Robin King - Independent Researcher (original) (raw)

Papers by Robin King

Best Practice Guidelines for Effective Industry Engagement in Australian Engineering Degrees

Solving wicked sustainability problems: What specific knowledge and skills do students need to have to solve modern sustainability issues and those of the future?

Australasian Journal of Engineering Education, 2013

Final Report 2011. Curriculum specification and support for engineering education: Understanding attrition, academic support, revised competencies, pathways and …

This project addresses several system-wide issues from the recommendations of the ALTC-funded dis... more This project addresses several system-wide issues from the recommendations of the ALTC-funded discipline scoping study of engineering education conducted in 20078. The ultimate purpose of each of the four project themes is to assist engineering academics to design and ...

The paper describes current processes intended to improve the educational value and viability of ... more The paper describes current processes intended to improve the educational value and viability of the University of South Australia’s undergraduate programs for professions for the built environment – civil and water engineering; land, quantity and building surveying; construction management; and urban and regional planning – and preservation and sensitive exploitation of the natural environment. Ultimately these are the key professions for ensuring sustainable physical infrastructure consistent with triple-bottom line development goals. The paper argues that for a university set in regional economy such as South Australia’s, with population of about 1.5M and particular environmental and economic development needs, there is much to be gained by reversing the trend towards ever greater discipline specialisation, and developing professional programs with greater inter-disciplinarity, spanning the relevant science and technologies, engineering and management approaches, and relevant soc...

Creating efficiencies in teaching: Where are the right resources when you need them?

Early career engineering academics are encouraged to join and contribute to established research ... more Early career engineering academics are encouraged to join and contribute to established research groups at the leading edge of their discipline. This is often facilitated by various staff development and support programs. Given that academics are often appointed primarily on the basis of their research skills and outputs, such an approach is justified and is likely to result in advancing the individual academic’s career. It also enhances their capacity to attract competitive research funding, while contributing to the overall research performance of their institution, with further potential for an increased share of government funding. In contrast, there is much less clarity of direction or availability of support mechanisms for those academics in their role as teachers. Following a general induction to teaching and learning at their institution, they would commonly think about preparing some lecture materials, whether for delivery in a face-to-face or on-line modality. Typically th...

Summary Innovation in engineering education ensures that degree programs attract students and tra... more Summary Innovation in engineering education ensures that degree programs attract students and transform them into graduates who are well prepared for future engineering practice that exploits new science and technology, and is responsive to changing socio-economic and environmental contexts. Drawing on examples from Australia and elsewhere, the paper outlines the rationale and implementation of several recent innovations in engineering education, and anticipates future directions. During the past twenty years, university education has become more globalised, and has changed from being teacher-centered to learner-centered. Industry is ever more demanding of graduates’ employability and value. In consequence, current degree programs more explicitly address the learning outcomes their graduates should attain. Typically, these cover discipline and contextual knowledge, practice knowledge and skills, and personal and professional attributes. Engineering, as a discipline, has led the deve...

Creativity" is highly valued in modern societies and is used for market positioning in diffe... more Creativity" is highly valued in modern societies and is used for market positioning in different sectors. Professional engineers and engineering educators correctly identify creativity as important elements of their work. Yet engineering may not be perceived by the public or prospective students to be particularly creative. The paper presents results from a survey of secondary school students. On average, and perhaps not surprisingly, they rated engineering as more creative than accountancy or medical practice, but less creative than architecture or music. Their comments reveal a range of useful perceptions. The paper identifies four dimensions of creativity and notes that each has a framework of expression critical evaluation. The paper suggests that a focus on creativity can be used to portray engineering accurately to prospective students, and that increased focus on creativity in the curriculum will be motivating to students and will also improve employment outcomes.

A bush walker's guide to the Huon Peninsula

The CDIO Standards provide an excellent framework for the engagement of industry stakeholders in ... more The CDIO Standards provide an excellent framework for the engagement of industry stakeholders in the development and operation of professional engineering degrees. This framework is echoed in the program accreditation requirements operated by Engineers Australia and other accreditation bodies. Implementing effective industry engagement is, however, increasingly challenging to both academics (faculty) and industry members, despite much mutual goodwill between the two sectors. This paper provides the findings of a recent study on the drivers and barriers to engagement by industry to engineering education. The theoretical framework for the study was that all aspects of engineering education should be comprehensively engaged with practice, thus endorsing the principles of CDIO. Data presented from a student survey reinforces the value of good industry engagement in the curriculum. The principal findings from the consultation with industry highlight barriers in terms of poor communicatio...

Indigenous Australians are grossly under-represented in engineering education and the engineering... more Indigenous Australians are grossly under-represented in engineering education and the engineering workforce. The reasons for this are complex and multifaceted. There are no magic bullet solutions to increase their participation. Rather, this will be a long term task that will require commitment from a wide range of contributors at all levels of the education pipeline, including indigenous educators and representatives of indigenous communities and organizations. University providers of engineering programs can have significant roles to play in assisting growth in participation. This paper reports on findings that formed part of a wider project investigating opportunities for flexible and alternate pathways into engineering degrees. After examining perceived barriers to, and potential opportunities for, growth in indigenous participation, recommendations and guidelines are proposed for implementation by providers of higher education engineering qualifications.

Background: During the latter half of the twentieth century, the focus and content of formative e... more Background: During the latter half of the twentieth century, the focus and content of formative engineering degrees that qualify graduates to commence supervised practice progressively emphasised engineering science, somewhat at the expense of its connections to engineering practice. Australian engineering degrees, nevertheless, have long included requirements for industry exposure, to round out and contextualise students' engineering science and application knowledge, and provide experience relevant to their future practice as graduate employees. The quality of students' exposure to industry has become more variable as engineering enrolments have increased and diversified, industries' structures and employers' expectations have changed, and the academic workforce has become more focussed on engineering science research. The changes present new challenges in coverage, quality, and assessment (by the universities) of students' experience of industry engagement. Pu...

Part time study distorts student attrition rates in engineering programs

Proceedings of the 21st …, 2010

Standard four-year full-time engineering degrees commonly take eight years when studied part-time... more Standard four-year full-time engineering degrees commonly take eight years when studied part-time by distance education and this can distort apparent retention and attrition rates. Recent publications indicate the national part-time annual retention rate for ...

The Process of Technological Change

The British Journal of Sociology, 1989

Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability

Industry engagement, commonly implemented as a 12 week industry placement during a vacation towar... more Industry engagement, commonly implemented as a 12 week industry placement during a vacation towards the end of the degree, has traditionally been a provider-mandated component of externally accredited professional engineering degrees in Australia. Such placements are intended to bridge knowledge and capability gaps between academic study and engineering employment and contextualise the final phase of academic study. Changes in the composition of Australia’s engineering industries have made it progressively harder to source such placements. In-curriculum exposure to engineering practice has also been expected, but has been delivered with considerable variability. In 2014 the authors completed a national project, led by the Australian Council of Engineering Deans (ACED), with peak industry bodies and several partner universities, funded from the Commonwealth Department of Industry Workplace Innovation Program, to explore how improving industry engagement could contribute further to en...

Speech Signal Analysis, Synthesis and Recognition Exercises Using Matlab

International Journal of Electrical Engineering Education

Three MATLAB exercises covering speech signal analysis and principles of linear prediction, forma... more Three MATLAB exercises covering speech signal analysis and principles of linear prediction, formant synthesis and speech recognition are described. These exercises, which are assessed components in an elective course on speech and language processing, enable undergraduate electrical engineering students to explore fundamentally important concepts in speech science and signal processing.

Structural and didactic methodologies for promoting professional orientation within engineering courses

Proceedings Frontiers in Education Conference

Page 1. Session 16A4 Structural And Didactic Methodologies For Promoting Professional Orientation... more Page 1. Session 16A4 Structural And Didactic Methodologies For Promoting Professional Orientation Within Engineering Courses Robin W. King Electrical Engineering The University of Sydney Sydney, New South Wales, Australia ...

Engineering: A Creative Profession ?

Direct and joint-space approaches to the use of spectral transformation for speaker adaptation in continuous speech recognition

Interspeech, 1995

Scoping the Opportunities to Aid Recruitment and Retention of Indigenous Students in Engineering

Abstract: Indigenous Australians are grossly under-represented in engineering education and the e... more Abstract: Indigenous Australians are grossly under-represented in engineering education and the engineering workforce. The reasons for this are complex and multifaceted. There are no magic bullet solutions to increase their participation. Rather, this will be a long term ...