Klagenfurt School of Engineering Pedagogy by Adolf Melezinek As
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PAPER KLAGENFURT SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING PEDAGOGY BY ADOLF MELEZINEK AS THE BASIS OF TEACHING ENGINEERING Klagenfurt School of Engineering Pedagogy by Adolf Melezinek as the Basis of Teaching Engineering http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v6i3.5949 Tiia Rüütmann, Hants Kipper Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia Abstract—Engineering Pedagogy is an interdisciplinary spiritual scientific beginning during which methods based scientific subject and an essential element of the system of upon phenomenological understanding were applied in engineering education. The article is dedicated to the work order to get insight into the components of the instruction of Adolf Melezinek, the founder of Engineering Pedagogy process. The other stream is represented by scientists who and the main principles of Kalgenfurt School of Engineer- basically created the cybernetic beginning during which ing Pedagogy. Curriculum design and technical teacher calculation methods dominated. Although both the education in Estonia is based on Melezinek’s work. A deci- streams comprise a wide range of schools, they share sion-making model by Urve Läänemets, closely connected to certain key ideas which, at the same time, distinguish Melezinek’s work and the Model of Flexible Technical them from each other [3]. Teacher Education and contemporary methodology are The traditional, classical pedagogy did not meet specif- introduced. ic needs when used for education of engineers striving for Index Terms—engineering pedagogy; technical teacher the teaching profession. This was proved by experiences education; model; curriculum; teaching engineering. of different countries. The discrepancy was solved by setting up of special engineering-pedagogical institutes at some technical universities. The term “Ingenieurpädagog- I. INTRODUCTION ik – Engineering Pedagogy” has become a technical term for a young scientific discipline which deals with the „Scientists dream about doing great things. Engineers problems of teaching technology. do them.“ James A. Michner. The term “Engineering Pedagogy” signifies the charac- Professor Adolf Melezinek (1932 – 2015) was the teristic of discipline – the interaction of engineering and founder of International Society of Engineering Pedagogy technical sciences with pedagogy and the education sys- (IGIP), long-time president of IGIP, IGIP honorary life tem. As it is presented in Figure 1 (in Melezinek [2]), the president and one of the founding professors of the Uni- necessary technical knowledge is offered to Engineering versity of Klagenfurt. Pedagogy by different technical sciences. Pedagogical Adolf Melezinek had numerous international honors knowledge (didactics) is generally used in the develop- and activities - among others Advisor to the Government ment of corresponding knowledge systems for instruction, of the Czech Republic for higher education, Honorary as well as for the method of instruction, whereby the cog- Doctor of Tallinn University of Technology, Honorary nitions of other sciences are also being used, such as psy- Senator of the University of Budapest, Honorary Doctor chology, sociology, information theory, etc. of Technical University of Liberec, Moscow NE TU Melezinek [3] proposed the aims of Engineering Peda- Bauman, University of Hradec Králové, Technical Uni- gogy – to implement integral thinking in terms of Science versity in Moscow (MADI), etc. as Art, trying to combine the science of teaching with the The present article is dedicated to the work of Adolf art of the teacher, i.e. with the teacher's personality. The Melezinek, the main principles of Kalgenfurt School of teaching process should be inspired in a scientific manner Engineering Pedagogy, curriculum design and technical applying as many calculation methods as possible and teacher education in Estonia based on Melezinek’s work. making teaching activities meaningfully algorithmic. However, human beings and art, which inspires teaching II. DEVELOPMENT OF ENGINEERING PEDAGOGY and adds creativity, should maintain their roles in the Adolf Melezinek was the founder of the Klagenfurt instruction process. The teacher's art should be applied in School of Engineering Pedagogy. The fundamental prin- accordance with the science, exploring the effectiveness ciples of Engineering Pedagogy Science have been elabo- of teaching processes. The subject of engineering peda- rated, and formulated in general sense by Adolf gogy is everything, which improvement of technical dis- Melezinek [1]. Engineering Pedagogy is an interdiscipli- ciplines is aimed at, all kinds of teaching activities, con- nary scientific subject and an essential element of the cerned with aims, content and forms of education. system of engineering education. The methodology of engineering pedagogy as the sci- While scientific pedagogy comprises various schools ence of the most common laws, principles and methods of and streams, two major streams can be identified based scientific and technical knowledge, search for new ideas upon simplified and generalized assumptions. The first and theories and their realization, the contents and struc- one includes the more or less traditional philosophical- ture of engineering activities has been considered. The 10 http://www.i-jep.org PAPER KLAGENFURT SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING PEDAGOGY BY ADOLF MELEZINEK AS THE BASIS OF TEACHING ENGINEERING The “Klagenfurt school of Engineering Pedagogy” was established in 1971. Dipl.Ing.,Dr.phil.,Dr.hc. Adolf Melezinek was appointed to the ‘chair of the didactics of scientific/technical subjects with particular reference to teaching technology’ and University of Educational Sciences (now the University of Klagenfurt) saw the continual and systematic scientific development of engineering pedagogy in Austria [2]. The term “Klagenfurt School of Engineering Pedagogy” is used for a scientific approach founded by Adolf Melezinek. According to A. Haug [5], Melezinek built up the Institute of Teaching Technology with an emphasis on engineering education. Melezinek had previously been Figure 1. Engineering Pedagogy Model for Technical Teacher Train- based in Prague where he taught courses for technology ing [2] lectures at university level at TU. Thanks to these activities and IGIP, the work of the “Klagenfurt School of object of engineering pedagogy is the pedagogical system Engineering Education” was and is still very effective. of training engineers; the subject is described as designing According to Victor K. Schutz [6] the “Klagenfurt and realizing of professional training contents, organiza- school of Engineering Education” and IGIP are well es- tion forms, methods, the process of specialist’s personality tablished. They should be able to contribute significantly formation. The basic notions and categories are the same along with the Bologna Declaration, the ABET as in general pedagogy: aims, principles, organization CRITERIA and other programs to an eventual accredita- form, etc, enriched with new contents taking into account tion agreement for engineering and technology programs the objectives of engineering education. The categories and faculty members. specific for engineering pedagogy are scientific and tech- nical knowledge, engineering activity, specialist’s person- The current situation of engineering pedagogy has ality and communication in the process of professional evolved more or less continuously from activities at the activity. three schools of Engineering Pedagogy mentioned above. This is where the basic approaches of all three schools of III. DEVELOPMENT OF ENGINEERING PEDAGOGY Engineering Pedagogy meet: the prerequisite for scientific SCIENCE studies on engineering pedagogy is mastery of the funda- mentals of a technical science subject. The path to teach- According to Heinze [4] developments in engineering ing a science irreversibly leads from mastery of the sub- pedagogy in Europe in 1950s are exemplified by three ject matter to the actual teaching process. This is where “schools of Engineering Pedagogy”: specific research on engineering pedagogy can start. Natu- • the “Dresden school of Engineering Pedagogy”; rally, it also reflects findings from pedagogy and other • the “Prague school of Engineering Pedagogy”; sciences and takes account of a whole series of important influences [2]. This is formulated in a general sense by • the “Klagenfurt school of Engineering Pedagogy”. Melezinek [1] in the initial approach of the “Klagenfurt The “Dresden school of Engineering Pedagogy” goes school of Engineering Pedagogy” when he defines the back to the founding of the Institute of Engineering subject of engineering pedagogy as the scientific investi- Pedagogy at the Technical University in Dresden in gation and practical realization of the aims and contents of November 1951 [2]. The first director of the institute was technical subjects as well as of the process in which their Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Hans Lohmann, succeeded by Prof. Dr. contents are transformed by specific media as influenced Lichtenecker in 1963 and Prof. Dr. G. Lehmann in 1986 by a specific socio-cultural environment with the help of [3]. specific teaching methods with the knowledge of specific The “Prague school of Engineering Pedagogy” recipients. developed in Czechoslovakia in the 1960s based on According to Melezinek [5] the Klagenfurt approach to activities at the universities in Prague, Liberec, Brno, engineering pedagogy may be based on the thoughts of Olomouc, Bratislava and Kosice. An Institute of traditional philosophic-humanistic pedagogy, but it