Looking Beyond Content: Skill Development for Engineers

Current concerns over reforming engineering education have focused attention on helping students develop skills and an adaptive expertise. Phenomenological guidelines for instruction along these lines can be understood as arising out of an emerging theory of thinking and learning built on results in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of engineering education (Washington, D.C.) Vol. 97; no. 3; pp. 295 - 307
Main Authors Redish, Edward F., Smith, Karl A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.07.2008
Subjects
adaptive expertise
Behavioral sciences
Cognition & reasoning
Education
Educational Research
Engineering Education
Engineers
Learning
Lifelong Learning
mathematical modeling
Mathematical Models
problem solving
Professional development
School Holding Power
Science
Skill Development
Students
Studies
Teaching Methods
Technological change
Theory
Thinking Skills
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Summary:Current concerns over reforming engineering education have focused attention on helping students develop skills and an adaptive expertise. Phenomenological guidelines for instruction along these lines can be understood as arising out of an emerging theory of thinking and learning built on results in the neural, cognitive, and behavioral sciences. We outline this framework and consider some of its implications, such as developing a more detailed understanding of the specific skill of using mathematics in modeling physical situations. This approach provides theoretical underpinnings for some best‐practice instructional methods designed to help students develop this skill and provides guidance for further research in the area.
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ArticleID:JEE980
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Edward F. Redish is professor of Physics and an affiliate professor in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Maryland, College Park. He has been involved in research and development in physics education for over 20 years. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the AAAS. He has received many awards for his work in education including the Robert A. Millikan Medal from the AAPT and the NSF Director's award as a Distinguished Teaching Scholar. Currently, he is doing research on student epistemologies and expectations, on cognitive models of student thinking in physics, and on student difficulties with the use of mathematics in physics, especially upper division physics
Cooperative Learning: Increasing College Faculty Instructional Productivity; Strategies for Energizing Large Classes: From Small Groups to Learning Communities; and Teamwork and Project Management, 3
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Karl A. Smith is Cooperative Learning Professor of Engineering Education, School of Engineering Education, and fellow, Discovery Learning Center at Purdue University West Lafayette. He has been at the University of Minnesota since 1972 and is in phased retirement as Morse‐Alumni Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering. Dr. Smith has worked with thousands of faculty all over the world on pedagogies of engagement, especially cooperative learning, problem‐based learning, and constructive controversy. He has co‐written eight books including
Ed
ISSN:1069-4730
2168-9830
DOI:10.1002/j.2168-9830.2008.tb00980.x