Rethinking Engineering Education: Lessons from the Learning Experiences of Early-career Engineers

More and more scholars have attempted to explore the real-world scenarios from the industry view so as to deepen the understanding of the engineering practice and improve engineering education accordingly. Currently, relevant international research has been increasing on this topic, but empirical research from industry perspective in China is still scarce. This-work-in progress focuses on understanding early-career engineers' perspective in China using the theoretical framework of Cognitive Apprenticeship (CA), which describes the learning environment in four aspects: the content taught/learnt, the teaching/learning methods employed, the sequencing of learning activities, and the sociology of learning. By viewing early-career engineers' growth experiences as a learning process in professional workplaces, we expect the findings to be more conductive to the training of engineering students in an educational environment. Using the CA framework, we will explore the specific learning content, learning methods, the sequencing of learning activities and the sociology of learning for early-career engineers in their workplaces. The study employs purposive sampling to select participants from different industrial fields in China. One-on-one interviews was used to collect data. The CA framework was used to design interview protocol. Preliminary findings suggested that the content that new engineers learnt included both the technical and non-technical aspects. The engineers learned through multiple venues, including such as learning by themselves and learning from their mentors. This study will provide practical suggestions for improving engineering education in both China and other similar contexts.