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Systematic Method for Teaching Engineering Working Life Skills

Petri Sainio, Seppo Virtanen, Johanna Isoaho, Jouni Isoaho, Systematic Method for Teaching Engineering Working Life Skills. In: International Conference on Engineering Education 2015 – Proceedings, 1–2, iNEER, 2015.

Abstract:

We present and demonstrate a systematic method for teaching working life skills to engineering students. An intended learning outcome (ILO) based approach is used for curriculum definition and development. The teaching of working life skills is implemented coherently using special courses and integrated learning in the technology courses. The specialized courses cover engineering basics, group work and product development during the first year of studies, and further courses on project and engineering skill topics targeted towards the implementation of a large-scale multidisciplinary development project in the 4th – 5th study year. Integrated learning is used because there is not enough space in our educational programs for multiple special courses solely for teaching working life skills. Moreover, there is no reason to fully separate working life skills from the technical context provided in technological courses. We split the engineering profession into smaller subcomponents which can be further defined as learning outcomes for working-life skills. These subcomponents are analyzed in the context of the very turbulent and globalized working environment of the engineering profession in the future. We conclude the paper by presenting our experiences gained in implementing the teaching of working life skills.

BibTeX entry:

@INPROCEEDINGS{inpSaViIsIs15a,
  title = {Systematic Method for Teaching Engineering Working Life Skills},
  booktitle = {International Conference on Engineering Education 2015 – Proceedings},
  author = {Sainio, Petri and Virtanen, Seppo and Isoaho, Johanna and Isoaho, Jouni},
  publisher = {iNEER},
  pages = {1–2},
  year = {2015},
  keywords = {Working life skills, Soft skills, Employability skills},
}

Belongs to TUCS Research Unit(s): Communication Systems (ComSys)

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