Validity in psychometrics refers to the degree to which evidence and theory supports the interpretations drawn from a test, and Messick's Contemporary Validity Theory (1994) includes several facets with well-established evidence collection methods. However, there is a lack of consensus on appropriate methods of evaluating the facet of…

This study aimed to refine and validate a Mechatronic System Usability Evaluation (MSUE) questionnaire. A total of 626 users were selected using random sampling, from the area of West Thessaloniki, Greece. The validity of the questionnaire were tested with the content and construction validity method. The reliability of the MSUE questionnaire…

Professional skills of project planning, risk analysis, ethical design, communication, and working in interprofessional teams are now recognised as core engineering skills. Frequently, they are addressed in engineering education through team projects. However, these skills can be difficult for students to learn as they are often not well defined…

Students who are self-regulated leaners have been reported to perform more successfully in higher education institutions (HEIs). Therefore, instruments that can monitor students' motivation and learning have been devised and implemented. The aims of this work were to investigate the dimensionality of the motivated strategies for learning…

Background: Although generic skills development is a concern of educational policy and accreditation bodies, little is known about how engineering students perceive generic skills in relation to their motivation for learning such skills. The development of these skills is often done only through ad hoc approaches, without a well-structured…

The supply of students motivated to study engineering in higher education is critical to the sector. Results are presented from the 'Mindsets STEM Enhancement Project.' Fifty-seven new resources packs, designed to improve STEM education in Design and Technology, were given to schools across London. A modified Intrinsic Motivation Inventory…

The objective of this study is to identify the competencies required to achieve success in the transition from higher education to the labour market based on the perceptions of employers. This paper analyses the assessments made by a group of engineering company employers. An item-battery of 20 competencies was grouped into 3 dimensions by using…

The study deals with the roles and interrelations of the meaning-based assessments of dwellings, pathways and metaphors in design performance. It is grounded in the Meaning Theory [Kreitler, S., and H. Kreitler. 1990. "The Cognitive Foundations of Personality Traits." New York: Plenum], which enables identifying the cognitive contents…

Because the importance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education continues to be recognised around the world, we developed and validated an instrument to assess the learning environment and student attitudes in STEM classrooms, with a specific focus on engineering and technology (E&T) activities in primary schools.…

The aim of this research was to develop a new questionnaire for exploring the reading beliefs of undergraduate students, because the only currently available instrument has conceptual and methodological limitations. The paper describes the process of developing the instrument and presents a range of psychometric data obtained from a sample of 558…

In the Netherlands, as well as in many other countries, there is an increasing interest in implementing education about engineering as a part of general education at the upper secondary school level. In order to know what pupils at that level think about engineering, a study has been done to investigate their attitude towards and their concept of…

School-based pipelines/routes for university and technical engineering education are recognised as important for economic development and the high-school years are critical for shaping students' career aspirations and attitudes. This study examined a range of attitudes/experiences on the aspirations of secondary students to pursue engineering…

This study researches how first-year engineering students perceived the influence of curricular activities on their own learning autonomy, measured with an adaptation of the Personal Responsibility Orientation to Self-direction in Learning Scale (PRO-SDLS). Participants were questioned to assess the influence of the teacher's role. The results…

In the recent years, technology has been an important component in teaching and learning. The literature has highlighted many studies investigations on the students' intention to use technology in many Western, African and South East Asian countries. This article brings in the factors influencing students' adoption of ICT tools in higher education…

This paper describes an intervention to enhance students' learning by involving students in brainstorming activities about sustainability concepts and their implications in transportation engineering. The paper discusses the process of incorporating the intervention into a transportation course, as well as the impact of this intervention on…