Juha Jaako

Pedagogical basis of DAS formalism in engineering education

The paper presents a new approach for a bachelor-level curriculum structure in engineering. The approach is called DAS formalism according to its three phases: description, analysis and synthesis. Although developed specifically for process and environmental engineering, DAS formalism has a generic nature and it could also be used in other engineering fields. The motivation for this new curriculum structure originates from the urge to solve the problems that engineering education has faced during the past decades, e.g. student recruitment problems and dissatisfactory learning outcomes. The focus of this paper is on the structure of the curriculum but the content is also discussed when it has an effect on the structure and its implementation. The presented structure, i.e. DAS formalism, builds upon the ideas of some classical pedagogical theories, which have regularly been applied at course level but seldom used to solve curriculum-level issues.

A triangular approach to integrate research, education and practice in higher engineering education

ABSTRACT Separate approaches in engineering education, research and practice are not very useful when preparing students for working life; instead, integration of education, research and industrial practices is needed. A triangular approach (TA) as a method to accomplish this integration and as a method to provide students with integrated expertise is proposed. The results from the application of TA, both at the course and programme level, indicate that the approach is suitable for developing engineering education. The student pass rate for courses where TA has been used has been higher than for previous approaches, and the student feedback has been very positive. Although TA aims to take both theoretical and practical aspects of engineering as well as research and education into account, the approach concentrates mainly on activities and therefore leaves the goals of these activities as well as the values behind these goals uncovered.