PROJECT CENTERED COMPETENCE RELATED EDUCATION OF ENGINEERS

ABSTRACT It has become a topic at Dutch educational institutes to feel not only responsible for improvement of theoretical and practical skills, but also of 'competences' in a wider sense. The curriculum of the Fontys University of Applied Sciences (32.000 students) and especially the Electrical and Electronic (E&E) Department has changed enormously in the past decade. At the E&E department we introduced two different ways of working on competences. In the first years of their study students choose different roles in several projects. We have described all the roles and the related tasks for each specific role. While working on a role, the students indirectly work on different competences. This method of working enforces a higher educational level (a student shouldn't work on things he already knows or is able to handle) and the passenger behaviour is reduced. Students now do take responsibility while contributing to the project teams. Inquiries amongst the students confirm these results. Due to a clear role description and individual assessments The second method is working on the specific engineering competences in their traineeship and thesis work in the last part of their study. This was first introduced in the Autumn of 2005 in the E&E department of Fontys