Staying relevant – new ways to assess engineering aptitude

Author: Philip Isaac and Dan Bergsagel

Date published

2 January 2020

Price

Standard: £9.95 + VAT
Members/Subscribers: Free

The Institution of Structural Engineers The Institution of Structural Engineers
Back to Previous

Staying relevant – new ways to assess engineering aptitude

Tag
Author
Philip Isaac and Dan Bergsagel
Date published
2 January 2020
Price

Standard: £9.95 + VAT
Members/Subscribers: Free

The Structural Engineer
Author

Philip Isaac and Dan Bergsagel

Citation

The Structural Engineer, Volume 98, Issue 1, 2020, Page(s) 6

Date published

2 January 2020

Author

Philip Isaac and Dan Bergsagel

Citation

The Structural Engineer, Volume 98, Issue 1, 2020, Page(s) 6

Price

Standard: £9.95 + VAT
Members/Subscribers: Free

Philip Isaac and Dan Bergsagel discuss existing methods of assessing creativity and understanding of engineering behaviours while proposing the development of a simple evaluation procedure for outreach organisers.

Synopsis

The skills required of engineers are changing. New technology and automation mean that fewer engineers are undertaking more – and more varied – work. What can we do to ensure that engineers with the right skills are encouraged into our industry today, and equipped for the industry of tomorrow?

Engineering outreach initiatives are a widely accepted method of encouraging secondary school students to consider engineering for study or work. Initiatives organised at the national level tend to focus on maths and physics skillsets, as do careers advice within schools and university course entry requirements.

Local-level outreach initiatives are beginning to focus on creativity, and the understanding of engineering behaviour. However, these skillsets are not currently easy to assess. By evaluating maths and physics skills only – a subset of engineering skills – we may discourage potentially suitable engineering applicants who have a wider range of well-developed skills, such as creativity or intuitive understanding of engineering behaviours.

This article reviews existing methods of assessing creativity and the understanding of engineering behaviours, and proposes the development of a simple evaluation procedure that could be undertaken by outreach organisers on groups of secondary school students, before and after an engineering outreach initiative to assess the effectiveness of the teaching within the initiative. The test also has potential additional applications, including to the general public, to whom engineers have often struggled to explain their jobs, and to younger students, long before they consider careers in any one subject.

The assessment portion on understanding of engineering behaviours proposes an adaptation of the 'Brohn test' and the International Mathematical Kangaroo approach, with adaptations to avoid employing visual engineering jargon in the depiction of boundary conditions, and to favour strain-based problems. The creativity assessment portion proposes simple design brief questions, with the student response evaluated based on the identity Creativity = Usefulness × Novelty and a taxonomy of creative design, within a limited design period and with limited space to represent their design to the assessor.

Additional information

Format:
PDF
Pages:
6
Publisher:
The Institution of Structural Engineers

Tags

Education Issue 1

Related Resources & Events

The Structural Engineer
Future vision

The future is human

Tanya de Hoog discusses why structural engineers need to adapt and evolve to remain relevant as technological advances continue to develop.

Date – 2 January 2020
Author – Tanya de Hoog
Price – £9.95
The Structural Engineer
Digital skills circle

Digital skills for future engineers

Dan Clipsom discusses the digital skills that will be vital for future structural engineers amid continued transformation across the profession.

Date – 2 January 2020
Author – Dan Clipsom
Price – £9.95
The Structural Engineer
Vision concept

An expansive vision for structural engineers

This article by Glenn R. Bell discusses the importance of structural engineering establishing an expansive vision for the future.

Date – 2 January 2020
Author – Glenn R. Bell
Price – £9.95