Imagine the potential impact

1.

Wherever you are reading this from, consider your near surroundings and technology, those in the surrounding landscape, and further out in place and back in time. Consider the engineers over the generations whose work continues to shape your world now. Engineers serve millions of people over many generations. Through the educators who read our papers, and the engineers whom they teach, engineering education researchers may serve many millions of people.

In this editorial I am delighted to report the Best Paper awards for Volume 27, to introduce the five papers in the issue, to introduce new members of the Editorial Team and thank those departing, and to acknowledge the many people who contribute to the important work of the Australasian Journal of Engineering Education.

1. Best paper volume 27

The Best Paper in the Australasian Journal of Engineering Education Volume 27 was judged by members of the Editorial Team, with the final decision made by Scott Daniel and Rosalie Goldsmith. The awards were announced at the Australasian Association for Engineering Education Conference 2023.

Congratulations Shiloh James Howland, Stephanie Claussen, Brent K. Jesiek, and Carla B. Zoltowski on being awarded Best Paper in Volume 27 for their paper titled ‘Influences on U.S. undergraduate engineering students’ perceptions of ethics and social responsibility: findings from a longitudinal study’ (2022). The Australasian Association for Engineering Education supports open access for the Best Paper. The judges commented:

[Howland et al. (2022) report] a very strong longitudinal research design tracking 226 US undergraduate engineering students over four years to investigate the influence of how participation in a wide range of experiences may influence students’ views on ethics and social responsibility. The paper was distinguished by the depth, insight, and nuance of the discussion and interpretation of the results, with broad implications for the important topic of the development of ethical awareness in engineering students. (S. Daniel and R. Goldsmith)

Congratulations Andrew Valentine, Iouri Belski, and Margaret Hamilton awarded a High Commendation for their paper titled ‘Influence of using a pen-and-paper or computer-based approach on engineering students’ self-efficacy during idea generation’. The judges commented:

[Valentine et al. (2022) provide a] very clearly-defined and methodologically robust analysis of the effect of different approaches on students’ self-efficacy in the important design phase of ideation, situated well in the Australian context. The findings will be very helpful to educators and researchers in engineering design and creativity. This paper is an exemplar of how researchers can rigorously explore research questions that have otherwise been approached only anecdotally. (S. Daniel and R. Goldsmith)

2. Papers in this issue

The Australasian Journal of Engineering Education publishes research on engineering education and research on engineering practice to inform enhancements to engineering education. The Journal publishes papers relevant to Australasia and/or internationally. In this issue, Crossin, Richards, Dart and Naswall, of Christchurch, New Zealand, and Brisbane, Australia, present 86 common engineering activities linked to 17 engineering competencies and 11 International Engineering Alliance graduate attributes in ‘A taxonomy of common engineering activities and competencies’ (2023). The paper reports a substantial study of six steps including a systematic literature search, a pilot survey of 40 participants, further literature search, and a survey of 889 participants with engineering qualifications and living in Australia or New Zealand. Readers can access valuable supplemental files including the list of 149 publications selected following the extended search. The results will be useful to curriculum designers, accreditation, and future research. Imagine the number of graduates whose education could be improved through a research-informed revision to accreditation criteria.

The issue contains two systematic literature reviews: the first on the broad, established topic of Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate (CDIO) and the second on the niche, emerging topic of empathy in entrepreneurial engineering. O’Connor, Power & Blom, of Limerick, Ireland, investigate trends and opportunities in ‘A systematic review of CDIO knowledge library publications (2010–2020): An Overview of trends and recommendations for future research’ (2023). Their review identified 898 publications from 2010 to 2020. The recommendations are aligned with strengthening and updating a substantial existing body of literature, through enhanced evidence, investigation of blended modes, and increased collaboration, and replication.

Litvinov, Gardner, Pradhan & Childers, of Sydney, Australia, investigate empathy in entrepreneurial engineering in ‘The role and understanding of empathy in entrepreneurial engineering: a systematic literature review’ (2023). Consistent with a review in a narrow, emerging field, 40 papers were selected, and Litvinov and co-authors report rising numbers of papers and emerging definitions of empathy.

The final two papers in the issue present approaches to assessment, and to engineering and computing education research. Scholes of Melbourne, Australia, tests a startlingly simple way to improve the efficiency and thoroughness of grading final year projects in ‘Applying the significant-digit law to simplify grading of chemical engineering students design projects’ (2023).

Alarcón, Anwar & Atiq, of Florida, Texas, and Ohio in the United States, present elements and challenges of multi-modal approaches to education research in ‘How multi-modal approaches support engineering and computing education research’ (2023). They analyse two exemplary papers using their recommended framework. Researchers are likely to find in this paper inspiration and guidance to identify, collect and integrate additional modes of data, such as eye-tracking, into studies.

3. Editorial team update

I am delighted to welcome Andrew Valentine as an Associate Editor. Andrew is a Teaching Fellow in the School of Computing and Information Systems at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He initially completed a dual degree in electronics engineering and computer science at RMIT University, where he subsequently completed a PhD in engineering education. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at The University of Western Australia, and then a lecturer at the University of Queensland before taking up his current position. His primary research interests are in the field of engineering education and computer science education, specifically fostering creativity skills in engineering, novel educational technologies, and technology enhanced learning, scientometrics, development of curricula, and building students’ employability skills. Andrew joins the Editorial Team after contributing many insightful reviews as an Advisory Committee member.

It is a pleasure to welcome Sam Cunningham and Siva Krishnan to the Journal’s Advisory Committee.

Andrea Mazzurco and Melissa Marinelli have completed their terms on the Committee. I am grateful for their numerous, thorough reviews, and timely advice.

4. Further acknowledgements

I am deeply grateful to the Editorial Team, the Advisory Committee, all reviewers, and the authors.

The following researchers reviewed for the Journal during 2022: Mohammad Al-Rawi, Paul Beuchat, Cheryl Bodnar, Konrad Boettcher, Shannon Chance, Enda Crossin, Samuel Cunningham-Nelson, Sarah Dart, Anitha Dhakshina Moorthy, Melanie Fleming, Carlo Gabriel, Cecilia Geronimo, RosalieGoldsmith, Andrea Goncher, Ivan Gratchev, Aida Guerra, Douglas Hargreaves, Teresa Hattingh, Christopher Honig, Karin Jensen, Brent Jesiek, Xi Jin, Kapil Kadam, Rohit Kandakatla, David Knight, Elyssebeth Leigh, Michael Loui, Lillian Luk, Ben Lutz, Sarah Lyden, Tania Machet, Philip MacKinnon, Melissa Marinelli, Julie Martin, Esther Matemba, Nicoleta Maynard, Guien Miao, Joseph Mirabelli, Sadia Nawaz, Sasha Nikolic, Abel Nyamapfene, Grace Panther, Ashlee Pearson, Madeline Polmear, Sojen Pradhan, Carl Reidsema, Laura Robinson, Cindy Rottmann, Saeed Shaeri, Iain Skinner, Robert Sleezer, Jeremy Smith, Nicola Sochacka, Sead Spuzic, Jolanta Szymakowski, Timo Tossavainen, James Trevelyan, Indumathi V, Andrew Valentine, Camillo Vieira, Christine Winberg, Natalie Wint, Xia Yu, Francisco Zamora-Polo, Karsten Zegwaard, and Jiabin Zhu.

Anne Gardner is gratefully acknowledged for the image from the Australasian Association for Engineering Education Winter School on the front cover of Volume 28.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sally A. Male

Sally Male BE(Hons) PhD FIEAust is the Editor-in-Chief of the Australasian Journal of Engineering Education. Sally is the World Federation of Engineering Organizations 2023 Laureate awarded the Medal for Excellence in Engineering Education. She is the Professor of Engineering and Technology Education, and Director of the Teaching and Learning Laboratory in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Melbourne. Sally also holds an appointment as Adjunct Professor at The University of Western Australia where she previously held the Chair in Engineering Education. Sally is a former Governance Board Member of Engineering Institute of Technology. Sally focuses her research on supporting engineering students to develop capabilities and attribites to lead successful lives contributing to a sustainable society.