Global study
Crisis and catalyst
The impact of COVID-19 on global practice in engineering education
Project conducted: 2020-2022 | Report published: October 2022
About the study
The Crisis and Catalyst study explored the sector-wide impact of COVID-19 emergency teaching on engineering education worldwide. Informed by views and experiences from across the global engineering education community, it addressed two central questions:
- What were the experiences of the engineering education community during emergency teaching?
- How will this systemic shock impact the direction of travel for the sector beyond emergency teaching?
The study drew on interviews with university leaders, engineering instructors and faculty, educational specialists and engineering students from across the world.
The findings pointed to emergency teaching as both a crisis and a catalyst: a period that exposed and exacerbated major challenges facing engineering education, but which also held the potential to accelerate the development of a new generation of programmes in which the opportunities, learning and wellbeing of students are placed at the forefront.
Although the study focused on the experiences and priorities of the global engineering education community, its findings have wider applicability across the higher education sector.
Co-sponsors
The study was supported and co-funded by a consortium of universities and higher education organoisations from across the world:
- Aalborg University, Denmark
- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway
- Olin College of Engineering, USA
- Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC), Chile
- Royal Academy of Engineering, UK
- Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), Singapore
- Tecnológico de Monterrey (Tec de Monterrey), Mexico
- University College London (UCL), UK
- 4TU Centre for Engineering Education, The Netherlands
Further information
The CEEDA website provides further resources from the study, including detailed case studies of innovative practice and institutional responses to emergency teaching, together with videos and other supporting material.
The findings were presented as part of a keynote address at the TE2022 Future of Engineering confernece at MIT (see slides).
The report is also available on DSpace@MIT.
How to cite this report
Graham, R. (2022). Crisis and catalyst: The impact of COVID-19 on global practice in engineering education. Massachussetts Institute of Technology.