Browsing by Author "Williams, Bill"
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- Facilitating the adoption and dissemination of active and cooperative learning methodologies in engineering education using a learner activity index approachPublication . Williams, Bill; Carvalho, Isabel S.The overall aims of the project are centred on the adoption and dissemination in engineering education at institutional and inter-institutional level in Portugal of good practice with regard to Active and Cooperative Learning (ACL). We aim to achieve this over a three-year project lifetime through a two-phase strategy: i) Initial implementation of ACL techniques in formal teaching contexts at departmental level in two engineering colleges through the use of self and peer observation using a semi-quantitative tool to measure a Learner Activity Index; ii) Subsequent dissemination of the approach to other departments and colleges using online Community of Practice (CoP) cultivation strategies and Web 2.0 tools.
- Globalization of engineering education research: citation Analysis of ASEE and SEFI Conference PapersPublication . Williams, Bill; Wankat, P. C.; Neto, Pedro
- A history of engineering education research in Portugal and IrelandPublication . Sorby, Sheryl A.; Williams, Bill; Oliveira, José Manuel Nunes; Duffy, Gavin; Brabazon, DermotThe American Society for Engineering Education is the oldest professional society in the world that is solely dedicated to the betterment of engineering education. In its early days, ASEE was a gathering of faculty who wanted to improve the practice of engineering education through experimentation with new curricula, new teaching styles, or new gadgets. Presentations often consisted of “this is what I did” and “this is how the students reacted.” Beginning in the 1990s, through the influx of federal dollars in the Coalitions, a new discipline began to emerge—Engineering Education—and along with this discipline a research area was born. At this point in time, the concept of rigorous Engineering Education Research (EER) is fairly well-established in the US, with dedicated programs for EER at the National Science Foundation, PhD degree programs in EER, and the reinvention of the Journal of Engineering Education to support this endeavour. Departments dedicated at least in part to Engineering Education Research are emerging on campuses across the country. There has also been an emergence of Engineering Education Research across the globe; however, efforts in other countries have often been slower due to many factors. This paper describes the emergence of Engineering Education Research in two countries in the European Union—Portugal and Ireland. The evolution of EER in these two countries is set in a larger global context.
- Investigação em educação em engenharia: um campo emergentePublication . Williams, Bill; Hattum-Janssen, Natascha van; Oliveira, José ManuelNum mundo cada vez mais globalizado e em que o rápido desenvolvimento científico e tecnológico ocupa um papel central no desenvolvimento das sociedades, torna-se cada vez mais relevante discutir o perfil desejável dos profissionais de engenharia capazes de dar resposta a estes desafios, e consequentemente, discutir as processos de formação desses futuros engenheiros. No contexto internacional, estas necessidades têm vindo a fazer emergir a Investigação em Ensino de Engenharia (IEE) como um campo de investigação autónomo. Norteando-se pelos critérios de identidade para um campo de investigação de Fensham (2004), usado também por Borrego (2007), como princípios orientadores de análise, este artigo pretende discutir a identidade do campo de IEE, caraterizar o seu estado atual no contexto internacional e no contexto Português e posicioná-lo relativamente às Ciências de Educação. Os autores visam igualmente identificar os desafios emergentes no crescimento e amadurecimento deste campo de investigação específico, de forma a que possa granjear reconhecimento quer nas Ciências da Educação, quer nas Engenharias, no contexto Português.
- Is engineering education research global?: The answer may surprise youPublication . Williams, Bill; Wankat, Phillip; Neto, Pedro; Tiago, Carlos
- ITs in engineering education: joining efforts between SPEE and IGIPPublication . Williams, Bill; Neto, Pedro; Cardoso, Alberto; Carvalho, Carlos Vaz de; Magalhães, Fernão de; Rasteiro, M. Graça; Restivo, Maria Teresa; Zutin, Danilo G.The International Society for Engineering Education (IGIP) and The Portuguese Society for Engineering Education (SPEE), the first being the oldest European Society for Engineering Education in Europe and the second the very young Society for Engineering Education in Portugal, have been intensifying the collaboration between the two societies as well as the exchange and dissemination of information about their relevant activities, whilst promoting understanding and cooperation between their respective members. One possible way is to create joint working groups, open to the members of both societies, on common topics of interest. In fact, both societies already kicked off this activity. The first initiative happened during the 1st World Engineering Education Flash Week (WEE), Lisbon, 2011. The SPEE-IGIP Flash Moment was a one day event integrated in the main Conference, which was dedicated to “Information & Communication Technologies in Engineering Education”. ITs allow the development of different teaching strategies which contribute to enhance the learning outcomes of students. ITs are also particularly suited to develop Life Long Learning tools, in a broad range of Engineering subjects, either open to the general market or oriented to a very specific public. Examples of teaching strategies involving ITs have been addressed during the Flash Moment SPEE-IGIP which took place during WEE, and some are described in detail in the present work.
- Keeping them involved: encouraging and monitoring student activityPublication . Williams, Bill; Neto, Pedro; Carvalho, IsabelIn the teaching of engineering, lecture classes are often essentially expository with students in a passive role, not preparing learners for autonomous work and this may contribute to high failure and attrition rates. One way to combat this is through the application of Active Learning (AL) methodologies. In this paper results are presented from the application of an AL Methodology in the classroom and outside it for a last year subject of a BEng degree. A Learner Activity Monitoring Matrix has been used to monitoring in-class learner activity. Also described is the implementation of AL outside class using an online learner management system (LMS) which permits voting by students on the quality of solutions proposed by their peers to resolve engineering problems posed by the lecturer. Empirical data regarding the online participation in the process of each learner is provided. A pre-post survey to reveal student perceptions regarding these methodologies is also presented.
- Keynote: past, present and future of engineering educationPublication . Wankat, P.; Williams, Bill; Neto, PedroConference Topic: Lessons from the past; Engineering education research; integration of research in engineering education
- Methodological analysis of SEFI EER papersPublication . Malmi, L.; Adawi, T.; Curmi, R.; De Graaff, E.; Duffy, G.; Kautz, C.; Kinnunen, P.; Williams, BillConference Topic: Engineering Education Research, Integration of research in engineering education, New learning concepts for engineering education
- Phase change in engineering knowledge production: from an academic to an entrepreneurial contexPublication . Williams, Bill; Figueiredo, JoséThis study uses the characterization of contrasting modes of knowledge production to follow the engineering design and research activity of a group of engineers who migrated from an academic environment to a successful startup firm. Semi-structured interviews were used to construct a narrative approach characterizing their activities in the two settings. We relate their practice to Mode 1 and Mode 2 knowledge production phases and note the importance of a phase change in the transition between the two modes.