regulating the engineering profession Accrediting Engineering Degrees: Practice and Challenges Richard Shearman Director of Formation
Apr 01, 2015
regulating the engineering profession
Accrediting Engineering Degrees:Practice and Challenges
Richard Shearman
Director of Formation
regulating the engineering profession
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The UK engineering profession
• 36 professional bodies – vary in size and history• Own requirements for membership• Common framework provided by UK-SPEC and ECUK
register of CEng, IEng and EngTech• 21 accredit HE programmes• Not compulsory to join or register with ECUK to work as
engineer – but c. 5k new registrants p.a.
regulating the engineering profession
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Engineering Council (UK)
• National Registration Body for Chartered Engineers, Incorporated Engineers and Engineering Technicians
• Sets standards for professional qualification and registration (UK-SPEC)
• Sets criteria for accreditation of HE programmes • Licenses professional bodies to accredit programmes and
assess and register individuals• QA function linked to licensing• Maintains database of accredited programmes• Signatory to international accords
regulating the engineering profession
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The value of accreditation
• Establishes a standard• Constructive engagement between profession and HE• Share good practice• Aid development and innovation• Kitemark and third party validation for HEI• Helps graduate/professional mobility• Simplifies qualification process
regulating the engineering profession
Accreditation - History
• Began in 1960s and 1970s• A different HE scene • Predates national QA arrangements for universities• Steady shift from input to output• Can the accreditation process remain adaptable?
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regulating the engineering profession
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Accreditation: key current features
• ECUK sets and maintains standards• Outcomes-based accreditation• Distributed system of accreditation• Distinct from the UK’s HE quality assurance system• Uses qualifications framework and descriptors as
reference points• International recognition
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Current accreditation arrangements
• Peer review by volunteers• Written submission and visit • Scrutiny of student work, exam papers etc • Meet with students and staff• The programme not the institution• Rigour and demands are balanced
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Requirements for accreditation
• Focus on outcomes, not curriculum• All graduates achieve all learning outcomes• Clear programme aims, outcomes, assessment• Evidence of industrial liaison• Sufficient content at B or M level• Adequately resourced
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What about input measures?
• A number are considered including:
- Learning and teaching processes
- Department/School/Faculty organisation
- Human and material resources
- Cohort entry profile
- Staff experience and professional status• These are indicators, not metrics or showstoppers
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The output standards
• Four general learning outcomes
- Knowledge & Understanding, Intellectual Abilities, Practical Skills, General Transferable Skills
• Five Specific Learning Outcomes
- Underpinning Science and Maths, Engineering Analysis, Design, Economic, Social and Environmental Context, Engineering Practice
• More detailed statements describe each of these• Now adopted by QAA as subject benchmark
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International Context
• Washington & Sydney Accords allow mutual recognition of accreditation decisions
• Graduate Attributes framework developed but several signatories are process-orientated
• Washington Accord verification visit to UK revealed differences in approach
• In Europe, EURACE framework for engineering accreditation
• More countries showing interest in accreditation (China, Russia)
regulating the engineering profession
Sharing good practice
• Between professional bodies and between universities• EAB is key to former – forum for discussion, organises
joint visits, common documentation etc• Websites, annual reports etc can highlight university good
practice• Engineering Subject Centre, EPC also have vital role
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regulating the engineering profession
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The changing landscape
• UK demographics: less homogeneous cohorts• Development of higher level skills• Changing employer demands• New forms of provision • Increasing number of multidisciplinary programmes
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Some challenges for accreditation
• Giving due recognition to work-based elements• Who is responsible for assessment?• Assuring level and standards in new forms of provision• More individually tailored programmes – resourcing• Longer completion periods • Encouraging cultural shift - accreditors and others • Monitoring programme change
• Spreading innovation and improvement
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Distance Learning
• Achieving learning outcomes that are normally demonstrated in a laboratory
• Module choice resulting in individually tailored and/or limited programme scope
• Robustness of student support systems• Open-ended nature and long completion periods• The engineering employer’s role?
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The way ahead?
• Changes tend to be in inputs rather than in outcomes• Current accreditation processes are applicable• Mechanisms to bring employers more fully into the
process• Dialogue between all: universities, professional bodies
and employers