2023-01-27 Ruth Graham

Crisis and catalyst: Tthe impact of COVID-19 on global practices in engineering education Ruth Graham¶ The report takes stock of the sector-wide impact of COVID-19 emergency teaching. It addresses two central questions:1. What were the experienc¶

The systemic transformation of engineering education has its roots in the decade before the Covid-19 pandemic. Engineering faculty and their institutional leaders across the world were driving forward changes ofin the engineering education community during emergency teaching? 2. How will this systemic shock impact the direction of travel for the global sector beyond emergency teaching? The study draws on interviews with university leaders, engineering instructors/faculty, educational specialists and engineering students from across 36 countries. Their feedback overall suggests that, while emergency teaching has undoubtedly been a period of crisis – exposing and exacerbating major challenges facing engineering education – it will also act as a catalyst for a new generation of leading engineering programmes in which the opportunities, learning and wellbeing of students are placed at the forefrontcurriculum to ensure that tomorrow’s engineers have the competencies needed to tackle the economic, social and environmental challenges of the 21st century. But the pandemic has been an additional catalyst for change, necessitating major reforms to program design and delivery and the wider student experience. Together, these changes are set to have a major impact on the future trajectory of the engineering education sector. ¶

Ruth Graham¶

The talk will discuss findings from the Crisis and Catalyst report, which examines the impact of Covid-19 on engineering education worldwide. Drawing on interviews with members of the engineering education community from across 36 countries, the talk will explore the likely impact of this systemic shock on the direction of travel of the sector and the state-of-the-art in the field.

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