Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011 - rees2009

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) Página 212 de 957
Table 1: Rankings of PBL Tensions Reported In Teaching Practice (n=313)
Predominant engineering education reform tensions encountered in engineering teaching
practice
Participants reported that the most frequently encountered engineering education reform
tension, of the ones given, was problem-solving versus design (Table 2). This tension
might be best understood by looking at different conceptualizations of what a problem is.
While, Holt, Radcliffe, and Schoorl (1985) argued that problem solving implies a focus on a
‘fix it’ mentality of tidy problems with a readily found solution as opposed to engineering
design that required innovative and creative views, many other disciplines consider
problem solving as something ill-defined and wicked (Jonassen, 1997). The other four of
the five engineering education reform tensions appeared to be clustered closely together
(Table 2). The second most frequently reported tension, theory versus
application/practice, was described by Mills and Treagust (2003) as a tension between
teaching fundamental engineering science and content knowledge versus teaching how to
apply the learned knowledge in practice.
Table 2: Rankings of Engineering Education Reform Tensions Reported in Teaching Practice (n=313)
Management of tensions
Fourteen engineering educators agreed to participate in interviews to discuss their
management approach to tensions of most concern to them. The tensions that received the
Proceedings of Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011
Madrid, 4 th - 7 th October 2011