yes / This project investigated the extent to which e-portfolio tools can be applied to final year engineering projects with a view to supporting the experience from the perspective of supervisor and student respectively. E-portfolio tools allow students to generate, store and share evidence, minute meetings and record reflections as well as helping them to develop generic professional engineering skills. The research methodology combined qualitative and quantitative techniques. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews with eight supervisors and online questionnaires completed by 13 supervisors and 31 students provided the basis for the research. Training on the university¿s e-portfolio tool was provided for 19 members of staff, while a seminar introducing the project to the final year cohort was attended by 33 students. To conclude, an e-portfolio application was made available to students. / Royal Academy of Engineering, The Higher Education Academy Engineering Subject Centre, National HE STEM Programme Engineering

With the recent release of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) (NGSS Lead States, 2014b) science educators were expected to teach engineering content and practices within their curricula. However, technology and engineering (T&E) educators have been expected to teach content and practices from engineering and other disciplines since the release of the Standards for Technological Literacy (ITEA/ITEEA, 2000/2002/2007). Requisite to the preparation of globally competitive STEM literate individuals is the intentional, concurrent teaching of science, technology, and engineering concepts. Many studies have examined the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) (Shulman, 1987) of science and T&E educators, but none have examined the science PCK of T&E educators. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent of the relationship between T&E educator’s science and T&E preparation experiences, and their teaching of science content and practices. This study, which employed a fully integrated mixed methods design (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2006), was conducted to inform the pre- and in-service preparation needs for T&E educators. A random sample of 55 Foundations of Technology (FoT) teachers across 12 school systems within one state participated in an online survey, leading to eight teachers being purposefully selected for classroom observations. Data collected from the surveys and classroom observations were analyzed through Spearman’s rho tests to examine relationships between preparation factors and teaching of science content and practices. These data were corroborated with curriculum content analyses, classroom observations, and interview responses to validate the results. Analyses of the data across all three methods revealed significant correlations between many preparation factors and the teaching of science content and practices. Specifically the amount of high school and undergraduate physics courses, and T&E and science in-service delivered were found to have statistically significant, strong positive correlations. These findings suggest T&E educators with increased amounts of these preparation experiences can be expected to teach science content and practices more proficiently. The findings and conclusions drawn from the data analyses provide implications for science and T&E educators, researchers, preservice programs, and in-service professional development efforts. The discussion and implications suggest the need to conduct replication studies in different contexts. / Ph. D.

<p dir="ltr"><a href="" target="_blank">Improving student motivation and changing students from a negative motivational mindset to a positive one can be a viable way to ensure that students stay in their programs and obtain academic success. While educators and administrators are interested in improving motivation, they may not have the full body of knowledge about motivational theories and make uninformed classroom interventions and departmental policies. Using theory to understand student motivations grounds the research in specific constructs that allow educators and policymakers to easily interpret the results and make better-informed decisions regarding classroom activities and academic policies. Tying motivational mindsets to effective classroom behaviors and learning outcomes can help educators determine what motivational orientations are effective within the classroom, and which may need to be altered.</a></p><p dir="ltr">The work that I have done as part of this dissertation helps to advance the use of motivational theory within the field of engineering education and provides useful insight into the motivational mindsets of first-year engineering students. I conducted a latent profile analysis using data from engineering undergraduate students, combining constructs from two established motivational theories to develop motivational profiles. Using two theories, achievement goal theory and expectancy-value theory, allows me to look at the students’ motivational mindsets based on their expectations for success (Expectancy Beliefs), the perceived value of doing well in the course (Task Value Beliefs), their desire to develop their skills (Mastery Orientation), their desire to look well in front of their peers (Performance Approach Orientation), and their desire to not look bad in relation to others (Performance Avoidance Orientation). These five constructs were used to develop profiles, which were then correlated with classroom behaviors and academic performance to determine which motivational profiles were more effective. Correlational analysis was conducted using either ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis tests, depending on the normality of the data.</p><p dir="ltr">The results of the latent profile analysis yielded five distinct profiles of motivation: <i>Moderate-Low All</i>, <i>Moderate-Low Performance/Moderate-High Intrinsic</i>, <i>Moderate All</i>, <i>High Performance/Moderate Intrinsic</i>, <i>and High All</i>. The <i>Moderate-Low All </i>profile consisted of students who reported lower measures of all motivation constructs than their peers. The <i>Moderate-Low Performance/Moderate-High Intrinsic</i> profile consisted of students who reported average responses related to Expectancy, Task-Value, and Mastery beliefs but scored lower in the Performance Approach and Performance Avoidance beliefs. The <i>Moderate All</i> profile was comprised of students who scored on average along all motivational constructs. The <i>High Performance/Moderate Intrinsic</i> profile contained students who reported average responses to Expectancy, Task-Value, and Mastery beliefs but scored higher in the Performance Approach and Performance Avoidance beliefs. The <i>High All</i> profile was comprised of students who scored higher than the average for all motivational constructs.</p><p dir="ltr">Students were asked to reflect on their use of specific classroom behaviors that were categorized based on the Interactive-Constructive-Active-Passive framework of educational activities. Correlational analysis showed that <i>Moderate-Low All</i> students reported using Passive, Constructive, and Interactive behaviors at a lower rate than their peers, especially <i>High All </i>students. Correlational analysis of academic performance measures also found that there were non-significant differences between profiles related to exam scores, but there were significant differences found in the final grades. <i>Moderate-Low All</i> students had lower final grades than the <i>Moderate-Low Performance/Moderate-High Intrinsic</i>, <i>Moderate All</i>, and <i>High All</i> groups.</p><p dir="ltr">These findings suggest that students in the <i>Moderate-Low All </i>profile are not doing worse in the class because of their exams, but due to not performing the other activities in the class. These activities include large group projects (Interactive tasks) and homework assignments (Constructive tasks). Considering the context of the study and the course that these students are taking, educational recommendations would be finding ways to incorporate more Constructive behaviors (i.e., reflection on their learning or making meaning from the material) into the course, as the class already has multiple Interactive tasks. Further research can also be done to investigate why students hold the views that they do, and whether this is an issue of perception or some other phenomenon.</p>

[ES] Desde 2006, las Instituciones de Educación Superior (IES), las políticas educativas y los agentes de interés han abordado las recomendaciones de la UE destinadas a proporcionar un marco para el aprendizaje permanente en una sociedad del conocimiento. Estrategias como "Europa 2020" o "Educación y formación 2020" (ET2020), centradas en el crecimiento inteligente a través del desarrollo del conocimiento y la innovación (COM, 2010), intentan responder a los nuevos desafíos globales que trae la era digital. Nuevos conceptos como la especialización inteligente, la competencia digital o la ciudadanía digital, entre otros, son piedras angulares para cumplir con las demandas del mercado laboral de la 4ª Revolución Industrial. Recientes encuestas a alumnos actuales evidencian altas tasas de abandono y repetidores (OCDE, 2016), y su baja motivación para acceder a nuestros campus siguiendo las metodologías existentes. La brecha entre lo que los estudiantes esperan y lo que reciben del profesorado es, hoy por hoy, insuperable; porque el modelo universitario fue creado, desarrollado y actualizado en la era pre-háptica, cuando se incorporó el proceso de Bolonia para la estandarización de la educación superior europea al diseño curricular (2010). Las universidades tecnológicas españolas, en un esfuerzo por satisfacer las necesidades de los futuros ingenieros, intentan diseñar estrategias que incorporen esas habilidades cruciales para que sus graduados puedan prosperar en una sociedad de trabajo digital (OCDE, 2019) de la mejor manera posible. Desde 2010, la irrupción de teléfonos inteligentes y tabletas en nuestros hogares (dispositivos hápticos) y la vida normal ha traído un nuevo gesto, la interacción háptica, a nuestro bienestar social y a nuestra forma de vida. Dentro de esa interacción hay elementos como conectividad global, formatos digitales, alfabetización en nuevos medios, comunicación instantánea, interactividad o personalización que ha afectado a todos los miembros de la sociedad sin importar la edad, incluidos los niños de la Generación Háptica que, en este momento, están observando e imitando todo tipo de gestos y comportamientos llevados a cabo mientras desarrollan su personalidad. El diseño etnográfico de la investigación desde una perspectiva de las Ciencias Sociales guía la labor realizada en esta disertación y confirma que la interacción háptica en manos de la primera infancia brinda increíbles posibilidades para impulsar la creatividad, la adquisición del idioma inglés y el aprendizaje experto, entre otras muchas posibilidades de aprendizaje si se usan estos dispositivos aprovechando al máximo sus características lecto-escritoras integradas que lo facilitan. Esta capacidad intrínseca motiva las preguntas de investigación de esta tesis. En poco tiempo esos niños, los iScholars, que han adquirido mucho de su aprendizaje mediante interacciones hápticas innatas desde muy pequeños, llenarán nuestros campus universitarios trayendo consigo unas necesidades de aprendizaje diferentes en un nuevo escenario que combina entornos educativos formales, informales y no formales con una perspectiva más amplia. Teniendo en cuenta este panorama, se configura un nuevo escenario de aprendizaje, el Atrium, para permitir que las asignaturas STEM acojan a la Generación Háptica: los iScholars. El Atrium, como un espacio polivalente, ofrece a la educación superior la posibilidad de configurar los títulos universitarios desde una perspectiva STEHEAM que se cree satisface las necesidades de los estudiantes universitarios de 2030 que anhelan conocimiento académico, habilidades profesionales y adquisición de competencias. / [CA] Des de 2006, les Institucions d'Educació Superior (IES), les polítiques educatives i els agents d'interés han abordat les recomanacions de la UE destinades a proporcionar un marc per a l'aprenentatge permanent en una societat del coneixement. Estratègies com "Europa 2020" o "Educació i formació 2020" (ET2020), centrades en el creixement intel·ligent a través del desenvolupament del coneixement i la innovació (COM, 2010), intenten respondre als nous desafiaments globals que porta l'era digital. Nous conceptes com l'especialització intel·ligent, la competència digital o la ciutadania digital, entre altres, són pedres angulars per a complir amb les demandes del mercat laboral de la 4a Revolució Industrial. Recents enquestes a alumnes actuals evidencien altes taxes d'abandó i repetidors (OCDE, 2016), i la seua baixa motivació per a accedir a nostres campus seguint les metodologies existents. La bretxa entre el que els estudiants esperen i el que reben del professorat és, ara com ara, insuperable; perquè el model universitari va ser creat, desenvolupat i actualitzat en l'era pre-hàptics quan el Procés de Bolonya per a l'estandardització de l'Educació Superior Europea es va incorporar al disseny curricular (2010). Les universitats tecnològiques espanyoles, en un esforç per satisfer les necessitats dels futurs enginyers, intenten dissenyar estratègies per a incorporar aqueixes habilitats crucials per a que el seus graduats puguen prosperar en una societat de treball digital (OCDE, 2019) de la millor manera possible. Des de 2010, la irrupció de telèfons intel·ligents i tauletes en les nostres llars (dispositius hàptics) i la vida normal ha portat un nou gest, la interacció hàptica, al nostre benestar social i a la nostra forma de vida. Dins de esa interacció hi ha elements com a connectivitat global, formats digitals, alfabetització en nous mitjans, comunicació instantània, interactivitat o personalització que ha afectat a tots els membres de la societat sense importar l'edat, inclosos els xiquets de la Generació Hàptica que, en aquest moment, estan observant i imitant tot tipus de gestos i comportaments que es realitzen al seu voltant mentre desenvolupen la seua personalitat. El disseny etnogràfic de la investigació des de una perspectiva de les Ciències Socials guia l'investigació realitzada en aquesta tesi i confirma que la interacció hàptica en mans de la primera infància brinda increïbles possibilitats per a impulsar la creativitat, l'adquisició de l'idioma de l'anglés i el aprenentatge expert, entre altres possibilitats d'aprenentatge, sempre que s'usen aquestos dispositius aprofitant al màxim les seves característiques lecto-escritores integrades que el faciliten. Aquesta capacitat intrinseca motiva les preguntes d'investigació d'aquesta dissertació. En poc temps, eixos xiquets: els iScholars, que han adquirit molt de la seva alfabetització amb gestos hàptics innats des de la primera infància, ompliran el nostres campuses universitaris portant amb ells unes necessitats d'aprenentatge differents en un nou escenari que combina entorns educatius formals, informals i no formals amb una perspectiva mes ampla. Tenint en compte aquest panorama, es configura un nou escenari d'aprenentatge, l'Atrium, per a permetre que les assignatures STEM s'enfronten a la Generació Hàptica: els iScholars. L'Atrium, com un espai polivalent, ofereix a l'educació superior la possibilitat de configurar els títols universitaris des d'un abast STEHEAM que es cree satisfarà les necessitats dels estudiants universitaris de 2030 a la recerca de coneixement acadèmic, habilitats professionals and acquisició de competències. / [EN] Since 2006, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), educational policies, and stakeholders have addressed to the EU recommendations aimed to provide a framework for lifelong learning in the knowledge society. Strategies like "Europe 2020" or "Education and Training 2020" (ET2020), focusing on smart growth through the development of knowledge and innovation (COM, 2010), try to answer the new global challenges that the digital era brings. New concepts like smart specialization, digital competence, or digital citizenship, among others, are keystones to fulfil the labor market skills of the 4th Industrial Revolution. Recent surveys, among nowadays students, evidence high drop-out and repetition rates (OECD, 2016), and their low motivation to join our campuses following the existing methodologies. The gap between what the students expect and what they receive from faculty is nowadays insurmountable because the university model was created, developed, and updated in the pre-haptic era when the Bologna Process for standardization of European higher education was incorporated into the curricula design (2010). Technical Spanish universities, in an effort to meet the needs of the future engineers, are trying to design strategies that incorporate those crucial skills so that its graduates can prosper in a digital working society (OECD, 2019) in the best possible way. Since 2010, the irruption of smartphones and tablets in our households (haptic devices) and normal life has brought a new gesture, the haptic interaction, to our social well-being and to our way of living. Within that interaction there are elements like global connectivity, digital formats, new media literacies, instant communication, interactivity, or personalization that have affected to all members of society no matter the age, including the Haptic Generation children that are, right now, spying and imitating all sort of gestures and behaviors performed around them while developing their personalities. The ethnographic design from a Social Science perspective guides the research conducted in this dissertation confirming that haptic interaction in the hands of early childhood brings possibilities for boosting creativity, English language learning, and expert understanding, among other learning possibilities while using the device at its best capacity for literacy learning (using its in-built features). This capacity arises the research questions of this dissertation. In no time, those children: the iScholars, who have acquired literacy learning with innate haptic gestures since early childhood will be filling our university campuses bringing different learning needs in a new scenario that blends formal, informal, and non-formal educative settings within a broader scope. Having this landscape in view, a new learning scenario, the Learning Atrium is configurated to enable STEM subjects to face the Haptic Generation: the iScholars. The Atrium, like a polyvalent space, offers higher education the possibility to shape the university degrees from a STEHEAM scope that it is believed to meet the 2030 university student's needs in search of scholar knowledge, professional skills, and competencies acquisition. / Llobregat Gómez, N. (2020). STEM subjects face the Haptic Generation: the iScholar [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/139137

Sustainability is inherently a complex problem that requires new ways of thinking. To solve grand challenges such as climate change, environmental degradation, and poverty, engineers cannot rely on the same models of thinking that were used to create these problems. Engineering education is therefore critical to advance sustainable engineering solutions. Improving education relies on understanding of cognition of thinking and designing for sustainability. In this thesis, a nascent neuroimaging technology called functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to measure cognition among engineering students thinking about sustainability. fNIRS provides an opportunity to investigate how sustainability in design influences cognition, and how different concept generation techniques help students consider many aspects related to sustainability. The first manuscript provides evidence that engineering students perceive sustainability in design as a constraint, limiting the number of solutions for design and decreasing the cognitive efficiency to generate solutions. Senior engineering students generated fewer solutions than freshmen, however, seniors were better able to cognitively manage the sustainability parameter with higher cognitive efficiency. The second manuscript investigates the cognitive difference when generating concepts using concept listing or concept mapping. The results indicate that concept mapping (i.e. intentionally drawing relationships between concepts) leads to more concepts generated. An increase in concepts during concept mapping was also observed to shift cognitive load in the brain from regions associated with process sequencing to regions associated with cognitive flexibility. This research demonstrates the feasibility of fNIRS applied in engineering research and provides more understanding of the cognitive requirements for sustainability thinking. / M. S. / Sustainability brings new challenges to engineering design. To advance the practice of sustainable engineering, engineers are expected to be able to efficiently tackle socio-technical problems using a systems perspective. Engineering education is expected to help engineering students to achieve this goal. Improving education relies on understanding of mental process of thinking and designing for sustainability. In this research, a nascent neuroimaging technology-functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has been used to measure the cognition of engineering students thinking for sustainability. fNIRS enables us to investigate how sustainability requirements in design influence the cognition of design process, and how different concept generation ways help students understand sustainability. The first manuscript provides evidence that sustainability in design constraint, limiting the number of solutions for design and decreasing the cognitive efficiency to generate solutions. Senior engineering students generated fewer solutions than freshmen, however, seniors showed advantage to handle sustainability requirements with higher cognitive efficiency. The second manuscript investigates the cognitive difference of two concept generation ways using concept listing or mapping. The results indicate that concept mapping leads to more concepts related to sustainability and enables the cognitive load shift from regions associated with sequencing processing to regions associated with cognitive flexibility. This research demonstrates the feasibility of fNIRS applied in engineering research for sustainability and provides more understanding of the cognitive requirements for sustainability thinking.

<p dir="ltr">This research focuses on creating educational materials for secure software development and a visualization tool for a Computer Organization and Design (COD) course. The integration of digital technology in our lives has greatly increased in the last two decades, and the recent pandemic has sped this up even more. Cybercriminals are now able to target people and organizations to gain money and reputation. To protect against cybercriminals, cybersecurity has become crucial for all Internet users and is in high demand. However, the cybersecurity industry is struggling to meet this demand because there are more job openings than qualified professionals. Our goal is to raise cybersecurity awareness to encourage safe technology use and inspire students to consider careers in cybersecurity. Towards this, the first part of this research led to the creation of learning modules for secure programming in C++. These modules teach about various software vulnerabilities and their mitigation. The vulnerabilities covered include switch-case, functions, random numbers, integer overflow, and buffer overflow. Students will learn the importance of creating well-designed software that is also safe. COD is one of the most important courses in the Computer Engineering/Science (CE/CS) curriculum. A good understanding of computer functionality is extremely valuable for CE/CS students, but this course is challenging to learn. To help with this, the second part of this research developed a visualization-based learning tool for the COD course. The tool includes learning modules on standard microarchitecture and microarchitecture security, supporting the cybersecurity awareness initiative. So far, three visualization modules have been developed in this tool, covering memory access, CPU pipelining, and the Spectre attack.</p>

<p dir="ltr"><b>Abstract</b></p><p dir="ltr"><b>Background</b> Previous research has indicated that it is difficult to maintain student motivation in gateway courses when students from multiple majors are taking the same course. Providing students with a choice in assignment is important because it creates a feeling that the students are in charge of their education, that they can tailor their education to their own needs, and it can improve their motivation in a course along with their satisfaction and overall learning. This study looks at the impact of giving students enrolled in an introductory microcontroller gateway course a choice in which assignments they complete in the laboratory portion of the course. The course is comprised of students from various majors such as electrical engineering technology, computer engineering technology, mechanical engineering technology, mechatronics, and robotics to mention a few. Allowing the students to pick their laboratory activities allows the students to take control of their educational experience and make it personal to them.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Purpose</b> This study examines the impact of providing students with a choice in assignments based on the self-determination framework to determine how choice effects the students’ interest/enjoyment in their education, their perceived value/usefulness of the educational experience, their perceived competence, and their perceived level of effort/importance.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Design/Methods</b> Students enrolled in an introductory microcontroller gateway course were given a choice of laboratory assignments that they complete during the last third of the semester. Survey data was collected using the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) before and after the students were given a choice based on a single case pretest/posttest experimental design. A comparative study was then performed to determine the impact of giving the students a choice on the key traits of this study (perceived value/usefulness of the educational experience, perceived competence, and perceived level of effort/importance).</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Results</b> The results of the analysis indicated that there was not a significant change in the key values of interest in education, value of the education, and perceived effort between the pretest and posttest values when the class was analyzed as a whole. However, when the students were analyzed based on their perception of choice: a high level of perceived choice, a neutral level of perceived choice, and a low level of perceived choice, significant changes were detected. The results of this analysis indicated that students with a higher level of perceived choice reported significantly higher levels of interest, value, effort, and perceived competence when compared to students that reported a lower level of perceived choice.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Conclusions</b> Simply providing or giving students a choice is not enough to change the students’ overall interest/enjoyment in the education, their perception of the value/usefulness of the education, and the importance/effort level the students place on the educational experience. The way the students perceive the option of having a choice has a direct impact on these traits. Generally speaking, students with higher perceptions of choice reported: higher levels of interest in the education, higher value of the educational experience, placed more importance and effort into the educational experience, and showed higher levels of perceived competence when compared to students with lower levels of perception. The results also indicate that students with higher perceptions of choice select activities that they view as interesting and/or fun to do, while students with low perceptions of choice seem to select activities that they perceive to be easier to complete. The results of this research inquiry are important for informing future research and shaping instructional design in the microcontroller space.</p>

This master thesis investigates the utility of spaced repetition learning in engineering education, focusing on knowledge retention for students. The study involved the development of an application with a Nest.js backend integrated with a MySQL database and a Next.js frontend, designed with human-computer interaction (HCI) principles to ensure usability and user-friendliness. Surveys were conducted to gather feedback on HCI and spaced repetition learning, although the limited number of participants affected the statistical significance of the findings. Initial responses indicate that the platform is perceived as easy to navigate but lack engagement due to its simplistic nature. The absence of distracting elements is noted, yet issues with font size consistency have been identified. Further feedback suggests that students are open to spaced repetition learning techniques. The study draws on previous research demonstrating the effectiveness of spaced repetition learning in enhancing long-term memory retention. The thesis aims to address the challenge of rapid memory erosion associated with traditional massed learning approaches. Further research is recommended to gather more substantial data and refine the platform for improved usability and effectiveness in engineering education.

Increasing enrollment of students and declining availability of qualified and experienced faculty are leading to increased assessment loads of the existing faculty. Moreover, the assessment techniques are changing drastically due to the ever-increasing demand of new knowledge and abilities from the students. The tools offered by information technology can now be effectively used in enhancing the productivity of a teacher. This thesis proposes a mechanism for creating both summative and formative assessment instruments for a course in an engineering program. The assessment instruments will vary widely in nature depending on the subject. With increasing prevalence of digital devices in all walks of life a first level knowledge of digital systems is considered necessary for all engineers especially under electrical and computer engineering curricula. The first level course ‘Basics of Digital Systems’ is chosen for developing a framework of computer assisted evaluation. Creation of assessment instruments is best done in the context of an instructional system design (ISD) model. ADDIE, a generic model is chosen for the study. Bloom’s classification of levels of cognition, Vincenti’s categorization of engineering knowledge, and ‘Gronlund 2-level’ method for writing the learning objectives are integrated to create a ‘Bloom-Vincenti–Gronlund’(BVG)framework for preparing the learning objectives/assessment instruments. Developing tools for evaluation of performance of students in the assessment tests requires consideration of many issues: analysis of problems and their solution methods, errors normally committed by students, grading preferences of the instructor and feedback to students. A set of tools are developed that are able to evaluate the truth tables, state tables, excitation tables, timing diagram and VHDL codes. The developed tools are validated. The submission of the assignment and the integration of all the tools for evaluation will be more effective if they can be integrated in a learning management system (LMS). ‘MOODLE’, an open source LMS, is identified for the integration of the tools. The developed tools execute the files submitted by the students, evaluate them, and provide feedback to the students. In summary, the thesis addressed some key issues related to “assessment and evaluation of students’ performance” and proposed an integrated computer assisted system for the evaluation of students’ performance in the course ‘Basics of Digital Systems’.

Abstract This thesis makes a novel and original contribution to the discourse surrounding engineering education, and how it can be made more accessible to underrepresented groups. The study includes two contexts representing two different perspectives. Two studies are conducted, one examines upper secondary school pupils’ views of engineering students and the other the societal and cultural production of the engineering student in a recruitment campaign for KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Few earlier studies have examined the messages communicated in initiatives aiming to increase and broaden the recruitment of underrepresented groups to technical universities. Still, many initiatives sharing this goal are initialised in Sweden. The theoretical framework applied by discourse analysis and governmentality analysis enables a critical examination of the discursive framework surrounding the engineering student. The thesis concludes that there is a power struggle between a discourse of a contemporary technologist and a traditional technologist and that this position is exclusively but only for the most advanced engineering students, excluding BSc students as communicated by a KTH recruitment campaign. / Moderna samhällen förutsätter att människor är ansvariga för att göra val av olika slag, till exempel av utbildning och yrke. Dessutom förväntas yrkesvalet överensstämma med individens självuppfattning. Det finns ett stort engagemang i Sverige och globalt för att öka och bredda rekryteringen till tekniska utbildningar som leder till yrken inom teknik och naturvetenskap. Detta är synligt i den stora mängd av initiativ som görs med syfte att öka ungas intresse för utbildningar av detta slag. Ungas intresse för teknikintensiva utbildningar är ett väl utforskat område. Detta är däremot inte budskap som kommuniceras med syfte att öka och bredda rekryteringen till teknisk intensiva utbildningar.  Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka det diskursiva ramverket som definierar subjektet ingenjörsstudenten i en rekryteringskontext i Sverige. Det teoretiska och metodmässiga tillvägagångsättet är inspirerat av diskursanalys och governmentalitetsstudier. Detta perspektiv förser analysen med en kritisk blick vilket resulterat i ett intressant bidrag till forskningen om diskursen som omger ingenjörsutbildningens tillgängliggörande för underrepresenterade studentgrupper. Uppsatsen består av en sammanhållande kappa och två artiklar som beskriver två olika studier och perspektiv. Den första studien undersöker gymnasieungdomars uppfattningar om ingenjörsutbildningar och ingenjörsstudien. Det metodmässiga tillvägagångsättet kombinerar klassrumsstudier gjorda med hjälp av mindmapping-tekniker och diskursanalys på ett unikt sätt. I den andra studien analyseras de budskap som kommuniceras i en rekryteringskampanj för KTH. I den sammanhållande kappan analyseras det samlade resultatet av studierna. Denna analys visar att det pågår en diskursiv kamp mellan en diskurs av traditionell karaktär och en av nutida karaktär. Den traditionella som lyfts fram av gymnasieeleverna bygger på ett reduktionistiskt förhållningsätt och traditionella värden som personlig framgång (ekonomisk framgång och social status). Den nutida som lyfts fram i kampanjen i bygger på ett holistiskt förhållningsätt och vikten av att bidra till en gynnsam samhällsutvecklingen för alla. I teorin bjuder den nutida in nya studentgrupper i högre grad än den traditionella. Intressant nog sker inte detta i kampanjen, vilket beror på att endast de mest avancerade grundstudenterna, civilingenjörsstudenter som studerar på det äldsta av KTH:s campus, representeras i kampanjen. Detta får till följd att den breddning som sker endast är gällande för en liten skara individer  Uppsatsens viktigaste bidrag är insikter om diskursen som omger ingenjörsutbildningen, som trots försök till breddning verkar exkluderande för många presumtiva studenter. Vidare är det teoretiska och metodmässiga tillvägagångsättet ett intressant bidrag till forskning och en breddad rekrytering till tekniska lärosäten.