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ABSTRACT
In this paper the authors draw on three sequential keynote addresses that they gave at Active Learning in Engineering Education (ALE) workshops in Copenhagen (2012), Caxias do Sol (2014) and San Sebastian (2015). Active Learning in Engineering Education is an informal international network of engineering educators dedicated to improving engineering education through active learning (http://www.ale-net.org/). The paper reiterates themes from those keynotes, namely, the philosophical and pedagogical underpinnings of Active Learning in Engineering Education, the scholarly questions that inspire engineering educators to go on improving their practice and exemplary models designed to activate the learning of engineering students. This paper aims to uncover the bedrock of established educational philosophies and theories that define and support active learning. The paper does not claim to present any new or innovative educational theory. There is already a surfeit of them. Rather, the aim is to assist Engineering Educators who wish to research how they can best activate the learning of their students by providing a readable, reasonable and solid underpinning for best practice in this field.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Dr Michael Christie has taught in both Australia and Sweden, mainly in the area of Engineering Education and adult, vocational and tertiary teaching. From September 1999 to February 2013 he worked in Sweden, first at Chalmers where he was in charge of a teaching and learning centre, and then from 2010 at Stockholm University, where he was Sweden’s first Professor of Higher Education. He is now an Associate Professor in the School of Education, University of the Sunshine Coast, where he teaches Master of Education courses and conducts research into active learning in Engineering and Higher Education, the use of digital tools in teaching and learning, efficacious ways of supporting the PhD process and criteria referenced assessment.
Dr Erik de Graaff is trained as psychologist and holds a PhD in social sciences. He started working with Problem-Based Learning (PBL) at the University of Maastricht in 1979. In 1994 he was appointed as associate professor in the field of educational innovation at the Faculty of Technology Policy and Management of Delft University of Technology. Dr de Graaff has been a visiting professor at the University of Newcastle, Australia, in 1995 and a guest professor at Aalborg University in Denmark in 1997. Since 2011 he is appointed as full professor at Aalborg University, Department of Development and Planning. Dr de Graaff contributed to the promotion of knowledge and understanding of higher engineering education with numerous publications and through active participation in professional organisations such as SEFI, IGIP, IFEES and ALE. Since January 2008 he is Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Engineering Education.
Notes on contributors
Dr Michael Christie has taught in both Australia and Sweden, mainly in the area of Engineering Education and adult, vocational and tertiary teaching. From September 1999 to February 2013 he worked in Sweden, first at Chalmers where he was in charge of a teaching and learning centre, and then from 2010 at Stockholm University, where he was Sweden’s first Professor of Higher Education. He is now an Associate Professor in the School of Education, University of the Sunshine Coast, where he teaches Master of Education courses and conducts research into active learning in Engineering and Higher Education, the use of digital tools in teaching and learning, efficacious ways of supporting the PhD process and criteria referenced assessment.
Dr Erik de Graaff is trained as psychologist and holds a PhD in social sciences. He started working with Problem-Based Learning (PBL) at the University of Maastricht in 1979. In 1994 he was appointed as associate professor in the field of educational innovation at the Faculty of Technology Policy and Management of Delft University of Technology. Dr de Graaff has been a visiting professor at the University of Newcastle, Australia, in 1995 and a guest professor at Aalborg University in Denmark in 1997. Since 2011 he is appointed as full professor at Aalborg University, Department of Development and Planning. Dr de Graaff contributed to the promotion of knowledge and understanding of higher engineering education with numerous publications and through active participation in professional organisations such as SEFI, IGIP, IFEES and ALE. Since January 2008 he is Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Engineering Education.
ORCID
Michael Christie http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0351-4990