Abstract:

Today's global economy is fueled by rapid innovation and technological breakthroughs. To function in such an economy, engineers require a set of core "professional" skills in addition to technological know-how. Primary among these skills is a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in, life-long learning (ABET, 2010). Lifelong learning, as defined by ABET is a broad, generic concept that is not only difficult to define and teach, but also challenging to assess. Often, faculty simply think of a life-long learner as a student who asks excellent questions in class, who reads the textbook because he/she wants to learn for the sake of learning. Others indicate a belief that it is the curious student who does more than what is required on an assignment and goes that extra mile to please the instructor. In either case, the concept is oversimplified.

This paper presents work on defining, teaching and assessing lifelong learning as part ABET readiness program at the Petroleum Institute (PI) in Abu Dhabi, UAE. We will focus on the activities used to develop attributes/skills of a lifelong learner in the first years of an engineering education program, with particular emphasis on a sophomore level design course.. In the paper, we will discuss a) strategies for implementing lifelong learning in two of the basic engineering courses taught by the authors, b) assessment tools to measure lifelong learning and c) the benefits of graduating engineers who aspire to be lifelong learners.

Keywords:

Lifelong Learning, ABET, Engineering Design.