Incorporating global skills within UK higher education of engineers



Student surveys at Imperial College show some engineering
students, particularly those who excel at maths and science,
struggle with non-technical subjects and non-lecture based
learning. These students mark down such modules which
they perceive to be more difficult, despite many acknowl-
edging the value of such non-technical content later in their
courses.

Web-based learning is increasingly popular within higher
education especially among foreign students unable or
unwilling to study in the UK with all the additional costs this
entails: Examples include (1) WEDC72 (e.g. WEDC’s new
Infrastructure in Emergencies) and the Open University dis-
tance learning courses; (2) The Observatory on Borderless
Higher Education73, a joint initiative of the Association of
Commonwealth Universities and Universities UK and (3) the
Einstein Network which shows how distance learning can
be applied to professional development of engineers74 and
which HEIs could adapt and learn from.

Closely linked to innovative learning pedagogies is the
introduction of innovative assessment methodologies. These
are especially relevant in assessing less tangible learning out-
comes such as the assessment of team and group work, the
assessment of sustainable design and sustainability and the
assessment of creativity in design. EC UK, the Engineering
Professors Council and the Engineering Subject Centre have
recently formed an Assessment of Learning Outcomes
Working Group (ALOE) which aims to provide support to
the engineering community to enhance the process of
assessing learning outcomes. An ALOE case study, ‘Preparing
students for the world of work’,75 describes how Prof. Clarke
of Newcastle University has sought to embed issues relevant
to the global dimension such as enterprise skills and skills
needed for sustainable communities within the course.
Other examples of innovative assessment methods include
(1) conducting and accrediting mock ‘professional reviews’
on sustainable development similar to those required by
professional institutions in order to gain chartered status76
and (2) staging student-led inquiries and debates.

Partnerships

As already identified a lack of relevant experience, skills and
resources can significantly constrain the capacity of faculties
to incorporate global and development perspectives. Innova-
tive partnerships with a whole range of employers and
stakeholders can help bridge these gaps and expose
teaching staff and students to a wider range of perspectives.
Many of the initiatives and approaches identified rely on
working with others from outside the engineering faculty
and university, building long-term mutually beneficial part-
nerships and counteracting knowledge silos and
fragmentation of learning that exist within universities.

Linkages between engineering schools
and other faculties and graduate and research
centres

Higher education funders are increasingly seeking to support
partnerships that bring together different disciplines both
within and beyond science and engineering and which
promote partnerships between UK universities and between
UK and overseas universities. In addition, professional and
academic research networks promote dialogue and shared
learning across disciplines. The opportunity is to build on
these existing collaborations and networks as a way of
bringing a wider range of perspectives to undergraduate
teaching and bridge gaps in internal capacity. At the Uni-
versity of Bath, there is collaboration between engineering
and economics/international development programmes. It
is suggested that engineering schools learn from the
experience of other disciplines, such as sociology or tourism,
in incorporating the global dimension.77 One constraint to
increasing collaboration is incompatible course timetables. In
an effort to promote inter-school linkages, Imperial College
has recently introduced ‘flexy Friday’ that enables students
greater flexibility in choosing options from other schools.

Partnerships with business

At the post-graduate level, engineering schools have long
recognised the value of working with business to develop
and commercialise innovation and research. If tomorrow’s
engineers are to rise to global challenges, they need business
awareness and the confidence to marry engineering, inno-
vation and enterprise. Alliances between engineering related
graduate schools, business schools, enterprise development
agencies and business are common place especially at
Russell Group universities and the UK government is espe-
cially interested in promoting innovation, enterprise and
business skills across higher education. Several universities,
such as Surrey and Loughborough, incorporate industrial
placements of up to a year within their courses.

Within the international development community, there is
growing interest in enterprise, growth and market-based
solutions to poverty and the role of partnerships in
mobilising the private sector in poverty reduction. One
example of this approach is given by Professor Hopper of
Cambridge University. Having established a record of
successful business start-ups he is now focusing on the
application of information and communication technologies
for development.78 Another example is Red Button Design
and their reverse osmosis sanitation system (ROSS). The
design was originally developed by students from Glasgow
University as multi-disciplinary research project. It was
featured recently on the BBC’s Dragon’s Den and has won
several awards for innovation.79

The challenge and opportunity for undergraduate course
leaders is to tap into these partnerships and bring this knowl-
edge into the curriculum. There are many ways which have
already been noted in which business can support engi-
neering education including:

Seconding staff to course development panels and
accreditation boards.

Seconding staff for guest lectures and extra-curricula
talks.

Business placements and internships (such as the Year in
Industry
programme).

The Global Engineer Page 21



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