focus more on cognitiveand behavioural skills in areas like criticalthinking, problem solving, self-assessment,integrative thinking, self-learning, inter-personal, communication and changemanagement.

Industry is increasingly looking for HigherOrder Thinking (HOT) skills like Analysing,Evaluating and Creating.

Besides looking at the requirements of theindustry with a view to make the graduatingstudents employable, educational institutions,in future, must also impart requisite skills tomake the students self-employable, either asentrepreneurs or as freelance independentprofessionals. Essential skills in this regardinclude entrepreneurship, finance andmarketing.

2.1.3 Attitudes, Values and Ethics: Failureof the education system to systematicallyaddress the issues of attitudes and ethics hasalready created adverse impact on the society.In view of this, it is becoming increasingly criticalfor Educational Institutions to put in efforts toshape the character of the students, byinculcating positive attitude, with good personalvalues so that the graduating students canbecome not only competent professionals butalso good human beings and lead a happylife. Students must be made conscious ofsocial, moral and ethical considerations in theirday-to-day working as well as in decisionmaking. It is too simplistic to assume that acourse on humanities in the curriculum isadequate to bring about such an attitudinalchange. It needs systematic inputs, followedby practice, accompanied by patient counselingso that the principles are ingrained in the mindsof the students and become part and parcel ofthe personality of the students.

2.2 Ho 2.2 Ho 2.2 Ho 2.2 Ho 2.2 How tw tw tw tw to to to to to teach ?each ?each ?each ?each ?

Pedagogy to be adopted needs to bedifferent in the context of the changedenvironment in which the students are broughtup. Students born after 1995 were brought upin a digital age, wherein technology has beenan integral part of their day-to-day life.Information and Communication Technologies(ICT) can help in improving the effectivenessof Teaching Learning processes. Audio-visualtechnologies can help in enhancing retention


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levels whereas online learning can facilitateconvenience enabling a learner to study whenhe wants or where he wants. Virtual Classrooms can help in simulating real class roomenvironment facilitating interactivity amongthe student-teacher-other students. VirtualLaboratories can faci l i tate conduct ofexperiments that may not be feasible to dophysically because of reasons of cost orhazard.

Blended Learning, wherein technology andtraditional teaching methods can be judiciouslycombined, can get the best of both worlds.Flipped Classrooms (also called InvertedClassrooms) approach can be used to makestudents learn the concepts at home usingtechnology and practice the same in the classroom, under the guidance of the teacher.

However, no amount of technology, howeversophisticated, can substitute a teacher, thoughthe role of a teacher will undergo a dramaticchange, in future. It will be the teacher who willdecide on the most appropriate method forteaching, depending on the subject and theprofile of the learners and act as a facilitatorand a coach, by guiding and monitoring theirlearning.

While imparting knowledge may be relativelyeasier, it will be more difficult to impart skills,more so, in the case of soft skills and cultivationof attitudes. Teacher has to identify clearly theskills to be imparted and communicate theimportance of the same to the studentsconvincingly. Besides, he has to designappropriate action learning activities to get thempracticed by the students. Grading system toevaluate the performance of students for suchactivities should be more on the process, ratherthan on out comes. Students should be givenfeedback at every stage and are counseled forbetter performance.

3.0Challenges faced:

Future engineering education will be ableto meet the aspirations of the new age students,

only if all the stake holders put in concertedefforts in a synergistic manner. However, eachof the stake holders will face challenges, whichneed to be addressed.

3.3.3.3.3.1 Educational Ins1 Educational Ins1 Educational Ins1 Educational Ins1 Educational Institutions :titutions :titutions :titutions :titutions :

Educational Institutions have to investadequate resources in terms of money andquality human resources to ensure a paradigmshift from current system to the a new system.Next few years will also see a shake out inEngineering Education, which has scaled upcapacity very quickly in the last decade ,withouttaking care of quality. The shake out hasalready started in 2013, which will accentuatein the next five years. Only such of theinstitutions with commitment to qualityeducation, without looking for quick financialreturns will survive. It is upto the educationalinstitutions to interact more actively withindustry and society and identify the changedexpectations from the students.

As “one size does not fit all” educationalinstitutions need to evolve different operatingmodels, depending on the demographicsegment of the students, targeted by them.Premier Institutions with excellent infrastructurethat can attract quality students and qualityteachers and offer post graduate and doctoralprograms and get into research is the need ofthe day. They should bench mark themselveswith the best-in-class institutions globally, getaccredited by international agencies and cantarget global rankings.

However, institutions that are unable toattract quality students, may limit themselvesto be only teaching institutions and offer onlyunder graduate programs and focus their effortson ensuring minimum educational standards.Middle rung institutions, aspiring to becomepremier institutions, may first improve thequality of their education and build the requisiteacademic infrastructure, before moving intoresearch.


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3.2 Go3.2 Go3.2 Go3.2 Go3.2 Govvvvvernment policies and regulation:ernment policies and regulation:ernment policies and regulation:ernment policies and regulation:ernment policies and regulation:

Government and regulators will face thechallenge of increasing Gross Enrollment Ratio(GER) without compromising on quality. It willalso be challenging to set standards of quality,in an environment, where there is wide disparityin quality of education in institutions across thecountry. Regulatory framework, in future,should be more facilitative than restrictive. Itshould encourage innovation rather thancontrol centric. Government will also face thedilemma of how much autonomy to be given toinstitutions versus how to ensure maintenanceof minimum standards. While there are benefitsin welcoming foreign institutions into India inengineering education, government policieshave to ensure that they should help inimproving the quality of education. Success infuture engineering education will depend onhow government will be able to strike a finebalance among the key legs of the tripod -Expansion, Equity and Excellence, whileformulating and implementing its policies.

3.3 T3.3 T3.3 T3.3 T3.3 Teachereachereachereachereachersssss

Teacher is the fulcrum, on whom quality offuture education lies, particularly in highlyknowledge centric area like engineeringeducation. A teacher has to equip himself wellin the same three components of education(knowledge, skills and attitude) so that he canbe more effective in the changed environment.Besides acquiring higher qualifications, he hasto keep himself abreast of the latestdevelopments in his field by attending seminarsand short term programs. Pursuing onlineMOOC courses can be an excellent opportunitynot only to enhance his knowledge but also getinsights into more effective pedagogy. In orderto leverage technology for effective teaching-learning, a teacher must know about the rangeof technology tools available and also acquireskills to blend them with traditional teachingmethods. Unless the teacher is perceived as arole model by the students, in his values andethics, he can not inculcate the same in thestudents.

3.4 Students3.4 Students3.4 Students3.4 Students3.4 Students

Ultimately, it is the students that have to takethe ownership and make the best of theopportunities to learn. They should understandthat learning does not stop with their formaleducation and have to strive for life longlearning. They should be conscious that skillsand attitude are more important than merelygetting good grades / marks in the examination.They should update themselves on the fastchanging industry environment and theconsequent changes in skill requirements andacquire the same. They should be realistic withregard to their career expectations and mustbe adaptable to seize the career opportunities,as they beckon. Next few years will presentexciting opportunities for self employment,which need a change in mindset of the students.

4.0 Conclusion

Next few decades will see major changesin the environment, driven by not onlytechnological developments but also changingsociety. Future engineering education mustreinvent itself and re-engineer itself to make itrelevant for the industry and society, at large. Itneeds concerted efforts from all the stakeholders to effect the transition smoothly andsuccessfully and build a strong edifice for thefuture of engineering education.

Bibliography

1. Armanado Rugarcia et al, “The future ofEngineering Education – a Vision for a newcentury” , Chemical Engineering Education,34( 1), 16-25(2000)

2. Charles M. Vest, “Educating Engineers for2020 and beyond”, The Bridge, Volume 36,Number 2 - Summer 2006

3. Donald Woods et al, “The future ofEngineering Education – Developing criticalskills”, Chemical Engineering Education,34(2), 108-117(2000)

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Engineering the future of engineering education