On 17 April 2009, Dean Charles L. Tucker III made a presentation in Agricultural and Biological Engineering at UIUC in which he handed out and discussed a document entitled “Propositions on Engineering Undergraduate Education.”  The content of that handout is republished here with Dean Tucker’s permission:

Here are some ideas about engineering education that I believe – at least for today.  I offer them to you as prompts, to elicit your thoughts and enliven our conversation.

1. Many of the skills and habits that we want our students to exhibit are not now taught explicitly – but they could be.
2. Engineering curricula are difficult to change, but faculty are free to make changes both large and small.
3. Our curricula are based on building knowledge progressively from the bottom up, and the way we teach every day acknowledges that this doesn’t work.
4. The most important thing to learn as teachers is that our students are not us.
5. Students have many useful things to say about what engineering education should be.
6. The way we use grades, especially at the college level, is a prime example of  “looking under the light.”
7. The “pipeline” metaphor for student development and retention is worn out, and due for a change.
8. It will never be possible to cover all of the technical facts and skills that our graduates “have to know,” and only a fraction of what we cover is actually retained.
9. ABET is as useful to us as a required course is useful to our students.
10. Signs that we are doing education very well include engagement, passion, and challenge – from students and faculty.
11. Ultimately it’s what happens between a teacher and a student that matters.

Send your comments to Dean Tucker here.

Engineering philosopher and emeritus faculty member at the University of Texas at Austin Billy V. Koen has been featured on the website ytmnd (you’re the man now dog).  The special page KOENTMND is available here and the original ytmnd contribution is posted here.  Billy was one of the early speakers in the ETSI seminar series (here), and his book is an important contribution to engineering philosophy.  Billy isn’t sure what to make of this kind of postmodern attention, but the posting has caused a bit of a stir on the UT campus.