A new approach to learning and teaching engineering, known as engineering education, has been effectively implemented by Stellenbosch University’s (SU) faculty of engineering in 2021.
This was according to Deborah Blaine, an associate professor in mechanical engineering at SU, who started the initiative at the university. Blaine, with the help of the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at SU, started the project in 2020. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the implementation of the new approach only began in 2021, she said.
The aim of engineering education is to expand the learning environment for students, and attract more diverse students to study engineering, according to Blaine.
Online learning does not allow for the experiences that engineering students need in order to successfully pursue engineering as an occupation after university, according to Deborah Blaine, an associate professor in mechanical engineering at SU. PHOTO: Heléne Leonard
“Students are complex and come from complex backgrounds. We cannot only implement course work and expect students to excel as an engineer one day,” said Blaine.
“The South African Society of Engineering Education (SASEE) aims to educate students on a personal level where they do not only engage with course work, but critically engage with becoming engineers in a diverse society as well,” said Blaine. “Studying course work and regurgitating it onto a paper does not make you an engineer.”
Blaine was selected as the South African representative of SASEE in 2011. Since then, she has worked closely with the CTL at SU to encourage the new approach of engineering education.
The approach uses different teaching methods in classrooms in order to make the engineering field more interesting to students from different walks of life, according to Blaine. “The faculty has implemented interactive class discussions, rather than the lecturer leading the class,” stated Blaine. Tutors were also more attentive towards the diversity in their tutorial classes, she said.
Deborah Blaine, an associate professor in mechanical engineering at SU, expands on how engineering education aims to develop different approaches to learning and teaching in classrooms.
“There are multiple ways of teaching a student. You have to find the best one that works,” said Karen Wolff, a teaching and learning advisor at SU.
When Blaine was an undergraduate student at SU, there were not many females in her mechanical engineering course.
“As engineering educators, we try to include many different walks of life [in engineering education],” said Blaine.
Some students have said that engineering can be a “challenging course” to study, and that experience, along with course content, is necessary for them to succeed. This was according to Zaid Najjaar, a third-year mechanical engineering student at SU.
“As far as class experiences and setups go, each module has a completely different style of teaching, and [modules] can vary drastically from each other. I can, however, see how lecturers try to help students through different teaching methods,” said Najjaar.
Engineering education, which is a new approach to teaching and learning that has been implemented at Stellenbosch University, aims to include as many walks of life as possible in the learning environment. It intends to develop inclusive teaching methods that look at a student in their entirety, not only as a class participant, said Deborah Blaine, an associate professor in mechanical engineering at SU. PHOTO: Heléne Leonard