Understanding Engineering: The Methods Behind the Madness

All technology came from someone using a form of engineering at one time or another.

In that sense, engineering is the foundation of innovation in our modern world. Wanting to play

a role in such an influential career I chose to make electrical engineering my course of study.

Becoming an electrical engineer (as well as any engineer) is full of hard work and a lot of

preparation. You deal with such advanced concepts like robotics, circuitry, lasers etc. and what

fascinates me the most is how exactly one is taught to be an engineer.

First of all, genres are not just forms. “[Genres] are frames for social action, locations

within which meaning is constructed”. Genres are responses to reoccurring situations that

people encounter. “Genre develop, then, because they respond appropriately to situations that

writers encounter repeatedly”. The articles that I found through the UCF library and Google, all

discuss methods of education in engineering to benefit those in that course of study like me. I

will be analyzing these three articles from the field, looking specifically at the genre setting,

subject, participants, features, and patterns.

Subject

Finding these articles was particularly hard because of how complex engineering is.

Trying to narrow down the subject among articles is nearly impossible due to how broad the

field really is. Engineering is a big industry, and one of the key things for its success is the

education put towards rising engineers. The unfortunate truth is that “students become bored

and inattentive in class, do poorly on test, get discouraged about the courses, the curriculum,

and themselves, and in some cases change to other curricula or drop out of school” (Felder and

Silverman 1). Engineering is one of the most difficult degrees to obtain due to its intensive

courses, so picking the right education methods is imperative in order to prevent a situation

included in the previous sentence. The main subject of these articles is that after one receives

education in engineering, they should be “proficient in the tools of their trade” (Bernhard 1).

Through these articles, authors propose methods of teaching for engineers as well as state the

uses of new technologies into the curriculum.

The article, “Challenges and Strategies for Electrical Engineering Education” is basically

what the title says. It is an outline of specific strategies and challenges for those in the

engineering profession, while explaining specific learning styles. Even though the article

suggests it is only for electrical engineers, its content reflects the whole engineering profession

entirely. In “Learning and Teaching Styles in Engineering Education”, Felder describes the

different learning and teaching styles associated with the education, and differentiates their

characteristics. These different learning and teaching styles are to show how engineers learn

and the methods for teaching engineering. The article, “Infusion of Emerging Technologies and

New Teaching Methods into The Mechanical Engineering Curriculum at The City College of New

York”, shows how new technologies are being used for education in the curriculum of

mechanical engineering. The author of this article demonstrates the great role that new

technology is providing in the education of mechanical engineering.

Setting

These publications came from the City College of New York, the University of New

Hampshire, and North Carolina State University. Since of all these articles had originated from

universities, they all are concerning the same basic principles. Finding them through Google and

the UCF library, there were also many relating articles on those sites about innovations, other

teaching methods, and general facts about engineering.

Although from different locations, each article mainly focuses on how up and coming engineers

should be educated and the specific methods to do so. The differences with these articles are

the times in which they were published. These are articles range from the late 1980’s, to the

late 1990’s, as well as the year 2011. Being spread out as far as decades creates differences

amongst these methods, especially for engineering. The world of technology is ever growing,

and new technology introduced to the field can greatly change the aspects of the field itself. In

terms of location the setting of each of these articles are similar in the fact that they are about

universities in the United States, but their dates are completely different, and provide different

information. This is not necessarily a bad thing, however, as it allows for a different points of

view on engineering education and allows us to see what exactly has changed over the time

period.

Participants

The writers of these articles are all professors with prior experience in teaching. They

have all been there to observe what learning styles and methods are the most beneficial to that

of their students. One of these authors, Linda K. Silverman, is a psychologist who thoroughly

analyzed the learning styles of engineering students through her article “Learning and Teaching

Styles in Engineering Education”. As a psychologist her analysis includes the different forms in

which engineering students learn, which she was able to observe through prior experience.

Although she is not an engineering professor, she provided learning techniques through her

experience in psychology.

The other authors are both professors in engineering with Jennifer Bernhard, a professor in

electrical engineering and computer science, and Feridun Delale, a professor in mechanical

engineering. As the same for all engineering professors, both Bernhard and Delale have

experience in engineering and know the ways in order to become a successful engineer. Their

experience allows for a good representation of engineering teaching techniques and the use of

new technologies, in order to educate their students. In Bernhard’s article she recalls a past

experience where engineering students described the way they learned, and she took that

melded it into her way of teaching. Understanding how they learn and the strategies for their

success could only be understood by one who is knowledgeable and has past experience in the

subject.

Any teacher can teach out of a book , but for students to learn what is needed for their

profession, they need a professor like these two who have been through the same and fully

understand their field. Their articles are written for professors in the education of engineering

as well as the students, in order for them to gain insight on education in that particular field.

The readers of this genre should be familiar with the field of engineering in order to fully grasp

the concepts discussed.

Features

These articles, basically all write in the same format. These authors use a traditional

essay format, including an intro, body, and conclusion. Each author uses their professional

experience for evidence to support their findings. Within each introduction, the author clearly

addresses the main subjects of each body paragraph. Each body paragraph includes new ways

of teaching and expresses different learning styles, while the conclusion summarizes the use of

all of the learning styles and tries to express a basic understanding of the best teaching method

for engineering. They give an understanding of exactly who engineers are and how they think as

well as how they learn.

In Bernhard’s article, she presents her introduction with her viewpoint on what

engineering education is and what should result from it. She expresses her teaching methods

and the ways she engages her students. In her body paragraphs she lays out what kind of

people engineers are and then explains the differences in teaching according to class year.

Delale introduces with the importance on the curriculum of engineering, stating that it is

“engaged in a continuing effort to review and upgrade its curriculum” (Delale 2). After the

introduction, Delale addresses the role of new technologies in engineering education and in

what subjects those technologies influence. One of the things that stands out in Delale’s article

is how they use pictures to demonstrate the uses of new technology in the education

environment, but the reason for this is that the new technology wouldn’t have been in use in

the time period of the other articles. Within Silverman and Felder’s article, they outline

different learning styles for students and describe specific ways in which those students learn in

the profession. They also use visual examples to explain and define the different learning style,

in order to make the information easier to understand for the reader, while the other article

sticks to the traditional essay format. At the end of each article, the authors added in a list of

references or works cited section. Each article clearly defines who wrote it and where it came

from, as to convey a sense of acknowledgement for their impacts on education in engineering.

Patterns

The genre features of these articles show that these research journals are intended for

all engineering professors and students, to show what the profession is and what they will need

to do in order to become successful as an engineer. When discussing what engineers are, the

authors define them as abstract thinkers who need different means of education. The articles

are all written in an informative tone when presenting the information and include past

experience to support their ideas. They all come to the general consensus that engineering

education requires different methods of teaching, and the techniques listed should be used by

an instructor to “meet the needs of most or all of the students in any class” (Silverman and

Felder 3). This reveals that they want their students motivated about the education, and want

to include all the resources (technology) in the teaching.

Although these articles pertain to the same topic, they do present their information in

different ways. The articles by Bernhard and Felder/Silverman both explain styles of learning

and thinking with engineering students, while Delale’s article discusses more about the

applications of new technology for education. Most of the terminology in the articles is easy to

understand since they do not directly discuss the complex aspects of the field, and if it isn’t the

authors try to clearly identify what it means. Both Bernhard and Felder/Silverman try to clearly

define their groupings for thought and learning styles for the reader in order to see the

differences among them. Through these clear definitions, the reader can easily identify whether

or they are an auditory learner or whether they prefer real-life experience in order to learn.

These articles make it evident that engineering is different from any other profession,

and stress the importance of their education since other means of education would not be

beneficial. Engineers require complex education due to the importance of the high level of

math and sciences required by the profession. Simply this is the truth, and it is further

supported by the authors’ ideas on learning styles, ways of thinking, and the uses of new

technology used in the education of engineering. In order to make this possible an author

would have had to have prior real-life working as an engineer or someone who is

knowledgeable in the field of teaching it. The authors want the readers to understand these

things, but not be turned away from the profession because of its complexity. They simply want

the reader to understand what it takes to become an engineer and what that education will

mean for them.

From Genre to __________ :

After exploring genres common to the field of engineering through a preliminary genre

analysis, I continued analyzing the language and genres of my field by researching one of the

building blocks of becoming an engineer. I gathered articles relating to the education of

engineering that makes one become a successful engineer. Through my research I found

sources discussing the application of new technologies in engineering education (Delale, F et al.

(2011); Orange, A et al. (2012); Borrego, M, Lindsay, E, & Madhavan, K. (2011)), the different

learning styles of engineers (Felder, R, & Silverman, L. (1988); Kolmos, A, & Holgaard, J. (2003);

Holvikivi, J. (2007)), as wells as the various teaching methods involved in engineering education

(Bernhard, J.(1997); Goh, S. (2012); Felder, R et al. (2000); Courter, S et al. (1996)). These

sources have helped me to identify the various aspects of what is involved in the education of

engineers in relation to the field of engineering. In addition, these articles have helped me

continue exploring the genre conventions that I will need to learn as I enter a new community

through my major. These articles offer information on how engineers think, learn, speak, and

how they work with arising technology, which is crucial for anyone to know that is entering that

profession.

Bernhard, J. (1997). ”Challenges and Strategies for Electrical Engineering Education”.

Presented at Frontiers in Education Conference. Available at

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=632708

Jennifer Bernhard, an Electrical and Computer Engineering professor at the University of

New Hampshire, asserts her teaching methods and strategies, and the uses of them in

“fostering new perspectives and insights” in engineering education, in her 1997 article

“Challenges and Strategies for Electrical Engineering Education”. She supports this

assertion through her personal experience as an engineering professor and defining her

specific strategies for teaching different levels of engineering. She divides these levels

among freshman, sophmores, juniors, seniors, and graduate students, using separate

strategies that each correlate to the students particular level of experience. Her purpose

was to show other professors and students, in that profession, methods of teaching

engineering students in order to further their education. The intended audience for this

source is the students or professors involved in the education of engineering, and this

audience is targeted by stressing the importance of strategies needed for successful

education of engineering students.

This source is relevant to my topic because the author focuses on how engineers learn

and the teaching methods that allow them to do so. Bernhard states that the main

challenge of engineering is “to teach students how to think independently, solve

problems, and innovate”. She states what the purpose of engineering education is and

argues on what needs to be done in order for that education top come into fruition.

This article also relates to the article written by Engineering TA Fellows, as they discuss

the fact that they need to recognize this challenge for effective teaching.

Borrego, M, Lindsay, E, & Madhavan, K. (2011). “eLearning Research Opportunities in

Engineering Education”. Advances in Engineering Education, 2.3, 5-10.

Maura Borrego, Euan Lindsay, and Krishna Madhavan, professors from various

universities, claim the potential benefit of elearning through technology in engineering

education in their article “eLearning Research Opportunities in Engineering Education”.

They support this claim by describing how technology has advanced communication,

computational, and information technologies, causing an innovation in engineering

education making elearning a strong source of learning. Some of these technologies

include forms of games, clickers, and technical/team solutions. Through the application

of eLearning, professors can make use of communicative and informative technology

through a form of computer infrastructure to advance education. The purpose in

writing this article was to evaluate the potential that elearning will have on engineering

education due to the development of new technology. The audience intended for this

article is professors in engineering education that would want to implement the use of

eLearning for their students, and the audience was targeted by the authors use of data

collected from engineering courses using eLearning.

The source is relevant to my topic as in this article the authors describe elearning is

using forms of technology in order to innovate engineering education. Elearning is a

growing form of teaching and the authors describe that elearning could play a great

potential role in engineering education. Using elearning there would be networking

frameworks through the technologies and the authors state that “the development of

well-defined theoretical frameworks centered on the use and adoption of elearning has

great potential to forge new directions in the field of engineering education.” This

simply means that these “theoretical frameworks” would be based on using advances in

information and communication technologies to further eLearning education in

engineering. The article is relatable to the one written by Amy Orange et al, who

describes the application of new technology within the engineering curriculum. Both are

similar as they describe the use of new technology in engineering education, but in this

source it describes a broader spectrum of the applications of eLearning in general.

Courter, S et al. (1996). Strategies for Effective Teaching. A Handbook for Teaching

Assistants. Retrieved from http://www.engr.wisc.edu/services/elc/strategies.pdf

Sandra Courter et al, members of the College of Engineering TA Fellows, assert their

concept of an effective teaching method for engineering education in their 1996

handbook “Strategies for Effective Teaching: A Handbook for Teaching Assistants”. They

support this assertion through outlining the specifics of a better engineering education

through practical examples and techniques. The article addresses the use of practical

examples, show and tell, case studies, guided design projects, open-ended labs,

flowchart technique, open-ended quizzes, brainstorming, and using the question-and-

answer method. The purpose in writing this handbook was to layout specific examples

for teaching assistants to use in the engineering curriculum. The audience for this

handbook was intended for teaching assistants in the engineering curriculum, but it is

beneficial to anyone involved in engineering education as a layout of teaching methods.

The audience is targeted by describing specific teaching methods that would be useful

to anyone teaching in engineering education.

The source is relevant to my topic as it describes specific teaching methods used in

engineering education. As stated by the source, the mission of the College of

Engineering is to “create, integrate, transfer, and apply engineering knowledge”. This

simply means that this concept of engineering is to be achieved through using this

handbook for effective teaching methods in order to match the students’ learning styles.

The source is also relatable to the article written by Felder et al, who also outlines

specific teaching methods in the curriculum. While the handbook is also relatable to the

article written by Bernhard, it is slightly different as it is teaching methods for the overall

engineering education experience, while in Bernhard’s she divides the teaching methods

by level of education gained so far.

Delale, F et al. (2011). "Infusion of Emerging Technologies and New Teaching Methods into

The Mechanical Engineering Curriculum at The City College of New York." Advances in

Engineering Education, 2.4, 14-50.

Feridun Delale et al, professors of the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the City

College of New York, asserts the role of using new technologies and teaching methods

into the engineering curriculum through their 2011 article “Infusion of Emerging

Technologies and New Teaching Methods into The Mechanical Engineering Curriculum

at The City College of New York”. They support this assertion by explaining the use of

these technologies in the mechanics of solids, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics,

transfer and rate mechanisms, as well as electrical theory. Although they describe the

applications of emerging technologies in those fields, the specific technology involved is

not clearly defined. While this is true, the authors acknowledge the fact that keeping

emerging technologies in mind is very important when reforming the engineering

curriculum. Their purpose in writing this article was to demonstrate the application of

new technology in engineering education and showing its importance in reforming an

engineering curriculum. The intended audience for this article is anyone who is

interested in the teaching of engineering, such as an engineering professor. The

audience is targeted by using the mechanical engineering department curriculum at the

City College of New York as an example.

The source is relevant to my topic as the use of new technology has a great impact in

the teaching of engineering. Students will learn how to apply emerging technologies for

their field and will be prepared when they finish their education. They state that so far,

“it appears that students’ confidence and overall academic performance has improved

in some courses following the reform”, where the reform is meaning the introduction of

the new technology. Delale et al, is providing evidence that the new technology has

shown results when used in teaching. This article is closely related to the one written by

Amy Orange et al, who discusses the use of technology in undergraduate mechanical

engineering courses.

Felder, R et al. (2000). “THE FUTURE OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION II. TEACHING METHODS

THAT WORK”. Chem. Engr. Education, 34.1, 26-39.

Richard M. Felder et al, professors from various Universities, assert their concept on the

most beneficial teaching methods in engineering education in their 2000 article “THE

FUTURE OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION II. TEACHING METHODS THAT WORK”. They

support this assertion by clearly identifying the key components of teaching the course.

These key components include formulating and publishing clear instructional objectives,

establishing relevance of course material and teach inductively, balancing concrete and

abstract information in every course, promoting active learning, using cooperative

learning, giving challenging but fair tests, and conveying a sense of concern about the

students learning. Their purpose in this article was to outline the key elements towards

developing an effective teaching method for engineering students. The intended

audience of this article would be those involved in the teaching of engineering. They

target this audience by using teaching methods from other schools in engineering

education as an example.

This source is relevant to my topic as it outlines the best teaching methods involved in

engineering education and clearly defines them. The authors state that “performance of

an individual student in a class depends on a staggering variety of factors, many of

which are out of the instructor’s control”, and even though this so, they created the

article in order to provide a way to address many of these factors. They are providing

specific ways in which the professor using these methods can further the education of

their students. This source is relevant to the articles written by Bernhard and Goh, who

also discuss various teaching methods for engineering education.

Felder, R, & Silverman L. (1988). “Learning And Teaching Styles In Engineering Education”.

Engr. Education, 78.7, 674-681.

Richard Felder and Linda Silverman, educators at the North Carolina State University

(1988), assert their belief that the diverse learning styles of engineering students play a

huge role in their education and the teaching styles given by their instructors has a

dramatic effect on the quality of their learning, in their article “Learning and Teaching

Styles In Engineering Education”. They support this assertion through examples of

psychology, charts, and specific definitions on the different learning styles. The article

shows that although most engineers are active, sensing and visual learners, there are

many that have different learning styles. They try to explain this diversity by claiming

that it is due to all of the different fields in engineering. Their purpose in writing this

article was to explain the diverse learning and teaching styles involved in engineering

education, to show educators the specific forms of teaching that they should adhere to.

The intended audience of this source is anyone who is interested in engineering who

wants to know how engineers learn and the best ways for someone to learn in that

field. They target this audience by stating the specific learning styles used by engineers.

The source is relevant to my topic since the methods on teaching engineers and the

subject of how they learn, is a huge part of engineering education. Although Felder and

Silverman are not engineers, but rather psychologists who analyze engineers, their work

still has meaning in the education of engineering. They state that how much a student

learns in a class is “governed in part by that student’s native ability and prior

preparation but also by the compatibility of his or her learning style and the instructor’s

teaching style”. In order for engineering students to learn it is dependent on how the

material is given and the teaching methods that the instructor would use. This source is

closely related to the article written by Holvikivi, who also discusses the importance of

understanding the learning styles of engineers when trying to make efficient forms of

educating them.

Goh, S. (2012). “Star Power for teaching professional skills to engineering students”.

Advances in Engineering Education, 3.1, 3-16.

Suk Meng Goh, director of the Curtain Sarawak Research Institute, asserts the uses of

the concept of “star power” towards teaching engineers in his 2012 article “Star Power

for teaching professional skills to engineering students”. He supports this assertion by

defining the role that this new method of teaching plays in the education of engineers.

The game “Star Power” was seen to have potential in learning professional engineering

skills and is easily adjustable to emphasize different elements of those skills. With such

promise, this game could be used widely in engineering education. His purpose in

writing this article was evaluating the potential that playing the game of “Star Power”

has towards teaching engineers. The intended audience of this source is anyone

involved in new methods of teaching engineers, such as professors in engineering or

those involved in engineering firms. The author targets this audience by using data

collected from an experiment using “star power” for the first time for engineering

students in the mechanical engineering department.

The source is relevant to my topic because the author introduces a new method of

teaching engineers in order to better their education. This method once had a different

use, but the author believes in its application towards engineering. He states that

“although Star Power is normally played from a sociology context, the current survey

suggests that the game can provide a simulation to practice professional skills that are

relevant to an engineer.” The game wasn’t designed for engineering, but using it as a

teaching method provides practical uses for the education of engineering. This source is

closely related to the article written by Bernhard who discusses various teaching

methods according to how far you are in engineering education, while Goh describes

more of a general teaching method.

Holvikivi, J. (2007). “Learning styles in engineering education: the quest to improve

didactic practices”. European Journal of Engineering Education, 32.4, 401-408.

Jaana Holvikivi, professor at the Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, in

their 2007 article “Learning styles in engineering education: the quest to improve

didactic practices”, suggests that engineering education can greatly improve through

increasing the level of didactic understanding within engineering colleges and through

collaborating with educational scientists. She supports this suggestion through analyzing

engineers by testing their learning styles, thoroughly describing who they are and how

they think, and using Kolb’s model of experiential learning as an example of

understanding how engineers learn. Her purpose in writing this article was to show her

idea of effective ways of bettering the education of engineers through the study of

learning styles in order to figure out the mind of an engineer and the best way to

educate it. The intended audience is for professors in engineering as well as

psychologists that are interested in the way engineers think and learn. Holvikivi targets

this audience by using data collected from testing the learning styles of engineering

students.

The source is relevant to my topic since the article uses the concept of the analysis of

learning styles to create ways to benefit engineering education. She believes that

“choosing efficient approaches to develop engineering education is a demanding task”

where “considerable effort, research and new insights are needed.” Holvikivi is simply

stating that creating effiecient ways to further engineering education is very complex

and requires much effort and research in order to truly understand engineers, but it can

be done. This article is relatable to Felder and Silverman’s article as they both discuss

how understanding the learning styles of engineers, holds a great importance in their

education. Although Felder and Silverman addresses the learning styles of an engineer

in a more direct answer, Holvikivi addresses it as something that is very vague and hard

to understand, and to truly understand engineers it a difficult task.

Kolmos, A, & Holgaard, J. (2003). Learning Styles of Science and Engineering Students in

Problem and Project Based Education, Department of Planning and Development,

Aalborg University. Available at http://www.sefi.be/wp- content/abstracts/1243.pdf

Anette Kolmos and Jette Holgaard, professors in the Department of Planning and

Development at Aalborg University, in their 2003 article “Learning styles of science and

engineering students in problem and project based education”, asserts the idea that

engineers although most are active, sensing and visual learners, there are varied

examples of diverse learning styles among the other categories within their respective

fields. They support this assertion through examples of gathered data of engineering as

well as other fields, testing their learning style types. The purpose of writing this article

was to identify the most common learning styles used by engineers and differentiate

them from other professions. The intended audience for this article is not necessarily

just for those involved in the education of engineering, but rather anyone that wants to

know who engineers are and how they think, such as professors of engineering,

students, and researchers. They target this audience by specifically describing the

diverse learning styles of engineers and using data to test their learning styles.

This source is relevant to my topic as it determines the learning styles of an engineer.

Knowing the learning styles are important in engineering education as it allows for the

instructor to shape the course curriculum in order to satisfy that type of learning. The

authors stated that “engineering students are not just one cohort with similar learning

patterns” and this is important to acknowledge when trying to understand engineers.

Among their respective fields, engineers typically think and learn in different ways. The

article is relates to the article written by Felder et al, who also discusses the learning

styles of engineers and acknowledges its importance and how it pertains to education.

Orange, A et al. (2012). “An Evaluation of HigherEd 2.0 Technologies in Undergraduate

Mechanical Engineering Courses”. Advances in Engineering Education, 3.1, 18- 47.

Amy Orange et al, professors from various colleges, express their idea on the use of new

technologies to further engineering education in their 2012 article “An Evaluation of

HigherEd 2.0 Technologies in Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Courses”. They

support this expression by using the data the collected from various colleges that were

using higher education technologies such as video solutions, course blogs, course wikis,

lecture podcasts, and showing the direct result that occurred in each of those schools.

Their purpose in writing this article was to identify the effect that new technology has

on engineering education. The intended audience for this paper is most likely professors

involved in engineering education that want to further their students’ education. They

target this audience by using data collected from engineering students using higher

education technologies in their curriculum.

The source is relevant to my topic as it discusses the application of new technology in

engineering education and how it is beneficial towards the teaching of students in

engineering. The authors state that “students who did well in the course overall were

more likely to have an enjoyable experience creating a final project and feel that they

gained a greater knowledge of course concepts via the project”, where the final project

involves using the higher education tech. Through this they show that students overall

have a better education when applying new technology into the curriculum, shown

through positive results. This article is relatable to the source written by Delale et al,

who agrees with the positive aspects of infusing new technologies into the engineering

curriculum.

Transition to Inquiry:

The Missing Piece:

[Gap]

In order to fill the gap of student input, I would want to create something that allows for an

exchange of ideas between professor and student alike. I would create a online blog that would

post advances in engineering education, where others can comment on the potential use of

that advance would be. Students could also post topics on what that they would learn about. To

better understand the mind of engineers it would be helpful to include data collected on the

learning styles of engineers, and then allowing others to express what type of learner they think

they are. This could work through a survey system, where students can select which learning

style they believe they are. Students would also be able to post articles they find could be a

benefit to engineering education. Teaching methods are able to be found everywhere online,

and to find ones that students For student input to be present in later curriculums.