Training and Preparing Tomorrow’s Workforce for the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Abstract

We call for a paradigm shift in engineering education. We are entering the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (“4IR”), accelerated by Artificial Intelligence (“AI”). Disruptive changes affect all industrial sectors and society, leading to increased uncertainty that makes it impossible to predict what lies ahead. Therefore, gradual cultural change in education is no longer an option to ease social pain. The vast majority of engineering education and training systems, which have remained largely static and underinvested for decades, are inadequate for the emerging 4IR and AI labour markets. Nevertheless, some positive developments can be observed in the reorientation of the engineering education sector. Novel approaches to engineering education are already providing distinctive, technology-enhanced, personalised, student-centred curriculum experiences within an integrated and unified education system. We need to educate engineering students for a future whose key characteristics are volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (“VUCA”). Talent and skills gaps are expected to increase in all industries in the coming years. The authors argue for an engineering curriculum that combines timeless didactic traditions such as Socratic inquiry, mastery-based and project-based learning and first-principles thinking with novel elements, e.g., student-centred active and e-learning with a focus on case studies, as well as visualization/metaverse and gamification elements discussed in this paper, and a refocusing of engineering skills and knowledge enhanced by AI on human qualities such as creativity, empathy and dexterity. These skills strengthen engineering students’ perceptions of the world and the decisions they make as a result. This 4IR engineering curriculum will prepare engineering students to become curious engineers and excellent collaborators who navigate increasingly complex multistakeholder ecosystems.

Metaverse applications in education: a systematic review and a cost-benefit analysis

“…This review suggests that a number of commentators shed light on various aspects about Metaverse technologies, including on their personalization (Bühler et al , 2022; Chen, 2022; Díaz, 2020; Park, and Kim, 2022) and interactivity features (Cortés Rodríguez et al , 2022; Guo and Gao, 2022; Lee et al , 2022a, 2022b; Ratten, 2023; Siyaev and Jo, 2021a, 2021b), as well as on their gaming attributes (Barry et al , 2015; Díaz et al , 2020; Estudante and Dietrich, 2020; Garrido-Iñigo and Rodríguez-Moreno, 2015; Melendez Araya and Hidalgo Avila, 2018; Park and Kim, 2022), among other issues. Various authors classified the Metaverse into four categories: AR (Dwivedi et al , 2022; Hwang and Chien, 2022; Kye et al , 2021); lifelogging (Kye et al , 2021; Tlili et al , 2022; Xu et al , 2023); mirror world (Guo and Gao, 2022; Kye et al , 2021; Tlili et al , 2022); and virtual reality (Dwivedi et al , 2022; Hwang and Chien, 2022; Kye et al , 2021; Ng, 2022; Yu, 2022).…”

“…These findings suggest that, to date, there were no qualitative studies on the use of the Metaverse in education. This review suggests that a number of commentators shed light on various aspects about Metaverse technologies, including on their personalization (Bühler et al, 2022;Chen, 2022;Díaz, 2020;Park, and Kim, 2022) and interactivity features (Cort es Rodríguez et al, 2022;Guo and Gao, 2022;Lee et al, 2022aLee et al, , 2022bRatten, 2023;Siyaev andJo, 2021a, 2021b), as well as on their gaming attributes (Barry et al, 2015;Díaz et al, 2020;Estudante and Dietrich, 2020;Garrido-Iñigo and Rodríguez-Moreno, 2015;Melendez Araya and Hidalgo Avila, 2018;Park and Kim, 2022), among other issues. Various authors classified the Metaverse into four categories:…”

Sentiment analysis and opinion mining on educational data: A survey

“…• Education and training: Incorporating MU concepts, methodologies, and best practices into educational programs, training workshops, or industry certifications, particularly through education and training on standardized approaches, can help practitioners develop a common understanding and adoption of best practices in the MU field [165], [166].…”

Recyclable and Efficient Construction using Mineral Landfill Materials and Demolition Wastes

“…With extensive experience in construction, infrastructure, and urban development, the project group's research expertise covers areas such as geotechnical engineering, earthquake engineering [56], soil dynamics [57], climate research [58,59], and education/management research [60]. The team's professional experience spans geotechnical design/construction management, infrastructure advisory/finance, and global initiatives, research, strategy, and business development through involvement with organizations like the World Economic Forum, T20/G20 Task Forces [61][62][63], G20 Infrastructure Hub [64], and OECD Executive Consultation Group.…”