Engineering Attractiveness in the European Educational Environment: Can Distance Education Approaches Make a Difference?

The recent phenomenon of worldwide declining enrolments in engineering-related degrees has led to the gradual decrease in the number of engineering graduates. This decrease occurs at a time of increasing demand in the labour market for highly qualified engineers, who are necessary for the implementa...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Konstantinos Katzis, Christos Dimopoulos, Maria Meletiou-Mavrotheris, Ilona-Elefteryja Lasica
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2018-01-01
Series:Education Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/8/1/16
_version_ 1811299952378249216
author Konstantinos Katzis
Christos Dimopoulos
Maria Meletiou-Mavrotheris
Ilona-Elefteryja Lasica
author_facet Konstantinos Katzis
Christos Dimopoulos
Maria Meletiou-Mavrotheris
Ilona-Elefteryja Lasica
author_sort Konstantinos Katzis
collection DOAJ
description The recent phenomenon of worldwide declining enrolments in engineering-related degrees has led to the gradual decrease in the number of engineering graduates. This decrease occurs at a time of increasing demand in the labour market for highly qualified engineers, who are necessary for the implementation of fundamental societal functions. This paper initially presents a survey of practices, which are currently employed by academic institutions in Europe in order to increase the attractiveness of their engineering studies. It then provides a detailed analysis of the benefits and proliferation of distance education to increase attractiveness of engineering studies based on a set of interviews. Results of this study, highlight a lack of a distance-learning dimension in the implementation of engineering studies in the European Area and discusses in detail ways in which distance learning can be utilised in engineering studies for the benefit of increasing their attractiveness. It has also been noted that institutions employing distance learning as part of their engineering studies, see this as highly beneficial for their students but also for the academic institution itself with some reservations in terms of the pedagogical adequacy of materials and instructional approaches used in distance education courses.
first_indexed 2024-04-13T06:43:14Z
format Article
id doaj.art-ca90c06aed7f4b03a6e566f29b708ffa
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2227-7102
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-13T06:43:14Z
publishDate 2018-01-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Education Sciences
spelling doaj.art-ca90c06aed7f4b03a6e566f29b708ffa2022-12-22T02:57:40ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022018-01-01811610.3390/educsci8010016educsci8010016Engineering Attractiveness in the European Educational Environment: Can Distance Education Approaches Make a Difference?Konstantinos Katzis0Christos Dimopoulos1Maria Meletiou-Mavrotheris2Ilona-Elefteryja Lasica3Department of Computer Science and Engineering, European University Cyprus, Nicosia 1516, CyprusDepartment of Computer Science and Engineering, European University Cyprus, Nicosia 1516, CyprusDepartment of Education Sciences, European University Cyprus, Nicosia 1516, CyprusDepartment of Education Sciences, European University Cyprus, Nicosia 1516, CyprusThe recent phenomenon of worldwide declining enrolments in engineering-related degrees has led to the gradual decrease in the number of engineering graduates. This decrease occurs at a time of increasing demand in the labour market for highly qualified engineers, who are necessary for the implementation of fundamental societal functions. This paper initially presents a survey of practices, which are currently employed by academic institutions in Europe in order to increase the attractiveness of their engineering studies. It then provides a detailed analysis of the benefits and proliferation of distance education to increase attractiveness of engineering studies based on a set of interviews. Results of this study, highlight a lack of a distance-learning dimension in the implementation of engineering studies in the European Area and discusses in detail ways in which distance learning can be utilised in engineering studies for the benefit of increasing their attractiveness. It has also been noted that institutions employing distance learning as part of their engineering studies, see this as highly beneficial for their students but also for the academic institution itself with some reservations in terms of the pedagogical adequacy of materials and instructional approaches used in distance education courses.http://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/8/1/16engineering attractivenessdistance educationremote laboratoriesvirtual realityaugmented realitymixed reality
spellingShingle Konstantinos Katzis
Christos Dimopoulos
Maria Meletiou-Mavrotheris
Ilona-Elefteryja Lasica
Engineering Attractiveness in the European Educational Environment: Can Distance Education Approaches Make a Difference?
Education Sciences
engineering attractiveness
distance education
remote laboratories
virtual reality
augmented reality
mixed reality
title Engineering Attractiveness in the European Educational Environment: Can Distance Education Approaches Make a Difference?
title_full Engineering Attractiveness in the European Educational Environment: Can Distance Education Approaches Make a Difference?
title_fullStr Engineering Attractiveness in the European Educational Environment: Can Distance Education Approaches Make a Difference?
title_full_unstemmed Engineering Attractiveness in the European Educational Environment: Can Distance Education Approaches Make a Difference?
title_short Engineering Attractiveness in the European Educational Environment: Can Distance Education Approaches Make a Difference?
title_sort engineering attractiveness in the european educational environment can distance education approaches make a difference
topic engineering attractiveness
distance education
remote laboratories
virtual reality
augmented reality
mixed reality
url http://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/8/1/16
work_keys_str_mv AT konstantinoskatzis engineeringattractivenessintheeuropeaneducationalenvironmentcandistanceeducationapproachesmakeadifference
AT christosdimopoulos engineeringattractivenessintheeuropeaneducationalenvironmentcandistanceeducationapproachesmakeadifference
AT mariameletioumavrotheris engineeringattractivenessintheeuropeaneducationalenvironmentcandistanceeducationapproachesmakeadifference
AT ilonaelefteryjalasica engineeringattractivenessintheeuropeaneducationalenvironmentcandistanceeducationapproachesmakeadifference