Engineering technician students: do they understand their future role?

Paper

Dowling, David and Godfrey, Elizabeth. 2011. "Engineering technician students: do they understand their future role? " Al-Abdeli, Yasir M. and Lindsay, Euan (ed.) 22nd Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE 2011). Fremantle, Australia 05 - 07 Dec 2011 Canberra, Australia.
Paper/Presentation Title

Engineering technician students: do they understand their future role?

Presentation TypePaper
AuthorsDowling, David (Author) and Godfrey, Elizabeth (Author)
EditorsAl-Abdeli, Yasir M. and Lindsay, Euan
Journal or Proceedings TitleProceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE 2011)
Number of Pages7
Year2011
Place of PublicationCanberra, Australia
ISBN9780858259980
Web Address (URL) of Paperhttp://www.aaee.com.au/conferences/2011/papers/AAEE2011/PDF/AUTHOR/AE110045.PDF
Conference/Event22nd Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE 2011)
Event Details
Rank
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
Event Details
22nd Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE 2011)
Parent
Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE)
Delivery
In person
Event Date
05 to end of 07 Dec 2011
Event Location
Fremantle, Australia
Abstract

Two studies undertaken during 2010 reported on the characteristics, motivations and career aspirations of engineering students in Diploma, Advanced Diploma and Associate Degree programs at universities and Vocational Educational and Training (VET) institutions around Australia (Dowling 2010a, 2010b).
This paper presents a qualitative analysis of the responses to one open-ended question included in the studies, exploring student understandings of the role of Engineering Technicians. These understandings were cross referenced to the age, work experience, type of qualification being studied and career aspirations of the students.
From their responses, it appears that few, if any, of the students are familiar with the role definitions prepared by Engineers Australia. They had a very superficial level of understanding of the role their qualification was preparing them for, with some depth only emerging predominantly from those with work experience. The paper concludes with a discussion on the implications of the findings, and highlights the importance of the need for clarity and consistency in job descriptions and promotional activities across the industry, particularly by educational institutions.

Keywordsengineering technician education; student perspectives; engineering technician
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020520102. Educational psychology
390113. Science, technology and engineering curriculum and pedagogy
409999. Other engineering not elsewhere classified
Public Notes

© 2011 David Dowling and Elizabeth Godfrey. Copyright resides with the authors' and/or their employing or funding institutions. Other than brief abstracts, no part of this publication may be produced in any form without the consent of the authors. Paper 408.

Byline AffiliationsDepartment of Surveying and Land Information
No affiliation
Institution of OriginUniversity of Southern Queensland
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