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Session 2002-359

Major Differences in Education Systems – Is it Time for the US to Change?

Robert C. Creese, Ph.D., PE, CCE Industrial & Management Systems Engineering Department College of Engineering and Mineral Resources West Virginia University

Introduction

The US higher education system has been recognized as one of the best educational systems in the world as thousands of international students come each year for graduate education and a higher percentage of US students go to college for baccalaureate degrees than anywhere else in the world. The majority of universities in the US are similar to each other in their educational, financial, and administrative approaches. Aalborg University (AAU) in Denmark is significantly different in their educational, financial and administrative approaches to the operation of the university. Some of these differences are unique to AAU, but many are common to the Danish educational system and others to the European educational systems.

After visiting Aalborg University (AAU) in Denmark for two sabbaticals of one semester (1985, 1992), a two month visit on another sabbatical (2001), and a few additional short visits, major differences between the typical US and Aalborg Educational systems were observed. Aalborg University was established in 1974 as an experiment in higher education starting with 2,200 students from three different schools. It is the newest university in Denmark of the 6 universities and institutions of higher learning and now has more than 13,000 students. It was established to use the project-based educational approach to overcome some of the problems of the traditional course-based educational system.

Discussions with Poul H.K. Hansen (one of the two faculty members on the Aalborg University Senate), Sven Hvid Nielsen and Erik Pedersen who have been with Aalborg University since it started and are active advocates of the project -based system, and with the Rector, Sven Caspersen, have been essential in gathering information about the Aalborg University System. These leaders have contributed greatly (and are still contributing) to the success of the project-based system at AAU. The university will have grown approximately 6 fold in its first 30 years. Few doctorate institutions can claim this degree of success, and AAU is one of only two technical universities in Denmark, which grant the doctorate degree. The four main goals of the project-based system are (1,2):

1. Reduce the waste as observed in the traditional educational programs by reducing student attrition rates and making the program requirements such that most students graduate on schedule.

“Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education”

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Creese, R. (2002, June), Major Differences In Education Do We Need To Change? Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--10972