Strategic perspectives on engineering education

Much is said about what should be included in engineering syllabuses, but less about the strategic aspects of engineering education. Yet, the effects of how a syllabus is structured, and how its delivery is administered, on students their maturation into engineers, can be significant. Strategic planning is crucial. We need to consider what we want our engineers and engineering students to be and not merely what we want them to know. Planning a curriculum to impart knowledge is one aspect of education. Another is planning the delivery of the knowledge so that its accumulation facilitates both further learning and the development of persons, personalities, and professionalism. This is not more difficult, but it requires additional planning, particularly at the strategic level. Emphasising the importance of strategic thinking, this paper proposes a basis for planning an engineering curriculum to facilitate both the learning process and the development of professional engineers.