Competence-driven engineering education: A case for T-shaped engineers and teachers

Abstract

<span>The demand for engineering education and graduates is increasing daily because the current service and technological designs are unable to meet the needs of the society and the expected dramatic increase in the future. The emerging skill gap requires a shift in the type of expertise required of young professionals that will be needed to successfully lead organizations in the new economy. Researchers have identified various ‘shapes’ for the engineering professionals to make them relevant to the 21<sup>st</sup> century challenge, especially in the industry where their expertise is much needed. T-shaped professionals have skills that make them to be more preferred among others. The purpose of this paper is to present the need to upgrade engineering education curriculum to produce more T-shaped graduate engineers required in the changing industrial world. The potential benefits of T-shaped professionals to organizational performance are quite significant; hence, the demand for T-shaped professionals in knowledge-intensive, service-oriented economies is increasing. Unfortunately, the challenges associated with creating more T-shaped professionals are also significant. National regulatory bodies for engineering education in Nigeria are beginning to move towards integrated curriculum to break down discipline silos and produce T-shaped graduate engineers for the fast-changing industrial world. Service Science Management and Engineering (SSME) is an emerging discipline with over 250 programmes in 50 nations seeking to create more T-shaped professionals.</span>

Development of an Online Learning Platform in Design Thinking Education Through a Design Based Research Methodology

“…Table 2 shows the keywords extracted from the data collection. First of all, in terms of skill development, in addition to learning about the online course content, students also need to improve their T-shaped skills [47,48] through online learning to be able to better collaborate and exchange knowledge in cross-disciplinary contexts. Independent learning per se is considered useful for developing certain skills such as task management [10].…”

“…Furthermore, they can become more independent and acquire futureproof 21st century skills, such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity [45,46]. These are also defined as 'T-shaped skills' and emphasize the importance of not only being an expert in an area but having the competence to share this knowledge and collaborate with other disciplines [47,48].…”

Interdisciplinary Teaching at RWTH Aachen University – Project “Leonardo”

“…Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), such as Universities, are jointly responsible for educating these competencies for sustainable development. One approach for educating this way is described by "t-shaped" scientists or professionals, who combine depth and breadth of knowledge and expertise (Babatope A, Samuel, Ajewole, & Anyanwu, 2020;Conley, Foley, Gorman, Denham, & Coleman, 2017;Demirkan & Spohrer, 2015;Neeley & Steffensen, 2018). This concept is based on Leonardo da Vinci, known as universal genius of the Renaissance (Gadol, 1973).…”

The European Conference on Education 2021: Official Conference Proceedings

“…Especially Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), such as Universities, are jointly responsible for educating these competencies for sustainable development. One approach for educating this way is described by "t-shaped" scientists or professionals, who combine depth and breadth of knowledge and expertise (Babatope A, Samuel, Ajewole, & Anyanwu, 2020;Conley, Foley, Gorman, Denham, & Coleman, 2017;Demirkan & Spohrer, 2015;Neeley & Steffensen, 2018). This concept is based on Leonardo da Vinci, known as universal genius of the Renaissance (Gadol, 1973).…”