Study On The Mechanism And Approach Of Re-engineering Of Engineering Education

With the external environment changes and the emergence of new demands, engineering education in developed country is undergoing a paradigm shift since the 1980s. Many scholars called it "Re-engineering of Engineering Education". In fact, the purpose of the re-engineering is to go beyond the "Technique Paradigm" before World War II, which was emphasized on technique application and operating practice, and the "Science Paradigm" after World War II, which was emphasized on engineering science and theoretical analysis, and is to establish the "Engineering Paradigm" facing the engineering practice in the era of globalization, which is emphasizing the practice, synthesis and innovation of engineering and engineering education.The study mainly adopts the methods of literature analysis, case studies, expert interviews, and questionnaire investigation to analyze the mechanism and approach of Re-engineering of Engineering Education.For the mechanism of Re-engineering of Engineering Education, this dissertation gives a detailed discussion of the theoretical foundation of Re-engineering of Engineering Education which includes "Theory of Re-engineering" and "Theory of Knowing and Doing", and also analysis on the methods of Re-engineering of Engineering Education including "Systemic Mode", "Hardware-Software-Wetware Design", "Conceive- Design- Implement- Operate Framework", "Scenario-Based Planning" and "Benchmarking and the Best Practices". Meanwhile the philosophy of Engineering, Human resources in Engineering, and Engineering Education are identified in the dissertation.The mechanism of Re-engineering of Engineering Education can be concluded as "Integration of Three Parts, Innovation through Integration". The "Three Parts" means the past, present and future of Engineering Education in the time dimension, and hardware, software, wetware of Re-engineering of Engineering Education in the structure dimension. The "Integration" means the integration of vision and action, and the integration of theories, methods and the best practices.The approach of Re-engineering of Engineering Education is the path of Engineering Education from "Science Paradigm" to "Engineering Paradigm". This dissertation analyses the exploration and practice of global Re-engineering of Engineering Education, including the deployments on macro levels, the cooperation of governments, enterprises, and schools, the transforms of universities, the designs of quality systems and the improvements of environmental conditions.According to five group meetings of 51 experts and 14 academicians' personal interviews, with a reasonable principles and process of factors' selection, on the basis work of literature analysis and case studies, this dissertation obtains the framework of factors of Re-engineering Engineering Education. It includes five modules as strategy, teacher, student, program, engineering education system and the environment, and 51 factors totally.Through the empirical study of 271 effective samples, key factors which play a significant role of Re-engineering of Engineering Education are identified. Based on this, this dissertation offers key suggestions, such as:·Establish the strategic position of engineering education, and build a reasonable engineering education system.·Improve training mechanisms and evaluation systems of engineering teachers to enhance the awareness and ability to practice.·Strengthen the cooperation between universities and industries which offers a wide range of practical channels to engineering students.·Reform the engineering programs and teaching mode to achieve the quality of Human Resources in Engineering in the future.·Improve the environmental conditions for engineering education, and construct a social atmosphere in which engineering cultural is advocated.Then, this dissertation designs an integrative program of Re-engineering of Engineering Education, which includes engineering training for students and teachers, university-industry cooperation, engineering education research infrastructure, scholarship for engineering talents, and leadership of engineering schools.