STUDENTS' VIEWS OF TAUGHT PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES: INVESTIGATING THE IMPACT OF PREVIOUS WORK EXPERIENCE

Lowe, DB; Willey, K; Tilley, E

STUDENTS' VIEWS OF TAUGHT PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES: INVESTIGATING THE IMPACT OF PREVIOUS WORK EXPERIENCE

Lowe, DB Willey, K

Tilley, E

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Publication Type:: Conference Proceeding
Citation:: SEFI 2023 - 51st Annual Conference of the European Society for Engineering Education: Engineering Education for Sustainability, Proceedings, 2023, pp. 802-809
Issue Date:: 2023-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Lowe, DB
dc.contributor.author	Willey, K https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1478-0346
dc.contributor.author	Tilley, E
dc.date.accessioned	2024-05-10T07:00:55Z
dc.date.available	2024-05-10T07:00:55Z
dc.date.issued	2023-01-01
dc.identifier.citation	SEFI 2023 - 51st Annual Conference of the European Society for Engineering Education: Engineering Education for Sustainability, Proceedings, 2023, pp. 802-809
dc.identifier.isbn	9782873520267
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/178796
dc.description.abstract	The ability of Engineering graduates to function as successful professionals depends not only on technical disciplinary knowledge but also on a wide range of professional competencies. Students' reactions to the teaching and assessment of these competencies are often negative. An ongoing study by the authors has been exploring the nature of these reactions and in particular, the various factors that contribute to students' views on the teaching of professional competencies. A preliminary factor analysis showed that students' level of professional experience was a key factor in shaping variations in their views. In this paper, we explore this issue in more depth. For example, when asked on the pair of survey questions “do you agree or disagree that each competency type [professional / technical] should be a core component of your Engineering degree program”, the impact of increasing professional experience on the average response was only marginally greater for professional competencies than for technical competencies. In contrast to this, when asked the pair of questions “for each competency type [professional / technical] indicate whether it is easier to learn it at University or at work”, the analysis of the responses shows that as the level of experience increases, there is a small shift for technical competencies towards being taught at University, whereas for professional competencies, there is a significantly greater shift towards being taught in work environments. We explore these, and other related findings, and consider their implications for the design and delivery of engineering degree programs.
dc.language	en
dc.relation.ispartof	SEFI 2023 - 51st Annual Conference of the European Society for Engineering Education: Engineering Education for Sustainability, Proceedings
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.21427/TWDV-YD46
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.title	STUDENTS' VIEWS OF TAUGHT PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES: INVESTIGATING THE IMPACT OF PREVIOUS WORK EXPERIENCE
dc.type	Conference Proceeding
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CRIN - Realtime Information Networks
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.date.updated	2024-05-10T07:00:54Z
pubs.publication-status	Published

Abstract:

The ability of Engineering graduates to function as successful professionals depends not only on technical disciplinary knowledge but also on a wide range of professional competencies. Students' reactions to the teaching and assessment of these competencies are often negative. An ongoing study by the authors has been exploring the nature of these reactions and in particular, the various factors that contribute to students' views on the teaching of professional competencies. A preliminary factor analysis showed that students' level of professional experience was a key factor in shaping variations in their views. In this paper, we explore this issue in more depth. For example, when asked on the pair of survey questions “do you agree or disagree that each competency type [professional / technical] should be a core component of your Engineering degree program”, the impact of increasing professional experience on the average response was only marginally greater for professional competencies than for technical competencies. In contrast to this, when asked the pair of questions “for each competency type [professional / technical] indicate whether it is easier to learn it at University or at work”, the analysis of the responses shows that as the level of experience increases, there is a small shift for technical competencies towards being taught at University, whereas for professional competencies, there is a significantly greater shift towards being taught in work environments. We explore these, and other related findings, and consider their implications for the design and delivery of engineering degree programs.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/178796