The interaction of proximate research universities is a multifaceted and increasingly relevant phenomenon in today's higher education landscape. The three essays herein add to science policy and innovation literature by exploring the challenges, opportunities, and expectations that arise when multiple universities operate in a region. The first…

The aim of this study was to explore knowledge in the context of creating a shared curriculum between research-intensive and vocationally oriented universities of applied sciences. Curriculum knowledge was explored from the accounts of 26 teachers from four institutions in Finland. Shared curriculum initiatives created an environment in which…

This paper examines specific problems of educational practice that I, an undergraduate engineering educator and education researcher, have encountered in creating an interdisciplinary engineering project course. I reveal my process of theorising about problems of practice to position engineering educators' pedagogical theorising as worthy of…

On February 16, 2016, the National Academy of Engineering held a forum to discuss proposed changes to criteria used by ABET (formerly the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) to accredit engineering programs in colleges and universities around the world. The Forum on Proposed Revisions to ABET Engineering Accreditation Commission…

This paper discusses a practical, multidisciplinary approach used to embed employability skills in a new postgraduate (PGT) Engineering course at the University of Bath. Informed by relevant professional bodies, key transferable skills were identified and embedded in the curriculum with discipline-specific content. Students worked on a series of…

A complementary volume to Dilly Fung's "A Connected Curriculum for Higher Education" (2017) [see ED613384], this book explores 'research-based education' as applied in practice within the higher education sector. A collection of 15 chapters followed by illustrative vignettes, it showcases approaches to engaging students actively with…

Traditional curricular approaches within engineering education tend to be fragmented, with opportunities for content- and meta-level synthesis being mostly limited to freshman and senior year design courses. In this paper, we are proposing a curricular model, the Synthesis and Design Studio, to combat the tendency towards fragmented curricula. The…

To assist learners in obtaining professional abilities, meet social demand for talent, and achieve favorable educational outcomes, academic courses generally have unique syllabuses, learning goals, and teaching purposes according to their characteristics and specialized knowledge and skills. Furthermore, it could help the students of Industrial…

An interdisciplinary undergraduate-level robotics course offers students the chance to integrate their engineering knowledge learned throughout their college years by building a robotic system. Robotics is thus a core course in system and control-related engineering education. This paper summarizes the experience of developing robotics courses…

Mechatronic systems that couple mechanical and electrical systems with the help of computer control are forcing a paradigm shift in the design, manufacture, and implementation of mechanical devices. The inherently interdisciplinary nature of these systems generates exciting new opportunities for developing a hands-on, inventive, and…

In recent years, bio-inspired approach to design has gained considerable interest between designers, engineers and end-users. However, there are difficulties in introducing bio-inspiration concepts in the university curriculum in that they involve multi-disciplinary work, which can only possibly be successfully delivered by a team with integrated…

This manuscript presents a successful application of inductive learning in process modeling. It describes two process modeling courses that use inductive learning methods such as inquiry learning and problem-based learning, among others. The courses include a novel collection of multi-disciplinary complementary process modeling examples. They were…

One innovative, higher-education response to globalization and changing fiscal realities is the curricular joint venture (CJV), a formal collaboration between academic institutions that leverages missions through new joint degrees and research not previously offered by collaborating institutions (Eckel, 2003). In 1997, a pioneering biomedical…

Creativity often has been associated with the arts, although creativity also is essential for innovative discoveries and applications in science and engineering. In this article, a pilot study is presented about an investigation concerning how creativity is fostered in an art education course in conjunction with an undergraduate engineering…

Mark Van Doren, the noted literary scholar, once remarked, "The college is meaningless without a curriculum, but it is more so when it has one that is meaningless." Many current critics of undergraduate curricula in America assent to the crucial need for programmatic renewal in our colleges and universities. They bemoan the cookie-cutter…