Evidence-based redesign of engineering education lectures: theoretical framework and preliminary empirical evidence

Abstract

While the fourth industrial revolution continues to change manufacturing enterprises all over the world, not all enabling key technologies are taught sufficiently at universities. For this purpose, a new lecture at the Montanuniversität Leoben was designed, teaching students of miscellaneous engineering disciplines, the fundamentals of digitalization and digital transformation, tailored to the requirements of the industry. To elevate the necessary data from these segments, a representative part of the Austrian metal forming companies was analyzed by conducting a large-scale survey. For the sake of teaching efficiency, a survey revealing students' knowledge regarding digitalization and digital transformation and preferred learning methods were also carried out. As a result, a stakeholder-oriented lecture was developed. Furthermore, a general framework on how innovative transdisciplinary academic lectures in engineering can be developed in an efficient, effective, and practical way was derived, which aims to close the gap between modern engineering education and required practical skills.