Information Skills Training For Engineers

The 1996 review of engineering education in Australia "Changing the Culture: Engineering Education into the Future" (1) in discussing the changing focus of engineering education, states that "the focus of engineering education will be on creating lifelong learners, from early education, through undergraduate education to continuing professional education, and from generalist to technical specialist." This report also advocates that "students will be more responsible for their learning. The highly structured and prescriptive nature of traditional undergraduate courses in engineering will be replaced by programs affording greater freedom of choice." Project-based, problembased or inquiry-based education encourages the shift in ownership of the education process from staff to students, from teacher to learner. Dependence on reading lists, one or two text books, lecture notes and the pearls of wisdom coming from the teacher do not allow students to take responsibility for their own learning, rather, it restricts their ability to be independent seekers of information and knowledge and to be able to solve problems on their own in a creative and independent way.