Bologning In The Wind
- Conference
- Location
-
Honolulu, Hawaii
- Publication Date
-
June 24, 2007
- Start Date
-
June 24, 2007
- End Date
-
June 27, 2007
- ISSN
-
2153-5965
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
-
International
- Page Count
-
19
- Page Numbers
-
12.318.1 - 12.318.19
- DOI
-
10.18260/1-2--2936
- Permanent URL
-
https://peer.asee.org/2936
- Download Count
-
511
Paper Authors
Odete Lopes Politecnico de Viseu
Joao Vinhas Politecnico de Viseu
João Vinhas, MSc Professor of Physics and Mechanics; Assistant Professor since 1998; Director of the graduation in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Management of the Escola Superior de Tecnologia of the Polytechnic of Viseu from 2002 to 2005; Researcher at the Joint Research Centre of the European Union at Ispra - Italy from 1994 to 1996.
Joao Paiva Politecnico de Viseu
Joao Monney Paiva, PhD Professor of Thermodynamics, Heat and Mass Transfer, Pneumatic Transport, Energy Audits and Operations Management; Coordinator Professor since 1995; Head of the Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Management Department of the Escola Superior de Tecnologia of the Polytechnic of Viseu from 1990 to 2002; Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Escola Superior de Tecnologia of the Polytechnic of Viseu from 1996 to 2004; Coordinator of Engineering Education seminars since 1998; CEO of Provela, SA, since 1996; CEO of Transcome, SA, since 1995; Director of Transagri, Lda (www.transagri-lda.com), Mangualde, Portugal, since 1986; Engineer at Brown Boveri Corp., Baden, Switzerland, 1981-83; Assistant engineer at MAGUE, Construcoes Metalomecanicas, Alverca, Portugal, 1980-81.
Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract
Bologning in the Wind
1. Introduction
The idea of the creation of a European Higher Education Space was formally presented for the first time in the Sorbonne Declaration (Allègre et al., 1998).1 It represented the political wish to go further, beyond a mere economic union. Education and knowledge were recognized as vital for Europe’s development. There were significant differences between the existing higher education systems inside the different countries of the union. It was time to create the mechanisms to allow convergence, easing mobility for students and teachers in order to share knowledge and experiences.
The Bologna Declaration (Einem, 1999)8 established a strong commitment between governments aiming at building a common educational area and improving transparency and compatibility. It is important to understand that this Bologna Process is the result of multiple reflections and analysis promoted by national and supranational work groups and personalities. From these the need of a paradigm change arises, not only in educational structures, but also in thought and knowledge creation.
The learning process will lead students to acquire personal, academic and professional skills. These skills will play a fundamental role for the individual and for his integration in society. The focus of the learning-teaching process will shift towards the student and his particular progress will serve as a point of reference. This learning and training process is meant to continue throughout life.
The definition of the academic and professional profiles will be related to the identification and development of students’ acquired skills.
Actually, the Bologna process is aimed at creating a new higher educational paradigm centred on student work, skill importance and preparation for professional life.
2. The adaptation process
As a result of the challenges proposed by this new higher education paradigm, the Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Management Department have undertaken efforts to design a Mechanical Engineering Course that could respond to the new orientations. Over the last fifteen years, the life span of the Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Management course, there were several measures taken in order to give students the best education for their future professional lives as well as to contribute towards successful promotion of the course.
These measures such as integration, tutorial and socio-pedagogical programs, team working projects, curricula and methodology revisions were taken with very interesting results. The design and implementation of a new curricular structure as a consequence of the Bologna process was a pretext for a broad discussion within the department. After a period of some expectation regarding the duration of the different study cycles, it was decided by the
Lopes, O., & Vinhas, J., & Paiva, J. (2007, June), Bologning In The Wind Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--2936
ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2007 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015