Bringing visibility to transversal skills in engineering education: towards an organizing framework

Professional engineering work occurs in dynamic, complex contexts that require engineers to leverage various skills beyond their technical competencies to work productively with different stakeholders. Problem-solving is not merely a technical endeavor; educators and practitioners have long realized the synergistic connection between technical proficiency and complex personal and interpersonal competencies, such as critical thinking and communication skills. Since the 1990s, the topic of transversal or professional skills has been a common thread in engineering education literature. Engineering accreditation bodies such as Accreditation Board for Engineering Technology (ABET) and Commission des titres d’ingénieur (CTI), and engineering curriculum models such as the conceive-designimplement- operate (CDIO) have highlighted the importance of various transversal skills in professional engineering work. Today, there is a general agreement among engineering educators and scholars about the value and benefits of transversal skills. What is less clear is which specific skills should be considered transversal and how those skills can be categorized and defined. Efforts in settling these issues ultimately help engineering programs to have a clearer picture of which skills are (and are not) well integrated and assessed in their curricula. This concept paper discusses a framework for categorizing transversal skills. We build on the relevant literature and the ongoing educational practices in prioritizing transversal skills at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) to bring visibility to essential graduate skills and attributes, including those that are often underemphasized

A game-based approach to develop engineering students’ awareness about artificial intelligence ethical challenges

The past few decades have seen important efforts to introduce more ethics into engineering education programs around the world, while adapting to the evolution of ethical concerns, notably in relation to digital technology and artificial intelligence. Even if pedagogical approaches based on the use of case studies or code of ethics remain among the most popular, other less well known techniques such as gamebased approaches have also been identified as effective. The goal of this workshop is to offer participants an opportunity to explore how games can be used as learning experiences to develop students’ ethical knowledge and skills. Participants will first get to play an online game which focuses on ethical issues in the domain of artificial intelligence, before reflecting on their experience and discussing the potential of game-based approaches for engineering ethics education

A canvas for the ethical design of learning experiences with digital tools

The use of digital tools has drastically increased in engineering education, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. These tools generate important ethical issues, in particular in terms of privacy and fairness. However, very few teacher training programmes address those topics, which means that teachers are often left to figure out by themselves how to address these issues when they want (or have) to use digital tools in their teaching. In this workshop, participants will be introduced to a pragmatic approach to the ethical design of learning experiences that involve digital tools using a visual thinking guide called a ‘canvas’. Applied and hands-on, this workshop will help participants to develop a practical understanding of the specific ethical issues related to the use of digital tools in teaching and to integrate ethical reflection into design processes when digital technology is involved

The ‘Erfahrraum’: a pedagogical model for designing educational technologies in dual vocational systems

Vocational education taking place in the dual contexts of workplace and school often lacks integration of concrete experiences with theoretical knowledge. The interplay between workplace and school contexts and their often antagonistic priorities call for a specific model that transforms these divergences into learning opportunities and connects different forms of knowledge into an integrated body of knowledge that contributes to developing vocational competence. This paper presents a multi-dimensional pedagogical model, called the ‘Erfahrraum’, for the design and implementation of educational technologies as a way to foster this integration in initial dual vocational education and training (VET). The ‘Erfahrraum’ model informs the design of shared spaces for capturing and reflecting on experiences made in different contexts in which VET takes place. The model particularly emphasizes the importance of shared reflection processes to turn concrete experiences into relevant integrated knowledge. Examples of implementations in different professions using a range of different technologies illustrate the power of the ‘Erfahrraum’ model

An integrated way of using a tangible user interface in a classroom

Despite many years of research in CSCL, computers are still scarcely used in classrooms today. One reason for this is that the constraints of the classroom environment are neglected by designers. In this contribution, we present a CSCL environment designed for a classroom usage from the start. The system, called TapaCarp, is based on a tangible user interface (TUI) and was designed to help train carpenter apprentices. A previous study (Cuendet and Dillenbourg 2013) showed that the tangible nature of TapaCarp helped integrate it in the classroom environment, but that this did not guarantee a meaningful learning activity. In this article, we describe the process that led us to design a new learning classroom activity for the particular context of dual carpentry apprenticeships. One innovative aspect of the activity is that TapaCarp is used only for a small part of it. This contrasts with the mainstream CSCL approach that assumes that the system must be used from beginning to end of the activity. This new activity was used in a classroom study with 3 classes of carpenter apprentices over two days for each class. Despite its many steps, the activity proved usable and fostered many connections to the workplace, which was one of its main purposes. The teacher and the students were positive and showed high engagement in the activity. The learning gain results were mixed: the performance of the students improved from day 1 to day 2, but the learning gain measured with a pre-test/post-test mechanism did not show any significant difference compared to that of a control group

Mobile and Online Learning Journal: Effects on Apprentices' Reflection in Vocational Education and Training

While learning journals (LJs) have been shown to support self-regulated learning strategies, reflection and learning outcomes in academic contexts, few studies have investigated their relevance in vocational education. A mobile and online learning journal (MOLJ) was developed to support reflection on workplace experiences. However, acceptance of the mobile and online learning journal by apprentices and supervisors is not trivial. This study investigated how apprentices use the mobile and online learning journal and why they use it that way. The mobile and online learning journal was developed for apprentices in the field of bakery and contains a recipe book, a smartphone app to take pictures of workplace experiences, and a learning journal for reflection. Apprentices' workplace supervisors have access to the mobile and online learning journal to provide support and feedback. A mixed method study was conducted with 16 apprentices. Indicators of their use of the mobile and online learning journal were recorded, while reasons for use were studied by questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Four kinds of users of the mobile and online learning journal were identified: Multifunction users, picture takers, learning journal users, and overall low users. The most determining factors for the acceptance and use of the mobile and online learning journal by apprentices were their interest in the use of a smartphone at the workplace, their acceptance of reflection on workplace experiences through the mobile and online learning journal, and supervisors' participation and provision of feedback. Promoting the use of learning journals by apprentices requires strong guidance in the design of the learning journal as well as support and feedback from supervisors. Taking pictures from the workplace proves useful for learning and sharing experience in vocational training

From teacher to teacher-trainer: A qualitative study exploring factors contributing to a successful train-the-trainer digital education program

This paper explores the experience of 14 teacher-trainers involved in a train-the-trainer digital education program in Switzerland. Data collected between August 2019 and June 2021 through focus groups and collaborative portfolios were analyzed through thematic analysis. A qualitative analysis was used to identify the main factors facilitating or hindering their experiences. These facilitators and obstacles were related to individual characteristics, interactions with stakeholders, instructional content, and logistics. Based on these findings, recommendations are provided to help training designers to maximize the success of such initiatives