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The unique contribution to knowledge of this research is the study of the development of judgement capacity in apprentice and undergraduate engineering learners in Activity Led Learning (ALL) environments. Four case studies of engineering students investigated the learners' experiences of making judgements in various engineering undergraduate and apprenticeship programmes. A phenomenological research methodology was used to infer the learner's judgements from the learners' dialogues and actions that were observed during the learning activity. The findings of the study indicate that the experience and incidence of the learners' exertion of judgement is dependent upon the construct of the ALL environment to provide a problem space with potential for disjuncture, and the intentionality of the learners. The learners did not solve problems by a linear progression but repeatedly re-activated experiences and knowledge, exercising judgements until the states of disjuncture were satisfied leading to the conclusion of the problem. Heuristic judgements that may result in decision making errors tended to dominate the problem spaces though their incidence did not appear to be influenced by the technical or socio-technical demands of the project problem spaces. This thesis concludes that in ALL environments, projects of sufficient length and complexity similar to realistic professional practice, may enable students to acquire the practice of better judgement through disjuncture and by re-activating learning experiences and importing analogies into new problem spaces. However, to acquire skills and knowledge to improve judgement capacity, requires specific and purposeful interventions within ALL that enable the learner to know when heuristic judgements are reliable or otherwise unreliable, and acquiring reasoning strategies to compensate for the effects. It is proposed that in such interventions the learner learns to record their own judgements as they are exerted and to reflect critically on those judgements and their consequences. It also requires that any ALL project that aims to promote judgement capacity has in place assessment instruments that specifically consider the learner effort in the self-development of judgement.

Many researchers in engineering education have studied the engineering curriculum, employability, industrial training, generic skills and gender issues. From a wide spectrum of study, there is a gap around issues of interpersonal skills and enterprise skills in engineering education that has not been studied. Previous study has shown that there is unemployment amongst graduate engineers in Malaysia. This study aimed to assess whether the suggested lack of interpersonal and enterprise skills competencies cause unemployment amongst engineering graduates in Malaysia. This study also intended to appraise whether engineering undergraduates have received a quality work placement appropriate to their learning, knowledge and employability skills and also to create awareness about interpersonal and enterprise skills competencies amongst engineering undergraduates, higher education educators and employers in Malaysia. This study intended to create awareness about the importance of interpersonal and enterprise skills amongst engineers. A mixed method of questionnaire survey and interview was used to access data from final year engineering students and employers in Malaysia. Results from the study have provided evidence that interpersonal and enterprise skills are not a major contributor to unemployment of engineering graduates in Malaysia. This study has created new awareness of the subject that will allow the enhancement of the engineering education curriculum. This study has demonstrated that when interviewing companies for the purposes of research into curriculum it is necessary to have full awareness of their culture and ways of working.

The purpose of this work was to investigate the relationship between a number of influential factors, including cognitive style and approach to learning, and students’ processing behaviour during their use of a particular Web-based resource for Electronics and Electrical Engineering undergraduates. This was achieved through the development of a learner profile for each student using Riding’s (1991) Revised Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F). The quantitative component of the research was then set against a detailed analysis of students’ processing behaviour using verbal protocol data gathered through individual think-aloud sessions and post-intervention interviews. The results of the quantitative component of the research provided no compelling evidence to suggest that cognitive style was a factor that influenced student performance while using the resource or their perceptions of the package. There was however, some evidence to suggest that the package was more positively received by students who profiled as deep learners than their surface counterparts. The analysis of students’ processing behaviour from their verbal protocols highlighted a number of the resource’s shortcomings, which typically promoted a surface, goal-oriented approach to its content. It also identified problems with the design and structure of the resource, which at times had a deleterious effect on learning. The results also raised questions regarding the efficacy and use of psychometric inventories in this kind of research.

Teamwork skills have been recognised as one of the key skills required for engineering graduates by industries world-wide, including in China. However, very little work on teamwork teaching has been done in the Chinese context, especially in an academic setting. This context is important as the approach to teamwork is very different in China, but effective teamwork is essential for successful engineering projects. This work researches effective ways to teach technical teamwork skills to large cohorts of engineering students in China. Research is performed in a joint Sino-British bachelor degree programme in China, and the participants are all Chinese engineering students. This work researched the applicability of successful cooperative learning practices from the West to China, by implementing them into a Personal Development Plan module that takes team working as one of its key teaching objectives. It employed quantitative statistical methods to compare different group forming methods, analyse the correlation between team performance and academic performance, and test the validity and reliability of peer rating. The effectiveness of the practice was evaluated based on the qualitative open-ended results, and the cultural appropriateness of the practice was discussed. An MBTI test was done to the students, and it was found higher frequencies of Feeling over Thinking, and Judging over Perceiving. This study also investigated the perspectives of the Chinese engineering students on team working and the way they prefer to learn. For the first time it attempted to put some tests in the group project of a technical module. This work has given a new understanding on how Chinese engineering students react in a cooperative learning practice and their perspectives on teamwork learning. It was found the inherited practices and cultural norms have a big influence on team behaviour, and there is a gap between the declarative knowledge and the skill-based outcomes. In conclusion the cooperative learning practice is generally effective leading to an improved cultural appropriated approach to teamwork teaching being proposed.

The study is concerned with generating recommendations for the development of e- learning strategy at the School of Engineering at Tripoli University in Libya. They are based on the identified barriers to the successful e-learning implementation in the institution after the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the questionnaires developed using SmartSurvey software package. The barriers were classified in three main categories: technical, cultural and mismanagement. These barriers were compared with those from Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries (as close culture) and UK (as international culture and developed country). Then a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) model for the diagnostic of the current stage of e-learning performance in the institution is developed. The user-centred design and action research approach are used for the design, development and implementation of an e-learning package for a module studied by Year 4 students from School of Engineering at Tripoli University. The e-learning packages played a supporting role in the delivery of the chosen module therefore the blended learning approach contributed to the improvement of the quality for the teaching and learning processes. A novel I-CUBE model which can be used for the development of teaching and learning activities in a digital era is proposed. The sources of information for the proposed model are: quantitative and qualitative analysis of the stakeholders answers; conclusions for the (SWOT) analysis; researcher’s reflections of the design, development and implementation of the e-learning package, study of the relevant educational publications and researcher’s personal experience. There are several common opinions about the factors influencing the successful e-learning implementation so it is possible to make correlations between the stakeholders’ points of view and to construct the surfaces which are included in the I-CUBE model. A set of institutional, pedagogical and technological recommendations for the development of e-learning strategy in the School of Engineering at Tripoli University are formulated. These are derived from the analysis of barriers and SWOT model related to the successful e-learning implementation in Libyan Higher Education Institutes (LHEIs). Also the aspects included in the proposed novel I-CUBE model for the development of teaching and learning activities, the researcher’s personal experience as a student and lecturer at Tripoli University and as a PhD student at the University of Huddersfield in UK are also considered. The implementation of these recommendations will enable the enhancement of students’ learning experience and staff satisfaction through technology-based education addressing the flexible and diverse learning community’s needs.

The Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) and the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) stress the need for Malaysian engineering graduates to be able to integrate sustainable development knowledge, skills and values in their professional practice. The 2012 Engineering Accreditation Council (EAC) manual outlines 12 outcomes that students of Malaysian institutions of higher learning offering engineering programmes are expected to develop upon completion of their studies. Of the 12 outcomes, three are explicitly linked to sustainable development. While institutions of higher learning are required to develop the prescribed skill set using outcome based approaches to learning, integration measures are not specifically stipulated. 30 hypothetical competences were developed as a means of addressing the issue of integrating sustainable development outcomes within the undergraduate engineering programme curriculum. Using a private higher learning institution offering engineering programmes as a case study, this study set out to explore the views of the institution’s stakeholders, i.e. the final year undergraduate engineering students, academicians, university management and engineers, as well as education for sustainable development experts and ESD practitioners on (a) the extent to which sustainable development and education for sustainable development is incorporated within the engineering curriculum of the higher learning institution (b) the inclusion of sustainable development programme and module learning outcomes within the undergraduate engineering curriculum and how it can be included within the curriculum, and (c) the additional components needed for the EESD framework for undergraduate engineering education in Malaysia. Respondents’ perspectives were sought through a triangulation mixed methods approach, through surveys, interviews and analysis of documents. Findings of the study were then used to develop the proposed (a) guidelines to incorporate sustainable development competences holistically within undergraduate engineering programme outcomes and common module learning outcomes, and the (b) Whole Institution EESD Framework.

Engineering Education experiences turbulent changes, both from government pressures and from industry demands on readdressing the requirements of graduate capability. Despite vast amounts of engineering literature discussing ‘change’ within the field, engineering curricula still maintains its predominant pedagogic model of dissemination to students as it did in previous decades. Technology Enhanced Learning in education has created new and flexible options in the delivery and assessment of teaching and learning, but uptake is limited and approached with caution within Engineering Education. This mixed methods research introduces an inclusive and innovative approach to Engineering Education assessment techniques utilising an integrated blended learning strategy to the implementation of Technology Enhanced Learning within engineering curriculums. The research explores and assesses the effectiveness of Technology Enhanced Learning and educational pedagogies within Engineering Education frameworks to enhance and develop student learning, digital literacy and employability. Preliminary research positioned the research, utilising observation and interview techniques to baseline current pedagogic practices in undergraduate Engineering Education against current literature. An alternative method of video assessment was implemented and embedded following a two year cycle of action research within a cohort of two undergraduate engineering modules. A prototype ‘toolkit’ was created using Xerte Online Toolkits (XOT) to facilitate student learning and support for the assessment. Additional techniques inside the cycles gained further qualitative and quantitative data via a survey and focus groups. Student learning and assessment results showed significant improvement following the introduction of this approach and validated the transferability of this technique into other educational disciplines. An industry based survey validated chosen research methods and provided a comparison of viewpoints on key issues surrounding Engineering Education against existing stakeholders. The research introduces a new innovative approach to Engineering Education utilising Technology Enhanced Learning, validated through positive industry feedback and student academic achievement and satisfaction. Significant improvements on student employability and engineering ‘soft skills’ are evidenced.