CEE in Brief

Centre for Engineering Education (CEE) established in 2010 is a centre of excellence (CoE) at UTM. CEE envisions to improve and advance the quality of engineering education at all levels from school to university to industry. CEE is the first university in Asia to offer PhD in Engineering Education since 2007 with the support from a few universities from the US and Denmark. As a CoE, CEE provides a conducive learning experience for its students to develop significant research and innovative scholarly practices in a supportive community of practice in engineering education. The support ranges from international experts in engineering education, research grants, experienced supervisors, publication experience, networking, award-winning fellows, excellent research culture, and international conferences. CEE has graduated more than 20 PhD graduates and 2 MPhil graduate in Engineering Education.

CEE has fellows from diverse backgrounds of engineering, science and social sciences (education & language). As engineering education is a highly interdisciplinary field of study, the synergy between experts from different fields is a strength within CEE UTM. The research focus of CEE includes student-centred learning (problem-based learning, cooperative learning), service learning, epistemology, faculty development, STEM education, ESD, design thinking, OBE, first-year experience, reflection and assessment in engineering education.

CEE also actively conducts training and workshops for university lecturers and school STEM teachers. Thus far CEE has trained more than 4000 lecturers from 15 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and South America. CEE is appointed by the Ministry of Higher Education, Afghanistan to train its lecturers in OBE and SCL under a project to modernise higher education funded by the World Bank. In a project funded by JICA in collaboration with the Kyoto Environmental Activities Association (KEAA) and the Kyoto City Hall, Johor is the first state in Malaysia to have their teachers implement PBL for learning Low Carbon Society in secondary schools where the teachers were trained and supervised by CEE’s experts since 2016. Several training modules were developed from research, registered with copyrights and commercialized as well as licensed to various organizations and individuals locally and abroad.

CEE is committed to develop a community of practice in engineering education. Annually, CEE organizes the International Innovative Practices in Higher Education since 2014 with AKEPT to encourage sharing of best practices in higher education. CEE also bi-annually organizes the Regional Conference in Engineering Education since 2007. With this experience, CEE was entrusted to host a few major conferences such as the World Engineering Education Forum 2017, Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2013, International Research Symposium in Problem-Based Learning 2013 and International Conference on STEM Education 2018. CEE also publish its academic journal entitle ASEAN Journal of Engineering Education.

for more details :Centre for Engineering Education (CEE)

PhD in Engineering Education

The PhD in Engineering Education is a full research mode program. For the completion of the program, candidates are required to complete six courses which award 12 credits. The courses provide candidates with the fundamentals of engineering education, as well as the basics in designing research frameworks and proposals. The graduate committee may also require candidates to attend additional courses throughout their studies in order to strengthen their foundation in a particular learning domain.

The programme is suitable for graduates who seek employments at universities, colleges, polytechnics, industries, consulting firms, publishers and government agencies. It is also applicable for engineering education researchers, engineers, educational training specialists and technical communication specialists. The programme is also relevant to directors of teaching or learning centers, diversity programs or outreach programs.

Engineering education is about how we can best educate future engineers. Therefore, the research areas for our PhD and MPhil programmes include the following components which can be investigated independently or integrated with other areas of inquiry:

• Engineering Learning Approaches – research on engineering learners’ developing knowledge and competencies in context.
• Engineering Teaching Strategies – research on the instructional design, and teaching methods
• Engineering Assessment – research on assessment methods, instruments and measurements to inform engineering education practice.
• Engineering Epistemologies – research on what constitutes engineering thinking and knowledge within a particular context.
• STEM Education Research – research on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education in school and university settings as the talent pipeline for developing engineers of the twenty-first century.
• Engineering Education for Sustainable Development – research on developing and instilling sustainable development through teaching and learning, training and curricula through engineering approaches at all levels.

Due to its multidisciplinary nature, there is a wide variety of career options for graduates of this programme. Knowledge of the technical and social science aspects of engineering opens up opportunities for graduates to be well suited for both fields. This is especially when meeting the unique requirements of multidisciplinary knowledge and abilities demanded by both areas. Among the potential career for graduates are:
• Academics in engineering sciences, social sciences and education
• Academic administrators of engineering schools or departments in higher learning institutes
• Engineering and technology curriculum developers
• Higher education consultants and trainers
• Training designers and developers in industries
• Instructional designers
• Content developers in publishing companies
• Practicing engineers or administrators in industries
• Researchers
• Trainers and coach in industry

Candidates are then required to conduct their research, and to proceed with their thesis writings. Each candidate will be supervised by two qualified supervisors: one with the background in engineering, while the other with the educational background.

Candidates are required to attend and pass the courses and their respective credits as listed below:

Note: *HW = Compulsory Attendance; *X = year; *Y = semester; *Z = mode of study