New Ways of Teaching Working Life Related Skills to Engineering Students

1. New Ways of Teaching Working Life Related Skills to Engineering Students Dr Liisa Kairisto-Mertanen Director of Education (Dean) Technology, Environment and Business Dr Olli Mertanen Vice rector Turku Polytechnic

2. Background for the study • The future society • competitive, dynamic, learning welfare society • positive attitude to entrepreneurship • information society combined with the wellfare state • clusters which will form learning networks • business combined with services and knowledge intensive products

3. Turku Polytechnic is the largest University of Applied Sciences in Finland • annual intake of students1800 • 1300 degrees every year • alltogether 8300 students • 35 degree programmes • 7 fields of study

4. Arts Academy Turku: • Communication and Media Arts • Fine Arts • Music • Performing Arts Mynämäki: • Design Salo: • Design Health Care Turku: • Biomedical Laboratory Science • Dental Hygiene • Emergency Care • Nursing • Radiography and Radiotherapy • Care of the Elderly and Long-term Patients (post-graduate degree programme) Salo: • Nursing (in Finnish and in English) Life Sciences and Business Turku: • Biotechnology and Food Technology • Business • Business Information Technology • Laboratory Technology • Företagsekonomi • International Business (in English) Technology, Environment and Business Turku: • Automotive and Transportation Engineering • Civil Engineering • Mechanical and Production Engineering • Sustainable Development Mynämäki: • Restoration Parainen: • Fisheries and Environmental Care Raisio: • Business • International Business (in English) Uusikaupunki: • Business Information Technology • Business Logistics Telecommunication and e-Business Turku: • Electronics • Library and Information Services • Telecommunications Engineering • Information Technology (in English) Salo: • Business • Business Information Technology (in Finnish and in English) • International Business / Internationale Betriebswirtschaft • Telecommunications Engineering Well-being Services Turku: • Beauty Care • Occupational Therapy • Physiotherapy • Production and Management of Services • Social Services Loimaa: • Business • Business Information Technology • Social Services Continuing Education and Services • Corporate Services • Development of Enterprises and Organisations • Intensive Courses • Open Polytechnic • Professional Specialisation Studies • Seminars Turku Polytechnic Organisation Chart 1.8.2004 Development and Administration • Administrative Services • Educational Services • Innovation Services City Council City Board Polytechnic Delegation Polytechnic Board Rector Vice Rectors Executive Board

5. Aim of the paper • to explore what is the real engineering competence needed by the working life in the traditional fields of engineering • electronics and electro technical industry • mechanical engineering • civil engineering • to describe how the working life is changing • to explore what requirements do these changes cause to the education • methods of anticipation • some real life examples

6. Engineering education and the future employers • Characteristics of the changing professional life • information society • learning never stops • everybody has to have understanding about markets and business life • entrepreneurial mind is required • ability to produce innovation becomes important • R & D faces global competition

7. Anticipating the required changes in education • methods used • business forecast and analysis • enqueries to enterprices • separation between quantitative and qualitative needs • anticipation reports • noticing week signals calls for close co-operation between education and working life • it is necessary to find enough courage to act upon the new requirements

8. The Changing Engineering Competence • Changes in the society call for changes in the competence of future employees, they have to work • in a global environment • in the customer surface • in a learning network • using interdisciplinary competence • constantly upgrading their competence • in teams • solving problems • in unsecure circumstances • Well qualified staff is a central strategic competitive factor • Knowledge and people possessing it becomes important

9. Examples from Turku Polytechnic, no 1 • The learning network in the faculty of technology, environment and business • gross-disciplinary environment • organisational learning • A learning organization is “an organization that is continually expanding its capacity to create its future”. (Senge 1992, 14) • Organizational learning is a three stage process that includes information acquisition, information dissemination and shared interpretation. (Sinkula 1994) • defining the present situation, defining a shared vision and working under creative tension • producing something new and innovative

10. Basic requirements for creating a learning organization • According to Senge (1992) the learning attributes in an organization are: • shared vision • personal mastery • working with mental models • team learning • systems thinking

11. Multi professionalism Mechanical Engineering Business Adm. Raisio Life-long learning Automotive and Transportation Eng. Globalisation R & D Sustainable Development R & D Learning Network in Technology, Environment and Business Civil Engineering Entre- preneurship Business Adm. Uki Business know-how to everybody Business Information Technology R & D Fisheries and Enviromental Care R & D New methods of study Restoration Flexible Study Modules D P in Int. Business, Raisio The arrows represent the megatrends in education up till year 2012

12. Examples from Turku Polytechnic, no 2 • The practice enterprice project • promoting entrepreneurship is found important in EU • According to the Green Book of EU in higher education the curricula should systematically include entrepreneurship and management studies in non economic curricula • Finland was placed on the below average group of countries concerning entrepreneurship • There is a positive statistically significant assosiation between national economic growth and national level of entrepreneurship

13. What is the practice enterprice project? • Students involved • IT-engineering, business administration, data prosessing, nursing, library and information services • Business administration and data processing where instruction is in english • Programming (University of Turku) • groups of 10-15 people • Compulsory studies of 15 ECTS • Methods: • Problem based learning • Learning by doing • Independent learning • Learning environment: • Different information technology tools available • Office like • Gross disciplinary • Close connections to existing business life in the region

14. Achievements of the practice enterprice project • Many important targets are met • Students develop • team-working skills • proactive attitude • self-reliance • Students get basic knowledge about running an enterprise • Students start to co-operate with other students from different disciplines

15. Examples from Turku Polytechnic, no 3 • Applying a co-operative as a learning environment • a co-operative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically controled enterprice • central values: • self-help • self-responsibility • democracy • equality • equity • solidarity

16. Examples from Turku Polytechnic, no 3 • The method of learning • good integration of theory and practice • experimental learning • students find work for the co-operative and get credits by executing the tasks • The students have economic responsibility and in this way are working as entrepreneurs

17. Conclusion • Education has to be adapted to correspond to the changing needs in the environment • the content • the methods used • The most important thing today is to deliver general ideas, skills and attitudes not detailed knowledge • Students must be made to construct their knowledge by themselves • Future engineers are innovative teamplayers who can communicate and act effectively in a global world