Computer-Aided Engineering Education: New Learning Approaches and Technologies

Introduction

In the era of knowledge driven society, changes occurs rapidly throughout the industries and the marketplace. Two main factors that drive the rapid change in the market environment and the society are the globalization and the revolution of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Knowledge has played an important role as a sustainable competitive factor for survival in the dynamic marketplace (Anantatmula & Kanungo, 2010; Beijerse, 1999; Bogdanowicz & Bailey, 2002; Chong et al., 2009; Havens & Knapp, 1999; Lin, 2011; Pauleen et al., 2004; Soosay & Hyland, 2008). As mentioned by Drucker (1993), the main challenge in the knowledge-based economy is how to make the information and knowledge productive enough to compete in this constantly changing environment. We are moving towards the era of post-industrial knowledge society where the future will be essentially determined by the ability to utilize knowledge for unique ideas, products and services that emphasize on innovation efforts for competitive advantage. In fact, the shift from material and labor intensive products and processes to knowledge intensive products and services are the unavoidable major trend in the knowledge driven economy (Duderstadt, 2008).

Concurrent with this trend, the demand for skills and competencies increases significantly (Morell et al., 2008). In addition, “nations are placing a high priority on developing their human capital” as the immediate response to the current trend of knowledge driven economy (Delgado-Almonte et al., 2010, p. 140). Furthermore, as identified by the World Bank, in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, “the investment in the intangibles that make up the knowledge base – research and development (R&D), education, and computer software - is equaling or even exceeding the investment in physical equipment” (The World Bank, 2002, p. 8). There is no doubt that education in general and tertiary education in specific plays a critical and major role in the knowledge driven era. Specifically, tertiary education contributes to the growth of knowledge economy through the following four missions (OECD, 2008, p. 13):

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  The formation of human capital (primarily through teaching).

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  The building of knowledge bases (primarily through research and knowledge development).

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  The dissemination and use of knowledge (primarily through interactions with knowledge users).

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  The maintenance of knowledge (inter-generational storage and transmission of knowledge).

In contrast, when any countries lose their base in academic excellence, they will lose the competitiveness in the global knowledge society (Meek et al., 2009). Thus, the shift to a new paradigm of education that expects to foster the development of emerging knowledge economy and the broad knowledge society is a great challenge faced by the education practitioners globally. The next section discusses on the challenges of tertiary education in the context of engineering education.