Strategic pathways to engineering education research: case study of a top-down initiative

Abstract

In this paper we first present a line of research into potential pathways to facilitate broader participation of engineering educators in education research, one that we propose to develop in various international contexts. Then in the main part of the work we focus on an application of our approach in one specific national context, that of Malaysia. A top-down pathway is proposed to describe recent developments in engineering education research in Malaysia. Analysis of publications from 2000 to date has indicated an increase in engineering education research since the introduction of outcome based education in the country. A Community of Practice in engineering education is beginning to emerge and some research universities are establishing research groups and centres of excellence for research in the field.