Research shows a positive association between skilled migration and innovation. Related literature however is largely limited to the use of proxies such as patents, and publications. There is also a lack of attention to how innovation is accomplished in practices. This paper addresses these gaps with an examination of the innovative contributions…

Organizations advance and grow by solving problems one at a time, and management graduates should possess critical thinking and problem-solving capacities to be effective business managers and creative engineers. The problem was that critical thinking and creative problem solving are operationally ill-defined in engineering and management…

Students should be exposed to open-ended, complex design challenges during their courses to better prepare the students for the design challenges that they will encounter during their careers. This preparation may be achieved by combining flipped classroom instruction, case based learning in an active classroom, and authentic assessments. Between…

Contribution: A first-year programming course was redesigned with a large, open-ended robotics project. The course design aligns with best practices for promoting development of students' self-efficacy in solving ill-structured software design problems. Background: From Jonassen's theory, problem-solving outcomes are dependent on the problem…

This paper discusses the use and impact of formative feedback and scaffolding to develop outcomes for complex problem solving in a required first-year course in engineering design and practice at a medium-sized research-intensive Canadian university. In 2010, the course began to use team-based, complex, open-ended contextualised problems to…

Problem solving is an essential skill for nuclear engineering graduates entering the workforce. Training in qualitative and quantitative aspects of problem solving allows students to conceptualise and execute solutions to complex problems. Solutions to problems in high consequence fields of study such as nuclear engineering require rapid and…

In Canadian engineering institutions, a significant design experience must occur in the final year of study. In the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems at the University of Windsor, unsolved, open ended projects sponsored by industrial partners from a variety of sectors are provided to the student teams in order for them to apply…

Academic consulting is a form of knowledge and technology transfer largely under-documented and under-studied that raises ethical and resources allocation issues. Based on a survey of 2,590 Canadian researchers in engineering and natural sciences, this paper explores three forms of academic consulting: (1) paid consulting; (2) unpaid consulting…

It is widely acknowledged that sustainable development is a long-term goal, which both individuals and institutions (and countries!) need to pursue. This important theme is characterized by an intrinsic complexity, since it encompasses ecological or environmental considerations on the one hand, and economic matters, social influences and political…

Two McMaster University (Canada) chemical engineering courses enrolling 30-50 students incorporate problem-based learning (PBL). Issues addressed in implementation included overcoming faculty and student resistance, integrating PBL methods within a predominantly conventional curriculum, developing PBL problems and objectives, and using tutorless…

Our department has redesigned its electrical and computer engineering programs by adopting a learning methodology based on competence development, problem solving, and the realization of design projects. In this article, we show how this pedagogical approach has been successfully used for learning probabilities and their application to computer…

Describes the problem-solving approach implemented in the University of Manitoba's first-year technical communication course. Considers technical writing as a process which can be broken down into steps: classify, analyze, test, and solve. Explains that this process offers students the methodology and flexibility they need to solve either…

Describes Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC), an independent public corporation established to aid scientific research in developing nations. The four programs executed by them are agriculture, food, and nutrition sciences, health sciences, information sciences, and social sciences. (Author/SA)

Explores the perceptions held by practicing engineers of what is involved in learning to solve technological problems and examines their pedagogical approaches to technological problem-solving in elementary-classroom contexts. Concludes that recognition of the nature of each occupation is needed to realize a potential of collaboration between…

U.S. research institutions are undergoing significant changes from patterns established in the decade following World War II. Declining undergraduate enrollments are predicted to lead to "steady-state" universities; federal policy is emphasizing industry-university research cooperation and calling for a decreased federal role in the…