This guest lecture is organized by TU Wien Informatics’ eduLAB.

Abstract

European engineering education has long been dominated by a relatively small number of high status, research lead, institutions of higher education. Degree programmes are built within the framework of the Bologna Agreement and focus on engineering fundamentals, recent developments include increased focus on user-centric design, elements of technology-driven entrepreneurship and student-centric project-based learning. A number of emerging tertiary education institutions are emerging that have instead leveraged wide-scale access to content creation and information, made possible by development of the Internet, focusing on shifts in delivery such as MOOC, YouTube and Twitch to meet student expectations of technological, sophisticated and authentic learning settings catering to a diverse range of student backgrounds. However, unlike other industrial and technological sectors, higher education processes, workflows and operational models have not yet been fundamentally transformed by new AI and ML technologies.

To prepare for a potential massive disruption in the sector campus institutions should explore educational futures, re-examine their resourcing models, both financial and technological. Potential futures may focus on delivering authenticity and value to learners through individualised learning experiences, or in building on both virtual and physical technologies and the academic human capital intrinsic to a world class academic institution. Through the integration of AI and Machine Learning, our enterprise has the potential to realise an unprecedented transformation. What lies in our future? This talk will explore some implications that future studies may have for the evolution of the campus university.

About Arnold Pears

Arnold Pears is Professor and Head of the Department of Learning in Engineering Sciences at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. His research interests include models for future learning in computing and engineering education, computational thinking as a central competency for the future, and models for effective learning. Arnold currently serves as the Vice President of Publications of the IEEE Education Society, and is active in organising international and national conferences on Engineering Education. He is widely published with over 100 publications in IEEE and ACM conferences and journals.

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