فصلنامه آموزش مهندسی ایران
پیاپی 69 (بهار 1395)

In classical and modern fields of engineering such as electrical, mechanical, electronics, information technology, telecommunications, mechatronics, computer science, robotics, artificial intelligence, cognitive, etc., technical English language has been well accepted as a common language of communication for written diffusion of subjects and oral presentations at international conferences (especially in non-English developing countries). On the other hand, with increasing labor mobility in the global village engineers need to improve and enhance their communication skills on the international scale which is crucial and considered as a sign of excellence. These skills not only include the main purposes from the linguistics point-of-view, such as improving pronunciation, better command of vocabulary, etc., but also include social and cultural skills as well as the ability to use different strategies or compensation communication (like interpreting) when verbal meanings seem insufficient. The authors in this paper first examine the role and impact of Technical English in modern engineering education, and then will discuss the basic features of communication skills that need to be included in undergraduate engineering curricula.

One of the key issues in assessing of curricula quality is attention to required skills. This study aimed to assess the achievement of 21th -century basic skills in senior undergraduate and postgraduate engineering students of Tabriz University. The method of study was descriptive research. 414 engineering students of bachelor's and master's degree were selected by randomly. A researcher made questionnaire was used to collect data. The validity of instrument based on experts opinion and reliability through Cronbach's (alpha) coefficient (0.92) was approved. The results showed that the affective domain of bachelor's and master's curricula were above the predetermined average, but undergraduate curricula in the domains of cognitive and socio-cultural skills are lower than average and failed to fulfill goals addressed by 21 century, The curriculum of postgraduate (master's degree) in the domains of cognitive and socio-cultural skills are somewhat higher than average and were relatively favorable. One interesting finding was that in both curricula the ability to share knowledge was below the average and the sharing knowledge was not focused in teaching and learning process.

The purpose of this research was the survey on learning styles of engineering students and its implications for higher education curricula. The type of research was applied research and survey approach. The population of this research was all of the engineering students in Kashan University (N=2621) which 187 of them were selected by sample size formulate. The data was collected using Kolb learning style questionnaire with 12 items. Questionnaire validity confirmed by the corresponding experts. By use of Cronbach Alpha coefficient, reliability coefficients were obtained equal to 0.87. Data’s analysis is performed does in descriptive level (frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation) and inferential level (one sample t test, independent t-test and one way ANOVA) by SPSS 18 statistical software. Findings indicated that Engineering students learn method was more abstract conceptualization and active experimentation and concrete experience has the lowest average. Also engineering student's learning style, absorbing and converges and has the lowest average is accommodating.

The purpose of the present research was to examine the satisfaction degree of graduates in Department of Engineering and Science at Isfahan University about quality of experimented curricula. The present study is applied research and its method is descriptive-survey. Statistical population included all 320 graduates in IT and mechanical engineering at Isfahan University¬. Method of sampling was stratified random sampling. According to the Cochran's sample size formula 170 graduates were chosen as sample. Research instruments was questionnaire of which designed by researcher. The content validity of questionnaire was determined using the specialist`s views and the reliability of the questionnaire was estimated 0.90 by using Coronbach`s Alpha method. The result showed that 1- In the aim’ dimension, the satisfaction degree of graduates about experimented curricula is “more than average.”, 2- In the content’ dimension, the satisfaction degree of graduates about experimented curricula is “more than average.”3- In the teaching method’ dimension, the satisfaction degree about experimented curricula is less than average.4- In the evaluation’ dimension, the satisfaction degree about experimented curricula is average.

Renewable energies as an alternative energy of fossil energies causes scientific and technological development in many countries. The science of renewable energy includes various types of science and technologies that proofs the interdisciplinary nature of renewable energy education. Various types of renewable source, i.e. solar energy, wind energy, biomass and geothermal energy, can be found in Iran which implies the importance of renewable energy education and research in Iran. According to Iranian Science, Technology and Innovation Map, renewable energy education consider as one of the interdisciplinary program to train educated people in this field. In this paper, the renewable energy education programs in Iran were criticized. A comparison between renewable energy education programs in Iran and other countries was made. The current state of renewable energy education in Iran seems to be inadequate and it should be expanded and strengthened. Some suggestions were given to improve renewable energy education programs in Iran.

The main purpose of the current study is to identify Iranian higher education faculties’ action research skills. The study population was all Engineering faculty members in the University of Kashan (113 members). A random sample of 88 of these faculty members was recruited for this study. The instrument used in the present paper was a researcher-made action research questionnaire. The questionnaire assesses the faculties’ action research skills in four major catigories (recognition of problems, attitude towards action research, data collection skills, and practical research actions). The overall reliability of the questionnaire using Cronbach's alpha was 0.852, which showed the high reliability and internal consistency of the research instrument. This study clearly revealed that a considerable portion of faculty members are totally unaware of action research as one of the strategies for impoving the quality of education. Further analysis showed no major differences in the educational behavior of faculty memebrs who were either aware or unaware of the concept of action research. The most instresting finding of the current research is that all faculty members recognize educational problems or topics very well (recognition of problems) and are always involved and obsessed with educational issues (attitude towards action research) but are not skillful enough to deal with problems and practical decision-making (data collection skills and practical research actions).

Evaluating educational progress of students as final step in learning systems, especially in engineering disciplines, is very important to have effective graduates. This study aimed to identify and interpret factors affecting and altering final scores of professors at the end of semester. To achieve this, a qualitative study based on an interpretation plan was conducted including interview with 22 professors in engineering disciplines at the two universities namely University of Mazandaran and Golestan University. Through content analysis and open coding, interviews were analyzed and categorization of data was perfored. Findings showed 6 factors namely expediency, superficiality, lifesaving, embarrassment, political orientation and incuriosity can be considered as factors affecting final scores of interviewed teachers. It is understood that under the effect of these factors, professor’s toleration lead to a meaningless and unfair educational evaluation system. These findings were validated by a survey conducted using a questionnaire. The sample included 131 professors in engineering disciplines at the two aforementioned universities. Gathered data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, one sample T-test and W test. Findings showed all of 6 factors, to some extent, have significant effect on final scores of professors at the end of semester. Expediency (0.45), superficiality (0.28) and lifesaving (0.24) are the three most important factors among all.