Marie Magnell - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Marie Magnell

9th Research in Engineering Education Symposium (REES 2021) and 32nd Australasian Association for Engineering Education Conference (REES AAEE 2021)

New societal challenges have emerged, and the Sustainable Development Goals present a concise sum... more New societal challenges have emerged, and the Sustainable Development Goals present a concise summary of the engineering grand challenges (National Academy of Engineering, 2007). Further, the global society face challenges such as digitalization, future sustainable development and industry 4.0 engineering education is expected to respond by educating engineers with the relevant knowledge and competences useful in dealing with these complex problems both in terms of technology, climate and society (Kolmos, 2021). Engineers need to see themselves as global citizens embracing the human challenges, and engineering institutions need to prepare graduates to be able to work on solutions to these complex problems. Future engineers need to understand the impact of new technologies both on an individual level as well as at a systemic and societal level. Not least to understand how technologies can contribute to solutions for future complex societal problems. The question is how engineering education will respond? What are the strategies for developing the academic disciplines and the future engineering competence profiles, and which changes emerge in curriculum when adapting to future emerging technologies and complex problem solving? Five Nordic Universities have participated in this study (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden). From each university four professors have been interviewed. The professors represent four different engineering disciplines: mechanical engineering, civil engineering, biotechnology and energy engineering. These disciplines are common engineering disciplines, offered at the selected universities. All engineering education in the Nordic countries follow the Bologna structure with three year Bachelor and two year Master education. The aim of this study is to study and compare how different faculties anticipate and predict future changes within their discipline. The findings indicate that there are differences among the four disciplines. The engineering programs with a more core science component such as energy and bio technology anticipate less differences in the future curriculum compared to mechanical and civil engineering. All disciplines anticipate that emerging technologies such as big data and AI will influence the curriculum, and especially production/mechanical and civil engineering also point out new learning objectives like systems understanding. Having in mind that engineering education is a broad field the aim of this study is not to highlight a single coherent outcome but to highlight approaches and understandings for how to prepare future engineering education from an engineering faculty perspective.

Philosophy of engineering and technology, 2022

The aim of this paper is to study academicstaff’sknowledge about working life outside academia an... more The aim of this paper is to study academicstaff’sknowledge about working life outside academia and how contacts with employers and work related learning are integrated in higher education. Thisis the first research report from the project Science and Technology in Society, funded by the European Socialfund (2012-2014), which aims at increasing faculty awareness of working life issues at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)and Stockholm University, the Faculty of Science (SU).In this paper,we examine the academicstaff’s relationto working life outside academiain terms of their own work experience outside academia, theirknowledge about the world of workfor studentsandtheir opinion onthe need for work related learning.The results indicatethat there are some differences, e.g. academic staff at KTH seem to have more work experience outside academiaandthey have integrated more work related learning than academic staff at SU, while staff at SU to a higher extent seem to think there is a...

The connection between research and teaching is one of the main attributes of higher education. A... more The connection between research and teaching is one of the main attributes of higher education. Aside from this link, the relation between higher education and the world of work is another prevaili ...

Several actors demand an increase in work related learning in higher education. To meet this dema... more Several actors demand an increase in work related learning in higher education. To meet this demand, a project aiming at increasing faculty awareness of work life issues was initiated at two Swedish HEIs. The aim of this paper is to study the organisational capability to integrate work related learning as regards support structures, incentives and responsibilities. To collect data, a questionnaire and case studies were conducted. The results indicate that the support structures are rather limited, academic staff request clear goals, and it is not clear who has the primary responsibility for integrating work related learning into the educational programmes.

The aim of this paper is to study the teaching-research nexus in a research intensive technical u... more The aim of this paper is to study the teaching-research nexus in a research intensive technical university. The research questions are (i) How are the links between research and teaching perceived ...

The topic of this paper has been teaching-research links at a Swedish Technical University. In su... more The topic of this paper has been teaching-research links at a Swedish Technical University. In summary, the policy documents analysed present the ideal of a close link between research and teaching ...

Amnet for foreliggande rapport ar kopplingen mellan forskning och utbildning i policy och praktik... more Amnet for foreliggande rapport ar kopplingen mellan forskning och utbildning i policy och praktik vid KTH. Studien bestar av en litteraturgenomgang, enkatstudie, fallstudier vid tva av KTH:s skolor ...

En programsammanhallande kurs gar over flera ar, visar den roda traden i programmet och har som s... more En programsammanhallande kurs gar over flera ar, visar den roda traden i programmet och har som syfte att kursdeltagarna ska bli professionella studenter, samtidigt som kursen har positiva effekter ...

Using the guide Challenge driven projects in Engineering Education Challenge driven projects-five... more Using the guide Challenge driven projects in Engineering Education Challenge driven projects-five compelling examples Solar-powered energy-efficient router enables broadband in rural Tanzania Bridging communication gaps between different care providers Unmanned, solar-powered boats win Japanese challenge Dry toilets-the basis of a sanitation enterprise in Dar es Salaam A market-modified flood pump for a changing world Quick guide Course design and project tasks Start with a wider perspective Frame the Intended learning outcomes Choose and formulate project tasks Integrated learning activities Learning to be creative Project planning models Peer learning and peer feedback Ways of organizing lectures and meetings Setting up and working with teams of students Setting up the teams Team processes and coaching issues Assessment and evaluation Formative and summative assessment-feedback for learning, or feedback on learning Assessment criteria Individual assessment in a group setting Assessment forms: Ways for students to communicate results and performance Writing: Reflections, log books, portfolios, reports and posters Prototyping Oral presentation Intellectual property rights and confidentiality agreements

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings

The purpose of this paper is to identify faculty approaches to working life issues in engineering... more The purpose of this paper is to identify faculty approaches to working life issues in engineering education. The paper focuses on faculty attitudes towards working life issues and their integration into the curriculum and on activities related to working life introduced to the curriculum. We used a mixed methods approach and performed a survey and interviews at a single faculty research intensive technical university in Sweden. The results show that faculty members are positive towards integrating issues from working life into the curriculum. The findings show no support for the academic drift hypothesis, at least not as regards staff drift. The findings also show that faculty members with more work experience outside academia are more interested in including work related issues in their teaching, while faculty with less work experience are less interested. Faculty rate critical thinking, problem solving, new solutions and technical knowledge as the most important knowledge, skills and competences in the engineering profession. The most common ways to integrate working life issues are to use examples from their own work experience, guest lectures or case studies, while programs with more extensive connections to industry offer more integrated activities, e.g. projects with industry. Programs with more extensive connections to industry also seem to use professional contacts established through research in their teaching.

In an era characterized by a move towards a “knowledge society”, universities are cen... more In an era characterized by a move towards a “knowledge society”, universities are central in fostering “knowledgeability”, that is the reflexive understanding of knowledge in knowledge societies. The objective of “knowledgeability” can be met through creating a stronger link between education and research. Furthermore, overall student performance, for example in critical thinking and problem solving, can be improved if research-related activities are incorporated into the curriculum. The aim of this paper is to use inter-national examples to discuss the research- education nexus from four different perspectives, namely context, policy, im- plementation and quality, with case studies from higher education institutions in Singapore and Sweden. We suggest that different integrative technologies can be used to enhance the links, but it will be essential to consider the inputs of training, service and support in using new technology. Interestingly, the...

Higher Education Research & Development

The purpose of this article is to challenge the idea of incompatibility between links to research... more The purpose of this article is to challenge the idea of incompatibility between links to research and links to professional practice in engineering education. The concept of 'academic drift' is introduced, both related to drift towards theory and towards research links in the curriculum. Empirical data were collected through a case study conducted at a department in a researchintensive technical university, including semi-structured interviews with academic staff and an analysis of course syllabuses. The results show that the respondents perceive no incompatibility between including links to research and including links to professional practice in engineering education. Indeed, they state that the two aspects are mutually reinforcing and overlapping. Their rationales for incorporating such coupled links to research and professional practice include increased motivation among students and preparing them for employment. In conclusion, including research in the curriculum does not necessarily lead to academic drift; conversely, the curriculum in engineering education can consist of a seamless blend of research and professional practice.

Tertiary Education and Management, 2016

European Journal of Engineering Education, 2016

European Journal of Engineering Education, Feb 18, 2020

Connections to research and professional practice are both essential components of engineering ed... more Connections to research and professional practice are both essential components of engineering education, although handled differently across engineering programmes. The aim of this paper is to identify discourses on these components across three engineering programmes to in depth understand these variations. A discourse analysis was conducted on interviews, documents and observations and the results show three distinct discourses: the relevance and usefulness discourse, primarily emphasising engineering professional practice and connections to industry; the research and independence discourse, primarily accentuating research connections and independence from external actors; and the dual coupling and sustainability discourse, mainly highlighting a combination of connections to research and professional practice, along with a focus on sustainable development. The overall function of the discourses is interpreted as enhancing the particular characteristics of each programme and resisting different types of influences that threaten to undermine the characteristics of each programme.

9th Research in Engineering Education Symposium (REES 2021) and 32nd Australasian Association for Engineering Education Conference (REES AAEE 2021)

New societal challenges have emerged, and the Sustainable Development Goals present a concise sum... more New societal challenges have emerged, and the Sustainable Development Goals present a concise summary of the engineering grand challenges (National Academy of Engineering, 2007). Further, the global society face challenges such as digitalization, future sustainable development and industry 4.0 engineering education is expected to respond by educating engineers with the relevant knowledge and competences useful in dealing with these complex problems both in terms of technology, climate and society (Kolmos, 2021). Engineers need to see themselves as global citizens embracing the human challenges, and engineering institutions need to prepare graduates to be able to work on solutions to these complex problems. Future engineers need to understand the impact of new technologies both on an individual level as well as at a systemic and societal level. Not least to understand how technologies can contribute to solutions for future complex societal problems. The question is how engineering education will respond? What are the strategies for developing the academic disciplines and the future engineering competence profiles, and which changes emerge in curriculum when adapting to future emerging technologies and complex problem solving? Five Nordic Universities have participated in this study (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden). From each university four professors have been interviewed. The professors represent four different engineering disciplines: mechanical engineering, civil engineering, biotechnology and energy engineering. These disciplines are common engineering disciplines, offered at the selected universities. All engineering education in the Nordic countries follow the Bologna structure with three year Bachelor and two year Master education. The aim of this study is to study and compare how different faculties anticipate and predict future changes within their discipline. The findings indicate that there are differences among the four disciplines. The engineering programs with a more core science component such as energy and bio technology anticipate less differences in the future curriculum compared to mechanical and civil engineering. All disciplines anticipate that emerging technologies such as big data and AI will influence the curriculum, and especially production/mechanical and civil engineering also point out new learning objectives like systems understanding. Having in mind that engineering education is a broad field the aim of this study is not to highlight a single coherent outcome but to highlight approaches and understandings for how to prepare future engineering education from an engineering faculty perspective.

Philosophy of engineering and technology, 2022

The aim of this paper is to study academicstaff’sknowledge about working life outside academia an... more The aim of this paper is to study academicstaff’sknowledge about working life outside academia and how contacts with employers and work related learning are integrated in higher education. Thisis the first research report from the project Science and Technology in Society, funded by the European Socialfund (2012-2014), which aims at increasing faculty awareness of working life issues at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)and Stockholm University, the Faculty of Science (SU).In this paper,we examine the academicstaff’s relationto working life outside academiain terms of their own work experience outside academia, theirknowledge about the world of workfor studentsandtheir opinion onthe need for work related learning.The results indicatethat there are some differences, e.g. academic staff at KTH seem to have more work experience outside academiaandthey have integrated more work related learning than academic staff at SU, while staff at SU to a higher extent seem to think there is a...

The connection between research and teaching is one of the main attributes of higher education. A... more The connection between research and teaching is one of the main attributes of higher education. Aside from this link, the relation between higher education and the world of work is another prevaili ...

Several actors demand an increase in work related learning in higher education. To meet this dema... more Several actors demand an increase in work related learning in higher education. To meet this demand, a project aiming at increasing faculty awareness of work life issues was initiated at two Swedish HEIs. The aim of this paper is to study the organisational capability to integrate work related learning as regards support structures, incentives and responsibilities. To collect data, a questionnaire and case studies were conducted. The results indicate that the support structures are rather limited, academic staff request clear goals, and it is not clear who has the primary responsibility for integrating work related learning into the educational programmes.

The aim of this paper is to study the teaching-research nexus in a research intensive technical u... more The aim of this paper is to study the teaching-research nexus in a research intensive technical university. The research questions are (i) How are the links between research and teaching perceived ...

The topic of this paper has been teaching-research links at a Swedish Technical University. In su... more The topic of this paper has been teaching-research links at a Swedish Technical University. In summary, the policy documents analysed present the ideal of a close link between research and teaching ...

Amnet for foreliggande rapport ar kopplingen mellan forskning och utbildning i policy och praktik... more Amnet for foreliggande rapport ar kopplingen mellan forskning och utbildning i policy och praktik vid KTH. Studien bestar av en litteraturgenomgang, enkatstudie, fallstudier vid tva av KTH:s skolor ...

En programsammanhallande kurs gar over flera ar, visar den roda traden i programmet och har som s... more En programsammanhallande kurs gar over flera ar, visar den roda traden i programmet och har som syfte att kursdeltagarna ska bli professionella studenter, samtidigt som kursen har positiva effekter ...

Using the guide Challenge driven projects in Engineering Education Challenge driven projects-five... more Using the guide Challenge driven projects in Engineering Education Challenge driven projects-five compelling examples Solar-powered energy-efficient router enables broadband in rural Tanzania Bridging communication gaps between different care providers Unmanned, solar-powered boats win Japanese challenge Dry toilets-the basis of a sanitation enterprise in Dar es Salaam A market-modified flood pump for a changing world Quick guide Course design and project tasks Start with a wider perspective Frame the Intended learning outcomes Choose and formulate project tasks Integrated learning activities Learning to be creative Project planning models Peer learning and peer feedback Ways of organizing lectures and meetings Setting up and working with teams of students Setting up the teams Team processes and coaching issues Assessment and evaluation Formative and summative assessment-feedback for learning, or feedback on learning Assessment criteria Individual assessment in a group setting Assessment forms: Ways for students to communicate results and performance Writing: Reflections, log books, portfolios, reports and posters Prototyping Oral presentation Intellectual property rights and confidentiality agreements

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings

The purpose of this paper is to identify faculty approaches to working life issues in engineering... more The purpose of this paper is to identify faculty approaches to working life issues in engineering education. The paper focuses on faculty attitudes towards working life issues and their integration into the curriculum and on activities related to working life introduced to the curriculum. We used a mixed methods approach and performed a survey and interviews at a single faculty research intensive technical university in Sweden. The results show that faculty members are positive towards integrating issues from working life into the curriculum. The findings show no support for the academic drift hypothesis, at least not as regards staff drift. The findings also show that faculty members with more work experience outside academia are more interested in including work related issues in their teaching, while faculty with less work experience are less interested. Faculty rate critical thinking, problem solving, new solutions and technical knowledge as the most important knowledge, skills and competences in the engineering profession. The most common ways to integrate working life issues are to use examples from their own work experience, guest lectures or case studies, while programs with more extensive connections to industry offer more integrated activities, e.g. projects with industry. Programs with more extensive connections to industry also seem to use professional contacts established through research in their teaching.

In an era characterized by a move towards a “knowledge society”, universities are cen... more In an era characterized by a move towards a “knowledge society”, universities are central in fostering “knowledgeability”, that is the reflexive understanding of knowledge in knowledge societies. The objective of “knowledgeability” can be met through creating a stronger link between education and research. Furthermore, overall student performance, for example in critical thinking and problem solving, can be improved if research-related activities are incorporated into the curriculum. The aim of this paper is to use inter-national examples to discuss the research- education nexus from four different perspectives, namely context, policy, im- plementation and quality, with case studies from higher education institutions in Singapore and Sweden. We suggest that different integrative technologies can be used to enhance the links, but it will be essential to consider the inputs of training, service and support in using new technology. Interestingly, the...

Higher Education Research & Development

The purpose of this article is to challenge the idea of incompatibility between links to research... more The purpose of this article is to challenge the idea of incompatibility between links to research and links to professional practice in engineering education. The concept of 'academic drift' is introduced, both related to drift towards theory and towards research links in the curriculum. Empirical data were collected through a case study conducted at a department in a researchintensive technical university, including semi-structured interviews with academic staff and an analysis of course syllabuses. The results show that the respondents perceive no incompatibility between including links to research and including links to professional practice in engineering education. Indeed, they state that the two aspects are mutually reinforcing and overlapping. Their rationales for incorporating such coupled links to research and professional practice include increased motivation among students and preparing them for employment. In conclusion, including research in the curriculum does not necessarily lead to academic drift; conversely, the curriculum in engineering education can consist of a seamless blend of research and professional practice.

Tertiary Education and Management, 2016

European Journal of Engineering Education, 2016

European Journal of Engineering Education, Feb 18, 2020

Connections to research and professional practice are both essential components of engineering ed... more Connections to research and professional practice are both essential components of engineering education, although handled differently across engineering programmes. The aim of this paper is to identify discourses on these components across three engineering programmes to in depth understand these variations. A discourse analysis was conducted on interviews, documents and observations and the results show three distinct discourses: the relevance and usefulness discourse, primarily emphasising engineering professional practice and connections to industry; the research and independence discourse, primarily accentuating research connections and independence from external actors; and the dual coupling and sustainability discourse, mainly highlighting a combination of connections to research and professional practice, along with a focus on sustainable development. The overall function of the discourses is interpreted as enhancing the particular characteristics of each programme and resisting different types of influences that threaten to undermine the characteristics of each programme.