#50 Season 7 Highlights

What is meant by employability? How do we know if students’ employability increases over the course of an engineering degree?This episode features Andrew Valentine (University of Melbourne). We talk about his paper published within the European Journal of Engineering Education, entitled, Enhancing the Measurement of Employability in Engineering: Insights from a Systematic Literature Review.Follow this link to read the full paper.Timestamps0.00 Podcast introduction0.27 Introduction to the episode0.58 Overview of the work and how it came about2.05 Summary of the paper2.40 The research gap4.44 Research aims and questions5.26 The systematic literature review10.41 Extracting the data12.48 Need for conceptual Clarity and Consensus15.51 Need for discipline (and sub-discipline) specificity17.02 Need for Holistic Development Foci19.11 Need for Transitional Rigor in Operational Definitions20.15 Need for rigorous empirical validation. 22.00 Need for robust and apposite reporting mechanisms as opposed to self-report 24.30 Implications and what's nextJoin us! Become a member of the European Society for EngineeringEducation, SEFI, Europe's largest network of engineeringeducators: www.sefi.be Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In every episode of the SEFI podcast, several transferable skills are mentioned, this highlighting their importance in engineering education and to the engineering profession more widely.In this episode, we speak with Gillian Saunders-Smits from TU Delft about her work as Editor-in-Chief of the SEFI Handbook on Teaching Transferable Competencies and Skills in Engineering, a project born as an idea in 2024 from the SEFI Engineering Skills Special Interest Group and which brought together expertise of 155 contributors from 56 different higher education institutes and professional organisations from 23 countries spread over five continents. The open-source handbook provides a comprehensive, evidence-informed and practice-oriented resource for engineering educators, curriculum developers, programme leaders, educational researchers and students, both in Europe and worldwide.Recorded immediately after the first copies were printed, and before its official publication, the conversation captures some of the raw energy and emotion at the end of a two-and-a-half years journey from idea to publication.Join Dr. Natalie Wint (University College London) and Prof. Neil Cooke (University of Birmingham) to learn more about the SEFI Handbook on Teaching Transferable Competencies and Skills in EngineeringTimestamps0.00 Welcome and introduction to episode0.25 Podcast Intro1.33 Experiences with transferable skills from Natalie and Neil3.32 Introduction to Gillian and the handbook4.38 Why was a handbook needed?7.50 Use of language and terminology11.07 Making initial decisions13.40 The structure of the book and Part 1 which sets the context20.37 Selecting the skills for Part 2 (embedding skills in the classroom)23.17 The structure of chapters in Part 231.00 Different types of assessment37.22 The longevity of the handbook39.51 Different approaches to Integration of skills; institutional case studies52.40 Evaluation1:02:15 The editorial experience1:06:42 Key takeaways from Natalie and NeilResourceshttps://books.open.tudelft.nl/home/catalog/book/266Join us! Become a member of the European Society for EngineeringEducation, SEFI, Europe's largest network of engineeringeducators: www.sefi.beMusic by Lizzie Cooke Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are an essential part of engineering education, particularly as student numbers continue to grow. However, it’s not often that we stop to consider what teaching is like from their perspective and think about how we can support them as developing educators whose contributions matter.In this episode, we speak with Harry Day, Sarah Plumb, Matteo Di Benedetti and Lucy Farquhar from the University of Sheffield about their work to transform the GTA experience. Drawing on research and practical experience, they explore how a more supportive, structured approach can benefit GTAs, academic staff and students alike.Join Dr. Natalie Wint (University College London) and Prof. Neil Cooke (University of Birmingham) to learn more about the how we can support GTAs in engineering education.Timestamps0.00 Welcome and introduction to episode0.30 Podcast Intro0.55 Experiences with GTAs from Natalie and Neil3.24 Introduction to Harry, Sarah, Matteo and Lucy4.58 University of Sheffield, UK6.29 What is a TA or GTA? Why are they used?8.10 What are the challeneges involved in working with GTAs?12.50 Lucy's exprience as a GTA16.35 The importance of overcoming the challenges; training and community building19.20 Introduction to the MIJ (Mattering, Integration, Justice) Framework31.22 Provision for training and the need for discipline specific training36.38 Identifying the key areas for development 49.50 The training model and its alignment55.26 A roadmap of qualification requirements1:06:40 The journey of a GTA from recruitment to their first time in the classroom1:12:10 Diversity, equity and inclusion1:24:13 Student Feedback1:26:41 What is next?1:32:29 Key takeaways from Natalie and Neil ResourcesPlumb, S., Day, H., & Di Benedetti, M. (2024). Effective development and recognition of Teaching Assistant practice: An aligned model. Proceedings of the 52nd Annual Conference of SEFI, Lausanne, Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14256709https://zenodo.org/records/14256709Matteo Di Benedetti, Sarah Plumb & Stephen B. M. Beck (2023) Effective use of peer teaching and self-reflection for the pedagogical training of graduate teaching assistants in engineering, European Journal of Engineering Education, 48:1, 59-74, DOI: 10.1080/03043797.2022.2054313https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03043797.2022.2054313https://sites.google.com/sheffield.ac.uk/oer-gtadevelopmentprogram/0-home?authuser=0Join us! Become a member of the European Society for EngineeringEducation, SEFI, Europe's largest network of engineeringeducators: www.sefi.be Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Female students have long been underrepresented in engineering. However, the increasing use of project- and problem-based learning (PBL) approaches raises new questions regarding how power dynamics shape their lived experiences during collaborative teamwork. This episode features Sandra Ireri Cruz Moreno and Shannon Chance (Technological University Dublin). We talk about the winner of the ‘Best Research Paper’ at the SEFI 2025 Conference entitled “Evolving gender dynamics in teamwork experiences among female engineering students in PBL settings”.Follow this link to read the full paper.Timestamps0.00 Podcast introduction0.28 Introduction to the episode1.12 Overview of the work and how it came about2.44 Summary of the paper4.48 The research gap6.42 PBL at TU Dublin 8.30 Research aims and questions9.02 Theoretical frameworks11.50 Approach16:00 Data collection and analysis17.38 Findings23.20 Implications for practice24.57 Implications for researchOther resourcesCruz Moreno, S. I., & Chance, S. (2024). Exploring analytical frameworks to investigate power dynamics in collaborative learning in engineering education. Proceedings of the 52nd Annual Conference of SEFI, Lausanne, Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.14256915Join us! Become a member of the European Society for EngineeringEducation, SEFI, Europe's largest network of engineeringeducators: www.sefi.be Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Engineering students are increasingly expected to work towards solving ‘wicked’ problems. Tacking such complexity can invoke a range of emotions and educators are increasingly required to support students in situations when they are confronted with uncertainty and value conflicts.In this episode we speak to Johanna Lönngren, Associate Professor in Science and Engineering Education at Umeå University. Johanna is part of the Umeå Science Education Research (UmSER) group and focuses on the role of emotions in education for sustainable development, exploring how engineering students talk about, and collaboratively deal with, emotions when they work with complex sustainability problems.Join Dr. Natalie Wint (University College London) and Prof. Neil Cooke (University of Birmingham) to learn more about the emotions that engineers experience when tacking complex and wicked problemsTimestamps0.00 Welcome and introduction to episode0.17 Podcast Intro0.42 Experiences with student emotion from Natalie and Neil3.45 Introduction to Johanna8.23 University of Umeå10.28 Wicked problems in engineering15.08 Bringing wicked problems into engineering education19.15 Emotions in education25.19 Emotion as social; implications for methodology29.18 Emotions associated with wicked problems32.18 Positioning theory34.55 Emotional scaffolding40.52 Studying and evaluating the use of emotional scaffolding47.37 Techniques to help students deal with emotions associated with wicked problems54.11 Supporting engineering educators in providing emotional scaffolding56.54 Future work1:00:40 Takeaways from Johanna1:02: 18 Key takeaways from Natalie and Neil Resourceshttps://wickedproblemsteaching.wordpress.com/.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03043797.2025.2474046?scroll=top&needAccess=true#d1e164Join us! Become a member of the European Society for EngineeringEducation, SEFI, Europe's largest network of engineeringeducators: www.sefi.be Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feedback and peer review is a key part of university life for both educators and students. Despite this, there are still gaps in our understanding how to best provide and make use of feedback. This episode features Ruth Fisher and Divya Naya, both from the University of New South Wales. We talk about the winner of the ‘Best Practice Paper’ at the SEFI 2025 Conference entitled “Using multistage peer reviews to provide feedback and improve student learning” which Ruth and Divya co-authored with Javier Videlo Mario and Shamim Aryampa.Timestamps0.00 Welcome and introduction to episode0.27 Introduction to the episode1.18 The context of the research2.44 A summary of the work3.40 The need for the work6.20 How did the peer review process work?10.00 How was the process evaluated?12.37 Grading students' feedback13.29 The main research questions14.30 The findings19.16 How did educators' feedback practice change?21.06 The findings; educator reflections24.28 Key takeaways29.55 What's next?Follow this link to read the full paper.Join us! Become a member of the European Society for EngineeringEducation, SEFI, Europe's largest network of engineeringeducators: www.sefi.be Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Concerns for student mental health have grown over the last decade, particularly within engineering disciplines, which are often associated with heavy workloads and difficult assessment. There is subsequently an increasing need to understand the stressors that impact engineering students, and the ways in which we can support them to thrive.In this episode we speak to Karin Jensen, an Assistant Professor and Faith Gacheru a first-year graduate student, both from the University of Michigan. Karin was awarded a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation for her research on undergraduate mental health in engineering programs and recognized with a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, awarded by US President Biden in January 2025, whilst Faith recently presented a poster entitled A Mixed-Methods Study to Support Undergraduate Engineering Student Well-Being at ASEE 2025.Join Dr. Natalie Wint (University College London) and Prof. Neil Cooke (University of Birmingham) to learn about stressors within engineering education and ways by which to encourage help-seeking behaviour. Timestamps0.00 Welcome and introduction to episode0.23 Podcast Intro0.45 Experiences with student mental health from Natalie and Neil2.32 Introduction to Karin and Faith 7.06 University of Michigan9.38 Key definitions, terminology and use of language15.27 How concerns regarding mental health have changed 20.11 The role of engineering culture24.21 Making changes at different levels of the system26.32 Measuring stress and identifying stressors within engineering education34.53 How do educators perceive mental health concerns36.51 Thriving 38.09 Translating finding into teaching practices 47.21 How is the research being used to support other educators48.29 Staff mental health 51.09 Future work52.33 Takeaways from Karin and Faith55.54 Key takeaways from Natalie and Neil ResourcesDetails about Karin’s lab and work can be found here https://kjens.engin.umich.edu/ including The Engineering Stress Culture (ESC) Scale, a 10-item measure of undergraduate student perceptions of engineering stress culture and The Undergraduate Engineering Stressors Questionnaire (U-ESQ) (https://kjens.engin.umich.edu/research-well-being/)Join us! Become a member of the European Society for EngineeringEducation, SEFI, Europe's largest network of engineeringeducators: www.sefi.be Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Despite the increasing magnitude and frequency of disasters, it remains unclear whether civil engineers possess the ability to understand disaster risk and design resilient infrastructures.  This episode features Anup Shrestha from Water and Development Research Group, School of Engineering, Aalto University (Finland).  We talk about the winner of the ‘Best Student Paper’ at the SEFI 2025 Conference entitled “Are Disaster-Prone Countries’ Undergraduate Students Prepared? Insights from a Civil Engineering Program in Nepal” which Anup co-authored with Julia Sundman, Josias Láng-Ritter, Maija Taka, Olli Varis (Aalto University) and Sudeep Lamsal (Sagarmatha Engineering College).  The paper considers the degree to which undergraduate civil engineering students in disaster-prone countries are adequately prepared. The research involves the use of a questionnaire to evaluate Nepalese students’ knowledge of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), resilience concepts, and related competencies. Students were found to exhibit DRR knowledge, but had limited opportunities to participate in DRR courses, workshops, or training. Whilst they possessed the basic concepts of resilience, there was a notable gap in their ability to apply these concepts in designing resilient structures. The research team thus suggest that additional efforts focus on integrating these competencies into engineering curricula.  For the full paper, follow this link:https://acris.aalto.fi/ws/portalfiles/portal/202473945/SEFI2025_040.pdf This is the third episode from the new SEFI Podcast: Publication Spotlight series which aims to complement our normal, longer length shows. In these episodes, we speak with authors of recent publications to bring you up to date with some of the latest work within engineering education.Timestamps0.00 Welcome and introduction0.27 Introduction to the episode an publication1.08 How the work came about and the research team4.25 Summary of the work5.18 The research gap7.36 Disaster risk reduction (DRR)10.58 The research questions12.10 Methodology 13.38 The findings16.58 Implications for engineering education research and practice20.24 Contextual differences 22.48 Staff and student perceptions to integrating DRR and resilience26.27 What's next?Join us! Become a member of the European Society for EngineeringEducation, SEFI, Europe's largest network of engineeringeducators: www.sefi.be Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The rising complexity of modern societal challenges has intensified interest in interdisciplinary engineering education.In this episode we speak to Professor Anette Kolmos (Professor in Engineering Education and PBL) and Dr Henrik Worm Routhe (Postdoctoral Researcher) from Aalborg University (AAU) in Denmark, about InterPBL and the different approaches that can be taken to interdisciplinary learning and teaching.Join Dr. Natalie Wint (University College London) and Prof. Neil Cooke (University of Birmingham) to learn about the many different ways in which we can integrate interdisciplinary projects into our engineering courses. Timestamps0.00 Welcome and introduction to episode0.25 Podcast Intro0.52 Experiences with interdisciplinary from Natalie and Neil2.30 Introduction to Anette and Henrik7.20 Aalborg University (AAU)9.18 Introduction to InterPBL13.00 Examples of the challenges associated with interdisciplinary project work14.34 Aims of the InterPBL project17.04 Interdisciplinary in engineering practice21.00 Definitions 24.25 Cognitive trust and boundary objects31.00 How does interdisciplinary work impact identity?35.28 A typology of interdisciplinary projects48.32 Students' motivation50.57 Leadership 55.21 Assessment of interdisciplinary 58.41 Implications for staff and capacity building1:00:50 Measuring the effectiveness of interdisciplinary learning and teaching1:05:40 Introducting interdisciplinary in your own context1:09:56 Mega-projects (M-Project) and broad interdisciplinary1:15:25 Key Takeaways and implications from Anette and Henrik1:25:38 What is next for research in this area?1:28:48 Key takeaways from Natalie and Neil ResourcesA small sample of papers which focus on the InterPBL project are linked belowThis paper focuses on student learning outcomes of interdisciplinary workhttps://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10171180This provides insights from a narrow interdisciplinary curriculum project named “leadENGhttps://vbn.aau.dk/en/publications/interdisciplinary-problem-based-projects-for-first-year-engineeri/This paper focuses on development of leadership competencieshttps://vbn.aau.dk/ws/portalfiles/portal/752930995/17_ijee4479.pdfThese papers focus on the different project typeshttps://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/2/138https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03043797.2023.2267476Join us! Become a member of the European Society for EngineeringEducation, SEFI, Europe's largest network of engineeringeducators: www.sefi.be Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.