Engineering as a job choice A recent special insert in The Independent was dedicated to engineering. Matthew Harrison director of the education programme at The Royal Academy of Engineering wrote about engineering giving you the freedom to choose the life you want while other articles focused on the way in which engineers can create a greener world and sustainable energy.  ¶ 10:58 am 1 Comments

  Health and Safety 2 Interesting article about one reason for not spending too long in front of your computer:
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article2021203.ece

"So what is a visual migraine? The textbook description says it is a temporary visual disturbance caused by a vascular spasm in the brain, similar to the conventional migraine but without the headache because it affects a different part of the brain. In the case of a visual, or ocular, migraine, the spasm results in decreased blood flow to the occipital cortex, the bit of the brain that deals with vision. [...] Visual migraines, in particular, are associated with stress and fatigue and/or hormonal changes. [...] muscle tension in the neck and shoulders is a common contributory factor, since it constricts the blood supply. Anyone with a history of this sort of problem who works hunched over a computer, especially under pressure, is a prime candidate for a visual migraine ..." The Independent Extra Tuesday 28th November 2006

Following on from the previous health and safety entry
Microsoft has guidelines for the healthy use of computers.  ¶ 10:33 am 0 Comments

  First year achievements We were recently asked to contribute to our end of year 1 stakeholder report. Here are some of my first year achievements:

Pedagogic research workshop
We gave our new facilities a try out when we hosted the Engineering Subject Centre’s pedagogic research workshop in July. Thirty engineering academics and staff developers from across the UK joined our pedagogic researcher, Dr Sue Morón-García, and our colleague Liz Willis from the subject centre to investigate how they might understand, undertake and report on pedagogic research. Professors George Brown from Nottingham and Mike Bramhall from Sheffield Hallam and the UK Centre for Materials Education led sessions on research methods and journal writing respectively.

Research library
In order to facilitate our academics’ and PhD students’ engagement with the education side of the engineering education equation Dr Sue Morón-García began building a research reference library to include some straight forward research texts to get people started. Thanks to a collaboration with the engineering subject centre we are also able to provide access to hard copy of the European Journal of Engineering Education and Prism, a magazine published by the American Society for Engineering Education. The engCETL library is intended as a supplement to the institutional library and it is hoped that academics will find it useful to drop in and view the books and magazine or journal and make contact with our staff who can advise on and support their teaching and learning work.
Books available:
Bell, J. (2005). Doing your research project (4th ed.). Berkshire, UK: Open University Press & McGraw-Hill.
Bell, J., & Opie, C. (2002). Learning from research. Berkshire, UK: Open University Press & McGraw-Hill.
Blaxter, L., Hughes, C., & Tight, M. (2001). How to research (2nd ed.). Berkshire, UK: Open University Press & McGraw-Hill.
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2000). Research methods in education. London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Cryer, P. (2000). The research student's guide to success (2nd ed.). Berkshire, UK: Open University Press & McGraw-HIll.
Denscombe, M. (2002). Ground rules for good research. Berkshire, UK: Open University Press & McGraw-Hill.
Denscombe, M. (2003). The good research guide (2nd ed.). Berkshire, UK: Open University Press & McGraw-Hill.
Hawkins, P. (1999). The art of buildng windmills. Liverpool: GIEU.
Knight, P., & Yorke, M. (2003). Assessment, learning and employability. Berkshire, UK: Open Univerity Press & McGraw-HIll.
Knight, P., & Yorke, M. (2004). Learning, curriculum and employability in higher education. London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Oliver, P. (2003). The student's guide to research ethics. Berkshire, UK: Open University Press & McGraw-HIll.
Rumsey, S. (2004). How to find information: A guide for researchers. Berkshire, UK: Open University Press & McGraw-Hill.
Yorke, M., Pilkington, R., & Mason O'Connor, K. (2005). Employability: A rationale and examples of practice. Birmingham: SEDA.
Journal and magazine issues available:
European Journal of Engineering Education: 29(2,3,4), 30(1,2,3,4), 31(1,2,4)
PRISM: November & December 2004, April, Summer, September, October, November, December 2005, January, February, March, April & Summer 2006.

JISC Rights & Rewards project
The JISC Rights and Rewards (R&R) project has already started informing practice elsewhere: the HEA Engineering subject centre commissioned a report based on the outcomes of the questionnaire run by the R&R project that investigated views on the use of an institutional repository for the deposit of teaching and learning materials. The focus of the report was the implications for the subject centre resource database,it is available from the subject centre web site.
Morón-García, S. (2006). Rights and Rewards: attitudes towards the use of digital repositories for teaching and learning materials. HEA Engineering Subject Centre Report.

East Midlands CETLs pedagogic research network
Researchers (Drs Sue Morón-García & Sarah Bamforth) at the engCETL set up the EMC pedagogic research network in the summer to facilitate the exchange of ideas and expertise among researchers working at the various CETLs involved in the East Midlands Network. In the first instance a JISC mail list was created and a planned face-to-face meeting was hosted by the Centre in November. Our am is to build this community of pedagogic researchers and encourage better understanding and communication.

PhD studentships at engCETL
Our first PhD student, Yussuf Ahmed, who is investigating student acquisition of transferable skills through work placements, successfully transferred to a PhD registration following completion of his first year report and viva. A call for further PhD topics was circulated to academics in associated departments. Our pedagogic researcher Dr Sue Morón-García and research consultant Professor George Brown worked with interested staff to develop ideas for four potential studentships. These were advertised over the summer and we have identified three candidates who will be working with us in the areas of: industrial sponsorship, project-based learning and the use of telelaboratories.

Sandwich placement research
Researcher Abigail Powell joined engCETL for three and half months over the summer in order to collect data for an investigation into male students’ experiences of work placements. This extends and compliments work on female students’ experiences she carried out while working towards her PhD in the Social Science Faculty. She will continue to work with Dr Sue Morón-García, and colleagues Richard Newman and Dr Sarah Bamforth, to develop this work into reports for our associated departments.  ¶ 6:07 pm 0 Comments

  “It ain’t what you use it’s the way that you use it!”

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  Communication skills Education Guardian, 1/11/05
Wanted: engineers who are civil, Paul Brown, p.12

Article about new focus for the civil engineering course at UCL because head of department, Professor Nick Tyler, says that society needs engineers who can communicate, who do not just build what is suggested but try to look at the whole context and suggest better solutions or consider impact. "What we need is a new generation of civil engineers prepared to think for themselves, rather than try to find a cheap solution to the wrong brief." (Brown, 2005, p.12)

Brown reports Tyler's criticisms "Our output may be fantastic civil engineers, but if they cannot explain to their employers and politicians what they are doing and, more importantly, why, they are going to struggle to find and then keep a job. […] We want them to know why they are building bridges, what is happening at each end, and whether a bridge is the best solution to the problem, … We want them to serve society better, not just whizz through equations to see whether the bridge will stand up or not." (op. cit.) Tyler now asks "exam questions in two parts. The first is a complex equation to test comprehension of civil engineering skills. The second asks what the answer means and what further questions might arise." (op. cit.) Brown goes on to tell us that the new prospectus "says that engineers must be able to put an idea into operation. 'This includes the process of persuading people, politicians, and investors to support it, finding the resources to make it happen and displaying it to the world.'  ¶ 6:58 pm 0 Comments

  Health and safety matters!

Workplace stress

This is from a piece reporting on research into occupational health risks conducted by Manchester University and Imperial College using data from reports completed by those who examine sick employees. Dobson outlines the main causes of stress as shown in the report and discussed by various experts in the field of organisational psychology. For example he writes that changes at work (especially those over which people feel they have no control) including new responsibilities and new technology, accounted for one in ten cases, also constantly working long hours (that means over 41 a week not 50) will make you ill. Very few cases (4%) came from tension between home and work.

He writes that it's important to praise and reward, review job demands and improve working relationships and provides some tips to control work-related stress:

• Break up your work into smaller chunks. Complete a job before you start the next one. The satisfaction of seeing a job done reduces stress.
• Talk to your boss - around 40 per cent of large companies have stress-relief programmes.
• Don't be tempted to work longer hours. Tiredness increases stress.
• Get fit - regular aerobic exercise can reduce anxiety by up to 50 per cent.
• Keep up outside interests to maintain a sense of proportion. A social life is an important safety valve.
• Don't lose confidence. People in work always underrate their skills.
• Take breaks, including at least half and hour at lunch. If you feel stress building, take a few minutes' break.
• Cultivate friends at work who you can talk to in times of stress.
• Eat healthily and avoid excessive caffeine, increased drinking, smoking or drugs.

If concerned, see your GP or occupational health physician. Many employers, unions and voluntary agencies offer confidential advice.

Aches and pains?

An article by Nick Jackson in The Independent Careers section, Thursday 3rd August 2006, suggests the use of a new program "that can detect and treat RSI even before users are aware of the problem." (Jackson, 2006, p. 9). The program was created by a Doctor Hornstein "in frustration at how far patients' condition had to deteriorate before they were referred to him. [… It's] the first program to include an assessment using orthopaedic tests. [rather than just reminding you to take breaks …] as you work, a health score monitors your risk of RSI, according to how much you use the computer and how often you do your exercises." (op. cit.)

For information on Desk Doctor see www.einspine.com

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  East Midlands CETLs Pedagogic Research Network We held our first get together on 8th November, 2006 at the engCETL, Loughborough University. There was a lively discussion and we came up with some ideas of how to move forward. There are different levels of understanding, perspective and expertise in the group, but also a shared desire to support each other which meant we agreed that:

• we would like to continue meeting up,
• we should advertise our existence to HEFCE and the HEA,
• we will create a shared bibliography and
• we will aim to work towards producing a special EMCETL issue of an educational research journal (e.g. studies or teaching in higher education) based on the work we are doing.

Meeting up: At the HEA Research Capacity event in London 6th December, 2006, aim to publicise our existence to HEA and to plan the proposed workshop on educational research.

Educational Research workshop: to be held early in the new year, hosted by GENIE CETL colleagues at Leicester University and led by Benjamin Pozos-Hernanadez from SPLINT CETL

Shared bibliography: Lindsay Davies from the Centre for Integrative Learning at Nottingham University offered to co-ordinate this the collection of texts and URLs useful for pedagogic research.

For information, there is a generic definition of pedagogic research for the RAE, see pg 8, and a definition of research, see Annex 3, pg 6. The article by Mike Prosser, HEA Director of Research and Evaluation, in Issue 2 of Academy Exchange, pp. 8-9, looks at the different types of evidence-cased scholarship including RAEable pedagogic research we may be undertaking.

  ¶ 1:27 pm 0 Comments