Fernando Alcoforado*
This article aims to characterize the profile required for the engineer and the changes required in his training and in the education system of Brazil in general in the 21st century. One of the objectives of the education system is to plan the preparation and recycling of people for the labor market. It is the responsibility of education system planners to identify the future role of engineers to contribute to promoting the development of Brazil, as well as to deal in a world of work with the presence of intelligent machines. Engineering teaching programs must be deeply restructured to achieve these goals.
This restructuring is absolutely necessary because traditional engineering education has been developed on a single axis – content. Education from the perspective of traditional teaching is seen as a transmission of knowledge. Within the context designed for the 21st century, there is no justification for limiting education to the mere transmission of knowledge, because either the content can be accessed by means other than the teacher’s exposure in the classroom, or because the contents are valid limited by the speed with which new knowledge is generated. It is concluded that new axes must be added to the pedagogical focus. In addition to the question of “what to teach” (content), emphasis should be placed on “how to teach” (methodology), and “where to teach” (learning space).
- The necessary changes in the teaching of Engineering in Brazil
In terms of content, it is necessary to recognize that it is not possible to teach everything. So, teaching students to learn new topics on their own seems to be more reasonable than simply trying to put knowledge into their minds. Developing communication skills, oral and written expression, group work, learning foreign languages, seems to be a growing trend in the structuring of new engineering curricula in the world. With regard to methodology, on the other hand, it is necessary to break with the idea of teaching basic science before technical disciplines. Such an attitude has already proved ineffective, since mathematical and physical concepts, for example, are approached, as a rule, without connection with the practice of engineering. The idea is to focus on the content relating it to real-world problems and develop theoretical knowledge, starting from a practical problem, in which students can learn by doing and actively participating in the process.
The traditional engineering school created an aberration. It separated teaching into theory and practice, by creating classrooms for theory and laboratories, for practice. It is not surprising that students have so much difficulty in relating them, since if in their eyes everything goes without a time-spatial relationship. It is necessary to transform the classrooms into a Renaissance studio, that is, a space for living together, where doing and reflecting on doing can happen at the same time. The learning space must be an environment where practice and theory can be developed in a parallel, complementary way, in the form of a praxis. In such an environment, group work, the development of interpersonal skills can happen and interdisciplinarity ceases to be a theoretical discourse to become a concrete reality. The proposal placed here is about transforming the classroom into a workshop, equipped with resources for students to investigate and build their own understanding. The teacher’s role in this context is to guide the process of building knowledge.
- Proposed changes in the teaching of Engineering in Brazil
2.1- The profile of the engineer in the 21st century
In the 21st century, the skills of engineers should be as follows:
I) Have a good foundation of engineering science fundamentals;
II) Have a view of the profession as a whole;
III) Have curiosity and desire to learn for a lifetime;
IV) Have an understanding of the social, economic, political and environmental context in which engineering is practiced;
V) Consider the global, political, economic, social, environmental, cultural aspects;
VI) To act free from any type of discrimination and committed to social responsibility and sustainable development;
VII) Choosing the best solutions from the point of view of costs, terms, quality and safety of engineering projects and works taking into account their social and environmental repercussions;
VIII) Have the ability to recognize the needs of users, analyzing problems and formulating questions based on those needs and opportunities for improvement to design creative engineering solutions;
IX) Possess the ability to create something new, using the other intelligences and applying them in an innovative way;
X) Be generalist, humanist, critical, reflective, creative, cooperative, ethical;
XI) Adopt multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary perspectives in your practice;
XII) Have the ability to lead human beings;
XIII) Have sensitivity in interpersonal relationships;
XIV) To be able to research, develop, adapt and use new technologies, with innovative and entrepreneurial performance;
XV) Have the ability to understand the impact of technology, such as Artificial Intelligence and robotics, and use these resources as tools to expand their potential;
XVI) Possess the ability to synthesize, formulate, analyze and solve problems;
XVII) Understand complex systems and uncertainties;
XVIII) Have the ability to think creatively and critically, independently and cooperatively;
XIX) Have initiative, ability to manage, plan, make decisions, master smart technologies and create opportunities;
XX) Have an understanding of processes and projects;
XXI) To analyze technically and economically projects and their environmental impacts;
XXII) Concern with safety at work;
XXIII) Have the ability to save resources;
XXIV) Possess flexibility, skill and self-confidence to adapt to large and rapid changes;
XXV) Possess the ability to relate to oneself, with emphasis on self-knowledge, self-control and mastery of emotions;
XXVI) Have the ability to work as a team;
XXVII) Have the ability to use basic computer tools;
XXVIII) Have a vision of the needs of the market;
XXIX) Be committed to quality in what you do;
XXX) Possess the mastery of languages;
XXXI) Have communication skills;
XXXII) Be committed to professional ethics.
2.2- New innovative methodologies in the 21st century
Improving engineering education requires that: 1) classrooms, instead of being intended for theory, aim to practice (the student learns theory at home and practices in classrooms with the help of a teacher / mentor ); 2) there is personalized learning in which students will learn with tools that adapt to their own abilities, this means that above average students will be challenged with more difficult exercises and those with more difficulty will have the opportunity to practice more until they reach the desired level; 3) there is free choice with students having the freedom to modify their learning process, choosing the subjects they wish to learn based on their own preferences and being able to use different programs and techniques that they deem necessary for their own learning; 4) there is practical applicability of the knowledge that will not be only in theory being put into practice through projects so that the students acquire the mastery of the technique and also practice organization, teamwork and leadership; 5) there is the development of essentially human skills that are those not replaced by intelligent machines in the productive activity; 6) there are changes in the evaluation system, replacing the ineffective current question and answer system of the tests, which does not adequately evaluate what the student is really capable of doing with that content in practice, with another in which the evaluations start to occur in the realization real projects, with students getting their hands dirty.
Improving engineering education requires that it be done with the teacher teaching based on problems and projects in models without isolated subjects. Engineering students need to be less dependent on formal lecture classes and must be sure that research is part of the process of their own education, just as teachers must be aware that those who do not do research, or those who do not integrate with the process building new knowledge, does not educate for the 21st Century. Some components are fundamental for the success of learning: the creation of challenges, activities, games that really bring the necessary skills for each stage, that request relevant information, that offer stimulating rewards, that combine personal paths with significant participation in groups, that insert in adaptive platforms, which recognize each student and at the same time learn from interaction, all using the appropriate technologies. The articulator of the individual and group stages is the teacher, with his ability to monitor, mediate, analyze the processes, results, gaps and needs, from the paths taken by the students individually and in a group. This new role of the teacher is more complex than the previous one of transmitting information.
The new teacher needs preparation in broader skills, in addition to knowledge of the content, how to adapt to the group and each student; plan, monitor and evaluate meaningful and different activities. Teaching and learning can be done in a much more flexible, active and focused on the pace of each student. The most interesting and promising model for the use of technologies is to concentrate in the virtual environment what is basic information and in the classroom the most creative and supervised activities.
- Conclusions
The challenges of changes in Brazilian education are structural. It is necessary to increase the number of quality schools, schools with good managers, teachers and infrastructure, that are able to motivate students and that really promote meaningful, complex and comprehensive learning. There needs to be a career plan, training and valorization of educational managers and teachers. Consistent training policies are needed to attract the best teachers, remunerate them well and qualify them better, innovative management policies that bring successful models of management to basic and higher education. Educators need to become inspirational and motivating.
The University does not train a good engineer with only white board and chalk. It is necessary that graduates of engineering courses have their skills adjusted to the new times, teaching methods are radically modified, teachers are able to carry out their new responsibilities and there is a set of well-equipped laboratories for teaching and research activities can be developed properly. These laboratories should also count on a team of technicians and scholars to make them work well. The library must have an updated collection in sufficient quantity. It´s also need to make online access to top-tier scientific journals available. Quality engineering courses must involve their students in scientific initiation programs, research projects, periods of study abroad and in the development of new products. The assessment system should replace the current ineffective test question and answer system, which does not adequately assess what the student is actually capable of doing with that content in practice, with another in which the assessments start to take place in real projects, with students putting their hands in the dough.
As in the best education systems in the world, the pillar that supports education concerns the selection and training of top teachers, with professional recognition and good working conditions. The weaknesses of higher education in Brazil occur, among other factors, due to the weaknesses existing in elementary and high school that do not prepare students with sufficient training to attend university courses. This is the main reason why there is a great dropout of students in several courses offered by the Brazilian University. Higher education will only develop in Brazil if basic education is well structured and supports it.
* Fernando Alcoforado, 80, awarded the medal of Engineering Merit of the CONFEA / CREA System, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional Development by the University of Barcelona, university professor and consultant in the areas of strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is author of the books Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova (Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado. Universidade de Barcelona,http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of the Economic and Social Development- The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Müller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe Planetária (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011), Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2015), As Grandes Revoluções Científicas, Econômicas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2016), A Invenção de um novo Brasil (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2017), Esquerda x Direita e a sua convergência (Associação Baiana de Imprensa, Salvador, 2018, em co-autoria) and Como inventar o futuro para mudar o mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2019).
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