Muito se fala na crescente velocidade de inovações tecnológicas que se apresenta ao mundo e que vai se acelerando. Antes, gerações se passavam para termos uma evolução tecnológica. Hoje, uma mesma geração presencia vários saltos tecnológicos. Neste contexto de inovações frequentes, surge a preocupação sobre como formar um profissional responsável, ético e que consiga acompanhar e ser protagonista de tais mudanças. O trabalho desenvolvido nesta tese busca colaborar na discussão sobre a formação do engenheiro, com foco na engenharia elétrica e de computação, revisitando as definições de conceitos como educação em engenharia, aprendizagem ativa, inovação, Design Thinking e competências transversais, e definindo, como contribuição de pesquisa, os conceitos de tecno-pedagogia e ambientes tecno-pedagógicos, como pressuposto de convergência de estruturas tecnológicas, estratégias pedagógicas e métodos de avaliação em aprendizagem ativa para a inovação. Apresenta um método para identificar e quantificar o grau de ênfase das competências transversais para a inovação a partir da demanda de mercado para engenheiros eletricistas e da computação; e um método de observação, coleta e análise de dados sobre o desenvolvimento de competências transversais na participação em duas experiências de aula: na disciplina global ME310 da Universidade de Stanford; e na disciplina 030-3410 da Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo. Com isso, foi possível elaborar um método para auxiliar no planejamento de disciplinas e cursos com foco em inovação, identificando as competências transversais que devem ser incentivadas e relacionando tais competências com estratégias de ensino e aprendizagem e sugerindo a estrutura tecnológica e método de avaliação a serem adotados. / Much is said of the increasing speed of technological innovations within our global economy. Previously, generations passed before technological evolution would show its effects. Today, the same generation witnesses several technological leaps. In this context of frequent innovations, there is a concern about how to form responsible and ethical professionals who can be protagonist within such changes. This thesis aims to aid in the discussion about the formation of engineers, focusing on electrical and computer engineering, revisiting the definitions of concepts such as engineering education, active learning, innovation, design thinking and soft skills, and setting. As a research contribution, the concept of techno-pedagogy and techno-pedagogical environments are presented, as an assumption that converges upon technological structures, teaching strategies and assessment methods in active learning for innovation. A method is presented to identify and quantify the degree of emphasis of market demand of soft skills for innovation for electrical and computer engineers which includes;.a method of observation, analysis and data collection on the development of transversal competences by participating in two class experience: in the global ME310 course of Stanford University; and in the 030-3410 course of the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo. A method to assist in planning courses focusing on innovation is developed, identifying the transversal competences that should be encouraged and relating these skills with teaching strategies and suggesting the technological structure and assessment methods to be adopted.

Na cidade de São Paulo, as inundações, consideradas a consequência das chuvas intensas e da impermeabilização do solo urbano, têm causado impactos consideráveis. As contínuas e frequentes inundações e as intervenções para contê-las, de alto custo para o Poder Público, justificam a busca de uma abordagem complementar à puramente técnica-hidráulica, que dê atenção aos aspectos sociopolíticos inerentes à drenagem urbana e ao manejo de águas pluviais, o foco principal desta pesquisa. Seus objetivos são: uma análise crítica sobre a incorporação do sociopolítico na malha de disciplinas do curso de Engenharia Civil; uma análise crítica da visão dos profissionais envolvidos, direta ou indiretamente, com a gestão urbana sobre a incorporação de aspectos sociais no planejamento e na implantação de obras de drenagem urbana; e se estes aspectos são incorporados aos projetos de obras de drenagem e se atores sociais localizados na área de uma bacia hidrográfica valorizam esta incorporação. A pesquisa concluiu que, ainda que aspectos sociopolíticos estejam incorporados na malha de disciplinas dos cursos de Graduação em Engenharia Civil e ainda que os profissionais da gestão urbana valorizem os aspectos sociais tanto quanto os aspectos técnicos das obras de drenagem, o planejamento e a implantação de obras de drenagem em construção na área da bacia hidrográfica, foco geográfico desta pesquisa, não incorporam os aspectos relativos ao sociopolítico. A bibliografia consultada e os exemplos concretos apresentados mostram a importância da incorporação dos aspectos sociopolíticos nas intervenções. Os conceitos discutidos ajudaram a formular recomendações para a incorporação do sociopolítico na malha das disciplinas e nos projetos de obras hidráulicas. São recomendações que visam, além da preservação ambiental e do atendimento ao interesse público, maximizar os benefícios da solução técnica. / In the city of São Paulo, intensive rains and urban impervious cover are being held responsible for flooding events which have been causing increase in runoff volume and in peak discharge. The high costs of technical hydraulic interventions to contain the frequent flooding impacts justify the search for an alternative approach: the incorporation of the sociopolitical complexities of urban stormwater drainage, the main theme of this research. Its objectives are: understand if and how sociopolitical complexities are being incorporated to Civil Engineering education; how professionals directly or indirectly involved in urban stormwater management see the incorporation of sociopolitical complexities in planning and implementation of stormwater drainage construction works and, finally, if these complexities are integrated in the projects being planned and being implemented in an urban watershed area. The research concluded that Civil Engineering education incorporate courses which open space for the discussion of sociopolitical aspects; that professionals involved in urban management value the incorporation of sociopolitical aspects in planning and implementation of storm water construction projects, but that in the watershed area where projects are being implemented such aspects are not taken into account. The bibliography and the concrete examples examined show the importance of incorporating sociopolitical aspects in drainage construction projects. The concepts brought forward help identify recommendations for the incorporation of sociopolitical aspects in Civil Engineering education and in the planning and implementation of stormwater constructions projects. These are recommendations which aim at increasing environmental preservation, meeting the public interest and maximizing the benefits of the technical solution.

Since its emergence in the late 1960s, mechatronics has become well-established as an academic subject, and is now researched and taught at a large number of universities worldwide. The most widely-used definition of the subject today is centered on the synergistic integration of mechanical engineering, electronics, and intelligent computer control. The aim of this thesis is to work between the disciplines of engineering education and mechatronics to address both the question of the identity of the subject of mechatronics and the ways in which this identity can be reflected in the practice of mechatronics education. Empirical data from the literature is supplemented with further data from four case studies with approaches varying from exploratory case studies and ethnographic in-depth studies to explanatory studies with an action research based approach. The process and results of the investigation can be divided into three aspects. Firstly, analysis of the subject of mechatronics shows that its identity is thematic and its legitimacy is functional, implying that the selection and communication of the subject ought to be exemplifying and interactive respectively. Secondly, and following this analysis, the concept of international collaboration is used as the implementation for the first two case studies. The results of these studies show a relationship between collaborative projects and enhanced disciplinary learning and skills, increased awareness of cultural differences, and improved motivation. Another potential implementation, experimental learning, is then tested in two action research based studies focusing on fast prototyping and individual access to laboratory equipment. Mechatronics is a special subject, not easily understood or taught. To be mechatronic is to be synergistic, and to be synergistic generally demands expertise in all underlying subjects. The conclusion of this thesis is that this requires a non-traditional education where the focus is on training rather than studying, coaching rather than teaching, experimenting rather than reading, working together rather than apart, and being mechatronic rather than studying mechatronics. / Mekatronik som ämne uppstod under 1960-talets senare del och har sedan dess etablerats som akademiskt ämne som beforskas och undervisas på ett stort antal universitet runt om i världen. Den idag mest utbredda definitionen av ämnet fokuserar på synergi och synergistisk integration av maskinteknik, elektronik och intelligent datorstyrning. Målsättningen med denna avhandling är att bidra till forskning i området mellan de två fälten ingenjörsutbildning och mekatronik. Forskningsfrågan behandlar identiteten hos ämnet mekatronik och hur denna identitet kan återspeglas i undervisningens praktik. Empiriskt material för denna avhandling har hämtats från litteraturen tillsammans med fyra fallstudier. Forskningsmetodiken i fallstudierna har varierats från utforskande fallstudier och etnografiska djuplodande studier till förklarande studier med en aktionsforskningsansats. Studien och resultaten därutav kan delas in i tre delar. Den första delen behandlar ämnet mekatronik och visar att ämnets identitet är tematisk och att legitimiteten är funktionell. Detta innebär att ämnets selektion och kommunikation bör vara exemplifierande respektive interaktiv. I den andra delen används denna definition för studier av internationellt samarbete i mekatronik, vilket utgör basen för de två första fallstudierna. Resultaten från dessa studier visar på en relation mellan det internationella samarbetet och ett ökat disciplinärt lärande, ökad medvetenhet om kulturella skillnader samt en ökad motivation. Den tredje delen relateras till ytterligare en tänkbar implementation av definitionen, en idé om experimentellt lärande. Denna prövas i två studier baserade på aktionsforskning som behandlar snabb prototypframställning och individuell tillgång till avancerad laborationsutrustning. Mekatronik är ett speciellt ämne, inte helt enkelt att förstå eller undervisa. Att vara mekatronisk innebär att vara synergistisk, och att vara synergistisk kräver vanligtvis expertkunskap i de underliggande områdena. Resultatet av denna avhandling är att detta kräver en icke-traditionell undervisning där fokus är på träning snarare än studerande, handledning och guidning snarare än undervisning, experimenterande snarare än läsning, arbete tillsammans snarare än individuellt och att vara mekatronisk snarare än att studera mekatronik. / QC 20100609

This thesis characterizes the feedback between the instructor and student teams engaged in a Virtual Bioreactor (VBioR) Laboratory Project. The project allows senior-level chemical, biological, and environmental engineering students to apply their developing knowledge and skills in an industrially situated process optimization project. Feedback is an important tool for instructors to use to scaffold student learning, especially in the context of an ill-structured project. An ethnographic approach is taken for data collection; audio recordings and field notes are taken throughout the duration of the project. The characterization of feedback uses an episodes framework for discourse analysis to consider similarities and differences. Using this framework, thematic codes have been developed through a semi-emergent process to describe the content of Design Memo Meetings (DMMs) between an instructor and student teams. Student work products, post-DMM surveys, and post-project interviews are also considered as data sources for this research. The results of this research show that instructor feedback in this project is adaptable, conforming to the status of the student team at the beginning of the DMM. This adaptability is highlighted by differences in DMM themes that are supported by differences in the Design Strategy Memos that student teams bring to the meeting. Student perceptions of the DMM feedback are also presented. / Graduation date: 2013

The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate engineering self-efficacy measures for undergraduate students (N = 321) and to examine whether students' engineering self-efficacy differed by gender, year level, and major. The relationships between engineering self-efficacy and academic achievement and intent to persist in engineering were also investigated. Data from engineering students from two southeastern universities were collected in spring 2013. Exploratory factor analyses resulted in a unidimensional general engineering self-efficacy scale and a three-factor (i.e., research skills, tinkering skills, and engineering design) engineering skills self-efficacy scale. Multivariate analyses of variance revealed that self-efficacy did not differ by gender or year level. Students in different engineering sub disciplines reported different levels of tinkering self-efficacy. Multiple regression analysis showed that engineering self-efficacy measures predicted academic achievement outcomes but not intent to persist in engineering. Engineering self-efficacy significantly contributed to the prediction of achievement after controlling for prior achievement. Research funded by the National Science Foundation, EEC Award No.1240328.

The United States are facing a critical workforce challenge, even though current unemployment is around 6.7%, employers find it difficult to find applicants that can satisfy all job requirements. This problem is especially pronounced in the manufacturing sector where a critical skills gap has developed, a problem that is exasperated by workforce demographics. A large number of employees across the various manufacturing sub-disciplines are eligible to retire now or in the near future. This gray tsunami requires swift action as well as long lasting change resulting in a workforce pipeline that can provide Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors in sufficient quantity and quality to satisfy not only the needs of STEM industries, but also of those companies outside of the STEM sector that hire STEM graduates. The research shown here will identify overt symptoms describing the capability gap, will identify specific skills describing the gap, educational causes why the gaps has not yet been addressed or is difficult to address, and lastly educational remedies that can contribute to closing the capability gap. A significant body of literature focusing on engineering in higher education has been evaluated and findings will be presented here. A multidisciplinary, collaborative capstone program will be described which implements some of the findings from this study in an active learning environment for students working on distributed teams across the US. Preliminary findings regarding the impact of these measures on the quantity of engineers to the US economy will be evaluated.

How do we help students to integrate their tertiary education with their development as " wise" global citizens and professionals? The study engages with this question through exploring the use of Reflective Journals as a central and integrating strategy for learning and assessment for a socially and culturally diverse group of students in a large, compulsory, first year, one-semester Engineering unit [BNB007: Professional Studies] between 2000 and 2004. The study supports the hypothesis that Reflective Journals can be an effective strategy for improving the often-criticised poor communication skills of domestic and international students in technical fields. For many students, the process of reflection also became a means of learning about their learning. Attitude surveys administered to students pre and post the teaching intervention in the years 2000-2002 showed positive changes in anticipated directions that encouraged further research. If attitude change was occurring in BNB007, what was the nature of the change? The research showed that at a deeper, longer term and more complex level, this new self-awareness supported many students to develop the kind of futures thinking and social learning " that will be necessary to navigate the transition to sustainable futures" (Raskin et al., 2002). The study contributes to the literature and to methodology through the first complementary use of two new methodologies, Sense-Making and Causal Layered Analysis. Thirty in-depth Sense-Making based interviews, including four with staff, indicate that 'meta-reflection' and transformative learning did take place. Expressing these qualities in the discourse of internationalisation as " global portability" or even " global competence" is unsatisfactory because these popular terms do not embody the qualities graduates need to create sustainable futures. As currently used, they mainly serve a market-dominated version of globalisation and its allied internationalisation-as-profit discourse. Raskin et al proposed a more appropriate term, " sustainability professionals", emerging from a preferred, valuesbased globalisation inspired by a vision of humane, sustainable futures that see " rights assured, nature treasured, culture rich and the human spirit animate" (p.70). This more challenging concept of a graduate for the 21st century is expressed here through the term Globo sapiens, whose qualities are identified in this study. Such professionals are willing to think critically and to assume responsibility for their impact on communities and the planet. This is the critical-futures oriented, transformative and therefore radical notion connoted by the title Towards Globo sapiens. This research identified some of the terrain and challenges of a post-development vision in a vocational area of teaching in Higher Education. It explained how particular students resisted or reconstructed their worlds when challenged at fundamental levels, but within a supportive atmosphere. Thus the study contributes to what educators might need to know, be and do, in order to teach effectively for the transformations urged by Sustainability Scientists, among others, and upon which any sustainable alternative futures depend. The study is underpinned by transdisciplinary syntheses that help to illuminate each area in new and fruitful ways.

[pt] Este trabalho apresenta os conhecimentos, as competências e as atitudes importantes para o perfil do engenheiro eletricista segundo a visão dos egressos (ex-alunos), dos professores, dos alunos com matrícula ativa (do curso de engenharia elétrica da UERJ e da PUC-Rio) e do mercado de trabalho que tem contratado estes egressos.A pesquisa com os egressos, os professores e os alunos realizou-se por meio de questionários no período de dezembro de 2006 a maio de 2007. O estudo com as empresas foi feito com entrevistas realizadas no período de outubro de 2007 a janeiro de 2008. As entrevistas foram realizadas após a análise dos questionários para que fosse possível expô-los à crítica, desvelando novas interpretações à luz da experiência profissional dos entrevistados. Por outro lado, comparando a diversidade dos pontos de vista coletados em entrevistas dinâmicas, foi possível caracterizar de onde falam os entrevistados - situando-os em relação às descrições existentes da prática e da organização industrial. A partir da análise dessas visões sobre o perfil do engenheiro e da engenharia contemporânea é apresentada uma fundamentação parcial (pois poucos setores empresariais foram considerados) do currículo por competências e das competências para a engenharia atualmente discutidas no contexto brasileiro, além de algumas sugestões de caminhos para a elaboração de um currículo de engenharia mais de acordo com as atuais Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais para os cursos de engenharia. / [en] This work presents the knowledge, competences and attitudes more relevant to the formation profile of eletrical engineers following former students, students with active registration and teachers from UERJ and PUC-Rio electrical engineering courses, and also following the working market employing the former students. A survey was realized with former students, teachers and students of these courses between December 2006 and May 2007. Some interviews were realized with stakeholders from companies employing the former students between October 2007 and January 2008. These interviews were conducted after the analysis of the survey results to expose them to criticism from employers, to show new interpretations in the light of the actual professional experience. Moreover, comparing the diversity of points of view collected in the interviews, it was possible to characterize from where the respondents are talking - placing them in relation to the existing descriptions of industrial practice and organization. The analysis of these visions about the formation profile of nowdays engineers and contemporary engineering is presented as a partial fondamentation (because few industrial sectors were considered) for the engineering curriculum developed by competences currently discussed in the Brazilian context, as well as for some suggestions about ways to establish an engineering curriculum in line with the current National Curriculum Guidelines for engineering courses.

Neste trabalho, descreve-se o processo de produção de tecnologias educacionais e de Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação (TICs), relacionando-as ao uso do ensino em Engenharia Geotécnica. Desenvolveu-se um sistema de informação baseado num modelo que integra recursos educacionais produzidos em diferentes formatos eletrônicos e um software baseado na Web para gestão destes recursos e das informações da disciplina Fundações. O software, denominado ENGEO, auxilia a estruturação do conhecimento envolvido no domínio de aplicação, fornecendo ao professor, ou equipe de gestão, ferramentas remotas de administração dos conteúdos e dos recursos educacionais. Aos alunos, a aplicação ENGEO fornece disponibilidade de informações e de conteúdo em um ambiente flexível. Este aplicativo foi desenvolvido para o curso de Engenharia Geotécnica, particularizado para Engenharia de Fundações, com o objetivo de introduzir e incentivar a utilização de sistemas baseados na Web para compartilhamento de conteúdo das disciplinas, implementar Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação em aplicações para fins educacionais e fomentar discussões a respeito da identidade e perfil do Engenheiro e o papel da TICs no processo de formação do profissional de Engenharia. / This research describes and analyzes the production of an educational applicative based on Communication and Information Technologies (ICTs) developed for the field of Geotechnical Engineering. An information system based on a model that integrates produced educational sources in different digital formats and a Web software developed for management of these sources is described. The software, denominated as ENGEO, contains information related to the subject of Foundation Engineering. It assists structuring the knowledge in the domain of application, organizing in the Web various medias related to the subject, enabling remote administration by the lecturer or management team from tools implemented using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Attempts are made to produce free and flexible assess to students of the contents of course. The experience was designed to stimulate a debate on the needs and identity of engineers and to put into perspective the role of ICTs in producing such identity.

O trabalho contextualiza historicamente, descreve e discute características de um possível perfil cognitivo dos engenheiros, atualizando-o em relação às necessidades da sociedade e da cultura contemporâneas, com base no paradigma multidisciplinar das Ciências Cognitivas, apresentado a partir da obra Como a mente funciona, de Steven Pinker, e em pesquisa bibliográfica sobre autores da área de Engenharia. Busca analisar criticamente as necessidades do ensino contemporâneo de Engenharia, identificando estratégia didáticopedagógica compatível com as características descritas no perfil. A elaboração didática de projetos foi a estratégia escolhida, por apresentar a mesma estrutura cognitiva (raciocínios, operações mentais, comportamentos, atitudes e posturas) da atividade profissional, bem como por caracterizar um contexto integrado de conceitos teóricos, atividades práticas, tomadas de decisão e vivências que deverão constituir um apoio à consolidação da memória de longa duração dos alunos, e, por conseguinte, de seu aprendizado, segundo conceitos apresentados por Roger Schank na obra Dynamic Memory Revisited. O trabalho se desenvolve com a escolha de um modelo de curso à distância estruturado a partir do mesmo paradigma, para aplicar a estratégia escolhida. Trata-se do modelo e-learning-by-doing, apresentado por Roger Schank na obra Designing world-class e-learning. São descritas atividades de planejamento, implantação e análise qualitativa de resultados de um curso-piloto à distância (com o referido modelo), de elaboração didática de um projeto de Engenharia Geotécnica, com alunos de mestrado do Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Civil, da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, sob coordenação do prof. Fernando Schnaid. A experiência teve excelente receptividade e aproveitamento dos alunos. O framework teórico-conceitual multidisciplinar mostrou-se enriquecedor, apontando possibilidades de continuidade da pesquisa sobre ensino de Engenharia, relacionadas ao aprofundamento do perfil dos engenheiros, ao uso didáticopedagógico de projetos e ao modelo e-learning-by-doing, todos eles com aplicação na prática docente e na formação de professores. O trabalho constituiu pesquisa para obtenção do título de doutor, no Programa de Pós-Gradução em Informática na Educação (PPGIE) da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), na linha de pesquisa Paradigmas para a Pesquisa sobre Ensino Científico e Tecnológico. / This work describes and discusses engineering profile from historical, cultural and cognitive perspectives, in an attempt to fit contemporary needs based on the multidisciplinary paradigm of Cognitive Sciences. Emphasis is given to Steven Pinker’s book How the mind works and other bibliographic research reported within the Engineering domain. Needs of contemporary Engineering education are analyzed, choosing a pedagogical strategy compatible with the described profile. Didactic project making was the chosen strategy - it comprises the same cognitive structure of the professional activity, including way of thinking, mental operations, behavior, attitude and states of mind. It can also be seen as a theoretical, practical, decision making and living context that supports long term memory consolidation and, as a consequence, supports the activity of learning, following ideas presented by Roger Schank’s book Dynamic Memory Revisited. The work follows a distance learning course based on the same cognitive paradigm chosen to represent the adopted model and strategy. The strategy is based on e-learning-by-doing model introduced by Roger Schank’s book Designing world-class e-learning, which is adopted to plan and to implement an experimental distance course for a project on Geotechnical Engineering, to masters students from the Civil Engineering Graduation Program at Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, coordinated by professor Fernando Schnaid. The experience is reported and results are qualitatively analyzed with excellent responses from students in both participation and performance. Theoretical and conceptual multidisciplinary frameworks proved to be a reach framework to present and future research related to Engineering education, engineering profile, didactic use of projects adopting the e-learning-by-doing model. This concept can be applied to graduate and undergraduate courses and to teachers´ continuous education. The work is part of the requirements designed to obtain a PhD degree at the Informatics applied to Education Graduation Program (PPGIE), from Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil, in the research line of “Paradigms for the Research on Scientific and Technological Education”.