Collaborative Research: Research Initiation: Defining 21st Century Lifelong Learning Skills for Engineering Practice

终身学习对工程领域至关重要，因为技术进步、不断变化的法规、对海量数据的解释和合成以及许多其他因素。此外，工程与技术认证委员会、专业资格认证委员会和工程教育研究发现，需要促进终身学习，以更好地满足行业需求。目前，教育工作者对毕业后需要额外学习的技能、实践者如何从事终身学习，或者学生对终身学习的看法可能与实践者的实际情况有何不同，没有一个明确的、经过数据证明的图景。这项研究的目的是调查从业者对终身学习的经验和看法，以确定所开发的技能和使用的学习方法。这项研究还将调查这些技能和方法在整个职业发展过程中是如何变化的，以及它们与学生对终身学习的看法有多接近。更好地了解从业者在其职业生涯中学习和发展什么技能以及如何学习和发展技能，将有助于工程教育界了解作为专业工程师需要为终身学习做好准备的学习能力。本研究试图理解三个研究问题：1)不同职业岗位的从业者发展最多的技能是什么；2)从业者如何查找和使用关于他们想要发展的技能的信息；3)本科生对他们在整个职业生涯中需要发展的技能有什么看法，以及他们认为他们将如何发展这些技能？我们制定了一个研究计划，通过对太平洋西北地区实习工程师的半结构化访谈进行定性分析，首先对这些问题进行调查和回答。访谈录音和成绩单将使用解释性现象学分析进行分析，以获得对实践者终身学习观点的丰富理解。然后，项目将对实习工程师和本科生的终身学习调查结果进行量化分析。最后，研究人员将比较从业者和学生的调查结果，以确定对终身学习的看法的差异。混合方法研究的结果将量化在工程实践过程中形成的终身学习技能及其与职业地位的关系，这将增加我们对从业者在职业生涯中学习哪些技能的基本理解。识别学生对终身学习的信念与实践现实之间的知识和认知差距，将为工程教育领域提供洞察，了解哪些技能可能缺乏或发展不足，以及未来的工作如何进一步改善工程师的形成和准备。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Lifelong learning is critical for the engineering field because of technological advancements, changing regulations, interpretation and synthesis of massive data, and a host of other factors. Furthermore, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, professional licensure boards, and engineering education research have identified that lifelong learning needs to be promoted to better meet industry needs. Currently, educators do not have a clear, and data proven, picture of what skills require additional study post-graduation, how practitioners engage in lifelong learning, or how student perceptions of lifelong learning may differ from practitioner's reality. The goal of this research is to investigate practitioner experiences and perceptions of lifelong learning to determine the skills developed and methods of learning utilized. The research will also investigate how those skills and methods change throughout career progression and how closely they match student perceptions of lifelong learning. A better fundamental understanding of what and how practitioners study and develop skills as they progress through their career will inform the engineering education community about what learning abilities are required to be prepared for lifelong learning as professional engineers.This study seeks to understand three research questions: 1) What skills are most developed by practitioners at different career positions, 2) How do practitioners find and consume information on the skills they want to develop, and 3) What perceptions do undergraduate students have about the skills they will need to develop throughout their career and how do they think they will develop those skills? A research plan has been developed to investigate and answer these questions first by conducting qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews of practicing engineers in the Pacific Northwest. Interview recordings and transcripts will be analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis to obtain a rich understanding of practitioner perspectives of lifelong learning. Then, the project will conduct quantitative analysis of lifelong learning survey results of practicing engineers and undergraduate students. Lastly, researchers will compare the practitioner and student survey results to identify differences in perceptions about lifelong learning. The outcomes of the mixed-methods study will quantify lifelong learning skills developed during engineering practice and their relationship to career position, which will increase our fundamental understanding about what skills practitioners study as they progress through their career. Identifying gaps in knowledge and perceptions between student beliefs about lifelong learning and the realities of practice will provide insight to the engineering education field about what skills may be lacking or less developed and how future work could further improve engineer formation and preparation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.