Designing a competency based program to facilitate the progression of experienced engineering technologists to professional engineer status

This paper describes the pedagogical principles that underpin the design of the Master of Engineering Practice, a distance education program offered by the University of Southern Queensland. This innovative program enables experienced engineering technologists to use their workplace learning to assemble portfolios that demonstrate their achievement of many of the competencies defined for a graduate of the program. Students are required to be self-directed learners and to use reflective practices to assess their own learning. Following a self-assessment process undertaken in the first course in the program, each student prepares a Pathway to Graduation Plan which they then follow through to graduation. Graduates of the program are able to become registered as Chartered Professional Engineers

Systems approach to engineering education design

[Abstract]: The design and delivery of effective engineering education to diverse cohorts of adult learners is challenging. The sheer volume and diversity of published literature relating to the scholarship of teaching and learning presents a challenge to educational designers and teaching practitioners alike. A systems approach to design and development, incorporating key principles from the literature, can assist practitioners (particularly those new to teaching) in the effective design and delivery of technical courses. This paper presents a research-based educational lifecycle model to support the design of engineering education. The paper then describes a requirements-driven development methodology that has been applied successfully to the design and delivery of a number of technical courses involving different cohorts of adult learners. The application of the methodology to development of an introductory radar systems course is used as a case study throughout the paper

Similarity of the concentration field of gas-phase turbulent jets

This work is an experimental investigation of the turbulent concentration field formed when the nozzle gas from a round, momentum-driven, free turbulent jet mixes with gas entrained from a quiescent reservoir. The measurements, which were made with a non-intrusive laser-Rayleigh scattering diagnostic at Reynolds numbers of 5000, 16000, and 40000, cover the axial range from 20 to 90 jet exit diameters and resolve the full range of temporal and spatial concentration scales. Reynolds-number-independent and Reynolds-number-dependent similarities are investigated. The mean and r.m.s. values of the concentration are found to be consistent with jet similarity laws. Concentration fluctuation power spectra are found to be self-similar along rays emanating from the virtual origin of the jet. The probability density function for the concentration is also found to be self-similar along rays. Near the centreline of the jet, the scaled probability density function of jet fluid concentration is found to be nearly independent of the Reynolds number

A study of the understanding of knowledge and learning of a cohort of mature age students

In 2005 the authors began a longitudinal research project to explore the factors that influence student success in the Master of Engineering Practice program which was offered for the first time in Semester 2, 2004. This distance education program enables experienced Engineering Technologists to use their workplace learning to gain a qualification at the Professional Engineer level. This research was initiated because the admission of some students into the program is based on the recognition of their prior workplace learning. Cantwell and Scevak (2004) highlighted the problems that students may encounter when they gain entry to a university on this basis. To explore this issue four previously validated questionnaires were used to gather data on: student approaches to learning, their epistemological beliefs, learning style preferences, and strategic flexibility. This paper reports on a preliminary analysis of the data gathered from the students who enrolled in the program during the period 2005-2009. In the longer term, when the sample size has grown and more students have graduated, the data will be analysed to explore the relationship between the measured factors and success at university

A study of VET advanced diploma and HE associate degree programs in engineering

This paper synthesises the outcomes of four research projects that explored different aspects of paraprofessional engineering education in Australia. The first study reviewed the AQF level 6 programs offered by Australian institutions in 2010: Advanced Diplomas and Associate Degrees. The second study reported on the results of an online questionnaire that gathered student perspectives on why they chose their program, their work experiences, and their career aspirations. The last two studies were government funded and reported on articulation pathways between VET and HE degree programs. The paper concludes with a discussion of the key issues and the impact they have on students, educators and employers, including: • The different learning and assessment approaches used in each sector and RPL granted in degree programs. • The diversity of VET program structures resulting from the involvement of multiple Industry Skills Councils. • The impact of Engineers Australia's new accreditation system – the international benchmark. • The diversity of aims and admission requirements for these programs that ostensibly lead to the same occupation - Engineering Associate • The finding that only16% of the students have a career goal to be an Engineering Associate, with more than half intending to articulate into a degree program

An Economic Evaluation of Research into the Improved Management of the Annual Grass Weed Vulpia in Temperate Pastures in South-Eastern Australia

NSW Agriculture has a history of research investment in managing weed problems in the temperate pasture areas. One focus of that research has been on the development of improved management practices for the major annual grass weed vulpia. Recent surveys have found that weeds comprised up to 80% of pasture biomass in some temperate areas and that typical vulpia contents are between 30 and 40% of pasture biomass. Temperate pasture degradation is recognised as being a major contributor to the wider environmental problems of soil erosion, salinity and acidity. This evaluation related to a project (1996-2002) that focussed on the vulpia problem in the New South Wales temperate pasture areas. The benefits of that research were measured as the difference in the economic returns from the project (the with-research scenario) and those that would have resulted if the project had not been initiated (the without-research scenario). The results indicated high levels of economic benefits from the vulpia project. The annual net project benefit had a mean value of $58 million. The benefit-cost analysis generated a mean NPV of$196.9 million and a mean BCR of 22.2. These results demonstrate that research by NSW Agriculture into the improved management of vulpia has the potential to generate substantial long-term economic benefits. Other socio-economic aspects of the results showed that wool producers outside the New South Wales temperate areas lost economic surplus (from a mean -$21.7 million to -$47.8 million) because they were unable to adopt the cost-reducing technology and faced a reduced wool price. All wool consumers gained from vulpia research because of expanded wool production and lower wool prices. Improved vulpia management is also considered to produce important environmental benefits by encouraging a greater use of deep-rooted perennial grasses and the beneficial effects of these on mitigating soil problems and reducing water table discharges.benefit cost analysis, research evaluation, annual grass weeds, vulpia, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Q160,

The immunomodulatory properties of helminth-derived products on dendritic cell maturation and function

Parasitic worms and molecules derived from them drive Th2/Treg immune responses in mammalian hosts and have powerful anti-inflammatory properties which are shown to have therapeutic effects on inflammatory diseases. Using products derived from the helminth parasites Fasciola hepatica and Ascaris lumbricoides we investigated the mechanism by which these responses are induced. Dendritic cells (DC’s) play a crucial role in linking the innate to adaptive arms of the immune system and directing the subsequent immune responses. Here, we report that Fasciola hepatica tegumental antigens (FhTeg) can suppress DC maturation and function. While FhTeg alone did not induce cytokine production or cell surface marker expression on DCs, it can maintain the DCs in an immature state, suppressing their function to Toll-Like-Receptor (TLR) stimulation and impairing the subsequent development of adaptive immunity. Furthermore, we selected recombinant forms of two major F. hepatica secreted molecules, the protease cathepsin L (rFhCL1) and anti-oxidant, sigma class glutathione S-transferase (rFhGST-si), to examine their interactions with DCs. Despite enzymatic and functional differences between these antigens they both induced IL-6, IL-12p40 and chemokine secretion from DCs in a TLR4 dependent manner. While neither helminth enzyme induced Th2/Treg immune responses both could instruct DCs that suppress IL-17 secretion in vivo. This study also demonstrates that another helminth-derived heterogeneous extract, Ascaris lumbricoides pseudocoelomic fluid (AlPCF), induced partial maturated of DCs as characterised by the increased production of IL-6, IL-12p40 and MIP-2. These DCs were capable of inducing Th2 responses. Overall the data suggests that helminth parasites secrete multiple molecules each possessing a unique mechanism of modulation, which can either suppress inflammatory Th1/Th17 responses or induce/permit the uninhibited development of modified Th2 responses

Examining first year students' preparedness for studying engineering

The purpose of this paper is to report on initial descriptive data of this longitudinal project which will examine the knowledge, motivation, personality, and learning approaches of first year engineering students and how well they each predict subsequent retention and academic performance. These outcomes are yet to be achieved and are beyond the scope of this paper