Developments in engineering education and engineering education research in Europe

Abstract

Europe is the cradle of engineering, as we know it. Engineering education research started in Europe in the 1960s. At that time, it was mostly social scientists who were conducting educational research. As a result of the weak link to educational practice, the research task was taken away from many educational centres in higher education. Presently, there is a worldwide revival of engineering education research. Research methods encompass a mixture of the methods of social sciences and those of science and technology. Over the past years, the number of publication platforms increased considerably, and around the world there are several noteworthy research groups. What the future will bring depends on the turn of events. However, there seems to be a substantial risk for Europe to find itself lagging behind further and further.